Holocron : 19-87-Kn|ght^L

exercise eastern nomad.
deployment on 221208 at 1400hrs.
endex on 241208 at 1100hrs.
attire : FBO (full beach order)

how long ago was the last time we played truth or dare?

and so i queued.

and i queued.

still i queued.

yes,
i queued.

and queued.

and queued.
and queued.
and queued.

and finally!

haha,
i got my camera~!
my canon eos 1000d

sweet~
luis is gonna be taking even more photos from now on.
wahahaha~!

thanks to jeremy for facing the leg-numbing queue together with me today.

and looks like stwc will be planning a couple of major exercises soon.
=)

celestial being… friend or foe?

a big thanks to daniel for accompanying me down to sitex today.
whoa…
it was waaaaaayyyy more crowded than i expected.
cos even comex at suntec had more room than this.
and i expected less ppl to come down to expo,
cos…
well…
it’s expo~!
so far in the east!

anyway,
weaving through the mess of people,
dan and i finally found the booth i was looking for.
canon cameras~!
saw a few cameras that caught my attention.
an ixus,
a powershot,
and an eos.

decided to pass on the ixus,
cos i already have a few compact cameras at home.
so i looked at the powershot sx10.
not too bad…
the zoom was good…
wanted to pay for it already.
but i decided to try out the eos 1000d anyway.

fyi,
the canon eos range are dslr cameras.
and the number of digits represents how good the camera is.
e.g. eos 5d would be the best,
followed by 50d,
and 450d,
and so 1000d is the most entry-level already.
and the cheapest.
=P

ya,
as i was saying,
i tried it out.
and the moment i snapped the first shot…
i already forgot about the powershot.
looking at the price,
i hesitated a little. (hey, entry level, but still expensive to me k?)
but waddeheck.
it’s the price you pay for ’shiok-ness’.

can’t imagine if 1 day i’ll get those single digit eos…
den my wallet will really know what’s shiok…
=P

anyway,
the procedure for purchase was…
queue to pay,
den queue to collect your camera.
so i went to queue at the payment line,
while daniel helped me to queue at the camera redemption line first.
to speed up the process ya?

and so i queued.

and i queued.

still i queued.

yes,
i queued.

and queued.

and queued.
and queued.
and queued.

and finally!

haha,
just joking,
i’m still queuing.
=X

until about 45 mins later…
oh dear…
service was starting!!!
and i was just 10m away from the cashier.
=’(
so,
i called daniel and asked him what should we do?
and we decided that service was more important.
and so i ripped myself away from the queue,
and the both of us rushed 3 halls down to attend service.
but it was worth it lah…
service was great! (as always)
=)

and so it looks like i’ll be going down again tmr…
for more queuing.
=(
hai…

the price of ’shiok-ness’

the latest chapt of naruto is…
touching.
=’(

when they showed the flashbacks…
from how naruto was once ostracised by the village,
to how he has become an inspiration for them,
and how everyone is fighting to protect him..
nice.

ah…
stories like that really tug at your heartstrings eh?
perhaps that’s why anime and manga are so popular.
as a friend of mine told me,
most anime have the same backbone storyline.
hero isn’t born under the best of circumstances,
hero goes through many trials,
hero grows through these trials,
hero becomes powerful and makes friends with many ppl.
=P

but it’s stories like these that we like to watch eh?
cos they serve to give us hope of how obstacles can be overcomed.
and deep inside all of us,
we have obstacles that we want to overcome 1 day,
just like the heroes in these stories.

and what’s the obstacle i really hope to overcome 1 day?
=P

jacob’s ladder,
you’re going down!
=X

inheriting the will of the fire.

and so i was aimlessly surfing the web,
when i suddenly decided to read up on some brands.
*please dun think i’m crazy.
i’m just bored.
crazily bored.*

first,
i looked up my preferred brand of running shoes.
asics.
did u know that asics is an acronym of a latin phrase?
anima sana in corpore sano,
which translates to…
a healthy soul in a healthy body,
or,
a sound mind in a sound body.
that’s why the tagline of asics is sound mind, sound body.
and asics is a japanese company,
which used to called onitsuka tiger.
they still sell their vintage range of shoes under that name though.

that led me to read up on adidas.
did you know that reebok, taylormade and ashworth are all under adidas?
and the founder of adidas and puma are brothers.
but these german brothers had a falling out during world war 2,
and that led to them creating these 2 different companies.

and den i carried on reading abt nike.
this american company started out as a distributor for onitsuka tiger,
but launched its own shoes with the famous swoosh logo after making huge profits.
and now it’s the world’s leading supplier of sporting products.
umbro and converse are just a couple of companies that are subsidiaries of nike.

and just for kicks,
i searched on a brand that my dear friend elvis always wears.
diadora.
we were always wondering what pasar-malam brand this was…
cos we don’t really hear abt it in s’pore eh?
however…
that shirt that elvis wears is really durable.
he has been wearing that same t-shirt since secondary school,
at least once a week,
and it still looks as good as new…
except for the faded colour.
and after searching the brand out online,
i realised that it’s no pasar-malam brand man…
it’s actually a popular italian company that supplies sporting apparel.
and it’s also a sponsor of local football teams Geylang United and Woodlands Wellington.

haha,
elvis,
we shall not laugh at your branded tshirt again.
but still…
do try to wear other brands once in awhile k?
i’ve already talked about so many here.
=X

oh man…
he’s so gonna kick me.

and all this talk about brands makes me wanna go shopping!

i realised that studying in NIE has given me a bad habit.
i’m unconsciously correcting any grammar mistakes i see in my friends’ blogs.
=X
it’s really not on purpose!
but everytime i see something like e.g. they is so clever,
i just feel the urge to take a red pen to circle on the screen.
=P

wow…
yet another post.
you can tell how bored i must be eh?

ya,
today was another day of slacking.
was trying to motivate myself to pack my notes.
ya…
was trying,
and still trying.
=X

yes.
another thing to add to my list of things to do.
pack notes!

and i also forgot to blog about two other events that i’m looking forward to.
the first would be the fuhua ncc leadership camp 2008.
LoL…
i think after 3 challenge camps,
the part c wanted a camp where they could be the trainers instead of the trainees.
but since challenge camp is copyrighted to the Legendary Sannin,
i guess they decided to call it leadership camp.

hmmm…
actually challenge camp oso had an unofficial name leh…
remember?
Hadi
Elvis
Luis
Leadership Camp.
heheZ…
HELL Camp.

but ok lah,
the activities planned for this leadership camp seems very original.
i felt it was a rather good idea to try out this new style.
shall not mention what’s gonna happen here,
in case any of the trainees chances upon it.
wouldn’t wanna spoil the element of surprise eh?
anyway,
hope they’ll like the badge.
cos it’s designed by meeeee~!
again.
=P
ok ok…
at least this time the part c gave me ideas for what to incorporate into the design. 
=)

and the next event that i’m looking forward to would be the GESL trip to sentosa.
it’s a ‘CIP’ trip in which we’ll be bringing a group of kids to sentosa.
haha,
my group’s called Ben10.
and i know it’s gonna be a great day of fun~!
just hope that i’ll have the energy to keep up with the primary school kids.
=X
but hey,
after asia conference,
i think 1 day at sentosa will be nothing lah~
hopefully.
=P

and the star wars animated series - the clone wars,
will be coming to channel 5!
oh man…
but it’s on a saturday…
so most prob i won’t be able to watch it.

ya,
for those who didn’t know,
i’m a starwars geek.
=X

i remember how crazy i used to to be about starwars.
even have my own lightsaber,
and even practised lightsaber twirling.
always wanted to be a jedi knight and fly off into space,
saving princesses in a galaxy far far away.
=P

but recently i’m not so obsessed about starwars anymore.
haha,
now it’s more of manga and anime.
bleach and naruto especially.
even wanted to turn the fuhua clt corps into the gotei 13.
heheZ.
cos apparently most of the clts watch bleach,
and so we each decided to adopt a division number according to our seniority.
that’s why my hp wallpaper is the 2nd division insignia.
=)

haha…
by now i believe you can tell how childish i am eh?
heheZ.
that’s why i believe i’ll be able to connect to kids very well.
=X

oh ya,
1 last thing.
many of my friends are having their exams now.
and can tell that they’re very stressed over it.
so,
just wanna wish them all the best.
i believe you can all conquer the exams!

may the bankai be with you.

haha,
i’m blogging again.
driven by pure boredom.
=P

anyway,
just a few random things to rant about.

just finished my first semester exams in NIE.
i was so glad that i finally have room to breathe after months.
ya…
months of assignments and tests to study for.
but it’s been rather meaningful stuff.
at least i know i’ll be using what i learn for work in future.

den came asia conference.
whoa…
it was really the most challenging experience in security that i’ve had.
really made emerge look like child’s play.
i was so tired that i’m quite amazed that i didn’t faint halfway.
but now i’m sick!
running nose and cough…
hai…

and after that,
i was kindda glad that i could get some rest.
but after 1 day of resting at home…
haha,
i’m driven to blog.
=P

oso realised that it’s been months since i last exercised.
better start soon if i want to pass my ippt in 3 months’ time.
and my ict will be coming up soon after that too…
any chance of down-ing my pes?
=X

well,
i guess i better start planning a timetable.
see what i can do during this 1 month+ of holidays.
haha.

hmmm…
hopefully the members in my new cg will be free.
den can go out,
occupy some time,
and get to know them more.
haha,
for those who dun know yet,
ya,
i just transferred to a new cg~
with daniel and christina.
and unfortunately,
for the whole asia conference,
i only got to see some of them for like only 2 mins?
=(

of cuz,
i oso plan to start an exercise routine.
go jogging at least 3 times a week.
monday, wednesday, friday?
haha…
just like old times in 42SAR.
and maybe on sunday too,
if my cg feels up to it.

and there are a few things that i’m eagerly anticipating.
christmas!!!
haha,
the christmas services are always great~!
and i’m hoping to do some shopping too.
new clothes,
new camera,
new things~!
but…
hopefully i’ll manage to get the finances for those new things.
hehehe.
been so long since i did some shopping for myself.
=P

and new year!
= stwc 2nd year anniversary.
hopefully we’ll be able to hold a nice celebration this year.
elvis,
do join us via video conference.
do they have internet in yunnan?
heheZ.

ok…
i think that’s about all i have to rant about.
wait.
no.
there’s 1 more thing.
why did kakashi have to dieeeeee!!!???
=X

although it’s a little laggy…
but ORD loh~!
wahahahaha~!

it’s been quite a jouney.
to even bother trying to put 2 years of experience into this single entry is crazy,
so i’ll just rant about whatever pops into my head.

enlistment day…
the dread,
the nervousness,
the excitement,
the OCS-here-i-come-garangness.
bmtc sch 1; jaguar coy; plt 2 sect 2 bed 12.
back then we were the most xiong in sch 1.
can nv compare with those ninja turtles in sch 2 though.
but still,
with hawk resort next to us,
the days were long and weary.

the day i found out i had a fractured rib…
10th aug 2006.
why i can rmb?
it’s the morning after booking in from national day break.
wanted to siam battle assault course.
why?
cos i didn’t want to camou my face.
=X
mo : do you know you have a fractured rib?
me : huh? what? a fractured rib!?
haha…
i’ll never forget that scene.

then came the 1 month attend c.
the boredom.
cos i was ’supposed’ to stay at home. (note the inverted commas)
the OCS-i-can’t-come-anymore-ness.
wanted to have a bmt recourse just for another shot at it.
but the request was overturned by co, bmtc sch 1.
=P
(you can read my old entries : 187 - 191)

posting to 42 sar.
LoL…
i realised how retarded cmpb was.
they sent a guy with a fractured rib to an armour unit.
everybody was telling me how xiong armour was.
eat sand drink mud.
u get brown no.4 uniforms there…
DIY style.

have you ever heard of the armour curse?
the ‘once armour always armour’ curse?
that’s what the other guys in my batch called it.
a curse.
that once you got posted to armour…
you can cry all you want,
but you ain’t going nowhere.
and those words were plastered to the tank monument just outside my camp,
taunting us everytime we booked out.

well,
things didn’t turn out as bad as i thought.
due to my exceptional qualities as a soldier,
they decided to keep me in hq coy.
even though everyone else from my batch got posted to combat teams.
*beams with pride*

not to say that hq coy had it easier than the combat teams.
we slogged hard too.
just that our pressure came from a more white-collar environment.
and we still had to balance maintaining combat fitness with our workload.
that was where i met the few smartest people i’ve ever seen.
the scholars from all the top jcs seem to have gathered in hq.
that was how i learnt +ve working attitudes from some of them.
wouldn’t have been able to motivate myself without seeing their sense of responsibility.

ftx.
bpt.
atec.
after all that,
the bn was preparing for the mass ord to come.
when that day came,
it was saddening,
seeing the people whom you’ve worked with so closely go.
but work still went on.
and oh ya,
i was also the cqms by then.

held my own for 6 months.
brought the cq store to a standard i was proud to display for inspection.
saw many new faces come in.
ahh…
the last couple of months before ord was sweet.
basking in the attention given to this ord-personnel.
=P

and when that day came…
i was surprised that i was feeling kindda reluctant to end that day.
went around to bid farewell to the commanders and men.
the appreciation that some of the commanders gave me was truly touching.
haha…
one thing i was pleasantly surprised about was my transcript.
i knew i did well,
but i really didn’t expect an outstanding for my performance and conduct.
hehehe. =)

a friend drove me home from camp that day.
daryl ng,
the funniest intel clerk you can find.
i shan’t broadcast his exploits here,
lest he pours thinner on me. (why thinner? inside joke. =X)
as i approached the gate,
memories of my time in the cutting edge family flooded back.
like the time i spent my 20th birthday doing icct,
getting smashed face-first into mud by the idiotic eugene lim.

and as i breezed past the tank monument,
i saw those famous words once again.
and i knew that it wasn’t a curse at all.
it was an assurance.
an assurance that when you wear the black beret,
you’ve become part of a family that’s swift and decisive.
and i whispered under my breath,
with pride…
once armour, always armour.

with that,
i too salute you, sir.

ok.
i’m back to blogging.
you guys must have thought i became illiterate or something.
well…
not just yet.

finally managed to find some time to blog about the comings and goings in past months.
1 of the highlights has got to be the STWC Taiwan Trip.
not really the whole STWC…
but 8 guys at least.
namely…
aik siang; desmond teo; elvis; jeremy; kavin; me; wei ren; zi cheng.
the others just didn’t have the time to jump on a plane to adventure.
=P

so…
the journey begins…

190408.
we arrived at changi airport at 1200 hrs.
except for 1 guy.
our dear zi cheng.
we were rather worried that he might have forgotten our departure date.
but thankfully,
he arrived in the end.
and desmond’s family came to see him off.
it was his virgin flight you see.

we had our heavy lunch at popeye’s fried chicken and biscuits…
leading to concerns that maybe in this time of rising oil prices,
we shouldn’t bring so much oil up the plane,
or risk expelling it in mid-air.
=X

Our check-in at customs went rather smoothly,
with the exception of kavin being trapped by the gate.
the A.I. must have identified him as a possible MSK suspect..
him being short, dark and all.
the customs officer finally let him through after visually inspecting him.
but i saw a lingering look of suspicion even as we walked away.
=P

the plane ride was boring.
the pathetic amount of leg room we had didn’t do much to help either.
and i don’t think you need to hear vivid descriptions of the movies i watched on board..
so i shall just flash-forward to our arrival in taipei.

whoots!
welcome to taiwan~!
that was the first thought in my mind upon touch down.
that,
as well as ‘where’s the nearest washroom!?’.
=P

after doing the necessary,
i got a good look around at what was installed for me..
the overwhelming abundance of chinese characters.
oh boy…
better have at least 1 of my 7 translators with me at all times.
hmm…
or make that 1 of my 6 translators.
elvis doesn’t really count.
=X

really…
if i get separated from the group with only elvis with me…
the both of us can just hug each other and cry liaoZ.
probably won’t make it out of taiwan alive.

and wow…
after typing so much,
i’m not even into 1/10 of my trip.
hang in there ppl,
you’re in for a long read.

ok,
so we took a bus to a mrt station(yes, they have mrt there too).
and bought their ez-card(taiwanese ez-link).
it costs TW$500,
with a TW$100 deposit and TW$400 worth of value.
you can return it at the end of your stay for a refund of your deposit and any credits balanced.
definitely worth it.
their mrt is cheap, clean, efficient.

anyway,
we dragged our luggage into the crowded train and made our way to xi men station.
we got out of the station and weaved through the crowd in xi men ding,
before finally arriving at our humble little paradise hotel.
we checked-in,
did a little unpacking,
and dived right back into the streets of xi men ding.

we had ah-chung rice-flour noodles for dinner,
as well as a variety of snacks from the various street vendors.
it was amusing,
standing there watching as the vendors started moving away everytime somebody warned of approaching police,
and back again once the coast was clear.
they must have repeated it at least 5 times in the 1 hour we were there.
can’t imagine how they’re not sian-ed out doing it every night.

after a brief recce of the streets in xi men ding,
we returned to our hotel for a cup noodle supper and day 1 debrief.
btw…
their cup noodles have chunks of meat packed inside!
sorry,
but i’m really excited cos i’ve nv seen such stuff in s’pore.
=P

the next morning,
we got up bright and early for breakfast before heading to the mountainous area of wu lai,
famous for its natural hot springs.
we took a tram ride up to the waterfall area and took many photos there.
with expecially memorable photos of kavin.
=)

after that we made our way back down to the hot springs river.
and we had fun jumping around the rocks,
cos you could have scalding hot water in 1 region and cool water barely 10 cm away.
finally we sat down on the rocks soaking our feet in the areas where we found pleasantly warm water.
it was a beautiful place,
the only place where we got a look at rural taipei.

as we walked through the streets back to the bus stop,
we decided to stop for mountain pig sausages.
woah…
talk about fat-overload.
there were actually blocks of solid fat in the sausage.
and there was something foreboding about the fat.
=X

jeremy was the unfortunate victim.
on our way back on the bus,
he did a merlion in the middle of the journey.
his little merlion act needed 2 zip-lock bags to contain.
1 for the puke,
1 for the leaking 1 that contained the puke.
LoL…
it was kindda funny.
sure took the mundane out of that bus ride.
not that we weren’t worried about him ya?
=P

our next stop was dan shui.
we really went from 1 end of the mrt line to the other end.
like boon lay to pasir ris.
slept through half that journey.
btw,
jeremy did another mini merlion on that train ride too.
stupid mountain pigs.
hehehe =X

dan shui was a little like clarke quay maybe 20 years back.
we walked around the harbour and explored the interesting shops they had there.
1 that caught my attention was the sweet shop sophisca.
they sold sweets in many cute packagings,
like tiger balm, medical syringes, band-aids, even sanitary napkins!
bought some back as amusing gifts.
yeah…
dan shui was really an interesting stop.
kavin’s twin and all. -.-

our final stop for that day was shilin night market.
i had my first try of the XL chicken cutlet.
it was so large that i couldn’t even finish it!
not bad at all.
=)

we also did a little shopping after that,
and by the time we were done,
the last train had already departed,
so we took cabs back to our hotel.
speaking of cabs…
their cabs are better than the ones you see here back home.
basically cos they convert their own cars into taxis.
you just need to give your car a yellow paint job and…
wa-la! it’s a cab!
so you can find taxis of all makes and models roaming the streets.
we were even wondering if by chance perhaps we could spot a lamborghini taxi…
=P

our 3rd day started out a little later.
and the weather wasn’t too kind with us either.
we visited the chiang kai-shek memorial hall.
something i didn’t expect STWC to do.
cos we’ve thought of going everywhere in s’pore except the museum.
so little did i think that we would visit 1 in taiwan instead.
=P

but true to our modi operandi,
we didn’t exactly do what ppl usually do in a memorial hall.
instead of reading any of the information offered there,
all we did was take funny pictures.
and due to the heavy rain,
we got trapped in the memorial hall…
resulting in us taking even funnier pictures.
=S
who was the 1 who wanted to go there in the first place??

when the rain paused for awhile,
we quickly made our way back to the mrt station and headed for wu fen pu wholesale market.
more shopping,
and then off we went to taipei 101.
didn’t really go up cos we were on a budget,
and you have to pay if you’re thinking of going up the tower.
took some photos and den back we went to the hotel.

why the rush?
cos the guys were eagerly anticipating that night.
it was the night they planned to go clubbing~!
after the ton of research they did online,
even asking the locals for recommendations,
they had decided to go to luxy for the hot girls there~!

now now…
i’m not one of the guys who wanted to go k?
after all,
i’m the innocent little luis…
=X

anyway,
i really didn’t go k!
and neither did zi cheng and wei ren.
instead,
we went to shilin again to do even more shopping.
and on our way back to our hotel,
i received a call from jeremy.
apparently…
the club was closed!!!

all the effort,
the research,
the anticipation…
all washed down the dan shui river.
=X

somehow…
through all the information-gathering…
they all missed that single shred of info that the club was closed on mondays.
you should see the pictures they took of themselves as they left the place…
the grief in their hearts was evident in the sorrowful looks on their faces.
=’(

in the end,
they also went to shilin to do a little shopping before joining us back at the hotel.

we slept late into our 4th morning,
and left our hotel just in time for lunch at a goose-noodle stall.
after our meal,
we did our shopping at xi men ding at last.
after staying right beside xi men ding for the past 3 days,
and walking through the place every day,
it was only on that 4th afternoon did we finally stop to take a look at the shops there.

and kavin was so busy buying handbags that he got a little confused.
he had already bought 2 handbags,
and when i saw him picking out a 3rd,
i started to get concerned over his sudden interest in ladies’ merchandise.
me : ‘hey kavin! you siao ah? how come you buy until 3 handbags?’
kavin (in a stressed-over-picking-3-bags voice) : ‘because i got 3 sisters!’
jeremy (or was it someone else?) : ‘huh? you got 3 sisters meh?’
kavin (regaining his composure) : ‘ok. 2 sisters and 1 mother!’
talk about a confused child.
=X

truly…
trips won’t be the same without kavin to provide us with 24 hrs entertainment.

and for that last night in taipei,
we once again headed to shilin for last minute shopping,
making sure we squeezed out everything we could get with our remaining cash.

perhaps we should have thought things through a little more carefully though…
cos getting the haul back to the hotel was 1 thing…
getting the haul into the luggage was another.
=X

really…
that night,
we packed our luggage with more conviction and brute force than a recruit with his FBO.

and on the morning of the 5th day,
after 4 days of freezing air-con,
chirping birds,
fire-extinguishers,
paintings,
and channel 84…
it was time to bid goodbye to our paradise hotel.

we took a mini-bus to the airport,
checked-in our overweight luggage,
and waited for our flight back to s’pore.

it was over before we knew it.
the first STWC overseas exercise.
=(

back to reality guys.
no more diabetes-inducingly sweet taiwanese girls.
=P

hai~

but then again…
there’s always a next time.
=D

anyway,
we took over 1400 photos collectively,
and i’ve sifted out 55 photos for your viewing pleasure at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37393&id=502853764
it’s a facebook photo album,
so i’m not sure whether you need a facebook account to view them.

dun tell friendster that i’m advertising facebook here k?