Wednesday, December 20, 2006

i'm back! back from the wilderness and uncivilisation that is brunei. also back from the long hiatus of not blogging. anyway we touched down in s'pore this morn at around 0730 with lots of cheers and applause coming from within the plane. haha. that's how delighted we were to see home sweet home.

just in case you were wondering, brunei is nothing like taiwan. (btw, my 3-wk taiwan trip was followed by 3wks back in s'pore and then followed by this 3-wk brunei trip.) the sultanate is probably a few times worse than the republic, in terms of the terrain, weather,and not to mention the 1 day r&r part. the quality of a shopping experience in the 2 countries is a non-comparison. taiwan boasts two of the biggest shopping districts in asia in the form of ximenting and shilin night market, while the biggest mall in brunei looks like ngee ann city from the outside and like hougang mall from the inside. and that's an insult even to hougang mall! give me a break.

but it's not that i didnt learn anything from this trip. all in all it was a great experience for me out there in the jungle as well as to see how brunei is really like. it was a pretty happening trip in a boring place, if you get what i mean. here are just some of the going-ons and the people who made the trip interesting:

there was zhihao and me manning checkpoint SIGN/NAME and the long initial trek there with those jerry cans and the signal set;
seeing the teams reach our checkpoint/endpoint and sharing their joy & ecstasy;
braving the brunei jungle for 4days3nites with the rain & insects and looking forward as each night became day;
the 2 of us sitting under our self-made groundsheet shelter and talking about everything under the sun & rain.

there was the being appointed as enemies and filling up & carrying sandbags with the mortar men;
sweating it out doing "sai gang" with the men and the satisfaction of the men saying "thank you, sergeant" when i help or encourage them;
waiting patiently for the rifle coys to come one by one and contacting them slowly;
the excitement of going back to camp after yet another 4days3nites outfield and a meal of the good old fish&chips & rootbeer float from the canteen.

there was warrant wong and his tongkat ali-plucking & his "i don't care if at home you got maria or pariah, down here you are the maria & the pariah. you better clean up your own bunk";
lieutenant shay and his reasons for enjoying being posted to brunei's lakuin camp (among them the overseas allowance & the "very good" bruneiean massages);
douwei the blur mortar man and his changing trench position while leaving his SAW rifle unattended & of all people, the brigade commander being the one finding the rifle "lying at one corner";
amir, kk & i and our cicada-evading antics & constant laughter and lame jokes.

there was edwin losing his SAR21 gas regulator cap and finding it days later between his and gerald's duffel bags;
me joining the reservist cooks for chinese chess and getting all the nice words just because i managed to beat most of them;
kk and his self-taken photos (zhi pai);
eugene & i and our own rendition of blue's 'all rise' & our constant teasing of gerald fok "leading the 'high life' dining at morton's, cafe-ing at dome and living in sentosa cove".

these were just some of the things that made this trip so memorable. and the photos that i took helped too. but if there was one thing that i missed out on in brunei, it's the opportunity to fly in the Super Puma chopper. that's a kinda once-in-a-lifetime experience, isn't it? but to fly in the chopper means having to climb Mt Biang (cos the chopper flies the troops to the foot of Biang so that they can ascend it), so i'm not exactly too disappointed about missing out on that experience. heez.

alrighty my day has been spent unpacking my stuff and downloading songs and blogging. i reckon it's now time for some quality sleep. a nice lazy nap and then wake up for dinner. shiok. meanwhile, you enjoy these brunei pics!