Tekong Tips/ DB trainings / B&J!

Hey there,
i'm not sure how's your NS preparation is coming along, so I
came out with a list of stuff you might wanna bring with you when you enlist on
your first day, this is from my personal experience lah, so might not be
comprehensive!

Things to bring
1. Coins -
this one is quite impt because there will be vending machines around the company
so you might wanna buy drinks say after your run or during your admin time. Just
bring lots of spare change and you will be safe!

2. Alarm
Clock - Normally the first person who wakes up will wake the other
guys up in the bunk. But if your bunk mates are fucked up, there won't even
borther calling you. So bring a clock so you can wake up on your own.

3. Stationary - Bring a pen, pencil, ruler,
eraser, notebook, scotchtape with you. You will be shocked at the amount of
stuff you need to fill in during the first week! And you will thank me for
telling you this as in the army, every damn thing also have ... expect
stationary. You can write how much you miss me in your journal too =)

4. Cash - First day your haircut would cost $2,
but I cut before I went in lah. If you want to cut before you go in like me,
make sure you cut it flat and round and not with any style.

5. Clothes - Bring your sleeping clothes! Like
t-shirt and boxers so that you can wear them to sleep or during admin time in
your bunk. I forgot about this during my enlistment.

6.
Clothes hanger & pegs - Bring like 20,30 pegs and about 10
hangers. Make sure you label all your stuff like amin t-shirt, shorts, undies
coz when you hang it out to dry together, it will ALWAYS get mixed up.

7. Snacks - Also super, duper impt. It will make
your first two weeks in tekong more bearable and also make you a very popular
person in bunk. Popular snacks are Oreos, crackers and Ribena (really, this one
must buy one big bottle that kind). Sweets are also very impt because you will
100%, confirm plus chop sleep during lectures.

8. HP &
spare batt - Obviously, bring a NON-camera HP. But actually first
two weeks can bring camera phone ... just pretend you don't know! And BMTC is
very anal about charging of HP, so you can't bring charger ... so buy a spare
batt or something.

9. Lock and Key - You need a
lock to lock your cupboard. Very impt coz you will be keeping your rifle in it.
And pls buy a lock with KEYS so that you can give your buddy one. You might also
wanna buy another spare lock for the shoe cupboard. Yes, you have two cupboards.
(p.s although SAF will issue a no. combination lock, some sgt will ask you to
use the key lock as it is much easier to open.)

10. MP3
player - There is actually no clear rules on MP3 players but I'm
guessing you can't bring your MuVo because it is also a thumbdrive right? So you
can bring a Discman or radio with you or buy a cheap MP3 player (like say .. the
ZEN Stone (1GB - $69). Musical instruments are also allowed like guitar ... you
can also bring a piano if you can carry all the way in.

11.
Specs - Bring your specs if you're short sighted. If you want you
may also buy the specs band or hook so that it won't fall out when you run. BMTC
will subsidise you like $20 when you make a new specs for army.

12. Toiletries - please don't go and buy those
travel size bottle shampoo and shower form. Buy those big ones because keep in
mind you are going to be using it for 3 months! Wet tissue is also extremely
impt when you go out field and camo on. It can really wipe all the camo off at
ultra fast speed! Now, there's even mosquitoe repellant wet wipes!

13. Detergent - Bring washing powder. Because
you surely will be washing your own clothes in camp. Unless you wanna drag your
whole bag of dirty clothes back home and let your maid wash. Not say cannot lah,
but very heavy you know?

14. Ziploc bags - Buy
small, medium and large ones. Beach Road sell them in 5s. The small one you can
put your handphone in it, the medium on can put your notebook n pen (must carry
it everywhere) and the large one can use to put dirty clothings.

15. Anti-bacterial Spray - In tekong, it's not
usual for people to fall sick one by one. Some people say its the water, some
people say its the air. And if you're like me, who is damn anal about germs and
stuff, the spray will save your life! Spray it around the bunk during area
cleaning or as and when you feel like it. No one knows how effective that is but
you know, it makes you feel better!

16.
Books/magazines/bible - During my whole BMT period, I think I
bought like 348,987 copies of magazines. Bring reading materials will really
make you feel that the time pass faster. And the bible is obviously also very
important.

Lastly, of course to bring your IC and ALL the documents you
receive about the enlistment like pes status. You can also prepare your
educational transcript before hand as you will need it eventually. That's all I
can think of for now, if i can rmb anything else that is impt i will sms you or
somethings!

Love,
______

thanks :) you made it sound like a camp that i SHOULD be able to enjoy (with a
bit of physical torture and moral degradation) but still. thanks a lot. cleared
up a lot of question marks above my head.

********
*activate dragonboat lingo*

finally, my thighs ached after sunday's training, which means, i'm finally doing butts-up technique which is great, coz i use less bicep power, but i DO DESPERATELY need to pull my paddle back a wee bit more to my waist line, i'm not catching enough water.

*de-activate dragonboat lingo*

afterwhich, the team decided to head down to Marina Sq's subway for lunch (in between, i rushed back to Tresa's car to retrieve my almost-omg-lost-Crumpler Red Wallet)

and of course, conversations were mainly about the army, thanks to the duudes morgan, alaric, daryl, derrick who gave me advice and tips left right centre (god i pray that i dont' get into some specific companies).

after which, Alaric, Mabel, Weiyin & I decided to be the kiasu curious Singaporeans we are and take a gander at the IT show at Suntec.

which was (@*$!&=(@*%-ing crowded. gawd, i could suffocate after 45 mins, i really don't know how i pulled through eitherway.

ANYWAY. i've finally bought an MP3 player.

nopes it ain't Apple Ipod
nopes it ain't Creative Zen/Microphoto/Vision M

it's a SAMSUNG. K5 4GB :) the one with the big ass slider speakerphone. (: photos up soon after i charge it.

Alaric bought another mp3/mp4 player. just as cool! pity mine can't play video, but aiya, i dun really need that function.. prefer people-watching.

self personal achievement of the day: managed to squeeze out extra cash vouchers AND mp3 cases for Al & I. *kawaii sign* victory! i just love haggling, being abit kee-arh-soo at times, but hey, if it benefits me and everyone else. go fer it!

thanks to the 2 jies who were so patient walking around with us. retreated for bubble tea before heading home.

crowded day? yeah
tiring? yeah
happy? very :)

okay. no countdowns to enlistment. but so many things to do this week, i can't wait! birthday parties, meetups with polymates, lessons, mahjong, clubbing, zomg so many things to do so little time.

its just you and your hand tonight

PS: for all you B&J fans out there. lookie here! so many OTHER flavours unavailable in Singapore. "everything but the.." and the "The Gobfather" sounds interesting.

looking at that photo just makes me murmur to myself fei-si-ni-le. mental calories. hur.