20 days of update-less days, I wonder how you have been living without fresh content from my blog :-)
Not that I could have helped it in any way, I was in Formosa, better known as Taiwan nowadays for a 14 day trip as an enemy to the First Guards Battalion, which was being evaluated (not unlike a year end examination for army battalions) by ATEC. I did consider doing it via WAP, but the exorbitant roaming costs really muted my interest in keeping this front page in vogue. Heck, even as I see my phone bill (which came halfway through my trip there, and hence a little preview of my roaming costs), I am already looking at a month or two of instant noodle meals. Now if only I had a camera to show you my bill! All $95 in total, $40 of them for a few calls and SMSes!
Anyway, I took off on the 2nd this month dead in the morning (7 am flight, but I had to be at the airport by 5 am) on Singapore's very own renowned carrier. All through the entire 3 and a half hours, I was restless, not only because of the in-flight entertainment (we had those small LCD TVs in the individual seats, complete with a remote control which allows you to play games), but and also due to the freezing cold in the cabin. I know it is pressurised and all, but sometimes, I wished that SIA would bother to keep their thermostats at a higher temperature. My curious behaviour exhibited itself when I spent the entire flight staring at the flight path information displayed on one of the dedicated channels. The officer sitting next to me (didn't they all sit in the First Class?) was interested that I didn't go for the entertainment:
"Hey, why are you staring at that stupid thing? Wouldn't you want to watch a movie?"
"No, I am really interested in this thing... Ground speed, altitude, wind speed, current location..."
"You are a strange one... Are you a scout?"
Ignoring the obvious fact that I was wearing a shirt that proclaimed "RECON" on my chest, he was right.
We landed at around 11 am in the same morning, and being the packet I/C, I had to shepherd my brood into proper order, and bring them through the Taiwanese customs, along with immigration officers with such penetrating eyes, it appeared that he was probing my mind. I shuddered, until he looked down on my embarkation card, and finally stamped it, with a sigh of satisfaction.
Then we subjected our cargo to the inspection by a very adorable and cute — dog. He/She went around sniffing our luggages, happily licking the occasional bag, and the handler was barely able to get her to finish our row, so that we could leave the airport. It was then that the rude shock came.
It wasn't hot outside.
[To be continued... in another post]
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