[[*Endless Road_______Endless Journey]]*

Sunday, November 27, 2005

[[9 more days to POP~!!]]

Yippee~!! 9 more days to POP~!!

Wahaha...13 weeks of being a bloody recruit are finally coming to an end!

And I just realised it's been a long long time since I last updated this increasingly dead blog.

Well...you've got to understand that life as a NSF is pretty boring and tiring. You got so little time and energy for weekend that you won't have much strength to think of something to update in your blog.

So here's you little update on what has been going on...

Just finished my Sitest. It's actually called Situational Test, whereby you are grouped together with people you hardly know and given missions to solve. This was the way how SAF judge your capability as a commander. It lasted 3 days 2 nights and began with a 12-kilometre route march.

And my god, the march really was tedious. Because I went for a re-Sitest (which meant I didn't go for the 1 with my company), things were much different. Firstly, because the conducting company (none other than the famous, or rather, infamous Mohawk) was not mine, everything was very much on our own. That means, supervision from the instructors were very much minimal. Most of the time we were just given things to do at our own time. But the march was really crazy. Cutting through so much rough terrain almost made my feet go bust.

And this Sitest actually showed me how mentally weak some people can get. Some fell out even before the route march, some gave up halfway through the march, and there were even people giving up midway through the Sitest.

I mean, you may not have chosen to be a commander, but come on. Since you're there and gonna do it, why not just get it over and done? Especially when you have gotten through 7 days of field camp, what is 3 days? I'm really glad the guys from my company who came with me all lasted through. I'm really proud of them because though some of them talked about giving up (especially when the rest of our company booked out 1130 on Friday while we booked out last night at 1900), all of us talked each other into completing the whole thing. Kudos to all of ya!

Secondly, this Sitest, in a way or another, really showed whether people can actually lead or not. Some are just NATO (No Action Talk Only, not the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), some gave really wacky (or rather, dumb and stupid) ideas on how to complete a mission, while others just didn't bother to talk that much and just go into the mission with their minds and bodies. Probably that's one good thing about the army, whereby you learn that there are actually so many different types of people around.

Back to POP, the feelings I have of it is actually pretty much contradicting. For sure, I can't wait to get out of that dreaded island that is Pulau Tekong. Every book-in and book-out is so time consuming. And I hate having to take that stupid fastcraft at least twice a week. But at the same time, I will really miss the days whereby I slept in a bunk (different beds though) with 11 other people who came from different backgrounds. At first, the thought of spending almost the whole of 13 weeks living with people you don't know a shit about sounds real tough. In your mind, questions always run through your head, like what these people are like and whether co-existence is possible. But as time goes by and you slowly learn of each other's habits and characteristics, you learn to appreciate their pros and accept their cons.

I'm sure I'll really miss those days with my platoon, and especially, my section mates. We gone through hell together, but we also shared heaven with each other. And my buddy, with a really unique name. You don't meet people often who are and look totally Chinese but actually have a Norwegian surname (Thorbjornsen). Haha...I can see some of you trying hard to pronounce that word, but if you can't then don't bother. You're not going to learn Norwegian anyway.

And so, as I take myself into the very phase of BMT, I'll be looking back at the times I spent on that island. 13 weeks sound long, but as each week passes by, you do realise time goes by really fast. Unhappy moments are usually quickly forgotten, happy ones are there to stay.

Guys, don't forget each other after we get posted to our respective units or training schools yeah? I'm sure there's always time to meet up for a drink and some chill-out.

Will be updating most probably after I POP. Till then, take care everyone~!!

[[Walking Alone On This Endless Road]]*|1:05 pm|

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

[[Field Camp]]

I guess I should say the toughest part of BMT is finally over.

Yes, it's the bloody 7-day field camp. The most mentally challenging, mind-wrecking, sweaty, whatever-you-wanna-call-it field camp.

To make things worse, it rained like 6 days out of 7. Damn...the rain really sent morale down the way rainwater seeped into the soil of our campsite.

Last Monday, as I set out on the march towards the first camp site, I wondered how the 7 days would pass. In acutal fact, it wasn't that long afterall.

I mean, I can say that now because it's already over. But while at the process of it, gosh...I look back now and wonder how I actually pulled through. During the second night I already haf the notion of wanting to give everything up.

But that was when I found inner strength to muster on. The thought of having to do it all over again, the thought of...

Thinking back, all wasn't that bad though. Certainly, there were those little moments where you enjoy. The sight of thousands of stars littering the night sky, fireflies shining their butts at you as they flew by, the beautiful rainbow arched across the horizon after the rain on the second day, the sing-along session by the whole platoon during OC night...

These images would be what I will always remember after my BMT days. When the going gets tough, when everyone is simply mentally shacked out and start dissing each other off for every little thing, when the instructors could find 1001 reasons to punish you...everything was forgetten and forgiven during the OC night when we all sang together numerous songs.

Never had the bond within the platoon seem so strong. Maybe sometimes some of us simply can't be bothered. Maybe sometimes we are simply too tired. But the unity is there. It's only a matter of whether we want to show it.

People tell me that during field camp, you will see the true side of many people. How true that was. Of course, you do not really want to have that kind of impression towards some of the people whom you always thought to be otherwise, but it really couldn't be helped.

Perhaps I have that very superficial side too. Over the years, I've learnt the tough lesson of the need to have many sides. To be objective and rational. And to be superficial when the situation calls for it.

The field camp wasn't the most perfect, but I couldn't have asked for more. Because it really wasn't that bad afterall. I'm just glad that I pulled through. And glad that for the rest of the BMT I don't have to do it all over again.

Tough times really don't last, tough men really do. Let's wait and see how tough I really am.

[[Walking Alone On This Endless Road]]*|12:13 am|