Wallaby - The Only Thing That Really Matters

We came back to camp yesterday and have been working to return our arms and stores for the past 2 days. Everyone was in a good mood as we are at the tail end of our reservist. Everything seems to move at a faster pace now that we are clearing up to go home.

It felt like the past 2 weeks have gone by in a breeze. And tonight I receive the one thing that mattered the most, the MR letter.

This signifies that I have finally completed my national service duty to the country. It's been too long ... at 38 I no longer am the young man who has endless energy to serve. I'm glad I no longer have to attend IPT every year. And to end it on a high note via Wallaby is a pretty feeling.

Almost There

A few days short of 3 months and we are almost done. There isn't any works scheduled for the next couple of days. What's to do is to check for defects when I get back and meet up for rectification discussions. In the meanwhile, I'm just savouring the beautiful pictures Papa sent.

Final Marble Polish

The marble worker is here today for the last polish and to mend a couple of skirting joints which were not filled properly. We had waited till most of the renovation works are done before we complete the last polish.

I'll need to check on the quality of the works when I get back to Singapore. I'm still holding back a thousand from Alex and another thousand from Edward. If all is well I'm gonna have to pay them and keep my fingers crossed that the tiles don't continue to turn yellow in the future.

Wallaby - Same Old Routine

Since we moved out for the training couple of days it's been pretty much the same drill over the last couple of days. So rather than separate posts for each day I've decided to put it all in one post in brief highlights.

25 Sep

We have a fair deal of work today. Finished up the camo net for the MP tent in the early morning and proceed to install concertina wires around the command post. The area covered was pretty huge .... we used about 45 rims of concertina wire. 

Afternoon was spent lazing in the tentage, did a bit of work camo-ing the store tonner. I've been adopting the switch-off approach. This is the last reservist already and being 38 I can no longer carry the stores like I did 10 years ago. I have to watch my back and be mindful to bent the knees and carry stuff that are lighter etc.

26 Sep

We were supposed to move off but with CDF coming, all manner of warfare strategy was thrown out of the window. I suppose I shouldn't be complaining, why go through another round of perimeter defence when we already invested so much effort on the current one.

In other news, I managed to find a wonderful spot for potty. It's a small noll with a ridge line stretching about a kilometer. My initial plan was to hold it in ... for a good 6 days 5 nights. But eventually nature caught up with me (this is actually a good thing) and the urge to go finally came. Although the urge came, it somehow disappeared with I went with Vik, Joe and ZH to scout it out in the morning. All 3 went about their business except me >.<. So while I wait for them to do their deed I climbed to the top of the ridge to get a 360 view of our training area. It was an amazing sight,  you can even see the sea at a distance from the top.

I returned to the hill in the afternoon to finally poop. It was such a relief to finally go. All the pend up anxiety and restlessness finally dissipating.

27 Sep

CDF came yesterday afternoon and so there was talk of moving out again for the next point at either 9pm or 3am this morning. Both present safety issues though the 3am one might have better light since the mornings start early here in Rockhampton. 

It turned out we had the night to rest. The order to move came in the wee hours and we started tearing down the defence at 5.30am. We had a good couple of hours to remove the concertina and eventually moved a little while after lunch. By the time we reach the next site it was already 5 plus. Given limited daylight we setup our tent and went to bed. Another night of good rest! 

28 Sep

The day was uneventful except for a minister visit and an emergency run for potty due to eggs for breakfast. Those were potent eggs, gave me LS in the afternoon. I had to make a 'tactical' move to the front sentry and bashed through the back deep to the woods since the minister was here when my tummy decided to call it quits.

The whole exercise was finally cut at about 7pm. For safety reasons we did not immediately proceed back to camp and were to stay another night here instead. Everyone was gripping about it but I shared the horrible experience the previous time I was where our driver literally flew back to camp at full speed. We were hanging for our dear lives then. So I offered that it was a prudent approach to stay out for another night before embarking back to camp the next day.

Glass Works and Plumbing

Plumber and the Glass works vendor is here to install the shower screens, mirrors and assorted kitchen and bathroom accessories. Again I'll have to let the pictures do the talking since I wasn't there to view the progress myself.

 

A couple more days and I'll be back to see the flat in an almost complete state.

Wallaby - Moving Out For Exercise Proper

Frozen like popsicles. Last night was terribly cold, more so because we were made to stay out at the assembly area where it is a wide stretch of plain field without any trees or buildings to shield us from the cold. My section was assigned to a tonner whose back flap was broken and that made it worst. It was so damn cold none of us could get any proper sleep. Even with the black fleece jacket and sleeping bags we were still freezing. Everyone was glad when dawn came. We were exhausted from the chilling cold. And the thought of everyone else enjoying a comfortable slumber back in camp really pissed me off. 

To add insult to injury, our BSM only packed 5 boxes of breakfast, grossly short to feed 22 of us. I decided not to eat and left it for the other guys. Seriously? This is how you treat us? Sigh ... the next 6 days outfield is going to be hell if this keeps up.

Although we are a kilometer or two from camp, the phone signal is already down to a bar. It looks like it's going to be 'internet-silent' for the next couple of days. It's going to take some getting used to but I suppose it's a good 'experience' to finally be off-line after being constantly connected for years.

Wallaby - New Boots

Lobo, a word commonly used in NS to mean you have nothing to do. Its a welcome event for the most part since we have mobile charging tents and 3G.  Continue this pace outfield and you would have endless days and nights that seems to drain into unbearable boredom. I spend the whole of yesterday at the charging tent playing Wonder Tactics and listening to my Chinese 4* songs playlist.

Oddly enough, the weather turned real cold towards the night. I was shivering as i finish my hot bath .... Teeths clattering and all. I was awoken from my slumber by the cold at 4am. And I'm not the only one, there were a couple of guys who are up and they too were freezing. We threw on socks, pants and a heat pack for good measure. If this continues during the nights we'll gonna have a horrid time when we go out in the field. So much for wishing for cooler weather .... I'm starting to regret it!

Finally had my boots changed today. They say new boots bite so I had to bend them. The regular staff also warned of blisters. Hmmm blisters or risk the whole sole coming off. Already the old boots were tearing further and I had to tape the front portion too as a precaution. I'll risk the blisters ... Took the in-soles from the old pair and fitted them into the new one. My original was 10 but i took a 10.5 and could fit the in-soles in with space left. 

Everyone was packing after lunch as we are drawing arms at 1930 and gonna sleep out in the field tonight. As advance party, we move out at the strike of daylight, which is pretty early here in Rockhamptoon where the day lights up at 5 and nights come quickly at 6. I soon discover that it was a silly activity ... We are being asked to guard the vehicles parked at the assembly area. For what??? So this is why we didn't have to go out for the mini exercise ...

Aircon, Doors And Counter Tops

There is a whole lot of progress today. 3 groups of people doing different installations. Sadly I couldn't be there to witness it first hand ... Arggghhhh. Thankfully Papa was there to watch over the works. And most importantly, send pictures!!

 

Yeah! Aircon condenser and fan coils are up. I'm glad we shifted the condenser out to the balcony wall. I didn't like how the serviceman were coming into our master bedroom to fix the aircon at 303.

The Besglas vendor is here to install the bi-fold doors for the bathrooms and also a glass door for the kitchen entrance. I'm liking the quality of the bi-folds, not flimsy like the one we have at 303. We need to get some decals for the kitchen door though so OO doesn't run into them accidentally when closed.

The last group were the installers for the Caesarstone countertops. They did the kitchen first and were drilling holes onsite after gauging the tap sizes. They also installed the hob after laying the countertop to complete the look. 

Wallaby - Broken Spectacles

My spectacles broke, a little. Haiz more unfortunate events challenging my stay here. What was i to do with a broken specs. There is no avenue to obtain a replacement.  

I vaguely recall replacing this a year or two ago after the earlier one broke after just a year. And now the replacement has conveniently decided to do the same at the most inappropriate place.

I've attempted to hold it together with black tape but that's not working well. The tape keeps slipping off the lens. The best I can do now is to pray that it doesn't break any further. This is as much excitement i can tolerate now. Hope there won't be other stuff falling apart ...

We have pretty much have settled into a routine. Breakfast at 6:30am, lunch at 11:30 and dinner at 17:30. We stick to this even more rigorously when we have nothing whatsoever to do the whole day. 

The plan was for a 2 day 1 night mini exercise starting today. But we receive the good news that it was cancelled (for reasons we'll never know). So three days of nothingness till we move out on Saturday.

I spend the better part of the morning camped at the mobile tent. Naps helped me through the afternoon before I returned to the charging tent to finish the Rogue Lawyer. Had milk to help with the constipation, I ran for the toilet 2 hours later to a full blown LS. Finished the day with 2 beers after dinner which made me sick. So went to bed early at 10pm to nurse a splitting headache and bad nausea. 

Wallaby - A Whole Lot Of Waiting

Woke up at 5am. Somehow I couldn't sleep ... must be the hard safari bed. Since I was up early, I got changed and went for breakfast alone. They haven't started their regular serving yet so there was only bread loaf with butter and jam. They had a wonderful bread toasting machine out in the australian outback! That alone was enough to spruce up the bread. Coupled that and butter and I was able to down 5 slices.

That's as exciting as it gets for the rest of the day. Only the signage team had work in the morning, the rest of us were free. I had thought of catching up on some sleep but it was hard to come by in the sweltering heat. It look like there was a heatwave at times.

Well we were supposed to be loading stores at 1.30pm. However the plan was delayed countless times, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm. We finally gave up waiting and left at 5.30pm. I was pretty ok with the wait, since that means more leisure time at the mobile charging tent ... I had drain the phone to 15% during the morning break anyways so I had to charge it up again. So I got to reading John Grisham's Rogue Lawyer while i charge my phone during the afternoon waits. I was already halfway through the book when we finally abandon any thoughts of getting the stores done today and head for dinner munchies. 

Bedroom Doors

Since I'm away in Australia and unable to check on the renovation progress, my father-in-law has taken upon himself this important duty. He has committed to drop by every morning and afternoon and will send us photo updates.

The bedroom doors are up today. They must have installed it over the weekend.

I like that the door stopper is mounted against the wall rather than on the floor. We wouldn't want to spoil the beautiful parquet.

The one slight problem I have with the doors is the door handles ... they don't seem to look like the ones we chose. The ones we wanted looks to be more rounded at the edges. Hmmm is this a different one or is it just a visual error on the picture sample?

Wallaby - My First Crocodile

The first week is pretty much loading stores and simple practice sessions. The weather though is different from what we were told. The bunk is like a sauna ... where is the 10-22 degrees aircon temperature we were promised?

Morning went past quickly with mundane drawing of stores. With the scorching sun, I was liberal with the suntan lotion. I feel like a sweaty sea lion after I was done coating every bit of skin above my upper torso.

To get us up to speed with the tasks for next week's exercise we went out for a quick training cum practice session after lunch. Everyone was rusty ... Who keeps these information in their head anyways. We were split into 3 sections one to do POW, other two building up tentage. Im in the guardroom detail. 

Before we go back, my boots decided it was a fitting time to give way. I experienced my first crocodile ever. And this was a special one, a reversed crocodile. 

I've been through so much, went taiwan brunei during ns days, wallaby in 2007 and never once did my boots split. Now at my last ICT and especially in wallaby where there is no emart, they decide to give up on me in the first few days. 

Concindentally, OC announce tonight they are attempting to get a kit exchange from the local quartermaster. It seems there are a number of people whose boots have also split due to the flight and the pebble paths.

They are finally serving beer at the canteen so I was quick to get one to soothe the craving. Oddly a can of beer is A$4 whereas a bottle of chardonnay or merlot is A$10. Im gonna get a bottle every night while in camp. 

Wallaby - Proper Amenities

Compared with the 2007 trip, this trip is luxurious. We are housed in a proper camp with big tents, concrete bathrooms with flushing wash closet.

I woke up at 7am and went to take a bath. They have hot water here!!

But somehow they decided not to lay pipes for showers. Rather they went with the 'traditional' pulley water bag. I suppose this is a 'must have' feature to say "You are in Wallaby!"

Besides all the usual amenities and proper cook house food prepared by SFI, the one thing that surprised me was when I found a mobile charging tent.

Our electronic devices are so indispensable and communication is so important that they have setup such a station. Maybe this was already here 10 years ago but I wouldn't know ... I was thrown out into the wilderness for 3 weeks.

By the looks of it, it isn't going to be too bad this time. I'm glad we have internet connection. I'll be able to keep up with the renovation progress at home.

Wallaby - Getting There

Wallaby, my 2nd time. I was there in 2007 and it was a horrid experience. I hope this time would be better. Vik is coming with me and we are going there under the Division rather than Battalion. They have an entire platoon of MPs versus a single section of RPs to do the same tasks.

It has come at an inconvenient time though since we are in the final stages of the renovation. I hope Meimei can hold the matte while I'm away. I've purchased a Starhub prepaid card since there is a new Telstra tower at Camp Growl.

I suppose the next couple of blogs would be about the mundane happenings while I serve out the last high-key ICT. After this I would have complete the 7 high-key requirements to stand down.

So we reported at Changi T1 at 10.30am to get on a 1pm chartered Qantas flight direct to Rockhampton airport. Meimei and OO were there to send me off.

I was able to catch a few blockbuster movies during the 7 hour flight. We eventually reached at 8pm SGT / 10pm Rockhampton Time. It took another hour and half bus ride before we reach Camp Growl. By the time we settled the bunk logistics - safari beds, pillows, sleeping bags, it was already 2am.

Carpentry Screw-Ups

I knew something had gone very wrong the moment I saw it. The master bedroom wardrobe looks nothing like the design we chose. We had gone through several iterations of the design, but not once did we choose to have the big grooves between the casement doors.

I really cannot understand how Norman and his carpenter can get it so wrong. The worst part was Norman trying to cover up the mistake by saying he will ask his carpenter to cut a thicker groove in the middle of the doors to mimic the design we chose. That was unacceptable and I made it known clearly to him. After hearing my view, he backed down and rightly so ... it was obvious the wardrobe design was done wrong. No amount of cover up is going to change that fact.

Other than the major flaw in the wardrobe the rest are somewhat minor. There is the grooves we had asked for in the storeroom doors but again Norman must have his own idea because it wasn't done.

There is also the issue of the joining laminates at the TV console and feature wall. I recall Norman explaining that if we did the TV feature now, it will look seamless rather than seeing joint lines at the side. But now that we went ahead with the TV feature we're still seeing the joint lines. So what's the difference between doing this now or later?

I think overall the carpentry was ok. But the biggest peeve was Norman's attempt to cover up the master wardrobe boo-boo. I'm getting more worried that he'll try more nonsense when I leave for reservist tomorrow.

First Glimpse Of Carpentry

Finally one of the most exciting parts of the renovation has started. They are installing the carcass today and I find this even more interesting than the exteriors. I'll let the pictures do the talking :-)

Lights Lights Baby!

Woot~! The lights are finally up and we can come visit at night!

We had the PUB testing in the afternoon. I was barred from visiting 405 for fear that the tester will be more meticulous when the home owners are around.

Once the PUB testing was completed and we had a pass, Norman has the team on standby to immediately install all the lights.

Lighting truly brings out the beauty in a home. I was initially afraid the low ceiling would affect the lighting but it seems my fears were unfounded.

Everything looks stunningly beautiful with the bright lights. I think Meimei was right to call for Cool white lights. The place definitely looks much better and pleasant on the eyes when compared to the warm lights at 303.

Now we have to wait for the carpentry to go up before they can fix on the LEDs and T5s. I can't wait for that to come!

Tails For Lights

The Licensed Electrical Worker (LEW) is here today to prepare for tomorrow's PUB testing. Essentially he is just going around and conducting a mock test on all the lighting points to ensure none will cause tripping.

They have also cut out the holes for the lights. It feels like there are wiggly  worms hanging from the ceiling. Eeeeewwww. Other than this nothing much else is happening.

The only exciting thing today is the delivery of the packaging materials. We had asked several movers to come to 303 to assess our items and provide a quote. All of them had unanimously quoted for 90 large cartons for our move.

Did we accumulate so much items in a span of 6 years? Anyways I'm glad the materials arrive. At least I can do some packing before I go away for reservist this weekend.