I'm tie-d to you...
18th Dec (End of the peaceful week)
I went to BC with AT and C to play tabletennis in the morning. TOo bad J can't join us.. it was very fun.. haha.. so long never play liao...
Though AT's not fantastic at the game, but he was really sporting to keep trying.. u improved tremendously dear! I'm so proud of you.. =D
C is quite good at it, think he's a very smart player.. haha.. It was a good game.. =D
It was a great way to end the week before all hell broke loose... haha
19th Dec (1 Day before D-Day)
1 Day before D-DAY... before i go outfield.
It was a rather peaceful day of preparing stores for the outfield exercise. It feels like the peace before the storm.
I passed a card to Alf and told him 'just in case i dun see u after buckspeed'... haha... he mentioned it sounded like we're seriously going to war and not coming back... oh well.. =P
I stayed up and chat with a friend till 1am. Of course it wasn't healthy. It seemed like there's no tmw to speak of that we can continue with our conversation.
20th Dec (Hell's leaking)
Orders started in the morning at 9am. All the planning started.. CO and S3 looks busy and abit stressed.. but they look confident too..... Roughly at 3pm+, I've already been deployed, in a terribly open space... 2x Brigade commanders passed by and gave comments (negative) on my section who was out in the open. I was terribly pressurized, and to make it worse the RSM had to threaten my men. I felt quite pissed and thought to myself 'and we haven't even started the first mission! dead.. my platoon's going down... =S '
I was stuck at stupid planning and couldn't sleep in the afternoon, all the way till nightfall. I eventually slept at 1am, and woke up at 5am.....
21st Dec (All hell broke loose)
At 7am, orders came in somemore, MORE PLANNING... got stuck at planning all the way.. falling asleep as the senior commanders yak and yak and yak. I was initially 60% sure we were going to take vehicle for half the movement in the first mission. CO gave me more input, telling me he's going to employ his new fighting concept, and I was 90% sure we were gonna be on vehicle for the first mission, at least for 6-7km. I started to spread the joy to my platoon. 2Hrs before we set off, CO had to seek approval from Brigade Comd for his plan. A few comments from Bde comd, the plan changed. Not only were we not going to take the jeeps for the first 6-7km, we were going to walk in vegetation for more concealment. The news struck me like lightning and first reaction within me was 'KNNBCCB....' On the outside when CO looked at me and said 'That's okay right?' I forced a firm and serious nod back at him to acknowledge his very less than popular plan.
After we set off, around 2km later, one of my guys already wan to give up. I felt like shit. At around the 3-4km mark, we started to walk into the vegetation. Before i knew it, we were walking on contour lines! WIth our bodies inclined at 80 degrees carrying a load which most people wouldn't wanna touch, we fell and slipped, cussed and swore. There we were less than 20m away from the track, and we can't use it. To make things worse, the first rest point was 4-5km away. I made a bold decision to call for a 5min break, and i took the time to secure my manpack which was giving me alot of problems because it was not tied properly by my blardy driver. I couldn't get things right in the dark and the pressure build up was immense. I gave up securing my signal set and asked my understudy to carry it for me. At that point of time, in the presence of my controller who was my friend, I felt like SHIT.. and so ashamed of my incapability. The fact that I didn't carry my full load throughout took a toll on my ego.
SOon, S3 realised we were NOT going to meet the H-hr, and everyone is slowed down by MY platoon (shudda known better), a decision was made to cut out into the track and take the track instead. By then, even my strongest man felt like shit and think it's really siong.
At the rest point, I gave a short pep talk to my men, to instill more pride and endurance in them so that they will not rely on others to carry their load. I think it worked, and all but 1 managed to last all the way until the end of mission 1.
22nd Dec (Freezing morning, elevating from hell...)
As mission 1 approached the end, my platoon managed to took a cat nap of a few hours, I slept at 3am and woke up at 6am... The next thing i knew i saw my fellow Mortar PC driving up a small vehicle ready to pick us up and drive us back to HQ. But the stupid vehicle's engine caught the camou netting and couldn't move! Argh, in the end we were instructed to navigate 1.5km away to the HQ. We trudged there humping the load with aching shoulders and breaking backs, made it there at 7am. Immediately I had to update myself on mission 2, next thing i know we had 45 mins of break before moving out again. Within the time i made the guys eat their breakfast, drink up and get ready to walk for another 3km with that wretched load. At 35 mins, my OC was screaming at me, telling me to move out soon, I was FUCKING pissed by him already. The bloody arsehole couldn't spare a thought for the guys and let them resupply themselves and get their full 45mins break. Plus all his bloody instructions come at 1 go and expect me to fufil them and move out earlier than the stipulated time. Before we moved out he said the important aspect of a soldier is to be timely. Talk about time conciousness. I was so crossed at him.
I saw my men and even spec struggling already, I decided to takeover more load, and lessen their combat load. The balanced load, though heavier, was more comfortable to carry than my original tilted load. At the end of mission 2, the skies turned grey and CAT 1 was announced. My platoon made their way to the training shed to seek shelter and quickly catch up with more rest. By then, I knew things were going to changed for the better... physically at least.
At 3pm, we were expected to start our last mission. Recce was done with little detailed planning, no thanks to OC. And I couldn't really care about his planning. With abit of wayang, on-the-spot firm planning, I think I managed to play quite well in the last mission. Of course, alot of it was unrealistic. Sigh... WHATEVER.... anyway the missions ended finally, I got to see my entire platoon. I was really glad. We had a outfield parade that lasted till 2+am. I finally got some sleep at 3am.
23rd Dec (Christmas eve eve, joyful joyful)
The next morning, I woke up at 6am or so, for another short parade, and that marked the end of outfield for this year. I simply can't describe the joy i felt when it all ended. I soooo looked forward to it...
By the time I settle everything in camp, there was a short happy hour in the mess, where I had abit to eat before i left to meet my primary sch frens for a nice dinner at east coast. I think the girls are in heat... they seem terribly horny. I was almost afraid the big fat one was gonna rape me. But everything else was really fun, especially at the gift exchange. We had a gift exchange where everyone was suppose to get a gift made out of recycled materials. SOooo... randomly, we presented our gifts. I received a TINY t-shirt with some messy fabric paint and was told to put it on. In the name of good fun, I changed in front of the girls to tantalise them abit.. haha... and all of them went screaming and catcalling... they looked like they were going to pinch my protruding nips so I had to protect myself quite a bit. =P
Later in the evening, I met up with AT. SO SO SO happy to see him.. though both of us look abit ridiculous, i didn't really care. He gave me 3 christmas gifts... WAHAHAH... all you bitches BE VERY JEALOUS! Muahahaha.... I received a damn gorgeous FCUK shirt, a Ralph Lauren polo shirt and a Cheshire Cat painting done by him... with braces... -___-|||
Hahaha... love the gifts... love ya too dear.. =D
C came to pick us up before we went on to MOX to attend a party... C.. ur a crazy driver.. hahaha.. Pretty exciting i must say.
Anyway.. saw a couple of familiar faces at the party, and got to know more ppl too. THe crowd was really quite good i have to say... Starting I felt a little out of place.. but with abit of drinks i started to feel alot more comfortable. And all the dancing started... =P
It was a great party, had quite alot of fun there.. I had abit more than I could handle.. haha.. so I got very very tired, tipsy but still sober enough to get home safely.. hahah...THanks to AL though.. =D
I finally knocked out at 4am.
24th Dec (Christmas Eve)
I found out my bracket on one of my teeth got loose, now it's swiveling on the wire. >_<
I finally cut my hair, before going for lunch at C's... Everyone's discussing my braces, quite distracting huh.. and because of the loose bracket i couldn't help myself to C's cooking... damn.. =P
We snuggled up in the cosy room and watched some crappy korean horror film.... the rest of the evening was spent having dinner with my family and cousins.
Such a warming sight to see my bro's gf, sis' bf, cousin's bf, WHAT ABOUT MY BF?!! Sigh.. hahha... 1 day.. 1 day it will happen... LOL....
I took my cousin shopping at parkway parade.. realised that it expanded again! My area's gonna become damn hot among the property developers with all the new MRT line and expressways..
I received a surprise call from AT late at night, that he thinks it's a waste to spend christmas alone at home.. and came to pick me up... hahaha.. such a pleasant surprise!! I was elated... though we end up not knowing what to do.. hahah... end up by the pool just chatting away... really, it's not the things that we do... but just being beside one another, it's such a comfortable feeling already....
I went to BC with AT and C to play tabletennis in the morning. TOo bad J can't join us.. it was very fun.. haha.. so long never play liao...
Though AT's not fantastic at the game, but he was really sporting to keep trying.. u improved tremendously dear! I'm so proud of you.. =D
C is quite good at it, think he's a very smart player.. haha.. It was a good game.. =D
It was a great way to end the week before all hell broke loose... haha
19th Dec (1 Day before D-Day)
1 Day before D-DAY... before i go outfield.
It was a rather peaceful day of preparing stores for the outfield exercise. It feels like the peace before the storm.
I passed a card to Alf and told him 'just in case i dun see u after buckspeed'... haha... he mentioned it sounded like we're seriously going to war and not coming back... oh well.. =P
I stayed up and chat with a friend till 1am. Of course it wasn't healthy. It seemed like there's no tmw to speak of that we can continue with our conversation.
20th Dec (Hell's leaking)
Orders started in the morning at 9am. All the planning started.. CO and S3 looks busy and abit stressed.. but they look confident too..... Roughly at 3pm+, I've already been deployed, in a terribly open space... 2x Brigade commanders passed by and gave comments (negative) on my section who was out in the open. I was terribly pressurized, and to make it worse the RSM had to threaten my men. I felt quite pissed and thought to myself 'and we haven't even started the first mission! dead.. my platoon's going down... =S '
I was stuck at stupid planning and couldn't sleep in the afternoon, all the way till nightfall. I eventually slept at 1am, and woke up at 5am.....
21st Dec (All hell broke loose)
At 7am, orders came in somemore, MORE PLANNING... got stuck at planning all the way.. falling asleep as the senior commanders yak and yak and yak. I was initially 60% sure we were going to take vehicle for half the movement in the first mission. CO gave me more input, telling me he's going to employ his new fighting concept, and I was 90% sure we were gonna be on vehicle for the first mission, at least for 6-7km. I started to spread the joy to my platoon. 2Hrs before we set off, CO had to seek approval from Brigade Comd for his plan. A few comments from Bde comd, the plan changed. Not only were we not going to take the jeeps for the first 6-7km, we were going to walk in vegetation for more concealment. The news struck me like lightning and first reaction within me was 'KNNBCCB....' On the outside when CO looked at me and said 'That's okay right?' I forced a firm and serious nod back at him to acknowledge his very less than popular plan.
After we set off, around 2km later, one of my guys already wan to give up. I felt like shit. At around the 3-4km mark, we started to walk into the vegetation. Before i knew it, we were walking on contour lines! WIth our bodies inclined at 80 degrees carrying a load which most people wouldn't wanna touch, we fell and slipped, cussed and swore. There we were less than 20m away from the track, and we can't use it. To make things worse, the first rest point was 4-5km away. I made a bold decision to call for a 5min break, and i took the time to secure my manpack which was giving me alot of problems because it was not tied properly by my blardy driver. I couldn't get things right in the dark and the pressure build up was immense. I gave up securing my signal set and asked my understudy to carry it for me. At that point of time, in the presence of my controller who was my friend, I felt like SHIT.. and so ashamed of my incapability. The fact that I didn't carry my full load throughout took a toll on my ego.
SOon, S3 realised we were NOT going to meet the H-hr, and everyone is slowed down by MY platoon (shudda known better), a decision was made to cut out into the track and take the track instead. By then, even my strongest man felt like shit and think it's really siong.
At the rest point, I gave a short pep talk to my men, to instill more pride and endurance in them so that they will not rely on others to carry their load. I think it worked, and all but 1 managed to last all the way until the end of mission 1.
22nd Dec (Freezing morning, elevating from hell...)
As mission 1 approached the end, my platoon managed to took a cat nap of a few hours, I slept at 3am and woke up at 6am... The next thing i knew i saw my fellow Mortar PC driving up a small vehicle ready to pick us up and drive us back to HQ. But the stupid vehicle's engine caught the camou netting and couldn't move! Argh, in the end we were instructed to navigate 1.5km away to the HQ. We trudged there humping the load with aching shoulders and breaking backs, made it there at 7am. Immediately I had to update myself on mission 2, next thing i know we had 45 mins of break before moving out again. Within the time i made the guys eat their breakfast, drink up and get ready to walk for another 3km with that wretched load. At 35 mins, my OC was screaming at me, telling me to move out soon, I was FUCKING pissed by him already. The bloody arsehole couldn't spare a thought for the guys and let them resupply themselves and get their full 45mins break. Plus all his bloody instructions come at 1 go and expect me to fufil them and move out earlier than the stipulated time. Before we moved out he said the important aspect of a soldier is to be timely. Talk about time conciousness. I was so crossed at him.
I saw my men and even spec struggling already, I decided to takeover more load, and lessen their combat load. The balanced load, though heavier, was more comfortable to carry than my original tilted load. At the end of mission 2, the skies turned grey and CAT 1 was announced. My platoon made their way to the training shed to seek shelter and quickly catch up with more rest. By then, I knew things were going to changed for the better... physically at least.
At 3pm, we were expected to start our last mission. Recce was done with little detailed planning, no thanks to OC. And I couldn't really care about his planning. With abit of wayang, on-the-spot firm planning, I think I managed to play quite well in the last mission. Of course, alot of it was unrealistic. Sigh... WHATEVER.... anyway the missions ended finally, I got to see my entire platoon. I was really glad. We had a outfield parade that lasted till 2+am. I finally got some sleep at 3am.
23rd Dec (Christmas eve eve, joyful joyful)
The next morning, I woke up at 6am or so, for another short parade, and that marked the end of outfield for this year. I simply can't describe the joy i felt when it all ended. I soooo looked forward to it...
By the time I settle everything in camp, there was a short happy hour in the mess, where I had abit to eat before i left to meet my primary sch frens for a nice dinner at east coast. I think the girls are in heat... they seem terribly horny. I was almost afraid the big fat one was gonna rape me. But everything else was really fun, especially at the gift exchange. We had a gift exchange where everyone was suppose to get a gift made out of recycled materials. SOooo... randomly, we presented our gifts. I received a TINY t-shirt with some messy fabric paint and was told to put it on. In the name of good fun, I changed in front of the girls to tantalise them abit.. haha... and all of them went screaming and catcalling... they looked like they were going to pinch my protruding nips so I had to protect myself quite a bit. =P
Later in the evening, I met up with AT. SO SO SO happy to see him.. though both of us look abit ridiculous, i didn't really care. He gave me 3 christmas gifts... WAHAHAH... all you bitches BE VERY JEALOUS! Muahahaha.... I received a damn gorgeous FCUK shirt, a Ralph Lauren polo shirt and a Cheshire Cat painting done by him... with braces... -___-|||
Hahaha... love the gifts... love ya too dear.. =D
C came to pick us up before we went on to MOX to attend a party... C.. ur a crazy driver.. hahaha.. Pretty exciting i must say.
Anyway.. saw a couple of familiar faces at the party, and got to know more ppl too. THe crowd was really quite good i have to say... Starting I felt a little out of place.. but with abit of drinks i started to feel alot more comfortable. And all the dancing started... =P
It was a great party, had quite alot of fun there.. I had abit more than I could handle.. haha.. so I got very very tired, tipsy but still sober enough to get home safely.. hahah...THanks to AL though.. =D
I finally knocked out at 4am.
24th Dec (Christmas Eve)
I found out my bracket on one of my teeth got loose, now it's swiveling on the wire. >_<
I finally cut my hair, before going for lunch at C's... Everyone's discussing my braces, quite distracting huh.. and because of the loose bracket i couldn't help myself to C's cooking... damn.. =P
We snuggled up in the cosy room and watched some crappy korean horror film.... the rest of the evening was spent having dinner with my family and cousins.
Such a warming sight to see my bro's gf, sis' bf, cousin's bf, WHAT ABOUT MY BF?!! Sigh.. hahha... 1 day.. 1 day it will happen... LOL....
I took my cousin shopping at parkway parade.. realised that it expanded again! My area's gonna become damn hot among the property developers with all the new MRT line and expressways..
I received a surprise call from AT late at night, that he thinks it's a waste to spend christmas alone at home.. and came to pick me up... hahaha.. such a pleasant surprise!! I was elated... though we end up not knowing what to do.. hahah... end up by the pool just chatting away... really, it's not the things that we do... but just being beside one another, it's such a comfortable feeling already....