i've decided to go reflective.
pre BMT:
lots of people telling me lots of different things. haha, like what to bring, what to expect and stuff like that. the worst kind of people are the people who tell you there's lots of shouting and it'll suck. i've decided to tell people (now that i'm out of there) that its loads of fun, if you look on the bright side of things.
for those who are going to go in, here are the list of things you should bring (thats not included in the list that SAF gives), for the first 2 weeks of camp:
black tape - like 4 rolls at least. you'll probably only use a couple for the first 2 weeks (if you share)
ziploc - to squeeze all your clothes and keep your stuff. probably not needed for the first 2 weeks but useful.
deodorant/febreeze spray - unless you like smelling smelly; you won't always have the time or mood to wash your clothes, so just a spray would do :)
extra PT shirt and shorts from army market - same reason as above, except that if you wash them, it might rain and your stuff wouldnt be dry :)
snake brand powder - it makes you feel good. esp after PT
johnson's OFF spray - cos your bed will have mites and shit.
wet tissue - to wipe your face if you have an oily one :)
ENO/cough mixture/yu yee oil/mosquito bite ointment - for the sicknesses that you might likely get. everyone gets tekong cough for sure, cos the water there is polluted man.
pictures of your babe and family - so that you dont get so homesick
first two weeks:
the first two weeks are the worst i feel. getting used to the regimentation sucks. the first couple of nights, i was asking myself what the heck am i doing here. and stuff like that. good thing though, is that my commanders spoke to us alot during the first 2 weeks 'admin time' (which is time where you get to do your own stuff). they're pretty good at making us feel better and stuff, telling jokes and all, even though things are less funny when you're in the army.
QT was fine, 430 every morning was something i looked forward to (kind of), the only thing that kept me ME.
first 2 weeks, the commanders arent allowed to make you do pumping and all that, to let you get used to the life there, but my coy was a bit different, we started in the 2nd week. one of the more memorable ones was 3sg dzul, after our route march.
during route marches, we are supposed to be close enough to the person in front of us to touch their field packs. we are supposed to be singing loud too. none of that happened.
so dzul was blowing his whistle (means to touch the person in front's field pack) a million times because we kept our own pace and didnt keep close. and at the end of the march, he got pissed, but he kinda bottled it in until it exploded all at once..
-nicely- "i know this is your first route march, and you guys dont keep close to each other, thats ok. and you guys never sing loud, its ok for your first route march... BUT ITS STILL FUCKED UP!!! #*^$&(^@!(#&)#(!)%*!&@#$)@"
and everyone got really freaking shocked.
book out:
GOSH i wish everyone would just shut up and stop saying 'so how is BMT?', even though they have good intentions when they say it. its miserable. i've always wanted shirts that say "i'm fine" or "i'm OK" or "everything is fine" or "i'm doing well, thanks". or like a chalkboard shirt that doesnt rub off so easily until you wash it.
but bookout is a great experience. for me, i was quite stoned, brainwashed by the SAF. couldnt really do much without being sad that i had to book in in a couple of days time. ansen's great advise, "the feeling sure will come, the trick is to delay it as long as possible, until you board the ferry", which is true, because it'll screw up your life if you dont delay the feeling.
wasnt much, cos we had to go army market to get stuff too. God bless my dad, he ferries me around, so i dont waste a million years. thankful for him, really.
bookin:
ugh.
the rest of the time:
passed pretty ok, 2nd bookin night, i got back the feeling of "why am i here?", but after that was fine. wasnt 'hell week' as prescribed by everyone else, cos we were already getting pumped for our mistakes. no difference for me actually.
by the 5-6th week, was pretty much settled in and stuff, but still dreaded bookins.
lots of screwups at the SAF terminal for the bookouts though, stupid bus service.
QT slowed down toward the end, and last 2 weeks didnt do much QT. not sure why, but waking in the morning was a dread.
shin injury:
just before national day! so i got 5 out of 9 weeks of BMT on status, cos i fractured my leg. its a stress fracture on my left fibula. still have it. God saw me through this time though, im really glad for that. got my appointment at CGH within 3 weeks, when others are still waiting for their appts :)
platoon relations:
im fine with my bunk people, though i realised through my bunk mates that i'm quite an impatient person, and quite intolerant of stupidity or slowness/blurness. something i should change.
im not too well liked in my platoon, which is interesting, since i dont have a problem like that in church. not that the church is very inclusive, but i seem to bond well with church people. in any case, im probably not well liked because i'm one of the naggers. 'eh hurry up lah, fall in already'. must have made me a prick ;)
enhanced vs PTP:
i was in the enhanced batch, versus the PTP (13 weeks cos they failed napfa) batch. theirs is more slack, so much more admin time, so much more rest and stuff.
but i think if we get posted to a xiong unit, the PTP people will be the ones complaining, because they're not used to the lack of time.
hmmm.
overall, SAF has much to improve in terms of efficiency.
did i say i love my girl? i do :)
