.. perhaps.

Week 2

Sometimes I still look at you and am amazed that you're actually my kid.. abit hard to process the fact that I'm now a dad. =) your dad.. =)

that's you sleeping in your favourite position with your hand up to your face =)

and that's me with my new squeaky toy..

You seemed to have grown a fair bit these 2 weeks.. ur face definitely looks rounder and ur thigh's getting bigger too.. u also don't seem as flimsy as before. But you holler so much more now and refuse to sleep.. feisty little boy.

Mighty Foot!

You also had some friends come visit you.. granny came with your favourite (and only) auntie and Jeremy visited! Then Owen came to visit too! =)

and yes.. your very own eeyore's waiting for you to get bigger.. =)

Stay healthy my dear..

Snap!

Took some time to fiddle around with the phone again today.. in between managing Brandon's whines. FINALLY updated to BBOS10.2.1 and apparently it comes with some pretty neat features.

You see, for the longest time, I (and every other BB user and his brother's uncle's cousin who owns one) have struggled with the lack of apps that Blackberry devices face. We hear of all the cool stuff that Android and Apple users get (ie instagram), but BB users around the world never gets a part of that.. right until now.

With BBOS 10.2.1, u can now load android apps directly onto the phone, without either 1) downloading the android's APK file and converting to BAR files and then hooking up the phone to the PC and loading it via some BB software.. or 2) or finding those BAR files that were previously converted already and then doing the whole PC/software/install process.. now, with the new OS, u can just hit download and it'll download and install, all by itself. The better part of this afternoon was spent trying to find out WHERE to get these APK files from. THIS is one such website that lets u download the APK files directly, cos if u follow links around and wind up on Google Play's website, u actually need to log in and OWN an android/google device before u can install/download anything.. that said, it was still a nasty trip.. half (or actually all) the apps I grabbed and threw into my phone returned with errors. Either not installing, or not running or running with no buttons/functions.

And then, there was Snap.

Enter Snap.. a BlackberryDroid if you will. For those familiar with BlackBerry World, this is the similar version of it, except that it hosts android apps.. and mind you, Snap works flawlessly on the Q10. I pulled it off Blackberry World, installation was quick, and then lo-and-behold, I could now browse through tonnes of paid and free android apps.. apps that were never available to blackberry users before..

my personal favourite is the AXS and MacDonald's app.. haha.. wheee…

0 Week

Week zero.. well, actually it's the first week but it really depends how you count it. Forwards or backwards..

Either hows, he's a little more awake now at the end of his first week of being a little human being. Not so much of a sleepy head anymore.. probably the jaundice wearing off. Actually, he does seem pretty alert.. probably gets it from mummy =) eyes darting around all the time and always looking like he's resisting falling asleep, just to wonder off and explore the room around him.. curious little fella.. just like his dad.

0 Week.. grow up safe my dear. =)

Brandon's Journey

Decided to put up a page to document Brandon's journey..

=)

• 0 week
• week 2

Canon Colour Profiles

Mental note to Self..

Don't ever mess with the Colour Profiles for the printer again, or risk wasting another whole day at it.

1. Use Photoshop to do whatever you wanna do and compose/edit/create/whatever you want.. don't bother yourself with colour/ICC profiles.
2. Save it.. don't bother yourself with colour/ICC profiles.
3. Use Canon's Easy-PhotoPrint EX software and select the photos.. don't bother yourself with colour/ICC profiles.
4. Don't mess with the settings/preferences there either.. don't bother yourself with colour/ICC profiles.
5. Hit PRINT and smack your forehead wondering why you didn't just use this in the first place.. colours come out right everytime.

Moral of the story?
Don't bother yourself with colour/ICC profiles.

*faint*

The Mother of All Updates

Ok, so by far, since the very first post I made in 2006, this has been the longest stretch I have gone with no posts.. looking back it's been a good year since I last posted anything. 1 year and then some..

Honestly I have no idea how to update anything at all. There's just been too many things happening this past year, where do I start? Haha..

Ok, so let's try.

In the biggest news by far, I now officially have a new squeaky toy.. =)

Meet Brandon.. my new squeaky toy.

Brandon; meaning Prince or Brave.

It has been a long, long journey and as of 01 March 2014, Brandon took his first breath and is now officially a new member of our family. =) From the very first time we saw him at the gynae's, all the way up till the time we found out it'd be a boy, right through to the moment we heard his first cry, the journey is simply nothing short of fantastic.

Yes, I can already hear everyone telling me that the worst is only yet to come with the sleepless nights to follow and the feisty teenage boy to handle and all that.. heck, I was one myself.. but for now, I'll just bask in this joy and the fact that I'm now officially a dad. =)

Above: The little pea shape size with, surprisingly, a heartbeat that tells us that we're gonna be parents..

Centre: The little pea growing not-so-little anymore..

Below: The little pea slowly forming his little features..

Above: 19 September 2013, the day we found out our little pea was gonna be our little prince..

Below: Yes, I know, I'm still trying to find the resemblance with the squeaky toy above.

The most beautiful woman in the world just became a mum..

The little fella's having a borderline jaundice case, so he's currently catching a tan in his very own tanning studio now.. I guess that's good, cos it gives both mummy and daddy (woot!) some time to rest and settle down before bringing him home..

Dear Brandon, daddy prays that you will grow up to be strong, healthy and wise. May you walk closely with God and lean on Him at all times to provide you for everything that you will need. This world is a nasty place, but we're in it to make a difference and however small it may feel to you, you will make that difference too.. remember that in your darkest times, you are never alone in this world and you can always call on God to be there for you. Also, in your happiest moments, never neglect those around you, cherish your friends and in everything, give thanks. I pray that the Lord watch over you every step of the way as you grow up and that you'll be the man that God wants you to be. Be safe and healthy.. daddy looks forward to bringing u fishing and hiking and hearing of all your wonderful little stories =)

In a quick newsflash, it has been a busy 2 weeks leading up to the arrival of brandon.. I am thankful that the countless, nightly chants to him to come out only on 1st march paid off (yes, it actually worked.. u'd be surprised, ha).. major exercise over and shooting competition over.

It's actually the first time that I have participated in a major shooting competition, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity to have done so.. furthermore, it only gets sweeter when u don't come home empty handed.. we swept every possible award for the pistol event and won the overalls for the other disciplines.. leading up to the overall champion of the shooting meet =)

double-happiness..Match 1 and Top 5.

Ok, THAT took a while..

In other news, it has been 3 months since I left the company.. or rather, since the company left me. I still recall it rather vividly as I embarked on this new journey in late 2012.. I can't say that it was a smooth sailing journey, I definitely will not say that if I had the choice I'd do it all over again.. I'd just say that looking back at what I posted, God has His own timing and His own will. At that time, everything seemed ridiculous and out-of-control (as with most things when they follow His will rather than your will), but at the end of the day, I'm thankful for the journey and it has taught me much. Over and above personal/professional grooming, I have also made friends there that I believe will last me a lifetime..

I have also checked so many items off my bucket list with this tour. I recognize that had I not embark on this journey, these things would never have been possible.. from milestone overseas exercises, involvement in our nation's birthday and even performing well for the courses I attended.. these were really gifts that I did not deserve but that were graciously bestowed upon..

Moments just before the big day, and the big day itself..

Cherished friends made overseas and memories that will last a lifetime.. I am thankful for the experience that I have had and the many lessons I have learnt from it.

Thank You for seeing me through one of the most testing periods of my career thus far.. indeed, You are good and You have been there every step of the way as I made that struggle to be who You wanted me to be.. even at times when I felt alone, You were always there.

Thank You for sending me angels to remind me that things weren't that crazy when I felt I was spiraling out of control and for sending me companions that understood me through and through.. I acknowledge that it was purely by Your strength, wisdom and grace that I was able to accomplish what I did, without which, I would be nothing. I guess I probably wasn't the best person for the job, but I thank You for giving me this opportunity to be used by You in such an extent and I am truly grateful for the chance to have served You in this manner.. I pray that You will continue to use me as a willing vessel to achieve the many great things that You have planned, and I only ask that You watch over my family, just as You have watched over me.


and finally, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to mention about the trip back to perth.. it seems like a routine.. an annual rite that we have to do, else we'd feel misplaced.. this time, we went with 3 others.. the bestest crew in the world.. a fuzzy and his fuzzette, a smurf and his smurfette and a worm take a trip to find father penguin, mama penguin and little penguin.. =) I'm a little lazy to put this up as a post all by itself like the whole series on "The Twip" (read about it here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI and Part VII).. I really think that was just youthful energy and a whole load of time to spare.. but for now, I'm just gonna rest with these.. enjoy =)

Celebrated baby ethan's first birthday.. had a whole lamb, loads of food, family and friends.. one big party for one small penguin..

..so we found out that we ended up being colour coded, hah.

Visited a beach and also went to Penguin Island, where Ethan saw his long lost friends.. =)

..Mother of All Updates indeed.. will try to do this again soon. =)

Collecting dust..

*blows dust off*

This place seems dead.. think it needs some updates.

But i'm lazy..

*yawn*

iSad

nooooooooo...

Direct Memory Access

boringus title.. ha.

Yes, but I figured that I might not be the only one facing this issue, so if this helps even just ONE more person, than it would have served its purpose.. ‘paying it forward’ perhaps.. =)

So recently, like just a month back, I decided to do a clean reformat of my Windows partition seeing it had some errors (which I now know what it was but didn’t then). In essence, it decided to slow down so much over night that it was practically impossible to use.. and I couldn’t figure out why. I didn’t install any new program, I didn’t update any stuff, I just left it alone for a night and the next morning it was crawling..

Shortly after the reinstall and what-nots, I got my Windows XP updated to SP3 and got all the updates till then. It was good as new.. nice and fast.

But it didn’t last long.. about 2 weeks back, on a random night when I flicked the computer on, it took FOREVER to load my desktop.. what would typically be a 45 second wait became a 5 minute wait before I saw my desktop spring into life on my monitor.. every application I opened would be first accompanied by a painstakingly long wait and unresponsiveness of the OS altogether. The same bug bit.. and I didn’t know what it was.

So after days of trying to put up with a really slow computer (yes, even trying to fix my iPod), I finally found the problem and solution to it.. the 3 magic letters? DMA.

U see, by default, when set to AUTO under bios, Windows automatically tries to set ur harddisk up for the fastest speed it can access it with. New versions of hardware and firmware allows for DMA mode which is the fastest, now it even has Ultra DMA modes (UDMA).

BUT

Configured within the codes of Windows also includes a certain condition by which things change. As a default, when Windows runs into any errors (CRC) reading/writing to the harddisk, it takes note of it. Once u accumulate a total of 6 errors, it decides that the speed’s too fast for its own good and bumps it down a notch. So if u were at UDMA mode, it kicks u down to a slower version of DMA. And if u’re already at the slowest version of DMA, it sets u to use PIO mode.

The difference is staggering.. and it not just affects the harddisk speed, it affects ur CPU speeds as well.

PIO (Programmable Input-Output) mode works by taking up ur precious CPU processing time to read and write into ur harddrive. Think of it as each time Windows wants to read or write to ur harddisk, it has to have the specific instruction from the CPU, byte by byte, word by word. CPU tells it to write, then it writes. So our dear CPU is awfully busy when u want to just say, open an application or save a document.

DMA (Direct Memory Access) mode on the other hand, does the reading/writing independently of the CPU. All the CPU does is to tell a little controller that it wants to read/write and then the CPU is free to process other stuff while the controller does the reading/writing.. and once it’s done, it just sends an interrupt to the CPU to inform it that it’s done. Somewhat like delegating the task to someone else..

So the solution? After digging around I found what works for me and it’s detailed in the following few steps from Microsoft’s support site..

To re-enable the typical, or faster, transfer mode for an affected device:

1. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.
2. Click System Tools, and then click Device Manager.
3. Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers node.
4. Double-click the controller for which you want to restore the typical DMA transfer mode.
5. Click the Driver tab.
6. Click Uninstall.
7. When the process completes, restart your computer. When Windows restarts, the hard disk controller is re-enumerated and the transfer mode is reset to the default value for each device that is connected to the controller.

And there u have it! My comp’s finally back to the blazing speeds it used to have.. and all in time for the new year =) woot!

DMA modes for both my Harddisk and DVD drive..

Latest earwax?

Mandy Moore’s I wanna be with you..

L0ve-H@te relationship..

Yes, it’s aimed at the l33t wannabe inside me..

Technology.. sigh..

So after seeing my iPod touch collecting dust inside my pouch, I decided to do a little housekeeping and tinkle around with it.. tried to get some new apps and games and then came across the fact that I COULD possibly update my humble iPod to the latest iOS it will handle; 4.2.1.

Thinking that it’s safe, I dived in and went to update the iOS.

Can u see where this is going already? Ha..

Soon after, the visit to JailBreakMe tells me that my device is not supported and I’ll have to use Redsn0w instead. My initial thoughts were OH DAMN, since the only other time I’ve used anything similar was the Absinthe thing for dar’s iPad.

So I tried and long story short, that got messed up; it wouldn’t come out of the boot logo. Then I tried to fix it by using Greenpois0n but that didn’t work either cos Cydia refused to install. It just keeps telling me that it’s already been installed, but when I try to run it, it goes into an endless loop of rebooting..

Long story short, after a long long long long long time trying to reset the ipod to factory settings (which didn’t work by the way) and wound up having to get it into DFU mode and then managed to re-load the clean 4.2.1 iOS.. THEN trying the Greenpois0n thing again, did it finally work.

So after 8 hours, my humble iPod now has a new iOS installed and some new toys in it.. thankfully it worked though, I was almost prepared to make a paper weight out of it and get me another one already.. *phew* and not like I can just get the newer ones with a camera in-built.

At least it worked out well.. =)

my new boot logo animation.. =)

Let Go, Let God.

..To live by the Ranger Code.. To make the Golden Rule my daily rule.

18 years ago, I stood stomach-in-chest-out for the first time in my life and recited, amidst a long verse, those very words. The first time I was to don a regimental uniform.

Fast-forward to now, and I am reminded of those very words I uttered as I face this moment in my life. The meaning has changed quite profoundly for me, now that those 6 letters mean something else to me, but in essence, something still burns inside, which resounds with those very words above.

It was a desire I’ve always had in me to be able to inspire. To be able to influence in how ppl think and to shape the way they perceive the world, and therefore their actions that follow. I do believe that this stems from the very ppl that have influenced me throughout this journey in life.. ppl that have been my guitar heroes, the sages in my life, the intelligent, witty and carefree.. who have inspired me to shred hard and fast, spoken much wisdom into my life and showed me that there’s more to life than my perception of it..

In one way or the other, these ppl influenced me and made a difference in my life. They showed me what their purpose in life was, they displayed to me their characters through their actions, and that inspired me. It made me want to be someone like them. And the best part, they probably weren’t even trying.

And in the same way, I now turn things around and have this urge to want to inspire. It’s something I can’t quite put a finger on.. it’s like when I decided to start this phase of my passage in life. The math doesn’t add up (does it ever? Ha), everybody somehow tries to convince me that it won’t work out (and usually they succeed), but somehow there’s just this thing that tells me it’s the right thing to do. Or at least, it’s what I was meant to do. That sickening inner voice that speaks without words.

So now, I’m at this point where I feel reluctant. Reluctant to have to make a change in my life, but yet, something inside me stirs and this seems the way I should be going. Let go.. and Let God.

So I pray that as I willingly commit this new chapter of my life unto You, You will use it for Your glory. I do not expect that it will be a bed of roses, in fact I actually think it’s gonna be an uphill fight all the way, but I choose to trust that You who have started the good work in me will see it to completion. I choose also to give You praise in whatever the situation, recognizing that You have deliberately planned for me to learn lessons which will help me grow.. even if it hurts.

I just ask that every step of the way, You send me gentle reminders of why I’m doing it, and that You are watching over me, even when I should feel alone. Empower me to be the compass to direct the many men placed under my charge and give me the wisdom to lead their hearts; that I can be an inspiration to them. May the next 2 years bring You the glory that You deserve and most importantly, thank You for choosing to use me, as part of Your great plan. May my life be Your living example for them to follow..

The First of Many..

It’s been more than 9 months since my last post. Somehow, that’s a record. Not to say it’s a good one, cos I’d really like to have kept this blog alive.. but so many and so much has happened.. one thing dragged to another.. things get overtaken by other events and before I know it, here I am.. sitting in front of my comp, finally getting down to another post.. 9 months later. Great. Some record.

The past 9 months has been filled with a myriad of events.. I’ve seen myself going overseas at least 4 times, of which most of them were work related.. I’ve been to places that I’d never have wanted to re-visit (but still did in the end) and done things which I don’t want to ever recall in the name of ‘work’, but yet, I’ve also seen some of the most dashing scenes, had the most brilliant meals, taken the most astounding pictures and spent the best times overseas too. So who am I to complain really..

I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best soldiers from around the world and they have given me an insight to how human they really are.. how down-to-earth they really are, and it blesses me to see that they are so willing to do their job and do it well.. the sheer dedication and the kind of life they choose to live.. it’s refreshing to see how a foreign counterpart thinks so different simply because of the environment he is in.. even though we may be doing a somewhat similar job in a somewhat similar setting.. I am humbled.

Ok, that said, I’m still trying to figure out just what else to type in here. It’s a never ending story, the past 9 months.. too many events to be typing away at one go, at 2 in the morning.. for one, my computer decided to poop out on me once again.

The typical windows comes with its once-a-so-very-often-need-to-format syndrome, and after spending 2 days, I think I got it back to how it used to be.. the previous hardwork of trying to ghost the image of the harddisk didn’t seem to quite work.. so I gave up and started from scratch.. now I think I’ve gotten the most up-to-date system I’ve ever used in the past 5 yrs. Haha.. so maybe it’s a good thing after all..

And esp, cos I didn’t bring my OLD photoshop5, I’m now forced to install my Photoshop CS5 after it arrived in the mail more than a year ago. FINALLY..

There’s still a tonne to update, a tonne to talk about and a tera-tonne of pictures I’d love to upload. But that’ll probably have to wait.. hopefully I see some light at the end of this very dark tunnel of my work life..

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. It's here.. Woohoo!!

I have a Kitchen.. so I will cook.

It’s been waay too long since my last post. Amongst the excuses that I can think up, includes: moving too many things to the new place.. trying to settle down in the new place.. the all important event of the year that was my wedding (which, I better state now, that it warrants another post all by itself).. trying to be mr fix-it-all and putting the things from ikea together myself.. trying to settle back to work..

So some of the things that HAS actually happened in the past few months since the last post would be that, 1) I got married! 2) I had a hunnymoon 3) I’ve since moved into my new place 4) the place is a mess and I’m still up to my ears trying to sort it out and am still currently living out of a suitcase.. I guess that’ll be 4 posts that I should be writing about individually in the near future then. Hurhur..

So anyways I’ve finally gotten down to moving the monster of my desktop to my place and I’m happily furnished with an internet connection and for the first time in my life *breathe* CABLE TV!! Haha, I now finally experience how it’s like and why it’s possible to actually sit in front of the tv the whole day. Hah.

Today marking the 3rd day of CNY this year, we decided to make lunch + dinner.. and between that, I decided to bake cookies.. so I typically spent the whole day in the kitchen. Hah.. well done.

Lunch was a simple fish thing.. trying out this new frying pan thing we got. Then it was baking time! Cookies.. the perfect excuse to break in my new oven.. =)

cookies!

Then dinner came along and I pulled out the beef that we got yesterday.. mr chuck tender. =) thanks to the montreal steak seasoning, I FINALLY figured out how to get a perfect tasting steak. Can’t believe how simple it actually is and I can’t believe I actually spent all that time burning my previous steaks in the marinade I tried to DIY. What nonsense.. it’s so simple actually.. just sprinkle and cook. Wah la! *mutter*

mr Chuck Tender..

And then to top it off, there was the perfect glass of Princess Moscato.. and yes, we were thinking of u sharo, when we drank that glass.. =P

It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!!

just being me..

could use one of these right now..

50 Days..

..to Christmas!!

=)

Me Time..

It’s the first lazy Saturday since my return.. quite a few things have happened since my return. Quite a few things have happened since I was Gone for that matter.

Haven’t quite settled in to the whole routine yet. I’m still waking at odd hours and jumping out of bed. Still having trouble sleeping. Still fighting the urge to reach that snack.

Granny’s moved out too.. she was supposed to stay with us while I was away. But then things changed and she stayed with us the day I touched down. But also, becos for the past 2 weeks things have been back-to-back with me running around due to work and the new house.. and trying to settle the after-work stuff for the wedding.. I haven’t exactly much time to spend with her. It saddens me to see her in this frail state. Just a year ago, she was in the pink of health and how she’s so frail. All I could do was to sit beside her and hold her hand last night.

Sometimes, I do wish that I could rewind the clock. And re-live the past as how I am now.. but of course, it’s never gonna be possible. This morning, dad sent her to my aunt’s place. A part of me feel like I should have spent more time with her when she was at my place.. I had no excuse. She was just here. I have gone without sleep for a month before.. this would be nothing. To squeeze out some time to spend with her.. but I didn’t.

Some things u only get one shot at, I pray I don’t live to regret my actions over the past 2 weeks..

Found a nice song.. ANOTHER nice song. Seems like they’re here to stay on my playlist.

Operation EliteFightingMan

I’m not too sure how to write this post. For one, it’s been about 9 days since the Graduation.. but perhaps due to how fast things were in the course, these past 9 days actually feels more like a month. Yes, time seemed to have slowed down, significantly.

In a way, it was a deliberate plan to NOT write this post any earlier.. I didn’t want to be caught up writing anything in the spur of the ‘moment’. I wanted it to be a true reflection after things settled down. A tonne of pictures and even our stylo-milo video is with me, but I’m not about to post them, cos that’s not the point of this post. This is not a show-and-tell session, but more of a reflection of what I feel now and how I felt then..

It wasn’t easy.

To say it was a walk in the park would be undermining what myself, 26 other individuals and 37 other batches stretched over the years, have gone through. I have to admit that some parts did feel like it needed some extra work, or could be improved, and there were some portions that I had a ‘this is it? Is that all?’ moment.. but for the better part of it, it was a self-actualization journey.. crystallized only by going through hardship.

A journey, I guess, that began 17 years ago, when I had my first taste of being in a uniformed group. Where I first learnt to recite a pledge or a creed by heart and that I was expected to live a life that upheld something.. that I was specially selected.

It was a journey that, over the years, I have seen how bits and pieces of those lessons and experience gained somehow got re-used and played an even bigger and more significant part of my life at each phase..

Throughout the duration of the 1st phase, I never exactly thought I’d make it true. In all honesty. I didn’t even dared think that far. All that I wanted to do, was to secure Phase I, so if anything, I’d at least have cleared it and will re-enroll into the course next year, into Phase II. Lo and behold, Phase I was over and I was thrown into a whirlwind of activities in Phase II..

They were right when they said the hardest part of the course is the Selections. In my opinion, I guess that’s the moment when the greatest pressure to perform is on you.. It was a make-or-break event, unlike most of the other activities that are scattered throughout the course. Phase II went by hard and fast. You don’t really have any time to stop and think.. u just went along with the flow. Real colours start to reveal themselves and u start getting an inclination of how a person might be on the inside..

The climax of it all, Phase III, is exactly what and how the others have described it. The superficial part of me notes down the ridiculous amount of sleep (or lack thereof rather) that we get.. almost humanly impossible, the insanely little amount of food we get and the huge weight loss I measured at the end of the course, coupled with the almost comical number of socks that I used.. but digging deeper I realize there’s actually a whole lot more to the course than just the lack of sleep, lack of food, long distances, fighting with each other, outrageous load to carry around.. there’s an underlying truth that u find out about yourself.

The truth about what makes u tick, what keeps u going.. what thoughts run through ur mind when u’re placed in a position u never thot u’d get out of.. what risks u’re willing to take.. who u really are on the inside.

To me, it’s not as important what I find out about my colleagues and buddies that matters most. Sure, I know now that there are some who will steal from me to sustain themselves, there are some who would stick by me no matter what stupid decision I make or opinion I have just because, and there are some who would jeopardize their own safety/comfort/good standing, just for my sake without me asking.. these are good things to know about the people around u when u are in this line of work. But no, that’s not the most important.

It’s about finding myself. It’s easy for someone to know who I am and how I’m like, but for me to know myself.. that’ll be more than an easy task. Which is why I’d say that perhaps our forefathers who conceptualized this course (even tho it’s copied from our American friends) had a good foresight that this would allow a soldier to truly know himself. Cos only then, is he able to perform his role better.

So my prayer now, at the end of it all, is that I keep these lessons in my heart. That I never forget the experiences, lessons and comrades that I have gained throughout these 65 days. That I learn to trust in Him who has started the good work.. That I be more like how I wanted myself to be, and less like those whom I do not want to be..

I pray I made You proud and shone your light as a guidance for others to follow.. I know there were times where I did not shine as brightly as I’m supposed to, and instead I crumbled, but I pray that amidst that, You use it and work it out for Your glory that I have made a difference to at least one individual.

It was my honour to have served You under difficult circumstances and I thank You for giving me this opportunity which few have gotten.. keep me strong to walk this path You have chosen for me and give me trust to know that You will see me through whatever You have planned in my life.. This life is Yours after all, not mine.

The 6 letters that mean the world to a soldier..

I'm coming home..

Thank you for seeing me through this.. I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own, without ur help..

I pray I made u proud and did what u planned for me to do..

=)