Wow, awesome nite.

Was out at the airport sending off a fellow platoon mate of mine, Alvin, who is going over to Cambridge*gaspx* to further his studies.

Yes. Cambridge.

*more gasping and an overwhelmed lady collapses*

He's on a scholarship and will be doing his Masters at US, totally FOC. The emphasis here is more of the "will be". Masters is the understatement, Doctorate? Perhaps...

*paramedic collapses upon the fallen lady*

In today's society of paper chase, or rather Singapore's context, perhaps he has attained the quintessence of success. He is not all that good looking, can't find hordes of gals/fans swarming him down, neither did he wave wades of $1000 bills as we bid farwell. But still he has achieved something that we can only dream of, a scholarship to the most prestigious College in the world!

Now is this what we quantify success as? Think again. To each his own, I can't enforce mine on you, but I may try to leave an introspect for you to ponder upon.

To some it may be wealth; some, health; others, longivity, or even, enlightenment. But success to me is...

Salvation and Happiness.

Why salvation? Because of my faith and belief.

Happiness? Needless to say. To have all material and grieve, is worst then to have not and rejoice. It's like being a billionaire who's disfigured, handicapped, friendless, Aids carrier, etc etc.. you've gotta try to think along that line, to really understand that statement.

Ok, i'm going off-track.

Alrite, so wad so awesome about tonight? Well, after sending off our dear friend, we gathered at Wala wala for a chilling out session. (i had lemon tea btw) The crowd was good, gals flanked our sides, company was great, but best of all, we had an awsome live band performance for our sensory pleasures. Sharlin n band was in the house, playing some really crowd-stirring music.

Here's a shot..





Sharlin in action! Cool lighting eh? pity i couldnt play much with the shutter speed n exposure stuff..



Place aint really sleazy, but still the folks around r like puffing their lives away.. anyway, that didnt dampen my nite.. great fun nonetheless..

What was disturbing was that the gals who flanked us were butches and les.. I'm not against them, but just kinda disappointed why did those pretty gals choose semi-guys over hunks like us?? n why did they choose to convert?? perhaps in my chauvinistic mindset, i'm never gonna realise that fact of life..

Oh well.. tat pretty much sums up my adventure for the nite. :P

Cheers
Bob

Race Day

Line up of the nite, Celica, Toyota Corolla n Nissan Sunny!

It starts off with a race between the Toyota n Nissan off Mac Reserve.. Nissan exhibits excellent pickup and is running at it's prime with Toyota tailing behind. Oh no, the traffic juntion ahead proves a little complicated for our "triangulated" driver, thus losing the lead and reaches the next check point, 3rd in position, along with a new comer, Celica, at the frontline.

Light turns Red, Amber, Green! What horsepower! Celica must be running 60-70km/hr at it's first gear! Toyota takes no chances, following closely behind. Nissan trailing not too far, maintaining pace. They are running at 3rd lane in a row, Celica throws out a right signal, Toyota follows suit. Wasting no chances, Nissan changes over along side. All 3 cars are waiting for a lead, until Nissan throws a right signal and jumps onto the 1st lane, takes the lead, and the other 2 follows suit. This has become a close chase, Celica coming dangereously close to Nissan's boot, tailgating has never soar such heights! Nissan, maintaining his cool, led the pack all the way down to Outram. A chance arose for the rear folks, after pacing themselves in Nissan's backdraft, they switched lane in an open competition and full throttled ahead! What a spectacular sight! Toyota showing a lot of substance! Believe it must be running at least a 2.0l! Toyota overtakes Celica and reaches the final check point. In lead, Toyota, followed by Nissan than Celica. Nissan's driver takes a peek at the "man" behind the wheels. Oh what disappointment! A geeky lady?!?! Wasted no time, Nissan lapped up the finishing move, coming in first, Toyota then Celica.. of course, with the ingeniuity of manipulating huge n clumsy vehicles to stall the competition. Applause!

Definitely an awesome race nite! Like any other day, the champion downs a mug of ice cold soya bean as a reward for being the best!

All hail the Nissan!

Bob

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Basic....
Marching in is the recruits from....
May I present to you from BMTC the Traaaaaaaaaaained Soldiers!

The recruits leaping in jubilee, thrusting their jockey caps into the air..
The parents gave an outpour of applause, beaming with pride at their conditioned boys...

Yes.. boys they were.. soldiers they've been trained to be..

As the section commanders received heartfelt gratitude from their outgoing recruits, there I just stood at the control room... eyeing will a tinge of jealousy.. then i remembered a recruit of mine.. one i brought out of db and into one of the companys. I left the room, scouted the ground for him.. there I found him.. my recruit..

"This is my recruit, there are many like him, but this one is mine"

Finally.. my last parade.. something that I once longed for... but somehow or rather.. i felt kinda lost. Didnt know whether to be happy or sad.. my joy was mixed with confusion.. perhaps there was a dash of grief.. Then i grabbed the mic from the emcee and stole his lines... finally.. i could do something i've always tasked someone else to do... oh wad joy seep into this heart oh mine..

I recall the parting words of my clerks... and specs.. so many of them... expressing their lost when i'm gone... explicit as it may be... it touched my heart in a gentle way.. perhaps.. it's heartwarming to see trained commanders and soldiers casting aside their man-ness to reveal their humane side for me.. Some stole hugs from me.. some tried to get last min favours.. some expressed their lost when i'm gone... Some, made me feel like staying a little longer.. Alas..

Tomorrow i'll be seeing my ang mo pc fren.. a superb guy i've worked with in tekong.. for his farewell dinner and then seeing him off on Fri... wow... how time flies eh? People going on to their next phase of life. Like me, I've got my next phase waiting behind that door.. guess I gotta take that step one day.. but suddenly i dont want it to be so soon...

Dear blog.. tell me.. life is bittersweet.. aint it?

Regards
Bob