Saturday, March 24, 2007
Day 0
getting physically and mentally prepared.Day 1
we were half full of vitality when the night just started.
but when half the night has past, all drifted off to la la land.we lugged stacks of notes heavier than everything in the packing list to the ops room on Monday morning, hoping to salvage a little of the bleak outcome of our blocks. we downed mugs of coffee and mifee and nescafe and ginger latte, whatever that might work miracles in keeping our eyes opened, but fatigue overtook our sheer determination to mug. even with eyes wide opened, all that went into mind was the schedule of yl day 2, 3, 4, 5.
slowly our heads nodded off one by one. there was this night i was the only one left awake in the ops room. it was a funny sight, watching the instructors sleep in their most unglam moments. heh. =/ then suddenly it dawned on me that i was not alone. there're 22 other instructors to share the joys and lethargy tgt with me, like how we endured the pain and agony during yltc a year ago. whats blocks compared to months of sweat and toil? so i decided to dao my notes and go to sleep. and on subsequent days, we lost our interest for mugging. haha.
Day 2
sadistic nature revealsdorms checks. havent they been what we've been looking fwd to since the end of yltc last yr? from a trainee's pt of view, picturing what you'll be undo-ing to the trainees of yltc '07. its evil. i agree. but seeing them rolling on the floor in an attempt to dry the floor in desparation, singing songs and doing cheers to distract them from the pain during mroc, never failed to remind me of the times 10 little terrified girls huddled in unity under the scrutiny of the towering female dorm instructors. we were small in number, but nevertheless grateful for the presence of each other's support. thank you dear female trainees06/instructors07. for the tears shed. i'll never forget those times.
clarissa,fungg,hanyun,huijin,tracee,waikuan,wenhui,xinyi,yimtong.
dorm checks aside, day 2 was also a day where 5 instructors went out on a hot date. but it was pure and innocent. as pure as milk. heh. the only corrupted thing we discovered was jiexun's dirty little secret. haha. this secret shall be kept. (:
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it must be the first time the cashiers at carrefour settled the bill for a trolley full of 29 superloaves of bread and baguette and cakes. woah.Day 3
We lost our sanity and started acting eccentric. i.e. posing for impulse ad.this was kayaking day. and i got to kayak. i never realised how much i miss kayaking, till i felt myself floating on the familiar kallang river again. though the water doesn't smell and look very inviting, imagining yourself floating in a blue lagoon was good enuff. haha. i want to kayak somemore!!!
i distinctly remember the especially tight schedule on this night. 'night orienteering' was a rush and the dorm ics were eager to conduct their last dorm check. the dramatic one. jingkai n i almost died of panick and hyperventilation. but thankfully everything worked out fine. a great thank you to my fellow landchief jingkai for sharing the stress with me, and for making things run smoothly. landchiefs rock! thanks to the instructors who bravely hid among the eerie bushes, putting your life to danger before others. haha.
the most dramatic moment of yltc. girls rushing in to save the guys. i bet no one can ever forget this.
Day 4
hearts cringed as changi jetty slowly diminished in sight. Probably the last time i'm going to stand on the bumboat, watching the waves crash onto the deck. at least in the near future.
this little jetty has probably meant nothing much to me for the past countless times i've been here. but this time, it felt like coming home. 
WE! who surived yltc 'o7. a splash of our favourite colours and a surge of energy ready to conquer ubin. 
shawnees gis!
a year ago we set foot on this shady paradise.
a year later nava meets again on the same land we once shed wonderful memories.
we were once the little trainees suffocated by our paint-sprayed caps and scarves.
now we've graduated to be able to feel the wind ruffle your hair and the sun rays warming your cheeks.
the long awaited campfire where we finally donned our straggly identities, caps and scarves thats been residing beneath the cobwebs like protection under a plastic wrap. we immediately smelt like we haven't bathed since yltc last yr. our antennas tuned in to sense the approach of dear 31st instructors, and there was this omnimous hunger to pick on our mistakes lingering in the air.despite the fact that some of us were trembling, it was great hearing our anthems and pledge again. after so long, the only thing that seemed to have change is that we've grown closer as a batch. (:
Day 5
the usual photo-taking session. the only thing you could take away from ubin. and so everyone was scurrying about determined to leave an imprint of their faces permanantly in the memories of others.this is navajos '07 and their exes. they have been a fun-loving and noisy group. haha. as seen from the meet ex sessions that brewed so many scandals just in a night's time. haha. from what i heard from their gis, they indulge in self-torture. haha..or rather, self-discipline. every individual proves to be capable of surviving the utmost challenge, but tgt, they are a unique bunch. i feel proud being their ex. (:
and hope they pass on the photo-whoring tradition that has been with nava. since 1993. =D (we found a photo album in the qm room that belongs to navajos '93 batch 19)
the journey back from ubin was hard to bear. the usual lethargy and eagerness for changi nasi lemak was replaced by a sense of loss and nostalgia. it was like a portal back to reality. when we reach land, we'll have to revive our status as a student, as a mugger, accept the fact that yltc'07 is going to end in a matter of hours, and our term in oac ... the blink of an eye.i never knew ubin meant so much to me.
shawnees 'o7really proud of these 8 jnrs who pulled thru frm precamp1 to yltc day 5. they never wailed, they never told me they felt like giving up. their spirits were always high and they always had lame jokes to entertain us. even when they weren't that funny. haha. but i'm really glad i got to be ur gi. great job for living through yltc with a smile. best spirited grp 'o7. shine like the red red ang ku kuehs. (:
thank you fellow gi yongsheng. for being my fellow gi. haha. despite the fact that u incessantly told me abt martian dreams, you were great company. (:
thank you shawnees rovers shiu and weixiang. for the saigang u did for us, for the breakfasts lunches and dinners, for the sentries and incoherent blabbering. and the holy water that saved our lives on that scorching aftn during land ex. (:
i could still clearly remember the moment the clean yltc shirt and encouraging pat fell on my shoulders. it was a moment of relief and gratitude. 18th march 2006. i'll always remember that day. the day we graduated from yltc. the day 23 people forged friendships that forever bind.
thank you 32nd instructors. for adding on truckloads of fond memories from yet another yltc. it hasn't been easy these past mths, but now that its over, i wish i could live it all over again. maybe our story will not end even when our term does, but anyway, lets just cherish the time we have left tgt before everything fades into black and white.the flag flies high and our legacy lives on.
so much memories to recollect, so little time to treasure.
-32nd land chief, shawnees gi, programs comm.
posted @ 4:46 PM