pop

Finally POP yesterday. But the feeling sucks.

from bmt to pop till now

BMT

in a blink of an eye, bmt is history. all guys in singapore go through bmt, and only once. so my turn is over, i'll never have to go through bmt again. great! oh well, what can i say about bmt, it's been a really enriching experience. quite an unimaginable experience for those who haven't experienced army life. Living together with 12 other people in the same room, going for meals, training and returning to bunk feeling totally exhausted with the same old bunch of people. i still remember the first few days of bmt, when everyone couldn't get to sleep. and how we tried so hard to remember each other's names. how we always rushed up n down the stairs from our bunk to the company line. how we got so used to the army jargons even though we weren't really taught. terms like "admin time", "coy line", "double up", "RO" etc etc were just driven into our brains cuz we use them almost every day. field camp was another interesting experience, even though most of us would probably not like to go through it again. how we lived in the jungles for 7 days, how we survived on combat rations, digging shitholes, trenches. how we slept in basha tents, how we carried our rifles wherever we went, how the helmet and SBO became part of our body throughout the field camp. and there were long tortuous route marches, where we had a heavy fieldpack on our backs as we marched and sang songs along the way. and all the army songs will be stuck in our heads forever. oh well, 2 months of bmt have passed me by. what awaits me is my new posting, and beyond that is the continuation of my NS life.

POP
on the day of pop, all of us were in high spirits, cuz we knew we were going to be promoted from lowly recruits to the "not-very-low-but-still-lowly" privates. but nevertheless, we have been through thick and thin together, so i'm sure we will miss those days we fool around in bunk, during training, and after training. my bunkmates were really fantastic; they made my bmt life a really memorable and unforgettable one. and it's really a strange feeling how we shook each other's hands, hugged each other, and as we drag our duffel bags out of tekong, we realize that a few hours on, we won't be seeing each other anymore. we weren't be seeing thiswhole bunch of people who slept with me, ate with me, trained with me for the past 2 months.

and NOW
i still find it quite saddening that there's no one to go out withduring this bloc leave! and no one to watch the world cup with! wad a waste! everyone's in camp. grr. and my bloc leave's left with 4 more days only. anywayy, i've gone out with robin, and robin and jonfang on two ocassions. hmm my first time seeing robin in quite a while, and i must say that he's changed a lot! or rather, army has changed him a lot! hahaha his mouth's full of vulgarities now n it's quite amusing listening to him speak now. hahaha. and it's only my second time seeing jonfang since we enlisted. quite sad eh... 2 times in 2 months. oh well well...

and just today, i went out with iwakiri-san! so cool! my first time going out with a japanese, who is actually many many years older than me. haha (in fact she's already a mother!) and something interesting happened before that. we agreed to meet at isetan (shawhouse) at 1pm. then i waited from 1245 to 1350 and she was nowhere to be seen! and without a handphone, we couldn't contact each other. so i could only wait and wait. and finally a phonecall came. she had gone home cuz i was nowhere to be seen. so we discussed and figured out that she was actually at the other side of isetan which was near macdonalds too (i was at the mac cafe). oh manz, both of us waited for more than 40 minutes. and i didn't know that there were so many mc cafes at shawhouse! (btw she only came to singapore end of last year so she doesn't know the places well)

grrr... but anyway she came back and we went for lunch at this super super high class japanese restaurant called "aoki". oh my goodness, the moment i entered the restaurant, i felt out of place. haha the design was exquisite, unique and really impressive. and there were many small rooms so we took the first one. (apparently this restaurant's opened by iwakiri's friend, wow) then when i opened the menu, i was stunned by the prices. haha the cheapest thing there was $35. not knowing what to order, she suggested we eat sushi as it's famous for sushi. so we started eating and talking. after that, i showed her the way to orchard station and we proceeded to wisma atria, takashimaya and then to cineleisure (since she hasn't been there before). there, we had ice kacang! haha and she said it had a unthinkable and unique taste. haha, and how she was surprised how singapore's chicken rice is different from japan's chicken rice. and she told me that the sushi in singapore's "sakae sushi etc" is not the real sushi. wad i ate at aoki was the real one. hmm i couldn't tell the difference though. haha.

anywayyyy i'm going to meet her and her daughters this saturday again! so exciting! okie dokie. oh yes, i'm so goign to watch japan thrash croatia this sunday! grrrr.... watching japan lose to australia was such a heartwrench. i nearly wanted to cry, as i see all the japanese around me sulking as australia struck 3 goals mercilessly past japan in the last 6 minutes. sigh sigh sigh sigh.... japan should never have lost that game. it was THE game to win, and to bring us through to the next round. now we can only hope that a miracle happens we go through. GO JAPAN! SHOW CROATIA, AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL AND THE WHOLE WORLD WHAT WE ARE MADE OF! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF ASIA!

nanana

Muacks

last day!

hmmhmm... today's jonfang's last day as a civilian! and tomorrow's my last day! oh no tml's gonna be a super boring day for me, cuz jonfang will be gone. and i can't wait to enlist now! my life now has been just drifting about meaninglessly. so when i enlist, there'll at least be some meaning to my life, even though i might not like it eventually.

and perhaps army will train me to become more independent, and more importantly, make me learn how to treasure weekends and my family and friends! yup. oh wells, see how it goes!

YES and fry scores a loserrick!

Die. I think we should stop talking about army stuff and working. Haha cos we've been mentioning old stuff in the last few posts of ours. I read somewhere that the past is always wonderful cos memories are great! (Ahh.. i prolly made this out myself) Shyt our blog needs a revamp. Anyways, i'm still dam hungry and i can't wait for buffet on mon. And kbox too!

Oh yea, and i went to malaysia today and it was hella fun except dinner due to 'special' reasons. And my family got fooled early in the morning. Hahah we waited for the dam driver at 0600 but he nv came! We thought he couldnt find his way and waited for an hour! When we finally managed to contact him, he told us he thought we were going to malaysia tmr instead. Wa laos, act blur! My grandaunt even called to remind yday nite lah. Ai, so in the end we din get to eat the jb tar mee. And the good stalls in rengum nv sell anymore. Hai and i made another observation today. I never think before i talk and always ask stupid questions one.

Aunt: they grow alot of stuff sweet potatoes tapioca papaya etc
Me: eh where the potatoes? cannot see lei!
Aunt: there! they are underground ma..

Shucks, i just realised its past midnight alr! Means the dates above are wrong! This entry was written in 1st april ok! Lol i'm chao ji hyper now!

no regrets

i've been talking so much about the sad and bad things about enlisting ns later than most of my friends, but come to think of it, there have been more pros than cons about enlisting late, at least for my case.

Here are eight reasons why I'm glad i am enlisting in April.

1) I got to meet all kinds of people, nice people of course. Believe it or not, it was my first part-time job at Bongout. and it really opened me a lot to the outside world, instead of just studying in the classroom for the past 17 years or so. i got to mix with ppl from all walks of life. Over the past 18 years of my life, i've only been mixing around with ppl who are in the same league as me, ie in my school/class. so it's really an eye-opener.

2) It was a great experience as a waiter at a japanese cafe, because not only did i get the opportunity to serve japanese customers, speak to them in keigo, i also discovered much about japanese cuisines, its tradition and culture. sometimes i feel ashamed about not knowing them despite having studied japanese for six years.

3) I earned some money for myself. it was the first time i actually earned money for myself. although it was quite tiring towards the end, i felt really rewarded. of course, the money will go a long way to my "studying in japan" fund. i don't want to keep relying on my parents, cuz they aren't really capable of funding me to go japan.

4) I met new friends. These friends include not only those who work with me at bongout, but ppl like iwakiri-san, yuki, sheralyn etc.

5) iwakiri-san really helped me a lot in finally deciding on what i'm going to do in future. of course, i had a long long time to think of what to do in future, while the rest are probably brain-dead in the army. in the end, i decided to choose something that i never thought i would choose. but for now, it's a right choice for me. after thinking for so long, i realized i had so many misconceptions about studying in japan and stuff. and of course, iwakiri-san gave me the motivation to continuing fighting on for the next two years, until my dreams come true.

6) I got to take part in chingay, with jonfang! it was really fun joining it again. although i might not be able to take part next year, which would be the last time, i'd savour the experience of roaming orchard road like it's my grandfather's road.

7) i learnt how to enjoy life, and slow down the pace of life. last time, it used to be rushing to school, rushing home, and before i know it, it's exam time. after exams, soon, school will start again, and the routine continues. i've seen a lot over this short period of 3 months, and i know i must learn to enjoy life, especially during this "golden age" of my life.

8) I had long hair for the first time in my life! hahaha, although my hair won't last for more than one week from now, it was a great having long hair! haha oh well, i'll kinda miss my long hair after i enlist, cuz it took me very long to grow such hair. but doubt anyone will get to see me with long hair again, at least not in the next 2 years.

yupp of course there are many more reasons why i'm glad that i enlisted in april, especially with all the experience i earned from working at bongout. yeahh.. it's one week left as a civilian! good luCkk to me and jonfang!

i m vv hungry

Less than 2 weeks before i enter army. Actually i feel a little awkard. I guess i cant help but feel a little afraid. Nope, its not the training. Its the food. And i guess army would be a test of how sociable i actually am. In this short period, i just wanna be a better friend. Yay! So please contact me if u wanna have last supper with me. Dennis tell me when u're free next week!!

wOrk...

hmm it's one week left before i leave my job! my first job experience! so cool. i entered bongout as a gaki who doesn't know anything, someone who just wants to try something new, and earn some money for himself. even setsuko and michiyo said that i looked like those kind who only know how to study, and they were shocked at how much i didn't know at the start. hahaha aiya wadeva! i'm a spoilt brat. but luckily i learnt quickly before i could get sacked. haha.

work has been a pleasure since the start. it's quite complicated to be explained in a few words, cuz it really involves doing many stuff. in fact, almost everything that is required to maintain a cafe, except the cooking part. it's during the recent few weeks that i've become closer to everyone else in bongout, all the staff, cooks, hmm and customers as well =) but it just came a bit too late cuz i'll be leaving soon! but it's okay. i kind of understood what ppl mean by bu zai hu tian chang di jiu, zhi zai hu cheng jing yong you. haha doesn't really fit in this context, but i'm really glad that i plucked up enough courage to come to bongout to ask for a job. i've learnt so so so much stuff that i'll never learn in rj, or anywhere else. i daresay i've had more fun at bongout than at rj, except the japanese experience in rj/ japan.

not only have i gained knowledge about japanese food (which is a great deal of knowledge), i've learnt much about japanese culture in terms of japanese cuisines. and also, how to speak to customers and all the polite form put to use in real life. i was really happy that day when i felt so natural speaking on the phone to a japanese customer. everytime i speak to japanese customers, i always get nervous and stumble but that day was exceptional. i wish i could be so naturaly always.

anywayy, there are many ways to make working fun! who says working is boring. my work isn't! here are some tips on how to make working, especially waitering, exciting!

1) Guess what customers will order.
there's a stark contrast to wad japanese and singaporean customers will order, so it's very interesting to observe the differences. The most observable difference is in the kind of ramen they eat. most japanese customers, especially kids, eat shoyu ramen. on the other hand, most singaporean customers like tonkotsu ramen, for some reason i do not know. i personally do not like tonkotsu ramen, i like miso ramen, which is not particularly liked by japanese nor singaporean customers. and then, most japanese regular customers eat the "today's special" cuz they are probably sick of the food in the menu, and wants to eat something special. another reason is perhaps they don't want to waste brain cells thinking about wad to eat everyday, yet they do not want to eat the same thing, so they choose "today's special", which changes everyday!

2) Speaking to japanese customers in japanese.
This might seem quite logical but most customers assume that we are singaporeans, so they try to speak english. but amusingly, most of the time we understand better when they speak in japanese. so most of the time, even when they speak in english, i'll reply in japanese. it's hard to describe, but it's a real joy to talk to them in japanese! of course there are some customers who insist on trying to speak in english, so our conversation will end up with them speaking in english, and then me speaking in japanese! cool!

3) Watching small kids!
Small kids are a real treat to the eyes! cuz they are reallyyy dam cuteee. and listening to their conversations is a joy too~ recently the small kids have been reading porn comics! hahaha. at first i thought it was just a bit too mature for them, not exactly explicit porn. it all started with the small girl with big eyes reading it. den she recommended to rika-chan~ who den introduced to the other small kids. den every time they come, they'll be reading those comics! naughtyyy.... haha so out of curiosity i went to see what's inside. and to my surprise (more of horror), it's really quite explicit for small kids! omg. to think they even showed to their parents. hahaha. even when it gets busy, everytime i see the small kids, i feel that all this hard work is worth it! =) oooh, esp when they say thank you, or smile at us, we feel rewarded! i love rika-chan and yuki-chan's "arigatou gozaimasu". sounds so formal yet so cute!

4) Talking to the chefs and mixing around in the kitchen
Our chefs, anthony and andy, are dam funny people! they are experienced too! so it's always interesting to listeng to them speak about their experiences. it's also very fun to watch them cook or prepare meals. hehe.. i'm sometimes impressed by how much they know about japanese, both the language and culture! it's no surprise cuz they have been working as japanese chefs for most of their lives. there was once anthony told us about how he has caused several restaurants to close down cuz of his lacklustre attitude. hahaha so funnyyyy... and he has really many friends. some of the customers used to work with him, so he goes out to greet them when they come. so cool. and their straightforward way of speaking amuses me! hahaha. cool people.

oh well this list is non-exhaustive but u get the idea. i enjoy my work! i'll probably go back to bongout as a customer after i leave! oh wells, it somehow reminds me of how hard i worked to try and earn money to go japan. so it'll motivate me.
argh i can't type japanese characters now, but "shoshin wo wasuru bekarazu"...! it means "do not forget your beliefs/ dreams" it's badly translated cuz there's no direct substitution for the word "shoshin" but it basically says that we all have a dream in mind from the start that made us push so hard till now. we musn't forget wad it is, and must work hard till we get to the end.