Day 3 of OBS (Sea Expedition)

woke up at 5plus.. walked to e toilet to wash up.. haha.. dun like e toilet there.. cos u flush le hor.. e water is still brown colour de.. n e tap water is not portable.. smell n taste like rust.. so quickly brush teeth, use drinking water to rinse e last mouth den go back to prepare milo.. cooked a big pot of milo.. haha.. n we take turns to drink using 2 small plastic spoon.. den start using e pot cover.. lastly, we use e ladle.. haha.. e pot of milo has already been polluted by all our saliva.. haha.. den each take a ladle to drink.. haha.. den left a bit cnt finish.. throw into e sea.. ssh.. haha. we were e only watch tt boil water to make hot milo.. but we all enjoyed e hot milo.. it did brighten our day after a night of bad/no slp.. haha. ok.. 7am start briefing b4 set off.. den we got all our bags onto e boat to b transported back to camp 1.. so we only hv 2 bottles each w us n our food ration.. all went out to sea as a watch.. try to float.. haha.. in a circle.. hands over each other's shoulders.. haha.. we were all so 'excited' when floating.. haha.. cos we a bit floating away.. haha. den after tt, we r supposed to dip our own head into e water.. haha.. den e instructors demonstrate to us how to kayak n how to recover by ourselves from a capsize. den each tri-yak gets to go out to e sea to e instructor to try to capsize n recover.. haha.. well.. we managed to did tt.. but got a sip of sea water. den after all grps r done.. we gathered in a circle.. all 67 of us.. e local scholars.. n we were told to say 2 or 3 words of blessings to everyone.. stuff like no rain, enjoy, safe journey, etc.. haha. den LJ told us e story of e coffee bean, carrot n egg.. n ask us to think which one we wan to b.. den it's time to set off.. at round 8.45am..

ok.. went out to e sea.. started fine.. reached e river.. ok.. den from river to cross to mangrove, we need to get up on land first.. cross e road.. den go down again.. haha.. we target to reach e mangrove at bout 11am.. cos low tide is 12 i think.. we got there ahead of tym.. den when we get down to e mangrove.. a funny thing happened to our grp.. mangrove.. e floor is mud lah.. haha.. we gt down e slope.. lyn got on first.. follow by me (btw, lyn was sitting at e front, me middle n brian at e back).. den brian was trying to get on.. tis was still near e slope we came down from.. so actually in order to get on, we hv to step into e mud first lah.. haha.. so e mud makes our feet stuck a little.. ok.. 2 of us r on it.. den brian came up.. we couldnt balance, n our tri-yak capsized.. so funny.. haha.. such a gd place ar.. when we jus gt on.. den our water bottles n food (3 of us hv our food in e same plastic bag) were floating.. we turned e tri-yak over.. place our paddle on top of it n try to get back our bottles n food.. haha.. den another instructor help us to hold on to our tri-yak n ask lyn n brian to get on first b4 i get on.. haha. so funny.. den we move on.. along e way, some instructors asked whether we were e tri-yak tt capsized jus now. haha. ok.. we kayak till we reach a place.. gt 3 paths.. we were following behind.. more of e behind of e whole grp.. den e front ppl say u-turn cos wrong.. den we wait a bit first.. they go another, den say wrong again.. den keep wasting tym.. den we were hoping tt it can b faster.. cos we dun wan e tide to go out.. if nt we will hv to walk on mud.. ok.. finally after 3 tries i think.. we r on our way again.. but too bad.. e tide still went out.. n it reaches a stage tt our tri-yak cant move anymore.. brian got down to push it first.. but his shoe was spoilt.. when he lifts up his feet, it looks like a stone.. cos it look so fat, covered w mud. haha. den.. his shoe cmi, he threw it away.. haha.. den instructor say no shoes, cnt walk in mud for safety reason.. so he hv to squeeze into lyn's shoes.. haha.. from size 12 to 6 or 7 i think.. haha.. den he push.. every step, feet get stuck.. den after tt, i went down to help.. once i set foot in, feet stuck.. so hard to pull it out.. n it's harder to pull it up w ur shoes still on.. haha.. den instructor was saying.. use knee-cap.. better.. so i tried tt.. after a while, i was exhasuted, wan to climb back on tri-yak oso v difficult.. my leg was so heavy.. cos of e mud.. n dunno y, we end up e last tri-yak.. den i finally got back onto e tri-yak, took my shoe off n lyn took over w my shoes.. haha.. den i was on e tri-yak.. helping both of em get e mud off their shoes when they raise up their feet.. or help to pull their feet out.. i was trying to catch some breath.. haha. den brian pull out smth tt looks like a shoe lace.. showed it to us n threw to e side.. we asked him.. wat's tt.. sea worm was his reply.. haha. by then, brian was already trying to swm n pull e tri-yak.. n lyn oso started to swim.. den lyn after a while oso v tired.. she say she wanna come up.. so i tried to pull her up.. v difficult too.. finally did so.. den my turn to go down.. cos we cant bear to sit there on e tri-yak while brian is like using all his efforts to pull e tri-yak.. he look so exhausted.. we keep asking him to rest.. slow n steady.. we were worried.. cos he looks exhausted.. when i gt down, brian was already switching from swimming freestyle to backstroke. i was using my knee cap to crawl.. i attempted to stand ended up both feet stuck.. n i didnt attempt to stand again.. all of us were covered in mud.. nice mud bath ar.. our whole hand, body n leg n shoe.. our life jacket is full of mud.. our hair n our ear oso hv.. haha. power right.. den i try to push.. but trying to get out of e mud n move every step sap us of our energy more than pushing e tri-yak.. den when we reach LJ, he asked brian whether he's ok.. i think cos he oso can c tt brian looked v exhausted.. den LJ help us to pull e tri-yak too.. while brian n i were behind helping.. den i lag behind.. cos i no strength le.. it's so hard to get out of e mud.. every step u take, u get stuck in another area.. i used my hand to pull myself frw.. can feel those mangrove w my hand. haha.. tt's y my hand ended up w quite some cuts.. haha.. den they pulled e tri-yak.. i cant keep up.. gt left behind.. lyn keeps pointing to me.. reminding em of me.. den brian, after catching up, stretched out his hand to pull me towards him.. den he n another guy who came to help us help place my hand on e handle of e tri-yak n ask me to hold on as they pull e tri-yak.. i jus cant hold on.. gt left behind again w brian.. he move frw, den pull me again.. hai.. i really feel v bad bout myself.. cos i feel tt nt only i cant help.. i seems to b more of a burden.. brian is already so drained of energy, he still hv to pull me.. a part of me hope tt they jus leave me there.. wait till e tide comes in.. cos i dun wan to b a burden to em.. but another part of me dun wan to b left alone in e mud.. it's nt a nice feeling... den they say it's better to get me on e tri-yak.. haha.. so brian n other guy gt me on.. den they pull e tri-yak.. den brian cnt catch up.. lyn n i were pointing to him.. den say.. brian.. i felt helpless.. i dun wan to leave him behind but there's nth tt i can do to help.. LJ was saying, nvm, we will come back for him later.. when we finally reach e end of e mangrove, we hv to climb on tis mud slope.. lyn went first.. follow by me.. when i stand up, i could hardly balance myself.. struggled to climb up e slope, once i reach e top, i fall down.. haha.. cnt balance.. den seeing tt i hv my shoes on, they ask me to take another path thru e branches.. first footing, i fell again.. lol.. sry lah.. abit giddy.. den a guy came n offer to go down e slope w me.. he held my two hands n guide me down.. haha.. he say 'i think she needs some help and i think she is feeling a bit giddy'.. haha.. or smth like tt.. its really nice of these ppl to lend a helping hand.. really appreciate it alot.. n we gt on another tri-yak once we reach back e end of e slope.. back to fresh water.. e river.. was seeing the rest.. waiting for us.. they looked so clean.. haha.. den me n lyn were seeing where's brian.. finally he joined us back.. n when he's back, everyone applaued for him.. yay! n we set off again.. did nt get back our own tri-yak.. i told brian to rest first while me n lyn kayak first.. cos i feel tt tis is e least we can do for him.. let him catch up on abit of rest first.. cos we didnt n cant help much in e mud earlier on.. we thot e worst part was over.. n all we hv is jus to kayak out to e sea n back to camp 1.. but i was wrong...

soon.. when we reach back e sea.. kayak out of e river.. past e fences, into e sea, we were faced w lightning n dark clouds.. we were wondering whether we can beat e rain.. but nope.. after we kayak a while, e dark clouds seem to get nearer n e wave stronger.. e instructor told us to kayak on n stop at a jetty.. but as e waves get stronger, some of us grp tgt.. den suddenly, intructions were changed.. but we couldnt hear it.. den we saw ppl movin g back.. so we followed.. instructors were shouting things.. but we cant hear. n e waves were so strong.. we thot we may capsize.. some went back to e river.. we followed.. as we tried to get into e river, our tri-yak got so near to e fences.. it was scratching against it.. brian told us to keep away.. dun touch e pillars.. n he tried to push our tri-yak away from e fences using his paddle.. finally, we were in e tiver.. it's safer there.. e wave isnt tt strong. den we grp up in e river.. i think bout 15 tri-yak.. e other half did nt manage to get into e river.. they were swept by e waves.. we dunno till where. 2 instructors were w us.. den all 15 tri-yak start floating away.. den e instructor ask e person at e end to hold on to a branch to stop us from drifting.. den there we r.. facing e sea.. rain came.. we were all freezing cold.. all still recovering from e panic jus now.. apparently, e instructors were shouting to all of us nt to hold on to e pillars for safety reason.. but when faced w strong winds n waves, n hearing instructor shouting but nt noeing wat they shouting n nt noeing wat to do, where to head, it's frightening.. n seriously, no one would wan to capsize in e middle of e sea w such strong waves.. n i was wondering whether my life jacket still can allow me to float w e heavy mud covering my whole body.. u noe all our pants r so heavy tt while pushing in e mud, we will often stop to pull up our pants.. cos it always seems like it is dropping cos of e weight pulling it down. den e guys were saying.. forget it lah. we r all covered in mud.. all brown.. cant c de. haha. i was trying to stretch my leg in e kayak.. being e middle person, i can only sit cross-legged.. my shoes were v heavy.. so i decided to take em off.. my white socks hv turned grey.. haha. i was freezing cold, i took my small towel (which i took along to block my head from sunlight, to prevent burn) n wash it in e water n put it over my head.. haha.. e towel was covered w mud.. cos when i went down to e mud, i decided to throw it on our tri-yak.. which was filled w mud.. haha. den CJ who was one of e 2 instructors w us were telling us tt e waves jus now were suitable for surfing.. n tt he didnt noe tt in s'pore u can surf too.. haha. so can any1 imagine how strong e waves r? as we were all rafted up n facing e sea, we saw lightning infront.. nice one.. haha. finally e rain stop.. n we set out for e sea again n join back e other half.. oh ya.. fyi.. if u wan to pee or shit, get off e tri-yak w/o causing e other 2 to capsize n do so n get back on.. but our whole tri-yak did nt get down once.. haha.. i was controlling e whole journey.. haha.. cos i dun wan to get down.. it's hard to get up.. haha. den once we were out of e river, we 3 kayak fast.. cos we were trying to keep warm.. haha.. n brian started singing a song to keep warm.. only a few lines.. forgot is bla bla black sheep or wat.. haha. e funny thing is we all hv a poncho on each tri-yak.. though 3 of us r cold, none wanna wear e poncho.. so it's lying there on e tri-yak while 3 of us feel cold. haha.

den.. we kayak n kayak.. we saw a turn, hoping we r reaching.. but each tym, we r only met w disappointment.. cos after each turn, there is another turn.. den whenever there r boats passing, e waves will b a bit stronger. along e way.. i keep asking em to talk.. haha.. cos i getting sea sick. den after wat seems like ages, we finally reach back.. when i set foot on ground, my knee cap was so painful.. from e long hrs of sitting cross-legged. den walk w/o shoes. help to wash e tri-yak.. when i walk, i feel extra weight from all e mud on me. haha. den after tt, i threw away my shoes.. haha.. many of our shoes r spoilt.. cos we tried to pull em up w our feet from e mud.. after e washing, we stand in a circle again as a grp of 67 n each of us were asked to say a word.. den sea ex leaders say their part n den instructors do e rounding off.. LJ was saying tt all his yrs in OBS, it's e first tym he sees mud become slug.. n it's e first tym sea ex took so long.. den we clapped.. he say.. but tt's nt a compliment. haha.. we reached back at bout 6.45pm.. 10hrs.. haha.. by right, we aimed to reach back by 4pm.. but cos of e unforseen circumstances.. we could nt.. haha.. n i heard LJ was there was 8 yrs.. he oso say tt we were e most 'suay' grp of ppl.. haha.. he say we hv it all.. sun, rain, mud.. jus missing out on a major capsize.. lol.. yup.. we were given time to wash up.. by right, fresh dinner is at 6pm.. but as we need to wash up ourselves too.. it was pushed to 8.30pm..

after wash up, we feel so clean..haha.. den went to hv dinner as a watch.. we r always late.. cos we always wait for each other.. haha.. one of e goal we set was.. we AIM to b punctual.. well.. jus an aim.. haha. den while we sat down for dinner.. we were talking bout e experience of e day.. i was still recovering from e sea.. when i sit down, i still feel up n down.. as though i m still on e tri-yak. den we talked bout our tri-yak capsize when we enter e mangrove.. lyn brought our attention to e fact tt lucky we capsize on e right size.. if we capsize on e other side (ie to our left, we will hit e slope.. n e slope has some wire netting sticking out.. yucks.. wat will become of our face?).. den we will nt forget e terror of e sea.. den after dinner was supper str away.. cos supper was suppose to b 9pm.. haha.. den after eating.. we went back to our bunk.. meeting CJ there. wrote our journal n shared on our day.. brian descirbed e mud as shit. haha. everyone agreed tt it's really nice to hv ppl from other watch whom we dunno to lend a helping hand.. esp thru e mud.. n i tell u.. it's really v bad to b on e last tri-yak out of e mud.. those at e beginning wun so filled w mud.. but by e tym it's e last tri-yak.. wat hv become of e mud trait tt so many tri-yak has past? n brian told us tt he made frenz w 4 mudskippers n 2 sea worms.. haha. he took em w his bare hands n threw em aside.. becos they r getting into his path n he dun wan em to crawl into his pants. haha.. well.. e mud was e dirtest i hv gotten in my life so far.. it's e tym when gals wun care how they look.. jus wanna get out of tt shit.. whether we hv mud all over us.. on our face, etc.. whether we r touching e mud w our hands.. helping wipe off e mud on others' shoes w our hands or wat.. we dun care le.. haha. e mud felt warm nearing e end.. lol.. haha.. tis is wat we called e mud bath of ubin.. haha..

tt night was e last night.. some wanted to stay up to talk.. but we were all too tired.. n happy to b back on our beds in e bunk.. all fell asleep soon n slept till morning.. of course wake up 5plus again.. tis tym, need to gather at 6.30am..

CJ like to tell us tis at e end of each day.. if u think today is tough, tml will b tougher..

Day 4 (last day)

morning ex was in e form of games too.. den after tt we hv breakfast.. den CJ told us to change into long pants.. bring harness n helmet n meet him.. he brought us to e mph.. den gave us each a sheet of blank A4 paper.. ask us to write our name in e middle.. n pin it to our back.. it's e msg we hv to write for each other.. but he told us nt to write our name.. as he sees us writing, he say.. next tym give teachers write, mus use A3 paper.. cos we write alot.. haha. oh ya.. he loves to call us cher.. cos he say we r teachers-to-be.. but nt yet teachers.. so call cher loh.. half.. haha. after writing, gave back to him.. b4 giving back to him, we tried to pass a blank sheet of paper.. which contains our msg 4 him.. trying to do so w/o him noticing.. haha.. den while waiting for him to tell us wat we doing next, we sat in a circle to play truth or dare.. haha.. he came back n saw us playing tt.. say we childish.. haha. den he brought us to e high element there.. he told us to each think of a goal.. for 1 yr tym.. he say tt we r gng to write a letter to ourselves which will b mailed to us 1 yr later.. cool right? den he say b4 writing, we try to climb up to e platform.. there's a pole there.. jump for it n try to grab hold of it.. he say tis tym no cheering.. think of our own goal when we r up there.. no cheering cos we dunno wat each other's goals r.. den when we come down, den write e letter. all of us tried it.. yup.. after writing e letter, we put it into envelope n write our own address n give it back to him. den we r to go back to our bunk to clear our stuff out.. den after tt, we go back again to clean e equippments we brought out for land ex.. n pack e store.. after all these we gathered in a near e canteen.. den do our shopping of sourvenir.. haha.. bought a white round-neck t-shirt.. v cute loh.. gt 3 cartoon figures.. one holding a stick (land ex).. 1 a paddle(sea ex).. middle one dunno wat. haha. (btw, i forgot when was lunch).. haha..

den we gathered in circle.. feel up feedback form all these.. den CJ took out a twine ball.. he wanted each of us to share on our highest n lowest pt in e camp.. den once u share, use e twine, go thru 2 rounds on our index finger n pass it on to e next person.. nt e person beside.. so at e end, we gt a web of twine.. den he asked us to pull e twine to ourselves.. n say a word to describe e feeling.. most say pain. den he was saying tt thru out e camp, if we tried to hold back things.. we will b lke trying to pull e twine to ourselves.. smth like tt.. den he say.. now we will b gng on our own journey.. we wun b w each other to walk on.. he took out a scissors n start cutting e twine tt is connecting all of us till no 2 ppl r connected.. den everyone is left w a portion of e twine tt once binded us tgt.. he say tt to some tis may jus b a normal twine.. but to others.. it is a twine tt symbolises wat we went thru tgt.. n tt is his gift to us. acutally.. when he's cutting e twine.. i do feel a bit sad. den after tt, he gt us to stand up.. pass each of us a cert for e OBS.. facing down.. random passing.. he wans us to c e name.. n pass to e person his/her cert one by one.. he say tt instructors r nt qualified to give out e certs cos they did nt go thru e same things as us r stay in e same bunk as us.. after giving out tt.. we were given e msg tt we wrote for each other earlier on.. he laminated tt for us.. so sweet right?

den it's tym to head for e jetty.. we took some last grp pics at e jetty. as we were boarding e ferry n bidding gdbye to CJ.. i feel quite sad.. CJ refused to give us his contacts.. so tt is mayb e last chance we gt to meet him.. he's a nice instructor.. though sometimes acting like a small kid but he brought joy n laugher to us.. n he is part of e memory of our OBS course.. he respected our decisions too.. (oh ya.. to add on.. during e land ex.. he was whinning.. trying to act like a child. saying stuff like.. my bag is heavy.. there is sand in my shoes. no one cares bout me.. etc). haha.

reach back punggol jetty.. gt bag check.. we were like thinking check 4 wat.. wat can we smuggle back.. den i say.. wild boar. haha. den danver met a frenz there.. haha.. an auntie w hair like his.. haha.. he tried to take a pic w her by gng behind her.. but e aunty gt suspicious n walked off. haha. den we were taking some tym to decide whether to go for dinner nt n where.. it was close to 5pm den.. finally we decided to go to seragoon.. take e bus str from jetty to seragoon interchange.. think is bus no 82.. 4got le.. got stm. haha. den ate mac there. haha.. some had to go home.. so only 11 of us went.. after eating a satisfactory meal, we decided to open up a can of lychee we hv from OBS.. haha.. right at mac.. brian got 2 small cup of ice.. we open e can, n pour e ice in.. den each of us hv to eat at least one.. haha.. n hv a photo taken of it. haha.. we were laughing away.. so funny to eat a can of lychee at mac.. while we were laughing, ppl around keep looking at us.. haha. den danver seeing e can of lychee tried to escape by gng to e toilet.. while he's away, we add a lychee into his strawsberry sundae.. we stuff it in.. cover it back w ice cream to avoid his suspicion.. haha.. n we wait n wait 4 him to come back.. he took so long till e lychee float up.. they quickly stuff it deep in again.. haha.. den he's finally back.. all of us were like waiting to c his reaction when he eats e lychee.. wait wait wait.. he's taking a sip at a tym.. den finally, he ate it w/o alot of us seeing.. den he asked whether we put smth into his sundae.. we were laughing n laughing.. he say no wonder his strawsberry sundae tasted weird.. like gt other fruit. haha. so funny. after dinner was bout 7pm.. we den spilt n headed home.. was so tired when i reach home..

After thots

haha.. OBS experience was so memorable.. alot of things tt i m nt gng to go thru again in my life.. like e mud bath, e storm, etc.. though i dunno my watch mate for long... but cos of e experience tt we hv been thru, we forged strong ties.. n i believe our friendship will cont.. n we will cont to meet up.. stay in touch, etc.. tis camp is v different.. cos all of us r moe scholars.. future teachers.. we all somewat is heading e same direction in life.. n hv e passion for teaching.. n i feel tt indeed it feels different to go to camp w guys who hv been thru ns n those who hv nt.. i doubt whether those who hv nt r willing to go thru e mud n perserve on.. if nt, we gals die le. haha. e guys really contributed alot while we were stuck in e mud.. n i dunno wat to say.. really appreciated their efforts alot. if nt 4 em, i can b stuck there n b a statue in mud..

e storm has oso reminded me tt e storm may b scary.. but our God is a God who is in-charge of e storm.. n we r safe in His Hands.. Just be still n know tt He is God. only by experiencing e storm firsthand n e waves, i understand some descriptions better.. like 'when e oceans rise n thunders roar, i'll soar w You above e storm. Father, You're King over the flood and i'll b still n noe You are God' (from e song STILL). indeed.. there r fears tt i need to overcome in e camp.. physical n mental limits to overcome.. like i scare of capsize.. cos i cant swim. haha. n i believe tis camp hv made me a stronger person.. as i shared during e last sharing, on my lowest pt being e mud.. highest being those sharing w barker.. really.. nice to hear ppl sharing. sharing wat's on their mind.. wat they hv been thru, etc..

really hope tt we will still meet up.. dun 4get me.. though i m e only one nt in NUS.. if u all r meeting up at NUS, can get someone to drive n fetch me from NTU.. haha. tis is e end of my blog for OBS.. OBS is e main motivator for me to start blogging again.. cos i feel tt these experiences r worth blogging, sharing n remembering.. thanks to all who make tis such an unforgettable experience.. i nv regret gng to OBS.. n i love Barker! haha..

Labels: Barker: OBS