The week was a short one (the evening of the 19th to that of the 23rd), but it was one that was nevertheless fraught with challenges - as well as God's rather remarkable ways of getting me through/out of them.

19.02.12 The first night in after a well deserved, albeit short break was most definitely a rather painful experience - okay, I'm being a little hyperbolic here. Nevertheless, there was a certain moodiness to me that evening, as I yearned to be freed from the obligation that was NS (BMTC), and also for the restoration of my creature comforts to me. The consolation however was that the weekend was beautifully spent; I went on a gastronomical feast - fresh seafood at Itacho Sushi right after booking out, lovely and buttery croissants at Maison Kayser the next morning, and a Chinese meal at Tung Lok just before booking in. Undeniably that raked up a hefty bill, and left me with a sense of want as I approached the in-camp food throughout most of the week that lay ahead, but it was well worth it. Another consolation was the jovial spirits of my section mates, without whom I probably would have been particularly, not merely somewhat moody, so if you're reading this, thanks guys, for the optimism.

20.02.12 The first day in camp was one that definitely put to test the sermon that I had just heard the previous afternoon - on surrendering my hopes and fears to God, and trusting that His grace would see me through both that day and for eternity, as well as the frivolous dalliances of my mind. The day was generally quite light - most of it was spent at an indoor simulation shooting range, doing something called the Individual Marksman Training (IMT). Two verses saw me through the day (thank God for the reading list from R-AGE):

Romans 12:1-2 - "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away."

The IMT was rather draggy, despite the fact that I was done by the morning (others still had to wait their turn, and consequently, we had to wait for them), but nevertheless, I was thankful that the waiting, with the IMT was conducted in an air-conditioned environment. The rest of the afternoon was spent resting in the bunk - yes it was quite a lazy day, except for the evening, which involved something called a Force Spread/Preparation (I can't quite remember) and night PT. I skipped the latter as I was feeling a tad bloated - probably the result of too heavy a lunch and dinner, and too little activities that stimulated digestion; this feeling of being bloated and abdominal discomfort lasted for pretty much the whole week. Incidentally, this was the week that the entire bunk started to fall sick - definitely a fine example of what close proximity can do to aid viral transmissions; I was down with a cough that undeniably worsened over the course of the week.

21.02.12 Mornings, as written before, are especially painful for me, both in civilian life, and especially so in the military - nobody in their right mind wakes up at 4.30am. But this verse gave me (some degree of) strength:

Psalm 27:1 - "The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?"

The day started early as we had to do some practices on the throwing of (dummy) grenades in anticipation of live throws the following day. I must say that despite the long and draggy day that was the 20th of February, and the mud that I had to crawl through as part of the grenade assault course, I had quite a fair bit of fun - no doubt thanks to the strength that God provided me with. The day however ended on a slightly sour note: a poor chap in my section got his rifle "stunned" (in military speak) and faced the threat of confinement as a result - the only way out (at least when it was announced to us) was that the whole platoon spent a morning doing remedial training (RT); honestly I don't see the point of collective punishments. Thankfully, the sergeant decided to waive off this punishment, otherwise I wouldn't be typing this now.

22.02.12 Throwing a live grenade was definitely no joke - its amazing, and even scary how something the size of a lemon could pack such deadly force. Then again, size isn't exactly a good indicator of potential, but what I can say is that it was rather scary carrying a live explosive in your breast pocket, knowing that it could potentially kill you should the device be faulty. Despite all of those fears, things turned out rather well, and I especially have to thank God for giving me a reassuring officer (Shaunald) who guided me through the entire process of throwing the live grenade. Following the grenade throws, we had to march back to our camp - a rather arduous 6 kilometres away. I'd like to add that it wasn't the distance that proved arduous, but rather the insane load, pardon me, the insane backpack that proved the challenge - it didn't sit well on my shoulder (I have rather narrow shoulders), and that made the march rather painful. Nevertheless, I survived it, as well as some rather silly Urban Operations training at night.

23.02.12 Evidently, the chunks above are getting shorter and shorter as I progress with typing out my thoughts on the past week, and it is the case for 2 reasons: the days had less activities than before (albeit longer ones), and that I'm getting a little tired of typing as well. But I digress: the 23rd was the day that I was due to bookout, and the entire day was spent in anticipation of that. I also learnt that I was particularly lucky - most of my other friends did not have this luxury of an early bookout, and Ansen and Joel (Moppet) had RT and Confinement (so I heard) respectively. poor chaps. The day was spent with an SOC practice, which was quite fun I must add - I'm glad that I can finally overcome the low wall, though the low rope still remains an obstacle that I have yet to overcome (literally and figuratively). For some strange reason, for most of the week before the 23rd, I felt constipated - perhaps it was the lack of proper fruits and vegetables that led to that (I really do not eat beansprouts), but oddly enough, the 23rd was marked by the feeling of gassiness and diarrhea like stools - not quite to the point of being watery, but very mushy and persistent (gross, I know). A visit to the doctor ended the day - that cough has to be treated, ASAP. Despite the long day, it was good to know that guidance was never far away, and that it passed quite smoothly.