War of life

The bullets thudded into the wall behind me, sending showers of chipped wood all over the place where I am hiding.

"Godammit" I cursed silently as another curtain of bullets rained down on us, sending even more debris flying. "Sir! We got to get out of here! we are sitting ducks out here!" screamed Doug, my second-in-command.

I took a moment to digest the situation. The pain-in-the-ass machine gun position, a 7.76mm caliber General purpose machine gun 150 yards out is flinging bullets at a rate of 750 rounds a minute on us. Unprotected, the tapered and twisted tip of the lead head, traveling close to 80% the speed of sound is enough to kill any one of us, searing, twisting and disgorging any internal organs the bullet comes into contact to.

"Doug! The GPMG have gotta reload any second! Use that window of opportunity and get me a grenade down his position!" I looked beside me, Jake and Peter was furiously trying to hide as much of themselves behind another tree. "Jake! Pete! Once the grenade goes, both me and Doug will provide covering fire. Try to gain distance to their position for a clean shot!" I shouted.

Suddenly, the shooting ceases. This is the moment. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Doug rising from his cover, stretched his body backwards and fling the grenade across the field. I counted mentally, One-thousand, Two-thousand, Three-thou... A boom erupted further up ahead of us. "Covering Fire!!" I immediately pop up from my hiding place and squeezed a few rounds from my M16A1 Rifle in the general direction of the machine gun position. Hopefully, this would cause the enemy to duck and buy me a safe passage for Jake and Pete who were currently in transition.

The GMPG came back to life, spewing out it's deadly bullets, slamming into Jake and Pete who nearly made it to safety. But never will now. All time stood still. I remembered the time, the first time I saw Jake and Pete, both brimming with energy and hope. Both eager to contribute to this God forsaken war. Yet those energies and youthful hope, now spent and rotting in this bloody battlefield seems wrong to me. It seems, energy and hope is not enough. You need a fair bit of luck too.

"Doug! Doug!" I shouted across to the right of me. Silence. I turned and looked. I didn't even know when he got hit. But I didn't care. It didn't matter anymore. Life isn't fair. It simply isn't.

Suddenly I felt alone, trapped behind a tree as relentless hails of bullets in this cold and unforgiving place rained down. I felt like giving up. There isn't a point in fighting so hard for gains so uncertain. I want my life back. A life which I cannot return to anymore.

I unloaded the magazine, checked the rounds and slammed it into my rifle. I chambered a round into the barrel and steeled my nerves.

I shot out of my hiding place and dashed forward, gun ablazing.....

Relationships

A steaming hot cup of peach tea.

Soft music wafting from my speakers.

My head ached. News I heard today draws back memories of a past. A past saturated with emotions. Of pain. Of hate. Most importantly, of love succumbing to possessiveness.

This, for which I have no answers. I do not comprehen the logic, or the lack of, when emotions robs you of your sanity and compels you to react in ways deem unfathomable by most people. I wonder, how does it feel, to be overcome by raw brutal emotions that enslaves your mind.

I am clueless.

Kukup - an hour's drive that turns back the clock 40 years....

After picking up 2 of my other friends, we went on our merry way towards the Tuas checkpoint via the PIE. But since there is this rule that says Singapore cars are required to have at least 3/4 tank full before crossing the border, I had to stop over at a petrol kiosk first. I like this 3/4 rule, me thinks it's an act of thoughfulness of the government to remind us that Malaysia is big and so we must have enough fuel to last us lest we get lost. Singapore boleh!
















Ok, this picture was taken at the malaysian's checkpoint. We learnt from today's trip that we shouldn't forget to do/bring the following before crossing the border:
> immigration cards
> pens to fill up the immigration cards
> changing of currency ( I can't believed he forgot to change currency lohz...)
> top up cash card to pay for the Singapore Toll fees

As you can see, we were supposed to stop at the booth but because we didn't have immigration cards, we had to stop beside the lanes and hunt for cards, fill them up and walked over to give them the card. It was a pretty hilarious sight. Seriously, crossing the border had never been so farnie before.















This picture was taken after we left the N-S highway at Geland Patah exit travelling towards Pontian Kechil. I tell you, certain sections of the road have so much potholes that paying exorbitant road tax back in Singapore starts to make a hell lot of sense.
















This picture was taken after passing Pontian Kechil towards kukup. I'm amazed by the complexity of the road




















Kukup is so small that there is only one main road leading into it, with shophouses and houses on stilts adorning both sides of it. I have only one word for it. Rustic. Better than watching Back to the future.




















Cupbarn. I always knew I can use matchsticks to make cupbarn.



















Sunset over the smelly river.















We parked...just right outside the money changer! So that solves the problem of not having the correct currency. The place we stopped at is called High King Seafood restaurant. I had chosen this place because some bloke on the internet said the food was cheap and "not too bad". I also reckon since the person still lives to type out her recommendations, the food should be relatively safe to eat.
















Sunset over Pulau Kukup. Taken using my N70 handphone...if only I had a better camera....



















Hokai you greedy readers...here is the highlight of the trip....we ordered:
> fried squids RM12
> chilli mussels RM10 (no kidding)
> Grouper, steamed RM42
> Prawns, Chillied RM20

In total, with drinks, the bill came up to RM110 and that took us to about 9pm. Being the typical me, I got lost on the way back somewhere around Pontian Kechil in the dark. Fortunately for us, we realised we weren't lost but merely unsettled as the place looked different in the dark. All in all, the trip took up 232km and we crossed the border at around 10pm.

Fun!

Highlights of Cameron highlands

Back from a 2 day trip to the Cameron highlands. Good place to hide from reality of work and the sweltering heat of Singapore. All in all, love the cool weather of the highlands abeit some difficulties that the cold introduced. (eg. hot water is a MUST when bathing)

I've highlighted places that I've felt worth going to should you decide to escape to Cameron for a holiday. Also, anyone keen on being a PR on Cameron highlands can message me. We can grow strawberries and live a happy life ever after on the strawberries.... Ok, just kidding. You cannot live on strawberries alone. We need to grow some vegetables and rear some chicken as well. =p

Cactus Valley, Brinchang



















Cactus galore! rows and rows, levels and levels of cactuses and other attractive flowers awaits you at this place for only RM4 per person.















Hibiscus is one of their mainstay flowers. Come to think about it, Hibiscus is one of the mainstay flowers all over Cameron's nurseries.















Pretty Daisies!


Sunrise from the highest point in Cameron, Gunung Brinchang















Any peeps looking at this picture better appreciate this picture. In order to have this picture taken, I had to wake up at 530am, braved a freezing 15 deg cel. cold morning air , entrust my life to a guide whom I only met a day before (and pray he doesn't drive us off a cliff or something) and risked having my nose freezing off from the high winds. So, better appreciate this picture.


Mossy Forest, Gunung Brinchang















Mossy forest is a forest known for it's moss (duh!). The tour guide proudly explained to us that the mossy forest resembles forest scenes from LOTR . Anyhow, the mossy forest trail takes only around an hour or less to trek, if you are quick footed. But trust me, the trail that the guide took us was far from easy. But fun. The picture you see here is taken from Mossy forest, looking at part of the Titiwangsa range.


BOH tea plantation, Sungei Palas















Yes.... your yummy tea that you are drinking now comes from here. While drinking your yummy BOH tea, stop for a while to appreciate the fact that you have muscular workers working in the hot sun sweating it off while shearing the tea leaves and collecting them (together with their salty sweat) so that you can have your cuppa tea! Best of all, they are only paid 20 cents RM per KG of tea leaves. Drink heartly you slave driver!



















Scenary taken at Sungei Palas visitor center. The cafe serves very yummy and fluffy cakes to compliment your order of tea.


Rose Center, Kea Farm region



















I think roses are only good for 2 things. To rip off guys during Valentine's day and to make yummy bandung.















Flies are everywhere. We even had a buzzing fly that followed us through the jungle paths from Tanah Rata to brinchang town.


EQ strawberry farm, beside Equatorial hotel



















These strawberries are sweet! Because we plucked 'em under the hot sun. By the time you are reading this, the strawberries are already long eaten. They do not last long in our weather.

NOC day out and a commencement!

It has been quite sometime since the last NOC gathering. After meeting all of the at NOC, the six of us trugged to Bali Seafood village for dinner (beside Villa bali)















The restaurant menu. They have quite a number of standard items plus selections of their very own signature dish. Guaranteed to satisfy most people's preferrences.



















Sereen and Angel smiling away....















KK and jianhui after a hard day's work (yeahhhhh right.... jianhui yes, KK, definitely not =p)















The first dish that came to us is chilli kang kong! For all honestly, this is the best chilli kang kong I have ever eaten!
















This is a unique dish. The bossy recommended this prawn dish to us. stir fried prawns with pumpkin juice! Very yummy...with a unique taste..definitely a must try...but Sereen said it is the most expensive dish that we ordered. (S$20 bucks)















The prawn paste chicky is normal tasting only.















The hotplate tofu is too salty for my liking. This is probably the least nicest dish that we had ordered. And I dunno where the tofu is.















This is the best dish that we have ordered for the day! Yum Yum! It's some braised pork with yummy sauce. Very tender and sweet! I got to try this again the next time I go back again. Which I definitely will.















This picture was taken at UCC. Daniel graduated today and the five of us went to support him (actually we are there to eat the food hee hee) and this picture was taken at the spot where we gathered a year ago too at my commencement....how time flies....sigh....

What the statements really means

1. "Nothing" - This is the calm before the storm. This means 'something' and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with 'nothing' usually end in 'fine'.

2. "Fine" - This is a word women use to end an argument when they're right and you need to shut up!

3. "5 minutes" - If she's getting dressed, this means half an hour. It is 5 mins if you have just been given 5 more mins to watch the game before helping around the house.

4. "Go head" - This is a dare, not permission. Don't do it.

5. Loud sigh - This is not actually a word, but a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by man. A loud sigh means she thinks you're an idiot and wonders why she's wasting her time standing here and arguing with you over 'nothing'.

6."That's okay" - This is one of the most dangerous statements that a woman can make to a man. "That's OK" means that she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. "Thanks" - A woman is thanking you. Do not question it or faint. Just say you're welcome.

8."Whatever" - It's a woman's way of saying "fcuk you!"

9. 'Duno"...thats when U are expected to come out with a solution to the problem.

10 'Anything' ... that's means U dun anyhow ti kum ti kum and buy anything hor...

11. Up to you/u decide - look, i already know what i want. u jolly well get it right, else u are in deep sheet

12. U try lor... u better do it the right way..

13. 'Do I look fat in this'...you better lie..

It seems that there is an auntie network after all...

A last minute decision to help deliver food today netted me an interesting find (or rather 2 interesting finds)

All this while, I knew that the block i'm distributing food to only know each other if they are staying on the same floor. Hence, i deduced that an auntie network exist on every floor. However, while talking to one of the aunties staying on the 3rd floor, she was complaining to me that she didn't receive any food for last Sunday and even went on explaining that this is due to the fact that I was away on reservist. (In actual fact, my other friends did deliver the food in my absence but because they used the wrong name list, some of the units didn't receive any food.)

I was pretty amused. I only told an auntie living on the fourth floor that I will be away for reservist. No one else knows about this. Yet, it seems news about my reservist seemed to travel around the block.

The other thing that I discovered was rather grim. The block that I distributed food to has this alarm system connected to every unit. Any person in distress within the units can press the "panic" button linked to an alarm outside and on the ground floor. Once the button is pressed, the alarm will naturally sound and the unit in distress will be displayed on the electronic board situated outside. Today, the alarm was trigged by someone staying in unit #10-518 while I was there. I knocked on the door to rule out a false alarm before calling the police. The officer that picked up the phone told me that they have already dispatched officers to the unit already. So since there is nothing much I can do, I continued distributing the food. Strangely by the time I finished my rounds, the alarm was still sounding. I went back to the tenth floor and noticed that there were still no policemen in sight.

Two possibilities here, either the police officers have come and gone and who ever was inside was just playing itchy fingers, or, the police officers have not arrived at all. And should it be a case of genuine medicial distress, the minutes could mean the difference between life and death.

And I shall leave it as that.