The fun activity for today is going to Changi Airport! Priscilla and me both wanted to go to the new Terminal 3, and so we met up and went hahaha DUH!! Oh okay before that I met Chris Ngoh who was on his way to Expo for church, so we both shared a cab since we're both heading in the same direction. Anyway T3 was spacious but there weren't a lot of people. There's only some shops open for business only! T3 has ugly carpets too. But it's quite cool la. Then we headed to T2 and T1, had lunch at Popeyes, and got the biggest thrill with the "zoom zoom zooms" (airplanes!) and with the Skytrain. Oh saw Khairul there! What a way to meet him.

Then we went to Suntec cos Pris had to get her stuff for Standard Chartered. Met Elaine (from Sentosa) there! And Tammy too. Then I went back to Bishan after that for Yurong's birthday celebration at Swensen's. Joel and Tammy were there too! We did stupid stuff like trying to squeeze all 4 of us into a small seat at Macs.

It was a fun day. And now I'm home.


Poster that fell off some wall.


AHHH retarded.


Koi pond, without the koi yet.


Chloe Chloe!!


Powder Room for "little girlie necessities" HAHAHAHA.


Giant banana split.


What I want for Christmas: a pretty girl!


With Pris at some sunflower garden.


Trying to do the swan love thing.


Yurong, Joel, me and Tammy at Swensen's.


It doesn't look like it, but it's squeezy!

Rest of the photos here!

Allow me to be bitchy and whiny and girly just for this post.

I WANT TO CRY!!!!! I didn't really get to celebrate my birthday for this year. Heck, I didn't even feel happy in the first place! I was stupidly stuck in camp on my birthday. I wanted to apply for an off day or something, but my off and leave balances were like just enough for the end-of-year block leave. And on top of that, there's the mind-draining NCC camp for this week! My Platoon Commander (PC) is the one conducting for the whole camp duration, and I'm PC's runner so in any case I need to assist her anyway. And I tell you, it's terrible!!! Okay the executions and operations of the entire four days was pretty co-ordinated in the Cadets' view, but as with most things, the behind-the-scenes logistics were crazy. We were short of manpower, so I had to go into the gas chamber and be smoked by the tear gas again!! Then it was a mad rush preparing all the stores for the different games and stations. And my PC is kinda haphazard and messy, so I have to run many many many errands for her. And my love-hate relationship with signaling is back. And there were probably a million things we could do better. And they needed emcees on the campfire night, so Nigel and me got the shitty job. And Nigel ditched me alone halfway! Do I look like any emcee to you??? AND IT'S MY BIRTHDAY AND I'M RUNNING ROUND THE CAMP FLUSTERED AND GOING TO DO STORES AND RESCUE PEOPLE SINGLE-HANDEDLY AND DOING PAPERWORK THAT EVENTUALLY GOT REJECTED AFTER IT'S 75% COMPLETED.

Weh. I really got very dejected midway. The whole day everyone's wishing me happy birthday, but I felt like telling everyone that I'm not happy at all. But okay la here's a big big thank you to all of you who sent messages and greetings to me. Hahaha if I want to make myself feel popular, I would have listed down all the names of those who messaged me, but I don't wanna do that. And thanks too to those who cheered me up slightly by saying I did a good job for the whole NCC camp and for good emcee-ing (THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT) and for whatever else. Wow my PC sent me a "good job" message and it suddenly made everything so worthwhile. And for the NCC Cadets too! Wacko bunch of people, and there were five girls! I liked Chloe best because I think she's the cutest, but she's only Sec 3 so what the hell.

Okay. End of bitching. Here's a quick summary of the week before, of which I failed to update this blog. I went out for a 3 day outfield exercise which was an integrated one with some reservist thingy at Murai reservoir, Lim Chu Kang area. It was kinda alright, nothing outstanding, except that I got "misplaced" once on the first night and was stranded for 3 hours. Oh I made new friends, Islamuddin the driver and Gabriel the signaler. Actually being PC runner makes me privvy to a lot of contacts in well-placed areas. Ahhh.



Eh okay that's all. I shall go treat myself to a proper celebration this weekend. But before I end, this is what Yurong posted on her blog:-

HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY GUAN YOU!
I think Guan You is one of the most secure and spontaneous guy that I know.
He happily wears pink socks, eats preserved papaya peels and has a fetish for curly haired little girls. Oh, and he thinks Bukit Timah is one of the heartlands in Singapore.
With all this fluff( heh) , you would think he is one of those spacey guys with his head in the clouds. But you'll be pleasantly surprised. For one, he watches Steven pinker's lecture on the clean slate, a philosophy/cognitive science lecture, during his free time.

alrights. happy birthday again. haha.

From Rong: help me say HAPPYBIRTHDAY CURLYHAIRFETISHMAN.

ok. I shall go message him now.

And yup, without realising it I've plunged straight down the calendar boxes and arrived at November. Wow. Time really flies if it wants to. At least, on a slightly personal level, November always holds a few promises for me. It's my birthday month, my Junior Soldier month, my Clean and Green month. It's quite near to the end of the year, so it's a time for reflection too. Something along those lines hahaha. And November has been associated with rain since time immemorial, and I kinda like rainy days because it's not-so-gloomy and perfect-for-sleeping.

So this blog entry shall be about rain, and the November rain. Nope it's got nothing to do with Guns & Roses. It's been only a week half into November, and already I've been caught out in the rain four times so far. All four times, I was stranded somewhere and I've got to go somewhere else, so I had to run out to be soaked. It's not a very nice feeling. Given a choice I would rather stay in bed and snuggle up in my blankets, or I'll make coffee and read a book. Or if I'm stupid enough, I'll go to some super duper air-con place and freeze myself.

But nothing will beat the freakish thunderstorm in October for this year. Was in camp at that time, and we were supposed to have training, but it escalated into some tornado (okay I'm exaggerating) and poured like crap, and we got drenched thoroughly even under shelter, and on the long way back in the 5-tonner truck the rain splattered in everywhere and no one had a dry spot on their shirts. Later on, I realised that the thunderstorm uprooted a tree and another got struck by lightning, not to mention a whole lot of other carnage.

Yet, still, for sheer ultimate helplessness and my most drenched and wettest ever rain experience, it has to be litter-picking at MacRitchie reservoir when I was still in secondary school. We were in groups and we had to comb several trails for litter in the bushes, along the boardwalk, stuff like that. Halfway through it poured like nuts, complete with lightning and howling winds. And the nearest shelter was a million miles away cos we were on one of the more obscure trails. So the decision was to keep going in the rain till we reach shelter. Okay I think there were four or five people in my group, and we had a small umbrella, but it wasn't any use at all. The stupidest, or most commendable, thing was that we continued picking litter for almost an hour in stupendously heavy rain! Until we reached shelter, when the rain decided to stop too. Utterly drenched to my underwear, and my fingers turned soggy pink, and the wind blew across the water and BRRRRR.

That said, I think umbrellas and rain coats are kinda pointless for me. That's because when I'm caught in the rain, I don't like getting my feet wet! Umbrellas only keep your head dry. Rain coats mostly end slightly beyond the waist and that's about it. Your upper body will stay dry. What use is that if you have soggy waterlogged shoes! Blah. The Japanese invented tiny umbrellas for shoes hahahahahaha I should get those.

Ohh. I saw a rainbow today! Two, in fact. The first one was gigantic and bold. The second one was more faint and less distinct. Awesome! That's one thing good about before or after rain; you might get glimpses of rainbows.

Maybe I'll write a poem about November and rain. It's so not original. But let's just try. Meanwhile, I look forward to more rainy escapades which, I suppose, is kinda inevitable for the month of November and December.

Deepavali, and I went out with Atiqah! The plan was to wear something Indian-looking and go eat some Indian cuisine, but I couldn't find any Indian-looking shirts at home. So sad! Although Atiqah wore some bright pink top which, she claims, is a mixture for Deepavali and Hari Raya. Anyway we went to Bugis. Ate at Raffles Hospital's Banquet, then went shopping around Bugis Junction. I finally bought a pair of flip flops which I liked! Hooray for me.

And the short week in camp ended with some healthy lifestyle day for the whole of the Singapore Combat Engineers formation units. So that means all the SCE units came to our camp for a 6km run. We didn't run; we did water points and marshalling and tentages. The worst thing was, there was a thunderstorm that lasted through the morning. But it's okay, cos I met Zi Hao and Kenneth from my BMT platoon at Tekong! Awesome to see them again. Then I met these two guys named Gregory and Wei Qi, who were both from Catholic High in the same batch with me. I never really talked to them before back at school, but I vaguely remembered their faces. And the funny thing is, so did they! Hahahaha facial familiarity clicks so well. Ah haha that made me feel slightly popular, in my own right.

Okie. That's all.

I initially wanted to write something abstract and obscure, but I think the effort to squeeze out something like that and still make it an excellent prose will probably kill me.

And thus, I revert you to my drones of my mundane life. With occasional bimbotic outbursts.

I slept like a pig and woke up super late today. Went to J8 with my family for lunch at the food court. Which I thought was quite fun because it's been ages since I last ate at the food court there, despite going to J8 at least once almost every week. Then after that my mum bought me a new pair of jeans! And my dad went to apply for a new internet subscription plan which involves a new iPod Touch. OH MY GOSH how cool is that!! Then we all went to Coffee Bean to sit and chill. It's kinda crappy being there again in two consecutive days.

After all of that, I went to meet Priscilla! She was bored and wanted to find a reason to get out of house, so we went down to Novena Square for fun hahaha. I think it's super funky over there la there's so many interesting things and nice stuff which I want to get but I don't want to blow a big hole in my bank account. Heh okay I was trying to find colourful mosquito repellant patches with smiley faces on it! I saw some of the kids the last time I was at Sungei Buloh wearing those patches and I thought they were the coolest thing on earth. But I couldn't find any! Oh oh there's a new Donut Factory outlet over there too! My gosh it was the first time I didn't see a super long queue at a DF outlet so we hopped right in for donuts! I'm so happy hahahaha this is something unexpected. And I got myself a new eyecandy she's working over there and her name's Sylvia (I peeked).

Haiya basically Pris and me just explored the whole of Novena Square. Oh I bought this huge yellow bag that had duckie prints on it! It's irresistibly appropriate for me! Only thing is, the bag's kinda weird. As in, it's not a normal bag it's more like those kind of tote bags. I'm trying to think of a way to make it seem fashionable enough for me to carry it out without looking homosexual. And I got new magnets! Oh oh oh by the way I'm collecting magnets now if any of you see some nice funky cool awesome weird magnets (in that order of preference), help me get it and I'll pay you back or something!

OKIE. Here's a random picture, courtesy of Yurong!

Alright here's my weekly update. Had my first IPPT in more than 2 months. Golly of course I didn't pass because I still can't jump far enough (although I set a personal best) and my 2.4km run timing is worst than ever. Raahhh. Then yesterday we got to book out early because there was a barbeque at one of Changi's chalets for the people who just or are going to ORD in November/December. Kalvin drove me, Rajesh, Xiang Long and De Hua down. Stayed there for an hour half before we all couldn't take it anymore. Blah it's kinda difficult having some army gathering when you already eat, sleep and train with people you see almost everyday of the week. I left for Friday youth service after that.

And today. It's Clean & Green Singapore's opening launch today! And they chose to do the jamboree thing at Bishan Park!! Awesome right it's like just next to my house. So my parents and I decided to go down to take a look. Hmm I really miss my Green Link days. I used to be involved in the planning of these kind of events, or at the very least volunteering for booth work. Now I'm taking in the sights and experiences as a member of the public instead. Okay la it was quite interactive, but I thought there were fewer exhibitions than usual. The funniest thing was seeing secondary school girls wrapped with leaves! Hahaha!

Then I went down to Beach Road to get some army stuff, then I hopped over to Concourse just for the fun of it. There's so many cool party stuff there!! Then I went to J8 to walk around and to go to the library and then I sat at Coffee Bean for 2 hours reading, before going for dinner with my family.

Okie. Here's some pictures from Clean & Green.