So where have you been, Tan?
I've been in bintan.

o.O

Ok, so yes i'm back from bintan ccal camp and yes this is so long overdue but don't blame me, been spending almost every day in school with odac. To tell the truth, i wasn't looking forward to anything in particular when i set off for this camp since I've done the activities before (and the chance to do the only novel Wakatobi trail having been robbed away by RI founder's day) and i didn't actually think bintan was some super nice place to look forward to. On a side note, the reception at founder's day was damn huat, the longan jelly was damn huat. And Neville, the har kow was actually edible and had prawns in it, huat.

So back to the camp. The first day flew by rather uneventfully and i didnt even bother to bathe. First night was campout and to me, this was quite a memorable experience. Although i've been in many camps, but the actual experience of spending one night alone (relatively) and relying (mostly) on yourself to set up a "home" in the middle of nowhere was quite new and quite a good one. And never had daylight felt so precious before, setting up the gaslamp just before it turned dark...And our tent poles decided to play punk so we ended up with a 4men xtreme tent (which turned out to be a blessing in disguise coz xtreme tents are xtremely cooling) but we had 5 guys including the j2. So i slept in the hammock, in the most foetal position i could ever think ok and freezing too, but it was quite a good sleep.

Woke up, packed up and made it back to base camp and had breakfast which consisted rice, chilli and nuts. Quickly pitched tent then made it out for high ropes challenge, which wasn't meant to be, cause it rained (and which means most of the tents got flooded and here the xtreme was again a blessing coz it was almost like a dryfit). And so it was on that very bus journey that i thought about my objective for this camp. And i decided that i shall find one thing to learn from each member of my group. And i'm happy to announce that i did find that one thing and also learnt more about the outdoors and myself.

Ironically it was in a rather "slack" camp that i realised the importance of not being lazy when in the outdoors, that the extra effort you put in now will take you a long way. And i also learnt that common sense is very important when you're out there.

Anyway shall skip all the boring bits just that we kayaked after that and the next day we did low elements. As life would have it, the item that i thought was going to be the most worthless turned out to be most fun. And rafting, the last activity of the camp for my group, ended up to be the most valuable and it taught me a lot. Usually rafting is an activity that will get everyone frustrated and the raft usually dies after a while but this time we actually succeeded quite spectacularly and did it all in good time. It taught me the importance of not being so garang and to know when to let others have a chance at things. And i really appreciated the way everyone got involved in tying and securing the cans, instead of one or two "pro" people doing it. Ultimately, those who picked up the skill learnt much more and im glad every one had the patience to teach them.

So the camp ended with "grand dinner" and campfire which was really quite boring and argh left me with sandfly bites, sian. Then the last morning/afternoon was spent just walking up and down the pristine beach with its super clear waters. And now i'm missing bintan again, sigh. But come monday we'll be off to Terrenganu to kayak out to the south china sea and hopefully the beaches will be just as huat. And to all well wishes, do pray we get good weather and that all will be safe.

So that concludes a camp that has left me with quite a remarkable group. Just regret not spending more time talking to you guys and i hope we will meet up more often. Take care all of you and do speak with each other when we face problems. And this i want to say to Ms Low, our teacher facilitator. A big thank you to you (even though you might not read this) for being such a wonderful teacher and for teaching us so much in your own ways.

And Jallepeno pretzel pieces rocks.

---

So i caught over the hedge today and its quite a haha even though its not that fantastic. Rather short too. And my favourite character of them all...

"Fire in the hole"

None can beat the crude, loud and funny Stella, haha. Anyway to one and all, have a good holiday and to odacians, let's have a great time at jex!