Sunday, January 29, 2006
bAck

Phew~

Feeling dam freakin tired after another confinement...field camp really takes a lot outta a person...

Now I have got 5 days of holidays! What could be better immediately after field camp?! I feel its a well deserved rest...

So lets see, range and field camp is over. Now only left SIT test, IPPT and SOC...no problem la! Haha...it'll be over v quickly.

Worst things about field camp:

- You'll be sleeping outfield i.e. no comfortable beds. Just soil, trees and grass all around.

- The 'toilets' are most...'accomodating'...

- Mosquitoes will suck you dry~! Especially in reclaimed land. Better bring ur insect repellants! I'm serious!


- You're almost totally blind at night, and you still have to find a way to pack all ur stuff for the coming activities. It's v difficult, trust me...O_O

- You cant bathe with water!!! (except for 4th day) Only with powder...lots and lots of it! In other words, you'll be dam dirty! Yux.

- There's always a danger of snakes or centipedes. A person actually got bitten by a snake during my field camp. Luckily it was only a small snake, and wasnt serious.

- Finally, digging trenches suck. Dig until backache!

- Its 7 days being cut off from civilisation. SEVEN! Heck, what am i complaining about?? I completed mine alrdy... =P

- The instructors will seem to hate you even more...

Best things about field camp:

- Some of the activities you'll be doing is quite fun. (Fire and movement, I.A etc.)

- You'll get to really work together as a group.

- They give u lots of food. I mean really a LOT. You can keep on eating and there'll still be more...

- Its a new experience. Any single person should at least experience this sort of things once in our lives.

Anyone who wants more details on the camp, feel free to look for me. I'll be happy to share my experience...haha. I sound like an old man =X

Hmm...range was quite interesting as well. Shooting live ammunitions! The downside is that the gunpowder smoke will get into ur nose and eyes immediately after u fire, and furthermore firing will make the rifle v v dirty...

I was told that our results for range was that all of us passed. A large majority of us got around 20+/32. That's not that good now is it? Haha...I doubt i did well at all either. My stupid lane the target does not go down some of the times when I score a hit...den i'll be like readjusting my shots all the time...its v demoralising when I keep seeing myself 'miss'! Counting the times that the target went down, it'll be like 15/32 only! Its a failure man! Luckily that's not true =)

Another thing. Whether for better or for worse, I was appointed the platoon I/C for 3 days during these 2 weeks. Wah I tell you, sometimes it just gets v stressful man! Must always make sure everyone falls in on time. Whatever orders must be conveyed to the platoon ASAP. Most importantly, strength must always be accounted for accurately and quickly! Somemore sometimes some ppl in the platoon will not cooperate with u fully...

Anyway I managed to get thru being platoon I/C almost without much incident. I nearly got 1 extra guard duty during my appoinment because I found out I reported the wrong strength to the sgt in charge. Though in truth I reported correctly, which I found out shortly after, and I put everything right...haha. Lucky lucky!

Being the I/C has taught me many things. Responsibility and commitment to name a few. Another thing, pls respect the ppl who are addressing you. At least give them ur attention. Its irritating when you're trying to address ppl when they're not listening...haha. Does that sound familiar? Im sure some of ur teachers have said that b4.

During field camp, I made a foolish mistake of not slinging my rifle to my body while eating. The result? I got to do sentry that night...here's wad happened. My rifle was right beside me, less than 5cm away. I turned to talk to my fren for a few secs, den turn back, gone liao. Apparently this shit platoon 2 guy stole my rifle in exchange for his from his sgt when his got stunned from him. Like how selfish can someone get? So the sgt was hinting me to get another rifle, but I didnt really want to saboh another person ma, so i didnt. See I'm so good man! Haha...actually another thing was because I didn really dare to steal one la. =P

Sentry wasnt so bad. 2 hrs of prowling around the camp site only. Walking around half asleep only...haha. There was an upside to it though. Guard duty personnel will be excused from activities until noon the next day. In my case, it meant that I skipped the 3-4 click route march to the new camp site the following day. A vehicle brought us there. So nice la!

Aiya I tired of typing alrdy la. Any other extra stuff I'll update another time...=P

Monday, January 09, 2006
IrOny

The funny thing about yesterday was that we, the PTP batch of recruits, were happily booking out to go home while the 'normal' batch were just preparing to go in...haha.

It brings me back to 1 month ago, when I was also preparing to enter NS. The dreadful, reluctant feeling of giving up your freedom to serve your country. The thought of not seeing loved ones for 2 weeks. There were still so many things for me to do...

While those feelings are somewhat disappearing inside me, I still feel chained to the army. I can never fully enjoy the times I book out. The thought of spending so many more weeks in Pulau Tekong just brings all the fun out of it.

4 weeks have passed for me. It has been grueling, yet enlightening. We suffered much, yet we gained many invaluable experiences. The times when we all endured the sufferings and pushed each other onwards. Come to think of it, I do not really know how I managed to get past the weeks thus far.

These 4 weeks have been rather fruitful for me. I gained many new friends. I can now pass my 2.4km run fairly easily, ie no need to chiong like hell. Furthermore, we are significantly ahead of the 'normal' batch in terms of military knowledge. Hence, I feel that we wont need to rush as much as them.

Luckily for them, they'll be coming out on Hari Raya, which is tomorrow.

Here are some of my thoughts. I feel that the army system is a bit too much of the follow-the-book type. Why am I saying this? I'll be booking in today at 9, and booking out tmr night for Hari Raya. Wont that waste a hell lot of time??? I feel its a bit dumb.

Why cant they just let us out on Sunday instead and only get us back in on tues night? I, for one, would not mind exchanging my Saturday for a Monday.

This way, its definitely more practical.

Of course, there are reasons why they cant do that as well. For example, maybe the instructors are not working on the weekends? Or perhaps they are just not free?

The army encourages thinking soldiers? O_O

Hai. There's still a long way to go. At least 9 more weeks of living away from home. I am feeling sick of repeatedly going back to Tekong, facing all the instructors and adhering to a strict monotonous lifestyle. I am tired. Really.

Sure, I'll get my life back. In 2 years.

Military lifestyle sux. It is not for me.

I just wanna get through this 2 years as fast as possible.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006
bOrEd

Haha, I'm supposed to blog, but now very little time left, so I'll make this a fast one.

Last week when I returned from camp, I was elated! So happy that I could see everyone again. Furthermore, it was Christmas! Had a lot of fun with everyone then. Dot, Semaj,YK and Meng spent the night at my house. We spent the whole night playing dai dee la...haha.

However the next day, I fell sick with fever, and it was no slight fever either. However since the clinics were closed due to public holidays, I could not get an MC. So I went back to camp, still with fever. I took Panadol to lessen the torment and it worked. A few days later, my fever was gone, but a cough came up.

So up to now, that same cough has been bugging me day and night. Even last night, I spent at least half an hour before being able to sleep, all because of that dumb cough. Anyway, I got an MC for 2 days, so I'll be going back in tmr morning...haha. I heard that there's route march tmr, hopefully I dun need to take it. =P

Strange right. Both times I booked out I got sick. O_O

Anyway no time liao. Gotta go.

Hmm..are the others who are going into NS due to tgo in sometime around this week?? Haha. I'm so looking forward to seeing all of u with short hair as well! >=)