First Driving Lesson Today!!!

Kewl!!! I cant believe all the coincidences that happened today. Had my first driving lesson, then bumped into my long-lost junior jingyi at the driving centre. Then saw Yi Hao who was applying for his prac test. Then hazwan saw me at eunos mrt station and we ended up having dinner together. It's been a super long time since I last saw him and we had a very full dinner at Sakura and exchanged stories about our recruits.(Eh, post a msg when you come next time lar!)

Anyway, had range the last two days. Generally very tiring cuz of the long day involved. Worse still, this time I help my CSM be ammo ic to return ammo. By the time I return ammo, then took the slow military vehicle back (Max speed 50 km/h), it was super late already. First night, PIE even closed down den the driver and I kena stunned. Next night, I found out that I need not return at the ammo dump cuz they have a new system that they come down when I finish to collect the ammo. Seriously speaking, both nights I was trying hard not to fall asleep at the front.

Anyway, did not sleep last night cuz we conducted Operation Tornado last night. By the time they sent arms at 2 something, We started cchecking the area. We pushed open the ceiling boards and went inside to check. We caught a lot of ppl hiding cigarettes in the mentos sweet box. We made them remove their boots and take out everything they had. We even milked confessions out from them. Man, dun ever think the instructors are stupid cuz I know what has been going on and was just bidding my time to unleash all the power. Lots of people are gonna sign confinements. Anyway, I have made one guy sign a total of 4 extras already. Evil right?

had my first driving lesson today. Learnt how to change gears and control the pedals. Quite an empowering feeling but I know I am still not there yet. Was fun and Kinda looking towards to it.

Ok feeling incredible tired now so going to sleep. Still got parade tomorrow so yeah, better sleep early. Adieus! Happy SAF Day!

Long time no see

Long time never post already so make use of the little time I have before book in to post something. So start off with these 2 funny incidents that happened over the past week:

Incident 1

One of my platoon ic was counting strength when he gave the command for them to at ease in a slack manner.

Rec: Eh platoon 2 senandiri (waving his hand)
Me: Geraint, you knock it down. Down (x20) Don't ever let me see you give command in such a lackadaisical manner again understand?
Rec: Yes, sir!

Suddenly, I turned around and my instructors seemed kinda stunned. Then they all asked me what lackadaisical means. I suddenly realised that I have used some cheem word and no one seems to know what I'm talking about. People even doubted the existence of this word. Well, from dictionary.com, the meaning of lackadaisical is Lacking spirit, liveliness, or interest; languid. Anyway, the poor rec must be kena stunned also and he just, in our army lingo, yes sir yes sir 3 bags full.

Incident 2

Dj and I were walking towards the training shed for night training. I was waiting for something to happen but nothing did, so when I sat down, I turned to DJ and said," This is something I have been waiting to do for a long time."

Me: Whole lot knock it down.
All: BMT
Me: Gentlemen
All: Yes, Sir!
Me: Know why I knock you all down anot?
Rec: Because We were noisy, sir.
Me: NO, you're wrong, so very wrong.
Rec: Because we were talking, sir!
Me: No, that's also very very wrong.
Rec: Because we never greet you, sir!
Me: Yes, that's right. All of you all so scared of PTIs(Physical Training Instructors) right? Always greet them. But you all are not scared of the officers and your sergeants right?
Rec: No, sir!
Me: Sure anot?
Rec: No, sir. We are scared of you sir.

The image of them saying the last phrase in pumping position was really funny. Ok, I may seem like a sadist but trust me I'm not. (fingers crossed)

Ok, moving on. What have I done for the week? Well, brought my guys for NE trip on Tuesday. We went to the NEWater visitor centre near Expo. It's a great place to go cuz of the interesting tour guide and the fascinating displays. Just read the newspaper about how food production sites tours are hot nowadays and I think this is one place you should go visit too.

Then had 4km route march. I didnt really push them a lot when I led. Then Crono came to join me in front cuz he felt they were not pushed to their limit and we really made them suffer. Come back still when for extra round around the parade square den knock them down and henta kaki. More people hyperventilated and one even had asthma attack. *horrors* Next day had IPPT Trial test for them. Have lots more people who passed compared to the original 2. But when they all walked back from the sports complex, all looked as if they just finished fighting a war. They were supporting one another, limping back. All just because of 2.4. Sad~

Had an extremely uneventful weekend. I feel like I am slipping further and further away from into a permanent of social inactivity. Ok, at least I went out with ziyang and daniel on sunday to get my long overdue water bottle. (thanks dan!) But seriously I got no time to go anywhere. Saturday spent on tuition and at most I'll drag my dirty self and my huge bag to meet someone for dinner. Den sundays are spent doing my part of housework and resting. Today, I went to pray cuz of range this coming week and visited one of my guys at CGH. He kena insect bite which became swollen and he needed an op. He was quite sad cuz he will miss range, meaning he will OOC(Out Of Course).

Ok, gotta go. Mom rushing me to go and bathe. Drop me a msg or a note! PLs hope nothing serious happens during range. And my CSM dun chu stunt again! (Tell ya more about him next blog!) Oh yeah, finally finish the book by DAve PElzer cuz Khet wanted to read it. GReat book to read, a must for all!

ZZzzzzz....a rEaLlY sLeEpY dAy ....zzzzZZ

Was damn shagged today. I was practically dozing off as i was marking my cousin's assignments today. Took sweets but to no avail. Requested coffee from the maid though i dun drink coffee but decided on iced milo instead. Cant believe i can drink milo until i doze off and the milo spilled out from my mouth onto the book. *horror* Was so mortified and my cousin was prob thinking what was wrong with me man.

My guys had their first book out today and everyone was on a high. Scolded one of my platoon i/c cuz i dun like his attitude and he reported late by 15 mins. 15 mins mind you!! Anyway, he cried after that cuz he was too worked up due to his platoon mates not co-operating. If DJ continues to be so nice to them, i'll just have to step up my nastiness to them.

Had dinner at the No signboard seafood restaurant just now with my extended family. Had two dishes of crab and I m like real full now ...thought we were going to the one at Esplanade but went to Geylang instead. Now everyone's at my aunt's place and i make use of the time to blog.

Daniel jio me out to go buy my long overdue bdae prezzie tmr but my mom's not quite keen on it ...hmmm see how lor. Havent been out shopping for GSS yet so dun mind going out to see see a little too.

Yeah !!!! Passed my BTT!!!!

It's 1:30am and I am not sleeping yet!!! Quite unusual for me. There's me and only me in the office and out of sheer boredom, I decided to update my blog.

Just came back from dinner karaoking with darius, zhen hao, weilin, yvonne and pk. First time ok ktv and we went to this party world place at kreta ayer. Had great fun and i suppose they r about to finish up the session and heading to von's place for mahjong. Had lots of laughs there(Remember CDZ? haha Darius u r such a cock man ...) and there was a sense of "high" from the singing. The girls can sing well man though i think von was intimidated by PK's singing. Weilin thanks for your honey lemon and chocs! I came back to camp cuz my recruits are booking out for their first time tomorrow and anyway there's Dj and me only. Most of the instructors have left for long weekend and i think only the new birds will be around when they book out at around 1. Was really shocked to see DJ still in his uniform when i came back furiously playing Capcom vs Marvel. I mean he's really like hooked on it and I've also started playing it too!

Some updates on my guys. The m'sian guy was transferred to Tekong BMTC 2 on thurs and his parents came down to see him before he was transferred there. Quite sad to see but it is for his own good also. THough Navy is not taxing physically, you need to study a lot and a basic command of English is necessary. Just hope that he adapts well to military life real soon and quickly serve his 2 yrs here. It always seems so long when you start something but realise how fast time flies when you finish it.

By the way, the fire drill was conducted soon after I posted my blog. Lots of ppl fell out and most of the instructors were left "reviving" them. I got a guy who apparently was numb throughout his whole body and was initially convulsing. Quite drama if you ask me but seriously speaking, these people are getting weaker batch by batch. How are we going to defend the nation if our people are getting weaker?

Passed my BTT finally on Monday! First time taking the computer test and was rather scared. But it was pretty user friendly and when you end your test, a screen will appear to inform you if you have passed. Felt quite confident cuz the test was relativel easy but the few seconds of suspense was like hanging in mid-air. So now can start taking my driving lessons! Then met Shen Zhi for a while for brunch (well basically only i ate) cuz her house is near ubi.

Ok almost two liao ...gotta sleep or else i'll doze off during tuition tomorrow. Ciao~

Having an itchy throat ...think I m falling sick :(

Hey peeps! It's saturday night and I just booked into camp. Apparently we are going to have "Operation Happy Day" aka fire drill and tekan session in a few hours time. Now trying desperately to drink lots of water to prevent myself from falling sick. Well, been a pretty happening week. You'll see why.

Was down on sunday as usual, so you would think that nothing much can happen right? Well, i thought so too especially I brought my guys for a morale boosting movie session after dinner.(watched City of God, a really great movie btw) Then just as they were supposed to sleep, 2 guys came down with ET blade and stick and I saw a long cut across one guy's hand. Apparently one of their platoon mates had attacked them with the entrenching tool.(For those who do not know what it is, it's something which we use to dig outfield.) My blood really boiled den, no problem must go find problem for me. To cut the long story short, the guy is now under close arrest in DB, awaiting court martial. Heard I may be appointed as his defending officer ...meaning more sai kang! As if I got not enough problems like that. But as of all things, it's not as simple as it sounds. This case is a classic case of racial conflict. 2 indian guys vs a chinese pai kia. Den the 2 indian guys must have accidentally offended him den these ppl the way they talk also got attitude problems. The chinese guy has a short fuse too, then he also not scared. The worst kind of situation is when the guy is not afraid of beign charged. He told me," You can charge me. Not as if I never go in before." This guy ever went boys' home before and is part of a secret society. Drama right?

Was busy with meetings whole week cuz kenneth was not around. Actually not bad cuz all these meetings are those management level meetings and it seems as if only Very Important People are seating around the conference room table discussing Very Important Matter. Of course most of it are none of my business :p. But it gives you an idea of how higher management level works and why certain things are happening in a particular way.

Havent slept on my own bed for close to 2 weeks already ...except this afternoon when i took a quick nap in the evening cuz really shagged out. Think I am growing fatter and sleepier. Yesterday wore my no 4 after a very long time and realised to my horror that my pants felt tighter already. Crono was like suaning me that life is too good already. Oh yeah screwed up my drills yesterday during the arms presentation. I was the flag party(again!) and i marched away before the national anthem was played. Everyone had a great laugh over it after that. Lucky it was internal and no one was there to witness such a major blunder.

A lot of ppl are falling sick, so you all out there go drink lots of water. Had one guy suddenly hyperventilated just before the start of the swimming lesson and eventually had to evacuate him to medical centre via stretcher. At least I am more calm when tending to such cases now cuz got experience already. I foresee a lot of cases this time around. You know how weak they are anot? 2.4km got ppl as slow as 19 mins ...wah lau most females run faster than that lor. Chin-ups as usual not many ppl can do but this can be trained. Got confidence in my training technique cuz a lot of my guys improved tremendously after I personally took them for chin-up regime. They were always scared to see me at the chin-up bar. Hehe. But I now also super unfit liao ...cant jump anymore ...has always been my Achilles Heel so no surprise there.

Taking my BTT on monday again. My dear friends pls pray for me to pass me k? Cuz I seriously havent studied this time around cuz of all the work I have had to do. Btw my boss complimented on my meeting minutes. Spent a god knows how long doing it, and some more forgot to save it once and had to redo the whole thing. Anyway, I've digressed. Just let me pass lar, if not I will seriously consider giving up learning driving.

Think I dun wanna shout at them later, just stand around and look important can already. Throat a little bad. Fire drill in less than an hour time. Get ready gentlemen. Be afraid, be VERY afraid. Muahahahaha

More people = More trouble

hEy ppl! Spending whatever little time i'm out during this weekend to update my blog. Been a really tiring week ...and a very problematic one too. Anyway, came out this morning to give amanda tuition then came back for some relaxation, tv and internet.(Com in camp is down.)

Been a rather eventful week. Had enlistment and for the first time saw such a big group of trainees. Quite a headache cuz needed to get them to cut hair, draw their kit, let them eat their meals ...For the record, I currently had 88 recruits. Think I am not in their good books now cuz i generally look quite fierce in front of them. Can foresee DJ gonna be the nice PC while I am going to be the not-so-nice PC. Cant blame him lar cuz he's still a newbie. Not that I want to be fierce but it's hard to control when they are so large in number.

As usual, already got some problematic fellows already. One is a recoursee from way back in august last yr and a super chao keng kia ...or at least I heard. Anyway, this morning he was complaining of pain in his scar from some previous operation. Whateva~ ...Den i got this guy who stays in malaysia and cant understand english well. First thing he said to me when he came in for interview was: ni ke yi jiang hua yu ma? (Can u speak mandarin?) Damn poor thing lor this guy cuz he has never studied here before. His mother is a sporean who married a msian and stayed there. He's a spore citizen cuz he was born here. When i asked him why he never get msia citizenship, he told me he can only get pr and citizenship is very hard to get. Big headache lor ...how is he going to pass my GMK test?(General Military knowledge)

Den got this guy ...big drama yesterdae. He's a married man with a pregnant wife.(Married in march, wife expecting in august ...you do the math) Anyway, first day he gave me his wife's EDD notification. At first, I was like you, thinking what the hell is it? Den i saw the ROM cert attached but yet it has not dawned upon me. Finally, he enlightened me: Expected Date of delivery. Anyway, he found out he failed 2 courses in ITE. As he's a regular, that means he has to go back to finish his education, so I have to pull him out of course and let him go back to school. To cut the long story short, his wife wanted him to go back yesterday to talk things out cuz she's stressed about his situation (financial difficulty and stuff...they r only 21 and they cant receive a backpay of 10k plus) She was in a highly emotional state of mind and started threatening him with doing something silly. My stand was not to let him out cuz he's still not officially out of course and considered my trainee. Plus he is already going out on monday to settle the administrative stuff and prob by monday nite can be a free man. I even talked to her on the phone for half an hour and in the end she said: "It's alright, you all can dun care. Even if something happen to me and my baby, it's alright." And she hung up on me. Den she sent a sms to her husband: The world shall perish with me come daybreak. What can i say? Anyway, I told my boss about this and we let him out after. Spent my whole night trying to resolve this issue instead of enjoying myself at the bbq night we were having in camp. Well, hope my case study can be an edifying learning experience for those who have yet to see the bigger world outside. No offence, i m also in the process of learning.

Weilin's back and the rest of them met up yesterdae at bugis ...yeah read pk's blog. Anyway, thanx for ur chocs though i also dunno when i can get it. Jealous that u all so free to meet up but you all know me lar ...

FInallly close my injury report but just found myself a new sai kang: division meeting minutes!! Volunteered to be secretary cuz i was standing in for kenneth and it was bmtc's turn so thought i'll do since crono doesnt seem adept in English. No hard feelings but just thought to spare him the torture. And I can learn too ...

Starting to panic cuz my BTT coming soon ...yet havent touched my book for a very long time. Mayb I should find time to go pray for blessings next saturday ...tolong ar cannot fail again man or else i can forget about learning driving already.

Hope my camp's com can miraculously revive or else no net till next sat ...