Exercise Starlight - It was so underwhelming :/

Exercise Starlight (17th Aug - 7th Sep)

Yay so I'm finally back from Taiwan/Republic of China. Singapore's quite a mess though, with elections going on and the annual haze issue *coughs*.

I tweeted my experiences here in Taiwan but I felt it was too shallow so here, the full experience of the bittersweet 20 days I've been through.

17th
Departed Singapore
I felt really uncertain about embarking on this trip, mostly worries and fears regarding the three chevrons. You can read about it in my instagram post (It's private though).

18th
Landed at Taoyuan Airport, followed by a bus ride to Douliou into Meilin Camp.
If you thought Singapore is hot and humid, it gets worse in Taiwan. Everyone was dying from the intense heat.
I had to sleep in a 40 man bunk (like a dormitory for migrant workers lol), on the 5th floor. I always thought double decker beds were cool... Then I realised the pain of scaling 5 stories just to climb another 1.5m to get to the bed.
The chicken cutlet here is amazeballzzzzz.

19th
Woke up at 530am in the morning, and the daylight was already beaming right at me. Turned to my left, then to my right, like hey everyone is still asleep, went back to bed.
Turns out, daybreak starts at 5am in Taiwan. I thought it was 8 and everyone overslept so I decided to join them lol.

20th
Terrain Reading March - Fancy name but we had to trek through the hills in the vicinity to learn more about fighting on hilly terrains. Loads of bamboo and plantations up here, I thought the terrain was mild compared to Singapore's tiny knolls.

21st - 22nd: Section Battle Course + Platoon Battle Course
Many people fell out here due to the heat, some couldn't breathe properly since the air gets really thin up on the hills. Majority of the greens died when the previous typhoon struck here, thus the lack of shade. I actually felt my blood "boiling" and I was getting dizzy and weak.
I wanted to OOC there and then cos the heat was unbearable, and climbing up a hill with a matador on your back really takes a toll on you. (Thoughts of my friends attending my graduation parade kept me going though, so many thanks to you guys in SAJC.)
I also wanted to invent some sort of mosquito killing machine cos the buzzing and biting kept me up throughout the night. (This makes me wanna cuss online ugh but I plan to keep my clean streak.) The insects here are really huge and freaky, 10/10 would recommend bringing Baygon.

23rd-25th Exercise Long Stride
This was the highlight of the trip - Uncontrolled navigation in the hills of Douliou. (That means no guidance, no commanders tagging along and 3 days of combat rations sigh)
My team was aiming to complete the exercise in 2 days, so we could rest for the last day before we set out for Exercise Warrior. We failed.
We trekked approx. 20-30km over the 3 days?
Here, I attempted to carry the signal set for half a day, it beats having to balance a matador on your back really. (It's actually not that tough, but your shoulders and back might ache a lot)
If you thought the fruits sold in the supermarkets or wet markets were fresh, try a freshly plucked one from the many plantations here. (Not allowed but hehe)
Would highly recommend that you sneak a camera in, the views were SPECTACULAR. (Was too timid to try though)

26th-2nd Exercise Warrior (8 days of OMGOSH THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A 4 DAY 3 NIGHT FIELD CAMP)
There were speculations that the assessments during the field camp wasn't for the commanders to find out if we were fit to be sergeants, but rather for them to determine where to place us, ranging from BMT to faculty trainers to an operational unit. 
The exercises comprises 1 concentration, 4 platoon deliberate attacks, 2-3 defense operations and several section battle courses depending on how long it takes for everyone to get assessed in 4 different area of operations.
We still get night snacks here, surprisingly. There's this snack, it's like Hello Panda, except crispier. (I wanted to buy 10 boxes back immediately)
I had to squeeze in the basha with 4 others when it could only accommodate up to 3 during one night. (Reliving my nights at the 40 man dorm sigh)
They gave out heat packs on the third night. I opened one, activated the reaction and thought to myself: "I just found a reason to take Chemistry in university". That night was a magical one. *smiles to self*
It was quite weird how we were suffering from the heat a week ago, and the sky decided to reward us with rain throughout the 8 days. I almost suffered from hypothermia if not for my basha buddy and platoon mate (my buddy actually scrambled through my fieldpack for a heat pack and my platoon mate burnt all 4 of his solid fuel to warm me up). I didn't really get to express my gratitude but thanks to you two if you ever chance upon my blog.
I had the chance to be a GPMG commander for one of the attacks (I don't really know why my life sucks so much) (The matador is still my worst nightmare)
We actually died of boredom cos there was nothing to do whenever it rained.
Things we did:
 - Share life stories
 - Share future goals, dreams and aspirations
 - Talk about our beliefs and principles
 - Chop random bamboo tree
 - Sword fights with bamboo sticks
 - Trade food ie milo, yucky green packets, maggie (we turned into a marketplace with bidding and shouting lol)
 - Counting ants 
 - Burn random things we could find
Somehow, my PC managed to get the platoon to leopard crawl in mud. (WOW we're the only ones who got that treatment WOW) (It was fun nonetheless)
Oh yea, you had to go through a parade before and after the exercise. Some actually peed in their pants (intentionally) cos it was raining and they couldn't hold it in any longer. (I actually witnessed them doing it oh the horror)
P.S. They gave us a rest day, non-tactical mode where we slept under shelter (I'd rather not have it, really. It meant we climbed up a hill, just to climb down again 3 hours later)
P.P.S. A random fresh ration in the middle is a major morale booster

3rd-4th
Admin days for you to clean rifles, unload stores, clean stores, appreciate sponge beds and what not
Ever tried rifle cleaning with Fall Out Boy or Linkin' Park playing in the background? Random adrenaline bursts everywhere.
(Also, bunkmates said I had good taste in music. I went a little gaga)

5th-7th R&R

Couldn't be bothered to list down all the places they brought us so
(Yes, I kept the itinerary so I could blog about my underwhelming experience during R&R)

Don't expect anything fancy, cos they picked the cheap places to visit for our educational tour lol. (They let you off for the nights though, and the third day is all yours.)2 of them were theme parks, namely the Formosan Village and the Safari Park.

Places I went during my free and easy hours:

 - Shilin Night Market

 - Raohe Night Market

 - Wufenpu Shopping Area

 - Ximenting

 - Taipei 101

-SOGO Department Store (Somewhat like Takashimaya and Paragon)

I actually came to Taiwan 6 years ago, the places mentioned above were not at all foreign to me. Each destination had me going 'whoa I've actually been here!' and then the excitement was gone in in matter of seconds. It was so underwhelming for me, but I did have fun. 

P.S.A for all those who are going for Ex. Starlight:

It's actually easier than Grandslam 2. Pfft.