So the story goes... After training so hard to regain my fitness,
it was time to face the music. Woke up early in the morning one
fine Saturday morning and made my way to one of the test centres in
Singapore. Details of what actually happened are described below:
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“Alright, I shall attempt chin-up first. I can do
it,” I psyched myself. One foot on the step, two hands
grasped the bar. “Darn! It’s wet and slippery from the
fellow in front of me!” I thought to myself. However, there
was no time to consider, so up I went. After doing A number of
chin-ups, I came down. “Phew. I barely
made it.”
People always say tall people have an advantage at the standing
broad jump station. I used to believe so too, but not anymore as my
jumping ability deteriorated with age. Nonetheless, I wanted to
make sure I pass this station, so I practised by the side before
making my two official attempts. “2.1B
metres,” read the machine. “Okay. That’s like
midway
for the D grade. Whatever.” On I went.
Next up for me was the shuttle run, which I was quietly
confident as I always did well in sprints. There was nobody queuing
at the station, so I made a dash for it. Speeding like a bullet
train (okay, not exactly), the two laps were completed with ease. I
looked up and saw the timing: 10.C seconds.
“Hmm. I could have done better. 0.2s
faster and I would have gotten all 5
points.”
Last of the four static stations was the sit-up. Yes, I know my
love handles have increased tremendously over the past year, but
this was still a station that I could not fail. With my feet tucked
snugly and velcroed, I sat up and the machine started its
monotonous count. “... 28. 29. .... 3X.
STOP!!” I opened my eyes. “Oh, I only just
made C-grade. Time to diet then.”
“So far so good, managed to pass everything” I
thought to myself as I walked towards the multi-storey car park.
Six rounds of 400 metres were all that was left between me and a
pass that I sought so eagerly. I gave it my all. Looking at the
intimidating electronic timing board as I crossed the finishing
line, it read “1Y minutes
Z2
seconds”. “YES!!” I screamed from within me.
In the end, my result ticket read “Passed. 14
points”. I was happy, of course. No remedial
training!!
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Cache is a small lock-&-lock type, and is located at the
following coordinates:
N 01 19.AY(A-Z)
E103 46.CXB
A+B+C+X+Y+Z is 24.