OBS
Friday, January 20, 2006
I DECLARE THAT I LOVE OBS TO BITS!!!
AND I LOVE ARMSTRONG!
and I miss KENNY! :(
arhaha. just back from obs and really lovin' every part of it. even including the seasickness. ^^
DAY 1We assembled in school hall at around 7+, with bags full of clothes and other necessities. Then was tAt! Oh man he rocks k. Even though he looks really blearghh. Anyways. Mr Tan gave us a briefing on obs, about the raining and bites and sunburn, and mrs tan wished us luck before we're sent off. At first I was rather afraid that I would be sorted in a different class as my classmates, but apparently according to Ms Lim I was in the same WATCH as half of my class. Whoops! Poor Nancy. Cos Ms Lim told her she might go to 307. Boarded the bus with our bulky bags. Ms Lim told Nancy she might be in the same WATCH as us! Then she broke us the news that we'll be spilt into 2 WATCHs, according to register, and both WATCH are mobile. We were like 'What?' Haiz. She also told us our WATCHs are called Amundsen and Armstrong respectively, and our instructors are Melissa and Kenny. So I was wondering if Kenny's a guy or gal. It sounds like a guy's name, Ken, but the 'ny' maks the name sounds kidish. ( Haha. Don't be offended Kenny! loll) But Ms Lim said it should be a guy's. So okaayy. Me and Nancy were like 'eeww. we want a gal instructor!', then after some consideration, decided that a guy instructor can be fun. And some gal (sorry forgot who) told us that Kenny's nice. Was relieved. Reached Pungol (sp?) jetty. We were the first class! See how great we are. :) There were alot of adults there, all very tanned. We looked around, trying to make a guess who's Kenny. Thought was this tall guy. We sat down and talked a little. Soon, the other classes came. tAt! arhaha. We waited and waited and waited, queued and queued and queued, talked and talked and talked, then finally there was a boat bringing us to Pulau Ubin! Yayy. Was excited. Sat in the boat. Saw this nice OBS camp at first, which looked so resort-ish and beautiful. BUT. THE BOAT MOVED ON AND DIDN'T STOP THERE! hmph. It moved on to this rather ulu place with a jetty and a small obs sign. Okaay. That's like a major disappointment. Talked about Dustbin. Then. Walked along the path of the jetty, careful not to slip into the water cos the right side was without any railings or protection. That really shows something mann. Walked and Walked and Walked with our heavy bag, to the 'Hall', which is basically a structure that has a platform and is a shelter. Like wow. Sat down. Was commenting on what brand of mosquito repellent is the best. The toilets were reasonably clean tho. Finally, everyone was there and this gal instructor went to the front and welcomed us there. Introduced us to our instructors. Turned out the tall tall blue shirt guy's steven. Aww poor nancy. Kenny was Dao mann. He didnt clap or cheer or was lame like steve. Instead, he was busy looking through something with this female beside heim, who was actually Mel. The nice nice gal introductor was in charge of Raffles. Arha. Our school name! Val was darn lucky. That was how I thought anyway. Then. We went off with our instructors. So duhh, we went off with Kenny. He was really dao and didn't speak much. He didn't really joke as well. In fact, thought he was rather boring. He was rather short, dark, and had spiky durian hair as well, btw. We sat down and he started doing the admin stuff. okaay. Our valubles were confiscated. Then he told me to go with him. He found this gal instuctor and she told him that I was to be confirmed whether I could do the activities for OBS, cos MrTan was checking with Health Promotion Board. So I was to be an observer by then. Okaay. We went back. Then he informed us we were to do kayaking the same day, but before that we'll do some counting and food stuff. And we signed the committment book, plus him talking about the yeah-you-shld-know-larh-the-freaking-me-out-stuff and all the ground rules and everything. So I went off with some others to help with the food. The food was heavy and bulky. Finished doing all the stuffs. Got some lifejackets. Wore the wet activities shoes. Then. At around 12 something-1 something, we set off to the beach there. Met the rest of the class there. The Amundsens! Yeah. Then Mel introduced herself and Kenny, and said our watches would be doing most of the activities together. Yayys. Class bonding time! So they taught us how to kayakand how to hold a kayak and stuff. Finally. We carried the kayaks over to the beach. Then Keeny told me I can't do the excerise. Boohoo. Only when I was like crapping to them about how great my back is and stuff, and I guess they felt either guilty or irritated, (I think I'll be the latter. X) ), then they walkie-talkied camp one and decided I AM OK!!! Told ya. :) So we walked into the water in a circle, and was all wet!!! First day of OBS k. But it was fun. Kenny splashed water on us and we were like 'hey! so mean!' and started bullying our instructor Kenny and sprayed water back onto his face, for a full 3 minutes or more. Poor Kenny. But he wasn't angry or anything, but just good-naturedly squeezed his eyes and turned behind, before complaining to Mel 'Walau they all bully me leh!'. Mel and the Amundsens laughed and laughed while we continued to bully Kenny. So we sort of warmed up with him and beginning to feel that he might not be as bad as I thought. They demoed the capsize drills and everything. Alicia and JN got stuck in the boat. oooops. So I kayaked for the first time in my life! It was quite fun. We chionged and chionged and chionged. JN and chen hoon's boat capsized first, and we're suppoed to save them. Mann the boat was certainly heavy! I think we took like an hour for chen hoon and jn to be back in their boats. woww. Then we cling onto this float thingy and started cheering raffles cheer and singing this really stupid song dawn created. ^^ ahaha. Then Mel asked us to land in front. Was like okaay, nvm. BUT. When we landed, realized it was this really muddy/swampy area. Wanted to backpedal and land somewhere else, but Mel the mean asked us to get out of our boats straight away. No choice but to get out and once my feet touched the muddy floor, I sank and my feet were stuck in the mud! I tired to get my foot out and took another step, and my another foot sank deeper in. Was really freaked out by then. Tried to take my foot out, then my another foot sank in the second time. Was seriously screaming hysterically inside. I took out my foot again, and guess what? I was barefooted! my shoe was stuck inside there! So had to plung my hand into the mud and practically spent a minute digging out the shoe. Walked on. In the mud. fell down a few times. Finally, after sinking in zillions of times, got to the shore! Yayy. Was relieved, but my shoes had turned into a nice shade of greyish-brownish-white. Yucks. It's like wet cement, just that the smell was not as strong. Poor Alicia still stuck there. Mel to the rescue. I thought we've kayaked to camp1, and when Mel told us we were still in camp 2, I was really shocked. Guess the tide was strong. At that time, admittedly, I was really pissed and frustrated, wondering why were we here in the first place. I even washed my shoes and clothes. Now, thinking back, I realize the rationale, or at least I think I do, plus that I was really selfish at that time. Boohoo. Helped to carry some kayaks back. Learn how to pitch a tent, taught by Kenny. Pitched tent in this piece of land that took like a hundred over steps to walk. Washed up. Ate dinner. Met with instructors. Fire drill.Talked and talked. Kenny was nice. Then. Can only rmbr sleeping. The tent was comfortable!
Day 2Next day. Woke up like 5 am k. Even earlier than the time I wake up to go to school everyday. Change into the gross and rotting PE shirt and shorts. yucks. plus swimming suit. Capsize drill at 7. It was ok, except for the fact that my arms were tired and I couldn't get up the boat. Alicia developed a fear of capsizing last minute! :) hahaha. It was around 9 when we finally finished our drills. Thought it was noon already, couldnt believe it was still so early. Washed ourselves. Ate lunch and transfered most of the stuffs in my bag into the OBS loaned bag pack aka treking bag aka a really heavy weight thing. It was really heavy. Like my clothes plus 2L of water plus canned food and biscuits and a nice groundsheet. Plus puncho and my decomposing shoes and sandals. Did rock climbing/belaying excerise, then the real thing! haiz. Talked talked talked. Crap crap crap. Going to start our mobile treaking, when it rained a little. Took out punchos (sp?) and started walking slowly. Stopped raining. Put the puncho back. Continued walking. The backpack was DARN HEAVY! Yucks. And the three water bottles I was carrying. Fell down on some rocks. Got up. Continued walking. I dont mind pain. BUT I mind seasickness/heights. Sighh. Reached the end. Pitch tent. ATE DINNER IN CAMP1!!!!!! Catered food. Arhaha. I think the stationary pple are darn lucky to get nice food everyday. And Camp 1 looks so pretty. We were like some peasents coming from a rural area and were wowed by the glamour and lights of the city. Ate. Supposed to bathe but there was this super long queue so couldn't be bothered. Waited and waited and waited for Kenny and Mel in the hall. They finally came very very late. learnt about map reading and stuffs. kenny told us some stuff before Mel asked us the questions, so we answered her questions correctly. So she assumed that kenny told us all the answers. And whenever we answer things correctly without his help, mel'll look at hin and he'll say 'Raffles what.' Slept. (kenny was observing his feet btw. X) ) Beat. Slept. Kenny poke head in.
Day 3Breakfast was good. Milo is nice. And my legs itch like crazy. was briefed. did the inverse tower challenge, aka the power of tower. -.-''' belayed nat and suyin for like 1 1/2hrs? hmm. Arms were tired. I should be a member of flabby arms or weak arms instead of armstrong. haix. finally it's annabelle and my turn. I had no more energy left and I was terribly scared of heights. I don't know why I have the phobia, but I do know that my grandma used to tell me to stand away from the edge of high buildings, windows and overhead bridge, and that now I can't even walk an overhead bridge without breaking out cold sweat. So I was extremely frightened and didn't dare to look down at all. Mann. When can I conquer my phobia? haix. Hereby I have to thank annabelle for all her support and encouragement! Anna you rock. Eventually I didn't manage to help her up and finish the challenge, and I feel really guilty about that. Why am I so afraid of heights. and creepy crawlies. yuccck. we're supposedto trek to another jetty in the afternoon. Yajie was sent home! Oh mann. Poor Yajie. So sad. Went to call Kenny as I was supposed to. Went with Chen Hoon. he wasn't there. Mel was like saying 'Kenny has gone to the South Park!'. I was like huhh. The question 'what's southpark' occupied me for a while. Now I know. It's a really popular cartoon in their times. Something like Happy Tree Friends. Mel cracks jokes I dont understand. Age gap mann. We live in a different generation! LOLL. Rained. We just stayed put and talked and crapped. About me lovin' blood. Haha. I am a bat/mosquito/and you know the thing. I love to eat quite bloody chicken or fish or any kind of meat. They're nice! And I never put medicine on my wounds to heal them. I'll just stare at them day and night. I had cuts from my falling down during the previous day treking and the first day kayaking, but I don't care about them. Cuts are rather nice. Pain is good. OOps. OK. I know I am weird/crazy/mad you name it. BUT. Blood's nice. yayy. We talked about Kenny. About his gf should be called barbiny. cos ken and barbie, kenny and barbiny! haha how clever are we! Then alicia said that kenny's name is too sweet to be scolded, and that her name is nice to be suaned. Then Kenny have to appear at that minute and we were like laughing and laughing and laughing, alicia totally piaseh out. Then we just tell him what alicia said lorhz. kenny had that okaaaaaay look on his face. Rain was over. Amelina and I were supposed to lead the pack. And so we did. Today, the bagpack wasn't as heavy as the previous day one. Perhaps I was getting used to it! Treked and treked and treked for an hour plus. 3km covered. Destination reached. (oh yeah btw kenny is nicer than Mel. Mel was mean!!! haha. i am just j/k) On our way, we were really unsure of where to go and the map could be rather confusing, and I just chose the path I thought should be right and went. Haiz. I really shouldn't have done that. Am I too rash a person? Perhaps. The camping area was filled with families of insects. We pitched our tents and were warned of wild boar attacks. Then. mel and kenny came and told us we were leaving and going to another campsite! cos apparently some watches were battling with the waves in the sea and could not reach the jetty we were in in time, so they just landed somewhere else and we'll have to walk there. Packed in a hurry. Backtracked for miles. Walked on. Mingyue was telling lame jokes and we were talking about our Northland days. our P5 camp I Can and stuffs. Gee. Reached the new campsite after another hour. WE WALKED 6.4km ALTOGETHER! and surviving it! yayy. with all the puddles and mud! Kenny is lameeee. and funny. haha. The place is a quarry and the floor's full of rocks and sand. We pitched our tents using rocks instead of tent pecks. It's not really stable. Kenny helped us. But it's safe. For now. Then helped chen hoon set up tents. cooked dinner. The toilets = this rather big abandoned place facing the sea that you'll have to walk slowly down into, and do your business. It's aint that bad as you think anyway. Washed our stuffs in the sea. how dirty the sea is! we're polluting! buried the paper waste products. The rest we'll just have to carry around. We were briefed on our sea expedition. kenny was so lameee and funny and weirdd. even some gals in 309 said that. haha. kenny! loll. Steven was briefing us. Arghh we'll have to kayak the long way, and it's like 20km+ The tides will change at around 8 and we will be against the tides! How sad. But when we turn the corner near chik jawa, then it'll be alright. We talked about pee and shit in the tents. i still think freakin' pee is better than f***ing sh*t. ahaha. my creation! pee is better than sh*t. X) kenny checked on us. was freaky k, when suddenly someone shone his light into your tent. Nat was like saying Kenny will be one of the pluses for the obs camp and that he's nice. ok he is. haha chlorine water! nat hates chlorine water. X) and kenny is strong. he can carry 2 20L bottles. Which makes it 40L/kg. Wow. slept for like a minute before someone called us to wake up. did our night duty. The singing voices coming from the Malaysia mainland is freakyy. haiz. slept.
Day 4woke up with back aching. the rocks underneath are darn hard! but the sleep is good. quickly change and unpitch. packed up our stuffs. Got ready for kayaking. Kayaking was bad at first cos my arms were like practically dead. poor alicia. i am so sorry. then after a while, got used to it, and we could pedal faster. The drift was strong, the tides against us. But we perservered and managed to make the turn! the instructors were on some speedboat! so unfair. The waves turned strong and I could not help but puking and getting really seasick. It was bad. even orange peels couldn't work for me. i felt really bad and my head ached. oops i must have been really frustrated and wanted to give up. Was pissed when the instructors refused to help me and a few other seasickers. they wanted me to eat! like hello i am puking?! And i really puked it out. decided i'll not eat anything. i became slightly better. change boat to the red one, and this gal from 309 was kayaking for me. Oh man. was really and is really touched by her. she's really nice k. very patient. after a while, the sea was calm again and my seasickness immediately vanished. especially the channel there, when steven said that beyond the channel was our camp 2, all my sickness went away. and me and my partner chiong and chiong and chiong. Finally reached our camp!!! HOME SWEET HOME! was hungry again. turned around to see my unknown partner, and here she was! i didnt even know how she look like before this moment k. cos i didnt turn back. really, i owe you lots. safely landed. carried kayaks to the stands. finshed everything, we sat in a circle, all the four watches who were kayaking togather. namely: amundsen, armstrong, bt and cheng ho. 306 and 309 rocks! I ate. We sang songs. We cheered raffles cheer. And Kenny went crazy/hyper again. -.-''' We were supposed to meet kenny and mel at the jetty after the bagpacks were loaded from the boats. we were jetty jumping! The b'dae girls went first. we're supposed to say something before we jump. some pple said 'i want to pee!' and dawn said 'wabiangoi!' and someone else screamed 'arhhhhh'. then pple started to ask pple jumping in to say 'i'm taller than kenny', 'i am as tall as kenny' or 'i am going to be taller than kenny', or 'my handwriting is better than kenny's' so it became a -er than kenny thing. haha rubbing in because of his height! ooops. we're soo meann. Kenny could do nothing but shake his head and sighh. steven said 'i am taller than kenny!' when kenny complained to him we bully him. Even the 307 instructors were rubbing in. Then we asked kenny to jump in. we urged him to say 'i will not grow taller' or 'i cannot grow taller' or something along those lines. In the end, he shouted 'Irritating!' and jumped down. we all were like laughing and laughing. very funny sia. the 307 ones are funny as well. the guy said he love the gal, the gal said he love the guy. hahaha. bathed. packed. got ready for the next day. pitched tents. then for the finale, we had a nice night walk! night walk was fun. we had to walk to the reservoir there from camp2, without the use of torchlights. we went as a group at first, then when we reached there, we had to walk back alone, just by oursleves! I don't mind cos pri5 camp I Can our watch Bravo did that too. very fun. and our campsites were rather near some graveyards. haha. So when it was my turn, i bid the rest farewell and walked into the darkness beyond, where all the fun laid. I hummed and sang happy tree friends theme song in my head, and thinking about dustbin, and even saying out loud 'woah' when i almost tripped onto something. i walked rather fast cos i didnt want to linger for too long. reached the other end! talked with the rest on wild boars and wild dogs and suncream and bites. haha. was fun. then debrief, we shared our experience and stuffs we don't want to do, but have to do or managed to do. kayaking was a horrible experience. slept in our tents the very last night. kenny checked on us. helped us tie the tent opening thing. i remember someone in a tent beside our tent was talking really loudly. and we gossiped.
Day 5Woke up later then usual. Did store check and washed the instructors' toilets. at least we didnt lose anything! yayy. wrote the farewell note to him, as a watch. sadd. when kenny saw this he was like 'oh i am touched and i scared i'll cry.' okaaay. happy days would be gone so soon. armstrong rocks! then we had our final debrief. we talked about the experience we've gained. i had a really heavy heart, for some reason. i felt quite sad. we got back our valuables, and our photos. we made kenny sign all of our informal pics and write personal messages for us. The last bit about the OBS journey would really start once we've reached the mainland was saddening. haha we joked about his handwriting again! and that he looks cool only when he wears shades/sunglasses, and when he took off his sunglasses was like okaaaaayyy.... he seemed to be irritated, but all in a good-natured way. he was never angry with us. as in real anger. we kept on laughing when seeing his handwriting. dismissed. did souvenir shopping. bought a black shirt and silver collar pin. im officially broke. got our photos with a note back, signed by our instructor. oh he said OBS is his dream job. sighh. I guess I've learnt lots from the camp. initiative... determination... positive mindset... AND TRUST. Trust. remember what kenny said about trust? about he and...? yeah. i'll have lotsa stuffs to learn. the gal who briefed us on our first day debriefed us again. then kt said some stuffs, and we sang delication. we called for kenny and mel to come, 'come kenny! come mel!'. we stood in a circle, our arms together, singing the familiar tune. kenny was being lame again, which made us feel even worse. he was like mimicing us singing the high pitch parts. and the raffles cheers! then our watch screamed 'we love you kenny!'. haha. it sounds eewww righto. but we all agree that he's the best instructor. cos we're biased! LOL. took the boat to mainland. we said goodbye to kenny and i added 'must miss us!'. He said 'I will! Bye bye!'. Chen Hoon was really sad. I was too. So was suyin. we sat near the Kenny side, so we opened the window and said bye bye to him. Then when the boat suddenly started moving away from the jetty, we screamed his name and said things like 'do miss us!' and 'goodbye!'. At first he waved, then he swung himself almost out of the jetty, acting as if he wanted to shoo us away. He was like doing the kicking action and didn't want us to stay like that. how mean of him! Then he started waving too, saying 'bye', and did the shooing action again. By that time, 5 of us in Armstrong watch were crying and crying. oh yes including me. Everyone was sad, even those who didn't cry. Finally, he waved and waved again, before he became a small dot in the jetty. and the jetty disappeared into the distance. me and chen hoon were like hugging each other and crying, trying to reassure ourselves. who ask him to be so nice. sighhh.
I'll miss obs. I'll miss all the adventure there. I'll miss pitching and sleeping in a tent. Most of all, I'll miss kenny. sighh. and Mel. Miss the times we spent together as a watch, as a class. Kenny and Mel, you guys rock. :)
--FIRst Day <33--
1/20/2006 06:54:00 PM
