HELLWEEK.....to HELLWEEKER

" Gentlemen, your Hell Week is secured. " - CO Dive School.

*Cries, sobs, and shouts from the 31st Batch*

Hellweek seemed like a dream(sound familiar?). A week ago, 68 of us were filled with dread knowing what the upcoming week had in store for us. Now a week later, we are declared HELLWEEKERS. 4 months of tough training just to cross this week, just for all the ecstasy and joy for passing Hell Week. It was totally worth it. Hooyah.

Sleep deprivation for 5 days, cold treatment, continuous physical exertion are associated with Hell Week. We were constantly wet to the skin, a step out of our comfort zones, footrot and abrasions setting in. I can't elaborate on everything, since many events took place within this span of a week. So if you want to know, ask and i'll tell :)

An exerpt from Ling Qiang's Facebook post :

"WE are HELLWEEKERS!

5 sunrises..
the journey full of downs…
shits…
disappointment..
physical work outs..
hammerings..
illnesses..
tiredness
torture
WE pull it out as ONE..
the 31st Batch Naval Diver Trainees
i need to stress on the word WE… really..
they say the week is no longer called Hellweek.. but Team Building Week for a reason..
we need to stay strong.. stay tight in order to finish this week together..
no one can really stand alone during this one week..
without sleep and with lots of activities people wont like to do..
without my buddies around me.. i think i will just drop out at the first nightfall..

its amazing to us all..
to see us back there.. completing the torturous 5 days..
a time that all of us will never ever forget in our lifetime..
the time when we…
all hugged together to keep each other warm..
have one boat on top of our heads running like the end of the world
put the paddles in the water together to keep us moving..
hold on to the same rope and run
push the tire
crawl side by side
do the Haka with fire in our eyes..
sing the Frogmen Song with unity
laugh at ourselves for doing funny things..
we pushed ourselves to push the one beside us to help push ourselves..
it goes round..
and finally jumping around with tears in our eyes hugging each other to congratulate all of us for pulling it through the week we called Hell

we also witness the people within ourselves..
people who are born to be leaders..
and people who are pure selfish..
the line can be draw much more easily.. like what our instructors had mentioned..
this made me think back to my schooling times.. when i face this essay question..
”Are leaders nurtured or born?”
hmm……….

after the Hell week that we had..
i begin to understand why Naval Divers have this cohesiveness with them..
its like a community of Divers that is so unique..
well.. i guess i cant put my idea in words.. haha.."

- LQ Fong.

Hooyah Instructors.

Hooyah Warrant Tan.

Hooyah Master Teo.

and the best for last,

HOOYAH 31st BATCH!

HELLWEEK

Hello readers,

i'm off to HELLWEEK. With my brothers of the 31st Batch. See you in 5 days. Hopefully.

About Hellweek

Shane

of hellday and responsibility

" Hellday was but only a dream...it came and gone...we survived. "

soon the above can be said for Team Building Week aka 'Hellweek' which is due in about a week's time. Until then, 31st Batch, enjoy your lives to the fullest! Hah. Nah we'll push through, i'm sure we will. We're strong. Come on guys!

The experience and feeling of going through the 24 hours training aka 'Hellday' could only be expressed by those who went through it. Physical exertion, sleep deprivation, constantly drenched and cold, 10 mins toilet breaks with intervals of 5 hours, 20++ people squeezing into a prison-cell like toilet whilst having to bear with the smell of your friends shitting. Well we pulled through, but not without footrot and major groin abrasions, which was quite funny actually for the latter. Post-Hellday saw us walking with legs widespread, almost like penguins, swaying from side to side just to inch slowly forward. 56 penguins. Hahaha.

Met up with the guys as usual. Talk cock, eat, joked around. We're running out of places to go! Not to mention stuff to do. Singapore is starting to look really small.

1 more week!

2 more weeks

some pointers to sum up the week:

- sea circuit

- endless boat paddling to punggol beach. took the entire day. woo.

- 10k endurance run

- saf day parade, and then hardcore hammering at the field

all in all, just another week in camp.


gamed at dhoby with dhs buddies, had dinner at astons. went for some survey with sean and martin. thats about all.

2 weeks!

long live the King

The best there ever was, and ever will be.

4 weeks of PCP have passed in the wink of an eye. Evolutions cram into the schedule, making the passing of each day a rather quick experience. I'm halfway through, and this is no point to give up so i'll just have to push all the way through.

Firstly, it is very sad that the King of Pop has left us. Its hard to explain why, but i genuinely felt a sense of grief upon hearing the news. Guess he was someone close to my heart. His death has borne a legend that is timeless, one that will live on forever. I just want to share some videos that i love, and have so deeply inspired me.



Well 4B peeps i don't think we can ever forget this right! The dance which we took and changed and made it our own, earning us the title of Take 5 Champs.



This is one of my favourite songs. One which showcased the famous moonwalk that over the years became his trademark move. Watch for it in the middle of the song, and don't forget to catch the dance sequence at the very end. Awesome.

I guess i'm allergic to seawater or something, after seeing the increase in the onset of acne on my face and rashes on my feet which ever so often get suffocated in the recesses of my wet boots. How i wish they would just disappear.

Weekends are getting aimless. Sundays especially. There's nothing to do at home, and i'm running out of places to go to. Today saw me and my buddies having some coffee at Starbucks, Eastpoint, but what about next week? Lets just go with the flow, i guess.

Until next time, hooyah!

of female runners

On the way back from pasir ris just now, i was chatting with chenghau on bus 5 about the once-again-shitty book-in feeling. Then, i spotted a runner, female, seemingly my age, jogging on the pavement alongside the bus route. Something that i've noticed, female runners my age are quite a rare sight on the streets. So, my attention was kinda fully captured by her.

Well, most girls usually hit the gym for a workout, less actually hit the road to sweat it out, so i couldn't help but notice. Then i thought, how nice would it be if your significant other liked to run as well, now that would rid the workout of all the boredom. Sweet.

Anyway, another bookout has come and gone. Friday spent at home, not even a game played. Saturday i caught 'I Love You, Man' with the dhs guys. Funny film. Now today i met up with the jc guys for some catching up. Ribs at Cafe Cartel were rather filling. I want to grow some hair!!

Sigh. Its 7.40. Short while before i leave home for camp. Then another week of hell will ensue. ARGH. Take it day by day shane, take it day by day.

Take care all!

this sucks

Leaving in 1 minute's time.

This feeling sucks.

I miss civilian life, alot. My family, my friends, the comfort of my own home.

Army life is getting quite aimless.

Better get going, see you all.


Apologies for the short post.

The First Week

Block leave was bad. I got too used to civilian life. Not that i wouldn't want block leave, but it just means that we've to get used to army life again.

So the first week is down. Well we got off to a (one helluva) rolling start. Monday saw us going through a 4-hour class-up evolution, the 'ceremony' that sees us cross over to PCP from BMT. I shan't elaborate much on it. All i can say is that we got wet and sandy, carried boats, crawled on a mimosa-infested field like dogs, etc, and the whole experience made all of us want to OOC(out-of-course). If you want the details just ask, i'll tell.

" DROOOOOWWWWNNN-PRRROOOOOOOFINGGGGGG "

Rest of the week was spent on drown-proofing and sea-swim practice. Both were tedious evolutions, and boy was i glad and lucky to have passed them. Drown-proofing almost had me seeing God at the end of it, and if you think drowning is a good way to commit suicide, well, think again. One word to describe it - HARDCORE. Again, ask if you want details, i'm quite lazy to elaborate.

2nd week's up next and 'THE' week is coming, if you know what i mean. Hooyah 31 lets push on.

Physical Conditioning Phase

IT STARTS NOW. PCP HERE WE COME, HOOYAH!

the very last, of block leave

hello hello, here's basically a(very!) summed up version of what happened during block leave.

monday - ndu 31st batch bbq

tuesday - shopping with jared

wednesday - beach vball at sentosa!

thursday - bedok reservoir run

friday - ndu appreciation day, 31st batch lan, swimming at night

saturday - caught terminator with sec sch peeps. great show. dinner together.

SUNDAY (TODAY) - the very last day of block leave omg. tomorrow marks the start of a new phase -> PCP. God help the 31st Batch.

Stuff packed and ready to go! Going to have lunch with my family before maybe meeting some peeps at safra. More later! (if i have the time) See ya!

HOOYAH

beach volleyball at sentosa!

First of all, sorry to songhon, samfoo and jared for being late! (but hey at least i wasn't the latest. hehe) After angus and yvonne arrived we headed to Siloso Beach to sweat it out with some beach volleyball. Daryl and arron joined us midway and of course it was the more the merrier! The only experienced player present was jared, but we picked it up pretty quick and had fun along the way.

The drinks at sentosa are obscenely pricey. 3.20 for a 500ml Coke? You must be kidding. Lucky they had offers across the road with stuff like 3.50 for 2 bottles, if not i'd have drank the seawater. By the end of the day, everybody was cooked till our skin turned gleaming red. I couldn't resist the chance to cool down so i grabbed the ball for flotation and swam a moderate distance away from shore. And i just lay there in the water, soaking up the evening sun with the seawater cooling my body, ah, the life.

Dinner was settled at Central, a Hongkong style restaurant at Vivocity which had surprisingly reasonably-priced dishes. Such that me and jared had 2 servings. Hooya. After which, me, jared and angus headed down to Tampines for some supper while the rest headed home. Daryl joined us again and we had a chat. Stuff about camp, how we couldn't sleep on the first day, the sometimes eerie thoughts that surfaced in our minds during camp, etc.

What a day! Tiring but fun fun fun. Time to rest, bye!

Of 31 BBQ and shopping

31 had a BBQ at East Coast Park Pit 31, coincidentally. Food was plentiful, enough to satisfy every stomach present. Warrant Tan, Master Teo and Instructors Jason, Seow, BK and Puy turned up. So we had fun, talked and ate. Some guys brought their girls along to enjoy the atmosphere. Lots of photos taken as well.

Halfway through, songhon me and shern hit the arcade for Time Crisis 4. Probably due to the abysmal frequency of customer visits, the credits for each game were significantly cheaper. That was kinda good, and bad. Good, because it was cheap to play. Bad, because I kept changing new tokens after each death, thinking it was cheap so it was okay. I died the most out of the three of us, and the final toll on my wallet amounted to 3.50, in comparison to shern's 1 dollar spent. Jialat la. After we got back the bbq was almost done, so we left shortly.

Well, that was for Monday.

Today was scheduled for shopping since my wardrobe is in dire need of fresh apparel. I had actually planned to go alone but Jared was free so we met and had a look around Tampines. Thank god it was a weekday and the usual crowds in Tampines 1 and the surrounding malls were missing. I got my stuff and Jared got his. Spent a (nuclear)bomb. Kinda satisfied but that familiar sense of guilt kicked in yet again. Eek.

Something that kept bugging me today was the constant URGE to shit. First thought that came to mind : the bbq. 2 times today already and i can feel the 3rd itching to come out. Argh.

What else. Hmm. Rainy day, guilty of not exercising, and oh, i need a new beanie!

Thats all for now!

The Black Hole

Cool. Aha.

(Temporary) ORD LO!

Okay, actually it's just POP. So......POP LO!!!!

Block leave here i come. More, later!


---------------------------------------------------


POP day. Phew. Last, yes the very last day of a 10-week long BMT.

Got the ball rolling by a PT run in the morning. Nothing much took place in the day until route march was due. Instructor Koh had us do a pasar malam - laying out of fieldpack items - at the basketball court.

" I don't care how you do it, 30 secs camou on. Now! "

I squeeze the semi-liquid paste onto my palms and creamed up Angus' face, with him doing the same to mine.

" Whole lot, take a dip in divepool "

I thought it was actually fun. 31 batch ran to the pool and jumped in at the shallow end, with no.4 and boots and camou on, leaving the water slightly murky with runny camou off our faces.

And so, we started the 12-klick march with runny camou, waterlogged boots and being drenched to the skin.

POP-ed at Kranji War Cemetery, got our berets and we secured for the night.

But that wasn't all. Back at 29, it was a rush to get into our bookout-rig and then we had 9 mins to run all the way to the main gate to book out before it gets too late. And we did. Abrasions kicking in and all, we ran like it was another route march. Except that this one led to home and freedom.

Final Week

Artist's Comments

Perhaps you're being told that the army is amazingly brilliant. well if ya don't like gettin dirty then don't bother joining up. A british army cadet helpfully posed by the puddle with his rifle as i snapped away.

Came back from IFC with energy level almost at zero percent. Running a fever as well. All i can remember about field camp is mud, camo, rain, sandy tent, basically nothing pleasant. Oh. Except for the part where i got to throw a smoke grenade :) hehe.

Had a heap of dirty laundry to clear so i got the ball rolling by soaking the clothes, round after round, to get rid of the mud that has caked on the no.4s after so much time spent cooped up in the ziplocs. Gore-tex boots needed a rinse as well, along with those socks with a killer stench. All in all the toilet became slightly muddy after my attempt to clean my stuff, so yes, i had to clean the toilet too.

The fever didn't get better. What started out on 2nd last night of field camp, was around 37.8 deg. Friday morning was 38 plus. Saturday afternoon it skyrocketed to 39.8 deg. I conducted periodic water parades myself and took temperature regularly to ensure that it went down. Luckily it did. I went to the doc and got an MC. Damn. My zero report sick record is gone (five, ych). So yeah, i'll return to camp on Mon instead.

Phew. 9 weeks have really flown. The final week is looming up ahead. One more evolution to clear - the 12 klick route march. Hope i've recovered by then, can't afford to miss this last one before block leave comes! And yes, i think this upcoming friday is going to be unforgettable. Unforgettable.

Alright then, see you!

Introduction to PCP

Friday, 8th of May 2009.


Today's bookout was surprisingly(or should i say not)early. We FO-ed at 2pm. Sounds like an easy day? Nonono. There's always a catch. Haha.

Started the morning with a water parade, full bottle as usual. Ran to grinder, warmed up, mustered on road and got ready for a run.

Now's where the 'fun' starts. I can't really give exact details of our evolutions, but basically, we ran at a bloody fast pace, bear-crawled till our hands became paws, with slender strands of saliva dripping from our mouth as we inched forward. Then it was on and off, run to bear-crawl, bear-crawl to run, a tedious cycle. Following that, thank the heavens it rained, but the fun just got started. Back to the grinder and we started PT. The entire evolution started at around 8, and ended at 12 noon.

Looks like PCP is going to be 'fun'.

Changing parade

This time, short week.

Friday was Labour Day so we had a nice long weekend ( about 3 days and 3 nights ? ). Adding to that was 30th Batch Graduation on Thursday. Seniors' Big Day. 31st Batch became saikang warriors. Saikang better than Bokang (no work) right? Hooya!

Parents, girlfriends, sisters and brothers came to NDU, injecting certain life into the place which aged back to the colonial times. Seniors did their Terror Jump in No.3s, receiving roaring applause from their friends and family. 31st summed it up with a Hooya to the 30th, and they Hooya-ed back. Go Seniors! (although we don't know you guys very well)

However the highlight of the day(to us 31st), was the afternoon changing parade. Haha. Mainly smart-4, pt-rig, pt-rig-with-boots. And then....came the KINKY RIG. I wonder if other units practise this. We mustered in trunks and boots, other than that, bare skin. Later on we had to powder down with Prickly Heat so it got very COOLING(emphasis intended). That alone got us quite high and we ran up yelling during the course of the changing. Honestly, it was strangely enjoyable.

Wolverine was a disappointment. Alright maybe because i actually follow Marvel Comics last time. But even some parts the CGI was mediocre. Sigh. X 1,2,3 still outshine this so-called prequel.

Uh, i lost my train of thought all of a sudden. Maybe it's fatigue. Alright then, shall end here for now.

I must wake up early tomorrow! I must!

Halfway through

Hello people!

First of all i want to thank all who have wished me on my birthday last Thursday, really appreciate it you guys! Adding on to that i want to give greater thanks to my dhs buddies who had dinner with me and bought me presents(one was a 65 cent SAF mug which served as a decoy).

The past week in camp was slightly better, albeit the lack of sleep. Monday was IPPT day as usual, Tues we were scheduled for SOC at Nee Soon but foul weather stepped in. Damn. Wednesday and Thursday were full days spent at the Nee Soon live range for live firing of the AR-15. I did better in night than in day, probably because of the own-time-own-target factor in the former.

The whole of 31 was sleep-deprived on range days. We returned at 12am, returned arms, went back to Blk 29, then had water parade at 1am. Finally hitting the pillow at around 2, many of us went ZZZ straight away, having to wakey-wakey at 4.30am. Thursday we had an extra 1.5 hours of sleep, but we still had to fight the fatigue war throughout the day. Some of us felt it was pseudo-hellweek. Haha.

Friday was payback aka The-Day-the-Hammer-Drops. We paid for our mistakes at the fence and field, just before dinner. After that it was time to FO, short for F***-Off, which is often used by our instructors to describe book-out.

Weekends are getting routine, but precious nonetheless. Met up with people i haven't seen in a long time, caught up, had fun. Love you guys man.

Until next week, goodbye.

Apologies

Damn this blog is becoming a wreck. Sorry! I will try my best to update it as frequently as possible.

- Shane

4th week

4 weeks of BMT has passed thus far! Feels like i've just enlisted yesterday. My body's getting used to the hammering and i'm trying to psycho myself to actually love PT.

My things i do during bookout has almost become a routine. Meet friends, have meals together, reach home and hit dota, meet friends, then finally prep for book-in on sunday. It's going to be like this for the next 9 months so i'd better start getting used to it!

C'mon 31 we are performing better and better each day, keep it up! HOOYA!

Bookout Days

I really dread bookout days. The reason why? Because we have to earn them, by getting hammered everytime. And the hammering gets worse each subsequent week. How is bmt going to pass!? I have at around 8 weeks to go!

On another note, i appreciate civilian life alot now. My first bookout was quite an experience, once i stepped out of the camp gate i swear i could feel the civilian world embrace me. Everything seemed pretty. No more staying cooped up in our 4-man cabin, no more NS life. Well at least for the next two days.

Head's as round as it can be, now. I haven't really gotten used to the sudden emptiness perched on my scalp when i've had my hair all my life until now. Good thing is, washing hair is now a piece o' cake.

Its late. I'll say more when i feel like it. Bye!

A Frog's Life

(Psst. Thank you peejay for the title!)

" 1. You are hereby required under Section 10 of the Enlistment Act ( Cap 93 ), to report for enlistment on

18 MAR 2009 (WED) AT 8.00 AM
to NAVAL DIVING UNIT ( NDU ) "

Sigh enlistment's finally here. After A's, after the first 3 months of 2009, it . is . here. I will miss civilian life dearly, and the food and the freedom that i've had and so wonderfully enjoyed over the past few months.

Okay i guess i won't have the time to update this blog very often now, and there's the 2 week confinement period before i have my first book-out.

So it's goodbye from me here to anybody who sees this. Take care everyone!

Check this space on 3rd April! See you soon!


grabbed from militaryphotos

A Sexy Car

Murciélago LP 650-4 Roadster

Oh my god-ness. The new Murciélago is unveiled. Horsepower is upped from 640 to 650, so 0-100km/h probably rests around 3.4 seconds. The paintjob looks fantastic as well, with the grey glossy finish and the orange spoiler and sills, fresh from the usual yellow or solid hue that Lamborghinis are seen with. What's good also is that the engine cover will be transparent, which will showcase the powerful 6.5 litre V-12. Sweet.

Midnight Pleasure

Come on, spill. I know the kind of thoughts that run through your mind upon seeing the title. You, yes you, reader.

Don't get me wrong(which you probably did). My idea of enjoying myself at night, are just a couple of life's many simple pleasures. Headphones sealed and ears cupped, playing crisp music at a gentle volume, along with a cup of tea which i occasionally sip from. Ah, the life.

Serene.

Oil

I hate oil. It is oozing out of my face at a heightened rate. And oil usually precedes pimples. Shiat really. Sleeping with zits lining the sides of your face can be a real bitch, uncomfortable and painful yeah. And usually the dirt accumulated on your pillow contributes to pimple growth as well, so i might as well sleep facing the ceiling permanently to avoid sprouting zits. But of course thats not possible, so blast you pimples.

Stress? Pre-enlistment blues? Genes? Fatigue? Shitty soap? The list goes on. I don't know exactly what causes it for me, but you people without those pus-filled spots on your face, feel very fortunate.

This has been a random pimple rant. Goodbye.

Mopping the house was useful today. Usually it just gets me tired, but today it served well to distract me from the occasional depressing thoughts about my abysmal results. A household chore as an escape. Wow haha. Okay at least it's a workout of some sort and sweating made me feel much less of a slacker around the house. Like all household chores(except maybe washing muddy shoes), it was rewarding. A faint sense of satisfaction, to say the least. Hurrah, housewives.

Dear future, please stay bright.

Mini Supercars (NOT MY WORK)

Ever thought what supercars would look like re-engineered into a Mini Cooper-like chassis?

Here are some pictures, results of a few Photoshop tweaks.


Mini Mercedes


Mini Lotus


Mini Ferrari


Mini BMW


Mini Bentley


Mini Audi


Mini Aston Martin


Mini Porsche

My life's such a mess right now, i actually feel quite alone and helpless.

Sucks to be me.

Another NTU suicide

(Story) NTU officer found hanged : Another suicide at NTU.

Coincidentally, also from the School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE).

Not spooky enough?

Both deceased were apparently from Lab S2-B3a-06, the SAME lab.

NUS exchange student dies

"A University of Miami student studying abroad at the National University of Singapore has died.

Scott Jared Monat, a second-year neurobiology major, was found in a student housing kitchen at approximately 6 a.m. local time Wednesday morning, according to The Campus Observer, the student newspaper of NUS."

Full story, here.

Kenichi Kai Kasper Koh Chiak Chiang's Birthday, Part 1

Ingredients to make a Man Kit:

Boxers.

Tsingtao Beer.

Rubbers, Wax, Shaver and a Jar with a Funny Man Portrait.

All packed together.

Not forgetting the hamsum I.P. Man.

Everything in an unassuming cardboard box. Stuffed with an obscene amount of newspaper.

Mission Accomplished. Present is complete. More, next post.

End of Part 1.

at last

So the time has come. Finally, light is shed on the date when the GCE A's results are due to be released. And with it, comes inevitable fear. A caged monster gnawing at the insides of our mortal shell. Under such circumstances, it is released. Fear is a bitch, really. I grow weary of it. A month ago i thought the results were due in the first 7 days of Feburary. And because of that i endured quite a number of sleepless nights, spent pondering over the outcome, dire or not. The day never came. Fear and anxiety faded gradually. Until now, that is. The monster inside me has risen once again. Renewed vigour and all. Endless attempts to tame the emotion have been nothing but futile. I am tired. I tell myself, keep your expectations low, then it won't be that bad. Compete with yourself, not others. It works briefly. I very well know where i stand among my classmates in terms of academia. The scene keeps replaying in my head. One of friends celebrating in unison, outbursts of joy filling the hall. Everyone, except me. On loop. Sigh. Damn i hope that doesn't happen. I really do.

"The only way past fear, is to go through."

*Author Unknown*

One injured, one dead in NTU stabbing

10.35am this Monday morning.

Get the full scoop here.

Deep

"Are we? Jac asks sweetly.

Aren't we? I ask, alarmed.

You tell me.

We are. We most certainly are."

"If you say it is, then it must be so and in a blatant infringement of school rules, she reaches out to take my hand and holds on all the way into the heart of Chinatown."

Frame 21, End.

Of chained bikes

A true-blue FHL moment.

Of trolleys and pencils

IKEA Tampines' attack of the Pencil-Stealer! With a coffee cup from 7-Eleven. Well i did buy a cup of coffee from 7-Eleven okay. Now i have no shortage of lead for sketching!

Behold! Trolleys come in infinites!

Infinitely cool, IKEA.

1350HP Bugatti Veyron Centenaire Edition?

Holy shit this has to be the fastest production car ever if it's successfully manufactured. 1350 horsepower. The central air intake looks like a mouth ready to consume anything that stands in its way. Absolute monster.

Friends, Shopping, Aston's

Mischievous ball. The last time i was there it was still lifeless as usual at the foosball table, and now it has managed to escape the constant hitting by the plastic figurines it has once so painfully endured. I am happy for you, ball.

Ok anyway the above was taken from the foosball table at Adidas, The Cathay. We(me,yin,kasper), were there for dinner at Aston's. It was my first meal there, and it was surprisingly reasonable for a restaurant in town. Eighteen Chefs you have got yourself a competitor. 

C.C.Liap actually asked if this shiat was real.

Way before we met C.C.Liap. aka Kasper Koh for dinner we were shopping for a jockey cap at Far East. Well it wasn't hard to find, and then it was to Sim Lim for a battery-operated music player for NS. That one, however, was already a rarity. No outlet sold it anymore. Sad.

After dinner we spent the time at the basement of Cathay, discussing our very near future, even arriving on the topic of girls. This is as far as i go. Hehe. On the way back was another f***ed-up naming session. Out came the likes of : GOODS VEHICLE ANG, TRUCK KOH, PICKUP POH, BUS TAN...yeah you get it. We ROFLMAO-ed in the train until the aching in the cheeks was too much. I think we should do that more often.

I reached home way before my curfew! Parents are happy, i'm happy. Peaceful night. Hurray.

Mahjong at Leon's

Damn. I realise that i've got to work on my speech. Sometimes, when i've a flood of thought in my mind waiting to be verbalized, i might speak overly-fast while conversing with others, and come across as anxious and incoherent. I have got to slow down. Think before i talk. Go Shane.

Ok anyway, the plan was to meet up with OG 8 people at Leon's place for a day of catching up. After meeting ych, weizhou and tujin for lunch at Eighteen Chefs, i had a 'bus-race' with peejay and yvonne to reach the place first. I won. Hehe. And the promised drink for the winner turned out to be rainwater(because it was raining then). So together we braved the light but painful drizzle, with the ladies sharing the only umbrella. Life is tough.

Leon's unit had a nice view. A pity i didn't take a picture. We got settled down and finally, after so, so long, i have managed to grasp the elusive game that is mahjong(maybe to me only). Lady Luck must've been shining on me that afternoon, because i'm sure it was pure beginner's luck that i won 1 or 2 rounds. I'm still a mahjong n00b though, knowing only 1 basic method to win.

This was an attempt to make funny faces. 

Yvonne left for her family dinner while Kenny went to prepare for his book-in. The remainder of OG8 had me, leon, pj, dyane and shaoyun. 5 people, sounds familiar(right hor peejay?). Well that didn't mean we didn't have any fun. I fought with pj, not physically, but on the Wii. Mario & Sonic Beijing 2008, followed by NFS Prostreet(i still prefer it on PC), and finally Wii Sports Tennis. Who knew that such a subtle white box could make us sweat so much. Leon, dyane and shaoyun were playing Hotel626 behind us. Having seen it for the first time, i have to applaud the game designers for putting so much effort into its creation. I was impressed. The short clips of motion capture, the hi-fidelity sounds and the amazing graphics, all masterfully put together and executed. Cheers Hotel626.

Following that was a game of Texas Holdem. Blast, i ended up being the first to be bankrupt. Leon still raised his bet to 16, knowing that i had only 15 worth of chips remaining. Sad life. But it was fun. At about 9.45 we left his place, all of them took bus trips home while i made my way to Tampines for a cup o' Himalayan Tea Latte, with the man who introduced it to me, yinwei. Chatted abit before i had to(again) succumb to my parents' nagging and rush home. Sorry dood! Thanks for the company!

Back home, NFS most wanted has again managed to infuriate me. It keeps on crashing whenever i start a race. Life just became twice as sad.

101th post

Dear readers, one of my very own :

" Today, nfs kept crashing so i thought i'd keep the save profile and reinstall the game. The save file was deleted by mistake. FML "

my MUSTANG.

Nightwalk

Last night was fun. Started it off with a cup of coffee, large, at the Coffee Bean, Century Square. Coincidentally, yin and i met our primary school teachers. What a surprise. First time in what? 7 years? When you say it out loud it actually doesn't seem very long, but it sure does feel like it. Awkward, yes initially, but i managed to strike up a conversation with Miss Fadzillah(i think) and Mr Derrick Yeo. One was my primary 2(can you believe it) math teacher while the latter was our pe teacher in primary 6. It was funny when they were busy racking their brains for some kind of recollection.

It was down to random chatter for the rest of the time at the place. Talked about friends, army, girls(keke), the future, cars(nfs ftw) and whatnot. It wasn't long before we had to leave as the outlet was closing for the day. For some reason we arrived at the topic of naming our children(if we manage to have any). Yin likes his double 'T's and i like my double 'N's. Then out came the ridiculous ones.

Me  : "what about hercules? strong man leh"

Yin  : "Zeus then, Zeus Lee! "

Me  : *wtf*

Yin  : "did you say Bruce Lee? No! It's ZEUS Lee!"

Both: *laughter*

Following that were the likes of insane examples like 'Tutankhamen' (another wtf), 'Ramses', 'Anubis', 'Nefertiti', 'Cleopatra'. Yes those are Egyptian. Some gods, even.

We sat down at Macdonald's next for his double-cheeseburger. It was closing as well so we left shortly. We walked along the MRT track adjoining Simei and Tampines. The time was around 12 midnight so there wasn't a single soul around except for the occasional passerby returning home from late-night work. Shared more opinions on names(we decided on a few), and then it was time to car-spot. The carparks were literally a goldmine for a car enthusiast like me, and a hardcore-crazy car fanatic like yin. Spotted my (most likely)dream car at the moment, a BMW Z-4. A low-riding 2 seater. Heh. Yin got his kicks from identifying various car models with car nut precision. There were nice ones here and there. 

Time's 1.14 am. Taken at Shell Petrol Kiosk in Tampines.

The Z-4.

Ultimately we ended up at Simei MRT, munching on Hello Panda on the steps, drinking Pokka's Assorted Tea. Well on the way there we came across one place that creeped us out. I forgot which block it was, but we noticed something uncanny across the void deck when we passed the lobby. It was a painting. A Chinese one in fact. Of a woman. It's around 2.5 metres in height and 1.5 metres wide, hanging on the wall at the void deck. Yin noticed it first and i myself found it weird. It was staring at us between 2 columns of pillars. Eerie. Ok we decided to check it out on the way back anyway. The woman was Xishi. Google if you must. Why would a painting of Xishi be hung at a void deck? Strange. Well i didn't take a photo though. Yin's planning to check the place out some other time to see if the painting's still there. Hehe.

By the time we returned to Tampines via the same path, it was already 2.30am. I hailed a cab home while yin walked the remainder of the journey back. My parents got mad at me for staying out way past my curfew time, but fortunately they were already sleeping like logs when i got home. Nightwalk ftw.