Im proud to say Ive few regrets in life. So few I can count them with one hand. Some of them include taking up geography instead of literature just cuz of my friends in secondary school, even though lit was what I really wanted to do, and not starting with the piano when I was given the chance when I was much younger.
Now, Im heartbroken to announce Ive yet another regret.
Recently we had some live firing, and some of the weapons we used included the Matador anti-tank weapon. For the layman, its a rocket launcher. But its no piss ass weapon like you see in the movies that go peeeew-boom. Its more of a BAAAAAAAAM-WOOOOOOOOOOSH-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM, 100 times louder then you thought youve heard before.
You can even feel the shockwave pushing you back from like, 400 meters away.
My regret, is that I was not around when they asked for volunteers to fire the weapon. Its like you just found out you missed a lets-fuck-fiona-xie selection, only much worse. So, so sad.
Imagine the sound at 4:20 amplified 100 times. Thats my baby man.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Gypsy One And CBRE
For those not in the know, gypsy 1 is the codename for some dumb navigation exercise. Thats where you take a compass, map and a cross and walk from point A to B (the cross is for praying with. You usually use it more then either the compass or the map).
The group I did gypsy with was pretty good. We were the second to finish the DAY part of the exercise. The most exciting part of the day was when we did the NIGHT portion. Thats when we got lost in the fucking forest for 1 hour. Under the canopy, its really pitch black. Only vague silhouettes slide around like creatures in the depths of the ocean. What makes things worse is that the Mandai trees have stems lined with rows of spikes. Talk about having backbone huh. Then theres deep pools of mud you step into and it sorta drags your entire leg down into the ground, like quicksand. We wernt even halfway through when everyone was shit dirty till the calves.
My sarge got increasingly pissed when even he couldnt figure a way out and into the track/road and cuz he kept stepping into the mini swamps with his gortex boots (ouch!). Then he started blaming people for not doing their jobs but I suspect pride had much to do with it. Thank God we met a group of OCS artillery people who came from the road or else we'd have walked till the next morning or till ghosts found us.
The group I did gypsy with was pretty good. We were the second to finish the DAY part of the exercise. The most exciting part of the day was when we did the NIGHT portion. Thats when we got lost in the fucking forest for 1 hour. Under the canopy, its really pitch black. Only vague silhouettes slide around like creatures in the depths of the ocean. What makes things worse is that the Mandai trees have stems lined with rows of spikes. Talk about having backbone huh. Then theres deep pools of mud you step into and it sorta drags your entire leg down into the ground, like quicksand. We wernt even halfway through when everyone was shit dirty till the calves.
My sarge got increasingly pissed when even he couldnt figure a way out and into the track/road and cuz he kept stepping into the mini swamps with his gortex boots (ouch!). Then he started blaming people for not doing their jobs but I suspect pride had much to do with it. Thank God we met a group of OCS artillery people who came from the road or else we'd have walked till the next morning or till ghosts found us.
*****
I got an interview for Chemical Biological Radioactive Explosives/Explosive Ordnance Disposal Units. I did their IQ/personality test, which I got past and went to seletar camp to wear their bomb suits!
Talk about once in a lifetime experiences!
Despite looking like an entire piece of armor, its actually a 3 part set velcro-ed together (your bottoms, tops and helmet/visor are separate). It weighs a total of 26kg, which is about half my fucking weight and I had to climb up 4 floors, under a table, step through tires, do one of those ring and wire games where you have to hold a ring past a length of wire without touching the wire, climb back down to the first floor, over some more tables, up another 3 floors, through a balancing beam and finally do a wooden puzzle at the end, which I failed cuz my visor was half fogged and cuz I was almost hyperventilating.
No joke man, the suit is so tight and claustrophobic that ever deep breath you take in you gotta push the suit outwards with your lung strength lol. In the end you have to deal with breathing only 40% of your full capacity which makes you breathe really really quick and you start using your mouth, which causes the fog.
It was quite a harrowing experience, but god damn, it was fun.
Good lord, youre really the only person who can wake me up at 4am and not get your head shouted off.
I got an interview for Chemical Biological Radioactive Explosives/Explosive Ordnance Disposal Units. I did their IQ/personality test, which I got past and went to seletar camp to wear their bomb suits!
Talk about once in a lifetime experiences!
Despite looking like an entire piece of armor, its actually a 3 part set velcro-ed together (your bottoms, tops and helmet/visor are separate). It weighs a total of 26kg, which is about half my fucking weight and I had to climb up 4 floors, under a table, step through tires, do one of those ring and wire games where you have to hold a ring past a length of wire without touching the wire, climb back down to the first floor, over some more tables, up another 3 floors, through a balancing beam and finally do a wooden puzzle at the end, which I failed cuz my visor was half fogged and cuz I was almost hyperventilating.No joke man, the suit is so tight and claustrophobic that ever deep breath you take in you gotta push the suit outwards with your lung strength lol. In the end you have to deal with breathing only 40% of your full capacity which makes you breathe really really quick and you start using your mouth, which causes the fog.
It was quite a harrowing experience, but god damn, it was fun.
*****
Good lord, youre really the only person who can wake me up at 4am and not get your head shouted off.
The Problem With The Problem
I dont know what to say, because I dont know where to begin.
This was the most eventful week since the beginning of the year, which isnt much to say, seeing as how its only been 18 days.
Every day I stay in the army, Im reminded of why I have girls as best friends; because the regular male is stupid and insensitive. If you were a tall person in a place where there were only short people, youd realise really quickly how different you were. How can I not feel superior? I deal with 20 year old kids who cant control their tempers and are so completely oblivious to the emotions of others they couldnt tell a happy person from a sad person even if the words "HAPPY" and "SAD" were written on their fucking foreheads.
You know how you walk into a toy store and you see kids pestering their parents to get some shit and then crying when they dont get what they want? Its like that all over again.
Sometimes its so bad I curse myself for growing up too fast.
Maybe if I started laughing at breast jokes. Maybe if I started thinking only of myself. Maybe if I lost my ability to see the big picture of situations. Maybe if I treated people a little worse or valued them a little less. Maybe if I started making fun of autistic people with fits.
Maybe if I did all that and more, I could fit in.
Hah. Like Id want to.
This was the most eventful week since the beginning of the year, which isnt much to say, seeing as how its only been 18 days.
Every day I stay in the army, Im reminded of why I have girls as best friends; because the regular male is stupid and insensitive. If you were a tall person in a place where there were only short people, youd realise really quickly how different you were. How can I not feel superior? I deal with 20 year old kids who cant control their tempers and are so completely oblivious to the emotions of others they couldnt tell a happy person from a sad person even if the words "HAPPY" and "SAD" were written on their fucking foreheads.
You know how you walk into a toy store and you see kids pestering their parents to get some shit and then crying when they dont get what they want? Its like that all over again.
Sometimes its so bad I curse myself for growing up too fast.
Maybe if I started laughing at breast jokes. Maybe if I started thinking only of myself. Maybe if I lost my ability to see the big picture of situations. Maybe if I treated people a little worse or valued them a little less. Maybe if I started making fun of autistic people with fits.
Maybe if I did all that and more, I could fit in.
Hah. Like Id want to.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
|_ 0 2 3 R 5
Im so busy I dont even have time to think about how busy I am.
I wake up, dress up and fall in. Then I run for 4 kilometers.
Breakfast.
Lectures where I struggle to stay awake.
Lunch.
Then we have our afternoon activities of running in our LBVs and helmets and shit or whatever fuck shit they can think up. This is peppered intermittently with short breaks where we wait for our instructors to organise shit they should have done a long time ago.
Dinner.
More exercises/lectures.
We're free at 10. Once everythings done (bathing, cleaning etc) is done, you sleep at 1130. Then you wake at 5, and this post repeats itself.
In Basic Mililary Training Center, the instructors all tell you how youll miss BMTC once you leave it. And somehow, I know that, but experiencing it is slightly... different. And then theres the constant wondering of how people so fucked up they make a whore look saintly can enter sispec. Which only confirms the fact that any dumb fuck can enter sispec as long as you pass your NAPFA.
I miss BMT. The people there were stupid. But at least they wernt assholes.
Hai.
Graduation from BMC with buddy Dylan.
I wake up, dress up and fall in. Then I run for 4 kilometers.
Breakfast.
Lectures where I struggle to stay awake.
Lunch.
Then we have our afternoon activities of running in our LBVs and helmets and shit or whatever fuck shit they can think up. This is peppered intermittently with short breaks where we wait for our instructors to organise shit they should have done a long time ago.
Dinner.
More exercises/lectures.
We're free at 10. Once everythings done (bathing, cleaning etc) is done, you sleep at 1130. Then you wake at 5, and this post repeats itself.
In Basic Mililary Training Center, the instructors all tell you how youll miss BMTC once you leave it. And somehow, I know that, but experiencing it is slightly... different. And then theres the constant wondering of how people so fucked up they make a whore look saintly can enter sispec. Which only confirms the fact that any dumb fuck can enter sispec as long as you pass your NAPFA.
I miss BMT. The people there were stupid. But at least they wernt assholes.
Hai.
Graduation from BMC with buddy Dylan.Thursday, January 1, 2009
Marriage
I talked to my buddy bout marriage. Or rather, the process of this extremely troublesome event that has somehow wormed its way into our list of important things to do within the next 15 years.
Its all really confusing cuz like, you have to get married once when youre solemnised (thats when you do that "i do" "i do" shit) and then get married again when you drink the wedding wine (if youre chinese, which unfortunately, I am). So I didnt really understand when I was actually married lol if you get what I mean. At least, that was how he explained it and how I got it.
I only barely got the idea and its still kinda fuzzy in my head. But apparently it was quite a fun learning process for him.
And not to mention that cuz my buddy is below 21, both parties are required to bring their parents down, which is kinda dumb, but oh well thats singapore for you.
Its all really confusing cuz like, you have to get married once when youre solemnised (thats when you do that "i do" "i do" shit) and then get married again when you drink the wedding wine (if youre chinese, which unfortunately, I am). So I didnt really understand when I was actually married lol if you get what I mean. At least, that was how he explained it and how I got it.
I only barely got the idea and its still kinda fuzzy in my head. But apparently it was quite a fun learning process for him.
And not to mention that cuz my buddy is below 21, both parties are required to bring their parents down, which is kinda dumb, but oh well thats singapore for you.
The New Years
It feels strangely dull. Maybe the passing of time has lost its effect on me. The only feeling I have for new years is that of irritation cuz now I have to write 09 instead of 08 when I write dates.
*****
Its a miracle how some people get into command school. Their personalities are so screwed up they make a screw look straight. I dont feel like Im the top x% when I see the kind of rabble Im placed with.
Its a miracle how some people get into command school. Their personalities are so screwed up they make a screw look straight. I dont feel like Im the top x% when I see the kind of rabble Im placed with.
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