9th November 2005. I guess one great thing about this exercise would be that it made me think about the people around my lives who have made an impact on my life and the people whom I can really call friends because of the things that they do for me especially when I am down and out. packing crates was another screwed up affair. I am only about 54kg. That's really scrawny for a guy my height. I am therefore resolved to gaining weight and hitting the gym soon. Note the word soon. Imagine two guys of that weight carrying crates which weighed twice our combined weight. My back hurt like it never hurt before. I pressed on. Why was it a screwed up affair. Well, air freight crates was supposed to be packed on the third day of packing. However, the management suddenly changed their minds again and decided otherwise. Not knowing, a group of us went for our bathe and then proceeded to the canteen where I spent money at the canteen for the very first time after 14 long days of abstinence and then went to sleep. Amazed? Don't be. I just did not had time to walk 200 metres to the canteen and plant myself there unlike... the specialists. Furthermore, I slept for less than 4 hours two nights ago, 1 hour the last night plus it was already confirmed that packing would end early tonight. Who would not proceed to bed? Anyway, I got a +2 meaning that on one of the Fridays, I would be booking out at 7pm instead of 5pm but that's okay I think. But, I was damn pissed off that I kept to myself for one whole day. I had to. I didn't want to do stupid things out of mere anger. 24th November 2005. Left camp. Finally. ---end of part one---
One day after I finally turned 19, I flew off to Australia as the main body for Exercise Wallaby. For the next 16 days, I would be spending my time there as a system administrator. However, anyone in the right frame of mind would definitely know that I would have to do more than what I am expected to do.
Rockhampton town is a small town with very few places for entertainment. There is only one major shopping mall, one major cinema and the list goes on. Late night entertainment would be strip club not clubs but club.
Anyway, I arrived stunned and appalled by the living conditions there. Temperatures escalated to 30 over degrees Celsius in the morning but hovered around 13 to 15 degrees Celsius at night. Yet I simply loved the night.
We slept
in tents grudgingly set up by the Australians and slept on safari beds.
The picture on your right would be the kind of bed I slept on. The bed with all that mess thrown on belongs to my fellow camp mate, Jeremy. He is one messy person. I came back from my 7 days out field only to be welcomed by his soiled and dirty clothes thrown all over my duffel bag. Such an inconsiderate person. I think I helped him arrange things 6 times.
Perhaps that is what you get when you sleep beside a neat freak. I hate things to be out of place. I like some kind of neatness when it comes to my stuff simply because it makes finding things a lot more easier.
My first bath was quite an experience. I couldn't take any pictures due to sensitivity issues. The toilet cubicles were great. They came with doors and toilet paper. The sink for washing came with taps. That was no issue. However, when it came to showering, I had to bring a pail to the tap which states cold and hot water but there never was hot water in the first place, and fill the pail up then transfer the icy cold water into a water bag before hoisting it up and over a bar and finally tying it to a hook. Being a clean freak, I took 3 pails of water and that was considered a little too much already. Every night, it was a bunch of naked men showering with each other, taking turns to hoist their water bags up and down to bath and refill their water. The sight was unfathomable. Of course there were exception to this rule. Some people, particularly the bengs would just plant themselves under the tap and scrub themselves while cursing and hurling vulgarities at each other, which I am guessing could most probably due to the cold water.
I went out field from the 15 of November and only returned back to camp on the 21st. I had a hell of an experience there. My line of work in the army will see me dealing with commanders, particularly captains, majors, colonels and so on. This exercise has opened my eyes and taught me the true essence of what chain of command really is. More than half the time I spent out field, these commanders hardly did any form of planning. They simply sat down and argued over minute details like standardising the projectors, aligning the projector screen, tidying up the cables etc. There were more bothered by the aesthetics rather than the main objective of the exercise. All of them inside were trying to please every whim and cry of the person in-charge, Dy COA [Chief of Armour] What a pathetic excuse for an overseas large-scale or biggest exercise as what the Straits Times reported.
That's me and my Platoon Commander. I call him toot toot. He always love to cheer people up. He understands the kind of torment and sh*t I have to do when I was outfield. He really brightened up my day. He is a very nice person and takes great care of his men. In fact, he always likes to talk to me...
