AHM 2004

Woke up early in the morning at 3.00am to get ready for the AHM run today. Hmm... dunno if it's such a good idea considering the closest i've ever gotten to 21km over the last 3 years was only 12km at ECP last month. Nonetheless, i just followed suit and got down to the assembly area, skipping brekkie in the process. We boarded the bus outside HQ block and made our way to the Padang.

When the horn sounded, everyone surged forward. Wow, there was an immense amount of energy in the air. Ok, the first 2 or 3 km was pretty much of a breeze. I even surprised myself that i kept up with CO's pace (i was running just beside him) for the initial stretch. But once we came to the stretch of road on the Sheares bridge just before Fort Road, ...*tyre punctured*... my stride became shorter and shorter, feet weighs like a ton of bricks and blistering, i started to walk. Oh no, no turning back man... couldn't catch my pace back anymore. What's worse was all the prespiration and water that i poured on myself to cool my body down had made my vest very soaking wet, and was starting to give me abrasion on my torso. The same for my shorts on my inner thighs. *Aw* Stings man...

Finally managed to make my way back, half running, half walking to the finishing line at esplanade. Boy, my legs were so wobbly i quickly made my way back to the padang and sat down. Managed to catch a 20 min nap to recover some strength before being dismissed. Went for a huge indulgent lunch at KFC Suntec with a couple of S1 branch guys. SUPER HUNGRY!!!

Morning Reflections

Virtually had to drag myself out of bed today. So tired~... Yah, but i brought it unto myself, cos i went to catch a 2130 screening of "Dodgeball" yesterday at Century Square and ended up sleeping quite late.

In addition, i had such a hard time getting a cab that would take NETS or Credit Card cos i know i have insufficient cash to cover the cab fare. Then along comes a cab that WOULD take cards, but took me to the wrong destination despite clear instructions (at least i thought it was meticulously clear... :oS ). Ended up paying $2 more than the usual fare. But i guess given the kind of hurry i was in, i didn't really care, until i stepped into office.

Today, everyone is on off for last week's exercise. Only 3 persons in the branch. Well, hope its peace and quiet again today. I don't mind staying back though... I've had my share of relaxation in Perth while they went for exercise. So I guess it's all fair.

Peaceful Dayz (... almost)

Everyone's off to range today, so the whole place looks quite deserted. Have to stay in camp to cancel the indent for tomorrow's range. Well, i don't mind being Safety Spec today even though I've cleared my shoot (*snigger), but being in camp is not too bad.

Got some "MAJOR" arrow (and i mean MAJOR), not that it's within my capacity to fulfil anyway. Managed to push it off till later in the day. But still, the fact that i'm blogging right now is a sign that it's quite a good day at work today.

X-tra S$200!

Wow... Came to the office at 0700 in the morning feeling damn tired. But i know that there are others around me that are worse. Probably a consolation for all the fatigue is knowing that i would be getting an addtional $200 reward for being a markman with the assault rifle. My detail 83.33% for the Day Shoot and 92.22% for the Night Shoot, giving as a grand total of 87.78% for the Marksman standard. Personally i only missed one shot, which i felt was pretty neat result, considering i haven't touched the rifle in close to 3 years.

The long awaited 15 seconds of fame & glory

After 17 years, with 15 years of academic training under my belt, today is the long awaited day - The mark of a new chapter of my life - Graduation Day. It seems the weather today is pretty kind to us. Not too cold, not to sunny. A little overcast by clouds, but bright enough for photo shoots. I'm going out shortly to collect my regalia. Decided to purchase it instead, cos... well, i dunno... maybe as a momento... BUT, i'll make sure i get to wear it again! Perhaps in the afternoon, we'll all go out for a photo shoot at around 1500h at UWA. But before that, i gotta go check out my graduation tickets. VERY IMPORTANT!!!Wow, so excited about what's gonna happen tonight...

Let's get dirty!!

Woah~! Going out into the lush green pastures of Singapore's tropical 'jungle' soon. Ok, yah! Going outfield soon. In fact, we set off in an hours' time.

My first outfield after more than 2 years of slacking in the urban concrete jungle. Heard there's nothing much to do this time round. Perhaps just to hang around and make sure everyone is safe, that the training is conducted safely, keep updated on what's going on... Looking forward to the mozzie bites and cooking maggie noodles outdoors... ^_^

Account Activated

Finally decided to get my fat ass over to the computer peoples' office to activate my user account. My mailbox must be flooded by now. No choice, cos i have to check on the status of my apparently important work. But hey, no one really knows, so i can still buy a few days of time to slack. *kekekeke...*

Wah! 'Siong~' ah...

My word! Started off the day with a super strenuous PT session. My entire singlet was soaked with prespiration, can? Wah... wonder if i can still hold up my fork and spoon to eat lunch later. Later in the afternoon still have 12 km run for AHM training. I'm gonna be sooo pooped when i get home in the evening.

Finally some activity

After almost 2 weeks of bumming around in the office, it was finally a busy day today. Meeting, after meeting... Only came out of the conference room at 5.30pm. Lots to talk about, but none really concerned me, cos i'm not really into the full swing of things, though there are certain pointers raised which may help me in my duties in the near future. Running in the negative zone when it comes to the 'Vitamin M' department, but still surviving... Apparently the payroll department forgot to credit my pay into my bank account. Hopefully, they'll remember that and back pay me next month, and i'll be super rich then... kekekekeke...

Movie Day

Wow! I have never been on a movie marathon for ages. Went to watch a chinese gongfu movie by Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau, and Kenishiro Takeshi, followed by another film by TWINS, Jacky Chan, and Edison Chan. The former was nice apart from some lame & anti-climax scenes, the latter was funny but lacked substance in the plot. So overall, it wasn't that good, but still entertaining. :o)

I'm *snort* down with the *snort* flu...

*SNORT*... Oh no... i think acclimatisation is something that i seriously need to work on. Apparently, i have never failed to catch the flu bug everytime i return to Singapore, thanks to my poor acclimatisation abilities. Good things is, this time it took a little longer - 9 days to be exact. Or was it the fact that i went running under a scorching 2pm sun and went straight back to my airconditioned office after that? (I'm such an idiot when it comes to such things...) And what a 'fantastically wonderful' time to catch the bug too... just as everyone is on an off day for National Day Parade... Everyone would be out enjoying while i have to stay in my office swimming in the heaps of used tissues and nursing my sore nose. Hope ol' doc will give me an MC to stay at home too... then i don't have to be the guard dog in the office and face my ever intimidating boss.

I need some work

Give me something to do!!! Man, I never thought i'd say this, but having nothing to do really sucks. Especially when everyone around you is buzzing around like a bee, busy with work, and here i am, sitting in one corner, stuck with overdue copies of National Geographic. Not that i'm deliberately idling my time away, but there's absolutely nothing for me to do, despite many requests. But i don't blame anyone, cos firstly everything is in a mess! I can't do any work using a computer terminal as i need a smart card that in my personal docket, which somehow failed to make its way to the manpower department I.e. nothing to do except walk around, read something or... go exercise...hmm... might be a good idea...

Off comes the Civies, On comes the green uniform

Just when i thought i was having the best time of my life, bumming around, doing absolutely nothing, and playing with PS2 games, after a great time in Sydney following the examinations... Along comes the news that a dreaded letter has arrived in my Singapore home - the letter ordering me to report back to the Army. I must say, it is quite a shock, for i have exactly 7 days to pack up everything in Perth and fly back to Singapore to commence the resumption of my service balance. Thank God my uniform still fits...

The biggest battle this year

The E-word is looming again. It is no less a familiar feeling of fear, apprehension, guessing, wishing there was more than 24 hours in a day, making a part-time occupation out of transporting coffee from the coffee-maker to the urinal. Yes, you've guessed it... EXAMINATIONS!!!

15 years of formal education... that adds up to roughly 30 semester exams, another 30 term assessments, 200 weekly class tests. That's not inclusive of re-tests for failed papers, and the techincal knowledge tests that one has to go through as a trainee in the School of Infantry Specialists. One should be immune by now. But apparently it isn't the case.

I'm about 7 days away from commencing my first of probably the last four examination papers of my life, and i'm facing serious problems getting my face off the computer screen, onto my lecture notes. Geez.. talk about procrastination. There's nothing like a small beep on the computer or a small sizzling sound of sausages frying in the pan that would draw my attention away. I seriously want to do well and give it a last bang before i hang up my study cap, but as the ultimate procrastinator would say: The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak... I need a miracle...!