This week I went on two of my first experiences with actual airsoft games.

Last Sunday I was supposed to go with my team, Task Force Rangers, to PL2. The problem is that it's really far from our house, and I didn't have a ride. So instead of going with them, I went with my new friend Raja to D'Backyard near Shaw Blvd.

I met Raja on the FAS website, because he had a thread on WWII airsoft, which is, as I've mentioned repeatedly, the main reason I got interested in airsoft at all. He wanted to show me his Japanese Imperial Army uniform and weapon.

His stuff was pretty awesome. He was one of the highlights of the game day there for almost everybody, because it's very rare to see somebody with an "era" uniform like that, especially not a Japanese one. Especially not one with a custom-built Type 96, the Japanese machine gun of WWII.

For my first game in a field scenario, it was a lot of fun. I got one confirmed kill and only got killed once, though I admit my play style was probably a little too conservative.

Later that day, we dropped by Raja's house so that he could pass on to me [b]an authentic WWII German uniform[/b], complete with accessories. I'll discuss this thing more in detail at a later date, with pictures of me wearing it, because it's still quite dirty and smells of closet fungus or whatever (he told me it's been in his closet for a very, very long time). It requires dry-cleaning, which we haven't gotten around to yet. I was insanely happy, and I still am. I need to lose some weight to be able to wear the uniform properly (the pants are a little tight).

So our team began planning for the next game, which was supposed to be on a Saturday at PL3, in Katipunan. Everybody was excited about it this week. Unfortunately, it began raining in the early morning and it hasn't stopped raining yet at the time of this writing. The game was cancelled.

But because I'm new, and excited to get to play some more airsoft, I contacted the nearby warehouse CQB site Octozone and went over to try my hand at CQB. I already knew I would be ineffective in CQB due to my long M14, but I wasn't prepared for the utter darkness of the game site. Not only did I not have an illuminated scope, but my ironsights were also pitch black, and to make matters worse, my goggles were polycarbonate shades that fogged so often; making things even harder to see.

This CQB game gave me my first airsoft-related battlescars, and I also hurt my shoulder possibly because I didn't have enough warm up. I tried lifting my gun overhead to signify being hit, when I felt my right shoulder turn again, like how it did when I sprained it. It's important to know that I've already hurt both my shoulders in this manner. I've hurt my left shoulder about 5 or 6 times now, due to the muscles being weaker than normal after the first shoulder injury. I've hurt my right shoulder about 4 times.

Since I need to lose weight anyway, I should also do some weight lifting, especially those that work on the shoulders, so they're a little tougher. They're obviously so weak that they get injured by quickly lifting about 3.1 KG (the weight of my gun). And 3.1 KG isn't a lot.