last night was the last night two great friends were going to spend at this camp; they have since gone home, in fact, on their way home now.

it all began last night with two cans of heineken and 7-up. well, 7-up was the game and heineken was... you should know better. thing was, those two cans were taken in real slowly. there was no kick; there was nothing.

and then we moved into the mess - the "entertainment hub" for our civilian-friends - and started singing. like any other military elsewhere, singing would finally make way for what is know to civilians as Shouting. so anyway, we Shouted emo farewell songs for those leaving us, and in the process of it had more cups of beer and alcohol mixed in a cup. lovely concoction eh? wrong.

just a 1cm tall cup of 58% alcohol drank dry would make any chest warm and fuzzy, and for some cause serious gastric pains. Ouch. now imagine beer with that alcohol, multiplied by say 5 cups (i can't even remember how many cups i had, there were just too many).

and then there was the guinness stout. till now i have absolutely no idea whatsoever why people like stout. there's this caramel old ancient taste that seems to come from the old dynasties of whatever civilisation, and honestly, it's just simply not nice. short of gross, but just not nice. thank goodness it was just one cup.

and then there were the competitions. one versus one, see who can finish one can of beer the fastest and the slower one will drink about half a can of the 58% alcohol. that one i was not part of.

in the end, i was feeling tipsy - which is not the same as being drunk; it is more of a really really tired feeling under a moderately sedated mind. the others, well let's just say they went completely ballistic with themselves. one peed in the drain, another took off his boxers in the fish pond, ah the list goes on. but one thing united us all last night; we all went into the fish pond, voluntarily or involuntarily we all just did.

call it camaraderie, there was just this unity we felt. remember that saying One for All, All for One? i guess that was what we felt - that drunk, no, tipsy camaraderie.

now that they're both gone, there's definitely a void emotionally and physically too. but hey, september draws nigh and soon i'll be home as well. all i wish is for this camaraderie, drunk or tipsy or not (hopefully the latter) , to be present well into the future; for it is these friendships that i take home with me and will remember always.