Kennyster

Sunday, March 28, 2004

Okay. So it's goodbye to everybody now. Would be gone for 38 days. Back on the 4th may i guess. Don't really think i will be updating this blog from there even thoough they do have internet access over there.

Would be busy slee- *coughs* *scratches nose* No, i meant training. Soldiers have very demanding schedules ya know! haha.

Anyway hope you guys had enjoyed my blog throughout the six months and don't go cheating on me while I'm gone k!

haha. Kidding.

Kennyster @ 10:25 AM

Some of friends have been giving me really huge lists of stuff to buy for them and erhm, to be honest, we ain't going taiwan for a shopping spree ya know. haha.

38 days in taiwan. And only 3 days of enjoyment.

And 2 of those days would be an educational tour.... Meaning you would probably see me doing things like sitting on flyblown donkeys and stinking camels, visiting museums, or even ( the worst! ) looking at art. Argh.

And its only on the last day that I will finally haggle my way through markets in currency which i don't understand with people whom I can't help but deeply distrust ( esp. after that Yankee shop incident! ) for garbage too dreadful to wear.

( Okay. I know, i'm a pretty bad shopper. )

And of course, I would probably set aside some time to find that Yankee store and club the bloody salesgirl who, 6 months ago, had persuaded me to buy that useless piece of plastic figurine as an alleged Special Offer. Argh! Singapore sells them like 3 times cheaper????????

****

Anyway, just downloaded a pretty interesting song just now. I think some of you guys love that Eamon's Fuck It ( Don't want you back ) song which i played on my blog a fortnight ago. Well, there's this new version of a song, sang by a female ( kf tree ), entitled Fuck You Right Back. haha. Same tune. Different lyrics. Cute.

Kennyster @ 10:13 AM

Saturday, March 27, 2004

Finally managed to catch Thailand's My Girl today. Thought it was one of the sweetest movies that i have ever watched.

Really.

And after the movie, me and my friend couldn't help but feel cheated of a decent childhood. Not that our parents were to blame, but it's just that Singapore is way too competitive to lead a carefree and laid-back lifestyle, even as a toddler.

Agreed?

Since the first day of school, we have been sort of taught or trained to be the best possible cogs in some big corporate machine. We weren't taught to create and run our own lives, such that we would be empowered to start our own company . Instead, we have been taught to be just good employees, to just fit in.

I say to hell with this one track, narrow-mindedness and geekiness?

haha. Don't listen to me.

Just mug hard for your exams. =)

Kennyster @ 11:39 PM

Friday, March 26, 2004

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

Is it the lights of an oncoming train or is that university beckoning for me??

Ha. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming trip to Taiwan. All the hard work, countless outfield exercises have all come down to THIS. Our ATEC Evaluation.

It's our Superbowl. Our Champion's League Cup Final.

I hope we do well. I really think we deserved to.

Since Day One that i stepped into this unit, i have seen this platoon ( Alpha Coy 3rd Platoon ), this really weird collection of fat, thin, tall and even short boys trying to pass themselves off as well-oiled lean and mean fighting machines.

Doing all the shit work together, sacrificings those saturdays at the national stadium setting up the stage for our nation's birthday, those unforgettable days in Brunei, helping and motivating one another as we climed up Mount Biang, those hundreds of thousands of challenging steps upwards which we thought wld lead us to fucking nowhere at all.

I don't think many Singaporean guys would agree with me, but National Service has had been an enjoyable and enriching in an unique sort of way. Life altering even.

Back in those days in college, i was really one of those lie back and watch the world go by sort of person. A listener, not one of life's doers. A member of the jury.

Now, i shoulder responsibilities of taking care of guys put under my charge. I'm still learning and i have come to depend on my men almost as much as they depend on us.

This national service journey will soon be over and I have been thinking, that I would probably end this blog as well you know. The timing would be right, I started this blog about 6 months back when i was in Taiwan and it would only be appropriate that i end it after my finale trip as well.

I adore the comments from friends and even strangers, who have stumbled onto my blog through the most unusual ways but yeah, I would really want to end this blog with the achingly perfect moment of finishing my NS tour. .. ..*grinz*

" From the day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds blood for me
Shall be my brother. "

2nd Battalion Alpha Coy 11th mono 3rd Platoon.

Kennyster @ 12:27 PM

Thursday, March 25, 2004

MAMBO NITE!

When the going gets tough, doesn't every day seem to last 2 weeks? It is only these few days of block leave that hours and days seems to fly. damn! haha. So little time, so much things to do.

4 more days before my flight to Taiwan. And as the Hokkiens would say, mai4 tu2 liao! Its time to PAR-TAY!!

And where else better than Zouk?

Pretty big and funky crowd today and the only blemish in an otherwise great night out were the bar counter staff who seemed midly pissed and got our drinks pretty half-heartedly. Their faces no doubtedly bearing the trials of 10,000 nights spent witnessing other people's enjoyment. haha. How insufficient enjoyment must look from behing the barriers of the bar eh.

Not that I really cared but hey, faster get me my Bacardi and give us a fucking smile, for Christ's sake!

Phuture dance floor was unbelievably jammed packed as usual. With hundreds of hardcore sweaty clubbers like us pressing our bodies together and yet managing to give the impression that we were not the slightest bit aware that there was anyone around us. Our nearly-mutilated arms, bent into impossible angles in the sea of pints and bottled vodka. Across the surface, every now and again, a face turns, tilts and blasts a jet of cigarette smoke at the ceiling.

That's Phuture man. Anyway, despite the lack of space, we still had a great time gyrating dementedly to the RnB music and generally strutted and boogied as if the concept of embarrassment was completely unknown to us.

Ha ha.

"Baby if you give it to me
I'll give it to you
I know what you want
You know I got it
Baby if you give it to me
I'll give it to you
I know what you want
You know I got it"
-- Busta Rhymes and Mariah "i know what you want."

Kennyster @ 3:50 PM

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Happy Hour!!

After so many hectic weeks, finally a happy hour gathering in camp. All the beer-gulping heroics, shouting, playing games in a drunken stupour, more drinking, it took me about an hour before i could sense myself slowly getting sucked into the all-enveloping throbbing, myopic tunnel with no light at the end, lined with my friends cheering me on, their voices echoing into infinity with mine. Ever felt that way?

Come to think of it, it is kinda like moving through another time zone entirely. Sort of an extra-terrestrial time zone still to be discovered by NASA...

Either that i was just plain drunk. *silly grinz*

BUT hey, at least i was still sober enough to catch Smallville at 10.30pm. The recent episodes have been pretty good. And of course, Kristin Kreuk was simply drop-dead gorgeous as usual. Hee.

Frankly speaking, few girls compare to her cardiac-arresting combination of silky black hair, killer smile dat made my head swim, and of course, those slutty stray-cat eyes...

Kennyster @ 10:42 AM

Monday, March 22, 2004

All the hard work. All the sweat. All the energy.

Unappreciated.

None of the newspapers or media mentioned our unit's efforts in capturing the 3 robbers in Tekong. Zero. Instead, all of them were praising the Singapore Coast Guards and policemen for 'putting their lives on the line' in the 56 hrs manhunt.

Like wow. Slap me round the face with a baseball bat can.

What the fuck?

We were the ones that donned the bulletproof vests and comb through the undulating terrain and fucking swamps while the policemen idled on the coastboats waiting for us to flush the fugitives out.

And wham!, every newspapers is now crediting them for the arrest.

I'm not being a Mr. Sourgrape here but c'mmon, its like a football match where Ryan Giggs dribbles the ball all the way from his own half, sashays pass 5 defenders, rounds the stranded goalkeeper and Diego Forlan comes out of nowhere to ram the ball in.

Give credit when its dued man.

Kennyster @ 7:55 PM

Sunday, March 21, 2004

TEKONG MANHUNT

THURS 18 march

It was a long and dull day. Sort of like a marathon screening of daytime television soaps, only without the adverts. Spent the day cleaning our personal weapons and equiptments in preparation of our trip to Taiwan at the end of next wk.

A really mundane day. Or so it seemed.

But sometimes, life serves up dishes that are most unexpected and unpalatable ya know.

Five pm. News broke out that our battalion had been activated for something. For wat exactly we were still clueless.

I decided to ask the beacon of positive light energy, Adrian from HQ branch, what the fuck was going on.

It turned out that there were 3 armed robbers that had escaped from Malaysia to Pulau Tekong, our primary training ground. And there was a strong possibility that we would move out there by the end of the day to help out with the search.

10pm: Distribution of compasses, night-vision goggles, maps and signal sets.

* * *
Day 2 Fri. 12 midnight: CO delivers one of his Winston Churchill speeches. Nearly dozed off.

1.30am: Moved out from camp.

3am: Arrival at Pulau Tekong.

4-6am: Preparation of maps and loading of ammunition. We would be combing the north-western part of the island in an effort to flush the enemies out into the main road.

6am: Distribution of bulletproof vests. Prob. the point of time where we realise that this was for REAL. It wasn't just another field camp. The enemies were for real. And they were armed.

To complicate matters, there weren't enought vests for everyone. It was decided that the men would have priority first.

Thus, like most of the commanders, I went in without a bullet-proof vest.

7.30am: The search begins. The terrain was tough. 90% of Tekong is actually dense forests and swamps. Sightings were reported throughout the day. On the western coast. Eastern coast. Blah blah. Were the robbers teleporting?? *raises one eyebrow quizzically*

4.45pm: One man had been found in the southern part of the island. Apparently he claimed that he was the only person involved in everything. RIGHT!!

10pm: We were pulled out for a rest.

* * *
Day3 Sat. 2am: Finally plunged myself into the coverted land-of-sleep-and-no-worries when it started pouring. Got my heavy arse up to bring my equipment and boots into shelter. Some were still sleeping and had to be slapped awake.

5.45am: Same shit, another day. This time we shifted our focuse to the northern central part of the island.

11am: News broke out that the 2nd guy was caught. Spirits lifted. Morale was better.

2pm: Realization that there was no way in hell that i was going to make it for Laremy's 21st birthday bash ( a beach-wear themed party called "She-sluts and He-whores bash" . ARgh. There goes my chance to mingle with bikini-clad babes. WTF. Anyway, focus Kenny!

6.30pm: The last suspect was caught. We did it.

9pm: Terrible news. One of the men from Bravo company had lost his ammunition of 30rounds. Fucking brilliant. We had to stay to look for it the next day.

The atmosphere became utterly funeral.

As much as i wanted to go home, we had to help this poor sod find his rounds man. As my friend says, "we are all pissing in the same pot dude." It's only right that we help one another.

* * *
Sunday. Day 4.

The rounds were found. *hoots* Double Hurray!

11.45am: Reaches back camp.

Feeling like a dried orange peel, with all sleep and energy squeezed out of me.

We had done our job. You may think finding 3 robbers isn't so much of a big deal, but it was vital that the armed forces could capture these robbers in the shortest time possible, to show the world and our own ppl that our defence was ready to dispel any immediate threat (esp. with the recent Madrid bombing.)

All these stupid crap terrorism going on in the world today. All in the name of God and presumely some belief in heaven's rewards-- although whose God and whose heaven they're slaughtering each other for, I really don't know.

"Peace. Freedom. Democracy." Is that why America and her allies went to war??

Kennyster @ 5:28 PM

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Son: Is it true, Dad, that in some places of China, a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?
Dad: That happens in every country, Son.

Women!!

But then again, we men, need women to make us feel complete.

We are that simple.

It's a brute fact really, like gravity.

Kennyster @ 8:52 PM

Monday, March 15, 2004

A chalet??

One of my camp mates asked me if i was interested in going to the chalet which he had booked at sentosa beach resort the week after.

Would i be interested??

Hell yeah. haha. What kind of question is THAT? Just being out of camp is a holiday for me. But yeah -- a couple of days somewhere else will be nice.

Kennyster @ 6:42 PM

Saturday, March 13, 2004

"Now that I'm famous, have a record deal and money, I can finally get laid!"

It's been about a month since William Hung bombed with his gotta-see-it-to-believe-it rendition of Ricky Martin's She Bangs and since then, he has turned into one hell of an instant celebrity eh.

Okay, i did blog about a month ago dat i admired his cheerful sincerity and down-to-earthness, and his performance showed the triumph of enthusiasm over talent as he waved his arms above his head, hips following the beat of an entirely different drummer as he cheerfully ruined Ricky Martin's song.

But all the hype about him is over exaggerated aint it?

The number of times i've heard 'She Bangs' lately on the radio and the no. of trailers which I've seen on TV is statistically ridiculous. I mean, i've heard the song more times in the last 4 wks then i have in 4 years!!

And honestly, this William Hung craze is irritating the hell out of me.

Why are people so hung up on Hung? ( pardon the pun, ha, cldn't resist)

Is it the shy, toothy smile? The accent?

The dance moves, just a few funks short of funkadelic?

Nah. I think we are all just arseholes. When millions of viewers asked for william hung to be brought back to the show, we just want to watch him make a fool of himself ( again) on TV. The media is exploiting his apparent lack of talent and we are all just eager to laugh at him ( and not WITH him ).

It's a little heartbreaking when you think about it eh.

( PS: Does anyone find the SMS-thing on American Idol Very Irritating?? All the good-luck-for-our-tests-tomorrow, class-2b-rocks-forever, we-may-have-broke-up-but-i-still-love-you-deeply, I-love-you-channel-five kinda cheapen the show doesn't it? and i must stress it again, Very Irritating!!)

Kennyster @ 10:37 PM

Thursday, March 11, 2004

Man U out of European Cup

Manchester United 1 Porto FC 1

I'm so pissed off.

Hey, it's not as if Porto played well ya know. To be honest, they were crap. They hardly posed any offensive threat throughout the match and really, when they scored the equaliser in the dying minutes, my jaw dropped to dislocation point.

There goes our season really.

United players ran as if their legs were made of jelly. Christiano Ronaldo lasted less than 5 minutes. Even Sir Alex himself looked exhausted, although occasionally bounding up and down the touchlines like a man possessed, as spectators and viewers like me looked on, mystified that one man could get so worked up over a throw-in.

Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle fans must be sniggering.

But please, your teams are like even suckier can. Full of promises but even fuller of shit!

Kennyster @ 9:42 PM

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

I was brushing my teeth first thing in the morning when i noticed the reflection in the toilet mirror.

A man wearing unfasionable glasses with a toothbrush in his hand stares back.

I loomed right in and peer into his eyeballs.

Wasn't there once a little boy who used to do this? Who would narrow his eyes until they were nearly shut, trying, but never quite succeeding, to see what he looked like when he grew up?

Well, that boy turned 21 today.

* * *

Kennyster @ 9:21 PM

Sunday, March 07, 2004

Went to watch Scalett Johanson's The Girl with Pearl Earrings today. Didn't really enjoy the movie but I was pretty memesrized by her looks and acting.

Can u believe she's only 19 ???

I'm like 2 yrs older than her but she's light years ahead in ALL the stuff that mattered.

Talented people have it so easy. From somewhere over the rainbow something comes to you just like that.

Isn't life so terribly unfair??

ha ha.

Kennyster @ 8:39 PM

Saturday, March 06, 2004

Someone said the best form of revenge is to live well.

But sometimes, ain't it nice to see someone whom u despise get wat they deserved??

A colleague of mine, Mr A, whom i greatly detest ( actually, to be honest, i think everybody who knows him dislikes him ), was awarded 21 days SOL ( confinement ) for misfiring. Actually, quite a few have misfired in the past and got away with it but as i said earlier, "everybody dislikes him", so oh well, that's too bad for him.

And of cos, you could count on him to complain about the "grave injustice" inflicted on him and how the whole incident wasn't his fault and blah blah blah.

It was tempting to argue back with him but i decided against it.

It was pointless really. He's living in his own selfish, totally irresponsible world where someone else was to blamed for anything that went wrong. If someone can't be found to pin the blame on, then the search was widened, the facts blurred, someone was found and that someone was blamed.

There were two rules in Mr A's world. One, it was always someone's fault. And two, it was never his.

And you know what the funny thing is, more often than not, he's actually the one that fucks things up.

Some of u may feel that i might be too harsh on him but believe me, he's THAT fucked up.

Did i mention he was the one who stole my nokia 7210 slightly more than a yr ago?

That he had the temerity to sms some of the gals from my phone list to say that i had introduced him to them and that he was from the commandos unit??

I should have kicked the hell out of him.

But i fell for all his crocodile tears, sad stories of him being the sole breadwinner blah blah...

I really fell for all of it. Hook, line and sinker.

Arghh.. and did he repent?

Hell no!! Still the same old lazy bummer. Basically he does sod-off, spending most of the time pretending to be deaf, wldn't lift a finger to help when we are tidying up the room, can't clear the rubbish etc. etc.

Its not as if he's physically incapable-- if he'd a stroke i might feel abit more sympathetic-- it's just that he doesn't.

So cry and whine all you want!! No sympathy from any of us man.

Kennyster @ 11:31 PM

( from Readers' Digest )

"Hoping to get people back to the museums again, NYC has started a new ad campaign called "I Love NY Culture'. But if they really want to get us back to the museums, they should rename it 'Sorry, We Yelled At You For Touching Stuff.' "

Kennyster @ 9:03 AM

Thursday, March 04, 2004

EMAN's I Shut Down

This is one of my favorite songs. A song which i have put on repeat mode pretty often, especially during a period of time when things weren't going well in my life, be it studies or relationships.

Is there a rule to lose your love for the previous girl just because the second has turned up?

I can't deny it. I still love the previous one, though not in a romantic type of way. Come to think of it, i could actually write down a hundred things that weren't right between the both of us. Maybe two hundred even. But somehow, i still care for her at the core of me.

So erhm, there u have it, some tiny evidence of an existence of a personal love life ( however sorry state that it is in currently, haha).

Should quash any doubts of my sexual preference just because i hang out with guys most of the time.. haha..

Let's just say a life of uninhibited male-shagging doesn't quite appeal to me ya.

PS: Ain't all the sweetest songs the saddest ?

Kennyster @ 8:59 AM

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

It was Friday evening when my hanphone rang. It was from my army company's line. Some idiot impulse forced me to pick it up and believe me, i kicked that idiot impulse to death when i heard the news.

There would be an interaction prog. between our battalion's commanders and Atec personnel on Monday.

Monday.

The very Monday that our company was having the entire day off....

The very Monday that i was going to catch a movie with a very good friend.

Oh fuck.

Fucked squared, really.

Actually, to give it its fair due, its fuckingarseholicbollockingbastardingfuck.

* * *

So here i am sitting in the auditorium on a lovely monday afternoon, listening to a lieutenant-colonel bitch, no sorry, i meant brief, about the coming taiwan trip.

It was coma-inducing boring.

It didn't help that he was talking in a heavily hokkien-accented english.

PLEASE, talk english at least. With all due respect, what the hell are u talking about???!!

Arghh, and the slides which they were showing were the exact ones which i had seen before my last taiwan trip.

*fumes*

Well, the only good thing out of this boring afternoon was that i have learnt how to yawn with my mouth shut AND without my eyes watering..

Would certainly be incredibly useful over the next few yrs when I'm in university.

ha ha.

Kennyster @ 8:14 PM