Upon our detour to the new campsite, the heavens opened as rain poured down like sheets. Vision was slightly obscure and the wind was cold and chilly. The sea waters felt so good and warm... Ahhhhh..... It was a spectacle to watch.

Despite the route to the new campsite being shorter, we were still exasperated. There was a moment when I was so sleepy that I slept on the kayak as I pressed onto the pedal. Yeah, and I left my poor friend peddaling the whole kayak himself. I really couldn't help it man, my subconscious remained awake and knew that something was wrong, but I was helplessly sleepy to do anything about it. Until we drifted quite a bit from the fleet, did I then come to my senses. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."


MY GOODNESS... When we arrived at Sembawang campsite, we were frustrated once again, perhaps even more this time round. The ground there had so much litter and it was infested with all sorts of bugs. T.T The desire to get a nice clean bath was so strong.

[Something like that, but smaller, around 9cm?]

But then again, we were not allowed to. Really damn pissing man. The reason this time was that the place did not belong to OBS so we couldn't use the showering facilities. :(


Sticky, sweaty, dirty, sandy, cold, hungry, tired, frustrated...


Again, we pitched our tents and got ready the food. While finding a place to settle down to start cooking, I saw a centipede on the ground. Pretty freaky cos of it's length- about 9cm. I think OBS has quite a lot of weird and never-seen-before invertebrates man. Ever caught a glimpse of a grass hopper the size of two thumbs? Yea that was what I saw when I arrived at OBS campsite. Yuck.


Well, at least I had a good dinner eventually, as usual :D haha. Some of us resorted to eating our Magee noodles straight from the packet.


Amidst our dinner, it started to rain again.


I went back to the tent, and it was called a day.

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Day 4

All of us cleaned the Sembawang campsite early in the morning and did the usual packing. I had a chance to do something I'd never do in my life again. That was to pluck grass! Lol. Some gardening work for the clean-up. So we departed the area at 8.30am and took 4 hours to arrive at OBS once again! The sun seemed to be microwaving us throughout our journey back. Now, the water felt nice and cool. :) All of us carried faces of delight as we approached our final destination! Finally, there were PROPER TOILETS to use!!! YAY!!!!! :D

However, before we could get to shower, we had to wash the kayaks. It was then that I got to know more people like Kesaven (K7), Paolo, Kumar, Gabriel, etc.

I never felt so happy showering before. :D


We were asked to make special dishes with whatever food we were left with, because for dinner, it was going to be a buffet! Well... This time the rice did not turn out as nice though. Tasted burnt and uncooked. Look at us working on it:


Hmmm... The rest of the food that the other groups, Washington, Elizabeth Choi, and Tok Seng cooked were tasty too, especially the baked rice from Elizebeth Choi. Lol, but all the food were somewhat using the same ingredients. We were surprised by the instructors as they made their very own Apple Struddle! One of the ingredients was digestive biscuits. Cool stuff. This was what my group made :) mmmMMMmmmm.

All 16 Nehru-nians and our instructor Vivian.


Rahavan told some of his jokes to a group of us guys after eating. Hmmmm... A bit inappropriate to post it here though. :p NC-16 stuff. Really funny though. Hahahaha.


Although the night activity was forfeited due to the rain, I enjoyed the sharing session at night at the pontoon. Elizabeth Choi and Nehru came together to exchange their thoughts about the whole camp so far. Each person had his turn to express him/herself. I could see that many of us were caught by surprise by the camp, our mindsets have been changed and we have grown for the past four days, each in our special way.


In the end, it was a wonderful time out at sea, and back at OBS campsite.


The fourth day is complete.

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Day 5, 21 November 2008

Everyone had the going home syndrome already. It was just 8 hours left before we get on the ferry and head back to mainland. :)


The packing up was quick and there was just one event left for us to complete. It was the tripod. We had another sharing session too and this was what we wrote for each other in groups of 5:



As I leaped cross from a plank to another on the tripod structure, I said my commitment:


"I will be more self-disciplined, interactive and engaging. I will talk to more people and through my actions and words, inspire them."


I jumped. :)

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Instructor Vivian distributed the certificates of completion to us. We gathered at the jetty again, took some pictures, and then said goodbye. I looked at the sea, and recalled every scene of the 5 days once more. The kayaking, the insects, the food, and the friends. It came to an end so quickly. I miss it all.


Well... In any way......



I've completed OBS!! :D




A truly memorable outward bound jouney.


P.S. That was just for fun :p


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Reflections

I never thought that it would be so demanding. OBS did not just sharpen the physical aspect of me. It made me more mentally strong too. Especially the kayaking part of it. Just imagine, 16 hours in total! Half the time it was so monotonous, like your hands were just moving because they are programmed to do so.


Team work came into play time and again and time management of course.


Getting to know new friends has always been nice, furthermore when they are open to you.


Haha I think this will make the longest post of my blog so far...


Hmmm... I guess everyone will have his/her own unique experience through this camp. It's simply hard to say it all.


For me, I have a quote to share.


"The real outward bound journey begins on the inside."

Make the choice to change, and reach out to others!


The adventure awaits you. :)