朽木百哉のブォグ

I was in miiltary greens and ran across vast lands; one of them was the police training facility that was atop a hill facing the expressway near Newton.  At one of my runs, I ran across the academy facility and stood right at the edge of the camp, with the creeper-infested fence and at one glance, I could see the entire city's skyview nearby.

In my mind, I told myself that this had been the best run that I did.  Time to make my way back.  The route back was a litle different as I have to move through troops who are on standby; they were in a staggered and loitering formation across several buildings; and I was the only one "charging" around, ducking corners while executing the "check clear" moves before moving ahead.

Next scene showed me passing through the busy streets of HK where a guy who resembled Maverick was running around; there were paparazzi who were squeezing off their dSLRs at the stall he set up at the ground floor where one can see lots of handheld consoles toys and other kids's stuff; at the other end, I was getting to the ground floor on a lift where a guy named "Calvin" was begging; hair was shoulder-length and he was dressed in a vertical-striped white lined shirt against a black background; he tried entering the lift and wanting us to give him some money but both myself and my companion declined and shooed him off.  I told her that he has no physical disabilities and is so young, why should we help him this way?

At the ground floor, that was when I saw his stalls set up but he was running around to beg for money instead.  It was like another case of a young person who was either retrenched or went bankrupt.

We were up there as we went to visit a lady who was placed in a special ward after getting the "electric shock" theraphy to erase unwanted memories from her - one of those patient who needed special care from mental torment in the earlier stage of her life.  She seemed much better now.

Next scene showed this agile guy who was running around; there was this place where there were many concrete pipes stacked together making it resemble a structure that many youngsters like hanging out in; so sometimes it's not surprising you can see a couple of legs sticking out as they lay in one of the cylinders snoozing away.  So this cheeky, yet agile guy was moving quickly from left to right, grasping his fingers through the cylinders quickly while shifting himself with his toe-to-drain that was hardly gripping.

There was part where he mischeviously swiped a person and then all of us quickly fled the scene; dearie was with us and we pretended to patronise the stalls along that street selling ladies' stuff while "Maverick" hid on top of the stacked cylinders where this angered person could not find him.

Now I saw myself at another part of Penang with Kevin and Iris, but this is across the road so things looked a little different.  Switchback to after browsing through a few put up stalls, the next scene that showed was a truck that drove up and down a very hilly place.  The scene now was a scene to nab a notorious crook was in hiding.  The final scene before the "destruction" showed him (resembling Liu Qianyi the local senior actor) trying to continue influencing people with drugs, which was input through a cigarette-style consumption apparatus; infact it appeared to be a regular cigarette but the tobacco chamber was seemingly soaked and the smell of the smoke reeked with a very strong odor.  Surprisingly, a person who resembled Kevin was one of the victims in this scene.  I resisted the crook's offer.

The destruction scene began; "Kevin" told me that I have to preserve his stomach if it is still intact as both himself and the crook slowly ashed from the exterior into total black, volcanic cooled magma-like material; "Kevin"'s stomach and the food pipe could be seen glowing just like the cut-through diagram of the volcano's magma and the channel to the top of the mountain; in an orangy glow with some glitter sparks.

Finally, both the crook and "Kevin" were destroyed and what's left of "Kevin" were strips of grass jelly like material where I had to contain him in one of those blue, stackable trays (similar to those used by bread deliverers).  A HK detective bashed through the iron door and I showed him the way where the crook was and what's left.  All these had to be brought back for investigation.  As for "Kevin" that was all of his remains.

Switchscene brought me back to the hilly area where a truck could be seen; it was driving through endless tall vegetation just like those in corn fields.  The truck had a metal frame on the back where some people could be seen.  At the other side of the field, this was a part where the vegetation grew in the watery part of the land; and under these vegetation, a lady in white hoody could be seen swimming quietly, without any ruffles to the vegetation, drawing close to the slow-moving truck.  She stopped once she got within distance and slowly emerged from the water; and raising her blowpipe.

She had purple hair, blue eyes and some markings on her face which seemed to be from some anime.

Eyes opened, 7:40am.

Back to the good old school days where I saw the familiar walls, pillars and casement windows in my secondary school premises.  Some of us were looking for this classmate, nicked 'Blur Queen' but somehow she could not be found.  There was something we needed to know, but for some reasons, she is not in school.

Next scene shows me in the classroom for examinations.  It was a triple paper all to be assessed in a single say.  Weiqiang held up the timetable and I scringed at the sight of the schedule.

First paper and the invigilator came in; a caucasian man; Kevin was seated infront of me for this paper. For some reasons, we got the seating arrangement mixed up as it was laterally inverted when we read it earlier, so we had to move.

Switchscene - back to the Three Kingdoms era where a combat took place between Guan Yu and his son, Guan Xin.  The battle was intense but at the back of Guan Yu's mind, he had to hold back as he did not want to hurt his son.  Seemed like the setting was arranged by Cao Cao, who watched in glee as part of his plan to rid one of the famous of the 5 Tiger Generals.

Eyes opened; no buzzing from clock but iPad read 7:10 am.  Time to get ready to return to Bombardment Centre.
.

Back to the battlestation track.

Finally after another day's rest has the temperature improved, lesser phlegm (though the reek still lingers in my airway) and generally felt much better as compared to Friday.  Thanks to my beloved angel for her tender loving care that also contributed to the recovery phase.

That paper is still hanging out there so I just have to re-conquer it.

Another full week again ahead, hope everything runs smoothly daily and especially without any unnecessary mental distress from the Endless Siren back there.  One would realise that as time passes, internal factors are the main causes of making people feel sick.

Till then, looking forward to finishing up the day and heading home.

I entered this town which resembled the busy streets of places like Ho Chi Minh which were packed with merchants, right in the heart of the night market.  Street and stall lights could be seen as I walked on the 2nd deck of a multi-storey complex nearby.

Next scene brought me to this concentration-camp type of building which was a little unusual - there were proper classrooms, and even rooms where inmates can watch TV after dinner.  In this scenario, I was "sent in" for 7 days for being late to return from a particular meal break - seemed like a reminder of some occurance of my military past.

Somehow, I saw the actress 德馨 in TV and later on, I entered a dream and got to see her in person right there and then.

The next scene showed me in a school where there were several classes; some labelled for law students while some are labelled econs students.  There was this classroom I entered which was unlabelled and while my classmates were busy talking to those in this classroom, I took the lead and randomly asked one of the students in the class, in which one of the guys responded and told me that this classroom is occupied for law lessons.

That resolved the mystery and we moved to our correct classroom.  It was like back to the good old school days again.

Next scene showed a royal parade where everyone was formally dressed, seated proper and one of the royal was walking down the isle; there were several replays in which the royal was impersonated by someone else; identical countenance except for the hair color.  It later turned out the actual royal was a very laid back, boorish person where one of the "footages" showed him yawning loudly, stretching all over while he was walking during the rehearsal sessions of this grand event.  Looks like the impersonators behave much better.

Eyes opened.  7:40am.  My temperature had finally subsided.

The ultra clot on the airway, unstoppable sniffing, runny nose after several late nights preparing for this 2nd barrier big day ended with a result that was to my great disappointment.

No doubt it was the first attempt, the red four-letter word on the screen after the examination was probably the reason that amplified the illness that I had already been experiencing since morning.  Ups and downs throughout the week without a night of decent rest.

Oh well, the day ended with a few phrases.  Defeat.  Shame, Sick and all the preparation had come somewhat to an abrupt fall into the crevasse.  Good news for my colleague who attempted and passed at the 1st attempt, thus avoiding wasting money on this paper.

I have to do this paper again.  With only 2 weeks' into the Time Compression Phase, I do not know if anyone can imagine how my evenings and weekends have been spent after leaving the battlestation - just pure mugging and endless mugging.  How long will this kind of lifestyle be on going?  Occasional breaks like last week will definitely be needed.

The most wonderful thing I had this evening was the company of my beloved angel.  It is to my regret that I am not in the pink of health to enjoy the evening with her till I am fully recovered.

The final night of preparation before the big day tomorrow where I have to clear the 2nd barrier, and then the 3rd.  All these has to be done by end of this month.

More intensive revision and trail papers done to get myself more familiar with the questions.  With the pattern of questions familiarised, the battle should not be too tough.  After clearing this barrier, I will have one final to clear before life resumes the normal path for me, both physically and mentally.

The body's not all comfortable as there are signs of rest and recovery needed, but I must hang on and clear this.

Alright, pit stop.  Also to buy some time to catch up with those revision which I had not been able to do so on a full-throttle basis the past few days.

Looking at the clock, I had spent literally more than 12 hours with the books though the pace was not constant in between; sometimes slow as I was visually distracted by a movie I had screened on the TV to keep me company while sometimes, the mind just wanders of elsewhere.

The bed and I had almost became one as I had sat on this place, shifting positions between the hours and taking the refreshment breaks occasionally.  Papers look more seasoned now after the various attempts on the different set questions that I had gone through.

Tough nights ahead but I must continue to hang on!

I recall the last thing I saw was a video compilation done by Zack Arias about Signal and Noise before I fell into this world beyond dreamland.

It was a constant reminder of the photography spirit that permanently resides in major part of my mind, also known as "soul sleep", waiting to be unleashed.

This time, I saw myself with a few ECPers at a major photography event held in a place that resembled Marina Square.  It seemed a little cordoned off and we were shooting models all around these cordoned area in scattered groups.  Familiar faces of some of the regular models we see at event like Si Ting can also be seen at the event.

The place had a soft filter like effect which resembled veil draped over one's eyes that made the place amazingly soft and pleasing to the eyes.

After a short re-org, I opened my eyes, and was back to reality.  Clock read: 7am.

Ok it's back to the books for dessert evenings once again.  Immediately after dinner, I had to head back to my books.  Did a few chapter readings to refresh the knowledge before attempting at those papers.  The night before had been a late night as the mind was rather unsettled about all the revisons, anxiety (inevitable) prior to the paper. 

I had been told by Queen that this paper wasn't easy and there were people who attempted it 6 times and still did not clear it.  Oh well, words are words and it's not that I don't take them seriously, but it's also partially depending on which set of questions are given at the exam itself.

I should sleep a little earlier tonight.

The week had just returned to the battlestation week.  With shortened lunches (yes, eating alone perpetually), slightly longer hours, the time had been effectively filled.  I still have to juggle with the after battlestation hours to man that book which judgement day awaits me this coming Friday.

I just have to keep going though I had slept a little later than usual last night.

Another weekend is over and once again I had the opportunity to bring dearie beyond Singapore borders for food and entertainment.  The local places are simply uninteresting.

I decided to give a roadside Chendol stall a try as it was pretty hot in the earlier part of the trip.  Not the best and pretty costly.

Lunch was done at Koo Chuan coffeeshop where we had Penang prawn noodles.  Food was served fast and we overheard the stall owner replenishing their soup during our dining.  The drive up was pretty smooth.  Despite a passing downpour, we were well-sheltered in the big Aeon mall, which was our next stop.

Moving on, it's almost dinner time when we left the mall and went back to KSL City for some in-between meal fillers and more shopping.   By dinner, we were all ready to head to the famous 旺仔淥淥 along with the famous abalone noodles.  As these fried stuffs were rather filling, we couldn't go for the 2nd round and it's time to get back.

A worthy day trip and break well-spent with dearie from all the book-mugging sessions that went day-to-day!

The 2nd night of the Long and Thick book continues.

I have had done the first round, in a time compression basis over 2 days on a weekend earlier.  Moving into the 2nd round, I have to make use of every available evening to stockpile up the knowledge bank.  As the paper is only next week,  time, is not my ally this round.

Looking forward to the end of this dry, and seemingly endless nights of mugging.

I saw myself in this building where the entrance to the showroom of one of the networking marketing firms was just at the entrance of it; the architecture resembled that building which I had once attended  a time sharing event that eventually irked me off with their hardselling techniques.

Nevertheless, I met an old friend who had also left the industry and we were talking about how that place brings back memories as we watch the youngsters going all out in their involvement.  It was like we were watching it, our presence oblivious to those who were there.

The next scene showed me entering an 'MV'  of an ex-celebrity, Sebastian Shen who had left the showbiz for more than a decade; it aas a kind of KTV environment where I saw many old folks singing ther hearts out.

Next scene showed me watching some recruits talking about all their experiences while waiting for their passing out parade while they were in the bunk; the odd thing is that they had the armband worn by NSMen and were still dressed in the old greens.

The RSM was coming in and one of my comeades, David Mak was still sleeping; however, he was able to sleep in a guitar case with no tell-tale sign that someone was inside.  The case looks ordinary on the outside and yet seemingly contained an extraordinary depth.

Next scene showed me interviewing this gorgeous lady who is a radio presenter, who shared with me that she now weighs only 47kg and how she ballooned up in weight when she went Japan many years back (as much as 83kg); I somehow could not match her face to a name as she didn't seemed to be someone I have read about.

Eyes opened to the buzzing clock at 630am.

Another book-mugging evening to start the week after having soakes myself in another book, for another exam which will be coming up in a couple of weeks.

The world after eyeshut was greeted by entering a room which was made out of a cave's enclosure.  It  was somewhat a kind of underground base; cabinets of glass could be seen in an adjacent room which was lined with wooden reinforcements; it was a room with displays of various emblems of war such as medals, miniature scale models and the sort.  Quanquan was with me and commented on the 'made in Egypt' sign that was pasted along the trimmings of the glass cabinet.

He was also talking about the radiation level in one of the Taiwan base (suddenly there was a map showing radiation hazards around the area) which had occured quite sometime back.

I was lead into this room where some guys in Swat-style uniform were doing a training with a new measure of personal defence against chemical warfare without the use of protective masks; in their LPV were several bottles of orange / blue liquid.  Demonstration showed that these were alarms and were thrown in sequence where the bottle breaks and the liquid vapor mixes to create the agent present in chemical warfare, but on a simulation basis.

Next, they had these bottles which were opened and inverted near the nasal airway  and also near the ears; when they took effect, the user will feel numbness and these chemical agents will pose no effect anymore.

I saw a bunch of people leaving the adjacent room and now they are all seemingly leaving the 'gym bar' for some food and drinks after a good workout session.

Before I left, I saw a gold-faded goblin artifect in the cabinet which was expressionless; I cringed my face and it followed suit.

Eyes opened. 7am.  Back to the real world.