Starting of the year came my POP which was one of the most important days of my army life. I will never forget that day on 7th January 2012 whereby I stood proudly on the Marina Bay Floating Platform and shouted the BMTC roar and throwing my jockey up high up in the air. It was an unforgettable experience. The night before, we had our 24km route march which was certainly one of the toughest challenges I faced in my life. Walking 24km is tough enough. Imagine walking all that distance will your full combat gear and a rifle!
Going on, I visited Hong Kong after my POP to visit my granduncle. He's over 90 years old this year and every time I visit him, I'd worry that it'd be my very last time seeing him. Thankfully, he's still fit as a fiddle as of today! I somehow regret not forging a close relationship with him when I was young. Fortunately I am still given this chance now.
Although we might be ages apart (he has even been through WWII, beat that!), we still have lots to chat about. He may not know about the latest technologies or the newest games but it still felt like we are long time friends. But hey, he saw me grow up from a little boy to an adult now! Hopefully we still have lots to chat in time to come. In fact, I am visiting there in less than 2 weeks again.
Back to Singapore, I found out that I was posted to SAFAC as a Supply Assistant (Ammunition) as my new unit. I had lots of questions in my head at that time. Initially I had to report to the school for a course on ammunition. There, I made lots of friends and forged ties together. We went out for several outings and chatted together whenever we had free time. Sadly, as the course ended in February, we had to go our own ways as we were posted to different camps.
On 14th February, coincidentally Valentine's Day, I was posted to Pasir Laba Ammunition Depot. I didn't even know this place existed in the first place. However, the first impression of that place was that the people there were pretty playful. As time went by, I noticed lots of good people there and they helped me along the way. However, there are also baddies who tries to backstab you and cause unhappiness between you and your friends.
As 18th February came, it was yet another meaningful event for me, the Singapore Airshow 2012. The main reason of me going there is to pay a last visit to the Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 as it will have its last flight in April. It was also when I got to meet someone who happens to be one of my good friends now, Wei Heng. We noticed that we have lots to chat with each other about aviation and best of all, we're both Singaporeans. Makes everything easier!
Come March, I was posted to the duty team in my camp. The duty team works on a 1.5 day shift basis with 1.5 day work and 1.5 day off. Sounds good but when you have to take off or leave, the system becomes screwed as you have to plan to make up for another day and such. First few months were ok until I felt that doing this shift work was too much for me to take due to all the late nights and such.
In April, it was another period of travelling for me again as I visited Shantou, my hometown. I always make it a point to pay a visit when I can to manage ties with my family members over there. They were shocked as to how much weight I lost ever since I entered army.
On top of that, I even managed to squeeze in a visit to Guangzhou. Upon arriving from my flight from Shantou to Hong Kong, I rushed to my granduncle's place before heading to Hung Hom station for my train to Guangzhou. It was more of meeting the younger ones here, still we had a great time.
Back to Hong Kong the next day, I decided to go around Hong Kong. Upon my arrival from Guangzhou, I actually met a pretty good taxi driver whom I call Mr Li. He does not speak perfect Mandarin but he is a nice person and helped me whenever I needed in Hong Kong. There was once I was sort of lost and I gave him a call to which he directed me to the correct place. I even chartered his cab to some places like The Peak and back to the AEL station on the day of my flight.
Shortly after returning from my trip, it came another event. It was the 21st birthday of my best buddy, Kai Chung. It was fun assisting him to set up the BBQ pit and awaiting for the guests to arrive. Not forgetting the present we gave him. Overall, it was definitely an enjoyable night for all of us and best of all it's for my best buddy, nothing I can't do.
As June came, it was yet another month of happening events. Firstly I got my 2nd DSLR, a Nikon D5000. Coming with a 55-200mm lens, it was definitely what I wanted so that I can step in the world of airplane spotting. I certainly learnt lots from this new camera and I hope to learn even more in the future.
Another event of my life came when I finally got to fly out of Asia to Australia. It was a life defining moment for me seeing that for the past 20 years of my life I've only been flying inside Asia. I also got to meet my old time friends there and also fell in love with Australia!
Finally, I turned 21 in July. I organised a birthday party at my very own house and invited some of my friends here. It was certainly awesome and fun! I loved printing the boarding passes for each and every participant and also welcoming them to my humble home. It was tiring having to run throughout my entire house but I definitely enjoyed the experience.
Come 12th July, it was when my army friends celebrated my birthday for me. We had loads of fun at Kbox singing whatever random songs we can think of and enjoying ourselves to the max.
In August I went for a short KL getaway with Wei Heng. It was just a random conversation and it struck up that we should stay at Tune Hotels and fly there with Tiger Airways and back with AirAsia. I would say the trip is definitely great. We had a great time shopping around and spotting before we finally boarded the flight back home. As the saying goes, quality over quantity. We definitely spent some quality time together during the trip and I wouldn't hesitate going on a trip together again. Oh well, if money allows.
It came October when I got to celebrate the birthday of my didi, Swee Heng. It was interesting how we got so close. We first met in February when I was posted to PLAD and for a few months we were simply hi and bye friends. Somehow or rather, we had a pretty strong bond and got closer as time went by. There was once he helped me in something that did not even concern him but more of someone trying to sabo me. I was pretty calm but he seem more agitated than me. Perhaps that's why we got so close?
In November we went for a KL trip together and certainly it was another fruitful one. I got the chance to take care of him like how an older brother does seeing he can be pretty blur sometimes and unaware of his surroundings. I've lost count of how many times he tried to step onto a road with active traffic! We became sworn brothers back in September and it's been 4 months now. I guess our friendship / brotherhood has lots of 4 months to go.
That pretty much sums up my 2012. It was a year full of ups and downs and new things. Hopefully 2013 will be a better year. Kudos!
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