OBS!!! let's start from monday man!

Monday:

The bus left super early la, like at 7.45, ok it's not very early, but earlier than the previous batches. Then when we reached punggol jetty, the guy talked to us and introduced to us our instrutor. Evan(fatboy) was our instructor, and Cheer was following our watch to observe stuffs i think to write a paper or wtv, she's studying in republic poly.
So altgt nanyang got 4 watches
Raffles: Basketballers, Squashers
Ralay(i don't know how to spell): Softballers, Volleyballers
Nila Utama: Chinese dancers
Tenzing: Netballers, Badminton people, tennis people
HAHA. ours is some guy who scaled mount everest with hilary.

Oh, and 1 point of time very funny, is like when the person introducing the instuctors, he said
"most of them all are exploers"
then jolyn said, "wah! later our watch called DORA!"
DORA THE EXPLORER!!! super funny, burst out laughing like crazy:)
After reaching camp 2 at pulau ubin, we went to put down our bags and settle admin stuff like pass handphone and wallet. But i kept my handphone:) Then we have to select day IC's' from monday to friday, food IC's', store IC's' and timekeeper. Jia en was sick so she went home. so i was day ic for monday. Then after putting down our bags, Fatboy taught us how to pitch the tent and gave us a tour around the store, like the gerry cans, jack-knife. And we had to settle food rations and eat our lunch, all biscuits and bread, oh and maggie mee. quite ok la but very dry.

After eating lunch, we were taught the basics of absailing, the L-shape stuff, and the right hand must always put behind the back, and slowly release to scale down the slope. First day is quite boring, all the admin stuff. At about 4++ 5 like that, we went up all a few flights of stairs to don't know where, and brought mess tins , pot and all the cooking stuff to that place and fatboy taught us how to cook rice. The food is quite nice la. At first, Jaime Hong and i like cannot really help because we don't really know how to cook, but after they need us to wash the empty cans and smash them then we had sth to do. HAHA!

We went to bathe after eating dinner:) Jamie and I went to clean up the soot off the inside and the bottom of the pot. We used rocks and stones to scrape off the soot. The process was quite long but it was funny. Shower was very refreshing, but some people were taking their own sweet time and there was a queue so actually they should have this automatic timer, after 5-10 mins, the door automatically open! Then, we went for briefing about what to pack in our bag, and we went to pack our bag. Because everyone was packing their own personal items, so i packed the other stuffs like the cooking equipment, the compasses/map, and the shit digger,place them into 3 separate grps and the 3 different tents in our group each help to carry some of the stuffs.

I almost didn't have time to pack my personal items. hehe. but just as i finished packing, the bell sounded! IT WAS A FIRE DRILL! so had to ask everyone to stop packing and go to some random place, head count, then we sit down. By that time, was sweating already:( Fatboy ask us to cont packing tmr and go and pitch our tents and sleep already. So we pitched the tents tgt, 5 of the tennis people slept together:D Then Justina couldn't really sleep so we talked a while, then those bengs from the other schs were super crude! they were like "tiam la"(it means shut up) but they were talking in their tents. stupid right! and they still talk about what naked here and there, sick people!

Then, when justina and i were talking, suddenly got 1 instructor say," oi! this tent very noisy ah!"
Justina, "huhhuh? which tent?"
Super funny la. because there were so many tent,so we didn't exactly know who the instructor was referring to. HAHA. After a while, justina was tired already, so she decided to sleep. The tent was super hot and warm and i couldn't sleep, but i was trying. Then, i saw mun moving. So, i sat up and guess what? mun couldn't sleep too! HAHA! so we woke up and get out of the stupid tent which was so hot. The air outside was much more cooling. We walked down all the way to the toilet and walked up.In the end, mun and i just hecked care and opened the mosquito flap, we rather get bitten than for it to be too hot to sleep. So i slept at 2, mun and jolyn slept slightly later at 2+++

Tuesday:

We had to wake up at 4.45 because we had to assemble at some place at 6, we went to change into shirt and long sleeves and brush our teeths, eat breakfast blablabla. In the end, we were slightly late and fatboy was quite pissed. We did morning exercise tgt with Ralay and to know some people, we have to go around to greet each other in different cultures like korea, japan. super lame but funny.

We were doing the real absailing!!! Fatboy brought us to this place where we have to absail down this almost vertical rock, we had to do 1 by 1, so when we were waiting, we were crapping. haha! We went down in random so i happened to be the 2nd one, and when i look down, i got a shock. The thing like quite high, so i decided not to look down, the heart like going to drop like that, the feeling was super scary but very thrilling. Then i held on super tightly and fatboy kept giving instructions like "find your gripping" "keep your body in the L-shape position" " Don't bend your knees" Got one point of time, i sort of kept moving to the right, then fatboy managed to steer me to the left:D Oh, and there was a branch sticking out, and i actually thought I LANDED ON A TREE! i'm super stupid la. hehe.

the algae part was quite slippery and just when i thought i was going to reach the group, i saw another remaining portion of the rock-.- When i finally reached the bottom.
"touchground"
"belay off"
"absail off"
Then i went back to join the rest, at first still have a bit of energy to crap and high around, but after a while, i felt tired so i rested my head on mun's leg and slept. very nice to sleep.

After absailing, was capsize drill! Super fun:D We wore our life vests and we had to interlock our hands and try to float in the water. haha. But there was a big wave, REALLY BIG WAVE! because a super big ship passed by, so when the wave hit, some people drank the sea water, oh, and fatboy and meizi was teaching us how to capsize, like what we must do, so i did capsizing with Jamie because sth happened to ziwei's wound. Then when we rocked the boat, we had to bent down and when we capsized, i opened my eye, so i saw myself turning upside down and the water rushed into my nose, then we did a buddy check and turned the kayaks over. because i didn't close my eye, so the saltwater went into my eye. so sad lor. Then, we were taught the open sea rescue, the t-shape thingy. So We paired up with jamie lee and janice. Capsizing is super funny and fun. HAHA! Then when we were one of the first few to flip back, we were cheering.YAY! And jamie hong and i have good mo4 qi4:D

In the night, after we finished changing into dry clothes and with our super heavy bag packs, we trekked to our campsite at some random place. Some people pitched tents, some people cook. hehe, we get to eat maggie mee. The campsite was super rocky, got a lot of rocks. After we finished eating our food, the instructors briefed us about our patrol and they told us about our expedition, that it is going to require a lot of mental strength and physical strength from us, the journey is not going to be easy, it's going to be tough. Yep, so i guess we could mentally prepare ourself. I slept at about 10.30. That night was much better:) Though we still have to open the mosquito flap. Then at about 12, we had to wake up to do night patrol. It's super lame la. They ask us to wake up in the middle of the night to patrol for wild boars and stuffs. So every 15 mins, we just walk 1 round.

Wednesday:

The next morn, we woke up at 5.30. We had some morning games and we had land expedition. Oh ya, forget to say, all the 4 watches from nanyang were going to complete our expedition together. So as 4 watches, we were known as camp 2 delta!:D
For land expedition, we were trekking according to watch, but for sea expedition, we were doing together as 4 watches. And so, we had to play this stone game to decide who to start first. Each one of us were suppose to hold on to a stone each and we throw the stone to our right and the person next to us must catch the stone:D So we had to do continuously for 3 times. And we were the first group to complete. TENZING!:) Raffles also completed so we started trekking together, but they were in front of us, but when we trekked a bit already, they thought they were walking the wrong way so they headed back but we carried on.

So we were suppose to go to Chek Jawa which was at the eastern tip of pulau ubin. Our campsite was in the West!!! So we were taught some basic skills to read the map.
Naviagtors: Shiera, Melissa
Pacers: Jamie Lee, Jamie Hong
Sweepers:Mun ning and I
Then, we left at 8+++. We trekked 8km to chek jawa!!! and the way there was crazy, because not only do we have our bags to carry, we also had to rotate among ourselves to carry the Gerry cans! So when we reached Chek Jawa, we were super happy, we took about 2 1/2 hours to reach Chek Jawa, so at there, we ate our lunch and the breeze was super nice. Jamie Lee was very funny. She was telling us things she thought was funny and she started bursting into laughter. All of us didn't find it funny but her laughter was super infectious, so all of us just laughed. HAHA:D

I thought it was the end of trekking but my god la! we were suppose to trek to ubin village next. So we had to switch the navigators, sweepers and pacers around.
Navigators: Mun and I
Pacers: Janice and Melissa
Sweepers: Jamie Lee and Jamie Hong
So ubin village is at the south of pulau ubin and from the east to the south, it was 4km!? ohmytian! by then, the morale was lower but the lame Jamie and her jokes helped to cheer us up a bit:) When we finally reached ubin village, everyone was super tired and we slept awhile. Then, we filled in our journals. And we still had to trek. Super tiring leh! We had to go to another campsite in the west, somewhere near camp 2. So we trekked 6km to that campsite. This part was the worse because our morales were low, we didn't have energy anymore. But we still made it in the end. Raffles and Tenzing completed everything. The other 2 stopped at nearer checkpoints. The sense of accomplishment, it's really promising:D

Our trekking started from the West to the East to the South back to the West, 18km in total. Can die and almost died, but we didn't die because we're Tenzing! YAY:D
We cooked and pitched tent as usual and we were given a briefing for our sea expedition. They told us about the Diamond formation and that we were going to do round island. So they asked us to appoint 1 leader from each of the 4 watches so there will be 4 sea expedition leaders for the sea expedition. hehe, so the 4 leaders will take the 4 postions, navigator, port, starboard, sweeper. Eleanor was the navigator, Elena was the port side, Grace was the starboard side and i was the sweeper.

Then, 4 of us were being briefed by the instructor. We had to wake up at 4.30, then the instructor will check and ensure the campsite is clean at 5.15 and we will trek to camp 2 at 5.30 and by 6, we will reach camp 2. We have to pack our ponchos, afternoon lunch and change into our wet shoes. By 7, we should be at the kayak shed and wear our lifevests. And at about 7.30, the first kayak which is the navigator should be ready to go already. Yep, so after eating and pitching tents, we had to brief all of them. haha. So everyone slept at about 9++ like that, but the tent was super hot and at first, mun and i were talking outside the tent tgt with justina, sitting on some wooden big plank which has no ants at all! But the instructors came to check on us, "Why are you all not in the tent?"
"oh, we just came back from toilet" LOL. so after the instructor left, mun remained in the tent while justina and i went out.

Then, we continued talking about any random stuff. About how life sucks sometimes, about the workload, about people, about incidents that happened. practically everything! soon after, we got tired, so we decided to sleep on that wooden plank, it was quite breezy, very nice to sleep but there were A LOT OF SANDFLIES AND MOQUITOES, so in the end, we went back inside the tent to sleep. Maybe i was too tired or sth, so didn't really care about the heat.

Thursday:

Next morning because i started itching all over, i woke up at 4!? went outside and rested a while, at 4.30, went around to wake people up from their tents. By the time, everyone ate their breakfast, brushed their teeth and packed the tarp, it was like 5.25 already, so we were late already. After the instructors finished checking the places and stuffs, we finally set off from that campsite at 5.45. We reached camp 2 at 6.04 and people went to change in their wet shoes, some people went to relieve themselves. Finally! a PROPER TOILET!

Tied the ponchos, food ic got the afternoon lunch, and by 7, everyone was in the kayak shed. hehe. Put on the lifejackets, oveturned the kayaks, left them near the shoreline, and went for briefing, did a cheer, and the first boat was ready to leave at 7.45. Then because the nagivator, port side and starboard side have to leave first and I am the sweeper, so need leave last. So, i need to brief them, give instructions blablabla. 5 kayaks were suppose to leave at a time, then when i need to tell them that, everyone like super excited so like no one listening to me so I went, "Camp 2 delta OI!" HAHA. and they "oi!" back:D

So after briefing them who to move off first and where to move towards, 10 people got into the 5 kayaks at the time and left. Oh, and because my watch is odd number, I used a single kayak not the double one:D Single kayak is ok la, as in although a bit bored because no one to talk to, but it's easier to steer. So i have to keep beside the last kayak or else if i capsize, then i GG (good game) ;) Starting, some people very funny, the kayak keep going ziczac, then the controlling part like not really there, so they have to change partners. At the starting part, still got quite a lot of energy, so still have energy to shout, "close up the gap" "don't exceed the starboard side" "don't exceed the port side" "come on, we can do it" "keep within the diamond formation" Everyone looked super funny. Got ninja, osama, teletubbies. HAHA. And someone said i looked like a DUCK! because my kayak was yellow, lifevest was also yellow/orange, and my cap was orange. haha.

Actually, i find be sweeper a bit slack. Because i have to wait and stop for the last kayaks so i don't have to paddle 24 hour, then i drink water, eat my happy food, and orange is nice la:D Starting, we started from camp 2 at the west, so from moving to the east, we were against tide, so when we stop, we will drift backwards. HAHA. So, it's quite fun. But when we were turning, the waves were very choppy and this double boat asked for my help to steer their boat to the correct direction, so they banged into me, and because of the super choppy waves, their kayak pressed down on my kayak and BEFORE I KNEW IT, I WAS IN THE WATER! MY GOODNESS! I CAPSIZED! I got a shock because everything was so sudden and the rescuing part sucks, because the waves like siaodingdong, then need a lot of energy.

Worse still, all the wrappers I had all drop don't know where and i peeled a nice orange for Jamie Hong, intending to pass it to her, in the end, it don't know went where:( But it's quite funny, the experience, because i never thought i would capsize, somemore is by the bigger kayak. OH, and after i came back on the boat, i have to go retrive the 2 bottles that flow away when i capsized. hehe, then we had to catch up with the rest! Had our lunch, and carried on with the expedition.

By then, we were at the other side. and btw, we were doing ROUND ISLANG! woah! at that time, like very sian, because the sun was super hot and i was quite tired as in mentally, and like i scared i would capsize again, so i avoided all double kayaks if possible. Then halfway, when i was waiting for the kayaks to catch up, i decided to rest a while, so i stopped paddling and i ACTUALLY DOZED OFF! as in for a while, and when i woke up, i realised my kayak the direction don't know fly where, so steered properly and continued kayaking.

The process was super long, everyone was tired. Ler woon had fever, Mee ling had abrasions. When we were about to reach, from camp 1, everyone suddenly had a lot of energy! We were very happy! And when we finally reached! woah! though everyone was dead tired, the contentment was there! but it was not over yet, we had to wash, and stack up the kayaks, pick up all the trash from the floor and the kayaks. Then, we had a de-brief and the entire expedition ended with a cheer:D

Oh, and it was showering time. Finally after 2 days of not showering, we get to shower:D But mun, jamie hong and i helped to wash the lifevests first, and we showered much later. The water felt super cooling and nice:D But i had rashes all over my body, so spammed a lot of prickly heat powder:)

DINNER TIME! THAT'S THE BEST! FATBOY MADE SOMETHING FOR US, HE CUT APPLE AND MIX THEM WITH CEREAL AND MILO POWDER. THEN, WE STARTED TALKING AND TELLING JOKES. SUPER FUNNY! IT'S LIKE FOR A CONSECUTIVE 20 MINUTES, EVERYONE WAS LAUGHING LIKE MAD INCLUDING CHEER AND FATBOY AND HE ALMOST LOST HIS BALANCE WHILE LAUGHING. THAT'S LIKE THE BEST PART OF OBS! SUPER FUNNY. THE JOKES WEREN'T AS FUNNY AS HOW HARD THEY LAUGHED. BUT IT'S AWESOME MAN:DDD haven't laughed so hard since filming for physics SIA.

Sleeping was cool! everyone was so tired that we fell asleep like more or less immediately.

Friday:

Woke up at 6.20. We were suppose to meet fatboy at 7. In the end, we were quite late :S Then, it was the clearing up of the store. Wash this and that, pack this and that, quite boring la. hehe. then after 2 hours, we finished packing and at first we lost 16 bottles and 3 whistles. So we went round asking people if they had extra and fatboy also helped us a lot. so in the end, we only lost 3 bottles, and 2 whistles, total amt: $2.40, each person 20 cents. HAHA:D

oh, and fatboy said he wanted to check our wet shoes because he don't want us to throw in OBS itself. and OMG! mun, jamie lee, jamie hong, janice, zi wei and i all threw our wet shoes away already!!! and fatboy said no choice, we have to take it out from the dustbin. So Jamie Lee, Jamie Hong, Mun, jolyn and i were digging the dustbin. HEHE. First, we overturned the dustbin and with the help of the broom and dustpan, we started to find our shoes. Only mun and i threw our shoes in that dustbin, somemore it was right at the bottom!

No wonder they say, "there's something about OBS that stays with you for life!" now i understand what they mean. I definitely won't forget us digging the dustbin to find our wet shoes:D then, after packing up the store and finding our wet shoes, it was the closure of OBS course, where fatboy would talk to us.

Aiyo, from monday to friday, i hated almost everything of obs, I hated the musky store, i hated the dusty tents, i hated the bagpacks, i hated the waterbottles we were given, i hated the hot environment we have to sleep in, i hated the bites, i hated the trekking, i hated the toileting, i hated not being able to bathe for 2 days! The things that i liked were only in the minority. But somehow, i knew i wasn't going to forget the experience, the time spent with TENZING, fatboy & cheer:D

The people especially was what made the hated activities more enjoyable:D On the first day, i had impressions formed of the people i saw, i judged a book by its cover, but through the entire course, we found out about each other and we could be so wrong actually:D
Fatboy: He can be strict when it comes to safety but he's really funny:D
Cheer: Cheer was quite shy on the first few days, haha, but she opened up a lot!
You realise a lot about the rest too. People i thought were dao turned out to be incredibly funny. A lot of people were helpful, caring, responsible:D

Very soon, Obs was over, back at punggol jetty when reality smacks you really hard in your face. The unfinished homeworks and sia's'! yep, and when we were on the bus, waiting for it to return to school, some people said i looked like MR LIM CHOW HOON!? So i went to conduct a poll, and of the 23 people on the bus excluding me, 13 people said i looked like him. I don't see any resemblance at all! my goodness la! Some said he could be my father or some distant relative of mine! haha. but i don't look like him!

When i reached school, i saw my father's car. Ate macdonalds! :D had a nice, hot shower, used the computer a while and slept from 5+++ to 9++++, then woke up to eat dinner, slept from 12+++ to 12.30 on saturday:D YAY! i think this is like the longest post i ever posted, i started from Friday and it's Sunday now!

TENZING:D