Ilha Formosa in My Calendar

I’ve been away for a long time and I am glad there are still people out there who cared to visit and read my humble blog. So grateful to have concerned people around!

Here’s an update of what’s happening in my life lately.

As professional term in the command school is ending soon, we are going to Taiwan celebrate our triumph. Time flies so fast thinking back what I’ve went through since day one of professional term and I shall reward myself in this trip. Sure there had been its up and down and that is what I am going to take back when I leave this place as a trainee.

Too many precious weekend had been burnt.

I do not regret doing what I do now. As a matter of fact, I enjoy doing what I do. Trainee life aside, every weekend sure there is something worthwhile to do. Even my mum asked ‘You’re doing it again? For how many years already?’ – not in a resentment kind of way. Fact is, I enjoy doing it because it makes me feel special. That’s when I know I got their attention and its for the better purpose – not that I’m an attention seeker but it feels good to be heard.

No matter what, I am really grateful to have understanding people around me and this is clearly shown in the past few weeks. Sometimes I ask myself why am I being put into this position. Questions like ‘Who cares about pride?’ or something else along that line starts to come up but looking at this on the bright side, I get to know who are the ones who are willing to wait, and stood by patiently even when I’m away, lacking the time to invest in my social circle.

The big day is coming soon and I am so grateful there are so many great things coming up this month albeit I will not be in town. Now there are two things to look forward to – trip to Taiwan and trip back home!

Preparing for this journey is one of the toughest yet because there are simply too many things to pack.

All I need to do now is to check the weather condition. Heard it’s gonna be cold. Wish me well, all of you.

Let The Cold Wind Blow

As we move in further into this term, we have been busy with a lot of outfield activities and there are so many preparation to do before every particular activity.

I am missing my family and my friends. I may not be as popular as some of you but I do keep a small circle of really good friends that I really miss hanging out with and sharing with them my life story. It may not be a fairytale but it’s fulfilling enough.

As some of you might have read on my Twitter, one of the four kittens that I fostered died. It was a sad and devastating news for my family and myself. Even my younger brother whose pet peeve are cats admitted it was sad to see one of them go. The rest are in the custody of SPCA now to monitor their health status, to ensure nothing contagious is going on. I hope I can comprehend the fact that kittens can die easily. The cause of death has yet to be known and I am very interested to know what really happened. I am not sure about continuing to foster them as the fostering period is about to end. We will have to wait on what SPCA has to say. Goodbye little kitty, we love you very much. I am sure you will have a better life up there. Know that your two little siblings here are fine. It was really shocking to hear the news upon arriving home that week.

As the term is about to get to its peak here, I am looking forward to the day I graduate from my command school. Training has been tough and complicated to make us stronger and better as a whole. Being positive is vital to go through the day. But honestly, the hardest part of each day is not the training. Go figure.

To end this post, I would like to spread my virtual hugs and kisses to the people I care. I hope all of you know that as I’m going through one of the toughest times in my life, it is hard for me to keep in touch with you or keep our connection as close as before. Know that I am not trying to distant myself from any of you because you are the only people I have in my life. I will do my best to keep it sparkling.

2012 Resolution – Achievable, Yes?

Most of us know ourselves quite well. New year’s resolutions are just empty promises, just to make ourselves feel like we are entering a clean slate in our lives. But let’s be real, the clock still ticks as usual. Things are just continuous. The point is, you can set your own resolutions at any time, but it only feels better if you start it at the beginning of the new year.

This post is written to share with you what my resolutions are not because I’m showing off I am a man with plans but I want all of you to know, in hoping you would give me the encouragement, and help to achieve my goals into being a better person as a whole. This year has been bittersweet with my graduation in early 2011, and got into National Service in August and now we are about embark into another year full of unseen circumstances.

I am glad that all these has already started since I-don’t-know-when. It’s just that this is the right time to share them. So when new year comes, I won’t be giving myself a shock.

This year I would like to remain frugal because I am saving for my future. There are so many things that I would like to have and being frugal is one of the ways to keep my heads above water. After all you only get that much allowance in National Service and it’s nonnegotiable. Pfft. I’d say it is achievable since I am only back home once a week. What are the odds of going shopping everyday? I just need to discipline myself and keep track of my expenses. Besides, as our age increases, so are our needs.

Social wise, I would like to establish a healthier relationship with my family, relatives, friends, colleagues and all the people whom I know. I want to create a healthy social environment around me by avoiding conflicts, and be more understanding of the people around me. Ever since August, I’m starting to miss life!

Besides, I would like to apply these positivity in my charity in the future. Ever since my involvement in some charity organization early this year, reaching out to the ones in need has never felt so fulfilling.

Skill wise, I’d love to brush up on my photography skills. I am really inspired by photographs taken by Nat and Fiz especially. It’s really inspiring and beautiful. I too would like to share my life experience(s) through the lens. Additionally, I would love to brush up on my languages – since I’m no longer in school, my language capabality is deteriorating. I am so grateful I have a lot of useful reading materials to help me in this.

As for my career… There’s nothing much to say for now is there? Let’s drive through a wonderful new year!

Have a great year ahead guys!

Christmas Dinner

Thanks to E, I am full of baked turkey tonight.

Dinner was awesome and I brought my kittens over to E’s house. Really had a great time playing with the kittens with E and YJ, and the best part was my babies have a new toy to play with now, credits to E for making the handmade toy using unused ribbons and potpourri ball. The Christmas card you gave is wonderful bud!

This week has been great because of the long weekend. Appreciate it so much!

Gonna head to bed now. Starting my day early morning tomorrow. My family will be off overseas for another short getaway while I will be home with my kitties. I will probably invite some of my friends over for a kitty hi-tea. Since time is so constraint for the next few months, a day of overseas trip seems pointless. I might as well stay home, catch up on TV, family and friends. Bleah, signing off now. Good night!

Weekend Eating Spree

Last night was amazing because I have the car and the house all to myself. No, it’s not because I chased everyone else away. The rest of my family is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for sports and leisure trip.

The first thing I had in schedule was my lunch with Nat and Fiz at Millenia Walk. Twelve Cupcakes was not bad but I’d prefer muffins to non-filling cupcakes. Cupcakes are tongue-arousing though. That probably explains the romance sentiment. Looking forward to our plan! After lunch, I sent Fiz and Nat before heading back east. Driving to Orchard was a trouble-not-needed yesterday. But good to know everyone is having a good time listening to our jam in the jam. Thanks Fiz for the beautiful gifts from Africa!

After which I really had to rush back to the east because I had to meet Khai and Syaz. We had our dinner together and Khai was being so funny with her jokes that I had to walk off my laughter.Thanks Syaz for treating us desserts! Congratulations on your ORD and good luck for your starting of school – which is a long way to go.

The day ended with Elf coming over to my place for supper and hangout. Really appreciate your cooking and styling help! If only there is more people like you… LOL!

This week will be a great week for it is the end of my Foundation Term in command school. Preparing for route march!

First Field Camp, Last LSM

I am so grateful to reach home today, being able to rest and recover from my five day field camp in Pulau Tekong. There were many things that I wanted do and I am thankful that now, I am able to sit and pen down something to remember by.

Field camp was challenging both mentally and physically. There were no physical fitness training but it was still very taxing for our body and mind. The field pack and assault pack is the one thing that you wish would fall into the water while ferrying to Tekong Island. There we so many stuffs, and most of them were not used during the camp. Toiletries were definitely not needed because importance of rifle cleanliness prevails over body, and then there were items like mess tin, dummy grenades and some other things that were just meant to add weight to the bag and tire you out. But the rationale is this: you need to get used to the weight.

On the last day, I was the LSM (being in-charge of the 92 people) and I was totally caught off guard when that rank was suddenly passed to me. It was definitely a challenge that I did not expect to get but I looked forward to it. Personally the challenge was exciting but not exciting enough because the people I was commanding are my own peers, so throwing ‘tantrums’ at them while they are really shagged is the last thing that I wanted to do – even so, it seemed no one appreciates it. Throwing a degree of tirade already maddens them and going on will only make them throw their bayonet at me. I understand myself well enough I guess – it’s hard for people to be fearful of me but it’s harder for them to bear my annoyance.

There was this one time I was rushing everyone and I said something like “Guys! Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!” and repeated it like a wailing siren. After that there was this one guy across whom I don’t know shouted “Fadli, can you shut up!” In my mind I was like “No way in hell I’m gonna, you shut up and get your stuffs here.” but I did zip it because who knew that rifle could be loaded. Who knew.

This is what I don’t understand honestly. Appointment holders are the first in line to run things, to push everyone, and get everyone organized so that they (the comrades) can start their own activity and we are last person to settle down and I as one of the appointment holders have not packed my field pack while the rest had the time but I had completed everything else first. The key is to be personally organized I guess.

Wanna know something? Only during meal time you see so many volunteers taking ration quickly but none when it comes to clearing up. I didn’t realize this until I got the chance to stand in front of these 92 people and observe everything.

However tough it was, I was quite elated to be given that appointment. If it were to happen again, just don’t take advantage of me when I am nice. Really don’t.

To those who did not cooperate, maybe you guys just don’t know how it feels like to be standing in front, commanding and going to and fro to the command team to get further instructions just so all of you can get things done.

But for whatever it’s worth, I hold no grudges because I understand people tend to be mentally slow when they are physically drained and that affects the speed of movement. That does not mean we should not try our best right?

Moving on…

If you realize now my main blog has got a new domain. Do check out http://muhdzulfadli.com and update your bookmark or list of links (if you have so) and I hope you enjoy reading it – when you’re really that bored. Thanks to one of my friends who has made this into a reality for me. I was so excited to see the end result. Now I get to see my archives and my old photos.

Speaking of archives…

It’s so embarrassing to see my old photos and my old posts because of the way I looked and the way I wrote my posts – with the grammar (I asked myself why did use the term ‘caught off hand’?) that needs to be brushed but come to think of it, I really like the fact that I am able to see the archives to see how far I have gone and remember the things I did ages ago. I really appreciate it. Ah speaking of grammar, I need to brush it up soon really. It has been a haywire for quite sometime.

If you were to follow and read back, change doesn’t happen in a blink of an eye. These archives are actually dedicated to those who has been with me since it started and for them to see what they have been through together with me so far.

Now, let’s have a good rest and be ready for the good times ahead!

Challenges

It has been a fulfilling week but I am particularly annoyed with the laptop issued to me in camp because of the system. No idea how it happened but it always got locked out. It’s not just mine, others too. How am I going to do my assignments, tests, quizzes, surveys and whatever productive stuffs I need to do. Computer has been an integral part of our life. It’s almost a need for us to communicate fast – but don’t talk about precision, it tends to be misread. Even researches says so.

I went to Dominique Sirop’s – Women’s Fashion Week show this evening and it boosted my morale a little bit. Of course it made me more reluctant than ever to go back to camp, but it gives me the drive to stay focus.

I had to miss a party because of the book in timing. Thanks a lot, it’s an opportunity cost that I wouldn’t want to lose actually but oh well… There’s a strong feeling next week is gonna be tough with the training and all. Low rope is such a pain and till now I can’t stop complaining about it. Need. More. Practice.

So glad laundry is all done. Hopefully it will get dry when I get back to camp.

I’ve yet to finish my personal piece. I need to hibernate already. I want a fitter and healthier life so it’s only wise to follow its regime.

Ah, there’s class tomorrow and another class in the afternoon. We love challenges don’t we?

Zulfadli Y. on Socializing Pleasure

SPirit: Muhammad Zulfadli Bin Yazab was part of the student team that was asked to help out at ScreenSingapore, a week long international cinema event that premiered Hollywood new films and showcased Asian content to the world. The event was hosted by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA).

Never mind that Zul and his team were not involved in conceptualizing this major event that brought in big names like Tom Hanks and Zhang Ziyi. A significant decision-making role like that would come in future when he becomes a professional even organiser.

For  ScreenSingapore, Zul and his team were tasked to help in the media centre which gave constant updates on the event via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter from the official venue, Capella Singapore on Sentosa. They made the most out of their time stationed there. From the sides, they witnessed how the event organisers workd with various parties to get things done. Anything from receiving VIPs to ensuring banquet rooms were ready for presentatons.

‘In just a few days, all the hard and soft skills that we learned over three years were all put to good use. Organising events takes more than just socializing with people. It’s also about what you know and who you know’ says the ex-student from Coral Secondary.

Of course, ScreenSingapore was not the only hands-on project Zul got involved in. Besides conceptualising and executing school events, he was also an active member of Sinema Showoff!, a thematic movie screening event that SP organises with the Sinema Old School. His role involved working with his lecturer to curate suitable films for screening.

Zul is now serving national service and he hopes to study for a degree in marketing or finance thereafter before plunging himself into the world of events, once again.

SPIRIT magazine which features the latest happenings in Singapore Polytechnic, can be obtained campus wide. Alternatively, its e-magazine and other SP publications can be reached here.

Half-Year Plan, No?

If you were to meet me for the next six months, please don’t ask what my plans are because it’s not my plan to serve the nation through National Service.

As honored as I am being in the army, I really think that NS (National Service) is just one of the many tools for economic spin-off. Adorned with rifle and high cut boots sounds imposing but now, it’s draining my mind already because it feels like I have had enough of it past nine/ten weeks.

Of course I won’t let this ruin my day or even my next half a year. I know it’s going to be exciting. Positivity always works…

Until you get to know that your camp is on the other side of this island. That was the first, and the most depressing news of the week. Why oh why am I posted so far, far away from home for the next six months. Imagine the opportunity cost that I am going to lose!

But seriously, why must it be so far? Why? Why? Why?

It’s hard beyond words. I can’t breathe thinking how far and long the journey would be with my duffel bag going from east to west. If only there’s a real spell that makes this bag feather light.

If I take the train, it’s gonna be crowded or it’s gonna be stuck somewhere in the middle.
If I take the car, imagine the potential jam that I’m gonna get into. There was one time it took me two hours to get home from Singapore Discovery Centre via highway.
If I take the cab, it’s gonna cost me the entire country. Haha!
If I walk, I won’t get credit for my cross country march home.

Let’s wrap up this whining, find something that I’m not going to miss about P.Ris and home and go to bed early for camp from hell tomorrow.

To Dearest Friend, W

In the light of the recent tragic news, I would like to pass my deepest and most sincere condolences to one of my best friend and her family for losing one of their dearest a few days ago.

I may not know her well but my friends and I have spent some quality time in her house and we know how nice, jovial, and sociable she is.

My message to you my friend is this. My deepest sorrow may not be of the same magnitude as yours but I understand how you were feeling receiving the news of your mother’s death. You’re too overwhelmed and a little numb to feel her loss. It was just too sudden.

What happened probably had to happen but for what it’s worth, it shall make you a stronger woman than you are now.

Whenever you’re feeling down, reminisce the good old times you had with both of your late folks, and let that be the coal that fuels your fire of determination to succeed and move on. From up above, they will be the audience to your life show and give you the standing ovation that you deserve.

Remember, they may be gone but their good name stays on here, forever.

Your friends and I here will always have your back. If you have any trouble, never, ever think you have lost your pillar of support.

Al-Fatihah.