Sunday, January 28, 2007
The inactivity in my blog has been due to the lack of time as I've been going out and the fact that I had to spend 3 days in camp because of exercise charlie. I've a firm believer of updating my blog as often as I can and even though i'm pretty tired right now, I just wanna make an entry. Making a trip down to boon kian's chalet for his 21st birthday celebration was really an eye-opener for me. Even though I've been to the saf changi chalet before for mavarick's birthday, the turnout for boon kian's one was awesome. I arrived at around 7.45pm with pc lian, jason, marcus and mok after having a hard time deciding on what to buy for boon kian. We arrived to a huge crowd which was gathering outside of block F. People who didn't know boon kian would have thought part of the crowd belonged to block E. That's how big it was.
It was good seeing familiar faces once again. I'm sure for the many army guys who went for it, it was more than a birthday celebration, it was also a get-together as well. Take me for example, I had the luxury of seeing my former platoon mates from fdc course 1 year plus ago. People like weili, yijun, ming cheng and jin xing. I hope I didn't miss out any names here, pardon me if I did. It's not easy to find time to meet up with them, I had either something on or was in camp anything was being organized. It felt really good to just be able to say a simple hi or have a chat. These are the simple pleasures in life that money can't buy. My platoon back then had alot of people who got posted out after their course to mostly tengah airbase and I still remember the scene of them leaving as their names were being called. They didn't even had a chance to say a proper goodbye and just left without a word. The rest who stayed suffered during ojt but I'm proud to say we lived on and survived till this day.
Everyone remained pretty much the same. Yijun had problems recognizing me probably because it's really been sometime since we last saw each other. I started a long and comical chat with weili and ming cheng and catch up on how we've been doing in our respective lives. Like what weili said, tengah airbase was like a mini changi with so many of us who got posted there, even the new guys from this current batch of fdc followed in the footsteps of my batch. I've always wondered what life in this unit would have been like in people like them stayed, they would have made mounting and the mundane life of guard duty very much interesting. No offence to the other platoon, I'm proud to say that ours is very much united and we still take time out to hang out or even just to say a simple hi. It's like whenever I have a chance to go back to west camp, I'll look for my platoon 3 people. Platoon 3 isn't like any other platoon because the people that passed out of the course ain't like some who took no pride in themselves when they do duties. I don't have to mention names because they know who they are.
I would have stayed for that night if I haven't got anything on the next morning but sad to say, I had to leave. If time permits, I'm sure I would have just sat on the bench and talk about old times with them and before you know it, dawn would have arrived. Everyone is doing fine I supposed, the feb batch are just awaiting their ord while the march people like me are just awaiting time to pass us by. I realized most the people in our platoon are heading to ntu with only edwin, mingcheng and boon kian going to nus. It's fast, very very fast. 2 years just pass by like that. When you look back, you can find wonderful memories. We did have difficult moments and obstacles in our path but we survived.
It's hard to maintain contact with your jc friends, let alone sec and pri school ones. That was why I was amazed to see boon kian's friends from his pri school, sec school, jc and his cca ones etc. The phototaking was just endless but not that we mind as guests to his chalet. I was just contended to sit down on the chair and see boon kian pose for one photo after another. It was pretty much like a artiste's autograph session with lots of reporters. One should take comfort in the fact that he has not just his family to turn to when he needs a listening ear but also his close friends. That's a luxury that I don't get to enjoy. I don't really keep in contact with my pri school friends, sec school friends are still there, jc ones were a mess for me because I didn't like the school but I'm sure my army ones will be friends for life. I've got a very small social circle and that's the way it's gonna remain until I start university life. The fact that your friends turned up in full force for your birthday says alot about the strength of the friendship. I wonder if I were to hold a birthday party, how many people would have turned up? Not many I supposed.
I'm sure my 21st birthday celebration will be the same for every year. It's either my family celebrates it for me or I choose to spend it with some close friends. No matter what and at the end of the day, my family will always be there to celebrate it even though I would have done it with my friends earlier one. Getting into the 21st birthday zone is a milestone for everyone because it meant entry into the adulthood. It's time to really grow up if you haven't and start making sure you know your responsibilities not just for yourself but also for those around you. I hope to have something special this year but I'm not very hopeful of it. Well, there's no hurry as it's still some way away.
My friends who know me would have realized by now that I'm a simple man who doesn't ask for much. So much that even my army friends say I'm turning into a monk. I'm still sticking to my resolution for 2007 and that is to spend more time with my family and friends.
