Dating is like riding a rollercoster ...

... because of the following:

• It takes courage to ask for a date, much like it takes courage to even queue for the rollercoaster ride.
• You can be rejected for both of them if you do not meet certain criteria.
• You get nervous at the start of both, but the nerves go away soon after the start.
• A date is hardly a straight-forward affair; same goes for a rollercoaster ride!
• You may enjoy them so much that when it ends, you want to go on it again!

I thought of the above while I was queueing up to ride the Battlestar Galatica: Human rollercoaster at USS yesterday:

The Battlestar Galatica rollercoasters. The red tracks are for the Human set, while the blue tracks are for the Cyclops set.

It was crazy. I don't know what propelled me to take up the challenge to ride the rollercoasters (adrenaline maybe?), but I went and joined the queue anyway. While I was getting secured onto my seat, somebody gave me a useful piece of advice: "Only the first decline is the scary part. After that everything's all right."

After all the passengers were secured, the rollercoasters blasted off, up the tracks. While ascending, there was a "turbo boost", increasing the speed of the rollercoasters even further! And then came the scary descent!!!!! But true to the advice, everything felt better after that initial descent, such that when it ended, I felt such a intense adrenaline rush from the ride :D (But for some reason, my legs went weak after the ride!)

That wraps up the first main attraction I visited as part of my unit's cohesion yesterday. Everyone in our unit was given free tickets and meal vouchers for a day of fun in USS. I set off with a couple of colleagues from my section, and we visited some smaller attractions upon entering USS, as a form of "warmup" for this main attraction.

As some of my colleagues went to ride both rollercoasters, I could not push myself to ride the Cyclop set of rollercoasters (there's a freaking vertical loop!!!) so I decided to settle for the Human set of rollercoasters ...

And after the ride, we went on to the other attractions, like the Revenge of the Mummy indoor rollercoaster ride. After the Battlestar ride, I thought this was nothing, until I read in the warning panels that this ride involves (among other things) the car moving backwards! After riding it though, I did not find the ride that scary (though the sudden backwards motions is freaky still!).

There was a light drizzle after we came out of the Mummy ride, which did not go away until some time after lunch. Lunch happened to be fried chicken, expensive when compared to prices outside, but there was the meal vouchers! And after lunch, we joined up with another group of friends and visited another bunch of attractions.

By the time we visited all of the major attractions, it was about 5~6 pm. I revisited the Transformers ride and the Battlestar rollercoasters, and it was about 7 pm when my friends and I finally left USS (it seems that we were probably the last ones in our unit to leave USS). We went to Vivocity for cheaper alternatives to dinner (as compared to having dinner at USS/RWS), and after that, we made our separate ways home.

All in all, it was a very tiring day, having visited most of the attractions at USS, and spent our time there to the fullest! So much so that I slept for more than 12 hours after that! I really hope that my unit can organise more of such cohesions in the future! :D

Changi Beach to ECP, in 1 hour!

As a leadup to the National Vertical Marathon 2012 that I have signed up for, I decided to challenge myself to cycle from Changi Beach to ECP within 1 hour (the route I took is shown here).

So I decided to start from Changi Beach and head towards ECP, and turn around and go back towards Changi Beach when I have cycled for about 1 hour. Turns out that in 1 hour, I was able to ride all the way to ECP, slightly past Marine Cove (where there used to be a McDonalds outlet) before I needed to turn around to go back to Changi Beach. So this meant I could cover 38 km in 2 hrs, making an average of 19 km/h. Hopefully I can cover this same distance in future at a much faster speed!

Overtime week!

Being a clerk is good, so they said.

Being able to stay out everyday is good, so they said.

These are the two common things that just about everyone says about my current position in the SAF now. But are they really that good?

"Being a clerk is good" - Good only in the physical sense as you don't get drained physically. But mentally you can get stressed like hell, especially when you have so many things to do ...

"Being able to stay out is good" - Good only when you stay close to the camp, otherwise the travel to and fro camp is equally hell ...

Anyway, I wanted to bring this out because over the past week, I have been working overtime for all 5 days! And the average was going home 1.5 hrs after official book out time, so it's fair to say working overtime isn't really the best way to use your time efficiently ...

Oh well, hopefully with this experience I don't OT like mad in my working life as an adult in the future :)

Induction

After 3 weeks in my current unit, I was more or less familiar with the unit. Still there is a need for a formal induction program, which pretty much covers the same ground as what my colleagues have told me about the unit since my stay here ...

Meanwhile, I have a lot to learn from my upper-study. Thank goodness there is 3 more months to absorb whatever knowledge he has garnered over his stay before he ORD, so it doesn't seem so bad ...

First public holiday in my NSF life!

Since I first enlisted in end-Jan, there was only 1 public holiday, which was Good Friday. But that day did not feel very special, since it was somewhere in my long 7-week Att C period.

Now that I'm back in action serving my 2 years, Labour Day is actually the first public holiday that I get to enjoy, since it's time away from SAF. And Vesak day is actually just round the corner, so this period of time does feel like a lull period, where there is little motivation in just 'chionging' all the work.

However, after Vesak Day, the next public holiday is National Day, almost 3 whole months away! That's nearly 3 months of no breaks from work (apart from weekends of course), which is such a contrast to school, whereby the longest period of schooling is about 10 weeks! While I may have 13 days of leave available for me to use, I do intend to use them only in Nov-Dec, where I have some activities planned for that period, like volunteering in StanChart Marathon Singapore 2012 and participating in Swissotel Vertical Marathon 2012.

Of course that is only possible if my BMT recourse does not fall within that period! Right now, there seems to be a few possibilities for my BMT recourse dates:

• BMT batch that POP on Oct 12
• BMT batch that POP on Jan 13
• BMT batch that POP on Apr 13
• BMT batch that POP on Jul 13
• BMT batch that POP on Oct 13

I'm hoping that my BMT recourse would be the batch that POP on Apr 13 or later, so that I can take part in the activities listed above ...

What's my posting?

Monday morning, I returned to Tekong, and reported back to my coy line. For the first time, I see a nearly deserted School 3 (only the PTP enlistees in S coy are still around), and there were new guys around the coy line. I waited awhile before I was brought to HQ BMTC to wait for my next posting. There I met another OOT-ed recruit like me, whose period of MC has also finished. So it was nice to chit chat with someone else in the office. Among the things we did were:

• Having canteen breaks (For the first time!)
• Shredding papers (Classified info ...)
• Sharpening pencils (until I damaged one of the sharpeners. Oops!)
• Going to the medical centre to endorse our MCs (only to find out my MC was endorsed the last time I made the visit to the medical centre...)

Tuesday morning, I returned to Tekong, and I was told that my posting has been confirmed, but the NSF clerks wouldn't tell me what it was until 2 hours from bookout (3 pm). And when I found out I was to be a storeman, i couldn't feel more relieved! (Thank god I'm not a medic!)

Wednesday morning, I made my way to my new unit, which was the HQ of a certain formation. Apparently there was a major event on that day, so I was roped in (together with 2 other newly posted in NSFs) to help out in the event.

Thursday morning, I returned to my new unit, only to be told that there is a chance that I may be posted out to one of the hubs. Then during an interview with the Manpower Officer, I mentioned that I would rather be posted out as a storeman than to remain as a clerk in the HQ (effectively, since no storeman is needed in the HQ). After the other 2 newly posted in NSFs were interviewed, we were then told of our posting. One of us (actually me) was supposed to stay in the HQ, but I requested not to stay in the HQ, so I was then given the alternative of posting out to another hub. Only to be told (as I left home) to come back to HQ the next day ...

Friday morning, I returned to my new unit, and met another one of the NSFs who also rather be posted out to the hubs than to stay in the HQ. I asked him if he also received the same call as I did the previous day, and yes he did. The admin officer then told us that HQ actually needed some extra manpower (to replace the guys who are ORDing), thus we had to stay. So what else can we do but to do this:

So now I'm (effectively) a clerk in this HQ. How would life be as a clerk? I don't know, only time will tell ...

And here come the end of my MC ...

Finally, after 7 long weeks of recovery and rehabilitation, my MC has come to an end. This means that I will have to resume the life of a NSF, one that was thrown aside when I fractured my toe. Frankly, having lived much of the past few weeks with a civilian mindset, I think I may find it a challenge to assimilate back into the military culture, where there is little freedom, much restriction, and the like. So in a sense, I would need to adjust my system back into the "NSF mindset" ...

Anyway, I would be going back to Tekong tomorrow morning to retrieve my next posting. I recalled that during my first week at home nursing my fractured toe, I was extremely worried about my future vocation (no medic for me, please!!!). However, as time went by, I found out that I wasn't so worried about my next vocation. Therefore, while I hope for the best, I am very much expecting the worst (read: medic), though I guess any vocation would be fine for me.

Oh well, I gotta go to bed soon; I need to catch the first bus to reach Tekong on time tomorrow morning!

So now's my block leave ...

Into the middle of my last week at home, I'm still pretty much living life as I did over the past few weeks: FB, 9gag, blogging and Sudoku puzzles. It would have been my block leave right now had everything went smoothly in BMT, but I guess it was not to be. I certainly hope that the company clerk don't take away 5 days of leave from my quota (of 13?), because I'm still on MC, otherwise I would be real mad!

Anyway, over the past few days, I have been trying to get my right feet used to the normal walking posture (whole foot down instead of just the heel). Right now, I'm walking around with my SAF-issued sandals (not bad, BTW), with the straps loosened as much as possible. Soon, I'm going to need to walk around wearing shoes and eventually boots as well. Hopefully, my right foot would be able to adjust well to wearing shoes as well as boots!

Tekong Day Trip #2

Yesterday night, I received a SMS from my PC, asking me to go back to Tekong the next morning to retrieve my belongings and sign some forms. Which meant that I had to wake up early this morning, something that does not happen very often nowadays.

And I left right in the middle of the morning rush hour. I realised it was a bad decision later on, when I was caught in massive traffic jams. Because I had not factored traffic jams in my travel plans, it meant that I would probably be late for the 1030 ferry from SFT. So at Pasir Ris, instead of waiting for service 89, I tried to hail for a taxi, but there were none, so I gave up and took the bus to SFT instead.

Therefore, I arrived at SFT 15 mins late. So no choice, got to take the ferry that departs 1 hour later instead (ie. wait for 45 mins). But before I got to wait for the ferry, I was tekkaned by the security trooper at the guard post. He was very niao, criticising my bearings, like my hair, facial hair, fingernails, etc. Hey, back at school, this kind of bearings was acceptable, OK? He was just too particular about my bearings, and wanted me to do something about it in Tekong, or else he'll book me when I leave SFT later. After he allowed me to move on, I thought, "I certainly can shave my facial hair, cut my nails, but what about my hair? How to find Tekong barber? Tekong barber got on-call service meh?"

While waiting for the ferry, I did some Sudoku puzzles, and also alerted my commanders that I didn't make it for the 1030 ferry ... and after quite some time, it was 1130 hrs, and I boarded the ferry, along with some other recruits/contractors. And of all kinds of shows to broadcast at that time, Channel 5 broadcasted some home shopping commercials. And of all kinds of products to promote, bras were being promoted. Therefore there were closeups of ... ahem ahem. So let's just say that this is how I felt:

When the ferry arrived at TFT, I went on a slow stroll back to P coy line, with a stranger who was going to PTMC. I guided him for most of the way, and when I reached P coy safety corner, I pointed him to a straight path leading to PTMC. Then I saw some platoon mates who were resting at the safety corner. I later found out that they were excused from the GP rehearsals, so they were just resting. And there I sat with the rest of the status people until the rest came back for (packed) lunch. Then I was told to pack all my stuff upstairs.

Finally, I went upstairs to pack my stuff (why couldn't this instruction be given earlier?). Then as I packed my belongings slowly (I needed to figure out how to pack my stuff in the most compact manner), my section mates came into the bunk, as they finished their lunch and it was their rest time now. When everyone came back from lunch, somebody commented, "It's been a while since everyone is here." Yeah, I thought, quite a while indeed.

Once I packed all my belongings, I returned the store items (my UMPC was gone already), and was ready to leave Tekong. Except that it was nearing 1400 hrs, which meant I would miss the ferry departing at that time. So I thought, might as well have my lunch first. Lucky there was an extra packet, so I took my time for lunch. As I had my lunch, the COS decided to get boxes of ice cream from the cookhouse, and then distributed them to the status people; apparently there was a surplus of ice cream as many people had packed lunch instead of going to the cookhouse for lunch. The COS even gave ice cream to the contractors that came to the coy line - LOL!

Then I asked the COS to issue me an off-pass. Since he was eating ice cream, he asked me to complete the off-pass on his behalf. So I essentially wrote my own off-pass - how cool is that?

Fast-forward a bit, and I was on the 1500 ferry out of Tekong. And when I reached the guard post of SFT, there was also another recruit that was apparently caught for hair length. Apparently, he was also an OOT personnel. So I told the security trooper (thank god it's a different fella!) that I also OOT from BMT, here to collect my stuff. Thank goodness he didn't book me; he merely told me to "screw off" from Tekong. Phew!

So that kinda marks the end of my second day trip into Tekong. And oh boy, time does flies - it's already 6 weeks into my MC, and my section/platoon mates will POP this coming weekend!

Scholarships, scholarships, scholarships

So as I have written on this blog, I do have a place in SUTD. What I can add is that I also have a SUTD scholarship (which has been recently confirmed). That's great, and I value the prestige of being a SUTD scholar. However, I was less than satisfied with the quantum of the scholarship. While it covers the tuition fees, absolutely nothing else was covered. No monthly/yearly allowance, no free hostel stay, laptop allowance, etc. This means that I cannot enjoy as much financial freedom as I could in my undergrad years. :(

The possible lack of financial freedom, coupled with the desire to "guarantee" myself of a job after I graduate, meant that I had to look for other scholarship providers. With my interest in transportation planning, it was kind of obvious which scholarship I would want to apply for: the LTA Undergraduate Scholarship.

So I completed and submitted the application about two weeks ago. Then yesterday evening, I received this email:

Here's what I thought of it:

Ok, just kidding - there's a strong hint that I can try again in future in the email. Phew!

But since I will need to recourse BMT in future, I'm hoping that I have time for a scholarship interview, this time next year (ie. I'm hoping that I'm allowed time off for scholarship interviews). Though I shouldn't sweat over that - that happens only next year!