Friday, January 30, 2009
Met up with my long time buddy, ZW, for a quick lunch yesterday. It's being so long since we last met up for our kopi session to catch up and to give him a chance to do his best to upset me..haha
Well, guess our ever demanding jobs has really made it difficult to meet up. But that's not an excuse. Like my previous post, I have promised myself to spend more time with my family, friends and the special girl, called J.
The meeting is one of the many that will be coming as I call on my friends to do some catching up. As usual, my lunch meeting with ZW centered on the previous post, who J is, what happened to S, the works.
To be honest, ZW was apprehensive why I chose to after J again after the painful episode a couple of years back. He was concerned over my well-being and that if it has happened before, chances are, it will happen again.
Well, he maybe right or wrong..but if I don't give her and myself a chance, how would we know?I believe that, in love, there is no if's or buts, for this breeds distrust, just like a stagnant pool of water breeds health-threatening mosquitos. But my love for her is enough to give myself another chance. Why?
For love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
Now, if only J can see this...but no, she mustn't know about this blog, for the last one brought us plenty of misery. Only in the event of an unfortunate incident should this blog be made known to her and S.
I am glad to have buddies like ZW as a sounding board, someone who don't honey-coat the words and say what I want to hear. He just says the brutal truth, which is painful, but at least makes me improve and be a better person.
Thanks my friend.Labels: Random Thots
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Of resolutions and the girl J
Isn't it strange that when this space is devoid of updates, it's really quiet and when there are updates, it just come in torrents, just like the weather nowadays?
Well, these few blissful, yet sometimes mind-boggling days (read: on leave) has given me ample time to reflect on what I want to do in the year ahead. Even though Jan 09 is coming to a close, I still want to share what I hope to achieve;
1. Challenge myself again in running the StanChart marathon.
2. Devote more time to improving my photography skills.
3. Save up more $$ for my studies in Australia.
4. Cut back on working late (leave office by 1900) and spend more time with my family, friends and this special girl.
Of the resolutions I made this year, s/n 4 is the most important. As you progress along your career, you will reach a stage which you wished you could had spend more time with your family. After working hard for three years, I felt that I have neglected in doing so with my family and friends. I decided to re-prioritise my order of life and concentrate on this aspect So, to hell with the job, I am going to spend more time with my family and friends.
As for spending more time with this special girl, for the sake of the uninitiated, let me disclose here how we met. We were introduced by a mutual friend 3-4 years ago. Lets just call her J. Needless to say, I was attracted to her. If you ask me what is it about her that attracted me, well, I can say is our intense need for individual independence, our similar outlook in life and the constant need to challenge ourselves. At that time, S was already happily married and there I was, still feeling sorry for myself.
Hence at that time, I thought J was a godsend as someone out there has finally taken pity on this poor chap. Because J and I had a common interest called running, we would go for our thrice-weekly runs at ECP or Punggol park. I thought we enjoyed each others' company that things may work out, but sadly, it didn't quite work out as planned and we lost touch a year or so later.
Last year we got acquainted back again, thanks to our dear mutual friend, and started doing those long distance runs and chatting on MSN again. We even went on to participate in the Marina Bay run (21km) together. Looking back, I think Fate has brought us together after a span of 2 years and trust me, I guess there's something that the guys up there wants to tell me; that S and me are members of a different world now and its time to move on. Deep down, I think they are right. While I hope that things can work out between J and me, its always the failure of rejection that I fear. Once the heart has been broken before, no matter how much repair work is done, the scars will still be there.
J did mentioned during our casual chit chat that someone is trying hard to win her heart but she would prefer to let things run its natural course, because after coming out of a failed relationship last year, she still happily enjoying her singlehood. Well, I don't know who this guy is, but if he does win her heart, I seriously hoped that he can put her as the priority no. 1.
J might not know it, but she has been my Priority No. 1. ever since I decided to move on with my life this year.
Now to my ardent fans ZW and FY, that's the answer to the previous blog that you guys have been pestering me about. :)Labels: Matters of the heart
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Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saw this on Mr Brown's post, thought it deserves some sharing amongst us the lau peng who served the country many moons ago;
1. You were trained to use AR 15/ M16 and have no idea what SAR21 is.
2. You used a metal tray for meals, and you had to wash them after use.
3. You were "served" by army regulars (who will show you a f**k face and scold you for not holding your tray properly) during mealtimes in cookhouse.
4. You joked about having ice cream/ pudding for lunch in the cookhouse... and now they do.
5. Your cookhouse food was cooked by actual army cooks.
6. Your sergeant was simply known as "Sergeant", and had only 3-stripes.
7. You did not hear of any NSman "dying suddenly".
8. You were known as the "second-generation thinking soldiers".
9. You had to do "area cleaning" every morning.
10. You were ferried from one place to another in 3-tonners, not air-con buses.
11. Your 3-tonners sat more than 30 people.
12. You had to queue to use the public phone whenever you have to make a call.
13. Your combat rations consisted of "dog biscuits" + canned sardines + canned pork cubes.
14. You wore dog-tags because you were told to do so and had no choice; not because it was "fashionable".
15. You were issued those cheapo China-made black PT shoes (and yet you were able to pass IPPT using them).
16. You ogled at the canteen Ah Soh with lust because she was the only woman in the camp.
17. You even found the Chief Clerk attractive.
18. You carried the same made-in-China plastic mug for brushing the teeth, drinking tap water, cooking instant noodles, drinking some lame diluted beverage from the chow line, and slurping up night snack.
19. You wore No. 4 uniform that was meant for colder climate and had a rubbery inner lining which caused heatstroke during a 10k run.
20. Your starched Temasek Green unifrom was so gilat that it can stand on its own.
21. You wore a WW2 American helmet.
22. Your Skeleton Battle Order (SBO) was called "the bra".
23. You don't know what LBV is.
24. You slept on those foam mattress and double decker beds.
25. Your stand-by-bed had safety pins all under the bedsheet.
26. Your S1 office had typewriters.
27. You wore green PT t-shirts that expanded after a few washings.
28. Your made-in-China PT shorts were all blue and made of very thin material.
29. Your swimming trunks were black and look like tight shorts.
30. Your Ali Baba bag had no wheels.
31. Your Ali Baba bag was a long khaki sack.
32. Your boots had to be polished till you could see your reflection in it.
33. You used a heated metal spoon and kiwi to polish your boots.
34. You know what a Change Parade is.
35. You had your stand-by bed at the Parade Square.
36. Your name tag was handwritten with a black marker and a stencil.
37. Your bedsheets had a funky smell even when they were newly washed.
38. You got $20 for acing your IPPT, not $400.
39. You zeroed your weapon with a Canadian bull (or k*-n*-n*-b*) instead of an electronic oscilloscope.
40. You were part of butt parties during range.
41. You don't know what ORD is, but you know what ROD is.
I have also attached a hokkien song which also brought back memories of my times in army. Enjoy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTGdi1w-Cs&feature=PlayList&p=4589D08236C514AF&playnext=1&index=38Labels: Random Thots
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Saturday, January 24, 2009
Spring cleaning memories of yester-years..
As CNY comes closer, everyone is busy doing spring-cleaning..throwing away things which has broken, rendered obsolete or redundant. Yours truly was also involved in this massive exercise.
The starting month of 2009 has been fraught with work, work and more work. Coupled with some surprising developments on the home front, you can say that it's been an overwhelming month.
Where should I start?
Ok, lets start with the work front as it is synonymous to all of us. With the current economic recession, all of us are worried about our jobs. While I do not have to be worried about it, the threat of a pay-cut weighed heavily on our minds. When it was announced, it affected those sitting in the stratosphere, while ants like us who scurry around the ground on the first sign of lightning were spared. It was a sigh of relief for us..but we are still overwhelmed by huge among of work. Can you imagine conducting night trainings every week for the past month? Coupled it with the sleepless duty nights when you just wait for that call which you hope will never come, it was just plain tiring. That surmised my work for this month.
On the homefront, like what I mentioned, there were some surprises. Mom was finally receptive to No.2's girlfriend after having negative perceptions of her. Why it came about, well that's a story I won't mention here. The saddest part is that my grandpa has been diagnosed with bone cancer, which, is at the terminal stage. Mom and the siblings has been shuttling back and forth everyday to the hospital while the old man is undergoing radiotherapy. He has not been told as we did not want him to feel sorry for himself. But I guess he knows it, when you know you are dying, you will know it for sure. Right now the best thing we can do is to ensure he is comfortable enough to live through the last few months of his life.
You know what's the most sad thing about it? The fact that the elder generation will not get to see my genration get married and see their great-grandchildren. It also struck me that sometimes the truth does hurts and nobody can accept the truth and live with it.
We don't want to know the truth just because we are holding on to that glimmer of hope. When you know that it's no longer possible to hold on to that single thread of hope, its time to let go. For the past few years, my life has been torn away, bits by bits, by the devils. Now that I have learnt to let go, it seems like the devils are actually angels in disguise, freeing me from the suffering. In return, they have given me someone who I think could be the ONE.
Am I in a relationship? Nope.
Are we that close to being a pair? Not that I think of. We just go do our long distance runs during the weekends, chat on MSN almost everyday during working hours (ssshh..), once in a while we go catch movies. Other than that, it pretty sums up what we do together.
Will things work out between us? I hope so. Which drop dead gorgeous girl can run long distance, share the similar outlook, likes to roam around the world like I do? Not many I guess. Even if there is, they are either married or dead.
So that pretty sums up my disappearance for the last month. With CNY approaching, let me wish of you a Happy "Niu" Year!! Huat Ar!!Labels: Random Thots
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