Sunday, January 16, 2005
OBS experience (cont.)
hey again...dis is a continuation of e OBS sec 3 orientation...here goes...
Day 3...
-woke up early again n unpitched tents
-had breakfast at cook house again
-rather tasteless bee hoon, sausage, n hot milo...oh btw bala was last 2 queue up AS USUAL so evry1 had 2 wait 4 him...lol
-morning circle with marco polo at 'orchard road'- shared past days events n thots (i wrote e 1st entry coz i was 1st dae i/c) den had some blessings thing...cant rmbr e exact name but evry1 had 2 say a blessing 4 anythng (eg. no rain, no injuries, bless dat evry1s' blessing wld come true...blah blah)
-did finger wrestling with partners - 2 pple clasp hands n point index finger at other person...objective is 2 try 2 touch other person with index finger
-started 1st activity of e dae - tripod obstacle course...practiced baleying n wadeva stuff on ground 4 abt an hr...(wasted a lot of time) b4 actually starting on e thing...there were 3 so called bridges - 1st was a rope u had 2 cross n there was another rope u cld hold on to...2nd was a log...3rd n e hardest was a real type of bridge with lyk tiny planks 2 step on...which was vry wobbly......harold quite scared of heights so fell at 3rd bridge...den gave sylvester rope burn...lol...other spectacular person was jason...more or less ran across e 1st 2 bridges...making record time...n on 3rd bridge tried 2 jump frm platform unto e 1st shape (pentagonal shaped thingy resting on e planks)...but fell...unfortunately i was e baleyer...lol...den managed 2 climb up again...den attempted 2 run across e rest of e bridge...den fell again...finally pulled himself back up n completed e obstacle course...(btw he was e last guy 2 go coz there wasnt enough time so 4 of us didnt get 2 try)
-by dat time it was already lunch time...so went 2 cook house 4 lunch...den packed our stuff n got rdy 4 another hike 2 e northern-most part of pulau ubin, facing JB...but 1st had 2 fill our jerry cans (4) full with water n deposit dem near e jetty 2 b picked up by a boat n delivered 2 nex campsite coz there wldnt b any drinkable water there...
-set off with euge navigating AGAIN...not bad lah...got there in reasonably gd time...jus dat he lyks 2 walk faster n doesnt really take notice of pple lagging behind so had 2 call him 2 slow downo r wait a couple of times...
-reached e campsite near e sea n changed into our wet attire again den put all our bags together n covered dem with e tarp...
-went down 2 shed nearby 2 get stuff 4 making a raft (8 long solid plastic poles n 4 large barrels) n brot dem down 2 e (haunted) quarry...started 2 discuss how 2 make e raft so dat it cld support 16 of us + louis...had 1 hr 15mins 2 do it...but spent too much time listening 2 rahul n bala n dunno hu telling us abt plans 2 make e raft n which half e pple wernt listening coz we more or less already knew how we were supposed 2 make e raft...
-used rope 2 tie poles together den added e barrels...by den was already overtime so had 2 get an extension...
-time 4 testing e raft...louis did e 'shake' test n e 'kick' test...all e barrels except mayb 1 were shaking lyk siao...so louis actuall failed us...but he gave us another extension 2 redo e barrels n it came out ok...but there wasnt enough time 2 test it out...so we jus dismantled it n opted 2 go hv a dip in e quarry (which had been deserted 4 a long long time so became a freshwater lake) ...had lots of fun swimming around 4 a while n playing 'orange' polo (throw an orange around) but euge kevin n some 2 others didnt get in coz dey 'didnt hv a change of clothes'
-so we put e raft stuff back n went 2 pitch tents...using rocks again coz ground was too hard...den changed into nice dry clothes n ate dinner (canned sausages, buns, biscuits, bread etc...) n there was a rather exciting scene going on in harold/ser zheng/zhuang yi/joseph's tent...lol...u wld probably wanna noe wad happened but i wont tel u...ask 1 of dem...n zhuang yi spilled their can of sausages so e whole tent was stinking of sausages...(e tent incident has somethng 2 do with e erm...sausage thingy...) but anyway harold was hugging ser zheng 2 slp or somethng...n there were farny noises coming frm their tent but...well....lets leave it at dat...
-louis came 2 check on us n told us dat place was called HDB coz last time HDB bought dat land n wanted 2 build condos there or dunno wad but decided not 2...den he told us e ghost story abt e quarry n i was really freaked out (dunno bout evry1 else tho) n some more i was standing rite outside of e circle we formed...eeeeeeeeeee...so i was lyk *tug* *tug*...dont ask wad dat is...but come 2 think of it e ghost story sounds really stupid now...but in dat atmosphere (dark n facing e dark dark forest) it was really really creepy...anywayz den he told us a true story abt how at dat same place last yr when he was taking a grp of RGS girls n were camping at e big gate, a wild boar came n charged at dem...haha...
-so after louis left we went 2 slp (or at least tried 2) but bala was even more freaked out abt e ghost thing den me n he was supposed 2 slp nex 2 e tent window...lol...so he kept coming over 2 e middle n sitting there...wanted 2 b sentry...haha...den finally he went 2 lie down further away frm e window...but den kevin told him dat if he left a space there e old woman (frm e ghost story) wld come slp nex 2 him...LOL...so he got really freaked out AGAIN...thx kevin...den when we finally almost got 2 slp...music started playing frm i think 1 of e boats at sea...1st played happy birthdae song...den started on some chinese/english/malay songs...den at abt 1 in e morn i woke up den heard Usher's Yeah playing...can b a little scary...n geng yu tried 2 b helpful n shouted over 2 me dat it was e old woman n old monks wedding songs...er......so anywayz...i got a few hrs of slp...mayb abt 3? coz i woke up alot of times during e nite n morn...dunno y...but generally i was quite peaceful during e nite...except 1 time when i woke up i heard harold toking 2 some1 in his tent...zhuang yi i think...so...yeah...dats abt it...
Day 4...
-woke up early again (i mean i woke up vry early...abt 5.20?)...so it was still quite dark...went outside 2 stretch n check if any1 else was awake...apparently i was e only 1...but after a while rahul came out too...(oh btw if u c rahul say somethng farny abt fruitcake n he'll go into a fit...of laughter...haha)
-went 2 ser zhengs tent n saw dat they werent gaying anymore! haha...at least when i went 2 c they were lying SEPARATELY...haha
-at abt 5.50 more pple woke up so it wasnt so lonely n when we finally got bala n e other 2 slpyheads 2 wake up we started 2 unpitch tents n clear up e campsite...
-den had 2 fill up all water bottles with jerry can but still had 3 more jerry cans 2 empty coz we couldnt possibly lug dem with us back 2 camp 2...so we emptied e water...n used some 2 wash face...hands...etc
-got rdy 2 leave...n even tho we were e last watch 2 leave...we were e 1st 2 arrive at camp 2...yay...so had our breakfast/lunch/brunch of biscuits n hard/flattened bread n got our climbing stuff n went 2 e commitment n challenge park 2 do e flying fox...
-marco polo went 1st so we belayed n braked...belaying was really tiring on e arms coz it was quite a long way up 2 climb so we had 2 change belayers quite often...
-flying fox was quite fun...tho it was over in lyk 2 sec it was exhilarating...apart frm dat ser zheng got a center parting on his face - a line down e middle of his face coz of whiplash...actually i was a little scared lah...but it WAS a long way up n i Am a bit scared of heights...
-so dat took abt 2 n a half hrs...den after dat we rested 4 a while n took some more ecstasy...which included milo powder, ovaltine powder, chrysanthemum tea powder n isotonic drink powder...symptoms of ecstasy users include uncontrollable shaking of heads with eyes half closed...haha...went 2 chat with zhun wen n guys at columbus coz dey were pitching tents there too...found out a bit abt techniques 2 complete DDD
-started next activity - Double Dangle Duo, where we raced against marco polo 2 c who could accumulate 600pts 1st 2 win...we had 2 pair up n climb sort of a log ladder...jus dat e logs were long n e spaces between 2 logs were quite far apart n got worse...but me n euge managed 2 get 2 e 2nd last log (5th) b4 quitting coz we cldnt reach e nex log...not bad tho...btw each log was worth 10 pts...
-overall altho marco polo was leading, we eventually got 600 pts 1st coz they wasted a lot of time tying knots...haha...AW...but e pts thing was jus 4 fun...den we had sort of a reflection on e activity...
-after dat...we had 2 do stores again...coz we were leaving e next dae...so sad...so we cleared evrythng on time...den went 2 pitch tents...but when we were abt 2 go, it started drizzling...so we waited till it was lighter den went up 2 pitch...our tent was outside
-most of all e tents AS USUAL 4 some farny reason...n ser zheng decided 2 join us so we had 5 pple in 1 tent...yay! so fun...
-got our cooking stuff n started 2 cook noodles...n ate canned sardines...not bad actually...me euge ser zheng n kevin shared a mess tin...so dont nd 2 wash so much...den kev n euge dunno how 2 eat 1 so dropped noodles all over e place...almost finish eating dat time e rain started 2 get really heavy...so we quikly finished up n left e cooking stuff at e cooking site 1st...2 soak in e rain? lol...so we stayed in our tent 4 abt 10 mins den e rain slowed 2 a drizzle again...bad time 2 go camping actually...so we went 2 ask louis 4 an extension 1st...den went 2 wash stuff...
-louis checked our cooking stuff n store den we went 2 hv a shower n change...after dat went 2 mph 4 a debrief...each person shared their feelings n thots n wadeva...den b4 going back 2 our tents, we did a bala cheer...LOL...vry lame tho...haha...louis was lyk - !? :D
-went back 2 tent...euge was complaining bout it being too cramped blah blah...but dats him being natural...so we chatted 4 a while den ser zheng, being a natural slper, said we shld slp early...but den b4 dat when we were still outside he was saying lyk e pathway 2 e forest which was visible 2 us frm our tent had a sign pole there...n looked lyk a person...e old monk in particular...so...u shld b able 2 guess wad happened again...*sigh* after a while managed 2 fall aslp lah...i was facing e window so cld c e flying fox...
-middle of e nite, i woke up...im gd at sensing stuff...it was raining!!! heard voices frm other tents.........person: our tent is flooded lah...faster go store n slp...person: argh! im wet!den i woke up e rest in e tent...saw dat there was a small puddle forming at our feet n heads...but didnt really affect any1...EXCEPT ME!!! i was slping in e MIDDLE so lyk our tent was sort of slanting inwards toward e MIDDLE so basic physics wld tel u dat water flow frm a higher place 2 a lower place...meaning e MIDDLE...meaning ME!!! so my feet were lyk sort of in a puddle...not dat any1 cared =( so i more or less didnt get a gd nites slp...den some more pple complain........euge: dont complain lah...my pants r wet ok...i slping at e entrance some morekev: stop squashing me lah bala...
Day 5...
-aiyah...anywayz...we survived till morn...by den it was stil drizzling but cldnt b helped...so quickly unpitched den brot evrythng 2 outside store...
-packed n cleared evrythng...washed tents...hung stuff up 2 dry...blah blah...but e previous dae we hung up our life vests behind e stores outside 2 dry...but it rained...so...yeah...all in all we only lost 1 whistle, 3 tent pegs, n a hiking pole...so each person had 2 pay $0.25...lol
-we gathered 4 1 of e last times as a watch n paid 4 e photos n stuff n got back our valuables...
-we finished packing our own bags n assembled at e souvenir shop where we got 2 buy souvenirs! (i got a mug n a cap)
-now 4 e most exciting part of e dae...hao yang (THE gay) went 2 climb all over louis n kissed him!!!!! den after e 1st time he tried 2 do it again...but daphne got jealous (haha) n was lyk 'oy enough ah...hes mine already hor' ....LOL...
-oh well...after dat we got onto a boat in grps 2 go 2 camp 1...2 hv our 'finale'
-we had lunch 1st at cook house (our last meal together...sniff sniff)...den assembled in mph 4 a briefing on e activities...which werent vry interesting or nice...(sry comm...but its true!) den we reassembled in mph 4 e 'most interesting' part of e finale...watching some guys 2 a redox reaction (coz redox is our orientation theme)...i wonder HU it was hu cld come up with such lame stuff...anywayz we watched some glowing foam produced...lol...den we were given cans of soft drink (WOW! surprise surprise) 2 drink...obviously
-after evrythng we boarded e boat 4 sg in 60s coz dats how big e boat is...but me n 4 others missed e 2nd boat coz not enough space...so we were at e jetty with louis daphne n another lady instructor...so louis was lyk.......louis: bennett can u sing 4 us? (den to other instructors)...hes supposedly e best singer in RI...me: huh? wad?louis: ok wad if i tell u 2 pple r gonna b engaged? can u sing or at least hum sort of a wedding tune or somethng?me: (softly 2 myself)huh? u n daph ah? haha...(out loud) dun wan lah...other kpo pple (harold/ser zheng/kev/jeffrey): jus go lah! *harold tries 2 pull me out frm behind e pillar...*sigh* yeah...so dats dat...in e end i didnt sing...sry lah...den louis left 4 dunno where...oh btw it was raining again...after a while e boat came back n we n others boarded...back 4 home...alighted at punggol jetty n took coach back 2 sch...
ok pple dats abt it 4 our sec 3 OBS orientation...hope u had fun reading it...lol...dun wan 2 make it sound bad so may sound a little dull compared 2 my other last yr lame entries...haha...anywayz i WILL b blogging some more...occasionally...so check in soon! cyaz!
whizzer; 5:31:00 pm
