The Favorite IPPT Spot

It was rumored to be the slackest IPPT venue. The camp that is none other than Maju Camp. To my astonishment, I saw nothing was set-up when the clock struck 5pm (which is the reporting time). Yet no Physical Training Instructors (PTIs) were in sight. By that time, a lot of people was already crowding around. The office then opened its shutters by around 5pm+. Yet still no PTIs in sight to set-up the IPPT static machines. I was amazed by how inefficient they are, and so many people still chose this place to take their IPPT.

If it was Bedok Camp, even if it is before the reporting time, the PTIs were all stationed, the machines were all set up and ready, and the early birds could already register and continue taking their test. The efficiency was amazing. But you will only see a few people taking it on weekdays.

The whole test in Maju commenced at around 5.20pm. And as usual, my heart was already pounding faster than what I use to feel during exercising. I was afraid of that stupid bar. So stupid that it made my heart pounded so hard that I felt I have already depleted half of my energy on it. But looking at how the PTIs closed one eye on those who used momentum to pull themselves up, I was relieved. Yup, and I did it. Phew.

The rest of the stations were close shave to me too. My Standing Board Jump (SBJ) nearly failed when I stepped back immediately after my jump. It registered from 230 to 169cm on my second attempt (Each person is only entitled 2 tries, passing is 216cm). Luckily, the PTI gave me another chance to try, and yeah another passed! Then, sit-up I got my 40th rep on the very last second of that one minute (To get 5 points, you need to do 40 reps in one minute). Phew. Finally was Shuttle Run, my performance became worse. I got only 4 points for that (To get 5 points, you need <10.1sec).

The final station was the 2.4km run. What is different from this camp is the venue they have used for the run was not the usual stadium. Behold the legendary indoor running track, the multi-storey carpark!

Before the run, when the runners were standing behind the starting point, there was a guy whom I don't even know of started asking me what was my aim for this station. I was a bit surprised by this question from a stranger, but out of courtesy, I just replied him, a pass will do. Immediately after my answer, we started running. I saw him sped through while I took the strategy of picking up speed gradually. However, I already felt the tiredness when I finished my first round, and it was 1.49min! Ok, there is no time to waste running leisurely, so I forced myself to pick up speed. After the third or fourth round, I thought I was doomed as I started to slow things down. No matter how hard I tried to speed things up, my running speed, which I thought, was still considered very slow. But when I started my last round, the clock was still at 9.40min+! There was no time to wondered why the clock ticked so slow or whatsoever, I started to use all my strength at the last half of the round and that was when I saw the stranger again. He encouraged me to run as fast as I could. And my final time was 11.27min. I turned over to check on the stranger once I regained my normal breathing pace, but he was nowhere to be seen...

I apologize for my lousy Nokia camera. This is my final result:
1. Sit Up - 40reps (5 Points)
2. Standing Board Jump - 226cm (3 Points)
3. Chin Up - 6reps (2 points)
4. Shuttle Run - 10.2s (4 Points)
5. 2.4km Run - 11.27mins (3 Points)

In the end, the whole test for me took 2 hours... If it was Bedok, I could finish it within an hour. Haha.