Sunday, August 27, 2006
cockroach hut or pizza hut?
Yesterday had dinner with zy and low at CP pizza hut. Think the last time we ate pizza was at lim's house long time ago. Was flabbergasted when we saw a small cockroach moving across the boundary of the dining table. lolx Anyhow, was quite a coincidence to see Al-Hafiz dining there as well. His shocked expression was really hilarious. LOLX
Today, me, zy and les went to suntec to grab teacher's day cards for our tutors this morning. There wasn't much exotic cards for us to choose, so we walked to PS to explore more. Low saw the "Single but looking" car signboard in one of the shops and suggested we buy it for Ms. Chiew's car. haha Afterthat, had a rather late lunch at LJS and thought very hard to write something on the cards.
Just went back to NYJC to drop the cards to the tutors letterbox and also sticked the messages on the message board. Hopefully they could see it. =p
As advertised by adelene... ...results for my personality test
Get to know yourself better
Your view on yourself:
You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.
The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.
Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You prefer to get to know a person very well before deciding whether you will commit to the relationship.
The seriousness of your love:
Your have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates.
Your views on education
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.
The right job for you:
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.
How do you view success:
You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.
What are you most afraid of:
You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.
Who is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.
Wonder if this is reliable! lolx
DSZeng scribbled this at 6:21 PM
Friday, August 25, 2006
surviving 21st ERS course (week 19 out of 24)
Monday was our last day to have our legal (YES! L-E-G-A-L) tea breaks 'cause as trainees, we weren't suppose to have any tea breaks at all. =p All thanks to our instructors who taught us the various kinds of operational appliances. If not for them, we won't be able to enjoy such rare privileges. We had our last few practical sessions with them learning about the foam operations of PL (Pump Ladder a.k.a. fire engine) and LFAV (Light Fire Attack Vehicle a.k.a. red rhino), LT (lighting Tender) and foaming with FT (Foam Tender). It's our first time
Tuesday we had our CA (Chemical Agents) operation procedures. Just some practical sessions to teach us how to do decontamination, CA contamination monitoring and demarkation of zones. After lunch we had a short rehearsal for the 36th BOC (Basic Officer Course) POP. Received our newer set of fire jacket as we need to standardise our design (due to the 2 different manufacturers). Later, we continued our HazMat mitigation equipment practical. Come to think of it, HazMat ops. is much more complex than fire ops..
Wednesday had a full-day rehearsal for the 36th BOC POP. Everyone had the same thing in mind - Why are we the chosen ones? We had to don our full bunker gear. However, we were given a new version of fire helmet which was made up of Al. That's why we felt it lighter than our own fire helmets. If I'd not mistaken, we'd rehearsed for as many as 6 times. Each lasting for as long as 45 minutes. We went back to our dorms to wash up at around 8 plus. However, there were some unlucky souls who need to do guard duty that night.
Thursday was the actual day of their POP, but we still had to rehearse in the morning. Fortunately, we did not cock up much, so we only rehearsed 2 times and we were left untouched. But before that we were given our last task - placing chairs for the spectators. Well, as an ERS, we finished that chop chop. LOLx While doing so, the PA system played 'Graduation' by Vitamin C. The song suddenly brought me back to my secondary and jc days, where we had most of the freedom, studying, playing, laughing, crying, being scolded, tonning overnight etc etc... ...sigh...those were the days... ...Anyhow, we went back to dorm before going for lunch then went back to dorm again and sleep. =p Had our Term 3 test focus at 2pm. By giving us the questions we were going to be asked deifinitely helped us alot. The only problem was that most of the questions we hadn't learn... ...yet. Now, they were expecting us to get the answers by ourselves. Well done! Anyhow, we went back to sleep somemore before cleaning up our dorm at around 2 45pm as there will be dorm inspection at 3 30pm. Had to fall in by 5 35pm to get ourselves ready. Fortunately, everything went well and we had zero complains. Good job guys! After the POP, Rota 1 went back home for their station attachment the next day. It was a quiet night yesterday; now I know why. lolx
This morning was slack as we had a HazMat operation procedures lesson. Just need to know how to set up the things if there were to be a hazardous material crisis. As we ended this lesson rather hastily, we carried on our HRCT (HazMat Responder Certification Test). It dragged until after lunch and little did we know that we were to report to the auditorium latest by 2 45pm for some play. !!! However, our encik ignored it and we still continued with our test. I assumed that I had at least a 70% pass. Hopefully I can be able to confirm my assumption when I get my payroll advice next month.
DSZeng scribbled this at 9:27 PM
Sunday, August 20, 2006
a rather quick reunion
Cheryl's back! But not for long though...Leaving for US again this coming Thursday. Well, at least we had a dinner at Chomp Chomp yesterday night. Was meeting cheryl with dz, sf, xh, yx, les, lim, low, adelene, john and quek. Only me, sf, xh, les, adelene, cheryl, john and quek was there 'rather' on time. lolx So we ordered first - 2 small stingrays, 2 small sambal kangkong, 5 plates of rice, 16 BBQ chicken wings, 10 chicken + 20 pork satays and 5 small + 1 large sugar cane juice. Wasn't quite full though. Should have ordered more, but not enough cash! =p
Went to cartel as lim had yet to have his dinner. Afterwhich, we went to buy the necessary stuffs to make fondue at lim's house. Bought 2 bunch of bananas, 10 apples, 2 stacks of milk chocolates and 1 full cream milk.
Gals group photo
Group photo
Dz, sf, yx, les, low, cheryl, john and me went to lim's house afterthat to ton. Marcus came also; just to catch the soccer match. The fondue was quite nice, albeit the hot chocolate turned cold and had solidified rather fast.
My first attempt of making a fondue.(with the help of dz, sf and cheryl ^_^)
Soccer fanatics engrossed with the on-going match.
Sent dz, sf and cheryl out to the main road. Walked all the way back and we all ordered Macs around 12 plus. Quite surprised to find a fish bone in fillet-o-fish. =x Most of us was very shagged already, so we went to sleep...until 8 plus. haha The sleep wasn't that fantastic (sleeping on hard ground) but it beats sleeping outfield. =p
Low really knows how to make himself comfortable. =p
The rest of us sleeping in agony. =x
Low, marcus and I went to beach road to buy some NS stuffs while the rest went back home to rest. Later, low and I met up with yx, zc, les and john for western at kovan. (Looks like we've been eating non-stop round the clock~) Low and I nearly overshot the busstop if not for zy to call me just in the nick of time. (We were half-asleep already =p)Damn tired now...but still have to study for next week's HRCT. Sigh... Shall take a quick nap after dinner... ...Zzz...Zzz...
Anyhow, here's bidding a warm farewell to cheryl, who will be leaving Singapore on Thursday. Cya around~ Hopefully you can make your way down to Singapore instead of us flying down to US. hahaha^_^
DSZeng scribbled this at 4:14 PM
Saturday, August 19, 2006
surviving 21st ERS course (week 18 out of 24)
Zzzz...Zzzz...Zzzz...OH! 1 week had passed already! =p
It was good enough to book in on Monday night and it was even better to be pratically sleeping most of the time this week. We went to MTV everyday.
Tuesday we had our Pump & Primers lesson and practical. Had to experience the extremely high pressure from the water-filled hoses. When water starts to gush out with high velocity through the nozzle, I could actually got the feeling of being pushed back with a significant amount of force. That's why we need a 2nd man to support us at the back if not I wonder how could we move forward with pressure as high as 7(min)-10(max) bars. All in all, the training wasn't that tough; actually it was really slack! =x We had 1 teabreak at around 10am and another one at around 3pm. Quite a nice Encik we have.
Starting from Wednesday to Friday, we had our CPL practical and assessment. Throughout the hands-on sessions for the first 2 days, we were able to sleep most of the time (as well as having our teabreaks =p). This was because we had to take turns to try the operations of this appliance.
Today we had our assessment and everyone of us passed. After lunch was the for the Muslims to pray, so the rest of us had a long long afternoon nap. haha The sad thing was some of us had to return back to CDA early (by 3pm) to take our Term 2 SOC test. Sadly I was one of them.=( However, I managed to break my previous record by reaching the finish line with the timing of 8:26. (my previous timing was 9:01) Another thing that I was relieved about was that I had also passed my Term 2 Assessment. Woot! I was lucky as I will not be studying the same thing again and re-sitting the test on one of the nights of next week.
After a long wait, we finally received our FIRE BADGE! BUT... ...we can't wear it as yet; just need to sew on the velcro only. =(
Booking out today was faster than I thought. No dorm inspection although we were told there will be one. =) Finally the guard duty list for this Sunday had finalised after 4 times of changes.
Heard that we will be having our HRCT (HazMat Responder Certification Test) next Friday. That means I have only 1 week to study for it. sigh... ...
DSZeng scribbled this at 1:19 PM
Monday, August 14, 2006
back to civilisation
YES AH! I'm back to Singapore! I could literally kiss the ground of Singapore when I just touch down to Singapore's ground yesterday. The feeling of coming back to your homeland is great.
It was good enough for us to book in today...but still our weekends were burnt. Perhaps the off-in-lieu today is for the National Day holiday.
Anyhow, I got home yesterday (at around 2plus) just to unload all my SUPER-DUPER SMELLY stuffs - 4-day used No. 4, socks and combat boots soaked in river water, wet clothings etc...you name it, I got it! lolx
Never felt this good on Sunday as I need not worry about booking in before 22 30. Also, I could sleep on my comfy bed with no disturbance from the noises of the multitude of insects and of course the DUMB RATS!
However, coming back from OBBD means that our hell weeks are coming... ...just right in front of our very eyes. Whatever it is, if we can survive OBBD, we can survive anything. (think I've said this phrase for a couple of times? haha =p) Got a feeling that we would feel our BA sets lighter and SOC would be chicken feet! LOL
On another topic, the uni freshmen would have started their lessons already. Heard from one of my friend, who coincidentally majoring in CBC as well, that they need to study a myraid of studies. In other words, it's back to the primary and secondary school style where students are expected to study languages, humanities, sciences etc. Those CBC students
Come to think of it, uni has a better bargain than the rest of the education. (but still not good enough =p)
DSZeng scribbled this at 2:26 PM
Sunday, August 13, 2006
surviving 21st ERS course (week 17 out of 24)
This week wasn't spend in CDA but was spent in OBBD. Here is how my journey begin... ...(yes marcus, it'll be a long entry... lol =p)
Outward Bound Brunei Darussalam - Personal Awareness Course
7 -13 August 2006
7 -13 August 2006
Day 1
Guess the last plane I had taken was about a decade ago. This time round it was my very first experience going overseas all by myself. It was a 1hr 40 min flight from Singapore to Brunei and we took off at around 13 40. The flight started off by a Muslim Prayer to bless us for a safe trip. (Not bad eh~) Throughout the journey, I was rather facinated by the view outside the side window. Being above the clouds; viewing the majestic heavenly sight was definitely overwhelming for me. Anyhow, I had chicken with backed potatoes for lunch with salad and fruits. Ordered extra orange juice and tea afterthat. Somehow, or another, it felt fun to me just being a passenger on board. lolx
Upon arrival at the Brunei International Airport (it was like half or less than that of Changi International Airport's Terminal 1) at around 3 plus, we took a mini bus that took us to a jetty in the city. The city was akin to Singapore - all the road signs, environment etc. were exactly the same. Except their overhead traffic lights, which is positioned vertically. At the jetty, we took a 'wooden' speed boatr; destination - OBBD logistics centre. It was a 40-45min ride. We travelled through lots of meanders; surrounded by trees....and many many more trees!!
Night falls (around 18 30) when we finally arrived at OBBD logistics centre. We had a quick dinner (we did not wash our own dishes cause we were behind schedule) then we proceed to our first meeting. Everything was done in a haste.
Our Watch group was called 'Damang Sari'; our course instructors were Serene Giam Swee Lin (from OBS) and Jukarnain (From OBBD). After the first meeting of the rest of my 15 Watch members, we head straight for shower then had a rather uncalled-for night at our 'Teratak' (the dormitory over there)... ...there was actually rats running in and out from the roof in fast and swift movement. From this night onwards, I could not have a proper sleep everytime I was awaken by their disturbance.
Day 2
We had to wake up at around 05 00 so that we would be punctual for the flag raising set at 06 00 sharp every morning.
Our first activity was some transverse thingy that was to do with using a pulley system and getting our guys and baggages across the river. We had our water confidence drills after that theory lecture. After lunch we had some briefing for the next day's activity - a 3D 2N jungle trek. Then, we went for some kayaking capsizing drill.
The night was hectic as we were required to pack our group and personal items into our backpack issued to us. The food rations given to us were ridiculously overloading us!! And the tents were heavy. Wonder how can we manage to complete the trekking for the next 3 days... ...
Day 3
We set off from the logistics centre by a 'long-wooden' speed boat (forgot what is it called already). Then we need to carry out our practical side of the transverse thingy. We took more than the spitulated time (3 hrs), so we had to make use of the boat to get across. From there, that was where our trekking actually starts.
The first day of trekking was rather tiring but it was still managable cause we only walked for about close to 1700 double steps (about 2.5 km). We pitched out tents at around 17 30 and washed up to prepare for our dinner. Toilet and waste management was rather stringent as our instructor wanted us to wash the cans and squash them into thin films before keeping inside a plastic bag to take back to base and biodegradable things were to be thrown into the shit hole before continuing the trekking for the day.
Washing up in the river was fun and a refreshing experience for me as it was my first time. Collecting water from the river for consumption was also something new to me. Had to use something called 'purifying tablets' to 'clean' the water. It contains sodium dichlorocyanate.
Day 4
The 2nd day of trekking (me being the I/C of the day) we managed to get to the summit which was around 1469m above sea level. We were damn tired and exhausted as we had to trek for about 12 hours with only 1 litre of water each. (cause our i/c didn't give us an extra bottle for trekking even though our instructor told us that we needed to bring 2 bottles...sigh...) That lead us to exhaustion and dehydration. I nearly wanted to drop dead but still I endured all the way until 18 00 where we finally reached our campsite to pitch our tent in the dark. Everybody's morale was low.
Day 5
Morning had broken between 05 30 to 06 00 but some of us were to lazy and tired to wake up to prepare to set off. So we broke camp rather late...around 07 06 then we managed to get everything ready. We could sense that our instructor was quite pissed off but then we still continued our trekking at arond 8 plus.
Today, everyone was in high spirits. Perhaps it was because we would be going back to base in a few hours time. Our pace was also faster than yesterday's. We manage to get back to camp at arond 12 00. We were the last group (although we were the first group to set off) but nonetheless everyone endured through the whole journey without giving up. So it was still quite an acheivement, no?
Had our late lunch, where other groups were busy packing their stuffs back to store. We had to postpone our morning kayaking activity cause we were running behind time. We quickly put our loads on the assembly area and went for a short briefing on our solo night in the jungle.
We had to spend about 12 hours in the jungle alone; without any form of communication and we were only provided with 5 litres of water, 1 shelter top, 1 ground sheet, 1 poncho, 1 pen, 1 pencil, 2 A4 size paper with an envelope, 1 lightstick (to be used for emergency), 1 air horn (to be used for emergency), and we were given the choice to bring our own insect repellent.
We were taken to our designated position in the jungle at around 16 00 - 17 00. I quickly pitched up my shelter and get ready to write something on that piece of paper. I hurriedly finish up my thoughts (even though I could barely see what I am writing and where I'm writing on! haha) and went to sleep using my poncho as my blanket.
Although our instructors had poured snake powder and sprayed insecticides around the boundary of my groundsheet, I sprayed my own insect repellent as well for reinforcement. =p
At around 20 00, the instructors came to us and placed a mosquito coil next to us. At that time, I was sub-concious, so I didn't care much about their presence. I couldn't really sleep well as there was a really huge root just below my lower back. Sian diao... ...
Day 6
When I woke up, my stomach started to growl and at the same time I was having a filled bladder and a stomache. lolx So I drank some water and went to release whatever I needed to release. And I was quite fortunate to have an extra piece of A4 size paper for me to use it as my toilet paper. hahaha =p
Had our breakfast and went to settle our trekking stuffs after that. After lunch, we had a briefing on our last and final challenge of the course - 10km run! We set off at around 16 00 and I came in 7th in position out of around 80 participants with a timing of 54:24. ONe of us broke one of the instructors previous record of 47 mins and he did it with the timing of 45 or 46 mins.
At night was the most daunting night as we need to settle all the logistics stuffs before we depart from there the next day. Luckily everything was alright but we settled everything damn late, so we had to have our supper at around 23 00. Afterthat, we were handed another's person's certificates and we were told to pass it back to the person. It was quite meaningful as we all had suffered everything together and now we were honoured to receive the certs from people who were one of us.
We slept at around 00 00 and again I was woken up by that stupid rat so much so that I suspected that I didn't sleep at all!
Day 7
Finally the course is coming to an end. Although the challenges were tough but at least I managed to get through all. Woke up at 04 10 and went to wash up and changed to our 'book out' attire. We had our last flag raising at 06 00 and set off to airport straight away. We had our breakfast just next to the jetty and then took a transport to airport until 10 10 when we were suppose to get ready in the waiting area before boarding the plane.
The plane took flight at around 10 40. (finally able to sit at the window seat haha =p) Had Fish fillet with baked potatoes in butter. (Didn't knew we could ask for chilli sauce until my friend told me just now! lolx) Also had a piece of chocolate cake and sphagetti-like salad I suppose. Bryan G. didn't want his share of cake, so he gave it to me! Yes ah! haha Anyway, I ordered an orange juice and tea again. haha
Touched down at Singapore around 12 45. Bid farewell to all the paramedics as this was the last time we would be seeing them before they return back to their base stations. Finally, back to our comfort zone. HOME SWEET HOME!~ =)
(long enough marcus? hahaha)
Guess the last plane I had taken was about a decade ago. This time round it was my very first experience going overseas all by myself. It was a 1hr 40 min flight from Singapore to Brunei and we took off at around 13 40. The flight started off by a Muslim Prayer to bless us for a safe trip. (Not bad eh~) Throughout the journey, I was rather facinated by the view outside the side window. Being above the clouds; viewing the majestic heavenly sight was definitely overwhelming for me. Anyhow, I had chicken with backed potatoes for lunch with salad and fruits. Ordered extra orange juice and tea afterthat. Somehow, or another, it felt fun to me just being a passenger on board. lolx
Upon arrival at the Brunei International Airport (it was like half or less than that of Changi International Airport's Terminal 1) at around 3 plus, we took a mini bus that took us to a jetty in the city. The city was akin to Singapore - all the road signs, environment etc. were exactly the same. Except their overhead traffic lights, which is positioned vertically. At the jetty, we took a 'wooden' speed boatr; destination - OBBD logistics centre. It was a 40-45min ride. We travelled through lots of meanders; surrounded by trees....and many many more trees!!
Night falls (around 18 30) when we finally arrived at OBBD logistics centre. We had a quick dinner (we did not wash our own dishes cause we were behind schedule) then we proceed to our first meeting. Everything was done in a haste.
Our Watch group was called 'Damang Sari'; our course instructors were Serene Giam Swee Lin (from OBS) and Jukarnain (From OBBD). After the first meeting of the rest of my 15 Watch members, we head straight for shower then had a rather uncalled-for night at our 'Teratak' (the dormitory over there)... ...there was actually rats running in and out from the roof in fast and swift movement. From this night onwards, I could not have a proper sleep everytime I was awaken by their disturbance.
Day 2
We had to wake up at around 05 00 so that we would be punctual for the flag raising set at 06 00 sharp every morning.
Our first activity was some transverse thingy that was to do with using a pulley system and getting our guys and baggages across the river. We had our water confidence drills after that theory lecture. After lunch we had some briefing for the next day's activity - a 3D 2N jungle trek. Then, we went for some kayaking capsizing drill.
The night was hectic as we were required to pack our group and personal items into our backpack issued to us. The food rations given to us were ridiculously overloading us!! And the tents were heavy. Wonder how can we manage to complete the trekking for the next 3 days... ...
Day 3
We set off from the logistics centre by a 'long-wooden' speed boat (forgot what is it called already). Then we need to carry out our practical side of the transverse thingy. We took more than the spitulated time (3 hrs), so we had to make use of the boat to get across. From there, that was where our trekking actually starts.
The first day of trekking was rather tiring but it was still managable cause we only walked for about close to 1700 double steps (about 2.5 km). We pitched out tents at around 17 30 and washed up to prepare for our dinner. Toilet and waste management was rather stringent as our instructor wanted us to wash the cans and squash them into thin films before keeping inside a plastic bag to take back to base and biodegradable things were to be thrown into the shit hole before continuing the trekking for the day.
Washing up in the river was fun and a refreshing experience for me as it was my first time. Collecting water from the river for consumption was also something new to me. Had to use something called 'purifying tablets' to 'clean' the water. It contains sodium dichlorocyanate.
Day 4
The 2nd day of trekking (me being the I/C of the day) we managed to get to the summit which was around 1469m above sea level. We were damn tired and exhausted as we had to trek for about 12 hours with only 1 litre of water each. (cause our i/c didn't give us an extra bottle for trekking even though our instructor told us that we needed to bring 2 bottles...sigh...) That lead us to exhaustion and dehydration. I nearly wanted to drop dead but still I endured all the way until 18 00 where we finally reached our campsite to pitch our tent in the dark. Everybody's morale was low.
Day 5
Morning had broken between 05 30 to 06 00 but some of us were to lazy and tired to wake up to prepare to set off. So we broke camp rather late...around 07 06 then we managed to get everything ready. We could sense that our instructor was quite pissed off but then we still continued our trekking at arond 8 plus.
Today, everyone was in high spirits. Perhaps it was because we would be going back to base in a few hours time. Our pace was also faster than yesterday's. We manage to get back to camp at arond 12 00. We were the last group (although we were the first group to set off) but nonetheless everyone endured through the whole journey without giving up. So it was still quite an acheivement, no?
Had our late lunch, where other groups were busy packing their stuffs back to store. We had to postpone our morning kayaking activity cause we were running behind time. We quickly put our loads on the assembly area and went for a short briefing on our solo night in the jungle.
We had to spend about 12 hours in the jungle alone; without any form of communication and we were only provided with 5 litres of water, 1 shelter top, 1 ground sheet, 1 poncho, 1 pen, 1 pencil, 2 A4 size paper with an envelope, 1 lightstick (to be used for emergency), 1 air horn (to be used for emergency), and we were given the choice to bring our own insect repellent.
We were taken to our designated position in the jungle at around 16 00 - 17 00. I quickly pitched up my shelter and get ready to write something on that piece of paper. I hurriedly finish up my thoughts (even though I could barely see what I am writing and where I'm writing on! haha) and went to sleep using my poncho as my blanket.
Although our instructors had poured snake powder and sprayed insecticides around the boundary of my groundsheet, I sprayed my own insect repellent as well for reinforcement. =p
At around 20 00, the instructors came to us and placed a mosquito coil next to us. At that time, I was sub-concious, so I didn't care much about their presence. I couldn't really sleep well as there was a really huge root just below my lower back. Sian diao... ...
Day 6
When I woke up, my stomach started to growl and at the same time I was having a filled bladder and a stomache. lolx So I drank some water and went to release whatever I needed to release. And I was quite fortunate to have an extra piece of A4 size paper for me to use it as my toilet paper. hahaha =p
Had our breakfast and went to settle our trekking stuffs after that. After lunch, we had a briefing on our last and final challenge of the course - 10km run! We set off at around 16 00 and I came in 7th in position out of around 80 participants with a timing of 54:24. ONe of us broke one of the instructors previous record of 47 mins and he did it with the timing of 45 or 46 mins.
At night was the most daunting night as we need to settle all the logistics stuffs before we depart from there the next day. Luckily everything was alright but we settled everything damn late, so we had to have our supper at around 23 00. Afterthat, we were handed another's person's certificates and we were told to pass it back to the person. It was quite meaningful as we all had suffered everything together and now we were honoured to receive the certs from people who were one of us.
We slept at around 00 00 and again I was woken up by that stupid rat so much so that I suspected that I didn't sleep at all!
Day 7
Finally the course is coming to an end. Although the challenges were tough but at least I managed to get through all. Woke up at 04 10 and went to wash up and changed to our 'book out' attire. We had our last flag raising at 06 00 and set off to airport straight away. We had our breakfast just next to the jetty and then took a transport to airport until 10 10 when we were suppose to get ready in the waiting area before boarding the plane.
The plane took flight at around 10 40. (finally able to sit at the window seat haha =p) Had Fish fillet with baked potatoes in butter. (Didn't knew we could ask for chilli sauce until my friend told me just now! lolx) Also had a piece of chocolate cake and sphagetti-like salad I suppose. Bryan G. didn't want his share of cake, so he gave it to me! Yes ah! haha Anyway, I ordered an orange juice and tea again. haha
Touched down at Singapore around 12 45. Bid farewell to all the paramedics as this was the last time we would be seeing them before they return back to their base stations. Finally, back to our comfort zone. HOME SWEET HOME!~ =)
(long enough marcus? hahaha)
DSZeng scribbled this at 4:10 PM
Monday, August 07, 2006
before departure...
YOYO! I'm now at changi airport T2 blogging at macs. hahaha But later have to fall in for some briefing then OTOT again. Flight at 13 40...Thought that it would be SIA, but it turned out to be royal brunei. haha Craps! Anyway, those who wanna send me off now still got time! lolx jkjk...
Anyhow, here's wishing everyone a good week ahead and NS guys enjoy ur national day hols! =p
P.S.:I'll be back on 13/8; touching down at 12 45pm Terminal 2; Royal Brunei BI 421 flight(if I've not mistaken =p).
CYA~
DSZeng scribbled this at 9:46 AM
Sunday, August 06, 2006
happy birthday Singapore n Cheryl~
Yesterday woke up damn late...around 12 plus. Supposed to go for some exercises but well...nevermind. Went to grab a cheapo primary school type of shoes for water activities and a pair of black socks.
Was supposed to go for dinner at newton there with sf, low and quek but low and I went to buy somethings at beach road till quite late, so we changed to eat at my uncle's tze cha stall at TPY. But we were still late! lolx Meeting time was 7pm but we arrived at 7 3opm. Paiseh ar! =p
Ordered quite alot of food - BBQ stingray, mai pian xia, gong bao ji ding, sambal kang kong, tie ban dou fu and hai xian tang. We had dessert after that - I ordered a mango and long gan with ice. haha The ice was not finely shredded though. Not sure what was the total price but we paid my uncle $15 each for the meal. And there goes the "bu yao lah..." scene while I handed the money over. haha
Low went back home only to realise that he forgotten to take back his umbrella pins from me. lol Think we'll have to meet tomorrow. =p
Today... ...
travelled to guan yin ma there to pray. Sad to say I got a 'xia-xia qian'...T_T Think everything will 'hua xian wei yi' bah. Yup! =) Anyhow, I got myself a 'fu' also. Hopefully everything will turn out well in Brunei.
Afterthat, I went to PS to get the boardgame - Blackmail. Actually was supposed to head straight to hg to meet les and low for lunch at 1pm, but I forgotten to put low's umbrella pins in the morning before I left to guan yin ma temple, so I was late! lol Paiseh ar! =p Anyway, we bought some stuffs before going for lunch at LJS at about 2 plus.
After meeting zc, we walked to low's house to chill out and we played blackmail till 6pm. Lucky for them to bookout this coming Tuesday while I'll be in Brunei (God knows what I'll be doing at that time! lolx). However, zc is as bad as me; he had to do guard duty on National Day.
Let me take this opportunity to wish Singapore a happy 41st birthday on 9 August 2006! And here's wishing Cheryl, in advance, a cheery-happy birthday on 10 August 2006! =)
I'll be in Brunei from 7/8 - 13/8...so don't miss me guys! lolx =x Cya next Sunday!(If I could get back early before you all book into camp. =x)
DSZeng scribbled this at 8:19 PM
Friday, August 04, 2006
surviving 21st ERS course (week 16 out of 24)
This week, we took a sneak preview of the prologue of our 'Final Judgement'... ...
Monday wasn't that blue after all. Lecture in the morning then some of us (including me =p) went for the rehearsal for the CD skills competition which would be held on Friday. After lunch, we were
Tuesday was quite slack as well - lecture the whole day (as usual) and SOC conditioning after lunch. Luckily I had rehearsal, if not...=p We had our introduction to PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for HazMat. Since some of us were called up for the rehearsal, the PPE lesson was pushed back to a later time. That's why we had to continue the practical part after our dinner. Had to wear both the TLU (Trellchem Limited Use suit) and LDS (Light Decon Suit) in turns and had to carry stretcher with 4 64mmx20m hoses of a distance of about 100m-150m.
Wednesday was our first 2 lessons on our field exercises. In the morning was our basement fire exercise. Fortunate or not, I was appointed to be the Sect. Comd. 2 and was in the search and rescue team. Starting was bad enough as I went into the incident entrance site without first tying the guideline before going in. The 2nd mistake was I (don't know why) started to untie the guideline on the way out. But we were good enough to rescue 1 casualty out. =) After lunch the small group went for another rehearsal while the rest of my Rota 2 mate went to help out Rota 1 with their RTA (Road Traffic Accident) practical.
When the people returned for the rehearsal, we were taught about the SOP of oil tank fire exercise and had a dry run before having our dinner. We continued with the wet run after our dinner. We were tired as we were having frequent late trainings nowadays. =x We had to 'samulah' once as the firefighting team did not use enough length of hoses to reach to the oil tank. Luckily I wasn't appointed for anything, so I merely sat at the training shed enjoying my role as a spectator. Lolx The fire was awfully beautiful with the dark night sky as the background. We thought we had enough, but we went to collect our CA (Chemical Agent) suit before going back our dorms cause we would be having our CA Endurance on the following morning. =(
Thursday morning came; fortunately we didn't have to do roll-call. We went through a short lesson about the CA suit and introduction of the method of wearing it. Then, we had to don the CA suit for our CA Endurance. The whole run was to do 50 sit-ups, run about 100m with your partner carrying a stretcher with 4 64mmx20m hoses, fireman lift your partner for about 100m while alternating between each checkpoints, slow jog for about 300m and run up 2nd level of the chemical plant and run down toward the starting point and lastly, we were sent to the CA room where we were asked to do 10 counts of 8 jumping jacks before taking off our mask; coerced to sniff in the CS gas. Was coughing and spitting profusely after I came out of that scary room. Lolx
We had our Term 2 Assessment Test after lunch. Although it was just a mere 25 MCQ, the questions set were rather tricky. It was so tricky that you would have overlooked a missing word in the possible answers and by choosing so would robbed you of 1 point. Anyhow, think I should be able to pass bah...
Miracle happens once in a blue moon...the people were called up for a last minute rehearsal as the director of CDA wanted to watch the flow of the ceremony. That means that we would be skipping SOC test! =x
Also, I had guard duty too. It was a bad start...shall not talk about it...It wasn't that easy to be a guard duty I/C. =(
Friday was worth to wait for as we went for the opening ceremony for the CD skills competition held at BRTC. Standing at attention for about 30 minutes was no joke. However, we were given proper lunch (YES! I meant that we weren't provided any proper lunch before in camp...) for our job well done! Lastly, we went for an IEDD (Improvised Explosive Device Disposal) lesson before booking out! =p
DSZeng scribbled this at 10:56 PM
