A nice, late breakfast today, giving us all plenty of time to lie in, and get ready (in theory, cadets are cadets after all). Benjamin was my host, and after breakfast we went off to his appartment near Bedok, in the east of Singapore. When I got to his house I saw photos covering a vast expanse of his cadet life; photos from visits to England with him meeting Air Commodore Moulds, photos from a jungle survival course deep in Burma (HQAC, if you're reading this, we need to get on that course, it looks great!), and various other local cadet activities.
After getting to know each other we had a walk around the local area, I saw the sports and swimming center meant for the close by blocks (Huge compared to Carn Brea Leisure Center in Redruth to put it in perspective, a slightly wooley perspective, but still), and a local market and outside food court. I didn't see a single piece of graffiti or a group of youths lingering with malicious intent, which was a breath of fresh air. It was a great way to see how the Singaporean people live, and the services they have avaliable to them. It truely puts our built-up areas to shame.
When evening rolled around we joined up with a few other cadets and saw Singapore at night. It truely looks amazing with the building sparkling. After that, because we were completely shattered we had an early night to keep ourselves fresh for tomorrow.
Matt
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Technical Difficulties
Apologies for the downtime this week, there shouldn't be anymore problems from now on.
Happy reading!
Happy reading!
Friday, May 30, 2008
p.o.w camp
Today we set to to learn a little about Singapore as a country, its economy, history etc. we started off the day with a trip to the NEWater visitor center. this explained how the country of Singapore creates potable water from waste water using various distillation and UV ray processes. it was all very technical you can tell Singapore is very advanced there was plenty of interactive games and 3D presentations to watch and we had to share the tour with a huge bunch of kids so it was the big kids v the little kids to play on all the games!
next we jumped back on the bus and visited the Jahore Battery. this was basically the "big gun" used to protect the coast from possible invasions from Japan. the ammunition that went in the gun was in a shell that was almost as big as myself and was more than the weight of 2 of of VRT officers! ;)
next we visited the p.o.w camp Changi chapel and museum. this in my own personal opinion was one of the highlights of the whole trip, i learnt so much about the history of Singapore and the Chinese, the chapel was a replica as the original was taken by Australian p.o.w's after the liberation. we sat in a replica cell that the prisoners were kept and tortured in for months and years and a tape recording was played of a re-creation of a prisoners thoughts. the museum told story's of the escapees and the Japanese soldiers, the British input and the Australian p.o.w's as well and the notes left by family members pinned up on the wall of the chapel were extremely poignant.
After a lunch box meal we headed into Arab street for a spot of shopping and to hear the Muslim prayers from the mosque. i bought a very cool Chinese hat - picture on the page!
next we visited little India which was basically a busy little collection of Bazaars with Indian trinkets for sale as good souvenirs. our tour guide then took us to the most amazing Buddhist temple explaining about all the different statues and cultures/traditions.
for the evening we had tickets for a night safari. it was completely amazing like nothing i've ever seen before! on a little tram we drove through a jungle in the dark looking at lions, tigers, Indian elephant, buffalo, hyena, bears, wolves, hippo, deer, weird rat thing, lots! the safari park also put on a night time show going on late into the night including the animals. there was a snake hidden in the audience, wolves on cliff ridge in the moonlight howling, bear cats climbing vines over the audience and ferrets dancing and otters that could recycle bottles into the right boxes, mind blowing!
was a late night didn't get to bed until the early hours so night everyone
Di
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wet Wet Wet
Today we had a very active day, with paintballing and adventure training in the morning and watersports in the afternoon. After breakfast we met the sea cadets from ISCEP (the International Sea Cadet Exchange Programme), and got to know each other on some teambuilding activities, and then went on the main activities. Unfortuantely my team lost the paintball, but it was still great fun, and the flying fox (a zip wire) was awesome, if not slightly painful as the harness went tight.
In the afternoon we went to visit the sea cadets, for the kayaking and the dragonboating. It was all good fun but the water was filthy, with algea and rubbish floating around, not the kind of water you want to fall into. After a shower and dinner we left for the town, (in fresh clothes thank god) and walked around Bugis and some people went shopping.
A good day overall, and we've been told that tomorrow will be even more active. Sleep sounds like a good idea around now,
Matt
In the afternoon we went to visit the sea cadets, for the kayaking and the dragonboating. It was all good fun but the water was filthy, with algea and rubbish floating around, not the kind of water you want to fall into. After a shower and dinner we left for the town, (in fresh clothes thank god) and walked around Bugis and some people went shopping.
A good day overall, and we've been told that tomorrow will be even more active. Sleep sounds like a good idea around now,
Matt
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Chinook and Embassy
Flying at 200ft above Sentosa, the Chinook vibrating loudly around us, and the snores of 5
compatriates ringing in our ears; we were enjoying an air experience flight in one of the
RSAFs Chinooks. Unfortunatly the tailgate was up so the view was through small round
windows in the side, but it still rocked. How the others fell asleep I don't know, it really is
loud in there!
After the flight we were invited into a private room in the mess to have dinner with Base
Commander Peng of the Sembawang helicopter base. We were given good quality food with
good service, and the base commander was very friendly. At the end of the lunch we were
each given a goody bag and a warm goodbye from Cmdr Peng, which made us feel that the
base thought well of the IACE.
Next, we donned our best clothes, blazers and all to pay a visit to our High Commission to
see the Defence Attache, Gp Capt Tim Brewer. To our surprise we had a good, lengthy chat,
with him enquiring about our cadet careers and future prospects, and us finding out more about the UK's current interest in Singapore. We were there for one and a half hours, well outlasting the other delegations, we really appreciated the time he spent to meet us.
Of course, no day would be complete without a bout of shopping; after getting changed we went along to Orchard Road to have a look around the shops there.
compatriates ringing in our ears; we were enjoying an air experience flight in one of the
RSAFs Chinooks. Unfortunatly the tailgate was up so the view was through small round
windows in the side, but it still rocked. How the others fell asleep I don't know, it really is
loud in there!
After the flight we were invited into a private room in the mess to have dinner with Base
Commander Peng of the Sembawang helicopter base. We were given good quality food with
good service, and the base commander was very friendly. At the end of the lunch we were
each given a goody bag and a warm goodbye from Cmdr Peng, which made us feel that the
base thought well of the IACE.
Next, we donned our best clothes, blazers and all to pay a visit to our High Commission to
see the Defence Attache, Gp Capt Tim Brewer. To our surprise we had a good, lengthy chat,
with him enquiring about our cadet careers and future prospects, and us finding out more about the UK's current interest in Singapore. We were there for one and a half hours, well outlasting the other delegations, we really appreciated the time he spent to meet us.
Of course, no day would be complete without a bout of shopping; after getting changed we went along to Orchard Road to have a look around the shops there.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Simulators, the Air Museum and the Sights...
Wow. I don't think there's any other word to describe our initial reactions to Singapore; the friendly delegation of NCC cadets sent to meet us, the cleanliness of the airport and the heat. It has, so far, truly surpassed our expectations. Yesterday you read about our first day, with the exotic foods, and flights in the Fokker 50s. A good day by all accounts. Today was just as good.
The food seems to have become slightly more western today, no red hot chilli sauce in sight! Hot dogs for breakfast, spag bol for lunch. Yesterday I enjoyed trying the different Singaporean foods, but I'll have to admit the western grub slid down slightly easier.
Our first stop of the day was Singapore's simulator training center, where we were shown around the simulators and told about the workings of the machine and how they're used. Though the simulators didn't move with your 'plane', the horizontal 300 degree view and vertical 90 degree view made them valuable training aids. Every cadet squadron needs one!
Straight after the simulator center we had a look around the nearby RSAF (Republic of Singapore Air Force) Museum, and learnt a bit about the beginnings of the RSAF and how it's developed.
After a welcomed break, we took the MRT (Like the London Underground) to the marina area, and saw the Singapore skyline it all of it's glory. We had a walk around a mall and were given a mini tour of the area, and after sampling some Singaporean snacks (fried carrot cake, an alternative approach to ice cream and more), we headed back to the camp.
A good, full, day, now to get some sleep so I'm ready for our embassy visit and Chinook flight tomorrow.
Matt
The food seems to have become slightly more western today, no red hot chilli sauce in sight! Hot dogs for breakfast, spag bol for lunch. Yesterday I enjoyed trying the different Singaporean foods, but I'll have to admit the western grub slid down slightly easier.
Our first stop of the day was Singapore's simulator training center, where we were shown around the simulators and told about the workings of the machine and how they're used. Though the simulators didn't move with your 'plane', the horizontal 300 degree view and vertical 90 degree view made them valuable training aids. Every cadet squadron needs one!
Straight after the simulator center we had a look around the nearby RSAF (Republic of Singapore Air Force) Museum, and learnt a bit about the beginnings of the RSAF and how it's developed.
After a welcomed break, we took the MRT (Like the London Underground) to the marina area, and saw the Singapore skyline it all of it's glory. We had a walk around a mall and were given a mini tour of the area, and after sampling some Singaporean snacks (fried carrot cake, an alternative approach to ice cream and more), we headed back to the camp.
A good, full, day, now to get some sleep so I'm ready for our embassy visit and Chinook flight tomorrow.
Matt
Monday, May 26, 2008
First Day Whoop Whoop!
so.... After a 20 hour journey from the UK and Cyprus the Cadet representatives for the UK Air Training Cadet Corps have arrived in Singapore! Diana Pitts, Matt Medland and the escort Keith Gilchrist. arriving on the 25th at 1515hrs we travellled to Amoy Que camp and had a tour and ice-breakers with the Indian cadets that arrived at the same time.
6 or so hours sleep and a 8 hour time difference we are not exactly refreshed but the first day excitement allows us to run on adrenalin!
we woke up 6 o-clock to iron and prep our best uniforms for the 7 o-clock breakfast and then 8 o-clock brief. Opening up the doors of our billets at sunrise we walked into what feels like a wall of moisture and heat, thank goodness we packed deoderant. Cadets from Hong Kong, Australia, USA, India and Canada make up our group of 16 some of them arriving in the early hours of this morning, they are already appearing to be a cracking bunch!
finishing a breakfast of warm rice cakes, chicken and chilli sauce we attended the brief. it was long yet informal with a good booklet to accompany. When it was finished we were to catch a bus to Chengi Air base for a half an hour flight in a Fokker 50, little did we know we are catching the end of the monsoon season so the rain poured down for 10 or so minutes! watching a very amusing safety brief from the pilots we walked out in file to the aeroplane. First of all Matt was to sit in the cockpit after a couple of the Indian cadets has a go and then it was my turn. I was invited to sit the longest and sat in a seat beside the Captain for the landing, it was fantastic! I thanked them for their kindness with a collection a pin badges of RAF Aircraft a key ring and a squadron badge from my home squadron.
we had a lunch back at Amoy Que camp, noodles, chicken and spicey sauce and then we were asked if we would like to explore the local city. after a so called "15 minute" walk we arrived at the city an hour later (singaporean time we now call it, which will make us forever late!) . The city was very very busy, 95% of the population live in sky rise tower block apartments, we witnessed all of them on our Fokker flight there are hardly any free standing houses here.
this time of year is the singapore sales, good news for the shoppers of the group, i myself have not yet bought anything except flip flops as i had a blister from new shoes on our "15 minute walk" ;)
me and matt are sat here working on our presentation for the IACE presentation evening and soon will be going for a night snack of suprise buns and then an early night if we are not having a shin dig with the other cadets into the wee hours!!
message again tommorrow, night everyone!!
6 or so hours sleep and a 8 hour time difference we are not exactly refreshed but the first day excitement allows us to run on adrenalin!
we woke up 6 o-clock to iron and prep our best uniforms for the 7 o-clock breakfast and then 8 o-clock brief. Opening up the doors of our billets at sunrise we walked into what feels like a wall of moisture and heat, thank goodness we packed deoderant. Cadets from Hong Kong, Australia, USA, India and Canada make up our group of 16 some of them arriving in the early hours of this morning, they are already appearing to be a cracking bunch!
finishing a breakfast of warm rice cakes, chicken and chilli sauce we attended the brief. it was long yet informal with a good booklet to accompany. When it was finished we were to catch a bus to Chengi Air base for a half an hour flight in a Fokker 50, little did we know we are catching the end of the monsoon season so the rain poured down for 10 or so minutes! watching a very amusing safety brief from the pilots we walked out in file to the aeroplane. First of all Matt was to sit in the cockpit after a couple of the Indian cadets has a go and then it was my turn. I was invited to sit the longest and sat in a seat beside the Captain for the landing, it was fantastic! I thanked them for their kindness with a collection a pin badges of RAF Aircraft a key ring and a squadron badge from my home squadron.
we had a lunch back at Amoy Que camp, noodles, chicken and spicey sauce and then we were asked if we would like to explore the local city. after a so called "15 minute" walk we arrived at the city an hour later (singaporean time we now call it, which will make us forever late!) . The city was very very busy, 95% of the population live in sky rise tower block apartments, we witnessed all of them on our Fokker flight there are hardly any free standing houses here.
this time of year is the singapore sales, good news for the shoppers of the group, i myself have not yet bought anything except flip flops as i had a blister from new shoes on our "15 minute walk" ;)
me and matt are sat here working on our presentation for the IACE presentation evening and soon will be going for a night snack of suprise buns and then an early night if we are not having a shin dig with the other cadets into the wee hours!!
message again tommorrow, night everyone!!
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