My very very first in-camp training: 20 Oct to 24 Oct 2008. Low key event at Kranji camp III, which is like 5 mins journey from my home.
I can't write much here since this kind of stuff is fairly confidential. but it was a good eye opener to what is in-stall for me in subsequent years. Not what i had initially expected it to be. Good thing is that got a few familiar faces in my unit.
Preparing for this ICT was quite tedious. Firstly, before we got in, i know absolutely nothing about what is to come. Secondly, i couldn't find some of my full pack items. Thirdly, i couldn't find my camera-less handphone. Fourthly, i almost couldn't find my epaulettes. Lastly, i realised that my helmet seemed a bit tighter than usual (head growing bigger?). Anyway, initially i thought i could survive without a handphone and remained uncontactable, but i felt quite uneasy on the first day so i decided to buy one from 7-eleven which cost me 80 bucks. I also use my 11B credits to buy a helmet.
This ICT was mainly on combat shooting. The last time i fired a rifle was like 10 years ago! So it was quite fun and exciting at the end of the day (and night). luckily no IA throughout my whole range.
And i got some blisters forming already from my route march!
Reminds me of my MOCC days, except that now u r in commanding position and u better be fitter than your men.
i went to service my car on 14 oct. For honda cars, you will have to pay quite a lot for servicing, so that goes part of my pay again. At the same time, i also got my car polished and cleaned up the interior, so now there are no more scratches, except the major ones which cannot be remedied. I also changed all my wipers so now i can see clearly when driving in the rain.
I am happy now and hopefully my subsequent passengers will open the doors with care and enter the car mud-free.
We had our department D&D on 10/10/08 at Grand Copthorne Waterfront hotel to celebrate our 35th year anniversary. Buffet style dinner with games and fun. Should have a bigger ballroom, cos we were like squeezing 11 people to one table. Too bad i din manage to win the lucky draw prize of the ipod nano and the Wii =(.
One month prior to the trip to Phuket, there was news of political and social unrest in Thailand (epicentre being in Bangkok), so we were still quite sceptical whether we can go ahead with the trip or not. But fortunately, it settled slightly and Phuket was not affected that much.
Day 1 (1/10/08 Wednesday)
Tiger airways
Woke up at 4.45am as our flight is in the morning at 8.15am; reached the Budget terminal at around 6.15am. In retrospect, it is too early; dun really need to follow the 2-hour rule. There was nothing much to do there anyway. Flight TR152. We reached Phuket airport at around 8.55 am Thailand time (Thailand is one hour earlier than us). We had booked the transport from the airport to our resort hotel in advance (cost 150 bahts each) and that took us 1 hour.
First impression of the resort – reminds me of my Bintan tour. Laid-back and tranquil. The receptionist welcomed us with this lemongrass drink which was rather refreshing and made us have the impulse to find out where the grass were from. Our rooms were right at the end of the resort so it was quite a walk. Hotel room no. 7328 (mine) to 7330.
amari coral
the lemongrass drink and the cold towels
We shopped along Patong beach and had our lunch at one of the restaurants when the rain started pouring (what a way to start a day). Luckily, it stopped. Lunch mainly comprised thai dishes such as the green curry, fish in coconut, sweet and sour pork, etc. Cost 2835B in total.
lunch
Touristy place, with lots of Ang Mohs. We continued our shopping spree in this stretch of pasar-malam style shops. The items they sell were very similar – clothes with thai-prints, fake labelled goods, billabong bottoms, etc. I bought some shirts and Bermudas, ranging from 150 – 200 bahts each. Must remember to bargain!
Spent the late afternoon swimming in the hotel pool while some of us decided to sleep it off. Dinner wise – we met a guy who recommended this seafood house near Phuket town and offered to drive us to-and-fro at 300 bahts (in retrospect, the transport was cheap, especially when it is air-conditioned, bi-directional and comfortable, as compared to the Tuk-tuks which cost pretty much to same. We had crabs, prawns, chicken etc. Pretty decent at 2835B. Just that we were accompanied by the mozzies.
place to choose the live seafood
Day 2 (2/10/08 Thursday)
Woke up at 8.50am and had the buffet breakfast in the hotel which we paid around 20 sing dollars. Entirely not worth it. Not much variety to begin with. Spent the rest of the morning in the beach where some of us had para-gliding and the rest of us just frolicking around. Went back to the resort hotel for a swim till around 3pm. There were 2 pools in the hotel; this one that we went to today was cleaner and deeper, and nearer to our room too.
We had late lunch at Lai Lay Tong restaurant, as recommended by Sarah’s friend, and it was well worth the money @ 1200B in total. Quantity was small but tasty. Continued walking and shopping along the streets; bought a couple of more clothings for myself and my family.
lunch - cheap and delicious!
ouch!
Next, we had massage at one of the parlours. I had a Thai full body massage for 1 hour, which is… well… painful and ticklish more than anything else. From the way the masseur cracked our necks, I wondered will that cause any disc prolapse or subluxation or not.
Dinner, or rather supper – we had it at Black Canyon Restaurant at a shopping mall called Jungceylon.
Day 3 (3/10/08 Friday)
Woke up at 7.45am and had the usual breakfast buffet after the morning gym session. Slacked the morning away at the pool, while some of us had the in-house massage. Had a steamboat-style lunch at a nearby shopping mall, followed by shopping for local products such as the porkfloss crackers, pineapple/durian crackers, coconut sweets, etc.
Dinner was at this restaurant called Panyaak, which is actually a sea-diameter across from our beach resort. Took a circumferential tuk-tuk ride there. Typical thai ala-carte food.
panyaak.
Experienced their night life at Patong. We were probably too early (10pm) so there weren’t much activities yet. Got some line-up ladyboys calling customers for the agogo show though. After walking around and eyeballing a couple of clubs like Tiger and Rockstar, we eventually settled for Margarita. Overall, I dun think it was too hype for a Friday night.
tuktuk waiting for customers
Day 4 (4/10/08 Saturday)
We had booked an island trip (James Bond canoe) earlier yesterday, which made up the entire event for today. We bargained and managed to cut the cost to 1600B from the usual price of 2200B. Unfortunately i was feeling quite queasy – colicky abdominal pain and bloatedness and nauseous since I woke up in the morning and I wasn’t alone. It could be the food that we had yesterday. Because of this, the entire trip wasn’t pleasant.
Essentially, it was a tour around some of the islands east of phuket. I am going to write according to the itinerary given to us: 1) departure to Phang Nga Bay by escort boat 2) discovery of the Lagoons and Caves by canoe at Koh Hong and Koh Panak 3) departure to James Bond island. 4) Departure to Lawa Island; during the transfer, a Thai buffet lunch was served on board 5) Arrival at Lawa Island for self-paddling, swimming and relaxing on the beach 6) Back to main Phuket island
jamesbond island
batcaves
Ok some interesting happenings during this island tour. There was this foreign girl who was apparently on some leadership course and happened to be on board with us. Throughout the journey, she kept asking people for survey and that really irritated me a bit especially when I wasn’t feeling too well.
And luckily I managed to control my bowel, cos there was only one small, gross and filthy toilet on board, which didn’t even have a proper flushing system.
We ended the day with dinner along another restaurant along Patong beach and another round of thai food massage.
Day 5 (5/10/08 Sunday)
The night sleep was terrible. I probably had fever with Tmax >38 with chills and rigors. Popped in panadol and trial of ciprofloxacin to empirically treat myself for travellers’ diarrhoea. Luckily I was feeling slightly better the next morning I woke up. Panadol is really an impressive creation.
Flight at 9am TR152. Home.
The Aftermath.
Most of my tours had me ended up sick in the midst. Sigh. Somemore I was on call the next day but fortunately I was recovering already.
Didn’t really do my account, but I probably spent like 800 to 900 sing dollars in total. Seems quite expensive for a neighbouring tour. But most importantly is I managed to have a get-away during this period.
holidae.
singapore.
lefty left-brainer.
leo.
9 Aug.
selective procrastinator.
paladin by day and nite.
Chatters
Wishlist
tag watch
learn cooking
play a new musical instrument
lasik op
new hobby
clear exit
Fav food
chilli crab
fried kway teow
fried carrot cake @ upp bt timah, bt merah, bt merah view, clementi
fried dang hoon
pig kidney/liver/small intestine/large intestine/organ soup/pig blood
kway chap from sembawang hills
hainan chicken rice with gien3
century egg porridge
fried oyster
BBQ stingray
clams and lala
chicken soup and all sorts of soups my mum cooks
fried fishballs
fish soup from han jee @ amoy
fried chicken wings
salmon belly sashimi
hairy gourd
lotus root
szechuan veg
prawn mee esp from old airport rd, zion rd, adam rd, sembawang hills and hong lim
chwee kueh from tiong bahru, jurong west, clementi, queens st
kueh tutu
coffee/bread toast/egg from sembawang hills, ah kun
prawn cracker
strawberry sundae @ macs
hotcakes @ macs
rum and raisin
duck's tongue
indocafe coffee
water chestnut juice
sugar cane juice
marigold lemon barley
