Monday Blues~

Today i really felt the full impact of Monday Blues. Draggin' my feet to work, not bothering to wear my contact lens, feeling flu-ish, sitting down on my chair staring at my screen for new mails that never came in. My mind totally somewhere else, everywhere else except work. Just didn't have the mood.....Like now...my mind is not with writing this blog. Its with chatting with Alvin, Dennis and Weijian, James on MSN. So many things to do, so little time. So many new things to learn, so little time. So many new pple to meet, so little time. Time and tide waits for no man. Hence, every hour, every min, every second, is so precious. God sent us down to earth for a purpose. Find that purpose, fufil it, and be fulfilled.

TGIF~

Manchester United won 3-0 against Debrecen last night, to win 6-0 on aggregate to proceed to the group stages of the Champions League. In my humble opinion, they were anything but great. No flowing attack and looked shaky in defence. Probably cos they didn't play pple like park, keano, scholes and rooney. Nevertheless, they won. Its the results that count don't it? And great teams get results with sloppy play :)

Talking about producing results, how can one not see the difference between someone not producing results and someone producing loads of results? Favouritism blinds the judgemental sight of a person. The implications hurt the morale of the pple, and allow the "favourite" strut arnd, "act big". The attitude and laziness of one of my guys just frustrated me the entire week. If not for my cool headedness i would have told him " Eh wtf, you can't even settle a simple task within a deadline given, you go take 3 extra duties."

Duties...Recently i felt an urge to do anything that anyone task me to do in my unit. Maybe its a post Principle Staff Officer job syndrome. I even volunteered to take over 1 weekend duty for my other fellow officer, Lt Shawn, as it fell on his birthday. Honorable? or Foolish? Negative thinking aside, i would choose to think of the former.

The Car~
Daihatsu Copen. Totally fell in love with it when i first saw it on 8 days.( Sorry ah, might be a bit slow, i don't really read car magazines.) For me, a car must possess 3 qualities. Looks, fuel consumption, price. This car certainly blows me away. Has killer looks, smooth and sleek. Fuel consumption wise, u can't really complain for a car that runs 18km per litre. This baby's got a 659cc capacity, around the same as the small little subaru vivio that my family owns. So efficient. So cool. So sweet. Pricewise, i wouldn't know. As the authorized dealer for daihatsu, Sin Tien Seng does not seem to bring in this car. I wouldn't buy a car that falls out of the $70,000 mark. It just doesn't seem logical. The more expensive the car, road tax would be more expensieve, maintenance would be more expensive, at least for the changing of tires. A bigger tire costs more ya noe. The amount spent on petrol will be more, exaggerated with the increase in oil prices. What else, would insurance coverage be more expensive? i dunno. To me, the car is a mode of transport. If it can bring you from one point to another point, with added convenience of time and flexibility compared to public transport, and with added safety and protection compared to motorcycles, it is sufficient. Why spend so much? All in all, the car is a liability, not an asset. Something reasonable would suffice :)

New Look~

How's my new look? I took this blog template from blogskins.com, after much effort spent browsing the web and the site for so many templates. Finally got one that i liked. There's still some touching up here and there, but i guess i'll just put it up first!:)

Anyway this week so far has been very fun and relaxed! My S1 is back and now at least there is a certain direction and authority in our branch. Unlike when i was leading, aimless and insecure. Since her return, i have moved out of her office, which i felt was a great barrier from me and the rest of the clerks. Now I have shifted to sit outside with the clerks, feeling more at ease and also more "re4 nao4 and qi4 fen4". Moreover, i'll have lesser mail in the future since she's back! that's great news so my account won't keep crashing anymore. My future within the branch is still shady at the moment. Although my Commanding Officer wants to keep me, I have to go someplace else if there's the calling. My job is done at 3 DMSB. It is finished.Can channel more effort and time to AHM training now. Ran 15km on Tuesday, in 1 hour 10 mins. Feeling great and in better shape. All i have to do now is to maintain my training pace for AHM in 11 Sep and i can get my 3 days off, for completing AHM in under 2hrs 45 min. Yay!!

The Weekend~

It was largely aching due to the 17km run i had on Friday. The run, was super mental, super shaq, super long. The last time i ran prior to this run was like a week ago, and only 11km. By army standards, there's always "progressive training" and stuff so by right, i am not supposed to run 17km. But, it wouldn't make any sense to run 10km, cos the conducting only planned for 10km and 17km. So i threw every damn army training safety regulations out of the window, and took the "by left" route. It was a painful, excruciating run, but satisfying. Its all abt going the distance, believing in urself that u can do it, then JUST do it. Its been quite a while since i've tested my physical limits, by the fact that im not "chiong sua-ing" anymore. I kinda miss chiong sua days, chionging with my fellow section and pl mates, fighting the fight together, going through shit together, surviving it together.

Met RJBT on Sat night. Roy, Jasmine, Jeannie, Terence Tan & Wu, Weipin, Mr Wong, and myself turned up. Had fun catching up with Jeannie and the Wu Ge ge, not having the opportunity to meet them for quite a while. One in CHeena, one too busy with gf( but at least took this time to meet up, unlike someone else..).

Sunday, still had remnants of the muscle ache from the Friday run. Really appreciated the Pastor's sermon on the Parable of the good samaritan. Key takeaway: Having compassion for another fellow person, driven by the person's need, not his worth. And putting compassion into an act, as action speaks louder than words, and that is kindness. Kindness is the act of compassion. Don't worry, slowly digest if u r trying to catch wat i said. Anyway, didn't really do much after church. Just went to IKEA to do some shopping, then home to DIY the IKEA stuff, then tried to get some beat going on the drums, then played some songs on my guitar, then watching stealth, and now blogging. It would be an interesting week ahead, with more Army Half Marathon training to go, and SSC badminton tournament ongoing, plus work committement. Anyway, just hope that the week ahead would be a smashing one!

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.

Love Languages~

Today, i attended a welfare and wellness seminar organized by SAF's personal care centre, the welfare arm of the SAF. Well, usually when one of these courses appeared in my mailbox, asking me to apply and go for it, i would usually just delete the mail. There's a misconception among alot of pple that seminars are useless, blah blah blah, decreases short term productivity and work ouput. However, the reason why i signed up for this seminar was ya noe, National day blues, don't feel like going to work. Hey! there's a half day seminar to attend! Just sign up man.
Never did i noe that i was going to learn so much in the seminar, and take away valuable points and experiences.....

One of the distinguished speaker that spoke, Dr Tan Khian Seng, talked abt Mending Relationships and Healing Hearts. He talked about love languages and how different pple give and receive different love languages, and that's there's misunderstanding, and that's how there's broken relationships. First, there's Act of Service, someone whose actions show how much he loves his/her significant other. Actions like cleaning the house, making sure that he/she has everything needed, cooking a meal for he/her etc etc. Then there's Quality time. Some pple sacrifice their time for one another, Spending quality time with each other, enjoying the sunrrise or sunset, or even drinking coffee together, doing a favourite activity together. Next, Physical Closeness. The physical presence of the other person is important. He/She must feel his/her touch. A hug or a kiss, cuddling together is an expression of love. Gifts giving. Some pple give gifts as an act of love. Husbands give wives diamond rings, flowers. Wife give husband...eh..i dunno. ahaha. Lastly, there's Words of encouragement. Words that heal, words that touch the heart of the person, words that motivates, words that revives, words of love.

Which of the 5 love languages do you give?
Which of the 5 do you wish to receive?

3 R's

From the environmentalist point of view, its recycle, reduce and reuse.
From the army chao keng-er point of view, its rest, relax and recreation.
From the Mancherster United fan point of view, it Ronaldo, Rooney and Ruud.

Man Utd 3 Debrecen 0

Its the first match of the season and things are looking up for man utd. Seriously can't wait to see them play especially the news players. Especially the Park man. Pple say that the reason why he was bought was to sell shirts. I seriously dunno. But someone who can score goals against a team like AC milan has to have certain quality.Anyway, back to the point. On Sunday if anyone caught the Charity Shield on ESPN, you would have to agree with me that the standard of football played that day was trememdous. Chelsea looked focused in their tactics and held a very gd defence against a flowy arsenal team, with passes so sharp they can cut right through the goal netting. So sharp and flowy it seems almost....robotic, rehearsed. After that match i seriously thought to myself whether Man Utd can match up to that kind of standard. It seems that my confidence in them has dropped a little after disappointment after disappointment. We'll just have to wait and see....we shall wait and see......

National Day~

Its the 40th birthday of our nation. Somehow this year's National day parade wasn't so grand and so impressive. The mobile column was somewhat, imo slow(literally) and a little boring. I think one reason is probably because im actually in the army. So you noe what is happening during the parade and can actually become critics, like saying whether they perform their drills to the highest standard or not, whether they swing their arms together etc. The mobile column leh, can name abt 3/4 of the vehicles there. Seen them in action, not when they are slowly rolling past a stand of spectators. how wonderful.

Had another class gathering today at ZhiJun's house. Had a great time chatting with my RJ Class mates. Those at the table were mainly Woonded, Charles, Shihao, Shuen, Justine, Yanwei, Waihan and I. We had great laughs talking abt our good ol' RJ days, how we were such a problematic class, S06C. 6C, pronounced sek si in cantonese means "eat shit" I remember quite a few teachers telling us abt the tradition that S06C was always the problematic class, etc etc. Nevertheless, we had our fun, our laughter, and we were a unique class filled with people of different personalities. Meeting up with good ol' classmates from the gd ol' days really brought back alot of happinness and gd memories which were stored safely at the back of my head. Laughing at Zhi Jun in his family potrait, at charles for rocking in the chair when he laughs last time when Mrs Veluri(GP teacher) used so many pompous words to scold us which caused her to storm out of the class, at my attempt for corniness and lame-ness and a whole load of other things. Realli, the time that we spend chatting through the night realli made my evening. Thanks guys:)

Never a trial that He is not there,

Never a burden that He does not bear;

Never a sorrow that He does not share—

Moment by moment, I'm under His care. —Whittle

When we put our cares in God's hands, He puts His peace in our heart.

Heavy Heart~

From work problems, to family problems, to friendship problems, to relationship problems, to health problems. This whole week was a long and dreadful one. Besides the fact that 1 guy has just officially went AWOL from my branch, under my care, i get the impression that what i have been doing is not appreciated. From the start, trying my best to learn as fast as possible things to do with HR, being thrown into it suddenly without any prerequisites whatsoever. And getting my ass hammered from everywhere, anywhere. There just isn't any motivation for me to carry on working as hard as i used to. The previous motivation was "trying to make a difference." Trying not to let S1 branch be a let down to the bn, as it was previously. Trying to raise the standards, trying to get things sorted out.Try....is the key word. Motivation does wonders to a person. Right now, im just waiting for my S1 to come back and resume responsibility, responsibility that a captain should shoulder, not a 2LT. Finally, after these 3 months of hectic schedules and work loads, i can take a breather. Or at least i hope....

In da house, tempers flare easily as everyone is putting their best effort to sort issues out for the new house. Family members are getting agitated more easily. Me also being one of the culprit. Not only at home, but with friends and colleagues as well. My mum and dad are putting in their effort to make sure that everything's "ship ship" in da house. With contractors making mistakes, aircon pple telling her no stock of aircon, dad getting on her nerves by asking her why this why that, no wonder voices get raised. Hai....i don't like arguments. I like peace. I shun away from loud voices, cower back to my cave.....

The friend to share all of my troubles, all my sorrows, all of my happiness, all of my joy. and all of his/hers. Recently, i have been meeting the same few friends unconciously. Whether in camp or outside, we have been meeting on a regular basis. Even when there is no time. We'll still make time to meet each other. To tok kok. Hongyuan and Seng are the two friends i have caught up the most since we parted during our OCS days. Dunno why, just feel very comfortable talking to them, sharing my tots, discuss issues. Seng, is one big guy with a heart of gold. Honestly, i haven't met anyone like Seng. He is definitely on of a kind. Today saw him pat a Wrnt Officer on the back..Rather surprised...Hongyuan, on the other hand, is a soft spoken, blur, Wols guy. FUn to make fun of him, and gd company as well.....

I don't noe how to define relationship problems. But is not having a relationship a relationship problem? Technically no. But...i think it is a problem because its just not right... I feel that there's a vaccuum waiting to be filled up in my life. This empty space, is causing disequilibrium in the rest of my life. You noe, like a piece of a puzzle waiting to be put into place. It just doesn't feel normal....

This week, the worst of my sore throat, block nose, flu has hit me. Feel super sianz the whole week. Makes waking up in the morning feels like a drag. Feel super cold in the air con. Muscle aches....not being able to think properly...blah blah blah....Need to see a doc soon...Haiz...

FOP today was just simpy wonderful. I went there expecting a great worship by hillsong and delirious, and listening to a great sermon. i got that, and more. When hillsongs sang the first song, i started to tear uncontrollably. I could sense God's almighty presence in me. i teared and teared for the next two songs. During this period, i just praised god with all heart and soul. God has lifted my heavy heart and took my worries and issues away. I came out of FOP feeling 101%. This is my mini testimonial of God's greatness and what he has done for me in my life.

House Movers~

Weekday job, a humble servant of the SAF. Weekend Job, full time house mover~ At least for the past few days and maybe for the next weekend as well. Sofas, chairs, tables, wadrobes, boxes(loads of it), vases, big stuff, small stuff, puny stuff. You name it, i've moved it. I think i moved so much stuff that i have gained sufficient experience points(Machiam sound like some computer game) to become a qualified mover. No problem folks. Need a helping hand? Feel free to call me anytime, anywhere, anyhow. Nevertheless, im glad that in all these busy times, still manage to find time to go for sonic fest. Wah kau eh...on sat night the music by sonic flood was so loud, my ears hurt for a moment. I literally drowned(hehe) in the music.

We also managed to call professional house movers to move the realli realli biggy stuff. stuff that my dad and i can't handle. They were pple from helping hand, an organization which helps convicts get back to the proper track of life. These pple were the real professionals, moved things like lightning. Their teamwork was tremendous. You can see through their work how they work together, how they have that sense of each other, how they have the brotherhood-ness. These pple might be pai kia's, ang kong kia's or watever kia's before. One thing these pple have that we(referring to pple of better education) don't is a sense of brotherhood, strong friendship bonding. They are the kind of pple who will die for you. The kind who will bleed for you. When i was in commanders' school in the army, namely SISPEC and OCS, my instructors used to tell me that although ur men all pai kias and all got ang kong, and they may seem to have many problems or cause alot of trouble, IF u can gain their respect as their leader, as their brother, they will fight for you in the battlefield. They will die for u. As the preacher said yesterday during service, " Wasting it for Jesus." Will you waste it for someone, when there is a need to? Will you leave everything behind for that someone? Will you die for someone?........