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my foc programmers

"we prob stepped on each other's tails till we used to it liao.
and until now we are still close, because we shared sweets and sweat together"

army memories #1

Sunday Times featured an article on army food and lingua.
apparently after i left the army.. the revolution on food is still ongoing.
damn, they took my favourite chinese dumpling away.

something else caught my eye.
POCARI sweat.
it's a small satchet of mineral salt, just like your packets of milo.
but it was a lifesaver!
in the army, the pocari sweat is a defintite muncher (yes we munch the content and pour water into our mouth, just like we did with Vico, Milo, and Nestle Cereals)

and the pocari sweat, for all its saltiness, is the best remedy for cramps.
there are times that we do navigation in the jungle, esp those that drag for days,
and you are climbing hills, and you feel the big group of muscles on your thigh and calf tightening, you know the cramp is coming.
usually we would stop for a while, and feed the cramping soldier with pocari sweat.
yes, we perspire too much, and the salt in our body is not replenished enough, and it causes lactic acid to form at muscle groups and induces cramps.

for all its wonder,
we are barred from putting it into our 1litre water bottle.
reason: the salt will stick to the inner surface and there will be smell.
during standbys, no water bottle is supposed to have smell...
grrrr...
so strict. so stupid.

no farewells for me.

not if you want to do it my pri sch friend's way.
gosh, had a dinner with them on tue 14 jun.
supposedly they want to throw a farewell dinner for me and aaron who's leaving for NZ for exchange also. and about 10 of us are going down.
that's very good attendance.

but, who's supposed to treat during farewell?
the one leaving?
or those who are not?
for myself, i think the one leaving shoudn't be treating.
practically, this was a slight disaster for me.
aaron volunteered to treat.
the guys didn't seem to disagree.
and damn, i worked from 8am to 4pm the same day, and earned $41.25.
the treat, splitted cost with aaron, cost me $30.

urgh.... very very painful.
$30 is what i get for spending 6 hours running up and down the whole restaurant.
can't possible be so stingy.
but i didn't really want to pay for a treat to the others,
it didn't seem logical to me.
i'm the one that's gonna splash out $11000 at least on the exchange,
and i'm the one going broke, spending money on visas and applications.
and i'm the one slogging 40 hours a week waitering to earn money to subsidise the fees.
so depressing.

and i spent $98 today on x-ray and medical checkup at orchard.
designated medical facilities for visa making.
2 days spending. equal to 2 full days of 13 hours standing and serving customer.

so thanks.
no more farewell.
i'm ONLY leaving this country for 5mths.
thanks for not making unnecessary spending out of me.
ha.
but i'm serious.

the day after tomorrow.

just caught it on DVD.
wanted to catch it while the movie was running,
but didn't in the end.
was it exams then? ha

humanity shows.
always gets me.
just like armaggaedon, independence day and sorts.

the soundtrack,
the theme of the movie,
the very awareness that mankind is fragile
once again.

it's not too late to realise it, even though i only watch the movie now.

the scene of the vice-president-now-president,
remorseful now, and making a sensational speech,
and how rescue mission were sent out to pick up any survivors.
and yes, no matter how hard nature hits us, mankind, some of them... will survive.
such strong survival instinct.

but that doesn't mean we should continue with our pollutions.
like what the main character Jack Hall (Dennis Quiad) says,
some day, it's gonna hit us. the weather.
climatic change.
ice age.
maybe not in our lifetime.
but maybe our children and our grandchildren.

of cos, hailey came and go, w/o hitting earth.
Y2K came and go, without shutting down earth.
and yes, judgement day hasn't come yet.
but do we have to wait for then to do something about it?

learn from our mistakes.
take some steps to survival.
for man.

i'm glad i have quite a few tomorrows to live with.

good health is precious.
cherish it.

i'm not always the well person.
remember i used to have big sickness once a year.
esp during the holidays.

in recent years, it had been worse.
a 2 week prolonged fever with temp around 38 degree celcius, i kenna tb.
6 mths medication

last year new year stomach flu.
this year new year pneumothorax
and now i have this itching skin condition.

somehow it just keeps coming.
i think once something happens, opportunistic illness sneaks in.
like a door left open.
it is very impt to take care of your life, your health.

unknowingly stress has gotten into me.
my mood these few days had been varying a lot.
i somehow throw tantrums at my loved ones very easily and w/o provocation.
i didn't really give that a thought until just now.
maybe i am getting stressed, with my uncontrollable itchiness, with acquiring a new sickness, with working 4days this week, and whole day each time, of cos not sleeping enough most of the time. with unsettled Student Exchange Program Admin, with trying my best to help FOC programs, with getting e-newsletter going, with SWAPS future and coordinating between present comm and seniors, with money (practically)...
yah... actually i didn't think i would be stressed out.
now it worries me.
and maybe i should take a good break too.
give some time for myself to settle my own life and importantly, emotions.