Sunday, June 7, 2009

..... OBS exprience...

Ok.... I came back from obs and WooW, it impacted me a lot. We were at Base Camp, called "OBS camp 2". Well on the first day nothing much. My Group is called the "Livingstone". Well its better as compared to other groups. As usual, you have your introduction and whatever-ice breaking games and that sort of stuff. Introduce the place... For your information, the OBS is held at Pulau Ubin, the HQ of the mosquitoes [well that is what many people say]. My instructor, CJ showed the store room where all the equipments and all the whatever camp necessary things that we MUST carry in the trekking bag that is provided.You know those BIG camping bags that can carry like 10(+-)kg, with the Metal things/Strips for support. I was like "What the HELL!!". The bag it's self is already darn heavy...We were ask to repack the bag with;
  1. Our Clothes that we are going to wear for Wet Activities, Land Expedition, Sea Expedition, Night use.
  2. Our tents (5 A-tents)
  3. 2 water bottle (one in the bag and the other we carry) 2 liters each bottle
  4. Our Poncho
  5. Personal Toiletries
  6. Sun-protection things.
  7. 1 big plastic Sheet
Well for those who do not know the A-tent, its the tent where you have to use rope and pins to set up. And with no experience, i was one of the majority that do not know how to set up the tent. Lucky got Cj to teach us.... I still remember the knots. It was hard to remember the step, however manage to tie it properly. Cj also said if any equipment/(s) gone missing, we shall have to pay for it. We were like "Walou!" Next we were off to do some training for high-elements. There is a belayer team that is the one which does the safety thingy and all the pulling of ropes and that sort of stuff. and it was quite fun though... lol and smt happened..... (you want to know what it is, come look for me and ask) Talking about Lunch, we were given a plastic bag full of food that should last the whole 5 days of the camp, which includes BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER and SUPPER. We were also given 2 barrels of food that is for "a need to cook" food like instant noodle, canned food bread and others... I still remember the the first time i pitch the tent up and it took nearly 2 hours. What the Hell!! Well the first "campsite" (where the area we were allocated to sleep) was facing the sea and has a nice view of the sun-set and beach...
DAY 2
What a night... cannot sleep that well. As per-normal, i would wake up and and get showered and all that kind of thing. Next re-pack the tent and what a Torture, it juz need a few people to push the tent down in the Bag. We had our breakfast and meet cj at the Jetty for our reflection. The sun was rising at that time. What a beautiful scenery... We went for a kayaking training. Good news for Cj, cause most of us know how to kayak already. he juz recap what we learn. We had to go through a capsized drill, which i really HATE but necessary. Tek Hsuan and me were in the same kayak. Well i could day that we worked well together... Then we were off to the next camp site, OBS Camp 1, 1(+-)km from Camp 2. It was a piece of cake to me... well kinda reach there before 20mins... hay, well at least reach right? We went to shower and had a meal that is prepared by Chefs, and the meal was wonderful!!
Day 3- the Big day
This is the day when i paddled for 14km, with Kia Min and Yi En. I was seated at the front of the kayak. Before that... i did not know that this will be my last morning shower... until Thursday Nite. Well at first we paddled, and saying "left,right,left,right,left...." that sort of things... and so we decided to sing some nursery rhymes, like "row,row,row your boat", "ba,ba black sheep", and "do, re, me"... well paradoxically the rest of the boats beside me also started singing....lol The plan was to get to the other side of the island, using the longer way... (which is 14km) to the next Campsite, Kekek campsite. Once reach there, one of us made an observation. The ground that is supose to be our sleeping area is getting harder and harder day after day. And we could not put the peg to pin the tent down, so we use some big rocks to whole the rope down. And the toilet is so eco-friendly, that you could get bitten by lots of mosquitoes and not much privacy. For boys, you want to pee... not much of a problem. Don't know about girls... But what i know is that when you need to Poo POo(big business), girl or guy, HAVE to dig a hole to "ploop" in and cover it back up after using. We cooked our dinner and had a fun time... and i decided to have a "mini-campfire", cause got alot of mosquitoes around and i know fire could get rid of the mosquitoes in a limited area. The rest of the group members also joinned us and had a mini-campfire fun. Some other participants from other group also join us, juz to escape the mosquito-feeding-frenzy. After that we had to was our utentials... well another thing also happen.... (ask me lah, if you want to know)
DAY 4
Land expidition day!!!!!!!! HOWEVER before that, RAFTING (my fav. part 1)... we build a raft made out of 4 barrals, 8 pipes(app. 3 meters long), 16 long ropes. There is criteria and had to go through some tests before it could be gone for sailing in the quarry. The raft could carry all the members of the group including the instructor. The test are;
  1. The lift test - where you have to carry the raft and see if there is anything falls out. If yes, it's a FAIL
  2. The Shake test - you have to Shake the raft to see if the rope is tied tightly and secure the items together. If anything move or drop, it's a FAIL
  3. The Kick Test - the Instructor will have to inspect the raft and do his/her own test
Lucky my group is a pass!! and can go in the water... shoik!!! never bath for 1day, and now in the cold water.... and the view of the senery was magnificent! was like paddleing in heaven... best part is that there is no mosquito there... Next was the worst cause... Land Expedition... Need to carry my bag that is filled with a 3-4 kg Tent and my stuff. I also said that, "this is bad for my posture!!!" and "I am sure to have grown shorter!". We walk approximately 14km also, with the BIG, HEAVY,BAG!!!.... I also was having some abrasions and 3 blisters on both foot. Bloody Hell! But what i noticed that i have strong resilience and high-level of patient { but this does not = the same way i treat Kee Yan and Hakim if they say the word i HATE the most}... And the rest of the story can ask me, if you meet me lah, and ask. If you also want detailed version of the story, also look for me.... lol This is Livingstone..... Credits to amanda.

Posted by This is Fadly at 12:00:00 AM