Friday, October 31, 2008

Tree

//Tree//



Don't you think that this tree (photo taken in australia btw) looks lonely and lost?

Been reading this book called "A Place Called Here" by Cecelia Ahern, which talks about how 'lost' things/people/memories end up in a place called 'Here'. And I admit there are moments I felt like I was 'Here' in the past 3 weeks.

And coincidentally, I watched "Lost In Translation" on my flight there, which is a movie that deals with the issue of being lost in your life too.

Nevermind, shall talk about it another time in another entry.

Now I shall just look forward to my wonderfully packed programmes for the next few days, which happens to be all eating outings! From western to chinese (yumcha high tea buffet!) to thai (lerk thai high tea buffet!) to bbq...there's no way I will not gain weight...

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Leave

//Leave//

踩着月光打开车窗
离开这城市想找个解放
一路开往最高那一座山
孤单的想像寂寞的逃亡

- 孙燕姿 (逃亡)

Sometimes, when life really sucks, and everything's going wrong, you're feeling really down, don't you just feel like running away.

Not that my life really sucks to that point right now, but I must admit it's a thought that creeps into my mind quite frequently, especially recently. I mean, it's tempting isn't it, to stop whatever nonsense you're doing right now, and just leave, to a far far away place, where no one knows you.

The whole idea of leaving just like that is just very..appealing. I think it comes from the thrill of doing something without considering the consequences, which is in a way reckless I guess. And for someone like me who always thinks too much, consider so many factors before making a simple decision, it's an appealing notion (maybe cause I know I will never ever have the guts to do that).

There has been lots of discussions about post-ord plans recently in the bunk, and there was this particular topic of backpacking being brought up. To be exact, some of my bunkmates were talking about a 6 month long backpacking trip, starting from here all to way to switzerland, using the most basic means of transport like buses and trains.

It sounds crazy, but the very fact that it's crazy makes it so exciting, which probably triggered the whole 'leaving' mood in me.

Speaking of my bunkmates, it's been 2 weeks since my stay-out jeep course ended, which means I've been back at hell-hole for 2 weeks (which felt like eternity). It felt different, the whole vibe in camp, maybe it's cause of the new faces, or maybe I'm just too used to staying out I don't know. But one thing never change, some people (1 in particular) are still as intolerable (to quote my bunkmate) as they were before I left. And yes, one more thing that never change, they still never fail to surprise me with some of the things they do. It's quite a feat if you actually think about it, to keep outdoing yourself and constantly surprising us with your complete lack of common sense.

On a different note, recently (a few days ago in fact) a platoon mate of mine got into an minor accident while clocking mileage on his motorbike. He didn't suffer much serious injuries, but was still hospitalised for further observations. And surprisely, his full body checkup reveals a heart problem (which is not yet determined exactly).

But that's not the point I wanna make.

When I first heard of this news, the first thought that flashes through my mind is "oh my god is it serious? Is he going to be ok??". But that thought probably stayed like for 0.2 seconds or something cause another thought immediately took over "is he still going to go australia? oh my god, he may be able to down pes and get out of here!!"

I know it's kind of cold-blooded to think about down pes-ing and so on, but well, that's not something you can control, and the sad thing is from what I observe, I'm not the only one who think that way.

Most of my platoon mates, upon hearing the news, seemed shocked (that's their initial reaction), then they seemed happy yet worried for him at the same time. Happy that he may get to downpes and leave this hell-hole, but still human enough to worry about how serious the condition is.

Speaks volumes about how great NS is and how wonderful my unit it.

Ok, I should really stop here before I say too much and get myself in trouble. :)

Let's speak about more positive stuff that happen in camp (?!)

Yes, life may be bleak in there, but it's not totally void of positive things. For one, majority of the platoon is a joy to hang out with, and for the past week or so, we've all been so busy with the washing and packing of our stores and stuff into the kitbag.

Packing itself may be a bitch, but the feeling of satisfaction when you finally manage to squeeze every single damn thing inside and zip up the kitbag is sweeeeeet. And like joshua said, it's like doing strength training, cause we needed like 2-3 people to zip up 1 kitbag. And we have to pack everything in and out, in and out for all the inspections and so on. Tiring it may be, it's actually quite funny la, especially when everyone's doing it together, frantically and desperately trying to squeeze everything inside.

So the kitbag's packed and sent.

2 more days before I disappear from the surface of earth.

Wish me luck!