Saturday, January 20, 2007 @8:09 PM
OH YES ((: i'm back from obs and i'm missing it alr! <33 i love eng soon watch and instructor mauricette and everything! there were 16 of us, jo ho, thong, eunice, bao, sarah, rebekah, sam, cheryl, yifei, priscilla, shijia, peiqi, candice, shirley, alethea and me, and MAURICETTE! it was tough luhh, but rlly fun ok. and i was residential, so i got to shower for three days, and slept in bunks for three days as well. haha xD
day one
it was more of foundations stuff, like we introduced ourselves, and then we did the trust fall, where we each climbed about a metre off ground, and then we fell backwards down, and then the rest of engsoon watch would catch us with a mat. yupp, and that we rlly fun, coz it was freaky, but then when friends caught you, you knew you could rlly trust them. then we had belaying course, which i knew from school, and we built our basha. dinner at the cookhouse, and after that, we did this engsoon journal thingy with an eng soon song in it! mauricette told us it would be selected for obs showcasehaha!
day two
yupp, and then we had breakfast, which i had no appetite for at all. then we went kayaking. but first, mauricette taught us how to paddle properly and all that. and then without our kayaks, we all got wet first, like we all held hands and went down into the sea, and immersed ourselves in the salty seawater haha. and then we went down to the lovely sea carrying our kayaks by the rocks area. then we kayaked out a bit, and did capsize drills. which were really cool, coz it was like suddenly you flip around ((: haha, and then mauricette taught us how to do rescuing when we ever capsize in deep sea, off the shore. then we all started paddling, towards the quarry area i think. but we didn't rlly make it... but nvm, and thong and i (we were kayaking together) capsized in some dangerous area with like rocks and all that. and then we couldn't do rescue coz our deckline had some problems, so a rescue boat helped us turn our kayaks and then we climbed back on. for that moment, i was rlly freaked, coz i was scared we would just be helplessly trying to rescue the kayak. ohwell, but it was rlly an experience! then we washed the kayaks, changed and had lunch. after that, we changed into climbing attire and then we did the tripod, mid-elements. this was the rlly cool part. yknow, i have this great fear of heights and all that, so i was like number 12, coz i was freaked, and didn't want to go first. but then right, i told myself, this is obs man, if i don't do this now, i will nvr get to do it again, so off i went. haha i was loser man, when i was climbing up to the height, i was freaking out alr. the first two elements were ok luh, but the third one, where there was only 2 wire thingy to walk acorss, was freaky, before i stepped on, i alr fell, o.o but then with the encouragement of friends, like bao, jo, xin min, chloe, si min, and of course belayer sarah, i managed to climbed back on and made it to the end. ((: i nvr imagined i could even do it but i actually did. :D yupp, so i'm rlly happy. coz unless you try, you nvr know what you can do haha. after that, we ate showered and then packed our bags for land ex the next day.
day 3
our bags were dang heavy to begin with. they felt at least 20 kg luh. and so we started off. basically, we would go around to see pulau ubin before trekking to camp 2 from camp 1. and our land ex leaders were shijia and yifei. and mauricette would just follow behind us. yupp, and it was amazing that we managed to trek about 4km in 2 hours, before reaching the german girl shrine. at first, we stopped after 5 mins, but then we grew stronger so we rested less. (: and lunch at the shrine was biscuits haha. anw, we soon continued, coz we had 11 km to trek altogther. yupp, so next we trekked abt 30 mins before reaching the tallest hill in pulau ubin. i was quite reluctant to go up at first, coz i was alr dang tired and dead, and i didn't think i would have stamina to climb some more hills. but then since eng soon went, i had to go too. surprisingly, the climb up wasn't that bad. i wasn't very tired, coz we could put our heavy load down around the bottom of the hill. apart from some muddy parts, the climb up was rlly nice and fun. and when we reached up there it was just WHOA! the scenery from up there was just amazing. it was so beautiful, and i could see the quarry and a lot of greenery. and up there, i totally didn't regret the climb up there. ((: yupp, and after that, we continued on our trek. next stop, we went to the main town of pulau ubin. it was so tourist-y lah, with those informative signs and all that, like in botanic gardens. but rental of bicycles there are so cheap, $2 for one whole day ok! haha, we visited the toilet there. after that, we didn't go to our last destination, the headman's village, coz it was too far away, and it was alr 2 plus. so we had abt 2 hrs to reach all the way back to the west where camp two was, from the east. the last 2 hrs was hell man, the sun was high and hot and the bags now seemed 30 kg, and our path was never ending. and we took breaks after every 30 mins. but after a long long long time, we actually really reached camp 2! (: i really didn't believe it man! i didn't know i could actually trek 11 km with a load on my back! and we all dang happy luh. but almost immediately, we got up and half of us pitched bashas, and half of us cooked dinner. i was in charge of rice with eunice. and our rice was good ok, although it was a bit half cooked, mauricette tried it and said it was good and up to standard ((: HAHA i'm pro with eunice oK! :D after that, we had to clear up, and wash up. but then all of us didn't want to bathe haha we are rlly dirty pple. so mauricette said it was fine, as long as we powder bathe, so we would look like geishas. haha :D so i only rinsed a bit, and powdered. i felt rlly dirty and smelly still, but then as mauricette said, we have to be comfortable with uncomfortable. so yupp. and then we had briefing for sea ex the next day, by our sea ex leaders, bao and priscilla.
day 4
i couldn't sleep throughout the whole night, so yes, i was totally groggy and dead when i woke up. we had a bit of breakfast, and then after a bit of delay and packing, we set off. we were supposed to row around pulau ketam, and then turn back past camp two to camp one again. this time, it wasn't kayaking, we had oars and a rowboat, which was much much heavier than kayaks, and paddles. and we were rowing with our buddy watch danabalan. when we first started oaring, it was alr bad, coz we were all so so so tired alr. and then worse still, the tide and the wind were against us, so it was extremely hard to paddle. at first, it was still fine, and we managed to reach the end of pulau ketam by 1.30 pm. but then after that, it got worse coz the tide was stronger against us, and we were even more tired. and i was badly sunburnt alr. and once, mauricette had to tow us forward with the instuctor's boat coz we were not moving at all. haha, yess and it was quite bad. finally, mauricette decided to give us our lunch, coz at first she wanted us to row all the way back first. so we all rafted together and had lunch. and then we continued on. and after what seemed like forever, we finally saw camp one. and then we were all dang happy, and our shouting of one two ROW seemed louder than ever. but then it started raining quite heavily, and then the instructors felt it was dangerous so we were towed back. wahh we were all dang sad coz we were ALMOST there. and then we refuse to be tied to the rescue boat so they had to come to our boat to tied us on and they literally dragged us back to camp one, with us wailing in the boat. SO SAD can! i rlly thought we could make it, coz at the end, we were all suddenly screaming and oaring rlly hard. mann. but then again, it was quite dangerous coz the tide was HUGE. and mauricette explained that they only took us out of our comfort zone, not bring us into danger zone. ohwell, so we were towed back and reached camp one again at 4.30. which was late alr. after rinsing the boats, we went off to the bunks to pack up. mauricette was so nice can, she came to the bunk to help us when she didn't need to, coz it would be much much faster with her around. in the end, we finished the packing of the store in 50 mins with mauricette's help. and we had seven lost bottles and one missing life jacket. mauricette said she would help us find. yupps, so we showered after that, which made me feel SO SHUANG!!! and then we went souvenir shopping, and i bought two shirts and a notebook. after that was dinner at the cookhouse again, and then we had debrief with mauricette. she said she would only charge us for two missing bottles coz she found the rest for us. and the lifevest she said she would continue to help us find. mauricette's so nice right! yupp and during the casual debrief, she told us abt how rgs girls were rubbish-y in a good way, as in rlly creative (our group journal luh) and that we were HIGH. and that was the first time we rlly talked together and laughed as eng soon watch. and then she said our life ahead would be our own personal obs journey, but without instructors anymore.
day 5
early morning, there was pt, only stretching and then breakfast, and then we just waited for our teachers to arrive. and we talked to mauricette some more. and then she said she was turning 21 this year, and she joined obs 3 years ago, fresh out of jc. goodness she's so young can! she's the youngest instructor at obs. yupp, and she has this 3 year contract with obs, this being her last year. after which she would continue at university. i rlly admire mauricette, for her courage to do what she rlly wants to do and taking the path less travelled. rlly, i think she's GREAT. anw, after that, peiqi and i were sent to the medical centre coz we were sunburnt. i was treated for my disgusting swollen lips. yupp, and after that our teachers arrived and we had this bonding session with them, orgainised by the obs sl team. but then after three activities, mrs miller told me to sit out coz i was getting burnt again, and my skin was literally boiling. so yes. then i met others at the medical centre also badly burnt. ): i rlly hope everyone will recover soon ok! after that was lunch and we got our obs rgs shirts. i had to go to the medical centre again for follow-up, but then the nurse (he's a guy!) said it was fine, as long as the burns didn't have blisters, and i had to get bonjela for my lips when i get back. haha but then i didn't rlly feel fine at all luh, coz my legs were still sizzling painful. ohwell, and then after that we had this 30 mins of fame, where we sang our eng soon song inaudibly. aiyah. ): then we were sent off to our bunks to collect our bags and all that, after which we would be sent back to civilisation. we met mauricette at our bunks where she said she found our lifevest. oh man, i bet she spent so much time trying to look for it so that we won't have to pay 63 bucks for it. as i've said mauricette is great and nice and we also sang a medly songs, which had lyrics changed, dedicated to her. and all of our watch started crying badly luhh, esp bao. and mauricette was telling us to be strong and all. ): oh man, it was rlly sad sad sad. i cried buckets too. then we went back to the multi-purpose hall (MPH) to await the boats to take us back. but then before that, we gathered around and asked for mauricette's autograph and email and all and we cried even more. and then the group hug. cheryl counted one two three and we all ran to hug mauricette. ((: it was so so touching man. and then mauricette kept telling us to be strong again, and not to cry anymore. oh man i love mauricette!!! and i love eng soon!!! yupp, and then soon i was back in school and then home again. it all happened so so fast i can't believe it's all over. but i really miss obs and engsoon and mauricette. we must have outings as eng soon ok! and invite mauricette as well!
today
yupp, back at home, i feel so fresh and clean. i cleared all my clothes alr, which stink badly from day one. and last night, i slept for so so long, i slept at 9.30 and after waking up at 8.30am, i decided not to go for maths training coz i was too tired, and then i had breakfast, and then i slept again all the way till 2pm. yupp, i'm applying after sun lotion on my legs like crazy and putting bonjela as well. and my face is chao da too. oh well, i can't believe that obs is rlly over, and i have to go back to school. i don't want. i want to stay at obs luh, i don't want school and all that. ): and i may not get to see mauricette for a long long time and eng soon together as a watch. ): ah shoot i don't want to cry again. anw, to mauricette: you are rlly great and wonderful! you did an amazing job guiding us through our obs journey and all! i love you! :DD
we're bringing eng soon back YEAH! <33