OK, so from the 18-22 august 2008, that is, last monday-friday, i attended OBS. u know, i was actually in denial about it last sunday. i mean, i seriously didn't believe i was going for obs. don't ask me why. no idea. but anyway, i think my parents were more worried than i was, running around persuading me to buy stuff and make sure i had everything packed. see, usually, i'd be the one panicking and running around frantically. more signs of denial. ah well. all i'm glad is that thank god i bought water booties, and sufficient trash bags and enough long-sleeved shirts. haha. so here it comes ok, the whole programme:
Day 1
my dad sends me to punggol jetty, the one thats hardly used by humans. im still in denial btw. but anyway, arrive there, spot my classmates and chat a while. then assembled, broken into groups and assigned instructors. which, of course, took very long. by the time we managed to board the ferry, it was about 10am. then reached our base camp at 1030. settled down, took out all the necessary items (tents, rations, food packs etc), by which time it was time for lunch. imagine my mortification: canned food on mess tins, for most of the duration of the camp. dear god. then after lunch, time for our first activity: belaying/rock-climbing. my first taster of things to come. it was actually fun. i swear, climbing that rock wall was so much fun, even if it wasn't that high. that was the only activity that day though. after that, it was time to settle down, reflections, dinner, pitch tents. but then, after dinner, it started raining really heavily, and it lasted the whole night. so we just sat outside our stores talking, and just chilling (in more ways than one). so passed the first night. oh, and of course we had to sleep under shelter, one of the Multi-Purpose Halls (MPH), and of course, i was in PE attire, short sleeves, shorts. and it was raining. i swear i was freezing my ass off that night, curled up in foetal position, shivering uncontrollably. well, it is obs.
Day 2
the next morning was to be our wet activity, essentially revising our canoeing for our sea expedition. so wake up to PT, then went down to the jetty, dragged out the canoes, practiced capsizing (i hate capsize drills) and rescuing each other. then after that, we had our jetty jump!!! my mum had said it was really fun, but of course i was a little scared. i mean, you had to walk the plank and step off. how cool and scary is that? i went 4th. so anyway, walked the plank, crossed my arms, and just walked off. i didn't want to think about it, because i knew i might hesitate, so i just stepped off. there was that seemingly interminable drop before you hit the water, and then boom, you're going under, kicking furiously up to the surface and swimming aside. i accidentally opened my legs a bit though (guys, u know what this feels like). no permanent damage thank god. haha. then once everyone had jumped, we all swum back to shore. halfway through, we were atttacked by flying fish. a whole horde of them. it was scary. there were hundreds just jumping across the water; small leaping fish. some leapt into life vests, i kept my mouth firmly shut. i did not wanna know what fresh fish tasted like. just swam on. haha. reached shore, drank, then that was it for the morning. after that, lunch. bathed, changed to climbing attire for our high elements after lunch. we got flying fox. mine was slightly more than 5m i think. oh btw, i was logistics IC for the whole course, meaning i had to take care of everything in the store, luckily got someone helping. if not. as it is, i went ballistic when things went missing. (which was seldom, thankfully) anyway, back to flying fox. i was one of the last few to go sadly, but once it was my turn i was so excited. id done FF before of course, but not this high. so at first, climbed the ladder really fast, but once i got to the middle, and they enclosed the ladder, it got a bit tight for me to move fast, and once i got higher, my fear took hold, and i slowed a little. finally, reached the platform. harnessed, holding onto the shackles, ready to go. stared down, whoa. looked straight ahead, and jumped off. haha. it was fun of course. i didnt even think about it. after that, had to pack our stuff, because from then on, we'd be moving campsite every night. so then, after we were packed, it was time to set off for our new campsite. it was by the sea. beautiful place. (lots of sandflies though) then, pitched up tent, prepared for dinner, i had some silent, contemplative solitude by the sea for a while, then spent the night talking with my friends, and laughing and joking. then went to sleep. one of the best, if not the best, sleeps i had.
Day 3we woke at dawn to prepare for our sea expedition that day. packed everything, the tent, our bags. went to help drag the canoes down to the beach. and we saw a beautiful rainbow that morning. it was really huge, unlike the types u get in singapore. it was so celestially beautiful i immediately took it for a harbinger of good things that day. i was kinda right. anyway, we started late, at 0730, and started to paddle. we were to canoe around ubin to the next campsite, Campus 1, the more civilised one, with the promise of cooked food. haha. sadly, my partner and i had chosen a faulty canoe; it kept veering to the side, and whenever we righted it, it just veered the other way. we spent so much time and energy righting it that we were constantly the last few canoes. of course, constantly banging into other canoes didn't help either. all i know is that, i was thirsty, hungry, tired. and still we canoed. on and on and on. i couldn't keep track of anything else, except to canoe and canoe. finally, 6 hours later, we reached the campsite. i shan't go into details about the canoeing, it got very repetitive; hunger, thirst, exhaustion, paddle, shouting, colliding etc. so anyway, after 6 godblessed hours, we sighted our destination. lol. our target was to arrive at 1330; we arrived at 1327. pure ownage. no choppy waters, thank god, for the duration of our canoeing. and when i found out later some groups took 9 hours to canoe, i was really glad we took 6. finally, dragged our canoes and arranged them, then went to shower and then it was time to pitch our tent. it was in some godforsaken place, in the jungle, up some steep slope, in a place infested with mosquitoes. you didn't have to do anything except breathe and you'd be bitten. lol. then after that, it was time for dinner. oh what a civilised dinner. cutlery, plates, cups, cooked chicken, rice, cabbage, ngoh hiang. haha. i swear it was so nice. after days of canned food. then it was time for one last activity, as a prelude to our land expedition the next day. it was a kind of amazing race around the campus, navigating for answers to clues. so we finished it quickly, went back. in the end we had 2nd place. after that, we had a aeroplane relay. the first team would get to choose from 4 materials (just A, B, C , D) to build their plane, second team from 3 materials etc. so we got newspaper. thanks to a skilded scout in our group, we got second place, and consequently, then 2nd easiest route for land exped. we were overjoyed. then it was time to sleep. it was really scary, going up to our campsite; it was pitch dark, and we couldn't see a thing. finally though, reached the sanctuary of our tent, slept. quite a good sleep again.
Day 4woke up, unpitched tent, then it was time for PT. not so tiring thank god. then breakfast!! oh yeah, we also had a bit of supper last night. green bean soup. anyway, breakfast!!. kuey teow goreng, with a sausage. delightful. then, after that, packed our stuff to get ready to go for our land ex. then , we left at 1000. went to camp 2, our original base camp, to drop off our life vests and tarpaulin and wet shoes, which considerably lightened our load. then we continued our way on to the next few checkpoints. my favourite was the spot at the top of Ketam Quarry, overlooking it. i could even see singapore from there, could see changi control tower, CBD, singapore flyer. so cool. had some snacks there, then moved on. we were to traverse the island, making our way to Ubin Village. we finally got there in one piece. and rested, ate, then it was time to return to camp 2. on the way, stopped by the german girl's shrine to learn about it, then it started raining. after it subsided we left, then we were relatively near camp, when it really begun pouring. when we started out, it was hot and humid ( i was still dry), but by the time i'd rushed back to camp 2, i was cold, sodden, freezing and wet, drenched to the bone. sigh. after that, once we had settled all our stuff, we packed our stuff to go home the next day, then had dinner, then reflections, then slept.
Day 5finally, the long-awaited day of freedom. woke up feeling great. haha, unpitched the tent, then went down for PT. of course, three-quarters of the group was late, so we were punished a bit. but then, we were brought down to the floating platform by our instructor for last reflections and lessons, then it was time for breakfast. after that, it was packing everything back in the store, taking inventory etc. naturally, we finished before most other groups, and then headed down for our final activity together as a group. won't go much into that. after that, we were allowed to go souvenir shopping (got a t-shirt and collar-pin) then wait for everyone else to finish. by the time we boarded the ferry it was 1345. reached punggol jetty at 1400. and thats it.
anyway, i wanna say what a great Watch i belonged to; Hillary Watch, you rock! now and always! we were named for Sir Edmund Hillary, conqueror of Everest, and we conquered it every time. so yeah. also, just wanna say a word of appreciation for our instructor, mr. Hyzue, who was really great with us. he was the best! go OBS!
ambrosia... (for me!)
a cool pic too, more detailed (interior of heart)
an even cooler pic, as you can see, theres no blood really
