Level Camp 2008-Part 3

So there came the long and boring campfire which lasted at least 3 hours. When it was over, my back ached and my thighs were numb.

For our class campfire skit, we did a parody of a video from youtube which I have never heard of and a class song which others seem to think is good based on spongebob's F.U.N. song.

Then, I was so glad that the campfire was over and went to sleep, this time better thanks to my jacket which I used as a pillow. There are more than one way to use a jacket:) Surprisingly, unlike the previous night, my feet did no feel so cold

In the morning at around 5:30am, my alarm clock rang. Then, I was still feeling sleepy, so I did not care much about the sound, however, the my alarm clock was those sort that would start to ring louder and louder, so finally, I decided to stop the ringing in fear of waking up the others. Unfortunately, I did not know how to turn it off and my prediction came true. Fortunately, Ben was slightly awake, probably due to the ringing too and helped me turn it off-by removing the battery. Looks like I have not really learnt from my lesson-not to do things at the eleventh hour. Remember the time when my group almost failed a presentation due to last minute work?

I slept quite comfortably for the rest of the time. I woke up at 7am, half an hour later than the others. It is amazing what a jacket can do.

There came breakfast and then clean up. These were followed by a series of dance performances and uncomical comedy performed by camp instructors to pass our time. Most of my class was at the back either playing handphone games, talking, or playing simple group games waiting for dismissal.

At last, dismissal. How relieved I was to be leaving the camp after a dull 3 days and 2 nights.

I have learnt several things. From Double or Nothing-No solution is perfect, but it would be good to combine several of them to mould them into better ones. From The Third Morning-Never do last minute work. In addition, I have also been proved wrong-No one was really using the spiderwebs for any of the activities (except for climbing 2 metres up and singing the school song as loud as possible in the middle of the night). I have also learnt that CDANs, NsHometeam whatever you call it, isn't actually a campsite, but only a public chalet whose residents' only form of entertainment is the television and the playground in Pasir Ris Park. Anything more and they would have to pay for the canoes etcetra for themselves. We did not have to do that last year. All facilities were built in into our campsite-Abseiling, canoeing and the flying fox. You name it, they've got it. Lastly, I found out why this camping activity was free and fully subsidised by the school.

That is the end of Level Camp 2008. I wished I had never looked forward to it.

Level Camp 2008-Part 2

I kicked around in my sleep. In the end, I slept in hurberg's place, hurberg was pushed to ben's place and ben was pushed to...erm, the table-he was squeezed. Sorry everyone.

We had breakfast. Then, there was the activity 'double or nothing'. We were given $20 and supposed to earn as much as possible, prefably twice of what we spent. The money would go to charity to the Sichuan earthquake or Cyclone Nargis victims. After much discussion, it was decided that we sell ice-cream floats. We went to Elias mall on foot with tzy complaining about its 'tiresome' walk. After making them on a coffee shop table, we started selling them in Elias mall. I felt that we should not make use of other's property without permission. Selling them in Elias mall was another problem. There were lots of stalls selling food there. At first several suggested selling somewhere else, like the void deck of a flat, but thinking about it, there would not be much passer-bys there.

Our floats looked like white shit in diarrhoea water. In hope of increasing more customers, we decided to tell them that they get a free ice-cream by donating one dollar to charity instead of asking them to buy them for a dollar. This had its problems too. Many people asked for proof that we were raising funds, since we were not in school uniform. However, some kind-hearted people donated more than a dollar. I guess each way of doing things has its pros and cons. This was what I learnt from this activity.

After selling the ice-cream floats (unsuccessfully), we were 2 dollars off making our profits double. So we decided to sell chocolates with straw hearts, or should I say give people chocolate with straw hearts for donating 50 cents. At the end, we were not so unsuccessfull after all. We took a bus back to the camp due to popular demand taking bus. This activity was considerably interesting compared to the others, but is this what people do when they go camping? Fund-raising and Camping-I can't see the relation between them. When we returned to the campsite, we were told the same things that we learnt from this activity- teamwork, time-management and everything we heard before and expect to hear.

We had lunch and after that, a game called gladiator. Each team had a hoop covered in newspaper which when broken, the team loses. Instead of using waterbombs, we used water-soaked sponges to attack probably due to the mess no one would want to clean up later. Players can be "killed" by suffering a direct shot on the back.

Tzy was defending the hoop. I did not play much, for I was a little confused on what to do when some people kept on gesturing to me (one of them scolded) which only later I realised they wanted me to defend the other side. The moment I did that, ben ran in front of me, dodged a shot and thus a sponge hit me on the side instead. Fortunately, it was the side, not the back. Unfortunately, I was still eliminated, do not ask me why, ask the judges.

Him: You! You are hit!

Me: Yes, but it was on the side...

Him: Yes, it hit the side of your shirt, so you are out.

Me: ...

At one point in time in the game, someone dealt a headshot on tzy. The sponge glanced against his face and broke the newspaper. By the rules, she should have been kicked out as that was an illegal move, but since it was an accident, she was spared. The game went on. Surprisingly, for a second time, another person carried another sponge and broke our newspaper for a second time. Then, we were really confused on what was going on.

Judge: 205 out!

We: We already lost.

Judge: No, it was a foul just now.

We: But you did not say we were still in.

Judge: Did I say you were out?

We: Look, just now when the other team suffered a foul you gave them new newspaper but you did not give us, so we guessed we were out...

Judge: Did I say you were out?

We: No, but how do we know if we were supposed to continue playing?

Judge: Did I say you were out?

Previously, it was also mentioned that regardless of circumstances, anyone commiting a headshot would be out, but that rule was not obeyed just because it was an accident. Besides that, when someone broke the newspaper and ran out of the court due to his inertia, the judges said that it was considered a foul for he ran out even after he broke the newspaper. Does not make sense to me. And when our newspaper was broken the second time, the attacker ran out too, but we still lost. These caused some unrest, for the judges did not just follow law.

After the game was over, we went to wash up. As usual, there was a long queue outside the chalet bathroom, so my friends and I went to the dirty public bathroom.

Cmc and I were queuing, waiting for ben to come out. Not long after, he did...only that he had nothing on.

cmc: Hey ben, where are your clothes. You are not even wearing your underwear!

ben: I know I know, *towel slips down*, OOPs, *Grabs towel immediately*

cmc: Yesterday you went out of the bathroom without your shirt. Today you come out of a cubicle without anything on. Whats next?

ben: Yes, Im going to put on my underwear now!

ben: Wait. Eh, wears my underwear?!

Fortunately, he found his underwear soon within his huge pile of garments he was struggling with in his arms. Later when I went in, I tried hanging my old underwear up over the door, but as it was too high, I threw too hard and it went over the door and landed hanging on the door knob. My friend jk threw it back to me inaccurately and it landed in the toilet cubicle next to me. I was so frustrated (with the underwear not jk) that I decided to dump all my used clothing together with that stinking undergarment of mine together in a plastic bag.

The problem with most public toilets is that they lacked proper hangers. In ben's and my case, this caused some frustrating problems with handling and seperating the cleans and the dirties.

Dinner passed, and soon it was time for campfire.

to be continued...Part 3 (final) next.

Level Camp 2008-Part 1

This year, the level camp was held at NS Home Team, Pasir Ris Park. Lacking any equipment in the campgrounds, I supposed they would be using the playgrounds (Spiderwebs etc.) of the park, which proved wrong for the next three days and two nights.

Upon arrival, the first activity was to create a class wristband, which almost no one wore later. This was followed by several group games not worth playing to me. Lunch was served later, and then we participated in an activity known as "the Big Event", which turned out not so big after all, somewhat similar in style to the group games played previously. Simply speaking I found it a BIG waste of time. How many times have we played games like blindfolding someone and guiding him around with words, or how many times had we played a game like passing a hoop through ourselves while linking hands? Values learnt from these cliche games included teamwork and communication skills, which thus became cliche too. Worst still, we learnt about the importance of time management from a game with no time limitations(at least that was what the instructors told us). They lacked originality.

After three gruelling hours of fun and games, we rehearsed a class skit we were supposed to enact during the campfire the next day. After that, we went to wash up. One chalet with 4 rooms and a living room, had two bathrooms(there were three but one was meant for instructor), and yet accomodated the entire year 2 males-at least 60 people. Of course, there was no hope of queing for the slightly cleaner bathrooms in the chalet thus more than half of the population was forced to the muddy public toilets. This made wash up time drag very long. Camp of last year at changi had facilities such that bathing the entire cohort took less than half an hour. Comparing the camps, last year's camp had facilities thrice better than this year. It is no wonder we did not need to pay for this camp unlike last year.

Dinner came and went, and then we learnt non-sensical campfire songs which had no proper melody. Even Spongebob's Campfiresong Song was better. While we were 'engrossed' in the songs, one of our classmates was taken away and asked to be chained in a place for the next game secretly. My friends and I noticed it and the reason is self-explanatory.

The game was called "Kidnapped" and we had to find keys and the kidnapee to unlock and save him, like ina treasure hunt. When that was over, it was 10:30pm. We had supper and knocked off to bed(literally-the ground was marble and my sleeping bag did not have any cushion). All for now. Part 2 coming up next.

To Sentosa - Part 2, the luge

Sentosa skyride sunset (by dillon chew)

After having left the beach, we decided to go for the luge. The rates were:

$10 per ride
$18 for two rides
(get two rides and get one free)

Family package (minimum one child below 12)
$49 for 8 people

We asked if we could split the 3 rides among people if we paid $18, unfortunately we could not. So, it was suggested(not by me) that we went for the family package.

Obviously, we could not go for the family package. We were all at least 13. However, some people managed to find a way around this, making use of me in the process. They wanted to use me size to feign as an 11 year old. I tried reasoning with myself- $18 for three rides, thats $6 for one. and 8 rides for $49? That is 12.5 cents more than if we went for all three rides on our own (49/8=6.125), but this is not the main case. The real advantage is, although we would have to go for all three rides on our own, and we would have to pay more in total, we would pay less per ride, and the REASON for me supporting this idea is that we do not need to cheat any money off anyone. I proposed this to ben, and he understood. However, when we tried explaining this to Q, he looked impatient, and any argument would bring us nowhere, so we decided to push it no furthur.

Later, a caucasian gave us 13 unwanted tickets. It was a great blessing and I hope to pay the kindness forward in the near future. Thus, we got two rides each.

On the second skyride up, we saw a beautiful sunset.

Then we luged back down. Due to the darkness, at the finishing line, I saw someone in front a little too late. Thus, from near top speed, I braked, and skidded at least 30 degrees to a halt. Fortunately, I did not bang into the person in front; I was 10 cm away from that.

It was a great day at Sentosa, except for that incident. Recalling the cheating incident, I felt that I should have voiced my opinion no matter winning or losing the argument. Moral is also of greater value than money. Why did my classmates want to cheat just this little bit of money. Had they thought of what would happen if we were caught? I tried backing out of this family package plan, but i was attacked with words and they said that I must be included to get a family package (by crook). Where has the morals of such people have gone to? If they wanted to cheat and dispose of their moral, I cannot help it, but what I do not like is how I am forced to cheat together with them. I do not think cheating is something alright, no matter how little the loss is to the other party, because it is the abuse of trust they had in us. However, it still wasn't too bad for me-i was not the one who told the counter person I was 11. I will not cheat intentionally.

What do you think?

To Sentosa - Part 1, the beach

It was the last exam paper yesterday. At approximately 11:30, my class and I left for a class outing at Sentosa.

We took a bus to Vivo City. Pyq and Nick we nt for lunch only then, and thus the rest of us went looking around. However, not long after they had finishedtheir lunch, most of the class were already at the arcade. Those who were not were Nar, Joelle, Melvin, Nic and I. Melvin was quite keen in going, but he was wearing school pants, like me. Joelle did not like the atmosphere there-she says the darkness make it strange and it slightly scared her. As for me, I find arcade games quite expensive and at the same time I did not like dark and noisy places. Anyway, I was wearing school pants, so five of us sat in a circle and played some simple games until the rest came back half an hour later. By that time, it was already 2pm.

Being very late, we set off to sentosa on the monorail. We went to Palawan beach. There happened to be a camera crew there filming some chinese drama. Christopher Lee was there and some girls went crazy over him.

There seemed to be nothing much to do on the beach, so I dug holes and built mountains of sand. Soon, several people joined in. It was about when we heard that Ben cut his foot. He was climbing the rocks near the ocean when he fell onto the wet sand, resulting in quite a bad cut from the rocks. His wound was addressed to before he sat down under the trees. I wouldn't have climbed the rocks if I were him. After visiting "the rocks" later, I realised the rocks were quite steep and jagged. Just below it was the shoreline of very fine and slippery sand. These made it quite a dangerous climbing spot for anyone (at least that is what I think). Surveying an area for any risks or dangers is important before doing anything, just like how I almost stepped on red ants near palm trees later. The camera crew then came to "our spot" and we got chased. Thus we journeyed across the coarse and scorching sand to a shelter in the centre of a beigh sea. There, we dug holes and built mountains again, and buried people's feet.

For some reason, sand furthur away from the sea is very coarse, and as we go nearer to the sea the sand gets finer and loose enough to replace a cushion. The sand at the shoreline is very fine but very compact, probably due to abundance of water. What I do not really understand is why the sand gets fine near the sea. Is it because of more weathering and erosion from the sea water?

For the first time, I visited the southernmost point of Continental Asia where Joelle, Emman, Dillon, Cheryl and Kat were. It was no different from the main beach and with one word to describe it-boring.

Near 5pm, Dillon, cmc and I went to get slurpees for 8, afterwhich we had light activities like throwing a frisbee around. At 5:30, we left the beach, but not sentosa...

My brother's post

My brother is going to post today for a change:

I locked everyone out of master bedroom. I was very playful. I did that because I had nothing to do and I am very stupid when my mother was not at home. I was very worried and the others too, because nobody can go into the room. We had wait for a very long time. When my mother reach home, she found out that that room was locked by me. She scolded me like mad, and she actually broke into tears. My father was not at home - he was in Taiwan. After that, she called the locksmith. She needed to pay 40 dollars to the person. She was very upset.
I felt sorry. She gave her hard-earned money that she earned to the locksmith. I would not lock anyone out of any room again.

This happened one or two weeks ago. He was probably just playing some games and thus locked the door in the process. I was doing my work then and despite me telling him many times to stop screaming, running around the house and banging doors, he did not listen. In future, if he does such a thing again, one possible approach would be to let him play computer or do something he likes until someone with more authority comes back. I hope we would not have to let money fly away so easily anymore in times to come.

Overslept

Last Tuesday as I was on the bus returning from German lesson, I fell asleep. When I reached Pasir Ris, I decided to sleep a while more. When I woke up, I thought I was on the TPE(actually somewhere else) and that doesn't make much sense, because TPE comes before Pasir Ris, but then I was tired so I did not realise. In the end, I went sightseeing at Changi Airport(bus 53 goes there) and had to make a big loop back to my home.

Lesson learnt: not to continue sleeping when near my destination