the•truth•shall•set•you•free

Weather: A wintry evening, where I'm all snuggled up in my blankets, with a cup of hot chocolate by my desktop and the firewood cackling away in the nicely done-up fireplace behind me.. Yeah, right.. its just that the wind and rain that flew through my panes just now sorta gave this winter feeling, which I like. Plus it IS the christmas season! I can finally don some of my less heavy duty 'winter wear' (read: thin thin jacket).
Topic: Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT).

I finally passed my IPPT! Which means - no more the nonsense of wasting my precious Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings trodding down to camp for RT, and thus missing happening programmes like Superstar, the 7 & 9 pm Channel 8 serials, etc.. Although I must add that the RTs actually made me fitter and expanded my knowledge of fitness training. The officers at my camp (there are only 2 RT camps, and I stay in the east - you can make the rest of the deduction yourself) were fairly nice as well, helping me with my make-up training sessions and thus allowing me to go to China (photos coming up soon!) at ease. The RTs also re-ignited my desire to keep fit. I've since been inspired to keep up with my current exercise regime, which includes skipping too and I'm adding swimming to it soon (for next year's NUS Biathlon, hee..). It feels good to know that I'm able to run.. fast. Or at least fast enough.
By the way, RT stands for Remedial Training. Its for people who fail their IPPT. Its like if you fail or do badly for your Biology tests, you'll need to go for remediation. Likewise for IPPT.

Which brings me to why I had to go for RT. Not that I failed my IPPT, but that I did not even go for it. I did not apply for a test date. I did not go for any IPPT. And that, was a BAD BAD move. It caused me a slew of problems, which made me decide never will I miss (or fail, if possible) my IPPT ever again.

Firstly, coz I did not go for IPPT, which is warranted by law for all active NSmen, I was charged. Which means it'll leave a bad record. Which might be detrimental to me, considering I'm in the civil service and Mindef and MOE are probably good friends. But I think I don't really care lah.. It was precisely I didn't care much in the first place that I just totally missed IPPT. Anyhow, back to story of being charged. I was fined $50. And I had to go down all the way to Sungei Gedong camp to be charged. And I had to wear the army uniform somemore! And I had to misplace my boots. In the end, I had to borrow a pair of boots from a guy who was there for his In-Camp Training. Thank God for him being willing to lend his boots to an utter stranger.
On a side note, my friend was in the same dire straits as me. He was charged in CMPB and he actually got away with just a warning letter! I had wanted to ask my officer-in-charge (pun intended) the reason for the discrepancy in treatment, but I decided it would be better for me to juz shuddup and be contented with (in his words) "the lowest fine possible". And and and while I was trying to use my credit card to pay for the fine, the transaction was not approved and the reason stated was: stolen card. What the ^%"£@!

Not only was I charged, I had to go for RT. Which proved a lot of hassle as I had to miss many night appointments with friends just to attend RTs. Argh. Anyhow, a test was slated on the fourth week, and I thought 'boy, that's a chance for me to prove myself and pass it'. But alas, I had to schedule my China trip then and miss my IPPT. Which was actually good for me on hindsight, coz apparently I wasn't that ready to pass my IPPT (silly chin-ups). As yet.

So I went on about my RT, and finally passed IPPT last night. I must add that they are less strict with NSmen (I think), coz my arms weren't fully straightened while doing my chin-ups but they let me pass anyway. Sit-up and shuttle run were ok, though I didn't manage to clock under 10 for shuttle run, which I always used to do. With ease. As for standing board jump, I had just failed a practice on Monday, but thankfully, by the grace of God, I managed a 3 points (my failure on Monday got me only 1 point) in the test! As for the 2.4km run, I had to run it in the rain. It began to rain after I had completed all my static stations, and I was thinking what's going to happen to my static stations results if I can't take my 2.4km test today. I wasn't going to redo the whole test again lor.. In the end, however, those who had hopes of passing were allowed to take the 2.4km test. I ran and kept praying along the way, even to the extent of smiling (while I was running, yes!) and thanking the Lord that I'm finally passing and getting outta here! And God really answered my prayers as I ran. It was a good run. My thighs and lungs did their jobs well. I did not have stitches. In fact, my timing for each round got faster and faster. By the fifth round, I was taking around 2 mins/round. But my last round took only about 1 mins 50 sec, and I finished my 2.4km test in 11 mins 20 secs! Which is a whopping 30 secs shaved off from my previous timed practice. And I attained 4 (out of 5) points for this station!

The last I checked, I am only a mere 1 point away from attaining the Silver award, all because of the silly chin-ups. I must go work on them and take the test for next year again soon and get a Silver! ($200!)