Sunday, September 30, 2012
I've been through 3 weeks of UIP and counting at my new camp. UIP means unit induction programme by the way and its not a good thing unless you're like my masochistic friend. UIP lasts for 1month+ i think?
UIP is a way to build discipline that has been long lost in the 2 months spent at peaceful and laidback Stagmont camp. Its is a time where Sergeants can so particular about the number of clothes hangers you hang or the arrangement of your shaver in your wardrobe or the amount of foot powder in your powder bottle.
It is also a time where you may expect random calls for fire drills during your admin time or late into the night (sometimes even twice in a row!).
Oh! Before I forget, there is sai kang to be done too!
Nevertheless, Jurong Camp will be my 2nd home for the next 1+ years. My commanders are actually quite good, the toilets are good, food amazingly delicious and lao jiaos are quite friendly. Nat Geo, Discovery channel and Reader Digest magazines are my only source of entertainment. Monopoly deal as well.
I have nothing to complain about it all, except that I have spent many sleepless nights awaiting a night turnout or firedrill. My friends probably have more complaints then me because I'm quite easy going.
When the "standard" is kept, we will be left in peace. But we will often fall prey to the common "zzz" monster that plagues the whole platoon. Or the "sotong" will come and sabotage us. Deep in our hearts, we'll yell :" Wtf! Don't sabo leh!"
Then we'lll just suck it up as our commanders order us to face the floor and air hump it.
We have to sing as though we are howler monkeys, to make sure the company across the parade square can hear us even with the generators on.
Like it or not, this is my home for the rest of my NSF days.
When the going gets tough, the man gets tougher :)
signing off.
Call Of The Wild at 6:18 PM
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Today, I peeled gingko nuts.
It was an event of no particular importance. The gingko nuts were bought, boiled and cracked.
Then they simply had to be peeled to remove the hard shells and fibrous brown layer of skin to reveal its golden yellow flesh.
I was reluctant to peel it at first, because I felt lazy. My Mum just told me to peel them.
Oh well, since I'm free, might as well be a bit productive.
I took hold of a nut.
crack*
crack*
peel
peel
peel
crack*
crack*
one peeled gingko with its brown skin still on.
There were quite a lot of them, one bagful of gingko nuts.
They were for my Grandma, so that she may use them to boil in deserts. She's 83 this year, my dear Grandma.
To save my Grandma the trouble of peeling them, my Mum asked me to do it.
And i'm glad to be useful.
crack*
crack*
peel
peel
peel
crack*
crack*
While peeling, my Mum sews my insignia onto my uniform. She chats with me. It is during times like these where we could ever have a good talk because I often spend my time playing computer games.
She tells me that our generation is fortunate to have such a good standard of living, to have people to provide for us, to have parents to rely on.
I reply her in a mumble, my attention diverted to the gingko nut that just rolled off from my fingers.
She told me that Grandma, or Ahma; as i would like to call her fondly, lived a tough life when she was younger. For her, there was no such thing as receiving inheritance as her parents were too poor then.
crack*
crack*
peel
peel
peel
crack*
crack*
Mum told me that they used to have a farm, but even the land was leased.
Then Mum said something about this fortunate generation again which was similar to what she told me earlier. She tends to be a little naggy even in conversations.
My fond memories of living with Ahma were playing around with her sewing kit, tangling the spools and threads and needles. She would then get angry and chase me around the dining table with a cane in one hand, saying in teochew what a naughty child I was.
Afterwards she would catch me, then spank me on the hand, not hardly nor softly, but somewhere in between to convey that my actions were wrong.
Tediously peeling....
crack*
crack*
peel
peel
peel
crack*
crack*
ouch!
A fragment of shell lodged under my thumb nail. My finger bled a little.
The pain subsided after a while and i continued my task.
crack*
crack*
peel
peel
I also remember Ahma and me, sitting around the dining table, peeling lotus seeds, rolling tang yuan, plucking beansprouts or peeling gingko nuts. It was a simple joy, it felt fun since I had a lot of spare time when I was 5 or 6.
She will then call me a good boy in teochew while I giggled.
She will then use the lotus seeds to cook delicious lotus seed soup with logan, tang yuan will be made into tang yuan soup with chewy balls of glutinous rice with sweet soup, beansprouts will be stir-fried into a dish I used to dislike when I was younger and gingko will be cooked with barley and made into a desert.
crack*
crack*
peel
peel
peel
crack*
crack*
That was the last nut. Now my task is to scrub off its skin.
I filled a bowl with water from the kitchen tap, then dipped the nut in. I rubbed the skin, it comes off and reveals the golden yellow flesh beneath.
As I scrubbed, I thought of my childhood spent with Ahma. I also thought of how much less time I spend with her now; a few hours per week at present.
Even though I used to live with Ahma, I am not very fluent in teochew. I understand what she says, but it is hard for me to answer back. I merely nod or shake my head and speak basic teochew.
The bowl was filling up with tiny nuggets of gold. It is funny how something so simple like peeling gingko nuts can make you remember so much.
I hope to spend more time and treasure the amount of time I have left with Ahma. As people grow older, time becomes more precious. I hope to see her again tomorrow.
signing off.
Call Of The Wild at 3:50 PM
Sunday, September 02, 2012
Currently reading The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and I'm reading it at a slow pace.
Call Of The Wild at 4:30 PM