Been waiting for this day for two years.

Can you believe it, TWO years! And waddya know.. Two years went by just like that. Like, pfft. Oh sure, the journey was hard and long. And somehow, it just doesn't seem as fast when you're going through it. Everyday I count down the days to this day; the day when I become a civilian again. The day where I don't have to wake up to "Charlie Company, FALL IN!!"

No more. It's all over.

I remember my first day in BMT. The day of enlistment. The surrendering of my pink IC. The tears of my momma and my grandmomma. And their waves of farewell. All of them; Pops, Momma, Grandpops, Grandmomma, Mummy, Fai and Khai. Fai had this idiotic grin on his face that says, "Welcome to the army, bro!" And Khai had this worried smile that says, "Damn, that's gonna be me in a month's time."

Days dragged on to weeks. Weeks trudged on to months. And before long, POP was in sight. Haha, BMT passing out parade is one of the most memorable moments in the Army. Parents, friends, girlfriends were all there to congratulate these botak "men". Here's a pic of me at my POP. I look seriously, like a chao recruit still. LOL.

Soon after that was SISPEC. School of Infantry Specialists. Some call it "Suffer in Silence Plus Extra Confinement". The place where soldiers became specialists of the Singapore Army. 34th Basic Section Leader Course, followed by 34th Advanced Section Leader Course. I can safely say that those were the best days of my army life. Being in Alpha Company, SISPEC. Here I am after serving my time in SISPEC with a Silver Bayonet, for my efforts. And beside me is the person who made it all possible. Ahmad. My buddy. My best friend in the Army. If there was one person in the whole wide world whom I could hand my bayonet over to, it'd be him.

Just when I thought my chiong sua days were over, I was proven wrong once again. This time I was posted to 3rd Battalion Singapore Guards. Whoa, nearly fainted when I heard the news, I tell you. The rest of my fellow (unlucky) compatriots who were posted there too, were already cursing and swearing at the heavens. Isn't going outfield for the past eight months enough, that we must go outfield again? This time with the Army's force of choice, Guards?

Tsk tsk.. Those were the days where I was sooo sooo looking forward to this day. When I used to complain about every single hardship I went through. Where one can only survive on sheer will and determination. Sure, some can survive by keng-ing but where's the bloody PRIDE in that?

I'm here now. I made it. I've been there, and I've done that. And I'm damn proud to say it.

I'm a man.

P/S: Thanks to all who have helped me through all my thick and thins.

First off, I'd like to thank Amai for a wonderful dinner. It was supposed to be a birthday dinner kinda thing for the both of us, seeing that we were born just a week apart. We couldn't make it in between the 3rd and the 10th, so we decided we'll just do it on the 15th la!

Dinner was fun. We had pizza, topped with lots of laughter, and mushroom soup, laced with facial and abdominal cramps. We talked about lots of things. Her life. Mine. Her future. Mine. But mostly we just laughed our heads off because we just kept saying the silliest things. It was great. Two single people, having dinner and not having a care in the world that they are not attached. Being single is fun, isn't it, Amai? Yup, don't say I didn't tell you so, but yeah. I did tell you so. LOL.

Oh, and she got me this terrific body shampoo from Body Shop which smells heavenly, la! Darn, and to think that I hadn't a gift to reciprocate the gesture. And I was like soooo apologetic that I didn't get her a gift, and she was like "Oh no... It's ok laa... You really don't have to get me anything."

Awww... That just made me feel a whole lot more guilty.

I mean what kinda gentleman would I be if I didn't get a birthday girl a gift, after she got me one? LOL.

Anyway, I just got back from Sentosa (again!) and I'm sporting a nice tan now. Haha. I was flabbergasted to hear that Rahman didn't bring his sunblock along when I got there. I've had a few bad experiences with sunburn and I wasn't keen on experiencing another one. And so I went.. from one end of the beach to the other. Oh, we were at Palawan Beach, by the way. I wanted (no, I needed) to get me a sunblock or suntan lotion before I ended up like some of the guys camped near our place. I mean, you can see that they did not have any form of sun protection on, and their whole upper torso was raw pink. Ever seen a half cooked lobster? Yup, that's the colour I'm talking about.

And when I finally got to the shop, I settled on a bottle of Banana Boat's Sun Tan for 16 bucks. Applied some on immediately after I stepped out the shop (tak sabar2 seyy) before walking back to they guys. We played soccer til we collapsed, fooled around in the water, shouted ourselves hoarse and laughed til we were reduced to tears.

In all, I've had an AWESOME weekend so far..

Oh and Amai, if you want to sport a six pack, you know who to call, ya?

Insomniac, that's what I've been this past week. Turning in only in the wee hours of the morning, waking up at dawn to pray Fajr, sleeping again and only up again just before lunch. I suppose my biological clock has been turned topsy turvy by all the IMF duties and Guard duties I've been doing this past week.

Had IMF duties last Friday, all the way til Sunday. Shift duties. A.K.A waking up at unearthly hours and sleeping during times when normal human beings are up and about. After two days of gruelling duties, I had only Sunday to rest before being activated for Guard duty the following day. Oh, and since I was accustomed to sleeping irregularly the days before, I found that I could not sleep a wink before my duty started at 4am. As I lay on the bed, I hoped silently that the Z-monster would come and give me a good wallop so that I could find the sleep that's been eluding me. Nada. No avail. Tossed this way and that. Tried counting sheeps too. Fat load of good it did me. Tried listening to soothing songs on my mp3. Didn't help one bit. I sang to every song that played. Song played after song, and the next thing I knew my phone was beeping indicating it was time for my duty. Cursing that I couldn't get any sleep, I went to report for my duty, which was til 6am. Might as well get it over with. Oh, I almost got it over, alright. Almost fell asleep during my duty, LOL! Needless to say, after the duty, I knocked out at home for 4 hours straight.

That was back on Tuesday. Oh, and I bought me Sim City 4 too! I almost threw the damn thing out the window because it refused to install on my comp. WTF, man! This comp is like, what, one of the most "high ended" comps among my friends, and it cant install games like Sim City 4 but can install super high end games like FEAR. Tsk tsk.. What is the world coming to? I-T is made for instant gratification, dammit! Luckily I could install the game onto my laptop. Ha! And now I'm a proud mayor of a bustling city. *chuckles*

And I swear yesterday night ranks as one of the best nights of this year for me (if not the best). Why do I say that? Cuz I went to Insomnia at C.H.I.J.M.E.S and had a helluva time there. For those of you who didn't know already, Insomnia is a Pub cum Club cum Bar housing not one, but two kick ass bands! I've heard from Danny (one of the men in my platoon) that the bands were good, but I was kinda sceptical. He made it sound sooooo over-rated, y'know? So I went there with him yesterday night. We wanted to go to Insochine first, but decided not to. And I'm really glad we didn't. Hehe.

Went into the pub, got ourselves the best seats in the house, and ordered us some drinks. Oh, the drinks there were good too. There were a motley of cocktails and beers and vodka and God knows what else. Danny got himself a Becks, and I obeyed my thirst and gave in.... to Sprite! Our drinks arrived and we took a sip (that was probably the best Sprite I've ever tasted, seriously!) waiting for the band to begin. When they came on, I saw (and heard!) for myself that Danny wasn't kidding la.. In fact, good is an understatement, I think. They were awesome!

The first band came on with a reggae song, and I thought, "ok ok only laaa..". Until the female vocalist stepped up. From the first moment she stepped onto stage, I knew she was something. Tall, slim and beautiful, she lit up the stage with her presence. Danny tapped me excitedly on the lap and shouted (it was L-O-U-D there) into my ear, "That's her, man! She's the one I told you about. When she sings and you don't melt and go weak in the knees, you're either girl or gay, dude!"

I looked at him and nodded, before I looked back to the stage. The first song she performed was "Underneath it all" by No Doubt. Man.. I had absolutely no doubt then that this girl really was something. The next song was a rendition of "Just like a pill" by Pink. If I thought her Gwen Stefani performance was good, this was hot! I was blown off my seat, man! No kidding! She is that damn good! She can really pull it off, Pink's husky voice and all. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, she blew my mind again. This time with Alicia Keys' "If I ain't got you". I was clapping madly and cheering myself hoarse by the time she ended the song. If her first two songs were hot, this one by Ms Keys was absolutely sizzling!

The band then went for a break and I turned to Danny.
"Shit, man! She's awesome!"

"Haha! I told you so, right?" Danny grinned.

"Yup! You sure did!" I chuckled as I gave him a bang on the back.

The house music they played during the band intermissions were.. how do I put it.. groovy. In about 10 minutes, another different group of people went up onto the stage. They were the 2nd of the two groups that performed there. And they started off performing a song by Deep Purple, damn, can't recall the lyrics. But it managed to get the crowd hyper, alright. Then their female vocalist came on stage and serenaded us with her version of Tina Turner's "Simply the best". Hit after hit they performed and they totally rocked the house. Why? Because this band was SUPER talented. Of the 7 members in the group, 6 were capable of singing! I kid you not! The two male vocalists, the female vocalist, the bassist, the lead guitarist, and the pianist. Wow. They played for an hour spinning great hits such as "Livin' on a prayer", "Summer of 69", "What's goin on?" and "When I come around".

The vocalists were superb, and so were the guitarists. I swear, I've never ever seen a person play his guitar (bass and lead) they way I've seen those two guitarists play theirs. Ok, maybe except on MTV! They amazed the crowd with their solo performances that got the whole place whistling and cheering. At this point of time, I could not decide which of the two bands was the better one.

The first band came back on after them and not wanting to be outdone and out-cheered, dished out more hits. I was all this while in my seat, grooving my body to the music, my butt itching to get off the seat and go to the dance floor. Well, the band gave me some help in that department when they played Shakira's "Hips don't lie". Holy shit, man! I couldn't stand it anymore. I told Danny, "That's it lah, bro. I'm dancing!". I got off my seat joined the crowd already on the dance floor shaking their tail feathers.

When it was all said and done, it was already 2am in the morning. Me and Dan went out of the pub with our heads reeling. Wow. That was some night, alright. And boy, I can't wait to go there again. And this time, I'll make sure I bring my camera along. I can just see the captions I'm gonna give the pics later.

"Insomniac @ Insomnia.."

Nice ring to it, eh?

I seriously had no idea that I had soooo many September baby friends.

Lets see.. Umm, Yanni had her birthday on the 2nd, a day before mine. Raihana had hers on the 5th, Timmy had his on the 6th, Izwah on the 9th and last, but certainly not least, Aminah on the 10th.

Ahh.. Aminah.. I feel like I've known her for donkey years. But in reality, it's only been what? About 2 years? And she's already become a dear friend. I pray that Allah grants you health, happiness and success in whatever you pursue, darling..

Thanks for the company during the endless NDP trainings.
Thanks for the jokes, the laughter, the sarcasm, the advice, the endless gossiping.. In fact, thank you for being you.

Happy 22nd, Amai!! Hope all your dreams come true, ya?

Love ya!

Oh yah, our bdae lunch and dinner.. Tell you what.. I'll buy lunch and you buy dinner. How's that?

Can two souls be happy with each other, even though they are already have their own respective relationships?

Can two souls find happiness in their relationships even though their hearts are no longer in it?

Can two souls find a way to satisfy their need for each other secretly, so that their partners would never find out?

And if they did find out,

Can these two souls find it in their hearts to say "I'm sorry, but I just don't love you anymore. I'm in love with someone else."?

That was basically the gist of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. The Bollywood blockbuster that is showing in cinemas now. It's basically about these two married couples who are totally unhappy with their marriages and after endless arguments and quarrels, manage to find their "true love" outside of their marriage.

I can't say the show was superb, and it certainly wasn't low class either, but... It's not in the same class as Kabhi Kushi, y'know. The first half of the show was seriously laugh-out-loud funny, and it only got serious after the intermission. And like all Hindi movies, there were downright sad moments whereby it got the whole cinema sobbing (most, if not ALL the girls), and sniffling (for sensitive people who don't wanna admit they can get emotional.. like me!). You can practically hear all (ok, ALMOST all) the ladies, blowing their noses during the sad parts. But the amazing thing was, the girl I was watching with, was quiet the whole time. Not as in quiet quiet, but quiet as in that I've never heard her sob or sniffle or blow her nose! Not bad lah, A'in. Seeing that most girls would have cried buckets given the same sad scene then.

The theme song for the movie was Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, which in English means, "never say goodbye". And so when that song was playing, I whispered to her that if this song were to be playing in English, Bon Jovi would sing it. And we giggled our hearts out throughout the remainder of the song.

After the show, we went to Suntec for ice cream at Swensens, and sat at the fountain, talking as we ate our ice creams. We sat there, talking, laughing, joking and listening to each other as the deejay spun some great tracks to keep the crowd entertained. And then an idea suddenly occurred to me. Why don't we go and see if they had the song Never say goodbye by Bon Jovi? It would be like "our song" y'know? Haha. So I went down to the DJ table to request for the song and dedicated the song to both of us, went back up and enjoyed the brief 4 minutes as the song played.

Before we knew it, it was time to head home.. As they say, "all good things must come to an end". And I must say I enjoyed the day tremendously. So here's a shout-out to you, A'in.

I had a GREAT time. And I hope you did too.
P/S: Never say goodbye, ya? *wink*

I've been meaning to do this, but I've never gotten around to doing it.. Til now.

I remember it as a Tuesday. And it was legs day in the gym. My routine was simple. Squats first. Followed by leg extensions and hamstring curls.

After being done with my squats, with my legs jelly-like, I went on to the legs extension and hamstring curl machines. As I was completing my final set of hamstring curls, I noticed this dude behind me. Was he waiting for me to finish using the machine so he can have his go? Or was he checking out my ass? There were plenty of guys there in California Fitness who were checking out other guys' asses, if you get my drift. So you really can't blame me if I'm conscious some guy is checking out my ass.

I figured it was the former, and I gave it no further thought. After the curls, I went to finish my last set of extensions. And that was when he caught me off guard.

"Heyy you. I've never seen you around here before. Are you new here?" he said.

I was startled that some guy would talk to me out of nowhere, and my brain processed the dude standing in front of me in a split second. About 5 foot 3, lean, wearing tight singlet and shorts, soft face... Hmm, PROBABLY a guy looking for a guy. But I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Me? Aww, no. I've been here almost a month now," I replied, hoping that he wouldn't notice me taking about 2 seconds to scrutinise him. "I mean, I've never seen you around here as well."

I was trying to be polite and generate a conversation.

"So.. Are you from 1, 3, or 7?" he asked me.

"Excuse me?" I had not the foggiest idea what he was referring to.

"1, 3, or 7?" he asked again.

It was then that I noticed his singlet. It was the singlet that 1 Guards use during their PT sessions. And he had apparently noticed my singlet, which bore the 7th SIB insignia. So he was a guardsman too huh..?

"Oh, I'm from 3 Guards. Charlie company. And you? From 1 Guards?" I asked.

Nodding his head, he continued talking about his time in Guards. I chatted along, animatedly.

"Aite, man. I'll see you around," I said as I headed to the showers.

The next day Wednesday was shoulders day. I thought nothing about the conversation the day before til I saw him out of the corner of my eye after finishing my workout. I was talking to a pal of mine and I could tell he wanted to talk to me, but backed away since I was engaged in a conversation. Well, I kinda expected that.

What I didn't expect was him coming up to me in the changing room, whilst I was errm... under dressed, if you will. "Caught with your pants down, are ya, mate?" as the British would say.

"Heyy, it's you again," he began.

"Oh hi.Wadsup, man..?" I replied, startled, wrapping a towel around my waist.

"So you come here everyday, huh?" he asked.

"No la.. I've got night's off tonight. So I just thought I'd work out for a while," I replied. I noticed he's already dressed. Nice fitting long sleeved shirt, unbuttoned at the chest. Immaculate black pants and shoes along with a chic handbag completed the look. And what he said and did next took me completely off guard.

He circled around me, all the while checking me out. And finally, after he went around me, he asked, "So.... Got any girlfriend?"

And what the hell do I reply to that? My head was blank. I had absolutely no idea what to reply. I racked my brain for an answer and finally my brain responded. I pretended to fiddle with my locker and managed to sound unconvincingly convincing. "Me? Girlfriend? Haha, no la. Too busy to get a girlfriend now."

All the while I kept my eyes down, not daring to meet his. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally said, "Ok, I'll be going now, ya?"

"Oh, ok man. See you around," I blew a sigh of relief. Man, that was a close call.

I've never seen him again til this day though. And I just hope the next conversation we have (if we ever have one again) will be a civil, straight one.

There you go, Tina. This entry's for you. *wink*

"Seargent, I'll be late, ok? Because I just woke up."

"Seargent, I forgot to bring my 11B. How liddat?"

"Seargent, I won't be coming for guard duty today. I got 4 days MC."

"Seargent, can I smoke? Cannot? Can lah, seargent. Please ah!"

"Seargent, can watch TV or not? Huh?! Why cannot? Please lah, seargent!"

Seargent this.... Seargent that...

Why the hell can't they just follow orders and do as they're told? Why must they ALWAYS try to push the limits?

"No, you can't smoke."

"Cannot? Why seargent? Please lah.. Just a while only. Can lah, seargent.."

"No, you cannot watch the TV."

"Cannot? Why cannot? Can lah, seargent. Please lah."

WHY THE BLOODY HELL CAN'T THEY UNDERSTAND SIMPLE ENGLISH?!

They ask if they can smoke. I say NO. Yet they still ask. Doesn't make sense, does it? I know. But then again, men nowadays lack sense. Sense of self respect. Sense of respect. Basic common sense. Either that, or they are just plain stupid, with heads full of crushed flies. We may both be speaking English. But we're not speaking the same language, if you get my drift.

If I weren't wearing my uniform, and if I couldn't care less about my future, I'd slap some sense into those guys. And I mean LITERALLY slap some sense into them. Jeez! What asses I have to work with!

Been a superb week! Superbly hectic, that is. Too much to blog. So I think I'll just blog about Thursday and Friday first.

Had NDP rehearsal this past Thursday. Oh, and in case you didn't know by now, I am officially involved in this year's Parade. What's that? "What exactly are you doing in the Parade?" you ask? Well, what I'm doing is not what I expected to be done by the army's elite, the Guards.

Our role in the Parade is to pull these huge (and I mean big ass) flags from the top and bottom of the stadium all the way into the field and basically cover the whole damn field with it. Have you seen those soccer matches on the telly where these huge flags make their way down slowly from the top of the stadium to the bottom, covering the audience with it? It creates a nice wavy-ripple effect doesn't it? Apparently, once the field is covered with the flags, there'll be this "spectacular" laser show on the flags.

At first, we were kinda disappointed that this was the task given to us. Guardsmen. We thought we were gonna do free fall rappelling and heli-rappelling when news first came to us that we're participating in the Parade. But boy, were our bubbles burst when we were told, "Guys, your job, is to make sure the flags cover every inch of the field, is that clear?!" So much for being a Guardsman when you can't showcase to the nation your forte.

Anyway, it's kinda fun, actually. Dragging the flags onto the field, tripping over the participants, shouting at all the little kids.. Haha. And to top it all off, they make us wear these silly little costumes which somehow makes us look like medieval kungfu fighters from shaolin flown in to help S'pore with the NDP. I'll upload the pics as soon as I have them.

On to Friday. Had the SAF day parade that day. "Baris! Sediiiiiiiii-ah!" "Baris! Hormat senjaaaaa-tah!" were some of the many commands that were drilled into us that day. And I have no idea WHY they chose to start the parade at 10.30 in the morning, just as the sun was going into supernova mode, when they could have started the damn parade at 8 in the morning. So there we were, standing in "senang diri" position for an hour, with the sun on our right. And I can tell you it doesn't feel nice to have half of your face burnt and darker than the other side. LOL!

Speaking of darker, I finally got my tan! The whole battalion went to Jurong Swimming Complex for the Battalion anniversary. And the day was F-I-N-E for tanning la. Nice sunny day, with lots of wind. Got some tanning oil from Mizi, and I let good ol Sun do its job. Still haven't got that sexy tan line yet, but at least I'm more tanned now. Ha!

Friday night was the best. Went to my sister's birthday party at east coast. Oh btw, happy 17th, lil sis! Study hard for the O's yar? MUACKS!! Anyway, back to the party. It was guy heaven, la! There were nice food, (the chicken was especially yummy) booze, cigarettes and HOT chics. LOL!

Don't get me wrong, I did NOT touch the booze nor the ciggies. Only the food and the girls. Haha. Umm, is shaking hands considered touching? Hehe. I brought Fai along (as usual!) and well, all I can say to him (whilst gloating visibly) throughout the whole night was, "Too bad you're attached, bro!"

One after another, the girls greeted us at the door, saying "Hi, Ili's brother! Hi Ili's brother's friend!" And I'll be damned if the theme of the night wasn't "spaghetti tops-and-shorts-for-hot-girls-like-us". I mean seriously, almost all the girls there were wearing provocatively short shorts and body hugging spaghetti tops. To prevent myself from getting too bug-eyed, I concentrated on attacking the chicken wings. Man, they were some of the best bbq-ed wings I've ever tasted. Kudos to the chef.

After eating about 3 wings, I looked around for some drinks. Oh, there were drinks alright. HARD drinks. Beer, liquor, and vodka were all over the place. I wanna stress here that this party was NOT organised by my sister. And those are not HER drinks. It was organised by Zack, this was HIS party and those were HIS drinks. And I chanced upon cute little Emma, my sister's close friend who most helpfully helped me and Fai get drinks. Coke. Just the thing to wash down bbq-ed wings.

"Next time you want drinks, just look for me, ok?" she said winking as she passed us the drinks.

"Sure thing, hon," I said as I raised my cup to her.

After finishing my drink, I looked my watch and gasped, "Fai! The match is starting!"

Oh, it was the Germany-Argentina game, by the way. A cannot-miss game.

Fai looked at me, panic stricken. "Do they have SCTV here?" He asked me.

Just then, Emma came out of the room announcing proudly, "Guys..... The match is on now. We have SCTV!!"

Fai and me breathed sighs of relief and hurried into the room. The sight that greeted me took my breath away. There in front of the telly, sprawled on the bed were three gorgeous girls (in the tops and shorts I mentioned just now), Monique, Danielle and Melissa. If I wasn't bug eyed just now, I sure was now!

"Hurry up, the match is starting," they said, hugging the pillows and tossing their hair back.
It took me quite a while to register what they said, and I sure as hell didn't need a second invitation as I climbed onto the bed. It was two queen sized beds put together, by the way, so there were plenty of room for me and Fai. I got myself a pillow and passed another to Fai and settled on the bed to watch the match.

I think those guys who say that when the WC is on, that they won't look at their ladies are liars or are in denial, or just haven't been lucky enough to be in the company of the girls in front of me before. LOL! The girls were in front of me plonked down on the bed, so I had to sit up and rest myself on the bed stand. They constantly turned back and cocked their head to the side while asking innocently, "Are we blocking your view?"

"No no... It's fine. We're good," I'd reply. Heck girls, like I would mind if you blocked my view. Haha. But I don't know if its the same for Fai, though. What, with him being attached and all. Haha!

The play was fast and aggressive. I'm referring to the soccer game, ok? Heh heh. Anyway, we cheered ourselves hoarse and I was pleasantly surprised that the girls actually supported Germany, as did I. Fai was the only nitwit who supported the south americans. By half time, the score was still nil nil. As I got up from the bed to get me some more chow, I overheard the girls talking about soccer. And I must say I'm surprised by their knowledge. They know their stuff. Nice. They weren't like most girls who only watched soccer for the cute guys.

By the time the second half started, I was already back to my place on the bed. When Argentina took the lead in the 49th minute, the room was in a total uproar. Only Fai was cheering. From then on, it only got better. The game. And the view. Every time Germany came close to scoring, the girls squirmed and screamed and gasped and groaned. I'm sure you get my drift by now. LOL.

As the match went into penalties, the emotion in the room went from jovial to tense. And when Germany was finally declared winner, the room burst with cheers and hugs and hi- fives. Danielle looked at me and gave me that knowing smile that seem to say "Knew Germany will win it!". Needless to say, I returned the smile with a knowing one of my own, at the same time thinking, "Poor Fai. Now he owes me an ice cream."

My sis finally announced it was time to cut the cake. And my dad chose that moment to sms me asking me to come home with my sis. Aww. So we spent another half hour chatting gaily with Emma, who seemed to be the friendliest by far, while my sis went around offering the cake. Just as we were getting ready to leave, dad sent another message. Darn, he wants my sis back ASAP. Well, we shook hands all round took our time to say goodbye, as my sis went around hugging ALL her girlfriends. Man, girls do take a long time to hug and kiss and say goodbye!

I don't know if it was just me, or were the three girls (Mel, Dan and Monique) stealing furtive glances at me and Fai. Haha, well maybe it was wishful thinking on my part, but then again, maybe it wasn't, cos they did it several times, smiling shyly (or is coyly a better word?) as they did so. Hmm... Ah well, I guess I'll have to find out at the next party!

Y'know.. After 10 months of being single, I can finally appreciate how nice it actually is to BE single.

You don't have to spend that "compulsory" hour on the phone with your partner (if you don't, they'll ignore you for three days), you don't have to justify your shopping sprees, you don't have to tell your girl she looks superbly gorgeous when you secretly wish she'd slim down about 15 kilos and you can bloody well ogle at anyone you want to in the shopping centre without feeling self conscious that she's probably mentally picturing sticking voodoo needles into the torso of your puppet.

After chatting with a few comrades of mine, who are also single (and loving it, by the way), and reading up on some (relationship) books, I FINALLY saw that the grass is (really) greener on the other side! In fact, I've compiled a list of 10 great things about being single. For him and her.

For Him.

1) You don't have to answer to anyone.

2) No one rolls their eyes when the remote accidentally sticks on the sports channel.

3) You can flirt like mad with anything walking that's wearing a miniskirt.

4) FHM, Maxim, Stuff, etc gets pride of place on your table, and no one lectures you about how lewd photos degrade women.

5) You can dress up in your favourite jersey and cheer yourself hoarse with your buddies in your living room watching a soccer game and not worry about she calling you every 10 minutes to remind you to sleep because you're working the next day.

6) You don't have to tell her she doesn't look fat.

7) You can look at all the nude pictures you want without her saying "OMIGOD! You must think I'm not attractive to you anymore!"

8) You can eat whatever damn well you wish and not having to hear her say " You are such a PIG, you know that?"

9) No one tells you you're driving too fast.

10) You don't have to be nice to her stuck up, snotty friends.

For Her.

1) You don't have to answer to anyone.

2) You can come back home from a horrible day at work, throw your clothes in a pile, flop in front of the telly and eat rubbish while watching rubbish.

3) Fat days seem less important. As long as your tummy's flat by Friday, who's gonna care if you're bloated on Tuesday?

4) You can talk on the phone all night about absolutely nothing and gossip outrageously about anyone and everyone.

5) You can change your mind every five minutes, just for the hell of it.

6) You can fantasise about the gorgeous dentist as much as you want without having to feel guilty about it later.

7) Everything smells clean and fresh. There are no lingering boy smells.

8) You can make your own smells, without feeling "un-ladylike".

9) You don't have to explain why it's necessary to own 20 pairs of shoes and 20 handbags to go along with every pair.

10) You can flirt shamelessly with anyone who's tall, dark and handsome in the club without your friends telling you "You ARE attached, y'know?!"

Haha.. Well, that was my two cents worth. To all my single friends out there, if you're reading this with a grin on your face, chances are you're agreeing with my points above. If you have any points to add of your own, or you just wanna share things that you absolutely LOVE about being single, call 1900-i-love-being-single and we'll add your name to the club.LOL. Happy flirting, people!

I gained another 2kg! Goodness! I really didn't expect the gains to come in this fast. It was only like, what, two weeks ago that I weighed myself at 68kg? Now I'm up to a 70.2kg. Man, Muscletech sure weren't kidding when they advertised that their products could help one pack on mass like crazy. So now that I've kinda achieved my goal of putting myself in the 70's category, I'll continue bulking up til I've reached 75kg and then I'll switch to muscle toning. Speaking of muscle toning, "how does one tone up his/her muscles?", are just some questions my friends ask me. Well, based on my experience and research, it's pretty simple, actually, though not necessarily easy. LOL.

1) Do cardio. LOTS of cardio. One of the most effective ways to melt away the fats like crazy is to do High Octane Cardio. I'll give you an example, say, stair climbing. To achieve high octane, (after you've warmed up) sprint up the stairs (I don't recommend more than 6 storeys) as fast as you can. Your legs will be burning and your lungs will be screaming for air after you've completed the last flight of stairs. Take a breather and take your time walking back down the stairs. Once you've reached the first storey, sprint up again. The trick here is to exert yourself to the maximum and give yourself the minimum amount of time to recover your breath before exerting to the maximum again. Do at least 3 sets of this, and I guarantee you, your unsightly love handles and tummy will soon be a thing of the past. NOTE: This does not necessarily apply only to stair climbing. You can also apply this in other cardio activities such as running and swimming.

2) Go to the gym and hit the weights. Not the heavy ones, mind you. The very light ones. The ones that you can do 15-20 reps without breaking some serious sweat. Go for the range of 25-30 reps. That will get your muscles responding!

3) Cut down on your carb intake and increase your protein intake.

4) Eat 6 times a day. Yup, you read that right. SIX times a day. Why? Simple. Eating every 3-4 hours keeps our bodies in a state of metabolism. When in this state of metabolism, our body burns fat. Thus, by eating 6 times a day, you are essentially burning fat the whole time you're awake! Think about this. Haven't you heard people saying that those with high metabolism always don't seem to get fat, no matter how much they eat? And you have not the foggiest idea why? Well, now you know.

5) Take some time to hit some serious weight in the gym to pack on lean muscle mass. Lean muscles are the human body's natural furnace. They burn fat 24/7, even while we're sleeping. Oh yeah, it's true. The more lean muscles you have, the more fat you burn. Period.

Well, there you have it. These are just some of the tips and tricks to getting the firm, lean body you've always wanted. Hope it helps!

Been a long time, huh? I don't know.. I just didn't feel like blogging these past few days. Didn't have the inspiration, see?

So lets start where we left off. Lots of stuff has happened these past two weeks.
1) I became a marksman during my live firing ( that's $200 man!)
2) Went for my PPT at NIE ( was nervous as hell at first, but walked out of it with 3 new friends)
3) Passed the PPT test (phew!)
4) Watched the newest block busters X men and The Da Vinci Code (nearly broke the bank, too)
5) Had a smashing time going karaoke ( Didn't know I could carry off a duet)
6) Went out on a "date" with Irfan's girlfriend, Aminah ( Haha, and now Irfan's jealous!)
7) Went to the Night Safari ( Wow, the place really improved since I was there 8 years ago)

Hmm.. Not quite a bad list of "accomplishments", if you can even call it that.

I'm bored with army life, man. Been doing this sucky business for the past 21 months and I'm downright tired of it. I want out. I've got another 3 months left and boy, it feels like the longest 3 months in my entire life.

I'm booking in tomorrow. 0830 hours. Back to camp. Back to routine. Back to duties and NDP training and ACCT training. Dang and blast. Well, looking on the bright side, at least my bulking up days paid off. I've gained 5 kg in the past 2 months! Man, this Muscletech stuff really works!

What a letdown. Last night's Gema Temasek was not as I expected it to be. It was so widely advertised and so widely talked about, but I'm afraid to say that their bark is worse than their bite.

First off, the performance was supposed to start at 7.45pm, but the doors were not open til 8.15pm! My sympathy goes out to those poor souls who were queuing at the door since 7.30pm. They were hoping to get the best seats in the house, but were made to wait a good 45 minutes before being caught in a stampede when the doors opened. Whether they managed to get the seats they so longed for, Lord only knows. And the performance only started around 8.30pm.

Second off, when our (Fai, Nurul, Azima, Amai and myself) turn came to enter the auditorium, we stared in amazement the the scene in front of us. There were no more seats! And to make matters worse, pissed-off looking people were actually passing us and were heading out the door muttering to themselves angrily. And I can't say I blame them. So we actually went from the first floor of the audi (where we were told to go to the top floor as the first was full) to the top floor, to the second, and finally, back to the first floor again.

I was asking Amai (whose friend helped us get the tickets) how come it was possible that some of the audience had to be turned away due to lack of seats. And her answer stunned me. She told me that the organising committee had actually printed out extra tickets in addition to the original ones, which have already been snapped up. WTF?!! I mean, it makes sense to print more tickets to supplement the sold out ones PROVIDED they can accommodate the extra people in the audience. But noooo. The organising committee saw fit to print more tickets without thinking fit to provide more seats. And you know what? We did get to get our seats finally. On the floor along the goddamn aisle. Have you ever seen a respectable performance where its audience (about 30% of them) had to seat uncomfortably on the floor along the staircases and aisles? Tsk tsk..

Hey, you know what? I feel like bitching tonight. Lets just bitch about the whole damn thing. The performance was long. Too long, I might add. It started at 8.30pm and ended like what, close to 11.30? That's like almost 3 damn hours we had our butts glued to the friggin floor. And you know something else? The seats they reserved for the guests of honour (who arrived late, of course) took up a whole row. And how many guests of honour were there? Only three. Yes, t-h-r-e-e. And the rest of the seats were empty for the rest of the show. Beat that.

But I'll give credit where it's due. The performance was entertaining and engaging. At least for the first two hours. The last hour was a real bore, I tell you. The show was about this couple who engaged in premarital sex (sounds familiar?) and were forced into marriage because the girl got pregnant (naturally!). The first two hours were fun and engaging, where the actors and actresses dazzled us with a motley of acting, singing, dancing, poetry reciting and even silat! But after we crossed the two hour mark, they started to lose the audience. And it was heart breaking to see them trying to get the attention of the audience again. Nah, I don't think heart breaking is a good phrase to use, pitiful is more like it. We were simply not interested anymore.

In my opinion (as well as my friends'), the performance ended prematurely. The ending was abruptly cut. It was like as if the director finally got the idea that the audience was getting very restless and decided to spare his performers from further misery and humiliation. Indeed, there were some jeering and sarcastic remarks by that time already. And when the show FINALLY ended, and the curtain closed, the whole hall erupted in applause, not out of sheer joy, but out of total sarcasm, I suspect.

Overall, it was an eye opening experience for me, and not quite a pleasing one. TJC has a long way to go if it is to maintain the good name of Gema Temasek that it has built over the years.

Review : 4.5 out of 10.
Buck up, TJC.

Oh wow. I finally got to hear him giving his ceramah in person. Ustaz Aqil Hayy. Now, some of you have probably heard about him, having attended or listened to his ceramah's in person or on the telly, or simply by word of mouth.

Most people who have attended his talks would find him a very refreshing change from all the previous talks they have been to. His rapport with the crowd is phenomenal. I've never quite seen anyone capture a crowd's attention during a talk, like I did during his talk, except maybe for Ust Jalalludin Hassan from Darul Aman Mosque. Anyway, what makes Ust Aqil different from Ust Jalalludin is that he actually entertains the crowd by singing during his speeches. Yes, singing!

He was a former rock singer, you see. He was part of a rock group called D'Riyadh that was very popular in Malaysia back in the late 1980's. And boy, did he put his voice to good use when he became an Ustaz. He entertains the crowd by singing songs (nasyid, mostly) from popular artistes often in his speeches.

The topic of his speech just now was "Nafsu membara, cinta menggoda, remaja terpedaya".
In english it means, "when lust arises and love beckons, teenagers get affected". He talked mostly about our young adults nowadays who are in love, and what problems that they could face, namely premarital sex and illegitimate babies. He also touched on the dangers of alcohol and drugs.

That I feel, is a VERY big issue (alsohol and drugs) in our society today, especially among malay youths. Alcohol, in our community, is prohobited, but walk into any club (be it seedy or respectable) and chances are you'll see malay youths (some as young as 16!) guzzling down a glass or two. Maybe more. And if they are really bold (and lucky), they might even get a hold of some "party drugs" to go along with the alcohol to keep their head buzzing along nicely.

There's a reason why these things are prohibited in our society. They destroy us. Our morals, our minds and our bodies. And they cause us to do what we don't normally do when we are sober and sane. Would you unzip your fly and pee casually in the middle of the street in front of tons of horrified people if you were sober? Course you wouldn't. There's a part of our brain that refrains us from doing things like that. Alcohol and drugs are inhibitors. When they enter our system, they inhibit the part of our brain that tells us not to do stupid things. Once that part is fully inhibited by alcohol or drugs, our brain no longer has any control over what we should or should not do.

How many times have you seen or heard of husbands brutally beating up their wives in a drunken stupor? And how many times have you seen drunks clumsily brawling with each other in clubs only to end up puking on the other's shirt? Lots of times, I'm sure.

Now don't get me wrong, thinking I'm a fuddy duddy talking bad about alcohol and drugs and clubs. By all means, go to a club. Enjoy yourself. Dance til your legs turn to jelly. Strutt our stuff. Let your hair down and really let yourself go. But please, don't drink or do drugs. Love yourself.

Let me end off by quoting a paragraph by Ust Aqil Hayy. It's in malay and I think it's beautiful.

"Dunia ini adalah sebuah gambar cerita,
Manusia lah pelakon pelakonnya,
Al Quran dan As Sunnah adalah skrip-nya,
Islam adalah jalan ceritanya,
Para malaikat adalah juru gambarnya,
Rasulullah s.a.w adalah pelakon terbaiknya,
Kiamah adalah masa tamatnya,
Padang Masyar itulah tempat anugerahnya,
Allah s.w.t adalah jurinya,
dan syurga atau neraka lah hadiah untuk pelakon pelakonnya"

Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. They hit off nicely - for a week or two. Then it all came unglued. Boy is nice to girl. Girl thinks he's too nice. Girl feels threatened. Girl leaves. Boy didn't even know what hit him. Finally boy sits down and thinks - "nice guys finish last".

How many times have you heard the phrase "nice guys finish last"? You probably can't count how many times you've heard it. If I had a penny for every time I heard that phrase, I'd be a millionaire by now. After getting out of a brief relationship myself recently, I have also asked myself the same question. Why do girls go for bad boys, and is it true that nice guys finish last?

That's the question that guys have been asking themselves since eons ago.
"Hey, I've got the job, I'm good looking, I'm nice to her, so why the hell is she going out with that jerk?"

Well, I did some research on general female behaviour and found out several interesting facts.
Firstly, it is not the fact that the guy is "nice" that makes him unattractive to women. Don't get me wrong, but being nice is a great personality trait and there's nothing wrong with being a nice person.

Some women actually suffer from very low levels of self esteem. When they date a guy who is nice to them, they actually think, "Omigod, he's just soooo nice. But, hey, why is he being nice to me? I'm not that pretty, and yet he's being nice. Well, I guess he's just too good for me. I don't deserve him. And I'm sure he doesn't deserve me either."

And just like that, *poof!* the "romance" fizzles out. Girl leaves guy, and guy is left sputtering wondering what the hell just hit him.

Secondly, there's a trait in some (if not many) girls to like guys with a streak of wildness in them. Many women find bad boys attractive because, to all outward appearances, they seem confident. They give off the air of knowing what they want, and they push others around to get it. This behaviour usually masks a deep insecurity, and many of these "tough guys" keep that side of them well hidden. Guys, take note here. The key word is confidence. Women are attracted to confident men. And all the more if they have a streak of naughtiness in them.


Lastly, and perhaps the most important of all. Some women are intimidated by nice guys. Yup, you read that right. Intimidated. Girls who have low self esteem just seem to jump 10 feet in the air should a nice guy suddenly try to chat them up. That mentality of "I'm just not good enough for him" and "What could he possibly see in me?" start to kick in. And there goes the chance of possibly starting a relationship.

I'm speaking from experience here. I was one of those "nice guys". I always give it my all into any relationship, and I always make it a point to be nice to the girls I date. Among the words that a girl I was dating told me once were "Why are you so good to me?" and "I can't believe there's a guy like you in real life. I thought you people only existed in my dreams" and "Thanks for being everything so sweet and real"

To tell you the truth, I was on cloud nine when she spoke those words to me. But somehow or another, the relationship fizzled out (she dated quite a number of bad boys once). And I was left literally hanging in the air wondering what the hell happened, and what the hell did I do wrong. Calls were unanswered, messages were unreturned. It was only til I received an email that I realised, you know, this relationship is past saving. Turns out my hunch was spot on. I was too nice of a guy for her.

It was then that I started thinking. And I'm sure that most (nice) guys have actually experienced this at one point or another in their lives. So is it really true that nice guys always finish last? Hmmm..

ATEC 2 was a major bitch, man. Preparations began on Sunday night,(we had to book in at 2000hrs!) all through Monday and halfway through Tuesday, and before I knew it, I was in the jungle from Tuesday night all the way til Thursday night.

Seeing that this was (most probably) the last time we would ever have an outfield exercise, I was determined to give ATEC my all. Put in the words of my Commanding Officer, "This is a culmination of your army life, after training so hard these two years."

It seems that I'm not the only one thinking of giving ATEC his all. It seems as though that was the only thing on everyone's mind. And I took advantage of that by giving my men some sort of a pep talk.

"I know that this is the day you all have been waiting for," I started, and was greeted by a few sniggers.

"Ok, maybe not what you guys have been waiting for, but I'm sure as hell, this is the day or should I say days that you all can't wait to get over with, no?"

"Yes, seargent..." came the no-so-enthusiastic answer.

"Tell you what. All of you chiong with me and with each other these three days and give it your all. After that I promise you, there will be no more outfields. No one will fall out. No one will let his buddy fall out. If for any reason you feel like falling out, I will not allow it. And I expect the same reaction from all of you, should I tell you that I feel like falling out.
"We will go through this together, thick or thin, rain or shine, pleasure or pain. And after this, we can look people in the eye and say proudly, 'Yes, I survived ATEC and I gave it my all,'.

At this point of time, I could see some fire in the eyes of my men, and I wanted to stoke the flames further.

"All of you have gone through Brunei, so I'm sure you'll survive this. What is Lim Chu Kang compared to Temburong, correct?"

"Yes, seargent!" the answer this time was more enthusiastic.

"Good, now lets go and kick some ass, and get ourselves a REDCON 1 status. Can you do it?"

"YES, SEARGENT!"

"Who are you?!" I asked the most famous slogan in 3 Guards.

"3 Guards, HOOAH!"

As they say, the rest is history. We came, we saw and we conquered. I can proudly say that my section was one of the very few that came out of ATEC without suffering a single casualty.

Staying true to the Guards' heliborne nature, we were inserted by choppers deep into the enemy lines, and attack them from the back, catching them off-guard. Check out the pic. I'm the second from the right.

By the end of the mission, the three days bashing in the jungle has taken its toll on our bodies. Shoulders and necks were sore from carrying the heavy loads, blisters formed on feet, abrasions were suffered all over the body and rashes developed in places we didn't even know we had!

I'm proud to say that I've given it my all, and that I really am going to get the massage I promised myself this time... Really!

Spent last night out with my sis and her friends. Wow. It really opened my eyes lah, on how young people nowadays spend their time.

"Abang, are you still joining us? We're leaving town already," she asked me over the phone.

"I'm going to meet a friend first at Cineleisure. You go ahead first. Me and Fai will meet you guys there. It's at Boat Quay, right?"

"Yeah. You give me a call when you're there, ok? Bye." She hung up.

I looked at the time. It was a quarter to ten. I looked over at Fai.
"Hey bro, we meet Faisal, and we leave at say...10.15, ok?"

Looking at his watch, Fai went "Ok la. I just want to congratulate him. After that, we can ciao."

But it turned out we left closer to 10.30 than 10.15 as intended. And whilst I was there, I was amazed by the company surrounding me. Faisal's friends, I mean. I didn't know people could actually smoke one cigarette after another for half an hour straight.Talk about heavy smoking, I was heavily passive smoking. LOL.

After a little chit chat with Faisal, (whose group won 2nd runners up, and a cool 2K cash, congtratz, bro!) we left for Boat Quay.

All through the journey, Fai was giving me a pep talk.
"Faan, I'm just glad you got out of this when you did," he started.

"I didn't know girls actually had the capacity to act like that, y'now?" I said. "I mean, she was what I've always wanted in a girl. She's smart, fun, attractive. She's into books, like me. But it seems like things just -"

"Sort of fell apart," Fai continued for me. "Yeah. I know what you mean, bro. I mean, come on la. Ending it off with an e mail? She doesn't even have the courtesy to pick up your calls nor the decency to meet you face to face and end it. To top it all off, she actually bitches about how you treat her so nice," he continued. "She should thank her stars that you treated her nice! Not like most guys nowadays, who just want a girl so they can get laid and pay all their bills for them. Did you cheat on her? No. Did you try to swindle her of her money? No. Did you ever lay a hand on her? No. Did you screw her and leave her? No. So why the hell is she bitching so much? She toyed with you, bro. When she feels like playing, she plays with you. When she no longer feels like playing, she chucks you away.
"To me, I think it's really lucky you guys didn't go further. Just forget about her, bro. Plenty of girls out there, especially with you going to NIE and all," he smirked.

"Thanks for being here, man."I said as I looked at my best friend with affection. "Well, it was nice, while it lasted. We had some pretty great times together. All those times we went to town, shopping, eating and all. But the fondest memories I have of her are the ones where we'd hang around Taka and take pictures and where she'd wait for me on the couch at the Crown Plaza whilst I solat... Ahh.. memories.. But hey, I guess that's life, huh? Good memories are all you take with you. You can't win everyone all the time. You win some, and you lose some. And sometimes - hey look, we're here already. Sahara."

There were about ten topless drunk caucasians males right outside the pub, and they were making quite a bit of a racket.

"C'mon, matie," one of them bellowed to his friend "Yeh look like yer sisteh with that stupid bra on!"

And indeed, one of his (really) drunk mates was actually trying to wear a bra! He got it on with much difficulty and another of his mates helped fasten on the strap.

"Hey, this feels like a fuckin' nursin' bra!" he guffawed, as he made his way down the street, joining the rest of his chortling posse.

Laughing to ourselves, Fai and me entered the pub. We made our way up to the second storey where my sis and her friends were.

The first thing that hit us were the smoke. And they were coming from the group of young mats across the table where my sis and her friends were sitting.

As we entered the group, my sis stood up and said, "Guys, I'm sure you all kenal my brother, and this one here is his friend, Fairoz."

We were greeted with a giggling chorus of "Hi Ili's brother!" Then they looked at Fai and said, "Hi Ili's bother's friend!"

Giving them our most charming smiles, as we took our seats, we said "Hello, ladies. Nice to be in your company tonight."

I scanned the table and saw quite a few Heineken's bottles and an ashtray, but thankfully, the bottle in front of my sister was Mountain Mineral Water. I was mildly alarmed at the company my sister was with, but I told myself to try and seperate myself and the elder protective brother mentality that I was having. Just put myself in their shoes and try to have fun, was what Fai told me. And thankfully, I managed to.

All through the night, they kept referring to me as Ili's brother.
"Hey, Ili's brother," said this charming Indonesian girl Claudia as she passed me the menu. "You want anything to drink or eat?"

"No thanks, we just ate," I replied, smiling. "And just call me Faan, okay?"

"No no! Call him Fa'an!" Fai added for good measure.

"Haha, very funny Fai!" I said as I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, what are you guys having?" I asked though I noticed a bottle of beer in her hand.

"Yeah, we ordered sheesha like, an hour ago, and it still hasn't arrived. I'm getting quite pissed," she replied looking at her watch. "Must be those bozos hogging up all the traffic," she said, referring to the table opposite with all the mats, where I saw them smoking at least three sheeshas.

And at that moment, the sheesha came. All the girls shouted gleefully and helped clear the table. Claudia took the first puff and offered it around. I looked at my sister incredulously. She's smoking sheesha now? Aww shit. The elder protective brother syndrome was kicking in again. I told myself to cut her some slack. It was part of growing up, and at least it's sheesha and not alcohol or drugs, y'know.

What the hell, since we're here, might as well enjoy ourselves, I thought as I helped myself to the sheesha too, before offering it to Fai. Nice atmosphere, nice lighting, nice music, surrounded by my best bud and attractive girls. LOL

Then some of my sis's other friends started arriving. Mostly guys. And I'm glad to say, there was no mat amongst them. And I saw Miguel. He's an ex of my sis's friend, and he's also in 3 Guards, in Alpha Coy. We chatted animatedly about ATEC (shit, it's in 2 days time) and about army life.

As we were talking, his brother came up to us. He wanted to get some drinks and they asked what I wanted to have. When I told them I did not drink, they looked at me like I was mad.
"Seriously, I don't drink," I said lauging. "Tell you what, just get me some bottled water, ok?"

"Bottled water?!" they burst. "C'mon man. At least a beer."

"Seriously, dudes. I don't drink," I said, smiling.

"Okay man. If you're sure. Lemme know if you want anything, ok?" Miguel's brother said as he went to get the drinks.

Fai and me looked at each other and burst out laughing. Why do people always look (damn) surprised when we tell them we don't drink? Well, it doesn't help we're in a pub, I suppose.

I had a nice time chatting to all my sis' friends, all of whom I noticed, were non malays. Haha, that's so typical of my sister. Anyway, we chatted til about 12.15 am when the phone rang. Uh oh. Mom. Time to go.

After much effort, Fai and me put down the sheesha and got up from the rather comfortable couches. We went around shaking hands and thanking everyone for their company.
"Bye, girls," I said to the girls.
And guess what was their reply. Yep. I was given a giggling chorus of "Bye, Ili's brother!" LOL

That said and done, it was a nice night out. And my folks aren't as mad as they normally are when my sis comes back alone at night. Looks like if my sis wants to spend another late night out again, she'll have to drag her abang along. Ha!

Wow. It's been a long time since I've written. Time to get the ol brain working again.

I haven't been writing much cos I've been down and out for almost a week. Got myself a fever which didn't let up til yesterday. You know the feeling don't you? Waking up and saying, "Uh oh. Shit, I feel a fever coming on." And before you know it, WHAM! it hits you like a freight train and you are knocked totally senseless.

What's the next thing you do? Yup. You pop a couple of panadols and hope to sleep it off. You start shivering and try in vain to get warm as you wrap yourself up from head to toe with your blanket.

Catching forty winks suddenly becomes the hardest thing you've ever had to do in your life. You toss this way and that. Frustrated, you try counting sheeps. Doesn't work. You try counting to a hundred. Nada. You try counting back wards from a million. Bingo! You fall asleep before 999 996.

Then it begins. The dreams. In them you are being slapped around by evil little pixies in the Sahara. After they've had their fun, they leave you to die in the searing heat. Every inch of your skin is now burning and screaming for mercy. As your vision blurs, all you can see are the heat waves coming from the ground. Then all vision fades to black.

You jolt upright from that dream, (ironically wet, cos you're drenched in sweat) and find that even though before you slept you felt cold, you are now unbearably hot. Your head is pounding and your breathing becomes irregular.

Doesn't sound nice, does it? Yeah, but that was me, almost everyday when I had my fever. And every time I woke up like that, with my head pounding and my breathing irregular, the cold water treatment had to be resorted to. The traditional method of curing a fever the fastest. And also the most painful. But I had no choice. I was burning up. Almost 40 degrees and rising. I had to bring down my core temperature as fast as possible.

It's a scary trip to the bathroom, I can tell you that. With the heater turned off, it was a mental game between me and the shower head. It looked at me mockingly and taunted me to turn on the tap. Can't help it but I feel as though I'm about to face the firing squad. (Can't blame a guy for having an overactive imagination when he's got the fever.)

It must have been 5 minutes I was shivering in the nude under the shower head before I had the balls (pardon the pun) to turn on the tap. As the water pounded my body, I feel as though a thousand knives are stabbing me all over. The pain was paralysing. I gritted my teeth and steeled my nerves and stayed under the water. Along with the stabbing sensations, the cold water seems to constrict breathing and by 2 minutes, I was breathing heavily. Gasping for air, was more like it. Simple things like pouring shampoo out of the bottle and squeezing toothpaste onto your toothbrush suddenly becomes extremely difficult to accomplish, because you are shivering and trembling uncontrollably.

After the mental and physical torture, which lasted only for about 5 minutes,(but which felt like a lifetime to me), I stepped out of the bathroom dripping wet. The trick here is to not wipe yourself dry, but rather let the water run off and let your body dry by itself. Lets delve into science a little here. As water on the surface of your skin evaporates, it uses up latent heat from your body. This results in your body being cooler. Now imagine your whole body is dripping wet. How much excess heat you stand to lose if you let all you body dry up by itself? Lots. And that's another way you bring your fever down fast.

Well, I can say that painful as it was, the shower helped loads in cooling my body down. Felt much better.

Another thing I hate about this is that I cant work out! Arggh, that's like insult to injury la! But, it's ok. I'm feeling better now, think I can hit the weights soon. Perhaps as soon as tonight! Goody...