I'm back.
from obs.

things picked up their pace as soon as i turned on my phone. heh. oh well, we can't be ALL enjoying ourselves can we? anyway, i'm kinda happy about the new work. gives me something to look forward to. haha.

day #1
went to camp 2 by boat, passing by camp 1 and really envying the people who were staying there. got sorted into our watches. GO MAGELLAN! if you're too dense, that's my watch name. heh. had some introductions and team-building games. then went to pitch our tents in sunrise valley. samuel told us that there would be wild boars roaming around in the camp at night. then he told us not to worry. wow.

day #2
had rock climbing in the morning followed by a kayaking tutorial. me and joachim still have our form, though a bit rusty. kayaked to camp 1, where we had a damn nice dinner. then went to fool around, disturbing other schools:) and just chatting around with each other. went to check our campsite and found out thhat there were only 3 tents! so got the livingstone people to form floodlights with their 6 torches while i put up that last tent. don't know WHERE on earth the rest of the watcch went to, but it was kinda fun working by mostly feel.

day #3
went to do the inverse tower in the morning where me and joachim ROCKED. hahaha.. then went to prep for our sea ex(pedition) and then had our briefing during the blasted cat 1 thunderstorm. got nominated as a sex leader (SEa eXpediton LEADER) and, since the other leaders couldn't read maps, bacame the navigator. so after the rain, brought the kayaks down, ready to launch, when 2 monitor lizards swam right across our beachfront. had to wait. then launched all 30 kayaks and began our seaex to campsite 3. almost hit a submerged rock which was lurking JUST BELOW the surface of the water and almost freaked out. actually i did freak out. just a little. heh. then had to deal with a capsize case which was totally unnecessary. made it to campsite 3 in good time and loaded up the kayaks and he backpacks just as the rain started. for those of you clean, dry and warm in your homes, we were freezing, filthy and soaked. pitched our tents in the deluge and then it turned dark. so we had to pitch our tents in near total darkness. then, having no place to bathe, we just had to remain wet and clammy. dean lit a fire and we had campbell soup. for those of you who know me very well, you know i absolutely HATE mushroom soup. but desperate times call for desperate needs. i DEVOURED the soup. that's how hungry i was. then went to sleep in the wet tent. jalil lit a fire inside and me, marcus, joachim, matthew and jalil were huddled round the flame, drying out our wrinkled bodies. haha.

day #4
technically this IS day 4. had maggi mee for breakfast and had to strike down our tents by 6.45am. not easy. we had to catch the tide to the west side of the island where the tide would then change at 10am to bring us back to camp 2. all this had to be done in strict precision or else we would be fighting against the tide. which isn't nice. THEN there was another cat 1 storm. until 8.30. which gave us 1.5 hours to travel about 5 km. sweet. we reached the west side of the island at 10.15! instructors were very impressed and amazed at us and gave us biscuits as a reward.

'biscuits?!' you might say. 'what the-' kayaking at about 4+km/hour is not very relaxing, mind you. so biscuits are a perfectly good reward. =)

anyway, while we were having our treats, fajar sec kayakers rounded the corner. the sea ex leaders had a formation with everyone in a straight line with us in front. we started cheering and beating on our kayaks to get into a high. very Lord of the Rings. seaex leaders put up their paddles in the air, put them down. charge. mobile charlie gladly complied. our instructor, samuel, later told us that "that fleet was the most united fleet he has EVER seen in the history of his career." " we are united for either a common goal or a common enemy." " you guys formed a perfectly straight line which developed gradually into an arrowhead shape, cutting fajar's formation like a heated knife through butter." (=

after the battle, we had a commitment stretch which we were forbidden to stop in. the commitment strech is actually the sebmerged check jawa, the coral reef. stopping there would make complications. anyway, we cleared the thing and made it back to camp one at 1.45 pm, travelling an average time of FIVE km/hour! *clap clap*

day #5(today)
did our final activity, the jetty jump. we shouted our commitments in life before 'taking the plunge into the unknown'. quite apt. hahaha. so when it was my turn, i shouted my commitment:), crossed my arms and stepped off the platform. i forgot to close my legs completely and that resulted in a sharp pain between the legs. cringe at this point if you must. i also lost my shoe. hmph. travelled back in the boat and headed back to school. then went for sakae sushi to put back the energy which we lost. i put back a little more energy than i needed and ended up quite sick. couldnt even walk properly. hahahaha.

there. those are five damn good days which i want to remember. so now go rest your eyes. i'm done(=

"jumping, soaring and going higher, reaching further and loving better" -john cheah