the end of another year has come. is that good or bad... hmm im getting older... time really flies (ah what the heck, this statement is getting old)

how was my 2007?

hmm i would say it wasn't well lived. first half of the year was ok i guess... but army continues to screw my life. anyway i still miss my school days and my sch frens... after all it used to be like u get to see everyone u knew in sch everyday, as early as 6:45am. but in 2007.. u dun really see them anymore... instead... now i sleep with my army frens, eat with them, work with them... but they aren't as close as sch frens, after all most of every army-made frens i have.. i only know them for 3 months, then they go, some 6 months... a few 9 months... many of every other guy are just like colleagues... and i dun really enjoy every single day...

now that 2008 is coming... i dunno... it feels as though life is pulling me further away from what i used to have -- carefree life of being a teenage student and the fun days being with sch frens. im clutching on to the volatile memories of those years... but 2007 don't stack up with them in my hands, instead it stays in my head as an empty gap between me and 2006-. 2008 is prolly gonna be another 2007, just worse... coz throughout the whole year im still in the army.. those ord-ing in dec next year sure are lucky, coz they get to end 2008 with a happy note..AND get their pink IC before christmas...

but anyway i think before i enlisted i did talk bout 2007 and 2008 being a empty part of my life, stolen by the army, time that i'll never get back... may army change my point of view in 2008...

 

anyway im starting to get bored of msn space... can someone help me create a blog on blogspot or sth? =X

been suffering the past few weeks.... it really sux to have an asshole as ur superior.

 

but anyway doughnuts+ tang yuan + wine + full moon = shiok shiok :)

firstly, my last week in sispec was um quite ok. whole week of parade rehearsals.. thurs in particular, oh man, parade from 8am to 10pm. got sunburnt. the weeek had nights out so its quite relaxing. then parade rehearsals are dam sian... march here and there, do drills, waste time sia.. but ultimately the parade was nice. met sgt yaowen lol. interestingly, he was last batch de golden bayonet award winner, then now his trainee, my fren jackie, is the new godlen bayonet award winner. guan heng was at my parade too, as a band member.. didn't know till that night when i went amk then met him lol. so anyway, full moon on pop, it sure made the evening fantastic. the parade went well, we looked smart, we took lotsa pictures, the refreshments were good, and i left the bunk i lived in for 3 months, parting my frens as we go our own separate ways. the bonds forged and memories made wont fade. so anyway i grabbed my belongings, took a last look at my bunk, took my cert and i left sispec for good. h well i will miss that place.

but freaking hell.. i didn't get what i wanted... i didn't get posted to bmtc as a instructor... that really made me depressed...

 

i got posted to guards.... how will life be? its not gonna be easy thats for sure... but its my first hand at unit's life. lets see how its like.

so anyway i tried to spend the rest of my weekend happily, though inside me i still feel sad

hmm lets just say.. it feels just like today, near dusk, as i cycled in the drizzling rain. its like.. sun setting , its supposed to be a beautiful end, and the start of the next phase of life... and yet uncertainty and sorrow appears in the pic. it gives u this refreshing yet dull feeling. haha

hey who knows... first thing tml morning they may tell me im transferred to bmtc!!

u wish alvin...

 

hey wait, its my bdae, maybe if i wish for it it may come true.. lol!

i guess i shouldn't be sad, after all.... the training in sispec is SUPPOSED to make me a section commander after all...

well actually i slept through quite a few lectures on being a section commander in terms of discipline, leadership, etc....

 

anyway full moon on my bdae, wow thats special. =D

thx to all those who messaged me happy bdae coz it does make my day, and thx for the presents. =D

 

 

the last week of my course is finally here. its my last week spent in golf coy, prolly the last week i ever step inside sispec, and tonight is the last book-in (which is why they give us 2359). i certainly did enjoy my weekend.. becoz i finally passed my soc!!!

yea man, yesterday was a saturday worthed spending in camp. it was a quiet and scary morning, the seconds before the tests felt like shit. furthermore, my detail consisted of only 3 men. 3 men running 700m can be difficult, becoz its hard ot tell if we were running fast or slow, and its also quite demoralising. i was the first among the 3 to reach the low wall, and also the only one to make it through the obstacles... i completed the ramp (final obstacle) at around 6:40min. "will history repeat itself?" this time i decided to strategise a bit... i combined 2 formulae used from my previous 2 failures and improvised on it..

the first one (thurs) i completed the ramp after 7 min, i walked out of the obstacle course and onto the pavement before jogging, and jogged all the way without stopping

the 2nd (fri).. i completed the ramp at 6:30, and ran straightaway, at a faster speed than the day before, but running on grass/soil turned out to be quite exhausting, and i stopped soon enough. from then on i took quite a few breaks in between, assuming the 30 sec buffer would help me pass

so this time i walked to the pavement, allowing myself some time to catch my breath, and then i run just fast enough to maintain the pace.

i was so excited that im gonna pass and pass out as a sergeant, that i almost lost it due to poor breathing. but i told myself to calm down and run like i was about to fail.

i managed to overtake 2 other ppl from the detail ahead, but it wasn't easy, as their speed and fatigued posture tempts me to slow down and stop running. its like a degen aura. but i managed to shrug it off by letting out a loud cry whenever i approach them.

so when i reached the finishing line, i was so overfilled with enlighthenment and excitement, as i am finally free from the torment of failing, and i earned myself a spot in the passing out parade.

 

i would like to thank all who encouraged me and kept me going.

u know, failures make ur final success more sweet and meaningful.

 

but this is not the end, im going to go for silver in ippt, and earn myself the csb that belongs to me.

 

 

 

when i realised its just 7 days to my bdae, i felt quite shocked that its already 3 weeks into november, my favourite month.

anyone watched enchanted tell me if its nice k

despite nearing the end of my course, the days i spend become darker and darker. im still tied down with a very frustrating and nerve-racking obstacle, the stupid Standard Obstacle Course. i needa get a timing of 9:59 or below in order to pass my course and promote to a sergeant. and if i fail to do so in 1 week, everything that i've gone through for the past 11 weeks would have been a waste of time... so much is at stake... enduring all the hardship for 11 weeks (+ another week next week) just to fail the whole aslc course? damn it! ARGH

 

for the past few days i've been troubled becoz of soc. i spend whole days thinking bout it.... i spend hours before the tests stoning and running my mind through the obstacle course...

i suffer like shit throughout the obstacle course, pushing myself beyond my limits

and then take the blow of failing the soc again....

 

every obstacle i reach i refresh my mind... my reflex taking control on clearing each station. i shrug off the fatigue as much as i can, giving up thoughts of giving up... all the sht that comes to my mind forms a battlefield. a war takes place in my head. the pressure is just too much...

 

yesterday my timing was 10:17... today 10:16

and today, i can feel 2 sides of me after the test. 1 being calm and encouraging myself to try again the next time... while the other side of me goes into a rage, disappointed and on the verge of breaking down.

 

sigh... the torment will go on... but the only way out is to pass soc...

will i make it? these few days will tell.

meanwhile... i have to book in now

tml another restest.. how..

so it all startedback in october, 22nd...

 

i took a plane to taiwan (it was a enjoyable ride as its my first time taking a plane)

landed at around 8:35am.. a glimpse of the environment outside the airport sparked my curiosity in what was going to be installed for the coming 3 weeks. as we walked down the halls, we tired to brighthen up the atmosphere and shake off the morning lethargy by attempting to read the (traditional) chinese signboards, and taking photos of each other. upon grabbing our breakfast (which consisted of jam & cheese sandwich, cream roll, some pastry, and grape juice), we boarded the bus and embarked on a h+ ride to camp.. during the long but relaxed journey, i spent my time observing the type of vegetation Taiwan has to offer for me to prone, and sleep on. watched some baseball match on TV too.. upon reaching camp we ate lunch (lol, whole day do nth but travel and eat) damn! the food at Meilin camp is sooo much better than any army cookhouse food i've tried so far. unfortunately, we had to wash our own plates and utensils. well the trouble is, not everyone cleans up their own mess dilligently, and you can occasionaly find detergent foam on the plates in the rack. dusk comes at 5pm, and by 6pm, it is as dark as Singapore's 8pm. the temperature is cold too, so cold you would think theres air-con everywhere (outdoor). the hottest it can ever get is prolly the 10am temperature in Singapore, and in the evenings its as cold as a shopping mall. well... autumn rox. so anyway even the night snack ROX~ strawberry bun with chocolate coating, floss bun with seaweed toppings, cream rolls... *drools*

 

outfield was freaking tough. lotsa lotsa walking, not just the distance but climbing of hills. and they are real hills, not the ones in Singapore, lol. theres this particular hill called 404 (its actually the altitude), and I've climbmbed it dunno how many upteem times, in SBO with and without rifle, in full batle order, heavy and standard versions, and its freaking tiring. I also had the chance to walk on this particular ridge, which is so narrow that if you shuffle ur feet to the left or right by 2 steps, feet next to each other, you would be rolling down to god-knows-how-far-down...

 

during my 2nd outfield/platoon battle course, we had to harbour at this bamboo plantation, thats when i knew whats cold... (not the coldest night yet). its one of the worst nights coz i woke up in the middle of the night to find 7 or 8 slugs on my field pack, 1 in my helmet.. and even when i finally got rid of them after 1 hour, trails of slime were all over my field pack..

of

 

so anyway we cleaned up, we packed, and we left for R&R

the 4 days 3 nights of fun was indeed fun. went to 3 theme parks, went to some old streets, and lotsa shopping. i only shopped during the organised tour, didn't really shop at night during the free-and-easy time. but my frens were different, they shop like crazy every night. clothes, shoes, etc. as such, i was always the first to reach back the hotel (once i didn't even bother going out), while the rest would come back at 2330.. all our meals were at restaurants. the food taste really nice, but theres just too many ppl, and its always frustrating to squeeze with 9 other ppl in 1 table, it gets kinda uncomfortable to eat.

 

on the tour bus, we watched quite a few movies. "I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry", "American Pie", "Dead or Alive", "Rush Hour 3", "Appoclypse Toe", "Blades of Glory"... i pretty much enjoyed them all, except dead or alive.

 

so many things i wanna talk about, but i think its getting late, tml gotta book in... =/. next week then edit this entry.

btw, gazing stars from a plane is an interesting experience, coz stars dun only shine from ur top. u can look straight and woah, stars. u can also see snowflakes on the plane's windows at certain altitude too. cool huh.

i wonder if eating something really sour during my soc will perk me up and keep me going till the end... or will it just make me breathless and give up.

 

anyway just had field camp... dam tired... every night only got 2-4 hours of sleep. rmb its not just bout the reduced number of hours of rest, but the amount of time spent doing something else... for 2 nights hadda walk 6km to objective.... with a heavy load too... i was so tired that i actually fell asleep while walking... but i tripped anyway. 2nd day had to do lotsa digging too, dig till blisters form, but thats not the prob... it rained!!! wth la. in fact it rained everyday during field camp.... thats seriously a no-no for outfield. anyway after like 15 (approx figure) hours of digging, everything was set up... oh and i wanted to refill my water before i take my rest, so in sheer darkness i navigated around... got decieved by a yellow lightstick which signified a trench instead of the hq... and fell into that trench... what luck...

by the end of field camp, my heat rashes were really terrible... the feeling is so.... omg-unbearable *shudders at the thought of it*

 

anyway now that field camp is cleared... i have roc to go. and that would take place next week. yup im going taiwan for 3 weeks. miss me k. lol

and yes... soc... man i dun want to fail my course after all that i've gone through just becoz of 1 stupid soc.... lets see how it goes...

 

hurray to chocolates and ice cream

cant wait for weekends... =D

soc fail, ippt no $100... but its ok...

 

mid autumn festival took place this past week, and the moon was definitely full and bright. even without nice mooncakes, i took out my green water bottle and drank it like tea, as i look up into the cold night sky, embracing the moonlight. the glow of the moon cast a blanket of serenity upon all of us, and removes all feelings of loneliness even though its outfield.

but anyway, heard that mars will be big and bright this year-end.

 

the bslc batch (juniors) came in too. they give me more pride in doing what i do everyday, coz having trainees that are doing what u went through already makes u feel good u know, haha. but they still new la, got once in cookhouse i was standing in their queue, and a few of them were talking away when i slowly turn back and look at them. sia la, dunno is it my beret or my rank, they went silent immediately and stare at me with the "did i do sth wrong? are u going to screw me?" look, XD.

hmm maybe i should wear the instructors' singlet and walk into their bunks and knock them down for fun and then flee from the crime scene.

 

thoughts that actually went on in alvin's mind during the last soc, from start to end pt...

"all right here we go... lets try for a pass"

"wow... im not panting yet, red bull does give you wings!"

"hmm... 3min 14sec.. kinda behind time..."

"yes!"

"come on... go go go"

"jia you alvin... dun stop"

"uh right... my rifle"

"1, 2, UP"

" ****, that was close" (almost fell to my doom)

"AAAAAHHH!!! (exhausted sia)"

"7min... dam i'm not gonna make it"

" **** this! fail le la"

"saturday stay back le la... anyway what should i do this weekend? hmm"

"come on alvin! is this the end?"

"i wonder whens the next soc"

"lets try to clock 11min"

 

friday learnt to play with explosives too, pretty impressive. its like... explosive! lol

 

live firing tml... dun die pls.. =X

>_< still sick. must update my anti-virus haha. but despite my deterioated state of physical capabilities, i managed to  take part in soc, clocking 14 min (fail 4 min), pass my live shoot, run 10km within 1 hour (total distance jogged/run this week= more than 22km), and i found all checkpoints in my navigation test last nite!

 

attached is a pic of a map of where i travelled by foot (with a vest, helmet, and rifle). lower red dot= day start point, while the one on the eastern side is my day night point, night start point, and night end point. yellow dots= checkpoints, green line= general route of travel. and as u can see in the map, its all forest. it was not an easy start as it rained in the morning. we not only looked like idiots standing in the rain, it made the uncovered soil muddy, our equipment wet, and the raindrops are irritating. reached back camp at 9:30pm =D.

 

from B4205 to J4103 to G1412..

 

i really miss juliet. the stores and barrack conditions are much newer/better compared to golf. even the camp pass is so much newer at juliet. the instructors are better too, or at least their style of leadership is more conducive to my training/leanring.

 

depressed.......

 

aslc - one of the toughest challenges in my life

going back to pasir laba camp again for another course. sigh.. i feel so tired and unmotivated, simply dun have the drive to train... give me a long break pls? let my body rest, let my soul heal.. but no im forced to carry on. there is no choice but endure. golf coy pls be nice. let me enjoy my 2 months...

and alvin does it again! yea i passed SOC on monday. i seem to pass everything on the last chance given (like soc and ippt in both bmt and here in bslc) . well i didn't really chiong at the start, but im having a easier time with the obstacles after so many practices in this past 10 weeks. i almost fell off the balancing beam though, lol. then when i finally cleared the last obstacle (ramp), i used the momentum to start running, and thats when the tough part comes in. i glanced at my watch, and was relieved that there is hope for me to pass. however, every step feels like shit. i wanted to stop quite badly, and was wondering if i should take a short rest at 8 min. however, i saw the long stretch of road ahead of me, and i didn't wan to risk not being able to cover that distance before 10:30. so i continued jogging and pushed myself forward. my breathing was starting to screw up, to the point im gasping for air with every step made, my throat dry as ever, as desperation filled my mind. at 9:35, i could see the finishing line, but it really felt like shit... a war was going on in my mind. i kept telling myself i dun wan to go through this in the retest, i ran and ran. i was so fearful that i might fail, wasting the efforts i've put in to reach so far... but ta da, i won the mental battle and cleared the soc in 10:03. dam it feels good sia.

 

ok so anyway, tues rain, couldn't do the flying fox thing.

 

this morning, reached back home at 10+am, slept for 5 hours, woke up with cramps in the balls of my feet,  hamstring, waist, back, and especially shoulders.

why? i took part in the 28km route march last night. it started at 7:30pm, and ended at 3:40am. its hard to believe i actually succeeded in walking such a long distance in full battle order, especially since i've only completed a 16km route march in bmt, while most of my comrades did 24.

so anyway, after the parade last night, we moved off at a irritating pace (was hoping they walked 4km/h, but turned out to be about 6km/h). after 4km, it was getting tiring already, and by 8km i had neck aches... so anyway we marched into ntu, walk and walk and walk, to field camp site, then back again, and basically walk all the way la. siao... lol

well this march was interesting coz get to see civilians watching us march. but becoz we were walking inside ntu, we were not allowed to sing. and wth la, ntu got so many up and down slopes

by 16km i had a hard time catching up with my platoon. but the 30 min rest after the 16km mark was great. but they siao one loh, for bmt its a 1 hour break.... so anyway ate a banana, seasame cookie, pineapple tart, and had 2 cups of milo for night snack. its definitely interesting staying up in the wee hours of the night, walking and walking like nobody's business, guided by the bright moonlight (it was full moon =D) and powered by mental strength.

i felt so tired and sleepy that at some point of time i was walking with my eyes half closed, and i almost fell asleep. even with the pain and fatigue putting stress on the mind, it wasn't that hard to fall asleep while walking. and it really feels like shit. but i kept reminding myself of the rank i'm going to gain at the end of the march. many things went through my mind. i thought of the 1st day i came to sispec, how i survived these 10 weeks, and now i have just this final obstacle to overcome. the last 8km wasn't easy. i was already thinking of falling out. i was getting abrasions and my feet were burning with pain. but yep, managed to hang on and reached the end pt in 1 piece. heh

 

but i was so tired i didn't had the strength to cool down, resulting in cramps in my whole body now... i also got myself abrasions (in chronological order) on my left nipple, my groin (on the left), on the right and left of my abdomen. it was painful enough walking around, but showering was hell. i almost screamed due to the intense pain. ouch.

got posted to ASLC (Advance Section Leader Course). wth... i dun feel so motivated to complete the course... theres a 32k route march u know... sigh... looks like im still gonna remain as a trainee for quite some time again... well at least im a corporal now. time for a well-deserved break. aaaah

completed 12k run today! what an achievement. even though i walked at 10k, its still incredible how i was able to jog for so long, considering the last distance i ever trained prior to this run was only 6km,  even though i didn't manage to jog all the way without stopping, im glad i made it back to the finish line in 1 piece. during the run i saw 1 guy lying along the roadside, and after the run 1 guy was brought up to the ambulance via a stretcher. and now news are announcing the death of a runner from the 21k run. it is indeed unfortunate, after all who would wan to wake up so early in the morning on a sunday morning to take part in the last run of ur life. oh well, besides that, the run was quite fun, coz get to run through city, run on highway, see scenery. i overtook a lot of ppl on the highway sia.

 

anyway postings are out on tues, which would prolly reveal my vocation for the rest of my ns life. hoping for arti, coz khatib camp is dam near my house. but chances are slim...

this is exciting, im passing  out/promoting in a few days. but 28k route march is the final obstacle that i have to face. will i make it? the last distance i ever route-marched was 16km, and it was dam tiring already...

 

anyone going for army open house?

still cant pass soc =X. ok thats not something worth celebrating. haha.

can u imagine running with so much weight bouncing on u, and they seem heavier and heavier with every step, ur boots giving u so much inertia, causing every step to be a torture... and ur helmet sliding here and there.... oh man... but on friday my section ran with me from start to end, encouraging and pushing me on. it was quite touching.

 

thurs had night's out, and my section had lan. it was pretty fun.

fri after booking out, i went to get another 3d puzzle (apple shape), and proceeded to esplanade to watch the singapore fireworks festival with my sectionmate. we reached at 8:50, and had quite a hard time bashing around to find a good view. and dam... the fireworks were really nice. i did not regret having to rush straight there from camp, while holding on to bags of dirty clothes too. then played lan till 2am and went home.

 

 yesterday morning watched bao jia wei guo, 5 episodes. certain scenes were quite touching. cant wait to find out how the story ends.

went to amk buy pepper lunch, then met up with kh yk jowie ryan huiyong for fireworks festival!!! woo!! reached our viewing site at around 5:30pm. being about 4 hours early gave us the privilege of having front row view =D. but there are still ppl who are earlier. so we chat, we took pics, played ds, eat dinner, as the crowd grew and grew. by 8:30 it was almost impossible to squeeze out of the place to find the toilet or buy a drink.

the performance was not bad, but i preferred friday's one, and i prefer last year's fireworks over this year's ones. the organisers seem pretty obsessed with remote-controlled illuminated-kites, those they used during ndp. they are pretty impressive for one time, but u'll get bored of them very easily.

took quite some pics, but deleted more than 60+ thx to handshake..

seriously, fireworks are always increasing my urge and temptation to get my very own digital slr camera. but... $$$...

someday perhaps...

 

today, i solved the 3d apple puzzle within an hour =D. went to a army gift shop to get my rank sewn too..  to have the insignia but not the status of a rank is like being teased... well, 11 days, persevere!

 

 

the past week has been quite fast. coz wed book out, thurs national day!! then book in... and fri booked out! yea man, long weekend until today. spent the whole day yesterday watching 12 episodes of bao jia wei guo, and finally caught up to the latest episode. =D cant wait for next bookout to watch 5 more episodes, lol.

 

didn't really catch national day parade, coz had to book in at night. otherwise i would have went to watch fireworks. sigh. oh well fireworks festival coming up, hopefully im free.

 

training was tough, as usual. soc was pathetic, unsurprisingly.. thx to the low wall and the swing trainer. oh yea, anyone watched episode 9 of bao jia wei guo? theres a scene of vincent ng flying up the low rope with only one loop of the rope. sia la...

soc still hasn't failed to give me injuries... i still rmb the back injury i got from bmt... my back still hurts now anyway... and all the bruises at my elbows and knees, and yes, blisters... mine was so bad it bled... i fell on top of the balancing log too, got myself some small cuts from the rifle... and i hit my mouth with the rifle muzzle before. dam soc...

the fast marches were unexpectedly tough.. its only 5k... and i've completed 16k before. and yet it feels so tough...

strength training and speed training were ok, tiring but shiok.

 

had night's out on tues too. enjoyed myself quite a bit with my section. even bought a rubik's cube. glad to say im almost done memorising the solution from a website =X. bought a 3d puzzle on wed too, and completed it in a few hours. not bad eh. going to buy another one.

 

as planned, i bought root beer and vanilla ice cream! prolly had 10 servings of ice cream float in this 4 days.

 

week 8 of my course is commencing, shall hang on to the end!

field camps over =D. the last field camp at tekong was quite fun, but tiring... as expected. Ex Wanderer on the first day was successfully tackled despite initial doubts. i nv thought that i could travel around the island, combing through all sorts of vegetation, equipped with a map and compass, welland combat ration, and surviving on 3 litres of water. haha. and our team of 5 managed to find all 6 (4 day, 2 night) checkpoints XD. actually with a lil help =X.

but the following days were EX GRANDSLAM. sucha  big word, but actually it was a fun experience. being the Leader Section Commander though, meant me doing lotsa admin stuff, even up to 11pm when the others are sleeping. and my sentry alert duty timings were 10-11, 2-3, 6-7, both am and pm. so imagine how tiring the 4 days 3 night field camp is.

the missions i took part in were 1 day ambush, 1 fighting patrol, 2 night ambush (i was sect comm for 1)

getting sick of combat rations too... i had mutton curry pasta, black pepper pasta with chicken, chilli crab pasta... but i like the dessert, barley dessert with milk. yum.

 

oh well, now its all over, no more powder bath, no more combat ration, no more mosquito swarms. yay.

 

 

however... i forgot to buy toothpaste and shower foam to restock whatever little amount that is left in my cupboard.. for the 3rd week... supply levels reaching critically low levels, lol. next week die die must resupply already...

 

has anyone tried Cadbury's Old Gold Dark Chocolate? dam i love dark chocolate, though many frens dislike the rich cocoa flavor. i happen to find one flavor, 70% cocoa. woah, it really does taste rich and bitter. must savour it block by block. shiok.

 

failed to buy A&W Root Beer and vanilla ice cream this week, i shall though... and make ice cream float! cant wait.

last 2 weeks been watching movies. harry potter and simpson's movie. dam, simpson's movie r0x! really enjoyed it. those who have yet to watch the movie do catch it pls.

upcoming movies of interest: ratatoulie, rush hour 3

 

nday coming!!!! but cant watch. fireworks festival coming!! hopefully got time...

4 weeks of sispec have passed, and im going into the 5th week! Must hang on....

 

this past week was exhausting... didn't had a proper bookout last week to start with thx to guard duty.. field camp was... interesting but kinda uncomfortable.. heat rashes, proning on thorny fields, running around with heavy load, eating rations thats not appetizing at all.. sleeping in dirty basha, oh and when it rained at night, water could actually seep through the basha o_O, making me wet from head to toe to equipment, plus a wet groundsheet to sleep on for the subsequent night.. but hey i got to throw 2 smoke grenades. =D thats pretty cool i guess. we also got to ignite a trip flare at night. dam.. its so bright it blinds ur eyes temporarily. 3 days wihtout washing ur face can be really unbearable too.. eye wax with camo paint is uh... haha.. oh and doing a quick attack beside the cemetry... wow thats interesting.

 

after field camp, our bunk stinked like hell.... and on friday we had our navigation exercise.. first checkpoint was ok, but finding our way our of the forest upon finding the first checkpoint was difficult. in the end we bashed out into a golf course of the singapore islands country club. lol. we couldn't find our 2nd day-checkpoint as it is one of the hardest to find, furthermore its somewhere in those swamps. and it rained too. its really a wonder how anyone can actually walk in the jungle and tread on a self-proclaimed path despite the thick vegetation ahead. anyway it turned out that we drifted right by a lot and ended up at the highway on the other side of the jungle lol. night navigation was a mess... we could hardly see the type of vegetation ahead of us, which was usually dead trees piled up together, forming dead-ends, let alone noticing the thorny branches we brushed past. our night checkpoint was about 150m away from that 2nd day-checkpoint, so naturally we were unable to find our night checkpoint too. stupid swamps...

 

so anyway when we got back to camp, i cleaned my rifle till 2am, slept at 3am, and woke at 5 to prepare for bookout at 6:15. dam it feels good to be out on a early morning before its bright. feels like waking up to freedom. watched harry potter at night, its quite nice, it reminds me of the time i borrowed the book from someone, and i enjoyed reading it. yx finished reading the last book; deathly hallows. hmm it would definitely be nice to own a collection of the harry potter series.

 

tonight booking back in, tml morning field camp...... waaaaaaaa........................ mus hang on... 2 more field camps to go...

recent pay is 399.20 =/ ooook..... anyway i haven blogged bout sispec life... i shall today haha

well the breakfast is definitely better than tekong!! today even got roti prata but queue too long so i queued for the "bread set" instead. my first 2 weeks were very enjoyable due to minimal physical training.. but the soc really gets me down... highlight of past week... hmm.. gypsy 1!! spend 1 afternoon getting lost in lower mandai, then night one almost lost but made my way out of the forest... its really amazing how u can look at a forest from a road and tell urself theres no way u can make out any walking path inside those trees, and the next moment bashing through the vegetation like walking in a business district on peak hours. i also had my SAW & SAR Familiarisation Shoot. woah, saw is a nightmare to have but fun to shoot, lol. beware ppl, if u are 100m from me, i have a 25% chance of hitting u with the section automatic weapon. 300m: 5% =X. but my SAR shooting is much better, a lot better. aiming with a scope feels like u're aiming with a crosshair in a computer game. haha. and theres less problems compared to the m16 in tekong coz of the age of the weapon.

 

generally im unhappy now coz i have a short bookout this weekend + guard duty tml (booking in tonight) and then field camp on tues already.... wth.... sian la.

 

i wan a break from army life.

 

pls dun let me fall sick in the weeks to come too.

heres my experience in army continued, my journey refreshed, and right now, it starts all over again... instead of tekong, pasir laba camp (hey at least im on the mainland this time). instead of the easy life i gotten used to.. its gonna be hell (maybe?).... ok depends on which company i got into. but nevetherless, the challenge has been stepped up. spending the rest of the night packing my back, stuffing the very same things that were issued to me on enlistment day. and my own personal stuff. going through the same mood as pre-enlistment... ahhhhhh when will these end..

 

oh well my block leave is over.... the break helped. back to being a soldier. goodbye my comp, goodbye my room, goodbye my kitchen, my house, my 24/7 freedom, my everything, goodbye pink IC ... may all be well and all be kind, for bliss don't last for you and i.