「 Eric Lim yawns... Saturday, July 29, 2006 」

Spent my wkend jumpin jumpin. Woke up oso tik abt my SBJ. Crazy rite? Haiz durin trnin oso let tis affect myself. The "so near yet so far" feelin realli sucks! Mon frkleg s usual. Tis time rnd my jumpin improve 2 230. Wah i was realli happy like bird. Got improve n 4 more cm 2 go. Tat day oso preparation for ops. Tis is the 1st time s a tankie got 2 pack fullpack n got 2 carry them run here run there wif carbine. After tat got 2 do prep 4 fire drill. Wah super confusin alot of commands got 2 rmb.

Tues mornin rain no live run. Crew drill again. Casualty evacuation drill plus fire extinguishin drill. Ha i bcome casualty alot of pple will like it s i veri light n easy 2 carry. Furthermore, i oso enjoy no need 2 do anithing n let pple carry. Haha. End of crew drill but got 2 do maintenance. Sian ji bua! Tat day oso received news tat the IPPT stn will b carried out @ 42 SAR instead of @ the stadium. So @ nite, i kiasu went 42SAR 2 try the SBJ there. Quite ok lar but still 230 liddat.

Wed mornin IPPT test. Heng 1st station is shuttle run. Veri easy 2 get 5 pts followed by sit-up oso 5 pts. Nxt SBJ. I start 2 tense up a bit n i did some tuck jumps wif mingze b4 my turn. Sadly my 1st 2 jump is beyond 225 but below 234... i decided 2 wait again 4 my turn 2 try. My coursemates keep encouragin me tat i can wan n motivatin me. Soon my turn again. Tis time worst warrant low was in front of the map n i tik he onli wan 2 c me jump 234. I step up den swing swing swing swing....jump. Upon landin i dare nt look @ the markin until my coursemates cheered 4 me. I turned n looked . Surprisinly i jumped beyond 234. I was like Yeah! machiam i win world cup. Super happy until i say out fuck lar! Heng the 3 warrants there nvr scold me. Tis is the 1st time i get gold since the 1st napfa test in pri sch lor. $200 tat i use on ROC trip + the gold badge tat i can sew on2 my uniforms. Realli got 2 thx some of my coursemates 4 teachin me the techniques n nvr fail 2 encourage me. Subsequently most of those in my course like me cannot jump wan oso jump until 234 n get gold eventually.

After tat chinup i happy n did until 19 den stop followed by the 2.4km. Wah i super high morale until i cleared the run @ 8.49. Another highlight of the day. I broke my 9 min record. Tat day i realli super happy. Until 2day, i oso veri happy. Ha my bunkmates say i realli like siao or kena possessed suddenly bcome so happy n keep smilin. In the afternoon despite doin maintenance, i oso super happy. The so far yet so near feelin is gone. A great relief. The best thing is s my cse of 22 pple got 15 pple got gold tat day, we had nites off. We went JP eat bento box 2 eat. I like spend $13 eat bento set which consists of soba fish n katsu n share pizza n pasta wif jason. Wah the pizza super cheesy super nice. After tat went coffeebean tok cock.

Thurs n fri we got 2 rehearse 4 ATI anniversary comissionary parade. My course get involved 2 march in the parade 4 ATI HQ. Bobian those pple in HQ got pes C, D, E, F cannot march so we got 2 take over. First time i did SAR21 arm drills n got 2 use sling wan. Bobian got 2 keep rehearsin under the hot sun the entire day 2 make it perfect 4 chief of army n chief of armour 2 inspect on Mon. Hence got free sun-tan n sun burn. Sian durin parade i can oso sustain injury. Durin omar senjata, when i was executin the drill, the foresight go zham my lower lips n den coz my inner lips 2 bleed. Super gao wei thruout the parade, i keep drinkin my own blood until the end.

Anw the parade shiok. @ the end of it, we all go mount vehicles 2 depart frm the parade sq instead of infantry, march out of parade sq. I went mount the bronco(the vehicle which looks like mrt). The 1st 1 put got aircon but we went in no 1 noe hw 2 switch on. Wah the carriage frm heaven bcome hell. We were like in sauna n the air in there like become less n less... Heng the 2nd time they change i end up sitin @ the front driver carriage. Haha super song. Got super strong fan. Wah 4 the parade i tik i onli look 4ward 2 the drive pass. Heard tat our POP parade will b somehw like tat. We will drive tank in2 parade sq, dismount do some drill in the sauna tank coverall den mount n drive out parade sq. But tat will hav 2 b in 2 mths plus.... But so fast abt 1 more mth 2 my ROC trip.

Sian nxt wkend i got live firing. Got 2 drive tank 2 range n bcome gunner 2 fire live explosive rnd @ dumb oil drums. Tat area is quite near 2 straits of johor. Hope tat day i wont kill any illegal immigrants hangin out tat area n dun fire the rnd 2 johor. Nxt wkend wont b goin hme hopefully got nites off 4 me 2 go jurong pt eat. Confine until national day eve nite den go hme. But 15 of us may kena guard duty on national day eve. Thus, i may end up goin hme on national day mornin den bk in national day nite... If i misfire @ the range, den i tik i wont b seein any1 4 1 mth liao.

Already 8 wks wif my coursemates. I muz hav 2 say tis is so far my best course. Realli bonded 2gether n super crappy. Ha got 2 press on 4 crew drills n single tank battle course n excel in our SOC. 1 more mth n we can drink bubble tea n eat fried peppered chicken steak 4 nite snack in taipei. Those goin uni enjoy ure sch. Orientation sure will b veri fun wan. Those cpl-to-be in sispec endure thru the 28k rd march but make sure u wear ure uniform properly or else confirm kena alot of abrasions. Sgts-to-be abt a few more wk u all will b sgt liao unlike me still got 2 more mths. Treat ure men n they will treat u well. Haha nt bad can ask pple 2 knock it dwn liao. Last but nt least, those officers-to-be, time may seem long 4 u all 2 commission but c'mon u all hav already been thru all the shits abt 4 more mths of trnin shld b nothing 2 u all ba. Rmb 2 reserve ticket 2 let me attend ure commissionary parade or dinner. Kk c u all soon ba!

「 Eric Lim yawns... Sunday, July 23, 2006 」

Tis wk can say is the ultimate PT wk. Normally 1,3 n 5 farkleg trnin den tues got live run thurs onli 5BX. Hweva tis wk mon n wed frkleg tues live run thurs IPPT trial test den fri live run plus ippt trngin. Tis wk farkleg ultimate 5 rnds @ 1 go plus circuit trngin. Wah i almost everyday got 2 apply deep heat rub on my legs. Thurs ippt trial test is the most dissapointin wan. Despite breakin my runnin record n maxin my chin-ups, my SBJ realli go dwnhill frm silver 225 2 pass 216. Mayb the history of sispec is happenin again... So depressin. 失败啊！

Bside the xiong part of mornin PT 4 the entire wk, the lesson wise is ok. Mon 2 thurs AGTS simulator game. Go there spend most of the time waitin 4 my turn n c the things n mistakes pple do inside simulator frm the observatory rm. Thurs got the evaluation test 4 AGTS 4 both day n nite shootin. Sian i got 83.66 n got Redcon 2A. 1.34 pts frm gettin Redcon 1. Thurs is realli a disappointin day 4 me. Ippt screw up bcoz of SBJ even my AGTS test oso screw up. Everything is like "so near yet so far".

Since so free in AGTS, we spend more time tokin cock oso. Super lame got 1 time tok until hw 2 stuff me in2 cupboard durin stand by area or fridge since i so short. Den got once they ask me wad type of ger i like. Haha I juz say those who bake pastry 4 me. Tat day super hungry keep tikin abt eatin pies n tarts esp egg tarts. WTH! They realli believe it lar. Nw keep kb me go confectionery shops n bakeries 2 find. Yesterday in PS saw 1 of them n his 1st words 2 me is: u come here 2 find ure pastry ger ar. Really ..... Ha my frens they all oso keep tokin abt their pets n their gfs laff until i got nothing 2 say. They ask me hw come until nw how come no gf s if tis type of things i can decide liddat. Aiya tis type of things 不是说我要就会有的.

Friday start of crew drill. Crew parade n mountin n dismountin the tank. Run up n dwn the tank until my whole coverall drenched wif sweat. The funny thing is such drills oso got test wan which we got 2 do it under some timin. Frm tis drills, muz say tat crew cooperation is the most impt. Went thru all the 3 roles- driver, gunner n cmmder. S usual cmmder multi-task like siao n got 2 giv cmmd. Tat day trnin suay i zham my small finger when closin driver hatch. Tis is dunno the number wad injury i sustained in tis course but heng all minor. My fren big size more suay everytime he jump in2 the tank confirm will hit something.

Fri i oso kena regimental guard duty. Suay i kena sentry stand @ the gate there wif SAR21. 1st shift frm 8-10 n 2nd frm 2-4. Sian stand there do nothing but can listen 2 radio. After my shift, can go back 2 guard rm 2 watch tv or slp in air con rm. Den 1 plus we order mac 2 eat. Wah the mcspicy burger realli morale booster eat alreadi super shiok. Sat mornin 9 plus den reach hme n slp coz tat nite i onli like slp 2 hrs.

Sian so fast bk in sunday again. Worst tis time bcoz of my sbj i got 2 bk in by 9pm.... Nxt wed ippt real test. Again SBJ. I hav trained 4 so mani wks liao n yet still liddat. Techniques or juz plainly my leg short? Juz let me 4 once get a gold. It is nt just abt the $200 n gold badge but it is abt achievin something tat i hav nvr done b4. Pls juz let me do it once do it gd n get over the "so near yet so far" feelin once n 4 all.

「 Eric Lim yawns... Sunday, July 16, 2006 」

Tis wk quite ok xcept 4 the mon, wed n fri farkleg trng. Mon main gun technical handling test. Everything was ok 4 me n my buddy, weisheng xcept 4 1 thing. We can strip the main gun fast but cant assemble fast n keep failin the timing. Heng after tryin a few times, we finally do it within the timin n get redcon 1.

Tues did maintenance of the turret. In tis course, i no need 2 apply camo cream liao hweva i got 2 deal wif grease. Once u r busy u juz dun care abt anithing n want 2 get things done asap so i heck care n juz dip my whole hand in2 the bucket of grease 2 get it in2 the grease gun. Tat day oso acc 4 ovm n heng tis time rnd i managed 2 recover some more items tat r lost.

Wed the start of AGTS. It is like goin arcade playin free simulation tank game wif cold air con. We learn hw 2 engage tgt n den fire @ tat tgt. The simulation realli super zai makes everything so realistic n the entire thing juz operates like a real tank. Haha AGTS lessons oso let us hav quite a no of canteen breaks. The best thing on wed is we got nite off. @ 7, we catered a bus outside our camp 2 JP. Wah tat day i spent 20 bucks in pizza hut 4 eatin 2 slices of pizza, a plate of pasta, 1 bwl of soup n 2 glasses of pepsi. Though the nite off is short, but it is still better than nothing. Havin 3hrs of civilian life nt tat bad after all.

Thurs another day of AGTS n tat is realli the 1st time i felt stressful s a tank cmmder inside the simulator. Multi-task like siao. U got 2 give driver 2 advance n ctrl CMG n hav a lookout 4 enemies. Den got 2 load weapon n ask gunner 2 get the range. @ 1st i realli fumbled. Tgt nt identified i go n say tgt unidentified. The sgt 1st response is u c UFOs ar! My frens in the ctrl rm upon hearin tat laff like siao until I in the simulator can oso hear.

Fri AGTS shoot @ movin tgt. Wah jialat the tgt move quite slowly i oso quite hard 2 hit. If real life, confirm veri jialat one. Tat day mornin finally rain @ the rite time n we tot no more farkleg. 2 our dismay, the warrant push AGTS 4ward n b4 bkout we got 2 farkleg. Tis wk farkleg 2x2km run until i realli breathless. Nw everyday got 2 do duckwalk 4 sbj. 4 my circuit trngin is always jump jump jump. Nw left wif 12 more days 2 the final ippt test. Gold=$200 + a prestigious badge. Nw i silver onli 100 bucks. 9 more cm....

Den yesterday went marina south 2 eat steamboat wif my classmates. Ha tis time i wise nvr go get 2 much fried rice. Anw the fried rice there still sucks. Other than tat everything still ok. B4 tat had a fun pool session esp the elimination game. Ha some of the gers complain dun wan 2 go back sch while 4 us guys, we realli envy them s they can go back 2 studyin. In camp, regimental n goes by bk which mean alot of xtras + confinements... In sch where got such things wan? After tat, took photos n went esplanade 2 c some funny performances b4 headin hme. Fun n enjoyable outin but 2 bad lao shi cant join us.

Nxt wk AGTS plus evaluation test n it marks the end of my course honeymoon period. After tat is crew drills n outfield where all hell break loose s quoted by the instructors n pple frm prev TCC batch. All the xtras n confinements will come in. Heng nxt wk i kena guard duty on fri den until sat mornin i can go hme liao. Nxt wk oso got ippt trial test. Hopefully i can get gold tis time rnd such tat i can no need 2 take another test. But i still dun tik miracle can happen ba!

「 Eric Lim yawns... Sunday, July 09, 2006 」

Yesterday after cuttin my hair went 2 bedok 2 meet wif alv n ning yuan 2 go east coast cyclin. Take 168 2 tamp n transfer train 2 meet them. Tat svc reminds me of my bmt days s i always take tat bus 2 tamp den take train 2 pasir ris. Ha i will nvr 4get the old man who took the same bus s me tat time n asked: boy u frm ncc ar?

Tokin abt tat, tat day @ bedok kena stopped by those bank pple. Ha my 1st time sia. Normally they look @ me they will tik tat i m a sec sch boy. Mayb 6mths of army change my ah boy look but nt the ht part. Haha. Keep persuadin abt me changin frm posb 2 citibank until i realli feel like sayin balls 2 u lar but last time i wrk in giordano oso like her keep tokin n tokin n i can c those customers realli wan 2 zham me.

Wah tat day east coast quite alot of pple. Muz b every1 stay there 2 watch the germany vs portugese diving team match ba. NY go n find melissa so alv n i oso zhi dong go cyclin ourselves. Super song the breeze n weather. I shld hav learnt cyclin early rather than last yr. Nvr hav i expected single cyclin 2 b so enjoyable than pple lom pang u in double bike.

After tat met up wif melissa n ny n took cab hme. Reached hme played winnin eleven hopin 2 get inspiration 4 nxt day match. Ha 2pid rite. End up playin until 3 plus without knowin. Den slp 4 3 plus hrs n rushed out 2 boon lay 2 meet my coursemates n take cab 2 boon lay sec sch

Upon reachin there the instructors 9 pple n tat referee can late somemore. Act the field is under spore sports council n when u bk it, u can include referee s a package. Nt bad got changin rm, toilet n shower faccilities. The best got auntie sell cold canned drink.

S usual i play RB. Our instructors start 1st. Upon startin sgt andy go chiong my flank sia lar. He pro sia run so fast stun me. Heng he nvr cross well. Ha i quite relax juz stay @ the lower half n wait 4 them. Lack of slp oso lazy 2 do overlappin run. @ least durin defense, got made some successful tackles n some blocked shots. 1st half we led by 3-1.

Soon their full squad arrived n we continued playin. Ha 2nd half i sub n let my fren play. Aiya 2nd half got quite a no of disputes but heng nvr result in a disastrous outcome. Left 10 min 2 go i go in n play left back n touched the ball a few more times. Den final whistle. We won 6-2. Quite happy wif my performance xcept 4 the throw ins. I took thrw in 4 times 4 times kena fouled by referee. The forth time i threw no whistle. But juz s it goin 2 reach my fren the ref blew his whistle foul throw. Realli ..... Muz realli practice throw in techniques liao.

Ha yesterday pay day got more than usual due 2 the back payment. Last mth spent 2 much on LAN, arcade n pool. Tis mth all the wkends tik i will b spendin on gym n swimmin pools. Long time nvr go gym liao tik my hand n pectoral shrink liao. Nxt sat shld b chiong gym, swim, den go 4 class dinner n after tat go overnite cyclin wif alv they all. Tentatively cycle 2 Changi village unless i can come up route 2 cycle 2 hougang frm east coast.

Later got 2 bk in liao. Sian rainin somemore. Of all days rain on 2day n dun rain on days which i had farkleg. Nxt wk gunnery again n mayb simulator centre. Hopefully hav a nite off on 1 of the days.

「 Eric Lim yawns... Friday, July 07, 2006 」

5th wk n less than 1/3 of the course gone. Nw my signal, infantry, engineers frens all goin 2 taiwan soon n den cme back 2 get sgt rank... Sian 2 more mths 2 taiwan 4 me. @ least the gd thing is nxt mth onwards i get my sgt pay.

Tis wk still gunnery package. Learn all the main gun stuff. S'pore quite smart use old tank but inside the equipments all quite recent n zai. Nw understand more abt the tank liao. Almost everyday mornin got run. Mon n wed farkleg tues 7km live run thurs 5bx plus run fri ippt trial test. Tis wk farkleg best liao. 3 x 1200m. Heng the 3 sets my timin nt bad.

Sian somemore nw got 1 warrant officer pressurizin me ask me 2 b role runnin model n muz get gold 4 ippt 4 others durin farkleg. The worst ask me chiong 4 best PT n fight wif the AI. Wah lao i noe myself veri well lar. Yes i can run n chin up but my jumpin can go fly kite confirm onli silver. I rather chiong 4 best knowledge in the course. Bcoz of him i super lua kui nw when tok abt frkleg my coursemates confirm laff @ me n tat warrant.

2day ippt trial. SBJ 225 silver. 9 more cm 2 gold. 3 mre wks 2 final ippt test. The most sian thing is nt i get silver but is tis. 2day i was 2nd 4 2.4km nt 1st so i thought he wld choose the 1st 2 b his new role model n best PT everythin will b over 4 me. Nvr did i xpect him 2 say tis: Hsien Yao n Eric gd timin continue frkleg more ure timin confirm veri gd 2 b best PT. Den my coursemates laff @ me again. nw i welfare ic plus tank ovm ic if got frkleg ic i confirm kena...

Tis wk nite oso got alot of free time. Bside tokin cock n eatin, i sort of come up with things 2 do. The most impt will b applyin NIE scholarship nxt yr. When pple hear tat i wan 2 b a teacher, they confirm laff until there is no 2ml. I oso bobian. My bro ORD a few mths earlier than me if he wans go uni confirm go in same time s me. Although he says he dun wan 2 go uni, can c tat he wans 2 go wan. Bcoz my fam nt very well-off, thus he decides 2 let me go uni. So hopefully wif tis scholarship, he can go uni wif me s well.

@ the same time, my army scholarship gone case liao so time 2 get another scholarship. Tat time tok wif mr Lim JL abt my situation he oso encourages me 2 try 4 NIE scholarship. Nw in army goin 2 b sgt soon n will b takin n teachin men. Mayb i can treat tis s a preparation 4 teachin ba. Ha but in sch, cant ask student 2 knock it dwn or sign xtra n confinements n the most jialat thing 4 me is no vulgarities. After army muz realli cleanse my mouth.

Hopefully i can b PE+chem teacher ba. Heard frm my fren who successfully applied n got a PE teacher job tat if ure cca record is gd high chance of u becomin a PE teacher n the basic req is noe 2 play 3 sports. Ha gym bball soccer. If get it, i can byebye env eng but got 2 take further chem n some sport sci subj in uni. After tat 4 yrs s teacher shld b gd bside gettin pissed by students n gettin mocked abt my height. Nw got 2 check wif mr lim when can apply again.

Sun got soccer match early mornin @ boon lay sec wif our tank instructors. Tis time better got referee n tat costs $160. Heng we share. Wif all the various soccer players in our squad hopefully can win ba.

「 Eric Lim yawns... Sunday, July 02, 2006 」

Veri fast 6 mths in army liao. Frm bmt 2 sispec nw 2 ATI, really get 2 noe alot of frens. N thru stress n diff situation i oso get 2 c other pple's true colour n mine s well. Quite amazed by hw some pple can realli b like.

4 me, sometimes i can cope well n wrk wif it. Sometimes, durin stress, i just let my temper get ahead of me n always end up being apologetic 4 nt toleratin.

6 mths my hokkien improves quite a bit but @ the xpense of my chi n eng. Hweva both my eng n chi still can make it. Vulgarities needless 2 say go super high esp in camp. All the colourful words nvr fail 2 come out frm my mouth in camp. Hopefully out of camp i will use less of them ba.

Multi-taskin plus decisive is a requirement 4 tank commander. Ha up till nw dun tik i m up 2 std yet. Always anything or s usual. All the "what if". Cant help myself n always end up tikin 2 much. Who noes after tis course, i may bcome a decisive commander in army but in my personal life, i fail 2 make impt decision 4 myself juz like now.

In some aspects i can do well n xcel while 4 some, i juz get stucked. Wan 2 do something abt it but end up dunno y nvr do anything or dunno wad 2 do. Dun wan 2 screw things up but always end screwin things up. All the self-reflection i hav n resolution i come up i nvr apply in2 my life...

Let history repeat itself again? Haiz when will i ever wake up? Or i juz continue runnin away frm it n 埋头苦干 in army everything juz happy go lucky.