~JcZw

Can't say enough how RELIEVED I am to complete this week... This week was very very physically tiring... Its like they MUST squeeze in so many physical activities in the morning, and one more in the evening, interspersed, of course, with errr area, no! toilet cleaning.

Anyway a bunch of acronyms to make life easier for non-NS readers... I shouldn't get charged for it cos there's something like that in Wikipedia under Singapore acronyms..

LBV: Load Bearing Vest. This was in the newspapers a couple of weeks ago.... Its our vaunted combat vest with all the pouches for our bottles, grenades, magazines, and to cap it all off, a 3 kg waterbag. The public reads n goes "oooo waterbag". The NS boys read n go "argh! 3kg!"

IPPT: Is basically NAPFA minus sit-and-reach. That will be, Individual Physical Proficiency Test

SOC: Standard Obstacle Course. When you have to run a total of 1.3 km and go past 11 obstacles in your SBO (see below), with the above-mentioned 3 kg waterbag heheh. Oh yes, all 11 obstacles are designed to have at least a small chance of maiming you in some way...

SBO: Skeletal Battle Order. Used to describe the webbing which our commanders use, but now to be "in SBO" means wearing your long 4, LBV and rifle.

FBO: SBO plus our wonderful wonderful field pack =)

Number 4: Our camouflage uniform which people are wearing all the time. Smart 4 is with the sleeves rolled up for parades and book in / out. Long 4 is with the sleeves down to go outfield.

SIT test: Actually I'm not sure what it stands for. Situational something heh

BTP: Basic Trainfire Package. Means our shooting course

BCCT: Basic Close Combat Training. Like in AHS orientation when the NCC go "yah! yah yah!" Slightly confusing for me cos the legs are in the opposite direction from fencing =/

5 BX (or actually, 5 B Ex): Aha St. John people should know. The 5 basic exercises for you to get warmed up when you're shivering in the wind at 5.45 am. Includes some funny looking exercise that can make your civillian friends laugh and laugh and laugh somemore =D

AGR: Ability Group Run. Cos we're split into different groups according to our 2.4 timing, and run in our different groups. I'm in Group A which is the top group, but am one of the worst runners there =X

HG: Hand grenade

M16: Our rifle. Actually, now that BTP is over, its more like a 1 meter long, 3 kg deadweight.

Back to the main topic,

Anyway there was one wonderful day when we had strength training, with two infernal 4 kg dumbells, followed by BCCT, and then footdrill. Then we had IPPT skills in the afternoon. By the end of the day we did I think close to 300 push ups heh..

But relative to my physical strength now, I think SJ was tougher. If you'd put me through such physical activity when I was in sec. 2, maybe even in sec. 4, I'm sure I would have died...

Still, at the end of the day, I think the training is really effective haha.... At the end of the week during IPPT diagnostic, I think I got a silver... At least, I got C n above for all.... Must train SBJ and running. How to cut running time from 10.45 to 9.45!?!? Then got a C for shuttle run cos strained my thigh while lunging for the bricks blahhh but since I got C the sergeant didn't let me retake. Anyway diagnostic's not that important haha...

But enough about army yes =)

Yesterday after book out, came back to eat, had to go to the bank and open an adult account (cos I've been using a shared one with my mother) and etc. Heh my salary has come already and apparently we were paid for February in advance. But not that I have stuff to spend money on, or have time to go shopping anyway haha...

Then it was off to AHS to watch my juniors.... Crystal said she couldn't recognize me with my cap and all haha... But since the competition teams already had so many seniors, I hung around Wang Miao and Shiya to watch the Sec. 1s. One of the latter is also called Jonathan and he's also veryvery small size! Although I think I was smaller. A few people say I was the smallest person they'd ever seen...

Watched them learn drills and CPR, watched Shiya and Wang Miao go through the "wanting to hug them n strangle them at the same time" phase, and was remembering that 3 years ago, it was them learning, and it was Xuan Ming and Vanessa who would be tearing thir hair out heh...

Oh yea, n of course a lot of people wanted to rub my head like I was some cat or something...

Then there was a small class outing in town in which 9 people turned up haha... Quite fun, went to eat at Just Noodles in Suntec, where, as a few of us recalled, we ate before mass dance last year, followed by ice cream and stuff at Swensen's. Haha no one seems to have changed much apart from our lack of hair, BUT

astonishingly

now the guys (including me) have the tendency to walk slowwwwly whether through fatigue, or just because we're actually allowed to walk slowly instead of running or marching =D much to the amusement of the girls since this time it was us going "wait wait" =Pp But of course, the food was nice and the company was greater! Class outings are one of the things I sorely miss while in NS. Though this time we talk about army, work and driving rather than school and CCAs, but the atmosphere n all of an outing still remain haha.... Were laughing at some of the other companies' exercises heheh....

In conclusion last night was really fun for me yay hope we can do it again some other time...

Slept at 12 am, and my body clock woke me at 7, so I missed the sunrise cos I slept through my alarm =( But shall go cycling now nevertheless heheh... So cheers for now! and

Happy Chinese New Year!