I watched LOTR: Return of the King the 3rd time yesterday night! With Mr Ueng, Mr Morgan P and Jiang Bo. This movie is so grand! And full of deleted scenes too -- I read the book. So the Extended Edition DVD will be good!

And the quotes from the movies are so nice and artistic and grand!

I visited the Singapore Discovery Centre today. It's basically the SAF NE exhibition centre. I tried the motion simulator ride as well as the M-16 shooting game. I also tried fishing at the lake! Mind you, fishing is not allowed, but I was there under SANA's function, and they had a fishing booth there sponsored by a fishing tour company. Rod fishing in the lake with a big hook and chicken meat as bait. No fish in half an hour, so we gave up. The only time I successfully fished was with a line and small hook at the canal in Survival Village in Hendon Camp (Commando Camp) in 1997 during my 2nd installment.

I just came back from my reservist ICT -- 5th Dec to 19 Dec. We did the whole works -- very tiring. SAR-21, range, live firing exercise, stand-by force. The 3-day main exercise had Company in conc, hasty defence, dawn attack and MTC -- combat rations all the way. Sometimes I wonder why I meet so few people who are in real combat units -- I guess someone must do the unpalatable work of defending the nation and I happen to be one of them. So few people around me can empathise with what I go through...

Some of my friends know that my HP ring tone is the theme from Charlie's Angels. Why? (No lah, not because of the 3 Charlie's Angels from my class!) It's because I'm Charlie's Angel -- 650 SIR Charlie Company Medic Specialist.

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I have just received my new posting letter. I applied for transfer and so I'm going to Damai Secondary next year. Well, my new students will be from a younger age-group, different backgrounds compared to College. So I have to treat them the standard way like I did when I was in Bedok North last time. So boring when the students cannot interact properly with me...

I was just reminded of the untimely death of one of my students. I've never had a "54" on my hands though, and none of my classmates have ever passed away while still in the same class as me.

One of my Pri 6 classmates in TNS who was in the adjacent class in DHS had managed to beat a brain tumour and survive brain surgery while I was in DHS. When we left for JC, he was left behind in DHS as he had to repeat a year. While in NS, I learnt that he eventually died of complications. So quietly, without us knowing, because he was not in the same school. I never knew when he died or under what circumstances. His name was Lu Kaijie.

Last year, one of my PAE students who went to TJC later met with her untimely demise in September. As she was not under my care, I was spared of having to fill the Pupil Occurence Slip -- reason for leaving school, code "54" for death. But it was quite sad, and I was sad too.