Around The World In 80 Days (Part 2)

I was given the aisle seat as she had the window seat; which meant I had to get up whenever she wanted to go to the toilet. Of course being the gentleman as I am, I graciously stood up and waited, as she took her feminine time in the lavatory. I waited because the toilet was directly behind our row, so you could say I had the advantage. I could easily just get up and lock myself in the toilet at any time I wanted.

Somehow, the flight didn't take as long as it seemed. Maybe because I was prepared, or maybe because I was older and could size up the long journey without complaining too much, or maybe I was tired along the way; seeing that I haven't slept much in the past few days, or maybe, just maybe, it was the girl in my row that kept me going. I had to be strong, and seem like I am able to handle a measly 8 hours of flight without groaning too much. Through it all, it was fun flying alone again. The only person you had to care for, is yourself. But of course, it would be nice to fly with someone else, just to keep you company. Then again, the girl in my row was company enough, if you know what I'm saying. ;)

I accompanied the girl all the way to the exit gate. Even though my luggage came first, I, being the gentleman that I naturally am, hehe, waited till she collected her luggage. I even offered my services in picking up her luggage, but she viciously refused me! She was like, "If you continue to follow me, I'll scream at the top of my lungs and hope the cops will take you down! ..... Ok, I've got my bag, let's go." lol, obviously none of that happened. She simply said she could handle it herself. As soon as she collected her single luggage, we went off. We said goodbye and went our separate ways.

My auntie and grandma from my mother side picked me up at the airport. They couldn't find me at first, and realised that I was already out and standing behind them. They said they couldn't recognise that it was me because of my short hair. I don't blame them. I myself don't recognise myself in the mirror with my short hair. When I greeted them, it was 11:30pm, Singapore time. Which meant it was 2:30am in Australia. I was sorta drowsy but after exerting a reasonable amount of strength on my luggage and posing, I was half awake, but at the same time, half asleep.

We arrived back to their place at 12:00am to which I was then shown to my room where I dumped my luggage, and washed up for the night. I crashed into bed at 1:20am and slept till 7:00am that morning. I woke up and prepared to leave for my medical test. Basically this test determines if you're fit for the full Military Training. If you get A or B, you're capable to take on the full training. If you get C, you get a lighter training course. And of course if you get D or E, you basically fail and they'll give you a desk job.

When Amoz did it, he went there at 8am and came out at 3pm. That's around 7 hours. I was ready to spend the same amount of time there, but to my delight, I was in and out in 4 hours. It was also good that Amoz's friend showed me where to go first. He brought me to the building, and accompanied me to the "Overseas" department. From there, I was on my own. It was there that the lady said that she'll enlist me in March. I was kinda worried that she would just slot me into March, so I asked her if there was an earlier date of enlistment. She said that the next earliest date was in fact that very day. The 8th of December was the starting date for the next earliest batch. Which meant that I went all the way here only to be told that I couldn't even have the slightest chance of getting in till March. I thought that there was an opening in January but there was no such thing. So now I've got plenty of time to spend with myself.

Anyway, they took our photograph with the army shirt, and asked us to move off to the medical centre. There, we had to go through a series of tests. The test were blood, urine, eye, hearing, dental, heart, x-ray, and just some physical measurements. I noticed that I got 'A' for everything, but during the final medical test, they determined that because I had a bit of 'flatfoot', I was given a 'B'. Just on the spot, they gave me a 'B' for one little thing. Disappointing.

After the physical check-up, they did a mental check-up, to see if you're 'sane' enough to be in the army. Basically it was a series of questions that involved funny shadings and shapes, mathematics (which I sorta struggled with because I was tired and hadn't done any mental work for a while), and just a whole bunch of reaction tests. It took an hour or so to complete, which to my delight, was 12:05pm.

I walked back and had Prawn Noodle. Hmmmm, yum yum. After I had finished my lunch, I walked over to the bus terminal to top up my bus card. I haven't used it in one and a half years, so I was pretty pleased that it still worked. hehe

As I walked home, it came to me, that this was it. This was gonna be my life for the next 2 years. From then on, I was never the same..

To Be Continued...