Storm of the century

For all the coming to 21 years of my life, i have never been afraid of thunderstorms. Unless i am out in the open and run the risk of getting instantly vaporized by a strike, lightning otherwise seems like a cool display of fancy lights lighting up the sky - especially at night. The thunder that follows merely adds a dramatic audio effect to the natural dancing lights that altogether forms an admirable display of God's creation.

That was until thursday morning.
At 1.30am, i awoke in my bunk bed to find that there was a huge storm going on outside. The smell of rain was wafting through the bunk, brought in by the wind which usually never reaches my poorly ventilated corner. I was looking out the windows stretching across the whole length of wall to witness the frequent flashes of lightning that turned the whole sky a luminous bluish-white, and illuminated some parts of the bunk. Suddenly, an enormous streak of lightning fell from the sky right before my eyes, seeming like only a hundred metres away, the lightning bolt was so bright i could see a glowing effect surrounding it, and everything in the bunk turned white for that moment. It was instantly accompanied by the loudest crack of thunder, which really sounded like the earth was just split apart before me, and the whole ground shook like when a bomb explodes. I was in total shock, blinded by the flash and shaken by the thunder, in reflex i let out a cry as if i had just been struck.

After a few seconds of stun, i wrapped myself in my blanket, covering all up to my neck. Lightning continued to flash every 10 to 20 seconds, and within one second a furious rumble would follow, causing the ground to shake each time. I felt like the world was collapsing, literally. Never had i experienced anything close to this, and this time i was in the centre of a raging storm. Not too surprising, as my camp is located in one of the most lightning-prone areas in singapore. But i was terrified, a little, and tried to just ignore everything and go back to sleep, suppressing all the adrenaline from the shocks.

Though i know there is nothing to be scared about, my senses kept telling me to keep alert. But soon i began to feel the security of the building and the roof over my head, keeping me totally safe from the storm outside. I fell asleep, feeling no threat at all from the scariest lightning and the loudest thunder.

In the morning, everyone was talking about it over breakfast. I found out that though i hardly saw anyone stirring and moving about during the ordeal, everyone was awoken by the storm. And then there are the stories, like someone seeing a shadow of a headless person cast in front of him when the lightning struck.... only to find out that it was from a set of hanging uniform! haha.

well, it was an interesting, even a cool experience. and as long as it doesnt disturb my sleep, i wouldnt mind witnessing such a storm again...

Home Alone

A family holiday to Phuket, staying in a spacious chalet/resort with which my dad somehow booked for free and has room enough for 6. thats what the plan was for the whole family; plus invited 2 friends along to take the 2 extra spaces, from May 20 to 23. And i was looking forward to go for it, though always bore in mind the possibility of not being able to take leave. I told the rest to book for themselves first, and when i find out that i can take leave then i would book my own ticket. It turned out to be the right choice.

Only not long ago, after passing out from training did i get the answer - a very straightforward and seemingly bochup 'CANNOT' from the one in charge. the reason? OEMP (on job) training.
Gosh, just when i thought i had exitted trainee life, i find that i am still stuck in it, just with a bit more freedom than before and a few regimentations dispensed.

I vaguely remembered in his reply something about HPI (an equipment that i will not specialise in), and i thought thats funny, why would HPI training be so important to me when i am Launcher-specialised?
True enough, yesterday - the day my family flew off for a nice holiday without me - was spent in camp, the first half of the day sitting in the flight office waiting while the HPI people do their training, and the the later half hanging around the hangar just doing a little launcher training (still half the time doing nothing) while most of the attention was spent on the HPI crew.

I was enraged. Why on earth was i denied of taking leave when there was hardly anything on for me?! I am forced to miss out on a nice holiday that probably wont come again anytime soon, and instead be stuck in camp wasting time away. Every moment being wasted, i thought of where i could have been by then, and what i could have been doing... snorkeling, enjoying the waves, nature, or marine creatures. but its all so far away now.

Being left out did not end there. i am currently at home - home alone - over the whole weekend. And even though i do not talk or interact much with my family when they are around on the weekends, it seems suddenly so different now. the emptiness in the house could always be sensed, and as it stretches over extended periods, it builds a depressing aura that just makes me lose interest in the things i do at home. Good thing i got to go out quite a bit.

Well i hope they are having fun without me. I wont be seeing them till next weekend. I hope more opportunities would come in place of this. And I hope my TCA chief had covered his butt from something by conveniently denying me leave...

Not forgotten

I see its been almost 2 months since i last blogged, and whoever has been visiting lately probably thinks the blog or its owner is dead... but the truth is, i have always remembered about my blog. but never had the mood, discipline, or inspiration to blog something.
one weekend drags into another, and everytime i find myself having to book in before i find any chance to blog.

Well im rather certain i would not forget or abandon this blog, like i intended from the start to be a whole collection of memoirs since the time it started. In a few days time, it will be the blog's 5th birthday, so.. happy birthday in advance!