I am on my way to Genting with my paternal grandparents and my mother. I am glad that I decided to tag along because if not, I am sure they would have gotten lost and ruin the trip. My mom can’t speak English, let alone my grandparents. Something screwed up because my mom forgot to bring some document but everything is fine now luckily. I spoke to the custom officer and he let us through in the end. I am really thankful that we met such a nice guy. He let the people behind us through first so that there won’t be any complicacy and he could let us through without any problems from the other tourists. The year 2007 has just started and 2006 has just ended. Everything seems like a dream. So much has happened in the last one year. Firstly, ATEC ended on a high note with us getting the Best Infantry. Then I worked for POSB until Uni started. The first camp I joined in NUS was Union Camp. The camp was definitely memorable and I got to know many people, some of them become my good friends And then there was Science Orientation Week! Both OG left me with so much memories. The Sharkies and R[A]. We are the best OGs for both camps! The school sem was fun because of all of them. The lunches, outings and never ending mugging sessions. There were birthdays there were friends leaving Singapore. There were many firsts. This year was the first time I went K Box. The first time I have to bid for things that I want to study. The first time I own a laptop. The first time I started teaching tuition. The first time I went trekking with friends to Mount Ophir. Too many first times! My life is full of people who are so important to me! Thanks to Wan Yun for specially featuring me on her blog, I am now going to be a copy cat and start thanking people who have been very special to me in my life up till now.

First of all is none other than my army suck cock buddies! OMG! Who else could have played a greater role in shaping Chen Li Yang the way he is now (other than my parents)? Of course it’s you guys! 2 years in the army has taught me so much so much stuff. Dealing with stress and handling men. Dividing work among peers and the most important thing I felt that I have learnt in army is actually to scold your friends when the time is necessary! Many people would think that scolding friends would spoil the friendships. It’s so not true. I have scolded many of my army peers and have been scolded by some of them too. It never did much damage other than resulting in us not speaking to one another for a few days haha… David’s obsession with Vikki, Daniel’s nuaness, Fairy’s cute blurness and Fucking Bro. MF’s volcanic temper. Jesher’s Yakun, Geoff’s never ending V-Ball matches, Kev’s dancing steps, Johannes’ occasional appearances and swimming sessions, San Ge Chen’s funny accent when he gave commands and last but not least Sithu’s shit (and he is full of them). And our dear affiliated platoon was none other than ATGM! Kok’s forever smiling face, Weijie’ stupid Lian Bang Qiang (dong1 xi3), Nigel’s powerful English, SGT Shawn’s lousy bike (it broke down when he wanted to give me a ride and in the end we took Jesher’s car) and OMG C.K. Howe’s rigidness (worse than a stone ok). It may sound childish but I really appreciate everyone’s effort in helping each other to grow up and mature. My PS and my men, especially my ever defiant detachment which was forever looking for chances to coerce me into treating them voluntarily. We have been through thick and thin together. Getting into trouble with Warrant Officer you-know-who and my dear S3. Oh yah and stupid QM too. There are too many people to thank in the army seriously. BMT, SISPEC and 5 SIR. My enciks and a few officers (a few only ok).

Then there are my dear RV classmates! Forever disturbing me is Mark and company. His obsession with Sentosa has yet to diminish as he grows older. Kelvin Low who I have been stuck with since sec. one, together with Mark and Lirui. Then Yan Wen, Teck Chew and Victor joined the gang in Sec.3! From then on we 7 are always stuck together like gays (we’re all single still by the way, I think). I think more or less we know each other inside out liao, though we don’t exactly share the same underwear. Mark’s aspiration to become a gay, Yan Wen’s philanderer-wanna-be wish, Kelvin’s millionaire dream, Teck Chew’s mugger-wanna-be wish, Lirui’s wish to marry a soccer ball and Vic’s ambition to take over the world with his DOTA skills.

Next on the list is RVDS. The most memorable times I spent in RV were with you guys. The never ending practice sessions and scoldings from Huang Lao. Once-in-a-while school performances, once in 2 years SYF and once in our 4 years in RV’s SYF mass dance. The skipping of lessons to go to hall and practice for SYF, the non-stop gossipings during the rehearsals at Kallang Theater. In dance I have known so many people who have been with me since then. Yong Nan, whose ultra sheepishness which is a stark contrast to my seemingly outgoing character. The many many other dancers like Shuo Han, Yan Xuan are all so important to me. They have been there for me once in my life. And the most unbelievable group which I am still going out with is the seniors (not that senior la)! Zhao Ying, my bubbly piggy gan jie who always forget about my birthdays (and pls hurry up find your Mr. Right before you get really old and haggard), Hui Sian the big-mouth cum hair-dropping self-declared bimbotic air stewardess, Huang Zhen the forever stunning and beautiful dancer, Von the always dunno what the heck is happening blur queen, Linli the super stylish and feminine lawyer-to-be and Agnes the outspoken and confident girl who always stun us with her words sometimes involving sexual content lol… And lastly is Candy my dear bro, who was born minutes apart from me and forever there for me. Dance will always be an art I appreciate and will support because all of you made it beautiful…

Not forgetting Wan Yun and G.P.T.! 2 of you are the most important people from 4B to me! Peiting my xiao mei, the chirpy and sometimes moody birdie… You always make birthday presents for me while I only buy for you haha… Very guilty but then I am not good at thinking of what to make for people! Mushroom! But your hair no longer like mushroom le lo! Why rebond! Grow back your mushroom hair leh! Haha… Yah as you have said, we lost contact for a while but really friends will always get back in touch no matter how long they haven’t seen each other isn’t it? Thank you for the lovely chopping board you made for me this year! Oops should be last year! Our lunch sessions in RV were so memorable! And Judy was with us back then lo! But now she is in NTU le so sad… We will be friends forever yah!

Moving on to my HCJC friends! There are ET (yah the one from Mars), Zi (growing sideways, don’t worry she is not in Singapore I am safe), Nikki (she is damn tall and always tease me for being shorter than her), Hua Zhen (forever concerned about me), Rain (hardly get a chance to talk to her nowadays coz she is at NTU and she is way too popular haha), Bimbo (her actual name is Jiayu haha but she wants to be a bimbo), Jun Ren (he can really sing man), Jianliang (he is a demon), And there are the hybrids of HC and RV too. CC the Egg Man and SD the Sex Demon were my LAN buddies for many years.

The first group of friends I made in NUS were the R[A] people I met in Union Camp. We started off slowly and we only warmed up to each other after the camp. It was never too late. Some of us became close friends when we least expected it. Though school had been really busy and we could not meet up often, I do treasure the memories we shared and the bonds we fostered. I really hope that R[A] will not become just a passing phase in my life. Lorraine my lunch buddy, Wanting my potential lunch buddy, the westerners (Jieren, Steven, Erwin) and the non-westerners (Khine, Junie, Shiying, Hanlun, Gab, James), let’s all join Union Camp again in 2007!

The 2nd camp I joined was the SOW (Science Orientation Week). And in this camp I met the Sharkies! Sharkies is a crazy bunch! Cam whores! We just love taking pictures! Though Sharks came from 2 different majors (Life Science and Chemistry), we see each other practically everyday! We had lunches, K Box mugging sessions together so often. Had a lot of helps from the seniors! And Tiong please go brush up on your guitar skills, Cui brush up on your image, because we’re F.I.R.! I even know one of the Shark’s brother as he was from my company! Thanks Sharks for all those wonderful memories during the camp and school! Let’s all work towards CAP 5 this sem!

Besides all the camps I have joined, I made some really nice friends from Life Science like Sihua and Ruiting. My lab partner Chelsia, Cynthia etc. People from Fibo, let’s go for K Box leh (no pungsehs again!)! And people from Rovers, let’s conquer Mount. Ophir another day (this time no rain shall stop us, if it floods we will swim to the summit)!

Lastly of course I also want to thank my family for everything (cliché but necessary ok). I wonder why my grandma never visited me in my dream, maybe the distance is too far… There have been many deaths last year, but I hope everyone would have moved on by now. I have written this draggy entry during my trip in Malaysia and I hope I didn’t leave anyone out! Every year I make the same wish again and again, I wish everyone will have a happy life. It’s a simple wish, but it’s what I consider the most important thing to living in this world. May everyone have a great year ahead!