Timeline

Today marks the day when I first arrived in Singapore 3 months ago.

Whenever people reflect on things like this, they'd usually say, "Wow, time flies so quickly! I can't believe it has been this quick!"

But as for me, I'd have to say the opposite. Time seem to be moving quite slowly. I mean 3 months. That's not very long compared to 2 years. Two years is twenty four months. That would mean I still have twenty one months to go! Three months is not very long when you look at it that way, but I won't.

I must look at it with a positive point of view. So let's see, what has happened during these 3 months here in Singapore. There were a lot of things that happened during that time.

• I've finally got a general idea of the places in Singapore. Even though I mainly travel in the west coast region, I still have a rough idea of where places are in Singapore. I have say this because even though Singapore is only an island, it's taken me 17 years to figure out where most of the things are in this little island called Singapore. So I guess now, it's not too bad. If someone overseas asked me about something in Singapore, chances are I'll have a rough idea of where that place is. And if I've been there, the conversation would be a lot better if I could at least say something about it than say what I would usually say in the past and that's, "errmm, I haven't stayed in Singapore long, so I don't really know." I mean it is after all, my home country. My roots. My background. About time I figured it out.


• My chinese and teochew has significantly improved since coming here. Generally at the homes I stay in, I would converse with my grandmas in chinese, but now, I'm starting to talk with my mum's mum in teochew because she would be able to teach and correct me if I got it wrong. Since we left for Australia, I have hardly used my chinese so it was a bit rusty when I came back. The chinese is coming back and I'm starting to learn more words too. And if I could learn this much in 3 months, I reckon I will be able to speak considerably fluent by the time I return back to Australia. Hopefully both chinese and teochew.


• I started working to make some good pocket money. This is my first 'official' full-time job. Not my first taste at working life, but it is the first time I have had to work 9am to 6:30pm. I guess getting my first job in Singapore isn't exactly the best place to get one. The hours are long, and the pay is not as high. Nevertheless, it's my first job.


• Staying here has taught me more about myself. I never realised how much I've grown on an independent level over a short period of time. I mean looking at what I've been doing, I never thought I could do these things without complaining too much. For example, I started to swim at 6:30am. I've never done such a thing before in my life. Then after swimming, I would head off to work for a long day. Yet, I find myself content with the temporary situation and I haven't complained all that much. If I could picture myself doing this a few years back, my guess is that I would be complaining all the way until the end of time. But now, I guess it was the right time to leave home and become more independent and it all worked out fine.


• Lastly, I came here with a purpose. That purpose was to complete my National Service without looking back too much as I go get it over and done with. The day I arrived here in Singapore, everything seemed too surreal. I couldn't comprehend the fact that I would be staying here for 2 years. After staying in Australia for 3 years, I had this connection with the country and the people back there that I found it really difficult to let that go for 2 years. Fortunately, the internet was accessible during most of that time when I first arrived and I was able to, with the help of many wonderful friends back in Australia, ease into this life style. It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that. The first month was the most difficult, with Christmas and everything, it was hard. That Christmas night, I spent it in a swimming pool all alone. I don't regret spending it there because it was nice to just be alone for a while and just have some time to recap on what has been going on. I remember looking up to the dark starless cloudy sky and just wishing I could be back in Australia to enjoy a starry night sky once more. Even seeing the moon would be just as satisfying. That night, I killed the night away in the pool until the life guard told me that it was time to go. Then later on in January, I did the NAPFA and got the result I was praying for. Getting gold on the test was the first greatest thing I experienced since coming here. Getting the sheet of paper that read 'Gold' was something I had longed for because it meant I would be going back 2 months earlier. Who would have thought that that might have had a play in me getting into the Police Academy. And now looking back at all these things that has happened with the NS situation, I can't help but be amazed by what has transpired during these 3 months.

I never really complained or whined too much when I was told that I will have to go back to Singapore to complete my NS. Unlike when we were first told that we were going to move to Geelong, Singapore I didn't have much of a choice so I tried not to think too much about it. All I had in my mind was to just enjoy the time I had left in Australia and don't do anything silly. After all, there wouldn't be any point complaining because my parents wouldn't be able to do anything about the fact that I am a Singaporean who needs to fulfill his national duties. I guess saying nothing about it and just bottling every unhappiness by having the mindset of getting it over and done with was the best way to go. I figured that aggravating the situation would only make everything worse.

Also since coming here, I have learnt a lot of things about myself and other people that I didn't know about. I covered a little bit about this above but what I didn't mention was that there were things about me that I didn't know about - like how I am able to chat on MSN 10 hours straight without going blind from all the radiation from the laptop screen. I didn't think I could do that! lol I also learnt that 9.5 hours of computer a day at work can pretty much make my eyes go all blurry from all the tears in my eyes. Not from the radiation from the computer but from all the weeping for having to work. I didn't think I would do that!

But seriously, since moving, I've learnt a bit about myself but more about the people that I call friends. True friends are the ones who will stick by you no matter what happens. They will find a way to get to you to make sure you are alive and well. And when I came here, all my true friends showed themselves and only stood to encourage me. These are the friends that I must not lose! I only hope I can repay the favour when it is their turn to go do something like this. God bless them for being the great and wonderful friends that they are. ^^

Anyway, when I first came here to Singapore, I was a little bit worried that I would have to 'church hunt' for a place to go to every Sunday. So I was praying about having a place to return to without hunting 'too much' for a 'comfortable' church. Prayers were answered and it was even better than having to 'hunt'! The first church I went to became my church immediately. In case some of you don't know what happened, this is what happened.

The first Sunday I arrived in Singapore, I followed my brother to the church he has decided to stay with. During that day, I was doing my best to observe the church and it just so happen that during that Sunday, they didn't want any other instruments besides the guitar, piano and saxophone. That meant on that Sunday, I saw the drum set empty without anybody playing it.

I guess you could say it was 'a sign'. But what really got me to return, was when they asked me to play the following week. Not drums, but guitar. [The full story here] So I went, and I did it. Then they asked me back the following week. Then week after week, I kept going back and now, I'm happy. The people there are great. The spiritual atmosphere is refreshing. And the music is a lot more satisfying in the sense that there is unity in the music. Plus, since playing for the church, I've learnt so much more about playing for the church band. I hope to improve a whole lot more before I go back. That should be wonderful! XD Hopefully I can go back with this and help the people in whatever way I can. =)

On a completely different note, I have to point out that since I came here in December, I have not fallen sick! Normally in Australia, I would fall sick every few months! And here I am, 3 months in and I'm still going strong. I think the main reason is that I have been drinking so much more water now. Especially in the office (since I still wanna kill time with toilet breaks), I drink close to 10 cups of water a day. My system is pretty well flushed out. Back in Australia, I would drink milk and soft drinks. I would only drink water if I felt thristy but usually, I would drink soft drinks for 'enjoyment'. I'm so glad I haven't fallen sick yet. The greatest feeling ever! ^^
Kids! Don't try that at home!

Overall, I think these 3 months has been a complete turn-a-round for me. I've finally accepted that I will be here for a while and decided to make it easier on myself by trying to look at things with a more positive attitude. So far so good. The next step now, is the Police Academy and I think that will be a whole new ball game. One thing's for sure though. There will be a lot of Malays in the Police Academy so I will have to use my 'experience' in the minority to make the experience easier to handle. This is where all past 'training' with travelling around to different cultures and situations will come in handy. Stories that will be told in another 3 months time. And when I do reach that 6 months mark, it would mean I am one-quarter of the way there. One-quarter of two years. Surely then will time be flying!

Journey To The Center Of The Earth (Part 5)

This will be the final journal entry for the cruise walk-through. I want to finish up this journey so that I can talk about more funny things that happened on the ship. Funny and embarrassing.


Anyway, I hope you guys had as much fun reading my stay on board as much as I had experiencing it! When I read some of the things I wrote in the journal, it didn't sound as fascinating as when I actually did it. But who knows, maybe you guys did. I know I did. So here goes the last day of the cruise.

______________________________________

I laid in bed for a few seconds before thinking about the sunset shots that I got that evening. I wasn't too happy with the pictures I got because there were too many clouds in the way. Then, the thought of waking up early before dawn came into my head.

"I do it all the time to go swimming. I don't think it's really too bad if I woke up at 6:30am"

And that's what I did. I set my alarm at 6:40am before dawn, which from my experience in the pool was around 6:50am.

That morning, I heard my grandma scrambling to the toilet, and that had woken me up. It was still pitch black in the room. I leaned forward to grab my mobile at the end of my bed to figure out what time it was.

"6:38am"

"O..k.... That's cool." I slid a bit further down the bed, and onto the table so I could get down without making too much noise. The strange thing about my bunk bed was that there was no ladder, nothing to get up. So I had to step on the table at the end of my bed to get up. Even for me, I couldn't jump up because I would probably smack my head on the low ceiling. Anyway, it was fine. I managed.

Slipping on my sandal and grabbing my camera and mobile, I quietly approached the door and opened it. "Oh wait, my hat!" I turned back into the room and had forgotten that I had allowed the retracting door to slam shut. Swiftly, I grabbed my hat and went out the door again; quietly this time. The hall lights woke me up. The bright orange coloured lights led down an endless hallway. Fortunately, the elevators weren't very far. Just a few steps away. I took the stairs up 2 decks, and into the dark sky. The sky didn't seem no where 'ready'. It was still pretty dark. So I just sat in the Terrace and took shots of the place.

I sat and waited. There were quite a number of people walking around already. Some getting ready for the day by walking around, others just up because they're early birds are wandering the place. However, I didn't see anyone like me. I didn't see anyone holding a camera, waiting for the sun to rise. Actually throughout the trip, I didn't see too many people holding a camera in hand, prepared to take random shots like I did. I reckon many of them have been on a cruise before so most of them were pretty familar with the sights on board.

Around 7am, the skies began to brighten. Disappointed by the fact that there were so many clouds in the sky, I waited at the end of the ship where the sun was supposed to rise. Before I knew it, the sky had gotten considerably bright, there wasn't gonna be any chance of getting a good sunrise shot. I took what I could, and decided to head to the front of the ship, to enjoy the scenery.

I walked, and walked, and to my dismay, there at the front of the ship were a whole bunch of people! Well, maybe not that many, but there were quite a number of them, couples mostly. Some where taking photos with their tripods, others just taking pictures of their loved ones. But once again, there wasn't anyone like me. There wasn't anyone alone taking pictures by themselves. Everyone had someone with them.

The walk to the front of the ship seemed endless. People were kinda staring. If not directly, then indirectly. I mean afterall, I was a guy, wearing a cap, strapped with sandals, walking up in shorts, holding a camera. I don't think it gets more touristy than that. Oh, maybe a pouch. That would have done the trick.

Anyway, I stood beside this asian couple, embraced together glancing out into the sea. They weren't too awfully young. I'd estimate late 30s? Somewhere there. So I stood beside them, and took some shots. The sun was well hidden behind the clouds, so there wasn't really much I could take besides the sea and the ship.

Frustrated, I just turned off the camera to enjoy the view. The wind blew across my face and over my hat. The sound of the rushing air got louder if I stood up. I don't really like it because my ears would get cold if I did that for too long. I bent down a little bit and placed my face near glass panels in front of me. It was ok when I stood like that.

After a few minutes in that pose, I decided to go roam the ship a bit. I went in, and went one deck down to the Galaxy of the Stars. There, I found how to get into the Captain's Bridge.

I thought this would be where all the passengers would go in, chat and have a personal encounter with the Captain. So I walked down the spirally staircase, and prepared to be greeted by the bridge members. To my disappointment, there before me stood this massive glass wall that separated the bridge from the room below. That would be the smart thing to do because who knows what crazy passengers like myself might do when I am confronted with a flashy light in the bridge. Perhaps if someone like me were to press that flashy light, it might lead to the cosmic explosion of the entire ship where everyone will have to quickly evacuate the ship in less than 10 seconds. They were smart to have put the glass there.

There in the room was a gallery of the ship's construction history and other random statistics. If you want a look at the pictures I took, they can be found on my MSN space.
While I was taking some pictures, I happen to glance through the glass wall into the bridge. There, I saw the sun brightly shining through the clouds and across the surface of the watery sea.

"Hey!" I said to myself. I rushed up the spirally stairs, through the Galaxy of the Stars, up one deck, and out the emergency exit door. ^^ There before me, was the sight of something I wanted to capture. I ran to the same spot I stood on earlier and began snapping my camera. I must have taken 20 photos at least. I just stood there and snapped one photo after another.

Once again, these lovely glass panels has helped an amateur photographer like myself to take a beautiful shot like this. If you don't like it, I don't care. I like it, and there's nothing you can do about it. w00t! lol

Anyway! After another 10 minutes of enjoying the view, I decided to head back in. Maybe go wash up, seeing that I haven't done anything but leave the room at 6:40am. So I went in, climbed 1 deck down, and there stood my grandma.

"Ni qu na li? Wo men zai zhao ni" (The spelling for the ping ying is courtesy of Cath ^^ If any thing's wrong, don't look at me!! haha, I'm just kidding. Thank you very much Cath! =D ;P)

Anyway, my grandma asked where I went and that my mum and grandma were looking for me. I looked at my mobile to see that it was already 8am.

"Ni de ma ma zai fang jian li" [Your mum is in the room]

"Hao. Wo qu ziao ta" [Ok, I'll go get her] I went down another deck and there stood my mum. What lovely timing.

"Want to go for breakfast?" she asked me.

That morning, we went to the Mediterrean Buffet. I had a good bucket load of food that morning, with only the french toasts and waffles to show you. I ate like a pig again, I had forgotten to take pics of what I ate. So this was the only picture of the food I could take.

I was too selfish to think about the blog photos when it came to food. ><" It's not you, it's me. lol See, I even had to stop myself from eating when I took that photo. See that cut piece of french toast? =P

"Must.... resist.... eating...." lol

When we finished breakfast, we went back to the room and washed up (seeing that I haven't done any of that when I left the room at 6:40am). From there, I decided that I would use up the remaining coins I had left from the arcade. That went on for a few minutes before eventually ran out of coins. At one of the arcade game, I read this notice saying, "Purchase 20 tokens, ie. S$10.00 and get 5 tokens free." Then it read, "Valid only 3 hours prior to arriving at Singapore" Very tempting, but no. I think $30 was enough for me. I'm broke now.

After running out of coins, I took my camera, and headed to the Galaxy of the Star's observatory. It was there that I took some pictures of myself from the reflection of the glass. I played around with the camera a bit more and found out how to initiate the timer.

Then when I got bored of taking pictures of myself (which usually takes be a while XP haha, jk jk), I thought it would be nice to explore the ship one last time. I walked and walked, until I found a way to get to the front of the ship. It was an enclosed area, so I'm guessing at the other end would be the open sea. The entrance to the 'tunnel' of the front of the ship. Looks dark but it really wasn't. There were several fluorescent light bulbs every few metres.

The door as seen in the picture above says "Crew Only", so it might possibly be the entrance to the crew's sleeping quarters. But then again, it could be something else. I'm just guessing here as I go along. This was the front of the ship. A lot of room actually. It was a little bit spooky in there because no one else was there and I could hear the sound of the metal stressing on the tension of the ship =S This door is the door I'm assuming leads into the open vast sea. It's right at the front of the ship, so maybe if you open it, lots of water will start coming in. Then the ship might start going nose down because water is gushing into the front of the ship, making it sink nose first. Then again, I don't want to be the first one to get killed if I opened that door.

The sign when going close up says, "Crew Only". Even if I was part of the crew, I still wouldn't want to be the first one to get killed when I open the door. No thank you very much.

Walking down a little bit more to the right, I saw this porthole.

I had a closer look into the porthole...
... and I thought, wow, what a lovely shot. I must get a shot of it.

And I did. =D I'm so happy. ^^

Going down a little bit more, I came across this sign that I thought was pretty amusing.

No offence to any one who wears glasses but, I thought the sign that pointed out "No Glasses" was pretty amusing. Someone taking the sign the wrong way might think you have to remove your glasses and walk without them. The chances of someone tripping on some obstruction on the ground and tripping over some ropes and toilet paper on the ground may possibly cause that person to accidentally fly above the railings and into the sea. That of course, is someone taking the sign the wrong way by removing their glasses. Someone like me with a wild ridiculous imagination.

Anyway, moving on.

The time came close to leaving the ship, and this was the moment I was dreading ever since the beginning of the trip. Sadly, all good things must come to and end, and I knew sooner or later, I would have to leave.

We had lunch at the Pavilion one last time because my grandma wanted to eat there again - after the impressive meal we had the previous night. We were seated, and only had a wait 5 minutes before all the dishes started pouring out onto our table. I ate a little bit because I was still stuffed with all the food from breakfast. It was heart breaking to see that there was still food on the plates when we were done. I guess that's one of the main reasons why I always eat a lot. If people don't finish the food, I'll try to eat it because I can't stand seeing unfinished food. Which is why I make it my duty to finish it, and thus the reason why people say I eat a lot. Sometimes I am known as the "Garbage Bin". Just like our dad when we kiddies couldn't finish our puny bowl of noodles. And because there were 3 of us, it'll be something like this.

"Daddy! I don't want!"

"Daddy, I'm full."

"Daddy, I need to go to the toilet .... oh, and I don't want"

Again, we went up to the deck after lunch to have a look at Singapore as the ship sailed into the dock. I made sure I had my camera with me. The sun was shining so brightly, I couldn't see the screen on the digital camera. So I had to look through the little hole in the camera (whatever it's called) and take pictures from there.

I like how the view of the land and the ship's glass panels all align together to 'focus' on one centre point. I thought it was really awesome that I could get a picture like that. And how did I get a shot like that hovering above the sea? Simple. I could only get one chance at getting the shot. I took a leap of faith. XP What happened after that. Don't ask. XP

haha, no no. I can't lie on my blog. I didn't jump off the ship. I was standing on a part of the ship were it extends out so you could have a good view at the ship's side. Strange, but true. If you want to see the 'balcony', so to speak, you can see a picture of it with my mum and grandma on my MSN Space.

Once again, the lovely panels.

In this picture, you can see the numerous ships all across the open sea. Being there in person, it was quite phenomenal. Just looking at all those ships scattered across the sea, I don't know how many there were. Way too many to count.

When coming into Singapore waters, a little boat has to 'guide' the ship in. Not too sure how it would guide the ship when this little boat is at the back of the ship. Anyway, if you can see, there is a rope attached to the boat and the ship, so they kinda travel 'together'.

Even if the ship wanted to do something funny like, I don't know... tug of war? lol I don't know how the little boat is gonna survive a thrashing from this massive piece of chunk. Fight! Fight! Fight!

In this picture, you can see the entrance of Sentosa. Down the left hand corner of the picture is the entrance into Sentosa Island. And for those that don't know, the infrastructure with the cable and little thingies on it is the Cable Car service that goes in and out of Sentosa and Singapore.

The mascot of our fine country. The Merlion. It's a combination of a lion's head and a mermaid's end. The statue is in Sentosa Island.

I saw this sign when I was coming out of the ship. I had to take a picture of it to post here. Well, here it is. And that's all I can say about it. lol I took a picture of it so it could be known that I was leaving the ship on my blog. haha

Finally, a photo of the ship itself. The glass that I shot through was blue, so that's why the picture is blueish. Not because I did anything to the photo. Personally, I think the picture would look better without the blueish colouring. But in any case, it still looks ok.

If you look closely into the picture, you can see two trucks near the end of the ship. Tells you how big the ship actually is.

Well, if you really still can't see it (XP), here's a close up of the trucks.
Hopefully you see it now. ^^

We went down the escalators, pass immigration and out the Shopping Centre. From there, it was back to the bus stop.

Singlish

Ok! I have to blog. I know I haven't blogged in a while so now, I have to sit down and blog it all out! I have so many things to blog about but everytime I come on, I blog on 2 or 3 points, and the rest all 'fade away'. Quite sad actually. If only I could get it all down in one blog entry, but it would be too long and you guys will get bored half way. Well, most of you would. Well, I would.

Coming to Singapore, I've noticed a few things that are quite different to Australia. But I'm not just talking about the price of food and the transportation. I'm also talking about how people interact with ... other people.
The most eye-catching point is how people on the train or bus can be quite inconsiderate to one another. Like for example, most elderly ladies on trains are like blood hungry wolves just preying for a seat on the train. Once the doors slide open, they'll dash to the nearest seat and plant their two round buns on it. And if there's another lady approaching, they'll have a 1 on 1 steel-train wrestling match right there and then. Screaming and shouting in who knows what language in front of a live audience. How wonderfully graphic!

Also, another thing which surprises me, is how train passengers can get quite inconsiderate when the two doors open. Generally, people in the train will pack towards the exit doors when the train nears a station. And then of course, they'll pack on the other side of the exit doors (ie. the station platform) too. With this in mind, imagine a colossal collision between two groups of people trying to get to the other side. It's like the Lord of the Rings when the two armies of Middle Earth charge into battle. Only difference is that it's on a Singaporean train. Usually, the ones on the platform have more 'fire power' and will usually win the fight of who gets to the other side first. I reckon this is pretty inconsiderate because if the people who are still on the train get stuck when the door closes, they'll have to wait to drop off at the next station and then go back. That's down right ridiculous. That shouldn't happen. Why couldn't the people on the platform just wait a few seconds till all the people who wanna get off, get off? Then, and only then, will they be permitted to push and drag [people out of the train] as the doors close. Silly people.

haha! This is a good one! (and pretty disgusting and disturbing and disrespectful to the female gender. Kinda) I just found out that, ...

... asian women can grow leg hair ><" Don't kill me ladies! My name is not Boaz Ang, and I don't live in Singapore. lol, it's pretty bad, but I have to blog about it because it's something I thought didn't happen to asian girls and to my dismay (which costed me dearly as it hurt my eyes), it does! However, since coming here for a month, I've managed to see 2 girls with hair on their legs!!!! ewwww!!! I mean c'mon ladies! I did know that you can grow leg hair, but that's why there are shavers for you girls too! Please use it and also please remember that I'm not living in Singapore and I am definitely not asian. Don't hurt me. I don't feel so good.

Ok ok, enough of that. Now let's talk about something much more comforting. Something we all like and love. Something we call food. mmm, here in Singapore, there's a lot of food to go round and they're all real cheap. That's something which differs quite a bit from Australia as you can get a bowl of noodles for $2 here whereas back in Australia, it would probably cost $7-$8.

Let me give a run down of some of my 'favourite' foods here in Singapore.

(Warning you may get hungry! View at your own risk!)

Readers with a low tolerance for attractive food who tend to squeal, squeak and scream are adviced to turn away now.

Prawn Noodles (Cost: $2-$5)

At the moment, this is the number one dish that I love eating right now. Maybe it's because mum can't cook this so I've been pondering on the thick brothed up soup made from boiling prawns and pork bones. Oh baby!

Hokkien Mee (Cost: $2.50-$6)

I like hokkien mee too because it's nicely coated with a layer of gravy and not swimming in it or dying to suck something up. It's just right. I dislike food which 'suck up' your saliva making you thirsty. Plus the gravy is usually made out of the same broth from the prawn noodles, but maybe a bit more concentrated. Yum!

Mee Poh (or Pork) (Cost: $2-$5)This used to be my favourite dish of all the others. I still remember ordering this everytime we went out for dinner. However now, I don't know why but it doesn't really appeal to me anymore. It's still nice, but I don't get overly excited when I order this.

Carrot Cake (Cost: $1.50-$5.50)

Yum, still like this. Generally, I'll eat this for breakfast because it's not too filling but also at the same time, not too light. For those who are wondering what it tastes like, it's salty and the texture is similar to that of rice cakes, just not as hard. You could basically put it on your tongue and run it through the carrot cake pieces. It's that soft. The main difference in ingredients between the black and white carrot cake is that the white one has no soya sauce and sweet sauce but instead has an egg or two cracked over it.

Mee Goreng (Cost: $2.50-$4.00)

Those in Australia, I now show you the real version of Mee Goreng. Nothing like the instant version of Mee Goreng. It's red, it's slightly spicy and it's 90% better than the instant version. The only thing I don't like about this dish is that it's red, and if I happen to be wearing a white shirt, it could mean public disaster.

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.

A River Runs Through It

I know that I've been blogging a lot on the things I've been doing as of late, so I think I'll blog on stuff that is not 'action' related. Or at least try not to.

I think things have become much better now. Compared to when I first arrived, I think I've finally come to terms with how I'm gonna be here for the next 2 years, which is how I've decided that I better adapt, and adapt quickly. I guess most of the credit goes to the many types of 'training' we've accumulated over the years, moving from place to place, it's a skill now, I think. Just that this time, I'm without the family. It's the first time I've moved out away from the family, so it was a bit hard.

I seriously don't know how Amoz did it when he first moved to Australia when he was 15. No doubt, it's terrible to be the oldest. They take all the 'damage' before we younger siblings go in for the kill. But still, I didn't know that it was this tough. I really must say, I admire my brother's strength for doing this. It's understandable to hear him getting homesick while he was here.

I mean, I consider all the things that I benefit now as a result of my brother.

He goes to Australia at the age of 15 for one year, and he makes good friends both in church and in school. Not to mention how he had to stay in someone's place for over and year, and put up with relatives nagging over him or something like that. All I know, is that it wasn't pleasant.

So anyway, he made good friends in church and at school, and when I came, he introduced me to some of his friends. Soon, I was good friends with so many people, it was so much easier for me. I'm guessing that if it wasn't for him, I'd probably like just go home straight after church or youth group. Of course, I'm guessing that many of us would become friends, but it would have taken longer. It would have taken longer for me to become open, and as a result, would have been miserable for another few months. I still remember me lingering next to my brother as some of you approached me.

Now, we've both come to Singapore, and again looking back, if he wasn't for him, I would have taken a super long time at my medical test when I first came. It was because of him that I got his friend's number working at the place, that I knew where to go first. Except after that, I was on my own, which wasn't too bad I guess. He also gave me a head up on some of the stuff that they were gonna do.

Also, we've got internet at my grandma's place, and a church to return to. Both of which, I'm extremely grateful for. If I didn't have internet, I wouldn't have been able to chat to many of you back in Australia, and of course, read any incoming mails from whatever workplace. And now that I have a church to return to, I'm so much happier because it would mean I won't have to church hunt any further. I'm glad that they want me there, and it saves me the trouble of having to move anywhere.

The last thing that I guess I'm really glad about, is how I have so many people to talk to about NS. I get insight from not only my brother, but my cousin, my dad, and aunties too. Yes, my aunties are like pros when it comes to NS because of all the 'official work' that they do. But yeah, I'm more appreciative of the things that my brother has done because if he hadn't done it, I would have been worse of than I am now. You could say that I'm blessed to be the second child, but I still have a lot of sympathy for him.

Thank you bro.

Around The World In 80 Days (Part 3)

I didn't think it would be this hard. Mentally, I was prepared to leave, but I wasn't prepared to be strong by myself. I imagined it to be a bit easier. I thought I would come here, and get enlisted in January and limp my way through the Christmas holidays. Sadly, since the announcement that I could only get enlisted in March, I went downhill from there.

My world went from bad to worse. My world came crashing down as I realised that I would be here for 2 years. I didn't know how to deal with this. So I went back, and contemplated on what I should do. And as a guy, I did some thinking by myself. As I sat in the living room area with my grandma beside me, I reflected on the situation as she told me stories about our family. I tried to pay attention to her, and responded with occasional grunting noises, but I was too distracted with the situation I was facing. Eventually, I managed to temporarily pull myself together. The only thing that kept me going was how I knew that Corliss, Sylvia and possibily the Tohs, would be at my parent's place that night, so if I called back, I wouldn't be so sad.

So that night, I called back, and to my delight, I was able to talk to the two girls. After that, I felt much better and a bit more happy. I ended the night with a bit of tele and I went to bed at 9:30pm.

I told my grandma that I would follow her to the market to buy some food for breakfast. I woke up at 6am that morning, and we left at 7am. I had decided that I wanted to eat some Carrot Cake because I haven't had it in a while. For those of you who don't know what Carrot Cake looks like, it looks like this.

I had the white one because it has eggs and are usually crispy.
So when we got to the stall, there was this line of 5 or 6 people. Generally, when there's a line, it means the food is good and people are willing to wait in line for the food. And usually in Singapore, the stalls have really fast service cause they need to be fast to accomodate the large number of customers. So we decided to join the group of 'suckers' to have our Carrot Cake. Unfortunately, it took us more than 45minutes to get our food. Was it worth it? Well, considering I haven't had Carrot Cake in over a year, I guess it was ok. Nice to have it in my stomach again. lol

After my breakfast, I packed my stuff and took a cab to my other grandma's place. It was the first time I took a taxi myself. Usually it's with my mum, dad, auntie or grandma. So you could say that it was another step of independence when I took that cab.
When I got off, I met Amoz and we went up to the house. I unpacked my stuff and soon got bored. I then took out the PlayStation and started playing a bit. After that, I helped wheel my grandma to the dialysis centre. For the rest of the day, I just spent most of it on the internet, trying to come to my senses about this Singapore situation.


Sunday morning, I met Amoz at Tiong Bahru MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) Station. We met there at 9:30am and were on our way to Aljunied, which was where the church was located. There, we met up with one of Amoz's friend from his BMT (Basic Military Training) batch and went to church together. The service was very different to what I have been used to for the past year. In a way, it was good to be back in the presence of God among people on fire again; but I must say, it's gonna take a bit of getting use to again. Just gimme time.
That night, I went out at 12am to look for a coffee shop that had the English Premier League on the tele. My dad told me that the shop next to my grandma's dialysis centre has an all day-all night coffee shop, so I went there. However, when I got there, the tele was not on, and the place was also packed, so I didn't wanna create a scene, telling them that, "I wanna watch soccer on the tele, so can you please turn it on for me and by the way, I need a table and chair to sit on. Also, bring me a cup of coffee and don't be stingy with the sugar."
In the end, I wondered around a bit through the cool night in my sleeveless shirt and finally found this closed coffee shop with a plasma tv suspended on a pillar. The match ended at 1:50am, and I went home and slept.



The past few days for me have been hellish. I haven't been sleeping much, and I've never been so depressed. I've really tried to be positive about the situation, but I think it's going to take time. Time to get over Australia, and time to make friends. In the mean time, I'm trying to live through each day on the internet, talking to whoever comes online. At the moment, my dad is trying to find me a job so I'm just waiting.
During this waiting period, it's bad in the sense that I have so much time to myself to think. And everytime I do, I think about the wonderful memories of the past, and how I'll never be able to have them again for a very long time. Everytime I look back, it hurts. There's this pain in my chest that hurts when I recall the house in Geelong, the church, the people, the close friends, the life. It was a bad idea to look at the photos. It was a bad idea to think.

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...

Around The World In 80 Days (Part 1)

I managed to type up two blog posts yesterday on my auntie's laptop while I was sitting alone with nothing to do. But after 'allowing the storm to pass,' I've decided not to post it. This is the reason why.

Yesterday, I was all depressed and lonely, so I took out a lot of my frustration and agitation on that blog post, which is why I don't wanna post it. I was pretty much sad that I was in Singapore and that I'll never see so many of my friends for a long time. I wasn't in a very happy mood. That was, until I called back home. It was so very nice to be able to call home. And to top it all off, I was so happy that Corliss and Sylvia was at my place. After talking to my parents, Chariz, and the two girls, I felt much better. It was really nice to hear their voices agian. I felt for that moment that I was at home for once. That I was with them for that brief period. It was very nice. I know you girls will be reading this, so I wanna thank you for the lovely chat :) I'm better now.

I think.

Anyway, I don't want to say too much about what has happened to me mentally, so I think I'll just blog on my journey here. But before I do, I'll say this. I remembered that Uncle Wesley blogged on his tendancy to view everything he did as a photograph. Like everything he does, he tries to find a 'good' angle to take a photograph. If you know what I'm talking about, I've recently caught myself doing the same thing. Or something like that; this time, it's with blogging. Everything I see, everything I do, I'm thinking of ways to blog on it. In a way, it's unhealthy because I can't enjoy the moment, but rather, my mind is constantly thinking of ways to blog on all the things I do. It's bad cause I wanna enjoy the things I do just as it is! So I've been trying to 'cut' down on what I view everyday as "something to blog about". In the mean time, I'll blog on what I should blog about; my journey here.

__________________

On the final day in Australia, dad woke me up as arranged at 6:30am to watch the Champions League; it was Man Utd v Benfica. After that, did some last minute file transferring on the computer and had breakfast at the same time. As soon as I finished, I quickly went on the PS2 to enjoy some last minute Fifa07 action. I had to swiftly complete what was left of the season, which meant skipping through many matches just to finish up. I played the last match in the ECC Finals, which ended 5-2 against Ajax. It was a thrilling victory. The match was at 2-2 for some time, until I finished them off with my 'skills'.

So after that, had lunch, and jumped on the computer to talk to some people for one last time. It's funny how there were so many things I did in Australia for the 'last time'. Like how I showered for the last time, drove for the last time, jogged for the last time, played for the last time, hugged for the last time, saw you for the last time. It all happened so quickly.

Saying goodbye to everyone, I decided to multi-task and pack all the left overs laying around in my room, like my soccer ball, documents, cosmetics, etc. I managed to pull everything I needed in time to leave at 3:15pm as planned. The flight was at 6:40pm, so I had a bit of time to spare. When we were going to the airport, there was heavy traffic on the highway. Everyone was moving at 20km/hr. Trucks, 4WDs, mini Getzs, everyone, all moving slowly...

In the end, there was no commotion. We simply crawled through the highway and gradually accelerated to 100km/hr again. It was not long after that we reached the airport at 5pm. The check-in line was really long. That was because I was kinda late. 2 hours till take off is not too good. My sis, mum and I stood in the line as we eventually reached the counter in 30 minutes. The lady then told me that I had to go to the boarding gate now. But my dad was like, "Nah, don't worry. Let's go buy some food first." We got a Bacon Deluxe at Hungry Jacks so that I could have something to eat as I am waiting to board. Unfortunately, I never really got the chance to eat. When I got to the boarding gate, I managed to make some final phone calls which meant by the time I finished, it was time to board.

I walked up to the boarding gate, and into the tube. Following the large crowd into the plane, I carried my two hand-carry luggage. As I approached the plane, I showed the stewardess my boarding pass and she directed me to the aisle I needed to take. I waddled my way to my seat, and when I got there, it was then that I realised, I was gonna be in the same row as this young lady which looked nice enough to try to act all cool. Sadly, my short hair gave me a disadvantage as I couldn't fling my hair as those cool people in movies do when they realise that they're in love. Anyway, I sat down, and tried to make it seem like I knew what I was doing. There and then, I discovered that this is all a part of growing up. Trying to make it look like I know what I'm doing when trying to impress girls. Watch out ladies! Here I come!

Oh boy.

To Be Continued...