THE ARMY SERIES : EXERCISE LANCER PART 3

R & R

This one is going to be short one. Sounds familiar to a recent post huh? But, I’m sure those who have been to Brunei would know why. It is the shortest R&R ever. I think it is only half a day. And to be honest, I really really cannot remember much of it. It must have been quite insignificant. But I would still want to document this before I totally forget it. It has been 20 years late in documenting. 
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CANTEEN

Anyway, we have completed our exercises here in Temburong. It was only 2 weeks and we slept a lot. So time flew quite quickly. 

Once all our stuff was done, we spent a lot of our time at the cookhouse or the canteen. That’s pretty much escape that we had. But it was nice. The cookhouse had nice food. The canteen had nice snacks. I think they had instant noodles too. The ambience was nice. It was like a you know… those Indonesian gerai or warungs overlooking the forest in the distance kind. 

Of course our best memory at the canteen was watching the World Cup matches. It was 2002 and the World Cup was held in Japan / South Korea. So the timings of the matches good to us as the timezone was similar. It was fun. Really fun. A whole lot of us munching on snacks and watching from one small TV. It was quite an experience. 

Actually the TV wasn’t small. It was a normal maybe 24 inch CRT TV but it would be considered small for today’s standards.

Oooh and also, the cicadas. They are everywhere buzzing here and there. Again I have good memories of it but I cannot type them here because people are now awaken or woke in 2022. So if it happens that you remember this and would want to know, I can always share them in person.
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​OLD FRIEND'S BUNK

Remember Wan Cing Cong? Well, I managed to catch with him again after many days in the jungle. 

We chatted at the canteen and whenever he was free. On my last day there, I spent my day at his bunk. We ate and ate and played Pro Evolution Soccer on the Playstation 2. It was fun because there was aircon. And his bunk was pretty much actually a 2 room bungalow with a living room a bedroom a kitchen and bathroom. With aircon. 

We played on the Playstation until late at night until we fell asleep. I think until 4am. 6am I woke up and told him I need to go back to my own bunk and pack to leave the camp. 

A few hours later we were ready to leave Lakiun Camp. I could see that he was so happy to meet me and was very sad when I left. Actually I don’t think he was sad to see me, as in me, leaving. I think he was sad to see another person leaving the camp and he is still stuck there in the middle of Temburong until he ORD. It was June 2002 and we would ORD on the 12th of December 2002. He was posted there after his 9 months in OCS so he would have been in Brunei for a total of 17 months. Poor guy. Yes. Our NS was 2 and half years then.
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​BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

​We took the same route back. A truck ride to the town and a boat ride to Bandar Seri Begawan. Here is where my mind has deleted many things. I cannot remember anything. I can only remember things that were reminded by the photos in my album. I kinda remember seeing the exhibits at the Regalia Museum. But I cannot remember anything else. I knew we went to one museum after another. I cannot remember where we went exactly, where we ate, what we ate, where we slept. Nothing. 

Oh I do remember we went to Jerudong Park. That park is the largest theme park in Brunei. But…… they brought us there in the evening when it has already closed. What nonsense. 

That’s all. I cannot remember anything else after this. Hopefully some other guys in my unit would remember some things that I have missed.

a visit to the closed for the evening Jerudong Park...... what nonsense

Next Week : Our Army Food!

Categories : The Army Series