Basket.

Today was a 25-minute day. Reach office at 8:05am - leave at 8.30 for what else, TOTAL DEFENCE PACKAGE. For what it's worth, it was more interesting than what we used to get in school, and CO sir showed an amazing aptitude for current affairs - amazing because I've only seen him touch the newspapers in the office once ever. He also showed why he deserves to be that high up; because he knows what he is doing and truly believes in it. For that I will respect him greatly, as I would anyone else who does the same.

Valentine's Day is a Battalion off, so we all packed back home right after the indoctri- I mean, programme. Not that February 14 is anything to me other than just another date on the calendar, of course, but the off did allow me to meet up with HISSOC Core for dinner. Or part of it anyway, which in any case was always the way back in the day.

And so we went to Holland Village, a popular hangout back in the Mount Sinai era. It hasn't changed much, except for a rather increased and very visible police presence, which I have observed nowhere else. Maybe it's all the expats. Over an excellent Thai dinner, we still found much to talk about. People, the army, old times, university choices - that will last any bunch of us an evening and then some. Tse Yang all in black as usual, Aaron still stylish and chatty, Hana exactly the way she was; it did bring back more than a few fond memories. Of the days when a voice in my ear (very literally) meant a late night or a long morning making out spidery excuses of penmanship, the days of two-hour wild goose chases for mere staplets, the days of working in SR4 far into the hours of darkness cloaked in stacks of old papers, the days of balancing on rusty ladders with stapler gun in hand... the days when I thought, "Why am I doing this?" and instantly knew the answer in my heart of hearts.

I have probably said this too many times already but I'll say it again: we had some amazing times together. Irreplaceable memories that I'll always hold dear. And it could just as easily not have turned out this way.

I just wonder... whenever I meet someone new and the conversation turns to CCA (as it inevitably does), I only have to say "History Society" to watch the interest just drain from his face. I guess Sports CCAs and uniformed groups get all the glory. All the attention, all the focus. Who cares about academic clubs? Just a bunch of nerds and their facts. So few know that we did so much, and I never ever bothered to enlighten the rest. It's not like they care.

Know what you did and treasure what you remember, and nothing else matters.

I did love SR4 so. Maybe one day I'll be able to go back there.

Just to take a look. One good look.