The incessant lack of sleep attributed by mostly late nights finally emasculated my health. I fell victim to influenza and a terrible bad cough which left me with a hoarse voice for the past few days. These definitely has a draconian effect on me , because it meant that I had to stay at home to convalesce. Fortunately , I am an indoors kind of person as well hence I can occupied myself with stuffs such as reading and sleeping without getting bored. The days indoors also gave me the rare opportunity to take out my playstation 1 and replayed final fantasy 8 --- the epic of romance which is my favourite series out of the final fantasy series. Moreover FF8 is the first FF game that I was introduced to by my cousin and subsequently then I ventured into playing 9 and followed by 7. Yes I still have not buy playstation 2 and yes I still have not try out FF10. An army mate of mine said that he nearly cried at the ending of FF10 and I am not sure whether it is a bona fide comment but I do know that Suteki Da Ne is really a touching song. One can almost get into the melancholic mood while listening and not to be perpetrated. Whenever I listen to this song , it always reminded me of a story in which a girl used to be willing to forgive and stood by his side even though this guy treated her shabbily. The girl , however , failed to notice that another guy --- who was so besotted by her everything , was waiting to be given a chance to carry an umbrella to shield her away from the rain and bring a rainbow to her world.
I happened to know the sentimental guy.
Anyway from another point of view , the recuperating days meant that I can saved up a considerable amount of money judging from the activities/outings I was supposedly to go. Currently , my daily army transport and dinner expenses ate up a larger share of the pathetic monthly allowance given for mandatory slavery ----- considered that I am a stay-out personnel. Is rather taxing financially but there is no choice but to acquiesce. Just have to balance it out between limited resources and unlimited wants. Also , taking my health for granted is not an option. Is like having a nice girl as my girlfriend but yet does not appreciate the love we have till is too late and regrets it in retrospect. This is something that is unacceptable and a bad habit which I have to constantly remind myself to kick it.
Cannot talk only , must action !
BSTOC has ended and I am glad that the entire batch of freshmen pulled it through least one out-of-course personnel. The fact that after this gruelling course slightly less than half of us will be posted out is proverbial. I am one of them who is posted out to a place which I will see the sea very often. A buddy of mine went all sentimental all of a sudden and asked me whether this maybe the last of the times we will be together. I can empathise with him , afterall all of us had been through good and bad times together. Especially the weekend outing kakis , in which 3/8 of us will be leaving. Directly translated from a chinese phrase that "there is no banquet that will last forever in this world". This sentence encapsulates my philosophy towards friendships. There is no eternal friends or foes in this world. If friendships can last from our salad days till we are all white-haired , all the better. Moreover I believe that our friendships will continue beyond national service. We can still meet on weekends to play pool and watch movies and gay around , no problem.
Frankly , what I will miss is the people in this unit which comprises of the commanders besides the freshies. Especially my platoon commander whom I look up to , because he has a down-to-earth demeanour and is constantly seeking to ameliorate himself even though he has a bar on his shoulder and has all the pride and what not. Why would I not miss this unit ? The reason is because I find it hard not to stigmatize the daily routine in this unit. The amount of work that is needed to be done does not equate the rank and pay we duly deserve which is something that is abhorrent to me. My platoon commander once said that "even if there is no pride , there must be passion". But how to have passion under such dire circumstances? I used to have some pride in serving the nation but as the days go by it becomes a moment of aberration. The so-called "pride" attenuates further ever since I am posted to logistics after BMT. Guess even with all the whinings , it still won't change anything so why make myself miserable ? I am sanguine that with a new environment life will be better and peacefully I will see out my obligation to the nation in the remaining 16 months to go.
Yesterday was the first time I watched movie at The Cathay with my good friend and I must say that I like the theatre hall because the seats were quite comfortable and spacey. A totally new experience for the both of us. Watched Rob-b-hood and it was nice. This movie is an anomaly from the past Jackie Chan's movies which showcased him as an one-man-army type of roles. There was equal limelight shared with Louis Koo , who tickled many laughter vibes in his androgynous role. Indubitably , the ultimate trump card of this movie is the baby himself who is so adorable. A good action movie with the right infusion of humour helps to boost this show to a high rating of 8/10 in my opinion. Same as what I would give to John Tucker Must Die which I watched last saturday.
It was pretty hazy these days. It was reported that the PSI reached a high of 150 yesterday night while I was out in town. Wow , feels pretty much as if in Genting. On Friday night while I had night training in my company line , the haze seemed like a fog. Speaking of which , there was totally no welfare at all because everybody thought that we will be released early since it was Mooncake Festival but in the end we booked out very late. Cabbed home with an army mate who lives near me and reached home around 11+pm just in time to eat some mooncakes with my mom before the day ended. Even though I have already started feasting mooncakes way before the actual day , still I believe that this day should be spent with some catching up with loved ones and eat some mooncakes.
Now that BSTOC has started , is gonna get more xiong in the coming days what with all the night trainings almost everyday. As if day trainings under the sun is not enough. Tough times don't last , but tough men do. The process to the end will be hindered by many obstacles but through the effort and united spirit I believed that my army mates and I will persevere till the end.
AI ZAI !
