Sunday, June 27, 2010

Reserved for fun

I've been really lazy to write nowadays... even though a lot of interesting things happened!

The past two weeks were spent in reservist ICT. Catching up with my old pals was really a blast, and we did all sorts of interesting stuff together. We played sports, drank beer, hung out at the pub, and even played an allnighter LAN on the last night! I like this bunch of team mates, they make everything seem more bearable. Plus i always feel very open with them. It's a huge change from work, definitely. I almost missed chatting freely to people!

It was, frankly speaking, a welcome opportunity for me to rest and relax, to take my time and smell the roses :) I guess i'm still not used to working life. Luckily life in the army is anything but work haha. Not for the men at least. We chilled in our bunks for quite a few days, playing cards, chatting or taking afternoon naps. I did some reading, but not much. Besides this, we went for three fitness tests, and i failed my running the first time... getting out of shape! Ha... need to maintain a jogging routine soon.

Let's see... we also went outfield for a total of four days, two nights. My role was pretty relaxed, though i helped out whenever i could. Lots of mosquito and sandfly bumps on my skin afterwards. The first shower after returning to camp still feels like dew from heaven.

Had quite a few interesting experiences too. Kenneth bought a Starlet for 3k, and ferried us all over. We went to Atlantis at Textile Centre, and then another at Windsor hotel. It was definitely an eyeopener for the rest of us! Though i wasn't that open, and didn't enjoy the smoke and noisy music (i eventually found a spot to hide and dozed off a couple hours), i found it new - and exciting - to see all the performances etc. Kudos to Kenneth for sharing with us a unique experience we might otherwise miss forever :)

Oh, and also after we out-processed at the end (we call it in-noob, out-pro), somehow we took a detour on a scenic route home, and landed up at the Sunset Grill and Bar, near Seletar air base. There were many airplanes standing all around, and we could see them take off from the roads nearby. They say the sunset can be seen here, a very full and beautiful one... have to come here again to see it someday.

But today we were here to try out the famous hot chicken wings - from level 1 to level 30. We jumped straight to order a dozen of level 5, thinking it was pretty ok to try it out. Turned out: the first bite we took had us downing half a glass of water!! And it was so blazing hot that we had to cut it up instead of biting it directly - it burned and stung our lips terribly otherwise. Talk about five-alarm chilli!

After much arduous struggle, we finished three wings each, haha. Kenneth said when his friends ordered level 10, it was completely untouched and wasted after their first mouths. You wouldn't even taste the chicken at all! Anyway, at level 5 this is de facto the hottest thing i've ever eaten. Perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Haha.

Well, and now's the end of the weekend, after reservist passed in a flash. Almost wished it were longer eh, haha. Back to work tomo. Good nights!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Camp Rainbow 2010 :)

Back from Camp Rainbow 2010 : Artitude! :)

It feels like i've just came back from a weekend sabbatical. Completely refreshed and at ease with the world. This year's camp was small yet cozy, with quite some fresh activities related to art and decoration. Planned and executed pretty well, too. From the past year of experience organizing Hall FOC, i could understand and appreciate more of the effort and planning that go behind everything. That plus we have some of the camp's most experienced and passionate leaders, like Poh Lin, Hui Jiao, Ben and Sham... i felt that everyone, kids and befrienders alike, thoroughly enjoyed themselves these few days :)

It's strange what a difference a few days make. We forged many close bonds between ourselves and the kids. My charges RJ and Sam were pretty easy to handle, because they knew when to behave (and when to let loose and play!) The other kids... HX was mischievous as usual, haha. Rachel was more mature this time round, but she still managed to have fun. YZ is still as cool as ever, and I'm glad he's with Ben now, who can talk better to him.

The new kids.. Khai was shy and well-behaved, but warmed up to us soon enough (and liked to tickle me till i got bowled over!) Fir was the oldest, but with our constant effort, he melded in and enjoyed the activities as well. And Al, well he always made my heart jump out when he went wild sometimes! But i think i got used to it after awhile, ha. Aaron, well i started on the wrong step with him and he called me 'Baddie' all the way (along with many others) lol. And last but not least, Bell was very, very shy but cute in her own way, and very nice towards everyone! I exchanged a lot of small gifts with her :) Sadly i didn't manage to get her to be bolder and open up her voice more.

It was tough, but the befrienders Ben, Sham, Luke, Ian, Felise, Shi Hong seemed matched to them like a perfect fit. Mature Ian for HX, seniors Ben and Sham (and I) to handle two kids each, first-timer Luke with the very easy-going Khai haha. Anyway, the kids seem to have a lot of fun. I wish they wouldn't bully me so much though! Haha.

But i'm really glad that i have visibly grown much from the last camp. I continually got the kids to warm up to each other and to us, I had great conversations with the other befrienders, and I got to know more people from the committee too. (when i had the time, a rarity mostly). I have the grueling training in JCRC and as FOC Chair to thank for this :) It's good to have a kind of benchmark, to see how i fare against myself from a year or two back.

Every single day was memorable, so maybe i'll blog about it later. I'm just bushed right now.

Three days of meaningful fun do get one worn out :)