braingoboom

<body><script type="text/javascript"> function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } } </script> <div id="navbar-iframe-container"></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> gapi.load("gapi.iframes:gapi.iframes.style.bubble", function() { if (gapi.iframes && gapi.iframes.getContext) { gapi.iframes.getContext().openChild({ url: 'https://www.blogger.com/navbar/13559888?origin\x3dhttp://naohneo.blogspot.com', where: document.getElementById("navbar-iframe-container"), id: "navbar-iframe" }); } }); </script> <body bgcolor="d8d8d8">

Thanks
I give thanks
Not only for
What I have
But also for
What I will
Soon come
To find.

I give thanks
For trials
And tribulations
That have to
Be overcome.

I give thanks
For the test
That must
Be passed.

I give thanks
For happiness
And pain.
No matter the
Emotion - I
Give thanks
Just the same.

Copyright © weav 2001 (www.abundantfun.com)

-------------------------------------------

facebook profile livewire blog harborlight church ahscds blog

blog layout by: joe-siff..

Friday, August 07, 2009

it's been a pretty short week in the army, just two days, thanks to the off in lieus. the past two days have essentially involved rotting away in the bunk. thanks to my wonderful one month excused running, marching and jumping, i'm virtually excused from physical training, which was the only thing on the schedule the past two days. today we had a 3 Div national day observance ceremony a the floating platform. what made me quite unhappy was having to wait for 2 and a half hours for the ceremony to start. maybe it's because i've been brought up in a country where everything starts on time, everything runs like clockwork. so it definitely is frustrating when things don't start on time, when alot of time is wasted waiting and just waiting.

one thing that really impressed me, and this may sound like i'm sucking up, but do take note that i don't have to suck up, was the speech by the Div Commander, a one-star general Tan. he gave quite a heartening speech, about why we were defending the country, about blah blah, but i didn't fall for the rhetoric. what was really impressive was the way he delivered the speech, refreshingly unlike usual speeches where the guests-of-honour would merely read from a pre-preared script, showing no emotion, nor any attempt even to vary their tone to perhaps make the speech more palatable to the listener. his voice and tone betrayed a hint of Lee Hsien Loong, giving the air of someone the PAP searches high and low for. co-incidentally, the newspapers today reported that PM Lee is still searching for a successor. General Tan anyone? hahaha.

national day is coming and i suppose the long weekend is foremost on people's minds. i suppose what Gen Tan said about National Day being our holiday was quite true. millions around the world celebrate Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas...but only 4 million people celebrate Aug 9, and if we don't celebrate it, no one else will. so i guess national day is special for Singapore. too bad people don't seem to view it as importantly as Chinese New Year or Hari Raya for instance. just look at the amount of effort families put in for Chinese New Year and the kind of atmosphere that surrounds that holiday. mothers rush to stock up on food and goodies, kids rush to get the nicest red clothes, and dads fetch them all over the place and worry about the credit card bill...this is unlike national day, which seems to have become a fireworks festival and a money-spinning night for the restaurants and malls lining the Marina. unfortunate indeed...

meeting the councillors tomorrow at city hall, it's been a long time since i've met them and it would be good to meet them again before the girls go off to university (something that has made me insanely jealous, and i have not gotten over it yet). need to catch up with all these friends whom i've been keeping for such a long time (6, 7 years? gosh, it's been a long time....). furthermore, the day will be made even busier tomorrow as i'll be attending tracy's wedding. finally she's getting married. here's wishing her and her husband all happiness, bliss and love for their marriage. i actually dislike attending wedding dinners, but this time it's going to be indian style, so something totally new and interesting. it would make for many nice pictures tomorrow. national day on sunday, O2 outing on monday, followed by lunch with RJ friends. who said army guys have no social life?

UCAS applications are opening soon. hope i can settle my uni apps asap, so i'll have something concrete to look forward to when i eventually ORD. can't wait to start school again. i've been trying to read up, currently reading The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. shall blog about my thoughts on it when i eventually complete the book, which is not too long because i'm on the last chapter already. next up, either The Child Called 'It' by Dave Pelzer or Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, although i don't know if i'll have the stamina to complete Team of Rivals...shall end of with this random quote i found, by Mark Twain:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
i guess that's my answer to why i want to try to live overseas for a period in my life...

11:05 pm