Interesting Statistics....

Just found some interesting statistics regarding audiences of this humble little corner of the World Wide Web...

Farewell, SYC!!

Sunday, 27 March... A day everyone had been waiting for damn long, since 12 March. This is the day we bid farewell to SYC and proceed back home!!

Now I sit here in my bunk awaiting 6am. That's the time we can begin returning the bunks to the SYC ppls. Then, it's off to the parade square where we'd board buses bound for our Educational Tour and eventually to the airport at night.

See ya folks in SG soon!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

SYC Day 5

Back frm KMTA....yippie!!

Departed that damn place around 10am and reach camp about one and a half hours later. Only those non-exercise folks were back, the rest came back later around 3pm.

From there on, it was auto-pilot mode. Everyone was busy unloading equipment, cleaning them and returning them to the respective stores where it was loaned out from. We, in the meantime, kicked into auto-mode too as we, too, have quite a few post-exercise administrative tasks to complete.

One thing that everyone observed is teamwork. No matter how tired they might be, or how clueless he might be, when it's post-exercise cleanup time, everyone will chip in and do their bit. The rationale for this is that everyone wants to get these mundane but mandatory tasks over and done with so that they can relax worry-free later on.

The later part of the day saw everyone relaxing in the canteen, eating dinner, drinking beer and chatting loudly. No one seemed to have a care in the world, it was THAT lax last evening. Meanwhile, the 6 of us got together and have another PROPER dinner together. It was quite a cozy affair I felt, I like this kinda feel :)

3 more days to flying home, you can bet your last dollar that I'm dying to go home!! See ya in 3 days, Singapore!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

KMTA Day 8/8

Woohooooo!! Last day is this damn KMTA!! We'd be breaking camp tomorrow morning at 9am sharp!! Been waiting for this day since Day 1 of arrival here.

Returning to SYC marks the start of the "final burst of fire" before going home. Arriving in Thailand on Flight 1, I'd be departing on Flight 2, reaching Singapore early on Monday morning, maybe 1-ish am?

I'd be posting up some pictures snapped during the trip, so do stay tuned if you are keen to see them.

Last night was a damn difficult night to sleep; it's so damn freaking warm!! Those powder on me managed to keep the sweat away for a few hours before being overwhelmed. My chin started the ball rolling... The forehead soon joined in, followed by both legs. I was initially in long pants and t-shirt but it soon become shorts only. This didn't help. The heat kept on coming. Having to keep the blanket on made the fight much harder. Removing the blanket will mean a free buffet for the mosquitos, so the blanket had to stay. It was a terrible night... I spent those awake hours either trying to fan myself cool, trying to keep out the mosquitos or scratching wherever that had already been bitten! Another guy here told us he slept only at 4am due to the same reason!!

Just like the initial 3 days in KMTA, the weather changed very fast; from freaking warm last night to freaking cold in the early morning around 6-7am. The pre-downpour wind was chilly, blowing Eastward from the West. I knew this for the clothes were swaying violently in the wind that came from the direction where the sun sets. We were spared the chilling wind as our safari beds are against the wall and that sort of kept us away from the onslaught of the wind. Hard to visualize? Take a look at the following picture and you'd understand...




Worried the clothes would be blown out of the lines and onto the dusty ground, I quickly got up and pulled them all off the lines before jumping beneath the blankets again.

The rain soon followed... One can feel the intensity of the rain just be listening to the sound of of hitting the zinc roofs shed we're in. The sound is SOOOO loud that I would have put on my earplugs if I had them!! I worried for a moment that part of the roof would collapse due to the intensity. Either that or the area would flood and rainwater (mud, actually) would run inside here. Anyway, I didn't have to worry about it much longer as I soon fell back onto sleep, this time colder...

It was still drizzling by the time I got up... And the rest of the day turned out just the way we wanted for sooooooooooo long; cooling, yet not too cold :)

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully but when night falls, it gets rather interesting. Besides the usual irritating flies and bugs, we saw a few crabs scrambling across the shed and numerous frogs hopping around!!

We caught a crab and kept it in a pail for entertainment, provoking it using a pen.



We also flip it over for fun...




Later on, we caught a frog too and threw it in together with crabby, hoping to see some "Animal Planet" in action. However, it seemed that the 2 animals ain't interested in each other. By morning, we decided to release both captives since we were leaving for SYC, but the frog was nothing in sight. Looks like it had jumped outta the pail in the middle of the night, via a small gap in the plastic covering we used to cover the top of the pail (to prevent the frog from escaping).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

KMTA Day 7/8

2nd last day of KMTA... I'd never missed this place as it's quite run-down, without clean and proper sanitation, full of creepy-crawlies and lack of facilities maintenance. However, having complained this much, one much admit that no doubt the living conditions can be MUCH MUCH BETTER, it's decent enough, at the very least, we've managed to survived this far without getting sick.

There is a temple up on a nearby hill, a few of us went up to take a look and also to pray... The flight of steps leading up is steep and consisted of 432steps (according to one of the guys).

Take a look at the following picture...it's taken from the foot of the steps.




Climbing the steps reminds me of the flight of steps leading to Marina Hill of XXX, those "Vertical" Marathons which I used to take part in, and lastly, my one and only attempt at mountain climbing of Mount Ophir few years back... It's quite shack climbing the steps, we stopped a couple of times along the way and by the time I reached the top, I was breathless and my shirt was drenched in sweat!!

We had a late dinner today at around 8pm as we had a rather late lunch earlier. In the early days of reaching SYC, I tend to go for main courses which includes omelette or deep fried stuffs such as chicken or squid. But after SO's warning about cholesterol, plus my goal to shed some kilos, I'm now going more for mains which consist of plain rice plus another stir-fried dish, usually mixed-vege with meat. These not only (looks) are healthier, but they also cost cheaper too at about 50-60Baht compared to 80-90Baht for the former.

Canteen food in SYC or KMTA are rather expensive (at least 20% more) as compared to anywhere outside. I'm not surprised at this price difference because both Canteens catered mostly to SAF folks and coming from SG, these prices are considered cheap when referenced in the Singapore context. They are, however, expensive, when you compare it in the Thai context. As businessmen, it's natural that you'd want to price your products to rip maximum profits from your customers yet considered cheap enough by their standards. Besides, it's not as if we have too much of a choice considering that the Cookhouse food isn't that appetizing. I mean... The Cookhouse food is decent, but since I have a choice, I'd gladly pay for better options.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

KMTA Day 6/8

Today marks the FINAL STRETCH of the series of Battalion Exercise beginning last week and scheduled to end this Thurs evening. For the rest of us here at Base Camp, we'd be packing up and moving back to SYC on Thurs morning (huge hurray).

Bye bye to mosquitoes, flies, bugs, dogs and cows!! The next time we meet, it should be on one of my holiday trips to the countryside and not this kinda "National Service" holiday....

Was chatting with Irene over FB and she was under the impression that I'm having a good time here on government payroll enjoying nature and learning to use a rifle... Wait till she give it a try at what I'm going thru now and see if she'd still think is fun.... :p

Took a shower earlier just now after lunch, powder-bathed and then lie down for a nap. Awoke less than hour later soaking a perspiration and had been unable to get back into dreamland :( Can't wait to get back to SYC and under my "personal" fan in my bunk...

One weird phenomenon I've observed since the change in weather... There are a lot more insects and creepy crawlies going around. I'm specially fascinated by these flying black beetle and how they would drop to the floor, either dead or desperately flapping their wings with them lying on their back. SO MANY of them can be found on the ground each night that we always have a hard time removing (kicking actually) them from our "compound". The moment you cleared a few from the ground, another would drop to the ground again. Yes, it is THAT irritating!!

Switching off the lights solves the issue, but we, then, are unable to see... Damn beetles!!!

Anyone able to provide a clue to the beetles thingy?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

KMTA Day 5/8

The battalion started coming in for showers, replenishments of supplies and much needed rest starting from about 9am...

Alot of activities were going on around us except for our side, where it was still the same old story... Sleep, eat, relax and talk rot... All the way till 6pm when they are supposed to move out again, apparently... It's now 1120pm and some of them are still here. In fact, the 3 from S1 Cell are sleeping in with us tonight!

The 6 of us had lunch and dinner together, squeezing into a rectangular table and eating the canteen/cookhouse food. It's pretty cosy and ironic that we never manage to dine together like this back in SYC and it's out here in these poorer conditions that we finally manage to get it done!!

The weather was damn hot today that I powder-bathed twice to cool myself off... No doubt troublesome, but it does make me feel cooler and fresh, ready for bed kinda condition. Maybe I should try doing this too at home whenever it's too warm.

I happened to take a look at the clear night sky earlier and saw many stars. It awes me each time I look up into the night sky and sees so many stars. I feel so damn small, I mean... Humans on Earth versus the rest of the galaxy...

We are not alone... I'm quite sure of this.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

KMTA Day 4/8

After having "cooling" weather for the past 3 days, the heat finally returned today. The freak weather in previous days had even caused one of the servicemen to suffer from hypothermia (unsure of the spelling...)!! Since when do you hear of someone being hit by this in Thailand? Before you laugh, let me assure you that the weather these 3 days were no joke, IT IS THAT COLD!!!

Took a shower after lunch just now. There was a marked difference between the temperature of the water from the tap and from the tub. You see, the showers here that we used had 2 sources of water; one, piped in from don't know where, the other, A tub filled several times by a tanker that goes around the campsite for this purpose. In the past, water from the tub would have been too icy cold, but it was a welcomed relief just now during my shower!! You can imagine the vast difference in the temperature change...

Nothing pretty much happened today except that the Live Firing had been stopped for a scheduled break tomorrow before resuming on Monday and lasting till Thursday.

At night, there were alot of flying bugs... Guessed they stayed away in previous days due to the weather. The night was warmer than in previous too and there were no need for sleeping bags, just blankets will do. :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

KMTA Day 1/8

OK, today's the most dreaded day of the entire battalion. I'm sure I need not mention why....

The "Admin Team" loaded up our laptops, printer, kitbags and some other essential items into our designated Land-Rover. We then headed off to the Vehicle Form-Up Point before heading towards KMTA, with my rover leading the convoy of 19 vehicles, including 2 spare guns.

Departing at 9am, we arrived at our destination (+/- 100km away) nearly 2hrs later and immediately setup our "Office" for the next 8 days. Our "Office" is set up in a gigantic open-concept sheltered shed with concrete flooring and a bricked perimeter wall with openings at intervals. We picked out and optimal spot towards the middle of the shed, cordoned off an estimated 5m by 5m area using white-tapes and started setting up the various equipment and beds.

It was nearing lunch time by the time we finished. We were shocked to learn that there will be no food today and it's supposed to be Combat-Rations for today. Fresh rations will start from tomorrow and continue until the final few days when it will revert back to Combat-Rations. One alternative is to get food from the canteen which will usually be opened at the camp site. However, checking out the building likely to be the canteen, the hawker said it would be ready only during dinner time. We ended up getting by with a packet of Combat-Ration, some biscuits and junk-food bought from a nearby provision shop.

The canteen was ready by 4plus and we took turns to go as someone HAD to be around to guard the "Office". When I finally managed to go, I was stunned to find that the hawkers here are the EXACT folks from the SYC Canteen!!! Apparently, these hawkers are aware of our movements and followed us as we move!! I'm very impressed.

Must be due to the rain, it's rather cold today. For the first time ever, I wore a t-shirt under my uniform and I just about felt warm enough. Usually, the uniform alone would make me sweat! I can't imagine how cold it will get later on in the night be it for those out there in the field and also for us back here in camp. Even the water feels quite cold... Guessed I'd skip shower tonight...

I was mentioning to SO earlier in the evening that the amount of calamaris I've had in the past few days are more than what I'd have had in a single year. She instantly reminded me that these are high cholesterol stuffs. I hadn't thought of that until she mentioned it.

Oh man, I simply love SO to bits for being so thoughtful!! :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

SYC Day 3

Today's the last day in SYC before the pinnacle of this ICT, Live Firing of the FH2000 howitzer (Gun) in the Khao Meng Training Area (KMTA). We'd be staying in the camp area of KMTA together with the other folks from the supporting elements for the next 8 days.

It rained pretty heavily earlier in the evening. Not too sure if raining is a good or bad thing, especially since the Battalion Exercise / Live Firing is starting tomorrow....

Good thing because the weather is likely to be cooling and will not be dampening the already not too high morale of the exercise troops. The other side of the coin is that the wet weather is gonna worsen the terrain conditions further, forming mud pools everywhere, dampening everyone's spirits. This is ironically, quite contradicting of the fact that a cooling weather is always welcoming to the outfield personnels.

Anyway, back to the earlier downpour, it was raining sporadically, heavy, light and heavy again. It was hard to predict when, if at all, the rain will subside and eventually stop. What worsen the situation was that all 6 of us in the office had yet to have dinner and am famished by 8pm! 4 of us decided that enough is enough, pulled out our issued rain-jackets, tried keeping our essential items under the protection of the jacket and headed out into the rain towards the canteen.

This rain is a real eye-opener for me. Not that I've not encountered heavy rain before, but let me assure you this rain, no doubt the intensity may not be heavier than what might get in SG, the impact is, without a doubt, leaves a much deeper impression in my mind!

Heading into the heavy rain with a rain-jacket is nothing worth mentioning, it's the torrent of rainwater flowing towards you, some ankle deep, that I felt was worth a mention! Some water got into my boots and wetted my socks barely 100m into the walk, water landing on me flowed downwards, off the jacket and straight onto the lower portion of my trousers, wetting it from my thigh down.

Really hope the next 8 days will be smooth, without any accident in the field for everybody. This will ensure a peaceful time for the HQ Admin Group, the team I'd be attached to throughout the Exercise.

Oh, and please, give us cooling weather, yet no rain too. Thanks!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

SYC Day 2

Woke up around 730am today as there's some kind of parade taking place at 815am. So I got changed into this t-shirt I bought from the shops in the canteen yesterday. I quite like this shirt not so much for it's design, but more for the comfort of the material and also that it fits me really well :)

I had all my meals in the canteen like yesterday. Tried getting the guys to try the cookhouse food but they declined without hesitation. Well, the curious me went into the cookhouse to take a look at the fare and decided there n then that I will not eat at the cookhouse unless I had no choice! Not that the fare is bad, but it's not much diff from what we can get back at home. So, rather than continue eating the same thing, might as well eat more Thai food since we're ready here? I did not have any Pad Thai today. I had my first Tom Yum soup during dinner when 4 of us got together and ordered some dishes.

The weather here is pretty hot in the afternoon and one can really get baked if you're outside for prolonged period! It's that terrible that alot of them actually bought a cooler container for use whilst in the field. You can imagine how warm it is out there for these guys to want to grab one container each!

Turning in now, shall post more updates tomorrow. Gonna turn in now... Good nite!!

PS : these entries are typed and saved in my phone, waiting chances to upload then to BlogSpot.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sai Yok Camp Day 1

Yup, that's where I was headed last nite. I was in Flight 1, TG8181, a chartered flight flying directly into Don Muang Airport. There were a total of 2 flights, each taking-off and landing about an hour apart....

The airport was closed when we landed. There were no staff except for a few immigration officers. Lighting was minimal too. Landing @ 210am, we waited till nearly 4am before boarding the chartered buses for our destination, an estimated 3hrs drive away. We had 2 police escorts along the way to Sai Yok Camp, one leading the way and another at the rear of the convoy.

We arrived at Sai Yok Camp around 7am and was greeted by the folks from the Advance Party. Breakfast was catered for and everyone was damn hungry I bet!! My tummy was growling along the way and I can't wait to eat!

We were next allocated bunks but due to some Administrative screw-ups, very usual for the SAF, David and I weren't allocated a bunk and were ding-dong here and there by the respective In-Charges. They finally somehow managed to sort things out and allocated us a 2-men bunk, unlike the rest of the guys in 100-men bunk!! While I liked the privacy of this bunk, it's damn dusty n as of had been left unused for very long... Took me quite some time to clean it up sufficiently. :S

I didn't manage to sleep during the Midnight flight. Neither did I sleep much during the 3hr bus-ride. Yet I do not feel tired in the morning. However, the "kick" came in the early afternoon. I went back to the bunk and drop deep into sleep. Barely 30mins had passed when I was awaken by a call, much as I would like to continue sleeping, I had to head down to the Admin Office to get things done. One thing for sure, I can feel that my 30mins nap was a DEEP ONE!!

Ok folks, my eyes are closing. Gonna turn in now. See ya soon....


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"Frying" up to Tom-Yum Land - Part 1/3

I'm be making 3 trips to "Tom-Yum Land" (Thailand) thrice this year, leading to accusations of me having secretly gotten PR there!!

This trip will be my first time there on National Service-related purpose. We're going there for a Live-Firing Exercise. I was back in camp for ICT since last Monday, but that's the local phase (based in Singapore) in preparation for the 2weeks exercise starting next week.

The place we'd be based at isn't too technologically advanced and communication might be an issue, not to mention the hefty roaming charges I'm expecting to incur. However, in my bid to try and reduce this cost, I've done some research and came up with the following "battleplan" :

1. subscribed Auto-Roaming from my SG Telco.

2. Bought a Thai SIM-Card (True Corp.) via Trusling Communications to call back to SG.

3. Use the same Thai-SIM to access Internet if time/signal-strength permits.

4. Bought 600B worth of Top-Up value whilst in SG.

While I do not expect to use my SG-SIM much there, I still took up Auto-Roaming as an "Insurance" just in case I was not able to get a signal from True, I'd still be able to hook up to any available network in the area using my SG-SIM.

Should True have signals in both camps while I'd be, then Items 2 - 4 will come in handy and Item 1 will be used as Plan B. The above items costs me a total of $75... Hope they are sufficient for my use. I bet if I survive on Plan B alone, the charges will probably be triple of $75 and upwards!!

So much for now, see you folks when I'm back in SG 2 weeks from now.

PS : Sorry, cannot provide too much details regarding the Exercise for security reasons.

Travel Plans 2011

Feb 2011 - Batam (completed)

Mar 2011 - Thailand (ICT)

Apr/May 2011 - Chiang Mai

Jun 2011 - Taiwan

Jul 2011 - Bangkok

Nov/Dec - Hokkaido/Europe/USA (TBC)

??? 2011 - Dublin (Work-related)

SO was telling me I've no more slots to squeeze in anymore travels.... :(