9-13th June 2008
7.16pm
I've just arrived home from Outward Bound Singapore. & What can I say? Five days of my life's well spent once again in this camp, testing my level of perserverance & patience. 9th-13th June was five toughest day in my life, so to speak. Cos' I realised my soft points + hard points within this short 120hrs.
Let me just recap all the way from the beggining till the moment I break camp & thereafter. Hah, let's begin! :D Woke up at the crack of dawn on Monday & did a last minute check on my bagpack. Made sure those last minute stuff were carefully stuffed into my bag. Then, took a taxi & went over to Nigel's house to pick him up so that we could go Punggol Jetty together (Save taxi fare :O) Arrived at Punggol Jetty & gathered together as NPCC instead of our respective groups. Was really unfamiliar with the environment plus the people cos' everyone looked different, unfamiliar faces, ways of speaking. Yep.
When the attendance was full NPCC was sent up the ferry & off to Pulau Ubin OBS Campsite 2. Settled down at the Multi Purpose Hall (MPH) while the instructor took attendance again. Everyone was restless already, they were lying around on the bagpacks, etc. Hah. So that wasn't a really welcoming sight for anyone of us. Rather uncomfortable, to put it simpler. Low morale, definitely. Still had the time to SMS a few of my buds goodbye. & Some last minute "good lucks". Heh :)
Afterwhich, we were given our groupings. That was when Nigel & I & the rest of NPCC were seperated into our various groups. All UGs were grouped randomly & unevenly, so my group was (round of applause)
SHACKLETON! I felt really disheartened cos' there were only like two NPs in my group. Waited for NCDCC to arrive. & A few other NCDCCs were dispatched & joined Shackleton. Okay, here are my group members:
Shakila, Yongxin, Jesslyn, Vivien, Tariq, Nazree, Nadi, Endra, Alester, Niza, Teckwei, Sungyi, Amirul (Ayul), Fredrick, Zaki, Firdaus & Instructor Syed :D
So we took that group photo by the small rockwall. Got to know our team & our store. The store has everything & anything all accounting to the number 16 cos' there's 16 of us. We were then delegated different jobs with respect to our department. I volunteered to be in the campsite department, cos' I wanna be in charge of tents! So there were four main departments: food, campsite, safety & last but not least logistics.
Played small scaled ice-breaking games. Wrote our names big & bold on masking tape & stuck it on my sleeve. Find a partner, tell your partner who's your favourite leader & your name, school, CCA. Then, exchange your name with your friend. Find another partner & tell that partner about the name you've taken over. By the end you should be able to know all your friends :) So it was an interesting game, getting to know each other. Shackleton was born :D
Kayaking afterwhich. After one-star I can once again claim that I detest/abhor shifting kayaks like damn. My kayak partner was Shakila, my favourite. We did our capsize drill & TX rescue which were very much revision for all of us since almost all kayaked before. Pitched tents after that & Syed taught us how to cook rice in the outdoors. We were given this metal pot. Super heavy & totally a load when it comes to land expedition (come to it later). We slept in A-frame tents, which was different from the one in school. Learnt another knot that I can teach :D First day's almost done & we had our bath. Campsite 2 has a pathetic curtain to cover us from exposure. Water was cold, just like ATC. I can't believe OBS actually has its own reservoir :O
Day two. Woke up at 5am. I didn't know how I woke up but just everyone makes a lot of noise when they wake up. I was the first one to wake up in the girls' tent. Woke Yongxin, Shakila & Jesslyn up. Oh, I slept by the door so there were really cooling breeze through the night :) No sweat. Unpitched tent while some of my other group members cooked breakfast. Hot Ovaltine plus light biscuits :) Had morning PT (sigh). Syed is a hard nut. Ran several rounds around the parade square. Then did 5BX. Thought it was really hiong but when we did morning PT again the last morning, it seemed easy peasy cos' we became fitter.
After morning PT we trudged into the forest in Pulau Ubin for our abseiling. Syed leaded us deep into the green/dense forest. Incessant mosquitoes. Can curse & swear at them for nuts. But I must declare that Tiger Balm insect repellent's a rocker. Nigel says it can kill ants. Just like Baygon. Lol. Took turns to try on abseiling from a cliff which we had to climb back up the forest using a rope. Path's slippery. Had to be extra careful. First time I experienced a forest so thoroughly. Oh my. I loved it. We were basically there to feed mosquitoes. While waiting for everyone to take their turn, I had a great time talking & bonding with some of the Shackletons. Got to know them. All of us live in different parts of Singapore. Not that Singapore's anywhere near the adjective big but then, it will be a problem meeting up. Took my go at abseiling. Syed told me that I was an explorer :)
After abseiling, we headed back to Campsite 2 & packed up for our sea expedition. Sat for our briefing before we set off to our campsite for the night. Jesslyn & Tariq were our navigators for our sea expedition. Marco Polo, Magella & Shackleton combined & we were called Magpoloton. Trekked to OBS reservoir as our checkpoint for the night. Nigel told me it was just beside a cemetry :\ A few of us volunteered to walk to Campsite 1 to shift kayaks while the rest stayed & pitched up tents for the night. When we came back, only 3 tents were set up. Supposedly 4. Nevermind, though I was disappointed. Expected everything to be done since a few of us took the initiative to help out with the kayaks. Syed told us the night before that there was once on his expedition, his friends & him were tired but still had to shift kayaks. Four other group members, instead of helping, walked past them as if it was an easy job. Syed & his friends said nothing to their inconsiderate actions, & carried on shifting those heavy kayaks. When they got back to the campsite, they saw the four members who they thought "slacked" had already pitched up tents & cooked hot milo waiting for them. I thought I would happen to us, but yeh, nevermind.
I helped to pitch the last tent. Ate very little. Dad said I lose weight. Shackleton had their very own campfire using dried leaves & twigs. Sang songs & cheers & my earlier dampened spirit became hot & passionate again. I felt attached to the team
again. So we all sang. Then, we saw lightning (super suay). Called back by instructors. Magpoloton was given a quick & final briefing on the next day's sea expedition. Got back to tent for our second night's sleep. Started to pour just as I thought the night was so freaking hot. Poor Jesslyn & Shakila had to cling onto the tent poles to prevent them from crashing down. Felt really sorry that everyone could't get their sleep well. Tent got really wet & so did we.
Third day. Set off really early to Campsite 1 for our sea expedition. Just as we thought we were ready to launch off, it started to pelter & rain again. Stupid. All our filled-to-the-brim excitement got crushed like ice. Had to hold back our expedition for two hrs. At about 10am, the sky was clear so we were able to launch off. Shakila again for my partner. My lifevest's pocket couldn't close cos' I stuffed it with excessive food. Lol. Cannot help it. I need food to get me going. Biscuits, Oreo, energy bar, everything. Kayaked one round around Pulau Ubin. Rare opportunities like this is never easily experienced by everyone, so I'm glad I had this chance to paddle around Pulau Ubin. We saw Singapore on the opposite side of shore, felt very much like paddling back. Stopped by Frog island & had lunch on our kayaks. Shakila went down to sea to pee. I guess now its a norm for me to pee everywhere. I even did so in the forest near the reservoir. Farhan went down to pee & just when we thought we were suppose to hold on tight to the kayak in case we get carried away by waves, Farhan stood up & his leg could reach the seabed. It was super shallow. Lol. Ended up everyone came out of their kayaks. Just so to pee. Hah.
After 7 hrs of non-stop paddling we finished kayaking around the perimeters of Pulau Ubin. Felt a strong surge of pride for Magpoloton. We did it. It was an achievement. It was taking a step out of our comfort zone. It was a motivation, a sense of accomplishment. I loved that feeling. So much helping in between, so much cheering on.
Pitched tent on Campsite 1 after our kayaking. We had cookhouse dinner that night. It was splendid. I remembered Tariq squeezing the mug provided & exclaiming in delight, "Its a mug!". Haha, I almost bit the spoon to confirm that its not a dream. Everyone's missing proper food :\ We loved the cook very much. After dinner, we were being thrown an activity no one expected. We were thrown into the forest in the middle of the night when the Sun's down. Had to get out of the forest by ourselves. Without any form of communication or torch. I saw a firefly. I missed home so much I almost cried. I missed my friends.
Day four, we had our land expedition. It was hell. Literally. With heat, irritating, never-ending attacks from bugs. Heavy bagpack. Everyone had to stand ninety degrees so as to lighten the weight on our bags. Took turns to carry our bags. Jesslyn had to carry the bag with our tent in it. Heavy. Everyone needed a downtime. But we cannot afford to rest too much cos' we have to reach our checkpoint at designated times. Otherwise other activities can't take place. Shackleton broke our own limit. We walked the furthest, although we didn't reach our checkpoint. Had to build a raft at our activity point. Syed brought the wrong key. Trekked back to Campsite 2 to make our raft. When we approached Campsite 2 I felt an even stronger sense of accomplishment. Pushing to the limit, & even exceeding our limit. We were able to take some people which were jussive & commanding during the trek but we made it nevertheless. Land expedition over, it meant we were getting closer to parting.
Pitched up tent in Campsite 2. Cooked our very last dinner as Shackleton. Used up almost all our given rations. Invited Syed to our dinner, as a form of thanksgiving. We were all weary & lethargic but we made it through. Shackleton were appointed different responsibilities to cook & pitch tents so we did it fast & furious. Done everything up within half an hour & sat down to eat together. Campbell soup tasted best with bread. Just like Shackleton tasted great with victory! :D Syed told us he was gonna leave early the next day due to family matters. So Shackleton decided on our last & final PT with him early next morning.
Shackleton overslept for ten minutes : (Instead of oops, use obsss!) Hahaha. Had no time for early milo so proceeded with PT. Did everything in counts of "SHACKLETON" instead of eight. Which means, ten counts. Team spirit flourished & we were all sanguine & ready for more. We didn't feel languid or anything, we felt stronger. Best PT for Shackleton. Last day already. Last major activity for us, commitment jump (jetty jump).
A wooden plank jutting out from the jetty, one by one we had to leap of the plank, thinking about where we wish to bring our unit to. Syed told us to think sincerely & take the leap, he told us once we jump, its a commitment. I thought about AH NP. Thought about the unit, thought about where I wanna bring it to. Thought about all the things I've acquired during the camp. I thought about how I'm gonna apply it. Before leaping off I screamed in my heart that I wanna bring AHNP to greater heights, & with a wee bit of hesitation I took a step off the plank. It was hell scary.
After jetty jump, we cleared of store. Accounted for everything once again. Misplaced a hell lot of stuff, which means Shackleton had to compensate :\ Paid about $32 as a team to OBS for losing their stuff :\ Whoops. Stuff like tent pegs, bottles, jack knife.
When it was time to board the ferry back to Singapore, I guess everyone felt a sense of reluctancy. Everyone felt held back. As much as the entire camp was physically/mentally challenging, we did it, & we did it as a team. No one could bear to go. The team spirit, the hardships, the perserverance.
Syed taught our group a lot of meaningful stuff during the entire 5D4N course. There was one about our comfort zones. He told us at the beginning that OBS's gonna put us at a region between our comfort zone & our danger zone. Comfort zone being our most relaxed, satisfied zones. Danger zone being our most panicking, most afraid, most trepidated zones. & He told us that the zone between the both is called "Learning zone". Its there that we pick up skills to bring ourselves away from the danger zones. He said OBS is gonna make us learn, make us lead.
Syed also explained to us that during hardship there are only three food we can become. He used hot water as an example of hardship. Put a carrot into hot water, & it'll become soft, just like how a person becomes tired & taken aback, no more strength & energy, loss his sense of perserverance. Put an egg into hot water & it'll turn into a hard boiled egg. That's a person who becomes concealed, becomes caged up in his own thinking during hardship, unwilling to open up his heart to others, being grumpy & angry. Or we can choose to be coffee beans in hot water, which will spread & disintergrate to become something aromatic, alerting to anyone who drinks it. These people who choose to become coffee beans will be influential in times of hardship, making everyone feel less tired, less challenged. It was up to us to choose what to become in our two major expeditions.
Time was also important. Syed told us that to feel how its like to lose a year, ask someone who had retained one year in his secondary school life. How is it like to lose a month? Ask a mother of an prematured baby. How just one month can affect the growth of the baby. How is it like to lose one week of time? Ask a weekly magazine editor, such as eight days, i-weekly. What about one day? Ask someone who missed his application to University. It would mean his university life gone. How is it like to miss one hour? Ask someone who's patiently waiting to meet up with his girlfriend the next hour. & One second? Ask someone who had just blissfully escaped from a car accident. & One milisecond? Ask someone who is one milisecond close to breaking a world record.
HE'S MY IDOL.
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish explorer. Born in Kilkea, Ireland, Shackleton was a member of four Antarctic expeditions, three of which he led. After the Nimrod Expedition, 1907–09, he was knighted for his achievement in establishing a record furthest south latitude at 88°23'S, 97 nautical miles (180 km) from the South Pole. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Parliament of the United Kingdom and was involved in various business ventures aimed at raising revenue for his polar explorations.
Shackleton is most noteworthy for leading the unsuccessful Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, often known as the "Endurance Expedition", between 1914 and 1916. Although Shackleton failed to achieve his goal of crossing the Antarctic continent on foot, he demonstrated the qualities of leadership for which he is best remembered when the expedition ship Endurance became trapped in the ice and was destroyed. Shackleton, known by his contemporaries as "the Boss", led his men to refuge on Elephant Island before heading across 800 miles (1,300 km) of the Southern Ocean to South Georgia, in an open boat with five other men. Upon reaching the remote island, Shackleton and two others crossed severe, mountainous terrain to reach a whaling station, from which he was able eventually to rescue his men on Elephant Island. All the men on Endurance survived their ordeal after spending 22 months in the Antarctic, although three men of the supporting Ross Sea Party lost their lives.
I miss Shackleton, & I miss Syed.
Perserverance Prevails When All Else Fails.
To serve, to strive & not to yield.
OBS: Shackleton 9th-13th June.
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