Not going back to work till next Tuesday. Loooong weekend.Went back to camp early in the morning for a run... Met up with my sgt (impromptu), made me realise: sometimes it's not that fun to be running with others unless you have the mentality to train others, otherwise, find someone who's comfortable running the same pace as you.Had a buffet dinner at YCK's SAKURA at night (using Mess funds). Argh... Another sinful event. They were joking at the amount of oysters we ate. It is as effective as viagra! WHAT?! haha... Dick, sedia-ah! Lame lah. Yea, so much fun; post-ATEC. The joy of some shit event that is already over. Outstanding.Went to PLC for ATEC de-brief. I was surprised by the overall redcon status of the unit. I expected a grade lower. But my branch didn't do so well, although my boss and I passed the evaluation. Reflecting upon it, had I another opportunity to exercise my appointment prior to ATEC, the results would have been different. To console myself, i think it's ok since it's my FIRST time holding that appointment, and considering the pathetic amount of experience I have.Got news from University of Texas at Austin about my successful application. It's now 2 against 2.2 x U.S Colleges VS 2 x Local UniSomehow I wasn't at all happy when I saw the results, I should be otherwise... The thought of being so near yet so far sucks. Think I've been suppressing that anger that I can't go, thanks to the economic downturn. The realities of life are as such, things don't work out the way we want them to be. Although I'm really trying to feel happy that at least I can get into both the 2 local uni when some of my friends are struggling to get in, I'm not that satisfied after all.chanced upon my Verbier Festival 2009 brochure. Didn't know I have it.... lol. Really had the thought to pop by Switzerland for the music festival, BUT the timing sucks leh. might have already been back home.my greatest challenge now is how much about what I've learnt can I retain, good enough to exercise my appointment fully in years to come.... Somehow after the de-brief, I'm not that excited about being an S2 anymore. Inevitably I'm letting the remarks affect me... Why?There's nothing to play in Berlin? Are you freaking serious? How about Salzburg?
Finally ATEC is over.It is shag, definitely, but it marks the end of my 2 years journey in the army. Yea, I know I'm still a month away to my ORD, but ....Just last week same day I was still working like a donkey, trying to finish as much preparation as I can, to think that it's already over. I was complaining, whining, giving myself stress over the fact that I'm taking the appointment of an S2 for a full mission out of 2, and this is my first time taing up this appointment after graduating from the S2 course. By this, I was already force-prep-ed, more or less, just mentally unstable. Then came Sunday, the last day of preparation, and some cohesion dinner, like those dinner before the war...Monday came and everything became hasty and messy. But that uptightness saw us through 4 days in a glimpse of light. Returning to unit last night from the training ground, although fell sleep during the trip back, I realised how powerful the human body can be. The situation is as such:1st day: 2 proper meals, 4 hours of sleep (2 - 6am)2nd day: 1 x cup noodles, some really power naps here and there3rd day: 1 x cup noodles, 3 hours of sleep (1 - 4pm)4th day: no food, no sleep.Anyway, I really enjoyed the experience. And of course I learnt a few things. All that being fucked at in BMT and OCS, the training, the Int course that gave me countless sleepless and foodless nights, all culminated into a 4-day unit evaluation.And because of this evaluation, all the more I'm so against going to war.Results will be out next Tuesday. We're hoping the best. Most importantly, we ENJOYED ourselves! Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure fighting with all of you.
Right, so the long weekend is ending in about 8hrs time when I reach back camp... SHIT.Just as I'm getting on terms with having my fringe meddling around with my forehead while I run, or the just-woke-up look evident from my messy hair every morning, I'm forced to have it cut, shaved, whatever... In light of the ultimate test in a week's time, supposedly to be significant (yea, why not, everybody's hair will be the same length, one look, 5o0 over people from the same unit...), and suppose to mean unity. But hey, the morale's gone, with only 1 - 2 months to ORD, a.k.a FREEDOM.NO!!! I want my hair!More or less decided that I'll go to Prague. The issue now is when; June or July. That depends on whether I'm going to NUS or NTU. Still waiting for the damn results from US. can't wait any further. FREEDOM!
At home, thinking where I wanna go... Suddenly thought of going for Verbier Festival in Switzerland. It's the time of the year.... Then again, who's going with me...Had a Bn run this morning. Really, it wasn't an exercise for me, since the speed was slow (taking into consideration that I've got many "pikachus" and cannot-run ppl in my coy). But, all for the sake of Bn Cohesion.Next monday haircut; 4-2!!! no! I've waited so long to start growing my hair, preparing for ORD. and now a mandatory haircut for all personnel of all ranks. DAMN!My body's aching like crazy. I can't play fortissimo or sezza forte on the piano, my arms can't do the job well. Reason: went to the gym at YCK Sports Complex (near camp ma) on Tue night! I think I stressed my muscles too much and they're not stretched properly before the work out. The ache gets worse by day... I'm hoping I'll recover soon.Thinking of a damn good reason to skip the haircut session.
Back to work tmr... It's gonna be a short week... effectively only 3 days of work. I hope.Looking for someone to go to Prague with... I'm looking at a $3000 budget. With the air tickets costing $1000 odd, say, we reserve $1500 for the accomodation, eat, shop (not really), tourists locations. It's gonna be those Globe Trekker style (if you ever watch CableTv Channel 16).C'mon Matt, it's a city of MUSIC!The floor's open for any takers... Else, I'm gonna resort of Yong Sheng's idea, which I'm not really into. OR, I can save up the money, visit somewhere else again during summer break. Or, ehz... I really need a break from everything before I resume my civilian life.Actually I've so many places to visit. Some mountain trail in NZ (yea, it's like 40+ km of trekking!), the Safaris in Africa, Russia, Canada (dunnoe for what, but I think it's just about the dogs, the sleighs, the auora), Germany (I've also wanted to go there), Switzerland.That's about it. Not very into countries like Italy, France, England for now. Thought of saving them for my 1-month honeymoon (planned)! haha... Aiya, bottomline is, some places need to be visited with your lover, know what I mean. You can't expect your gf to backpack with you on a trail in NZ? or run the risk of getting chased by pissed off rhinos, or be by your side while you satisfy your weird thirst for looking at husky-s in a damn below 0 degree temp.Chanced upon this "Wannabe" by Spice Girls. The title may not sound familiar, but this might help.... "If you wanna be my lover, ...."Alright, time to sleep. Hoping that I have the right mind for a morning run tmr.
Finally, after 5 tumultuous days, I'm back home!Duty was boring... Dead boring. Thank God WJ came around and OC SP, if not I'd have bored to death. And thanks to that damn fire alarm, it made my night.Next day was outfield training. Shag but marks the proximity to my ORD! Oh, the promotion came too! 2 x months of LTA. Hooyah!Anyway, received this freshmen package from NUS. Perturbed by the QET, and the exemptions. What I do not understand is, WHAT THE HELL are you trying to prove? Your TOEFL requirement is 115 and above. And the max you can get in a TOEFL is 120... U.S colleges don't even expect so high... And I'm using Ivy League Universities to do the comparison. SAT Critical Reading 750 and above. What the hell. The last time I heard someone with such a high score was a Harvard student. Effectively, everybody has to take the damn test. We're in Singapore. Not a country with English as the native language. Ok, maybe we are also, but honestly, our standard of English is so not there.... Shouldn't the Uni consider lowering the scores?And yea, my 114 for TOEFL is just one more mark to the exemption. Shit! And I need to sit for the test if I'm really going to enroll into NUS..."The ______ University Admission Committee has carefully reviewed your application. Unfortunately, we cannot offer you admission to the ______ campus at this time because your overall academic record does not meet the expectations for admission."It just a semester worth of college-level chemistry and 2 semesters worth of college-level physics. Why so fixated at this requirement? You tell me to apply as a transfer student, knowing I'm a polytechnic grad, how come it has never occurred to you that chemistry and physics WILL NEVER APPEAR IN MY TRANSCRIPT? Yet insist that I apply as a transfer applicant? WHY?..... I was so pissed I asked the admissions office this question: "Having guaranteed a place in a local university and exempted the first year which concentrates on the foundation modules such as your required physics and chemistry, does that effectively mean that I will never have the chance to apply to your university since there is a possibility that I will never have to do physics and chemistry for the rest of my life?"Ok lah, I know I sound kuai lan... But I cannot tolerate actions that are not reasonable and un-logical. You have to convince me man...
