Just So!

The main highlight of my previous bookout was going for Anna & Abigail's SMU musical "Just So" :)

Anna played the Zebra - one of the main characters in the whole plot. And Abigail was the Alto back up vocal.

Seated in the $21 seats in Victoria Theatre were Meryl, Priscilla, Eunice Chua, Rebekah, Jeremy Teo & Myself :)

Overall, I thought that this production was really good. The only 2 mistakes which Jeremy & I spotted were firstly the uber out of tune singing by the jaguar and the leopard - 2 guys. They didn't go off tune initially but toward the ending phrase of the song, they went totally off. Abigail was telling me how the live band behind were also perturbed by their off notes...HAHA!

The 2nd minor mistake which Jeremy noticed was the Magician raised his hand to "summon" the lights set down but it didn't come down until 2-3 seconds later. Haha!

It was quite a good plot that tried to bring out the "Seek and you shall find" kinda philosophy behind it. The play started out with a baby elephant (Elephant Child) asking how all the animals came to be. "How come the elephant has a trunk?" etc... His herd and others ridiculed him and told him not to ask such stupid questions. But that didn't stifle his inquistiveness.

So he continued asking questions and the eldest magician (the creator) brought him on this journey to find the answers. On the way, he encountered one more problem, there was this king crab that is so big that whenever he comes out of the sea to find food, he will flood the world and kill off a fair bit of the animal population.

The catch is the eldest magician (the creator) can't use his magic to make the crab smaller cos his shell was too thick and his magic couldn't penetrate it.

So the elephant child went on to try to solve this problem where no else bothered to because everyone else were so resigned to the fate that this problem can't be solved. So he and the eldest magician went round to try to find the answer.

In the end, in the process of solving this crab problem, his questions were also answered.

Cool plot eh? I can't help but link it to the Christian context where we all have an innate desire to want to know our origins and have the empty feeling in our hearts that long for something more. We then start asking questions and usually the people around us will deem us "Think too much la" The elephant child represents us.

He then met the Creator, the eldest magician - Christ - who knows all the answers but didn't just tell it straight to his face. He brought him on a journey to discover that truth for himself. It's really like that with us and Jesus too. God always works with us humans to accomplish His will. He doesn't leave us out of this journey. Just that God would have the power to shrink the crab...Haha!

I don't know how others intepret this musical but I think the philosophical implication behind it is pretty cool :)

Yup, pictures!

Jeremy holding Anna's bouquet and me with Abi's bouquet :)

All of us + our dear Alto singer :D

Hopefully our church will be able to do something like this soon :)

Navigation Package

It's been 2 weeks since this happened so I shall try to relate the details of my recent navigation exercise... :D

Exercise Gypsy in Lower Mandai was a pretty cool one :D They simply gave us the MGR of our startpoint, 2 checkpoints, 2 long points and 1 end point and threw us into the startpoint in the jungle.

The bad thing about this was...it rained the first half of the day so when we started our navigation exercise, it was wet and a few places were waterlogged... -_-" Anyway...

We found the first checkpoint only after like 30mins+? The first checkpoint was like 1km? Can't exactly remember but we drifted off the compass' azimuth...haha. Thank God we found another checkpoint with another group there who gave us the MGR of where we were. From there we recalculated the azimuth and direction to head to our checkpoint :) Whew...

Next checkpoint was the most vivid memory to me...HAHA. FYI, I was the plotter...the one who marks out our progress on the map. Here goes the story...

We were heading in the right direction and all. We were supposed to hit a road track in like 300m and we would follow it to our checkpoint. The problem was...there was a stream before the road track and that stream wasn't reflected on the map. So when we hit the stream, some of my group mates straight away jumped to conclusion that it was the track that we're supposed to hit.

I objected, telling them that this stream can't possibly be the track because a track is a track - hard ground with rocks and all - and a stream is a stream - soft soil! Even an idiot can tell that. Haha! But they rationalised saying "Oh it rained this whole morning to afternoon la...so maybe the track is waterlogged like that now la..." Ok, granted but I had 2 more reasons for my belief that the stream wasn't the track...

According to our pacer, our track is at least a good few hundred metres ahead and when I calculated the azimuth of the "track", it is totally off when compared to the azimuth of the real track that was on the map. But they refused, rationalising "Oh, the pacer paced inaccurate la because we skirt around bounds" How off can the pacer be? Unless he didn't do his job. But he was.

As for the track azimuth: "Oh, the track isn't straight what...it will wind left and right thus the azimuth will not be exact." Hello, the general aziumuth or general direction which the "track" a.k.a. stream is leading is way off the one on the map!

Although I knew that they were most probably wrong, I didn't insist on my way. Why? Because if they followed my instructions and get lost, they'd be complaining and whining about me. So I relented in order to avoid their unpruned character issues. haha.

So we followed the instructions of the "leaders" (or rather more blatantly outspoken ones in the group) to follow the stream (NOT TRACK) and guess what? We got LOST :)

Upon being lost, we simply headed south all the way because we'd hit the highway if we did.

My gosh, if I was the one who suggested following the stream and if they were the ones suggesting going beyond that...I'd kena kao-peh by them. I felt like kao-peh-ing them as well, but didn't la. I mean, what do you get out of it? People like to harp on others' weaknesses & mistakes and when the same is done to them, their face grow blacker than the africans. Haha.

So I do unto others what I'd want others to do unto me...but usually, in this carnal, Christ-less world, it isn't reciprocated.

Anyway, that's the main thing I learnt I guess...grace. :D To them it was just another exercise in the jungle, to me each day brings a different facet of your character out. I need the love of Christ to wash my eyes to see my friends the way Christ sees them, cos I think I ain't any better.

There's always some weakness to point out and some flaw to pick, but sometimes, it's just better to love :)

My next navigation is Exercise Wanderer in Tekong!! May the good Lord lead me :)

I'm not satisfied to have the form but not the power!

Saturday morning was Street E for me, which I overslept......As usual...haha. I'm gonna get a good one from Cai Jie in my next follow up next sunday man. Haha. I'll bring my bullet-proof vest out of camp when I meet him...HAHAHA! :P

After service prac, Jon Wee, Percy, Lemuel & I were just jamming and singing songs. Percy & Lemuel left soon after so Jon Wee & I were just singing songs as I played the keyboard. Our random singing of worship songs slowly became a mini worship session. That's when the rangers came in to take over the audi... -_-" Haha.

Jon Wee & I then proceeded to the prayer room to have a time of prayer & sharing. It was a cool and interesting experience since it was my first time praying with Jon Wee. But I'm sure we brought something out of there :)

Soon after, Matthew came and Jon Wee, Matthew & Eunice + Zi Hui left for dinner @ Marina Square while I went to bugis to meet my section mates for a game of L4D2!! :D haha.

I was there early so I did a little shopping and I bought a really, really nice, black, checkered berms @ $15!! :D Whoo hoo! I'm so happy with my buy! Haha.

After that was just a time of spraying bullets and swinging axes, swords and whatever melee weapons at zombies. Haha.

Yup, I hope my next few saturdays'll be more fulfilling. I just wana spend time with a friend that really cares and I can just be at ease with even without talking...cos I've got pretty little things to say now...All the frustration and airing that needs to be ranted has been said...Just wana enjoy someone's company...a group'll be fine too.

Anyway, I wana catch up and spend time with Daryl before he enters army on the 4th of Feb! HAHA! Jia you mans :D

And the song "Believe" which I led was pretty good, other than a few feedback that the song was too slow...HAHA! During svc prac it was perfect. During service it wasn't as good...O well at least the worship atmosphere of the congregation was good :)

Yup, look forward to improving our worship team and worship atmosphere. :)

SISPEC Field Camp 1 - Section Battle Course

FCO - Field Camp Over!! Can't describe the feeling man. Anyway, I remembered SMSing a bunch of friends to pray for my enjoyment of this field camp and to pray that it won't RAIN. Guess what? The following day, IT RAINED. HAHAHA! Well the definition of prayer isn't plainly "ask and you shall receive" but it is "aligning your will to God's will". So don't try to blame God for this Jonavan. HAHA! I won't :)

Anyway, thank God that it didn't rain at night; for the 3 days it rained within the afternoon to early evening period. Whew...if it rained at night, we'd be sleeping on water-beds......Ok, not water-beds but MUD-BEDS. Haha.

Nevertheless, I didn't enjoy nor did I dread this field camp. Haha. So yeah.

Sleeping without a basha tent covering you really sucks. We merely throw a ground sheet on the jungle floor, lie on it and went to sleep. So in the middle of the night, ants would drop onto my body and spiders would land on my vest. Thank God the spider & ants weren't those ferociously big kind...HAHA!

There were 2 memorable moments of this camp which I will always remember:

1) We were doing our section quick attack. So when we flanked the enemy, we had to bash through a lot of vegetation. And I remember charging through the thick bushes and I came to an abrupt halt when I saw a SPIDER WEB the size of at least HALF MY BODY in front of me! Haha!

We were supposed to continue bashing through until we were in line with the IC and then we were to lie flat on the ground (prone) BUT I stopped and stood there until our group re-org. HAHA! Thank God the sergeant didn't see me if not he'll make me bash through the spider web man...HAHA!

2) Sniper drill. Basically, I fireman lift (something like piggy-back) my friend and had to bring him to "safety". I thought my legs would give way man. My other friend took over after I carried him for like a good 10m and after that, I carried him again for another 10m. HAHA!

Good thing is, next time, I'd have no problem carrying my girlfriend whenever she needs a lift. HAHA!

Finally, I also want to thank God that I'm not one of the 10 people who misfired or lost their equipment and upon doing so, also lost their weekend. Haha!

So yup, 2 more field camps to go!!

2nd week of the new year :D

NS ate my saturday for live firing of matador & the M203... -_-" At least it was fun :) haha...For civilians, matador is an anti-tank missile launcher and the M203 is a SAR-21 rifle equipped with a grenade launcher :)

Firing of the matador almost left me deaf. Even with my earplugs on, my right eardrums went *YEEEEEEEEE* when I pulled the matador's trigger...the kinda sound you hear when the room is all quiet. My right ear drum went deaf for about a minute and my left ear was doing all the work. Haha. Now I know what a flashbang does to you. Haha.

And for my IPPT, I got a SILVER! :) That means I get an extra $100 in my next pay!! :) Whoo hoo!! Thank you guys for your prayers!! :) And thank you God for granting my legs the power to jump a silver standard for SBJ :D haha.

Anyway, upon my bookout, all I did was eat and eat! Haha. I went to meet Melvin, Jon Wee, Xiao Hua & Joel @ Orchard for awhile before proceeding to a peranakan restaurant near Thomson Plaza. The food was good :D Really good.

After that we went to Eunice's place for fondue! :D By the end of the day, my tummy was bloated with Peranakan cuisines and the o-so-unhealthily-sweet chocolate fondue...HAHA.

Next week's my FIELD CAMP!! Do pray that I'll enjoy it :) haha...Yup. That was my week :)