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

Police Academy: What an Institution

ah ha, ah ha... great.

Today, they asked me to extend my contract for another 5 days because the lady who I'm actually covering doesn't actually come back till the 14th or 16th of March. So if I left on the 7th of March, they would need to either go without me for another few more days, or they would have to re-train another person to do my job for 5 days, which is really silly. And that is why they asked me to stay for another few more days. Actually, it was more an on-the-spot notice that you will be working for a few more days. They didn't give me much of a choice because both my 'bosses' were looking at me, as I tried to wiggle my way out of it. One gave goo-goo eyes, while the other 'intimidatingly' stared down at me. Being in such a miniature position, I didn't have much of a choice. Even when I said, "Do I really have a choice?" the head supervisor took it as a, "yup. You're staying" on my behalf, walking away before I could even inquire about a raise =P
I mean, after all, they need me. They need me to stay for another 5 days, so I thought I could take advantage of their vulnerability and get a pay increase, but obviously, he was very 'experienced' in this area. Knowing that I might ask him about the pay, he quickly walked away saying, "So I'll give you a letter of extension!" scattering away from the department.

That's the story of my life. No body knows that I'm around. No body. Not even my parents noticed me. One day I went to school, and when I came home... they'd move. -- Mr Cellophane of Chicago

Fortunately for me, my parents didn't move while I went to school. Although, I do remember being left at a store once when I was 3 or 4 and I didn't know whether I would be found because I was so scared. I kept circling the place until I started crying. The place was so big (well, I thought it was big), I don't think any of the staff noticed that I was alone circling the place. I still remember circling the shopping centre several times before I ended up sitting down on this 'platform', where they had placed all the dressed up model-statues, as I started to cry. Everything from then on was looking very blurry because my eyes were all watery. If I'm not mistaken, I sat in such a way that I was crying with my arms dangling to the side. So imagine this little kid, sitting on a very low platform, with his arms dangling to the side, crying. I think crying in such an adorable position would make everyone in the store who saw me feel really really sorry for me. hehe

Eventually, after an hour (I think. Hey! I was a kid. I didn't know how the time worked), my mum came running through the store, looking for me. Not entirely sure what happened after that. Maybe I got ice-cream.


Since everyone in my family members already know, I can post this here.
I went for my NS early enlistment registration this morning, to have some documents signed with my auntie saying that my enlistment is 'voluntary' because I'm not 18. And while I did that, they also told me that I would be enlisted into the Police Academy. That's right. The Police Academy. The scenario when I found out was something like this.
My auntie and I were seated behind this desk with this lady on the other side. She went on about how these were early enlistment documents, blah blah blah.

Then she said, "Do you know your date of enlistment?"
I replied, "Yeah, 10th April"
She scrolled down the document saying, "Yeeaa... Correct. You'll have to report to the Police Academy on that day. Ok, we'll need to--"
I interrupted her saying, "I'm sorry, what?"
"The Police Academy at Old Chua Chu Kang Rd." Ok, I was completely shocked and surprised when I heard this because I was enlisted into the police force. I didn't know what to say. I just turned to my auntie and gave her this very surprised look.
I think she said, "Oh ok, the police academy," giving the lady one of her friendly smiles. I turned back to lady and tried not to be too shocked and I guess I could say, dissapointed at the time, by the news. I tried to remain calm as possible without freaking because in all honesty, I was definitely not expecting the Police Force. I have always been told stuff about the army and how you will have to go overseas for training, and how massive everything is in the jungle. And when I say massive, I mean insects and other weird creatures which you don't ever wanna meet. Ants are the size of a standard mobile phone in Brunei. Imagine that.

As we processed the documents, I managed to grasp the fact that I will not be going into the army but rather, the Police Force. It was hard to realise that I would not be fulfilling our family's record of becoming army officers, because both my dad and brother are officers. So I was a bit sad, but still, I reckon becoming a Police Officer would be even more wonderful! I never considered becoming a police before. The only time I 'sorta' considered joining the police force when I watch simply too many CSI: Miami episodes and the thought of becoming a forensics officer came to my mind. Besides that, no, it's never occurred to me that joining the police force would be awesome.
Why awesome? That's because no one in our family, both on my dad and mum's sides, has ever become a Police before. Not in NS and not in life. So these 2 years will be a very very interesting experience because I will be the first ever. I really don't know what to expect really. Besides the general idea that I will be chasing criminals, controlling crowds/riots, driving around in a chick magnet, I don't know what to expect. Is it gonna be the same 'life-style' in the academy as compared to the army? Is it gonna be hard? Is it gonna be depressing? Am I gonna be tanned? All these will be answered in no time at all.

I guess I am a little bit disappointed also by the fact that I probably won't be handling as many rifles and other miscellaneous weapons because I will probably be limited to using the hand-gun. My auntie said that I may be handling other types of weapons that people in the army don't handle like the sniper and stuff, provided I become a sniper. Or even the SWAT team, if that falls my way.

Then comes the thought of having a badge. Wow, a badge! So much better than getting those things they get in school for recognising good works, or whatever they call it. It's not important. What's important is a police badge. Oh baby.

Mulan

This was what happened during the presentation for work yesterday.

When we went for the LG presentation, I was simply accompanying my boss, but the thing is, the people at LG didn’t know that. So they all thought I’m actually ‘working’ for the company I’m in, and as a result, I benefited as much as she did!

This is what happened. They showed us around, presenting their new Home Theatre models and DVD players. That was all cool. What wasn’t cool was when their people starting asking me questions like, “So what kinda DVD player are you looking for?” Because my boss explained earlier that I was researching for a certain type of DVD Combo set for a client. (but in actual fact, I was simply taking my time, scrolling through the features, not paying attention to much detail. The only thing I remember about the Combo set is that it is a DVD Mini-Home Theatre system. Besides that, I knew nothing.) When they asked me stuff like that, I’d usually bluff my way through with either a lot of nodding accompanied with an “I understand” hum (even though it’s more an “I’m confused and I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about” ‘hum’), or, I would be looking up to my boss to cover me. Fortunately, nothing too embarrassing has occurred… yet.

Anyway, back to the story. When the presentation was over, our ‘guide’ scurried across to another part of the room and picked up a sentimental gift. Well, it was quite sentimental to me at least! He went and had brought over a complimentary DVD player for the both of us. The first thought in my head when he handed it to me was, “Is this mine!?” Like far out! You’re GIVING me a DVD player!?
As soon as I came to my senses, I remembered that in our company policy pamphlet, it said that we weren’t allowed to have the gifts given to us by our clients and must have it handed over to the company. I felt disappointed when I remembered this because in all honesty, I really wanted one. I didn’t have access to a DVD player of some sort here in Singapore, so having a DVD player would have been awesome!
As my boss and I went out, I asked her, “Are we actually allowed to keep these gifts?”
She replied, “Yeah. If you want it, you can have it.” I was so happy when I heard this. It was actually an ‘unsaid’ prayer that I had answered! Amazing! Truly God knows what we want even though we don’t ask for them! Thank you God!

My boss then told me, “Actually we’d usually get gifts like a notebook, or a pen. There was this one time when I was given a nice black coat with [name of company]’s name on it, but nothing ever this expensive before. So you are very lucky.”
It’s great to know that God pours His blessings on us, even though we don’t deserve or expect it. I think this really was the highlight of my day. In all honesty, it was a wonderful gift. I couldn’t have asked for more at the time. ^^


In other news, I have been told my enlistment date for NS. It was verbally informed over the phone so it’s not a formal indication that this is actually the exact date that I’m going in. But in any case, I am pretty sure that this is the date that I will be enlisted. My auntie called them as few days ago and found out that my enlistment date is on the 10th of April. So much for being enlisted in March, yet alone coming here to Singapore early hoping to get enlisted in January. Nevertheless, it’s all in God’s hands, and since I’m going in later than expected, I’m looking at this as positively as I can.

Firstly, I will have a bit more time as a civilian. Amoz tells me stories of how it sucks to be in the military and how your entire civilian life is basically at the mercy of the officials. This is where the cruise, the sleeping in and the spontaneous desire to eat come in. For every day when I finish working, I will cherish my freedom by doing what I see fit. This might mean me going back to my relaxing lifestyle before I started working which included me watching movies and comedy sit coms on peekvid dot com. Surely I can do that for a month or so. Easy.
Secondly, I will prepare myself for the army by training again. This probably means afternoon runs in the sun because Amoz told me that I should start training by running in the sun to get used to it for long runs in the army. I don’t think I’ve ever ran more than 4km, so doing long runs will certainly be new to me. A ‘long’ run in the army is around 7-15km, roughly. On top of which, you’ll be carrying your army backpack and rifle.
At the moment, I’m still swimming every Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 6:30am before work. I’m still doing 20 laps but I really have to push myself to do them as quickly as possible because I have to get to work! Once work is over, I think I will be able to take it a lot easier and perhaps get a few more laps in the overall 20. It’ll be nice to relax in the pool and swim underwater like a little fish again. Oh well, just a few more weeks till I can do that! XD


Chinese New Year is coming up. This means that my revenue for being unmarried will increase as the aunties all start pouring in beautiful ‘ang pow’ packets. The other beautiful thing is that I am staying with my grandma on my dad’s side, so all the aunties and uncles will come and visit her. And when they do, I will be there as they start handing out ang pow to all the unmarried nieces and nephews. I think that’s how it works. All I know is that I will be getting them. XP
It’s gotta be terrible for all the aunties and uncles though. Each year they will lose, who knows how many hundreds of dollars, just because of tradition. Some really sneaky aunties will actually leave the country just so they could escape the tradition for that period. But then, how many times can they do that in a decade?

I haven’t been back for Chinese New Year since I left Singapore at the age of 6. So after 11 years, I am back for my first Chinese New Year in over a decade. I can vaguely remember what we do in Chinese New Year. The only thing my eyes were on was the red-packets so every thing else was pretty much a blur. Terrible, I know.

Revenge Of The Nerds

A few days back, the first round offers for Uni spots in Victoria was issued.

I had applied for several courses in Melbourne and Monash Uni. Most of them along the lines of Science, Engineering and Chemistry. Actually, I placed commerce as my first preference in Melbourne Uni because I was thinking about getting into the Actuary course. Sadly, the ENTER score for that was 95+. I didn't make that 'nerdy' score which wasn't overly disappointing for me because I decided not to pursue this course.

What is an Actuary?

I'm guessing many of you are wondering this right now. Few have heard of this career, so I'll just briefly inform the many of you of its specifics. To make your life a whole lot easier, I'll just summarise the main points of this career.

Firstly,

dictionary.com defines an actuary as:

Insurance. a person who computes premium rates, dividends, risks, etc.,
according to probabilities based on statistical records.

wikipedia further defines it as:

Those with a deep understanding of financial security
systems, their reasons for being, their complexity, their mathematics, and the way they work.

Yes, mathematics, my favourite. No, insurance, I hate it. I hate anything that has to do with the economy actually. Bad, I know. But I don't find it interesting at all. I think my hatred for the subject sparked when I was doing Accounting in year 11. The only things I love about this job, are how much mathematics is involved and how amazingly high they pay you. Seriously, that was one of the highlights about this job. I liked the idea of how much you get paid from doing challenging mathematics. If you want an idea of how much an actuary gets, they get around $150,000 to $250,000 annually. That's $12,500 to $20,833 monthly. That's $625 to $1041 weekly. That's $70 to $116 hourly. Oh my. From where I'm standing, that's more than enough for me!

But it was not to be. The mathematics involved is extremely challenging and you have to be top class in order to do it. Otherwise you'll be struggling. I don't think that's me. On top of that, the maths involved is something like 'model making', ie. you have to make a rule of some sort to fit the 'situation'. That's not the type of maths that I like. I prefer applied maths. Gimme numbers, gimme rules, and I'll do it for you in a second. So this job isn't for me.

Which is why I've applied for the Science/Engineering course. The Engineering course will definitely have Maths. And Science, well, let's say I'm going for Maths/Statistics.

I applied at Melbourne Uni and glad to say, that my ENTER score was sufficient this time round. They offered me a spot in Melbourne Uni, so I got what I wanted. However, the sad part begins.

As many of you know, I'm in Singapore doing my NS and will be back in Australia in 2009. This meant I had to apply for deferment. I had to defer it till 2009. Well, I tried to do it today, but as obvious as the word 'tried' tells the story, I couldn't. I went into the right page, but it informed me that I am not able to defer my Science/Engineering course. So this means, I'll have to apply all over again in 2 years time and hope that no one takes my place because they made the ENTER score requirement a little higher. That's the worse that could happen.

Well, maybe not the worse. The worse would be if they removed this entire course when I return which would mean I won't be able to apply for it at all.

Wait, something worse would be the entire Melbourne Uni burning down which would then mean that no one would be able to apply for it at all.

Then again, a gigantic bushfire could engulf the entire Victorian state, but we won't go there.

Schindler's List

Well, I'm sitting here, staring at a blank blog entry, deciding what to type. To be honest, a lot has been rolling around my mind these past few days, and I've been given a lot to think about. Unfortunately, I won't be sharing it on my blog because I don't see the point in doing that. A lot of profound thinking happens in this head, and none of you are gonna catch a glimpse at it.
Oh fine, you can have a glimpse. You can all watch the 'immature' side of my head as you read the wild thoughts of my head in my blog, as many of you have witnessed in shock during the course of reading my blog. Good thing this isn't what I am like in real life. hehe ... I hope.

Not too much has happened with me in Singapore. Ever since Jo-an left, I've mainly been home. As for church, I've asked for a one week break from the band. So I didn't go to church on Saturday. Besides that, I've been 'relaxing', so to speak.

With the NAPFA test now behind me, I have to admit that physically, I have been taking it easy. The last time I went for an exercise was last Tuesday when I went for a swim, so it has been a while. Well, to me at least. Not really all that used to not exercising for several days, which is why I am feeling a bit guilty for it.

This morning I did try to swim. I planned on waking up at around 6am to hit the pool. Well, I did the waking up bit, but I never got to the swimming bit. Simply because it was still closed. Normally, the pool would be open from 6am onwards, but because it's Sunday, it only opens at 8am. Sadly for me, I only found out this morning. Anyway, that meant more time for me to get ready to head off to church. I walked to the hawker centre across the road and had myself a nice delicious bowl of prawn noodle and a cup of soya bean. All for the price of $2.50. ^^

Looking forward, these are the things that I am hoping to do.

Firstly, I hope to get a job in a school as a relief teacher until end of February. Tomorrow I'm gonna try to call up some schools to ask if they've got an opening. But yeah, that's one thing I hope to get before my NS enlistment. In all honesty, I'd rather not work. But I would really like some good pocket money to spoil myself in the near future, so I guess I would also like to work. I mean, I don't mind bumming around all day using the internet, after all, who wouldn't. Unfortunately, I have to be more 'mature' and 'independent' as I embark on the challenge to find a job.

I believe there's a purpose and plan for all things that happen. God is in control of everything and I believe when He sent me down to the job interview in my church friend's workplace that there was a reason behind it. I don't know what is the reason yet, but I will know in due time. Also, just last Wednesday, I got a call from this job agency in Singapore who asked me about my resume I posted a few days prior. He asked me a few questions about what I was doing and when I'm going into NS.

As he concluded, he asked me, "So what do you hope to do when you finish your NS period?"

I answered, "I hope to return back to Australia to conclude my studies there," and as soon as I said that, he replied, "Thank you. That is all I need to know. Bye."

Reflecting on this conversation, I pondered as to why I was 'allowed' this phone call. Why would I have this phone conversation when there wasn't anything beneficial to me. After thinking it through, I began to realise that the lesson in this conversation thought me on what to say in the case of a future interview. Perhaps I should have replied, "At the moment, I'm not entirely sure, so I will have to wait and see." Or something along that line. Because from their perspective, I'm thinking they'll want someone whom they can call again in the event of a temporary vacancy. So it's understandable that they wanted someone who they know will be able to return if they needed help again.

From their point of view, it's totally logical. From my point of view, I was confuse as to why God would initiate a call like that. I mean why not 'blind' the job employer's eyes from my resume. If He didn't want me to have this job, I'm pretty sure he could have done that. But He didn't. So I'm sure there's a reason to it. At the moment, I can only see that it has taught me what to say to convince the employer that I am good to go, and ready to work. And also at the same time, not giving them a direct answer as to my future.

Secondly, I have to get ready for NS again. And when I say 'get ready', I mean get ready physically, as well as mentally. Maybe not so much emotionally because I guess I'm not so attached to the people here. Not as much as if I were in Australia, so I don't think it'll be much of a problem.

Seeing how I fared at the NAPFA test, I have to say that I'm pretty proud of how well I trained during the 2 weeks I had prior to the test. I trained hard, and I played my cards right. I kept my training routine tight, and results were shown. Now, if I could play these cards again, to get ready for a longer run at the course, I think I will be much better off again. No way is the army gonna be any easier than that miniature 'test'. It's gonna be hard. It's gonna be tough. So I'm gonna have to prepare myself again.

I know that once I'm in, they're gonna pound me to death. So I think it'll be good if I got myself fit before I go in. Just so that when I'm in, I won't have to worry about struggling as much as I would if I was unfit. Preparation is the key. It is very important and it is essential to making your life so much easier. I don't understand how or why people would go into new things unprepared. It's just silly and stupid. I mean, you see it coming, yet nothing is done about it. It's ridiculous. You have to be smart and wise, take preparations, it will be so much easier when the day of judgement comes.

With that, I not only talk about things that we do in activities, but things for God. Most of us know that God is coming, so we have to be prepared. In the same way, it would be stupid and silly if we don't prepare. We know that the coming is just around the corner. Make your time at judgement a whole lot brighter by preparing yourself. Don't be foolish. Do what's right.

Man, I don't know how I got into preaching in my blog. lol

On a whole different level, I think God teaches me new things each day through different experiences. Especially how I'm alone now, and will be more independent in most of the things I do. God has surely been driving me through different challenges and tasks as I gain very valuable and unique experience. Now examining myself, I notice that I am one to learn from experience and not the experience of others. Quite silly if you look at it, but I'm naturally stubborn and will not 'listen' if I'm not entirely convinced. Most of my advice and suggestions are from first hand experience so you could say, I have been ignoring most of you when you give me advice which is not convincing. ;p hehehe even though I know it's for my own good, I still won't listen because I'm stubborn. Plain old stubborn. To my fall I guess. Only for me to pick myself up and make sure I don't make that stupid mistake again.

So the moral of the story is, I don't listen to other people, but other people should listen to me. Simply because I'm cool ... from experience.

Big Momma's House

Firstly, let me start off by thanking the Lord for a good few days. For everything that happened during the weekend until now, it has been nothing but good. Thank you Lord.

Secondly, I'll like to say that I managed to grab Gold for my NAPFA test. A score of 25 out of 30 was what I got. Surprisingly, I didn't do as badly as I had thought. Fortunately, with God's help, I was able to pass with quite pretty flying colours. These were the results:

This is a very close replica of the result slip that they gave me. The only difference is that mine is very similar to a receipt and the typing is quite puny. So I reckon this result table looks just as nice if not better :)

I really have to thank God for this help in getting me ready mentally and physically. More so physically because when I left Australia, I was still ill and felt like a pig; seeing that I usually eat in large quantities and exercise in not so large quantities. Obviously, I had to shape up before I left, and yesterday when I did my final morning run in preparation for the NAPFA test, I was on the verge of collapsing because I was breathing so heavily. Not to mention how I was unable to train for 3 days, so of course this did play a factor in my struggle to be physically ready. I remember saying after the run, "Lord, You better help me! I'm going to die if You don't, so please, HELP!"

Low and behold, He did! I was actually the fastest on the track for the 2.4km run as I ran all 6 laps at a considerable pace without stopping. Even though my legs were screaming in pain, and my lungs crying out for air, I did it in 11 minutes. I reckon, when I go to the army, I should be able to cut 2 minutes off the time, as we would have to run 2.4km in under 9.44minutes. No worries mate.
Everything else that I did was pretty good. The only thing I was quite disappointed with was the Broad Jump. I got above 240cm when I was in Australia. I dunno why I didn't break 240cm when I did it today. Maybe Chariz didn't record it properly when I did it =P Chariz! It's all your fault! You brought my hopes up! Now, I'm crushed! *weeps pathetically*

Nah, I don't think it was Chariz's fault. I think I just didn't try hard enough. I thought it would be really easy so I didn't really add any 'ummph' to it. If I did, I believe I could have done a little bit better. Meh, it's still good. 3 points is still gold XD

Believe it or not, I was actually the 'star' on the field. I came in first for all the tests and I believe I was the only one who actually completed the 'purpose' of the NAPFA test, ie. the purpose of going there is to get Gold or Silver. I believe I was the only one to get Gold as no one else got Silver. It was amazing, and of course, I give all glory to God for His creating my physique. Surely if He didn't, I'd be sitting at home, slugging all over cheese crackers, hoping that for some justified reason there's a purpose in getting out of my seat where my fat fliters through the cracks of the chair. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

Truth be told, I really didn't expect to shine above everyone through the test. I was there simply to pass the test and get the 'prize'. I knew I could do well in half the tests. What I didn't realise was how I was able to do well and excel through the tasks ahead of all the others. All in all, it was great fun to come in first :)

On Sunday, Amoz and I were invited to a BBQ for dinner at pastor's house. Unfortunately, Amoz had an army function and couldn't attend. I ended up going down myself, seeing that I would be in church in the morning and at night, I might as well go and not be a party pooper. I went, and to my amazement, the food was excellent. It was one of the best BBQs I've had. For those who know me, I am very critical of the food and wouldn't give any dish a whooping score of 9.5 out of 10 if it was just 'average'. However, this time, I have to say that I'd give the food at the BBQ a score of 8.5 to 9. In my books, this is really good. If I get the dish a 9.5, you know you've stolen my heart and I would consider taking your hand in marriage, lol.

I wasn't expecting much from this BBQ, but after taking the first bite, I was taken on a magical joyride somewhere over the rainbow. Almost everything was really really really well done. Everything from the potato entree to the pepper crab main, was really well done. I ate and ate and ate until I couldn't eat the ice cream desert, which turned out to be nearly a dozen tubs of Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream. (In actual fact, I was quite content with the food and eating icecream would have ruined the 'memories' of the night. So I decided not to eat it. Plus, I don't really have a sweet tooth). All in all, almost everything was delicious. The only 'bad' dish that night was the chilli squid. As much as I love chilli and squid, this was really quite too much. There was simply too much chilli, it spoilt the dish, so after taking a single piece, I had to decline the rest because it would burn your mouth and there wouldn't be any more fun in eating if you were panting in agony of the burning sensation in your mouth. Besides that, everything else was awesome!

Anyway, the reason why I've retold this story was because of the funny table conversation which took place at our table. It goes like this, there's this 'large' lady who really likes to talk a lot and it just so happens that she loves food, and this skinny guy sitting next to her. I sat just across from where they were seated, and I could hear everything. Then, there are 'extras' in this story, so let's call them extra1, extra2 and extra3.

Scenario: Pepper crab has just landed on our table, and everyone is complimenting on the deliciousness of the dish.

Lady: mmm! Wah! So nice wan! *sucking on the crab*
Guy: Yahhhh..!! Valy nice! (yeah, very nice)
Extra1,2,3: *suckling noises*
Extra1: *suck saliva* but you know ah, the meat ya? A bit dry no?
Everyone: yeah uh?!
Lady: Yeah, I think I know. The crab, overcook!
Guy: Must be lah. (that must be it!)
Everyone: *with crab in mouth* mmmmm!
Lady: If you overcook ah, crab dry wan! Then not nice already.
Guy: mmmmmm (I understand you perfectly! You are so very intelligent!)
(Pastor's wife comes over to table)
Pastor's wife: So how is it?
Lady: Wah! very nice! Only thing ah, the crab overcook.

The Pacifier

To be honest, I really like blogging. I don't know about you guys who are forced to read my nonsense, but I quite enjoy blogging about really silly and ridiculous stuff that really makes no sense at all. It allows me to go nuts and vent when I'm feeling disappointed or just down right unhappy. And on top of that, it allows me to share with the handful of you who are committed, to reading my blog, the things which are happening to me physically as well as mentally. More so mentally.

I realise I tend to blog more about the things which are going 'right' for me than the things which are going 'wrong'. Naturally, I'd rather not blog about them but on occasions, I will try. But rest assured, I will blog on the things which I find fun and entertaining. Simply because it'll be great for you guys to read, and a way to store 'memories' where I can go back and read some day in the future.

The NAPFA test is just a few breaths away. Unbelieveably, it's only 5 days away. 8 days ago, I was unsure if I was going to be able to complete the 2.4km run, but now, I can confidently say that I'm going to make it. For the last 8 days, I've basically been training non-stop, alternating swimming and running each night. I took Tuesday night off because I went down to my other grandma's place and it was raining the whole night. So that was the only day I didn't exercise. Regardless of how I failed to train that day, the swim last night was just as refreshing.

I managed to swim for an hour before the life guard told us that it was time to go. I went at night, around 8pm. I've chosen to go around that time because there tends to be less people around there. Especially when it's Christmas night, and everyone's gone home to be with their families.

So I've decided to go a little bit earlier because I felt like I could have gotten a few more laps in there. Now that I think about it, swimming is actually quite fun. It's one of the hardest sports because it uses most of the muscles in your body and really gets your breathing pattern to a consistent level. I'm quite sure this will be to my advantage in the NAPFA test. Tonight, I shall see. Provided it doesn't rain, I will see how my running is going.

This weekend, I'll be playing the drums for the church. I hope it'll be ok because the standard of music here is a bit higher, and playing the drums is a little bit more demanding than playing the guitar. The way you play the drums compliments the music, which means if you stuff up, everyone will know that you did it and you alone. No one else, just you.

You could say I have a lot of experience playing for church, but my drum skills, I admit I wished was a little bit better than it is now. There are so many things I still wanna master, but I can't find the time and place to do it. If I had a drum set at home, I'll play it as often as I play the clarinet. Pity I don't have one now, otherwise I'll use all my 'free time' on it.

One thing I like about the style of music here though, is that the music is nice and loud. Loud enough for the drummer to smash the drums to pieces. hehe, just the way I like it.

Singin' In The Rain

It may seem like I'm too busy with my life that I can't find the time to blog, but it's actually the other way round. I have plenty of time to blog but I simply can't be bothered with my already 'non-active' life style. On top of which, the internet plan that we are using expires every three days whenever we renew our online credit. So after each time we 'punch' in the code from a card we bought down at our local 7-11 (convenient store), we'd have three days (72 hours) exactly to go internet crazy. After it expires, I can only access a limited number of sites like Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN, Maple Story, etc. and of course the site where you 'punch' in the code for internet usage.

Anyway, Singapore rained for 60+ hours straight and finally stopped sometime in the morning today. It started Sunday afternoon and went on and on and on and on. The entire two and a half some odd days were dark and gloomy, which was weird, because I would find myself waking up at 9:00am, thinking it was still early.

Obviously, this made it difficult for me to train. The rain was simply too heavy for me to even consider going out. And even if it did lighten up a bit, it would pour again not long after. How irritating.

Personally, I don't like the rain. I don't like how it makes everything wet and slippery. This morning, I almost slipped. Twice! while going to my grandma's place. After the first one, I was like, "Thank you God! Thank you so much!" Cause I was on the stairs and they were really 'narrow', so if I fell there, it would have been quite painful. The second time was not so scary, but I still could have slipped.

And then, there's the smell of wetness. In Singapore, you can really smell it because the ground is mainly concrete, so all the 'evaporation' of moisture makes everything smell of water. However, what I dislike most about the rain, is the prevention of outdoor activities. Training for me is one them, but I think my dislike for rain began back in Waverley Christian College when we would usually play basketball every recess and lunchtime. It was then that I really started to dislike the rain because our basketball court would get drenched and we would not be able to play. You may be thinking, "Oh, but there are other times when you could play. Why are you 'childish' to wanna play all the time? Be more mature and stop playing games boy!"

Well, that's true. I could be more mature. But that's not the point. The point is, back in Waverley, when basketball was a real hype, I had 2 lunchtime classes each week. This meant I only had every recess (15 minutes) and 3 lunchtimes (50 minutes) to play. That's not a lot of time actually. If you've ever played a basketball match, you'd know that time goes by really quickly. So now consider a rainy day. It would mean I would only have 4 recess and 2 lunchtimes to play basketball. How terrible is that! lol

Bottom line is, I don't like rain. It's wet, it's cold, and it's watery.

Amoz tells me that I will love the rain when I get into the army. That's because in Singapore, there's a lot of lightning and thunder. So here, there's this rule where whenever there's lightning, you can't do anything outside because there's a high chance of lightning strikes.

I'll see if my love for the rain changes in a few months time. I still remember reading Amoz's blog entry about him having to build a trench outside his tent in the middle of the night because it was raining and water was flooding into his tent.

errr.... I still don't think I'll like it.

Around The World In 80 Days (Part 2)

I was given the aisle seat as she had the window seat; which meant I had to get up whenever she wanted to go to the toilet. Of course being the gentleman as I am, I graciously stood up and waited, as she took her feminine time in the lavatory. I waited because the toilet was directly behind our row, so you could say I had the advantage. I could easily just get up and lock myself in the toilet at any time I wanted.

Somehow, the flight didn't take as long as it seemed. Maybe because I was prepared, or maybe because I was older and could size up the long journey without complaining too much, or maybe I was tired along the way; seeing that I haven't slept much in the past few days, or maybe, just maybe, it was the girl in my row that kept me going. I had to be strong, and seem like I am able to handle a measly 8 hours of flight without groaning too much. Through it all, it was fun flying alone again. The only person you had to care for, is yourself. But of course, it would be nice to fly with someone else, just to keep you company. Then again, the girl in my row was company enough, if you know what I'm saying. ;)

I accompanied the girl all the way to the exit gate. Even though my luggage came first, I, being the gentleman that I naturally am, hehe, waited till she collected her luggage. I even offered my services in picking up her luggage, but she viciously refused me! She was like, "If you continue to follow me, I'll scream at the top of my lungs and hope the cops will take you down! ..... Ok, I've got my bag, let's go." lol, obviously none of that happened. She simply said she could handle it herself. As soon as she collected her single luggage, we went off. We said goodbye and went our separate ways.

My auntie and grandma from my mother side picked me up at the airport. They couldn't find me at first, and realised that I was already out and standing behind them. They said they couldn't recognise that it was me because of my short hair. I don't blame them. I myself don't recognise myself in the mirror with my short hair. When I greeted them, it was 11:30pm, Singapore time. Which meant it was 2:30am in Australia. I was sorta drowsy but after exerting a reasonable amount of strength on my luggage and posing, I was half awake, but at the same time, half asleep.

We arrived back to their place at 12:00am to which I was then shown to my room where I dumped my luggage, and washed up for the night. I crashed into bed at 1:20am and slept till 7:00am that morning. I woke up and prepared to leave for my medical test. Basically this test determines if you're fit for the full Military Training. If you get A or B, you're capable to take on the full training. If you get C, you get a lighter training course. And of course if you get D or E, you basically fail and they'll give you a desk job.

When Amoz did it, he went there at 8am and came out at 3pm. That's around 7 hours. I was ready to spend the same amount of time there, but to my delight, I was in and out in 4 hours. It was also good that Amoz's friend showed me where to go first. He brought me to the building, and accompanied me to the "Overseas" department. From there, I was on my own. It was there that the lady said that she'll enlist me in March. I was kinda worried that she would just slot me into March, so I asked her if there was an earlier date of enlistment. She said that the next earliest date was in fact that very day. The 8th of December was the starting date for the next earliest batch. Which meant that I went all the way here only to be told that I couldn't even have the slightest chance of getting in till March. I thought that there was an opening in January but there was no such thing. So now I've got plenty of time to spend with myself.

Anyway, they took our photograph with the army shirt, and asked us to move off to the medical centre. There, we had to go through a series of tests. The test were blood, urine, eye, hearing, dental, heart, x-ray, and just some physical measurements. I noticed that I got 'A' for everything, but during the final medical test, they determined that because I had a bit of 'flatfoot', I was given a 'B'. Just on the spot, they gave me a 'B' for one little thing. Disappointing.

After the physical check-up, they did a mental check-up, to see if you're 'sane' enough to be in the army. Basically it was a series of questions that involved funny shadings and shapes, mathematics (which I sorta struggled with because I was tired and hadn't done any mental work for a while), and just a whole bunch of reaction tests. It took an hour or so to complete, which to my delight, was 12:05pm.

I walked back and had Prawn Noodle. Hmmmm, yum yum. After I had finished my lunch, I walked over to the bus terminal to top up my bus card. I haven't used it in one and a half years, so I was pretty pleased that it still worked. hehe

As I walked home, it came to me, that this was it. This was gonna be my life for the next 2 years. From then on, I was never the same..

To Be Continued...

Cool Runnings

This blog entry contains very boring details about my training. If you get bored by reading the first line of the blog, I suggest you just stop now.

Out of the 5 IPPT (the physical test), I reckon I can smash the first 3.

The sit ups and chin ups have no time limit. So as long as I get over 39 sit ups and 11 chin ups, it's gold for me! Surprisingly, the Standing Broad Jump is not at all difficult for me. Perhaps it's how I can leap pretty high vertically. The last time I checked, I was 174cm from my feet to the top of my head. Assuming when I raise my arms in the air, I add another foot, 30.5 cm, I then become 204.5cm. With that, if I can touch a standard basketball ring of 10 feet, 304.8cm, it would mean I am able to jump just roughly around a metre. hmmm, now that I think about it, that's pretty high XP

However, jumping up vertically would be harder compared to jumping horizontally. Which means the Standing Broad Jump shouldn't be too hard. I tested myself with the other day, just to see where I am on average now without any training. With Chariz as my witness, the 'maximum' length I reached was 260cm and the 'minimum' at 240cm. Considering how I have not trained for this test before, I reckon that's pretty good. lol Maybe now I should just practice on getting 260cm all the time if I can.

I don't know where I got my high/long leaping ability from. Initially, I gave credit to basketball in saying that all the lay-ups I do taught me how to 'co-ordinate' my jumps. However, now I'm not too sure.. cause not many basketball players who do lay-ups can jump nearly as high as I do. Even my school captain, who is 6' 3''??? can just barely touch the basketball ring. The only explanation now is that I am gifted +D and perhaps maybe, it's genetic. To my advantage I guess!

Chin ups and sit ups, I don't think I need to discuss with ya'll. You just need to know is that I can do respectively more than 11 and 39.

I hate jogging. I never like it because it's always so annoying when you're tired and wanna have air pumped into your blood. It's not the breathing patterns that I'm having trouble with. When I was back in Waverley, the 'marathon boy' gave me tips on breathing when running. So no worries there. It's when you've run quite a distance and your body can't keep up with the amount of running and that's when your breathing goes wacko. You try to maintain the breathing pattern, but the air always wanna come out faster than the air going in! Now that's really annoying, then eventually, your breathing pattern is gone, and you're struggling to breathe. That's when running becomes difficult. It's not the running bit. The running bit's awesome. Your legs are in so much pain, it's great! But you're too distracted by the pain of breathing, the legs are not important. By the time the run is over, your legs can't keep your body up anymore and you'd just collapse on the dirt patch outside your house.

I hope to run every single day now as I prepare to return back to Singapore. Adding more and more distance to each run, hopefully but the end of this Australian journey, I can run 2.4km easy. I just want to get there in under 10mins 21 sec. Preferably 10mins, so I got a bit of 'lee-way' when I actually do it.

Thursday, Emily and I might do something really crazy. We're gonna go jogging all the way to her place. Her place is roughly 4-5km away from my place! hehe, it doesn't matter. I'll just go at my own pace and hope not to die along the way. It's just like cross country again! Except people were shoving me on the ground and trampling all over. Let's hope Emily doesn't do that to me.