Palpy's Musing Panel

In the past few days, I have received remarks of varying scales of shock and horror, all pertaining to my desire (so far still largely unfulfilled) to comment actively on the current elections.

I acknowledge that my circumstances make such a decision stubborn at best and downright foolish at worst. I thank my friends and family for their concern.

I do also wish to state that as a citizen and stakeholder of this country, I have the right to discuss and voice my thoughts on national and political issues. Others may disagree with what I say, but I hope that they would defend my right to say it. After all, if I can pledge to die for my country (which by the way, I fully believe that I will if called to do so, whether you believe it or not), I think that I should be allowed to give my views on political matters without fear of persecution or prejudice by my future employers or acquaintances.

That being said, the opinions of one's friends and family should be honoured. I owe them that much at least for the support that they have given me up to this day that has allowed me to achieve what I have achieved up to this point in life.

As such, much as it pains me to announce this, I will hereby no longer comment on the current elections on my blog, out of respect for the fears that my friends and family have expressed to me (which I still personally disagree with to a large extent). Previous posts on the elections are also being deleted. Which means that this blog will probably return to its previously dead state. Those who still want to discuss politics in private are welcome to do so.

Palpy
IV.29.2011

Today I said goodbye to many army colleagues who ORD-ed, leaving behind a much emptier and lonelier company line.

In truth, while you never really think about it while it lasts, every experience that you go through always seems a lot more surreal and precious only after it's over. Even as late as NDP I never felt that ORD would come soon, or that I would feel so sad to see everyone go, or that when I leave I will still leave behind friends who are still serving their time. I really just can't believe it's over.

All the good times and bad, the jokes and the jibes, the triumphs and tribulations, the happy successes with the disastrous failures, the praises, the scoldings, the arguments, the agreements. Attacking the enemy's ridgeline during FTX I and getting completely wiped out; saluting as we drove past the President at NDP, and before that when the national flag flew overhead; playing Magic The Gathering until 2am despite SOC tests the next day; rushing back to camp alone or in groups for one reason or another, solving problems and issues together before happily going to the canteen to buy each other lunch and pat each other on the back for a job well done. Playing LAN for hours, or mahjong after an exhausting run at the West Coast; PT in camp or outside, preparing vehicles for yet another audit; all these were an integral part of army life that, for better or worse, were all common to all of us as we journeyed those few months together.

And now, just like when I left RJC after the A Levels, I feel no sense of euphoria at being released from the clutches of the army or of major examinations. On the contrary, once again I feel a sense of emptiness instead, that life will somehow be different, that I will be missing something in the months to come.

Yeah, when I leave on Monday, I think I'll probably feel sad. Yet happy, for these will be experiences that I can confidently say that I will always treasure. Many regrets I might have of my time in army, but there too are things to be proud of.

I was far from the best commander or the best person in the army. Perhaps I didn't feel the need to shine in something I wasn't good at. Or maybe I just lost all my initial drive and enthusiasm after failing to make it to OCS. Maybe it was my men who caused me to feel so abjectedly depressed at times. Or perhaps it was undue pressure from the top that stressed me out. Whatever the case, one cannot make excuses for what happened. One just has to continue to reflect on it and learn from it. Then as it all ends, it becomes our responsibility to educate those who come after us, to show them the way forward in an organisation where human devotion, loyalty, kindness and integrity are, while not commonly seen, certainly not completely absent either.

To those who ORD-ed before me today, I salute you as civilians. To those I leave behind me next Monday, I salute you all too, for the hard work that you all put in.

It has been an honour to serve with the commanders and men of Cheetah Company, 46 SAR, 9th Mono-Intake.

Palpy
XI.04.2010

The epic battle started at 930am when Raphael, Jerome, Woonie and myself gathered at my place and sat ourselves around the mahjong table.

Episode I - It's Not Three Strikes To Get Out, It's Two!

	Aaron	Woonie	Raphael	Jerome	Remarks
Initial	25000	25000	25000	25000
Round 1	42000	24000	25000	9000	Dealer Haneman
Round 2	42000	24000	37300	-3300	Raphael Haneman + 1 Honba
Points	+32	-6	+7	-33

So to put things simply, the first hanchan ended at the first player on East wind. Woot.

Episode II - Yakuman Is Seriously Bad For Your Health

	Aaron	Woonie	Raphael	Jerome	Remarks
Initial	25000	25000	25000	25000
Round 1	24000	25000	26000	25000
Round 2	24000	20100	30900	25000
Round 3	24000	7800	43200	25000	Raphael Haneman + 1 honba
Round 4	24000	13600	27400	25000
Round 5	32000	13600	25400	25000	I take lead for first time with Mangan off Raphael
Round 6	39800	11000	22800	22400	I Tsumo
Round 7	39800	21300	21800	13400	Woonie looks like he's making a recovery
Round 8	39800	-10700	53800	13400	Woonie deals into Yakuman
Points	+10	-41	+48	-17

So Woonie allowed Raphael to get a Yakuman that resulted from something like Sananko + Dorabombs + Toitoi + others. Round II over. By the way, due to Raphael and myself holding dealer for so many rounds, the game ended on first player, South wind. Still no complete hanchan.

Episode III - What Goes Up Must Come Down

	Aaron	Woonie	Raphael	Jerome	Remarks
Initial	25000	25000	25000	25000	25000
Round 1	29000	24000	23000	24000
Round 2	13000	8000	7000	72000 (!)	Jerome Tsumo Suuanko! Dealer Yakuman!
Round 3	13000	0	15000	72000	Raphael Mangan, Woonie on 0 points
Round 4	15000	0	15000	70000
Round 5	9700	-2300	24900	67700	Rapahel Mangan Tsumo
Points	-26	-42	0	+68

Woonie was having a pretty bad time of things, being bankrupted twice by having dealt into 1 Haneman, 1 Mangan and 1 Yakuman. At least Jerome had a Yakuman this round to save him. We adjourned for lunch and played the last round.

Episode IV - A No Hope

	Aaron	Woonie	Raphael	Jerome	Remarks
Initial	25000	25000	25000	25000
Round 1	24500	24500	24500	26500
Round 2	24500	16200	32800	26500	Yet another Mangan by Raphael off Woonie
Round 3	24500	9800	32800	32900	Woonie approaches death
Round 4	36500	-2200	32800	32900	I take the lead with a final Haneman**
Points	+26	-32	+3	+3
Total Points For The Day	+42	-121	+58	+21

** The story of the last game is the most epic of all. After a lot of attacking here and there I had 3 open sets of bamboos (3 4 5, 2 2 2 and 7 8 9) and a wait of 3 5 6 6 in my hand. With another 2 in play and 2 in Jerome's hand (only to Jerome though), 1 was a safe tile. Having discarded a 7 and 6 earlier, it was obvious I didn't want either of these tiles, meaning also I did not have a 6 8 or 8 9 in my hand. Hence, 8 and 9 were relatively safe tiles as well, especially since discarding 6 means I shouldn't have a 7 8 combo either, making 9 safe. As such, the danger tiles were 3 4 and 5 bamboo.

With the game left with 2 more draws, I saw Jerome discard 6 bamboo, having seen me discard it before and noticing that I would be in furiten, hence a safe discard. Having had a chance to go 5 6 6 7 and call 6 earlier, but still with 3 5 6 6, I decided that my wait on 4 was a bit obvious. So I decided to pon and leave a single tile 3 by discarding 5.

Woonie, in all his garang-ness, discarded 3 bamboo next turn in an attempt to win with his own hand on Raphael's last discard. He was later associated with the term "commando-style mahjong".

Ah, good games.

Seafood dinner was alright tonight, nothing spectacular. More important was the company, since we haven't had one of these in a while. Mark managed to come by for a while, so after dinner Woonie Jerome Mark and myself went for an hour of Red Alert 2/CoD 4. Brings back memories, Red Alert 2.

Palpy
IX.19.2010

 Now I know why Derek was so insistent that I read this book. It solves so many problems and clarifies so many issues in my life. I finally know the direction that I must take.

The air raid siren just went off a few minutes ago, and then came the roar of the usual midday air patrol past the window. Apparently it has something to do with the fact that the Japanese surrendered their forces in SEA today in 1945 or something. Trust my grandfather to remember these things.

Still, it was quite a shock. Grabbed my phone and rushed down in my pajamas (yes, that's what happens when you go on off for too long) and scanned through Channels 5, 8, U and Newsasia for a public service broadcast or, even worse, a declaration of war. Scary how army makes you panic at this sort of stuff, like how I can be woken up by the word "turnout". Thankfully nothing happened and my grandfather happily enlightened me about IX.15.1945.

Apparently on Wiki, on IX.15.1812 Napoleon reached the Kremlin in Moscow. Lots of other stuff too, like how Germany adopted the swastika flag in 1935, US troops landed in Inchon in 1950 and Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008.

History is wonderful ne.

I'll probably have to cancel the class gathering.

Palpy
IX.15.2010

Passed the halfway mark of ops duty today, so we now have 7 days left at this wonderful resort called (censored). And apparently everyone is busy enough with their lives so nobody calls me. Oh well. =)

Visited the library here today, which was damn freaking good. Wall upon wall and shelf upon shelf of military books stared back at my awe-filled eyes. I felt like a kid going to school for the first time, and this from someone who thought that he had exhausted the NLB's worthwhile-to-read supply of military literature. Suffice to say I used my 11B to sign up for a membership and promptly borrowed 3 books averaging about 700 pages thick, all of which I fully intend to finish reading by this week. And I think I'll be coming back here a lot more in the future, especially when I become bored stiff after ORD.

Woonie has apparently been sent on a 4D3N trip to (censored), an island resort off our island city. Good luck Woonie.

Ah how life seems to pass me by. I feel old already.

Tomorrow at 0445 we commemorate the 61st anniversary of the start of the Second World War, when the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein fired upon Polish coastal fortifications. It's been a long time, and being a member of the military, I sincerely hope that nothing of the like will ever be seen again.

Palpy
VIII.31.2010

"Your job may be thankless, but if you give it your all, you might just succeed in making things easier for the ones who come behind you."  - Demotivational poster on "Sacrifice"

So yup, to help the rest of the company get an easier deal at an outfield exercise, my platoon has been consigned to two weeks of solitude at (undisclosed location), protecting a bunch of (undisclosed people). Luckily we discovered this computer in the WOSPEC Mess that makes things slightly more tolerable. Actually, it isn't a bad place at all, nice and clean, polite people at the medical centre, all in stark contrast to where I came from, that wonderful camp called PLC.

Btw, by drawing that damned obvious last comparison, most people should know where I am now.

As ORD comes closer these things seem to get more and more intolerable. After all, everyone hopes for a nice quiet end to their NS life, free of complications such as operational deployments or disciplinary issues and the like. I myself would like nothing better than for the senior commanders to all fly up to Exercise Wallaby and leave us to ORD in peace on either the 4th or 8th of November. But what we should realise is that as long as we carry our 11B, we are subject to duty under the SAF Act, bound to the army in the defence of our country. The time left to our ORD should not diminish this fact. So while most people around me are currently upset about having to go on ops for two weeks, I at least remain somewhat indifferently resigned to my fate. Since matters can't be changed anyway, one might as well make the most out of them. After all,

"When life gives you lemons, make grape juice, and let the world wonder at how you did it." - Anon

Funny how people think of the stupidest quotes.

Looking forward to the class gathering, since that will be the first weekend activity I'll be able to have after ops. ACME II has already been laid on the altar of sacrifice.

Palpy
VIII.25.2010
20 Years, 1 Month
75 Days to Go

 A month after Germany lost to Spain 1-0 in the semi finals of the World Cup 2010:

- NDP NE shows and the preview have come and gone, which means that we've paraded around for hundreds of thousands of primary school kids and adults. The kids were way better audience members than the adults, since their boundless enthusiasm kept the whole atmosphere alive versus the apathetic, I might even venture tired, silence from the adult crowd. Ok, since I went to watch NE1 as a spectator I guess I don't have the right to say much about the adult spectators, but nonetheless you would think that people would be more enthusiastic to see a mobile column, since it's only shown once in 5 years after all. The actual run is in slightly under 48 hours.

- Life in camp has stabilised somewhat after a series of discipline-related incidents resulted in a clampdown. I wonder how we'll all do in NS without our half-crazy PS.

- Gabriel and April just got married today in a very sweet wedding, he dedicated and sang a song to her at the end of the ceremony. It's the first BASIC wedding we've had in a while so our year showed up in full force. Went for IKEA meatballs (which frankly didn't seem all that spectacular) and mushroom soup (which was well worth the 3.80, even when compared to Daniel's post-lunch snack of ice-cream and hotdog that cost 2.00), before we headed for the wedding at 1330 at True Way Presbyterian Church. Chara and Jim spent some time enthusing over what they would do for/at my wedding, which frankly scares the shit out of me. It also assumes I'll be marrying someone in the first place. On a side note, fatigue from the wedding and the night cycling the previous night led me to crash for 5 hours in the evening, causing me to entirely miss the class dinner.

- Anime matters have frozen to a halt thanks to NDP and my purchase of Starcraft II - I have not watched a single episode of anime in months. The only thing I still keep up with are the weekly Negima updates (which looks like it may be ending within the next year or so if we're lucky). I've also decided to embark on an expansion of my figurine collection, resulting in my cupboard top blossoming in a mini-explosion of Lucky Star and Code Geass figurines. Time now to add several Touhou 1/7 figurines to the collection.

- Have abandoned Empire Total War for the time being to play Starcraft II. Everyone was shocked when they heard that the CnC enthusiast I am decided to buy SCII on a whim. Pretty good game. Also intending to get the geeky Gratuitous Space Battles on Steam, recommendation by Roger. Maybe I can recreate a fleet of Star Destroyers or something.

Life somehow seems increasingly meaningless now even though I'm struggling to find it some meaning. Maybe it's because I'm getting closer to ORD, and the closer I get, the more intolerable army life seems to become. Studying Japanese is probably the only useful thing I'm doing at the moment, but hopefully with NDP out of the way it'll open up more time for a renewed commitment to church, especially since the planning for Youth Camp should be underway soon.

Palpy
VIII.07.2010
ORD Countdown - 93 days

Alas, the youngest side ever at the World Cup bows out before the Spanish, 1-0. Despite thrashing the useless Argentinians 4-0, it wasn't enough. The game did indeed go to the better team, since I feel the Germans weren't aggressive enough and as a result were crowded out by the Spanish. Time now to support our hitherto adversaries against the Dutch, but naturally one fully expects Deutschland to destroy the cheating Uruguayans in the 3rd/4th match. The last game for a history-making side will be one to remember.

Nothing much else is worth commenting on, really, everything has been eclipsed by the World Cup for the past 2 weeks or so.

Apart from finishing Valkyria Chronicles, of course. And now I do agree that the game is better than the anime. <3 Alicia!

Palpy
VII.09.2010

Yes! We thrashed England 4-1(2)! Onward to the quarters to beat Argentina with their cheating shaggy excuse of a coach!

ATEC is now over, the last great outfield of my NSF life. Come to think of it, it ended on quite a low note actually, since we came back to camp, just slacked around and then booked out the next day. There wasn't any rejoicing or partying, everyone just came back with the "oh, it's over" mentality. It was pretty tiring really, and I'm just glad it's over. The debrief two days ago revealed that our Stage 2 got a 2B, which combined with Stage 1's 1, gives a 2A overall. Lots of bad stuff was revealed during the debrief, but at least on the whole things went fine and our company wasn't revealed to have committed any glaringly stupid mistakes.

Kagami and Rin are still hovering just outside the TOp 16 in ISML. I just hope they hurry and get in before the regular season comes to an end. It's a damn shame Rin lost to Fate Testarossa by under 50 votes.

Sigh, class outing this Saturday while I'm at NDP. Sometimes I wonder whether I regret volunteering to participate this year. On the plus side, it really is a once in a lifetime opportunity - not just any other NDP, which I would have declined to volunteer for, but the truly special mobile column, which happens only once in five years. On the minus side I burn one day every weekend, and as such miss stuff like class outings and stayovers and World Cup matches and the like. I guess I'll only be able to tell after the thing itself.

Ah well.

Palpy
VI.30.2010

Since May 13th (last blog post), I have -

- Gone outfield as vehicle commander on a vehicle that I was not trained in, with faulty comms and a pissed-off CSM, fetching troops and stores while getting yelled at for getting lost, and opening fire with my machine gun first even though I'm supposed to be an ambulance vehicle, before finally getting killed by an anti-tank missile at point blank range. (Sounds exciting eh?)

- Observe the battalion go for real ops for the first time. (no more than that, the Official Secrets Act still applies)

- Voted consistently on ISML, although the Amethyst round ended disappointingly and the current Sapphire round looks as if it might too, with most of my favourite characters not doing well and Kagami and Rin still hovering outside the Top 16.

- Gotten a whole bunch of Code Geass stuff at a sure-win lottery for only $68 thanks to Roger and Meiyi, including a 1:6 C.C. figurine.

- Celebrated both the birthdays of our BASIC year's celebrity couple, the first at Changing Appetites (Marina Square), the second at Baa Baa Black Sheep (Bukit Timah).

- Attended 3 NDP rehearsals at Tuas, all pretty alright except the second one, when a lowloader cockup resulted in me returning to camp at midnight instead of 9pm.

- Started my first Empire Total War game as the Dutch after winning the Prussian campaign on Hard difficulty.

- Progressed less than 10 episodes on Hayate no Gotoku.

- Accepted UCL and NUS as overseas and local university choices, although overseas still the favoured choice at the moment. Need to reapply for Oxford and LSE though.

That's more or less what's happened. Yup. Should hopefully be blogging more often once ATEC is over.

Palpy
VI.07.2010

It's been so long since I last did vehicle maintenance work. Meaning my white commander shirt has now turned brown thanks to the rope we used to pull the track across the sprocket wheel. At least I managed to avoid touching grease.

And I swear the BX2 handles like a bitch on turns even if the exterior looks damn nice.

Didn't manage to vote again on ISML, although at least Rin, Minatsu and Kagami won, leaving only C.C. to lose.

Haven't had much time to think about anything really philosophical, and my "Masters of War" book has gone largely unread this week.

On the card game front, we set up a gym in the 4th floor for card games. And WS is going to release NGE cards soon, and SNI on Chaos. Woot.

Palpy
V.13.2010

Didn't go outfield today because RSM didn't need me at the training, which si why I'm now in the I-Net room with my men.

Not a particularly good day, since I failed to secure off for tomorrow and managed to get into a rather bad disagreement to boot. Still a bit too miffed about it to blog about it, plus I better not just in case someone sees this.

Missed ISML Amethyst rounds II and IV, voted for III on my friend's net-capable phone but didn't post results. Round IV looks like it would have been a big loss for me though. Both Kagami and Rin lost, although both C.C. and Minatsu won.

Deal with Roger: I pay him $68 instead of $90 for the lucky draw tickets, I take everything except the C.C. wedding figure. Not a bad deal, although my friend who told me about it is now damn pissed off that his other friend pang-seh-ed him and didn't get him the stuff.

Palpy
V.11.2010

Missed ISML Amethyst Round II last night thanks to battalion movie night, which also meant I missed Chara's reminder about Star Wars Day. On the plus side, The Taking Of Pelham 123 was a nice movie to watch, so no regrets there. What I do regret is Tohsaka losing her match in ISML. Both her and Kagami are hovering outside the top 16 at the moment.

Morning was spent as usual, nothing much exciting until the 10am briefing for all commanders on the outfield and on various procedures. Afternoon spent outfield on the vehicles, which was rather a waste of time really. It rained as well so I may have to prematurely condemn one set of coveralls.

Even worse, with range on Monday, it means I can't take Monday off to make up for NDP rehearsals. With an important survey on Tuesday, I guess I should aim for Wednesday off.

That's all really. Looking forward to night out tomorrow.

Palpy
V.05.2010
May the 4th (belatedly) be with you

Wins: Ilya, Rin (over C.C.), Saber (over Sakagami), Hinagiku, Mikuru
Losses: Haruhi (to Akiyama), Kagami (to Shana), Kurimu (to Maria), Ichinose, Fuko, Chizuru, Nagisa, Minatsu (to Konata), Mafuyu (to Nagato), Ryou (to Kyou), Tsukasa (to Isumi), Nagi
Wins: 5/17
Accurate Predictions: 15/17 correct

Woot, highest accuracy percentage ever.

4NTM has finally ended. And I now have such an incurably bad impression of a certain other spec that I swear that if I ever meet him in civilian life I will make his life unbearable.

I need to find a walkthrough of Pokemon Fire Red's Sevii Islands.

With slightly more than 6 months to go before ORD we're all starting to talk about post army plans and about taking off and leave towards the end of our tenure. It's somewhat surreal really, talking about the end when we still have the largest hurdles of ATEC and NDP to go through. But I guess there's nothing wrong with anticipating the rewards of the future. It's more or less all that keeps us alive really.

Palpy
V.04.2010

Thanks to a rather exciting CME (honestly, it was rather fun, maybe because I'm a VC and not an SC), I missed voting for the last two rounds of the Topaz period. Aisaka Taiga won the necklace this time.

Amethyst Round I

ARENA 01: Akiyama Mio [Suzumiya Haruhi]
ARENA 02: Kawashima Ami [Abstained] Saten Ruiko
ARENA 03: Nakano Azusa [Abstained] Takamachi Nanoha
ARENA 04: [Tōsaka Rin] C.C.
ARENA 05: [Illyasviel von Einzbern] Okazaki Ushio
ARENA 06: Nymph [Abstained] Hirasawa Ui
ARENA 07: Louise Vallière [Abstained] Furude Rika
ARENA 08: [Hiiragi Kagami] Shana
ARENA 09: Haramura Nodoka [Abstained] Fukuji Mihoko
ARENA 10: Aisaka Taiga [Abstained] Fate Testarossa
ARENA 11: [Saber] Sakagami Tomoyo
ARENA 12: Maria [Sakurano Kurimu]
ARENA 13: Sengoku Nadeko [Ichinose Kotomi]
ARENA 14: [Ibuki Fūko] Konjiki no Yami
ARENA 15: Senjōgahara Hitagi [Katsura Hinagiku]
ARENA 16: [Akaba Chizuru] Hirasawa Yui
ARENA 17: Holo [Furukawa Nagisa]
ARENA 18: Sunohara Mei [Abstained] Kushieda Minori
ARENA 19: [Asahina Mikuru] Furude Hanyū
ARENA 20: Minami Chiaki [Abstained] Ikaros
ARENA 21: [Shiina Minatsu] Izumi Konata
ARENA 22: Nagato Yuki [Shiina Mafuyu]
ARENA 23: Fujibayashi Kyō [Fujibayashi Ryō]
ARENA 24: Saginomiya Isumi [Hiiragi Tsukasa]
ARENA 25: Misaka Mikoto [Sanzen'in Nagi]
ARENA 26: Nakajima Yōko [Abstained] Presea Combatir

Interestingly, this means at either Nodoka or Mihoko will get their first (and probably only) win of the tournament, since they're going against each other.

Predictions:
Winners: Rin, Ilya, Kagami (over Shana, based on 2008 match result), Saber (over Tomoyo, close call since they're 7th/6th respectively), Kurimu (over Maria), Hinagiku, Nagisa, Mikuru,
Losers: Haruhi (to Akiyama), Ichinose, Fuko, Chizuru, Minatsu (to Konata), Mafuyu (to Nagato), Ryou (to Kyou), Tsukasa (to Isumi), Nagi
Wins based on predictions: 8/17

Ah shit, Man Utd didn't draw Sunderland, which still puts them a point behind Chelsea.

Palpy
V.03.2010
Happy Birthday Deborah