MOH induction program {OBS}
As I stepped onto the OBS land in Ubin again, I was awashed with many fond memories from my previous OBS 9-day course. really missed all the activites, challenges posed to us and my fellow camp mates and instructors from the previous course. It was the longest camp that I've ever been to and felt as if I'm truly isolated from civilisation. I still remembered that I was craving heavily for fast food after the camp??!! hahaz did ultimately satisfy my desire. we went to eat KFC after the camp. OK, seems like I'm going out of point..heez back to main topic. Although the idea of going to a camp as a scholar felt as if it'll consist more of seminars, development courses blah blah, but I believe that OBS will organise it in an innovative way that's not bound to disappoint us!
It's a camp with the smallest no. of participants ever for me. There's only 13 of us, enough to form a watch alone. A small group does have it's pros and cons. You won't get to know and interact with more people but things are done more efficiently and it feels cosier also with only a small group ard =) 
15 - 17 Aug '05 Watch: Lincoln Instructor: Jon
We played 2 games in the morning, namely the Key-punch and Helium Loop. Jon told us that the loop had helium in it and we are supposed to lower it to the ground using only 1 finger each from our hands. Amazingly, when we tried to carry out the task, the loop seems to "float" and go higher up instead. Although we knew that it's not because there's helium in it, but a result of our coordination. For both games, our initial tries were not satisfactorily. However, we improvised our strategies along the way and cooperated which led us to ultimately complete the tasks.
Following that, we started to pack and tidy up our rooms. After lunch, we had height elements! We tried and practised belaying first before setting out for the Inverse tower challenge. There are 2 kinds: the monkey climb and the triple D. I tried the "Triple D" with Phyllis. It was a totally different kind of height element and a new experience for me. To conquer this structure, teamwork from the 2 climbers and perseverance are necessary. Once up on the logs, the feeling is totally different as compared to looking up at it from the ground. With only a slight move, you can feel the whole structure shaking and it felt so unstable! We tried several strategies and methods of helping and supporting each other up, either by using our thighs or arms or locking our ankles together. With each progression to the next log, it became more and more strenuous. First attempt not successful, then second attempt , them third and so on...it somehow seems like after so many attempts, we still couldn't progess on anymore. The gap between the logs got larger and larger as we went higher up. It was like one arm taller than me when I was standing at the 4th log. When we felt that as if totally drained out of energy and were ready to give up, Jon would always asked us,"Are you sure?". This made us reconsider and decided to go for our last try. We had somehow subconsciously tried again and again and progressed to the next log already. By the time we made to the 5th log, we couldn't believe it =O hahaz to be able to achieve till this far was initially beyond our imagination. The sec sch students in another camp seemed to witness our whole climb and even applauded when we climbed onto e 5th one. heh. It was kinda embarrassing yet flattering at the same time. =P felt a great sense of acheivement..indeed it's all "mind over body"..
After dinner, we had a "night walk" to the place that we were going to have our solo crawl through a tunnel that was built during the Jap occupation. Jon brought us to this open area that had a rock-climbing wall, flying fox and some fitness structures where the group of sec students were camping at. I remembered that the path we took where we passed by the OBS reservoir was part of the route for the 9km run during my previous camp. There were a few stars twinkling faintly and sparsely distributed across the vast night sky. I found out from Jon that my batch's e laz grp of students to go for e 9 day course! he said moe tink it's too ex alr so gonna sponsor JC students for 5 day instead.. oh gosh! tink it's such a pity =S heez but really glad tt I was able to experience it =D
Towards the end, there were a few of them who returned and said that they couldn't find the entrance. I was the last one to go. It was quite some distance into the forest which I didn't expect. Although there were light sticks on the ground to guide us to the entrance, they were sparsely placed apart and there wasn't a clear-cut path at all. There's this point when I was wondering to turn left or right at a juncture coz the light stick is hanging on the bushes. I even thought that the opening to the tunnel was hidden among the bushes! hahaz and I even tried to search for it. Following my instincts instead, I turned right and walked str till I saw the other instructor. I climbed down a ladder and realised that the tunnel was so small and in complete pitch darkness that I couldn't even see my hands!! suddenly felt so small and as if I'm trying to escape from enemies through a secret passage =P It was so short that I've to duck-walk through the tunnel. Using my sense of touch, I felt my way around. Jon told us that this tunnel had several exits and that we may end up in different places in Ubin if we found the wrong exit. After seeing the first ray of moonlight, it was the dead end already. At that moment, I realised that it was actually a white lie to scare us all. blehz.arghzz. hahaz. The rest of them who were waiting told me that they could already hear me coming coz of my duck-walking. Most of them crawl instead so there's no pounding sound =}
The opening of the tunnel is only a very short distance away from the exit. However, the foilage and the darkness concealed the opening and the exit so well from each other. This solo walk seems to remind us of the moments of darkness in our lives when we felt depressed or helpless. However, if we muster our courage and possess the right attitude, fears would be overcomed and darkness conquered -- believe in yourself that you can do it regardless of how treacherous the path is.
2nd day: kayaking expedition!. After bringing down and loading all our personal belongings and other essential tent pitching and cookery items, we had a short orientation on capsize drills. I took the single kayak since there was an odd number of us and that I have 2 star and maybe experience?? hahaz =P canoeing is one of my fav outdoor activities though I know that I would be "chao da" after that. This was an expedition with the smallest group of kayakers that I had gone to. It's really a big difference as compared to my past expeditions where the kayaks were like so spread out. heh had not kayaked in a single for quite some time already but once I'm in it, felt really at ease and in control of it. Of course, there are pros and cons to be in a single. You are all by yourself but a single feels somehow lighter and does not need coordination with ur partner which makes manoeuvring the kayak easier. Along the way, I'm still able to sing and chat with the other kayakers. =) The unique part of this expedition is that we would be kayaking through the [swamps], travelling across the middle of Ubin to reach our camp site. =D The water in the swamp was extremely calm and the surroundings serene and tranquil. Phyllis and Shumei told me that they saw quite a few mudskippers but I didn't see any at all. *sobz* hahaz The path through the swamp was indeed meandering and sometimes narrow, sometimes wide. There were several areas where the water's really shallow that I had to use the pedal and dig through the mud to pedal forward. We came a dead end and had to bring up our kayaks across the bridge. Arghzz when I got out of the kayak, my feet practically "drowned" in the mud! Moreover, I just slipped my feet into the shoes only and had not worn them properly yet. I was practically immobile. Eventually, I decided to get my feet out of the soft and black squashy mud and took a damn long time to find and dig my shoes out. My hands and nice sea ex shirt got so badly stained with the black mud =( noe wat? The "nature toilet" was just by the side protruding out slightly into the swamp water. We dug and even fell into the swamp water and the mud there. My gosh can u imagine that?? hahaz
With our utmost strength, we pushed our kayaks up the slippery steep muddy slope and treaded our way up. Setting off and going down in our kayaks posed another challenge to us. Jon demostrated with the first kayak how he would be pushing us down into the water. With a loud "pong", the kayak dived into the water and capsized! oh gosh! hahaz Another one also failed. A few of us tried a different setting off spot and cautiously set off a double kayak successfully! =D For a few kayaks, we pushed them into the water first then boarded them from the water though we knew that we would once again experience "sinking feet". However, our methods proved to be effective! Off we go and we encountered another obstacle again (the last one phew!). The mud condition was better though not of much improvement. Ultimately, we reached the open sea and opposite us was Malaysia. We shored up at "Tian Chi", our campsite and had to bring our kayaks up a steep rocky and sandy path. Otherwise, they would be washed away when the tide comes in.
Following that, some of us started pitching our tents. Our tents were not the A frame kind but consists of a canvas sheet and a groundsheet. Sensing that the weather's not going to be favourable, we lowered the canvas sheet. The secondary students in another camp were camping at the same place too but they had A framed tents which looked really enclosed and comfy as compared to ours. =P hahaz but it's an experience to sleep in such a seemingly "open and unprotected" tent.
Jon brought us to the quarry for a jump and washing up. =D It was extremely refreshing and we washed our body and hair as thoroughly as possible. One of them even brought down a comb! which was indeed helpful as everyone borrowed to tidy up our hair. heh. Soon after that, we changed into our new set of clothes among the ponchos.
We took quite some time to cook the rice to an edilble state. The rice was a mixture of grains of cooked and uncooked rice. Nevertheless, it still tastes nice (or rather a novelty) =P As a result, many of us learnt to appreciate our rice cookers at home. It was a really filling meal in which we had rice with raisins, baked beans, small hot dogs and canned peanuts.
After washing up, we had a gathering session with Jon. When Jon asked us questions related to moral values and lessons learnt from our day activties, we were like dumbfounded, unable to think properly anymore. =S So we somehow drifted into an informal discussion or chatting session where some of them shared either their life or working eperiences in the hospitals & etc. We even went into topics related to the different sexes, such as homosexuality, difficulty in comprehending the midset of the opp sex! hahaz was really funny. It was indeed an eye-opening and interesting sharing session. =D
One of our self-built tent (the open kind with a canvas sheet and ground sheet unlike the normal A-framed tent) was accidentally kicked by one of the sec student. Anyway, it seemed to be collapsing already and did not look like a comfy and airy place to sleep in either. We lowered the canvas sheet as we thought that it might be raining at night. That tent was ultimately deserted by us =P. I slept on the groundsheet in the open along with a few others. Tink the night sky then was rather cloudy. hmz what a waste if not will be able to see the stars =(
We woke up at dawn so as to set off in time for our return expedition. Soon after loading our staff onto the bumboat, we set off in our kayaks, kayaking along the coastline back to the school instead of taking our previous path. The journey was much shorter and the tide was with us. Along the way, I spotted many jellyfish!! Oh man they are like practically everywhere when we've kayaked to this particular area! They looked so cute! hahaz it's like so transparent and carefreely swimming about, looking so seemingly harmless. Hmz but it's actually not so...its tenacles were in fact real poisonous. Hence, we were careful not to capsize?!! hahaz If not, the consequences could be so undesirable..arghz..*can't imagine* geez but it's really nice to see the jellyfish around still..
We were back in the OBS school and after all the cleaning and loading, we had our jetty jump! Jon said it was kind of more like a commitment jump.. He told us to think of a commitment or reslolution that we would like to make and to jump from this narrow wooden plank that was protruding from the jetty into the sea to make it valid. We all made a pact not to say out loud our commitments though Jon requested us to. =P I went first. Think it was the highest point that I've ever jumped from into water. The water's not as nice or clean and refreshing as the quarry. Nonetheless, it was a good wash to rid me of all the sand and mud but I wouldn't want to stay long in it though =P
Soon after we've bathed and ate our lunch-- the last meal =( , there was a sharing and feedback session in one of the learning rooms. We each wrote what we thought was the most memorable thing or value that we've learnt on a mahjong paper and shared with each other the reasons behind it. Some of the things that came up were "fear", "perseverance", "cooperation", "kayaking in the sawmps" which was what I wrote and blah blah...We listened to an obs song with the lights switched off. It was a nice, inspiring and soothing song. I'm not too sure what was the title but something about flying and daring to pursue ur dreams??? hahaz. Simliarly, we had time to go "shopping" in the souvenir shop where I bought a grey polo t-shirt and got an OBS poster. It's really big and wondered if I'll hang it up on the wall =P
We were soon walking our way to the jetty and once again, I turned back and looked at the grand entrance of the school building. There was a surge of mixed emotions as I felt so reluctant to leave the place yet yearning for the comfort of my home. However, I know that I'll forever miss the place and the times that I've spent there. I've definitely gained and benefit much, either getting to know and making more friends or learning more about myself :)
=) *WE rulez!* *OBS rockz* (=
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"Bound for AdVenture.Changed For LiFe!" that's the quote on the large wooden signboard at the jetty.
"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success" by Henry Ford (it's printed on the dining hall wall)
posted by i was here ;) @ 1:06 PM
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