was once a cute chubby boy back in his secondary school days. Until the day he was brought into army. His BMTC in Ninja Company (2006) and 35SCE Survey Platoon (2006-2007) brought
about a transformation (and a little quirkiness) in him. He obtained superhuman powers and is now called, the Super Pioneer! By day, he is a lazy bum who slacks around at home,
blogging and doing useless things. By night, he turns into Super Pioneer, doing the relentless works that is given to him. After the defeat of his Arch Nemesis, The Brain,
Super Pioneer Daron is moving on with his life and onto the next villian, the NUS Monster.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
pictures for Christmas @ e park
Christmas Decor..
Preparation for the big day
Design @ work
Filled with people
And old folks (with performances)
Esther and her dad (the calligraphy master)
my christmas banner! (and a grumpy-looking Jessica)
Lightsticks @ night!
Hungry souls after a long day's work
Christmas @ the Park 22nd Dec
O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
~ O come all ye Faithful
Christmas is a time of celebration, and what better way to enjoy Christmas when we celebrate it with old folks? Our church took the liberty to come out with our first mega project, by creating a Christmas event @ the park~! Held on 22nd December, it was located at East Coast Park beside the Lagoon Food Centre.
Planning for such an event was very new to us, especially when the committee members consist of Pre-U students (including the army guys). Heading the committee was our very dedicated
and very experienced Uncle Gilbert, who painstakingly went through all of our amateur proposals and decisions, listening to our problems and providing solutions around it. Being the Design and Decor IC in this event, my role was to provide the tent with every single colour and attraction I can ever think of. It was good that I was able to work on this project during my offs and leaves from the army, else I may never have done so many designs up in such a short time. And with everyone's schedules tight, it was difficult to plan when there was more than 1 people missing at a time. But we are a closely knitted group, and we kept each other informed of the changes and the updates needed
And so as the event drew closer to the eventful day on 22nd December, preparation for it grew more intense. Game boards were done up and pictures were painted on it. Banners and flyers were done and reeditted and done over many times. Games changed their formats every once in a while. Materials were bought and expenditure continue to rise. But every once in a while, we would pray for this event as well, it being Christmas; the birth of Lord Jesus Christ. One thing that was very heartening was that the whole church was in this together, and were very supportive in helping in this church. We were doing it for God. We were doing it for the old folks. We were doing it for ourselves.
The day begun with me going down to Kovan to get more ornaments for the tentage. The tent was pretty large, ranging 90 feet by 36 feet (27m by 12m). Tables and chairs were neatly arranged and there was a certain elegance to the setup, be it the table cloth used, or the stage backdrop, everything felt like it was indeed Christmas. At 12pm, more things were prepared. Music slowly crept into the tent, as Christmas songs and carol played out in the speakers, and finger food were ready to be served. My decorations were by then all set up and I was busying myself helping in the other departments. At 2pm, after a word of prayer, we set off in East Coast Park, welcoming people into our tent, providing what East Coast Park cannot offer on Christmas Day.
At the corner, ZH was mending his Carnival games, and that attracted a group of young children, many of them eager to try to put a hole in one in our mini-golf set and claiming their lollypops as their prize. At the opposite side, Jeslyn was handling her station effectively, as her face-painters labouriously paint faces of children and adults alike. And as Clinton promote the event to the rest of the public, more people started to take notice of what was installed for them. Few came in and sit with us, watching performances played by our friend Junwen(excellent Jazz piano player), and doing brainteasers prepared by Jessica. It was really becoming a Christmas Day.
And even while it started to trinkle, and then rain, and then downpour, Pastor Alvin was not troubled by the change of weather, and led us in a prayer in the midst of the chaos. And sure enough, the rain did stop, as God really did hear our prayers. And so came the arrival of the old folks and the event proper slowly unfolded. There were performances played by Junwen, following by a Canto Duet. Next was a calligraphy appreciation where Esther's Dad graciously came down and painted a beautiful picture of orchids. After dinner, there was singing by Fel, Esther and Jessica, in which the duet singers sang after them. Then, as the old folks were prepareing themselves to take their leave, we presented them with gifts, and to end off at a good note, we switched off the lights and broke our lightsticks and wave them in the air as we sang carols into the night. That scene.. will never leave my memory.
There was an A-capella group who sang after the old folks left, and it brought the Christmas @ the Park event to a closure. They sang like angels, and it was definitely an honour to have them with us. And hence, 22nd December slowly disappeared into the night as we kept the logistics and accounted our stores.
I was relieved that this event is finally over. Certainly a lot was put into this event, and this being our 1st event, the next Christmas @ the park would only get better. And yet, there was also a sense of fulfillment in my heart. How does anyone celebrate Christmas in Singapore? Well, a standard answer would be to walk around in Orchard and see Christmas lights, or to go to an expensive restaurant and eat a Christmas Dinner.
For me, celebrating Christmas with the ones you love is more important than anything else. And as I send all of the old folks off to the bus that was waiting for them at the carpark during their departure, one of elderly ladies was smiling with us. Her smile covered her faces such that her eyes cannot be seen. When we made our leaves, she waved to us all the time until the bus went away. We have made Christmas for someone who couldnt have Christmas. And now, it is time to spend my own Christmas with my own family.
Blessed Christmas and have a good holiday~!
Planning for such an event was very new to us, especially when the committee members consist of Pre-U students (including the army guys). Heading the committee was our very dedicated
and very experienced Uncle Gilbert, who painstakingly went through all of our amateur proposals and decisions, listening to our problems and providing solutions around it. Being the Design and Decor IC in this event, my role was to provide the tent with every single colour and attraction I can ever think of. It was good that I was able to work on this project during my offs and leaves from the army, else I may never have done so many designs up in such a short time. And with everyone's schedules tight, it was difficult to plan when there was more than 1 people missing at a time. But we are a closely knitted group, and we kept each other informed of the changes and the updates neededAnd so as the event drew closer to the eventful day on 22nd December, preparation for it grew more intense. Game boards were done up and pictures were painted on it. Banners and flyers were done and reeditted and done over many times. Games changed their formats every once in a while. Materials were bought and expenditure continue to rise. But every once in a while, we would pray for this event as well, it being Christmas; the birth of Lord Jesus Christ. One thing that was very heartening was that the whole church was in this together, and were very supportive in helping in this church. We were doing it for God. We were doing it for the old folks. We were doing it for ourselves.
The day begun with me going down to Kovan to get more ornaments for the tentage. The tent was pretty large, ranging 90 feet by 36 feet (27m by 12m). Tables and chairs were neatly arranged and there was a certain elegance to the setup, be it the table cloth used, or the stage backdrop, everything felt like it was indeed Christmas. At 12pm, more things were prepared. Music slowly crept into the tent, as Christmas songs and carol played out in the speakers, and finger food were ready to be served. My decorations were by then all set up and I was busying myself helping in the other departments. At 2pm, after a word of prayer, we set off in East Coast Park, welcoming people into our tent, providing what East Coast Park cannot offer on Christmas Day.
At the corner, ZH was mending his Carnival games, and that attracted a group of young children, many of them eager to try to put a hole in one in our mini-golf set and claiming their lollypops as their prize. At the opposite side, Jeslyn was handling her station effectively, as her face-painters labouriously paint faces of children and adults alike. And as Clinton promote the event to the rest of the public, more people started to take notice of what was installed for them. Few came in and sit with us, watching performances played by our friend Junwen(excellent Jazz piano player), and doing brainteasers prepared by Jessica. It was really becoming a Christmas Day.
And even while it started to trinkle, and then rain, and then downpour, Pastor Alvin was not troubled by the change of weather, and led us in a prayer in the midst of the chaos. And sure enough, the rain did stop, as God really did hear our prayers. And so came the arrival of the old folks and the event proper slowly unfolded. There were performances played by Junwen, following by a Canto Duet. Next was a calligraphy appreciation where Esther's Dad graciously came down and painted a beautiful picture of orchids. After dinner, there was singing by Fel, Esther and Jessica, in which the duet singers sang after them. Then, as the old folks were prepareing themselves to take their leave, we presented them with gifts, and to end off at a good note, we switched off the lights and broke our lightsticks and wave them in the air as we sang carols into the night. That scene.. will never leave my memory.
There was an A-capella group who sang after the old folks left, and it brought the Christmas @ the Park event to a closure. They sang like angels, and it was definitely an honour to have them with us. And hence, 22nd December slowly disappeared into the night as we kept the logistics and accounted our stores.
I was relieved that this event is finally over. Certainly a lot was put into this event, and this being our 1st event, the next Christmas @ the park would only get better. And yet, there was also a sense of fulfillment in my heart. How does anyone celebrate Christmas in Singapore? Well, a standard answer would be to walk around in Orchard and see Christmas lights, or to go to an expensive restaurant and eat a Christmas Dinner.
For me, celebrating Christmas with the ones you love is more important than anything else. And as I send all of the old folks off to the bus that was waiting for them at the carpark during their departure, one of elderly ladies was smiling with us. Her smile covered her faces such that her eyes cannot be seen. When we made our leaves, she waved to us all the time until the bus went away. We have made Christmas for someone who couldnt have Christmas. And now, it is time to spend my own Christmas with my own family.
Blessed Christmas and have a good holiday~!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
3-1 Birthday Celebration!
My 20th Birthday Celebration! 14th Decemeber
Had a platoon cohesion at East Coast Park. It was rather boring as there wasnt much of an activity planned out. A cake was prepared though and all the little december babies popped out within the platoon. I was amazed by the sheer number of us. There was Li Jie, Vincent, Nicholas, KaiSheng, Me and Jun Xiang. The cake had a layer of fruits at the top, with 80% cream thick with fats and white thick chunks of icings at the side. Stayed a little while longer before going to my 2nd celebration with the my animal friends, Cow, Dog and Gecko.
Met at 10pm at Cine-leisure to watch the Golden Compass. As i didnt have much of a meal at the BBQ pit at East Coast ( since i left earlier), I wolfed down a bag of potato chips while watching the movie. The movie was a little disappointing compared to the book, but the animation was stunning nevertheless, and I had a firmer picture of how the characters in the book will look like.
My 3 animal friends had prepared a present. Me being an animal myself, received an "animal on board" signboard for my car window, as well as " Look out for the idiot behind me" sign. I'll probably put that one up when I feel like being a jerk.. haha~ After the movie, we had supper at Jalan Besar. Consisting of 3 different curries on the rice, our midnight curry rice was way better than the one at Kovan.
2. 15th December
The actual day of my birthday. Had an unexpected bark by my mum early in the morning, only to wish me Happy Birthday after that. But I guess she had all reason to bark at me, since I was to spent my whole day in church planning for a major event on its way. And so I was in church, doing my own things, and then..
The church peeps presented me with a Birthday cake!
I guess I was too shocked to register the cake and stuff.. but I am very grateful for the cake..
Not to mention the special present I receive as well~ It's very cute, and yes, I will bring it to my hostel :D
Surprise Attack!
Perhaps one of the master-minds~Later in the evening, my family and I went to a German Pub and Restaurant. Had a variety of German food, like sausage platters, Mussels soaked in German Beer, Pork Knuckles and a little of an Asian Speciality, such as the Pork Knuckle Bee Hoon. One of the main highlight would have to be its beer. I had a frank!#%%@ (dunno how to pronounce it). What was special about this beer was that it was imported from Germany, so finding it at the supermarket was almost impossible. Sadly, I wasnt able to enjoy my beer fully, as I had to gulped it down due to the amount of time we spent at the place. With a queasy feeling later in the night, it got much better after an hour or so. Pain For Pleasure? U bet. I have a feeling there will be a 2nd bottle of frank!@#$% sometime in the future.
3. 16th December
15th December in church was just a mini-celebration in event of what was to come on 16th December. We were supposed to try out a new location at North Bridge Road. After discussing with Plin about the type of food to eat, we have decided to test Indian food for a birthday celebration, and the place of choice was to be House of Briyani. Unexpectedly, there was a church meeting after service for a discussion based on the Christmas event next week, and lunch was brought in for all of us.
So, we settled for Hong Kong food instead. Driving down to East Coast Park, this cafe was recommended by Jeff. We had quite a meal, even though we had a box of chicken rice earlier on. ZH and I shared a plate (or 2) of French Toast soaked in maple syrup. Soft in the inside, yet crispy on the outside, it goes well with Ice-cream and a little bit of butter at the top. Other favourites include Durian Pudding, Mango drink. Then came the prize award ceremony whereby I was presented with a very very cool Graniph T-shirt (apparently, I wanted to treat myself to a Graniph tee before my birthday, only ending up not buying i like) Knowing its quite an expensive tee, my heart goes out to the peeps who contributed to this~!
Prize PresentationTo end the final bits of celebration, I met JJ(aka Gecko) at Bras Basah Centre. Although we did not meet up to celebrate for anything, rather he needed my help for some decoration advice, we did pop by Lucky Plaza in the evening to try a Famous Indonesian Dish called Ayam Penyet Ria, Smash Chicken in English. Okay, the chicken isnt minced to bits. It was rather the taste of it. It was smashing! The Gado gado was great as well, with plenty of veg in it, and it was a rare sight to finally see the Gecko picking at the Gado Gado (Though he was mainly eating the rice and the crackers) even the drinks were colourful by itself, Gecko had something like bandung, while I had a Avocado drink with caramel sauce in it.. Yummy. A word of caution though for those chilli-intolerant people out there; the food can be very spicy..~ !
And hence, mark the end of the celebration..
Oh ya.. ManU won Liverpool by 1-0 on the same night!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Enchanted True Love's Kiss (Okay dont freak out cos I really like this song... and animation)
Monday, December 10, 2007
Enchanted..
I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss.. ~Prince Edward
After a hard days work of carrying a 7 feet Christmas tree, ornaments and furry stuff, it was a good thing to catch a movie in the evening and relax from all the preparation of the Christmas dinner. The few of us, Plin, Esther, Eil, Jessica, Jeff, Zh and I watched Enchanted at AMK Cathay. As usual, it was my routine to go to the movie counter and claim my stamp for the Cathay Movie Pass. Interestingly, the counter girl took my pass and stamped all my empty slot. While I tried to reason out why out of all of the counter people, she was the only one who was so nice as give me 5 stamps instead of the usual 1 stamp, I dismiss the thoughts. Perhaps there are nice people out there after all.. Or blur ones, but I would choose to believe the former out of the two options. Well, no complains, and I'm glad I am finally eligible for the Cathay Movie Pass, though, not in the conventional way, but hey, I get to save.
Firstly, I would like to highlight that the animation to this movie is fantastic, perhaps one of the best 2D animation Disney has yet to offer. With a nice merge of 2D and 3D(stars), Disney has once again awed me with their skills in animation. Sadly, it was only 10 mins in the show before the actors come into play.
While Zh did say that the show teaches little moral value, other than true love should not be an immediate feeling, just like in the show when the princess met the print for a minute and decided to get married the next day. While the director has failed to show any flaws between Robert and Nancy, he also made it such that Nancy has drawn closer to Robert with the help of Giselle. And being for a relationship for 5 years, rather than marrying Nancy, Robert fell in love with Giselle, a nobody to him for just 3 days. On face value, one might think
Firstly, I would like to highlight that the animation to this movie is fantastic, perhaps one of the best 2D animation Disney has yet to offer. With a nice merge of 2D and 3D(stars), Disney has once again awed me with their skills in animation. Sadly, it was only 10 mins in the show before the actors come into play.
While Zh did say that the show teaches little moral value, other than true love should not be an immediate feeling, just like in the show when the princess met the print for a minute and decided to get married the next day. While the director has failed to show any flaws between Robert and Nancy, he also made it such that Nancy has drawn closer to Robert with the help of Giselle. And being for a relationship for 5 years, rather than marrying Nancy, Robert fell in love with Giselle, a nobody to him for just 3 days. On face value, one might think
"Is Disney really teaching the right values of marriage?"
Well, on face value, this would seem as yes, Disney is teaching the WRONG values. But on serious thought, I feel that there was nothing wrong with such an ending. And without even bringing in any Christian views in this, i'll give some reasons why I believed so.
1. Even though Nancy and Robert were lovey-dovey for 5 years, if you found your husband to be with Giselle in the room, and do not trust him at that point of time, the 5 years of trust would have been meaningless. interestingly, they broke all contact until Giselle did something that re-spark their liking for one another.
2. when Robert was about to save Giselle with the kiss, he didnt go to her straightaway. He hesitated, meaning he knew that he has responsibilities of a man in his current relationship, but when Nancy knew that his true love wasn't her, she knew how to give up. She knew that if a kiss can save a life, she would let him do so. In other words, within that few seconds of understanding, Nancy and Robert did not have any malice over the ending of their relationship. They ended it peacefully.
3. While Robert did say he liked Giselle, and Giselle did liked Robert, nowhere in the movie did it say that Robert and Giselle were married after the incident. They just lived happily after. Meaning there will still be plenty of dates and social time with each other after the incident. While Prince Edward and Nancy marry quickly, there was nothing wrong with that either as none of them were involved with a 3rd party. It's okay to marry quickly, based on their understanding with one another. Perhaps there may be a sequel after this movie, whereby Edward and Nancy's relationship turned sour? haha~
Haha~ me being so serious over a children's movie. I really enjoyed it, can't stop laughing throughout the whole show. A few seats to the right and you will see a girl exploding with laughther. Over the animated character of the chipmunk. Over the "bollywood" actions of the actors. Over the songs and many more.
Yet another fulfilling time spent at the cinema :)
1. Even though Nancy and Robert were lovey-dovey for 5 years, if you found your husband to be with Giselle in the room, and do not trust him at that point of time, the 5 years of trust would have been meaningless. interestingly, they broke all contact until Giselle did something that re-spark their liking for one another.
2. when Robert was about to save Giselle with the kiss, he didnt go to her straightaway. He hesitated, meaning he knew that he has responsibilities of a man in his current relationship, but when Nancy knew that his true love wasn't her, she knew how to give up. She knew that if a kiss can save a life, she would let him do so. In other words, within that few seconds of understanding, Nancy and Robert did not have any malice over the ending of their relationship. They ended it peacefully.
3. While Robert did say he liked Giselle, and Giselle did liked Robert, nowhere in the movie did it say that Robert and Giselle were married after the incident. They just lived happily after. Meaning there will still be plenty of dates and social time with each other after the incident. While Prince Edward and Nancy marry quickly, there was nothing wrong with that either as none of them were involved with a 3rd party. It's okay to marry quickly, based on their understanding with one another. Perhaps there may be a sequel after this movie, whereby Edward and Nancy's relationship turned sour? haha~
Haha~ me being so serious over a children's movie. I really enjoyed it, can't stop laughing throughout the whole show. A few seats to the right and you will see a girl exploding with laughther. Over the animated character of the chipmunk. Over the "bollywood" actions of the actors. Over the songs and many more.
Yet another fulfilling time spent at the cinema :)
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Birthday Celebration with Caleb and Clinton
Hoo hah.. Hoohah!
Fish and Co, Fish and Co, oh! Birthday boys, forever! (gibberish) Fish And Co.. Hey hey! Happy Birthday!
Ok, even though I have been to numerous birthday celebrations at Fish and Co(including my own), this is actually the 1st time I witness the one and only Fish and Co Birthday Performance..! Haha~ we even came out with a video of it..!Fish and Co, Fish and Co, oh! Birthday boys, forever! (gibberish) Fish And Co.. Hey hey! Happy Birthday!
~Fish and Co. Birthday Song!
Anyway, it was great fun to see the whole gang down together for lunch. We even have a rare guest to join us for lunch. Huan, being the original EPOCH youth of Hope Baptist Church (other pioneers include Felicia, Diana and Pearlyn) joined us, and it was pleasing to know that he will be going to command school in a matter of days. Wishing him all the best..!
After lunch, we went over to Topshop as I had a 20% discount to use within my birthday month, and ZH has got himself a $60 topman voucher which was going to expire in a few days. We had plenty of advices from our fashion consultant, Clinton. He is a genuine expert when it comes to clothes, and trust me, his taste is rather classy. He shared with us it is indeed the overlays and accessories that make you look better. Indeed ZH looked like a changed man after he came out of the dressing room with a $89 red shirt with thin black stripe, $116 slim jeans and $89 black cardigan which was the thing that changed his appearance altogether. I had it simple by buying a $46 gray vest, following Gideon's style. All in all, we saved about $84 due to the discount. Still, the total cost summed up to.. $346 , with ZH spending the most.
Well, this can only bring 2 effects, 1. Retail Therapy, 2. Great Depression. Zh seemed to have chosen the latter.
Birthday Boy No.1: Clinton (8th Dec) and the girls
After lunch, we went over to Topshop as I had a 20% discount to use within my birthday month, and ZH has got himself a $60 topman voucher which was going to expire in a few days. We had plenty of advices from our fashion consultant, Clinton. He is a genuine expert when it comes to clothes, and trust me, his taste is rather classy. He shared with us it is indeed the overlays and accessories that make you look better. Indeed ZH looked like a changed man after he came out of the dressing room with a $89 red shirt with thin black stripe, $116 slim jeans and $89 black cardigan which was the thing that changed his appearance altogether. I had it simple by buying a $46 gray vest, following Gideon's style. All in all, we saved about $84 due to the discount. Still, the total cost summed up to.. $346 , with ZH spending the most.
Well, this can only bring 2 effects, 1. Retail Therapy, 2. Great Depression. Zh seemed to have chosen the latter.
Birthday Boy No.1: Clinton (8th Dec) and the girls
Birthday Boy No.2: Caleb (9th Dec) and the girls
Next up for Execution..
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Memoirs of a Survey Samurai
blue sandbag + blue soil + green camouflage netting = bunk bed
Trust me.. Geishas would blush after what I have gone through!
Day1 10am
Survey Lao Jiao draw rifles for the exercise. Morale = Elmo, especially the Bridging Section(I'm in that section)
2.45pm
Mission 1 to Deployment Ground commerced. It was unknown why my team had to move out together with the 3 other teams as advance party. At that time, I was envying the other 2 teams in my section, who will be moving out at 9pm. I guess I can call this suay.
5.00pm
Stoning at the security point at the deployment ground. Occasionally eating dust along the side of the road as a dump truck rolls past us. Still wondering why we came so early.
7.00pm
Our boss has confirmed with us our deepest fears - digging shellscapes. Selecting a neat shelter of trees as a security point, we were relieved to find some old shellscapes abandoned by previous units. We still had to dig 2 more or so though..
9.00pm
Been digging, and digging.. and digging... The soil was quite tough, but thankfully it came out as chunks, making the ET blade really effective. Sweat mixed with sand irritated the eyes.
9.59pm
Our site was visited by Survey's Beloved. He said that our shellscapes were not up to standard. Guess its more digging for us. The Blisters on my hands are starting to form.
10.30pm
Digging done. Taking out my groundsheet, my team slept shortly with the stars shining under us. Thank God that He provided a windy night for us to rest.
Day 2 0.00am
Ants bit me
2.00am
Ants bit me again
4.00am
We shifted location as the previous place was flooding with ants
7.00am
Damn the ants. Im now fully awake.
8.00am
Finally realised the problem. It was the Milo bits in my field pack that attracted the ants to me. Took my army mosquito repellent and burn the ants away.
10.00am
It was time for revenge. I started killing the nasty buggers whenever those creeps ventured near my groundsheet.
12.00pm
I conducted an experiment. By dropping a tiny piece of biscuit, I observed that no matter what size the biscuit was, ants were able to carry it to their nest. At this point of time, my brain was either dead or I was super bored.
1.30pm
We finally had our movement orders. I'm so glad we're getting out of this hell-hole.
3.00pm
Moved out for 2nd mission at Survey's Playground. Did the driving myself. As usual, we were the advance party.
5.00pm
Arrived at the place... finishing what we were set to do in less than 1/2 hour.
5.30pm
Decided not to go back so early. Found a wicked retreat up in a gnoll near one of the banks. Nice scenery. Windy Area. Great place for cooking. And for releasing excess baggage.
7.30pm
Stayed at our security post. Until the main body came.
Day 3 0.00am
Everyone was finally here. There was little time wasted. We went to one of our banks, waiting to be brought across by the company's boat.
01.30am
Touched down at the enemy line. Spotted a triple con, with a supposed trip flare, but thank goodness we found another bypass route around it. (the other team tripped the flare, and Daniel died out of that)
03.00am
We were somewhere high up.(well obviously i knew where we are, just that its inconvenient to say it on a blog), and we felt that with such a steep slope, vehicles would not be able to travel on this route. So we found another bypass and effectively avoided yet another set of obstacles set by the enemy. Later I heard that The high aboves were irritated with our decision, which was good. I had a feeling they prepared an ambush for us.
06.00am
Finally reached our destination, at a nearby training shed. Exhausted and weary, we just tossed everything down on the floor and catch some sleep.
08.00am
Some armour reservists woke us up from our sleep. They claimed that there were using the training shed for their training. We were told to evacuate the area in search for another location. The jeeps were at the training shed, so we could set out.
09.00am
For some reason, every training shed seemed to have an armour unit occupying it.
10.00am
Finally found a suitable training shed, with a few Field Engineers leaving the area. It was just about that time when the rain started to pour.
12.00pm
We were at the state of euphoria. Never felt so shiok sleeping with no one to disturb us. Still raining with Cat1
2.00pm
zzz.. shiok.. zzz..Raining..
5.00pm
Dinner was served. As usual, we had instant noodles. Some were daring enough to take the green packets, but I prefer hot savoury food with a little ingredients. Raining..
7.00pm
Orders were given to return to the company's training shed. From that point on, we were wet.
9.00pm
Orders from all corners seem to find their way onto us. We became chauffeurs, lights crew, Security etc. Raining..
11.00pm
Alas, orders for mission 3 were given. With the place sketched out in my mind, I led 2 teams in the rain to our next area, driving our jeeps.
Day 4 12.30am
Arrived at the place. Sadly, this place didnt have a training shed, just some trees at the side to provide shelter from the rain. But, it didnt matter, since we were already wet even with our gortex jackets on.
2.00am
Cold. Irritating rain tapping different parts of my body. Cold. Good thing I have ear plugs to block off the noise made by the rain. Cold. Really feeling like a ElMO at this point of time. Cold.
4.00am
Orders from the high above were given. We were to mark out the route to the crossing site. On foot. No jeep allowed. Just on foot. The rationale? We were too fast. And it was starting to pour.
6.00am
Yeah, that's right. We marked out the whole darn place for you, and we're still early. But hey, we're done with our job scope, and you can't do anything to us.. So let us sleep!
9.00am
Hooray..! Mission Completed!
10.30am
Waited for everyone to be here on the floating bridge to take a group photo of ourselves. Hmm.. I wonder whether if we can get to keep these photos.
12.00pm
Told to mark out the route to the washing area. While in the process, we stumbled upon the other section of Survey, preparing to RTU. Emotion: Stunned.
2.00pm
FINALLY. WE ARE PACKING UP AND GETTING OUT OF HERE!!!!
3.00pm
ORD LOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day1 10am
Survey Lao Jiao draw rifles for the exercise. Morale = Elmo, especially the Bridging Section(I'm in that section)
2.45pm
Mission 1 to Deployment Ground commerced. It was unknown why my team had to move out together with the 3 other teams as advance party. At that time, I was envying the other 2 teams in my section, who will be moving out at 9pm. I guess I can call this suay.
5.00pm
Stoning at the security point at the deployment ground. Occasionally eating dust along the side of the road as a dump truck rolls past us. Still wondering why we came so early.
7.00pm
Our boss has confirmed with us our deepest fears - digging shellscapes. Selecting a neat shelter of trees as a security point, we were relieved to find some old shellscapes abandoned by previous units. We still had to dig 2 more or so though..
9.00pm
Been digging, and digging.. and digging... The soil was quite tough, but thankfully it came out as chunks, making the ET blade really effective. Sweat mixed with sand irritated the eyes.
9.59pm
Our site was visited by Survey's Beloved. He said that our shellscapes were not up to standard. Guess its more digging for us. The Blisters on my hands are starting to form.
10.30pm
Digging done. Taking out my groundsheet, my team slept shortly with the stars shining under us. Thank God that He provided a windy night for us to rest.
Day 2 0.00am
Ants bit me
2.00am
Ants bit me again
4.00am
We shifted location as the previous place was flooding with ants
7.00am
Damn the ants. Im now fully awake.
8.00am
Finally realised the problem. It was the Milo bits in my field pack that attracted the ants to me. Took my army mosquito repellent and burn the ants away.
10.00am
It was time for revenge. I started killing the nasty buggers whenever those creeps ventured near my groundsheet.
12.00pm
I conducted an experiment. By dropping a tiny piece of biscuit, I observed that no matter what size the biscuit was, ants were able to carry it to their nest. At this point of time, my brain was either dead or I was super bored.
1.30pm
We finally had our movement orders. I'm so glad we're getting out of this hell-hole.
3.00pm
Moved out for 2nd mission at Survey's Playground. Did the driving myself. As usual, we were the advance party.
5.00pm
Arrived at the place... finishing what we were set to do in less than 1/2 hour.
5.30pm
Decided not to go back so early. Found a wicked retreat up in a gnoll near one of the banks. Nice scenery. Windy Area. Great place for cooking. And for releasing excess baggage.
7.30pm
Stayed at our security post. Until the main body came.
Day 3 0.00am
Everyone was finally here. There was little time wasted. We went to one of our banks, waiting to be brought across by the company's boat.
01.30am
Touched down at the enemy line. Spotted a triple con, with a supposed trip flare, but thank goodness we found another bypass route around it. (the other team tripped the flare, and Daniel died out of that)
03.00am
We were somewhere high up.(well obviously i knew where we are, just that its inconvenient to say it on a blog), and we felt that with such a steep slope, vehicles would not be able to travel on this route. So we found another bypass and effectively avoided yet another set of obstacles set by the enemy. Later I heard that The high aboves were irritated with our decision, which was good. I had a feeling they prepared an ambush for us.
06.00am
Finally reached our destination, at a nearby training shed. Exhausted and weary, we just tossed everything down on the floor and catch some sleep.
08.00am
Some armour reservists woke us up from our sleep. They claimed that there were using the training shed for their training. We were told to evacuate the area in search for another location. The jeeps were at the training shed, so we could set out.
09.00am
For some reason, every training shed seemed to have an armour unit occupying it.
10.00am
Finally found a suitable training shed, with a few Field Engineers leaving the area. It was just about that time when the rain started to pour.
12.00pm
We were at the state of euphoria. Never felt so shiok sleeping with no one to disturb us. Still raining with Cat1
2.00pm
zzz.. shiok.. zzz..Raining..
5.00pm
Dinner was served. As usual, we had instant noodles. Some were daring enough to take the green packets, but I prefer hot savoury food with a little ingredients. Raining..
7.00pm
Orders were given to return to the company's training shed. From that point on, we were wet.
9.00pm
Orders from all corners seem to find their way onto us. We became chauffeurs, lights crew, Security etc. Raining..
11.00pm
Alas, orders for mission 3 were given. With the place sketched out in my mind, I led 2 teams in the rain to our next area, driving our jeeps.
Day 4 12.30am
Arrived at the place. Sadly, this place didnt have a training shed, just some trees at the side to provide shelter from the rain. But, it didnt matter, since we were already wet even with our gortex jackets on.
2.00am
Cold. Irritating rain tapping different parts of my body. Cold. Good thing I have ear plugs to block off the noise made by the rain. Cold. Really feeling like a ElMO at this point of time. Cold.
4.00am
Orders from the high above were given. We were to mark out the route to the crossing site. On foot. No jeep allowed. Just on foot. The rationale? We were too fast. And it was starting to pour.
6.00am
Yeah, that's right. We marked out the whole darn place for you, and we're still early. But hey, we're done with our job scope, and you can't do anything to us.. So let us sleep!
9.00am
Hooray..! Mission Completed!
10.30am
Waited for everyone to be here on the floating bridge to take a group photo of ourselves. Hmm.. I wonder whether if we can get to keep these photos.
12.00pm
Told to mark out the route to the washing area. While in the process, we stumbled upon the other section of Survey, preparing to RTU. Emotion: Stunned.
2.00pm
FINALLY. WE ARE PACKING UP AND GETTING OUT OF HERE!!!!
3.00pm
ORD LOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!