Country Road Take Me Home To the Place where I belong...

so i tried my best to do what i had to do without trying too hard. that sounded wrong but its what SIT Test was like. well hopefully i didn't bomb peer appraisal so i'll still have a glimmer of hope to make it to OCS. there isn't much i want to say. these days that's just the way it is. my brain's intellectual ability is fading - its alert and too tuned in towards the military frequency; my social circle is shrinking too with so many of my friends from H and J Companies still stuck on Tekong doing range. oh well. i found myself staring at a Qantas plane just now while waiting for the bus at SFT. i really wish i could be on one of those planes on the way to australia or some other unique part of the world. hmmm.. Prague would be nice. in camp we always play the "guess the capital of the country" game. its quite depressing at times. fuck it. i am going to sleep. my brain gets dumb whil my head gets smart.

by the way, i've found the ideal route march song. all set for 24km march.

Country Road by John Denver

Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.
Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze.
Country roads, take me home to the place I belong.
West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home, country roads.

All my memories gather round her, miner's lady, stranger to blue water.
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky, misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye.
Country roads, take me home to the place I belong.
West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home, country roads.

I hear her voice in the morning hour she calls me, the radio reminds me of my home far away.
And driving down the road I get a feeling that I should have been home yesterday, yesterday.
Country roads, take me home to the place I belong.
West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home, country roads.
Country roads, take me home to the place I belong.
West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home, country roads.

the jungle - a place of learning

field camp was a blast. no bathing, no brushing of teeth or shaving for 7 days... sounds crazy? couple it with shitting in the jungle - digging your own shit hole, crapping then filling it up, all with the flies rushing to eat your very smelly shit - that's the jungle for you. by the third day i grew accustomed to it, stopped giving a damn about the creepy crawlies, the sand, the sweat and the camo. wore the same uniform for 4 or 5 days man. didn't see my own feet for 3 days. even slept with singlet on at night. on the last night we had to dig our trench. well needless to say i slept with all the sand stuck to my body and uniform. you can always send me back to jungle. i think we've all used to it already.

then again...when all's said and done bout the shitting, no bathing and horrible combat rations, it really was quite a lot of fun. going through thick and thin with people, you really get to see their true colours. from volunteering for sentry, digging the fire trench/shellscript, pitching up the tents and the simple day to day things you know who's really gung ho, who's just helpful, who's just here to do his thing as well as who's a real wuss or a self serving wayang bastard. jason was talking about first impressions that night, well... all i can say is that my first impressions have proven to be pretty accurate. that's why i always march at the back with you guys.

the past 7 days have been eye opener and i've really learnt a lot. out there in the jungle and in war the only people you have to depend on are those by your side. of course you'll want to have people you can rely on, those who will have your back and expect you to have theirs. sometimes when i think of it, i realize i can't trust some of em to have my back if the shooting ever starts which is really worrying. oh well on the bright side, at least there are those that i can depend on. Thank God for that.

wy: i recovered during field camp! yay! the jungle does wonders for your health! hahah. must catch up soon man.

:tekong cough:

by order of parental force & oppression i was forced to go to see the doc today for the stupid cough that persistently won't go away. and its been a fucked up day ever since. there was a whole lot of medicine lingo which i totally didn't understand and now i'm left with gigantic bottles of syrup and 3 gigantic bags of pills. oh not to forget the injection too. i feel like i am doing drugs. wait, actually i am. just that they're legal drugs. just taking a course of medication will knock you out flat within 10 minutes. and yes, that's where my afternoon went. at least its fucking effective and i actually think i'm recovering.

its been my 'curse' to be born with weak lungs that are highly vulnerable to infection. each and every damn time i fall sick, its the same illness. i don't get fevers, they clear out real fast - even before i know they're there. but cough and lung infections now that's my bane. digusting greenish discharge, loud and consistent coughing plus the works. it can be said that every book out has been ruined by this fucked up ailment.

so instead of meeting gillian n yaxin n ter i was at home sleeping. and now instead of meeting gabriel for dinner and the class later i am going to sleep. on an empty stomach too. this is absolutely fucked up.

btw, happy belated/early birthday to dalena, weiming, arif, gabriel and cheechong.

at least i had an interesting talk with hc yesterday @ starbucks and had dinner with da alex n mz before catching the aviator. i really think the cold milk tea @ MOS killed me - but never mind.

random thoughts and resolutions:
1) after army i will quit doing excessive weights, swim more to improve my weak upper respiratory tract. i will also take up a form of martial art, probably muay thai.

2) i need a flu vaccination. it always starts with that little fucker flu bug.

3) i will ditch my "finish up NS and work for a while before university" idea and try to disrupt and go abroad to study next year. finish up my NS in the following year's summer break.

i'm fucking hungry and sleepy. and it ain't even field camp yet. fucking hell. fucking tekong cough. fucking medicine. fucking sleep. fucking waste of precious time. fucking valentine's day. i could go on forever. _|_ -_- _|_

Underwear

in the army, we sing many songs. there's the usual, "training to be soldiers"; "
infantry song"; "airborne" - oh i hate singing this one totally because as infantry without parachutist wings we really don't deserve to sing it. but there is one song that i really like. its called the Underwear Song. credit to my PC for teaching us the song.

I no money i don't care
i wear cheap cheap underwear
if it tears, you buy me another pair
Underwear, everywhere
Underwear, good to wear

I got money i do care
i wear branded underwear
Armani, Versace, Valentino also can
Underwear, everywhere
Underwear, good to wear

the fact is that its true. underwear is very important. it is good to wear. for that simple reason, i shall go underwear shopping soon so that i will have many many pairs of underwear during field camp. one must never take chances with his brother.