Kingdom Of Castle Peak

Ahhhh, finally i'm back from my Brunei training exercise trip le. Super duber shagged plus tired, even though i spent most of the my last 24 hours resting and sleeping whenever i get the time to do so!! So maybe i should start updating about my trip first eh, that's if you're interested to know about it=)

Alright, first thing first, i mustn't be too detailed about it since it's about the national defense eh?! So, moving on about the trip would be the Swamp Walk we did, the very first thing we did once we pretty much settled down in a day or two! Something that probably only we, the Commandos and Scouts will go through this phrase of training! Navigating in such a harsh condition isn't that hard, just that it's very uncomfortable and drains out lots of energy from you to keep moving since you can't really see what you are actually stepping on also, so almost every ten steps you would be finding yourself on your knees trying to recover from the fall or pit holes you got stuck into!! The previous batch of seniors record was 0/10 teams made it back to base camp and were forced to harbor for a night there, but for our batch, we at least broke the highest record of 3 teams to set a new record of 5 teams this year!! Though our team wasn't one of team cause at just 200m away from the end point, we had a casualty case and had to tend to him thus missing the time for them to get us back to camp, and we were forced to harbor there and feed the sand flies awaiting to feed on us!!

. . . and after harboring in the Swamp for a night, we carry on mission over at the River crossing site and did our Combat Swim across the river there before heading back to base camp to wash up and finally get a fresh clothing and cool nice shower as well!

Next up was our first and last Non-Tactical Navigation exercise, whereby we are able to start fire, build up basha, cook instant noodles, and basically just do whatever that makes us comfortable out in the field compared to the usual Tactical mode we have to be at, so though it was said to be enjoyable and comfortable, if it's wasn't for the rain to keep coming at the wrong timing, which is at our harbor time when the weather is also quite unpredictable!! After that, it pretty much sums up my first week at the training camp in Brunei.

The next two weeks of training, which just simply consist of three standard mission based training and a day of survival training by the perm staff over there where we had to prepare our own lunch as part of the survival program and it's an experience i would say to really feel to kill a chicken for the first time! A live one if i didn't mention earlier!! Shall not touch on too much about the training and move on to the final day of the trip, which is the R&R day for us to just relax and enjoy our self in the training country we went, which in this case is Brunei!

And so, our final day in Brunei was many trips to many Museum, and when i said many, i really meant MANY, though ultimately we didn't go to every place available, just to the more famous and worth sightseeing for the tour. One to specially mention is that the people there still lives in a place called the water village, where they literally build houses on top of a river and stay there. And from what i know, the Bruneian are more willing to stay there than those bungalows the government actually build for it's people... weird uh?! The introduction of Brunei from our tour guides, is actually quite simple. To summarize it, actually the Bruneians are basically living off the government cause the number of people actually living in the country and the amount of money the government has from all the natural resources, they are rich enough to support the whole country literally not working too hard, and enjoying all the privileges given to them by the government. Not sure whether to say it's a good or bad thing that the government is treating it's people so good?! Well, i guess it's not for me to comment too much about this issue also. Not much pictures were taken during the trip since it's a training exercise trip so no cameras were brought along, but i'm sure there will still be some personal pictures to be uploaded from my OC's personal camera!

Back to Singapore on 13 July 2010, 0200hrs safely, out of the Airport with my Duffel Bag and hand carry bag home for a day's rest before going back to camp the following day for parade rehearsal and pre-admin for the 72KM route march.

Attended the briefing for the 72KM march, prepared for it, had another morning parade rehearsal before moving out from camp at 1500hrs for the march. Going at a pace of 4KM per 45mins, with a 15mins break in between and with 3 1 hour meal breaks, the expected time to complete the whole 72KM was the following day 1200hrs. But all this are just based on calculation without adding in all the increased fatigue level and mental stress on our physical body. Moreover with the route planned out this year was to walk up and down from camp to Changi Coastal Road 3 times was quite mind-fukced i will say.

To put it simply, it's basically walking the 24KM route we took, just that this time it will be 3 times in total. And thinking back that day when we were just clearing the 24KM route, i died just 4KM left to the march. Although I completed the 35KM march without much problem, it was a different environment and condition we were walking, as compared to the 24KM one!! But nevertheless, we still had to go on with the planned route given to us. Plus, after climbing up and down the Brunei thick forest, walking this 72KM shouldn't be that hard after all eh?!

Walking the first 24KM was quite easy, i should say it didn't felt that bad compared the previous 24KM we walked. Maybe like what was told to us, after all the training and exercises build up our combat fitness to last much longer. So it didn't took me too much to complete it!!

Moving on to the next 24KM, this 2nd part was actually the hardest one to clear, as the fatigue level of the first 24KM started to build up, as we leave the camp gate once more, it was pretty mind-fukcing to think that i have to go for another one more before completing the march wasn't the best ideal way to start the second 24KM. The worst is that the timing for the march was around the wee hours in the morning, which is around 1-6am in the morning where it was really mentally draining and sleepy to just keep walking the coastal road, as it was just straight road with lamp post and no other human living being coming pass except some occasional cyclist or vehicle coming by.

We finally completed and reached the 48KM mark back in camp at 0600hours, the timing was considered quite behind time but still able to complete in time if we keep up the pace a little despite the fact that we are super shagged out by the march throughout the night already! Everyone was contemplating to just complete the rest of the march back in camp, but plan failed so we had to set off to our turning point at Changi Coast for the one last time le. Yet again, the cold start begun for me especially, but the plan was just to keep on walking, and walking, making every step counts and cutting down the distance as much as possible. Falling out from this march at this point is considered an impossible task so completing it was!

Pushing the final 8KM together as a whole was damn painful for me, cause I had to really push myself to the limits just to keep up with the whole pack, as i didn't want to be a burden to the rest. Whenever someone lacked behind the pack, the main pack will suffer and wait for you to keep up, so everyone was trying their best and putting in all the effort to complete the march together! And with that, we finally reach back Camp in 1400hrs, taking a rest before getting ready for the red beret presentation. Pictures will be up as soon as i get them uploaded, so meanwhile make do with this super long entry first=D