Taiwan

A few more hours before I fly off to Taiwan.

Its not really that epic really... Taiwan is just slightly harder than Tekong... But the chances of anything bad happening is next to zero. The worst that could probably happen is that I die of food poisoning during our 2 day rest and relaxation or the plane crashes into the sea. Other than that, it shouldn't be THAT tough.

But the fact that I'll be so far from home for so long is what is getting to me and everyone else in camp. No one is worried sick about the missions to come. We know we will survive. It's just the fact that its a new country and there is no way of calling back home to your family and friends.

I never thought I'd ever go to Taiwan.... Not like I wanted to go there, but seriously, "Taiwan nightclubs are the shit" as quoted by my dear sergeants. It'll be smth to look forward to during our 11 day training. No point worrying about whats gonna happen to us during training... You'll just make yourself sick.

Plus its only 3 weeks....

Yeah, I'm trying to reassure myself. LOL!

But I'm going to miss a lot of things while I'm gone. Family, pet dog, friends, bed, food, bed, food.... Haha!

To Andrew:
Thanks for the gift bro... HAHA! That has got to be one of the best motivations I'll have in Taiwan. It really must have been hell trying to get it. I want to see the same thing on you when I come back! =D Love ya bro. TC!

To my close friends (You knw who u are u losers! =D):
Don't miss me, I know I'm awesome. I'll be back before you know it... Haha! I'll be throwing a BBQ when I come back, so all of the AFT members plus plus a few ppl here and there invited... Yeah thought I should let you guys know that... Me and Naathan are trying to make BBQs a norm... Do you really need a reason to enjoy good food, music and company?

And this is to my girl out there:
4 years is nearly over dey!!!! You're going to finish your papers in just a week or so! HAHA! I've known you for 2 1/2 years (My God! It's been THAT long!) but I'm so proud to see how much you've grown in that 2 1/2 years. Exactly a year ago, you would tell me that you couldn't.... Now that word won't even leave your lips.... In my eyes, you are one of the strongest person I know. I'm not just saying that. I mean it. Every single word and letter. You have become someone I can proudly say is my friend...My sister...

And I know I'm not going to be here for 3 weeks... I can't call you EVERY single night like I normally do... And I won't be here when you're A's finish... But just know that somewhere far off in a foreign jungle, your soldier will look up at the moon on the same night you finish your papers and smile... Cos I know you'll be looking at the same moon. And if there is no moon then fuck it, I'll look at the brightest star.


We will party like rockstars when I get back...
Everyone one of us. =D


I'll be leaving Changi Airport in a plane in a few hours as Specialist Cadet Trainee Yogaraj...
And I'll be coming back on the 11th/12th Dec at midnight as 3rd Sergeant Yogaraj....


Signing off
Mr Yoji

Jungle Warfare

Fuck Rambo.

Seriously.

You cant carry a baooka and machine gun and fight an entire war on your... I know... I tried.

Just booked out of camp.

Past 9 days has been... well... shagged is a bit of an understatement. Its like you not doing ALL the projects in school for a year, and then the night before the deadline, you are rushing ALL of it in a few hours while trying to run 5km in 30 mins and carrying all your belongings in your house right now in a field pack.... It s a bad way of explaining what Tekong was, but that was basically how we felt constantly for 5 days. Total of 120 hours of that. Less than 12 hours of actual sleep.

The rest of the time, we are either planning, walking/jogging, bashing through a thick jungle, waiting for the enemy, attacking,planting detonation charges and then pulling back 4-5 km carrying your buddy on a stretcher who had apparently 'been grievously injured in the raid'.

My brain is not functionaing properly right now.

Our bodies and minds have gone beyond the point of 'Damn! Im tired', gone beyond 'STOP NOW BITCH!'... Gone beyond ' This is it, im gonna die'...

Haix... This is what happens when you try to squeeze a 12 week course into 7 weeks...

Tekong is not fun... Trust me on this.

Every BMTC dude out there will tell you the same thing, but he's probably been IN THE FIELD for maybe 5-6 days tops...

When I mean in the field, I really mean in the field.

We dont sleep in shelters or tents... or even on ground sheets.

We sleep in a circle formation in a muddy clearing in the jungle with our field packs in front and our guns pointed outwards. We sleep with one eye open, cos there's a likelyhood that a wild boar carrying off your field pack in the night, or that 'enemy forces' will attack your patrol base in the middle of the night.

I always admired the soldiers in the movies, out in jungles fightin Vietcongs and shit... But when Im finally doing it, with a bazooka at my feet and machine gun firing non- stop on my right, its not that fun at all...

Maybe Im just not totally used to it yet.

Commandos is fun, but you just have to get used to it.

There is ALOT of cool stuff, and we do get to learn and do the shit that all those heroes in movies do.

But its not fun when you're being graded on how well you do it. Not fun when you are carrying a $20,000 night vision goggle on your head that could snap off and drop away into the night, leaving you to answer, and probably pay for it. THOSE things are not fun.

But spamming 120 rounds on full auto is fun... Seeing the looks on your 'enemy' forces faces when you kill them is fun... Reporting,' Mission Success' on your comms set is fun...

Stressed!

Taiwan is gonna be better... Way better.... I hope....

At least we get to party after 11 days field camp there.... And IM just waiting to party hard...

Brothers

There are many people you'll meet in life. You'll befriend most of them. But there's always one group of friends that you will set aside from the rest, hold them in your heart higher than anything else, ready to throw everything you have to run to their side, no matter the consequences...

We call them Brothers...

It's a unique bond that you share with each other, stronger than any normal friendship. It's a bond that once formed, can never break... Shouldn't break. Ever...

It's hard to explain the bond, but every guy understands what it means on some subconscious level. It's ingrained in every man from the day they were born.

I have never forgotten the people I called my brothers, cos I don't do that easily. I call almost every guy 'Bro', but only a few my 'brothers'. I hold them in high regard in my heart, and I'll always throw away anything to save my relationship with them, even it means throwing away pride and dignity. There's a nothing wrong in it. Brothers fight all the time, but are ready to fight for each other in a second. I'll fight you face to face now, but if you are in trouble, I'm fighting with you back to back...

That is the sign of a brotherhood.




People might forget what they once meant to us in the heat of the moment..


They will throw out punches that hurt, and words that hurt even more... 


But never forget you once called each other Brother and would have given all for them in a second... 


They might have forgotten that, but you should never forget it...


 Ever...










I used to call them brothers... 


They've forgotten...


But I haven't...