J1 Outdoor Adventure Camp @ Bintan

Mosquitoes remind us that we are not as high up on the food chain as we think - Tom Wilson


I realised that this is a very late post since the entire trip to Bintan happened more than two weeks ago, and only till now that I post about it. Must've been too lazy to do so. Anyways, the whole bunch of J1s travelled to Bintan for our outdoor adventure camp together, and through previous briefings we had on this trip, we all thought that it will be a smooth ride and a whole-new experience. Hey, it's a camp in Bintan! What else can you ask for? BUT.... things ain't what they seem.... Get geared up, it's gonna be a real long post.


I was with my Aquila house again and with my State throughout the entire camp so I thought we'll have a great time there together. Our transport to Bintan is the ferry, which we took from the Tanah Merah Terminal. It was my first time in an actual ferry, so it was a fine experience. Upon reaching our destination, we threw our heavy backpacks containing most of our clothes and necessities, to a corner for them to be transported to our camp site. After that, we set off to our first activity. Oh this one's a novelty. Mountain trekking. If the Taman Negara trip in Secondary 3 was any hint to what I'm about to experience, this sure won't be easy. Also, there was rain in the morning, so the tracks will be wet and therefore VERY slippery. Oh great, just great.


And it proved to be more difficult than I thought. That was one helluva steep mountain. Right from the start, before we could even reach the first quarter of the mountain, it is just too damn steep, and people already started slipping, and falling. There was even someone injured. My track shoes are an antique, since it WAS my dad's, and the tracks up are so damn slippery, guess how many times did I slip and fell just on the way up? At least 5 times. My track pants and sling-bag obviously got caught in the mud, and my water bottle, the 1 litre one, which I'm depending on to hydrate myself for all three days during the camp, was broken. I even had to put my hand onto the mud in order to climb up the steep mountain safely. The climb almost killed us.


Finally we reached the summit, but it was pretty obvious to us that we were only half-way done. We need to get down the mountain. Is it me or is it a fact that the way DOWN a steep mountain is often more difficult than climbing UP? Gosh... But, the way down seems a little easier. Take note: A LITTLE easier. It again took us hours to get back down from the mountain, taking another route this time. We were covered in dirt and mud when we finally reached the ground level. By this time, I can't wait to get to the golf-course where the camp site was, and ourselves all washed up. But everything is only the beginning.


The golf-course was in a much better condition than the camp-site for last year's J1 camp(which our seniors went to last year), which was described to be all muddy, moist, and a nightmare. But again, I emphasise, things ain't what they seem to be... We have to pitch tents right after we bathed, and drag them down another steep slope in our actual camp area. And I can't emphasise on how many bloody insects and flies that swarmed us all around the camp site. After settling down and all, we were supposed to do outdoor cooking with our CG, which the weak fire needed so much time to boil, and we officially had our dinner at about 10pm. That's considered supper... And finally, after a immensely tiring day, we were sent off to bed in our tents. You might think this is ordinary, it's just like any other outdoor camps... Well, check THIS out.


We finally got a chance to rest at about 1:30am, and I fell asleep at 2am. Guess what? The strong wind that pummelled our tent woke me up. It was about 4am. I just ignored the wind that is constantly causing the tent to shake. and tried to went back to sleep. I couldn't really go back to sleep, since something dramatic was about to happen. Our tent is opened slightly since we can't close it entirely due to the spoilt zips, and my legs were placed near the entrance of the tent. I felt moisture... I felt drops of water... I felt rain. That's the last straw. RAIN!?? IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? Things just don't get any better... It was just rain at first, which we all tried to ignore as well, and tried to sleep it off(Though we heard some exclamations from the girls' side, implying the collapse and flooding of tents that probably were not pitched right, or were inadequate to start with. Wonder who pitched their tents...). A trainer shouted to us while we were in our tents to "enjoy our sleep", and our first few activities were likely to be cancelled due to the weather. Fine, so we did. Until we heard something sinister. Something that had a killer intent. That's right. Thunder.


We all knew that being exposed in an area like the golf course during a thunderstorm is very dangerous. The lightning hazard had struck and we were like "Oh shit." We were immediately ordered to evacuate from our tents, get all of our belongings and proceed to the sheltered assembly area(which is just a narrow shelter). Everybody was rushing their way to the shelter, including us. It was like a battlefield when we got out of our tent and looked at what the accursed weather did to our camp. I feel like a soldier fighting an uphill battle while my battalion is getting shelled. Everywhere was rain and thunderclaps, flashes of lightning, and we were carrying our super-heavy haversacks, and bags like what soldiers carry to battle, and like an apocalypse movie, tents were toppling and collapsing in our path, forcing us to change directions. Remember the steep slope I talked about? Yup we were climbing that up to get to the shelter WITH all our heavy stuff with us, which caused us to almost crawl up with our hands. No joke, it was practically a battlefield.


We finally assembled and the rain died down soon... Where's our promised sleep? Gone. In the end, we didn't really get much rest, and we were already leaving for our activities which was rafting and "dragon-boating", after our breakfast. We thought we were gonna take the bus to the beach, but it didn't appear so. So we had to walk all the way from our camp site to the beach. More than an hour's walk. That just sucks man... And it is still drizzling... So after a rather time and energy consuming walk, we eventually reached the beach. Not as grand as we thought it would be, but well, we didn't really care anymore. The rafting activity was the exact same thing that I did back in the Secondary 3 Taman Negera trip(maybe I'll write a post about that someday, good memories...), but this time we gotta design our own raft and how we were supposed to tie them up. 


So apparently my State(OG) succeeded, partly because of my experience in this, and the team effort everybody put into the activity. However, the mangrove activity shrank in size as the weather affected the area, and only selected a few to go there. So we went on with our "dragon-boating", which really wore us out. C'mon we had so little rest... After taking a short break, we set off to go where? Back to the camp site. How? Walk. By that time, my shoes were already filled with all the sand and feet soaked with water. The abrasion almost killed my feet during the lengthy stroll back to the camp site. 


Back at the camp site, we proceeded to wash up in the beautiful, 5-star "changing room" which included showers. That was the heaven in hell. I could sleep on the carpeted floor without any complaints. And there's air-con... That's like our favourite hangout where we just lie there and rest after our shower. Probably the best part of the camp.


Anyways, we had our dinner, and assembled in our CGs. We were to write our wishes, the deepest and sincerest wish we had deep in our hearts, onto our Kong-Ming lantern, which we would later light up and let it guide our wishes to the stars, which would make our wishes come true. I can't tell you what I wrote but I'll give you a hint, there's a similar scene in the movie "You are the Apple of my eye" where the male and female lead wrote their wishes on the lantern and let it fly too. So my wish is something similar to one of their wishes. Anyways, we gathered in an area open field in the golf course so as to let the lanterns fly up to the night sky all at once. Our lantern was one of those that got lighted up first, and the CG encircled the lantern, firmly holding on to it although the heat scorched our fingers. We each said a few meaningful sentences to bond ourselves as one, to go through all the obstacles we would meet in the future, in our two years together. It was a very meaningful moment. However, the fuel was used up and the fire extinguished. We quickly had to get another solid fuel to light up the lantern but due to time constraints, we had to stop at the moment to witness the flight of numerous lanterns that carried the dreams of many...


After a few events, we quickly got back to lighting the lantern up but found out that there were holes on the lantern and a severe tear too. Our hopes of witnessing our lantern take flight immediately dashed. Everybody else's lantern flew, but ours. Needless to say, we were a little demoralised. Though, we looked into the bright side, holding the lantern in our hands, thinking "Our dreams are in our hands". We all looked to the bright moon that seemed to be consoling us, as a the guide to our dreams. 


After that the guys were ordered to move all the tents up the steep slope to the flat area next to the shelter. They finally realised their mistake, didn't they? It took us quite a bit of time, but we eventually did it, while the girls just sat there looking at us. Sad life... Still, many tents had collapsed and unable to fix it back into shape, and most were still wet or flooded. We guys once again had to give our tents up for the girls. That night, most of the guys slept outside, under the narrow shelter, instead of the tents. I was sleeping in another corner though.


It was a fairly good rest, and when we woke up, we knew that we were going to go back to Singapore. As I was in the first batch to leave Singapore, I thought I would be the first batch to leave Bintan as well. Of course not. Most of my House went on the first batch to leave, while my State and another one had to wait till the third and the last batch to leave. I have to say, I was pissed. We were pissed. We had to stay in that place and feed mosquitoes till about 11am? No way... The weather was freaking hot, we had to sit under the hot sun. The trainers and a few of the student leaders were just stupid or what? They themselves command from the shelter, while we sat in the front of the shelter, under the sun. They were so inflexible... I just stood up and went to the shelter with a few of my State people. I had been shaking heads since Day 1, at the inflexibility and incompetence of the trainers and some of the student leaders(most are good).


We finally gotta go, and the trip back to Singapore was considered swift. I had been considering to join the House Ex-Co since orientation, and I still have the intention, especially after seeing the utter inflexibility and "enthusiastic but no leadership" people in House-Exco(my House leaders were mostly fine and nice). Perhaps I can change something? I sure hope so... I started writing this post since two weeks before and I've only completed it now. It sure is a heck of a post, right? A super long one... This is the post that made me unable to post much recently. Shall talk more on the next post, Ciao~

Busy week

Hi! I know I haven't been posting anything since the beginning of the March holidays, but I am really bogged down by all the due holiday assignments (which I didn't complete on time as usual), and the hectic week up ahead. I will try my best to post as much as I can but no guarantees. Anyways, just a short update, I've finally completed my Chinese presentation which is about my favourite movie which is obviously "You are the Apple of My Eye". It took me more than 4 hours to complete apparently because I was too caught up with finding photos to put in my slides which will make my presentation more complete, while trying to describe the movie in detail which happens to be my forte as I went on and on and on about the movie, especially the lovey-dovey part. You can see how much effort I put into the slides and the synopsis itself, when I far exceeded the requirement of 500 words in the synopsis by more than 600 words, and the slides were done with all my heart and soul. I am probably presenting to the class tomorrow so wish me luck! Maybe I can upload my slides and synopsis up here in my blog... Hmm... Oh wells, I still needa do my History tutorial! Will post soon!

2011 A-Level Results Release

"All's fair in love and war...... and exams..."


The 2011 A-Level Results were released last Friday but I wasn't there to watch everything that happened on that day. I read the newspaper the following day and managed to take a peek at the names of the top students of each Junior Colleges. Not that I know either of them, but it wouldn't hurt to know such stuff. Besides the usual prestigious JCs such as HJC, VJC, and so on, one particular JC drew my attention. It was my very own college, Innova JC. Though being the newest college in Singapore and accepting a wide range of students in terms of results, it was printed there in the newspaper that there were six top students from Innova. I personally feel that it was a stellar performance from these students, who definitely brought our college so much more renown and pride. I really aspire to be one of them, during my year of course. Gotta have FAITH right?


Though I wasn't present when the results were released, I can pretty much imagine how the situation was, for the J2s as well as for the cohort receiving their results. It's just about the same as the release of the O-Level results when I was Sec 3 and was 'invited' to view the entire process. The stress and pressure that is on those taking the results, and also those who will soon be in the same situation the following year. Perhaps this time, it is a lot more serious.


After reading the newspaper and being informed that my college produced such quality top students, I believed that the entire college cohort that took the examination last year did exceptionally well too. However, I was proved wrong today. My principal gave a speech during morning assembly today, about the release of the A-Level results last Friday. According to her speech, there were numerous achievements of the cohort that took the exams. H2 Biology, H2 History, H2 Physics, H1 Mathematics (and others that I have forgotten) all have increased pass and distinction rate. It didn't sound bad at all, until she said something that shook the foundations of our belief. Only 50% of the cohort can get into university. That means one out of two can't get into a university.


To say the very least, I was shocked. How did they do so well in their exams that they improved the pass and distinction rate of prominent subjects but half of them can't make it into university? What exactly are we up against? Those students from the top JCs? And foreign scholars? University is what we all are aiming for since Day One when we decided to enrol in a JC. We can't be going anywhere else but university with an A-Level certificate. This mindset has been drilled into us several times. We are heading to the university, period. But statistics sure isn't doing well for my college in terms of hitting the University Admission Criteria.


My principal stressed to the J2s as well as us J1s to start making the effort now. She is planning to raise the percentage from 50% to 80%. That may seem a little too much of a far cry, but it has to be done. I will be taking the exam for H1 Chinese and Project Work this year, and my other core subjects next year. Everything starts now. It's now or never.


Today, when my class had finished our Economics tutorial lesson, our Literature lecturer who is also our tutor, strode into the classroom, somehow creating a tense and moody atmosphere. It was still rather chilling in the morning, as I recall. I had a question for him, since I did not recall that the principal had said anything about Literature pass and distinction rates improving or even maintaining. But before I could say anything, he gave everybody his answer. The usual impressive grades of H2 Literature of our previous cohorts in this college were diminished. Or shall I say swept away. The national average of distinction rate in H2 Literature was 40+%. My college had previously held higher than national average distinction rates, and now it had dropped tremendously to a pitiful 8%. 8% of eighty-five students who took H2 Literature from our college, is six people. 6 out of 85 scored an 'A' grade. Perhaps there was nothing I can say to describe my Literature lecturer's utter disappointment.


He reminded us to shake away the failures of the previous cohort, to look towards the future, so that we can get into a university, by any means. Best if we can actually get into a university of OUR choice. After his strong speech, I just feel obliged to score well in Literature, and of course ALL the other subjects. I may not have done Literature in depth before, but I ain't gonna give up when the going gets tough. I made my choice to come into a JC, I made my choice to experience the hell here, and eventually get into a university and into a course I wanna take. I don't know who is going where, but I am quite positive towards where I am heading to. Full steam ahead!