DSTA orientation.
Day 1 (6 June 2007)
This was held at Holiday Inn. I came feeling a bit lost because I have NO idea what to expect and I didn't know anyone else from my school who got the DSTA scholarship. I was pleasantly surprised to see Mingshu but quite surprised that there were only 3 NJC students in this batch (meaning those leaving this year for their studies). Is NJC that bad in producing scholars? Or do all NJC students abhor violence and war machinery and stuff? It was mostly boring talks but at least I got to know more people and the brownies were fantastic.
Day 2 (7 June 2007)
I guess I ate too much brownies the previous day. The entire bus journey I wasn't feeling too well. It was a good thing I decided to stop at the bus stop right outside CK Tang because the moment I got off, I couldn't control myself and whatever I ate for breakfast came out the reverse way and landed on the floor. It was rather embarrassing but at least the people there offered tissues instead of telling me to clear up the mess. I walked all the way to Holiday Inn and ended up really late. Throughout the talk I just felt like sleeping even though it was a rather interesting talk about grooming. In the end, I just went home and missed that entire programme for the day.
Day 3 (8 June 2007)
This was held at Shatec. We had a Western Dining Etiquette, wine appreciation and cooking course. It was fun and I think I learnt quite a lot, the most important lesson being 'I should never ever touch wine again'. I guess it's because all the wine they served were so dry, they didn't agree with my sweet tooth and also because my liver just cannot take so much alcohol at one go. I was shivering really badly after the Wine Appreciation and it was quite difficult to swallow my lunch although the yummy tangy drink they had helped a bit and was really good. The roast chicken was delicious and the fruits were fantastic. I didn't dare touch the cheescake, the appetiser (salmon and lots of greens) and soup (super creamy mushroomy oniony soup). Still, it was a good lunch. And then it came to the cooking course which was supposed to be about preparing SIMPLE meals but felt more like a Home Economics crash course. I don't see anything simple about making fried rice and chicken stew. The spaghetti wasn't so bad... I mean to prepare friend rice and chicken stew you got to prepare so many ingredients (all of which were prepared by Shatec for our course). Anyway, I paired up with Julianna who like me, have not done any serious cooking since Sec 2. In the end the food didn't come out so bad... although we had a bit of help from the Shatec students.
OBS (11 June 2007 to 15 June 2007)
Initially I thought I would DIE at OBS because I did not think I would survive without all my comfort items. But it wasn't so bad... I guess I was lucky that it was not really the type of course where they just leave you in the wild to fend for yourself. It actually did feel very much like staying at a chalet for 5 days. I guess I have my watch and the wonderful OBS facilities to thank for it.
Day 1
Arrived at Punggol Harbour with the idea of impending doom. When we took the ferry to Pulau Ubin I thought I was going to be sick. I kept telling myself to at least pretend to have fun and pretend that everything would be alright so that no one will worry about me and just maybe I might really enjoy the OBS experience. After meeting my watch (Washington but for some strange reason that escapes me, we prefer to call ourselves George Bush), I felt a little better knowing that everyone seemed pretty alright and I probably won't have to deal with any strange politics in the watch consisting of 11 intelligent people and 1 very normal girl. It was good to see that I knew some of them from the first 3 days at Holiday Inn and Shatec like Wan Ping, Xin Cai, Ming Shu, Jerold, Ya Dong and Heidi (at Punggol Harbour). Anyway, we played ice breaker games and then it was lunch time! Lunch was really delicious (mostly because I was expecting greyish mush and strange broths like those described in Journey's End) and we had climbing activities. I paired up with Heidi to climb this super difficult one, Firstly, there's a ladder which was quite ok. Then there are logs placed somewhat like this | | | | | but vertically. The logs get progressively farther apart. I think the distance between the first and 2nd log was already my height. We managed to climb up to the 3rd log I think before we fell. At night we had some theory sessions about sailing which was somewhat similar to windsurfing. The good thing was that with sailing, I can be assured I'll stay on the boat most of the time while with windsurfing, I usually fall off the board. One of the nicest things of the day was that there were toilets and cubicles to shower in. We had to sleep in tents though but I think my mosquito repellent worked pretty well. Oh oh, and we collected rations that night and there were really really a LOT of food given, some of which were pretty good like Nature Valley energy bars, Oreos, Cafe Noir which the boys really liked, Apollo Chocolate wafers which I really liked =)
Day 2
In the morning we were preparing our cutter (sailing boats). There was a bit of rain so we couldn't start sailing. Instead, we stayed back at OBS camp 1 and played silly games like the animal concentration game, some name rhythm game and a strange robot game thing. I guess it was during these games that we became more comfortable with each other. And the games were one of the things that gave our watch an identity (the watch that likes to play games while other people sleeps?). When the clouds went away, we did a bit of sailing which was pretty fun and docked at OBS Camp 2 which also had toilets and showers. =) I remember that at the beginning of the sailing trip Kenn picked up a jellyfish from the sea and we all touched it and held it. Turns out that not all jellyfishes sting and jellyfishes really feels like jelly. There were really small and cute and were of a pretty blue or pink or white.
Day 3
I think we spend a whole day out sailing... I tried playing with the main sails and it was loads of fun because I think it was more of 'listening' to the mail sail cables and staring at the sails. I think rowing is fun too. It was tiring but it wasn't as bad as dragon boating... I guess mostly because we got less oars rowing at the same time and it was easier to synchronise and we had a captain to do the steering for us so we didn't have to do those one side row, the other side rests kind of thing which really confuses me. It was fun causing the boat to tilt. I think it was a good thing that Pirates of the Caribbean was showing at this period of time because it made the sea and boats seem like very inviting places to be at. I felt a bit sick towards the end of the day. We were camping at Sembawang which had no toilets save the one at the Bottle Tree Restaurant which I had to go many times. We also had a 'cooking contest' in which my watch prepared a lot of noodle dishes with maggie noodles. That night we slept on the boat instead of setting up tents at the Sembawang site because the instructors felt that there were much too many black ants. Sleeping on the boats was a bit hard at first because we had to decide how to sleep and also to set up a shelter with one blue tarp. We spent a lot of time discussing the shelter but all was well in the end. It's quite a strange experience sleeping on an open sailing boat.
Day 4
I had to go to the toilet in the morning and since we couldn't get to shore, I had to do it in the sea, quite gross... but a bit like how people used to do it in the swimming pool when they were little kids. There were not a lot of winds so we had to do a lot of rowing. Because we brought the rubber dinghy up onto our sailboat because we thought that was what Kenn thought was slowing us down (and it was indeed the thing slowing us down), I couldn't really get to the other and I couldn't really figure out how to step over the dinghy. Suddenly I was the captain helming the boat and I think I really suck because I have seriously poor eye-arm coordination and kept thinking left is right and right is left and because for ships left is already right and right is already left, I kept confusing myself with right and left. Still, I didn't collide into any boats so I guess that's good enough for me. We spent quite a lot of time rowing but it was a good thing we had Yi Jie on board. He started singing songs and everyone just joined in and it made the rowing easier for everyone. Finally there was wind and we could sail. We went back to OBS camp 1, did some washing up, had this 6 sided star game. We were supposed to form a 6-sided-star with 2 ropes and I guess most people had the idea of the Star of David but Jerold (and I think Heidi too but she was not allowed to talk in the game) had another better idea which was to use the ropes to make the outline of the star. Our star didn't come out too perfect but I realised a few interesting things from the activity about trust and confidence. That itself is remarkable because I seldom learn interesting theories. Then we had a good dinner and went off for the night trail in the jungle which I thought was pretty good exercise because I sweated a bit. At least it was better than the morning PTs we had. I was hoping to shed some fats in the OBS camp but with so much yummy food and not needing to do much but pull and slacken ropes while sailing, it would be pretty hard to lose weight. There was a part when we had to walk alone and go through this tunnel. Surprisingly I wasn't that afraid. I guess I'm too old and think too rationally. My only fear was for rats but was quickly allayed when I realised that both ends of the tunnels were usually closed. Sadly, the tunnel was only one-way because I really wanted to try the theory that if you put your hand on one side of a wall of a maze, you will be able to find the exit.
"To venture is to cause anxiety, not to do so is to lose one's self. The venture to the highest point is to be precise of yourself."
Day 5
The very last day of OBS... I felt a bit sad thinking about it. I think the day's activities were mostly packing up and the Challenge Pole thing which I still for some reason cannot grab the trapeze. I have this feeling it is because in my mind I just don't care. *sighs* The 'dont' care' feeling is very reminiscent of my Common Test days when I just can't be bothered with studying.
It would be nice if OBS could be a bit longer... the only downside is the dirty clothes. Still, I'm really glad I got to go for this OBS because it was really really super fun and I really love my watch.
Here are some photos of my watch:
Girls: Me, Ming Shu, Hui Zhong, Wan Ping, Xin Cai, Heidi
Boys: Kenn (our instructor), Wei Ming, Kang Jie, Yi Jie, Ya Dong, Jerold, Joseph
Oh well, now it's time to concentrate on the talent showcase and shopping. I'm not sure how I'll be able to return back to work at IRAS.
I'm reading Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles online... it's getting more and more exciting.... *sighs* I wonder why Chuangyi stopped publishing the english edition for TRC?
That's all for now, have fun everyone.
Random statement 25
"If you expect the unexpected, the unexpected is no longer unexpected and thus you will not get what you initially expected."
