Anyway, I did a search and FEP is Flight Experience Program for short. Basically it’s a temp vocation for recuits who signed up for pilot and wso(ftr). And during this 3 months, the trainees would go for compass test, medical examination and interview. I guess they just want us to be on a standby for any test, medical checkups and followups. Like me, I already have a medical reassessment scheduled on 18th of Jan. I heard the vocation is pretty boring. Mainly doing admin work and if there’s nothing to do, the trainees just stone there. There will also be occasional excursions to air force museum and to air bases etc. omg. I think my fitness confirm cui already la. I will grow fat and white. Trained so hard for OCS in BMT and they post me to be a clerk, a gold member clerk somemore.

I need to go gym or swim soon!



On 8th of January, I have officially been “PRIVATE-ised” at the Marina Floating Platform after a long wait of 17 weeks in Tekong. That moment when I felt a sense of achievement as I tossed my cap into the air was ‘tasty’!! I don’t really know if it’s a good or bad thing to finally not be a recruit anymore since our OC had been telling us that recuits are the King of Tekong and we are protected and free of regimental duties and such.  Ok, that might be over-thinking it a lil too much since everyone has been anticipating this day for a very long time, especially us from 04/10 Eagle Coy batch! When others only have 9 weeks, we have 17!! Well, I guess it’s only natural that we always look forward to the next chapter installed for us, getting to POP and ending a phase of our NS life is definitely something to congratulate for since we have transformed from civilians to trained soldiers. We are moving on! and that means being closer to the 2 year mark for most of us.

I wouldn’t say that 17 weeks of training have been all that bad since I got a lot in return as well. I got to know my section/platoon mates, my fitness improved by so much, and i definitely got to realise to cherish my family so much more. Now that all of us have passed out from BMTC, gone are the times when we joked, laughed, gossiped and had fun in our bunks, going through the trainings together, sleeping together and doing basically everything together!

As I was marching out to the platform on Saturday, moments of my 4 months in BMTC were scrolling through my head. That was when I realised it really hit me that it has finally came to an end and things would change. Even though we are from the leadership batch, all the other 17 coys that POP-ed also looked like leadership batches as well! (ok la, other than hawk and ninja coys). So basically, our chances of meeting each other in command schools would lesser already unlike other batches when there were fewer coys graduating and ended up having the majority of the platoon going to SCS.

Anyway, I am not sure yet if I am looking forward to the days ahead since I will be posted to either OCS or SCS, and that means more outfields ,route marches and all those infantry stuffs that they can possibly throw at me! I would be glad if airforce accepts me now but I know the application process takes forever so I wouldn’t be too optimistic. IF all goes wells, I have decided to sign on as a WSO(FTR) if I manage to pass all the test and get offered a contract. That is like a 10 year bond but I am willing to take a risk. That is the closest thing to flying an aircraft since I already wished my pilot carrer in the airforce goodbye as I have sadly failed my pilot section of the COMPASS test. If I don’t do it now, I wouldn’t know when I would get to do it ever again. After my degree? But that would be in 4 years time and that’s pretty long! If my application to the airforce fails, then yes, I would just have to suck my thumb, go through infantry training, ORD, back to studies, get my degree and apply to SIA. If that fails, omg, then back to the lab for me.

For now, I am going to enjoy my block leave and wait for my posting!

I will miss my Eagle 04/10 P4S2 mates.

Shell scrapes, leopard crawls and no bathing come straight to mind when field camp is mentioned. However, thanks to the over-the-top, expecting-the-unexpected imagination of mine, the actual experience turned out not to be as hellish as I thought it would be. It was great that way since the main aim of the field camp was not only to let us have a feel of what outfield was like, it was also to teach us the basic skills needed for a soldier to survive and fight out in the jungle and in urban areas.

My first day of field camp was one of the more draining days due to the long route march to our first camp site. I had no idea how but I think I barely made through the march with the much heavier field pack. Upon reaching, we had to build up our basha tents in neat alignment. I guess I haven’t really conditioned myself to the camo cream, ILBV, helmet and rifle being on me yet so I was suffering. The helmet gave me a splitting headache, the ILBV was trapping my body heat and the rifle was constantly getting in my way. We fired our first blanks during the urban ops trainings, much akin to the very familiar Counter-strike we have been playing! The unique experience was in the night when the darkness half-blinded us and our whole platoon, stripped to our underwear had our first powder bath open in the jungle. It was very…aboriginal-like I would say. Somehow, the powder bath made me feel clean.

Thankfully, as days passed the camo, helmet and ILBV weren’t much of a problem anymore. We had a turn-out at 3.30am on out second night, the night when I did my guard duty as a prowler. I was totally out of sorts after being awoken by loud firings and people shouting ‘Arty arty!!’ Bright lights were blasted in front of our faces and the whole camp area was filled with smoke. We had to tear down the basha and fall in with everything on within 10 minutes, I couldn’t remember. The worse part was when we had to do push ups and high kneel with our field packs on! That’s like almost an extra 20kg on me. After everything, we treaded in the dark, our first tactical night movement, to our next camp site.

We had one horrible day of digging our shell scrape. I never knew it would be that tiring and demoralizing just by digging a hole! The hardest part wasn’t the striking of the tool but the bending and the pulling of the soil. I seriously need to improve since I took around 6 hours to complete digging the hole to the correct shape and structure when the standard timing was 45mins. There were even moments, that with the extra push I would have given up. But then, I had to carry on knowing that my buddies were all going through the same thing as well. I guess I would be dead if I were in a real war. If an enemy were to approach I wouldn’t have the energy to fight back after the wasting my energy digging. That’s the first night we slept in our shell scrapes and the night we had our almost-first encounter with a wild boar. We, a bunch of modern, urbanized boys, just froze when we heard snorting and rummaging sounds constantly circling our area, some of us even cuddled together! We were night-blinded and could only see the faint silhouette moving around.  Luckily for us, the wild boar went away soon after.

On the second last day, our commanders simulated a mini mission for us. We were under enemy fire and had to cross the danger zone. I have done leopard crawling on grass before and it was pretty easy. But leopard crawling on a ground with hard small rocks followed by wet mud was an entirely different experience. Somehow due to the intense pain on the elbows, I got tired really quickly. Having reached the end point, we had to do casualty evacuations as well. Thankfully, everyone helped out just to make sure we could finish the mission quickly.

Throughout the 6 days, there were many sides shown from the platoon, some heartwarming yet some disappointing. Some people started to get selfish when only had their own personal well-being in mind while others made the extra effort to overcome their own body exhaustion, moving that extra step to help others in need or even to simply volunteer when assistance was required. I myself tried to make an effort whenever possible as there were a few inspiring ones which motivated and made me realize that even just by sacrificing a little, others could gain so much more.

Cuts, bruises, blisters and heat rashes were something everyone had to endure throughout the 6 days of outfield due to the many hours of walking, proning and high kneeling on different kinds of terrain, sometimes even on rocks! Exhaustion also crippled my body due to the lack of sleep from late night sentry duties and even early morning turnout, not to mention uncomfortable sleeping positions and needing to hug my rifle to sleep. I didn’t bathe for 6 days straight and slept in the same muddy clothes worn during trainings. But who said living in the jungle would be hygienic. Being dirty is part of being outfield and I have lived through one outfield, with many more to come.

KPOP NIGHT CONCERT 2010

Don’t mind my face. But yes! I’m gonna see SNSD for my first time, live! Can’t believe I even went to buy the Category 1 ticket. and even managed to get it!! woohoo. and getting the ticket was by no way near easy. The massive number of fans, that huge crowd, the number of hardcore fans queueing up, the dysfunctional management..made getting this ticket pretty hard. When hope was all so bleak as we were at the back end of the crazily long queue for the ticket, our luck changed for the better! haha. (thanks to the unpreparedness of the organising committee) Kinda felt sorry for those extreme fans that queued way earlier than us and got crappier seats. They were really really mad. I even wonder if all the tickets could be sold out…hmm.

I better be booked out on 23rd October!

Then today, I question myself. Why the huge greed for money?! Financial stability? To achieve my dreams and not being held back due to the lack of cash? Not having to worry about money matter in the future? I guess it all of those. And in my life, it’s because of financial constraints that I had to compromise myself against certain issues. I couldn’t do what others can because I lack money. I don’t want to say, ‘I don’t have enough money’ anymore. In my future, I do not want to be like those people desperately working hard everyday just for that paycheck to pay for their bills and loans. They kinda live to work for money.

And I just had a mini discussion with xy the other day if I should switch to learning accounts too since she’s intending to do it as well! another headache. what about my bioengineering???? no huge careers advancement options. stuck in lab. but interesting field to be in, to a certain extent.

Alrighty! Signing off. oh yea, tomorrow i’m going to attend a seminar/workshop by dennis ng for free on Path to Financial Freedom! I found out he usually charge by the thousands for such workshops. I rather grab the chance now to increase my financial knowledge.

Probably because I could never relive those moments ever again, I particularly missed those days in Brisbane with Sacha, Nicholas and the other bunch of friends, despite all the drama-mama, it was still extremely memorable for me. It has been 1 year and a half and I could even remember those smaller insignificant events! I could have never experience all these if I were in Singapore then.

I would be studying bioengineering in the near future. Maybe I would further my studies in IHBI in Queensland back at the same lab!

That’s why I shall continue blogging! Not only for you friends out there but for myself as well! =)

So, to help me get started on my financial plan, I started to read up on personal finance and have been searching online to know more about stocks, bonds, mutual funds etc.

Seriously, there are so much of these out there and really confusing. I don’t even know where to get started. Plus, the ones that I have been reading, I am only able to understand 50% of the information. These are really deep. I guess these are for the professional investors to know. For those amateur investor-to-be, like me, I think I should be fine to just know what I am doing.

And I just read somewhere that for you to have a million dollars by the time you are 60, and supposedly you start investing at 25 with a annual return rate of 9%, you only have to save $340 a month.

Ok, so now I just have to source for an investment that gives me like 9% return rate and I can die a millionaire without being a businessman myself! what’s more, not all businessmen are millionaires. HA!

I am generally a rather shy person, and having to sell is probably one of the scariest experience that can happen to me. I struggled with it everyday, the fear of picking up that phone and start communicating, selling and facing rejections. I experienced having my mind going blank mid-conversation and stumbling over words. But having looked back, it was an extremely great learning scope for me. Unfortunately, I was looking too much at the short term prospect and the peanuts I’m earning to realised what I was gaining was rather priceless. The skill of communication.

I seriously hated rejections. I’m sure everyone of us dislike being rejected. I am not sure why, but the feeling of being rejected was really bad and I would constantly ask myself why am I being rejected. I go out there in the sincerest way, doing my job and get smacked back in the face. I feared rejections. But it placed me back in scope. i re-analysed myself and starting to sell in different approaches. It made me think in more than one ways.

To be able to communicate, negotiate and handle rejections better, life would have been so much better. I could be the brightest, smartest and most hardworking student in my cohort but, if  I am unable to communicate well and sell when I’m out working, I’m still back to earning peanuts.

Now I wished I could have worked a little longer, to learn  to improve my selling capability and understand marketing more; skills that were ever so rusty and foreign to me. Seriously, I think these skills are extremely useful and can be applied to every part of life since you can sell an object or even an idea to someone else. Especially since I aim to be wealthy, financially stable, independent and all some day, I have to be able to sell! The best sellers around closes the deal with you even without you knowing!

I think I would work in sales for a while to overcome my fear of rejection and sharpen that weak communication skill of mine. T.T

On a side note, without doing any research, I just muddle-headedly agreed to sign up an investment-linked insurance policy without understanding what it really is! omg. Yea, I could have just taken up a financial saving plan with a bank and save up on the insurance and policy charges. But oh well, at least if I *touchwood* happen to accidentally die, there is still money for my parents!

Anyway, I guess I am en route to building up my financial portfolio to become one of the wealthiest in…punggol. LOL. seriously I might start investing in stocks once I saved up enough and proceed on to real estate investment! Guess I have to learn to study the market. and maybe take up accounting modules in uni. WAHAHAHA. Maybe one day, I might not even work but still have a constant monthy cash flow  into my pockets. That’s what I call being wealthy and financially independent.

GOOD LUCK TO ME! nah, I shall create my own luck! (lol, confident only…)