ROC Trip
Man oh man; I’m back from Taiwan! The last 3 weeks has been a real ride for me, i was very excited about reaching Taiwan and when i reached, i wasn’t disappointed, the mountains and the skies was a real sight for me. We proceeded to Heng Chun camp from our Kaohsiong airport and when we arrived, i was surprised to see that it was actually a very small camp, totally not what i had expected at all. We took our duffel bags today with our kitbags and then we proceeded into our bunks building. Platoon 3 was to sleep on the upper floor and it was a real sight, it was like the olden army where we slept on double-storey beds and our whole platoon was to sleep together in one big room. But of course, we made do with whatever we had and proceeded to unpacking our stuff. The food there at the cookhouse were cooked by reservist men and i must say, they should take over the Singapore Food Industries because their food is really good! I honestly loved the cookhouse food. There was also a canteen there where the most bought food had to be "ji pa" or chicken cutlet and the "tian bu la" which i suspect its actually tempura in Chinese, it was really nice to have those especially at night. For training, we started out with Ex Comet 1 and 2, which was basically just terrain visualization, and it was sort of like a time to relax and just watch the beautiful scenery but after that, the navigation exercises would start and that would be when we would start climbing the mountains that we admired so much. The first ex was Ex. Libra, which was a simple navigation exercise only that the road in between checkpoints was far that’s all. Then came Ex. Red Beret, which was a section navigation exercise, and it was a little tougher because the terrain involved us climbing mountains and bashing through thick vegetation. Then came Ex. Green Beret which was a 3 day 2 night navigation exercise and this was the really super tiring one, we kept walking and walking with our full battle order and we took about 8 eight hours to find our first checkpoint because we couldn’t find one way to go through to another knoll and then we decided to bash out a new route for ourselves. But that really boosted our morale when we found it and we proceed to finding 2 more before we camped for the night at our logpoint. We woke up early the next day and proceeded on and the good thing was, the last 2 checkpoints were the near the area which Mingcai and i had walked during the Red Beret exercise so that helped us. My team was actually lagging behind but now, we had become one the fastest team in the hotel wing and were heading for our endpoint when the worst thing that could ever happened, happened. First, we got disorientated and lost track, we went down a ravine and because we came to a waterfall and could no longer proceed on, we had to climb up a cliff to head for another direction. The cliff was very steep, had lots of loose soil and was at least 50m in height. I was very scared; i kept thinking why did this have to happen to me... I almost fell at one stage and that further made me more nervous. When we finally did reach the top, i realise that my map was missing and after everyone was up, we went back down again to look for it, we couldn’t find anything and because it was a getting dark, we decided to camp for the 2nd night. I was sad, disappointed and angry, if we had gotten back on the 2nd day, there was a possible nights out for us, i had indirectly caused misery for my whole team. Luckily for me though, they were very encouraging and told me to not worry first and look for it first thing in the morning. And so we did, and yes! I found it! I found it at the ravine where we were climbing before we went up the cliff. We packed our stuffs and proceeded as fast as we could to the endpoint. It was then back to camp to prepare for the 5 company missions that were back to back and afterwards, Ex. Finale! The 5 missions were very super tiring because we got less than 3 hours of sleep in between them and only after the 3rd mission did we get to have at least 6 hours of sleep before resuming back the less than 3 hours of sleep we were getting. It was super tiring and I really felt like giving at times but I’m glad I didn’t because that was a sense of achievement for me. I was given appointments of section commander and platoon sergeant. I think I did quite well as a section commander but as a platoon sergeant, I think I need to learn abit more and hopefully have more chances to do it again because I felt lost as to what am I supposed to do and how should I go about doing it. After which, we transit into Ex. Finale which was going to be tough because it’s a company mission, I was in the breaching team and was tasked to carry the bangalore torpedo. It was really a hassle because of its length and during the tactical march, I was really struggling. The march was very strenuous, we were supposed to march for only 2 hours plus but instead, we marched for 8 hours from 6 plus to about 230am. The worst part however was when we reached the top of the knoll, it started to rain very heavily and we already soaked from the earlier rain and our sweat and now, this. We felt very demoralised and cold and for me, I really felt like giving up. However, I pushed myself on by telling myself that this is the 2nd last mission, only 1 more before all of this is over and so, I pushed on. However, during the mission, I slip and fell and the bangalore torpedo slapped against my lower back which was really painful and I tried to bear with it but at the end of the first mission, I was having problems standing straight and so I fell out for the last mission. After which, all the training came to and end and now, all of us were looking forward to the rest and relax period. We went to places like Kenting, Kaohsiong and Taipei to visit places like palaces and museums and also do a lot of shopping and stuff. I did quite abit of shopping and was really glad that I managed to get some clothes that I couldn’t find in Singapore. I also bought some pastries back for my mum and friends. I also went to club at Ministry of Sound, which was the first in Asia! It was really fun there; the people are so friendly, unlike Singapore where the people are more stuck up. Overall though, I had a great time in Taiwan, the training made grew stronger mentally and physically and I learned more in terms of navigation and also planning for missions, also, I managed to have a great time during my rest and relax period which makes this trip and overall success.
Book out book out! Yay, we booked out today and a stupid thing happened to me, my ipod couldnt be turned on in camp and i thought that was it and so i brought it to Apple to try and rectify the problem only to rush in a cab there and realise that it wasnt spoilt! The people there just turned it on for me and they said, " Huh, there isn't andything wrong with this unit!" I'm like "huh????" but well, was also happy too as this way, i neednt waste so much time and so i went off and headed back home, was going for Balota's little BBQ session later and i was going to meet Hongxu and Bryan so was really rushing for time. But in the end, i was too late so i didnt meet up with them and went straight to Balota's house, saw Magness and his girlfriend Jenna there, Mingcai, Keeliang, Debra and Balota was there, all there early, afterwhich, came Lionel, Weithian, Jason Sum and Penny... We ate so much yesterday, the food was really great, was teasing Penny about her food yesterday, haha, but in truth, her pasta and jelly was really nice, too bad she didnt eat my wings though! Haha, she was complaining about the wings being burnt, okok, there were some but there was also nice ones! hee.. We played a whole load of games at Balota's home, it was super funny, Penny slept throughout most though, cos she had to work and our big winner is Bryan, who won money at blackjack and Hongxu who drank quite alot because of this game, 7-up, haha, it was a rollin good time, we should organise this more, it would surely be whole load of fun again...
Havent wrote in awhile, my beloved Man Utd lost yesterday on penalties to Arsenal, they really didnt deserve to lose, damn it! Never mind, there's always next season.. Watched it at Pabulum at PS with Balota, Weithian and Bryan, oh and Grace, Weithian's gf... Went out with Jonathan, Asten and Vincent today to watch Amityville horror which was really gripping, really good i must say, love the sound effects and picture effects, really hope to make one horror movie one day, oh, i must try and find the book, the story is so scary, a little bit like exorcist i must say... Then went singing, without Vincent and saw my ex sergeants there, so funny... Then headed on down to WalaWala to meet up Balota, Hongxu, Jason Sum and surprise surprise, Mingcai! Heh, there was also Debra and Penny, both Balota's frens.. Really cool people... Hongxu just gave me a ride home and i decided to write today... Hee, i finally got a digicam, so cool! Thanks to mummy!!! Goin to bed now, nite peeps!
Phew, was supposed to book out yesterday but cause i havent take my SEOC test yet, i had to stay back and take today although in the end i didnt take cause i injured my right shoulder and it hurt veru bad even when i went for my 12km run, the feeling sucks... Believe me... My mummy bought me a digital camera! Oh my god! I finally have one! I can take pictures, pictures and more pictures! She's so nice, will bring her out for lunch tomorrow for mother's day... Went to watch House Of Wax with Angela and well, she was more chirpy today and talked much more, still shy i guess, but much lesser... Hee.. Elisha Cuthbert and Paris Hilton looked really good in the show and the guy with the bald hairstyle jus made me wanna shave bald again.. Super cool... Going to book in tomorrow, siong week next week, 5 days outfield man! Must tahan, then got a short weekend break but shiok, all my SISPEC buddies are becoming sergeants! Yay, and my boy boy Asten is back! Haha... Great to see him again siah, although its my turn to leave soon... I'll will be gone on the 30th i think, will miss the people here, u guys must miss me too ya!
Hello people, never blog for the past 2 days, kinda was like out all the time, something like that... Hee.. Came back at 4 am this morning, was out at Balota's house chit-chatting, pigging out on pizzas, 4 of them! Lionel joined us for a while b4 leaving to go out with his frens... We then went to chill out at Wala Wala, a live band kind of pub, really really cool, saw taufik there also... Then headed back to his house to play Cranium, a really fun game but some of us conked out b4 we finished, Ah sum lah, Bryan and Hongxu, only me Aloy, Weithian and Balota were left playing but it was really fun and funny, haha, had alot of good laughs.. Went out with Mingshun and Jonathan on saturday, went to eat and talk, waiting for the ASLC boys to be back then we go out together and chill again... Met up with Angela on sunday to watch Samara, she was really nice, paid for the movie.. Everybody is so going to say i'm a bastard or a xiao bai lian but she really didnt want to accept! She was jus very sweet and nice, bought her a sugar cane juice, heh... Wished that we watched a better show though, well, maybe we'll be watching House Of Wax together.. So hopefully its a nicer show! Chill people, i'm off to camp again this week, arrghhhhhhhhh.......
