Just came back from a 5-day course at OBS. i thoroughly enjoyed myself a lot! it was really an experience..so different from the previous OBS in sec 3 because this time i did marine mobile and cutter-sailing expedition :) man, sailing was uber fun. a first time for me...and im so dying to take up sailing now! haha. alongside scuba-diving and para-sailing. *grins*
Day 1: today marks the start of OBS! exciting i must say, as i was really looking forward to a 5-day camp of adventure, fun and laughter. and lotsa sunshine! but more importantly, it's a bonding camp to get to know my DSTA buddies better, and i hope to bring back a lot of good memories with me on this trip. i like my group a lot! we're the Barkers =) hey Jaya, it's such a wonder how we always bump into each other during some turning point in our lives...RGS, RJC, and now DSTA! but im so glad we're in the same grp! haven't really gotten down to knowing my group members but hopefully over the next few days, i'll get to see their 'blind', 'unknown' and 'hidden' sides..as my instructor Natalie puts it.
we did the inverse tower today. the horizontal logs that i did in sec 3. initially,i was apprehensive as i knew of the difficulty. i only managed to reach the 2nd log before i had to be brought down the last time because i was so freaked out up there. i was shaking like a leaf (right, xinling?). haha. i have a terrible phobia for heights but this time, i told myself that im going to reach higher. maybe even the top. and i did! was so mightily happy when i was all the way up there...the view was so nice i didn't even notice the height. man, it feels good to be on top of the world! =D
Day 2: We sailed today! It was rather disappointing because there was no sun at all the whole day. it just rained and rained while we were out on the sea. but we still had our fun in the rain =) There's so much to sailing...all the terms, techiniques, how to tack or gybe and even when to 'bear' with the wind. It was truly an eye-opening experience for me..we also did rowing on the cutter-sail with the oars when there was no wind. it was somewhat like dragon-boating 'cos everyone was so hyped up and coordinated as we shouted,"Dip, Pull! Dip, Pull!" We managed to catch the sunset in the evening...really pretty, especially when you're bobbing in the middle of the sea on a sailboat. Night was spent cooking! The food was really good. Natalie cooked really nice rice..haha. i remembered how our rice in sec3 OBS turned out 'crunchy' because of the sand. though we were all dirty and didnt get a chance to bathe, it didn't really bother me because we were all so busy helping out with the food and the tents, we almost forgot how grimy we all are. really praying for more sun tmr!!
Day 3: Yayy! our prayers are finally answered. today's weather was bright and sunny! :) we went for a river-rafting activity in the morning, where we had to build our own raft out of pipes, barrels and ropes. then we tested our raft in the quarry. it was challenging as we had to make one that could hold the weight of all 13 of us. but we did it! and all within an hour! im so proud of ourselves :D swam in the quarry next..Oooo the water felt so nice after not bathing for an entire day. luxurious i must say. haha..As the weather was perfect today, with the sun out and the wind strong on our sails, we had a really enjoyable sail. lotsa tacking and gybing..really fun. managed to switch my roles around the ship..such as i learnt the roles of a bow-lookout, the jib-hand, the running stay and the main sails. realised how hard it was to manage the sails in strong winds...you really gotta use brute force to hold the ropes or the ship will capsize. hehe. we spent the night on the ship...was pretty amazed at how everyone managed to squeeze and sleep on the ship, considering the space constraint. watched the stars at night as i dozed off...very pretty and brought back nice memories. :)
Day 4: Our last day sailing today. pretty sad 'cos i really enjoyed cutter-sailing tremendously. wished we could sail for more days, hehe. don't know when's gonna be the next time that im going to be on a sail boat again..unless i take up sailing. *cross fingers* i hope so!! i was the captain today! was a blur one at that, haha! but luckily wei hong and yan wen helped me out...teaching me how and when to tack, gybe and everything or i would be so tremendously lost! the wind was really strong today...very good for sailing indeed :) we had a lot of fun on the ship today..cracking lame jokes and reliving silly games like Johnny Woosh. haha and gorging on our rations, which turned out to be quite a lot actually. not much of rationing to be done..haha.
our campsite tonight was a nice place..not much mosquitoes. i had been bitten so often the past few days i think ive developed some kind of resistance to mosquitoes alr. talk about adaptation man. my legs are so horrible bitten and scarred..eeks. we did some tunnelling activity tonight, where everyone had to enter a tunnel one by one..and feel your way out. it was so super dark and spooky inside you really could not see a single thing. at first, i thought it was like those haunted house concept where you have people and 'things' jumping out to scare you, but thank god it was nothing like that. it's more of an activity to test your courage, and to show you how we're all gonna experience one part of our lives where we have to enter a tunnel of darkness all by ourselves. some may falter and break down inside this tunnel, but some will brave the darkness and eventually overcome it.
we stayed up playing Polar Bear tonight...it's exactly the same as Mafia, just that now the mafia is a polar bear (as the name suggests) haha. had a truly fun bonding time with my group..and everyone was so hooked onto the game, we just kept playing round after round. haha, we have Frank, the self-confessed dumb but valuable villager who talks so so much (he reminds me of Ashley!). William the poor chap who never survives past the 2nd round..and who usually gets killed by the polar bear the moment he wakes up! Wei Hong the really obscure one, i cant seem to figure out if he's the polar bear or not. lik sin, another one who cant seem to shut his mouth for one second. hahaha so much funnnn. i just wished tmr wasn't the last day :(
Day 5: sailed back to our camp and packed our stuff. realised that this OBS was way past my expectations in terms of fun, challenges and the friendships that i made. was impressed by how our group members are all so efficient and enthusiastic about everything throughout the course. we're so team-oriented in everything we do..it's really nice to see that. and im glad that im going to bring back a lot of valuable lessons that i have learnt from this course..many choices that i have made, many challenging activities i have done, many obstacles that i have overcome, and many personal goals that i have set for myself. as natalie puts it, our life doesn't start when we entered OBS. but rather, it starts the day we leave OBS. because it is in OBS that we can afford to make all the mistakes that we want.
did a committment activity before we left. we got to choose from many activities but all require you to take a leap of faith. i chose one which required me to jump off a platform in mid-air and grab onto a handle-bar. was really scared up there. but everyone was supporting me from down there and even though i jumped and i missed... that leap of faith that i took really encouraged me so much. it's something which i'm not going to forget for the rest of my life..from this course, i have learnt also to make personal sacrifices. there are certain things which i am still not able to let go..but through this 5-day course, i have realised that letting go requires a great deal of courage. and i'm happy that i have done it :)
Barkers!
Lingz