Quotes from LOTR...

"Arise! Arise! Riders of Theoden! Spear shall be shaken! Shield shall be splintered! A sword day! A red day! Ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride to ruin, and the world's ending! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"
-- Theoden King's battle cry during the battle of the Pelennor Fields

"Now is the hour. Riders of Rohan! Oaths you have taken, now fulfil them all! To lord and land!"
-- Eomer at the muster of the Rohhirim.

"Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of Fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day, WE FIGHT! By all that you hold dear, on this good earth, I bid you STAND! Men of the West!"
-- Aragorn, with the host at the slag hills near Cirith Gorgor before the charge on the defenders of the Black Gate

"Where is the horse and the rider?
Where is the horn that was blowing?
They have passed like rain on the mountains.
Like wind in the meadow.
The days have gone down in the west.
Behind the hills, into shadow.
How did it come to this?"
-- Theoden King, before the battle of Helm's Deep

"Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And a red dawn!"
-- Theoden King at the battle of Helm's Deep

"A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them.
And all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire."
-- Eowyn

I had my first reservist Open Mobilisation yesterday. So the afternoon was entirely wasted.

I went for watch night service yesterday night at BRMC. (No, I'm NOT from the AC family. My friend brought me there last time...) It's only my 3rd watch night service, I don't always go.

As I was leaving, I saw that the stars were visible in the night sky! It's so rare to be able to see stars in Singapore!

On New Year's Eve, the ships at the anchorages fire off their flares at the stroke of midnight of the new year. I see this every year if I'm at home.

School starts tomorrow...

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.