Going to Mawai from tomorrow till Sunday.
Pray that I be not forced to do something stupid when I come back.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Myself
Some Notes To Self:
I just realized.
Maybe it's not that I have a fantastic memory.
Maybe I just have too little things in my life, hence I remember everything.
And oh yeah, maybe the reason people don't understand me is because I can't find the right words to describe what I want to say. But, I think, what I understand, was learnt through experience, hence no words can describe them accurately. Who cares.
I just realized.
Maybe it's not that I have a fantastic memory.
Maybe I just have too little things in my life, hence I remember everything.
And oh yeah, maybe the reason people don't understand me is because I can't find the right words to describe what I want to say. But, I think, what I understand, was learnt through experience, hence no words can describe them accurately. Who cares.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Greenridge Secondary
Ran a 3D2N camp at KOREF for Greenridge Secondary. The participants were secondary one students, classes 1E1, 1E2, 1E3, 1E4, 1A1 and 1A3. It was a pleasant and memorable trip for me, and I hope that the campers felt the same.
Day 1:
We set off from the school in the morning to Gunung Lambak, where the campers will climb the hill. I had the pleasure of sitting in 1A3 and 1A1's buses. During the journey, The campers were rowdy, high spirited and excited about the camp. They didn't sleep like most campers did, but sang songs throughout the 2.5 hours. Upon arrival, they ate their lunch and prepared to ascend the hill. The campers climbed to the submit of the hill and back in around 3.5 hours. I only went to the mid point as I had to follow the first class back to the campsite to prepare tent issue and arrangement.
After the instructors gave a demonstration on how to pitch the tents, the campers were arranged into designated spots to pitch their tents. I must say that I was rather proud of them as most of them were capable enough to pitch the tents properly without much help. After they were done, they had their first meal at KOREF and went for their night walk. After that, they were given time for a much well deserved showering up and resting.
Day 2:
Woke up early, and heard that 1/2 of the campers woke up at around 5+am. Quite surprised that they weren't tired out from the activities the day before. The benefits of youth :P I went to walk the water obstacles course to check that they were repaired and ready to be used by the students. The V rope obstacle was infested with ants and I was bitten quite a few times by them while crossing. I cleared the ropes of the ants as much as I can and decided it was safe enough for use. Spent the whole morning and afternoon introducing, guiding and teaching the kids how to cross the obstacle course safely, properly and have as much fun as possible. The most enjoyed obstacle was undoubtedly the swing, where surprisingly, 100% of the girls who attempted the obstacle course managed to swing successfully from 1 side to the other. To spice up the activity, I assigned a route for the campers to run and took their best timings. This allowed the campers to improve their confidence and showed them that from a slow start, they could build enough confidence to run / fast walk across the many obstacles. Also, they could challenge themselves and take pride in being fast amongst their school mates. The fastest guy and girl was from 1E1, where they cross the challenge course in 56 seconds and 1 minute 30 seconds respectively.
Just before and after dinner, they prepared for camp fire. The spirit of the campers were high and most of them were really enjoying themselves. Initially, the weather looked like it wouldn't hold out for the campfire to be held outdoors but we decided to give it a shot anyways. We had some difficulty getting the fire started but it was all smooth going after that. Some of the class performances were quite good and I really hope they take this experience with them.
Day 3:
The campers packed up their tents and went for activities. Took the last 2 classes for the water obstacle course, and in fact, it was the last class, 1E1 that was the fastest. But I wanted to contribute a complete section to the water obstacles. The campers had their reflections and debrief with their school teachers and presented some of their thoughts. The school teacher asked the instructors to say a few words to the campers which he will video tape and was gonna show it to the school. It was a rather scary thought but we all said something. Everyone was eager to go, instructors included :P We packed up and set off for Singapore. We reached the school at around 1830 and were glad to be able to go home to our beds and computers. The most interesting thing to do on top of the list of things when they reach home was said by a camper that she wanted to "kiss her toilet floor as it was so clean". For the instructors, we had dinner with Boss and finally made our way back home.
Note to self : It was a tiring but really enjoyable experience. To be able to see all the students and talk to them, guide them and also hop on so many of the buses and interact with them was a real joy. The instructors were all nice, fun and out going people. It was a real good trip and I'm already so looking forward to the next trip :)
Day 1:
We set off from the school in the morning to Gunung Lambak, where the campers will climb the hill. I had the pleasure of sitting in 1A3 and 1A1's buses. During the journey, The campers were rowdy, high spirited and excited about the camp. They didn't sleep like most campers did, but sang songs throughout the 2.5 hours. Upon arrival, they ate their lunch and prepared to ascend the hill. The campers climbed to the submit of the hill and back in around 3.5 hours. I only went to the mid point as I had to follow the first class back to the campsite to prepare tent issue and arrangement.
After the instructors gave a demonstration on how to pitch the tents, the campers were arranged into designated spots to pitch their tents. I must say that I was rather proud of them as most of them were capable enough to pitch the tents properly without much help. After they were done, they had their first meal at KOREF and went for their night walk. After that, they were given time for a much well deserved showering up and resting.
Day 2:
Woke up early, and heard that 1/2 of the campers woke up at around 5+am. Quite surprised that they weren't tired out from the activities the day before. The benefits of youth :P I went to walk the water obstacles course to check that they were repaired and ready to be used by the students. The V rope obstacle was infested with ants and I was bitten quite a few times by them while crossing. I cleared the ropes of the ants as much as I can and decided it was safe enough for use. Spent the whole morning and afternoon introducing, guiding and teaching the kids how to cross the obstacle course safely, properly and have as much fun as possible. The most enjoyed obstacle was undoubtedly the swing, where surprisingly, 100% of the girls who attempted the obstacle course managed to swing successfully from 1 side to the other. To spice up the activity, I assigned a route for the campers to run and took their best timings. This allowed the campers to improve their confidence and showed them that from a slow start, they could build enough confidence to run / fast walk across the many obstacles. Also, they could challenge themselves and take pride in being fast amongst their school mates. The fastest guy and girl was from 1E1, where they cross the challenge course in 56 seconds and 1 minute 30 seconds respectively.
Just before and after dinner, they prepared for camp fire. The spirit of the campers were high and most of them were really enjoying themselves. Initially, the weather looked like it wouldn't hold out for the campfire to be held outdoors but we decided to give it a shot anyways. We had some difficulty getting the fire started but it was all smooth going after that. Some of the class performances were quite good and I really hope they take this experience with them.
Day 3:
The campers packed up their tents and went for activities. Took the last 2 classes for the water obstacle course, and in fact, it was the last class, 1E1 that was the fastest. But I wanted to contribute a complete section to the water obstacles. The campers had their reflections and debrief with their school teachers and presented some of their thoughts. The school teacher asked the instructors to say a few words to the campers which he will video tape and was gonna show it to the school. It was a rather scary thought but we all said something. Everyone was eager to go, instructors included :P We packed up and set off for Singapore. We reached the school at around 1830 and were glad to be able to go home to our beds and computers. The most interesting thing to do on top of the list of things when they reach home was said by a camper that she wanted to "kiss her toilet floor as it was so clean". For the instructors, we had dinner with Boss and finally made our way back home.
Note to self : It was a tiring but really enjoyable experience. To be able to see all the students and talk to them, guide them and also hop on so many of the buses and interact with them was a real joy. The instructors were all nice, fun and out going people. It was a real good trip and I'm already so looking forward to the next trip :)
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Pulau Tioman
Just had the best 4D3N in my life at Tioman Island.
It's an island in My'sia, and I was there with Amir, Ameer and S&Y.
We stayed at Sun Beach Resort, located at Genting Village.
Day 1:
We met up in a cab ride to go to golden mile complex at 0530. All of us were excited about the trip. We could not suppress a fear that we would not get there in time though, and it showed mainly on Sai's face :P But we managed to get on the right bus and reach the Mersing jetty and hopped onto a ferry to go to Tioman. The journey there seemed to take forever. But the first sight of Tioman was of its twin peaks. Saw the silhouette from a long distance. My first thought of the island was "wow, it looks like a monster." The shape of the island looked like some giant creature and it is 1 of the 3 legends of how the island came to be. We got briefed by the person in charge on the island, got our keys and showed to our rooms. It was a simple room, beds enough for 4 for the 3 person room and a king bed for the twin room. It wasn't luxurious, just simple and sufficient. We explored a bit, had lunch at a cafe and decided to take a walk to the Paya beach next to us. The walk turned out to be quite a exciting trek. Saw some sights and climbed up and down feeling like a survivor :P It was tiring and we all decided we won't trek back. That lead to us taking a speed boat ride back to Genting beach, and all of us getting hooked on speed boat rides :P We bought our snorkeling gear at Paya Beach, yellow goggles and breathing tubes. :) At night, we went to explore our own village, bought some snacks for the night and all.
Day 2:
Island trip day. We shared a boat with around another 25 people. We first went to some island to snorkel, which had some nice corals, and I cut my hand against one of them. The fishes were small but beautiful. Took some time to get used to the snorkeling gear and all :) Drank some sea water but all in all, it was good. Had lunch at a beautiful beach with white sand. Had a close encounter with a Komodo Dragon. Went very near it before I saw it. Scared me quite badly, but nonetheless was an experience :P Went to Tekek Village, which was supposedly the "town" of tioman, but it was under construction. Went to check out the trekking path to Juara, the only village on the other side of the island. Last stop was at marine park, where there were really big fishes for us to see. Quite scary. The waters were choppy and not very suitable for snorkeling. 3/4 of the people gave up after a while. Enjoyed the boat ride from place to place. Feeling the wind in your hair, the sun, just relaxing, taking in the view of the sea, island and feeling so small when staring at the horizon. Truth be told, I can't really swim, so I've always been afraid of the sea. But after doing some boat hopping, walking around on it and all, I feel quite confident and found it more fun than fear on boats now. Dinner was good, then we managed to get a place where we could rent a speed boat from 0900 to 1500 for day 3, where we would go village hopping and to a water fall. Really enjoying the nights too, just playing cards, talking, sitting out at the porch in the hammock and all. Talking to people who mattered to me, and things that touched our hearts.
Day 3:
Speed boat ride = trilling, exciting and wet. Love it.
Went to a waterfall at the South West part of the island. Climbed up the path to the waterfall. It didn't look like much, but being in the water and under the fall changes your perception. Such power, and it looked so unconquerable. We spent a good hour trying to climb to the top but it was rather inaccessible. Ended up taking tons of pictures :P We then climbed down to the a area, where we could jump off from the rocks into water that was rather deep. All of us dived in :) Thanks to Amir who lent me a strong arm, I didn't drown :P I knew I could trust my life with my friends. Then we went village hopping, didn't have much to see, only Japamala was so impressive with its glass jetty and all. 1500 RM per person per night. WOW. Looked the part though. Went back to Paya to have lunch, was nice, then went back to Genting. Took pictures with the 2 boatman :) Nice people. Spent 2 hours sun tanning, then another hour plus shopping, I bought 2 shirts and some wood craft. Just love those. And some other souvenirs. Then we had BBQ dinner. Was awesome. Squid, chicken wing, hotdog, fish, all done well :) Played some cards then went to the bar to get some more food. Crappy rubber steak though. Took me long enough to eat it. LOL. Slept w/o blanket thanks to Amir :P Just needed enough of it to cover my puny feet but he wrapped it like a cocoon around himself :P
Day 4:
Woke up early, all packed the night before. Just bathe, and ready to go. Took some pictures, and headed to the jetty to wait for ferry. The trip back seemed a lot faster than it took. No anticipation. Didn't really want to go, but we know, we will be going for other trips :) All of us had great memories, had great fun. Reached Singapore, had Macdonald's for lunch/dinner. Reached home, unpacked, washed all the dirty laundry and slept. Now is 11.45 PM, I woke up at 10 PM thanks my auntie who called and asked me some stupid questions. Took me quite a while to type all these out. Things that will trigger my memories of the place, of the fun I had, of the people that were with me.
Note to self : The trip was one that I will never forget. This will be the first of many trips to come, and I really enjoyed myself.
It's an island in My'sia, and I was there with Amir, Ameer and S&Y.
We stayed at Sun Beach Resort, located at Genting Village.
Day 1:
We met up in a cab ride to go to golden mile complex at 0530. All of us were excited about the trip. We could not suppress a fear that we would not get there in time though, and it showed mainly on Sai's face :P But we managed to get on the right bus and reach the Mersing jetty and hopped onto a ferry to go to Tioman. The journey there seemed to take forever. But the first sight of Tioman was of its twin peaks. Saw the silhouette from a long distance. My first thought of the island was "wow, it looks like a monster." The shape of the island looked like some giant creature and it is 1 of the 3 legends of how the island came to be. We got briefed by the person in charge on the island, got our keys and showed to our rooms. It was a simple room, beds enough for 4 for the 3 person room and a king bed for the twin room. It wasn't luxurious, just simple and sufficient. We explored a bit, had lunch at a cafe and decided to take a walk to the Paya beach next to us. The walk turned out to be quite a exciting trek. Saw some sights and climbed up and down feeling like a survivor :P It was tiring and we all decided we won't trek back. That lead to us taking a speed boat ride back to Genting beach, and all of us getting hooked on speed boat rides :P We bought our snorkeling gear at Paya Beach, yellow goggles and breathing tubes. :) At night, we went to explore our own village, bought some snacks for the night and all.
Day 2:
Island trip day. We shared a boat with around another 25 people. We first went to some island to snorkel, which had some nice corals, and I cut my hand against one of them. The fishes were small but beautiful. Took some time to get used to the snorkeling gear and all :) Drank some sea water but all in all, it was good. Had lunch at a beautiful beach with white sand. Had a close encounter with a Komodo Dragon. Went very near it before I saw it. Scared me quite badly, but nonetheless was an experience :P Went to Tekek Village, which was supposedly the "town" of tioman, but it was under construction. Went to check out the trekking path to Juara, the only village on the other side of the island. Last stop was at marine park, where there were really big fishes for us to see. Quite scary. The waters were choppy and not very suitable for snorkeling. 3/4 of the people gave up after a while. Enjoyed the boat ride from place to place. Feeling the wind in your hair, the sun, just relaxing, taking in the view of the sea, island and feeling so small when staring at the horizon. Truth be told, I can't really swim, so I've always been afraid of the sea. But after doing some boat hopping, walking around on it and all, I feel quite confident and found it more fun than fear on boats now. Dinner was good, then we managed to get a place where we could rent a speed boat from 0900 to 1500 for day 3, where we would go village hopping and to a water fall. Really enjoying the nights too, just playing cards, talking, sitting out at the porch in the hammock and all. Talking to people who mattered to me, and things that touched our hearts.
Day 3:
Speed boat ride = trilling, exciting and wet. Love it.
Went to a waterfall at the South West part of the island. Climbed up the path to the waterfall. It didn't look like much, but being in the water and under the fall changes your perception. Such power, and it looked so unconquerable. We spent a good hour trying to climb to the top but it was rather inaccessible. Ended up taking tons of pictures :P We then climbed down to the a area, where we could jump off from the rocks into water that was rather deep. All of us dived in :) Thanks to Amir who lent me a strong arm, I didn't drown :P I knew I could trust my life with my friends. Then we went village hopping, didn't have much to see, only Japamala was so impressive with its glass jetty and all. 1500 RM per person per night. WOW. Looked the part though. Went back to Paya to have lunch, was nice, then went back to Genting. Took pictures with the 2 boatman :) Nice people. Spent 2 hours sun tanning, then another hour plus shopping, I bought 2 shirts and some wood craft. Just love those. And some other souvenirs. Then we had BBQ dinner. Was awesome. Squid, chicken wing, hotdog, fish, all done well :) Played some cards then went to the bar to get some more food. Crappy rubber steak though. Took me long enough to eat it. LOL. Slept w/o blanket thanks to Amir :P Just needed enough of it to cover my puny feet but he wrapped it like a cocoon around himself :P
Day 4:
Woke up early, all packed the night before. Just bathe, and ready to go. Took some pictures, and headed to the jetty to wait for ferry. The trip back seemed a lot faster than it took. No anticipation. Didn't really want to go, but we know, we will be going for other trips :) All of us had great memories, had great fun. Reached Singapore, had Macdonald's for lunch/dinner. Reached home, unpacked, washed all the dirty laundry and slept. Now is 11.45 PM, I woke up at 10 PM thanks my auntie who called and asked me some stupid questions. Took me quite a while to type all these out. Things that will trigger my memories of the place, of the fun I had, of the people that were with me.
Note to self : The trip was one that I will never forget. This will be the first of many trips to come, and I really enjoyed myself.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Graduation
I officially declare myself to be graduated from "Poh's Swimming Course for Dummies".
LOL
It's rather hard to believe what I can do now. The confidence I have, and the fact that I can swim.
On 20/04/08, I decided that I will learn how to swim so as not be a burden during my tioman trip. I seriously doubt it will help a lot, and I most certainly will be wearing life jacket when going out to sea, but you know what? I hate to be helpless. In fact, I sometimes get scared when I see a large body of water.
Anyways, my first day of swimming was trying to float properly, and doing a few strokes. Pathetic, but that was all I could do without goggles.
Day 2, went to buy goggles, and did breadths of the pool. Still can't really breathe, move and stay near the surface properly. I'm worried, because I don't want to just swim, I want to stay in water for a long period of time.
End of week 1, sometimes, I can do a length w/o stopping, sometimes cannot. The kicking and strokes come naturally, it's the breathing.
Then somewhere along mid week 1, I decided that coming up for breath after every stroke is just plain annoying and tiring. I decided to go 2 strokes and 1 breath. Started out struggling for breath, but I still think that's the least taxing method.
Last lesson today. 06/05/08. I can do either 1 stroke or 2 strokes and breathe. That depends on whether I need air. I'm always near the top of the surface if I want to. And the only time I will falter is when I smile / grin stupidly at my own achievements. LOL. Breathing = OKay. Strokes = Okay. Floating = Okay. Stamina, not so bad, just that my arms tire out cause I depend a lot on them.
I think swimming is fun, and I will continue to swim after my trip :)
LOL
It's rather hard to believe what I can do now. The confidence I have, and the fact that I can swim.
On 20/04/08, I decided that I will learn how to swim so as not be a burden during my tioman trip. I seriously doubt it will help a lot, and I most certainly will be wearing life jacket when going out to sea, but you know what? I hate to be helpless. In fact, I sometimes get scared when I see a large body of water.
Anyways, my first day of swimming was trying to float properly, and doing a few strokes. Pathetic, but that was all I could do without goggles.
Day 2, went to buy goggles, and did breadths of the pool. Still can't really breathe, move and stay near the surface properly. I'm worried, because I don't want to just swim, I want to stay in water for a long period of time.
End of week 1, sometimes, I can do a length w/o stopping, sometimes cannot. The kicking and strokes come naturally, it's the breathing.
Then somewhere along mid week 1, I decided that coming up for breath after every stroke is just plain annoying and tiring. I decided to go 2 strokes and 1 breath. Started out struggling for breath, but I still think that's the least taxing method.
Last lesson today. 06/05/08. I can do either 1 stroke or 2 strokes and breathe. That depends on whether I need air. I'm always near the top of the surface if I want to. And the only time I will falter is when I smile / grin stupidly at my own achievements. LOL. Breathing = OKay. Strokes = Okay. Floating = Okay. Stamina, not so bad, just that my arms tire out cause I depend a lot on them.
I think swimming is fun, and I will continue to swim after my trip :)
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