An Endless Stream of Consciousness

2nd guard duty in the space of 3 days... *gloom* life of an officer cadet. I love u mom! i love u cat! love u sis! ... oh well. can't really write much in this entry. have to head to bed. waking up really early tom cuz have to book in before 0700 hrs. cya folks next week!

feeling moody again... this is fast becoming a weekly cycle. every sunday evening i will feel rather down without fail. *sigh* the life of a soldier... why is it that no matter how long our bookouts are we always come crashing back down to earth when the weekend is over? at least this time round i got to spend more time with my dearest mom. talked to her on both nights and spent the nite in her room. haven't done this mother-son thing for a long while now. so it really felt good to have her close by my side.

today was a day of tears for me and my darling. talked about quite a few things. apparently something upset her that i wasn't aware of. also talked about our views on the future. the talk certainly clarified some stuff and made me feel a lot less worried. still... doesn't lift this moody spell i'm having just right now.

next weekend i'll only be out on sat cuz i'll be doing guard duty on sunday. sux... sigh. dunno how much time i'll get to spend with my sis before she heads back to T.O. too. at the rate things are going. her being busy with her stuff. will have to make do with whatever time we have i guess.

starting to miss my dear already. her touch, her smell, her cute smile... see ya in 5 days...

SIGNAL INSTITUTE

Have just completed my first full week at SI. A couple of things i have noticed since i started my Pro Term as a Signals Officer Cadet:

1) Stagmont Camp is not too far from my house
2) Signallers in general have a far easier life than those from other vocations
3) There is a helluva lot of studying to do as a Signal Officer Cadet!! (Dun recall cramming so much into one week ever... not even in uni.)
4) The food at SI is good
5) Stagmont Camp has a 5 day work week!!! Friday bookouts!
6) I have a part to play in any team-based activity

So that's it in a nutshell so far. I am still getting used to the amount of studying in Stagmont. But life in general is treating me well. This past week has seen more people asking me why i hadn't signed on. it's not that i have something against our army. it's just that to date i am not entirely convinced i will enjoy my life as a regular. even if i did sign on it would probably be the short term 3 yr contract. lots of contemplating to do.... sigh....18 more weeks till the end of my course. and 21 weeks left till commisioning. for some reason that seems an awfully long way off. but oh heck, i've heard life as an officer sometimes can be tougher than life as a cadet (at least in terms of responsibilities), so i guess i should just be grateful for whatever i have.

Back from the jungles of Brunei, I was given a day's rest before being thrown into signals institute, where the mad rush continued. okie.. so it wasn't as bad as what i made it out to be, but life as an officer cadet in SI isn't as easy or as simple as most ppl make it out to be. In fact, according to our CO, it is only a myth that Signals Cadets have it easy all the time. Anyways, before i go any further about my first 2 days in SI, let me turn back the clock a little to the 10 days i spent in Brunei.

I must say that i am very happy to have found a new group of friends, and at last one that i can actually gel with. My experience in Lancer was no doubt rewarding, and enriching as well as we learned many new things about the jungle. Not to mention climbing Mt. Biang, or the combat swim we had to execute upon reaching the other side of Mt. Biang. It really was a fun experience-- one that i can't really put into words because it can only be done through experiencing it. But basically, whatever weight we lost during our outfield exercise in Brunei was quickly replaced during our 1 day R n R. On top of the Nasi Lemak breakfast we had at JAC, we also had 2 buffets that day, topped off with afternoon tea at one of the houses at a water village. all in all, life was good during the trip, apart from the mad rush that accompanied drawing and sending of stores or anything that had to do with the equipment.

Back in Singapore, we had to report to SI the following morning. I quickly found out that life in SI was mainly "study-based". apart from that, the food there is top notch, which probably explains why so many of the signallers in that place are rather roundish in shape and tend to bounce along the road when they march. i truly hope that a different fate awaits for yours truly. SI also follows the 5 day work week rule. hooray! well, enough of updates. I need to go and make full use of my Sat nite. hiakz... cheerios.