Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Hi everyone I'm finally back from pupil leaders' camp! I know you all want to know what happened there, so I shall tell you! I have a LOOOOOOOT to say about what happened there. OK let's start from the beginning then.

Boring stuff first. :D My father woke me up at 7.15am, I ate some breakfast, then he sent me to school and I reached around 7.50am. I was...err...still feeling a bit blur and sleepy then, not sure what to do. We had to check our groupings on the board, then proceed to our groups. I was in FANGORN! Btw all the group names were from LotR (I haven't read the book or watched the movie :P) OK the gep guys in my group were Shenghao (The Rafflesian CCAL), Joshua Toh (Prefect), Yu Guang (Gymnastics CCAL) and Bernard (Philatelic Club CCAL). The express guys who I didn't know very well (but I saw some quite a few times before) were Nathan (02 Scouts ACCAL), Philip (Judo ACCAL), Yong Qian (BB ACCAL), Xuan Lang (Prefect and Morrison House Captain), Zi Shun (Chinese Calligraphy? Club CCAL) and Kia Boon (Science Club ACCAL). We had 2 Group Instructors (GIs) and one teacher facilitator assigned to us. The GIs were all Sec 4 leaders who came back to help out. Our 2 GIs were Jason (prefect and former NPCC ACCAL right?) and Mark (former Morrison house captain). OK then so we didn't need to empty our bags or whatever. Paul Lim was acting strict coz I suppose we were someone slow and slacky. Those guys who failed attire (like hair too long) had to step out and go find some way to cut their hair by 10.30! Wahh...anyway they all borrowed scissors from the office and cut for each other in the toilet. OK then we moved on to AVT...

We had some introduction talks there...they were all very interesting somehow (they were NOT lectures!) :D then after that, we split up into our groups to get to know each other? And choose some group values and make a flag also lol. OK then we had to choose 2 group leaders. We just decided to draw numbers and highest and lowest number become, since no one wanted to volunteer and no one was nominated oO. I tyco (or untyco?) got the highest number and became a group leader lor. So I just told myself fine, I'll just try my best to do the job then. After that we went back to AVT, then split up into pairs to get briefed on the expedition. Like the 2 group leaders one pair, then 2 food i/cs one pair, 2 first aid i/cs another pair, etc. OK blabla finish briefing, then we went to canteen to eat lunch and to pack stuff for the expedition.

We went to Pulau Ubin! It was something like Amazing Race, but we could plan and do the checkpoints in any order (the checkpoint grid references and a map and compass were given to us). There were 4 buses, leaving at 2.30, 3, 3.30 and 4. We had to submit our plan to Mr Eric Lee and he would decide who would leave when, depending on how good the plan was. However, we lousy lah so got 3rd bus. In the end, the 3rd bus LAG and the 4th bus overtook so we became one of the last groups to set off. We only had time to complete 2 checkpoints before going to checkpoint 1 to pitch tent. Luckily, checkpoint 2 which we completed helped tide us over a bit, as it was supposed to be hard and take a long time, but we completed it quite quickly. Well then pitch tent, just nice 7pm (if finish pitching after 7 have penalty) and started to cook our cup noodles. However we didn't bring the base to put the fuel inside, so we had to make do with an empty sardines can. There was a nice explosion everytime Nathan threw the match into the tin of fuel. Some fuel had even leaked onto the sand and managed to set Nathan's cup alight. Luckily someone put it out, but there was a hole in the bottom of it already -.-". Anyway the third time we were boiling, we suddenly saw this layer of SOMETHING floating in the water. We assumed it was fuel (coz what else could it be?) somehow and uhhh we gave up on the water after that. The rest made do with dry cup noodles. OK talked for some time with GIs after that, they told us we were actually doing quite well and quite fast compared to other groups, we all got more enthusiastic, then we went to sleep. I could not sleep at first. Then there was this strange? guy, Kennedy, in the next group, who came over to see his good friend Xuan Lang and Xuan Lang told him I was the guitar chairman...then he suddenly became oO. He was like "Hey you're the guitar chairman? Wow! You know, I really respect you! You're my idol! Nice to meet you!" and wanted to shake hands with me and what -.-" Well I was confused and didn't know what he was doing. He went back to his tent after a short while and we tried to go to sleep. Sleeping was BAD because the tent was so hot, even all the teachers and GIs went outside theirs to sleep. I was drifting in and out of sleep and by next morning had at least 7 mosquito and sandfly bites lalala.

Next day...we woke up, finished some shooting 'game' they made us do and was the first group to set out. We were really super TYCO ok. We covered checkpoint 11, then wanted to find 6 next. However, the map had some problems and Nathan the pro navigator was lost also...we walked until we found ourselves near the sea. We stopped and decided to use a "Precious" to ask the GIs where we were. (We had 5 Precious in total - A Precious allows u to ask your GIs questions for help when you get stuck.) They told us we were at checkpoint 4!!! :O OOPS haha how did we so tyco end up there? So we just did the stuff required at 4, then moved on to 3 which was nearby, then continued trying to find 6. Suddenly we were even more lost on some trail which was not on the map. We walked until we saw this hut with 2 strings across it, used another "Precious" and oh WOW, we were at checkpoint 5! Weren't we searching for 6? So we just did that station, moved on and got lost a while longer before finally finding 6. Checkpoint 6 was really tough as there was an imaginary force field between us and a water bottle we were supposed to get. However, we had the PRO GYMNAST Guang! who climbed a tree VERTICALLY with no footholds, turned around and dropped off the other side and got the bottle for us! Lalala ok so we finished it in 15 min while other groups were stuck for 1 hour and finally had to give up? :D this is called skillfully tyco.

Next, we walked all the way to the western side of Pulau Ubin then and finished the 3 checkpoints with little problems. Then we sat down at the last checkpoint to puzzle out the final destination. The whole objective of this race was to be the first to reach "The Unknown Peak". All the groups thought that this was the highest point in Ubin, coz Mr Eric Lee hinted that at first. Anyway, we had finished all the stations and had 8 clues. However, we LOST one clue on the way somewhere and so only had 7. The clues were numbers on the back of the paper...map coordinates leading us to the place. We tried all the hills but the coordinates just couldnt' match. Finally, Kia Boon the wonderful think-out-of-the-box guy turned the map upside down, said the island looked like a mountain and the peak was the jetty! We tried the coordinates and they worked!!! Wonderful! We were all very happy and started off there...on the way, our teacher Mr Vincent Quek bought us a can of 100plus each! Yay :D We finally reached the jetty with high spirits and then...the group Isengard was already there talking to Mr Eric Lee! We walked to him in dismay...

Only to find out that the race was not over! We had to do 2 things. Firstly, give him the coordinates of the meeting place (we had already figured out the last digit earlier on) and the hard part - to sum up all the quotes on the clues (there were different quotes about leadership by Paul S. McElroy, whoever that is) into one key phrase. We tried once and he told us we only got one keyword correct. However, Isengard had already tried 9 times and still failed to get it! Now everyone contributed (team spirit yeah!) and Shenghao put the different keywords from everyone together to form "Leadership is a process which begins with yourself". Amazingly, he accepted it! We were...THE CHAMPIONS!! Sorry Isengard, we stole 1st place from under your noses, but then perhaps you should have read LotR more closely to find out who won the battle between Isengard and Fangorn...

Anyway, we went back and had some stuff to eat, before boarding the bus back to school. In school, we had to wash all our equipment up and this was done quite quickly at the stadium steps. After Mr Kwan's approval then only could we go to bathe. Uh oh...bathing part :P I went with Shenghao to the classroom where our bags were kept and took out our clothes, then headed for the swimming pool toilets to bathe. We just went into the nearest toilet and it was empty. I was wondering how come there was nobody because 2 other groups had arrived back at school with us! Anyway, I put my shoes in the changing area and went to bathe. Shenghao finished first and this is his account of what happened next...

Shenghao was brushing his teeth next to the 02 Scouts CCAL (oops I dunno his name) who was looking in the mirror or something. Then, a girl in swimming suit came in (from the pool, I suppose) and she stared at him and he stared back at her. The girl look surprised and went back out. The scout and Shenghao looked at each other...the scout said "I think we're in the wrong toilet" and Shenghao replied "Uh oh I think so too" and went to check. OH NOOOOO!!!! We WERE in the wrong toilet! Ahhh! Shenghao quickly shouted to me (I was already done and wearing clothes in the cubicle) "KOK GET OUT QUICK! WE'RE IN THE WRONG CHANGING ROOM! GIRLS COMING!" then both of them left, I think... I quickly finished wearing my clothes and went to get my shoes from the changing area...only to see a girl in swimming suit there staring at me. I had no what-you-call-it left to even mumble sorry or oops or whatever! I just grabbed my shoes and RANNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!! AHHHH oO

What a horrible (and funny, after you think about it) incident! After that we brought our bags to the hall and had our buffet dinner at the atrium. It was quite nice, actually. I think I don't mind Revada anymore :D and then had another group gathering with GIs to go through the day's experiences before having a final talk by Paul Lim. Then we went into the hall to sleep. They actually turned on the aircon! I can't believe it! It was wonderful compared to the previous night. I was sleeping on my sleeping bag at first, but I woke up sometime in the middle of the night because of the cold and went into it. Comfortable indeed! :D However, in the morning once we woke up...PT! I was feeling not so comfortable then...in fact, like dying! I think I'm super physically weak and lousy blehh. Couldn't even stand a few pushups. Anyway we were cheering at the same time. I suppose after that I felt accomplished that I managed to do what everyone did, and we had succeeded as a batch of new leaders! Because the PT was seriously exhausting for me and the previous day's 7-hour hike was nothing compared to this. We had breakfast then, most of us were dying and could not eat much, then we went to the AVT to talk together as leaders, what we wanted for the school next year.

This was supposed to be private and no teachers, no GIs allowed in, but Andrew Lim came in anyway, on the basis that he was our year-head and would be for another year. We discussed a lot of stuff (sorry I can't write here, its CONFIDENTIAL regarding the running of the school to realise the hope of a better age haha :D) and at the end, some people were happier like me, some were not so happy. After that, we had to go back for our last equipment check for Mr Kwan to make sure everything was dry and clean. We had put our stuff in the hall with our bags but then the badminton people came and cleared it to both sides so everything was messed up and mixed up! I tried my best to keep cool and maintain order and I found quite some stuff and got other groups' extra stuff. In the end, everything was sorted out just fine by Shenghao. We went back and every group had to prepare a skit and we messed up nicely :( but nvm, some others did worse than us. Finally, Paul Lim closed off the camp officially, we did some really GREAT true-rafflesian cheers and it was OVER!!! What a great camp! What a fun camp! And even more, what a funNY (tyco) camp!

OK this blog says I started writing at 9.57pm? The time now is 11.07pm. Yay I wrote a nice long essay for all of you to read, hope you enjoy it! :D