On Tuesday my battalion organized an exhibition for a group of NUS High School students, so after returning to camp, the (very) few of us were tasked to help set up and arrange a maze room out of our company's lecture room. We used camouflage netting for the ceiling and ground sheets for the windows to block as much light from streaming into the room as possible, and also to make the place seem more ~claustrophobic~, lol. This was part of a plan to share with the students an idea of what the recce teams do in the army and what sort of equipments they use, and in this case, the students were supposed to maneuver the maze while looking through a pair of night vision binoculars. Though it's not exactly an accurate simulation, I guess it was still a pretty good idea.
While the few of us were at it, the others were involved in the CNY decorations, and although a lot of effort was put into getting them ready, I have to admit that the end-product was a flop because of the way it was executed. By themselves the artworks are pretty good, but the way it was hung out for show - the pieces were wrapped in plastic and tied to the railings of each floor in the building in a really haphazard arrangement - was honestly really bad. It just felt like such a waste, though fortunately we also had slightly more to show, such as a rather large horse figurine made from tables, planks and papier-mâché, and two motorcycles disguised as horses with the use of painted cardboard. I guess the execution turned out to be rather underwhelming for those as well, but really, you can't expect us NSFs to celebrate CNY in our units with the same level of enthusiasm as when we're celebrating outside. And now, even after I've already booked out for the week, I'm still not really feeling the CNY mood.
Shared that photo of what we did for the exhibition with a couple of friends, and their immediate reaction was to laugh hysterically in mock disbelief, LOL. I honestly expected that but I didn't feel the urge to laugh along, because the truth is, when you've been through the process and seen your friends put in genuine effort, you wouldn't be so detachedly dismissing it, no matter how... poorly the end result turns out. Regardless, the exhibition turned out to be quite a success anyway - could see most of the students at least marginally enjoying themselves - and the MOST important thing? All of us got an off day for helping out.
Yesterday was supposed to be a day spent entirely at home, but I decided that it was a waste since it was so sunny outside and all. So I did some research and decided to go on a cycling trip turned photography session... because I didn't get to rent any bike in the end. It turned out that the rather pathetic excuse for a bike rental kiosk beside Punggol Jetty (it was just an inconspicuous, temporary tentage) is closed from Mondays to Wednesdays, and that kinda means I overestimated the number of visitors at the park as well. But it was fine, as the peace and quiet made solitude all the more enjoyable. I wound up conducting a quick ~recce~ around the area, taking a couple of pictures along the way while enjoying the sea breeze and the sunset. The freedom of exploring places less travelled with no agenda in mind will always appeal to me, and even more so after a month that was mostly spent cooped up in camp. To top it all off, Punggol is really a gem of a neighbourhood. I especially like how its green features are not completely natural, with many of them being an amalgamation of the organic and the man-made, as it adds a modern twist to a town that's still reminiscent of its earlier rustic days. This particular environment strikes me as something similar to that along the Han River bank in Seoul, or in the man-made pockets of greenery within the city.
In other news, I've just returned home from reunion dinner over at my paternal cousins' place. Tomorrow's Day 1 of CNY and I predict that it'll be nothing out of the ordinary, just like all the other years. There's so many expectations during this period with regards to the quality of family ties and activities, etc., what with social media throwing around its definitions of fun and bonding that only seem to get bigger with each post and each tweet. But this doesn't change the fact that we have what we have, and if 'ordinary' is all I'm gonna have, I don't really mind, actually. :)
