Fortes Fortuna Iuvat : Fortune Favours The Brave
We hopped on the new monorail from VivoCity to get across to that island across, Sentosa! We've been wanting to enjoy a day out at Sentosa but we always somehow put it off. And eversince I rode the Skyride & Luge, I've been raving about it to Wifey so it's nice for her to finally enjoy it too. We enjoyed a good discount too, just by flashing my Emerald Hill employment pass. You see, Emerald Hill runs Coastes which is just next to the Skyride&Luge counter. More on Coastes later. I love the feeling being on the Skyride actually. Tergantung gitu! The view up there is great too. But I love the ride down the Luge more. Even though it still can't beat the feeling of driving a go-kart, the Luge comes pretty darn close. We would have gone for a second round if not for the snaking queue at the counter. We got ourselves a great photoshot of us up the Skyride which we purchased at the photo counter too.
Too much excitement for us so we decided to go for a quick break. An ice-cream break to be precise! To beat the heat of the scorching sun. We actually wanted a simple Wall's ice-cream cone but when we saw a New Zealand Natural outlet, we just had to! I just love bananas with my ice-cream!
We went to the Merlion after that since the both of us haven't been in it before. And guess what? I got us free entry for it! Not only for the Merlion but for Images Of Singapore and also Fort Siloso! (which we didn't do 'cause it was on the far side of the island) Wow! There was nothing much to do in the Merlion except of picture opportunities at its mouth and top of the head. We did however scored some pretty neat souvenirs in the shape of a set of coasters and a fan. We alaso purchased (yet again!) the beautifully taken shots of us taken by their official photographers at the mouth of the Merlion. Heh. Photo whores!
The second significant event that happened this July was my first ever Reservist Training which fell on the 10th to the 20th day of July. After ORD'ing 3 years ago in 2004, the army finally decided they still need me after all! Hah! I wasn't prepared for it actually, seeing that it was my first. I was so kan-cheong on what I should bring, whether I can come home at all and all the normal question a reservist virgin would LOVE to know but can't seem to find the answers. The NS portal isn't much help either. Thankfully, I found my answers in Yusop, my unit mate whom I just met at a prior training day. I found it comforting that I could still fit into my SBO, which means I haven't put on a paunch yet! It was more comforting to know that we can go home everyday except on the days when we'll be out for our jungle training. Wifey was so scared before that, fearing the fact we'll be away from each other for 10 days straight! Heh..
The first 4 days of my ICT (In Camp Training) was spent on preparing for the 3 days of outfield which we will have the next week. Well, the storemen and drivers were preparing actually. Us, as in the B mechs (vehicle mechanics, for those who don't know) busied ourselves with newspaper reading, PSP playing, talking cock and other leisurely activities not normally associated to life in the army. I felt like I was more in a holiday camp actually. A break from work. We even had our Saturday off! (the 14th, which happened to be my birthday!)
We moved out for our outfield training early Monday noon the following week. And instead of packing in army rations, we brought along healthy amount of instant noodles, canned goodies, even rice. One of us even brought along a huge pillow to sleep on the nights! Heh.. I took along my MP3 player and my old GameBoy Advance and read Five People You Meet In Heaven to pass the time there. It was weird not being able to shower for 2 days. I've only got through that back in my BMT days. The whole deal felt like being away in a chalet for me. The toughest thing we did all ICT was camouflaging our tonner, which we somehow managed 'cause everyone did their part. Thank goodness there were no mosquitoes too! Oh and it's a good thing I didn't have to shit out in the jungle! Strangely my bowels held strong the whole time I was in the jungle.
There was something else I love doing in the ICT too. Chong suah! For those not cultured in the ways of the army, Cheong Suah refers to the act of engaging the enemy. That means we got to shoot our M16s! But with blanks, of course. I've always loved doing it, even back when I was serving NS. No surprise I got the highest score in my platoon for my SIT test (situation test, a 3-day out-field assessment of leadership skills). I sure had an adrenaline rush hearing the sound of blanks and flash bangs going off. Wish I can do it every reservist training! Haha! It was a great first experience. Who said Reservist Training was so siong? Heh
*Do take note that I'm a Vehicle Mechanic (B Mech) and your reservist experience may differ from me. I heard the reservist training for Riflemen might be a lil siong*