Fira Fatimah

this is sally’s film counterpart. both of them will be fighting for my attention in the upcoming weeks. i saved her from the hands of a man who didnt want her anymore, someone who said he wanted to move on to digital. maybe it’s his mistake, but this is my gain, because now I’ll learn from both digital and film.

I pray that from now on, I will create magic through these lenses.

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Did I Mention

That it’s 6 more weeks to the end of my term in ERS. Next week I’ll be able to countdown with one hand. Oh and I got Yishun Fire Station for my 24 hour station attachment, let’s see how that goes.

Filed under: General

Brutal Brunei

It was tough, but I made it through 7 days without the comfort of home, warm water, clean clothes, dry socks, pillows and comforters and so much more. I had to deal with mosquitoes, poisonous plants, huge cicadas, major problematic spiders, barking lizards, fiery red ants, downpours and mud. lots of mud. I lost my soap on the second day, forgot my toothbrush for the 4 day trekking trip, and had no dry socks left for the last day.

To add insult to injury, our prized possesions were taken away from day one. Handphones, MP3 players, wallets, even comfort food. For 7 days, we had to deal with the basics; a small wooden teratak, a few shirts, and some really strong insect repellents. Damn kampong can. Call home also cannot, even kampong got phones.

We trekked through Bukit Lutut (1496metres high) for 4 days starting from Sunday all the way to Wednesday, so you can imagine the distance we covered; i believe it was about 20km at least. we dealt with muddy campsites, sandfly infested trails, wet and dirty brown leaves, broken boots and torn uniforms. we tumbled and slipped, we were cut, punctured, and scratched from every angle possible.

When god showered us with pure, unadulterated thunderstorms, our moods changed so drastically it was not funny anymore. If it rained during the night, all of us would wake up soaking wet in our tents, and all our dry clothes which we thought were safely protected within ziplock bags would be wet as well. If it rained during the day, our trekking would be unimaginably tough, slipping on the simplest of slopes and crashing down onto thorns.

But. I loved every single bit of it, including all the tough moments. Why?

The Temburong river was beautiful, the water was crystal clear. It was like a scene out of Jurassic Park, where the trees grew to unimaginable heights, the water moved as fast as the wind, and huge tree trunks fell and covered the trails. The rocks gave the river much needed texture, and the soil painted the jungle in shades of bright orange to dull brown. the canopy was so high we never really reached the top of the tallest tree. The feeling was surreal, even though I knew it was part of National Service.

On Wednesday night, we had Solo Night, where they dropped us off one by one in the jungle to spend the night alone. This one, must tell you in person, if not there’ll be no effect. But that night, that night changed me as a person. That is all I’m gonna say for now.

Then we had a kayaking expedition on Thursday, where reyd and me totally obliterated the competition. This one shameless abit, but it’s the truth. We almost obliterated the instructor as well.

On the last day, they had this commitment run, which was about 10KM. Frankly, i’ve never ran that far before, but i thought i’d give it a try. So the mentality i had throughout the whole run was “I’m running home bitchessszz”, but after about 8KM, I started slowing down because I was seriously tired. Reyd went on infront while i stayed with my pace and came in at 1 hour flat, which was an achievement for me. Was quite happy about the results, hope I can continue to keep this stamina all the way until I pass out.

So yeah, that’s about it for Brutal Brunei. I’m glad it’s over, I’m glad I went through it, and I’m glad that it’s a once in a lifetime experience.

Next country please!

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i

miss all of you already. the next 7 days in brunei will be a challenge.

Filed under: General