Godwin, as he ponders on another philosophical issue, induced by a bitter-tasting Latte at Coffee Club Xpress 

Panoramic view of my table at home...taken for laughs with my phone's camera feature. I like that Sepia mode...makes things and places look older than they seem. My room's maturing yeap. 

My First Blood Donation.

Went for my first blood donation today. Was actually supposed to donate along with a bunch of other friends...Dawn, Abdul, Liana included. Abdul said he had to wait for Liana, who was meeting a friend at two...and then three. Then there was poor Dawn, who has wanted so much to donate her blood. She's been really keen on getting anyone to go along with her to donate. Its alright...we'll go anytime Dawn, when you've not eaten malaria pills 3 wks before (Remember Kids, you can't donate blood for 6 wks after popping a malaria pill).
Well...there was a mighty long queue for the donation. Was getting cold feet, and all...and even contemplated sliding off...on the pretext of "going to donate some other day". But just then, a certificate with the title "NO CHICKEN AWARD" with MY name on it was thrust into my face by this youthful looking volunteer.
Well...You've seen what it says. really could not bugger off, lest there was a typhoon/earthquake/tsunami. So I continued sitting there...arm wrapped in blood-pressure-monitor-strap, hand squeezing the 'stress-relief' ball to get my veins exposed...and looking really calm and serene.
TOO serene in fact, that the nurses pretty much forgot about me. Two people came and went, having had their share of life-juice sucked from their bodies. And I still lay there...smiling serenely. *DARN*
Rachel had called, and I was busy conversing with her when the nurse indicated that I had to be shifted to another place, due to 'rashes' on my arm which could pose an infection-risk. I said my farewells and "I Love yous", and hung up to do the business of relocation to a more convenient spot which would put me in a safer, less-infectionable position.
Well...my turn came, as soon as a nurse realised that I was all hooked up, but had not been stabbed with the blood-draining device. She proceeded to apologise profusely, saying that it has been a really busy day, with no time to even have a proper luncheon, whilst manipulating a syringe containing local anasthesia toward my forearm. I promptly turned away (I do NOT like watching myself get poked). I was poked.
Contrary to what they claim, about "contrary to popular belief, blood donation is painless", it did hurt. Slightly...when the person jabbed me with the small needle for anasthesia. When she started uncovering the huge needle, it is needless to say that I kept my eyes firmly affixed on the wall away from the offending lance. *POKE*
I felt something slide into my arm, and a dull ache followed. Well...it isn't painful eh? haha...
That's when the 'haha-bug' hit me. I could NOT stop laughing. From the time they jabbbed me to suck my blood out...I just kept going. (As I've told Abdul, I theorise that it must be due to the release of endorphins...making me happy...and therefore I was laughing like nobody's business).
everyone else was looking pretty grim...and perplexed. They must have been MIGHTY disturbed, to see a guy, holding his 'religion' coursepack in one hand (trying to do readings and marking the important points, to no avail), and blood flowing out thru a tube into a bag from the other arm, laughing away like I'd just struck the first prize on the lottery.
*Actually, I was laughing, because the ache was so ticklish. And also, because I just had to keep my mind of it.*
Well...the bag filled in no time. (THANK GOD.) After removing the needle, the laughter-bugs seemed to all die out, and I was soon placed back into reality. Was told to drink lots of water...and take iron tablets they gave me once a day for two weeks. Then it was off to important stuff like eating dinner for me...
What I've learnt from blood donation is a three-fold lesson:
1) You should always get the nurse to poke your non-writing arm (esp so if you wish to write notes while you're being sucked dry).
2) Laughter IS the best medicine (Especially when everyone is looking nonchalantly blissful, and no one seems to care if you were being "satayed" by a steel pole).
3) Always smile and say hi (It makes the nurses feel better...especially since they've been working so hard to make you feel "no pain", and more importantly, certify that you "NO CHICKEN" [(1) Have no chicken? (2) Eat no chicken during and after the donation? (3) Make no chicken noises? (4) all of the above]

Take care one and all...and Good luck for your current sem ahead!! =P

The NO CHICKEN AWARD

I got a "NO CHICKEN AWARD". Hmm...wonder what the heck that actually means, semantically speaking. I don't keep chickens...maybe that's why they had to affirm my not having any chickens. State's way of congratulating ppl for not contributing to the Bird Flu menace? hmm...  

Disabled - Wilfred Owen

He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
Voices of play and pleasure after day,
Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.

About this time Town used to swing so gay
When glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees,
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim, –
In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
Now he will never feel again how slim
Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands.
All of them touch him like some queer disease.

There was an artist silly for his face,
For it was younger than his youth, last year.
Now, he is old; his back will never brace;
He's lost his colour very far from here,
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race
And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.

One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg,
After the matches, carried shoulder-high.
It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,
He thought he'd better join. – He wonders why.
Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts,
That's why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts
He asked to join. He didn't have to beg;
Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years.

Germans he scarcely thought of; all their guilt,
And Austria's, did not move him. And no fears
Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.
And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.

Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Thanked him; and then enquired about his soul.

Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes,
And do what things the rules consider wise,
And take whatever pity they may dole.
Tonight he noticed how the women's eyes
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
How cold and late it is! Why don't they come
And put him into bed? Why don't they come?

Patient: I'm actually a cyborg. Model number Xt342H2Z. Made in China. And I can sing...Lalalaaaaa! URGH. Someone put some batteries in meeee...*Coughs blood and Keeps quiet* 

Chinese Doctor: ...And NOW...the amazing human torch! *TADA* 

My hostel fees...for all to see. PGP Type C room...they don't include the 'hidden costs' like psychological damage due to neighbours playing jackpot-sounding computer games...kitchen that looks as if a nuclear meltdown just happened...and the toilet that has the perpetual lingering odour of fresh defecation and piss in it. NOT GOOD.  

Good ol' times with my buddies in SOA (Dec 2002) *From Left: Kendrick (Lao Jiao), Hua Qing, William, Daryl (Ah Bang), and Moi. 

An older version of our Army's No. 1 uniform. Right. Don't Laugh at the hat. I've never had an easy time with these peaked caps/forage hats. Always can't get my size, so end up wearing something immensely huge upon my cranium. Have always thought the beret is much more stylish...not to mention comfortable. =) 

For those of you who asked what I've been up to this past vacation...Yup. Been working on a Heritage project for my formation. Basically doing up concept papers...interior design...taking measurements...and even MODELLING (as you can see in the pics). Ah yes...life as an Army Officer...full of quirks and interesting things that you never thought would happen or do. Until you sign upon that ominous line. 

"...My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori."
 

The Slug Awakens!! 

In a situation like that...you'd be sure they won't be in time for tea and medals, 'em Cav' boys.  

Fighting in the Vegetation... 

Flood - Jars of Clay

*Song of the Day*
Rain, rain on my face
It hasn't stopped raining for daysy
My world is a flood
Slowly I become one with the mud

But if I can't swim after forty days
and my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves
*Chorus*

Downpour on my soul
Splashing in the ocean,
I'm losing control
Dark sky all around
I can't feel my feet touching the ground

But if I can't swim after forty days
and my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves
*Chorus*

Calm the storms that drench my eyes
Dry the streams still flowing
Cast down all the waves of sin
And guilt that overthrow me

But if I can't swim after forty days
and my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves

Chorus:
Lift me up so high that I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up
When I'm falling
Lift me up
I'm weak and I'm dying
Lift me up
I need you to hold me
Lift me up
Keep me from drowning again

We are Seagulls...

Time and tide waits for no man...so goes the ancient over-used adage. So does the fact that the Tag-board on my blog has an expiry date...and the last time I left it on the shelf, it expired and shutdown for me (resulting in all conversations going *POOF*). Yup.

The coming of the New Year has made me have some great resolutions:
1) Devote more time to studying the Lord's Word, to understand His graciousness better.

2) Read MORE widely (from international terrorism journals, to weapons sources, to fairy tales and popular novels). Just finished Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab...a must read for those who are convicted that the Iraqi regime of Saddam were 'helpless victims' of an evil tyrannical ruler. Not only does it paint Saddam's cronies in a blacker light (there IS BLACK LIGHT), with accounts of the horrific torture that the POWs under their charge went through following their capture.
Have moved on to Angels and Demons by Dan Brown…Joseph lent it to me last week after I asked him what the big deal about Brown’s novels is all about. Well…I must say that his works are truly a great example of how fiction can be woven into fact so well, that the two become an almost-seamless blend of tales.

3) Devote a fixed time in my daily timetable to revise my work diligently (like I’ve been doing for the past semester…for those friends of mine who’ve realized my ‘disappearance’ from the PGP scene). DILLIGENCE is a great way to begin pulling one’s CAP.

4) Fulfill my promise to God on working up my fitness. The story behind this was…abt three weeks ago, on the day of my IPPT, I prayed to God and told him to give me the power and energy to perform well in my IPPT…following which I promised to work hard to get my fitness up to mark for my next year’s challenges (i.e. Overall health and wellness, Marathons, Biathlons…etc). Yup…the coming sem will see me not only mugging a lot, but also running a lot (esp at night, when I’m really zonked out from staring at thick never-ending stacks of readings). Yup…any of u wanna join me…just give me a buzz/msg and meet up to run! =)

Oh yup…during the New Year’s sermon I attended…noted down an inspirational quote for us all to ponder.

“Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or laboured in vain.” Phillipians 2:14-16

Yup, basically what that means is to be a Counter-Culture rather than a Sub-culture in the face of impending corrupting evil/idolatry. “Shine as stars” while others' incandescent lights die out when the electricity supply gets cut.
Jonathan Livingstone pronounced this thought clearly through his story of “Seagull”. In it, the seagull which once grappled and wrestled with other lesser birds like mynahs for scraps of food realized one day that it was made for greater things. One morning, it soared above the sea, and tasted the morning dew for the first time – and found that this surpassed taste of dead rats and rotting scraps down below.
Perhaps, we too – have been too much like the seagull of Livingstone’s conception, my friends. We’ve been caught up in conflicts and issues which are simply not worth our time. Rather than fighting with the crows and mynahs over scraps, and feeding ourselves from hand to mouth…we should think of doing bigger and greater things. Taste the first morning dew. See the first rays of the sun as it creeps over the horizon in the East.

"Angels Or Devils" - Dishwalla

this is the last time
that I'm ever gonna come here tonight
this is the last time - I will fall
into a place that fails us all - inside

I can see the pain in you
I can see the love in you
but fighting all the demons will take time
it will take time

the angels they burn inside for us
are we ever
are we ever gonna learn to fly
the devils they burn inside of us
are we ever gonna come back down
come around
I'm always gonna worry about the things that could make us cold

this is the last time
that I'm ever gonna give in tonight
are there angels or devils crawling here?
I just want to know what blurs and what is clear - to see

still I can see the pain in you
and I can see the love in you
and fighting all the demons will take time
it will take time

the angels they burn inside for us
are we ever
are we ever gonna learn to fly
the devils they burn inside of us
are we ever gonna come back down - come around
I'm always gonna worry about the things that could break us

if I was to give in - give it up
- and then
take a breath - make it deep
cause it might be the last one you get
be the last one
that could make us cold
you know that they could make us cold
I'm always gonna worry about the things that could make us cold