In Continuum.

The Whole 16 Kilometers

What a dread route marches are,especially when you have to book in early on a public holiday and march overnight in the middle of nowhere,with your mind somewhere in the same twillight realm.The truth is,this route march thing couldve been totally scraped,if the CO had a little more sense and forget about those "Bonding" thing he has in mind.Let's admit short fart,it's not going to happen.Ice-creams will never taste good with peas,so you can go kiss my epic ass about it.

While the rest of the world were in their warm beds indoors,or enjoying their newly bought storybook from Kino,drinking to a nice warm cup of Latte by the bed,the lot of us were at Sungei Gedong camp,staring up into the sky above which was then hidden behind towering rain clouds,threatening to unleash mother nature's power upon us.The lot of us prayed for rain,while others would rather finish the march dry and clean.They however,forgot the simple truth that there is no such thing as dry and clean in the army.Grow up,fools.

So it began,the long march through the lonely night.By the time we started it was already 1230am and half our eyes were already closed.We tried to cheer up,but exhaustion took over five meters into the march.I found myself straying towards my right everytime i try to walk straight,and Martin's silence sure wasnt helping.

There were four checkpoints in total,with the last being the destination;The final destination.We marched through the night,and through the rain at some point.Thankfully,God's wrath came in forms of drizzles and needle like raindrops,and those saved us a whole lot of trouble i must say(Gore-Tex must be the greatest invention in military history,period).I tried to cheer up,but we were all tired.Not because of the march,but it was the time we were actually marching.Marching through the night has all but one advantage:It's cooling.At least you dont have to overcome the heat of the morning/afternoon.The most you have to worry about is hyperthermia,but what are the odds of that happening in Singapore?Thats like having a bloody heatstroke in Antartica,are you kidding me?

Carrying a MG is no joke.All 14.5kgs on your shoulder,pulling you down as you try to catch up with the bastard walking in front is a dreadful experience for anybody.I carried that for the last leg of the march,and though it was the shortest of all the legs,mine involved a tedious uphill walk,with the slope at a ridiculous fifty degrees.All right,forty-five.

It was almost the end,and the boys were glad.However,happiness were hidden under hours of sleepless marching,as well as shirt-drenching sweat.By the time we were halfway up the slope,half the troops wanted to give it up and roll down the slope while the other half already died on the slope in their minds.I for one,just forced my already numbed legs on,with the MG still on my shoulder going against the gravity.

A little history behind this hill,they call the "Elephant Hill".To be honest,nobody knows why the hell they call it the "Elephant Hill".Probably because it's shaped like a big ass "E",or it has a steep-ass slope on one side like the trunk of an elephant.Whatever the morale behind the name of the god-damn hill is,the hill is where OCS boys would climb after their 24km march,and watch the sunrise.Sort of like a mini-ceremony,to signify their "Come-to-age" i guess,and to tell them how important our land is,how close Malaysia is,you know.All those propaganda bullshit.Suddenly farting sounds melodious.

So there we were,gathered on top of Elephant Hill at lovely 6am in the morning,with the morning air releasing it's full force upon us.Some of us were partially drenched,and the wind didnt help to blow us dry.We were freezing like winter monkeys,and i swear if i sneezed my saliva would freeze and stay in mid-air.I put on my jacket once more,and the lot of us just got ourselves(mildly)comfortable on the ground while we waited for breakfast to arrive.In my mind i was thinking,what if the tonner rolled down the slope halfway up?That wouldve been a sight,truly.

Bread with egg mayo spread,and hot milo was what we had that morning.Simple,but that was enough to cheer the lot of us up.Jonathan gobbled up nine of those sandwiches,and i wonder what PC would say about his IPPT if he saw it.I ate one,and comfortably squeezed myself between two platoon mates and stared up into the dawning sky.

It was beautiful,and far in the horizon the second link from Singapore to Malaysia.Funny how so many people commuted along that road,even in the wee hours of the morning.In the distance the little hills stretching out into the distance,and the mist still lingering around the hills like crowns upon a king's head.It was peaceful,and though the wind was painfully cold and the food was awfully disgusting,i found my moment of peace up there on the little hill with a stupid name.

I remember smiling,and falling asleep for a brief while.The stars lingered in the sky for a while,and i was hoping to see shooting stars like,the time during one of the numerous field camps.I breathed in deep,and felt alive."I survived..." i murmured,and closed my eyes.

PS.Missed the bloody sunrise though.Bummer.