NCC Camp

Camp just ended today. For most of the others that is. For me, camp ended almost as soon as it had begun. This is because I reported sick, and when I went to see a doctor, I was diagnosed with dehydration and a mild fever. This officially meant that camp was over for me. My first camp, and THIS happened. I can't believe it.

Although camp was kinda tough, I still can't believe that I failed to ENDURE. I mean, first thing, after we fell in (assembled), we were knocked (made to do push-ups). Okay, fair enough. We were in the wrong. Then, almost every Part A (Sec 1) screwed up Muster Parade. NCOs were really pissed off. Oh yeah, forgot one thing. During a 5 minute water break, I was caught walking. I was knocked. Can you believe it? according to my NCOs, this showed that I had "no sense of urgency". What?!

After that, I called an NCO by a wrong rank. I had to knock 30. That was still fine. Reasonable. The walking one was a heck of a lot more unreasonable. So the section I belonged to named ourselves Alpha. Hey, we weren't going to waste precious time thinking about this. After that, we fell in in Muster Parade formation again and the COS (my part-mate) screwed up by falling in in the wrong place. After he got scolded(understatement), we were briefed on Activity 1.

First thing, we had to stone there while we were being briefed. Not even our eyeballs could move. The very first line we heard was this:" You will start with -3000 points." Not good. The second line:" At the end of the activity, any remaining points (-) that you have left will have to be made up for in push-ups." What?! Are they crazy?!

The activity was sub-divided into 5 parts. Alpha only managed to complete 3. We were given a clue as to where the venue of the activity might be. The first clue: a _____ of players. Hey, that was easy. Obviously the field, right? BINGO! Then we had to leopard crawl from one rugby post to the other. Darn. I grazed my elbows on this one.

After that, our second clue: a picture of a man running. The Part Cs (sec 3s) figured that it might be the driveway, and voila! it was. So now we were about to run. Nothing complicated, right? Wrong. As we ran, the first person was supposed to run to the back and once he reached, the new first person would have to do the same thing. Cycle. One last thing. We were supposed to cheer ALL THE WAY. Just another challenge, aye?

A water break after that, Thank God. Then the thrid clue: a picture of a corn, and a golf course. after 5 - 10 minutes, we finally managed to decipher the clue. Corn - Course (Concourse). Yay! I would like to describe the activities that we did, but my memory is a bit foggy here. Too bad.

Before lunch, I called my Sergeant Major "Master Sergeant" by mistake. Knock 50. Then it was lunch. Phew. A 45 minute recess from the hectic schedule of camp. We had to cook our our lunch using solid fuel, cooking stoves and mess tins. I ate everything from then can, as well as the instant noodles. Hey, they're supposed to be instant, right?

It was directly after lunch that I felt ill, had a headache and was dizzy. Gulp. I reported sick. I was asked by Mr Balam to change into my PT kit (PE Attire) and to take a cold shower for 10 minutes. I felt slightly better after that, but my temperature was still 37.5oC. In all, I took like 6 - 8 cold showers before I was sent home. That was really sad. I had missed out on Road March, Solonight, War Games, Dinner, Breakfast, Fire Drill...

Ah well, best not to dwell on the past. I hope that next camp, the same thing won't happen to me again. I hope.