Restored Post

I had range Sunday and Monday at the SAFTI range I. The place is really quite pleasant compared to Tekong. There are plants, you don't have to walk and everything is well maintained. But we had to set things up ourselves - eg filling sandbags.

It was my first try at ATP (Advanced Training firing Package), and I did passably, passing on day 1 failing on day 2, mostly because my rifle was spoilt to the point that I had to aim at the 15m line to hit the target, even though the foresight tip had been clicked downwards to the maximum. Irritatingly, I scored 4/4 for one night shoot for the sensing magazine (so we know where to shoot), and 0/4 for the real test. Worse, 2 fingernails, the 2nd and the 3rd on my right hand, got blown off, so to speak, by the recoil of the rifle. However, I was very happy for when I visited the mobile canteen, I saw that A&W Root Beer is back! No longer will I have to swig the swill that is MUG! Apparently it disappeared for a while because it's now canned by F&N, as opposed to Yeos, as I found out by calling the consumer hotline. And it's going for 33 cents a can for the 24 can cartons! I want.

We also had a SAR21 Orientation Shoot. Being bored, I shot the target to my left, the one on my right and for good measure, shot the lane markings (those on the wooden boards above our lanes). We also had "frangible rounds" though what the
difference was I couldn't tell. And someone else there was reading "Servant of the Empire" which hours before I'd been reading.

Andrew called me on Monday to wish me a happy belated :) Oh well, dates were never very important anyway.

I was attached to Kaffir Company to go outfield, and had to pack my field pack. There are a great number of items that we need to pack, and many of them are included for no conceivable reason. The list is not with me, and anyway it's probably restricted [ ;) ], but it includes such stuff as arc of fire sticks (for medics?). Even the more mundane items like uniforms are unnecessary, as people don't change usually when they go outfield, and even if they do they bring their change of clothing separately because it's too troublesome to use the standby set. As with everything in the SAF, packing fieldpacks is just for show.

On a Kaffir noticeboard I saw a picture of the famous Iskandar Ismail. Very surprisingly, he looks Chinese! And he has a bushy moustache to boot. And in the bunk of the platoon I was with, they have an electric stove!

While waiting to move off, the platoon I was with asked me to stay there while they ran back to the bunk to sleep. Gah. And someone took a packet of cereal from my combat rations without so much as asking me, and didn't apologise even when I shouted at him. Some people...

Having not gone outfield since BMT (trudging around SMM doesn't count), I was reacquainted with the joys of Camo Cream. Flat Black Camouflage Cream still stings my face, but I noticed that applying a film of Hunter's Green Cream reveals pimples very clearly. Everyone's Camo was very half past six, so for once mine was actually one of the better ones. I also got to wade in muck and cleaning my rifle again. Ahh SMM - 'You didn't fire your weapons right? Just do exterior cleaning'. Though I still don't fire my rifle, so I have considerably less to clean ;)

Being the medic, I walked at the back of the platoon, but I had the heaviest load - while others just had their Standard / Skeletal (if you prefer) Battle Order, I had. in addition, my MOP and my stretcher. Hefting my burden, my knees and soles were already hurting, and I got breathless running after my platoon. One time, after 3 minutes of rest, my pulse went up to 156/min.

The first day, it was a mounted exercise so we sat on the BX-113 (I think) APC. It's very. Cosy. Not as cosy as I thought, but snug enough - and I've the least elbow and leg room. ANd it takes darn long to load and unload my stretcher. At least there are fans inside.

My birthday, on day 2 of the exercise, was spent outfield. Mostly anyway, as we got to come back to the bunk to rest in between. But pushing through more than head high grass, wading through calf high mud and rolling down a slope into a puddle aren't my idea of a nice day. But now I can emphatise with Lone Wolf as he is scratched by Graveweed (damn Mimosa), is attacked by Crypt Spawn (mosquitos so thick you can kill at least one slapping anywhere), and rolling down slopes (how much EP did I lose?) all with a full backpack.

I was asked if I minded being teased often, to which I replied that I was thick skinned in that area. The rejoinder: I am thick skinned in many areas. Well.

An article in the Economist (naturally - what else is there to stimulate my mind?) got me thinking what the point of prison was. It is supposed to deter and rehabilitate, but on both counts it fails, especially the latter. Again related to that publication - some articles have strings of sentences which aren't linked to each other with connectors. Kind of like some of mt blog paragraphs :)

I realise that a not-insignificant part of my handphone bill is spent on work related calls and smses. We should be able to claim some expenses!

For some reason, the people in the Medical Platoon take a long time to book out, and often on nights off they don't go off. Maybe it's the nature of our work :)

Tim is never at home, if he is he sleeps by 9:50pm, he never replies to smses or mail, and he doesn't turn his handphone on. Only Huixian can reach him in his dimension :(

In recent weeks my platoon has taken to calling me "Jiabao", instigated by Seetoh. Apparently it means Gabriel in Chinese. And apparently it also translates to "Jumbo".

The dogs in my unit are really very tame. One guy tried to feed one a fruit bar, but it refused to eat it. He later shook hands with it and used his boot to, err, stimulate her.

I don't know how people can stand wearing the cheap slippers with the plastic thing in between the big and second toes. Ouch.

There is a certain comfort in anonymity, being called "Medic" by everyone.

We had to do a book review so I reviewed Daughter of the Empire in relatively flowery language, and occupied the whole of the text area in rather small handwriting. I think when they see my review they'll forget about reading the rest :)

Most of Friday (9am-5pm) was spent on a minivan fetching people to and from hospitals and dropping medics off at various locations. Suffice to say that we had lunch at Ikea (the chicken wings are good), (REC) Yaodong was at Tengah with "Asthma" (and had nothing wrong with him too, and the MO discharged him after a few hours in the sick bay with only 1 day of light duties), and I saw my RJ senior whom I'd first met at NDP Terence in his horrible looking work outfit at the Military Medicine Institute at CMPB. And the speed limit of 50kmph (enforced by a speed monitor on the vehicle) meant our minivan inched along the expressway while other vehicles zipped by while we sweltered since SAF's too cheapskate to repair the air-conditioning when it breaks down.

On my night off Friday I had dinner with my sister, brother in law and Kat at Oscar's at Conrad. The last meanly poked Blue Bear's nose with a fork! :(

Fetching me back to camp, my sister commented to my brother in law that the only way I can redeem myself in my mother's eyes is to go after Fierce Girl (whom my sister'd 'knew' would a a President's Scholar from the first time she saw and heard her in Nanyang), which'd allow her to boast as much as she wants. I was rather flummoxed, and I think anyone who knew would collapse in apoplexy :0 Anyhow I think she's still attached.

The CCO senior medic was in a bad mood so he gave us lots of area cleaning chores to do. I spent about 90 minutes cleaning windows Saturday :( But later we had "guests" - 2 recruits from the Armour Engineers Training Centre who'd sore eyes. The medic who brought them here thought I was a driver. Grr.

Suspiciously, for both lunch and dinner on Saturday, there was Otar. That's a little too blatant even for SFI.

I got to watch Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue at the Medical Centre! Of course the other 2 duty personnel went elsewhere during that half hour since it wasn't Channel U.

After time in my unit, I know why my brother in law likes course life so much. With great (bah) privilege comes great responsibility. But I still prefer unit life :)

I didn't do any GP essays in the end on Saturday :(

Geraldine commented that I've only one big problem - servitude. I guess my tendency to take things lightly and as they come has a good side as well as a bad side.

The flood of spam is horrible. I shudder to think of how much genuine mail I lose to the junk mail filters (I think, at the least, bcced mails don't get through) and bouncing when my mailbox is full (Miserly 2MB and 36 filters at most...). Then I can't receive mails like "hello, remember me?" from Gail Aw :))

I've learnt that:
- The habit some people have of sleeping with eyes half-closed is very unnerving.
- The most useful thing I learnt during my SITEST was how to tie a thumb knot :)
- My unit doesn't give us birthday offs. Boo hoo.
- There is an August 1999 FHM in my bunk
- My unit hasn't gone outfield for longer than me - 6 months. No wonder they like they NDP song so much they whistle it and use it as a ringtone
- Mee Goreng and Pasta Bolognese in Field Rations aren't bad
- There's a toilet in the middle of the training area
- The AETC recruits who came to the sick bay on Saturday, despire enlisting 2 weeks ago, will ORD 1 day earlier than me (!!!)
- A PAS member alleged that Mahathir watched porn with his grandchildren (?!)
- Some Malaysian children are afraid of going to school because of 'ghosts'
- Hotmail wiped much of my blog post out. Gah.
- There's a unisex toilet at Alexandria Hospital
- Yucheng was responsible for my Tripod page's demise. He forwarded to Tripod a mail some hacker sent him scolding him with vulgarities for his 'exploits'. And he too remembered my birthday wrongly :)
- The name of Kenny G's most infamous and infuriating song is "Songbird". Songbird is to Kenny G as Ballade Pour Adeline is to Richard Clayderman.
- After so many years, my sister still can't reproduce the tune of the NYPS school song. And she's the gall to poke my brother in law whenever he gets one note wrong when humming the tune of BBC's "Sports Roundup"
- My sister supports cohabitation too
- I Not Stupid is on Channel 8 now. Except it's in half hour slots to milk it for all it's worth, and "Lim Peh" has been dubbed over with "Ni3 de4 pa4 pa4". Evil Speak Mandarin Campaign.

I think my vocabulary peaked some time in J2. New words just don't go in now, and I'm starting to lose the old ones. Argh. And sometimes I stumble with pronunciation, though I always correct myself in time.

I need new prey but am too lazy to hunt.


Quotes:

[Me: Why do you hate AC {Anglo-Chinese} people?] AC people are arrogant. AC people are snobbish. Need I say more?... They all have a big attitude problem.

What makes us different from the infantry? Canned food? Coca-cola? So much Maggi Mee inside...

ni3 he1 shui3 ye3 yao4 xie3 dong1 xi1 [Even when you drink water, you must write something down]... Are you going to publish a book? "My NS life" by Gabriel Seah [Someone else: The person I hate most: Cheong... his jokes always make me feel cold]

[Me on a sign at range: What is 'side show'?] Can you see a monkey there, jumping up and down?

You see? Losers always use vulgarities. Loser, loser, loser.

[On the CCO Senior Medic] He doesn't deserve a name. Call him "a n'air (Alt Spelling of pronunciation: ah neh)"

[Qigong class ad] Watch Master Sim use his Taichi repelling force to repel 8 big guys charging at him

Anyway, if you want your mother to stop nagging, you should go and date Peggy Pao.

[On the above] She looks very lian now.


I think I am not living up to my proud heritage of bo liao-ness. Probably because trying too hard would get me charged, so. The most I manage to do is pithy things like putting up pictures of Asian Prince in the bunk! And write long reports in the sick bay message book in florid language, mentioning Gordion Knots.

Why do all Japanese girls look and sound the same? Especially the singers. Maybe the Japanese like their women long haired and high pitched.

I saw Yucheng's mother at Ridout Garden McDonalds. I didn't know she could ride a bicycle.