Saturday, November 18, 2006
ok i'm just got back from yltc, back to my laptop will all the animes. but before i start anime-ing i shall update about my camp first. it's gonna be a loooooooooooooooong one...
day 1 - discipline and firmness
while crapping with a bunch of people at njc's parade square and waiting for the bus, ms ho came and called me and jialin out. apparently, we were the camp ICs of the day, what a way to start my adventure going. but despite all the shouting i had to do throughout the day and almost having a sore throat, it was quite an experience. this is the first time i was really strict with others and myself (partly because i got reprimanded by the teachers for lack of discipline in the camp). like i've said during the group sharing session, it's not like me to put on a strict face and scold/shout, but there are times i had to be not like me in order to be a good leader. anw, i felt that overall i did an ok job for that day. camp ic aside, i enjoyed the day activities thoroughly. high elements was fun as usual. the first one we did (the one where we have to climb up horizontal wooden beams with a partner) reminded me of obs yet again. as for the challenge pole, i managed a good jump and good catch, but my hands slipped off the handle bar, a pity... first time attempting the flying fox/zip line and abseiling. i wanna do it again (and again and again and again) if i ever have the chance to. feeling the wind caress my cheek as i fly across. at night was team building games, nothing much to say here...
day 2 - a walk in the rain
land expedition. sad to say that i didn't enjoy it much. carrying my entire backpack + shoebag + sleeping bag around singapore wasn't fun. but it was kind of relieving everytime we reach a checkpoint. the highlight of the day was when we had to search of lower pierce reservoir. first thing is that we were completely off course. to make things worse, it started raining and there wasn't any shelter around. ended up walking in the rain for an hour. fortunately my stuff were well water proofed with ziploc. only some got slightly wet. the glad thing is that despite the rain, my group managed to keep their spirits high and continue with the walking. gave ourselves a good laugh when we realised we couldn't find the place. at the end of the day, reached pasir ris park at around 830pm. at least we were not the last group, there were all sorts of funny things that happened to other groups. one went to macritchie reservoir while another got chased by monkeys. for the night, we (a few guys) pitched our tents for others. yup, once again, i didn't sleep in the tents. too crowded and stuffy. sleeping outside is much cooler.
day 3 - last walk and the swim
finished our last checkpoint in the morning by forming an alliance with 2 other groups before heading down to changi sea sports club for lunch. had a little revision on kayaking before setting out to sea. here, i must say that my partner (shu jun) did a great job. i really couldn't tell that it was her first attempt at kayaking. apart from almost capsizing for a few times, we managed to kayak for an hour or so to reach our campsite early. of course that was only warm up. and since we were early, the instructors let us play some games which includes capsizing the kayak. and the forfeit for the losing group (not us) was disgusting. making human muah chees on the beach. yuck. did outdoor cooking after that for dinner. maggie mee and some canned food. khoo qing sheng showed us how we can eat maggie mee raw like mamee noodles. and when the girls were reluctant to eat the baked beans as they say it'll make them fart at night, he went "it's better to fart than to smell other people's fart". that's the best thing i learnt that day.
day 4 - round ubin once again
2nd attempt at kayaking around ubin, first was during obs. this time our speed was faster i think. the sun was merciless as usual, but it wasn't that tiring for me because we rafted up for one billion times as the instructors keep telling us that we were going very fast so we can have a break. there was this point in time, when i tried to apply sunblock halfway, only to end up having a slippery hand and cant hold the paddle properly. for around a minute or so when my hands started to get a little sore but of course i didn't give up paddling. (probably because i'm in the middle of the sea and there's no way to give up, lol) had our lunch on frog island and that was the best lunch we had ever - half chicken rice. like wow. and it was a comical sight seeing the instructors making fun of the people peeing in the water. after lunch, finished our last few km of our journey. paddled across this channel where lots of big ships past by and it was super fun riding the waves generated by them. disembarked back at changi sea sports and finally had my first proper bath in four days. did a bit of reflection (not in front of them mirror) before sleeping on the way back to njc where we had leadership talks by ex-njc students. chii tang was there as well.
day 5 - the ultimate
had a surprise (or not so suprising) wake up call at 330AM for our final challenge. a 10km march from njc to SIM and back. it was kind of irritating as for the entire journey, we were walking and jogging then walking then jogging over and over again as the people in front had problems catching up. but like our kayaking, we managed to finish our journey earlier than expected. and some of the girls were super high because they did 10km, only to later realise that that was not all. did a slow group jog or 10 rounds (4km) around the track. we were the 2nd slowest group, but credit should still go to us for being th most united and disciplined group which stuck together like glue throughout the whole run. finally, after that was breakfast and cleaning up and then home sweet home.
well, that's about it for yltc. still super tired now despite sleeping for the entire afternoon. but the most important thing is still having fun at the camp, hanging around with people, enjoying every bit of it, the cool morning, the sweat, and most of all, the challenge. it had been one hell of a ride, but of course it does not end here. i've become a better person after that, and i will continue to become stronger.
to serve, to strive and not to yield.
and of course, to lead as a true leader
aaron | 5:28 PM
