NS Outing!

Yay! Been quite some time since I organised anything. But it had been so long since we last met up, I was thinking we might as well have an outing to find out more of what each other had been doing so yup, organised an outing!

Sent out smses yesterday morning. A bit sudden but am glad that those who can make it for lunch turned up for lunch. Those who can make it for movie turned out for movie and those who can make it for dinner turned out for dinner!

Very grateful to all who managed to grace the outing!
Those who didn’t come make sure you guys come next time hor!!!

Those who came:

Zheng Kai! Cheng Ye! James! Yue Han! Bo Rong! Winston! Jeffrey! Zhan Yang! Wei Yuan!

Thanks to those who orded long ago, just orded and those who are still serving!!!!!! Wahaha!!

And Zhan Yang sms read:” Haha.. Great outing.. Not bad.. Really enjoy it.. Haha.. Successful outing.. Cool.. Hope to see you again.. Cya soon”

I’m happy..

ORD loh!

It’s finally my turn!

Phew, nearly could not ORD smoothly today and had to return back to camp to collect my medical ffi next week. Reason being, blood test result need 1 week to process or something la. Heng the blood test result managed to be released earlier and I’m officially a NS man!

Had both ups and downs in my unit but personally, I felt that the 2 years were definitely not wasted. I’ve gained insight on many issues which will probably come into handy in the future. Been to 3 overseas exercises definitely expanded my horizon and enriched my NS career. Given the opportunity to lead a team but I suppose I didn’t do much though. And also thanks to all the officers who took such good care of me over the past 2 years!

Made numerous friends who left an impact in my life and made working in my unit so enjoyable. Knowing them were probably the best gift that NS gave to me. Whether or not we remain in contact is still very much unknown, but I promise at least I’ll put in some effort!

Rollcall! (In ORD Order)

Johnny - So sorry to have left you stranded inside that department! Anyway, ORD loh!
Wen Yong – Enjoy your Japan Trip!
Thaddeus – Actually I owe you a lot of thanks! Thanks for being such a great help in Wallaby, thanks for helping me vet the testimonial, thanks for providing me some pointers for the interview!
Zhi Qiang – Don’t give up! You are doing great, persevere cause it’s just 3 months left!
Gary - Good life probably looms ahead le. Cheers!
Wei Yuan - Really very talented. Got the height, got the looks, got the atheletism, got the vocals!
Chris - Good job in building up the lounge from scratch! I really thought that I would not be able to see it before I ORD!
Derrick – I still feel that the NZ trip is the best overseas trip la!
Addy - 好 glam ar!
Zhengkai - Still want to tear away my clearance form xia! Haha!
Yuehan - My capable colleague! Unit 没有你不行啊！
Zhanyang - Haha! I don’t know what to say about you. Your reason for MC and arriving late are probably the most unique I have ever known! What no keys so cannot leave house! Rubbish man!
James - Jia you future Architect! The job title sound so cool!
Kelvin - Drive carefully hor!
Jin Ru - Haha, sorry for having to put up with so much of my ORD taunting!
Trevor - Initially I was so afraid you couldn’t settle in. Good thing now you are more comfortable le!
Raj - Haha, nearing the end of my NS career then I found someone who is even more lame than me!
Tommy - 你的girlfriend真得很美！好有taste!
Edric - Pro gamer xia!
Fabian - Buddy! Haha! Initially you got the most buddy. Now you got no more buddy le!
Elwin - Still got a long way to go… But you are keeping the standard up for the 3rd generation! Great!
Jian Rong - Cook! First time I actually know of a real cook! Actually I like cooking. Ironically, I didn’t cook before.

Wisdom tooth Extraction!

There are some things a ‘going to ORD’ personnel got to do and there are some things a ‘going to ORD’ personnel would like to do. One of the things that a ‘going to ORD’ Personnel would like to do is extracting his wisdom tooth. Each person would have 4 wisdom teeth. Two on the right side and two on the left side (top and bottom). For some people, it would grow so much until it actually hit its neighbour and that is when you would feel pain. For some others, its slanted and thus food get stuck there quite often (like mine). Therefore, it is wise to remove it especially during NS.

Reason being:

• It’s free. Extraction of Wisdom tooth is subsidised from SAF. Even the medicine (Pain killers, antibiotics) were given free.
• There’s 6 days MC. Usually, when doing the operation, the dentist would remove one side at a single visit. Therefore, one would get 12 days of MC if he remove both sides. For me, who have like less than 15 days to ORD, getting a 6 days MC is fantastic enough.

Anyway, the process.

Due to time constrain and the dangerous effects of General Anesthesia (GA), I’ve opted for Local Anesthesia (LA) to remove just the lower right wisdom tooth. After signing the forms stating that you know the risks involved (every operation has their risks) the operation gets underway.

Steps I recalled they performed

1. Rubbing a lotion
2. Injecting Anesthetic (It is painful ar! The needle poke and poke and poke. Ironically, it is used to remove the pain later on)
3. Drilling. I have no idea what the drilling is for. Maybe it is to break the tooth for easier extraction.
4. Extraction. It’s crazy!  They yank (Notice, it’s not pull but yank!) and yank and yank! And since my wisdom tooth gets broken into 4 parts, I can conclude my tooth was yanked four times.
5. Stitching (I actually heard the dentist say “stitch him up” and I know the extraction is over)

After extracting, I felt numbness in the right side of my tongue, lips and the skin from the lips to the chin. It’s one of the after effects that one might experience after the operation. In some cases, the numbness don’t go away cause the nerve is affected or something! So naturally, I’m slightly afraid but I could only wait and see.

After effects.

1. Bleeding. (It’s like spitting blood when I rinse my mouth. Gross. Lasted for the whole day.)
2. Numbness. (Fortunately, it went away after 4 hours. The numbness in the tongue lasted longest)
3. There’s some people who experienced swollen face. I was told that the face would be most swollen 72 hours after the operation but so far, my face didn’t swell. I think that’s good.

And there you have it, wisdom tooth extraction!

Australia trip 07 – Part 3

I shall just round up this trip with some nice photos taken courtesy of Zk’s camera.

Edit: All three are pictures of me! That’s why they are nice photos! Haha. I’m kidding la! It’s just that the 3 photos shows me in different clothings for a different purpose ma.

The top one shows me in admin attire, ready to sleep probably. The centre one is me in uniform, having fun in front of the laptop. The last one is me genuinly smiling because we are leaving the place for good (After 15 long days!)

Dentist visit

Destination: Dental clinic
The purpose of visit: Get referral letter for extraction of wisdom tooth
What happened: Teeth cleaning!
And what comes into mind when the dentist say he will clean your teeth for you? You would think of the machine that produces a drill sound. You will think of the ‘toothpaste’ that the dentist will dip the ‘drill’ in and scrub it over your teeth. If that’s what you’re thinking, you probably think the same thing as me! However, we missed out an important step before that even takes place. The dentist has to remove the plague first! The process was rather painful wor! Scrubbing and pulling things from between the teeth. Feeling that sharp needle scratching the side of the teeth and poking just above the gums! Argh!

And the process using drill to clean the teeth never came! Haha. No free lunch in Singapore ya?

Shall extract my wisdom tooth somewhere during December or January ba. Hopefully the process won’t be so bad.

Australia trip 07 – Part 2

Last year round, I was stuck in base camp due to my job requirements. This year, I ventured further outfield towards the training area outpost. It is like another campsite just that it is situated further away from base camp. Somehow, even though they said that the living conditions were worse, I seem to find that it is actually about the same. The bathing system is the same the difference lies in that the toilet facilities do not have a flushing system. Due to my strong sinus, I failed to smell anything.

That’s how our tentages look like. It’s green! There were plenty of strong winds but fortunately, the tentages managed to hold itself up. We heard that during the days whereby we were in outpost, our row of tentages fell and 1 guy was injured by the falling poles. It’s pretty sad la, injured not in the line of duty but because the tentages could not withstand mother nature. The bottom 2 pictures shows some of the beautiful clouds.

That’s the interior of the tent. No concrete ground! Ant nest! Grasshoppers! Crickets! It seems to be the grasshopper mating season when we went there. The grasshoppers were really making a lot of noise! The poles were magical for a reason. If you raise your handphones up towards the tip of the poles and wait for a minute, there would be phone reception! Amazing! The signal is weak but could allow you to receive smses and stay in contact with the ‘outside world.’

Australia trip 07 – Part 1

Essentially, the living conditions didn’t change a bit over the past year. Perhaps the most significant thing we discovered was the influx of flies. This year, the place seemed to be infested. Flies swarm over to you whenever you step out of the tentage. Even though there’s a container which caught quite a number of flies, the ‘attack’ doesn’t seem to cease.

As from the picture, we were given the tentage s48. Just look at all of us! I mean, why are we smiling so broadly!? It’s just the starting and we should be feeling bluey. Bluey like Monday blues, you know, start of the week, start of the Exercise –> Understand not?

But anyway, the picture on the extreme right shoes the view outside of the tentage. That’s the cookhouse. The flies favourite hunting ground. No, they don’t attack the food. Flies don’t go for hot stuff i suppose. They attack the person eating the food! It’s quite irritating la.

And yup, the picture on the bottom left shows the bed that we slept on. I think I experienced karma! Last year, we were given the high and solid bed which were more stable while others were given the lower and harder to construct bed. This year, we were given the latter and wah, it is really cui. My bed is on the left of Thaddeus (my capable 2ic). I tried to find a feng shui spot, but it ended up a favourable spot for the morning sun.

Australia trip 07 – Prelude

It’s been a year since I’ve stepped onto Australian soil. At the last day of that Exercise, I’m pretty sure we said that we won’t be going for this Exercise next year. Ironically, 2 of the 6 of us who went for this trip were survivors of the last. Stepping back into the camp and looking at all the tentages around sure brought back memories. Knowing what to expect before a battle has its advantages.

Having an excellent crew of 6 made things easier. I’m fortunate that of all 3 overseas trips, I’m blessed with strong team mates. I strongly believe that in an overseas exercise, it is important that everyone look out for one another. Help each other in their job and make the Exercise a success such that there will be fond memories to look back. This trip WILL conclude my overseas stint for my NSF career. I’m extremely thankful for all the support that I’ve received over the days in camp or outfield, you guys rocked!

Will elaborate on the trip after obtaining the photos and arranging my thoughts properly.

In the days that I’ve spent in Australia, many of my friends had completed their NSF phrase and set off into the outside world, embarking on a new challenge. Here’s a happy belated ORD! And do keep a lookout for good joboffers for me ok! Thanks!

Pre Australia trip II

Flying off
Tomorrow
Mood
Isn’t there
Feeling sleepy
Sick
Coughing
Hopeful
Fast recovery
Australia
Hot and dry
Anticipating
Plane ride
Upon arriving
Awaiting departure
ORD
Lying ahead…

It’s wrong!

It’s happening again!

There will be some days in a month whereby I feel easily irritable and today happened to be just one of those days.

Am I too lenient? But what’s the point of being strict on people? There’s not going to be much use if the way of life is to instill fear into others. I don’t believe on being strict. It made me mad with myself that I failed to control my temper and start lecturing people when I myself is not always right.
Why must people exploit kindness? In being kind to you, I still expect you to take my words seriously. I talk to you nicely, you never listen to me. When I “shout” at you, you complain. I really can’t do anything can I?

Why are rules not followed? Rules are there for a reason. It is because there have been too many cases of unruly behaviour that causes the rules to be there. The saying that “do what you want, just don’t get caught” is wrong. There are eyes everywhere. You will get caught.

Why when I give some people leeway others take advantage of it? I give people certain privelleges depending on the situation. I am not unnegotiable. However it doesn’t apply for all the remaining time. I thought it was clear, but it seems like I’ve made a terrible mistake. So if the trust is broken, there is no need for any privelleges any more.

Why are people complaining about colleagues working in the same office? We work together. We are suppossed to work as a team. Help out each other even when no words were said. There will only be an issue when some people complain about others. If everyone were more tolerant of each other, none of this issue will take place.

Why do people not listen to me even though I’ve been telling them the same thing day in day out? I don’t deserve your respect right, that’s why my words fell on deaf ears ya?

Why can’t people be a good follower? Before one can be a leader, he needs to be able to follow basic rules and not try to recreate new ones. Please know when to joke around and when to be serious. This line coming out from my mouth is really ironic.
Why must one compare oneself with others all the time? That he can do this why I cannot, even though we all know that it is wrong to do so. Since it is wrong to do so, why not tell the person directly that it is not right for this kind of behaviour instead of joining him and doing the same wrong things?
Why am I putting in so much effort and getting all this crap?

My mood is all wrong today. I’ve been feeling lousy and very demoralised.