Hmm... i haven't updated in like... weeks... but then, i've been busy in camp, so i got an excuse.

Anyway, i have been training hard for my firefighter course. And i've got two weeks left before my Passing Out Parade, if i pass out at all. See, i need to pass my IPPT in order to pass out as a firefighter. And i can't pass my IPPT. Sure, i've improved over the past months, but not enough to pass yet. I've never been active, i've never been fit. Before NS, i'd get dead tired after running like 400 meters, slowly. I couldn't do a quarter of a pullup. My standing broad jump was 190cm. i could do a max of 34 situps in a minute. My shuttle run was 11.5 seconds.

Now... i can complete my 2.4km run in less than 12 minutes. i can do 3 pullups. my standing broad jump is about 210-216. doing 40 situps a minute is no problems. my shuttle run is still about 11.3, though.

but the problem is : its still not good enough to pass out as a fire fighter. i'm still failing my IPPT, badly. all my friends have improved enough to pass, except me. but you know what? it doesn't affect me anymore. I've done my best, and that's all i can do. i've trained whenever possible, and gone through a lot of pain, and physically improved far beyond what i could have done if i hadn't gone to firefighter course.

I'm thankful to God for sending me there, and i'll continue to strive to improve my physical fitness regardless of whether or not i pass out as a firefighter.

That aside, after so long training as a firefighter, i've developed something i would like to call facemask-o-phobia. As firefighters, we are required to use something called a BA(Breathing Apparatus) set. Now, the air cylinder itself is very heavy, about 12 kg or so. But what really sucks is the mask, which is extremely hard to breathe after some excercise. I never appreciated fresh air so much until i put on the BA set. Even worse than the BA set is the CA(chemical attack) suit. There is no cylinder, but the mask is incredibly hard to breathe. Using that suit and carrying out casualties on stretchers is really painful after a while. While these suits will save my life in the future if i become a firefighter, it still sucks to train in it.

Now... back to Singapore Idol. After watching the two most talented(though dull) singers voted out two weeks ago, and the relatively talented David Yeo voted out last week, i guess for all that bitching about America not knowing how to vote talent, we here in Singapore don't know talent either. I mean... Jerry is still in for some strange reason, even though he can't sing for nuts. But hey... i'm a fan of Silvestre anyway, so what the heck. But one thing i can't stand about the show is the judges. I can't stand them. While in American Idol i quite enjoy the judges comments, the Singapore Idol judges make Randy Jackson look like he's one of the best judges around. Dick Lee makes bad criticisms, Florence Lian praises the people she likes, Douglas O has no idea what he's saying(and neither does anyone else). At least Ken Lim makes sense. So, i've started a petition to get the Singapore Idol judges off the show for Season Two. Please post them on your blogs, and encourage your friends to sign the petition. The judges really NEED TO GO!!!

http://www.petitiononline.com/SIJudges/petition.html