OD507-II
Day 1: Watch 8.
My original watch was watch 8. We were basically the first watch to set off for Pulau Ubin. We arrived at OBS Camp 1 and were directed to the MPH (Multi-Pupose Hall). In the MPH we saw some PJC and VJC students over there. Yeah.. anyway, we saw a male instructor that seriously look like Eldora. OMG. After some time, we were told that we (Watch 8) had been split up to fill in spaces that the numerous absentees made: We were sacrificed for the greater good hahah. most of us were sent over to camp 2.
Day 1: omg give me a Rolex..
Over at Camp 2, we were then assigned to our new watches after a long, long wait. Nervous. Didnt want a screwed-up watch. So i was assigned to ARMSTRONG. Went over to ARMSTRONG and saw some familiar faces. Chinwen's watch! Watch 5! yay. Then there was some opening, the usual admin and ice-breaking stuff and all that.
yay! ARMSTRONG. Instructor = Tracy
Day 1: Sea.
The most notable activity of the day was the kayaking lesson. My first time kayaking. Didnt bother to change into long sleeve shirt. And the sunblock smelt like glue. yucks.. We had the paddling lesson first on land. We looked kind of stupid paddling in the air =.= . Then we went down to the water to test our life vest. Sand in the shoe is irritating!. Capsize drill was next up. Seemed scary. My partner for Kayaking was Jieying. Somehow, we were the last pair to go for capsizing. At first, it was okay. But when it came to the deep water rescue (or something like that), it got difficult. Tried the first time. Was very unsure of the steps so took the long time.We took suck a long time that by then, we had drifted too close to the shore and had to repeat again =.=. The second time was better but still, a lot of water went into the kayak
The rest of the session was spent just.. wandering around. Jianwei and Chinwen were being irritating, ramming into other peoples kayak. Childish.
Day 1: 101 Steps
After kayaking we had to go bathe, pitch tent and cook. Our campsite was 101 steps up a hill. Gosh.
We were lucky to get the dome tent. It is supposed to be idiot-proof. Sure it is idiot proof, but it is difficult in its own way. Another good thing is that it is mobile! The watches with A-Frame tents would have been so jealous x).
Day 2: Pack, Pi, Poom.
Finished up with the packing of our expedition bags. 2 people to 1 bag, with 4 bags dedicated to carrying tents and remaining bags for carrying rations. How smart xD. Had the morning circle thing then the trust fall.
Trust fall was easy. It is similar to the free-fall used to test stretchers. All it depended on was bascially, like the name suggests, trust. Most just fell without hesitation, while some had.. a little trouble.. Hahah1: Janelle (dont ask). Hahah2: Jieying was the last and when she fell, she screamed! Loudly.
Day 2: Squeeze Check! Pull Check! Instructor Check!.. TRACEEEE!!!
Probably the funniest thing for the day.
When Tracy asked for some volunteers so that she could demonstrate how to belay, Rizki automatically volunteered other people. In the end, Rizki became the climber. [Chuckles]
So Tracy went on with the demo, ignoring Rizki's groans (You should know why). Just when we thought tracy would lower rizki to the ground, she suspended Rizki, leaving him swinging mid-air while she explained more stuff. HAHAH.
Day 2: Civilisation
Did our final packing and checks and set off for Camp 1!
OoF our bags were so heavy.
But never mind; We are ARMSTRONG!
Heavy never mind, but had to carry Jerry can + Medical Pouch. How troublesome..
Trekked to the resovoir thing and thought we had reached! Everyone was so happy. But NO!. Its just halfway! =.=. There was supposed to have this 'Alpine Rescue' activity but it was cancelled as the logs were slippery. Met an adult watch over there which was supposed to trek to the other end of Pulau Ubin. When Tracy knew about it, She gave the 'CMI' expression..
After resting for a while and some safety briefing, we set off for Camp 1, second half!
Saw white-coloured leaves on the ground o.0 .
After a total half an hour of trekking (as calculated by JIANWEI the capable/naggy time keeper), we reached Camp 1! Had a tour of the place then had this 'Find the Tree' activity. Both time we were successful!
Day 2: Starfish
Had a cooked dinner. Time for dinner was extra long; So long that we could afford to finish the chicken wing in 30 minutes. Then had some Treasure Hunt and Worddles. JIANWEI the capable/naggy time keeper was smart, solving a number of the worddles and JANELLE the thick-skinned water IC solved some ridiculous ones.
Combined with 3 other watches for this activity called 'zoom'. Basically we had to rearrange picture cards in order through verbal communication only. its like each of us got 2 picture cards , which when linked together with the pictures that the others are holding , makes a story . Everyone had to describe their picture to the others without letting them see the picture . so heres the joke: Kely got dis picture that somewhat looked like a starfish . It had the pointy thingy whatever. So Kely said it was a starfish. But the others kept talking about Earth -> Plane -> Island (nicknamed Pulau Ubin) -> Postman -> Stamp -> Man watching TV -> Bus -> Cruise -> Toy catalog -> House -> Boy & Girl -> Rooster. So its like got no link with the 'starfish' . So when the game ended, the pictures were revealed. Turns put that the 'starfish' was the zoomed in version of the rooster's head! What a joke! From then onwards, we called Kely 'starfish'!
Supper was next. Red bean soup
Then someone
Day 3: Inverse Tower
Woke up, had flag raising and then PT. played this games like the'Mingle mingle thingy' where we had to use a specific body part (eg. right elbow) to touch a colour. When it was yellow, i remembered, not many people wearing yellow, so almost everyone crowded around this unlucky person. x) and forfeit = do the DoDo Dance! ahahaha
Next was the egg scissors-paper-stone until cyclops thingy. My highest level was the superwoman/wonder woman thing. When the game ended i was an eagle. And those that reached cyclops had to use their 'eye-power' to make us do the DoDo Dance, otherwise they would have to demo.
Being smart, ALL OF US sabo-ed them. [Stands up, folds arms, and laughs maniacally (jianwei should understand)]
Then had cooked breakfast and then morning circle.
Next up was INVERSE TOWER!
set a goal to scale the outside element. Straightforward but not easy okay? Especially the zig-zag logs. My trackpants kept slipping so had to rely mostly on my right arm + my 吃奶的力! And i reached! The view was great; Didnt want to go down.
Feeling high, decided to go up the inside element with chinwen. Tracy came over and told us to aim to be the fastest pair. heheh. Finished it in slightly more than 11 minutes! yay!
About Rizki, he scaled the outer element and complained of pain at you-know-where. When JIANWEI the capable/naggy time keeper lowered Rizki, he did it quickly, then suddenly stopped, causing even more trauma for Rizki's you-know-what. Ouch.
We surpassed our team goal by 750 points. But poor Chinwen was 50 points short because he didnt have time to scale the outer element.
Day 3: Pulau Pulau Ubin
Rushed off to take a quick lunch and did some final discussions concerning the route for the Land Expedition. After that went off to meet Tracy. Thought that we would be the ones to be late, but turned out that we were so fast!. A\Then after returning the helmets and harnesses to Washington's store, we set off.
I was the sweeper along with Ding Jie. The first part of the journey was.. rather uneventful. Met the instructor-that-looks-like-Eldora at an intersection.
We were closing in on the Checkpoint 30. There were similar trails that looked like the one which would lead us to Checkpoint 30. How confusing. But in the end, we found it.!
During the break, i tried to carry Tracy's bag. OOFH. IT WAS SO FREAKIN HEAVY, COULDNT EVEN LIFT IT OFF THE GROUND!
Anyway, we set off to the highest point of Pulau Ubin, which was 65m above sea level.
A while into the journey, Dingjie suddenly complained of cramps in the feet, then in the calf. Carried him into the shade: Suspected heat exhaustion. OMG. While waiting for Dingjie to get better, Jieying told us some really cold jokes. Wah! 冷到!!
So Dingjie made a recovery and we set off.
Overshot the trail that would lead to the peak and had to backtrack (luckily it wasnt far until we reaslised).
The view from the peak was magnificent. Then from what i heard, Janelle (the naviagator at that time) said, 'This is not Pulau Ubin!'. And so this was how the Pulau Pulau Ubin joke came about.
Day 3: Outward Bound
Set off for the unknown campsite. Nearly got lost near the campsite because we followed Amundsen, which apparently wasnt going to the campsite =.= .
Found the campsite and immediately started pitching our tents. Headstart xD!.
Had the Sea Ex briefing. Then went to cook our dinner. We were fast; Managed to get a good place, out of the incoming tide. Instant noodles, warm peanuts and tuna.
The tent that night was EXTREMELY HOT. Couldnt sleep. Our sentry was at 0000h - 0200h. Sentry was boring. Many planes flew pass. Near the end of my group's sentry (until the next group from my watch took over), had a chat with HoShaoyang, hengperng and clement, who were also on sentry duty.
Went to sleep after that. The tent was much cooler.
Day 4: Reveille
Had to wake up at about 4 to pack up. Nobody bothered to brush their teeth (or so i think). Chinwen, JIANWEI the capable/naggy time keeper, and rizki were desperately trying to pack the tent. They were asking for help but no one reponded. And they were getting really PISSED OFF.
Loaded the bags on to the instructors' boat. Carried the kayaks and paddles to the beach and did our final preparations.
Day 4: 10 hours
Set off!
The sunrise was beautiful, viewed from the sea.
The SeaEx leaders tried to get us into formation, but to no avail. So we just carried on. That was when i realised how tired i was; couldnt paddle as well as Day 1.
The journey until the Ubin Village Jetty was uneventful, until waves came. People got seasick and oranges were distributed. A very long break was given, then we set off to aim for Chek Jawa's jetty.
Had a 'point-blank lecture'near the buoy. The SeaEx leaders decided that we should push on. And so we did.
It was a great place to see planes.. xD
Had to push ourselves. Didnt eat breakfast. Was getting hungry and weak. And finally ,it was lunch time.
For the first time, Apples tasted so nice.
After lunch, somehow, we felt energised. But then, we still fell behind.
The next few hours was spent paddling, and chatting with yixin and hanxiong, who were also one of the last.
And hanxiong was there slacking, leaving all the paddling to yixin. And all the while, yixin made paddling look like an easy affair, though she solo-ed o.0 .
We were frustrated. Those at the back of the pack would understand why very well.
The water at the JB port was seriously polluted. Dead fish. Black and oily water.
Day 4: Kiri! Kenan! Kiri! Kenan!
The final leg of the journey- from the turn all the way to camp 2, 我们用我们吃奶的力 and CHIONG-ED!. The waves werent giddy now, but more of fun. Our burst of energy let us overtake a few other kayaks!. Yay! Not at the back of the pack anymore!
We've finally reached..
Day 4: Land Ahoy!
Backward paddled to shore. Tried to get out of the kayak. Ouch. Legs went numb. Hahah. Helped to carry the kayaks. Had a debriefing. Almost 10 hours and about 18km (counting zig-zags)! Never thought that i could achieve this. And JIANWEI the capable/naggy time keeper was in deperate need to pee. ahahahah.
After that we formed a human chain to unload the bags. Cheng Ho was kiasu. The bags were heavy. But so what, our hands were numb until we couldnt feel the weight. After a while, came ARMSTRONG's bags. The other watches were
Saw Dingjie on the floor. Tracy was on attending to him. ZOMG. He complained that the world was going up and down. Poor guy. He was then sent to the medical center and spent the night there.
Washed up and washed the ponchos, did some packing and pitched a couple of tents and had the celebratory dinner. The best and maybe the most meaningful meal of the camp!
After dinner went to pitch the other tents. For the first time, the girls volunteered to pitch the tent while chinwen went to find the 4th tent.
Couldnt find the last tent so the girls had to squeeze.
And we really slept.
Day 5: Pack
My tent and Yongxiang woke up at 0507h to brush teeth and do some packing. The rest continued to sleep until about 0545h.
Dingjie came back. Physical exhaustion, Heat exhaustion, Dehydration, Lack of Food.
Met Tracy and went on to wash the groundsheet, have breakfast and pack the store and our backs. We lost the entire 4th tent, the flysheet and ground sheet! o.0
Amirul found an entrenching tool and kope-ed it. haha. Lost some bottles too.
Someone found our tent. It was with some other watch. Chang Rong pitched it! At the 101 steps hill!
WTF?
Luckily we managed to find anything, and didnt have to pay a single cent!
We were the first watch to reach the souvenir shop. Bought a White dri-fit polo tee and a black cotton polo tee. OBS shirt is damn nice lor!
Had the morning circle. And this time, we shared more stuff. We've bonded :D
Day 5: Homeward Bound
We had to present the certificates to each other within the watch. Another meaningful thing xD. Then we went to assemble.
After the camp closing thing, ARMSTRONG was the first to go! heheh.
Took 82 to Hougang. Slept all the way. Had lunch at KFC. And took the train back to CCK. Got off the train and WOW! Lot 1, within the 5days, changed a lot!. Explored it for a while and went home.
Highs and Lows
my lowest moment: The times when the waves were huge, making me giddy, hands sore and tired, and being left behind, with few chances of rest. How fustrating.
my highest moment: Paddling the final leg, those waves were more of fun,, the 'kiri kenan kiri kenan'ing all the way to the jetty. After 10 hard hours, its great to know that you've suceeded.
THANKS!
This were probably my happiest days since a long time. I have many people to thank for making it so.
ARMSTRONG: A wonderful watch! Glad and feeling lucky to be transferred over here!
Tracy: Doubt you'll get to this page, but anyway, you were a GREAT Instructor! Taught us many things, and remained patient no matter what we did. Always encouraging us. Thanks a lot!
Jieying: My kayaking partner! It was a tough 10 hours, but you never gave up and put in a lot of effort! Jackknife pro! BTW, your face was really RED.
Chinwen: BOSS! Your experience and leadership saw us through this 5 days. Basically the backbone of the watch, always helping out and making good but sometimes ambitious decisions. Good work!
Jianwei: What a capable time keeper. Sure you make us stressed, ut without you, we would always be late! And yeah, COMIC RELiEF "i want to go pee" hahah!
Rizki: Very helpful. Thanks for carrying our expedition bag. Must have been really heavy. A great camp buddy.
Janelle: haha Pulau Pulau Ubin! The most enthu of the group hahah. Bag up 5mins before us eh? Camp rule #1: PACK LIGHT.
Brenda: the realistic one. Always pulling us back into reality, away from unrealism.
Xiaoxing: Nice guy. Very helpful.
Dingjie: Eat more okay? your never-say-die attitude during LandEx is good. But please dont overexert yourself. EAT MOrE!!
Izzat: Nice sense of humour ahahahahahaha...
Amirul: Helpful. But a lil' quiet. Thanks for finding the entrenching tool!
Yongxiang: your randomness kept us entertained. "the random one,who said he was hungry instead of being scared when on the height element" LOL!
Fara: You a strong person. Red eyes!
Yuecong: Not too sure about what to type about you. But im sure you've contributed a lot to ARMSTRONG. Yeah!
Kely: A lil' quiet. AHAHAHAH.. STARFISH!
Those 5 days
Many people say how they miss home, how they miss their PSP and stuffs, how they hate OBS, how they're never coming back and all that. Its the total opposite for me. Seriously speaking, i felt kind of sad when it was time to go. Things a tough here at OBS, but i didnt seem to miss my phone, computer and all that. Its so much stress over at home. CCA, proposals, homework and all that.. When i reached home, checked my mail, and got a number of mail regarding my proposal. Its back to work. Things here are not back-to-basics, it is complicated, confusing, political and stressful. I am really starting to miss those 5 wonderful days.
ARMSTRONG FOReVER
The Cert
End
No comments:
Post a Comment