Thursday, December 24, 2015

My first week of having a platoon (?)

Hey hey, before I start, I must apologize for any incoherent sentences in my previous blog post. Wasn't in a really clear frame of mind when I was blogging. So anyway back to topic. The day has finally came for me to take charge of men. And by men, I meant men from all walks of life. To say I am taking a platoon would yet would not be apt for my platoon consists of 89 troopers, which by conventional standard, is a company plus size hence the question mark.

Being an officer isn't about the rank nor the greetings you get simply because troopers see you with the bar; it's about handling responsibility when it comes, balancing the fine line between discipline and safety, knowing when to push their limits so on and so forth. I must say I am both excited yet nervous for this course. Maybe I'm not ready, maybe I am but I know I will put in my best. Many excellent officers who commissioned way before me share a common advice - learning how to be an officer is On Job Training (OJT), meaning to say we will definitely make mistakes and it's ultimately how we overcome them that makes us true blue green officers. <--PUNNY THERE!

Having conducted quite a few sessions of PT, I am about to conduct a high key exercise in a few weeks' time. I may not be the most experienced, nor the most confident, but I am definitely the most prepared. May I achieve a good conduct~

P.S. if any of my troopers seriously stalked me and happened to read this, hmm hello?

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Books

Reading has always been a favourite pastime for me, although I have not touched books for a long while after I entered OCS. Good news is I have started reading books again since a month ago, henceforth ending the 9 month's drought of knowledge.

The Enemy series by Charlie Higson, Ender's Game series by Orson Scott... so on (I'm still reading this month's Forbes Asia which is tediously long)

One thing I love about reading is that I can do it anytime anywhere even in the toilet. And the magical thing is I can unknowingly read for hours in a sitting, imagining as the characters come to life in front of my eyes.

Surreal - that's what I feel. Books can get you to places you can only dream of; in opening your eyes to the book, you are closing our eyes to the outside world. Every page you flip tenderly, every chapter you incessantly pursue, every book you devour... I simply enjoy it.

Perhaps you do not understand the joy of reading as I do; not anyone enjoys the same passion for books as I do. But I believe one day you would, either as you stand along the sidelines of the train carriage sticking your nose into a book or as you sit in a rocking chair with reading glasses reading a light novel. Then will you share the same joy as I do.

On a side note, I do have an ask.fm account now for you readers to ask away HERE!

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Virgin marathon experience

Well hello there guys and gals! It's been quite a while since my previous post so oops, sorry there... Quite a long list of events lined up for me the following quarter so you can look forward to another post, just that it wouldn't be anytime soon.

I have always imagined myself doing a marathon, because for one, I like having bragging rights and two, I wanted to break my limits. The opportunity arose when I met my Sergeant Major and MSG Chan who were avid runners and they were sharing their running experiences. Intrigued, I joined in the conversation and somehow got persuaded to sign up for Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) 42.195km. THe first thought that got to me was "oh shit, how do I accomplish the feat?" But that thought soon got displaced by another matters at hand and time slowly went by with the marathon being the last of things on my mind.

It wasn't till November that the sinking reality of my marathon struck me. Hence my training begins. On top of my weekly workouts, I run at least 5km per run, clocking up to 12km every week. As the weeks went past, I gradually increased the distance to get my legs acclimatized to the soreness of long-distance running. 5km became 12km, 12km became 22km, and the penultimate week I clocked 32km. Due credit has to be given to my close friend cum training partner, Qi Xun who also happens to live 2 storeys above me. He has been training with me almost every week and I'm really glad to have such motivation when running. On a side note, happy birthday once again bro! Stay strong and fit!

6 December dawned like literally at dawn. I started the marathon at 5.15am, somehow managing to spot Yue Min at the start line. Holy cow, such stroke of luck. The first 6km was hell for me, as I stupidly drank milk the night before and caused me to have bad diarrhoea. Every step I took was accompanied by periodic shivers and goosebumps, my butt clamped tight for fear of being accidentally disgracing myself shitting my pants :P Luckily, it slowly eased off as I continued running. At my 26km mark, it was when my muscles started twitching, a sign of cramps to come. I shook off the notion and continued running. 30km - I had my first muscle rub on my thighs which cramped up. Wow, the relief came almost instantly and I pushed myself to continue running, albeit slow but steadily putting one leg before the other. 35km onwards was hell all over, with me just repeating the same process... Cramp, muscle rub, walk, stretch, run. This carried on to 39km where the 5hours 30 mins pacers raced past me, cheering fellow runners on and shouting not to give up now. Spurred by these, I grit my teeth and pressed on. Passed by Esplanade, saw Henderson bridge, ran past Fullerton Hotel and finally the finishing mark was within sight. I sped up as the finishing mark gradually rushed towards me and YES! I'VE DONE IT! 42.195km!


Ta da~ xD

EDIT: I SOMEHOW GOT NIPPLE ABRASION!