September 29th, 2012 "Short Weekend.."

Night Out @ Holland Village

So just gonna write a quick update of what's been going on this week before I book in. Well I booked in back to camp on Tuesday morning, this whole week was very slack back in camp, but I did train up back on my physical fitness. On Wednesday night, we had nights out, went to get ice cream with the signals platoon, then went to play some Counter Strike with the guys. After about an hour I was starting to feel sick and bored and the sudden urge of going for a run came, so I booked in changed to my PT attire, and went for a 5km by myself and followed by some push ups, crunches & pull ups. I'm really gonna try to bulk up, and shape by my body. Hopefully by the time I finish army, I can have a solid body. Meanwhile just trying to maintain my IPPT Gold since there's a IPPT test coming up in 3 weeks. This weekend is quite short due to guard duty. The whole battalion is at outfield and us the scouts are still in camp since we just came back from combat survival training. So therefore my weekend is burn, but did manage to grab some beer with my boys Kelvin and Ray last night at Holland Village.

So I finally upgraded to a iPhone 4 when people are upgrading to iPhone 5. Sin upgraded his iPhone 4 to iPhone 5, so I just bought his phone from him and sold my iPhone 3GS and Blackberry 9780. Gonna start taking lots of pictures hopefully since I finally have a camera! Well upcoming Tuesday is my ATP live firing shoot, bad news is that I got selected as SAW gunner. I'm not really confident using the SAW, still much prefer the SAR 21. Well what can I do just suck thump and pray hard that I can get the marksman badge and most importantly the free $200 from the government! Haha. Pray for me people! :) Today is also a very special day, it's Apple's 20th birthday. In a way, I wish that I could celebrate with her, light a candle in cupcake for her and give her a present but she have her own things to do and I need to book in for guard duty. Even though we're not together anymore but I still wanna wish her a very big Happy Birthday to her! Hopefully she will have a happy life ahead of her, and tonight she enjoy her night, just hope that she dont get too drunk and will get home safely. Well got to go! Need to book in now! CIAO :)

Ice Cream :) (Nights Out)

Random Post: Asia Is Going To Take Over The World Soon

China is a world super Factory country, they are king of the world already. If you want your kids to succeed in life you must ask them to learn mandarin. Their infrastructure are excellent, their factory are all super professional, logistics are superb. I am convinced that they are number one in the world in terms of economic powers. Everyone in China are all very hardworking, their domestic consumption are enormous, and saving rates are super high. Their tourist arrival is world number one, can u imagine how much tourism earns in China？ You cant find a country like China in the world. Can you imagine the amount of remittances being send from overseas into China from night club girls, teachers, maid, masseur, businessmen and etc they are all people from China. The money that they send back to their hometown translates into new wealth. With new wealth their family will buy new houses, air condition, fridge, furniture, cars & etc for their homes. It is this domestic consumption that keeps their factory alive, they have been poor for hundreds of years, their will power to be rich is strong because they have tasted how hard life is to be poor, so they strive there selves to become the best entrepreneur. The domestic housing market is still very strong due to urbanization, China can only gets better in production due to improved infrastructures, it makes delivery time super efficient. Best part is our Chinese culture of high saving rates & with all the 90's kids are all over the world now, we are slowly taking over. Simply put, the Chinese are on a global shopping spree. State-sponsored Chinese corporations are busy buying up commodities across Africa, North America, the Middle East, South America basically anywhere they can in a concerted strategy to seize control of resources before the rest of the world wakes up to the looming crisis. They’re striking deals with what she calls the "axis of the unloved" - developing countries rich in commodities but poor in political and economic capital - in return for much needed investment, employment and infrastructures. Extravagant shoppers, the Chinese are happy to pay over the odds, treating their trading partners not as poverty-ridden charity cases nor political pariahs but valued commercial equals. "There is this obsession with China being a culprit,"  "Even now, people will still say: 'Oh, the reason why the United States economy is not doing well is because the Chinese are manipulating the exchange rate,’ or, ’The Chinese have human-rights issues,’ and, ’The Chinese don’t do democracy, and the Chinese cheat.’ You know, it’s always about the Chinese, and no one actually takes a step back and thinks: ’Gosh, actually, it’s our fault that productivity is declining. It’s got nothing to do with the Chinese.” I think it’s fundamentally fantastic, it's fantastic as in something really tremendous. They bought a mountain in Peru - half the height of Mount Everest - they bought the mineral rights there. In Canada they’ve done a laptops-for-pork deal. They’re importing beef from Brazil and in return they’ll build roads and railways. It’s just an amazing display of discipline, and a systematic approach - it’s unparalleled. I don’t know any other country that does it in this way." The West complains that the Chinese are paying too much for commodities, instead of wondering whether China might in fact have grasped their true value. And the West has the nerve, to accuse China of no-colonialism, failing to understand that "the rest of the world actually thinks what China is doing is pretty damn clever". It was the West that got rich by invading and plundering the rest of the world, where as China is engaging with it on respectful, peaceful, generous terms. The hypocrisy of Western criticism is, she says, quite breathtaking. The West accuses the Chinese government of meddling in free-market capitalism, clean forgetting that US farm subsidy programs and Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy have condemned Africa’s farmers to poverty. The US is perfectly happy to take China’s money - more than US$1 trillion worth of government bonds - yet expects the emerging markets to say: "No, we don’t want Chinese money because there’s an issue of human rights." "What the Chinese are trying to do - move a billion people out of poverty - is just an unheard-of thing in history. The fact that they have moved 300 million in 30 years is unheard of. It took Britain 156 years to double its per capital income. It took America 57 years, Germany 65 years. It's taken the Chinese 12½ years." The rise of china will benefit a lot of neighboring country especially a city with Chinese & with such great connectivity Kota Kinabalu to Shenzhen daily flight is only 3 hours & Kota Kinabalu to Guangzhou & coming soon Kota Kinabalu to Shanghai. Especially since Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia is a very ethnic Chinese city as everywhere u go, lots of people here speak Cantonese & mandarin. This is one thing that most mainland visitor realize & that is why a lot of them are surprised & like Sabah, Malaysia so much. The rising wealth & growing appetite for consumption in Asia led by China & India will provide consumer companies with exponential growth. Even if there is a financial crisis & global downturn, the rise of middle class consumer in Asia will prove unstoppable. When they wake up they still want to buy a new pair of jeans, buy a ticket to travel & still want to buy a better bag or watch. It is exactly like US few decades ago, except this time it is the Chinese & Indian that will define the global economy for the next few decades. This 2 economies will lead consumer consumption in a major way & will fuel the world growth like a huge Tsunami. That is why you see Louis Vuitton, Moet, Henessy and LVMH is in a shopping spree in Asia, taking over consumer brand like Charles & Keith shoe maker, Sincere Watch, Trendy International China fashion &
Heng De Li watch retailer listed in Hkse. LVMH  will continue with its merger & acquisition in asia consumer company. LVMH will raise US$
1 billion in 2013 thru private equity backed by LVMH for that purpose. This millennium belongs to Asia, not the US nor Europe. Even Jim Rogers the commodity guru are bullish on Asia consumer consumption & air travel. Next to watch will be Indonesia & Vietnam, even Paddini are franchising with FJ Benjamin a Singapore listed company that operate in Indonesia for 3 decades to expand into Indonesia to tap its few hundred million consumer. A brand like Paddini makes a net profit of RM80 million a year selling only apparels fashion & that is only on msia market. Company that hv regional presence like Parkson will continue to rake in few hundred million profit year after year as backed by their china & Vietnam operation. That is why you see share price of counter like Air Asia continue to rise from 90cents to 3.60 in the stock market. Consumer stocks such as British American Tobacco, F&N, Guiness Anchor Berhad, Nestle, Dutch Lady, Asia Pacific Breweries, all continue to do very well. Even Prada chooses HKSE to list instead of listing it in NYSE. That is why you see Dutch brewer Heineken trying to acquire F&N Singapore in a bid to control Asia liquor industry as F&N control more than 40 brands in 15 Asia. F&N owns the likes of Tiger, Bintang, & etc. Asia is King now all dollars & talent are rushing into Asia's pacific, be it US sovereign funds, UK sovereign fund, they all want a piece of this pie. Asia have the youngest age professionals in the whole world, means many many more years of consumer spending to go.

Kumar Modi Indian founder of Spice Global With a revenue of USD$2B
Sudir Gupta Indian forbes listed net worth USD$320M
Richard Chandler a New Zealand listed by Forbes worth USD$3B
Nathan Tinkler Australian coal miner listed by Forbes worth USD$800M
Zhong Shen Jian China net worth USD$1B

All these tycoons have one thing in common, they choose to become Singaporean Permanent Resident to live & work in Singapore. It is not just the funds that are going to Singapore, it is about the caliber of people that migrated to Singapore that position it as a Global Society. It has the highest percentage of millionaires household at 17% & is world top richest country with GDP per capita of USD$56K , followed by Norway USD$51k, US at USD$45.5k, Hong Kong USD$45k & Switzerland USD$42k. Even though if you don't have the paper qualification, it's recommended that you ead more books on investment & business. Read books like Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad Poor Dad, or any motivational books. Asia is king now, the 1800 belongs to Britain, 1900 belongs to America, 2000 belongs to China. The 17 nations in the Euro Zone, which share the Euro, are going through an unprecedented crisis. They are plagued by negative GDP growth – Spain, Italy, Cyprus, the Netherlands, and Portugal have persistently been in recessions; high unemployment – the Euro zone unemployment rate stands at 11.3%, the highest ever level, with Spain and Greece having almost a quarter of their labor force unemployed; stagnating consumer spending; and low market confidence and an ocean of uncertainties. A large number of nations in the Euro zone are facing severe financial difficulties. Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Italy have government debts exceeding 100% of GDP. Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Greece have been bailed out. France has lost its prized AAA credit rating, while Portuguese, Cyprus and Greek bonds are rated as junk, with Spain and Italy close to junk bond status. As a direct consequence, Greek bond yields are at astronomical levels, while those of Spain and Italy are bordering on levels that are unsustainable in the long term. Time and time again, as Euro zone summits and meetings of finance ministers have come and gone, the North and South remain in deadlock. The markets occasionally find a glimmer of hope in their words and promises, only to be disappointed with vague and directionless policies that are too slow and too small in impact to have any good chance towards decisively solving the crisis. All this is happening while the situation worsens, with investors losing confidence and capital flows out of the peripheral nations increasing, while in European cities demonstrations and public anger abound. European continent has been divided throughout the centuries, constantly plagued by world wars and regional conflicts. In fact, for most parts of the last 500 odd years, Europe was engaged in one form of war or another, all of which were created by the Europeans themselves, unlike Asia for example, where most of the conflicts were imposed upon them by the aggressive and imperialist European powers. This conflict-torn history is due to the fact that the nations that make up Europe were different in many aspects and could not agree on numerous fundamental issues. The difficulties faced in achieving further integration were a result of these differences. Competing imperial powers, countries such as France, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain and Germany were at one point in time or another, a global superpower and were very often fighting against one another as each country competes to conquer and exploit more colonies. Nations that have once achieved superpower status develop a strong sense of national pride. They are not accustomed to giving up sovereignty or obeying the orders of other nations. French and German pride is evident during multilateral conferences, where their diplomats insist on speaking their own languages and conversing with the aid of the translator, as opposed to using a common language. All the above differences, throughout the centuries, have led to disagreements and conflicts between the European nations. Furthermore, although some countries are relatively young, most have formed nationalistic sentiments. This results in thoughts such as “I am German/French/British, why should I spend my money helping the Greeks/Italians/Portuguese?” Efforts toward “Europeanising” the continent have evidently failed, or possibly, too little effort has been devoted towards such causes. As a result, the “We are all Europeans, and therefore we should help each other out in times of trouble” is lacking. Such words have certainly been repeated countless times by European leaders. However, their actions suggest otherwise. There are of course, naturally, the economic consequences of a country exiting the Euro, and in the extreme case, a break-up of the Euro zone. A break-up of the Euro zone would mean the end of the Euro as a common currency, and thus, that all countries return to their former currencies. Such a drastic outcome would cause a fall in confidence of consumers, businesses, and investors, domestic and foreign alike. The fall in consumer and business confidence would greatly reduce the amount of consumption and investment in the economy as these two groups hoard cash amid uncertainty of future economic conditions. Foreign investors would flee from the Euro zone, causing mass capital flight, and in the process lead to bank runs, a free fall in currency values, stock markets, and real estate prices of the respective economies. This would cause the crisis to spill over to the real economy as households experience losses on their assets. Further, trade and investment would be severely disrupted. A paper prepared by ING estimates that economies in the Euro zone, even core fiscally healthy euro zone economies such as Germany and Finland, would immediately plunge into severe recessions, and the cumulative fall in GDP of the Euro zone in the first two years would be more than 12%. As the European leaders are facing obstacles towards further integration, and at the same time are not keen on the idea of a break up, their indecisiveness in making a decision and inability to come to a consensus no longer remains a mystery. The Euro zone is stuck in limbo between the two extremities of the solutions that are on offer, while the economic situation deteriorates day by day. Timothy Ash, writing in Foreign Affairs aptly described the situation this way : “The trajectory of those who were, say, 15 years old in 1945 went from war to peace, poverty to prosperity, fear to hope. The Trajectory of those who were 15 in 2003, especially in the parts of the continent now suffering the most, has arched in the opposite direction: from prosperity to unemployment, convergence of national experiences to divergence, hope to fear.” Housing prices fell in 15 of the 22 European countries year on year.

Ireland-16.85%
Spain -13.18%
Greece -11.92%
Portugal-10.95%
Netherlands-10.12%
Poland-8.19%
Cyprus-7.68%
Slovak- 5.61%
Sweden-4.18%
Bulgaria-3.87%
UK - 3.42%
Lithuania-3.07%
Romania- 2.71%

Housing prices that rises are:
Germany +5.24%
Switzerland+4.86%
Estonia+2.83%
Turkey+2.57%
Latvia +2.5%
Iceland +1.72%

With the fall of euro zone a lot of liquidity money will find its way to emerging Asia. We in Asia will all profit from these. My conclusion on the future of Europe was interesting, “Without some new driving forces, without a positive mobilization.. the EU, while probably surviving as an origami palace of treaties and institutions, will gradually decline in efficacy and real significance, like the Holy Roman Empire of Yore.”

I believe in the 5 F's of life:
1.Family
2.Fitness
3.Freedom
4.Financial Freedom
5.Faith

If you can practice this u will be very successful, remember success are not measured by wealth, we must have a very balance life, within Family & Health. Family and helath are the two upmost important elements in life then followed by the Freedom of speech, freedom to travel, freedom of religion & etc. Only once you arrive at wealth which is when you reach your financial freedom then lastly faith your religion.

September 26th, 2012 "Summary of 3 Key Things.."

This 3 weeks has been one of the more interesting weeks, lots have happened, lots of things in my mind definitely, well mainly there's 3 things to focus on firstly its about me and Apple. As this 3 weeks past and I told myself to move on. Well I must say I tried. I told myself to not think too much about it and just go on with my life but I have to admit I miss her. Every once in a while I will still read her twitter, facebook or blog to see if there is anything about me. From the looks of it at the moment, it seems like she's moved on. Looks like she met someone new. Deep down inside it hurts me deeply but I can't do anything but just wish nothing but the best for her. Supposedly we agreed on a clean break but now I feel that we are still in a huge mess. I still don't know what exactly happened between us, what's she thinking. Still so many unanswered questions. We agreed on not being strangers but we are like completely strangers now, she said she needed time and I gave it to her. She says she feels suffocated, so I let her do her own thing. I don't even know why am I still thinking so much about us. It's like I went against the world for her. I really want to know what our one year together meant to her? Was it love or was it just a test/game? How could something that was going so good just ended like this? Does she still love me or have feelings for me? .. So many questions in my mind, but meanwhile I can't do anything about it just let fate do its thing. If we are really meant to be then she will be back to me overtime. Meanwhile I'm just trying not to think too much about it and do my thing, just wish nothing but the best for her, hope that she will take care of herself, and hopefully the new guy will treat her right and make her happy since I couldn't do the job right.

Second this I wanna focus on is about Clara, I know I didn't say much about what's on my mind between us on the other posts but let's just say I started to had feelings for her definitely but just too bad she had to move to UK otherwise we could of have chance to be together. With Clara its sort of different, I feel like she understands me quite well even though she just met me for 3 weeks but she knows what I'm thinking at times. Like I told her, I don't want to get my hopes up and disappoint ourselves so we will let fate decide on this and just see how things go in the future, anything can happen really. She's going to be in UK for 3 years, but in less then 1 year time I'll be going back to U. I just hope that we can remain this friendship for now, and maybe when she comes back for holiday next time we can pick it up from there. She also told me straight forward that she can see I still stressed about my ex right now, she doesn't want to be flirting with a guy that's still not over his ex. I totally understand her, cause the last thing I want is to make her feel that I was using her to get over my ex. I really need to find an answer to my all my unanswered questions and either close the chapter or continue our story with apple before it drags any further. In these 3 weeks I really felt a connection with Clara, actually start to have feelings for her, but the fact that its true that I'm still not over Apple and its very unfair for her at the moment. We will just have to see how things go in the future and what happens in the future. Meanwhile she's still being a very awesome friend, listening to my problems and making me smile awkwardly at my phone everyday :)

The third thing I wanna touch on is Family. This weekend made me realized how important family was, it made me really think about my family. I realized my grandfather passing actually brought the family much closer, it was the first time I could sit down with my father and tell him how I feel and how much I love them and he did the same and opened up to me. I can see with my own eyes the way my father looks at my grandfather in the casket, even though he didn't cry but I can see the pain in his eyes. I realized how much my parents loves me deep inside, my mom's friend Cecilia told me stories of how my mom would take care of me by herself when she was a young girl, the real story between my biological father and my mother. All the shit my parents have went through just for me. I love my parents so much. My parents might not be the best at expressing their love and care for me but I know deep down inside both of them are always worried for me, care for me. My mom told me to faster finish army, come home to US and we can be a family once again. She told me the reason why she wants to open a restaurant is so we can bond as a family working together, its not about the money, its about the happiness as a family. Words can't describe how much I love my family, I finally realized the importance of a home, a family. I can't wait til I'm back in US and finally be a good son to my parents, they really deserve it. I have done nothing to make them happy in the past, its time I do something right.

September 24th, 2012 " Family Comes First.. "

I just came back to Singapore today. This week my grandfather in KL passed away on the 19th of September. After 12 years of pain he went through, with a stroke, half of his body paralyzed, his arms and legs amputated, couldn't talk, bed ridden for 12 years he finally moved on to a better place and found peace at last. My only regret is that my recent trip to KL couple of months ago, I never went to visit him and now he is gone. I first heard the news on Wednesday the 19th when I was still in camp, I booked out that night and catch the first bus to KL the next morning. After a 5 hour bus ride, I finally reached KL and my aunt Angie came to pick me up then we went to his wake. The whole family was there just missing my father. We waited until around 6pm then started the ceremony, after the ceremony chatted with the family a bit then went to my cousin's friend house to get some rest that night. The next morning my father reached KL finally after a long flight from Denver to KL. We went back to the wake, and burn all the things to my grandfather at night since the next afternoon we are sending him off. On Saturday morning, we went back to the wake, see my grandfather one last time and say our last goodbyes, then we send him off to the cremation house. After everything was done we went to meet my mom's friend Cecilia and Vivian with my dad. We went to the Pavillion and grab some coffee and catch up since the last time I saw them I was still a very young boy, my mom's friend Cecilia was there with my mom before I was born helping my mother out, living with her, watching me grow when I was still a baby. After some coffee, we decided to meet later at night for some drinks then me and my father when to grab dinner with the family. After dinner we went back to change and headed out to meet Cecilia. Little did I know I had a very interesting night ahead of me, we went to this VIP nightclub in KL called De Lux. Its my first time going to a "Night Club" I always thought it just a very big KTV but this its different, every room is like a different club, with dance floor, sofa, bar, dj booths, pool table, toilet and such! My mom's friend Cecilia husband is quite well to do, some millionaire in Sabah Malaysia, he can spend easily $50k to $80k a night. There was basically free flow of Cordon Blue, Champagne, Wine and everything, your glass is never empty. That night I met lots of big shots around the world, I met the owner of one of biggest Hotel and Casino in Macau, people from Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea, Hong Kong all the big businessman around the world. That night it really opened my eyes, somethings you don't see every night. As the night goes on we all drank more and more including my dad and Goh (Cecilia's husband). Goh was trying to teach me more about business, about how US is gonna be fucked, and how Asia will take over very soon, and my dad doesn't agree with him and scared that Goh is gonna turn me from bad to worst, cause if I follow Goh's footsteps, I will be rich, but I won't be happy, I wouldn't have a stable family, every night in night clubs with clients and such. Then my dad straight forward told him that he's just a young boy and haven't grew up yet which really pissed Goh off. Then the rest of the night I was trying to make sure they didn't fight, they actually been friends for 15+ over years already, I guess we all just had a little too much to drink that night. That night was actually the first time I sat down with my dad, told him everything in my mind with Cecilia and Goh. Sometimes alcohol is the answer, haha sad to say. Sometimes we all need to be drunk in order to talk, cause when me and my dad is sober we would never ever talk but when we drink we can go on talking, hugging and crying about each other. Haha. After that very interesting night, my mom called when we got home then we chat for a bit when I was still tipsy, then I told my mom how much I fucked up, I miss them and stuff and told them how much I love them, as I put my arms around my dad's shoulders and cried together. One of the most epic night in my life seriously. I fucking love my parents! The next morning, I had to wake my dad up because we had to go collect my grandfather cremation, when I woke him up, my dad asks how did he even end up on bed last night, he told me he couldn't remember most of the stuff that happened last night -.-' After breakfast, then we drove to pick my grandfather's crematorium and place it on the funeral home. After that I went to Petaling Street to get some shopping done, then grab dinner with my father before we fly off the next day. We woke up early in the morning the next day, went to the bus terminal, gave me a hug and told me he will see me next month, then ride the train to the airport as I went to grab breakfast then ride a coach back to Singapore.

September 16th, 2012 "Never Easy Saying Goodbye.."

HOHOHO. Another eventful weekend, and a bit sad towards the end though. This was the last weekend I can get to know Clara before she flies off. On Friday the 14th, me and Sin went to Boat Quay with Cassy and Clara to drink, before that we went to some italian restaurant for dinner in Boat Quay then went to The Straits for some beer and wings! .. Chit chatted there for a while until Sin's cousin came then we went to Planet Paradise for Round 2. Towards the end of the night, I started to get a bit emotional, started to think about stuff, particularly about Apple, but Cassy and Clara drank a bit too much so I took care of em for a while since Kelvin had to talk to Yvonne since they're having their problems. It was getting late and Cassy went home since she was too tired and Clara didn't wanna go home yet cause she drink a little too much and scared if she go home, her brother will scold her (sounds like somebody right?) So we went to grab a early breakfast at McDonalds and accompany her til the morning and went home. The next day we went to Zirca this time with me, Yong Qin, Yi Liang, Riduan, Clara, Cassy, Enni and Shu Kiat for Spread Love 2nd Anniversary. That night was awesome! Great crowd, great group, great DJ! .. After Zirca on Saturday we all went home to sleep since we had plans to make cheesecake the following morning, but due to Cassy over sleeping we just went to Jurong Point for desert then went to the Ice Rink at Jcube with Kelvin, Karen and Clara :) After ice skating, Clara had to go for her farewell dinner so me, Sin and Karen got some dinner at Thai Express. After dinner went home and change and prepare to book in then went to Clara's house with Cassy and Karen in Bedok since she is flying off the next morning. Basically we just spend the whole night camwhoring polaroids, who knew taking pictures could be so fun! Seriously some epic moments that night, then I went it was time to book in I walked to camp since her house was literally right across from my camp! Haha. Really had lots of fun these past 2 weekends, too many hilarious moments and stories to share! Imma miss this girl definitely! Hopefully she will do well in UK and I wish nothing but the best for her :)

September 12th, 2012 "Party & Party & Party.. "

On Friday 7th September, I went to Phuture with Kelvin, Jonathan, Zef, Bryan and Ben since I wanted to go out and clear my mind a bit due to me thinking too much about stuff and also to celebrate my 1 year to ORD! That's when Jon introduced me to his friend Cassy and her 2 friends Clara and Karen which you'll hear lots of story of later. After the club, Pamela (Apple's Best Friend) called me and told me that Apple's lost and drunk and she couldn't find her. So end up, she was at the hospital that night due to intoxication. The next morning I met her mom for breakfast and chat with her a bit about what's going on between us, after chatting with her mom, I went to meet up Clara at town for lunch :) So the story of this Clara is that I met her at Phuture on Friday night and we sort of click quite well but she is moving to UK in 2 weeks, but even though she's moving away doesn't mean that we can't be friends and get to know each other better.. So we went to Plaza Sing for some Udon for lunch then went to Somerset for some coffee and ice cream then followed by walking around Orchard and chit chatting before she had to go for her farewell dinner. Then in the evening I went to meet GuanSan and his friends for a movie, "7 Something" this thai romantic comedy! It was actually quite nice, but just not with the right group haha. It's one of those movies to watch with your girlfriend and love ones, definitely not with your camp mate! lol After the movie, me, Guansan, Janvin, Jon, Ray and Linus, Cassy and Clara went to Phuture again for Round 2 of clubbing. Then the next day, Sunday was family day of course, Skype my mom in the afternoon then run some errands. Since I just came back from Brunei so I didn't need to book in until Wednesday. On Monday night we all went out again this time to Planet Paradise with Linus, Jon, Raymond, Cassy, Karen and Clara, like we formed a mini party group like that! Haha. The next day me and Clara went for a mini date sort of, went to watch TED finally, since I had nobody to watch with and this kind soul Clara accompany me to watch. After the movie, we went to chill at Sentosa Boardwalk and share our depressing life to each other. That's went I know that she was starting to grow on me, but really just too bad she was moving to UK for studies otherwise we could of get to know each other better. Well we have one more weekend to get to know each other before she fly off!

August 23rd - September 5th "EX LANCER, 2 Weeks of Hell.."

Lakiun Camp (View From Rear Entrance)

August 23rd 2012- Day 01
Left house about 2200hrs after spending a little more time with the girlfriend then ride MRT to Changi Airport. Reached about 0000hrs and waited for platoon sergeant to collect our boarding pass then went to eat my last meal before my 2 weeks of hell at McDonalds. Chilled at the airport for a while, then that was it, board the plane and fly off from Singapore. The flight was about 2 hours long, watch some shows on air and ate again. Before we know it, we reached. And here we goooo! At first glance the airport looked like shit, looked like a airport back in the 70's or something, to me it looked more like a bus terminal. Then we load up on a bus to the ferry terminal then rode a three hour ferry ride to another part of Brunei, the whole ferry ride all I saw was sea and jungle, muddy rivers and more trees. Upon reaching we rode another shuttle bus to Lakiun Camp. Worst part, I couldn't get any sleep, in the plane, bus, ferry or shuttle bus. When we reached Lakiun Camp, I got interviewed. They asked me what's my goals of this exercise and how I got here. Then we proceed to our bunk, its like a long house with all the beds together which can fit about a company size in one house. To me, it was still acceptable living condition. We settled down a bit, then we went outside as our Sergeant Major talked to us, give us a slight brief, then we head to lunch. After lunch, it was just briefings after briefings. First it was about how to secure our items, a signal set refresher, medic review, commanding officer opening address, then followed by our CO and RSM brief. Then we went for dinner that night which the food here is actually quite nice, way better then Bedok Camp if you ask me. After dinner we rest in bunk and prepare for the next day of Guided Navigation Exercise . Honestly, I miss home, I miss her, just want this 2 weeks to be over and go back to her. Time to sleep! Good night!

August 24th 2012- Day 02
Woke up at 0430 today when we slept at 0130. We head out to our first outfield in Brunei, it was meant to be a walk in a park as the instructor just show us around the jungle terrain, but it was no walk in the park I can assure that. The whole battalion was wearing assault pack with SBO when us the scout platoon was in FBO since our cadre only trains Scout and Commando and we want us to get used to the weight . We left camp about 0730 after we draw arms, inspection and briefing. Ride a shuttle bus to this forest area. Our jungle cadre briefed us again, then we proceed to our first and highest knoll. Now I finally understand what they meant by intense terrain in Brunei. The worst part they said this is just a normal knoll wait till we climb Mount. Biang we will climb up the revine. The knoll was very steep and slippery and you are just trying to hold on to anything you can while climbing, but not all plant you can hold on to because there are thorns in almost all the plants. Some ground are very slippery, I tried crawling on my hands and legs at one time but failed. Ended up sliding down with my hands and knees. After we climb and climb we walked around on the ridgeline to our next checkpoints and finally end the day around noon. Got back to camp, had a briefing for our CWO and ate combat ration for lunch. Tired and exhausted, went to grab a shower on a melting hot weather. End up still sweating like hell after shower. Then as we try to get some rest, we had to go to another briefing about crossing water obstacles that we are doing tomorrow. After the briefing, we came back to our bunk, get ready for our pack items for our upcoming outfield, Ex Normax, a 3 days 3 nights navigation exercise. Then got some rest before we head to dinner. After dinner, we had another briefing for Ex Normax, after the briefing we started to rain heavily, we ran for our lives back to bunk, wet and cold, dried ourselves up, wash my face and went to sleep as a long day for us tomorrow for our crossing water obstacles early in the morning.

August 25th 2012 - Day 03
Woke up middle of the night to prepare for our crossing water obstacle. Then we head our to the river, after crocodile drills and preparing, my team went in, I was in the last team, team of 4 with Sgt. Raymond, SSG Nelson, Hong Kai and me. Before the swim we undergo a mini swarm walk since it was damn muddy and our feet keep getting stuck in the mud, supposedly. We were supposed to do the Swarm Walk but due to the recent incident of an NSF passing away in Brunei they took the Swarm Walk out of the training program. With Hong Kai & Staff in front and me and Sgt. Raymond in the back we swim against the current of the river and get across the river, while swimming I keep getting kicked on my ribs by Sgt Raymond and getting hit on my arms by Hong Kai, after shifting to a good position I somehow ended up in front and we swam towards the finish line. After the swim we rode the shuttle bus back and rush back clean arms, wash our boots, LBV and alice bag. Then get ready for inspection for Ex Normax. After the inspection, I showered and slept at 2030 and rest  for tomorrow's exercise. It's a 3 days 3 nights exercise but goal for scout platoon is to finish everything in one day, find all 4 checkpoints, 1 mid point and 1 end point. The load is heavy and we will confirm be damn shag. In my mind I just wanna get this over and done with in 1 day then relax for following 2 days. I'm going to treat this like a race and try to find all checkpoints and be the first team  to finish first. Good night people!

August 26th 2012 - Day 04
Day 1 of Ex. Normax, On the 1st day we move out early in morning, we thought we were going to find 1st check point by 0730 and come back the same day. We had very high hopes but failed tremendously. We literally went up slope and down the slope, back tracked every where, then finally harbor by 1700. The first day was more like CST (Combat Survival Training) we learn how to start and maintain a fire, built shelter then talk cock with our PS and Dan, HongKai, GuanSan and me. There was definitely some funny moments that night where I was shitting with GuanSan before we set up our shelter, how my shit was so smelly that GuanSan couldn't take it and how GuanSan is the only man that ever witnessed me shitting and seeing a piece of shit dangling on my asshole. Hahahaha that's went the inside joke "Customs" came from when my shit never crossed the customs haha and then as we are preparing to sleep at night a wild Grasshopper appears, first time, it flew away, then it came back! Attacked us, it was damn epic how four grown man was scared of a grass hopper, we just shine our torchlight at it then tried to hit it with our rifles, gortex jacket, match box, but then it was a strong soldier, it didn't move then we used the SAF powder and poured over it then it flew away then we slept in peace that night. There was also stories of how our commanders saw a villager wearing a turban walked into our area at night.


August 27th 2012 - Day 05
Day 2 of Ex. Normax (August 27th) we move out on first light, then we head back to a checkpoint we saw earlier. We harbor there at 1000hrs until last light as the commanders, Vinu and Dan went to look for the checkpoints. Me, GuanSan, HongKai,  Platoon Sgt Nelson and Sgt. Sean waited for the whole day for the team come back, worried they won't return, they didn't had food, water and coms but luckily they came back before last light, they were lost and over confident. Then we rushed to find a harboring area for the night,called it a day and hope for a better day tomorrow. It rained a bit that night but luckily it didn't continue raining.


August 28th 2012 - Day 06
Day 3 of Ex. Normax (August 28th) We move out at first light again, tried to find CP1 and 2 but failed, so we just end up going to our Mid Point to get our last 2 checkpoints. Luckily we still manage to find our midpoint. Time was running out since the exercise cut at 1020. We reached the Mid Point at about 0900, so we just proceeded straight to the end point CP "Cold Feet" with team yankee. After reaching went to walk to the pick up point to ride bus back to Lakiun Camp. The funniest part is that never fell in jungle yet, but fell on the way out from bus as I was half asleep didn't see the steps as I was going down and land face forward in front of the cadre and platoon sergeant as I get off the bus. Then we did our declaration of ammunitions, clean arms, and ate our out ration. After eating lunch I went to clean up and went to canteen. Finally managed to talk to babe since there were Wi-Fi in the canteen and got a chance to call her :) Then  ate butter prawn rice at the canteen and bought some snacks for the bunk then went cook house for dinner again. After dinner, we start to prepare for our next exercise  Ex Confirmation. The time now is 2338.. Going to sleep soon for tomorrow our last and final exercise in Brunei. Since we found 0 checkpoints and only found the mid point and end point for Ex Normax, we must perform for this final exercise! Going to sleep now as all the commander are still prepping for tomorrow's exercise. Good night!

August 29th 2012 - Day 07
Day 1 of ex confirmation. PC briefed us on our mission orders, we did our final force preparations and head out to the jungle. We started our journey around 1430hrs with a march to the helipad area on a ridgeline to board the helicopter since we were being heli-inserted to Mt. Biang. All the big shots, CO, FSM, CGO and was there and my team was the first team to be inserted. After waiting for about 5-10 minutes the super puma finally came. I grab my alice bag and ran into the helicopter, buckle up and sat right behind the pilot. I looked at the terrain when we flew over biang, and thinking to myself, this is it, here we go! When we reach our landing point we ran out vegetation and gather, then we prepare to move out to face the infamous Mount. Biang. Firstly we crossed a mini river about knee level  water height, then we start to climb up the mountain. It was like every five minutes I would look up and ask myself how far more? The terrain wasn't easy, it was slippery, steep and tough but I was mentally prepared, the weight was quite heavy, maybe because we haven't really been carrying full load for a while and partly maybe I was the team signaler, I had to carry the signal set, 72 hours of ration plus accessories packs, 7 liters of water and our pack items.  After 2 hours of climbing and climbing we finally reach the top of biang, well the highest ridgeline in Biang. The cadre signaler took a picture of us as we were reaching, I smiled and put my thumbs up for the picture then I dropped and took a five minutes break to catch my breath. After the short break, we carry on for another kilometer or to about 200 meters away from our turning point down and harbor there for the night before night time. Then it started to rain heavily before last light as we were building the shelter. That night was one cold night, it was like my Rite of Passage week outfield, it was freezing cold due to the rain, and the worst part we had to air our feet due to our wet boots and socks. We couldn't do anything about it but just to man up and try to sleep. For the first time I didn't want to take my LBV off, and even after wearing my goretex jacket over my LBV, Normax gloves, camo scarf,jungle hat and groundsheet as blanket over me I was still freezing cold, but due to how tired I was I still dozed off but keep waking up in the middle of the night due to the cold weather. That was a night to remember.

August 30th 2012 - Day 08
Day 2 of exercise confirmation. We woke up at first light around 0600, then we started to make our way down Mt. Biang. After about an hour or so we realized that our commanders was leading us to the wrong track and cause we were literally bashing down the hill. After numerous try to find the right track, we backtracked and climb up biang again, then we got lost and didn't really know where we were until our platoon sergeant finally took over control after he realized no one is taking charge of where to go and lead us back to the right track and luckily we started to see the CRT (company recce team) markings and followed it back to the right track. We ended up wasting about 3-4hrs walking extra, up the hill and down the slope. When we reach the bottom of the mountain, we topped up our water at a stream and washed up a bit then we continued to walk for another couple of kilometers to our crossing water obstacle area, that's when one of our commanders Sgt. Jeff fractured his neck and it started to rain heavily. We had to evacuate him out to the hospital then we proceed with our river swim with full batter order. The current was very strong due to the heavy rain, but me Sgt. Tommy and Yuan Hao still manage to swim over to the other side. We were exhausted due to our fatigue level, it was no joke. After the swim we proceed to climb up the infamous 7 knolls. This was the most painful part, when our feet was in pain, our morale was low but we still pushed ourselves and carry on. We were supposed to reach our ORV before last light but due to the rain and casualty we ran out of time so we end up harboring below a hut at the open field about 2km away from our ORV for the night. Luckily we were below shelter and outfield just got better. We changed into a new set of clothes, cook ourselves dinner and started a fire to dry our gloves, jungle hat, and boots. I heat up my ration pack, a mixture of japan curry noodles and black pepper pasta in my mess tin, it was delicious I tell you! Then made myself hot coffee mix with horlick. Nothing feels better in outfield when you have a clean set of uniform and a full stomach.

August 31th 2012 - Day 09
Day 3 of Ex. Confirmation. We woke up slightly early today to pack our stuff and get prepared to move out and then when first light was out we moved out. We walked about 2km to our ORV area, it was the longest 2km of my life I tell you. My feet was in pain due to the blisters and it felt like my toenails was coming out. When we finally reached our ORV around 0945, we settled down change my antenna to a long antenna for my signal set and get some rest while Sgt Brandon and Yuan Hao went for 1st bound of recon since we had to get our first intel before 1100hrs. They finally came back with intel of the corn wires around the knoll, and spotted trenches, and possible machine guns. Then the second bound of reconnaissance went, which was the commanders. Then suddenly we heard over the coms that Sgt Yuan Hao has been captured and place on POW. We were shocked since Sgt. Yuan Hao was excellent at closing in, and we were worried that the enemies got a hold of our coms but luckily they didn't. Then next thing we know Sgt. Sean and Tommy was captured also. But we still had to link up with Charlie Company CRT so me, Hong Kai and Sgt. Brandon went to link up with the CRT and lead them to their harboring area. Then we waited for night fall for the real fun to begin. Due to lack of intel and too many of us getting caught, me, Vinu, Sgt Yuan Hao, Sgt. Brandon and Staff Nelson went for our  night close in. We walked tactically about 400-500m pitch dark in the forest near our enemy location, it was scary because we couldn't see a thing but we just walked. That was a once in a life time experience walking pitch dark in a jungle and closing in. As we got closer to the enemy location we all harbor on a ridgeline below the enemy harboring area, all five of us rest near a small tree and try to get some rest until 2300hrs when me and Sgt. YuanHao went for first bound of night surveillance. I wore my night vision goggles and roll out. We took about 3 hours just to get near the enemy location about 100-150m away. We finally reached right below their knoll and we saw the enemies patrolling and corn wires, then we head back to our mini ORV around 0200.

September 1st 2012 - Day 10
Day 4 of Ex. Confirmation, next up it was Sgt. Brandon and Vinu which went for second bound of recce as the rest of us catch up on some sleep. Then followed by the last bound of recce before day light. We got all the intel we needed during the night close in. Found a good break in point, know their patrols, where they have the corn wires, saw the trenches and enemies machine guns. We make our way back to the ORV before 0630hrs. We saw Sgt. Sean waiting for us at the Naga Bridge and it pissed off our platoon sergeant because mainly he never camoflage his face, he didn't have coms, compass or map and he came to look for us when the orders was that we will be back before 0630hrs but he still came looking for us, worst part he was asking people around if they saw us which is not a good image for us. He told us that S2 keep trying to coms us the whole night asking where we were. We briefed the OC of Charlie Coy. of all the intel we gotten for them then went back to our ORV to report back to the headquartes of all the intel we found out. After Charlie Coy move out for their attack we then made our way back to camp finally. It never felt better going back to camp, walking through that gate knowing that we're done, the worst is finished! When we reached the camp, I took off my boots the first thing and let it air as my feet was in pain due to the blisters all around. Chilled for a while, drink a cold can of coke and red bull they prepared for us then clean my rifle, send all the equipment back, wash everything up and let everything dry then relax the rest of the day at canteen.

September 2nd 2012 - Day 11
Woke up for breakfast after hearing the flag raising, ate Chee Chiong Fun that supposedly gave about 30 people food poisoning but to me it was delicious,haha. Then went back to sleep till about lunch time, went to lunch then chill at the canteen until we got bored then we went back to bunk to sleep until it was time for dinner then do the same routine chill at the canteen after dinner, then we went to cook maggie outdoors with our team five four zulu and try to have a mini cohesion then call it a night after a very relaxing day.

September 3rd 2012 - Day 12
Today was mostly all doing out process, clean up bunk, arms, stores, helping out others that just came back to clean their equipments including GPMG's from Mortar Platoon that we never used, help out the pioneers to keep the corn wires and barbed wires then send back the stores, pack up our things then we had a parade, Turn Ops Parade for the Scout and Pioneer Platoon. After the parade we went back to rest until it was time for dinner. Tonight the dinner was different,  we had a celebration dinner to mark our 1 year since enlistment and for our 1st year commanders that's going to ORD when we return back to Singapore, we watched a video of our journey since the date of enlistment to the end of Ex Lancer and the farewell video to our first year commanders, then we had our kit bag inspection and send off our duffle bags and sleep early for the night for our R&R the following day.

September 4th- 5th 2012 - Day 13 & 14th
Today's the day we were all waiting for, the day we are going back home. Today is our R&R and educational tour around Brunei. We left Lakiun camp about 0730, ride a bus to the water taxi terminal. We ride the water taxi for about an hour to our tour bus, then we were off to our first stop "The Royal Mosque" owned by the 29th king of Brunei. Basically everything was made out of gold and marbles in the mosque and did you know that the education here in Brunei is fully subsidized by the government and so as medical where everything only cost one dollar either it's for a normal medicine, consultation or even surgery, it's just one dollar! Cool right? Then next up we went to the king's museum, learning the history of the king and knowing more stuff about him then we went to Rizgum Coffee House Hotel for lunch, it was sort of an international buffet but the food was just normal and the hotel is connected to the mall.. Then we were off to the Brunei museum to see the history of Brunei, about their oil mainly. Then we went to the water village to take a look at different cultures seeing how they live on the water. Then we went back to mall to watch movie, The Possessed with the whole Scout Platoon and also some Pioneers and Mortars joined also then we went to  eat dinner at a different hotel which the service sucks and it was way to crowded and the staff wasn't ready.. After the dinner we went back to shopping at the mall, bought myself a pair of jeans "Cheap Mondays" :) Then we headed  to a different SAF camp in Brunei near the airport for a while to inspect our carry on bags then we headed back to the airport. Flew back to Singapore, bought myself 3 bottles of Hoe-garden Beer from the duty free shop, ate my malaria pills and cab home with Sgt. Tommy and Alex before you know it, it was home sweet home!

September 6th, 2012 "Moving On.."

So today I guess we decided on a clean break up. It's time to move on for me. 2 weeks ago before I went to Brunei, the 1 thing I was scared of is that things would change when I come back to Singapore. The first couple days, she still think about me then the feelings slowly fade before you know it the feelings was gone again. I can't do anything about it but just move on, and I really do meant move on this time. After our first initial break up, I tried getting the feelings back by letting her do whatever she wants but then again I was being someone I was not. I fought myself to be with her, willing to be anything for her thinking it was gonna work but I didn't realized the problem wasn't just me, it was her also. You just can't fight love, she problem was that she never really loved me. This 2 weeks in Brunei made me realized a lot, mainly that we are just not for each other. Her feelings for me comes and goes and I was just  living in this imaginary world of mine where I get everything I want. I forgot that the main part of a relationship is happiness and trust and we didn't had that. We were together for the wrong reasons and there wouldn't be a future in us. She wants to have fun, live her life and do her own thing, when I  want a women I can grow old with to settle down with. I need a women in my life not a girl. I'm hungry to settle down and start a family and start on my career soon. I've played too much in the past and I just want to be an adult now. I thought we were really meant to be this time, but then again I thought my ex and I was also meant to be. Its time for me to wake up and have a reality check. I've became weak, I guess this thought me another good lesson, that's why people don't just don't fall in love so easily. Meanwhile I should just live my single life for now too and chill the fuck out and be me again. Who knows maybe I will find someone new when I'm back in the states. Don't get me wrong she's a great person, she's really awesome and we had lots of amazing time together, a lot of laughter, lots of memories, it has been a great journey but all good things end and she's just not the one for me unfortunately. Actually it was more of my fault because I was too stubborn to let go and too much of doing things my way, and of course it was the paranoid and controlling boyfriend I was to begin with, if I wasn't as paranoid and suffocating her then we wouldn't be in this position the first place. Well I still do love her if you ask me because I actually genuine fell in love with her and love just doesn't go away like that. I think I've finally woken up and its really time for me to move on and stop forcing things to go my way. I wish nothing but the best for her, meanwhile I think we just remains as purely friends but who knows maybe we will even get back together, haha. Who knows the future? :)

September 2nd 2012 "Writing Out Loud Pt II"

I think its a bad thing that we're done with training and now we don't have much to do. End up making myself think about way too many things. Mainly about her. I don't know what's been going on, what's on her mind. It's not like I'm giving up on her but I don't know what is this. I really want her to talk to me and tell me everything literally, but she won't. I post on twitter saying, I wish I could read your mind sometimes.. And she replied if I knew we won't be like this right now. I wish she just let me know what's on her mind and let everything out. Cause right now it seems like she don't have feelings for me what so ever and its like I'm there just because I want to be. It seems like I'm forcing her to like me and be with me, like it seems she just don't give a flying fuck anymore. If that's the case I rather her tell me straight in my face, I don't wanna be like forcing her to like me putting a fake image. I wish she would talk to me and stop this guessing game. I'm not a fucking physic, I don't know what's on her mind. All I know is that I just want a happy relationship, be happy and both of us love each other genuinely and have a healthy relationship. Is that too much to ask for. It also seem like I'm being too much of the female in this relationship maybe I should stop caring too much and man up about things, cause the man shouldn't be the emotional one, always think about things. Maybe I should be more cold hearted like her, maybe I should really just give her time and see what happens and see if I really do mean something to her. I really don't know what's going on, what to think anymore. I hope whatever this is, an answer comes soon and if this is real it better be real. I'm sick of playing games, I need a women to be there for me. I just want to find happiness. She have her best friend back now, but I still don't cause she's my best friend but now its like my girl friend is gone so is my best friend. I hate this feeling.

September 1st 2012 "Writing Out Loud Part I"

This 2 weeks away from home, it made me realized something. My objective here in Brunei was to push myself to my limit and train on my mental endurance. But then I keep getting distracted from thinking about her. Cause I sure miss her, I can't wait to go home and spend time with her. She's the only thing I think about back home ironically. When I feel like giving up I just think about her, imagining she was next to me and I can't fail in front of her. Sometimes I really wonder if she knows how much she means to me. I keep thinking to myself does she think about me? Does she care ? Does she miss me? Is she waiting for me to come back? So many questions in my head, or maybe I'm just thinking too much again. One thing I'm very afraid of is that things will change when I come back, afraid the feelings are gone again. Cause this is weird, for the first time when I'm away from home when my girlfriend doesn't seem too affected it. Compare from my past relationships and other couples around me, their girlfriends will always  try to call, message, or contact each other any ways they can find, how they would be telling each other how much she miss em, how much she wanting for them to come home and such. She's just not that type of person or maybe she's just really doesn't care. Who knows. I can't make her be someone she's not. I rather she be herself and I wanna fall in love with that person she is. It feels good knowing someone always have you in their mind, missing, caring about you but I just have to live with it. I keep telling her how much I miss her and everything but it seems like she doesn't really care too much about it, something is wrong I can feel it. Maybe she doesn't need me in her life. I don't know, probably I'm thinking too much again. The truth is I miss her, and I'm fucking scared that when I'm back things will change between us, cause that's how it always is. I just want a girlfriend that loves me as much as I love her, care for her as much as she cares for me. I wish she's that person for me. In a way I'm starting to think twice about things, but in another way I don't wanna think twice because I know what I want is her, what I want is us. I'm deeply in love, fuck.  I wish she understands that I'm the one for her, I won't do her wrong, I will take care of her, do everything and anything I can for her, for us. I promise her that. I will do my best for her. I will do anything seriously. I don't think she can find any other guy that's as genuine as me, I'm as real as it can get. Its weird how if it was any other girls, I'm the guy that every girl wishes for, what they look for in a guy but she's different.