where boys become (spoilt) men

been having a writer's block the past number of days. not just because of being busy which is not so then but becoming more now. ive got 4 projects and 2 individual assignments to be done within the next 4 weeks. plus a test to study for. really can die... MST was bad enough.

Alors, joel (finally) got enlisted into the army yesterday. now i have the whole room to myself, i can take over the desktop, ipod and table full time, have 1 less person hogging the toilet. since he was always out of the house or else in front of the comp, i dont feel much difference not having him around until bedtime.

too bad i couldnt go to see the place and the process. perhaps i could follow some other guy friend going in soon. but my parents were there, and they managed to sneak a few photos of the place with the hp camera. and i saw that the camp was so nice, the bunk like a hostel instead. nice clean tiled floors with individual spring beds. a row of study tables in the middle, some lounge with sofas and TV and even board games. the canteen is like one of the better school canteens, serving real good food, buffet style. parade square is brick pavement. from the bunk can see nice view of the tekong sea.

of course this is very different from my perception of the army camp at first. i expected it to be similar to those scout camp venues. perhaps some proper mattresses but in a lousy small bunk, or worse, like sarimbun scout camp, sleeping in tents above bare soil. canteen would be simple and so would the meals, and sometimes outdoor cooking in which you cant cook much and would rather skip the meal. parade square a grass field or tar road. a very backward kind of place where it looks rundown and eerie and ghost stories generate. i was so wrong.

well i thought, how are the boys gonna receive their training to be tough and adaptable when they are given all these comforts so close to home? all those BMT exercises would only train their fitness, but not their independence on those comforts. in times of war, all that will go. i dont see the need to make the camp so nice. it spoils the guys and also uses up more resources. no wonder the govt expenditure on military so high.

now seeing whats the camp really like, im kinda looking forward to going army! from what i know, i have no physical defects or handicap so might get PES A.. which i dun like. perhaps some day later i might find out a small defect big enough to excuse me.