Hey! Just came back from a 4-Day OBS Course organised by MOE. It's been a refreshing experience since 2 years ago when I went in J1. Despite some obstacles and expeditions being similar, it was the people around that made the difference. Learnt a lot of stuff and shared my experiences with my fellow watch-mates. :) Just wanna say: Elizabeth (EC) rocks! =) My female instructor Lois has been extremely encouraging and supportive throughout this journey...
DaY 1 Met up with fellow mates and reached Punggol Jetty in the morning..Set off for Ubin in a small boat and coincidentally met my former instructor Cornell! :) Was extremely elated to see him and I was really shocked that he could still remember me. As usual, we played ice-breakers in the dorm and there was a good mixture of overseas and local scholars. Shared our experiences and tried some interesting games. Did climbing and belaying. Unfortunately, the rain came and we had to resort to doing indoor activities.(Seems like courses always start off with rain) The most eventful challenge of the day was the indoor vertical challenge! I'm proud to declare that I scaled it successfully without much help from my buddy Ken! :) hehe..suffered some rope burn while climbing and hugging the ropes to move upwards. EC's pet phrase: "Pat pat, let's go!"
Day 2 It was the start of our sea expedition. As compared to the previous 30km kayaking experience the other time round, this was really not a major feat. Nevertheless, due to the shortage of guys (6:8 ratio), I took the position at the back and tried my hand at steering and manoeuvring the kayak for the first time. (Usually I sit in front and just paddle :P)I was amazed at my strength (kidding) as we were usually in front. Gotta thank Deborah for being such a wonderful buddy! Great communication and coordination! The most memorable part was the journey along the narrow and meandering river, lined by dangerous mangrove swamps. A great deal of patience and coordination was necessary among the 4 watches in order to avoid capsize and injury. :) We kayaked less than 10km and pitched in at the northern area of Ubin around evening time. Cooking at the beachfront was quite fun..the most difficult part was trying to prevent the rice from being charred, yet soft and edible. In the end, we managed to mask the taste of the rice with our canned chicken curry, tuna and mushrooms :) Did some group reflections and most of us fell asleep in our bashas by 11pm. zZzz
Day 3 It was an action-packed day! I was the I/C...Think it was quite unfortunate as it was Land Expedition! :/ Usually, girls are pretty lousy at directions and analysing maps and using compasses(I'm ashamed to say I taught Geog), especially when the map was so small. So the bulk of the work was left to Marcus and guys to bring us through the forest. On the way it rained heavily and our speed was hindered by the need to seek shelter. Nevertheless by late afternoon, all of us managed to reach base camp, wash up and organize everything. Then we proceeded to crawl in the tunnel individually..had very corny experiences there and I thought the intervals could have been spaced out further. Subsequently, we went for the jetty jump. Everyone of us were brave souls! :) I feel like doing it again! Things were well-planned and by evening time, we had to build a self-firing and self-standing catapult to launch an egg without cracking it! Using the credits we earned from land expedition, we purchased resources like camping sticks, straws, bowl, tapes, twines etc. All these were left to the guys again..hehe..meanwhile the girls helped with "the coat of arms" and structure for egg protection :) Tensions rose as we met difficulties and misintepreted instructions. In the end, all of us decided to wake up at 5am next morning to complete our structure.
Day 4 Day of the catapult launch! We were the only group that used rubber bands and we didn't manage to launch it very far. (At least we weren't the last.hheh) It was an eye-opener for creativity was at work. All 7 watches had ingenious designs and none of the eggs cracked! :) There were many quiet moments for reflections which were essential. Kept a journal and lots of memories inside. The last activity of the day was jumping off a platform and hanging onto the trapeze from a high point. None of the girls managed to succeed.(perhaps our arms are too short and we don't have strong leg muscles to jump far and high :X)We read out our commitment in life just before the jump. Mine was: To learn to take greater risks in life. :) At least I tried. The day ended with inspiring stories and quotes.
My most fruitful take-away was learning the true difference between "fearless" and "courageous". Mulled over the quote for a long time. "Courage is the complement of fear. A person who is fearless cannot be courageous." Food for thought isn't it?
Overall, the course was less strenuous than the previous one as it was more compact. Within the watch, there were many different leadership styles and we did have problems managing that. However, I've learnt that true leadership is not just about being at the frontline all the time. It's about assisting others to reach their destination..together with you.
InDuLgeD~|10:39 AM|
^yUnz^
21. 25th Feb 1987. pIscEs.
A clash between Idealism & Realism
Learning to appreciate simplicity in a complicated world.
In the mOod for chocs!
It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man. ~Miranda Ingram
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get!
"There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who love chocolate, and communists."
~Leslie Moak Murray in ‘Murray's Law’ comic strip
.:Currently:.
feeling: =) thinking of: holidays! watching: - wishing for: tHe dAy tO cHill wItH a gOod bOok learning: Table tennis! reading: The 8th Habit loves:
Kinder Bueno Chocs!
IKEA furniture
Kueh Bangkit
sNow!
西红柿炒蛋
酸梅汤
Pocky (Choc)
K-box what's left: movie recommendation: Cape No. 7 last DVD watched: Iron Man last updated: 13:00 9 Jan 2009 coming up next:
finalterm exams no. of days back to SG: 5 days no. of days back to BJ: - day Other involvements:
SICA(学生国际交流协会)
爱心社护老祖
手语分社表演组
NEAN 08 OC
FACES 08 OC
Dharma class
.:.wIsHeS.:.
tO tRaVeL aRoUnD tHe wOrLd
gEt a dRiViNg LicEnCe
dIvE unDer tHe sEas
.pLaCeS tO tOuR.
Tibet
Xinjiang
North Korea
Yunnan Province
Guilin
Europe
Hawaii
.pLaCeS tOuRed
San Francisco
South Korea
Harbin
Macau
Hong Kong
Inner Mongolia
Shanghai
Suzhou
Luoyang
Tsing Dao
Ji'nan
Tianjin
Beijing
Sichuan
Nanjing
Xi'an
Thailand
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Malaysia
Japan
