Sunday, April 27, 2008

welcome to the rocking

yah, kelvin, stop complaining abt ur own company. My bmt sergeant says u get plenty(and it really is plenty) of canteen breaks, so u dun really get it as bad as us after all, correct?

esc, yah it really sucks to be u. i suspect sispec can't compare delta wing, so i give it to u.

and lz, i pity u, to screw up an interview becuz of a navigation exercise is damn f***ed up.

However, me , on the other hand, was extremely extremely high and happy on friday night. just ask gen and ellen and mayb the rest of the gang who met up on sat night, when my happiness hasn't exactly died down yet(it's dying now cuz of the thought of another fieldcamp coming up).

and when u're high, u can't exactly sleep, so i actually stayed up till 0130 hrs on sat morning to attempt to wait for lz's return frm the jungle wilderness. Alas, when the second last bus returned at approx 0115 hrs, i failed to spot lz's figure from the figures disembarking one by one from the bus. No, i didn't fail becuz of bad eyesight(granted i was looking from the fifth floor, but still...), nor was it becuz i was too sleepy. It was simply becuz lz was not among them. That just means he cldn't find his checkpoint(all checkpoints are ridiculously hard to find by the way) or cldn't make it out of the jungle. I didn't want to wait up anymore and went to sleep. lz apparently arrived later at 0230, according to his post below, so i was long aslp by then.

Well, i pity him. being stuck in the jungle, unable to find a small little signboard stuck to a tree(sometimes it might even have fallen off, and u find it on the ground lying somewhere), is not a very nice experience. heck, it's a very screwed up experience if ur team members think u're strong and they ask u to carry the team store items while navigating in the jungle. I personally had that experience during the first navigation exercise (the one on friday was our second one). This first one, i was being led by my instructor ad a fellow team member who tot he was gd at navigation. so i let them do it. Alas, my navigator was somewhat stupid after all, our instructor was new and knew little, and our wherethefuckarewe tribe spent the whole 8 hrs of the exercise stuck in the jungle, stuck in swamps, and combing tree after tree in search of checkpoints which we found only one. worse still was the fact that we had only 2 ippt gold award holders in our 11 man team, and it naturally became me and my friend who carried the team's food and signal set all the way. 6kg and 9 kg of weight respectively. 8 hrs. our shoulders died.

Navigation exercise 2. each detail(team) now only has 5 ppl. i was the only gold award in my detail, so i carried the signal set. 9kg. someone else carried the food but half the ppl meant half the food. 3kg. not so much of a problem. I didn't want an experience similar to my first exercise, so i told my detail i would be the chief navigator. and how my detail loves me now. for carrying the signal set throughout, for leading them nicely out of the wilderness. Unlike lz's tribe, we followed paths, even if it meant we had to take a longer way, and did minimal bashing. our compass and pacer were hardly used. For the night nav, we reached our checkpoint within 30 mins frm setting out, at 2000 hrs, reached back base at 2030 hrs and were sent back to camp, which we reached by 2205 hrs, long b4 lz found his wrong checkpoint. how happy i was, how happy my detail was, cannot be easily explained in words. especially cuz our detail was the only 4 man detail, having lost 1 man to a scorpion attack 40 mins frm the start of the exercise. how my detail thanked me for being the only person who knew how to use the signal set to comms back to control base to get the medic over to our location. in all, felt damn accomplished for this exercise.

so the ocs ppl, gd luck for nav ex and try not to screw up.

to chin ee, sorry that orion coy seems to have became even more xiong than when i was in there. hang in there and u'll come out fine. rmb to secure ur helmet, lbv and rifle during field camp(yes orion seems to be the only coy which stunts even ur helmet ad lbv). dun ever b late for anything(orion is confinement crazy), n clean ur rifle well(the rifles IA like siao one). take care!

and to lz, wish u luck for the next nav exercise, which is going to be a test. and wish me luck too, no matter how much i rock =P (kidding la, was actually qte lucky for nav ex 2, really)

Saturday, April 26, 2008

welcome to the suck

Kelvin, stop b!tching, everyone's getting the same shit in sispec.
ESC, sucks to be you.

There's so many things i hate about outfield. I can't decide between the cammo, mosquitos or filth. This week we did a 3day fieldcamp immediately followed by jungle navigation. Alas, as the chieftain of the wherethefuckarewe tribe(pronounced where the !fuck! are we?) I was unable to lead my clansmen out of the wilderness.

We reached another checkpoint ~100m from our own at 2230hrs. I comm'ed back and was told to return as they're terminating the ex soon. We got back at 2330hrs. The enchik say 'walau its so close lei, neh here(points to map) only you search up and down the stream can le, now go back and try harder'. Its now 2345. We went back in in search of the A4 sized checkpoint marker 1.2clicks away through primary forestation. After bashing through for 2clicks we're totally lost. I decided to head for the highway we've been walking parallel to to reference our location. Ok so the road runs straight east-west without any significant features. Time 0030. Only 6 of the 30 tribes remain, the rest have been evacauted to civilization. By now the short flexible antenna is giving us very bad reception, my seconday comm set had better signal, that being the SE W950i. Changing to the 3m 5 section aerial allowed clearer transmissions but severely limited mobility especially in the vegetation. Permission not granted to cut exercise. By executive decision I turned my team back along the highway and setup camp 50m from base. We stayed perfectly still and silent as vehicles and other returning teams passed within 10m of our position. The advantage of not being able to see beyond 5m is that nothing beyond 5m can see you. Our hearing has never been clearer. Finally at 0130 we're recalled along with the other 2 remaining teams. Being the last to go back meant that its our duty to pack up the command post. We got back to camp at 0230, spent the next 1.5hrs cleaning up not only our own equipment but the command truck as well.

I reached home at 0430 and took 30min to prepare my documents. Revellie 0700 for award ceremony at SYFC where they p!n the aviator's wings on your jacket and say good job now join the airforce. I told them to foxtrot oscar. Ok I didn't. The photo-taking and hand-shaking did not end until 1030. My dad also hor lan in west camp before picking me up. Reached NUS Bt Timah at 1105 just in time for the law interview at 1115. Now comes the classic part. I fell asleep in the waiting area! The assoc. prof. had to come out to find me. He spent the next 30min asking all sorts of current affairs questions. My mind was totally blank, I tried very hard to think of something but all that pop up are bazookas, enchiks and pushups. Somewhere along the interview I mentioned a quote from my enchik, 'do you smell something chaotar? your weekend is burning.'

So I'll probably not get accepted by law, but its my 2nd choice anyway. Curiously, I saw this article on MSN. Here are some extracts from the article.

#1 putting off college for a year in favor of some much-needed downtime

#2 A growing number of high school seniors are balking at riding the academic conveyer belt from preschool all the way to university. They’re burnt out.

#3 they want to explore a few interests before deciding what to study in college

#4 Taking a gap year can actually make kids more focused and ready for the rigors of academic life.

Now consider how MINDEF provided us with the perfect gap-year enrichment.

#1 Regimentation will very much relax our stress nerves so that we can recover from the damages of A lvls.

#2 Since we're also burnt out it wouldn't hurt to have our weekends burn in camp guarding our country's military installation from Mas Salamat.

#3 NS is the perfect prep-course for my future B.Sc in Military Studies.
?
#4 Urhhh, d/dx(versinX)=H2S?

Thursday, April 17, 2008

harloooo

Hi! I still read here haha xD

Well so my life has been rather boring or happening, depending on how you look at it lol. Got a job helping out my aunt at her firm...it's been almost 4 months now. Haha over here we're always living in the next month...always planning things for the next month.

Anyway, I wake up, no drag myself out of the bed, every morning and fight with all the people in the MRT for a seat haha and then go all the way to TP and then start one more day of clearing files and other saikang work. Haha it can be quite sian sometimes because some of the work is really terribly mundane, like photocopying a tall pile of receipts(I once did that for 2 hours ZZZ plz). But sometimes it can get quite crazy because it's like 765263782 things at the same time that people want you to do. SO. THAT'S THE FUN PART HAHA.

*ehem* okay.

No actually it's frustrating lah. People all want you to do their things (and sometimes they can actually do themselves) and of course they think that you have nothing else and nothing better to do than to do for them whatever it is. It's the same for school isn't it. Teachers think that we only study their subject and we only have their homework to do.

Anyway I think I'm going out of point so...haha. Another time maybe. AND GOGO CLASS GUYS ON THE WAY TO COMPLETING NS!

Monday, April 07, 2008

2 more days..

okies. firstly thanks ys for the insightful knowledge man! just that dun have how to "chao keng" part in your guide. haha.

i think i'll be surviving inside.. just that i'll probabaly lose all the excitement you all had.. like cos all of you like out of BMT?!? so like er. i got no one to exchange info on bmt.. its like you all j2 and i'm like j1, and no one to rant about promos.. lolz. haha okay. nvm. then all of you all talk about how exciting ocs, sispec and tanks and all that.. i'll be like woahh route march here and there..then when you all ord. i'll be like er. sian.. haha 3 months more lol. okies. nvm. when you coming out of army, pls plan stuff ahead of you.. like start looking for temp jobs, or like go for courses. to either self improve or buff up resume.. up to you all la.. but yup dun waste the 6 months or so, especially you all get to enjoy it 1 short.. not like me 3 months 3 months... advice you all to think early. yupp..

so yup. dunno when will be the next class outing.. hopefully when i pop lol. i try to organise.. like weekends. like gathering or something.. so IMPT!! check where and what you'll be doing about june 11 to like june 20.. possibly that i pop by then. then yup maybe can have outing again!

to the ocs people: umm 2 more weekend! jia you! i wun be out when you all book out. so ya.. jamie, jasper, gerard, shun cheng, txy! jia you man! next time maybe you all posted to units where you'll see the sispec people too. haha! and those in delta (scholars company) damn lucky la. soo good! haha. okie anyway, take care hor!

to the sispec people: um ys, kel, lz.. jia you too.. first few weeks more xiong then ocs le hur.. must take care k! dun get injured! yupp not worth it de. yupp. and er, kel in delta, ys in hotel, lz where ar? umm update update k! haha

to wing: now driving tank ar? or something else haha. um next time you drive tank and you see me drive car on the road, dun shoot your guns at me hor. haha! okies. anyway, hope ya having fun there too.. no air con rite.. stuffy..

to occ: umm okies yoour some airforce weapons trainee rite? what exactly you do ar? saikang? like quite slack rite? see you on msn like the most often. haha, othet than the ocs people lor. or like kel who somehow manages to use the comp almost every night... anyway, get the most out of it there! =)


ya so as a pre enlistee, i'm like soooo gonna treasure my 2 days of freedom.. lolz but its soo more and more like a book out to me. cos like normal book out also about 2 days...

anyway, people pls post. haha thanks ys for all your long posts, and ahh since sc in ocs now, i thikn he'll post when he comes back rite (: all the resident posters in ubercool. and gerard!! post too. hahaha! um jameson you can post stuff so lz you can do cut and paste your post, edit and post again. yeah. haha. cos we do have LOTS of readers! i think we should put a counter man!


in case you all forgot , pls check june 11 to 20 by sneaking into your commanders office and check their schedule. whether you all free. and either tag or like post pls, ty! hahaha!

okies that's all from me...


pre enlistee, soon to be recruit,
chinny chin chin (:

Sunday, April 06, 2008

enlistment act

chinny is finally going in soon. 3 days. better start preparing, chinny.

so here's abit of advice. i told u most through msn liao, but i'll put them here in case u need reference again. and the list u received long time ago shld help too.

ok so things u shld bring:

pt shirt (1-2)
pt shorts (1-2)
admin tee(dun need, the army market sure got ppl try to con u to buy one, no point)
white socks(1-2)
green towel(1) (they'll giv 2, but i advice u buy one so u can do wat i always do, one for using, one for field pack(stand-by-field pack), and one for cupboard(stand-by-bed))
8 hangers
clothes pegs (useful if u dun want the risk of ur clothes dropping downstairs)
loads of underwear
loads of plastic bags
ziploc bags(no hurry though, but since going army market just shun bian lor)
washing powder if u're washing clothes
brush (useful when washing clothes but not a neccessity)(whole bmt i was the only guy in my platoon who had a brush)
mp3 player
book
nail clipper
shaver
toothpaste toothbrush
soap and shampoo
orange cloth (2)(one for rifle, one for stand-by-bed)
garters
alarm clock
watch (good to tell the time, but i survived my whole bmt and first 2 weeks of sispec without watch. highly recommended that u hav a watch during field camp though. u'll understand when the time comes)(watch must be black though)
food (dun really need for first 2 weeks, but will need for subsequent weeks)
drinks (if u think ur bag not heavy enuff)
extra hp batt (dun disappoint trish, later she sad u cannot talk to her)
coins
plasters
rags
powder(prickly or saf one up to u)
photos (optional, but nice to stare at trish all night long)

ok abt all lah. the rest will be general advice.

1. when u go army market, pls dun buy frm malay stallholders. they cheat money. buy frm stalls where u see ppl buying frm. and pls bargain, or the price u get is damn lousy one. bargain as much as u can.

2. on ALL route marches, wear double layer socks. white inside, green outside. helps a lot against blisters.

3. guitar and other musical instruments are actually allowed, but they're big and easy to spoil so up to u.

4. bring airtight container for ur food, unless u want to share wif rats.

5. (HIGHLY IMPT!) this one no hurry, u wun need it soon, but u'll definitely appreciate this when the time comes. BRING WET TISSUE! or WHATEVER GIRLS USE TO REMOVE MAKEUP WIF! u can ask trish or any of the girls abt this. but i kinda nvr asked them cuz wet tissue works like a miracle le. on the green and black camo that is damn hard to remove.

6. there's this thingy called scotch brite. which are pad- like thingys which are impressive and removing kiwi stains. u might want to have them, then collect funds frm ur section and share them wif ur section. stand-by-area for ur section might be a whole lot easier.

7. before any stand-by-area which u think ur section cannot make it alrdy. go mop the floor and make it wet. ensures that all stains and markings and dust cannot be seen at all because of the wet floor. my section survived 3 stand-by-areas because of this trick.

8. when there's a stand-by-bed and u dunno where to hide stuff that u dun want to be seen. stuff them all into the duffel bag and put the duffel bag under ur bed. it's allowed and saves u a lot of trouble.

9. be mentally prepared that before any bookout there'll be either a stand-by-area or stand-by-bed. so start cleaning up the area a day before bookout so it'll be less hectic on bookout day.

10. liquid kiwi allows for much faster polishing of boots and much better shine too but damages ur boots over time. solid kiwi works just fine for me cuz i hav 4 yrs experience of polishing boots. up to u which one u want to use, but the army only provides solid kiwi so u hav to buy ur own if u want liquid kiwi.

11. speakers that go wif ur mp3 makes ur bunk like a partying place and reduces a lot of boredom. my section was the only one that had speakers, so the sergeants always came to our bunk to listen to music, talk cock wif us, then zhao when they had things to do. much more fun lor.

12. bring book during live range or u'll be bored to death. alternatively, u can carve wood just like wat i did.

13. when u go outfield or live range or handgrenade range, u'll hav alot of time and u might get hungry. useless if u hav food in bunk and they're really in ur bunk. when going this places, it'll be useful to put food in ur lbv like wat i always do. dunno y nobody learns frm me. whole day ppl come look for me for food instead of bringing their own. so advice is to bring and keep quiet abt it. if ppl see u eating and ask then giv if u want to. if not, just keep quiet.

yup yup that's all! and that's a lot of advice le. u shld survive damn comfortably liao. if u still cannot then i dunno wat to do liao. just go oot(out of training). lol.

take care inside!