What to expect when you hit 20s

Hey guys its been awhile since you last see me! 

Hi I am Kife and I am turning 24 this year. Recently just completed my reservist and man I feel old now. Its a year since I stepped into this the working industry and I have some pointers for you, younger people out there!

Do you think stepping into adulthood is really that fun? Well judge it after reading this.

1) You feel lost & not ready

I mean after graduation/ORD from the army - you will most likely feel lost. 

At some point of time you want to take a break, but at the same time it seems that everyone else is working and having their life planned out and you don't want to be at the back of the line. 

At the same time you don't know what to do so most likely, you will start off with a random job that pays your bills.

Not ready? You will get used to it soon.

2) LOADS of planning & decision making

This is inevitable. Everybody grows old.

At one point you will realise a lot of insurance agents start looking for you. They will tell you to start young because what you're planning now will affect the quality of life when you retire. 

Projected payout are not figures that you will be guaranteed. Whether or not your investment turns out well, who knows? But there are risks to take and I must say, you should start planning soon. 

3) There are a lot more things to learn

Not everything you learn when you were studying helps you with your job and if you don't start learning you will most likely become replaceable.

When you're in your 40s and at the max salary for your position (every position have a max salary) the chances of you getting retrench will be very high. 

Why? Because with the salary you're getting, your boss can easily replace you with 2 or 3 younger talents.

HOWEVER, one thing that they can't take away is your knowledge. So it is time to prep yourself with many skills so that you become irreplaceable and important.

4) You always feel broke

You have more money in your bank account now compared to last time . But you always feel dirt broke. 

Why? Let me do a small calculation for you.

Let's say your gross monthly salary is $2500

CPF - $500 (20%)

Bills - $50 (let's say you're only paying your phone bill)

Investments & Insurance - $200 (If you actually plan for your future)

Parents - $400 ($200 each?)

Savings - $1000 (save 50% of your salary is good)

WHAT YOU ARE LEFT WITH - $350!!!!

Ya you must think that you have a lot of money now right? $350 is like back during school days only that you have to pay for your own transportation most likely $80 (ADULT FARE) and you only have a good $200+ to spend for the entire month. not to say there are a lot of miscellaneous things that I didn't count in, for example : attend weddings, travels, occasional splurging etc... 

AND OF COURSE, it won't be enough so you will have to dig your savings (then you save lesser) 

So you feel broke a not? You feel broke af. 

5) You feel old and tired easily

Working 5-6days a week drains you out mentally. Slowly you realise that you do not have the strength anymore and you feel tired and just want to spend time at home doing nothing. 

The party days will soon come to an end, and you will feel that its okay because you don't want it anymore and that you have to use your energy on your work.

In addition, there will be a lot of whining and complaining. but when you complain you're old, the older people will scold you. Because they are more tired than you! 

6) You feel that you're not advancing in life

At this moment, most likely your friends are experiencing marriage & parenthood. 

The amount of people getting married in. your circle will increase, and the amount of friends giving birth will most likely to increase. What are you doing now? Single af.

Some time later there will be this feeling of crisis because you are still stuck and not advancing and it feels like everyone else is at the next stage of life and you're not.

But trust me, you will get over it because you know that different people takes different kinds of lifestyle. 

Be envious of marriage, but does marriage suit you? If not why get married now? Is it because it became a 'trend' that you have to follow or is it because its just life? 

You will find your answer soon enough.

7) You afraid to grow old

You probably think it is okay now. But I'm sure when you look into the mirror part of you feels scared. Wrinkles are forming, Your hair drops more and more and you're not looking any younger. 

Kids start calling you aunty/uncle. You have come to the realisation that, oh you're really not that young anymore. But someday you will be old and you just have to be embracing life and age gracefully. 

8) It feels like you don't have much friends anymore

Yes. This is true. You're experiencing adulthood same goes to the people around you. Your friends are busy with their working life, family and commitments. It is bound to happen and you can't escape that. 

Your close friends will all be busy and it will be very difficult to arrange a meet up because of the difference in schedule. Finding someone to go out on your off day will be difficult. and this goes to point 9.

9) You will feel lonely 

There will confirm be this emotional breakdown. Because you feel that your friends don't care about you anymore. However you will get used to it gradually and overcome it.

You will realise that is not that they don't care, is that everyone became mature and grew out of the feeling of attachment. You become more understanding as a person when this hits you and of course you guys are still best friends no matter what. 

You just have to find something to do during those times and eventually you will be used to this new lifestyle.

10) You can no longer be ignorant 

There's no more saying, Aiya~ next time then think, now is not the time. What do you mean it is not the time? 

Now is the time for you to think and you cannot escape from the problems that you're facing anymore because why? YOU ARE NO LONGER A KID.

11) You have withdrawal symptoms 

Remember those times when you're a kid and can't wait to step into adulthood start earning your own money? Ha Ha after working awhile you feel like dropping back to your childhood with no stress, everyday just need to think what to eat, go where play. 

Sorry, time cannot rewind, you can only get adjusted and move forward.

Having said all that, I'm not negative towards my adult life. These were phases that my friends and I experienced and shared about so I might as well write it here on my blog to share it with you guys!

You can agree or disagree there's no right or wrong, everybody experiences things differently and I hope this gives you a rough idea of how being an adult is like when you hit 20s!

Seeya~

Life After BMT

I'm here to share some of my experience after BMT. Do take note that this experience might differ as different people have different vocations and pes status.

As I've mentioned earlier I'm Pes C9L2, so after BMT my vocation was a Technician. 

Hopefully this can give you a rough idea how army is like after BMT.

1) Attend Courses

This is probably a technician thing. 

After BMT, its like you're studying for the next 4 months. 

From lessons in class, hands on to E-Learning.
They even have tests to test you and you have to score well for it.
If you never get at least a certain percentage you will need to recourse another 4 months. 

I'm not a very smart person but managed to get the top 12% in my cohort lah. So i think anyone can do it without a problem. 

After you get into your unit there are other courses you will need to complete.

2) Complete SOFUN

SOFUN is not actually fun. Its a term in army whereby you have to complete your IPPT, go for your range etc.

Range here isn't like in Tekong anymore, you do it in like this big facility where night time is simulated. Don't think you can escape SOFUN because the S3 clerks will haunt you down.

3) Healthy Lifestyle (HLS)

HLS is something you have to do every Odd day of the week. its tiring to exercise early in the morning. but you get to choose to go to the gym, run/walk or play games like basket ball, soccer, badminton etc.

Something to keep you going and look forward to lor!

(Anyway gym & games is depends on your unit have a not one ah) 

4) Bookout in CV

Oh gosh. Please everyone BOOKOUT IN CV. When you're in unit you can bookout in your CV attire.

I know everyone after camp will be very tired etc, want to sit inside mrt right? You want to risk wearing uniform and get stomped a not?

And now you don't have to tuck in your clothes like a nerd anymore, plus you can wear ankle socks as long as the socks are visible to the eye. 

*If you're the less fortunate one that have to stay-in camp, paiseh ah lol*

5) Botak hair is actually not allowed 

A bit ironic but you actually get punished if you shave your head bald.

There's a standard haircut by the army that you have to follow. 

Botak are for recruits & people who go to the Detention Barack. 

However you still have to shave your side burns and the back of your hair. 

*If you're naturally balding, that one of cause no worries lah*

6) Many Celebrations for you to attend

The one big fun part about army is that there are SO MANY EVENTS. 

They celebrate every festival (Chinese new year, Deevapali, Hari Raya, Christmas etc) 

On top of that you get to go on many army outings. (NSF Appreciation day, SAF day etc) 

This is what you can't get when you're actually working outside. 

Parades are also counted as such events and there are normally 1-2 events within a month. 

So this is something that you can look forward to instead of your normal standard routine.

Also, If you're lucky enough you get an OFF day on your birthday too! Well that depends on your superior too!

7) Superiors are actually very nice

I don't know about you. unlike BMT I was blessed enough to have so many nice superiors. 

In fact I think there aren't any superiors that I dislike in my unit. 

They really respect you, and care for you. Most importantly, they trust you.

My dog passed away one month before I ORD. I received the bad news while I was in camp and told my superior immediately.

Without hesitation, he asked me to leave and go back to accompany my dog for his last few moments.

Even after I ORD, they still asked if I was doing alright and how my family was coping. This is something that I will never forget. To have such gracious and genuinely kind superiors, I am truly blessed.

8) Instant Cleaning Sponges

If you're always in the mud, getting dirty or even having grease on you. This is something that you need. 

Better than wipes, this sponge is very durable sia. like forever won't spoil one I tell you. Dirty just use soap to clean it.

What's good about this is that it cleans you off very quickly, okay lah if you're a bit dirty you can actually just use the sponge to clean your face without cleanser. SAVE YOU A LOT OF TIME.

Anyway, if you're a technician like me, you often get grease on your clothing and it turns into this dark difficult to wash away dirt. Just use the sponge  with water to wipe it away, the effect is immediate.

Update* People kept asking me where to buy the sponge its here:



CLICK ME

9) You can Trade Blood with Time

I think this is going to sound silly, but do you know that there's a blood donation every 3 months, and when you go and donate your blood in the morning you can get an OFF day straight after it?

I always joked about trading blood with time is worth it, come to think of it, you might help save someone else's time and at the same time you can get an OFF day! 1 stone kill two birds. HAHA (Okay la this one you all want say chaogeng say lah hor haha)

10) Plan your Wisdom Tooth Extraction

Please everyone. Get your wisdom tooth extracted when you're in the army. Don't be a pussy, scared to extract. Its free!!! On top of that you get 16 days of MC (8 for each side of your wisdom tooth)

I would say I went for the MC of cause. (I know people going to KP again, say you geng - please hor throughout my entire unit life i only took MC ONCE + this wisdom tooth extraction)

Moreover, if you were to get your wisdom tooth extracted after army, it will cost you around $700-800/tooth. See you want GENG a not lor *roll eyes*

11) You get to experience things 

One big part of my army career (I would treat this two years as an internship) is that you get to experience many different things that you don't see.

In my unit, I was the media guy, always in charge of anything that has to deal with posters/photos/videos just to make fellow NSFs have a better view of the army.

I will always feel blessed to be part of NDP SG50. Being the Media IC for our maintenance section. Sounds tiring but it was worth it.

For many of you haters who think I PES C chaogeng, wait until you did what I've done for my unit then you come and say i Chaogeng bah. - laughs

12) Before you realise, its over

This got to be funny because we always complain haven't ORD but actually time passes really quickly.

With so many events, course for you to attend, its like hitting milestones every few months which makes your army time fly like free flow one! haha

13) When you look back, you actually enjoyed it

I never thought I would say this. I've always thought that the army is a waste of my time but when so many good memories, the positive has already flushed the negative ones away.

Not to say that army is really FUN. It is the moments you experience are fun. I don't know how to put it but I felt very accomplished back in my unit.

I've done what I wanted to do, and i really thank my superiors for entrusting this task to me and also recognise my efforts for what I've put in for my unit.

I will always remember what my CO told me while he gave me the CO coin.

"I'm sorry but I don't have anything else to give you other than this!" - SIBEI TOUCHED OMG.

Last but not least, I would like to take this time to thank my fellow peers, my S3, DY, OPs Warrant, BSM, Superiors in my Depot for giving me such an amazing an positive army experience.

- I'm like 10months late to say thank you but still, Thank you for being kind and gracious towards me

I've come to the end of this post. I hope this will help people to have an idea of how army looks like. Its not all negative lah, Singaporeans just like to complain, and I know MANY MANY people will kpkb after seeing this.

I only have 1 thing to say to you haters,

If by scolding me will make you happier, then feel free to do so. At least I've made someone happy today.

P/S : PHOTOS ARE GOOGLED Feel free to ask me to take down thanks!

A message to enlistees

I'm CFC Kife wee and in 2.5 months time it will be about 1 year after I've ORD

Just 2 days ago I was being called up for mobilisation and went back to Kranji Camp 2. 

This somehow triggered me to write this entry as it brings back a lot of memories. 

If you're someone that is 'new' to this army thing, this might be a very good guide for you. 

1) Specialist letters works.

Before Army, I've sustained an injury from doing NAPFA test (also known as IPPT) back when i was taking a module in my poly year. 

I underwent physiotherapy at a local polyclinic for a few months and did not recover. (because ligament cannot heal once it is torn)

Even with 3 letters written by my therapist, the medical officers did not believe me and chose to give me a Pes B.

I had to go down to MINDEF at depot road 8 times in the span of 8 months. 

They wasted 8 fucking months of my life. 

At the last straw, I had to tell them to send me to for MRI by a specialist in a local hospital. (Say this because the Army will pay for it, not you)

After which, I was examined unfit due to my a tear in my right ankle and was given a Pes C9L2

Verdict - If it is a legit injury, fight for your rights.

2) Tekong is a Green Zone

Many years ago, you must have heard that you can only bring in non-camera phones to Tekong, that's because back then Tekong was a RED zone.

 So now you can feel at ease and bring in your iPhone 7 or whatever. 

3) Bring a Portable Charger

If you want to use your phone, it is wise to use a portable charger. Although there's a stupid rule that you cannot bring in USB cables, you can always buy cables that are built in portable chargers at any challenger store.

The reason is simple, you cannot use multi plugs in your bunk if not it might trigger a power failure in the company, and there are definitely NOT enough ports for you everyone in the bunk to charge their phones. 

A 12000 mAh portable charger will be good enough to endure the first 2 weeks of confinement.

4) Shave before you go in

Well, If you think a $2 haircut will be good wait until you try and let the auntie shave your head lo. 

I tell you ah, they anyhow shave one, shave until unbalanced and look like shit, and they are quite rough with you. Cos they want it quick.

5) PLEASE APPLY SUNBLOCK

Your peers will definitely call you gay, ah gua or sissy for doing this. wait till they get sun burned on their stupid head and you will see them struggle like hell. 

IT IS FUCKING PAINFUL TO GET SUN BURN ON YOUR SCALP. Because you're botak and your scalp is very sensitive to the sun. apply sunblock everywhere on your skin and your scalp. 

Trust me, I did not have a single sun burn when I was in tekong and you will see a lot of guys with red- skin peeling scalps because they want to be a MAN. - Jokes are on you dumbtards.

6) Just follow whatever instructions even if it doesn't make any sense

Most of the time in the Army, you're bound to do a lot of stupid things.

JUST DO IT and don't get yourself in trouble, don't argue back because your superiors are stubborn.

If anything bad happens it is okay, because its their fault not yours. don't risk yourself getting punished. 

If you're a clever person you will understand what I mean. 

7) You will meet a lot of weirdos 

Army is really an eye opener. You get to see many weird people. 

From the famous people who likes to 'geng' to stupid and childish ones who wants to challenge the system, you name it, they have it. 

If your buddy is like that, good luck to you just remember you probably won't see him after that 2 months so just bare with it. 

8) Don't be an idiot 

When your sergeant tell you not to go to the canteen by yourself, please do not go. Don't be a fucktard and try to challenge the system because when you do, EVERYONE WILL KNOW. 

You know why? Because only recruits are botak. When you see 1 botak guy at the canteen alone - you know what happens next? CONFINEMENT good luck to you.

9) Please bring wipes 

The magic trick to field camp is to bring a packet of wipes. People judge you for bringing such stuffs but end up asking for it. Wipes are super useful to clean your face at night. Don't tell me you want to sleep with a face full of dirt and camou-cream it is fucking disgusting.

9.5) Instant Cleaning Sponges

If you're always in the mud, getting dirty during field camp, this is something that you need. 

Better than wipes, this sponge is very durable sia. like forever won't spoil one I tell you. Dirty just use soap to clean it.

What's good about this is that it cleans you off very quickly, okay lah if you're a bit dirty you can actually just use the sponge to clean your face without cleanser. SAVE YOU A LOT OF TIME.

Some more you just need to deep the sponge with water to clean yourself can already. 

Update* People kept asking me where to buy the sponge its here:


CLICK ME

10) Don't worry if you don't know how to shoot

Just like everyone else, it is their first time handling an equipment.

It was also my first time using a gun, and I swear that i suck at shooting games. I was worried like fuck because I was afraid to fail. But in the end i tell you. IT IS FUCKING FUN SIA. 

I got 28/32 for my first shooting. I did not get to shoot the last 4 rounds because my gun fucked up if not I would probably get full marks. 

Take this opportunity to enjoy, when the night turns dark and when you're sitting with ear plugs on waiting for your turn, look up to the skies. It is amazing. 

11) You won't get fat no matter how much you eat

Trust me, I ate 3 meals a day, plus night snacks everyday. I lost weight in the end. I don't know why also and i don't even exercise that much because I'm pes C. LOL

and don't worry la, the food doesn't taste that bad okay! Morning breakfast normally got can choose kaya/peanut butter/butter bread.

night snacks got cakes one!

12) Mean boys

Just like Mean girls, there are mean boys. They call you names, things that are not appealing to you.

People just have something to say about you and won't shut the fuck up.

Well, I appeared to be more feminine than average guys so people like to call me names thinking that it will offend me. 

Sorry lor, if you think what you say is going to hurt me, You're wrong. because to me, you're just like a kid who i still struggling with puberty. 

So just let them say what they want. always remember, after this 2 months, 

YOU PROBABLY WON'T SEE THEM EVER AGAIN. 

13) Unit life is way better

If you think the rest of your army life will be like BMT. You're wrong.

Sergeants in your unit are just like you. Your friends! People that you can count on and not afraid of. 

I was blessed to go to a unit full of people who respects you. So I'm sure it will definitely happen to you. 

I hope this 13 pointers will help you, if you have anymore questions feel free to email me at kife@thedecemberstudio.com 

Also, hit me up if you're keen to know more about unit life! 

that's all for now, goodbye!

p/s - images are mostly googled, if there's any photos you that offended you please ask me to take down via email.

How My Face Was Destroyed & Restored

I must say, this took me a lot of courage to write. (All photos in this post are unedited)

In the Beginning 

For the past 12 months, I've been traveling a lot and because of the difference in weather, I often experience acne problems.

This problem began back in April, Where I had quite a lot of new pimples after my second Japan trip.

(My skin was still okay back in Japan)

After  I came back pimples did not stop growing. It was always there on and off.

(This was probably the worse after my Japan trip)

But the problem wasn't that big, it wasn't a big deal so I could still handle it.

The Breakout

Until recently after my friend's wedding, I had a major breakout.

(This photo was taken on the same night on my friend's wedding)

I would say the skin that night was pretty flawless and nice, I was so happy. 

UNTIL THE NEXT DAY

My face decided to fuck up. Its like these fuckers decided to grow at this age instead of puberty.

6 days after the breakout

My face decided to let it go~ LOL

What Happened?

Actually I felt that it was because of the prawns I ate during the wedding. I ate 4 of it and the next day I had the major breakout. 

Depressed

I felt like my world came to an end

I had never in my life had such a bad breakout. 

New pimples start coming out even before the old one heals, it was never ending.

Every day was a living hell

If you noticed, I didn't take photos and post on my social media any more. A lot of posts were throwbacks. The most was shoot for a particular ad and use photoshop to edit away the blemishes.

Not even Snapchat or Insta story because THAT'S WORSE! MY PIMPLES WOULD BE SO VISIBLE.

Even with concealer, you can't conceal the parts were it is bumpy and dry.

I didn't even want to look dress up and look nice anymore. Because my face fucked up.

I had to tolerate friends asking me what happened to my face to some point of time where I had to wear a mask to go out (SERIOUS) 

At some point of time I thought of committing suicide

Come to think of it now its quite stupid la, but you know its so sad that it made me ALMOST cry. 

My face is my confidence and when my face gets fucked up I have no confidence at all. 

I get paranoid when my people don't talk looking in my eye.

If their eyes slightly move to look at the other parts of my face I would be unhappy.

It was very very sad lah really.

Healing Phase 

In less than a month my face started to show progress of healing

And here is today (Pardon never shave LOL)

I put concealer on my face when I go to work so the red blemishes will not be obvious. 

Although generally the face have stopped growing big angry acnes but there are still red blemishes. 

My Remedy 

1) Find out what caused the pimples to keep growing
I felt that my concealer and pimple cream did not help me with my helping this time.
I changed my concealer into a new one (same thing but new)
I've also replaced my pimple cream with a new brand (cb 10 times more expensive also)

 2) Stopped eating seafood
I'm not a big fan of crabs, prawns and squids so It was pretty easy for me to quit eating them
Although it was always a struggle at the Japanese Restaurant, but for my face it was worth it.

Prawns sometimes can be a serious cause too acne problems and I know that all along but just kept eating them because they only caused 1-3 pimples at one time so to me it was worth it.

But not when I had a face full of pimples. No no!

3) Stopped eating Oats & Soy Milk
Ironically I realise my pimples started to grow when I went on diet to eat oats daily in the morning.

I guess oats are pretty "heaty"

4) No more Snacks
This not only save my face also my body. I love to eat Doritos but I had to give up for awhile for my face to heal.

5) Wash my face slower and try to cleanse every part of it
Well I know, I always take like 20 seconds to wash my face (I very lazy I know) but now I take about 1min to cleanse my face.

6) Facial
Well thanks to my facial lady, not only that you have to stop new pimples from forming, you also have to kill the existing ones. A good way is to find a good and cheap facial to extract them out.

Here's a tip, Book 2 appointments with a 2 weeks gap, and after your face heals, go  once a month!
It does wonders to your face.

7) Masks
This is quite important, put those cooling mask that you buy for like a dollar it helps whiten your face and you do want that red blemish to go away quickly. if your skin is sensitive like mine, do it once a week.

8) Do not anyhow use new products or remedies anymore
Your face is already fucked up. Please don't fuck it up even more by trying random new remedies that you don't even know if it works. Chances are, you will get more pimples. I was stupid enough to try new products and had more pimples.

Before I end 

 Here's a photo of me that I took today (NEVER SHAVE LAH)

If you're keen to know which facial I go to, or what products I've used to help me heal feel free to email me at kife@thedecemberstudio.com

This post is to help people with sudden breakouts, it is not an ad, so I do not wish to name any brands or salons. 

I really hope you will feel better after reading this post. 

Fucked up face is not the end of the world, there's always a way to fight back!

I've come to the end of this post. This is the second post for 2016. LOL I hope I will have things to write in the future (probably when I move into my new apartment next month)

GOODBYE!