Saturday, June 30, 2007
ok. i must blog bout this. this is just way too cool.. totally blew my head off. may sound exagerated but its really that cool. went to watch the NDP rehearsal just now. the parade was as per normal, nothing too special. the special show was after the march pass. because its the 40th anniversary of national service this year, the armed forces put up a really spectacular display. first, there is the needless to say flypass by the F-16s. as always, they are just way too cool with their afterburners blasting away. i was crossing the road at city hall and i just stopped in the middle of the road and saluted the planes and pilots. haha. know it sounds crazy but who cares. the pilots are cool. ok. next up, after the march pass, a chinook helicopter came flying over from the marina south side to the parade area. it hovered a couple of meters above the sea and the water surface was jus a huge turbulence. water was spraying all around and the wipers of the chinook was going at a very fast pace. the cargo door opened and 2 by 2, divers jumped out from the chinook into the water before the chinook flew ahead a short distance, followed by another 2 divers jumping. a total of 8 divers jumped i think. with that, the assault rubber boats, dont know what they are called, raced to the scene and picked up the divers from the water. boats from the navy and police coast guards making high speed chases made up the next part of the show. making sharp turns, huge waves were created in the sea. the view is just great. navy rocks too.. haha. last part. my favourite. the air force. 2 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters came to the scene, made a few manoeuvers, and hovered in the air and saluted to the nation. that scene made me feel so proud of our armed forces. in fact, i am actually quite proud of our armed forces, although there are several bad points about it. that aside, seeing all the soldiers doing duties at the ndp site just now, i wished i could do so again. wish i was a soldier again. sound crazy again but i really meant it. i dont know why either. many ppl were asking me why i did not sign on since i liked the armed forces so much. the army is just not for me i guess. the airforce definitely i will sign on but not the army. oh well, i dont have the chance to be in the airforce. nonetheless, i will still give my loyalty and my best to the army. i love my vocation of mortar. happy 40th anniversary national service. happy birthday singapore.
Friday, June 29, 2007
june is coming to an end tomorrow. just realized that i have only 1 month of holidays left. gosh. time passes so super fast. been 2 months since may when my holidays started. this will be my last holidays before i graduate next year and start work. ahh.. nightmare of working. cant imagine. gonna make sure i enjoy myself to the max in this last month of holi. yeap i will. before my nightmare starts.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
passed by the floating stadium at marina yest. wanted to go in to take a look at the scouts but was not allowed to by the security. whole place was swarming with soldiers. sight gave a heart warming feeling. reminded me of my nsf days when we had to do ndp duties. think i mentioned this before but i want to say it again. the pride of being a singaporean, of being in uniform doing my duties, saluting the national flag etc and reciting the pledge and singing the national anthem. if given a chance, i would definitely like to serve in ndp again. of course i can do this as a volunteer with external organisations but what i want is to do so in unifrom. the feeling is totally different. know i sound crazy but that is how i am feeling now. i had even wanted to go back for ict but alas, i couldnt because of the stupid dengue that i had. feeling bad now that i did not join my friends back in camp. was looking forward to this ict and was even training myself up for it. kinda miss my friends in camp. oh well. nothing that i can do about it too. shall just look forward to the next ict next year then.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
was supposed to go for reservist training tomorrow. but now i dont have to anymore because i am on MC for dengue. was actually looking forward to it. was even training myself up for the ict. to be able to see all my army friends again, to go through s*** together, outfield together and draw vehicles and equipment together and taking ippt together. and the training schedule for this ict looks slack, even though there is live firing and a 2 day 1 night battalion exercise. and this time, mortar platoon is fighting as mortar and not as enemy. and lta quek is going to the mortar pc. going to miss out lots of fun. sigh. guess everything happens for a reason. question not and leave it to God.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
was discharged from SGH yest afternoon after spending 9 days there for dengue fever. was a really horrible 9 day ordeal for me, where my freedom is taken away from me, a death sentence for a hyper-active person like me. was confined to bed 24/7 for the whole period. i couldnt even go to the toilet myself. everywhere i go, i had to call for the nurse. not that i cant do so myself, but i am not allowed to do so, for fear of me fainting or knocking myself, causing bruises and internal bleeding which cant be stopped. for the 1st few days, i cant even go to the toilet. the nurse had to give me a urinal and i had to relieve myself there by the bedside. my world consists of only the hospital ward and i dont even know what it looks like outside the ward. and that is only the mental pain. there is the physical pain part too. every morning, before i am awake, the nurse came to poke me, drawing blood at 530am. not that i can sleep at night anyway, but the feeling just sucks. after drawing the blood, i just sit up in bed, looking at the clock tick by, waiting for dawn to break, listening to the other patients snore and watching them sleep so soundly. due to all the drawing of blood, i have at least 15 needle holes on my arm now. yeap. that's how bad it is. the mental and physical pain and torture.
bad part aside, there is some good things about this ordeal too. learnt and realised quite a few things throughout this "journey". in fact, the realisation hit me only yest morning. 1stly, i was supposed to stay in a B2 class ward but due to a lack of beds, i was put up in a B1 class ward, with air con and tv facilities. was told that i will be shifted to the B2 ward once there is vacancy there but for the 9 days, i was not shifted. the night shift nurse commented yest morning at 515am that i am a very lucky dengue patient, to be staying in a B1 class ward, with 1st class services. when she said that, i know that its not luck. it has to be God's grace. for 9 days, 1st class ward with very nice, caring and friendly nurses tending to me and looking after me, how else can one explain this? the nurses there were really very very nice and friendly, chatting and joking with them. and because i was there for so long, they know me "well". even the lab technician who tested my blood, who had never seen me personally before, knew that the test tube of blood has to be from me once he saw the ward number, saying "must be dominic's blood". and of course, from this ordeal, i learnt that nothing beats real and true friends in this world, not forgetting relatives of course. for 9 days, i had friends visiting me everyday, bringing me gifts and fruits, keeping me company to help me kill time. every single day. was really touched by them. even the wife of the patient opposite me said that i am very fortunate to have so many good friends who come everyday to visit me. how true. that made me realise that friends are the really important people in this world. true friends who are there with you in times when you are in need or when you are down. nothing can beat friendship. not even affection. had a "wakeup call" when a friend i sms didnt even reply the message. oh well. like i said, it was a good realisation for me. now i know. friends apart, relatives came to visit me too. my cousins, who came to visit me twice made me very touched too. friends and relatives. the 2 most important group of people in this world. God made me reinstate this importance during this period of time. really very thankful to Him. and to the nurses of ward 55A who looked after me so well during my stay there, and to the friends and relatives who visited me during my hospitalisation.