I've obtained my Freedom!! My NS Story?

In the words others have used before me... キタアアアアアア!!!! IT'S FINALLY OVER!!!!! ORD LOR!!! 2 YEARS IS GONE!! Time to hit the books again!!
Warning: Long wall of text to come.

It's a celebration!!! At least for me ^^.

*composes self*
It has been a long 2 years since I enlisted into NS on 2th June 2006, and went to Tekong BMTC Sch 1, K Company "Kestrel". BMT was quite a fun experience, since I had never gone through such training before (shooting rifles, throwing grenade etc), but it's definitely something to just experience once and no more, I can't handle that kind of lifestyle on long term lol.

If only grenades came like this... would be alot more fun ^^.

When I first enlisted, I had wanted to aim for OCS (Officer Cadet School), since they earn the most allowance during NS. I was definitely one of the better recruits in my platoon, and was surely on course to be an officer (if I passed my IPPT that is). However, a certain incident would get me out of action for 3 weeks, and eventually I failed my IPPT and there goes my OCS/money dream. So... what kind of incident would leave one out of most training for 3 weeks?

I'm not sure if any of the bloggers noticed it during the two/three outings we had, but I do get lots of others who asked about this certain injury on my hand. There's a 5.5cm scar on my right hand index finger. How did I get it? I punched a window (it's about a 1cm thick safety glass window, or at least I think it was). -.-" For those who were in the same batch (BMTC June 06'), and maybe the batch after (Sep 06') should have heard about some idiot who punched and broke a window... and that idiot is me.

I admit! It was me! I broke the window!

Why do such a thing?? Here's a quick (and broken English) summary, a proper one would be way too long. Starts: It's finally the weekend!! Late Saturday afternoon book out (4pm). However there's some who were to report for guard duty that same day, thus they booked out earlier (12pm). I eventually booked out at 4pm, reach home about 5.15pm, take clothes throw into washing machine, turn on the computer and relax. 5.45pm a phone call came, picked it up, turn out to be the duty sergeant. Fellow platoon mate who was supposed to do guard duty had reported sick and gotten a MC, and I get called back to replace. I'm damn pissed. 10pm report back to Tekong, with soaking wet clothes in bag, do Sunday guard duty, but it was quite fun anyway with good companions.

Guy report back on Monday, saw me, give smug look, doesn't even say sorry. I'm burning with rage. However, I get all kinds of comforting by fellow friends, eventually approached and asked our PC (Platoon Commander) to settle the issue, I then calmed down. Tuesday I was back to normal for most of the day, but came evening I felt the sense of loss (like I'm some loser or something), since nothing was being done to rectify the issue, useless PC.

My mind blew up.

Here comes the breaking point. Night time, I just came out of toilet after a bath, walking back to bunk. The guy came out of his bunk, ran towards the toilet, bangs me, turn around give smug look again and ran off. I snapped, my mind went blank. Walked into my bunk, needing to clear the rage in me and get some fresh air, I punched one of the back window "open". Well, it didn't open, but instead broke, leaving a hole in it, and a nice big open slit wound on my finger, and bleeding like mad, bone was also totally exposed.

People panicked, rushed me down to Medical Centre, MO (Medical Officer) dare not do the stitching, was fastcraft-ed off Tekong and brought to Changi Hospital. Final result, 18 stitches (it's a line + a circle, since the skin at the joint part was hanging off a singular point of about 2mm wide). 2 Days MC. 3 weeks excuse upper limbs exercise. Since it was near the end of BMT (Last 5 weeks or so), I eventually failed my IPPT. I even tried my best by forcing myself to take the test even when my injury wasn't fully healed (was also still in bandage), but could only muster 2 pull-ups (not that I could pull any before LOL). There goes OCS. End of summary. For photos post-stitched, click this and this. Warning: photos might be abit gruesome for some, see at own risk. Too bad no photos before the stitching, would be cool to show off the bone and flesh under the skin.

Miku snapped!! Run for your lives!!

Some issues which I was really totally pissed off: 1. That guy may be in the same platoon, but was no friend of mine, nor was he in the same section. 2. I did some investigation on my own, seemed that his entire section seemingly decided to be "uncontactable", assuming they all turned off their handphones, which means they all knew before hand. 3. I was not one of the stand-by personnel for the guard duty, so why the hell did the duty sergeant call me? 4. I was already pissed off with his section's people attitude, including him, worthless lifeforms (not all though). 5. Maybe all I want was a simple form of gratitude, a simple thanks, but none were given, and was even insulted (smug look by him, and his circle of "friends").

It's a good thing I wasn't charged, nor did I pay the repair for the window, but wasn't too happy with the fact that the guy just got away with another guard duty, that's it. I swear he should be charged with malingering or something. I don't believe that an active young man can get a high-fever in a time span of 4 hours. He was still smiling, running, chatting, going on with everyday business in the morning. Aaaaahhhh I'm getting pissed again typing all these. That's about it for the BMT section. Don't worry the rest will be shorter... I think.

Nyan~ I'm the victim here okay? ^^

Out of BMT, was posted off to be an Air Force Technician. 6 weeks at AFS (Air Force School), then off to SBAB (Sembawang Air Base) for the remainder of the 2 years under ALS (Air Logistic Squadron) as a RT (Rotor Transmission) Tech on the Super Puma AS332M/M1. I was also involved with NDP 07' under Flag Party (we also did SAF Day 07'), which was a relativity fun experience (if not for a lousy backstabbing Officer. Tell us to give feedback will not take to heart, but in the end not happy then backstab us with all kinds of extra). What we did in Flag Party was to prepare and deploy the giant National Flag under the CH-47 Chinook for the parade.

Talk about being kiasu, the public only sees one flag for the 20sec fly-by, but we have another 2 more being deployed on other Chinooks at the same time flying else where, and another 11 more flags deployed on ground in case of anything else. That's a total of 14 flags just for the actual day (slightly less for rehearsals, around 8-12 range), that costs about S$40,000 each. Guess that's where our taxpayer money is being put to, since we scrap a few flags each year and buy more brand new ones (about 4-5 each time).

I hereby propose that Singapore incorporate Dai Gurren Dan's emblem into our flag too! That will justicify its cost!

Once NDP was over, and Flag Party disbanded, it was back to the everyday servicing of aircrafts, and this would last until my ORD, or at least I did thought so. Some pilot decided to give me a farewell present of a crash during my 2nd last week, where we had to work like mad to investigate and get the rest of the aircrafts back to "working" status. Either way, it's finally over... Actual ORD date is 1st June 2008, but since it's a Sunday, I would be given back my freedom on Friday 30th May 08' instead, which is TODAY!!! So there you have it, more or less my NS experience of 2 years.

I believe that has been quite a long read, so I don't think I'll bore everyone with more information. It's finally Friday... so go out and enjoy the weekend!!! Once again... ORD LOR!! Signing out.

More celebrating!! FREEDOM!!

P.S: Seems like the Miku Stage ~ Pet Project isn't going to well, a round shape is hard to do with the tools I currently have. I either need to rethink the design, or get some workshop machines lol. Will use something else tomorrow I guess...
And also... I suspect my baby niece Mikaela is an Otaku/Fujoushi-in-training. She seems to love my room more than the rest (she gets very excited when in it, then once bring to another room she starts to cry) >.< and is also eyeing my figures/pillows/cushion. Help?

Vocaloid Spotlight: Hatsune Miku Series 4.

Aaaaahhhh!!! I'm sooo addicted to Miku, that I can't get enough of her recently. After going through quite a few songs (seems that the last 3 weeks rankings there were still lots of older songs), I've decided to go with the following 3. Theme used for selection was that I wanted something catchy and cute, and here are the songs!

Hatsune Miku - TRIANGLE☆Girl's Heart / とらいあんぐる☆Girl's Heart by SHIKI.

Watching this video and seeing Miku looking soooo cute and sweet in the PV is enough to make one get diabetes. The PV also makes it look like some starting video/clip used for an eroge or something. I was nearly late in doing this post as I was playing this over and over again, it's way too addictive to see Miku's smile ^^.
Grab your Mp3 here, though I prefer listening to it while watching the video since it's cute.


Hatsune Miku - Your Song (I think?) / ユア ソング by Yoshihito.

I couldn't find a youtube version of this, seems like no one uploaded it.
Mp3 can be found here. password: ska.



Hatsune Miku - Azurite / アズライト.
Mp3 can be found here. password: kiwami.Hmm.... I know I like the following two songs, but somehow after rewatching TRIANGLE☆Girl's Heart over and over again, I can't think of anything to write for the others lol. It just took the life out of me. >.<" Either way, they're all nice songs, so don't give them a miss kay'? Misc stuff: Managed to get some of the materials for the Miku Stage today, and have began work on it. Not sure how it'll turn out in the end, but I'm just hoping it'll be fine. Also, if I have enough materials left, I'm thinking of making a small wooden box to carry Miku (Nendoroid) around safely. Carrying her in her original box is too big, and carrying without it makes it too risky (of getting damaged). Tomorrow is also going to be a very VERY VERY important day... ORD LOR!!! Proper post on it tomorrow. I intend to talk about my army experience and some highlights in it, so it might get abit long. Enjoy for now, I'm out.

Mini Teaser.

Okay. Guess I'll not be doing the Vocaloid Spotlight post today, since I'll have to take my time to go through over 3 weeks of ranking videos to choose lol. But for today, I'll just be posting a little teaser on what I plan to do tomorrow (besides blogging), since I'm on leave/off (no need go camp!).

Looks like Miku is slightly confused on what's going on.

Upon closer look, she realised!! The Miku Stage!! A ~Pet Project~ of mine.

I was actually planning to make a mini-stand for Miku, so that she would be able stand on it and reach the average height of most 1/8 figures (reason to come soon, but not in this post ^^). Since I didn't have much to do in camp today, I took out some paper and did some sketches on what it would look like. Initial designs were...well... just too simple and not unique (you'll be able to see 2 ugly double layer stand-like drawings on the paper), since I was thinking of making it easy to build.

But as you can see, the final settled design is that of a mini ball. It's surely going to be much harder to build, as compared to straight even surfaces, and I intend to work using Balsa wood (it's very light and easy to work with wood, and I used to work with this material when I built Control-Line Model Aircrafts before). It looks like I'll have to stick multiple layers and sand them down to create the ball shape. I had also added a few other unplanned items, but would make it alot more fun in building it, and might make it look nicer at the end.

I'll be sourcing for materials tomorrow, and hopefully will be able to create the overall shape of the structure by Saturday (I need it by then). Since this is just going to be a prototype, the gears system (to allow the upper part of the stage to be able to lift up higher, for those taller figures), lighting, props etc. wouldn't be installed till later, due to the time constraint, and calculations required for the gear ratios, wirings etc. I'm still thinking of what material I could use for the final product, something that would look nicer and also easy to work with, and also thinking about colour combinations to paint it... But well, there's still time for that.

That's about all the teaser for now, time for me to go back reviewing more Vocaloid videos, and maybe watch a movie on television to chill abit. Till tomorrow's post, Signing out.

National Runway Cycling and Skating 2008 Coverage.

On the same day as Streetfest, the yearly National Runway Cycling and Skating event (hosted by SAFRA and RSAF) was in full swing earlier in the morning. Given a ticket, and not wanting to waste it, I attended the event despite having to wake up early at 5.45am. Not wanting to spend/waste any money on this event (bike rental = S$18), I decided to take my own bicycle for a spin, and take that (estimated) 15-20km route to the event site, Paya Lebar Airbase.

Photos taken in this post is not mine, but from my friend Hans on his Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3, as I don't have a compact and my camera phone sucks lol. Enjoy ^^.
Leaving my house at 6.15am, it took me about 50mins to an hour to reach the site, and there were already a huge crowd at the entrance, meeting friends and waiting for the gates to open.

The crowd awaits the gates opening.After clearing the gates, we made our way to the "activities" area, where tents from various sponsors sell/promote their goods, or games for people to play, or at least I think so. Didn't really bothered taking a look though lol.

Here's 3 of us taking a photo with the Apache behind.
From left: Hans, Me, Eugene.

Here's another one of me with my bike on the runway. I assume that this runway is the landing strip, since we can see all the tyre skid-marks on the floor caused when the aircraft touches the ground at high-speed and apply its brakes.I really love the sight of the skid-marks. Its simplicity makes it an unique design. Too bad this picture didn't really capture the background well, and if it did, you would be able to see the CBD (Central Business District) area skyline and the Singapore Flyer somewhere on the horizon on the right side.

And on the other side of the photo, we had the start point of the event. We didn't join in the initial flag off, since we expect everyone (most) to be there and it'll be a messy sight (something like people banging each other and mass topples lol). We met another friend, Jason, at this point, and he joined us on the 15km route (he wanted to join his friends for the 6km (slackers), but we somehow psycho-ed him otherwise ^^).

Some aircrafts we see while along the route. The first photo above is the F-16, while the second photo shows one of the C-130.

Along the route they had some water point, where those who are either tired or thirsty can stop and not block others who are continuing.

And this is what it looks like at the water point. Participants just grabbing cups pre-filled with water, while the "host" people top more cups up. That's about it for the event. After clearing the 15km route, we chatting a while more before heading home, and yes I cycled the journey back too, but on a different route. Seems that I took a longer route in the morning, even though someone told me it was supposed to be shorter -.-"

Overall, it has been quite a fun experience, and I think I'll be attending it again next year, hopefully with a road bike though lol. Time to save up an estimated S$1,800 for a not too bad one. Seriously thinking, I swear I have too many expensive hobbies, and it's really damn hard to maintain them all (or even obtain them in the first place). I really have to cut my interest down ><. Anyway, next post tomorrow (or day after) I'll be doing a Vocaloid Spotlight (haven't had one in a while). Signing out.

Streetfest 08. Mini Coverage from Me.

Streetfest, is a yearly Singapore event that showcases and promotes local youth talents in various activities: performing arts, visual art forms, lifestyle trends (including fashion), entrepreneurship, technology, health and environment. (Ninja-ed from the site ^^) Yesterday, 25th May 2008, was the D'J Party, mainly featuring Jrock and cosplay, and I wasn't going to be left out of this, despite being dead tired and having to drag myself there. Why this is going to be a "mini" coverage from me? Somehow I wasn't in my trigger-happy photoshooting mode (I only took 21 shots?), thus I have a very small range of photos to work with. It also doesn't help that I reached late and also had to leave early, for various reasons. Nevertheless, on to the photos....

Welcome to Streetfest D'J Party. I came late at 3.30pm though, it starts at 12.30pm. The band on stage is SectorFive (not too sure, didn't hear properly, but based on the scheduling it should be them). Nice mix of songs, and I found the Thai-pop song (they played one yes) quite interesting and nice too ^^.I felt that they really shouldn't have made it an indoor event, was too small for such a crowd, a convention hall might be better. Outdoors for rock/music is still the best!! Like Baybeats, which has their stage at Esplanade; but of course we wouldn't have those who just came shopping and stop a while to have a look. Despite having cosplayers aplenty scattered around (and getting chased by hordes of people armed with lots of cameras lol), I didn't take much photos (how does 10 photos sound?). Also the fact that I don't have a external flash or a flash diffuser, I didn't want to irritate them by using the inbuilt flash, too strong/bright, thus less photos too. I tried to take non-flash photos, but well doesn't turn out too good I feel. The Guitar Haruhi (based on Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou promo picture) cosplay was one of the better ones out there, if not the best of the day.

Listened to them just before I left (1 song only though), BuckleBerry. Not my type of music though.

Ending off with another photo of Guitar Haruhi. I felt this was my best photo of the day, love the fact that I managed to get eye contact on this shot (or at least to another highly equipped camera-armed guy just next to me).

I'm sure my photos (or the lack of it) doesn't do this event justice, but there's many other bloggers who are also covering this event, and I'm sure they're doing a much better job than me. To date, here are some of the "already" posted ones: Wcloudxkumo (1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3; mass photos lol), Fariz Asuka, Yumeno, Panther.
Will update the list as it goes (if I'm not too lazy that is lol). Anyway, I'm out. Runway cycling coverage to come tomorrow.

P.S: Yay!! It seems that I had reached the 5,000 hit mark today!! Thanks to Everyone who visits!! Now for 10,000 hits! I never did expect so many hits on my site when I first started out, so I'm kinda happy... Thanks all ^^!!! Here's a little something for you all ^^.

Tried finding a wallpaper sized picture of Guitar Haruhi, but in vain so far (got one, but had Miku in it though). But I did find a one of the promo picture at a larger res of 1400 x 1396 (not wallpaper sized though). Anyone with a nice wallpaper of Haruhi in this costume, would love if you'll share it too. Thanks in advance ^^.

Busy.

Been very busy the past few days, but an actual post should be coming soon, either tonight or tomorrow night... I promise! So what have been keeping me away from doing a post you might wonder. On 21st May (also the last post I did), one of the helicopters that I help perform maintenance on crashed in the base at about 1500h (GMT +8). Fortunately, there was no injury to the crew. However, since it is my aircraft type, I've been pulling OT to assist in the investigations for the 21-23th. What a way to send me off on my ORD lol (5 more days to go!!!).
Yesterday was also our 2nd bloggers outing, and also the KKnM mini-event 2 days special. Due to helping to advertise the promotion, I was "allowed" to join in the preview session in the morning, before it was opened to public. Even though there was a 1 for 1 promotion, I didn't get anything, not that anything really caught my eye, so I'm saving up that money for Japan. Had a free gift (for helping to advertise), and I also bought a Little Busters Metallic poster of Rin (too bad Noumi was sold out), and photos to come soon. I was basically out the whole day yesterday (9.30am to 10pm), so I didn't do a post too.

This morning was the runway cycling event (aaaahhh I'm too lazy/tired to even hyperlink sorry), where I woke up at 5.45am, then cycled down to the event site, cycle during the event, then after cycle home. I think I did about 45-55km this morning, and boy am I tired. I really need more training before I could go on my cycling tour for sure.Will be resting for a while now, before I head down to Suntec for the Streetfest event, where I'll be meeting more bloggers and seeing cosplayers too. I think I'll split the posts of each event (mainly the cycling and Streetfest) individually, and photos will accompany those posts. For now Signing out and Enjoy the rest of the weekend (aaaahhh I'm just having another super-packed weekend ><)

Frozen in Heat. Mission: Singapore.

It was apparent that Rolo was in Singapore last Saturday, 17th May 2008, and had momentarily used his geass in front of Ngee Ann City's fountain. It appears that his geass ability has seemingly improved tremendously, and was able to stop people's perception of time for 5 minutes (no more 5 secs) over a huge area!!

Opps wrong geass... but you got to admit it's cute!

Extract from unknown source:
At 4.30pm (GMT +8) today, Hundreds of people were stopped frozen in their tracks despite the scorching heat, and bystanders who were not affected were simply shocked at the sight. Eyewitnesses at the scene were reported to be saying things like "Oh my god, why they all not moving! Why everybody stop?!", and many had to be treated for trauma by paramedics who came soon after.

At approximately 4.35pm, time seemed to have continued for those who were affected, and reporters rushed down to the scene to interview those who were frozen. However, upon interviewing of the victims, a common reply was heard: "Huh? What are you talking about?"; the victims just didn't have any memory of the incident.

Despite further investigations by various agencies, no cause has been found, and the case was closed. In order to curb the publics' fears of further occurrences, the government have announced that this is a one-off case, and there is no reason to panic. However, further explanation was not given, and many questions are still being raised by the public. The public rages till today.
End of Extract.

Okay enough nonsense, but I sure had fun typing that! 17th May was the Freeze Event that had been planned by Mission: Singapore about 2 months ago, and I was there to join in the fun. It was an interesting experience, and also an equally hot one, as I was "freezing" in direct sunlight LOL. Though there was abit of minor problems here and there (there was a group of guys in front of me who froze like 20secs late, even went into a pointing-at-something pose; not everybody froze at the exact second, I was watching my already synchronized watch before looking away at the last second so I knew; I bet half of the people who knew about the event was just there to take photos and not participate etc.), it was definitely a huge success.


Official Video of the Event. Too bad could only see my back in the video, at the 01:13 and 03:31 part. Guess which! Was hoping to have had a proper view of me, since I was wearing my TORCH COSPA shirt (Shana reference ^^, I don't exist!).

Hey we got onto the news!! There were also 2 newspaper reports of this event, but no scans were uploaded yet, sadly.

More information about Mission: Singapore: (For even more, visit their webpage, this is only an extract)
We are basically an improv acting group that engages the community in organized social activities that we call Missions. This Missions aim to create an alternate piece of reality from an everyday scene.

M:SG's next mission is being held on 31st May 08, and it's going to be a shoot-fest (it's also a facebook event)!! Can't wait for it ^^. Those who stays in Singapore and are interested in joining this flashmob, just do so. It's definitely fun if you're into crazy stuff (Eh. Who said Otakus were boring people? ^^). Until next time, Signing out.


The inspiration behind the "shoot-fest".

World of WifeCraft.

A funny parody video of World of Warcraft by FARK TV. Due to the fact that most of my real life friends are WoW players (I was a WoW player myself), this is something of a must introduce to watch for me to them. Simply hilarious lol. Sorry for the two post in a day but I just had to ^^.

Level 40 to "mount" wives... I wonder what about flying mounts at 70?? Hehe.

Source: Kotaku via Alafista.

Meltdown before the Freeze. Sentosa.

Even though I intended for the Freeze Event post to come before this, the long delay in photos/videos/reports by the group has lead to me doing this post before it (That post was actually finished on Saturday night, but waiting for more stuff before posting it). Here's hoping for it to be out before this weekend.

As mentioned, I was stuck down at an island called Sentosa for the past 3 days (18th - 20th), and boy was I totally bored. It's definitely not a place to go without friends (or lover >.<). Since being a miser and not wanting to spend money, I didn't really visit any attractions, and time was mainly spent walking/cycling around, wasting time during the 2nd/3rd day. 1st day wasn't too bad since I reached only in the afternoon, then had to prepared for BBQ and chit-chat the night away. Not much photos this time, but oh well enjoy them.

Some tower overlooking the sea and Palawan Beach. There's two of them next to each other, connected by a small bridge.Just something with the simplicity in its design that I like.

View of Palawan Beach from the top of the tower.

Zoomed in section. Lots of people still on Monday afternoon.

The "suspension" bridge to get across.

Kids playing with water. With the current outbreak of HFMD, don't really think it's such a good idea to let them play here though.

Just some high tower. Pay S$10 to sit some platform, then it takes you up to enjoy the view for about 10mins. Waste of money in my opinion (I'm really a miser), unless you're a tourist.Trying out some night shots. Too bad I didn't bring my tripod.

These two pictures are from Siloso Beach, just
outside Costa Sands Resort where I stayed.

Walked to Palawan Beach area to take another photo. It's lonely to walk alone with just a camera while you see others in groups of friends (mainly couples) chatting the night away. Uguu~

Taken using my Nokia 6500 Classic. This is Tanjong Beach. The same beach that Gordon used to take the Yuki Photoshoot. Now I know why, as it's alot more quieter than the other beaches. Why I was using my camera phone? Because I was cycling around. It's abit weird to carry my D70 while cycling around ain't it? Unnecessary weight.

And here's my finished bike!! (Proper pics to come soon) Still have lots of touch-up paint job to do, and need to adjust the gear/brakes systems more, still not as responsive as I want, but reasonable for cycling though. And all those adjustments are being self-done, not by shop. I even brought the tools to Sentosa to do adjustment as I couldn't finish it in time back at home lol.

That's about it for now. It also seems that the Freeze video was up after I'm about to publish this post, so I'll do that up later tonight/tomorrow morning. Signing out.

P.S: Really... Singapore is way too hot these days. Not fit for humans to live in!!! Or at least I think so lol.