Glad to be Home...
23rd April 2007, Monday
So the much-dreaded ICT had concluded with much relief from myself...
Once again I was adamant that I am not cut for this military shit and the regimental lifestyle is as much daunting as entering a dark, perilous chasm...
When someone from the unit taunted me near the end of the exercise on whether I would like to return to Kaohsiung the following year, the compelsion of showing my middle finger with ire was tempting...
The first few days there were especially painful for me as I badly missed my missus, my family, the warmth of my home and everything I regarded vital to my life which was blatantly non-present during the stint...
The living conditions onboard the ship was as miserable as I had anticipated with a mess filled with rowdy and restless fellow NS-men who had it worse off than ourselves...
The narrow bed made sleeping difficult and the heads or toilets to non-naval personnel was a frightening experience as you had to brace yourselves for a toilet bowl which may make you nauseous and I am not referring to the poor sea state...
The food was rather atrocious and being a big factor of morale boosting, it sure didn't go well with many of the ship crew and even the main boss on the top...everyone took the opportunity to order food from the delivery service offered from the base whenever we are alongside the wharf...
The people who are still in the force were once again wearing fake smiles and exert their poor ability to convey messages without irritating the hell out of us NS-men...
The liberty sessions were aplenty as many raided the 2nd biggest city of Taiwan as if it was really that enjoyable...Prices for food and shopping are as high , if not higher than our own country and I had not grew accustomed to the food on offer by the end of the trip...I was glad to be around some honest lads who strayed off the areas of vice which many naval men would indulge and waste their money on...By the end of it, I was glad to spend barely $150 for the trip without any gift to mention for anyone back home...then again this isn't Japan nor Thailand nor do I have the notion of basking in this foreign land as if I am on holidays...
The only point of salvation for me and to keep me sane was the 4 other lads from my unit suffering the brunt of this misery odyssey as myself...especially a veteran known as Chee who was my comrade to keep watches with and the main focus of entertainment...It was only a pity this was his swansong as he reached his big 40 and needn't do anymore ICTs as he claimed though his show or arrogance (well he is obviously glad that this was his last) seems to draw the people from HQ to threaten to extend his service years, much to his fear...
By the time we board the chartered flight on Eva Air on Friday, we were the most glad to be liberated from this misery...
Of course, his interest in Japanese animation especially Bleach allowed us to converse beyond the usual topic...
Back home, I tried to make up lost time with the missus over the weekend and reacquinted with the good people from La Tendo...
The shop itself was pleasantly revamped for the better and reveals signs of reminiscence to the early days of 2004 when there was actually room to manuveur around the shop...
There was a new helper in the form of Vincent's niece from China, Tian Tian who seems to shared her uncle's seamless ability to make friends with anyone...
The usual badminton on Sunday and then just basically slack at home to watch the 12 parters of the 1st season of HBO's "Rome" which depicts the rise and fall of Julius Cesar and with close renactment to the historical testaments with some fictitious elements filled with sleaze and violence, you can ensure I am easily hook to the series which I duly complete by this afternoon..now seeking the complete season 2...
I had initially intended to take a day of leave to recuperate well enough to get back to work but seems like the amount of work is piling every second as I typed this post...I never shunt myself from work so far and most probably won't, at least I needn't put on a false smile and treated as a nobody as thos sad cases in the Navy...
And of course there is the bonus package to look forward to at the end of this rainbow after the bitter times of ICT....
So the much-dreaded ICT had concluded with much relief from myself...
Once again I was adamant that I am not cut for this military shit and the regimental lifestyle is as much daunting as entering a dark, perilous chasm...
When someone from the unit taunted me near the end of the exercise on whether I would like to return to Kaohsiung the following year, the compelsion of showing my middle finger with ire was tempting...
The first few days there were especially painful for me as I badly missed my missus, my family, the warmth of my home and everything I regarded vital to my life which was blatantly non-present during the stint...
The living conditions onboard the ship was as miserable as I had anticipated with a mess filled with rowdy and restless fellow NS-men who had it worse off than ourselves...
The narrow bed made sleeping difficult and the heads or toilets to non-naval personnel was a frightening experience as you had to brace yourselves for a toilet bowl which may make you nauseous and I am not referring to the poor sea state...
The food was rather atrocious and being a big factor of morale boosting, it sure didn't go well with many of the ship crew and even the main boss on the top...everyone took the opportunity to order food from the delivery service offered from the base whenever we are alongside the wharf...
The people who are still in the force were once again wearing fake smiles and exert their poor ability to convey messages without irritating the hell out of us NS-men...
The liberty sessions were aplenty as many raided the 2nd biggest city of Taiwan as if it was really that enjoyable...Prices for food and shopping are as high , if not higher than our own country and I had not grew accustomed to the food on offer by the end of the trip...I was glad to be around some honest lads who strayed off the areas of vice which many naval men would indulge and waste their money on...By the end of it, I was glad to spend barely $150 for the trip without any gift to mention for anyone back home...then again this isn't Japan nor Thailand nor do I have the notion of basking in this foreign land as if I am on holidays...
The only point of salvation for me and to keep me sane was the 4 other lads from my unit suffering the brunt of this misery odyssey as myself...especially a veteran known as Chee who was my comrade to keep watches with and the main focus of entertainment...It was only a pity this was his swansong as he reached his big 40 and needn't do anymore ICTs as he claimed though his show or arrogance (well he is obviously glad that this was his last) seems to draw the people from HQ to threaten to extend his service years, much to his fear...
By the time we board the chartered flight on Eva Air on Friday, we were the most glad to be liberated from this misery...
Of course, his interest in Japanese animation especially Bleach allowed us to converse beyond the usual topic...
Back home, I tried to make up lost time with the missus over the weekend and reacquinted with the good people from La Tendo...
The shop itself was pleasantly revamped for the better and reveals signs of reminiscence to the early days of 2004 when there was actually room to manuveur around the shop...
There was a new helper in the form of Vincent's niece from China, Tian Tian who seems to shared her uncle's seamless ability to make friends with anyone...
The usual badminton on Sunday and then just basically slack at home to watch the 12 parters of the 1st season of HBO's "Rome" which depicts the rise and fall of Julius Cesar and with close renactment to the historical testaments with some fictitious elements filled with sleaze and violence, you can ensure I am easily hook to the series which I duly complete by this afternoon..now seeking the complete season 2...
I had initially intended to take a day of leave to recuperate well enough to get back to work but seems like the amount of work is piling every second as I typed this post...I never shunt myself from work so far and most probably won't, at least I needn't put on a false smile and treated as a nobody as thos sad cases in the Navy...
And of course there is the bonus package to look forward to at the end of this rainbow after the bitter times of ICT....
Japanese word of the day: 苦い(Bitter) I sure am whenever I had to don that blue naval uniform and go through the motion to fulfill my obligations to the government...
posted by Kei at
6:49 PM
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