Happy B'day to Nik

Haha looks like I'm a little late on this but yesh.Anyway Happy Birthday Nicky!!!sry I'm not present at ur b'day although u invited me, I just did not have the time. First I would have to take a 4 hour flight to Singapore and then rush to ur house. Just no time Nik.Tried to think of a Nick song, not so successful. So I gave up haha. well thats all folks.

See ya next time
Lil Burnt Rooster

New Toys.

I got joy.. in my heart..
I got joy.. in my heart..
I got joy.. in my heart because of you....

Blogged on a mobile phone.

Normally, I write my week in camp and adapt from there to write my blog entries. So, this week, I forgot my notebook and I used my phone instead. Thoughts are all over the place, I'm still radiating heat from this morning's exercise. Let the long post begin.

** Monday **

Its an interesting concept. I believe I couldn't be more satisfied with where I am, being in the course I am. It has its days, good and bad. Somedays, I feel like I can't keep up with the training. Constantly, I remind myself of how I need to be fitter for the people I have to save. It is truly an interestingly foreign concept. What happened? Another day filled with BTM. W7, W8, W9, W10, S3, S4, S5.

[As I blog this, I don't seem to remember the btms. Which is bad. I will digress from the phone here to explain the btm] S3 was soft suction to pump ladder. Means we connect one 100mm hose direct from the triple pillar hydrant to pump ladder. S4 and S5 were the.. Interesting ones.. S4 was hard suction to portable pump.. I've always questioned the use of the word portable. Especially when it refers to a 100kg pump. 120kg when its filled with petrol.. not to mention the suctions are heavy. 2 suctions for this task. S5 is hard suction to pump ladder. 4 suctions. Heavy things. Needless to say, I did not want to have to do it again. Back to the phone.

--- Felt an immense ache all over when I started the btms. Maybe its just hazmat week rearing its ugly head. One week without much bunker gear. Weather was good though, not much sun. Its the sun thats immensely draining. Hopefully, the weather will carry on till friday's heat and humidity. My mindset has to change about friday that I can actually do it. I'm just worried about physically fainting this week. I don't feel physically ready for friday. Need my weekend for jamming with the boys, learning the new stuff, lunch with friends. Its one of the few things keeping me sane. Can't wait for december, friends cousins family coming back. Its about time we had everyone back. Too long has passed since we've had a decent family dinner and a decent family photo. Especially since I'm slimmer now (: till friday!

** Wednesday **

Surely confinement has a bittersweet taste. Surely it will be a new experience although its more a case of an innocent wronged. Basically we're being confined for something that wasn't our fault entirely or perhaps at all. Sigh. BTM's covered, L6, L7, S1W2 and S1W3. L6, Ladder leg lock fire-fighting. Basically, a ladder. One guy goes up, leg locks and fights a fire in the middle of the ladder. L7, over the parapet using the ladder. Its the combined tasks that were the awesome btms, not that they were easy but they were fun. Different sections had different ways of doing the same task, like my section split the task into S1 and W3 with 2 men doing two jobs each. Basiclly, a guy operating the hydrant has to double up to hold the nozzle after he's turned on the hydrant supply while the pump operator has to lay and proper the hoses for the hydrant supply. Was a test for my guys physically and mentally. When we mixed the sections up, it was chaos. Because all the jobs were not clearly defined. I realize how difficult it is to work with people you've never worked with before. Well, two more days to H&H. Sigh.

** Thursday **

Sentry duty is a great time for blog entries provided you don't get caught using your phone on duty which reminds me, I probably shouldn't be doing this now. But hey, its 2:24am, I'm bored, the gates are locked and almost no one comes in. Except I just let in one supply truck. Which is now proceeding to go out. Thursday, interesting. One of the best days. Did my impulse fire extinguishing gun or IFEX. Totally wasn't ready for it the first time. IFEX is one of our two weapons, think of it as a water shotgun that shoots air and water at an immense speed with immense force. Completely decimated the leaf someone else put on the ground. I wouldn't want to be hit with the silver barrel shotgun. The first shot shook me, threw my hand back. Apart from that, we also did the mist gun. Its funky, the mist looks good, feels good, doesn't hit hard and sprays really nicely for extinguishing a fire. Two guys just got rejected by the duty officer to enter the camp during after hours. Cool. After lunch, we did this huge foam monitor thing. It looked like an artillery except probably not as heavy. But the procedure was a bit taxing. Smoke gets in your eyes, but if foam does, you become a goldfish. Thinking more about H&H, clearly knowing it will be one of the toughest exercises and doing the exercise after guard duty. I know I'm not ready. I'm sure it will test me. So much. I need friday lunch so bad.

** The calm after the storm **

So, I survived heat and humidity. Obviously. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Sure I went 700m carrying a load of my shoulders with my section. Sure I climbed 9 storeys in 3 minutes. Sure I rolled and unrolled 2 hoses. But the defining moment was the sauna room. Oh, I got to see other sections do it after I finished it and I'm so glad my section was good. In essence, it was 15 minutes in a 70 degree celcius room with full gear doing light exercise and having to think. Tied knots, moved water containers, was asked questions. I'm just glad my section finished everything and turned out alright. If I was asked to do it again, I'd think about it pretty hard. No pictures or videos, sorry! Next week, LPG training.

survive day by day, week by week, month by month.
-josh

oh, still 76kg.

lets go commando!

lets see... i ran the 10km non-competitive part of AHM. i must say i feel a lot less fit than when i did the full marathon last year - nevertheless, still happy to have completed it. hope i'll still have enough in me to do the full one again this year - which means better start hitting more 10Ks!

you can see from the photo how crowded it was. it was crazy. i wasted more energy weaving in and out, and being slowed down by other runners than actually running itself i think. it didn't help that it was hotter like that, although the rain earlier made the ground cool (and MUDDY. imagine army boots, trudging over the padang = yucks).

at the last lap i had the "honour" or running beside a commando platoon, obviously very proud of their vocation. "let's go commando-O" was ringing in my ears for the rest of the day.

well. so the time - 1 hr 6 mins. not too bad! wonder whether can do just as well for 21km, and whether can finish the marathon this time round!

School

Hello ppl, wasn't gonna post till I had known my new maths teacher better.Well he's funny and stuff, but the funniest part is when he catches me slacking off[or at least he thinks i am -.-'] . The only thing he says to me is this:"Why Boy!? You're as Slack As A Yak!", which is very funny cos hes old. Oh, today, i forgot my S&E assignment[aiyoh...I'm a bad boy.Eh, who cares...not funny anyway S&E means society and enviroment for all of u buggers who don't know.]Then my teacher...who has a cool name, not spazzy cool though...her name is Ms. Kool. And she started going around the class to get the excuses of why students didn't bring their assignment.Well my classmate gave the old "oh. my dog ate my paper". When i heard that the first thing I thought:"Oh gosh.......get a new excuse..." So it came to my turn where i had to give an excuse. So I had to come up with a fanciful to make her laugh. So this is what I said:"Oh. My imaginary friend called Bob stole it from me.=)[yes. With the big, cheesy, sarcastic grin]She giggled. Not enough. So the next thing*obviously*, was the question of when she was gonna get it. So I said:"Oh. When Bob returns it." She laughed.success.=)



Well thats is all dear family and friends
Yours Falsely, (opposite of truely)
Lil Burnt Rooster

Teletubbies and Hazardous Materials.

So what was most of the week about?

Hazardous materials. Learning about Chemical Agents. Wearing a tele-tubby suit. Going through tear gas. Mitigating a 500kilo container leak. More John love.

*edited* because nicky posted and because I have a new laptop, yum.

So if I'm not there next sunday, you know I'll be in a hospital somewhere.

-josh

to appease the lim.

Well, for those of you guys who didn't know yet - i didn't make it past the semi-finals lol! But its alright! Last night i had the wonderful chance to watch the finalists embarass themselves and sit quite happily enjoying a 7 course dinner at marina mandarin :)

Hee for those of you who didn't know, i'm married:


*just kidding - she's attached so don't anyhow say arh! her boyfriend is doctor-to-be, next time i will have no money to fight when he sue me or whatever... unless mr chang qi can help!

We had marvellous XYQ service today, with some good ol' MKC (yes, MKC) songs. i just love 'em. And a chance to ROCK IT OUT! Ps James was his usual amusing self. But it was a rather relevant message i feel - about the importance of the Holy Spirit :)
Then went out for some Ba Chor Mee at blk 85. i just realised, i didn't take photos! D'OH. Our table was pretty happening! : Mr Chang Qi, Mr K, Mr Bun, Mr Lim (aka. fire fighter) & Ms Lyanna (aka. she-who-cannot-eat-much-but-still-wants-to-sit-at-our-table). Needless to say, no leftovers, 5 very satisfied guys and 1 girl.

Oh i forgot to mention, i had jazz band auditions today. The audition-ers had some nice comments, but wow i saw another guy audition, he was pretty awesome! Haha. Will see how, and will need God's wisdom to guide me in my choices of CCAs.

What else what else - oh Joshua will be getting a new laptop soon - i shall let him tell you more :)

Lie down, relax and enjoy

Yes this time its just a random collage of funny pictures.

To Xiong :

To Lincoln:

To Yang:

To those who really need to know what bad seafood is:

To those who hate grass:

And to everyone else:

Alden was here.

Who Wants To Be a Fireman?

Welcome to your first BTM lesson, everyone. This week, we will touch on L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L8, L9, L10, L11, L12, L13, L14, L15, W2, W3, S1, S3.

WEDNESDAY

Before we begin, let me repeat by saying that the hoses are roughly around 9kg per 64mm (diameter) x 20m (length).

Your first tasks will be L2, L3 and L10. Hose laying by pulling and hose laying by throwing respectively. L2, move. You have 10 seconds. Okay, next up is Hose recovery. You have slightly over a minute. Ready? L10, move. Now we'll try laying a hose by throwing. L3, move. You have 11 seconds. Very good. See I've set up some benches. Your objective is to hold a hose, climb over a bench, and up onto this elevated bench zig-zag I've created, do a round around the hydrant and come back. Go! Hurry! Good job! Now lets try 2 hoses... *Josh laments*

Welcome to your afternoon lesson! Here we'll learn about L1, L11 to L15. L1, lash a hose around you. L11, hose extension. L12, hose replacement. L13, hose bandage. L14, laying a flaked hose. L15, recovering a flaked hose. Remember that for all of these tasks you'll have to perform L2 or L3 first, and L10 after the task. *Josh laments*

We're finished? So fast? Well, lets go see what the other platoon is doing (Jets and water).
[I had my first taste of how it feels like to shoot water from a nozzle. It feels incredible, almost made the whole day worth it. The big nozzle pushed me back, had to have a friend behind.]

THURSDAY

Its a new day gentlemen, time for better tasks. Today's tasks are W2 and W3. 2 hose lines from pumper to ground monitor and then 1 hose line to breeching to 2 jets. (Josh: Thursday's BTM was much more fun than I make it out to be, I'm just lazy to add in the extras. Its in my fireman's diary) - lunch break - L4, L5, L8, L9 under shade (YES!). Hoses, staircases, corridors and lowering. Generally, more hoses.

FRIDAY

S1 and S3. Double Outlet Pillar Hydrant to Pump and Triple Pillar Hydrant to Pump. Simple BTMs, Simple day.

-

I guess the highlight of the week was seeing a firefighter (not my course) trainee burn a hole in his leggings while using a powersaw. He cut too high and it caused the sparks to shoot straight at his leggings. Shortly after, the leggings ignited and the rest is history. I failed to mention the fact that all his instructors were laughing at him as were the rest of us trainees. So, use a powersaw properly guys.

next week, C.A suit round 2 and hazmat week, fun.

peace,
xiong.

gasp!

jam 'n' hop

http://www.funkygrad.com/jamnhop
M7.
Yeah, i shalt not say any further.

Sierra Lima Echo Echo Papa.

PL212, Responding to 20 Lor 32 Geylang Rd over.
PL212, Arrival at 20 Lor 32 Geylang Rd over.
PL212, Fire well-alight, CD at work with 2 x 38mm jets.
PL212, Fire started by unwatched cooking, possibility of gas fire, over.
PL212, Stop for 20 Lor 32 Geylang Rd over. Blah blah, over.
PL212, Returning to base over.
PL212, Arrival at base over.

So, what was this week? Voice comms. I sat in an air-con room for three days. Did the Low Wall, Parallel Bar, Stepping Platform and Swinging Trainer (Monkey Bars) of SoCon Tuesday. Learnt my Alpha to Zulu alphabet. Still doesn't sound that intense, right? Thursday wasn't intense either. But I learnt how to operate a hydrant. Was filled with, "Sana Satu Orang, Sedi-ah! H2, MOVE!" Running with a hydrant key, hitting blank caps. Was quite fun and simple so far.

Friday was the tiring day. I had BAPT. Breathing Apparatus Proficiency Test. This means, donning the suit in 1:15 seconds, fire suit, gloves, BA set, face mask, helmet. Then going on a treadmill, ladder treadmill, static bicycle and something like lat pull-down all in the BA set. After all that, running through the maze described in the earlier post. Plus, with all this there's a consumption limit to the amount of air we're supposed to take in.

It sounds simple. But with just the fire-suit, I ran about 2km and felt like the end of the world, much less without the BA set. So ya, go figure. But all good, I'm still alive. The regulars in my course who come from army say our training is different because in the army its mostly physical, whereas where I am, I get placed in uncomfortable situations like BA. People run from fire, we run into fire.

Love the Beijing 08.

The reward? Ben and Jerry's tonight, 9pm guys.

Picturesque

Beautiful evening at Halong Bay, Vietnam. Shot with a Canon EOS 450D. Dang, i wanna go back.

Yang

The Young-er ones...

Some photos i found while digging up stuff from my old hard-drive. Let the comments flow......

Yours Truly,

Yang

Unravelled To The Max

No, I'm not falling apart, no worries. I just feel like tape that has been "unravelled to the max". Despite that I still learn something new each day. Asher now calls himself "BlubberBuddy" incase you guys are wondering.

Still, 1m x 1m area is pretty small Xiong, I wonder how you actually fit inside. Nevertheless, have fun being well, yourself. =]

And that crab looks tempting, ITS HUGE.

Alden was here.

SCBA

Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus. Quite similar to your Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, but functions as an open circuit, not a closed one. Holds 2400L of compressed air, pressure of 300 bars, has a warning whistle at 50-55 bars. Its full duration is 67 minutes, its working duration is 57 minutes. We consume air at 40L per minute on average when we do normal things.

What a wonderful week. I got my first taste of my BA suit. The first time when we were moving around in a dark room trying to scout the room, I wasn't used to the breathing and I started to feel my breathing was heavy. It became hard to breathe in other words. That on top of my cylinder getting caught in guidelines between teams moving back and forth. I panicked. So the second activity, it was a roughly 1m x 1m maze, fit with obstacles like half windows, half diagonal windows, circular windows, ladders, a long tunnel, a sliding gate and ramps. This one was more like a hamster climbing through a maze, but it was lighted. Then they turned off the lights, and put on the smoke. World of difference. More fun, but also scarier in a sense.

Also, I slid down a fireman's pole. I guess I'm all qualified now hur hur. 2 more months of dry drills and 3 months of fun. Can't wait for the wet drills. Fight the fire guys, fight the fire.

~xiong

Hokk Hokk Hokkaido Part II

Kinda overdue, but with Bao due to pass me the Vietnam photos soon, its time to finish up on the Hokkaido Adventures

Right after the strawberry buffet....

we head on to this pungent sulphuric gorge. After checking into the hotel, which is a traditional japanese style hotel. Traditional beds and a fantastic hot bath. Shiok.

Our dinner...with pork katsu in the black pot...

We take a quick tour round the area, try some hokkaido ice cream (no sampling, as i found out; azabu bean flavour is nice). We catch our first glimpse of the king crab, what hokkaido is truly all about. Alden, eat your heart out. SEE NO EAT though, so we have to wait.

The next day we head on to the Samurai Village, unbeknowst to us, it would change the Nicky's life in the eyes of Korean Aunties. Nicky volunteered to represent the Singaporeans against the Koreans as to which male rep. would act as the geisha's general. In the resulting rock scissors paper best of out of 3, Nicky lost. He lost the battle, but not the war. He would be remembered by the Korean Aunties. They would be back...

Samurai Village

The loss that would break Korean hearts

What Nicky might have been, but for...

After that we finally came to seafood market heaven. choose your food and cook it. this is what we were gonna eat. Uncle Koh eventually bought Salmon and Tuna Belly Sashimi, along with our King Crab. Ate it raw, ate it cooked. Super Sashimi.

Our Food to compliment our steamboat

Monster $500 Crab. Wish i could eat it.

After this, it was time to bid goodbye to rural Hokkaido and head on into citylife. Sapporo City. From the TV Tower, we walk into shops selling clockworks, mousic boxes, handicrafts, chocolates (flooded with gals), scallops, seafood, ice-cream, clothes. Still bummed that the $1 freshly grilled scallops were sold out when we came back. I bet Nicky is too.

Ice Cream...think Nicky had the 7 layer one...

We found this giant pooh sitting in the alley...

Korean Aunties wave from the bus...

Giant Takopachi(s)

Along a Venice lookalike street, we stop for some pictures. Then, we bump into the Korean Aunties again! Thumbs up from them and huge frantic waves both on the streets and from their bus.

Nick got scolded for this...

Anyway, we stop by the famous chocolate factory. Just mentioning the name of the white chocolate can make many gals who've tried it, crave for it instantly... Bizarre Phenomenon...

What i'll miss most in Japan consists of many things...but one of the most vital, morale-boosting, reinvigorating, refreshing thing i'll miss the most would be..........

...

........

.............

The Japanese Toilet

Fully functional with sanitizers, warm seats, bidet with directional buttons, sprays of various strengths and types. Nothing beats the japanese toilet bowl. It makes big business a whole lot different.

Yang

Next up... Vietnam and Halong Bay!