Basic MiLitary Training

The reLease from Tekong IsLand "prison" after fourteen days made me reaLise how beautifuL Singapore reLi is .. the first step onto the mainLand was Like, heavenLy. The air, seemed to be that of an enchanted garden ..

Looking back ..

On the very first day, with my haversack, I arrived in Pasir Ris interchange. Everyone brought aLong their Love ones - parents, girLfriends and even grandparents! It din reLi bother me much even as peopLe Looked surprised that this boy came aLone. Onto the coach, and to the SAF Ferry terminaL. From there, the fastcraft (which ain reLi that fast), carried the to-be recruits to the IsLand they wouLd caLL "home" for the next few months.

The camp, sure Looked Like a fucking chaLet .. itz juz unbeLievabLe to overhear a retarded remark from a mother who said "I thought got aircon one?" .. wtf .. ProbabLy she havent reaLised that she is in an army camp.

And so, the Love Ones Left after the Lunch, Leaving their sons, boyfriends and grandchiLdren. The recruits then coLLected their miLitary stuff and by dinner, settLed down aLready, aLL donning in Zidane's hairdo.

Lucky me that my company's buiLding faces the sea and right across in a distance is the mainLand .. you can see the Changi Airport tower and even the Suntec City area!

Near, yet far.

So days passed .. and each day is speciaL. You Learn :

1. to accept the reaLity a.k.a "jaiL sentence"
2. to bear with ocassionaL Loud snoring in the middLe of the night
3. to wake up at 0530 and turn in at 2230 every singLe day
4. to cuLtivate an immunity against aLL forms of vuLgarities thrown at you
5. to bLoody teach young boys how to be independent
6. to fuck the bLur cocks before they fuck the whoLe pLatoon up and then everyone end up getting fucked
7. to cLassify peopLe who you can trust and cant
8. to stand as a neutraL and average party who is neither exceLLent nor fucked up

However you get to hear great words every now and then too. An exampLe, in my company, we're Pes C status, which means everyone has sort of medicaL history and peopLe tend to discrimate the group. Thus, the company commander toLd us that physicaLLy we're Pes C, but our mentaLity muz be better than Pes A and that wud shut the fuckers up.

ALso, as a status Pes C recruit, we have basicaLLy nothing to fight for. Thus, aLmost everyone are juz taking things easy and there are zero poLitics going on. What do I mean by poLitics? In miLitary terms, itz known as "wayang", or simpLy buiLding pubLic reLations with the commanders. You wiLL see that in Pes A and B batch, reruits are out to impress to get into the Leadership courses. UgLy reaLity ..

WeLL, fooLs they are. Do they think that the commanders were not once recruits?

Another unforgettabLe image was when my pLatoon marched aLong the coast and across the sea is the mainLand. The pLatoon commander asked "Do you guys know where that is?"

"Singapore!" .. everyone shouted.

The pLatoon commander smiLed back and said "No .. itz Freedom."

Sure is .. especiaLLy every other minute through the window in your bunk you see jetpLanes fLy past the sea and Landing in Singapore and the ferries come and go from the jetty.

It wouLd be juz another eight hours before I am to be back to the IsLand again. TiL then, ciaoz and take care everyone.

SpeciaL thanks ..

To those who have sent their regards for my enListment, thank you so much. Itz the Least expected and Im gratefuL .. Lawrence, Gwen, SheiLey, Joanne, Jaz, DaryL (indirectLy), ShirLey @ adidas and others who Ive faiLed to name .. reLi appreciate.

To you who has aLways been standing by me .. thankew. Take care coz itz onLy two weeks I suppose ..

Cya guys in a fortnight's time. I'LL be back ..

Here It Comes ..

And so my time has come, tomorrow at 0800 hours.

Expecting major changes ..

1. Being baLd.
2. Having to mix with young boys (at 22, I am to be one oLd soLdier in there)
3. A totaLLy different LifestyLe.
4. No punk pLay anymore.
5. Growing up ..

It may be juz three weeks before I come back to the sunny isLand once again, but it'd be two years doing the same shit .. datz it .. goodbye oLd Life .. oLd me.

.. and no more boxers for two years .. wat the heLL .. i am to wear those v-shaped undies again. !@#$%^ !!!

As Zidane hangs his boots for eternity, I hung up my adidas Lanyard as weLL (though the scaLe of attention for each varies).

I .. of whom they caLL "Long","ah Long","siao Long" and "ah Long san"!

Team adidas Suntec (minus Dannie, aLan, zaabah, pam)

The past, present and future

"The past is over and done with.
Some may be sorry to see it gone.
WhiLe others rejoice at the changes that have been made.
And there wiLL be more changes stiLL in the future,
For the cycle of Life aLways moves forward.
The past is gone except for men's memories."

- Dannie, adidas.


.. retaiL is more than juz saLes. At Least, being in adidas suntec with a wonderfuL bunch of peeps.

ItaLy have won the WorLd Cup for Year 2006 in Germany, but they sure have not won the hearts of too many.

WorLd Cup Aftermath

We see the retirement of two finest pLayers from the 90s - Figo of PortugaL & of course Zinedine Zidane of France.

The 2nd-nighters - taken after the WorLd Cup Third PLace match between DeutschLand and PortugaL, another cLassic war between adidas and Nike. WeLL, adidas came in tops.

Ah Long's AngeLs - Yvette & Denise. One beLongs to Mummy Khing and another HeLen. Nine-year-oLds, but heLL of an energetic pair!

Food - and the hungry ghosts.

The Norm - card games @ chaLet. There you can see one of the Loudest babes in adidas PP ; Serene.

The Get-together - Mummy Khing with bouquet and Mr. Tim hiding on the Left right at the back.

This Moment

This moment, I am at Pasir Ris Costa Sands resort, standing by the free internet kiosk whiLe the rest of the Adidas peeps are having fun catching up with one another. This moment, I can see Dereck doing dirty dancing. This moment, Mummy Khing is Laughing watching the dance cLip caught on video. This moment, Christine is sitting aLongside Miko having booze and eating cup noodLe ..

This moment .. wiLL be past ..

The RIDE

In KuaLa Lumpur's Times Square, there is an internaL theme park. In this theme park there is this ride ..

It spins and then it spins faster and faster, forcing the person beside you to squeeze you to the side. This day, I embarked on this ride for the first time ..

As it spun and with Her into me onto the side, I Laughed .. and Laughed .. and Laughed ..

Was it becoz of Her hair that keep sLapping into my face? Or was it coz I thought She was heavy? I reLi dunnoe. I juz cant stop Laughing!

Damn this ride is good. Come to think of it, itz been ages since I Last Laughed Like that.

And throughout the ride, I was Laughing. My abdomen was strained at the end of it ..

.. and She thought I was crazy.

So, before we went off, we rode on it again. The same thing happened. I cant stop Laughing!


Anyway Happy 21st Burfday to You. Thank you for everything.

Reasons Why GirLs LOVE the WorLd Cup

(1) Excitment and money from betting
(2) The (Good-Looking) PLayers
(3) BasicaLLy nothing eLse

TeLL me it ain true .. teLL me that girLs are passionate about footbaLL and that they have the BeautifuL Game in their heart, their mind and their souL.

Anyone?

WorLd Cup and the WorLd

In the midst of the WorLd Cup (incLusive of money, money and money) Lies the vioLence around the worLd, noticeabLy in Baghdad.

But does anyone reaLLy care. No, not the Least bit.

See-saw

Nuff said about my Europe trip .. my finaL destination was Frankfurt and it took me another unforgettabLe experience to reach there. From Stuttgart, I boarded the right train, but aLighted at the wrong city! And so I had to expLore Maine for a coupLe of hours before the next train that came aLong for Frankfurt.

Using the same ticket which was not "right" .. I boarded in hope the ticketing officer wiLL not come to me asking for my ticket. FYI, re-purchase of a train ticket wiLL cost me another 30 euros = SGD 60 .. no way am I gonna pay for that. And so my worst fear came, the ticketing officer appeared in my cabin. If she finds out I wouLD have juz bLoody taLked to her in EngLish and act bLur. And so .. she took the ticket, took a quick gLance, chopped it, and returned to me, stiLL praying hard.

CLose shave.

And so the concLusion, Germans are simpLe-minded, and itz darn true.

Being back in Singapore was a revoLution in a personaL point of view .. I was back to work at adidas, together with a coupLe of other matters to settLe. Seems Like every decision I have to make wiLL mouLd what my Life wouLd become .. but regrets are not part of my Life.

To have done and faLLen, you Learn. To have never done and never faLLen, you regret.

To me, Life is aLL about triaL and errors. I mean, wat have you gotta Lose anyway?

RecentLy, I'm gLad I've the chance to taLk to a few peopLe Like my store manager, EiLeen, and of course SheiLey. It made me Look at many things in a very different perspective and open my teeny mind. I thank them ..

ALso met quite some new peopLe in adidas who brought so much happiness to working, probabLy coz I have to quit in a month for the government caLLup (finaLLy) ..

These days, I've witnessed so many probLematic reLationships. Hearing is bad enough, but to experience it is even worse. Just today, whiLe I was waiting for bus home from Pasir Ris, a Lady was pressured over the phone by her boyfriend for not meeting him up .. and then near my house I saw a coupLe in their Late twenties arguing, and the guy came out with the F-word on her.

Good gracious, do peopLe know how to handLe and maintain heaLthy reLationships not? I may have faiLed once, but I have Learnt so much so that it wouLd be so difficuLt to err again.

Patience is the key.

Anyway in most cases, there wiLL aLways be an exceLLent "giver" and a "taker", depending on who Loves the other more.

So juz Like a see-saw, reLationships can never have a perfect baLance. One side wiLL have to be up and the other, down. It wouLd be nice to see both parties enjoying the ride, but the "giver" wiLL aLways be trying to controL the see-saw to make the "taker" happier and excited.

I wonder .. when wiLL the "taker" do the same?

DeutschLand

..

Leaving Paris was a screwed experience, too. I missed the fLight becoz I arrived five minutes Late. No compLaints about it coz I simpLy oversLept. Thus hung around in Paris city for another two days before I successfuLLy embarked into a new worLd - DeutschLand.

City where I arrived .. Stuttgart, and it was aLready aLmost midnight when I set foot on it. Yet another chaLLenging experience. To be aLone carry two Luggages wandering in an unknown Land speaking an unknown Language .. weLL I aLways have EngLish Language to survive on. It took me an hour to find my way out of the Stuttgart airport to the German raiL network and to the Youth hosteL. I can stiLL remember the receptionist that night - Mr. DarreL, a bLack American guy who moved to Germany 25 years before my arrivaL.

Mr. DarreL is a typicaL German, speaks simpLe EngLish, does routine stuff. But that night, he did something out of the German way. F.Y.I, Germans are very Law-abiding .. on roads even without cars, the peopLe wiLL stiLL wait for the fLashing Green Man. Take for exampLe, DaryL Marc who was totaLLy infLuenced by the German Life. I was aLready haLfway across the road and he is stiLL dreaming of the fLashing Green Man.

Man, wat more can I say but send my gratitute to him for aLLowing me to sLeep in a four-men bedroom on my own becoz the first room I went was occupied by snoozers who snoozed so Loud, I Left the room as soon as I opened it.

And so my first night in Stuttgart, sLeeping in a room aLL on my own. I couLd do everything so freeLy .. waLk naked, shower without having to shut the door and Leave my stuff aLL around .. juz for that night.

DaryL Marc wouLd be here in Stuttgart by evening to "visit" me from his town two hours trainride away the next day.



to be continued ..