Tachikawa NO JIRETTAI BURO-GU!

Wow, its been quite a month. I did 2 consecutive weekend duties..2.WEEKEND.DUTIES.

..but nevermind. ITS OK. My final push towards that impending freedom. 080607. I’ll hang in there a bit more, thank you very much. Its nearly here! Anyways, those 2 duties were not extras or whatever. They’re just to aid in the NS40 Event - The 40th year ever since National Service was introduced as a transitional ritual into manhood of every young Singaporean male. Anyway, with me being the positive thinker that I am, I definitely utilized my time there. An exhibition showcasing the forces that protect our little island, how national service had transitioned from being something so spartan to what it currently is now.

Anyways, onwards to the pictures! : D

A statuette given to one of the best air squadrons in the airforce. Flawless craftsmanship!

Another statuette given to the best infantry unit.

The best armour unit statuette. SOO COOL! : D

The golden bayonet - a ceremonial bayonet given to the best graduating specialist in a cohort of 240 trainees. and no. I didn’t get one. lol.

The commissioning sword - a ceremonial sword given to officers as they are sworn in as officers in the armed forces.

The commissioning axe - a ceremonial..axe?..given to civil defence officers.

The distinguished service order medal - OMG that’s one huge medal. WOW. Respect to those who manages to obtain this.

All the badges that can be locally attained in our own armed forces. These are excluding those you can obtain on courses collaborated with foreign militaries.

One of the most GRUELLING courses in the Singapore Armed Forces - The Ranger course. One has to go through selection after selection AFTER selection…just to finally be ABLE to join the course. then follows 60 days of madness. Mental, physical and emotional torture. OF THE MOST UNIMAGINABLE KIND! I seriously respect those who’ve managed to obtain the ranger tab. You were it just below your lower left ampulet with PRIDE.

There were 2 armoured vehicles there as well! This is one of the armoured personnel carriers, better known as an APC.

An artillery vehicle.

I’ve also managed to snag a few souvenirs. A few cap badges from the air force, navy and the army. A pewter keychain too! : D Oh…and…this:

AN mini ALI BABA BAG! : D Ok, a brief history on the aforementioned bag: Back when national service was just implemented, this bag was used as a ‘carry-all’ bag. When you were booking in and out of camp, you used this bag to bring all of your belongings you needed to carry along with you, in it. You slung it over one arm and moved around. Nowadays they issue you with black trolley bags, aka stewardess trolley bags. Much more modern, but the cool army factor was defactorized by about 10. Just NOT cool. This ali baba bag looked MUCH MORE COOLER! heh. The one they gave out at the exhibition’s just a mini-replica of the real deal, but looks nice nevertheless. 2 thumbs up for such an innovative gift idea! : D

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how an ali-baba bag is secured! :

There’s this tab sticking out at the top. grab it. see the metal eyelets at the top of the bag?

Pull it through it like this.

Layer the other eyelets on as well, and pull the tab through.

Finally, see this hook? Hook it through the remaining space left in the tab.

Tada! You’ve got yourself a functioning mini ali baba bag! Its really quite secure and tight too!

I guess those 2 days are not that wasted ya? I got 2 offs in lieu of the burnt weekends anyways. Heh. An experience to remember, I guess.

Enough about the army! heh. Life. What’s happenin’ nowadays! : D Pictures galore!

I got myself a new pair of adidas shoes! Sweet ain’t it? : O

Oh, and i got 4 teeth plucked out for my braces. Pictures are gory, and viewer discretion is advised. (DAMN I’ve always been wanting to say that..heh.)

Before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v324/Tachikawa/Blog%20Post%20230407/teethbefore.jpg

After:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v324/Tachikawa/Blog%20Post%20230407/teethafter.jpg

Its similar for both sides. Painful at the beginnin’, but I guess its ok now. lol. 4 gaping holes left in my gums though. Hmm, wonder what my orthodontist’s gonna do about THAT. lol. Maybe he’ll just stare into brown, brown eyes…

hahaha! Thanks to my sayang for taking that pic. Looks so cool doesn’t it? : D

Speaking of my lovely, sweet and cuddly Char, doesn’t she look oh so adorable pouting at this broken UFO-catcher machine? sigh. *melts.

She gets really pissed when she can’t get that soft toy inside. No one should DARE anger her. Lolol. : P

And finally, to close this blog post off, 2 faux-horror sepia-toned pictures I took while bored in the car with my brother:

I AM COUNT TACHIKAWA! MWAMwaahahahaha.

Something’s..out..to..get..us! NO~!..

heh. So juvenile. Yet to fun. Woo hoo! What a great life I have : D Especially with my so loving family and my one and only cute, adorable and so huggable Char by my side. Life is blissful.

Wow. Damn I’m bored. On this Monday afternoon? Things are just so slow! 1 month 22 days till the end of my 2 year full time obligation to my country! : D Take into consideration a month of offs and leaves OFF work, I have about 22 days left. Take into consideration the WEEKENDS I won’t have to spend in camp, about 2 more working weeks, give and take? : ) But then….these 2 weeks I’m talking about’s just all about slacking around! I have my understudy to take care of most of the stuffs I usually do. Its protocol that I hand-over things a week after he comes, but then I’ve been nice enough (*winks ; ) ) to only let him fully take over about 3 weeks after? : D Its not an easy..job. With me and my fellow colleague being the first generation of sergeants taking over these newly created positions half a year ago, we were bombarded with so many things left in the ‘grey’ areas that we had to work wayyyy into the night.. : ( Its much easier now, with them having a relatively fixed reference of things to do day-to-day. sigh..how things have changed. Kids nowadays have it so easy! tsktsk. heh.

*ahem. soooooo anyways! Think its high time for my Civilian Conversion Course to begin. I would think that this event is of enough significance to warrant a list of resolutions. a NEW START to a new LIFE! Yay! : )

List of Resolutions - CCC (Civilian Conversion Course)

1) Maintain a 1.5km swimming regime - Minimum twice a week.
2) Maintain a 30min running regime - Try for twice a week, if not minimum once.
3) Build cycling stamina. 5km -> 10km -> 15km ->25km, etc. till 40km tops.
4) Join this year’s international OSIM Singapore triathlon on the 28/29th July. 1.5km Swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.
5) Book and study for my Basic Theory Test, and subsequently my Advanced Theory and Practical Driving Lessons : D
6) Get a part-time job.
7) Get a cute and hot Chinese girlfriend. oops. already got one. : D (WARNING: PUKE-WORTHY MOMENT AHEAD! -> *muahhhhhhss my Char :P)
8 ) MAINTAIN my relationships well too! No use making them if you can’t keep em’ workin’ right? : )
9) Fix my old cranky Twinhead Pentium 3 Laptop. (JUST NEED A NEW HARDDISK DRIVE! sigh.)
10) Get into a university! I really want to further my studies. hmm.
11) Join a LifeGuard course and get certification!
12) Improve my Japanese language skills. I might not be going to Japan now, but that don’t mean I can’t do it here! : ) Register for courses!

Ok. I will remind myself to check my list of resolutions at the end of this year. 31st of December 2007. See how well I can keep to my resolutions.

Its time to go swim now. TATA EVERYONE! : D

Guess what I got today! : ) A new Compaq Laptop! : P Check it out : D

POWER UP!

Its like, complete with wireless-ness and stuffs! : ) Yay! lol.

I made this cupboard all by myself! Or at least assembled it..with my brother : P

I cleaned up my room too! : D

Before:

After! : D

My Char’s sick… : ( Down with chickenpox! sigh. get well dearies!