- CLOSED -

Yeah. My blog is now officially closed. But feel free to read the old posts =\
Currently working on something else =)

SAF Day! And I have clerk duty =\

It's SAF day today!
Supposed to have some parade in the morning but due to the rain, we had a wet-weather ceremony xD
Then we were provided breakfast.. everyone except the OCS cadets MUAHAHA.. Somehow we just can't help laughing at them =x

And... It's HALF DAY TODAY!! Wheee....
How nice, and I have duty today -.-"

Supposedly Joshua's duty, but on monday, he swapped with me.
My off on monday, his on tuesday, and somehow I had duty on monday (i forgot! =x)
So to avoid running back at 3pm for duty, I asked Joshua to swap with me.. and his is on Wednesday.
At that point I am still unaware of SAF day and the subsequent half day =o

So yeah, I sort of traded the extra 7hrs at home for a whole afternoon and evening.
What a good trade.. And yet another empirical evidence why I shouldn't enter the business world.. I'll just be killed in an instant haha xD

RIP MJ.

Michael Jackson.
1958 - 2009.

Sad news. I loved some of his songs and definitely his slick moves. I bet his "moonwalk" will go down in the history of music and dance. No doubt about it...

You know what's the weirdest thing about humans?
We all find random reasons to hate and flame someone, but when he/she dies or leaves the world, everyone mentions only the good things about him/her.
Its wierd huh, human nature..

Hate while alive, Love after death.

Duty reflections

Few things I learnt:
1) The staff lounge sofas, though they look nice and comfy to sleep on, they are not!
the arm rest part (where your head lies on when u attempt to lie on the sofa) is inclined downwards. hence throughout my sleep, i had to make a conscious effort to tilt inwards to fight against gravity. GAH.

result == 3hrs of sleep or so in total + midnight reading of Java book == sleepy;

2)Zam is damn cute/funny when he's sleepy and half awake.
When I asked him what we gonna have for breakfast.
He said: "No breakfast. If you wanted to eat, you should have went off to the cookhouse before we opened up the building at 6.30am".
And I was about to ask "But how I leave the locked up building when you have the key and you're sleeping?", but then he fell asleep again.

result == empty stomach + silent laughter;

--------------------------------------------------

Today helped out with the navy event the whole day.
And I got a new appointment!

I am now teh "PRESENTER DIRECTOR"! Phear me!!! Rawr..
My scope:
-> Click powerpoints. HAHAHA
-> Provide smooth transitions between the changing of screens from one laptop to the other
-> Play the background music before the overseas delegate arrive and stop when they sit down

Man, its one tough job indeed. I definitely deserve such a powerful and high-ranking sounding appointment like "PRESENTER DIRECTOR". Hehe.

The lonesome night of a SAS Duty Clerk

Alright. It's my first SAS Duty Clerk duty today. First time I gonna stay in since I got posted out of Delta Wing line as a Private (PTE).

Did all the routine stuff liao, now resting, so went to the Staff Lounge to use the computer while my other partner (non-OOC), the Orderly Enlistee slacked in the Duty Room with 2 other enlistees who stayed behind (one has foot infection, cant walk home. other one accompanying. so nice of him)
Password doesn't work. What the heck.
No choice, go down to first floor and use the computers at Student's Lounge.
No lights. What the heck.
I'm like currently using a computer in PITCH DARKNESS. ALONE.
Normally I would freak out. But what the heck, its my only Internet access point -.-"

So here I am, using the computer in the DARK. I can't believe it. I can barely see the silhouette of my hand when I stretch it out (and its only because of the light from the computer screen).

Bah, enough of my current situation...
I noticed something peculiar yesterday. Apparently quite a few females, including JC classmates like Vannessa, around me have dizzy spells. I was thinking it might be because of me (lol jk), until my sister got it too. Then I had to go and fetch her from the MRT station. Ran there and killed my knees (I have knee inflammation and I haven't ran for nearly 2 mths haha), assisted her to the nearest taxi stand and helped her hobble the rest of the way home to bed to rest. Tiring sia, maybe because I slack too much for too long liao >.<

Event #1:
Dragonica Party on 27th.
E2Max@TheCathay.
3pm ~ 7pm


Event #2:
(Ex) Dota clan outing
27th.
Dinner at Chomp Chomp.
Initially supposed to be last week, but got rescheduled (till an unknown date... up till now)


Event #3:
Dragonica Movie Outing
27th. 12pm.


Event #4:
Family dinner! My mum just dropped it on me after I agreed to go for the Dragonica (DGN) movie outing. But its in the afternoon so till then it was ok.. Until these 2 Facebook notices. Aaah...

Dang 27th is such a popular date.
1) DGN movie outing
2) family dinner
3) DGN party
4) (ex) dota clan outing

Aaargh.. decisions decisions =(
I could try to manage my time and rush around, but then, some timings just clash.
And damn I wish I have a "Manta Style".

Okays, gtg prowl again. Ciao.

Edit:
I'm back! After like 10min haha..
I got the new password from the 2 other people who stayed back. Whee, now I can use the computer without being in the pitch dark room alone xD

Funniest Movie Experience. Ever.

Decided to gather at WQ's house at 4.30pm after he's free, so Justin, Sin Chin and me decided to catch a movie in the afternoon around 1~2pm before going.

Bought 3 tickets of "Hannah Montana: The Movie" for 2pm at Tampines Mall GV.

But SC was late! Gah.. So Justin and me waited and waited.. When SC came, it was 2.15pm already. Hoping that the advertisements haven't ended yet, we rushed up to the 2nd floor (Theatre 6 is 2nd floor of Tamp GV).

I was leading the trio, and I ran towards the entrance, with the number 6.

There were 2 doors, left and right.

Since we came from the left, I looked at the hall layout to locate our seats so we can get seated ASAP.

And we did, we rushed down to our seats.

Thank god the advertisements were still playing.

And it continued playing...

And playing...

And playing...

And we were like "Wah siao liao, the advertisements nowadays so long sia, 33min then finally starting".

And then the movie started...

With the title "I love you, man".

HOLY SHIT. Lol...

Ah well, we just sat through and watched it anyway. It was a good and funny show.

On the way out, we checked the hall number.

Guess what? Halls 5 and 6 are next to each other.

Hall 5 was the left entrance, Hall 6 was the right entrance.

Holy shit. I thought the hall had 2 entrances, like most other cinema halls...

No wonder we were wondering why the ticket seller said "Hannah Montana" had only the center seats for the 5th row from the front when there were like 4 blank rows behind us throughout the whole advertisement and movie screening. Lol. It was so damn funny that we laughed about it all the way to WQ's house >.<

SAS

Yup. Currently posted to SAS (SAF Advanced School) temporarily, where they train CPTs and MAJs to further up their ranks. Apparently Joshua and me got posted there at a lull period where they are no batches/classes, so its pretty slack according to them... And it is.

We only helped clean up and arrange 2 rooms today, the rest of the time was sleeping and reading of books. Lunch break is no longer 20minutes long and we even went to the library xD

Guess what's the best part. It's supposedly 8am-5pm. But today we were told to book out at 4.30pm. Lol.. And the lao jiao (experienced people) there say its common. Haha.. I think we both are going to enjoy our stay in SAS until our posting out from SAFTI MI. Lol.

Posting...

Got 1.5hrs worth of notice from LTA Faizal to pack up everything and move off to SAFTI-MI HQ HR department to report for our posting.

In the end, I had to book out with a backpack and a whole thrash bag filled-to-the-brim worth of OCS items.. Imagine a green santa with a huge white bag going home.

Here's the supposed timeline of what happens to OOCs:

1) Hang around in wingline and help out

2) Posted to HQ HR department where they decide where you go temporarily

3) Posted to temporary place within SAFTI-MI to help out

4) When it is decided on whether you are going to recourse or not, you will then either stay on till your recourse or be posted out of SAFTI-MI respectively.

Apparently we'll get our temporary postings on Monday only, though we heard out of the 5 of us, 3 will become the School Sergeant Major's runners.. The crap? He need so many runners for what? One carry his stick, one carry his beret, one carry umbrella for him ar? >.<

Life of an OOC

The difference between the life of a cadet and an OOC is seriously heaven and earth.

Just having spent 3 days of my NS life as an official OOC, I could see the vast difference.

- You get treated with more respect and they are more willing to acknowledge your existence.

- There is less regimentation.

- Your workload is much lesser.

 -You get to see the fun side of everyone (while they're not in front of cadets) and many other funny stuff.

- You get to go anywhere you want, unless you're needed to help out to do something.

- You have freedom over when you eat and what you eat, same goes for your sleeping hours and resting periods.

Seriously, the list goes on and on...

And the only drawbacks are "pride of becoming an officer" and lower pay.

Then again, ranks sell for around S$1 in the SAF shops xD

Dragonica Pre-OBT is OUT!

Yeshh.. It is out.

Pre-OBT launch

Fire it Up!

Host:	Dragonica
Type:	Causes - Rally
Network:	Global

Start Time:	Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 5:00pm
End Time:	Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 9:00am
Location:	Dragonica

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=89260742301&ref=nf

Find out more at:

http://dragonica.iahgames.com/

Join me and add me in game ^^

Ign: SozoS

OOC

Condition:

1x Patella tendinitis (some knee cap inflammation or "Jumper's knee")

1x Back Strain

Medication:

1/12 ATT B

2/12 OOC from OCS

Hm.. I wonder where I will get posted to.. I heard some OOC people become clerk, others become medics or even RP... And of course, some chose to re-course. Will I re-course? Er.. Currently, no. Until I find some motivation to do so =\

Btw, here's some info about my knee..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patellar_tendinitis

My new girlfriend!

I just got hitched people. Have a look at my girlfriend =)

Haha.. No la, that's my ah ma. Pretty right? ^^

Went out with my family yesterday for dinner at PS TCC.

Wanted and promised to treat my ah ma to a good meal with my OCS pay since I got in.. But then she had some eye operation, so it got delayed till today lor.. Oh well.

Apparently she likes to eat the bread there A LOT. Haha..

New trend?

Overheard a couple talking at Vivocity yesterday.

They're about 20+ ~ 30+ years old. The guy is apparently apologising to the girl for maligning her due to some miscommunication.

(Paraphrased and translated from chinese)

Guy: "I love you I love you I love you I love you..."

Girl: "You know why I angry not. Its not that I cannot forgive you. Its that I hate it when people malign (yuan wang) me..."

Guy: "I know. That's why I love you what.. You always touch me.."

Girl: "I know.. but this time you really did it lor.."

Guy: "Okay okay, I'm sorry. I love you okay.."

Girl: "Okay. I want you to apologise on MSN."
Guy: "Okok.."

Girl: "And also apologise on Facebook"

Guy: "Huh? Why Facebook?"

Then the rest I didn't really catch.. But, new trend huh. LOL..

Belated birthday celebration =\

Had a super postponed birthday celebration for my sis. Like 2wks late >.<

Wanted to treat her bday meal with my OCS pay on her bday but i was sort of running late for booking in.. The next week, she went MIA. So it dragged till this week =.="

Had no idea what to get for her bday so I consulted friend.

Went to Minibits and got her a necklace with a mini crown ring with small pink "crystals" in it.

Had a nice long chat. Never had one like that since months =\

One quote she seemed to stick close to (which her friend told her):
"A smart girl always leaves before being left"

It refers to her episodes of BFs when we were talking about it and I asked who initiated all the breakups.

Sheesh. Some quote her stupid friend taught her.

An Interest in Interest.

Discussed my one of my long held belief with my parents today.

It was regarding interest rates and how to minimise amount of money used to purchase an item, especially big ticket items like a house or a car.

Theory: 

Instead of buying them by installments, save up enough and buy them in a 1-off payment.

Pros:

-> Pay a total of less money

-> Reduce the hassle of installment paying and fear of not being able to pay the next installment

-> You will probably "finish paying" earlier than if you bought by installment

Cons:

-> Will not have the item until you have saved enough

How does it work? Lemme illustrate with some figures:

[Note: The following are simply figures to explain my idea, not real figures]

--------------------------------------------------

Assume the money are in real terms (i.e. taking into account of inflation),

Item to purchase: A 5-room HDB flat

Price (NOW): S$60,000

Price (20 years later): S$140,000

[Assuming property prices rise, which is quite common, at an average rate of S$4,000 per year. Furthermore, SG being small and densely populated, property prices increase rather quickly]

Installment Plan: (20 years) S$10,000/yr or around S$833/mth

Total amount paid (by installment over 20 years): S$200,000

Amount put aside to buy the item in 1-off payment: S$10,000/yr or around S$833/mth

Time taken to save enough to buy in 1-off payment: 10 years

[Price (10 years later): S$60,000 + 10x S$4,000 = S$100,000]

Total amount paid (by 1-off payment): S$100,000

Amount saved: S$100,000

Time saved: 10years

--------------------------------------------------

Of course, the example may not be reflective of the real world, but that's the gist of the idea. Save time, save money, just endure without it for a while.

Some things that my parents put forward (they disagree with my theory and say it was childish, naive thinking =\):

-> Random events

Like suddenly 5million people decided to come to SG to stay, hence ramping the prices up by a heck lot in a short moment. In that case, payment by installment will be cheaper as the rate is already fixed while the payment by 1-off is dependent on the price at the point of purchase.

-> Amount of interest paid in total is less than the amount of appreciation of item

For example, in total, you pay S$40,000 in interest over the years. However, after you have paid finish, the item had appreciated by S$50,000, hence you have "profited" S$10,000. Meanwhile, the payment by 1-off may end up paying more than by installment due to the unexpected increase in value of the item.

To discuss about the above argument, there are some things to be squared-off.

First off, what's the use of interest rates? They are to ensure that the seller does not lose out, if not profit, from the buyer after the buyer has completed paying back everything. This means that the total amount paid by the buyer should be equal, if not more, than the price of the item in the future. Hence, the seller will only lose out if there is an unexpected increase in price of the item after the installment rates have been agreed upon.

Secondly, in the above example, it has been assumed that the interest rate is more than the appreciation of the house. If not, HDB will be "losing" by selling the house at that installment rate.

Thirdly, just to clarify matters, it is a fact that people who buy HDB on installments realise they pay up to 2~3 times the actual price in total after they finish their installments. For example, they buy a 5-room at S$50,000 with installment. After clearing their installment, they have effectively paid a total of S$150,000. This is a real life example. So er, even if my example may not be perfect but it is sort of realistic, in the way that the total payable is insanely high.

Also, the installment rate is decided when you buy the house at S$60,000. So you have to follow up the plan till you pay finish all the installments. Meanwhile, the price will likely to be always lower than the final total amount paid, so 1-off payment will allow you to get the item faster, given that you save/pay at the same rate.

Okay, now to touch on the points put forward by my parents:

1) Random events are beyond our control and hence can hardly be considered as an arguing factor against/for the theory

2) My parents are very very sure that property prices will definitely rise faster than the amount of interest rate payable, hence it will definitely be more expensive to save and buy in a 1-off upayment. Sure, I agree that unexpected appreciation of item is the only factor that will probably upset the theory. However, the whole point of interest rate is to ensure that the seller does not lose out, or even gain, in the transaction. So, the difference between the interest rate payable and the appreciation should be negligible if not having more interest rate than appreciation. Furthermore, it is foolish to simply assume that property prices will always rise at rates that are quicker than the interest rate. Just take a look at the property prices in US. It is FALLING. Of course SG has less space and rising population, but still, one cannot simply assume prices will rise forever, just like the case of the US property bubble.

Regarding the disadvantage of not having the item till you can save up enough to buy in 1 shot. There's a "shortcut". Borrow from your parents/relatives to chalk up enough to buy in a single payment first. Then pay them back at the rate you would have saved to buy it previously. That way, you would get the item cheaper (since it hasn't appreciated yet) and immediately. While whoever lent you the money will get a nice interest rate (after all, the person will get S$100,000 in 10years for lending S$60,000 now, which is around 6.7% annual interest. Neat huh).

Hence, I still believe that my theory will hold.. Anyone got comments on it? What do you guys think?

What if Delta Wing was a DotA hero?

Haven't been blogging in a long while. Or at least it felt a long while (It felt like months have past). Oh well..

So, what if Delta Wing was a DotA hero?

It would definitely would be Anti-mage or Nerubian Assasin.

Why?

Anti-mage

-> Mana Break

Nerubian Assasin

-> Mana Burn

Famous DotA quote (or more like character speak): "Time is mana".

You get my drift..

Given the same training syllabus, our wing always have lesser admin time, later book-out times. It's not making sense. It's not like I hate or loathe the training (in fact I like certain stuff I'm doing/learning there), but the free time we have is seriously not making sense. Sierra wing booked out today at 8am, we booked at at 3pm? Last week we booked out at 4pm+. What happened to 5day/5.5day week, whichever it is following.. And on public holidays, we don't book out the night before, we book out the late morning or early afternoon of the public holiday itself. What kind of public holiday is that? -.-"

To top it off, every single book-out we have so far, we have tons of reflections and precis (some lesson textbook) to read and memorise before book-in. I mean even if we don't do anything but study 24hrs (seriously only 24hrs after minus-ing travelling, meal times, etc), we will barely be able to finish it due to fatigue (you know.. Econs.. Decreasing rate of returns). So what happens to book-out? What happened to the family time? What happened to the socialising time? What happened to the leisure time? It's as good as staying in camp with the exception of better food and lodging. Zzz..

Delta.

We come from many places,
All across the land,
Of many different races
Together hand in hand.

United we stand
Divided we fall;
Ready to serve our nation's call

[Chorus]
We come from OCS,
We are the very best
Leading with dignity and pride
Wherever we go
We will always know
Our spirit lives forever more

Loyalty to country,
is what we all believe.
To lead, excel and overcome
is what we must achieve.

Forever strong and valiant,
we'll give our lives and more,
never ceasing to serve Singapore.

[Chorus]

Back to Camp

Going back to camp tmr liao.. OCS it is huh.
Managed to finish a new C++ job for $50 in 2hrs yesterday lol..
I wish NUS c++ assignments are this easy. I wish. Haha

Don't feel like typing much nowadays.. Maybe its the "going back to camp liao mode" =\

Dragonball Evolution

Ang moh goku wins. The visual effects were great. But the ki channelling looks lame >.<

Feel like watching/reading Dragonball because of the movie =\

DHS Chalet + DSTA Scholarship

Had DSTA scholarship round 1 interview at 12.40pm on Thursday, then rushed to meet WQ, Justin and Jun Kiak at Costa Sands Burger King for lunch at 2pm. After that we checked in and slacked till people started coming..

We then played poker, barbecue, mahjong, mahjong, mahjong, mahjong, then check out.. Half way through my first mahjong game, I got a phonecall from DSTA saying I got through and I have a 2nd round of interview the next day at 1.45pm. Wth.. Oh well.. We also had midnight captain's ball. It was quite retarded.. Everything was so dark and everyone's silhouette looked the same. Rofl.. But it was fun XD

In the end, I slept for like only 2~3hours.. Then I rushed home to wash up and change before rushing for the 2nd round of interview.. Yu Hui said its a group discussion and I'll totally die if I don't have any kind of information. That freaked me out so much I actually tried to read up on defence news during that short 30minutes I spent at home..

Guess what? It wasn't even a proper interview. It was more of a situation test... that lasted 4 hours -.-" But I find it pretty fun though. Hehe.