do you miss me?

i thank God i'm allowed to book out for this short Vesak Day public holiday, albeit <24h>

i've shared the pleasure of having Ben & Jerry's ice cream with my mates just now :) marvelous

So what am i gonna be doing?
tonight: breathe on tennis, eat tennis, drink tennis, swallow tennis until i'm about to vomit tennis. I'm so starved of tennis now. French Open will be my quencher.

tomorrow: 'Charity Still Not Enough' CIP evangelistic event- going around blocks of flats to plead for practical donation of household items, thereby sharing from the theme of will good works be enough to save me?

tomorrow early evening: Book-In. Which warrants another bout of Ben & Jerry's.

Friday: nothing on schedule. supposed to be rest day in preparation for upcoming IPPT on Saturday.
So reading 'Pilgrims in Progress' , the Holy Bible, interaction with mates through chinese chess, bantering & strumming around, I WANT TO SHARE THE GOSPEL TO THEM LEH.

Saturday: IPPT. Sit-Ups-easy for most, formidably dreadful for me. doing 40 sit-ups in 90 seconds will bring me to the brink of unconsciousness. Theres only one and only unique special me created by God. i will wish not to fail IPPT because of Sit-Ups(which was what had actually happened in the diagnostic test) an IPPT gold remains elusive after all.

Book out in afternoon: My persisting intimate affair with Ben & Jerry's, as armyboys dressed in similar universal dull fashion break off with their girls.

Vin

where should i go from here?

how funny.

Just as the Great Singapore Sale has descended, i'm browsing through (trust me, i don't do that often. in fact, i hardly ever did) some apparels online. i have some spare time now, and some shirts have caught my eye. oh man, i think after hanging out with fashionistas like huEy or vainies like DZ, the retailing side of me has been fanned into flame, its just a small 1 i suppose.

argh, i can't believe it, i used to hate shopping, looking at clothings have never ever piqued my interest. This is horrible, i'm even thinking of online shopping?!!

Someone snuff out the flame. i wanna go back to my old boyish ways.
Vin

yesterday's praise & worship wasn't presented perfunctorily, an earnest effort from the heart evidently :)

My mum's 50th B'Day is right after my Passing Out Parade (POP), we've made plans to go to this widely acclaimed Teochew Restaurant at Chinatown area.

Thank You very much Lord, You've done so much for me, how can i be ashamed of You? Even more i shall proudly stand firm in my faith! Lord, help me to share about You to my army mates, by decrying immorality, by introducing you as the One who can fill their God-shaped hole in their hearts. Please pray alongside with me ya, to be availed of opportunities.

I thank God for the rigorous week that has passed.

And i gravitate towards Ben n Jerry's ice cream. Although Dublin Mudslide has been taken out of their funky menu, i won't be ever immuned to its allure.

We Are One In The Bond Of Love
Vin

went Al-Azhar for dinner last night with huEy, LiangFa, Waiyin & Ning. The food is fabulous, i think they must have upgraded their culinary skills or something. the mutton dry curry is bagusly good la! and i had Roti John which is equally as tasty :)

Got a new book as a gift! Pilgrim's Progress. read the 1st chapter and i wanna read on. yup.. very good book. thanks Chris!

16km route march on Tuesday, physical training occupies the schedule next week. i'll be thankful if i can make it through the 16km.

:)
Vin

lets see what i've got to update.

went for live firing session at the range. A few of my shots were targetted at the wrong lane. My target remained standing while my friend's went down even before he fired. It's fun, when dealing with live rounds, meaning it can kill. We spent the entire day there, waiting time was enough to make you feel like you're wasting time, even after digesting every article in the newspapers brought along for our pleasure's and entertainment's sake.

On Wednesday at the range, for my record, i chomped down 9 oranges, 6 red apples, 2 bananas and 1 green apple over 2 meals, drawing gasps from those who noticed. 1 said i have an apple rage. The previous i claimed the scalps (skins) of 5 big servings of papaya, to which my worried roommates thought i was being too stressed up being the platoon IC. Come my birthday, please present me a basket of fruits k! haha...

Other than that, i've decided to re-express myself to be a commander. After putting much careful, calculated thought into it, i'm gonna do it for the Lord. I long to see and look up to someone who is a good Christian commander in army, who shows care and concern for their soldiers without compromising on discipline, who is ethical and sponged with godly character, attitude and workmanship in his going abouts. i had a taste of how hard it is when i was the platoon IC for 2 days. But the Holy Spirit tells me the right things to do. At the end of my assignment, its heartening to receive encouragements and compliments :) I want to learn leadership skills which can be applied to whatever ministry i'm in. i want to be a commander who can stand out, so that God can be showcased and glorified and more will come and know Him.

You know how obvious a Christian can be? It sticks out like a sore thumb. Yes, how important it is to be a good testimony. Anyway whether i'll be given the chance or not is up to the Lord, wherever the Lord may lead, He has kept in storage the best for me.

One of my sergeants who i, can almost everyone in the company, get along really well with wants me to be his editor for his future fashion magazine which he plans to publish. haa..

Passing out in about 3 weeks! having completed most of the training syllabus already, i can only thank God for being there with me.

I love Dixie Chicks! and Apples, Oranges & Grapes, Bananas, Honeydew, Watermelon, Papaya.
Vin

surprise, surprise!

i'm out for a pit-stop. haha.. this came as sudden & unexpected as that of Roger Federer losing in the early rounds. ha..

well, I'm forced to go for this NTU interview (Mass Communication). I didn't want to go for it, coz i knew beforehand i can't, when i called my sergeant during my bookout to ask (this rescheduled date is in the middle of SIT-test-a major thingy needed to complete for BMT), and anyway i've already gotten a place in NUS. So i left it hanging there. Who knows, yesterday i was hauled over by my platoon commander and apparently they, meaning higher authorities, knew about it. And silly me i didn't cancel the appointment, meaning i will get the company into trouble for missing it if i didn't turn up coz NTU may accuse the company for holding me back. But the consequence that arise is that I will have to go for a re-SITtest (coz my initial book-out timing was 8am), implying that i'll have to walk another 12km, go through the same things all over again, burning my weekend on 1 June.
So yesterday evening i frantically borrowed my Commanding Officer's hp to call to delay my interview timing to a later one, so that i will not miss the important part, so that i will not have to go for re-SITest.

in the end, I'm safe! haha... i feel so privileged to be back home for some time of rest, get a good shower, some good meals :)

just now, just before i left. the accessor questioned me: 'if you are given a choice to become an officer or a commander, will you want to?'
my reply: 'no, i will choose not to, i can't commit the time'

Do you think i'm foolish and unwise? Its really bothering me. i think my reply was slipshot, and i'm actually not thinking from God's viewpoint! badness. pray for me k? please. how can i be so unthinking?!

Vin

no more melodrama-mama

my short break is almost done!

and i thank God for even allowing this break to befall. For its by His grace that its granted.

i've had my stomach filled, in compensation of the mass that i've lost in the field camp :)

Starting as early as tomorrow morning when the early church-goers in Singapore start filling up their seats and prepare their hearts in reverence, i'll be setting off 12km to spend a couple more nights out in the wilderness, under the terrific spread of stars across the blackened sky above. The song 'How Great Thou Art' rings in my mind. That, if i'm not wrong, will be my final outfield experience in BMT.

Following that, on Thursday will be live firing. No more toy rounds this time, its real. I'm more concerned for my ears you know.

well. pray for me ya?
to be a good influence among my army friends.

thank God for today. yeah.

As usual, i've been eating, eating and eating.

Went for Street E, and i wasn't as rusty as i'd thought i would be, thank God! :) then bumped into my fellow YFC team members there. Missed meeting up with Shao Ning & Geok Lan, who were there also.

Trimmed my hair. i think my company is the only 1 which request for recruits to cut on our own. well at least its formal instructions.

i can't find my latest Sun Yan Zi songs in my PC. the CD ironically is back in the hands of the giver. hahaaa...

As days go by, i think its easy to forget that we're living our lives for God. Lured by our desires which rises from deep within, or too bent by our businesses, or getting the piece of work done. How can God be pleased with the way we're living our lives? He scrutinises everything. So when we routinely check the boxes in our order of day slip, have we forgotten where God fits in? i think i'll wake up everyday saying to myself: i'm living today for God. Like that, i hope to develop joy & a sense of purpose in the things i do, and in these, putting my best under God's watchful eye & being accountable to God.
i wanna pray that God will enrich our lives, manifesting the God that is enshrined within each of us!

Vin

Update

back from the field camp which lasted 6 days but seemed like 12 days.

thank God! My company's commanding officer arranged for us to book out yesterday night! The same day my field camp ended. Its really grace. Undeserved incentive. I don't really think we deserve it. But anyway i'm thankful for that. Because after sleeping 2 nights in a hole in the ground big enough to fit in a coffin in the middle of an oil plantation, the best thing that could happen was sleeping in the comfort of my own home and bed :)

Digging the grave like hole was horrible. My platoon spent almost 7 hours plodding in the sweltering heat. Most of our temperatures soared along, some came down with fever, others with heat exhuastion. For me, i felt the blow but didn't dare to report because i'm afraid they'll ask me to sit out and i can't complete the camp. My platoon was tasked to dig the hole in a piece of land that has never been ever dug before (the other platoons had their soil loosened by previous batches already). Which means, its more difficult and requires much much time, energy and strength to fulfil the same task. So our platoon took like 3 hours more than the rest of the company. phew, thank God i've survived that! Sleeping in it was an experience itself though. Haha :)
yesterday was a mad rush to get everything done in time. After reaching back company line, we had to clean our rifles, clean stores, do area cleaning, dinner, send arms. All in under 5 hours. wahaha.. As i was 1 of the first to finish cleaning my rifle, i had the luxury to take an uninterrupted, unrushed shower to clean up. my eyes depicted the brown precipitate that had been washed down my body. i had more time to do other things too. yup.

Now my right thigh is numb. I woke up 1 morning feeling the numb, thinking it will fade away in no time, but the condition still persists, right up till now. so right thigh can't exactly feel the same way it does. But thankfully it doesn't affect my movement at all, weird right. Can pray for full recovery.

last night when my parents came to fetch me, they waited for me at the MRT station. When i was walking towards them my mum suddenly disappeared in sight. Just when i was about to ask my dad where did she go, i saw her at the Ben & Jerry's counter. They're amazing. My mum placed an order at Ben & Jerry's even before i came. She reserved an ice-cream for me, so when i saw her she was collecting the ice-cream. Oh man! i felt so moved when my mum handed me a cup of Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake. It is an affectionate gesture. As much as i adore ice-cream, so much more its Ben & Jerry's, even more its after 6 days of food rations, the scoop of ice-cream is valued at a higher price when its peppered and garnished with love. Doesn't matter its not chocolate, I'm so thankful for them :)

Just now i had lunch with my mum. We went to get seedless grapes & crunchy apples after that! :)

Thank God! I've landed a place in NUS science faculty. But i've gotta settle other uni stuffs too.
And i think i'll go Street-E later in the afternoon :)

Vin

going back to camp later in the morning.

i thank God for this long 5-day break He has given to me.

I pray that i'll be refreshed. i wish to be able to stick to doing what is godly, ultimately when i'm different, people will be curious and i can tell them about God :)

Also looking into other's interest instead of my own only. Its a difficult thing to juggle with, trying to be sensitive to see the needs of others, when i'm facing my prevailing struggles.

i also wish to get to know my other platoon mates better, allowing me to build a closer relationship with them.

Pray for perseverance. Field Camp ain't gonna be easy.
Pray that i'll bring the right attitude when doing things, also joyfulness!

see all of you in 2 weeks!

Other stuffs i feel like typing down here:
Champions League later! I dun wanna give comments. Not that i have none, but i dun wanna invite meaningless follow-up comments.

i ate Haagen Daz today with my parents! Chocolate cookies is an amazing flavour.

News 5 tonight says: SQ is having $60 airfares to 6 destinations (Bangkok inc), available for booking from 2May. Out of curiosity, i assessed the webby & the tickets are selling out at a disgustingly rapid pace.

thats it. i'll be back.
Vin