Final Destination

Fine, so obviously I can't keep up with maintaining my blog nowadays. Been just a bit busy and lazy to be honest. But I'll try to update it every now and then, just not as often as I once did.

Why I'm updating now is mainly because of one main reason - I am finally a Police Inspector! =D Or what we are referred to as National Service Probationary Inspectors (NSPIs). After 13 months of slaving away, I have finally hit the ranks of being a full fledged Senior Officer. No longer will I need to wear the common number 3 police uniform. No longer will I need to comply to the order of needing to march around the academy. No longer will I need to greet every walking officer sir. A new sheriff is in town. And that sheriff is me XP

Yesterday was our Passing Out Parade. It was something I wanted ever since I heard I could get into this position and now that it has been done - I still remain focused to complete the next phase of training, the Company Commander (CC) course. That's right. I will be a company commander. What is it? Basically, I will be in charge of a barrack's/company's (coy) admin, logistics, discipline, inspection, etc. On top of which, with my new NSPI rank, I am quite basically a walking god. My rank is so high that the next highest National Service officer below me would be a sergeant or 5 ranks lower than me. It's also very uncommon to have Inspectors roaming the streets of the academy, so to have someone like me hold the rank.... hehehe

Anyway, my next course will be a tough one. I'm expecting one of the worse trainings yet. Even though when I went away to Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) for my 16 day leadership training course at Pulau Ubin 2 weeks back, I still think this CC course will be even tougher. Not to say that the OBS training wasn't tough; in fact, it was extremely tough. Up to this point, it has been the toughest training I have ever gone through. It was intense, extreme and a whole new experience for me. After the whole experience, I have to say that I was at the prime of my physical fitness. Never before have I been so fit. I had muscles and strengths erupting from places I didn't know existed. Truly, it was a great experience to go through this course but I'm grateful it's all over too.

Just for the benefit for the people who don't know what I did, we basically went through 3 different expeditions - land, cutter (sail boat) and sea.

The land expedition was a 4d 3n expedition where we had to locate checkpoints on the island using a map and compass. This required us to backpack our belongings and other essentials like our tents, water, ponchos, etc. around the island in search for these checkpoints. It was not easy at all, especially how we basically walked the entire day through rain and shine. I was bitten by a couple of red-black ants. It was a fascinating experience to be bitten all over my leg, but something I definitely didn't enjoy at the time. Up to this point, I still have the markings of where the ants bit me.

Then of course, there were other things like glazing upon a lake filled quarry. To most the sight was breath-taking and I tend to agree. It was quite a sight and surely most will take it as a once in a life time experience to see such a sight. What I found a bit new for me was how we had to pitch tent and cook our meals in the middle of nowhere. After which, the washing up using whatever beach sand we can find to scrape away the burnt pots and other utensils. Everything we did, we had to do with whatever resources we were given, and quite frankly, it was very uncomfortable to be living without the comfort of our luxury.

After the land exp, we had to embark on a 3d 2n cutter expedition. It wasn't long before I started to get sea sick. The cutter really affected a lot of people on the boat because of how it swayed from one side to another so easily under the impression of the advancing waves. Fortunately for me, I didn't vomit like a Singapore Merlion, but I heard a lot of my friends vomited on the other cutters.

Overall, the cutter expedition was interesting under the fact that I learnt a lot about sailing; how to tie different knots, how the wind affects the sails, how irritating it is to have to anchor up each time you wanna move off. It was fun, but I'm glad it's over =P

Finally, our sea expedition. It involved us kayaking over a distance of 117km in 4d3n. But to cut a long story short, we killed ourselves and covered the distance in 3d2n to make it back in record breaking time. The route was challenging for how we had to cover locations which involved us to push through 'tread milling' areas. One particular area, the Changi Naval Base, the first day, we kayaked for what was nearly 4hrs on the same spot trying to break through the current of the waves from the oceans. It was excruciating because we were so exhausted by the time we reached this Base that we still had to push ourselves without stopping for 4hrs because if we did stop, we would have been drifted back to where we started, leaving all our hardwork to waste. What made us take so long was how everyone had to move together. No one goes too far ahead, no one goes too far behind. So the stronger ones would be up ahead but the weaker ones would start to fall behind. That's why before the stronger ones could actually pass through the area, we would have to wait for the others and thus, sending us back to where we started. It was sooo frustrating to have to go through that because during that time, I didn't think it was going to end. Just seemed too impossible to complete and I thought I wasn't going to make it. That was only the first day, not to mention the next few days. Just seemed too difficult at the time. But now! It's over! And boy am I glad it's over! XP

Well, like I said, it's not like it wasn't hard, but I'm expecting something even more difficult when I go through the CC course. I'm not too sure of what we will be doing, but I am expecting one of the worse. We'll just have to see what will happen. But for now, I will enjoy my freedom as an NSPI and roam the streets of the academy as a walking god. muhahaha!