Was on duty on Thursday, a rather unfortunate one at that, as our network was down, hence the need to fill in over sixty blood request forms manually. The tedious process, including outside help, was in excess of one hour. Thanks to Guo Chuan, Jeremy and everyone else who'd helped!

Friday was supposed to be reserved for Medical Skills training, but CO insisted that we tag along for our Coy cohesion activities at Mount Faber SAFRA. We tagged along with CSM and S4's cars for several games of bowling at SAFRA. We performed rather well, with our team, the adeptly named 'Saviours', managed a strong showing of 600 odd pinfalls in our first game, which though was way short of the 680+ required for entry into the grand finals, was a remarkable achievement for a team of amateurs. We fumbled in the next game, conceding gutter balls and failing to save several spares. I did participate in the grand finals, though, taking the place of another bowler. We managed 600 plus points in that game as well, placing us perhaps around 6th to 9th out of the ten teams.

Maple Story was down:; Apparently my manual patcher was corrupted... hmm... Luckily Zi Rong plays the game as well... :) Just burn from his computer.

Found a Mokbi Shooting star this morning... a lucky star, I'd say, perhaps an omen of things to come? haha...

Well, anyway, CO has promised 4 weeks off for REDCON 1 status during ATEC the following week, 3 for a 2A and 2 for a 2B. Hope we perform well, then I'll be able to clear from early to mid April onwards... Mwa ha ha... Keeping my fingers crossed...

Do keep yours as well...

There was a LEGO offering on Yahoo acutions. Perhaps I'll be getting some figurines on the cheap, to add to my collection.

Wow... this is the second time in the army that I'm enjoying a ten-day rest. The first was when I was down with intestinal worms in August 2003, though I wouldn't say I enjoyed it much then...

Let's see... Went to Sim Lim Square with Zi Rong, Jian Ming, Loren and Darryl on Sunday (6th Feb), then wrapped up with a game of pool at Selegie.

Then on Monday, my unit organised a cohesion programme at East Coast Park. There were games to be played, and in all the games HQ Coy faced a massive shortage of manpower. I got to try out a round of volleyball, where we lost marginally, something like 24-20... Sgt Melvin was the best performer for the match easily, with his dives and serves... All was fine until we found out that we had to clear half day off in the morning and another the following day for Chinese New Year. This is in hind sight of a burnt half day off prior to Christmas and New Year's Day.

The Lunar New Year was spent visiting all my relatives. This year, we managed to cover all the places in good time, even though we had set off at noon.

Spent Sunday at Terence's place. Steamboat was in the order, as was mahjong. Side note: Yanni's music is really very lifely and vibrant! Dinner at Europa. The buffet dinner that was screaming 'Chinese New Year' only had several kueh to its name. A shame, there, as I was expecting barbecued pork slices and raw fish salad. Even the kuehs were not up to standard; Their consistency was wrong and they were baked for too long.

!Hola! Buenas.

Was flipping through a book on Spanish for Beginners which I loaned from the National Library.

Weekly review on my 'Always Throw Track Carrier' Battalion:

Highlight of the week was a visit by the Royal Bruneian Infantry Regiment for EX DB. The welcome ceremony was played out in the morning of the 25th. I was innocently standing by the side of HQ block when the Bruneians made a beeline past me to the CO car porch for a break. Pleasantly, a private from the RBIR greeted me 'Good Morning, Corporal'. Aww... that was so sweet... The actual excercise was on Thursday, and our BCS moved out to deploy light mode near Pasir Laba.

Bruneians have a knack for Panadol. According to a certain someone, it is their cure-all miracle pill.

The Safety Officer was giving a Safety Briefing at the Training Shed and after painstakingly explaining the rationale for all personnel to stand during the Safety Briefing to the Bruneians in English, he realized that hardly anyone was paying attention to him / understood what he had been trying to say all the while. When he called for all to rise, only one Bruneian heeded his call. Oh well.

The Singapore Acting Federation was at work during EX DB. Camcorders and Digital Cameras were present at scene when Chief visited.

Apparantly, the Sultan of Brunei himself paid our President and Prime Minister a visit during the Exercise period.

Medics are area cleaning specialists. There is an invisible link between the two. During our ATP last year, we were tasked to clean the toilet at the range. During EX DB, we were tasked to maintain the cleaniness of the traning shed and tasked to pick up litter.

Wednesday: Missed my first IV infusion attempt in half a year.

Friday - Someone from Workshop knocked his head against the turret of an SM-1 tank! Minor contusions, but I sent him to the treatment room for management anyway.

Saturday - Went to Novena and then Plaza Singapura. Met up with Zi Rong, Jian Ming, Loren and Jia Rong for some LAN, and dinner. I think ATP helped double my frag to fragged ration. Ha!

Sunday - Plans for some recreation in the morning called off at the last minute due to unforseen circumstances. In the end, we just settled for lunch at MacDonald's. We tried the Prosperity Burger meal, with the chich patty in the burger having a tad too much pepper and the curly fries not tasty enough.

Still on Maple Story, though I can't wait for Civ 4 and Heroes of Might and Magic 5 to be released!

The week was a rather uneventful week, at least impression-wise:

We went outfield again from Tuesday to Wednesday (No nights off, sob...) Once again, we practised building and demolishing of tentage, attempted to set up our Camo net after dusk, ate combat rations and fed flies. We dismounted once and provided buffet breakfast of 11 x Fresh blood to a thriving mosquito colony on Wednesday morning. Also did up some personal camoflague, which has caused large pimples to form on my face...

Went to Tampines to join Ivan, Rui Yi and Xuelun for a game of badminton on Friday morning, then headed over to Xin Yi's place for a steamboat lunch. The Tom Yam Soup was expecially spicy, and coupled with the warm weather, made for a slightly unbearable lunch. Thankfully, we had some fruit punch and green tea at hand. We managed, as always, to finish all the food. There was this IQ game online, which I spent an hour on, and progressed rather well, till it was time for dinner... Dinner at our neighbour's, Simon's, cooked food outlet near Zhonghua Secondary School.

Went downtown with Mum to meet up with Aunty Dolly for lunch. While they were shopping at Robinsons, I went to check out a hobby shop, and ended up buying 5 model kits for less than thirty bucks! In the afternoon, we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma, and ended up returning home with enough fruits to last a week! Had a sumpteous Seafood Wine Steamboat for dinner along Upper Serangoon Road.

Booking in tonight, and preparing for next week's joint EX with our friendly Bruneians.

The new year was peaceful, or rather quiet, as I'd put it. Fewer cases, in any way, is a good thing for me.

Just last Wednesday and Thursday, we moved outfield to do up our BCS deployment. Set up heavy mode twice, of which one was full-mode... First time setting up for the newbies. I'm certain it was quite an experience for them.

Alvin has happily ORDed, bringing me closer to mine.

Rushed to enter the MAS-ESS Essay Competition, resulting in a less than perfect essay. Oh shoot... Well, this is my first attempt at something on such a grand scale (and my first time writing more than 2,000 words!), so I would say I'm really proud of it. Heh...

Going outfield again for the next two weeks, followed by a Chinese New Year recuperation week, then a final push to ATEC come end of February.

Will be popping by the Singapore EXPO today to check out the MPH Warehouse sale. Hope they have something for me over there...

Till next time then...

The new year was peaceful, or rather quiet, as I'd put it. Fewer cases, in any way, is a good thing for me.

Just last Wednesday and Thursday, we moved outfield to do up our BCS deployment. Set up heavy mode twice, of which one was full-mode... First time setting up for the newbies. I'm certain it was quite an experience for them.

Alvin has happily ORDed, bringing me closer to mine.

Rushed to enter the MAS-ESS Essay Competition, resulting in a less than perfect essay. Oh shoot... Well, this is my first attempt at something on such a grand scale (and my first time writing more than 2,000 words!), so I would say I'm really proud of it. Heh...

Going outfield again for the next two weeks, followed by a Chinese New Year recuperation week, then a final push to ATEC come end of February.

Will be popping by the Singapore EXPO today to check out the MPH Warehouse sale. Hope they have something for me over there...

Till next time then...

BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!

Took several days off to enjoy a nice, peaceful New Year. I guess this is the first time I do not have to work from home, though I did recieve 2 calls, one of which was from the COS, asking me to get 'my fellas to attend a briefing'.

Anyway, went to Europa for a buffet dinner on Thursday night. I'd say the spread on a weekday is a far cry from the sumpteous one on a weekend. The chefs were rushing the dishes, and the patrons themselves were consuming food at a far greater rate than can be replenished. Lesson learnt: Go for ala-carte on weekdays; Save the buffets for the weekends.

Saw Alan at Ang Mo Kio on Thursday morning. He was with his mum at the market.

The Countdown to the New Year went ahead according to schedule, at cousin Ah Seng's place. The spread included finger food, Roast Beef, Stuffed Turkey, Pizza, Assam (Fish) Curry and... wine. Using the new cork screw from Hong Kong, it now takes 4 seconds to remove a cork from a wine bottle.

Started on Maple Story, a 2-D fantasy game that has surprisingly gotten me hooked. Am now a level 18 Magician, after 2 days of slogging.

Meet Benjamin at the lift landing just as I was about to go down to SMU.

Took 105 instead of 156 to the Botanical Gardens and was rewarded with a one-hour walk around the Gardens. Although it is undergoing extensive renovation, much of the Gardens is surprisingly serene and beautiful. At the Rainforest trail, a tree branch snapped and fell on a spot I had just crossed several seconds before. Phew!

Will be booking in tonight.

Not made any resolutions. Have not been making them anyway. Besides, New Year's resolutions only come once a year. What we need are goals and aims, be it long-term or short-term.

The next two months will be rather tiring... lots of Exercises going on.

Happy Lunar New Year in advance!

2005 will be the year of Rememberance/Awareness of Natural Disasters. In the recent Tsunami/Earthquake that destroyed Bandar Aceh, more than 150,000 people are expected to be fatalities. Earthquakes in China of smaller magnitudes occasionally kill more than ten times this figure, but we are not as 'aware' of such catastrophies.

01 Dec

Yippee! I've finally cleared my SoC, which means I'm almost through with my Year 2 requirements. Just another 2 more major hurdles to go... ATP and ATEC

05 Dec

After scoring 14 out of 16 in my day shoot for the new Combat/ Support Shoot (rundown), I was delighted with a perfect night shoot. 26 points means I don't have to come back the next day for a reshoot. The new CSS is muich easier to score, and when compared to the previous Range, in which we had to hit targets from as far as 300 metres, the new shoot only requires us to be accurate at least at the 100 metre mark. Poor zeroing (or a lack of rounds to zero) and fatigue were the main reasons why I had fared poorly in my previous range, scoring almost as much as in this current range, but with twice the number of rounds then.

08 - 09 Dec

We spent two whole days refreshing the men on their Medical core skills - Buddy Aid, which is a requirement for ATEC Stage 1. Comprising a measly 2% of the total score, we are expected to score more than 95% of that 2& to pull our score up and attain a redcon 1. Not easy, if you'd askl, since almost anything can be faulted by the external invigilators.

10 Dec

Cohesion day at Teahouse, China Square Food Centre. Gabriel joined us for a dim sum buffet, which though lacked variety and served less-than-perfect Siew Mais, was a rather affordable S$15 nett. We piled the table with bamboo baskets twice over before Dr Lim and Sgt Melvin joined us for another 2 more rounds. Dessert was rather alright, with red bean paste, Honey Dew Sago, Mango pudding, chin chow and peanut paste. My only other complaint is the noodles, which came with no more than three pieces of bite-size meat.

After the food fest, we headed on down to Peace Centre, where we had several games of Pool, picking up Chong Han at UOB Building. Poor response, though, broke the momentum of the event. We took a brisk walk down to Plaza Singapura and spent some time accompanying Chong Han for dinner at Long John's Silvers and treating ourselves to top-of-the-range entertainment systems.

13 - 17 Dec

Medical Profficiency Test

As part of the requirements for ATEC Stage 1, we undergo a gruelling 3-day refresher lecture on everything under the sun pertaining to Medical efficiency, including Directives and the Military PAM sequence, which we have never attempted before. The training and revision cumulated in a Theory Test on Day 4, which I managed a weaker-than-expected 34 out of 40. But then again. the highest was only 38, so I guess my profficiency was alright-y. :) In the afternoon, I took my Practical Test, and being taken by Staff Tan for one section really kept me on my toes. He has and will fail Medics outright if they do not meet his level of profficiency...

Day 5 was spent coordinating with S1 Branch on their PATS inspection. Apparently, both our systems have been linked, without our knowledge, and differing standards between both Administrative systems caused quite a lot of headache, as we ploughed through the records to ensure that glitches were resolved if possible. Wanted to cut my hair in the afternoon, but the barber's on leave. How unfortunate!

19 Dec

Merry Christmas in advance! With 5-odd days more to shop for a present for your loved ones, "Have you done your Christmas Shopping yet?"

Personally, I'd rather wait till the post-holiday season before shopping, since that's the time you'll really get a good deal out of retailers with surplus inventories.

With the New Year a fortnight away, "Have you made your New Year's Resolution(s) yet?"

6 more months to ORD! Less Full troop in January, ATEC Stage 2 in February, that makes for just 4 more months. Less leave / Off, it's 2-odd months to go!

OZ update!

27 Oct

Hot Air Ballooning.

Minibus picked us up at 0440 hours and we were given a piece of 'bad news'. Nope, the weather's fine, but we were going to get a free upgrade to a one-hour balloon flight, because only one couple (which we had yet to pick up) was doing the one-hour flight (All of ours were half-hour flights) and 'it 's not nice to throw you(us) all overboard'. Good on ya, Mate! :)
The flight was rather spectacular. We managed to spot kangeroos, catch a glimpse of mariajuana country (Yes, it's in the Northern Territories, those small-scale drug lords...)
Hovering precariously over a crocodile-infested stream, we finally made a smooth landing (only 3 bumps qualifies the landing as a smooth one), helped with the packing up before heading to the Museum for a champagne breakfast.

Back at the motel for a nap.

Went to Cairns Central (The Mall) for some retail therapy, passing a Crazy Clark's along the way. It's a discounter/liquidators shop, and prices are rather reasonable in Sing Dollar terms.

Lunch at the International Food Court at the Mall. Settled on Thai Cruisine... At A$8.50 for Rice+2 side dishes, it wasn't exactly cheap...

28 Oct

Continental Breakfast.

Kuranda and Rainforestation Tour. A more relaxing last-minute tour after two rather hectic days.

Gondola to Kuranda. Simply, a cable car ride that stretches nearly ten kilometres over three stations. At the Barron Falls Station, we took a walk to the viewing platform nearby and boy, were we utterly disappointed! It was merely a trickleor water, and the 'lake' which serviced the falls was a mere 'puddle of water'!

Got a boomerang at the Kuranda Original Markets, a Tropical Crush drink and a 'LEWD' cap and T-shirt at the cultural (new) markets.

Running a little late, so we hurriedly boarded the bus to take us to the rainforestation village.

BBQ lunch at the restaurant in the reforestation village. Consisted of a fine buffet spread: Pork sausages, chicken chop, beef steaks and a palate of cheese.

Did a duck tour and saw an aboriginal cultural dance, where the 'aboriginals' did their routine, bellowing like wild monkeys and hopping around like Chickens on steriods.

Did some boomerang throwing, observed how the Dooderidoo was played and saw the use of the javelin.

Dinner at the Food Court within the Night Markets. Fish & Chips. At A$7.90, it's on the 'reasonalbe' scale.
More shopping... :P

Will carry on next week, so stay tuned to find out where we're going after Cairns!

Swee Shoon

Okay... nearly a month since I last blogged.

Plenty has happened since then, so here's a brief update (in stages)

24 Oct

Departed for Cairns via Brisbane.

25 Oct

Took a A$3 sky train to the domestic Terminal at Brisbane. And that is per person, for a five minute ride. Ours is free, and yet we are still complaining of insufficient capacity, too slow, etc.

Lunch at Brisbane: Fish and Chips at the Food Court.

Haha... we pollute the minds of Aussies... :P We are first in queue at the Jetstar ticketing counter. Being a budget airline, it doesn't have any seating allocation, so...

Arrival at Cairns.

Dinner at Rattle N Hum: Fisherman's basket for me. Gosh, I think I'll putting on pounds!

Visited the Night Market to purchase some souveniers.

26 Oct

Continental Breakfast.

Picked up at Queen's Court Motel for an Outer Barrier Reef Cruise.
Our Guide for the day hails from Malaysia - Eddy.
Free coffee and tea on the house. The tea tastes horrendous though, akin to sewage water. Mummy claims it's the taste of seaweed.
We head out for Moore Reef via Fitzroy Island, anchoring off the reef alongside a pontoon.
Had a buffet lunch, which was really nothing much... 'Seafood' being only prawns.
We take a submersible and glass-bottom boat trip around the pontoon, before getting some snorkelling done. First time snorkelling and I took in lots of salt water. Tip: Look 45 degrees downwards to keep the mask tightly sealed around your face and prevent water from entering your breathing tube.
Mum claimed that the reef was not as beautiful as the one in the Maldives.

Dinner at Lychee Bistro: Stir-fried Lemon chicken, Cheesecake and Lychee Ice Cream. By Golly, the decoration on the Cheesecake (Crushes Pistachio nuts and Dabbles of strawberry and Mango sauce) made it look like a dessert from an Italian Fine Dining Restaurant.