..:: 350. The One With Ex UNICORN ::..

Kaoz... so long never update... Have to go way back...

Before Ex UNICORN started, i had to retake SOC... the other time i got 8:10 but water bottle leaked. damn du-lan. but luckily this time, i got 7:51, my PB considering obstacles in SOCE much tougher due to the adjustments.

Ex UNICORN was more exciting than MUSANG... firstly, we had an enemy platoon... Duno whether am i unlucky or it was on purpose that they put me in platoon 1, its kinda farked up... store inspection, my platoon got to load and unload all the stores inside the tonners for 4 times cos some stuff were not arranged up to standard.

slept at 1+ and had to wake up ard 5 cos i was advance party. sian. the deployment phase almost killed most of us. For the first time, i felt so breathless and the sun didnt help at all, it made the weather even worse. on the verge of evaporation...

halfway throught the deployment phase, i was called out to be the runner to the next PC. According to the trend, those who are 'runners' would be PC for the next mission. With that, i was feeling weird for the rest of the day, anticipating what mission i had to undertake. Being a runner to a PC whose mission was to clear obstacles enemy has set up was a siong task. had to run around following the pc when most of my platoon mates could at least rest and take a nap while waiting for their turn to clear obstacles. Got screwed a few times cos i was not briefed properly the job of a signaller (aka runner). The signal set i carried had a long antenna that kept hitting people around me.

the mission was kinda disastrous... PC not very sure of navigating and section comd dunno how to clear the obstacles properly. The first obstacle we got stuck like 6 hrs, damn ridiculous. The instructors did their very best, i think, to 'kao-bei' and scream at us throughout the mission. It was a mentally shack mission as we started clearing obstacles from midnight till the next day 4pm! No sleep! Worse,PC and i didnt bring along our ration so we had to share with others. Then after everything, we had artillery bombardment so had to run for 1 km+ with casualties whom we had to carry and run along with all our equipment. almost died.

When the 2IC read oout the appointment for the next mission, i was surprising not the PC for the next mission but a section comd. I was relieved yet pondering why i was not a PC. My mission was to set up minefield which turned out to be disastrous too...

The other two sect comd were PCs of platoon 1 for minefield camp a few weeks ago and that infamous platoon 1 got to re-do their minefield for 5 times. Hence i was the inexperienced one. Damn frustrated with one of my course mate... after having done so many minefield, there was this traffic line which was supposed to be marked out by him. Instead, i ended up marking and got screamed at by him (???) for marking the lane so slowly that he could not set up his sector.

I almost died of shock from my sector. We dug fast enough with help from others but aiming of mines was shocking. firstly, i gave them sandbags of mines for their particular row, instead they used them to reinforce other rows. Secondly, they didnt tell me which holes they didnt lay the mines due to waterlogged areas. Hence, i had difficulty in accounting for the number of mines and the location of every mine which were critical information.

safety line was not removed by one of my pioneer which happened to be from platoon 1 (*faints), i think they too shack. In the end, we went to clear the white tape and as a section commander i got screwed damn badly for it.

Instructor: did you ask your pioneer to go into the minefield to clear the white tape even after warrant choy asked you not to?

Me: (feeling doom's day coming) yes sir

Instructor: £%$"% Do you know you have risked the life of your pioneer just to cover your ass? Who is going to be responsible for it? How are you going to answer to his parents? loved ones?

Me: (still feeling stunned)

Instructor: Recite the officer creed

Me: ...

Instructor: i lead my men by example. i answer for their training (??), morale and discipline..... i serve with pride, honour and integrity (??)... I will overcome adversity with courage, fortitude and determination (??)

Me: (thinking) he must have thought i asked my course mate to clear the white tape so i would not be scolded... but he was wrong... it was a common consensus among my section that we should clear the white tape. It was a mistake we realised and wanted to correct but in the end i was thought not brave enough to admit mistake??

Instructor: So u tell me should i pass you from this course?

Me: (eyes wide open)


after a long talk, i was finally let off.

After setting up of the minefield, we had 1 hr + to rest till it was about 5am, we were made to fall in. Then they read out the appointment for the next mission which was the live arming of mines.

PC for platoon 1 (+ enemy platoon): OCT Chong Chor Ming
PS for platoon 1: OCT John Chen



stunned. again.
I only got 45 mins to gather all the stores required and get the whole platoon convoy going. It was kinda messy cos most of the instructors were sleeping in vehicles and i had to get everyone to shout for the instructors.

forgot a few things like field latrine and signal set. but luckily the conducting was a nice guy... kinda happy when my chief instructor praised me for being forward looking... the convoy movement was smooth and i was glad everything went smoothly. The effects of mine were jaw-dropping.

Then we went back to recover the minefield we laid. It was a frightening experience. The instructors went around the minefield to check our positions of all the mines... Lucky he didnt come to my sector... i think he would faint if he saw my sector.

We reached back our wingline around 3am+.

tue. supposed to have half day off but dunno why eaten up. While moving stores with one of my platoon mates, he got a bad cut that ended up a mild fracture on his finger cos 5 x 1.8m iron picket dropped on his hand. was disappointed with one of my course mate who asked me not to report to the instructors cos they think they can handle at our level. It proved to be wrong. My friend had to be sent to TTSH for scan. Before the CO evening that day, all of us were called up to the discussion room and had a serious lecture.

fri. it was SOCE anniversary at sentosa. had a great time playing volleyball and eating... suddenly we were made to fall in and pumping postion at the sandy beaches.. damn malu... we were told by our OC to throw all the instructors into the sea. then later one instructor went bonkers and our task was to rip of underwear of all the male instructors. sick but we all had fun. it was a day of 'bo cheng hu' aka no government.

sat.sun.it was live firing for marksmanship... sadly, my shooting skill dropped. too long nvr shoot liao. shall try next year. 200 bucks... haiz. now really nothing to make my no 1 nice except IPPT gold badge.

i was the RSM (range sergeant major) for second day. wah the men really made me puke blood. damn slack and attitude problem. had to shout at them. lucky i love shouting at people, if not OC see liao confirm think pioneers can climb over my head. was damn pissed with my wing SM. i am the cadet RSM so i got the initiative to task organise the whole range on how to clear the range... instead he told me off and said i didnt follow his insructions. damn fume sia.

anyway, just glad i got my monday and tuesday off. must catch up on sleep liao. i think my life has been shortened quite a bit for the sleepless nights and stress. Almost everyone experienced foot rot, aching body...

kinda excited who will be the CWC for Ex CRESCENDO... cos the person will bring the cadets and coporals 100+ together to thailand and then see the whole EOCC commissioned... damn memorable and shiok la... somemore the person would be fighting for sword of honour... i am hyped up man... :)

..:: 349. The One With Ex MUSANG ::..

*concussion charge*

This week was super super physically demanding... Mon had landmine warfare test which i didnt get to study cos i didnt bring my precis back and i spent the sunday night cleaning my personal stores... Kena singled out for dirty entrenching tool... haiz. but luckily my test i got 91%. damn happy, first test over 90% :)
then it was moving stores, lots of concertina wires and lots of pickets...

tue. We had a SOC test, oh well came in with my PB of 8:10 considering the obstacles here are tougher than anywhere else i have taken and 5 secs off my previous PB should be good enough. However, i was kinda disqualified for a leaking water bottle. haiz. suay lo. but nvm shall take again and hope can get sub-8 :)

it was also the start of camouflage and field fortification . Build quite a number of obstacles and had to samula some cos we didnt meet the timing... By the time we built the last, we already all 'slow-mo'. Can really faint under heat exhausation. We only had like 5 mins rest in between each obstacles. The whole lot was punished for our slow movement... now had to double up whenever we go... damn sian, had to run around the area, shift stores here and there. slept late somemore :(

wed. we got to camouflage vehicles. Had to re-do 2 times till we met the ten minutes requirement. The end product was damn good and we took a pic together with our instructor. :) That was not all, we had a mission to build obstacles to protect installations... Started around 1500 and ended around 1800. Had debrief and taught us crossing of contaminated area, abattis, etc.

When we got back camp, our 2IC announced the names of the appointment holders of Ex MUSANG. I was pioneer again. Both platoon was mixed...

Got to sleep ard 0000 as usual.

thur. for men, we basically packed and loaded stores and had inspection. for the PCs was a day of planning and approval of plan. my day will come :)

fri.Our first mission was tactical deployment... The weather was so hot i thought i was evaporated... Had to dig a shellscrape (Note: a rectangular ditch for me to prone in it). was rather a ok siting cos i got to overlook scout camp rather than just vegetation. On the other hand, i got to dig out lots of creepy crawlers, centipedes, millipedes... Dig halfway found a concrete slab so haf to re-adjust... then dig till the middle part found a long metal pipe embedded. *faints*

throughout the day, we just kept building obstacles for preotection, camouflage vehicles and preparation for block mission the next day. had rehearsal till 2am then sleep for a while.

sat came so slowly... 5am we were packing our stuff ready to go. we started our block mission around 6+. Had to run with our packs... some had jerry cans which hold 20 litres of either water or flammable stuff. we ran for a long distance. i mean very long. got to experience the power of explosion that i missed during the live firing... man, hot stuff. so loud and the wave that i felt.

sun. we started our retrograde ops around 1700 on sat. All of us were shagged... I remembered we all took naps between tonner rides to varius vehicles... At 1am i finished setting up wire obstacles, by 2+am i was laying mines, and 3+ agAIN, 4+ i was laying mines, closing obstacles... by 5+, the mission ended... then we had to go back to retrieve everything. damn sian :(

came back to camp in the morning and got to book out by 3+pm. We had to go back one the next day to wash our stores :) gd move i must say. can at least concuss like me from 8pm to 6am.

must do lots of reading up and preparation. EX UNICORN is our summary exercise and confirm i kena appointment dis time... nervous sia... wish me luck :)

..:: 348. The One With Course Gathering Pix @ ECP::..


part of the game... pic with a girl



here i come... finishing line


then came my team with bicycle...


our infamous gasp


something off topic that i want! NANO...

..:: 347. The One With Survey ::..

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to obedience and warmth. In love, you feel the most alive when everything is uncertain, one moment heaven... the next moment hell. You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy. You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something that will confine you. You are afraid of marriage. In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

..:: 346. The One With Aftermath ::..

Sun sept 11, went to padang like 4+ am... cos i tok a cab with my friend who participated in the competitive 21km. We were made to run the 12.6km. so angry... not because i dun wanna run... i wanna run 21 km instead! arghz...

perhaps first time running such long distances, my heart had irregular beats a few times throughout the race... i kept on going... and wasonce again pleasantly satisifed with my performance... came back one of the earliest... and never stopped throughout the race :) while most people bua-long-long (daringly: if there's such a word) strolling to finish line.

i didnt feel good when i first saw my coursemates... perhaps i have been away from some time and luckily i saw many of my bmt mates who were there :) most of them got monday off for running the race, well our prog so packed so mon off is definitely out of question. when i went back to camp on sunday night, i realised we were supposed to have half a day off but apparently denied as well... maybe will return us as off-in-lieu.

Monday. we were expecting EX LION which is a bridge survey mission. However we didnt expect it to start so early like 8am! We got turned out and OC dropped a bomb... 'The current PCs will be the exercise PCs'. I almost flipped. Got a brief order and had to plan and give orders to my men... the process is painful... super rush and you have to multi-task. My lunch and dinner were packed :( Luckily the whole exercise went smoothly despite the instructors gave us surprise scenarios to see how to handle situational changes... it was rather easy i must say, have to produce a written report also, sian.

Thursday. The whole week was rather slack with lots of lecture from the chemical def and explosive units... interesting but i had to constantly check my platoon to see if anyone dozes off... got to know that i was charged for a silly mistake. i kept a diskette which stored the platoon nominal roll for turn out which was a contraband item... whats worse was the instructors knew i had the diskette but still without signing the letter of authority.. possession of such storage devices is still chargable... got 7 days of stoppages of leave = confined over the weekend. The instructors who knew abt my case all shook their heads when they saw me... 'why you so suay'. luckily the charge will not affect my performance in the course. phew.

Actually confinement for me was a good thing. firstly i could spend quality time studying for EX WOLF and upcoming major exercises... normally at home i wont be studying as hard. One of my instructors was damn nice... gave us the key to one of the room where there was tv and computer. I was made the IC for the SOL group which consisted of 8 men. We were tasked to write an essay of 1500 words on officership each, clean toilet and do up boards for the upcoming EX WOLF.

Sunday. It was a sleepless night... Was disappointed with some of my platoon mates who booked in so late like 2200 onwards to pass us the stuff to do the boards. It was a tedious process... In the end, everyone could sleep only after 0230after all the boards have been done... of course everyone was grumbling they should not have booked in early (supposed book in timing was monday morning 6am) and the lack of sleep...

I am quite happy with my performance in admin part of the course... My CPC tour and the tasks OC gave me, i managed to do it without instructors screaming at me... perhaps except area cleaning.. but that one really no choice. every set of appointment holders sure kena gan but sometimes it's really no time to clean or it will still be dirty after cleaning.

Arghz my bunk is in a mess... that was one thing i didnt do which was to pack up during my confinement. Mr NICE instructor also booked in on sunday and bought supper for the confinees... Wah we worshipped and adored him... lol

EX WOLF was nothing... I was made 'man-mode'. Was kinda disappointed cos i didnt learn much... it was an exercise for us to refresh what we have learnt and let those cross-overs to familiarise.

Then frightening experience started... i was feeling weird why OC didnt turn us out on mon when EX WOLF started... as every week confirm will have one... Also, we slept like 10pm on tuesday night... Most of them stayed up and studied for landmine warfare which was a 3-day fieldcamp-cum-ex. I was glad i didnt stay up. At about 0350, there were shoutings along the corridor. I jumped out of my bed and realised a few instructors were standing at the corridor shouting at us... It took me quite some time to realise what my cadet wing commander (CWC) wanted us to do - 7 min turn out... (not i blur but no one echoed down what the instructions were and the CWC came out after like a min later and really shouted loud enough)

Well, i think we met the timing... cos we were not made to re-do (aka samula). Then after at about 0430, they read out the appointment holders for the ex. I heaved a sigh of relief. The specialists were surprised at our turn-out for mission... cos they heard all the shouting in the parade square. lol.

Oh well, cut the story short, the minefield camp was quite slack. Except building one takes about 5 hours, super tedious... our first ground was not even solid ground... my sector was waterlogged... full of mud. i had to use my bare hands to lay and arm the mines... into the MUD! disgusting. Was really scared of soil diseases and bacteria... They can kill, you know! My boots and uniform gone with the mud. As i digged the hole, i got to taste the splash of mud... :)

We worked throughout the night and only got to sleep inside a tonner with another 19 men after 0100 in dirty uniforms and smelly feet as everyone was 'airing' theirs. In the morning we were supposed to retrieve all the mines. I got problem getting back one of the mines... i was freaked out... and got cut by something as i frantically dug my hands into the mud everywhere just to find the last mine. It bled quite badly... 2LT Gilbert jokingly told the medic to amputate if it's serious and i dont find it funny though.

Luckily i found the last one. phew. platoon 1 could not account for the last mine by stipulated time, they had to samula! the last thing you ever want is to re-do the mindfield... After being tekan by the OC, the OC asked them to re-do the whole minefield. We were shocked but nevertheless we were asked to proceed with our next task which was to build a mine cluster. Our chief instructor suggested to do it in a more practical way so we had to dig from crusher-run, gravel roads! We digged until the pick axe and changkol landed in all sorts of position and we made all sorts of noises, groaning, yelling, cursing and swearing.

By evening, we were made to lift the mine cluster after platoon 1 had seen our sample... cos i think they got 'samula' again. This time i think it was for their slow response...

We then proceeded to night marking... i mean training in saf sometimes can be quite tedious... i mean if you can shoot and take azimuth (bearing) at night which was more challenging.. of course you can do it in the day... why do one at night and in the day? We started building at 2200 but luckily the instructors 'samula' us when we were still in our marking phase... cos the direction of minefield was off... WE re-did at 0030 and finished building at 0555. The instructors were impressed with us... Not much sleep leh, what you think... The ground was evening worse... Super muddy and the area was much bigger = build a bigger minefield.

After breakfast, we could see platoon 1 running the circumference of their minefield... i just shook my head, why they so suay? Then warrant choy came to inspect our minefield... Super lucky x2, he inspected one of our lanes and it was very well done, measurements were accurate and the digging were up to the required dimensions... We were told to lift the minefield :) As we lifted the minefield, we saw platoon 1 also lifting theirs... i thought we should out-do platoon 1. In the end, i came to know, they 'samula' again. *faints*. This time dunno why. Must go check with them. poor jeremy and samuel... lol..

We also had our scare... We could not find our last mine... We had to send 5 men to surrender their mine prodders and prone on the mudfield using bayonet to find the last mine. Well, i just went along... anyway dirty already, what's there to be afraid of. But by lunch time, we managed to find it back. phew. i mean our platoon was really on lucky streak. firstly we lost a metal pin of 30cm long during fencing for mine cluster... secondly, we lost a base plate during fencing for minefield. thirdly, we could not account for 2 safety clips. Lastly two of our guys lost their mine prodders. But at the end of the day, all were retrieved. We started unpacking all the stuff and checked for stores... By 1600, we even got the field latrines and admin tentages dismantled, ready to go. Platoon 1 was still kena tekan, in push-up positions... As we left the place, we saw platoon one still building! this time was mine cluster on softer ground. phew. but still, i bet they were super demoralised or as they claimed numb, they can even build a minefiled with their eyes closed.

So here i am, breathing in the air i missed last week. lol. Tempo picking up, i am more than half-way through the course... field fortification coming up and EX MUSANG... after which local summary exercise EX UNICORN and off to Crescendo-thailand...

Wish me luck :)
Dip me in chocolate and call me a dessert

Hit this *Lifehouse - You and Me

Check this out *



CTW instructors at mooncake festival celebration while we are doing our planning ex!
from left to right:

LTA Clifford Lai(ORD-ing), LTA Lee Swee Guan (weird laughing noise), 2LT Ngan Guoyang (pissed me off initially at the APB test but now my friend liao after my CPC tour, lol), 2LT Kenneth (offering his ass aka the punisher: See footnote), 2LT Fong Yifeng (Nice Guy, the above mentioned), LTA Kelvin Lee (everytime he appears on fri night = we book out on sat morning), Warrant Choy (aka appointment-holders confiner), 2LT Gilbert (always seem to find trouble for me: See footnote), LTA Irene Tan (super nice, our 2IC, she's like lavender-relieve stress), LTA Benson Tan (in black, always megawatt smile, he made headlines man), CPT Ong Wee Kwang (who can forget this name, our dearest OC and his famous black car which we always hoped not to see), 2LT Lim Her-yi (nags a lot like cartoon like dat... but gd intentions la), MAJ Michael Yau (our chief instructor-very knowledgable, funny man)

Footnote:
Punisher? He made cadets write lots of essay... like 5000 words on rifle aftr he stunned one of the cadets. 1500 words on why first aid dressing was seen protroding out of the pocket... etc

find trouble? He stunned my key during one of the stand-by and made me write essay... if u remember one of my previous posts. He was the one who conducted the stand-by universe and found the diskette... The not-so-funny instructor :)

Effect of photo: hopefully the next time i curse and swear or complain about certain instructor, you can give me your moral support by throwing darts? :)

..:: 345. The One With Depression ::..

Friday night was the last night i have with ah ma. I chose to stay up the whole night, let my dad and my relatives sleep as they had been kept busy since tuesday. My coursemates had a 5-hr stand-by bed and area that led to them having to book out on sat morning, instead of fri night. Then, heard lots of stories or rather updates for the week from my 2 buddies...

I was quite disgusted to know that my OC actually yelled at my instructor who gave me leave till sat. Why so long? i mean, i wanted to go back on thur but wasnt allowed as it was live firing and i might not be able to concentrate. Fair enough... Fri was important as it was last day of prayers so obviously i cant book in. Tue i booked out to see my ah ma in icu who fought on till wed when she had seen everyone she wanted... So now tell me which part of the compassionate leave that you think is too long? I know that the OC maybe concerned that i might miss out a lot of things and he would not want to put me out of course for that. Maybe i'm just feeling sensitive and edgy...

Sat. where the journey ends. Everyone gathered to see ah ma off... As we put flowers on top of the coffin, to the dismantling of the tentage, to the coffin being lifted, there was lots of tears... I fought back my tears, believing that she would be able to rest in peace if i did not cry. As everyone walked behind the vehicle carrying the coffin, the music that came out from the vehicle, i was 'shattered'. The vehicle had to make a planned route which bypass my ah ma's house... Everytime after visiting her, she would stand at the window or the corridor to wave us goodbye as we head to take bus. I looked up at the window and i realised what i'm feeling now is exactly what she's feeling everytime she sees us home.

Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium. As we moved off, it started to rain heavily... I chose to believe that someone must be crying over her... I saw the digital screen showing the service hall number and the name of the deceased. I just shook my head and headed to SH 3. Inside we gave our last prayer and i could see water dripping down from the photoframe. it really looked like my ah ma was crying... Especially it was drop by drop and from her eyes...

The door of the furnace opened Didnt want to use incinerator as the dictionary mentioned 'wastes'... As the coffin inched automatically into the furnace, shrieks, yelling (you know what i mean) just came out uncontrollably... My auntie collapsed to the floor after yelling 'ah ma, rest in peace ar... you left us suddenly without giving us any warning...' and all the crying just amplified.

Till now, i think i am having some kind of depression. It goes on and off... Perhaps it's the guilt? or perhaps it's the emptiness? Everytime i see an elderly, i would think of my ah ma. Seeing a couple bringing their grandmother for lunch, i wished i could do that and immediately i lost my appetite... But when lunch was at MacDonalds, I wish i could tell the couple to have healthier food instead. As i watched the grandma eat, it reminds me of my ah ma having problems eating with her dentures...

I hope i can recover soon... I dont want to affect my performance, neither do i want it to be an excuse i could not perform... For the commissioning parade, i could not remember whether we are allowed to bring 5 guests... My family makes up 4 guests and the last guest on the list which used to be filled is now vacant...

..:: 344. The One With Wake ::..

Well 'hosting' a wake was never a thing i wanted to do... relatives started 'pouring' in... Some of whom i have never seen before. Darn, i hate those young teenagers who came and waved the joss sticks half-heartedly... Somemore dressed so inappropriately... At the wake, i cant help but think, is it that a person has to die then everyone will gather and catch up with each other? Seriously, some 'distant' relatives are really 'distant' cos i have never seen them at all... Probably i might have offered them seats in the public transport without realising we are related...

I was kept busy serving those who came over, based on tradition, my dad and i had to kneel everytime there is anyone offering incense sticks... Everyone confirm say 'wah, they all grow so big and tall liao... wow, all grown up liao...' whenever my sisters and i visit any table... The only question they could engage us was 'what are you doing now?' Then they will proceed talking in hokkien which the three of us understood but no inputs...

Yesterday was a new experience, i stayed overnight, keeping myself awake, at the same time prepare myself not to sleep during exercises... all the way till morning then i could sleep... beside a coffin. woo... there was nothing to be scared of... it's still my grandmother...

Today was the start of prayers... i was shocked at the sudden influx of people.. abt forty plus... young and old... i thought what happened... they were volunteers of this organisation where they go around giving prayers... Volunteers as old as my grandmother were there... As they were chanting, i thought of my grandmother... three things abt her that would make me weep instantly... firstly, the thought that everything happened so fast... she was fit and healthy... out of the sudden, she just left. it's still so hard to believe. secondly, the look at her picture... all the love and concern she had showered on me (and my sisters). Everytime i disagree with my parents, i would ask her for advice... She would normally have the final say... Now, if i go visit my uncle, i would definitely feel the emptiness.. just like today, i went with my dad and uncle to dismantle her bed... Now, that vacancy = a hole in my heart... lastly, there was so much things i havent done or say to her as a grandson... I guess is this sudden emptiness that is upsetting me... So much to do and say ...

My eyes kinda swollen frm the crying... As they were chanting, i really could not control myself... For all that she had done, i had not been a gd grandson. The first time i saw her unveiled from the white cloth from the mortuary, i would never forget that sight... She has shrunk so much, bony fingers, her head tilted back with her tongue sitting in the gap for her dentures... The sound of the machine whenever there was flunctuations... The pumping of air from the respirator... the rising and falling of her chest and the gasping of air... the green straight line...

It still hurts after so long...

I wasnt as strong as i thought i would be...

..:: 343. The One With Demise ::..

Yup. My grandmother passed on at CGH this afternoon after battling since monday morning... She suffered a stroke and her pulse and heartbeat dropped half when i visited her today compared to yesterday.

Yesterday evening, my wing SM told me to book out immediately cos my grandmother's condition was critical. my heart dropped. i ran all the way out to get a cab, praying intensely thru out the ride. Lots of things flashed thru my mind...

About a month ago, i began pestering my sis to accompany me to visit my grandmother... dunno where this sudden feeling to visit her came over me... In the end, two weeks ago, i did. Just last week, i already planned to have breakfast with my grandmother but unfortunately, appt holders had to book in at 1pm as area cleaning was not well done.

Regret is definitely too late... I dun blame the wing SM for making us book in early... As 'youngsters', we always think we have a lot of time to do things but i forgot my grandmother does not. Initially, i was sad, but now the more i think, the more i am depressed...

Whats worse, she treated us (my sisters and i) the best cos my dad is her eldest son. I spent my childhood with my grandmother... She worked her life to get my uncle into university... when we were young,we used to have about 5-6 meals per day... Breakfast, 'after-market' meal, lunch, tea break, dinner, supper... She still cooks food for us, but my younger sis got the chance to taste the last meal she ever cooked... She wanted to cook for me on sunday, the usual day.. but i had live firing...

Now whenever i do area cleaning, i would think of her... she cleaned the whole house by herself... and its really super clean... you will not find any dust... i really enjoy that clean environment and everything is just so neat... Every weekend, she would prepare tonic...

Every weekend, she yearns for us to pay her a visit, to talk to her, keep her accompany... Sonetimes when i am out there having fun, i didnt stop and think how lonely it is to just watch tv with a dog... especially when my uncle is a workaholic...

I cried... very badly... cos i remembered the last time i ever see her talking, she still gave me 30 bucks even when i rejected her offer. It was not a very fulfilling visit as that day i had to rush my homework to book in.

In the hospital, i stood by her bedside, telling her to get up, wake up... told her that i am hungry, i miss her food... but its all too late...

i was at the wake in the afternoon, my uncle's dog, gave funny noises, staring at my grandmother with watery eyes... as though it was being slaughtered... that noise i could recognise, the dog misses my grandmother... hearing that, my family and my relatives broke down...

I will never forget the day i visited her, she felt me and said 'le jin ku bo lai liao...' (you haven been here for a long time) the touch i would never get for the rest of my life...

i miss my grandmother...

..:: 342. The One With Ex HIPPO ::..

this week has been mentally and physically tiring... Had a drill session on mon morning... tiring sia.. wing SM said he wanted to drill us so that when we go back to OCS, the training there will be nothing. Mon raining so SOC was postponed till friday. luckily it was postponed, ya know why later... had a lecture on recce... i got 82% for my test the next day.. hee.. happy :)

then planning ex started on tue... it was intensive.. we got a turn out but there wasnt a nid to lay everything out. We received our warning order and started on our planning... From 2pm, we planned all the way till 8pm to know that we had to 'samula' aka re-do the ex... cos our OC was not happy with our performance. His 3 golden rules: treat the ex like in real ops; say what you mean, mean what you say; discipline. We seemed to be unable to meet timing cos lots of planning and writing... When we present in front of OC, confirm break into cold sweat. he wld zoom in to each word you say. then when he shoots a question, most of us will be stunned... i have compiled a list of what pointers to take note of... i copied like 8 pages of notes for the ex. took me 2 hrs to compile...

interesting sights you will see after 12am... people start to do things slowly... some stoned... some dozed off if they were not doing things for more than 10secs? We received our orders again around 2am. Can see people opening their mouth kinda wide... we planned till 430am then sleep. woke up at 530am for breakfast then continue planning. my greatest achievement was that i didnt close my eyes throughout the ex... unless its sleeping time... must thank all the red cross training i used to have... planning in the late nights... still remember i had evac lesson ard 12mn and pitch tents ard 2am + ... then still got turn-outs in the middle of the night when i was a cadet... Some concuss until u wake them, they also cannot stay awake for the next 5 secs.

We ended everything on thur night. got a good night sleep... but fri SOC was hell... had to do an orientation run then some of the obstacles there seemed higher than in OCS SISPEC... first time i didnt clear my swing traine aka monkey bar. cos it was just too slippery. no grip... after so many people with sweaty palms... i tried 5 times and i had no energy liao... bottle dropped out again. must buy rubber band to secure liao...

something shocking happened too... OC actually stripped pple off their ranks when they couldnt complete SOC... i understand his rationale in if a commander cannot do what your man do, then something is wrong. However, it was the first time after like 3 mths since we did SOC... Should at least give them a chance. Lucky me was chosen to take over the role of CPC. well dejavu... back to shouting and more shouting... no more man mode liao... worried about turn out cos i have to ensure everyone's equipment is servicable... and CO parade on 2 sept... stressed... and bridging CBRE, EOD all coming back...

Ex Zenia was fun... working with the OC-trainees at advanced training wing is interesting... the whole of next week is planning and i love it! fri cohesion day. go east coast, cycle and run for 12km. still got abt 13 weeks more in SOCE...

..:: 341. The One With Saturday ::..



I'm glad my friend invited me to this play. It was a superb one, i could not stop laughing thru'out the show. Now i know students in NTU SCI mostly drama-mama...

The Sex Life of Snails
The Odd Couple
Counting The Ways

after i had laughed my heart out, i desperately needed it back...

Then went over to Sun Plaza to watch The Maid with melvin, samuel, jeremy. i felt so stressed watching it. lol. cos they built up the tension so high, i guess my heart beat went up... several gd scenes, finally they are improving or honing their skills to shoot a gd horror movie. but several scenes really no link. perhaps they tried to link up old wives' tales to make the movie more 'heart-throbbing'. For the cold sweat and the irritating sound whenever there is the presence of the ghost, i give the movie 3/5 stars :)



During the Chinese Seventh Month, the gates of hell open and spirits are let loose upon an unsuspecting world. You know the story... NOt for the faint hearted. O_o

..:: 340. The One With 7th Week In SOCE ::..

...the best form of welfare is to ask you to shower after they turn u out before u book out...

after playing game (something like CS but lousier of course) at the computer room, we were instructed to change to our book-out attire, do area cleaning and stuff... prior to the computer lesson aka pc gaming i showered... our OC was DSO (duty staff officer so he had to stay in camp thru'out = more time to 'play' with us. so he 'gamed' with us and turned us out. i had to dig into the pile of sweaty uniform and refill my bottles which we had to empty before book out (great isnt it?).

Obviously, we could not meet the timing... we had to pack everything up, run up and come down in clean fatigue = cap plus fucking wet uniform :) then run up again, get our stuff and lay everything out in 7 mins.

oh ya, we had to be in pumping position and the OC talked for abt 5 mins? quoted (roughly)... this is how you feel when you are demoralised... and this will be how your men feel if they have to keep doing something again and again because you are unable to lead them well...

remember one time we had to everything in everything out within one min and we did like more than 10 times... he also mentioned about 'if you find a purpose in doing something you will be able to do it (meet the timing)'

i must say we are learning things from the OC in a hard way.

end of story. not really complaining... cos i'm kinda numb doing all the turn-outs. i just find joy in doing all the shack stuff... bring it on.

thur had a full day of lectures... i was quite upset on fri when they changed appointments... i didnt get one yet. haiz. that means my field PC appointment will come soon. next week we have a planning ex... i always sucked at being field PC.. perhaps low confidence and i always have the feeling i know less than others... But admin appointment is what i normally do in CCA... meeting timing, maintaining discipline... no sweat.

fri morning ippt... lol. my first station chin-ups could only hit 8. definitely demoralising cos it meant i couldnt get gold = no $200... yes i can always try again. But sianz... i'm glad my 2.4km run timing got better each time i run. I become so numb... in running. just like doing turn out. i aint using my brain nor focussing... just let my legs run. Perhaps in that way i dun feel shack mentally...

okayz, infantry guys not free so today cant meet them for farewell dinner :( going for a theatre play wif my fren... oh well, tml for mugging my precis and getting ready for a siong week ahead. the rest of the engrs joining us in two weeks time. cant wait.

everyone will be hoping to be the last CWC (cadet wing comd) cos the previous batch one was the sword of honour. but then again, would it be the same for our batch?

..:: 339. The One With Shopping Spree ::..

Pay came today and gone rather fast. Firstly, i had to pay for the limited edition watches i had ordered for my parents. Then i had to get ipod shuffle. was glad to get free accessories from the vouchers i got from buying the watches. Lastly, i had to extend my contact so i thought why not get a new phone. Hence i got N6201 for 40+ only. Still got rebate :) A phone with bluetooth but no camera -_- anyway i cant use camera phone for the next 1.5 yrs?

yesterday went chinablack again. initially there was no one at the dance floor. until about eleven plus, i regretted saying the dance floor was empty... it was damn packed until at certain point, i just stood at the dance floor for ten mins for people to pass... first time i had to 'retire' at the side cos i cant stand squeezing with people. Actually supposed to go gortam penthouse but no tickets... it was a jc party... i guess i would refrain from cb for a while...

tml got army family day... lol showing the public army lifestyle? army got life meh? sian booking in doesnt seem as fun as it was back in ocs... maybe its the pple at SOCE? back in ocs, i nvr dread booking in... with all my frenz bitching after RO and during breakfast the next day...

sad today overslept... didnt go sentosa. haiz... i miss the tan and didnt EXERCISE! arghz... my chin-ups.. die...

tml watching charlie and choco factory with my sis. hee... really enjoy these family times... and not to forget to visit my grand mother.

..:: 338. The One With Random Thots ::..

i forgot to add that last week, i was totally off... firstly mon we had 5 min stand-by bed so we had to rush up to the bunk and tidy up. when i opened my door i forgot to take the key out. As expected, one of the new instructors being guai lan took my key and asked me to see him at night. Whats worse, he opened my precis cupboard where it was supposed to hold books but i left my glasses, contacts there. Got a lecture from my wing sergeant major. :(

one of the mornings, i had to fall in without locking my door cos i couldnt find my key. sucky feeling, hence before the run i went up to check again and realised it was with my lock -_-

then one of the breakfasts, i remember reminding myself to take my stuff with me after spreading my bread. somehow i forgot, lucky my frenz kept the pass, id and key for me, cos when i went back, i couldnt find any. if not for my friend, i think if the instructors found it, i would get 3 x 7 extras.
before this, i left my id on the table but one of thestaff found it as she was checking for bread that may have turned mouldy...

close encounters man...

i had to write a 500-word essay for the key thing. damn stupid. somemore i am in charge of making sure no one misplaces his/her key and no door is to be left unlocked. if not, both parties get 7 extras aka guard duties which translates to weekend being burnt.

recently heard a lot of deaths going on. damn scary. every time i hear someone died, i would feel the chills. firstly was my friend's close friend in a bike accident. then my fren in ocs also told me, one of the cookhouse uncle also involved in a bike accident. :( treasure people ard u, i guess...

ok back to doing homework... wanna cach charlie n the choco factory and bewitched next book out. booking in tonight and out on mon night -_-

happy national day :)

..:: 337. The One With Stressful Week ::..

shall just touch on highlights of this week. had turn-out aka 7 mins on tue... had to do it 2 times and for field pack everything in in 1 min and out in 1 min. we did the everything in/out for dunno how many times until my hands become numb... then with all the sweat, we went into an air con room for 'warning order' for our mission planning exercise.

then wed plan until 0230, damn tired... whats worse was everyday morning got run... and thur we had ippt training. running 8 x 400m. i felt super dizzy... well at least most pple felt the same way.

this week has been very meaningful and i learnt quite a lot this week. all the planning and presentation... cos our chief instructor and another major were there. both were knowledgable and i can really learn without stress... OC super particular with AOP, everything also like cannot... everytime he comes in, we would all keep quiet. afraid his mouth would come out '7 mins'.

quite sian. book out still got lots of homework to do... OC was in high spirits today... whole day his lecture and he ended off telling us about his army life. he turned us out again as usual but didnt 'tekan' us. he gave us a recruitment talk... impromptu... the deal after u signed on sounds really tempting... 9 mths back payment and bonuses... interest is there. mmm...

anyway was quite disturbed and upset about peer appraisal that was done on tue... sometimes i also wondered how pple do the grading? i just knew that i was not as good as someone who sleeps in class... mmm... time to do some reflection... perhaps i am getting too comfortable in keeping a low profile... it seems like i'm back in sispec. cant really 'bitch' as much as i'm in OCS.

2 things i fear:
presenting AOP... really need more practice
pple see me as not performing or slack when i'm just trying to stay low.

my fave in america next top model cycle 4.. haiz but she didnt win :(

..:: 336. The One With Chinablack 4th anniversary ::..

oh that wed nights off was unforgettable. firstly saw a lot of people, including my bmt buddy, sec sch frenz, sispec frenz also. It's free entry and free flow that night. i got in with priority entry. hee... no nid to queue. It's havoc time inside. steven's gals were hogging the bar counter and there was this huge ice sculpture of a female. As expected, a straw protruded from its nipple and the bartender would pour shots down from its head and you just drink! i had lots of cups of housepour then when one cup of that special... all i remember was that it was red in colour. dunno mixed how many type of liquor... 5 mins later, everything just seemed spinning... first time i feel so 'seh' with one gulp of that 'special'. it was wicked man.

then my friend and i had to leave early cos we had to book in by 630 the next morning... haha steven drank so much he puked so much.. not forgetting he ate durians before that. i was also 'seh' la but my will power... haha... managed to book-in in the morning safely.

the day was hell la. trying hard to keep awake.

i hate stand-by bed! stand there longer than cleaning my bunk man...
sian tml muster parade again... so much homework haven do... caught 'stealth' at j8. exciting adrenaline-pumping movie abt fighting planes though starting a bit sian. but at the back, it was damn cool.

next week happy week. national day plus pay day... :)

Who else am I gon' lean on
When times get rough
Who's gonna talk to me on the phone
Till the sun comes up
Who's gonna take your place
There ain't nobody better
Oh, baby baby, we belong together

..:: 335. The One With Nights Off ::..

heh. nights off today cos its senior's commissioning ball dinner... instructors all went for the dinner.

anyway my sis also down with stomach flu... guess its really infectious... my camp mate also got it before me. also dunno whats the cause. but hey how come a lot of pple thot i chao keng... especially these people who are my close frenz?!?!?!... maybe fewer laughters and bitching times so my immune system goes down .. lol what the heck no link.

when i booked in that day, haven got the chance to change up, i got 'turn out'. rush down in 7 mins with everything... though i not required to go down but i wanna get my stuff standardised. anyway the few days when i wont there, there was no 5bx, no OC. dunno why i went back, terror like awaiting for me :(

ok now gg chinablack le. anniversary so free entry and free flow. see ya on sat :)

Forgot to tell u guys something... arghz. i'm hooked on

mariah carey's we belong together (remix) feat jadakiss & Styles P

she's damn hot for her age! did you know the mtv for we belong together is a follow-up for it's like that

..:: 334. The One With Wacky Acronyms ::..

just thought of including some of the weird acronyms used by my chief instructor who is a major... he is kinda weird. firstly, he appears to be super calm but when he opens his mouth, its full of philosophy... he can tell you the different behaviours a man can have and all the learning models... its scary when he could turn a simple word into acronyms... he visited us on thur while we were having dinner outfield, he picked one of us and asked 'how does a vehicle commander guide a vehicle?' while peeling his orange...

then this poor guy knowing that vehicle comd must stand in front instead of at the back (one of our guys alerted us of this mistake cos he was caught by the CI). then CI shot back abruptly, 'i asked you how, not what.'

we were all stunned. we were ready to bury out heads cos we all knew he would pick pple to help that poor chap to answer. In the end, that guy said 'i'm not sure about the hand signals but i'll try it.'

then came another outburst.

'hey, u know what u mean by try it?'

We all tried to define whats 'try it' but he had interesting definition.

He wanted a few of us to try to come out a word for each letter, in other words, acronym for 'try it'...

It became Test Repeatedly Yourself, Immediately To

All of us were speechless, i personally felt it was lame. though it made some sense but i still cant stand his uncanny look.

Then he posed another question, 'you know why the driver suffers the most when there are two vehicle comds?'

He then brought up another acronym OODA and said it originated from air force and said OCS tried to come up with their own but... shant reveal more, such stuff unsafe to blog...

anyway OODA meant observe, orientate, decide, act so the poor driver had to observe orientate and if the vehicle comds are unclear, he would have a heard time.

such a simple thing must use so chim acronym meh? i know he's well-learned but no nid to flaunt until... arghz now in SOCE we have 3 people to fear.

OC for his 7 min turn out
wing SM for his stand-by stores, nagging and extras
CI for his surprise talks, weird logic

However our head of training curriculum is a fun guy... though he added me on msn, but i dared not accept.

he also had funny acronyms too like :

KLKK: kia lai kia kee (walk here walk there)
KISS: keep it short and simple
FUCK: friends u can keep
CBL: cho bo lan

i know standardisation is a form of discipline but i still cant understand whats the rationale for standardising the length of toilet roll...

now that the seniors have commissioned... all the attention is on us now. sian. fri got our first stand-by stores. yeah, no fri book outs :] we havent not even touch our stores yet so i dunno why they want the stand-by? orh, maybe they want us to practice arranging it. so we are something more than construction workers now. thats a feat man :)

i must agree to my wing comd back in foxtrot about area cleaning...
i am training you all to be officers not cleaners

something i agree... yes room must be neat and tidy, hygenic... but not till everything standardise like the arrangement of your toothpaste, toothbrush... button up all your clothes (when stand-by, you have to rush to unbutton everything then wear. how smart?).

think your parents are unreasonable? haha chill and listen to more army stuff. you must be thankful your parents are still sane. be back for more ridiculous stuff :]

..:: 333. The One With Changi General Hospital ::..

Discharge Summary

Final Diagnosis: Infectious Diseases - Gastroenteritis

Main Complaints/History:

19 YRS/CHI/MALE
HAS DIARRHOEA FOR 4 EPISODES, NO BLOOD, WATERY X 2/7
HAS 3 EPISODES OF VOMIITING, NO BLOOD
FEVER NOTED TODAY
A/W MILD LEFT SIDE HEADACHE, THROBBING, HAS HISTORY OF MIGRAINE
NO ABDO PAIN
CAME BACK FROM BRUNEI 6/7/05

Physical Examination

TEMPERATURE: 37.8
PULSE RATE: 086
RESPIRATION: 16
BLOOD PRESSURE: 121/072
ALERT COMFORTABLE NON TOXIC
HYDRATION FAIR
NOT JAUNDICED/PALE
HEART SOUNDS NORMAL AND DUAL
LUNGS CLEAR ON AUSCULTATION
ABDOMEN SOFT
RIGHT ILIAC FOSSA NONTENDER
NO HEPATOSPLENOMEGALY
BOWEL SOUNDS HYPERACTIVE

Prescription

PANADOL
STEMETIL
BUSCOPAN
KAOLIN

Cost: free (NSFs no nid to pay :])

saw a few elderly at the hospital... felt very sad for them... i always have this soft spot in my heart... reminds me of the days i volunteered at the CGH.

one of our instructor that was attached to us left to continue his studies... gave us a meaningful gift...

..:: 332. The One With Lousy Week ::..

before i start, forgot to acknowledge the previous source was from ocs heritage website. :]

this week's been super super tiring. we had bridge building and PT sessions. The whole week was dedicated to site marking, prep for building (prep site and stores), building and dismantling. Whats more shack was the manual work we had to do. carry super heavy stuff like a rocking roller which weighs like more than a ton. 4 guys carrying already got problems. had to strain my back even though i kept my back straight cos of height difference. the stores to load took forever. we worked under rain and shine. just like high-class construction workers. we took like 5-6 hrs to load and unload stores.

tue we had our PT session and we did lots of chin-ups and push ups (we owe our OC 500 so had to return) my triceps like grew twice as big...

i was pretty satisfied with what i have learnt. cos i was the runner so i could go around helping. i learnt how to use auto level (measure grd level) from exercise PC, then all the stacking of timber with the rest. bracing, panel party and last day sling party. what was disappointing was that we didnt learn the jacking down of bridge and we didnt launch the whole bridge. Something that led to the last day where i was super pissed off...

we were fast and managed to launch the bridge by thursday and the OC was 'kind' to give us nights off. But i thot catching a few more hours of sleep was more worthwhile than going to club cos the past few days we slept after midnight.

then the last day, we finished dismantling and returning stores before dinner. somehow platoon 1 got like 5 turn-outs. We were asked to finish up the food at a promotion dinner -_-. what most of us wanted was of course to book out. we had our stand-by bed at around 2300 but by then we already sensed something amiss. cos when we came back from the 'second' dinner, we were told there will be a test on the building of the bridge. I cant see why they couldnt do the test on thur night? our PC then told us after the stand-by bed that we will not be booking out. i was the least affected or at least ith another 6 guys cos we got guard duty on sat.

i was damn angry cos i was told previously my guard duty was on friday but now changed to sat which means weekend guard duty is a 24-hr thing. i can only book out on sun at 8am. I had so much things to do. Thats not the worse.

We started our test at midnight... it stretched all the way till 3+am. whenever u answered wrongly when the instructor posed u a question, you have to join the queue at the back. what pissed me off was how come they cant let those doing guard duty have priority cos the rest they could catch their sleep once they book out but we cant. Those that came later than me went off first. in the end 4 guys including me who are supposed to do guard duty were left in the rom with a few others. we were told at 3+am that we had to stop doing, submit another copy of the test on monday morning. *fuming* If thats the case i would have slept earlier and hand up the answers on monday. I was pissed off cos those guard duty people were stuck at the same question on jacking of bridge. firstly they didnt really show how to use it, secondly, how long it takes to just ask a question instead of making us re-do the whole test.

insufficient sleep... i am falling sick ... as i am typing now i having a fever... haiz... how come i can blog? cos the guard house got computer. lol. but i nid to sleep more. my shoulders and back are aching like crazy. standing at the sentry for 2 hrs is no joke. damn tiring.

i hate this week.

..:: 331. The One With My Assignment ::..

MAJULAH SINGAPURA

Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
Berjaya Singapura
Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

The Origin
The National Anthem was written in the wake of nationalism during 1956-57. Its composer, the late Encik Zubir Said, had written it on the basis of two words, "Majulah Singapura" or "Onward Singapore". The patriotic song was first performed by the Singapore Chamber Ensemble on the occasion of the opening of the newly renovated Victoria Theatre. It was launched on 3 December 1959 together with the National Flag and the State Crest, at the installation of the new Head of State, Yang di-Pertuan Negara, at the City Hall steps. Upon independence in 1965, "Majulah Singapura" was adopted as the republic's National Anthem.

Its Meaning
ONWARD SINGAPORE

(English Translation)
We, the people of Singapore
Together march towards happiness
Our noble aspiration
To make Singapore a success
Let us all unite
In a new spirit
Together we proclaim
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

THE PLEDGE
The Origin
Initially penned by Mr S Rajaratnam in 1966, the Pledge was written against the backdrop of racial riots in the 1950s and 1960s. Mr Rajaratnam revealed that the dream was about building "a Singapore we are proud of". He believed that language, race and religion were divisive factors, but the Pledge emphasizes that these differences can be overcome if Singaporeans cared enough about their country. The draft text was handed to the then Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who polished the text before submitting it to the Cabinet.

OUR PLEDGE

We, the citizens of Singapore,
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.

The Officer's Creed

I am an Officer of the Singapore Armed Forces.
My Duty is to lead, to excel and to overcome..
I lead my men by example.
I answer for their training, morale and discipline.
I must excel in everything I do.
I serve with pride, honour and integrity.
I will overcome adversity with courage, fortitude and determination.
I dedicate my life to Singapore

The Officer's Creed was unveiled by Lieutenant-General Winston Choo, Chief of Defence Force in the inauguration ceremony of the restructed officer cadet course (OCC) in 1990. It was also approved by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Mr Goh Chok Tong at that time.

CDF described the creed as encompassing the values which the SAF cherished: loyalty to the country, leadership, professionalism, ethical conduct, discipline, care of soldiers and a fighting spirit. This is in turn being emphasized in OCS to officers and officer cadets.

DUTY, HONOUR, COUNTRY

The first motto of OCS was 'Duty, Honour, Country'. These motto and moral ideals started with the SMC batches. The stated ideals of OCS were also inscribed in the former OCS song. These three hallowed words reverently dictate what a cadet ought to be, what builds courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be a little cause in faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.

'Duty' is the dedication to service, and is the sense of obligation, which leads on to do his best in every situation. It is the willingness to live within all regulations or directives regardless of origin. 'Honour' is the integrity of an officer, in both word and deed. It is especially important in today's battlefield as the cohesion and the solidarity of the combat unit in battle and its reliable and effective performance rest heavily upon the honour of its leaders on all levels. 'Country' reminds us that all Singaporeans are expected to be loyal to our country. This obligation as officer in the military is much greater as he is a member of the organisation that could do Singapore and its citizens the greatest amount of damage if misled.


TO LEAD, TO EXCEL, TO OVERCOME

The current motto 'To Lead, To Excel, To Overcome' was introduced to OCS in September 1990 when the Officer Cadet Course (OCC) started and is quoted from the Officer's creed. It was directly taken out of a speech made by then CDF Lieutenant- General Winston Choo. He said: "In battle, the Officer's Creed will guide your thinking and actions. In dire combat, when courage falters and further struggle seems hopeless, ' To Lead, To Excel, To Overcome' will be a rallying call to build courage and restore hope."


Life in OCS



INITIATION FORTNIGHT
In the first two weeks of the tri-service term, special activities in addition to the normal lessons and training are conducted for the new cadets. The fortnight impresses on the cadets the need for a strong character, self-discipline, personal accountability and sound military habits.

These activities include an orientation run around SAFTI-MI to familiarise cadets to the SAFTI landmarks and a cool dip where cadets will jump from a 3 metre diving platform to test their confidence and force them to summon up their courage in the face of a challenge. Frequent turnouts are conducted to instil a sense of discipline and to remind the cadets of the importance of being ready at all times for 'operational uncertainty’. A tower run at the SAFTI Tower reminds the cadets that they are training in a Tri-Service Institute and as they co-operate with one another as they climb up the tower, they should learn to integrate and bond as tri-service cadets.



INITIATION CEREMONY
The highlight of the Initiation Fortnight is the Initiation Ceremony held at the end of the fortnight to initiate the freshmen cadets to the Corps of Officer Cadets. In the early days of the school, there was no Initiation Fortnight and thus the Initiation Ceremony was held on the second day of joining OCS.

The cadets are turned out on the day of the ceremony to instil in them a sense of urgency and discipline. The ceremony marks the beginning of the grooming process of the cadets to become commissioned officers of the SAF. Senior cadets are involved in the ceremony to signify the passing on of the OCS tradition of the "Light of Leadership" as symbolised by passing the torch and sword from the senior to freshman cadet. The Sword of Honour winner will also share his experiences with the cadets in order to motivate and challenge the freshmen cadets to excel in the Officer Cadet Course.

During the ceremony, the freshmen cadets are also familiarised with the Values of an Officer, i.e. the 7 Core Values, the Officer's Creed and also the Institute motto. The cadets are given the responsibility of not only learning to be a skilled practitioner of the art of war but also to be a bearer of personal attributes of a leader. Upon initiation, the freshmen cadets will now be completely immersed in the leadership training of the Officer Cadet Course.



SENIOR BAR PRESENTATION
The Senior Bar presentation signifies the beginning of the Professional term where the cadets will undergo their final 23 weeks of their training before commissioning as officers. The presentation is preceded by a 24km route march taking place the night before and will end close to dawn on top of Elephant hill. The location enables the cadets to have a panoramic view of Jurong Industrial Estate.

It is here that the cadets are reminded of the purpose of their training that is to defend the achievements of their nation that amongst other things have transformed a wasteland into an industrial estate that has brought prosperity to the nation. While the lives that the cadets lead are built upon the hard work of their predecessors, they should not take peace for granted and instead they must work hard to ensure the defence of the nation is adequate to maintain the prosperity of the nation. As officer cadets, they play an important role in leading the defence of the nation.



APPOINTMENT CERTIFICATE PRESENTATION CEREMONY
The certificate presentation marks an important milestone in the life of the cadets as it confers upon them the appointment to the rank of 2nd lieutenant in the SAF. Before 1983, the graduates would gather in the Istana where the presentation would take place. However, the presentation is now held on SAFTI grounds a few days before the commissioning parade. Swords, scrolls and prizes are presented to the cadets dressed in their No.2 Dress Kit and the Sword of Honour winner will give his valedictory speech. The event evokes a sense of pride and achievement for the graduating cadets.



COMMISSIONING PARADE AND DINNER
The Commissioning Parade marks the end of the gruelling, testing and challenging course for the cadets with a grand and spectacular finale and also marks the graduation of the cadets into officers of the SAF. The cadets dressed in the No.1 dress of officers will march onto the Parade Square. They are inspected by a Reviewing Officer, perform a march past and undergo a forward review. Religious leaders will also bless the occasion. The graduating batch will also hand over the SAFTI Colours to the most senior batch of officer cadets.

They will also recite the SAF Pledge. Parents are then allowed onto the Parade Square to fix on the epaulettes on the newly commissioned officers.

Following the commissioning parade, the cadets will end the day with the Commissioning Dinner.

SAF PLedge

We, Members of the Singapore Armed Forces, Do solemnly and sincerely pledge that: We will always bear true faith and allegiance to the President and the Republic of Singapore. We will always support and defend the constitution. We will preserve and protect the honour and independence of our country with our lives.




The Combat Engineer Insignia

Gold Colour
The sterling qualities of the Engineers, namely their steadfast spirit and durable nature.

Black Colour
Our ability to provide continuous support throughout hours of darkness.

Castle
The solid construction power of the Engineers as seen in the bridges, fortifications, roads and obstacles often built by them. The interlocking bricks show the strength, endurance and high degree of teamwork required to accomplish engineer tasks.

Bayonet
Offensive spirit of the Engineers in piercing the enemy defences.

Twin Bolts of Lighting
Destructive demolition power of the Engineers

Motto
Seek- The essential Knowledge and Skills
Strive- towards greater Heights
Excel- In all task required of a combat Engineer

..:: 330. The One With 3rd Week in SOCE ::..

hey guys, i have survived yet another week in hell :)

Mon. this week had been a rather emotional week. firstly, i was upset my name was not called during the last parade meaning i would be staying in SOCE as a field engineer - something i dread most.

Tue. i woke up feeling depressed cos almost half of the wing would be going to different vocations like armour or bridging engineer, some went for chemical defence and even some dealing with explosives. Didnt even have time to say farewell... we got a turn-out (7 min stand-by fieldpack) while waiting for lesson to start. well its part of the oc plan to train us to be operational ready. For now, everytime i felt like i am being tekan, i would tell myself, i am training to be operationally ready. We did it for two times and i was totally shacked.

We then proceeded on to build a bridge manually. due to height difference, carrying the super heavy bridge had given me a backache. *suck thumb* endure is the only way. i also went deaf today cos all the slamming and overturning of the bridges. I have decided to do less eye-power the next practical lesson cos its really impt to have hands-on experience which in the first place is not easy cos only a few people were required to perform a certain task so the rest just eye power.

My PC mentioned something about sport psychology which inspired me at that moment. Shall try that next time i training my cadets in competitions.

Another PC commented that our fieldpack stuff were packed nicely during the last parade. I was happy but i still miss my friends... only left steve and daniel.

Wed. We had another round of orientation run which turned out to be a continued mission where we got to run again after cooling down. my PC wanted a turn out but luckily my OC didnt want it.

had lectures the whole day about plant engineering. Our Chief Instructor came in and reprimanded us, well at least some of us for sleeping during the lecture. He wondered why officer cadets always look so tired...

I must agree that when you desire and keen to learn, you will try to stay awake and be engaged in the lesson. Just like in movies, you will stay awake throughout the show. However, there would be certain parts of the lecture where you are totally lost. Inevitably, dozing off became really common.

I was pointed out by the CI. Was surprised he still remembered me. I thought he pointed me out for saluting to him in PT attire but it was not the case. Apparently, i was the cadet duty officer that day, hence i was required to hand in 3 forms by 0730. The normal reaction would be handling the documents personally to the officer in charge. However i was told that i could just slip the form under the door gap of the office. I did not miss out the safety briefing which the CI thought i had missed it.

Thur. Fri Boring. Lecture on thur from 0730 to 2330. At 1500, we had IPPT categorisation test. managed a 9:30 for my 2.4km. Fri we had lesser stuff to do cos instructors were preparing for the sword presentation at OCS... but nevertheless our on-the-ball OC turned platoon 1 out as they were the stand-by platoon.

Sat. Went to bendemeer sec for some red cross footdrill training. standard was no where near ours... but then the 'T' generation is here. reads: tofu. then met up with the infantry guys.

Miss those infantry OCS times... they having lots of admin time at night... learnt a new term from them. IBM which means individual body maintenance which is actually sleeping... drink beer at a bar then coffee...

i cant think properly now. gonna KO soon but got this sudden urge to complete my blog entry... i got so many things to do... arghz...

OC wants:
words, meaning, origin of

national anthem
national pledge
officer's creed
seek strive excel
duty honour country
SAF pledge

compilation of lessons learnt

CI wants:

reflections of this week
mind map of what i have learnt this week

Others:
Plant test on Mon
Muster Parade on Mon
Bridge building next week + lots of turn out
Assignment
De-rust all metallic items
Wash clothes
Polish my mess cup

Braindead...

..:: 329. The One With Chinablack ::..

wanted to go momo but 21 yrs and abv. hey at least i know one more club i could frequent next time :) yest nite was my fourth time to chinablack in my ocs life. a totally different experience.

1. finally got to club with my bmt buddy

2. had to queue from 11 to 1.30am to get in. The staff there smart enough to hold the crowd till 1am cos it was free entry from 9pm to 1am. Apparently, we had to pay 18 bucks. Furthermore, after 1.30, the cover charge was 12 bucks and we were ushered in like 1.22am. -_-

my legs were tired before they could pull out some stunts. The crowd was unusually crowded. Maybe free entry? super crowded i couldnt have my dancing space. everyone was like a vibrator.

weird sightings:

1. a couple of uncles and aunties having a hard time figuring out how to put cha-cha, tango, line dancing into R&B, hip hop songs

2. quite a distinct amount of lipids wobbling on the dancefloor and podium?!?!? I really tried my best not to look but trust me, its distracting...

3. first time i was 'elbowed' by i think quite a massive arm and i mean fat! cos it really hurts.

4. first time i got 'butt smash'. reads: to emphasise the amount of damage that same guy with 3x my butt size gave.

5. a few people standing on podium talking? is reception up there better?

6. yest nite was more 'grinding' songs than fast, 'dancable' songs :(
reads: grinding, u know what it means right?

7. people leaning against the podium. i'm sorry that my knee knocked into a girl's head. dunno whether she's too drunk to shift or she loved being hit cos i hit her twice. stepped on a guy's hand when he placed his hand on the podium. never felt so restrictive and uncomfortable... they should just stay away from the podium

8. still so many people at 5am.

ok. saw lots of familiar faces at orchard road... think i'm gonna abstain from clubbing for a while. energy draining sia. next week shall 'nua' at home and watch some vcds. now gotta go cut hair. tml got some dreaded CO parade. still thinking should i pay monthly installment for my camera so i could also get a mp3 and have money to spend? but then again, i can only use my mp3 player when i book out.

..:: 328. The One With First Day at SOCE ::..

that wed was a screwed-up day. firstly, i thought i would go for a laundry service ard 3pm and then head for SOCE at nee soon camp. unfortunately, i realised i have depleted my allowance cos i used my card for my friend's 90+ bucks worth of ice wine. desperately, i rushed home to use the washing machine. suay suay, my G2000 long sleeve white shirt and the collars of my ocs white admin shirt all had turned light green.

dashed out of my hse after packing my stuff and it was close to 5pm and i had to be there by 6pm. while waiting to cross, i saw my bus just drove past me. frantically, i had to source for my friends whom i could hitch a ride. i got on the next bus, sensing something amiss... i think my card has no value liao... and i was spot on. feeling paiseh, i dug into my coin section and found i only had around seven cents plus. lucky the uncle did not make a big fuss. i sunk into my seat, feeling stunned.

in the end, i shared a cab with my gd friend. when we were reaching the gate, a super big bridging vehicle had to go into nee soon camp too... what gd timing. we had to wait for like 5 mins when we were already running late. running and pulling the duffel bag made me damn shack.

lucky us. we made it just on time. but my shirt was totally drenched.

oh btw the seniors were very nice, they showed us how to do a 7-min stand-by field pack. everyone fall in the parade square and once the IC shouted, everyone made a mad dash up to their bunk to get their stuff and came down to arrange.

more crazy stuff at SOCE though... like 5-min stand-by bed. Rationale very simple, we have to be operationally ready and your bunk should always be in stand-by condition so 5 mins touch up would be enough.

think i touch on stand-by bed before, i find it really useless to standardise things in the cupboard just for the sake of stand-by bed. when i become platoon comd, i definitely ask my men to arrange their stuff they would be using neatly. Putting a toothbrush and toothpaste for display is useless... people definitely would use shower foam, facial wash.

first few days in SOCE were kinda scary. We spent lots of time with the OC. No one dared to sleep in his lectures. firstly, no one would want extras. secondly, his lectures were so impt that you could not afford to sleep. His style was to have a simple test after each lecture he taught which was good in a way as the stuff really got drilled into your head.

He also spoke with lots of negativity. At least my wing comd in foxtrot gave more encouraging words like 'if you show me you have positive attitude in learning, i would pass you'. For my current OC, he loved to emphasise the number of cadets he failed... 'if you let me see or have a slight feeling that you are not confident in leading, i would not hesitate to fail you.' one of our course mate had a same name as the senior, he said, 'we also have a gabriel, but you know where is he? He is now a sergeant' meaning, that cadet out of course liao.

arghz... i didnt make it for the EOD selection. I felt so stupid, but then again my frenz told me the behaviour survey was part of it too... guess i'm not very engineer kind of person, or rather i'm more counsellor than architect. so now my hope lies in bridging... cos i dun wanna stay in field engineer and get tekan in SOCE...

we had an orientation where we were warned by the seniors to keep singing and keep in steps if not it would become a tekan session. In the end, we still did more 100 push-ups cos they were part of physical training.

today fri was kinda slack cos we were told we came in one day early. -_- i desperately needed the day to rest lo...

today was fun cos we got to take our basic driving theory test. i hope i can get a license thru the army. that would be cool. seeing so many signs, the test seemed difficult. had to re-do a few times to get a 90 mark pass. some did like more than 10 times still couldnt clear.

before we booked out, we had a 2 hr long test to see how much we have learnt the past 2 days. had to bring back precis and study... yawnz...

pretty happy i got to enjoy a 5-day work week. booking out on fri was nice even though its 2330. but i dun think i would get to enjoy much fri book outs. schedule gonna get more packed and tue we would know where we would be split into for the next 7 weeks.

pay day coming... hee...

desperately wants to club. any takers?

..:: 327. The One With Brunei Overseas Training ::..

Disclaimer: Super long post. May be unsuitable for some readers.

SOCJOT - Support Arms Officer Cadet Jungle Orientation Training

Reaching Changi Airport and having a look at the departure schedule, i could not help but had this surge of excitement like i was going on a holiday even though it was an overseas training.

some of my ocs infantry buddies were kind to see us off... melvin, calvin, alvin and denzel... flight was at 2+ am and when i touched down at brunei around 4+ am, i was frustrated cos i had not finished watching my krisworld movie provided by the SIA. It was quite a turn-off when one of my instructors took over the captain and use the PA system to tell us to fall in and stuff. that rowdy voice

From the airport to Lakiun Camp was like a freaking 7-hr transport. First by bus then ferry then bus again. Most of us simply 'concuss' throughout.

Place there was ok, all of us sleep in double-decked beds. heard the whole place was built by 30 SCE (unit of combat engineers, not the numbers) mmm... sleeping near the entrance was good cos can fall in easier but got fatigue duty, easy to kena. Can charge phone but mine no reception. sianz.

training started with letting us try out combat swim. the instructors over at the Lakiun Camp were very nice and funny. Got this warrant who could not pronounce propoerly... combat swim became combat shrimp. Obviously he became the first person everyone imitated. Then came this LTA-who-got-promoted-to-CPT instructor who loved to use 'long zong zhang zui' aka All 'bathe' together meaning all get wet together during combat swim. 'lup cheong' also his fave pet peeve.

Then came the compass course which i already knew i was a left drifter long time ago in one of the SISPEC exercises. dunno why have to do it again. perhaps familiarise again ba but its super waste time.

Next day, we had our guided navex. I had a very experienced warrant with us so he taught us some of the jungle survival skills. it was damn fun eating fruits that he plucked and were edible. It was a good exercise as for our batch jungle survival course was taken out. I also ate leaves... tongkat ali... some afrodisiac stuff... bitter as usual but not as bad tasting as the TNT flakes that i had tasted. 0_0 lol.

Then the 4-day exercise started. Ex Nomad and Ex Mountain Rat.
We had to find 2 checkpoints then head for a log point where we are transported to the base of Mount Biang. We then had to ascend 1388m and descend. Everything done with a fieldpack. total weight about 20+ kg.

Survival Tip: When navigating in the jungle of Brunei, follow the ridge lines rather than do bashing like in Tekong

Why? cos there are a lot of hidden knolls and ravines that are not reflected in the map. Follow the tracks that people have been created would be safer and less chances of being 'hollanded' (army lingo for lost). Following the correct ridgeline can be challenging. What seems to be the correct route may meander until its no longer in your direction of move.

Survival Tip: Plotters are very important cos u'll be travelling for more than 1km for each checkpoint. Look out for white/black tapes, they helped

Survival Tip: Wear gloves

i didnt bring my gloves and my hands got super dirty. Finding checkpoints there was not anything near tekong. Sometimes have to climb a near 90-degree slope or even slide down one in order to cross a stream. My pants were dirty just few mins after we set off cos we had to slide down this muddy slope.

Survival Tip: Request permission to bring jockey cap

some groups did not bring along jockey cap so throughout the exercise, they had to wear helmet. Though its safer but you will get tired and sweat more easily.

Warning: Signal set is freaking heavy cos you need to bring 300% batteries and also some of your own stuff

i set a challenge for myself which was to carry the signal set when descending Mount Biang... Ascending it we took 1.5 hours. Descending in total we took about 7 hours. Shocking right? We could not go down the way we came up cos we had to go a river crossing point which was the end point. As we descend, we kept climbing up cos there were lots of hidden knolls and lots of detours had to be made. Whats worse, our dear instructors decided that the 4 groups should navigate together. Movement was super slow and i thought my spine gonna break. Had to sit down everytime they halted.

By the way for the whole exercise we had to drink river water by putting purifying tablets inside. Definitely tasted weird. See all the mud and sand, i also felt insecure.

Survival Tip: Fill up water bottles to the max if you ever have the chance

we had to fill our bottles to the max at the last possible stream before we start ascending. We were reminded that there would be no water source until you reached the river crossing site. Rationing water supply was super important. A few of the guys i knew, jiasheng, alex had heat exhaustion but both were quite mild. Many left less than half a bottle while descending. Some even gulped down all when someone tried to boost the morale by saying we were reaching. Everyone cursed and sweared after that.

Survival Tip: Can boost morale by putting black tape on some thin tree bark

I dunno how to describe the shagness cos i overcame dunno how many near 90-degree slopes. Sometimes with almost nothing to hold on to except digging my nails into the soil. If you are not careful and fall, you will find yourself 50m rolling down the slopes. If there were any casualties, the whole team would have to be responsible for evacuating the guy. Walking already so shag, imagine you have to evacuate a person. I had to cross 10 rivers/ravines throughout my ex nomad.

The navigators from my group were superb. We found our first check point at 9am, just one hour after we started off at 8am. Our second checkpoint was tough and it was like 2km linearly on the map but in reality we travelled more than 3km and found the checkpoint at 1pm. It was an amazing feat.

We then had to go to the log point to be transported to the base of mt biang. However we were not as lucky this time. We had to back track so many times until we were quite demoralised. We wanted to hit several intermediate points to confrim our location but was not successful. We had to harbour for the night by 5pm.

Survival Tip: Bring hammock and set up big fire to dry clothes

hammock was very shiong to sleep on. but first night i could not sleep cos my group mate beside me was snoring super loud! Putting on dirty and wet clothes the next morning sucked. super low morale.

We planned on hitting immediate points in order to reach a passage point which will lead us to our log point. However we could not find any and accidentally hit the log point. Bedlam broke loose... we were at the log point around 1pm the next day. kinda disappointed cos if we could be starting to climb mt biang...

When we had reached the log point, we got transported to a bridge and was told that we had to walk 3km of granite path and another 2km+ of muddy path to the base of mt biang. wah, i almost fainted. I thought walking 3km was easy but under the hot sun and helmet with the load, i was kinda drained. Then we had to walk this farking muddy path which looked like it would never end. Boots were all dirtied and we had to cross slippery logs and by 5pm, we still had not ascend mt biang.

Survival Tip: Bring slippers though the pack list didnt include. Good for powder bathing and you would not want to wear your boots to move around

By the second day i was feeling disgusting, 1001 types of germs on me and i could not change new set cos i only brought one extra set which was my pajamas set. I realised on that night my ex-buddy was a pyromanic. I think he cannot live without lights. The first night when he was doing sentry duty, he kept flashing his torchlight and i could not sleep. I took a peep at what he was doing:
* (symbolising switching on/off his torch)

*fliped over his jockey cap on his webbing*
*scanned the ground around him*
*opened his fieldpack and adjust the flaps and closed it*
*flashed at one of the hammock (somemore on the face of that guy)*
*scanned the ground again*
*flashed at my face*
*flashed at my fieldpack*
*flashed at the clothes line*

w-h-a-t t-h-e h-e-l-l!!!

second night, he kept asking us to burn the biscuits to keep the fire going when we are not going to cook anymore! Biscuits are for eating even though they can be used as fuel. My friends and i were rolling our eyeballs...

i think it has become a habit and he seriously has no light discipline. That explains why every night when we shared the same bunk he only switched off the lights like around midnight. I wondered if he's afraid of darkness...

third day, we started to climb the mt biang... i thought ex nomad was no kick as the slopes were mostly 60-degree but come to climbing mt biang... every 90-degree slope we see, we all would say 'wah biang'. my thigh muscles and shin, ankle were already hurting. Nevertheless, we could go up rather fast cos our navigators were good. we reached the top at 9am and left messages for the foxtrot infantry people. so guys next time if you are going up, look out for the message. lol.

Survival Tip: During ex nomad, if we encountered a river, we would sing 'cry me a river'. When movement slow, we would sing 'I like to move it move it' fun and kinda boost the morale

Coming down was nightmare... we were led by the logistics people whom hollanded until out of area of operation... But we cant blame them... navigation was really difficult and may require recce at times. In the end, tempers flared cos everyone was tried and short of water. Travel in single group was definitely better. At least if you walked the wrong way, you only got your own group to blame and it made travelling easier and faster.

When we reached the river crossing site at 5pm, we were told that 2 out odf the 4 groups that reached together could get to cross the river and head back to camp. We were pissed but then no choice had to harbour for the night and only cross tml morning. I was angry also cos i used up my clean pair of uniform thinking that we would have made it by today. In the end i had to sleep with only my underwear on... it was cold only at 4am.

Survival Tip: There were not much mosquitoes. I didnt get bitten except for some sand flies but only itch for like a few mins. heng.

Survival Tip: Secure your helmet if you are not wearing it

A few guys got their helmets roll off the slopes and you would never get them back if they roll down.

Survival Tip: Bring chocolates if you are not eating the 4 days of combat rations

Survival Tip: Keep all the wrappers

Over there, they got trash inspection and they account for every single trash. every tissue wrapper must get back every single one. Before we set off they would do an inspection of whatever you brought out. Each green pack has to be accounted for and all the other stuff.

Survival Tip: Get a clean mess tin cos you would want to cook

Survival Tip: bring extra sets of uniform (they will issue uniform)

Survival Tip: If during inspection, you are short of wrappers, cut some and black tape them to increase the number of wrappers

Survival Tip: Bring only white trash bags and all the plastic bags will be accounted for

Survival Tip: Sharp objects like jack knife, fork all must be in your duffel bag

you wouldnt want to be hold up at the scanning area at the airport

For your information, of the 15 teams, only 4 teams managed to find two checkpoints and whats great was that the 4 teams were all engineers team. :]

Some headed straight to climb mt biang after they found one. :[

We all came back early cos we settled our stores early and had lots of canteen break and basically lazed around.

Then we moved out of the camp at 0530 on 5th july. Took bus then ferry to HQ Lancer to put down our hand luggage and headed for R&R (rest and recreation).

We went to visit the largest mosque in brunei built by the 29th Sultan of Brunei. All those in gold are made of real 24-carat gold. 29 domes, 29 doors, 29 steps... Brunei was quite a nice place... perhaps its tax-free. The mosque looked super grand.

Then we went to look at a building the sultan built to store gifts given by others. Got to know about his life and also a few replicas of the gifts, the crowning ceremony and tools they used.

Lunch was supposed to be buffet but we kena cheated. Hungry ghost at our table and i simply lost my appetite looking at him scooping a lot into his bowl. -_-

We then went to visit the famous water village and explored one of the resident's home. Cooling... and water taxi was cool too...

After which we got to visit a place where they displayed the oil refining stuff and the arts. boring... cos most of us were more interested in shopping.

yeah its shopping time but i think the shopping trip was the most sucky one. Only can see but cannot buy. Why? The only thing cheap there was VCDs/DVDs... 3 bucks leh. and the quality was good. During the bus trip, we got to watch wars of the world. Pirated so we could not buy. arghz. we were so tempted and the CDs shops were like the only thing. In the end, we all sat down, ate and chatted.

dinner was really buffet but no refill. sucks right?

Survival Tip: Take the dishes for the whole table

That way you get to eat more and no need to keep queuing cos the food would be gone before you know it.

Night time was the finale, my fave. We went to the super big 20 hectares amusement park. But only like a few rides were opened. I tried everything like at least twice and i actually went for some which i did not even imagine i would go for... vertical drop... rollercoaster that flip you 360-degree... adrenaline was rushing man... many of us our lup cheong were like in our mouths... balls all shrunk that night.

Survival Tip: Take off your specs and stuff before going for rides
Got one guy i know his specs flew... lol

Nothing beats coming back home in SIA plane... watching krisworld and still cant finish what i watched... arghz.

stay tuned i guess... i used almost 2 hours typing this entry... now haf to wash uniform and gotta book in soon. arghz. heard soce is a terrible place... *prays*