hello public

well, after much thoughts and reasonings, i've finally come to terms with me going to Guards. its not exactly like i have a choice of which unit or what vocation i get posted to, so i just have to learn to adapt to changes and approach it with an open mind. found out in yesterday's family gathering that one of my uncles was from Guards as well. he told me that its gonna be really fun, memorable but also very tough. also, he said that i'll do fine.

much arigatos to everyone who has given me motivation and showed belief that i can and will get through this.

because you believed, thus, i shall achieve.

what does not kill me will only make me stronger. oh, please i pray that i be stronger and not the otherwise.

anyways,

a few days back i met up with a good friend of mine, Sheryl where we had lunch at Plaza Singapura. after that we took the north-east-line to Little India and did a little sightseeing. to me, i feel that Singapore is not all about the Paragon or the Palais Renaissance. Singapore is blessed with harmony amidst a myriad of cultures and yet not many of us embrace this.

yes, we do know that we're living on an island of 4 million smiles (supposedly according to posters for the IMF but i strongly beg to differ but lets not talk about that now) but do we actually care about what the 4 million consist of.

i dont feel that singapore has achieve racial harmony what i do feel however is that we have something more of a racial co-habit. i know and you know that we have a myriad of cultures but if you keep to yours and i keep to mine and we dont bug each other then let it be that way.

i feel this more persistently amongst our youth. i feel that the younger Singaporeans no longer take interest in culture, whether be it their own or other people's.

all i'm trying to say is that, in this era of PSPs, Centrinos and Dual Processors, lets not forget about our roots. embrace also the multitude of cultures we have in Singapore. our cultures are not only for the tourist but also for us to embrace.

Make Culture Matter.

anyways,

i was getting a bit political but lets stop cause its just boring you guys. lets just move on to the bimbotic stuff. lol~~! well, we walked amongst the shops in little india where many bazaars and decorations were beginning to erect in celebration for the Festival of Light. we also munched on Indian sweets from Komala Villas and made our way later to the 24hour shopping centre, Mustafa for a little retail therapy.



after all the sightseeing, i suggested that instead of taking the train back to Bugis station, we might as well just walk there since i had a faint memory on the route.

i actually found it quite interesting to 'discover' singapore on foot. there are many interesting things that you can spot on foot rather than on transport. along the way, we chanced upon the Sungei Road flea market which i've been wanting to visit but never knew how to.

entering the flea market, it was like a totally different Singapore. everyone there was at least twice our age and most of the vendors were almost thrice our age. the items sold had more nostalgia value than cost value. it was really a nice experience.

reached bugis junction later where i said goodbye to Sheryl cause i had promised to meet up with my National Safari mates for a gathering at Safra Chalet that evening.



by the time i reached Tanah Merah mrt station, Kangming, Wilson and Jiasen were already there awaiting the arrival of his majesty. haha. his majesty is never late, it is his subject who are early. LOL!! nicholas came to pick jiasen up cause there's only one space left in his car. so the rest of us waited for Akil who only lived one mrt station away but was still the latest. so when he arrived, we all hopped onto a cab and headed towards Tanah Merah Safra Country Club.

boy was the place inaccessible if you aint got transportation. there were shuttle busses that came every hour or smthing but i cant imagine waiting that long.

by the time we reached, there were a number of my platoon mates and commanders already there. said hi and caught up with some of them.

meddled abit with the barbeque thingy. there were chicken wings, squids, sting ray, dory fish, hotdog, crabsticks and of course my favourite marshmellows!!! hahaha. the food were scrumptious although often at times either a tad raw or a tad burnt. haha! it was really fun and all and we even made a toast to Steve Irvin as we ate the bbq stingray. LOL!!



later on, after some food, drinks, booze and whatnots, we brought out the cake to celebrate our commanders birthday. 3SGT Hafiz and 2LT Hakim. it was a really yummy chocolate cake. YAY!

stayed a wee bit more but had to catch the last shuttle bus out at 1030pm out of the chalet as cabs were nowhere in sight at the resort. so i changed and headed to the bus stop with some of my platoon mates who were not staying the night.



as the shuttle bus reached Tanah Merah mrt ard 11pm and i was getting abit late for a meet-up i had with some friends later on that night, i decided to bid farewell to the rest and hailed a cab.

overall, it was an entirely fun day and that's all that matters.

toodles.