Just My Luck

Finally, I have something to blog about not related to the Police.

This took place last night when I was travelling to my auntie's house while I was on the bus. It was around 8:10pm and I was seated somewhat at front of the bus.

Anyway, what happened was this old man came in 10-15 minutes into the journey and sat down in front of me to my left. He sat about 2 metres at a diagonal direction - so I had a good view of him from my seat because I sat next to the aisle with my bag on the seat beside me.

I took note of this old man because when he came in, I noticed that he waved to somebody out the window, and I thought it was good to know that either he cared for someone to wave that person goodbye or that someone really cared for him enough to make he wanna wave to that person. It was touching to see that.

So we were all happily seated on the bus, minding our own business as I continued to glance out the window at the passing cars and scenery. It was just like any ordinary trip. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was something like routine for me. Hop on the bus, and sit on it for 40 minutes or so then go up to my auntie's place. That was pretty normal.

What wasn't normal is the incident I am about to tell you guys. In a way, I felt proud to be able to do something like this. Not just because I am a police officer now but rather because it's things like this that make this world a less stressful place to live in. There would have been consequences if I didn't do what I did on that bus.

This was what happened. After that old man sat on the bus for 15 minutes or so, he decided to alight. He, and this other guy across him (who was seated directly in front of me) alighted together with the other guy getting off first. When that other guy left, there was no body else in front of me which meant I was closest and probably the only person who witnessed what happened.
While the old man tapped his bus card onto the EZ Link Pad (technology reigns supreme here in Singapore. Everything is electronic :P), he must have somehow clipped his watch onto one of the metal railings as it fell off his hand. As I sat there and watched, I waited to see if the old man would bend down to pick it up, but unsurprisingly, he didn't. He simply proceeded through the doors and out of the bus.

So there I was - probably the only person who saw what happened was left with two decisions; sit there and ignore the watch as this old man continued with his life not knowing where he left his watch which he will probably never see again, or I could leap out of my seat, leaving my bag behind to return the watch to the old man.

Now the question is, what would any of us do. It would be so much easier to just leave his watch lying on the floor because it's not mine and I don't see why I should care about it. It really is as simple as that. When it actually happens in real life, that is most definitely the easiest most 'safest' thing to do. I mean after all, there are a whole bunch of other people on the bus too. One step out of your seat, and everyone will be watching you.

It really took me a lot of courage and dignity to do what I did because I jumped out of my seat and went for the watch. I mustered my strength to bend down to scoop up the watch, because remember my legs were still very sore, but what was really more important was returning this watch to the old man before it was too late. So I picked up the watch and as I did, I told the Indian bus driver to wait.
Actually, it was more something like this: "Wait wait wait!" In many South East Asian countries, people like to emphasise an action with use of three repetitive verbs. For example, 'Go go go', 'Eat eat eat', 'Sleep sleep sleep'. In this case, I had to 'cater' for the locals and also, with the short opportunity I had left to return the watch, those three words would have had to do. It would be a lot easier and faster if I said that than something grammatically correct like, "Could you please wait for me as I return this watch to that old man who has just left the bus?"
So yeah, you get the point.

Plus, I think the bus driver saw me pick up the watch and understood the situation because when I flew through the bus door, I began shouting out 'Uncle! Uncle!' But once again, unsurprisingly, he could not hear me. He only realised that I was trying to get his attention when I tapped him on the shoulder as I presented him with the watch saying in chinese, "This is yours". Right after I said that, I was struck with the realisation that my bag was left on the bus unprotected and the fear of the bus driver shutting the door and driving off. So I quickly took a very quick glance at the old man before I rushed back into the bus - not only to protect my belongings but also for the bus so that people on the bus can be held stationary no more.

When I walked back into the bus and into my seat, I felt really proud. I really did a good deed by returning this old man's watch and I felt good. If I had not returned his watch, the bus would have gone off back to the interchange and the bus driver would have placed the watch under lost and found. Sadly, I don't think the old man would have known he lost it on the bus because he could think he might have dropped it on the streets or some other place. Also, retrieving lost items on public transport might be a bit difficult and strenuous.

In all, it was great. I don't know who else on the bus saw what happened but that didn't really matter. I don't really care who saw it. All that I cared about was that the old man got his watch back while I could do something about it.

What's strange was that I sat at the front of the bus. On normal occasions, I would be seated somewhere in the middle or back of the bus. Hardly ever at the front when I'm by myself. Somehow, I was 'forced' to take that seat because that was the only available double seat on the bus from first glance at the front.
What's even more strange is that usually that bus is quite often a double decker bus. And most of the time, I would be seated upstairs. Whereas yesterday, it was a normal single decker bus.

What are the odds of something like that happening?

Collateral Damage

Well, just to quickly update on the situation - me getting into STAR unit is completely out of my reach. The only possible way to get in is if I signed on after my NS training which is 99% not gonna happen. So right now, I am not aiming to get into STAR unit but I am still however, still aiming for the SOC. This time, the posting will probably be the Police Tactical Unit (PTU) instead of STAR.

On Wednesday, we had a SOC road show where the SOCs came down to our place to present to us the things they do in the force. There were a lot of interesting things that they showed but at the same time, I was a bit 'reserved' as well because one of the instructors told us that comparing the SOC camp and the police academy here, the people at the SOC camp would consider the academy a holiday resort. There will be a lot of swearing, cursing, shouting, yelling, the whole lot. That was the part that really got to me. That was the part that I really didn't want. I wanted everything else, but not that. So that's why I'm just a bit cautious now because I will have to prepare myself mentally if I do manage to get in.

One of the main 'requirements' that they suggested one should possess is mental resilience. Personally, I know that I have that. I know I can really force myself to push further which is why usually I'll be one step ahead of other people when it comes to physical challenges. During training, I have the determination to push myself to the limit. But then of course, I know my limitations.
On Wednesday and Thursday, they really had it at us. They were physically pushing us by making us do easily at least 100 push ups in one session. On Thursday, we had PT and our dojo lesson. During those two lessons, we were punished multiple times as we were forced to do all sorts of pushups. Two of which comes to mind; diamond power pushup and finger interlock pushup. Actually, we are not allowed to do finger interlock pushups because one of our instructors told us that it is dangerous. Reason being when we do it, our elbow is restricted from bending freely so it is really dangerous. Take note of this pushup.
As for the diamond power pushup, for those who don't know how it is done, basically you have your hands together forming a shape of a diamond with your thumbs and index fingers. And to do the 'power' part, you basically have to leap off the ground everytime you push up. But that's not it. The starting position is when your body is near the ground; in other words, when your arms are suspending your body as you approach the ground. Everytime we did one pushup, we would have to return to this starting position before they called out 'Go' again. This was one pushup I couldn't properly do. There was no way I had the strength to suspend my body with my arms so low to the ground with my hands in that position. That was the only pushup I followed the rest of the crowd as I laid on the ground on my hands.

So anyway, on Wednesday, they had us do at least 100 pushups and 160 Jumping Jacks because of one idiot's mistake. If someone were to move unnecessarily, they would shout out 'Everyone to your right/left palms down' and now, those few words are what I hate the most and should be treated with the utmost respect.
On that day, after having been 'pumped' to the extreme, they then told us, 'Ok everybody! Raise your arms to your shoulder level.' I never knew I could experience such fatigue before! My shoulders were extremely tired and heavy that I was barely able to raise it 90 degrees from my body. It was as if all my strength was drained out of me and I had to rely on self-will and fear of getting everyone else in trouble for my weakness.

"Now, we are gonna start from this end. Start with '1' and the person behind you '2' and the person behind '3' and so on. Continue all the way back and then the next row until the end." There were at least half a dozen squads, if not more. Note that in my squad, there are 40 of us, so yeah, do the maths.

"1! 2! 3! 4! 5! .... " It kept going till I shouted something like 86 or something. I really can't remember. The pain was too immense for me to realise what I was yelling.

"Raise your arms higher! If you guys don't raise it up, we will do more pumping!"
AhhhH!!!! I forced myself to hold it up there. I tensed up my face to endure the pain that was surging through my shoulder and across my arms. I think I was trembling to a certain extent because it was so painful.

I tried to hold it there but the pain was simply unbearable. My shoulders was so heavy. they were like gonna fall apart if I didn't do anything about it. They keep dropping down lower and lower till it was at a 45 degree angle.

"Ok everyone! Put your arms in front of you! But do not hold your hands!" In some small way, it helped a bit. Moving it into a different position soothed my shoulders a slight bit. However, the pain was still there. I held it there for as long as I could without letting my hands hold itself or allowing it to drop. By this time, the number was somewhere around 130.

After another 100 people, the instructors shouted, "Everyone! Life your arms above your head!" People started to pull their arms up whereas there I was, still in that position without any strength to pull it up. So I allowed my arms to sling down and as it swinged back, I used the momentum to pull it up above my head. But somehow, my arms seem to wanna drop back down. I then had to lean backwards to allow my arms to tilt to the back as I locked my elbows into place. Now, not so much pain was on my shoulders but now, they were all on my abs.

By 250 something, they had lost count and that was when the instructors called out, "Enough! Since you cannot count properly, we shall start at 1 again!" Everyone moaned and groaned as the count began, "1! 2! 3! 4! 5!..." Somewhere through the midst of the counting, the instructor gave up hope and yelled out, "Squat Sadeya!" (not too sure about the spelling but meh) Basically, that means to stand in attention with your heels together and your arms on your sides. It was a taste of paradise. To be able to relax your arms like that, it was so wonderful.

"Now, I'm going to count to 100. When I do, I don't want to see any movements. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!"

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ... " He lost count around 33 when he talked with someone who approached him. He asked us what number he stopped at and we told him 33.

"Doesn't matter. I'll start again. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... " He could count again as many times for all I cared. Never had I wished someone would lose count when counting to 100 before. Every second was precious. Every second meant a chance to recover from any damage done to us.

When he finished counting, we were formed back into our squads again as we headed off for breakfast. At breakfast, everyone was dead. I could barely eat because I didn't have to strength to lift up my own spoon to feed myself. I had to fling the spoon into my mouth each time I took a bite.

On Thursday, it was the same. Just without the arm part. We were forced to do more pumping and that was when we did the diamond power pushup. By the time we started to do the diamond power pushup, I had no more strength to do it anymore. I was tired and had very little strength left in my arms. Everytime we went down, I would take a few seconds of rest on the ground.

Also, we had to do Jumping Jacks too. We did in total 160 Jumping Jacks. We started with 20 first. Then 50. Then 40. Then 30. Then 20 again. Everytime we finished doing them, he would start by saying "Jumping Jacks". That was when I would cry inside because he would ask us to do another obscene number of Jumping Jacks in our weakened state. And to finish up the PT session, we did 4 counts of 20 normal pushups. Which is basically doing normal push ups but stopping half way each time.

That afternoon, we had dojo. There we were punished because basically of us didn't practice the moves. I knew the moves but I didn't practice either. But unlike my other friends, I actually knew what to do when the instructor would shout out a command. Anyway, we were punished because of that and had to do all sorts of push ups; including the finger interlock one. That was probably what happened to me the next day.

When I woke up yesterday, Friday, I couldn't bend my right arm. This meant I couldn't do any push ups because I couldn't go down. It didn't help when we had PT that morning. And quite inevitably, we had to go right palms down. When they shouted that, I was the only person standing in the crowd and the instructor looked at me. He asked me why I was still standing and I explained to him that I couldn't bend my arm but I could do everything else. He then asked me why I didn't report to him when he asked if people were not feeling well. Then I told him that I could do everything else again. Then he goes, 'but isn't push ups included in everything else?' Actually, just thinking about it, I did mention that I said I could do everything else which excluded push ups, so I don't think I was wrong.

Anyway, he just told me to do squats and asked me if I knew what it was. I told him I knew how to do it and showed it to him.

In all, I had to do 100 squats during that session because we kept getting punished for one idiot's mistake.

Later he goes, "ok! We shall now do Infinity counts of 4 of Jumping Jacks. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

"No sir!"

"Infinity counts of 4, exercise begin! 1! ... 2! ... 3! ... ... 54! ... Last count and still! You! Oi! You! You want to be lazy is it? You don't want to lift your arms all the way up is it? Ok. Fine. Everyone but you to your right palms down! ... Take a look! Because of him, all of you shall do 50 push ups." This meant I had to do 100 squats! I focused my sight on one dot in front of me to focus myself to be ready for the 100 squats. It was just a way for me to focus without getting distracted or thoughts of quitting. I was getting ready. Despite all the beating I took already on my legs, I was ready.

"Everyone on your feets up!" I think the guy managed to give a sound explanation to his doing which is why we avoided those push ups/squats. Phew.

"Ok! Now, we will do it again. infinity counts of 4 of Jumping Jacks. Ready! Exercise begin! 1! ... 2! ... 3! ... "

By the time we reached 100 he goes, "C'mon guys! Another 50! Go go!" At this stage, some people were dropping out. They would stop for a moment and come back in as soon as they were ready. One of my friends said that he felt his calf muscle pull on him and he still continued to jump. The instructors later asked him why he continued and my friend said that he thought he could continue. The instructor gave him a good scolding because if anything were to happen to us, they would be in deep trouble. Extremely deep trouble.

After the 150 Jumping Jacks, we had to run the parade square 5 times following the instructor ahead. The instructor had a load of fun running in all sorts of directions. It was like those games where the snake gets longer and longer and you had to get the 'dot' on the screen except this time, the snake was 6 squads long with roughly 30-40 people in each squad.

So yeah, after all that squatting, jumping and running, you could say that my legs took a beating. A very bad beating. This morning when I woke up, I could barely stand. My arms were still sore and my legs, well, you get the point.

Just before I finish up, I will say this. On Wednesday in the afternoon, we had our first live shooting frame. There are 6 shooting frames and to get marksman, we have to get 80% or above. So anyway, on Wednesday we did our shooting and I'll just say I was so very nervous. My heart was beating hard and I could feel my hands shaking.
During our dry practice, I was fine. But like our instructor told us, we will tense up and shake because we're too tensed up. Just breathe in deep and relax.

So anyway, I was the last 'detail' to go in. Oh yeah, FYI, I am serial number 40. Meaning I am the youngest. That means I am always the last to do things in the squad. But I like the saying in the bible, "First will be last and last will be first." In this case, I like the concept of this saying XP hehehe
Anyhow, when it was my turn, I took note of the safety precautions and tried to be as calm as I could. I holstered my revolver and stood ready.

"Detail, watch your front!" That was when we had to hold the gun in the holster and have the other hand on our belt.

"1 round fire!" I pulled the revolver up and aimed. As I slowly pulled the trigger back, I heard the gunshots of my other friends and that was when my heart pumped harder! My hand began to shake and I thought I would never fire at the target 9m away. In the midst of all my shaking, I fired my first bullet and it shook me awake. The recoil was interesting. I knew there would be recoil, so to experience it for the first time was cool. I think the next time I grab hold of that revolver, I will be more ready.

Anyway, at the end of the first cycle, ie. 5 rounds, they brought the target up close for us to have a look at the damage we had done. I looked at my target and noticed only 4 hits. This indicates that I had missed one shot. Not too important. One miss is not too bad.
Then the targets went back 9metres again. We shot another 4 cycles at it but this time, 5 rounds at one command. That is, when the instructor said 'fire', we would shoot all 5 bullets in our cylinder.

After the 5th cycle, we reloaded our revolver again as they brought the target out 25m. The concept was the same. We aimed, we fire. After that cycle, they asked us to reload once more and fire at the target from our kneeling position. I fired the bullets and that was it.
The targets came towards us and we had a look at the culprit who was decimated. My target looked really nice. All my bullets struck the heart region. My bullets hardly flew upwards or downwards which was good cause you are meant to aim for the chest.
We brought our targets out and counted the bullets that hit the 'In' region. I noticed this cluster of bullets together so I asked one of the instructors how to count the number of bullets that hit that area. He showed me how to count the bullets and decided that he would count for me. He counted the bullets and said '35 in'. In case you haven't realised, there were 7 cycles where 1 cycle consists of 5 rounds. If you do the maths, that's 35 bullets in total which meant I got them all in.

Quite honestly, I didn't know how in the world I got them all in. I was shaking like crazy and I was sure I missed a whole lot. This was my first time I shot a gun with real bullets so there was no way I had prior experience to this. This was truly God's work in my trembling hands. There was no way I could have done anything like this by myself. So it was great.

SWAT

So what is SOC? What is Special Operations Command? And why have I added them in the list of abbreviations?

Well, it's something I want to aim for. The training is tough and the fitness level required is high. This gives me something high to aim for. If God is willing, and if I am able to perform, I will be so happy if I get in. They'll probably torture us like animals, but hey, after 2 years, and when I look back at this experience, I think it would be so cool!

Anyway, the best description that describes the SOC posting is in wikipedia. Feel free to have a look to get an idea of what I am aiming for.

In the SOC posting, I am hoping, just hoping, that there might be a chance that I can be posted into the STAR unit. Basically, the STAR unit is equivalent to a SWAT team. I reckon getting into something like that would be so interesting! Plus, imagine how amazing fit and muscular I'll be if I do ;) hehe

So far, the only 'support' I have in having the slightest chance of getting in is from wikipedia. They said that "TRACOM trainees", ie. me, can get enlisted into this posting. Whereas everyone else whom I have talked to has said otherwise. So I don't who I should believe. Oh, by everyone else, I mean people like relatives, fellow trainees, etc. Not Senior Officers who I should actually be asking.

Well, if it is God's will for me to get it, I will get it without a doubt. But if I don't, I am more than happy to do something else less strenuous, and hopefully, less stressful. However, it would be interesting if I could get into the SOC group. Let's just see how far I am allowed to go with my NS trainee status.

I'll be back on Friday night and hopefully we won't be confined this week for anything stupid.

Police Academy 3: Back In Training

The enlistment day was quite possibly the longest day of the whole 10 days. Just like any other 'first days', the enlistment day was really long.

It started off when we, the parents and the child (in this case, my auntie followed me), were separated when entering the academy. I went off and followed the directions of the officers on the side. The first room they sent us to was a room where they asked us to strip our clothes to our underwear where they looked for 'something'. One of which could have been tattoos. As police officers, we were told that we were allowed here was because we didn't have any tattoos. So they could have been looking out for that too. haha, I'll tell you guys something my friend in my bunk told me later when we got acquainted. I found it so hilarious!

He told me that when he got into that room, he thought he had to strip down naked because his brother who was in Civil Defence had to do that. So he happily went in there with no other enlistees in the room and stripped down naked. The officer in charge swore at him and told him that he didn't want to see any 'extra goods' and asked him to get dressed. Now imagine my friend being an indian/malay.

After that, they sent us to different classrooms where we would sign a health declaration form. From there, we proceeded to the auditorium and were briefed about the oath taking we would be taking to declare that we were now police officers.

They sent us to this hall called the Harmony Hall where we took our oath in front of all the parents, relatives, girlfriends and I quote, "whatever gay friends" who were there. When that finished, we had lunch with our relatives and right after lunch, we went our separate ways. I headed back into the auditorium as instructed and continued with whatever enlistment procedures they had.

We were separated into squads. Maximum number in a squad being 40. Our squad was at its maximum. I'd say that my squad consists of half chinese and half malay which is a good balance. There, we were introduced to our FI. He led us to our barracks and we were showed to our rooms. We left our stuff there and were given raincoats in case it rained at any time while we went out. In this case, it rained that afternoon, and were told to wear it.

After putting it on, we were brought to the barber shop where we had to pay $2 to have our heads shaved. Not completely shaved, but short enough for all of us to be the same. Just as we all finished, we walked back together to our barracks where we were allowed to wash up before being taught some basic marching drills and stance. All of which are in malay so it was strange for me at first.

We then went for dinner which was quite ok for me. I didn't mind the food because generally, I'm not too fussy about food. Straight after dinner, we went to the senior coy (company) to have our size measured for our uniform.

When we got back, we were told how to do right and left palms down. Then, when we learnt, we did 20 left palms down and 20 right palms down in front of our FI. You could hear many people crying and moaning to reach the 40 mark. I endured the pain and pushed on till we did the 40 push ups. It's not a number which I would do on a daily basis but now that we have to do it, I will train myself to push 40 at one go. Once I get better.

That night, when I was trying to get in an early night, we had a late night gathering at 9:45pm. I wasn't too awake at that time because I was sleeping soundly when we were told to gather. So the first few minutes in that meeting, I was kinda blur.

End of the Enlistment Day

Day 1 - 11/4
I woke up at 5:10am that day. Washed up and went for breakfast. After breakfast, we learnt more drills. The drills I found hard because we had to do some things which we don't normally do everyday.

After that, we went to the drill shed where we collected our uniforms. They gave us everything from the drill boots to the peak cap; along with all the other miscellaneous items like shoe polish brush, one hanger, powder, and others. We went back and tried on our things like they told us to - just to make sure that there's nothing wrong with it. Here's a story I can tell you guys.
Just when we were trying out our things, I happen to change into the Physical Training (PT) kit. After wearing the kit for a few minutes, we heard some shouting down outside. One officer was calling us to fallout now. He was shouting at us, indicating that we had 2 minutes to change into our PT kit and fall out now. I was already in my PT kit but I was wearing my own footwear.
In the midst of all the panic and chaos, I decided to just run downstairs with my own footwear which looked kinda silly. When I got downstairs, someone ran in my opposite direction saying "need the PT shoes!" Deciding that everyone was already in big trouble, I ran back in the opposite direction to change my shoes. I got into the room where there was a lot of chaos. I pulled out the pair of socks they gave and ripped open the wrapping. I yanked my footwear off and slipped on the black socks. Then, I fling open the shoe box and forced on the new shoes. Quickly tying it, I ran back down where everyone was in a push up position. I joined in with the crowd and remained in that position. Later, the old malay officer who was shouting ordered us up and started to shout some more. He pulled out different people for their uniform infringements and began his lecture. He also pulled everyone with different footwear so I was so glad I changed. In the end, he dismissed us into our rooms, telling us that he was just testing or quickness. Too much stress for me.

Our OC later conducted a briefing for all of us and there we found our serial numbers. The number works according to age, so I am number 40.

We had lunch and then exchanged whatever clothing which needed to be changed. After that, we were told that we were allowed to rest till dinner. We had dinner and then learnt more drills from our fellow squad mates.

End of Day 1


The first two days were the more interesting days in the academy. The remaining days there were spent in desperate desire to survive through alive and to get out for some medicine. I went to see the doctor on the Monday and she had prescribed some lozenges and cough medicine but I strongly believe that my sickness was more powerful than the medicine prescribed.

For the remaining few days left, I struggled through the day and squinched at every PT lesson. If I was feeling well, I'll be glad that there was a PT lesson. But when one is sick, any physical activity can be extra difficult. So I wanted to avoid as many PT lessons as possible. Fortunately, I managed through without fainting, so I wasn't too bad.

The friends I've made don't seem so bad. Sure at times there are some who can be irritating, but there are also some jokers in the camp. I think throughout the 40 of us, I would be one of the few fit ones. There are at least a hand full of us who are pretty fit, so I'll have competition.

Oh yeah! We also had our IPPT test on the 2nd last day (Thursday). Out of the 40 of us, only 11 of us passed the test, so the rest had to stay for an extra 2 hours on the final day. hehe
Anyway, here were my scores for the test.

Sit ups - 51 rep
Stand broad jump - 255cm
Shuttle run - 9.3 secs
Chin ups - 12 rep
2.4km run - 10.17 mins

I have improved quite a bit in this test and I'm quite pleased. What's amazing is that I did all this while I was sick so I wonder how I will do if I wasn't sick. I reckon I might get a better 2.4km run time. Also, after the chin ups, I found myself a bit tired and had to push myself to get the 12.

Anyway, I will be going back into the academy tomorrow night and I will be back Friday night again. Provided I don't get confined for anything.

Police Story

Throughout the whole 10 day (11 including the enlistment day) 'experience', I can sum up the entire confinement period in two words: Enjoyment and Torture.

When I was there, the first half was really great for me. I really enjoyed everything. The exercise, the discipline, the food, the drills, the rooms, everything. I really enjoyed it. Actually, I found myself to be pretty fit when I went in. Surprisingly, I found myself running with great ease. Running was no problem at this point. So everything was really great for me.

That was, until I got sick. After day 4, I found this irritation in my throat. On day 5, which was a Saturday, I discovered that I was developing a sore throat that I knew would worsen as days pass. Quite inevitably, I got worse and from then on, I was sick with a severe sore throat. As we approached the final few days of the confinement, I developed a bad cough. Even now, I still have that cough.

So yeah, once I got sick, that was it. The enjoyment stopped and the torture began. I really had to dig whatever strength I had in me to perform; and boy was it difficult. I struggled to breathe because every step caused my heart to pump extra hard. So quite basically, I struggled and forced myself to survive through the final half of the confinement period.

A lot of what I say here regarding the PA will be very selective because firstly, there was this oath that we all took that binds us legally to this Act which disables us to disclose certain information. However, what I share on this blog should be just as interesting =) I hope.

Also, I don't think I should publicly say things about my bunk/squad mates XP Simply because I know they will sooner or later find this blog and if I start saying things about them here, haha, I think I will get it from them when I go back in. XP hehehe

Anyway, in the next blog entry, I will run through very briefly what we did throughout the 10 days. Or at least try to. In the mean time, let me just talk about some random stuff about the PA.

It has been an interesting 10 days. We all had to learn malay commands for the entire squad to follow and also at times, we went through very interesting experiences (that I am sure we will still experience during the next 3 months) as a squad. 'Interesting experiences' being being punished for certain 'wrong doings' of some people. Usually Field Instructors (FI) will punish either that a guy alone or sometimes the entire squad for that guy's wrong doing. There was this one time when my friend couldn't coordinate his left and right steps to the timer's timing and as a result, the rest of the squad had to go right palms down (descriptions below; but basically, it's just waiting in a push up position) as he struggled to coordinate his left and right legs together; even with his own timing. We were all left there enduring the pain until several minutes later when he finally figured it out.

I really want to thank God for being with me. Despite getting sick for half the confinement, I am really grateful for God being with me because He really did play a big part in selecting the instructors.

Somehow or rather, we managed to get the best (being the nicest, kindest, doesn't like to punish us) instructors around. Here are the instructors that we have as a squad.

FI - FIs are supposed to be mean and strict in discipline because they are training the squad to be fit. So they really impose a lot of strictness and discipline on us trainees, which often results in punishments. However, somehow we got the nicest FI around. He is really kind, and even though there are certain 'limits' as to how far we can go, he is generally a pretty nice guy. Just by looking at him, you can tell that he's really nice.

Officer in Charge (OC) - Ok, OCs are supposed to take care of us with stuff like medical appointments, general paper work (like bank account numbers, donation forms - yes, they forced us to donate ><") but mainly to teach us law and other miscellaneous topics like general conduct, etc. At first, when I saw our OC, I thought he was really firm and strict, but after seeing him the second time, he was actually the complete opposite. He is really flexible, easy going and quite easy to approach. Of course he demands a good sense of discipline and for that, we want to respect him for that.

Dojo Instructor - Our dojo instructor is a female!!! w00t! haha, she has hair down to the top of her shoulders but with her sides have been shaved. Her face is aslo a bit plump. So try to imagine that. At first glance, she seemed really strict. Espcially when she started talking to the squads - she sounded scary ={ But then, when she took our group, comparing her to the other male instructors, she is way better because she's a girl and she's nice XD Girls are nice. That's what I think. ^^

Range Instructor - They are supposed to teach us about using firearms - more so the revolver. And wow, comparing our really kind, really nice, really 'don't want to punish us severely' instructor (eg. "Ok, if you do anything against what I told you, you will have to do 10 push ups. And if you do it again, you'll have to do 15." ^^) to other instructors, I really have to thank God for giving us the best instructors around.

And I think that's all the instructors we have for now.

Just to finish off so I can go rest before I wake up at 5am tomorrow, I'll just type up some of the terms used in the PA.

FI - Field Instructors

OC - Officer in Charge

IC - In-Charge. We have a Squad IC (squad leader), a Comm IC (Communications), Bunk ICs (there are 4 bunks so 4 Bunk ICs; I will elaborate more in the next post), a Classroom IC and a Mess IC (Food coordinator).

NPC - Neighbourhood Police Centre

PCG - Police Coast Guard

SOC - Special Operations Command

Right/Left Palms Down: Clapping your hands first before dropping to a 45 degree angle to the right/left in a push up position with your buttocks in the air.

I really can't think of anymore at the moment but if I do, I will mention them in the next post. Also, I'll try to elaborate more on some of the stuff as time goes on. In the mean time, it's time to rest for me.

If you guys want to ask anything about my 'adventure' feel free to comment your questions! =D

Life Is Beautiful

The final day of freedom. The last time I shall be deemed 'free' for the next two years.


I am quite capable of just leaving the country any time today because I am not bound to the Singaporean government just yet.

People ask me what am I gonna do before I go in and my standard responses are usually, "Relax", "Have a life" and "Sleep". Three things which will probably be taken from me from tomorrow onwards.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I don't know what to expect. All that I've been hearing since I came here was about how the army life is and how you will be treated with very little respect or something.
But now that I'm in the Police Academy, I don't know what to expect. Are we gonna be treated like maggots? Or will we be respected with high honours for being law enforcers?

In the army, they will force you to do things you normally wouldn't do - for one, you will have to run 10kms. Normally, I wouldn't do anything like that. But I'm not sure whether they will ask us to run that much in the academy or not. I mean, do we really need to run 10kms in Singapore? Singapore is so small. Just take a car and drive. If we did a 10km driving marathon, sure, I'll love to. Or better still! A 10km car chase down Singapore! WhooO!

In the army, they have to march from one point to another. In the police, we still have to do march. Why? I really don't know. What is the point in marching if we aren't gonna 'march' in a group to catch criminals. Perhaps this exercise is for discipline? I really don't know.

In the army, they have to do exercises that would usually involve carrying casualities. With these casualities, they have to run back some good distance. Like my dad told us he had to do a raid at night as they carried the casualities back 10km while running with all their equipments. He said that was one of the hardest exercises he ever did. Not too sure what we have to do in the Police involving casualities. Maybe just call for the ambulance and perform CPR?

In the army, everyone usually goes into the lecture hall to sleep because they're too tired. My bro did and I believe my dad did as well. If I sleep in the lecture hall, I think I will miss out on a lot of notes because half our training is studying. ><" It's like back to school for me. I think I'll have to try to pay attention this time. XP

In the army, they sing songs when they march together. My brother recorded all the army songs for me just so it would be easier for me when I went into the army. Only problem was that I wouldn't be going into the army. I would have appreciated the lyrics for the marching songs but I don't know if they will do it in the PA. Some of the marching songs are pretty funny. Maybe if my brother was happy to share, he will post them in his blog.


Tim was talking to me the other day about this police thing, and he said that as the day approaches, I will start to feel the affects of anxiety of the police life. At this point, I am still pretty happy and sad to be going in. But I also have to admit that the anxiety is starting to build. Not much, but it is building.
Just to imagine a completely different life style, where I have to 'do' things. Unlike when I was working, I actually have to know what I am doing here. And this time, I wanna try. I wanna try to be the best. I have to try.

There were talks about how the Police force is for all the 'not needed' ones, or the 'young ones' or I don't know what. I don't know whether that is true or not. But to think about my age, I don't know if there will be people around my age or will they all be older than me again; just like when I was in school where everyone in the year level is one year older than me. But then again, I really have no problem hanging out with the older people. I find it easier to 'communicate' with them than with younger ones. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I'll have to wait till tomorrow and all of you will have to wait till the 21st! hehehe! I will try my best to try to blog on the 21st. It might be a mighty long blog post, so please be patient. But I promise to blog when I get out from the first confinement. I will try to blog on whatever I can blog about without breaking too many laws. lol

When I was younger, like 9 or 10, I remember thinking about how it would be like in the army. I thought about camping out in my tent in the middle of the night with the bright moon shining through the entrance of the tent and into my eyes. I remember how everything would be quiet and how I would be in one of those camouflage clothes with my rifle next to me as I slept in case the 'enemy' attacked.
Funny story that. My dad told us stories about how you have to sleep with your rifle and treat it like a woman because if you lose your rifle, you will have to serve punishment for 7 years. They would take your rifle from you in the middle of the night if you're not careful, so I had that picture in my head as I thought about the army life.
Then, I pictured myself buff and strikingly handsome at 18, but I better not go into too much detail because there could be disappointment. lol

It's strange how things turn out. When you think you have something completely planned out for your life, God has something different. I would never have thought I would get into the police force. It was something I definitely did not think about doing. Not until I found out that that would be where I was gonna be enlisted to.
A lot of people envy how I managed to get into the Police Force and I'm really happy that I did. It is something I really cherish now because the intensity of the training shouldn't be so extreme. I just say that it's a blessing from God. A blessing to an unasked prayer. LoL! Just like the DVD player I got. Still liking the DVD player.

haha! I'll tell you guys something I did with the DVD player. I'm pretty sure this is totally illegal but hey! I'm in the police force. As far as you guys know, I didn't say this.

[Disclaimer: Everything said beyond this point is not so much the opposite of untrue but the opposite of that and it is most definitely not correct when said that it was not said by Boaz Ang]

Here in Singapore, I discovered that there was such a thing called "DVD Region Codes". Basically, different countries/regions have different region codes from 1 to 8. For example, the DVD Region Code for the US is 1 and Australia is 4.

So basically, the Americans will watch region code DVD number 1 in their region code DVD player number 1. And that way, it prevents certain countries from watching shows with different release dates or if they have certain restrictions on the DVDs.

Anyway, the Frasier DVDs I have are of Australian DVD codes, ie. 4. Whereas with Singapore, the region code is 3. Which meant the DVD player I got was a number 3 region code.

That night, I discovered that there existed a thing called Region Codes. It was devastating to discover I couldn't watch my Frasier episodes.

That was, until I found them hacks. ^^ hehehe, I managed to find this site where they had all sorts of hacking methods to change the region codes and what I've learnt, is that region code '0' allows you to play all the region codes. So I've set the DVD player at '0' so we can watch both the Singaporean DVDs and the Australian. hehehe So smart. XP

[/disclaimer]

Well, this is it. The end of the road for a while.

The next blog entry will be when I return. Hopefully dated on the 21st April, 2007. Hopefully still alive and sane.

New adventures and stories to tell in days to come! For now, any emails or messages will be appreciated! ^^ Email me for my contact if you want to reach me in the academy before the end of this day and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Till next time guys! Keep me in your prayers! =D

Cheers mate!

Boaz

See Spot Run

I've inserted a music file, Nella Fantasia, into my blog on the column to the right. It's sung by Il Divo. I first heard them sing when they did the theme song for the World Cup 2006 when they sang 'Times Of Our Lives' with Toni Baxton. After that, I was pretty much hooked into their singing style and from then on, I tried to retreive as many songs done by them as possible.

But this one. This one song sung by them has caught me. I don't really care if you guys hate this song or don't really care much for it, because I love it. It's up there as one of my favourites. Very few songs that I listen to really makes me wanna listen to it over and over again and still make me wanna listen to it some more without me getting sick of it. I could picture myself driving some deserted road for a couple of hours listening to this music looping over and over again and still enjoy every minute of it. hahaha, yeah, I could. But I don't wanna get sick of this song so I won't. Must listen in moderation! =D

I looked up the translation for the lyrics and even though I don't really like what they're saying, I still like it only because of the melody and the singing. The Italian words sound nice, but when translated, it sounds gay. So I'd just stick to the Italian version and try not to think about what they're saying. hehe

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the song too because I do. I've chosen not to auto-play it when you guys come on because it can get annoying when somebody else's music start playing when you go into their website. So I'll leave it to you guys. Just click the play button and have a good listen. Terribly sorry for those on dial up. If you wait a while, you could allow it to load then play it at one go. Believe me, if you don't mind classical music with 'proper singing', it's worth the wait XP



Well, I've decided to blog again because after tomorrow, I won't be blogging for a good 10 days so here I am again, blogging. About what? I dunno. Let's see what we can squeeze out of this big head of mine.

Today was the last Sunday I would play for the church band in a while. I've decided to take a few months break from the band because I need the break to 'recuperate'. So in the mean time, I'm just gonna focus on the police and recover whenever I come out during the weekends. Sounds like a good plan to me.

I also went swimming today after returning back from a long day at church and going out. Usually if I have to play for Sunday, I'll have to get up at 6:30am and get ready to leave the house by 7:15am or so because I have to go outside to have breakfast. So by the time I came back today, it was 6:30pm. From there, I went straight to the pool. But it was a mistake.

Firstly, there were too many people there. At 6:45pm, I thought many people would have gone home to have dinner or something. It was a fatal mistake because there were at least a few hundred people running around the entire complex and at least fifty people in the competition pool. I definitely couldn't swim properly because there were too many people in one lane! I couldn't be bothered anyway. Been a long day. So I just did several laps. I tried out more freestyle laps and more butterfly laps. Then after that, I attempted to tread water because my friend in church told me that he had to do that in the Academy for thirty minutes or so. Not too sure if they still do it now, but they probably will.

I can't seem to float on water anymore! I don't know why!!! Is it because I'm too heavy now? Does any body know how? Please tell me!!! It will be extremely useful for me! Thanks!
I just ended up slipping on my goggles (not too sure if I can wear them if they ask us to do it) as I bounced up and down the pool. I did that for a 15 minutes and figured I could go on forever, so if they asked us to do it with our goggles, I could do it. If they asked us to do it without goggles, it might be a bit harder.

Anyway, the second reason why it was a bad idea to go swimming was because my mouth was still 'sore'. The ripped skin in my mouth only ripped some more. When I jumped into the pool, it stung. Not to mention how flithy the pool is by now with all the people going in and out. I couldn't see the end of the pool because it was too 'cloudy'. ><" Yuck. But that wasn't he worse part. The worse part happened when I came out of the pool and went to dry myself off with my towel. I rubbed my head as usual. But what happened this time, was that when I accidentally rubbed my nose upwards, there was this amazing pain that surged through my body from torn skin in the mouth. I was so scared that I had torn it further. I'm still not sure if it's torn further but I'd rather not know. I just want it to heal quickly! ={ Also, for the first time in a very long while, I played some computer games at a LAN shop this afternoon after church with some church friends. I think I'm not so much a computer game player of a guy. I only like certain games and usually, I play in moderation because if I like it, I want it to last for a long time without me getting sick of it. But usually, I don't play much computer games.

Overall, I don't really 'enjoy' strategic type games where you have to think or build your land or something like that. Also, Role Playing Games are games that I tolerate. Usually these kinda games have a bit of action/fighting in it, so I quite enjoy that part where they're a lot of violence. But if it was just a game that involved lots of talking and lots of blabbing, I don't think I would choose to play that game on a daily basis - not unless it's a really good and interesting game.

However, the type of games I usually choose to play are those immediate action, immediate violence, immediate chaos type of games. Simply because it's awesome to cause all that chaos happen in a matter of seconds. Games that involve shooting and stuff - I like. I'm not saying I'm any good at it. As a matter of fact, I think I'm down right crap at 'em. But I don't care. As long as it's enjoyable, I like it. Even if it means having to die every single round, I don't mind. It's fun.

But on top of this, I prefer soccer video games. Especially if I'm given time to learn the game. Once I'm given that time, I believe I can be deadly. I remember back in Australia there was this one stage where I would score as many as 3 or 4 goals in one match against the World Class opponent. The only difference between computer players and human players is that computer players are so predictable. After a while, you can predict what they're gonna do. So after playing the computer for a while, you can tell when they're gonna tackle, and when the keeper is gonna be exposed.

But when you start playing with a human player, you think you can predict their movements, but the truth is, there is more 'indecisiveness' with the human players, and you can't seem to tell where or what they wanna do. Which is why it's a bit frustrating at times because you'd lose the ball from some silly mistake. Grrr.

Also, computer players don't come sliding from behind for a tackle.

Night At The Museum

A couple more blog entries before I go in. Three at most.

Firstly, it me tell you guys what happened to my mouth just a few days ago.

A few nights back, when I was brushing my teeth before I went crashing into my bed, this happened.
I was happily brushing away like I normally do, ie. away from the sink. I usually brush away from the sink because I can't stand just .... standing there brushing. I prefer to sit or do something at the same time. I believe my desire to train myself to brush away from the sink began one night when I told my auntie that I disliked brushing in front of the sink because I don't like to stand for those few minutes, brushing. It was boring. So I began to develop this 'skill', so to speak, to keep all the foam in my mouth while brushing my teeth at the same time. And a very lovely skill it is too. So now, I can wander away from the sink to sit and watch some show or to go pack my bag or even chat online.

hehe, anyway, there I was one innocent night, brushing away. That very innocent night turned into something I wished hadn't happen because it was so much more costly than I thought. I was brushing away when my toothbrush accidentally slipped out of my mouth and as it did, it went back into my mouth with quite a bit of force. So much force in fact, I felt a bit of pain on the top part of my mouth; as in the part between the lip and the front teeth. I thought I had just smacked my gum and would become swollen in a few hours.

However, that was not the case.

I only realised just yesterday that it was more than that. The gum didn't swell up but something else happened. What I had actually 'smacked' that night was actually the little bit of the 'skin' (I dunno what's the technical name of this) in your mouth that holds the upper lip and the upper gums together. I smacked against it hard enough to rip it apart, so now, it's completely ripped. It's quite painful and annoying actually. I've forced myself to limit my upper lips' freedom. I don't want to rip it any further which is why I'm trying to keep it closed if not needed. Which means people! Don't make me laugh on MSN! Please don't! Save me the pain and be boring when you talk to me. Please! Be! Boring! hahahahaha

Well, that was interesting wasn't it? I would have posted a picture of it all ripped up and stuff, but it could get messy. Plus, I don't wanna freak out the little kids reading this. hehe

There's this mixed 'excitement' about going into the PA; both the good and the bad. Both of which cancels each other out. In all honesty, I really don't know what I'm doing. Seriously. I'm just gonna go in, all blur and self-conscious that I am gonna stand out from the Malay crowd (unless I tan myself a bit more to fit in), and listen to what I 'should' and 'should not' do. But at this stage in time, I am seriously feeling no excitement what so ever. Simply because I am overwhelmed by how there are both good and bad points about going in. Here are some of the main reasons.

Good -

• Time is simply moving too slowly now. Going in will definitely speed things up because that's what I came here for.




• I need to get out of this mundane routine. Not very pleasurable or purposeful, so this will give me some sort of direction to persevere for something.




• I will get paid! Whoo!

Bad -

• They will torture me - both physically and mentally. After being out of school for 4-5 months, this is gonna hurt.




• No more freedom. I will most certainly be restricted to an allocated time where I will be 'set free'; this is the time where I can go back and 'recover'. After which, it is back to the same old torture.




• It's a long journey so it will seem like this journey is taking forever at first.

My relatives are telling me that I "can't get far" in this police thing. That during my two years here, they won't give me a good designation on the force. They're saying that I won't be as well decorated as those army personnel. Maybe it's because they watch too many shows. LoL

No one in my family, on both sides, has been in the police force before so how would they know? That's what I think. No one in our family has an insight into the police force so I don't see how they can be so sure of this.

But what I'm sure of is that I'm going in and I'm going to try to get as far as I can with whatever abilities God has given to me as I try my best. Then, wherever they post me, I can know that this was as far as I could go with the abilities I have and there's nothing I can do about it. At least this was as far as I could go and I won't have to wonder about what I 'could have' gotten if I had tried harder. Afterall, I know that God is in control and wherever they post me is where God wants me to be. What do I have to be afraid of? So let's see where this roller coaster ride takes me.

Also, for those who have been asking, you can 'reach me' in the academy via SMS at any time. Just email me and I will give you my contact if you want. It'll be nice to hear from you guys during this time. And of course, if you don't wanna waste your phone credit on me, just drop me an email and I'll try to get to it. I don't know how long I'll be sane inside there so every message will be much appreciated! Thanks guys!

Alrighty! For all those non-soccer readers out there, I suggest you just leave or scroll down to the comment section now. Everything I say from here till the end of the blog is all about soccer. WhoO!! Go me! In for the ratings I am! LoL

Let's talk the UEFA Champions League.

Even though I'm gonna be in the academy during the 2nd leg of the quarter finals, I'm pretty sure Liverpool will go through. A 3-0 thumping for PSV; no way can they come back. Not at Anfield at least. Many journalist have described the return leg as 'practically impossible' for PSV because scoring at least 3 goals in Anfield doesn't come once in a blue moon. The last time they took a beating like that was when Arsenal knocked us out of the Carling Cup Quarter Finals back in January with a 6-3 victory. 6 goals against Liverpool at Anfield is a complete shocker. I can't remember the last time that happened (if it's happened before). Definitely very rare for something like that to happen. But that was the last time Liverpool lost to a 3 goal difference.

But Arsenal is a very good team. Arsene Wenger is an awesome coach so it's not really all that embarrassing to lose like that, even though losing 6-3 at home is pretty embarrassing as is. Now, if we lost to another smaller team like Sunderland, 6-3. Oh dear, now that is extremely embarrassing. But let's not talk about that cause it won't happen. lol

The point is, PSV is pretty much out of this competition because at Anfield for the return leg, there is pretty much no hope of them coming back from this. They still have to play 90 more minutes but I'm sure Liverpool can pull it off.

As for the other teams, I think Bayern Munch will by pass AC Milan into the next round.

Man Utd will beat Roma with a comfortable victory.

Chelsea might lose the next round because Valencia play at home for the return leg and with the away goal advantage to Val, I think Chelsea will be out of this. I do hope so anyway.

And of course, Liverpool will sweep PSV away without much irritation.

So my predictions for the Semi-Finals:

Bayern Munch V Man Utd

Liverpool V Valencia

I really wanna see Liverpool go all the way. If they get through the Semi-finals, I think Rafael Benitez will go nuts and place all his best players with the most perfect tactic on field just to capture the trophy for the 2nd time in three years. I hope they can do it.

Also, a very mouthwatering final with Man Utd and Liverpool would probably be one of the greatest match in soccer history because both teams are peaking really well now. Well, Man Utd peaked back during sometime mid-season, but they're still pretty dominant now. And to imagine two great teams with a full squad fit to play at one of the biggest competitions in sport entertainment. That would be awesome! WhooO! I don't wanna go into the academy that night! XP

haha, I'll probably be punished severely for 7 years or something if I did that. haha, see you guys in 2014 if that match happens!

The Karate Kid

This is gonna be a quick one because I don't have much time. In fact as many of you have noticed, I haven't had much time to blog at all. With my dad here and everything, everything else 'minor' has been put aside. And that is where the blog is classified in. Minor XD

Firstly, I'll just say that the picture posted in the previous blog entry is in fact an actual photograph. I retreived it from the WWE website under WreslteMania 23. I was completely shocked and surprised that it was possible to break a steel ladder like that. Jeff Hardy, the one on the guy, jumps from another ladder set up in the ring and lands onto the guy on the ladder, Edge, as it breaks on impact. Awesome stuff. Sadly, I didn't watch it happen. =( But you can see the story with all the pictures from the WrestleMania23 pictures.

I went swimming with Melissa on Thursday and boy is she good. She is quick and strong. Just comparing myself to her, I still have a long way to go. Also, if she comes online commenting saying stuff like, "Nah man. Not really. Blah blah blah." Don't believe her. She's freaky. XP And I don't say that very often.
Oh, silly me. Who is Melissa? haha, for the many of you who don't know, she is Amoz's Primary School lover--, I mean... errrr, Primary School crus--, oh dang. That came out all wrong. Lemme try to focus. Focus Boaz! Focus!
What I meant to say was that she was Amoz's Primary School girlfrien--. ><" Hmmm, that doesn't sound right. XP hehehehehehe

I'm just kiddin'! haha, don't kill me Melissa or Amoz! XP Melissa is Amoz's Primary School classmate back before we left Singapore in '96. So yeah.

Oh dear. They're gonna kill me big time. XP *runs*

Anyway! It was nice having someone else there. I mean to not swim alone and to have someone push me to swim harder, it was nice. It was to my advantage and seeing that Melissa is a good swimmer, I had to force myself to keep up with her as she flew ahead. I didn't want her to overlap me so I had to try to follow her the best I can. hehehe

Besides that, this is my last weekend that I will be playing for church in a while. Even if I have time out of the academy, I'm not sure if I will take up the opportunity to play because I need a bit of time-out. Maybe in a while, I will think differently about it but for now, I need a break. It'll do me some good I reckon.

So I've been here for around 4 months now and I think it'll be nice to just have a little bit of a think of the things that have happened since coming here.

But firstly, lemme say a little bit about what I 'wished' had happened before I came here. Back in Australia, just weeks prior to my arrival here, I wished to have gone into the army in January. Which was why I left Australia in December - to have a chance of getting in in January.

However, it was not to be. There was an extremely slim chance of that happening so the other 'alternative' happened. I was placed for enlistment in March.

So during that time, I managed to do quite a number of things.

Now, I'm trying not to do the same list thing that I did a month back. So lemme try to do it this way.

Coming here, I've managed to pick up swimming and push myself to do 50 laps.

I got my first full-time job as an admin. That was really suckie and I don't wish to do it ever again.

I started playing for the new church here and in the process, I managed to pick up a lot of new skills on the drums.

I was given a lot of opportunities to finally catch up on a bit of English Premier League action live on TV! How cool is that!?! Sucks in Australia because back there, they don't broadcast EPL, they show AFL. ><" I mean, c'mon. Who wants to watch that stuff? Boooo! And please, don't get me started on cricket! hehe Someone's gonna attack me for saying that. XP

What else.. ermm. I was able to brush up on my clarinet and I reckon that's going on really well. I'm able to play a lot more notes now because I have, well let's just say, a lot more 'air power'. This allows me to reach those higher notes and other funny fingering notes with better ease.

I've also started something else which I will not broadcast over my blog. But just know that I've started to learn something else too. Maybe if you ask me in person, I will tell you. Maybe. If I think I should. XP
I went on two holiday trips with my mum and managed to spend a lot more time with our dad while he was here for those 3 days.

And most importantly, I managed to stay on MSN for hours waiting to terrorise my 'friends' as they came online. I like to call them 'friends'. Not too sure what they call me now. Probably something along the lines of 'stalker' or 'annoy-er' or 'avoid at all costs'.
Well, it was somewhat pleasurable; until they decided they had to attention their annual English-Speech classes with Antonio Banderas. I'm sure after all that terrorising, anyone would prefer an annual English-Speech class with Antonio Banderas over a friendly conversation with little o'le me. ={

In any case, just know that I will be gone on the 10th of April. Gone! See if you wish for me to come back then! Maybe then will you realise what you took for granted! Hmph!

haha, I'm just kiddin'. But seriously though. I will be gone on the 10th for 10 days. It will be an exciting 10 days because it'll be a whole different 'playing field'. Everything will be different and everyone will be in chaos. Imagine all these boys, screaming their heads off crying out, "Mother! Mother! I want to go home!" Just as I did back when I was here. Oh yes. And how amazing will it be when you see a whole stretch of 'men' crying out for their mother. We are truly manly man aren't we? I know I am. =X

The Parent Trap

If you are feeling bored/adventurous/curious/naive/nothing, have a look at my friends on youtube.com. They did a short clip of a lightsaber fight in their backyard and I reckon it's pretty cool. No idea how they did it though. lol Nevertheless, awesome stuff. Link

==================================

Don't you just hate the times when you jump into the pool, and you realise that it is warmer than usual, and on top of which, it tastes saltier than what you are normally accustomed to. It really doesn't help when the little girl in the lane next to you with her father is so busy giggling away about you don't wanna know what.

That was my first impression when I jumped into the pool today.

When I sat at the edge of the pool at 4:30pm today, I was pleased to realise that the pool was really nice and warm. I only had to splash the pool water on myself a few times before jumping right in. The only thing I found funny about the water was that it tasted somewhat saltier than usual. That was when I starting thinking about what the little girl could have done!!! ><" ahhhH!

But just like going into a toilet where someone had just taken a dump; you get used to the 'surroundings' eventually. lol The only difference with this example is that I am actually 'touching' whatever 'unwanted substances' there could have been in the pool. Whereas in the toilet, you just smel--, we'll, you get the point.

Strangely, even though I went swimming at 4:30pm today, with the dark clouds clearly blocking out a portion of the sky, I still got darker from swimming! I was so confident I wouldn't get darker this time round because the sun looked so harmless behind those dark clouds. Even while I was in the water, I didn't think I would get darker because there was hardly as sun shining onto the pool floor.

Obviously from my much darker complexion, I was wrong. I fear that if I keep this up, I don't think you could tell me apart from an average Malay guy. Perhaps, I might fit into the Police Force quite nicely! Then again, the tan will probably fade away after a few weeks. hehe

Anyway, my dad is coming to Singapore tomorrow evening so it'll be nice to see him again. It's a bit weird though.

Firstly, I've managed to go without my parents for 3 months before my mum came back to pamper us. It was all nice and everything, till she was about to go. Suddenly I wished I could be pampered like a spoilt brat all over again because it was great! Then, after she left, I managed to find my feet again and now, everything is back to the way it was.

But now, my dad is coming. I don't know what to expect really. Not too sure what will happen during that time but I will try to make the best of it. My mum told me to just enjoy whatever time I have with him and my bro because it won't be like this for very long. It won't be long till we all start moving out and the family won't be so 'exclusive' anymore. There will be other people, other families, other girls in our lives.

Just looking into the future, I see that the next upcoming family reunion will be in 2009 when I return from Singapore to Australia again. Actually, from the look of things, our family hasn't really been a 'whole' family for a very long time since Amoz left. The whole complete family setting with the 5 of us all together hasn't happened for a very long time. As a matter of fact, it didn't happen many times in the past. Maybe it's because we took that for granted and now we realise that without one member of the family, things just isn't the same. There is someone missing. There is an empty chair in the living room. There is an empty void in our conversations.

"You never realise what you've got till you lose it."

I think this quote fits perfectly into this situation. Without one person in the family, the 'family' just isn't complete. There's something missing. Just looking at the things which are happening, our family is currently split into two. One side being where the 'home' has moved to, and the other side being where national duties applies. Our parents and our little sister are in Australia with my brother and myself in our homeland serving our National Service. Two 'homes', one family. It won't be long till we make it one home again! Yay! Till that day, we will just have to do what we have to do to have time fly. Just so long as it doesn't 'skip past us', I think it should be fine.

It's funny how you look back upon all the adventures that took place as a family and you laugh at how everything was so annoying and 'uncomfortable' back then. But when you look at it now, it really was a wonderful time. A time which doesn't happen all too often. Not something we all scream to do all the time, but enjoyable. lol

The last trip that we took as a family was when we went to the Grampians in Victoria back in 2004. Our dad was so adventurous to take us all the way from Melbourne to the Grampians in our very tiny, very squishy, very 'intimate' Hyundai Getz. Imagine that. All 5 of us, squished into that puny car. Driving on the road for 4/6 hours? Not too sure, can't remember anymore. All I know is that it seemed like eternity in there. It wasn't any better when we had to have our pillows on our laps because there wasn't any more room in our trunk. So we were all very very 'compacted'. Good thing it only went for 2 days before begging to return back home. We weren't in a very good mood because everyone was complaining, so I don't think my dad really had much of a choice. Not unless he wanted a riot in his hands. Still, it was nice to see that we managed to pull through together.

But would I do it again? NO! No no no! Please no! I would rather stay home alone, without any one else around where I would have to do all the housework alone than to go on a trip like that again! Not without me driving that is. hehe

Anyway, family is family. Whether you hate them, or you hate them even more, you have to love them. Because like it or not, they are your family and there's nothing you can do about it.
As wacky as they get, they will always be apart of your life. A part of your memory. A part of you. So just enjoy it now before you realise what you've just lost.

Just to add this in and to make sure this doesn't end on an all-too-serious note, yesterday after church we went to watch Mr Bean the movie. It was a pretty funny movie. A good movie for a good laugh. If you haven't seen it, and are planning to watch it, I'll tell you this. Don't expect too much from this movie. Just go in, and have a good time watching it. Just enjoy whatever funny moments come along and have a great time. Once again, don't think too highly of it. You'll spoil it.

Also, go with friends. As many as possible. For this movie, it's great to go and watch the show with your friends (better the ones who haven't seen it yet) because there are many funny and silly moments, if you watched it by yourself, you probably won't be as 'entertained'.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I needed the laugh because things have gotten too serious as of late, so it was good. Go have fun when you watch it too! ^^

================================

Something I'll add here because I feel like it.

Do you guys think this is possible?

A steel ladder breaking in half under the impact of another guy leaping from the ring.
Is it real? Or is it just a gimmick that I found on the internet?

Pink Panther

It's so wonderful to hear people tell me that I am growing.

It's either 'you look fit', 'you've got a nice build with broad shoulders', 'are you in the army?', or something long these lines.
Now, I don't mean to brag or anything. As a matter of fact, that's the last thing I wanna do right now. To brag.

What I wanna say is that I have this thinking before swimming or working out each time. What I'd tell myself each time is that 'every bit counts'. Every training session or every exercising session will add up to the eventual result. It just takes time and patience (haha, for the person who told me 'patience' to me just recently, I find it funny how this relates to what you told me. LoL!). A very simple example of this illustration is the some-what common saying, "every drop of water counts".

It's very true. When it comes down to muscle building, playing an instrument, revising a subject, or something as simple as building a Great Wall of China - every little bit counts. It's all about looking at things as a big picture. A painter needs every little detail from the smallest of colour paint to make a portrait grand and spectacular. Great effort has to be put in to those smallest details to make a portrait very beautiful. Not so much the large portions of the picture. Which is why putting in effort into the most difficult 'training' sessions are the most crucial. It will play a big part of the overall picture at the end of the story.

And this is the kind of mindset I have whenever I embark on my journey to learn or gain new things.

Since coming to Singapore, I've started doing so many new things and because I have, I am very determined to make sure I make it to the very end. But I am not saying that it is easy. Actually, it's quite the opposite. It is so frikkin' hard at times. So hard in fact I start questioning my decision to start in the first place. But usually, that is never enough to topple me over from completing the 'session'. I am usually determined to finish the work because I know it will benefit me at the end.

Which is why I was so happy to hear that people could notice the sudden growth in my build. It really encourages me to pursue even more and reach the goal I had set for myself. I really do hope that once I go into the Police Academy, I will be able to maintain this growth. If not in the pool, then hopefully in the Home Academy Gym. Hopefully.

Anyway, with all this talk about body building aside, I'll retell a conversation that happened while I was catching a ride with a church friend during a ride back to a MRT station last Friday night.

The scene was set such that he was at the driver seat, I was at the front, with the wife and several kids (being his kid and two nieces) behind. The kids were screaming/singing away at a CD he had put into his car MP3.
Anyway, while we were going back, I had a friendly conversation with the guy in front. Now, I find that you can strike up a very interesting conversation with any Singaporean male by asking them whether they did their NS or not. And after they say 'Of course!', I begin talking to them by firing some other questions like, 'What did you do in the army?', 'Do you still do re-service?' etc. just to keep the conversation going.
Well, I was talking with this guy, and we talked about some really interesting stuff. He told me how he did his BMT for 3 months like any usual army recruit, but later got posted to play for the Singapore NS Rugby team; as his NS for Singapore. And judging from his large 'round' build, I'd say he was telling the truth. I don't think I would be able to take him down. At least I don't think so.

But just to cut a long conversation short, what I thought was the highlight of the conversation was when I asked him this.

Boaz: So did you study overseas?
Man: No. I didn't.
Boaz: Oh? So you were in Singapore during most of your life? (I was gonna say 'So you were in Singapore for all your life?' but I dunno, it might have sounded harsh at the time=S)
Man: Yeah.
Boaz: Wow, because I can't really hear that Singaporean accent from you. You know, the singlish I usually hear from most Singaporeans. Are you sure you didn't go overseas?
Man: ha ha, well, I think it's because I'm talking to you. You've got that accent, so I have to do it as well.
Boaz: hahahahahahaha!!!
[Everyone starts laughing]

Wife: You should hear his Chinese!
Man: *Starts to mumble very broken chinese*
Boaz: hahahahahahaha!!!

I mean I knew people do that. I know that people will alter their accent or slang just to cater for some foreigner, and I do find it funny because when I hear my relatives do it, I can so easily tell that they are just faking it. I won't name names because there are more relatives reading my blog than I'd like to count. (If you are my relative, and you think you know all the relatives that read my blog, try again. Personally, I'd rather not know how many of my relatives read my blog, but I know that there are quite a few.) hehehe

But what was so significant about this incident was that this was the first time someone altered their accent/slang for me! I mean, I was all honoured and everything that my accent still hasn't changed (and I hope it doesn't), but it's strange. It's never happened before so I kinda found it quite funny that someone would do that for me. lol

Strangely though, it's made me think that I am somewhat 'a foreigner' in this homeland of mine. Why, just the other week while I was taking a cab to church, the taxi driver talked to me in Chinese when I sat down and not long after, he asked me if I was from some other country. I told him that I was Singaporean and I had returned to do my NS. He then admitted that my Chinese was 'funny'. Not the humorous 'haha' funny, but the 'huh? I don't understand your Chinese well' funny.

I guess this isn't too good for me because I should be learning my 'roots' that is the Chinese within me along with the dialect that comes with it. But then again, I'm not too sure if any of what I just said made any sense so I really have to learn to correct my grammar in English first!

The funny thing about my Chinese as it is, is that sometimes, I can hear myself going out of tune, or I can't get that certain tune with that Chinese character and I know it's wrong. It's just that I just can't seem to hit that certain tune which can be embarrassing when you're talking with a hawker stall lady and she's just looking at you strangely.

In case I didn't mention this in my blog before, there will be a lot of Malays in the PA. So this means, not only will the commands be in Malay, but also there will be a lot of Malay words flying all over the place which will probably mean I will be picking up some of them for my own personal use. =D

Also! I only have just over a week of freedom left! I will be going in on the 10th of April at 8:30am. The 'introduction' for the first day will go for 4 hours and then straight after that, I will be confined for 10 days. During that time, you guys can cry and weep passionately for me. Afterwards, when I come out, we can all rejoice and cheer in acknowledgement that Boaz is free once again. Then, we will all go out for some delicious mouth watering grilled fish. Yum! And when the bill comes, anyone is free to foot the bill for me. Yes, I don't know what I did to deserve such generosity.

Anyhow, I'll just leave you guys with these two pictures of my auntie's dog, Spunky. He was sleeping one very innocent day till I came along with my camera. ;)

If you still don't see why I took the picture for, it was because he was sleeping in a very funny position. I came out of the shower that afternoon and I was so surprised to see him sleeping like this; with his back legs pushing up against the wall. lol, funny dog.