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Saturday, November 18, 2006


OBS

I am back!!!

Yesh I am back after an adventure ride in OBS! Here’s what happened…

Day 1 and 2
I can’t exactly remember what went on during these 2 days as nothing much happened anyway… There was some fall thingy. We had to stand on a platform above the ground and fall backwards, down onto a mat your watch mates will be holding. The mat will secure your fall and ensure that you do not hit the ground. Freaking scary.

We also had rock climbing and belaying. Here’s sth we would say before starting to climb..

Climber: Am I on belay?
Belayer: No you are not.
Climber: (Feels the pull) That’s me!
*Squeeze check, pull check*
Bibi(instructor) check!

And we were making a big deal regarding this. The way some of our watch mates said it sounds so amusingly comical that we couldn’t help but laugh.

Day 3
Sea expedition starts on this day. We kayaked the usual route around Ubin. And I didn’t get a tan! Hmph. But that’s because we were blessed with the perfect weather for kayaking—cloudy skies, calm seas, and a gentle breeze to soothe the tired. I was surprised that I didn’t feel a bit exhausted, while kayaking with FIR. The both of us were claiming to be horrible at kayaking but ended leading the pack at sea.

But it started to rain when we had around 3 km left and we went onshore. It was then that our kayak capsized on shore; the shore was the last place you would want to capsize on. FIR cut his palm badly while I was lucky to suffer from bruises only.
So when we set off to sea after a break. FIR needed a stronger partner due to his injury so I ended up with Stan. Even though both of us were doing well rowing with our previous partners, we somehow couldn’t coordinate with each other and ended lagging behind. Way behind. I don’t know why but it feels darn funny to be behind and I am bursting out into laughter again.

Day 4
We traveled a whopping 20km during the land ex. Although it was tiring for most of us, spirits were running high and people were just getting hyper. We hiked on steep slopes to the highest peak on Ubin, which overlooks a pretty body of sparkling waters and lush greenery. I spotted Venus Flytraps along the way and pinched the mouth of the traps open. There were ants and some tiny insects in them, drowned in saccharin sweet fluid. And then there were the occasional big fat spiders and eagles along the way. Then we were supposed to spot 6 fruit trees to reduce the number of places we needed to walk to. I seriously didn’t know we were going to spot this many. We found papaya, banana, rambutan and so on, but the most delicious discovery for me was durian. Man, I never knew there were durians in such places. *Drools*

Anyway, I was running a fever and having terrible stomach cramps when setting off for the trip. I thought I needed a boat to ferry me back. I started out feeling lethargic, but as we moved on, the team spirits, the songs people were singing and all the positive energy from nature perked me up and before I knew it, I was bursting with energy. I was taking a larger step with every stride I take and walking with a bounce even with the abnormally heavy backpack on my shoulders. It just feels great to be surrounded by friends, animals and nature. Nature rocks.

When the hike ended, the fever subsided, cramps were long gone and we were all getting extremely hyper. Either Stan or Thom was saying that putting your butt on the ground after so much walking feels orgasmic. LOL. And now I am looking forward to another trip!!! Hiking, anyone?

Dinner tasted unusually yummy for this day, although dinner was tasty everyday. We had tuna, curry chicken (Is it curry chicken or chicken curry? I’ve been bogged down by this question for ages. Erm, that’s out of point.), rice and Campbell’s soup, with all the different flavours mixed in a big pot. I guess it was because it was the last day we would have the delicious, baby food-like dinner. Credit goes to Kai Yi and Lihao for the well-planned meals and deliciously cooked dinner everyday, especially the rice that was so fragrant and soft that you could eat it on its own. Dinner was the meal that I looked forward everyday at camp!

During bedtime, Wai Fang and I were chatting away in our tent after the instructors checked that all of us tucked into our tents. And I thought I was speaking very softly, but the next day somebody (I can’t rmb who) said he could my voice, loud and clear, in the night. Omg can? No more xing2 xiang4 for me!

Anw, the skies at Ubin are clear at night, so you could go stargazing. The stars looked especially lovely on the last night, I don’t know why, and you could see them forming the Scorpio shape. Ying Xiu was telling us about the Orion Belt, that the stars would form a straight line and we were all doing star talk.

Day 5
It was time to say good-bye!

I will miss the nonsense from Thom and Stan, the dinner from Lihao and Kai Yi, the laughter from Ying Xiu, Cheng Ho, Bibi check(!), and Pulau Ubin! I’ll miss OBS!

I’m figuring how to crop the pics I’ve scanned, so if anyone knows how pls help me with it! Thanks!

boo!
8:33 PM