Saturday, June 19, 2010
i'm backkkkk; tanner and stronger..
hahas.
kays, updating on obs..
FIRST DAY
split into groups.
BATTUTO!
instructor: Roland
took the boat to pulau ubin obs camp 2, was raining quite heavy.
surrended valuables and did morning circle.
wrote wad we wanted to achieve at the end of obs.
did priority list and timeline and planned our schedule fr the whole day..
get to noe my team mates, 15 of them; 5 guys, the rest gals :D
collected our rations fr food and keep in our store.
ate lunch(bread).
learnt how to kayak properly and how to save yrself when you capsized.
went kayaking and my grp joined our kayaks tgt to form a shaft.
held hands and stood on the kayak den awhile later some ppl capsized. :D
kayaked bac and since we got extra tyme, went fr jetty jumping :P
nt as scary as sec3 level camp, but still fun uh :]
went to learn how to cook using solid fuels and tent-pitching..
cooked food (mostly can food, rice and instant noodles)
cooked rice using 3:2:1 ratio.. the steamed rice turned out nice:D
nt burnt ..
tent is easier to pitch compared to guides tent..
one tent cn hold abt 5-6 ppl.
went to pack our food, water, clothes and almost everything into bag packs fr obs.
4ppl share 3bags, so we minimise bringing extra things.
aft tad did nite circle.
sat near the jetty looking at sgp..
star-gazed, got alot of stars, lyk tg piai :D
fr there, roland showed us the south star, how to navigate using stars and the scopio sign formed by the stars.
went to slp in the tent near the forest facing the beach overlooking sgp..
SECOND DAY
woke up early and get ready to set off fr camp 2 to camp 1..
our grp was late to report fr morning exercise and tad tyme, we havent unpitch our tents.
so we lyk the last few grps to leave camp2.
unpitch the tents and put in the bag packs..
carried the super heavy tents fr a 30 mins trek to camp1
very heavy, my back and shoulders wan break alr..
some ppl in my team had forgotten to bring their water bottles.. (must bring 2x1.5l water bottles)
so we trekked bac to camp2 to take them.
fr there, we realised we forgot to take one big jerry can
so it was kind of a blessing in disguise uh.
trekked bac in the rain to camp 1 where we did high elements.
at first we learnt how to bailey..
saw the rock climbing damn high, felt lyk climbing but our grp's nt gg to do tad..
so we went to the tripod to climb..
it is a way to earn $$ fr raft building..
so our grp earned 71 bucks, and cheng ho, hu followed us, earned 67bucks.
got the log thing and more, nt as scary as sec2 camp..
den got the tarzan swing one, its the highest one. but didnt go and we were running out of tyme.
onli 3 ppl went.
they jumped fr the platform and catch a rope and swing to the net..
all 3 kena abrasion, gd thing i nvr go :D
den we walked to our campsite, which was deep deep in the forest, pitch dark and very quiet..
we got the guys to pitch tents while the gals went to cook.
by the tyme the guys cum bac, we have onli cooked our portion fr noodles and the can food.
cos the 1 pathetic pot cnt hold 20 packets of maggi.
so the guys went to bath while we cooked their portion of noodles and we ate our portion.
they came bac and ate while the gals went to bath.
den we all cleaned up and reported fr night circle.
realised we need to build a raft fr 16 ppl using onli 2triyaks, ropes and pipes.
all of the items cost $..
we made models to represent wad we will be building fr the sea-expedition the nxt day.
my grp's model was chosen to be built fr the nxt day :D
the instructors: roland and haireel told us tad we were gg to kayak fr 5km.
we will be against both the sea current and the wind and the speed we'll be gg would probably be 1km/hr..
went to slp in the forest..
THIRD DAY
we unpitched our tents and went to build our raft using 2triyaks, 6 pipes and ropes.
we tied all tgt using square lash..
tied very long cos all the things were very heavyy.
waited fr lightning alert and rain to stop.
started on our sea expedition :)
we kayaked fr half an hr and realised we were still at the jetty of camp1.
cos the current was very strong and was raining very heavily.
at first, battuta was in front of cheng ho..
den cheng ho caught up and was very far infront of us..
realised tad cheng ho was waiting far in front of us and battuta was very touched.
so we start to get high so tad we will kayak faster..
den nabil's hand got blister so cnt kayak..
so he and royston held on to the raft and put them selves in water and kicked the water..
they are our 'power engine'..
the raft actually got move faster and we reached cheng ho there very fast..
battuta and cheng ho kayaked tgt..
saw jellyfishes, dead cockroaches and alot of mudskippers keep climbing on our raft.
if you wanted to do businesses, need to jump in the water and do in the sea.
but natasha (aka cavewoman) pee-ed on the triyak..
gd thing i was on the other triyak. den the other 4 ppl on natasha's kayak there freaked out..
hahas, damn funny.. battuta's inside joke.
finally reached to our campsite.
built our tents on rocks.
this campsite has no toilet facilities, so need do business den need cover yrself wif poncho or do in the sea..
changed out of our wet attire in the tent..
den got one stick insect in one of battuta's tents..
we asked the guys to get it out of the tents.
all give excuses except hyeril hu used his bare hands to catch..
fr den on, battuta keep saying 'hyeril, you so MAN!'
hahas.. :D
cooking halfaway den saw one centipede, big and red..
cavewoman and yu jin(aka auntie cos he very auntie and his name diff to rmb) used stones to squash it to death..
ate dinner den nite circle again.
they tok and told the $5 joke.. all of us got shocked.. hahas, nice joke.
were briefed on the nxt day's land expedition.
found out tad we need to gather at 8am. so hapi:D
cn wake up late at 7+ instead of 5am.
FORTH DAY
woken up by an alarm and roland saying tad there's an emergency and we needed to evacuate asap.
we knew instantly tad tads just a hoax..
so we nvr rush to evacuate.. and no tyme to pee so all of us need to hike while holding our bladders..
we were told tad there's a tsunami and cos we could nt evacuate in tyme, we were washed away and separated fr our grp..
trekked to the jetty tad visitors usually go to when they enter palau ubin.
we put our bags at the visitors' center and went inside the forest.
we have to do solo(lyk tad tyme sec3 level camp mr zul made my grp sit alone in the dark)
but this tyme, its in daylight.
did our own reflections den keep getting bitten by mozzies and was bored cos i nvr bring phone fr expedition.
so auntie, cavewoman, chuana,eve and i gather tgt to chat..
auntie, cavewoman and chuana are fr npcc and they have np craze so they keep doing drills..
while eve and i click on, cos we both are guides, realised tad she's lyk my fen, JY.
auntie kept running cos the mosquitoes keep followin him..
started our land expedition, THE LEADER'S QUEST.
battuta lost our maps and without map, we cnt continue.
so some of us ran bac to the previous day's campsite.
they found the maps washed ashore,luckily it wasnt swept away..
cheng ho had alr started and battuta was late.
we started by borrowing coins fr passer-by.. and something happened.
onli some ppl noe, wan noe den ask mi.. :D
den took our clues to the nxt station, it was more den 1km away.
need to complete task. den got clues to the nxt station: hornbill place..
its sort of a chalet.. abt 1km away fr the first station
den got the last clue to our last station: kekek quarry.
caught up wif cheng ho!
the quarry contains 'holy water' to complete our task on quenching the thirst of a unique tree.
the water in the quarry onli holds the rainwater, so its super clean and there's no living creatures in it.
we jumped into the quarry, shiok! :D
very clear, when you swim, cn see yr legs. cn open yr eyes in water without pain. the water temp is just nice and the taste is sweet.. (i noe i'm nt supposed to drink it ) :P
we disturbed cavewoman, ask her dun pee in the quarry, if nt the water become unpure..:]
collected the 'holy water' and proceed to our destination, thru the clues we get..
it's campsite 2. we trekked bac wif the heavy bags..
got one grp member was having high fever tad tyme, so we need to carry her bags..
we sort of walked super fast bac to the campsite, cos we saw a vehicle drove past.
roland said tad the gate of the campsite will close when the last vehicle drive out and we need to walk one big round to get to the other gate..
in the end the gate was nt closed..
put down the bag and my shoulders suddenly felt so light!
went to the weird tree which actually has a branch gg up den it grows abt 80degrees to the left..
poured the water on the tree and we completed our quest!
recap on the things we learnt: challenging the process, encouraging the heart......
the guys went to bath while the gals went to cook. the guys cum bac den we bath.
cooked almost all the food tad we had left over, which is alot.
den must build basha.. nt enuf poles, so cheng ho and battuta built the emergency shelter..
tad tyme very frustrating cos alot of ppl dun wan do anything, keep slacking..
dun noe how to tie oso dun bother to learn, dun noe how to help to cut twine.
and battuta wash up and cleaned everything and had to wait half hr fr chengho..
onli aft natasha shouted at them saying tad chengho dun wan slp, battuta still wan slp. den they started helping.
in the end, couldnt meet the dead line so cnt report tyme fr nite circle..
den nite circle, roland and haireel cooked popcorn fr us..
got sweet popcorn and salty popcorn..
laid on the ground wif mt, starring at the sky without stars.
slept in the basha.. den saw someone hu look lyk mr raj..
hahas.
FIFTH DAY
ate breakfast alr den realised most of the bread expired alr and some mouldy..
sure get diarrhea..
battuta lost $5 worth of items.. :D
i'm hapi nt cos we need to pay, but cos my grp's one of the grp hu had to pay the least :P
some grp need pay $20++, $80++.
had life walk.
its a walk tad had stations..
the last station need to write something you wanted to change abt yrself on a leaf.
den cheng ho and battuta splited.
battuta went to the end of the jetty, facing sgp.
each of us had to take the paper which we wrote on the first day abt the objectives you wan to achieve at the end of obs and crush it.
stand at the railing at the jetty, shout wad you wan to be(relating to leadership) facing sgp and throw the leaf into the sea.
we all stood at the railings in one line seeing the leaf drift away.
roland started played 'i want to go home' by Michael Bublé and he read a poem..
the song was very sad and touching..
he tok abt how each of us progressed in the camp and each one of us teared, except gorilla.
roland put the cert behind us and we took the cert and gave it to the person it belonged to.
roland started toking more and you could see the tears..
i will nt forget this moment or the song..
those hu were nt at tad scene wont noe how meaningful tad moment is..
den we wen to gather wif all the ppl fr obs.
wait fr the boat to arrive, our sch's the last few to go cos our sch no sch bus..
caught up wif xin and the rest. took the boat to camp 1 to fetch ppl.
den took the boat bac to sgp.
bought the obs shirt and wen to pizza hut wif mt, xin and davinya.
chatted and laughed.
and scratched! so mani sand fly and mozzie bites.
OBS is the best camp i ever go(:
i dun tink i will forget the moments BATTUTA and CHENG HO shared.
and of couse the ppl hu made BATTUTA's bond very strong:
Roland, chuana, cynthis, eve, huey wen, hyeril(the man), illy, mei qou, nabil(hint hint *), natasha (cavewoman), royston(gorilla), si jing, yu jin( auntie), zhao wei and hazimah. :D
