stint at FireFighting Training Wing

my time at the department has been good. altho there may have been times, DAMN stressful ones indeed, i do enjoy my time with my Rota (a.k.a platoon). 2 batches of trainees, and todae is a special dae for me. it is EXACTLY ONE MORE YEAR to my ORD DATE.

34th FFC baby.

35th FFC baby.

3.0

captured

the one from dormitory 19

i'm actually blogging from the bunk now. NS sure takes a whole lot of energy out of you. i feel so shagged from the training, we practically had an impossible dae todae. 2 physical tests, and we spent like, 3 hours in the sun basically brushing up on our basic firefighting. not to mention the many different and exhausting field exercises that we've been having over the past couple of days. Wad's worse is that tomorrow, there's gonna be 2 more exercises, and there's also the threat of confinement. help me god.

plus sides tho are the fact that there's onli one more dae till the weekends are here again, although much of this weekend will be spent on studying. then again, there's still loads of vouchers to use up, many things to buy - including a new WebCam which is actually clear. Wad's better, there's onli 4 more weeks of torture left for me to endure. after that, 1K i'll be waiting for u.

but then again, passing out of the course is not a sure thing. then, it's just too bad..

4-o-u-r

when 18 goes, 19 comes.

20th May 2008 wasn't exactly a good dae for me. Having firefighting exercises on ur birthdae isn't exactly wad u'd call, an IDEAL birthDAY, but would definitely haf to be one of the most memorable. despite that however, i'd like to thank those who've celebrated it with me, the 3 days leading to the actual dae, and i definitely had a good birthdae this yr.

This was the first foto i took as an 18 year-old, midnite of may the 20th 2007. one fullerton starbucks. abby, yiyang, xueling.

the last foto i took as an 18 year-old, midnite of may the 20th 2008. CDA dormitory 19. jafnie.

Cesse La Pluie - Anggun

replika?

come undone - duran duran

off to Brunei

i'm at the airport now, waiting to board the plane. Off to Brunei for 7 daes. to seek solitude in the dense jungle, enduring the extreme of weathers. Hope i'm able to get back to Singapore in one piece.

goodbye for now.

carry baby

i was talkin to my fren the other dae bout our families, when he started to tell me bout his nephews and nieces, which got me thinking bout what my life would actually be like if i actually had one of my own, which i knoe is kind of random but justifiable if u look at the circumstances. With 2 married sisters, and one who isn't that far off (i think), thinking about it is actually not as farfetched as it might seem. Having always been the youngest in my immediate family, i have never actually experienced life with a baby brother or sister, and i can no longer hope for that anyways.

me, an Uncle, and i mean, a Direct FIRST uncle. that's kinda hard to fathom, but easy to imagine. i picture myself spoiling that child, i think as a result of overcompensating for the lack of a little brother or sister in my life. i think the initial excitement with salaries and having my own $$$ also adds on to the picture. Boy or Girl, it doesn't really matter actually. all i hope for is to be able to spend as much time as possible with the baby (hint-hint to the parents-to-be), so that i'd be able to forge a close Uncle-nephew/niece relationship with it.

The exact kind of person i am going to be, i myself do not knoe, But i am TRAINING. Thx to my trainers.....

friends

pre book in depression

Another Sunday has passed, and pre-Book in depression sets in yet again. For those who've never experienced feelings like such, i tell u it's bad, REAL bad..... coz once u book in, u actually have to prepare yourself mentally for another 5 days of slavery to the government. The civilian world is totally shut out from you for 5 days, and all's left to do is the routine crap that every male citizen in this country has to go through for a certain period of time (for my case, 24 weeks).

12 weeks into the Course brings about bittersweet sentiments. i feel glad that the crappiest part of the training is nearly coming to an end, and passing out seems only an arm's throw away at this point of time. there are things to look forward to now, like the Brunei camp and attachments. On the flip side however, i am afraid of the new environment that i am going to have to experience once i have successfully completed my training. New people, new life, real situations. worst of all; results of our posting. I pray for station life, and i wouldn't be thrilled otherwise. i want Changi FS.

erswonbocinfiremanshipskillscomp

Specialist Cadets win Officer Cadets in F(iremanship)--S(kills)--Competition for the First time. i am so proud of my frens who took part in it, cheers to u from ur friendly cameraman... lol. several nights off and half days granted by captain "high-expectations", GOOD! a couple of frens and i decided to bring the celebrations to Jurong Point on Thursdae, after booking out at 11.30am (FINALLY!)

the wave of glory

the TEAM

so much to do, yet so little time.

i am loving my weekends. after 5 days of hard training, it's good to get back in touch with the civilian world to spend time withthe family and friends. the past 2 weekends have been great for me coz i've been spending much time with my frens whom i've not seen for a very long time. pooling with the tpjc group B frens, and going out with vs frens. it's also good to knoe that the group B's expanding now that internal wars have ended between certain parties in the group.

LIST;things to do:
step up 2 thursdae nite.
airport game nite fridae or saturdae nite.

LIST;things to buy:
pair of Aldo shades.
Gap bag from suntec.
white jeans from Topman?
contact lens - dailies/gray.

too great of an expectation

congrats to the two A students for GP from S06 for the A levels.

L o L

job scope

the reunion series

after 6 weeks of NS, plus 2 months of break (post A levels, pre-enlistment), seeing the gang from my tpjc class was sure refreshing, although not all of them were able to make it (as expected!), we did have a good time talking bout the past or our current lives (although some of them, like the army boys, were too engrossed in talkin bout their lives in Tekong and totallie forgot i even existed).... anyways, both Civilians and NSFs alike apparently are leading very sucky working lives now. just the gist of it; one of my frens apparently CRIED after bein scolded by a customer on the fone. really cracked me up when i imagined myself calling some random hotline, and scolding the person on the fone till she cries.


anyways, we met up at Glasshouse coz it was too last minute and deciding on a proper place to meet up and stuff would really be a Hassle. Dinner was good coz everyone was hungry and all of us were missing school as much as ever, although we didn't miss the rush towards the A levels a single bit. of course, the more memorable moments were the moments spent slacking in the canteen uttering loads of crap, the times we spent at the airport doing random stuffs like playin games all nite long, or just talking till we had mouth cramps. or skipping lessons, or the chaotic moments in classes, or just those days when we just couldn't stop laughing coz funny things kept happenin. TPJC - where i was happiest. will never forget the place. never forget the people.

Starbucks after that at tampines made a good ending to the entire dae. how surprised my frens and i were at how happpppy we were feeling then, coz the last time we went there, which was like ages ago i reckon, we were pretty much very DEPRESSED thinkin bout how dry our **** lives were....... let's just sae, we were all quite embarassed of our past, but then again, those moments will come once again, and the whole cycle will just begin all over again.

Life sux, yes it does.

Booking in later. i feel like shit. somebody shoot me.

Mood for Valentine's?

happily attached?

OR

lonely? rejected? heartbroken?

OR

preparing for a hot steamy V-dae with some random people around town?

ONE ART

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
---Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.


- Elizabeth Bishop


Time sacrificed for National Service is certainly time lost, which otherwise could've been used to spend time with the people around me - strengthen existing relationships or forge new ones (Love? who knows). Certainly, being stuck in camp and having your freedom totally snatched from you just like that is very painful indeed. i miss people, i miss my freedom, i miss my life, i miss my free will, and the list goes on and on. Losing something, or someone is hard, no matter how easy we might make it seem to be. i do not want to lose anything, or anyone....


family: time spent away from home for many many days (forcefully) is definitely something i'm not accustomed to yet. the daily dose of family whitenoise that i used to take for granted is something i crave for in camp. the union of each and every one of my immediate family members is something i've not had in a very long time.

vs friends: the older i grow, the more distant the memory of my secondary school days become. it's true they sae, some of the truest relationships are formed in secondary school. i miss my close friends from my classes, even if the number isn't really that huge. i miss my friends from NCC, and all the shit we've been through. i miss the hour long phone calls i used to have with my friends, or bathing under the sun uncomfortably with my mates near me doing footdrills. close friends don't drop from the sky every day.

tpjc friends: once used to be everyday faces, i'm missing them like crazy as i am typing. S06 - the best class ever for the entire 6 years of Hard Education (of course this excludes primary school, which used to be fun all Year). although perceptions might differ, my opinion of the class is a positive one. i miss those times we spent in the canteen just going on and on about whatever matter it was that struck our frivolous minds. Laughing our heads off at every single mistake that another commits - in terms of language. bitching bout matters, ranging from insignificant ones to major Anger-inducing ones. Emoing over matters such as the lack of time we have to study for the upcoming A levels, or the lack of intimacy in our lives. making every maths, chem & bio lesson as chaotic as possible. enjoying every gp and lit lesson (for me at least). mugging last minute in the library. of course there were closer friends. friends who understood my mood, and my sentiments. friends who're "operationally ready" ONLINE for u to talk to. those moments at the airport we spent - be it studying or just playing random games or talking all the way non-stop. the times we spent over at Tampines central (uncountable). highlights of my JC life would include my 18th birthday celebration at Glasshouse Fish&co, the many class bbqs, class chalet and prom (+post-prom). i miss everything and everyone.

friends who came back: i am thankful for this group of people. friendship rekindled offers much oppurtunity for us to regain past memories lost. although friendship might've been paused for a while, the moment it gets back moving is when it is actually strengthened, and it is this strength that will keep the friendship forever permanent.

new friends: constantly in the making.

book in - book out/ photography

SCT

BOOK IN

CIVIL DEFENCE ACADEMY

BOOK OUT

Emergency Rescue Specialist - Week Two

NS phrase for the week: "Bob the builder can you fix me......."

coz i still have the *I HATE NS* mentality.

body aches, mental torture, waking up in Fear.... that's wad NS is all about, coz everything's expected, yet Unexpected.... It's so Delightful at nite, when most of the Enciks and Seniors have gone home, and we are free to roam around and do whatever we want to and needs to be done. but in the day, the slack environment changes to become the direct opposite. with crazy punishments, and trainings all in the name of ENDURANCE and PHYSICAL TRAINING and REGIMENTATION. yes, for those of you who think SCDF is so slack, think again. but as the old men knoe, some of the best memories do come from NS. and some of these memories that are here to stay have occurred in this 2nd week of NS life, and i shall share some of them on this blog by splitting them into several Sections... wah sections sehhhh....


4 IN THE MORNING

less than 5 days have passed and i am already known for my infamous habit of not being able to wake up when shaken, I.E a dead sleeper who wont even wake up even when a bomb drops just next door. Proof: the nite when my alarm clock rang at 4a.m in the morning, and woke everyone up except for me, when the alarm clock was actually right beside my head. i woke up, surprisingly, to hear many complaints from my irritated bunkmates who couldnt sleep well coz of the "BLARDY" (i quote) alarm clock, which i didnt turn off btw coz i was sleeping soundly..... of course lah at the end of the dae, all was well and i went on saying "sorry sorry sorry" to my bunkmates, till the whole thing became a joke in the end..... but i've gotta promise myself never to use my alarm clock ever again.... HAHA.... lucky for now, i've got someone who wakes me up on a permanent basis. (although on the dae after the alarm clock incident, my bunkmate had to shake me MANY MANY times just to wake me up - surprising my fren who didn't know anyone who could be in much deeper sleep than me)


NS-MATES



of course NS gave me the chance to expand my friendship circle. of course, whilst there are some who i jsut cant seem to be able to sustain a conversation with for i don't know wad reasons, i've made many friends who i can just talk with comfortably to fill up the loneliness that i was feeling after having been separated from my friends and my family, mostly from the East (and in the case of most guys my age, they happen to be in Tekong = the lucky ones). although it's sad that some of my closer frens in NS and i, have taken different paths in NS in stages - first being the selection for the ERS (specialist course) and second being those who have chosen to get Out Of Course and return back to basic rescue training, i've gotta stay focused on my aim to get that $1k/month pay and go to Brunei for OBS, then get to be a sergeant at the end of the day. Lucky for me, i've still got plenty of frens remaining who will be going through the same shit i'll be going through as well for the next 22 weeks or so, but for those who've gone back to basic training, i will miss them, but at least we can meet up during Book Outs.


ENDURANCE & TRAINING

Shit. shit shit. like on friday for example. we had IPPT, the equivalent of the NAPFA test taken in secondary school, onli a bit different, and i FAILED standing broad jump and Pull Ups. DAMN! my physical fitness has dropped that MUCH..................... although i do admit, i've never really been a fit person.. but to be able to pass NAPFA just that once to escape 2 months extra of shit, and failing it now is sure disappointing. but however, i am quite proud of my 2.4km run coz i've never ran that fast in my entire life. 30th out of the whole cohort is sure an achievement for me, just proving how much my stamina's improved due to NS. i sure do hope i did lose a lot of weight in the process too.


ok so back to fridae. after the IPPT, we were then supposedly PUNISHED for having taken our time to fall back in, and we had to get to push up position for a very very long time, and had ti do pushups along with that (DUH!). MANY MANY PUSHUPS. i remember being told to fall out just coz i was scratching my hand a bit, and had to run an extra round with a couple of others who were told to fall out as well, only to complete the round and get back to push up position together with the rest. sure was Hell at that point of time but at the end of it all, we were all clapping our hands, all happy coz it was nearing lunch...... take it positively, they keep tellin us.....


THE PARADE

basically, the whole week went well coz it was filled up with parade rehearsals onli, so we didnt really haf much training. most of the time was spent waiting, either for the parade to commence or for the parade to end whilst having to stand still for a very long time under the hot burning sun in our thick fire suits and the heavy helmet (WHICH WAS THE MAIN REASON FOR FATIGUE btw) coz it was so freaking HEAVY and it kinda affects blood flow to the brain somehow. during one of the rehearsals i remember, after Lunch, i felt damn NAUSEOUS and was on the verge of Puking everything out i Swear i had half the mind to just run to the drain and VOMIT out the remnants of Lunch, but i decided to just hold it in by imagining myself eating Mcflurry. at the end of the parade, i found out that many others had the same PUKING feeling too, that was Shit.



other than that, the whole thing was Ok and i did make it through the whole parade. kind of poud of myself.... NCC does help A LOT in NS. serious, coz u've got all the experience and the mentality that is needed to survive this whole ordeal....




I hope i make it through the HELL next week. literally, it will be Hell or something close to it, coz we'll be experiencing how it is like to be trapped in a burning building and all sorts of things......



anyways, this long post just goes to show how much i really miss the computer when i'm being confined in the academy............