Hanging on..

Another week has passed in the GCC. 2 more weeks to go, but all siong activities.. Starting with Summary Exercise in the coming week. Going to Tekong for 3 or 4 days. Gonna be shag.

More settled to the course now and just wish that it ends real soon.. I need a hug. Haha..

Anyway, gotta run now, going to airport to receive our homecoming Jo before heading back to camp by 7pm. So early book in, sucks right. =(

Torturous week..

It's been hell of a week. And when I say that, it's not like an American slang saying it was darn exciting or what.. I was really hell. Both physically and mentally..

All started on Monday.. First, came the news that me and other Pioneer specs won't be going for Guards Conversion Course.. Mixed feelings. Had been waiting for the course for very long already, and on the eve of the course, told to us that we are not going.. Some of us were very happy, I felt more disappointed. Though a part in me was punching the air that I need not suffer.. But I was disappointed cos I felt that we Pioneers are treated like dirt, nothing important to them. Like, 可有可无, very much disposable.. Felt angry at times also.. Then, diverted attention by jio-ing my friends to go for a short getaway to neighbouring countries during this coming week.. As we were checking tickets and all this, came news that we would still be going for the course after all!! Get my point? We are like, unimportant..

Then, at night came the seed of my whole week of turmoil. A 24 km route march at East Coast. Walked as a batallion.. Lots of campers at night. Merry makers having BBQ and chalets.. As usual, a lot of people like to shout "ORD" to gek us. A young woman, was looking at us and commenting to his male friend as we walked passed.. I heard "Wa, like very fake like that.." Hello?! Like what was very fake?! I had a full battle order on my body, complete with a SAR21 and a increasingly big blister. I might just have pointed my rifle at her and asked her "Fake or not?" Of course, the rifle not loaded. Hehe. Anyway, gained loads of blister after the 24km, and a soreness in my right ankle to throw me wondering if I should go through GCC..

The main concern is my ankle. I mean, it's obvious it's not recovered. And I risk of aggravating it further. I was 90% certain I did not want to go through the course. I know that I probably can't go through a lot of the strenuous activity without worrying about my ankle.. And I was not keen for that kind of pressure. And I really felt damn pressurised. And it was also the course, by going through the course and being excused from a lot of the activities, I was worried I will undermine the course. To me, it is a prestigious course. Of course, there had been people who had got it after doing only the minimum requirements. But I was determined not to be one of those.. If I am going to wear the khaki beret and Guards tab, I will earn it.. If not, I will live with my blue beret. I might regret it later, but I considered that this regret will pale in comparison to the regret that I will get if I injure my ankle further. I told my OC of all my concern and even the CO. But they did not want to take me out of course. Ask me to try my best.

Well, the blister also added to the concern, cos I couldn't walk properly for the past few days.. My left foot is now swollen from an infection of sorts, though it is subsiding.. But that's how bad it is.. And yah, through my own words, "it's the size of Australia on a world map". Haha.. Went to my GP this morning to get medication for the blister, so that it can heal faster. So, I can properly assess how my ankle can take the training once the blister is healed.

Was really really low when they refused to take me out of course.. Very very uncertain. I might not pass the course anyway. And I was prepared to go for the lessons to learn more things about Guards operations but be considered out of course. Meaning I'll not get the khaki beret and Guards tab at the end of the day. But I was prepared to do so, for myself and the standard of the course.

Since they've insisted I stay in the course for now, and that my blister is recovering, I'm now more ready to take on the course.. The ankle is still a worry, but at least one less thing on my mind and I can walk properly again. So, we'll see how it goes.. And hopefully, nothing else will happen to weigh me down...

Hikes..

With the booming economy, pay rises are not the only increase come July.. Alright, I know I've lamented on this issue and whined like a pussy. But things have seriously hit me again and again, and I have to let it out, somewhere..

GST hike is well known to all, with the garment trying to squeeze out more little dollars we the poor citizens have. But it's all done so that we'll have bigger reserves, more investments, more revenue and more benefits for the citizens! Hooray! Fair enough. And also, more school rebuilding projects, with a relatively new school going under the PRIME project, getting rebuilt totally. It's quite lame and to me, wasteful. I don't see why a school slightly older than a decade needs to be torn down and rebuilt!!! I was totally aghast to find out this fact.. If you wonder which school I'm talking about, it's one of the top 5 secondary schools, when all schools were still taking O Levels..

Now, the big 4 has ganged up to earn even more, much like the big 4 in EPL or the G-14 group in Europe football.. That is, if you haven't realised, the hike in NETS fee.. It's been on the papers for a couple of weeks now. Now, in my opinion, the big 4 is really a big bully.. Today's Sunday Times: There was this shoe shop which passed on the extra levy that NETS imposed to the customers. Ok, fact is the levy hike has been postponed to July and the shop should not have charged the levy, though they claimed to be ignorant of the postpone-ment. Anyway, why I say the big 4 bullies is that they claim that the charges incurred should not be passed on to the consumers, which is us.. But anybody spare a thought for the retailers? Is it fair for them to shoulder the charges? Now, think about this.. Would you rather retailers tell you outright they are gonna charge you extra if you pay by NETS, so that you can decide to use NETS or cash, or would you rather have one standard price, be it payment by cash or NETS, but the cost have already been included in the price of an item (meaning a price hike)?? I would prefer to have a choice, seriously.. But if the big 4 are going to demand charges not to be passed on to us, then the latter choice will happen. So whatever it is, we are more likely to lose. Unless having the option of paying by cash or NETS is implemented, the consumers will always be on the losing end. Coming from corporations that earn hundreds of millions per quarter, now if that's not bullying, it must be extortion.

I'm contemplating if I should buy what I want all before July to beat the hike. Like getting presents for people whose birthdays are coming now, rather than later. Still thinking.. I wonder if price hikes or tax hikes are like mountains. If it is, I'm glad. Because however tall the freaking mountain is, there'll be a peak. But how many of us can make it to see the peak still in one good piece? I wonder again...

Happy Birthday Long Ziling!!

Happy Birthday Long Ziling!! Welcome to the Club 22.. Wishing you happiness and health in your year of double 2.. =)

Had a tiring day. Slept at like 5am last night after celebrating Ziling's birthday with some po lo bun and other delicious food at Kovan which cost quite a bit. Thanks to Ziling's craving for "yuan yang" and butter sugar toast.. "We could have gone to Ya Kun lor...", Kunlei noted. I agree. But Ms Long wanted HK Cafe. So, no choice. The ageing girl last say for the day. Heh..

Went to PC Show with Fei Meng after waking up at noon.. I wonder why Singapore flocks to any I.T. related exhibition that there is in Singapore.. The normally empty train to Expo will be full when it has IT show there, there were so many people at Suntec that I wondered if the metal bridge would succumb to our weight and collapse.. Anyway, checked out the laptop prices and also the Samsung cams that Guangfeng was selling.. There was one that was pretty bad. Even with 7.2 MPixels, the noise of the shots taken was still quite high.. Tsktsk.. Room for Samsung to improve yet..

Thereafter went to Sim Lim. I tell you, it's the first time I see Sim Lim so empty on a weekend. The only holidays for Sim Lim is, when there are IT fairs elsewhere.. So yup, had an easy time strolling and browsing through the products as I looked for a new keyboard and mouse. Heh.. Which I am typing with now.. Quite happy to be a mini tech 'geek'. Using a cordless keyboard and optical mouse now. My old cordless set of 4.5 years is failing me, with the mouse losing sense of its ball. So, yeah.. Parted with $44...

Still looking for an LCD tv, budget most important, to play my game.. Then there's the sling bag I wanna get from Queensway too. Heh.. Quite a bit to buy eh.. =p