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Saturday, July 14, 2007

Driver's licence!

If everything goes well, by the end of next week it'll be in my wallet.

7.4m of metal

17,200kg

60km/h

Take a peek at my new vehicle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMX-13

The Singapore one is upgraded and called the SM1.

Passed the tankee test. Phew. Quite fun. :)

So I started army life with the trustee 5.56mm M-16 and moved on to the newer SAR-21. Now, I have a 75mm.

The famous Spidey quote really comes into the picture now. "With great power comes great responsibility". Literally. Anyway we're all being trained like crazy now to become more responsible. Got one turn out, another mini one, 2 fire drills, a lot of running and push ups already.

Oh! There was Happy Hour yesterday. I was looking forward to Happy Hour but not the drinking.. Started off quite well witth dinner and some games. It's not everyday you get to see your Sergeant Major and another Warrant Officer holding a ping pong ball up with their foreheads. :) After the fun came the bad part though.. Drinking.

Well everyone had to have at least a mug but I had 2 coz 2LT Norman volunteered the Tankees for a 2nd mug. I felt quite light after that despite a bloated stomach. Had a bit of psychomotor problems and the worst headache of my life ensued. Yes, I am not a drinker. Save me from the next 3 Happy Hours!

Fortunately, after rolling on the bed enduring the headache and a mini turn out later I woke up normal in the morning. Non-drinking rocks!! People, do not drink man.. and definitely not drive after that. Some of the guys couldn't walk straight. My friend was laughing like an idiot after 3 mugs.. it was an uncontrollable thing. Haha.

! ok got to go meet Edmund and Tim now.

One shot, One kill.

Tankees.

a ranting by Eugene at 5:36 PM

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Home Sweet Home

I'm back! Literally. Returned to S'pore this morning at 2am from my holiday in Brunei. :) Well.. Brunei was a good experience. Something everyone should go for ONCE in your lifetime. And I repeat, ONCE only. :)

Oh.. a little update. I've been posted to Armour. :) Sungei Gedong camp. By thurs evening we'll know who the tankies are. Pray pray pray. In Brunei we all got to witness which formation was the strictest and woohoo, guess which lucky guy like me got into the siong-est formation. :) Haha. There's another Eugene Lim in armour too, but he's Eugene Lim Guo Shun vs Eugene Lim Wei Quan. Anyway, my combat engineer friends (who are supposed to be the craziest vocation) were grateful they were not in armour. My beret and bar are going to be hard earned. 20 more weeks before I hope to see my TANGO! friends back in OCS.

Back to Brunei. :) Actually, the jungles of Brunei are not so bad. Marsiling jungles have more creepy crawlies and Tekong is much hotter than Brunei. The only thing about the jungles in Temburong district are that they go on and on and on.. and on.. and.. you get the picture. Also.. they go UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN, seriously UP and DOWN. We also climbed this mountain called Mt. Biang. Let's just say that we were on all fours going up an 80 degree slope in full battle order.

BUT! (there's always a but, right Farah? :))

Although we were all DYING, there was always harbouring to look forward to. Harbouring would be when we set up campsite, hammock, build a campfire etc. WOOH!!! Harbouring=Backpacking in Europe. It was really fun. Up the mountain with the cool fresh air, nature, lying in your hammock, looking up at the stars and savouring the warmth of your fire. Heaven on Earth. :)

Now, moving away from the physical world. Brunei really tests your chracter. There's always the dilemma of volunterring to carry the heavier load or to investigate the area ahead for a better path. When you are carrying a lighter load and are already dying, your body tells you to sit down and rest but your conscience tells you to go and help the guy carrying the ^&&*^$#@! signal set. Honestly, I haven't really been one of those who rush to get the load. Personally, it gets quite disappointing whenever I fail to volunteer. Really hope to overcome this..

Spiritually, Brunei also gives a whole new perspective.

When you get to witness creation in its untouched form-endless jungles, night sky, breathtaking scenary, the sunset and sunrise, you stand in awe.

When you are super shagged but you need to trudge on, you remember that even the youths grow tired and the young man utterly falls; but those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not be faint.

When you get to rest, you thank God whether it is a 5 min break or habouring for the night.

When you think of home, you thank God for Singapore and that you are a Singaporean with a nice bed waiting for you to return to.

When you lie down on your double decker bed in the Brunei camp, you remember your wonderful friends back in Singapore or the US (haha) who you shared such wonderful times with back in your schooling days. You also remember to pray for them wherever they may be or whatever situation they face coz you know the same God who is walking every step of the way with you in Brunei is also by their side.

When you think of your family, you can cry because God has put you in Brunei to make it so evident to you that your family has really been the strong pillar of your whole being. In brunei, you count down to your mother's birthday but feel a little sucky coz you cannot physically be there to celebrate her birthday with her. That leads you to call home and just to hear your parents' voices, wishing your mother a Happy Birthday is enough. So cherish your family man.. I've never missed my family so much in my life.

Many an army man has told me the jungles of Brunei is a godforsaken place. Forsaken, I cannot agree more, but by man, not God. To be the first team to complete the compass course, to spend an evening reminiscing about Tango! with all your Tango buddies, to have a nice bath at the end of the day, to have a friend whom you've known since secondary school to watch over you in a foreign land and all the blessings above-God has to be there. :)

Now, nearing the end of my post. I'll give a little insight to my R&R (Rest and Recreation), more affectionately known as M&M (Mosque and Musuem). :) Our last day in Brunei saw us visiting a few Mosques and Musuems and eating a buffet lunch and dinner. Seriously when you've been starving in the jungle for 3 days and you get 2 consecutive buffets DO NOT try to get your money's worth. Just picture me not being able to sit down after eating. Haha. Bad food experience there.. although when you are eating it's SHIOK ah!! :)

You'll easily notice one thing in Brunei though. The Sultan is COFFERS-BRIMMING-WITH-ALL-THE-MONEY-IN-THE-WORLD-RICH. Even a bigger font and caps will not express the extent of his wealth proportionately. Every Sultan past and present has his own Mosque, Museum and PALACE. The palace's in-house service is managed by Hyatt.. The Sultan's also the Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Finance Minister and Islamic Minister etc.

For a country of 300,000+ people and tons of oil, little wonder that oil is cheaper than water there. Oil costs 50 cents a litre compared to $1 for a 500ml bottle of water. The low prices tempted me to get some for Farah and Rui Qi (see my friendster comments) but unfortunately the sad practice of terrorism limit the free transfer of many goods nowadays. :)

After a nice M&M session we finally boarded our Brunei International Airlines (not a bad airline) plane at Brunei International Airport. Amidst shouts of jubilation when airplane wheels made contact with Singapore soil, one grateful cadet gave thanks for..

everything.

a ranting by Eugene at 4:04 PM

Rave On

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