The train ride

Not many times will you be able to board a train,
That had its people so sparse and few.
With its empty rows of seats,
I sat down and pondered my life.
How I wished I was a child again,
With no worries except to obey my parents.
How I wished I was a child again,
Where everything was there for me.
How I wished I was a child,
Where my future was not planned by myself.
But I know I was not,
For there is an end to the innocence.
Looking at the people in the train,
I noticed their tiredness.
Could it be their job,
Or their choice to be.
It was not easy to choose,
And even harder to follow.
With so many uncertainties,
How do I stay brave.
The future may be bright for some,
May be an abyss unknown.
Surely there comes a time,
Where my baby step can show.

Movie: Enchanted (PG)

Synopsis:
Enchanted is Walt Disney's latest fairy tale series and it brought together all the classics into one movie. It's about a girl, Gisele, waiting for her true love, who is the prince. However, the evil stepmother don't want the prince to suceed and thus banished the girl to the real world.

Review:
I have to say Enchanted is a very sweet, and maybe too sappy, story with lots of singing and dancing. The transition from fairy tale to reality was good and interesting. I especially enjoy the part when Gisele welcomed the animals to clean the house with her. It was definitely funny. I would really recommend the show to all those couples.

Rating:
4/5

Diving at Tioman

The day has finally arrived for my long awaited scuba diving trip. Woke up real early to meet up with my friends and instructor and thus began the long, long ride to Malaysia and then to some jetty. Sat in the car till my butt muscles ache. Anyway, the trip to the jetty was almost the width of Singapore, but more undulating. At the jetty, we hurried aboard the "speed' boat. It was another hour ride before we got to Tioman. By the time we reached Tioman, Paya Beach Resort, it was already lunch time. We ate a quick lunch and proceed to our first dive. The first dive site was quite near and we dived off from a boat. Once underwater, it was like into another world. Corals and fishes were plenty. We did a couple of skills at our first dive. Had a little problem with my buoyancy though. One thing to note, sea urchins were damn scary, with all their needles and their numbers, it would be disastrous to land onto them. On the first day, we did a total of three dives. The best would be the second one where we saw a sea turtle and my friends even saw the outline of a black-tip shark. The worst would be coming back from shore at low tide. All the corals and tide seem to be against us. It was a painful experience. Although we did only three dives, we were quite tired and hungry. We slept a little early as we need to do a dawn dive the next day. Day two, we did a total of five dives. Again, the underwater scenery simply amazed me, it was that beautiful. We brought along our rented underwater camera and tried to take photos. It wasn't easy to remain bouyant and take good photos. On one of the dives, I almost got lost while doing navigation and almost got stung by jellyfish. It was such a scary experience. Still, I enjoyed the experience. Saw sea fans, many more colourful fishes. It was very exciting. On the last day and the last dive, we dived to a wreck. It wasn't that amazing, just simply a wreck. However, as we ascend to shallower depth, we were greeted by the myriad of fishes. We dived until almost out of air. In all, the whole dive trip was wonderful, no doubt a little tight on our pockets. Maybe next year, after the monsoon period, we will go again.
If anyone want to see the photos we took, it's on my facebook.

Ikea

Ikea is definitely a place you must go if you are planning to look for DIYs and especially the food. I could always remember the catalogs that Ikea mail us every year. Looking through all the beautiful rooms, stunning furnitures, amazing accessories. It's almost as if all the rooms can turn out just as well if they have been through an ikea-makeover. However, I doubt so. What appears on the catalog somehow differ from its actual appearance. Yet, I would say going to ikea is an experience. You could get so many ideas to revamp your room or house just by looking at the furnitures. Maybe price-wise is a problem for me. For this particular trip, I even drew out the blueprint of my room, all the measurements and placement, hoping to add a new member to my room. As it turns out, my pocket seems a little empty these few days. In the end, I bought photo frames. Was thinking of painting the photo frames to give it an artistic feel. Anyway, something funny happened while at ikea. Thinking that the lift will bring us down, we took the lift. However, the life did not move at all even when we pressed down. It was so embarrassing to be stuck in a non-moving lift for so long. Also, I was stopped by the security guard because he thought that I was stealing ideas when I was just randomly taking photos of the place. Gave me a little shock though. The best thing about ikea is the food. Those heavenly meatballs. Could never resist them even if it meant emptying my pockets, they are that delicious. Mix them with the cream sauce and the jam, it's tantalising.

Precious family

Precious family is a korean drama serial about a family and their hardships. I find it very touching, maybe it's just all korean drama, especially all the family ties. Sometimes I wonder whether I should be like them. Not that I don't want, but sometimes just cannot. Anyway, I really recommend the show. Like all korean drama, the pace may be a little slow, but it is heart warming to watch such shows.

Contact lenses

Finally got my first pair of contact lenses and it's free, thanks to the spectacle shop aunty for letting me test it out first. Anyway, as it was my first time with the contacts, I had trouble with putting it on. I'm not sure which side is which and my eyes seem to reject them. I can't seem to not blink my eyes. After an hour, finally managed to place them on my eyes. The feeling was a little weird, like some foreign object on my eyes. After a while, the feeling subsided. Not sure though, but I am still having a little blurry vision. Think I'll consult the aunty again.

Recruit Express

LOL.... Went to recruit express at Taka for an interview today. It was quite a short and simple interview, I won't even consider it an interview. Just asked me my job preferrence, pay wise and my period of work. I thought that it would be tougher than that, maybe the second interview? Anyway, I had a couple of friends working at recruit express and I thought it is quite a good environment. Won't mind working there if I'm more extrovert.

Now what

Yup, seriously, now what. Where to go? I'm a little lost here.

Thank You

One week has passed since I ord-ed. Within this past week, I have thought about alot of things and majority of it was about my army experience. After one year and ten months in army, I felt that yes, it is great that army was over. However, I sometimes feel that the period was a little too short. Well, I have to thank so many people for making my experience a fruitful one.

BMT. Can't say that I remember all my superiors. I am even forgetting who had been in my section, but I do remember being part of the toilet crew. Hmmm, have to thank all the commanders for making me remember all the punishments, all the route marches where I sang until hoarse, all the happy faces who passed out together with me.

Sispec. Really must thank all the commanders for making it even worse than BMT. Well, being a commander-to-be requires tough training, I guess. Thank Sgt Ang, my section commander and all my section mates. Thank Staff Richard for being ever so funny. Couldn't have passed out without all of you.

AISL. Thank Sgt Darren for being ever so sarcastic. Thank my section and my armskote personnel. Couldn't have survived. The course ever so long, the goodbyes even harder.

42SAR. If I have to thank all the people I need, the list would be too long. Ultimately, it's everyone. LOL.... Really have to thank everyone for understanding me, for listening to me, for making me feel a valued member of the family.

If you are someone whom I haven't thank, please tell me.

Procrastination

No matter how many people said it, everyone, I am quite sure, procrastinates at least once in their life. Well, I do, that's for certain. I just have to say that I've regretted it. For that moment in time, maybe procrastination served me joy, but looking back, I should not have delayed everything. By this, I meant my overseas university application. I had two years, two years to apply. In the end, I am still struggling. What have I done with my two years, slaving away in the army, instead of focussing on what everyone expects me to do. I felt that I have let down on many people, especially my parents. They put so much hope on me, thinking that I'll do them proud. What they don't know is that I have not fully applied for the university yet. There is just so many things to get ready for and the time is ticking rather quickly. What have I done to my future. I've thought that I handled stress quite well, but think again, have I. With just a month and a half to go, I seriously not sure whether I can make it. Didn't take two subject test too. What am I to do. Stay for one more year. Beg? I wish I could. But how would I face my parents. It's easy to say that I want to do it, but doing it? I really wish ...

Movie: Stardust (PG)

Synopsis:
Three witches yearning for youth, a king-to-be and a desperate for love guy in search for the fallen star. The fallen star comes in the form of a beautiful lady, not knowing the danger that she's in.

Review:
The show is part exciting, with all the people chasing the star, part funny, with Robert de Niro as Captain Shakespear. Captain Shakespear is a kind soul, helping the couple find true love. As one of the witches, Michelle Pfeiffer is true to her character, mean and yet funny at times. The movie was great until the ending where it was too abrupt.

Rating:
3.5/5

Week of the end

This week was my last week in 42SAR as I ORD. The whole week was spent de-kitting stuffs and signing clearance form. It has been a meaningful week. Did my last guard duty on Tuesday. It was tiring, cold as it was raining the whole night. It was as if I was in Survivor. The men were a little difficult to control though as they were all playing monster hunter. On Wednesday, did the last servicing for vehicle. The monthly road test was quite ridiculous, as it was done on a 100m stretch of road. On Thursday, I was CDS, my last duty (as if). It was a busy, busy day. The NTM forces needed to handover their duty to the composite force. Furthermore, the adminstration part was in a mess. The armskote, store and signal all required to be settled. I was running here and there. However, I was glad that I did it. Thought it really tested whether I could multi-task. The men were having a party, if you consider water bombing a party, late at night for those ORD personnel. Thought I would get splashed, but didn't. Anyway, was really grateful to my platoon. We gathered in the middle of the parade square to chat. Not a chatting person, so just listened to them. They are really an amazing few, will miss them much. The running around finally died down at about 3am. By then, I was sleeping soundly. On the last day, Friday, I finished all the clearance, took my pink ic, said goodbye (a little difficult though) and left.

Movie: Rendition (M18)

Synopsis:
Well, rendition is about extraordinary rendition, an act that enables the government body to detain anyone suspicious of terrorist activities. In this movie, an Egyptian guy was captured due to a suspected link to a suicide bombing.

Review:
It's quite amazing about rendition. Didn't know such things could actually happen. The casts involve Meryl Streep, an amazing actress and Reese Witherspoon, very impressive acting. Although they pack a solid punch, the others weaken the act. In addition, the filming technique may be interesting, but at times draggy.

Rating:
3/5