Beijing Trip 2006, Footsteps in time

Part I

Well its gone and over....
7 days passed by like nothing....
enjoyed myself totally.....
Friendships were enhanced...
and new bonds were made....
i still cant believe that its all OVER....
Its just too fast...
Way too fast...
How i wish i could go back there again....
And escape from all the stress....
And the tons of homework and dealines to meet...
where everything is much simpler....
cooler and more relaxed.....


the hotel wasnt great....
but it was good enough....
the food there was good.....
11 course at some....
there was alot of wastage....
Facils were GREAT....
they were very knowledgable....
and they were very bilingual...
Mr heng was LAME....
Not that bilingual though...(:
he tried to entertain us.....
good try.....
a discovery about alwyn & thaddeus...
narcissus and cam whore....lol...(sticks tongue out)
we travelled in a bus....
from places to places...
to different destinations we go....
laughters and singing filled the bus....
disgusted, amazed, stunned & impressed were the feelings....

tomorrow morning 6.30 morning call 7.00 breakfast 8.00 at lobby everyone!!!!

Day 1

Woke up early to be at the airport at 6.50am
Arrived there on time....
alot of family were there....
so was mine...
after a prayer....
after bidding goodbyes...
into the depature hall we went....
we were EXCITED....
very excited....
we took many pictures...
hello arent we still in singapore???
LOL....
The planes....
Thaddeus
Alwyn and Me...
Thaddeus and Me.....
335/435 (Me, thad, Elian, aLwyn)

So we boarded the plane....
it was slightly delayed....
doesnt mke a difference....
i met my optometrist...
what a small world....
same flight...same destination....
Sat beside kiantat....was his first time taking flight....
he seem calm....
offered him sweets so that he will feel better when taking off...
The flight was great....
SQ...duh...lol....
food was great too....
the only thing bad is...
there's no playing cards....
due to some technical problem...BleahX
the movies on board was great...
watched 2....
My super Ex-girlfriend & John tucker must Die...
both was hilarious....
I think i laughed out loud...
hope i didnt give anyone a shock....XD
Elian and Mathias....
Kiantat and Me...(pls ignore the finger)
We HAD magnum on board...or is it just typical of SIA...LOL

So after close to 6 hours of flight...
We ARRIVED in beijing.....
the airport was very dim....
poor lit up....
everything was messy...
I guess its just that we r not used to it....
foreign to the surroundings...,
stepped out of the airport....
woooo....cooling...shiok....
its as though u r inside a fridge that has no boundaries....
Thaddeus, mathias and Me caught on cam unknowingly...
ah lian no. 1 pose....
Me mathias thaddeus and elian....

Our first stop wasnt the hotel....
But some place called..hutong...
The facils said it's like singapore's Clarke Quay...
doesnt seem so to me....
its a sat a weekend...
but it wasnt as crowded as i thought it would be...
So we walked and walked....
took pictures pictures....
and more pictures....
thats what tourists do right....
I guess we r very good tourists than....(:
A lake i guess...
Walking....
Thad & Me....(one of the close eye shots...)
one of the houses....do u call it houses??
A beanie shot...

So after that was dinner...
It was some kao rou restaurant....
11 course....
imagine it....
I was friggin full....
and there were alot of extras....
then it was time to go check out our hotel...
the place we will be sleeping in for the nxt 6 nights....
Its called DongFang hotel...
the lobby was quite small....
619 was my room no.
thaddeus was my roommate....
there was NO bathtub......BleahX...
room was smaller than it was in the picture on net...
but it was comfy enough....
Put our things down and off we went to the supermarket...
To stock up on the necessities....
actually mainly food la...
in case we get hungry in the night...
bought bottles of drinking water....
soft drinks.... chips...biscuits...and of cos instant noodles...
Shopping.....

Day 2

There were changes to the itinerary....
we were not scheduled to go to the forbidden city today but nvm....
so we went....
the place is friggin huge....
I pity the sedan carriers man...
they have to carry the royal family around the palace...
and do u know the forbidden city has 9999 rooms...
that meanss if the emperor would to stay in one room a day...
and keeps changing room...
it will take him around 30 years to finish staying all of the rooms...
madness....
We had starbucks in the forbidden city itself.....
shared hot chocolate with thad 4 sing....
quite reasonable....
and starbucks is called XING BA KE....lol....
it was a pity....
the biggest hall is under construction.....
the Ling xiao dian....
the most majestic one where the emperor settles national affairs....
I seriously wonder how many thrones they have....
cos there is one in every hall we went....
and god knows how many there is???
At the forbidden city......




Me and thad holding the maple leafs we picked up on the street....Very nice right...

so lunch was at somewhere halfway up the great wall....
the restaurant is very nice and the decor very comfy...
it used to be a pri school explains it....
there were even crayons and score sheet for us to scribble....
so pri school like....
very interesting....
had a large sandwich...
yummy....
guess i was hungry...lol...
the restaurant.....
in the toilet....LOL

So we went onto the bus again...
our destination this time is the GREAT WALL....
there are three different sections of the great wall that is open to the public...
the one we went is called mu tian yu...
it isnt the one normally ppl will go to...
as its slightly more difficult to climb....
the sight of the great wall cant be described with words...
majestic??? its more than that...
Awesome??? its also more than that
its just ***open mouths big*** WOAH!!!!
Lol....
I just cant imagine how they actually build the wall some 500 yrs ago....
where there is no machinery and technology...
just man power...
purely man power...
they have to scale the mountains....carrying bricks and stones....
from the foot of the mountain all the way up...
with nothing but their bare hands....
imagine the harsh climate...
no wonder thousands and millions of ppl died cos of the great wall....
is it really worth it???
when eventually the mongolians managed to break through it...
and conquer china...
kublai khan once told this to his troops...
" the wall is only as strong as the courage of those defending it"
this is so true.....
even if u have a uber strong wall but u dont have any soldiers who are willing to lay down their lives to protect the country...
then u will still fail in the end....
The weather forecast is 6 to -1 degess but it felt nothing like that la....
I was sweating like dont know what while climbing....
it was high....
just steps steps and more steps....

touched the wall...

wahahaha...king of the world
Mathias doing handstand on the great wall...woah....
Day 3

So its a monday and its school immersion day!!!
And its Beijing No.8 middle school...
interesting fact: the schools are all numbered over here in china
For exp. shenzhen no.11 school....
the classroom i would say looks very nice...
and its high tech leh...
all use com and teach...mmm...impressed...
maybe thats why they are comparable to RI...
they would do this weird dance ever morning....
as a daily workout....
lol....the great china workout....
and their lines SUUPER straight....
even straighter and neater than the ones in our UGs...
damn pro....
super straight....

So we attended 2 lessons...
one is on the traditional chinese paper cutting
while the other one is the chinese painting lesson...
it was no doubt fun...
i tried drawing out the patterns i want first before i start to cut..
but ya...i failed miserably....
in the end i just decided to just cut...
and it turned out much much better...LOL...
the trick is to get as little paper left after finish cutting...
the thinner it looks(abou to tear kind)
the more pro it is...lol...

Mine ,thaddeus and Elian's masterpieces...

after that was the chinese painting class....
we were supposed to paint a sparrow and bamboo painting...
was very fun....
challenging too...
some of it turned out very weird and inproportional...
but nevertheless we were quite satisfied after killing many trees...
My masterpiece!!!!
the messy classroom
a chinese painting????

So after that was the visit to Duxiu company...
basically its some kind of a search engine..
where ppl can make use of it and find info about china books...
they also places books online...
they scan and upload the books...
so ppl wouldnt need to actually buy the books to read them...
they could purchase a card that has a certain amount of credit in it...
and use it to access the books online....
they actually have a factory that operates 24/7 with 2 shifts of workers...
we got free gifts...lol...
a card that has 10yuan in it..
and i have 2....lol..
it sure will come in handy when its time to do du shu bao gao...

the very nice looking office building(not duxiu)

inside duXiu
cam whores in the making...alright we were bored...

After that was the trip to Xidan book of malls....
werent interested in the book mall....
though i must say its huge...
singapore's largest popular also cant hold a candle to it...
more interested in the 77th street mall beside it....
they actually have a 77th street shopping mall underground...
its supossed to be very crowded where all the teenagers hangout...
but it seems quite empty...
or is it justt bcos its a weekday???
i thought our orchard road is forever crowded...
And the shopkeepers there ....
i must say they are damn goood..
when we walk pass...
" ta1 men2 shi4 cong2 xing1 jia1 po1 lai2 de4"
Do we have SINGAPOREANS written on our forehead???
Anyway bought 2 VCDs...damn cheap......10RMB for 1
bought 2 thats like 4 sing...
Rob-b-hood...
and scary movie 4 uncensored unrated...lol
we also did our interviews for our buisness plan...
i think elian and me made a good pair....
it went quite smoothly...
except for the 2 bit****
bought a belt for 2sing....
at 77th street...
but it was too short....bleahx....
reason is alwyn ran and bought it for me at the last minute...
I didnt buy it myself...oh well...gave it to elian...
the statue of books..outside Xidan

Day 4

3 destinations today....
1. Beijing urban planning centre
2.ancient observatory centre
3. Lenovo company visit

Beijing urban planning centre was an eye opener....
Beijing is really huge.....
see it for urself...
we were on the second floor!!!

Its just part of beijing....
Hi!!!!

Next stop is the Ancient observatory centre...
I was very impressed how smart the ppl were....
its like more than 500 years ago
and they actually already know how to read the stars!!!
predict the weather...
and read the time...
using instruments that do not make any sense to us...
yet they are quite accurate...
Chinese are VERY SMART i would say...
all the instruments we saw were replicas of the real one...
the real ones are all at nanjing...
cos 1 of the many emperors once moved his capital to nanjing..
thus bringing all those along too....
i guess they didnt want to move it back...
in case accidents might happen and in the process these precious artefacts destroyed...

The artefacts thar were used to predict weather and time...

The poke cause the right side of my nose to bleed like after 10 minutes

After that was the company visit to Lenovo...
this time round its a much bigger company than Duxiu...
it has its own building...
We were given a talk by some guy...
and sorry to say that but it was boring...
I was falling asleep...
many others too...
for the ignorant, Lenovo is the company who bought over IBM...
it is also the partner of the Olympics 2008 beijing...
and its now the third biggest computer manufacturer in the world...
we got a tour of the factory....
the assembly line and everything...
sorry no pics as we cant take pics in the factory....


after that was a surprise trip to decathelon...
a mega sports store...
selling sports related items ranging from clothes to equipments...
for more than 60 different kind of sports...
bought 3 pairs of ankle socks at 29 yuan around 2 sing a pair
bought 2 sports tights for training one at 14 Sing
and a what do u call it??
wrist/arm strengthening device...
the one that u squeeze....ya....

MISSING Beijing............

there will be part 2 coming up soon....
meanwhile enjoy this first...
will update once i come back from my chalets....
watch this space....
till than...
be back on the 1st of dec....

Ok...lets c if i still can remember...
I will try my very best to....
so here it goes....

Day 4

The final and last day of the whole ACE experience....
some were happy some were sad...
I guess i was rather neutral...
So it was the last activity the one i fear most....
GUNUNG LUMBAK....
shivers.....lol...
so we setted off straight after breakfast....
bus ride was windy like last year....
though rocky we still fell asleep...
on the bus....
Tired ACEs...

So it was about 45 mins later that we reached the foot of lumbak....
and we embarked on our journey after some simple stretching....
Mr chua was the teacher-in-charge...
Rakit was the instructor....
jon chen jon soh and rahimm were the ACEs....
the route seems familiar yet foreign....
its a weird feeling...
the 3 ACEs who have climbed it for the 6th time...
would probably feel climbing a breeze...
but certainly that was not the case for me and some others...
though i have climbed till the halfway last yr...
but it some how still was very tiring....
I struggled....
I wasnt the first...
nor was i one of the last...
i swear 2.4 on the track is much easier than climbing up....
all the gravity acting on u...
as though pulling u down with all its might....
finally i reached the midpoint...
I was tired i admit..


I decided to do what i did last yr...
to stay at midpoint...
call me coward if u want...
its just to play safe....
I probably wouldnt have the energy to come down if i go all the way up...
besides someone has got to stay behind and look after the weaker ones...
so might as well....
in this way i wouldnt deprive anyone of going up for the scenery...
So they left and the squirrels came....
hahahaha....ya the squirrels came....
actually it was only 1 squirrel la...hahaha.....



So after the squirrel left I decided to do something smart....
or rather dumb....
I call it smart anyway....
which is to jump into the rather inviting pool...
we were feeling rather hot....
I didnt know whether we were allowed to do so...
but i guessed it's no harm....
just to cool down a little...
and kill some time....
besides the pool is shallow...
and i was there to safe them if anything happens...
so ya we jumped in....
it was simply SHIOK.....
cooling...refreshing...
finally a "bath" after 4 days....
2 of my force ppl joined me...
and we had fun....
posing in the pool....it was glaring so ya...
looking dumb....did i put that on myself..LOL

So in order not to get caught....
we only stayed in the water for like half an hour...
before coming out to dry ourselves....
we were soon quite dry....
though still wet...
the ppl who came down from the top were wet too....
just that theirs were sweat mine's water...XD







So we took the bus back....
had no chance to spend my ringgit...
since the stalls only open in the afternoon...
what lazy vendors...lol....
was tired....pretty much fell asleep....
reached the campsite....
many tents were already down...
some were having lunch....
we were really short of time....
it was very rush....
settled lunch quickly...
and went to take down the tents...
was surprised that 1852 actually finished everything liao...
WoW....guess its the last day and they just cant wait to get home...
So once again up the bus...
this time with all our belongings...
our memories our feelings and tiredness....
in an opposite direction as Day 1 the bus drove slowly...
soon it was back to the small island again...
where everything is so clean and so familiar....

"this is home...."
"truly....."
"where i know i must be..."
"where my dreams wait for me..."
"where the river always flows..."
"this is home.."
"surely...."
"where my senses tell me...."
"this is where i won be alone....."
"cos this is where....."
"I know i m home......"

Yo peeps i m finally back from beijing....
actually i m quite reluctant to come back...XD
cos its just uber fun there....
And i MISS it...
i will blog about it real soon once i compile all the photos from everyone...
it will be full of pics....meanwhile....
if i m not wron g i still have ACE part IV....
long overdue...but ya...
have to do it..since that will be my reflection for mr teo...
Till than.......

ACE Kluang 2006 Camp 2
Part III

Day 3

As the horizon got brighter....
and everything clearer....
more and more ppl are shuffling around...
I sort of ended my sentry by giving the camp a wake up call...
Went to change into shoes and call those lazy bums...
Many Aces were still ASLEEP....
when most of the campers were awake ....
Guess they were tired...
So it was morning PT again....
By the SCARy Mun again....
Loud as usual....
Unclear as usual...
we ran around the milo pool again...
this time i was running in the middle..WOW...
was sprung a hornet halfway through...
I dont know why but everyone went down...
even the ACEs...
guess we were just shocked...
luckily i was at the slope up the abseiling area..
its white sand there...
others werent so lucky....
some was muddy...
they had no choice...
what a great start...
than it was back to the campsite area...
Rakit called for all the ACEs halfway up the hill....
while the campers are left to Mun...
suddenly Zach was called up to the slope...
guess he was tired and cant maintain the push up position...
Mun EXPECTS everyone to be as fit as him...
for goodness sake...
then for i dont know what he became very angry...
he stepped on Zach
what the hell right...
nothing allows him to do that...
not even not following instructions...
COME ON....this is a SCHOOL camp...
NOT an ARMY one...
furthermore....it is VERY insulting...

After that was flag raising...
with the usual acapella school rally...
Mr teo thought i was Catholic..haha...wanted me to go up...
guess i looked like a catholic???lol
cant blame him...
i have been attending masses...
Then it was breakfast time...
milo,coffee and tea...

Then it was ACTION time...
this time its...PERAHU(canoeing)
grabbed paddles...and travelled to the hut...
wanted to canoe...but...
darren told me the canoe was very small...
even darren found it small and had cramps..
I decided not to even attempt..lol...
for ur info...i canoed last yr....
fine...in an open deck one...
Mr nathan was in charge...
activity leaders were hinyang and samuel...
they are of course canoeists....
instructor was neil...
had a pouch with me all the time...
reason??? for camera...
mr nathan made use of it..
asked me to take care of the keys..
glad to help...
the boys setted off...
and we were left with nothing to do...
absolutely NOTHING to do...
oh wait actually we had...
had to come up with something for campfire later on....
so in the end a cheer resulted...
a very simple one...
F**** R**** A****T****
FR*AT*
Fra- ter-nity
yeah!
It was lousy and cliche...
I think so too...
anyway we heard lots of interesting stories too...
from neil of course...
he shared with us stories about their previous camps...
all damn funny....
he is a funny guy....
so the instructors were too scared of Mun....haha....
especially Nan...as revealed by my informant...
and also Gaffar was once a boxer....
WOW....
Anyway here's some of the far shots i took...
i didnt canoe so all i can is to zoom in from the shore....
My cam is lousy i know...



The picture u will be seeing next is a horse....
not a pony...
though it looks like 1.. i know...
instructor neil says so...
it has the colour of a cow???
a special breed i guess...

REAL horses....
taking a dip...


So they were back from their canoeing expedition...
Wonderful news...
the only force that reached pulau dua...
WOW...
why??
bcos they are FRAT
FRAT's the best....
I m very proud of them...
VERY....

Oh ya...i got a new nickname in ACE...
thanks to hinyang...
Dont ask me...
I wont tell u ...
U want to know go find out urself....

So after lunch was our second activity for the day....
this time is GANTUNG....abseiling....
rohan wanted me to demonstrate.....
I didnt want to....
although i did it last yr...
both abseiling and pru-seeking...
so i just simply didnt wear my longs...hahaha...
teacher in charge was of cos rohan....
instructor was BEAR....
he is damn funny....
trust me...
christopher was in charge...
so we started....
mathias and dickson were helping out with the belaying downstairs...
I chose the hut..
haha...
so i helped check whether the harness and all the stuffs are tight...
now pictures...
Dickson posing..... har???
Dont let go of me....ahhhh...
Ahhh....very high leh....
I m falling....ahhhh...hold me!!!!!

Then it started raining....
thunder and lightning joined in....
all activities were forced to stop...
other forces came in for shelter....
the whole hut is full....
very full....
so bear entertained us....
believe me he's damn funny...
a born entertainer man....
so we learn the frog song...
and i played sexy frog...hahaha....

i used flash....
they thought it was lightning...haha...
so in the end....
we didnt get to continue with abseiling...
not to mention pruseeking....
i think only around half got to try...
so we went back to the camp site....
it was disastrous....
collapsed.....
flooded....
out of shape....
were words to describe the state of the tents...
so the rescue project was immediately carried out...
My tent though not collapsed was also in a bad shape...
no choice...
am a force leader had to go and help my force...
so leave it to others who are activity leaders...
so basically every ACE was running around like mad man...
so after that was dinner and than it was time for the FUN to began...
we were all up at the longhouse for the pre-campfire special item....
a picture slideshow of the camp...
was quite nice....
than we moved to the camp fire site...
damn i thought it would be cancelled and be up at the longhouse....
anyway mr teo fell sick and went home...
poor thing....
hope he is ok now....
so mr arul became the camp commandant...
camp songs were sang..
than it was time for individual force's item....
then it was FRAT's turn....
in the end we decided to put up....
the new and improved version of watermelon watermelon...
thanks to dickson...
wah....
he damn brave sia...
the response was overwhelming...lol...
then there was the teachers item...
surprisingly Mr soo's guitar skills are not bad man...
was quite nice...
played "black(pink)" panther....haha...
dedicated to mr Arul...
so bad...lol
then was the instructor's one...
was quite fun and entertaining....





TO be continued............

ACE Kluang 2006 camp 2
Part II

Day 2

Woke up a little late....
But still in time...
Had PT....
the PTI was instructor MUN...
He's loud
very loud....
but he isnt clear..lol...
some problem with enunciation i reckon...
ran 2 rounds around the milo pool...
and others....
fall in in front of the longhouse...
flag-raising ceremony...
the trumpeter wasnt great...
couldnt ask for more....
apreciatted it...
after that was breakfast...
all i can rmb about breakfast is..
Milo,tea and coffee...haha

And so it was the start of the activities...
first up...Pahlawan...which means jungle survival...
Calvin was the activity leader...and Mr teo and nan was there too...
we finally got time to sort out FRAT....
so i was in charge of FRAT 3...
overall...they did ok...
shelter was the worst...
not bcos they are lousy..
its just that the other 2 were better....haha
its just that almost everyone seems to be building their shelter on the ants castle...
I dont know why???
they love ants??lol
water was good...
food was good...found vegetable-looking plants....
vegetables??? honestly i dunno....lol...
realised something...
a stupid one...
without fail everyone would think that the oil palm fruit is edible...
just like what we did last yr...
I was like...isnt those cherries...lol....
mushrooms too....
heres it...never eat wild mushrooms...u never know whether its poisonous..
looks can be deceiving...
And somehow i dunno how....
one guy managed to get a COCONUT..
yes a coconut in a oil palm plantation...lol
how the hell did a coconut end up in there??
coconut disperse by wind...
thats new..lol
fire...was bad...not one of the 3 groups managed to create fire....
as a whole...FRAT 3 did ok...
they need pushing at first...
were not very ON....
but after that its ok....
limited pics...heres it...
Shelter making in process....
still in process....lol
They wanted to get these horses for food...EVIL...lol

So after that was lunch....
MSG soup and flies as usual...
Got to cut queue...lol..
ACE leaders authority...
"Erm do u mind???"
" Yes"
" oh ok..."
I still cut....haha....evil...
but i ensure at least half if not all of my force starts to eat before i cut...
cut the other forces queue...never mind...lol

so next up was Arah tujuan...which means orienterring....
We got to go up to the longhouse...yeah...haha...
there were still flies and insects there...
teacher-in-charge was Ms Teresa lim...
Nabhan and Ajun(dont know how to spell..sorry) were the activity leaders....
and the nicest guy around....gregory...
what was surprising is that he's actually the overall-in-charge..WOW
patient,nice and kind are the words to describe him...
ppl were falling asleep...
in the comfort of the longhouse under shade...
guess they were tired or something...
or maybe it was just boring...
gregory tried to make it as interesting as possible..
but poor guy...
i mean...the theory part of orienteering...how interesting can it get...
Charles rajan was sitting beside...
"greg is so nice...if i would him...I would call this bunch of dying ppl to run up and down the slope.."
Now..this is SCARY....
Was briefed on the task...
so basically we ACEs were supposed to be at diferent checkpoints...
even numbered are leaders...
odd are simply stamps...
when there were leaders...the campers were supposed to accomplish a task...
and we would sign if they passed and succeed...
I was the overall force leader for FRAT...
so i got the closest station..
it was just down the slope..
in the middle of a road???
I found a chair under the tree and used it...
vehicles passed...
ppl waved and i waved back...
what a friendly world...
finally the 1st group arrived...
gave them their task..
they are to form a CREATURE
one with 2 heads and 3 legs..if my memory didnt fail me...
must be mobile too...
must be able to make an unique and unheard sound of...(thats a little difficult)
must be able to dance too...
I was lenient...
it was difficult to dance...lol...especially when u r a CREATURE..
CREATURE making in process...

So i gave them my signature(my approval)...
they proceed on...
the heat was unbearable...
luckily i had the chair and the tree...
then mathias came back...lol...
he only had one group...
i had two...
got him to standby for me..while i take a leak...
Finally i was done..,,
went back to the longhouse...
and wait for the arrival of the winner group...
it was done in the amazing race type....
so i was the time keeper...
the 1st group arrived...
they got to place one of their feets on the red mat at the stairs...
in an american/british kinda accent...
"Welcome to the end"
"markers,map compass and ans sheet pls.."
"good.."
" u are team no. 1!"
hahahaha....how fun....
sent them to prepare their water bags behind...
as a punishment to those who didnt win...
also as an incentive to the winning team...
so we had fun...
they got wet...i didnt :)

got them to change...
and did my reflections out in the open with FRAT 3
was more than halfway through when the siren was heard...
Damn...no choice...got to rush up...
fall in...
some campers were in slippers...
oops...
honestly...i wouldnt have realise if the instructors didnt point it out..
They didnt believe us...
fine...
so they were asked to go down to change..
its not entirely their fault...
i mean...they were all sort of like changing just now...
and when the siren is heard...
its natural just to throw everything down and run up the slope...
(they were told to)
instructors were not very happy...
we could tell....
bags of food were given out...
Its field cooking tonight...
was thundering and lightning...
but it didnt rain....
Gaffa gathered the ACEs at the hut...
we were prepared to get a scolding...
slippers incident...we reckon...
in the end...
we didnt...
he TALKED to us nicely...
well that was unexpected...
"I dont like to scold my leaders..."
(Gabriel must be hopping mad...lol...and his response..YA RIGHT!!)
it sort of ended in a light note....
after that i went help out my force...
many wanted to start fire....
but no lighter...
Gaffa called all the ACEs....
" u all no lighter???"
" no...we werent suppose to bring..."
"alamak..."
LOL....
so he lended me his lighter...
Told me not to lose it and MUST return to him..
I was like woah....careful this is Gaffar's lighter...
i made sure the lighter wasnt out of sight when i lend it to the forces...
u know how important lighters are to smo****
in the end...i spent to much time helping out...
I didnt get to eat...
i know it was alright based on experience....
got some baked beans from sam and hinyang and ate it while walking back...
I was right....
there was supper....
dinner-serving supper....
at like 8+...lol....

and than it started to rain...
we were all in our tents...
ACE meeting was cancelled due to the rain...
cant get to sleep...
hot and stuffy and it was TOO EARLY...lol...
started singing songs in the tent...
had a great time...hahahaha...
fell asleep at 1am
when my sentry was at 1.30..lol
woke up at 3...surprised no one called me for sentry...went back to sleep..lol..
was awoken by a dim light...
it was nabhan...
the watch shows 4.30...
followed him up the slope...
grabbed my sleping bag along...
Dickson and Steward was awake...
staring into space..
asked why they didnt call us..
they said dont know...
cant be bothered...
asked them to go down to get some sleep while me and nabhan took over...
got 2 chairs...
sat at the top of the slope...
where the view is clear...
went to the toilet for a leak..
saw one of the campers...
he look energetic...(not that kind of I-just-woke-up look)
was curious...
" U didnt sleep"
"no..."
"why not"
" very squeezy and warm"
kids nowadays....haizz...
LOL


To be continued.......

ACE KLuang 2006 Camp 2 Part I 31-3 Nov

Got some info beforehand about the camp this yr from gabriel
Was told that instructors sucked...
Alot of mud instructors...
Keep away especially from Gaffa the F** malay instructor...
Instructors all damn firce keep kana scolded...(scared scared)
Always rain...

Anyway...
Met in school at the canteen
received our ACE shirt and Hat
I got the largest(as usual) and it FITted...WOW...just to add...the shirt this yr is damn cool...I love it...the hat was a little too small...XD but it still FITted
The Japanese-looking ACE hat
The cool looking ACE shirt...I wont tell u how many Xs.....XD

changed into the ACE outfit
filled in the white card
proceed to track where all the campers are...
was assigned to Bus Hippo...bus of 208...wahahaha...
Teacher accompanying Aaron Goh
Was the third or fourth bus to leave...
Instructor Bear was with us....he cracked some jokes..he seems very good...but then he said...u laugh...see what happened in the camp later....ooohhh...
Bear was quite F**..thought he was the one gab mentioned...luckily he's not....
passed through the Singapore custom at TUAS second link
then the malaysia side customs..
The Movie on board was "Rambo"...not bad...but i fell asleep
Figured out that sleep was more important...
4 tiring days are awaiting for me....
Was told that our Singapore passport could fetch as much as $5000 in the black market...WOW
Must take good care of it man....
On board the bus..Aaron goh was doing all the job....
a little bit paiseh...the ACEs(ace leaders) didnt do anything...oops...
giving out passports...
on board the bus....
Cam whore...(the one on the left) LOL

As the campsite got nearer...
Memories started filling in....
Happy,sad,sweet,bitter and everything...
Drove into Institute of Haiwan our campsite...
Its freakin big...
If i remembered correctly it was around half the size of singapore...WOW
Was the first bus to arrive...reason..cos i was inside...lol..
Took the tent gab suggested...
put everything inside zipped up and went back to assemble...
Waited for the whole camp to arrive..damn long....
anyway i was in charge of FRAT which stands for Fraternity which means brotherhood....
was sabo-ed...became the overall in charge of FRAT
my the other two leaders...Mathias and Dickson....
once everyone settled down...assembled at the longhouse...was briefed and everything...
the camp was introduced to "HORNET"
then was lunch as usual with the flies for company...
Activities begin....
Today was Rakit(rafting)...
Got my force to change
ACEs didnt change ourselves...XD...
Didnt want to get into the "milo" pool...
Chien ming and Aaron was in charge of Rafting...
Bro. Jason was FRAT's teacher-in-charge...
The first and only activity he tagged along....
Saw Gaffa...(scared scared)
He turned out ok....
was quite fun...
very funny too...
To us ACEs only i guess...
dont understand why Gab and many others from camp 1 said that they sucked...
my force wanted to sabo us...
they told Gaffa that they didnt bring their water bottles cos we didnt tell them...
So Gaffa told us to be in push up position...
then he ask us why didnt we....
Dickson replied: The camp commandant briefed them at the start of the camp...
Wahahaha...so he told us to resume...now FRAT goes down....serves them right...lol...
So in the process of rafting...my force was "seasoned" to "hornet"
Learning how to tie knots....
Gaffa imparting his wisdom to the campers
Building
Tightening and fasting...
Testing the structure...
Into the water...so far so good...
Oh...falling....arrrrrggghh.....
Struggling.....
Still struggling....

For ur info they didnt capsize at last...
Why?
Because they are from FRAT....
After that they had river crossing.....
no pictures...cos i was helping out....
If u noticed...gaffa is in long sleeves...
He asked us (ACEs) why do we think he is in long sleeves...
U are scared of sunburnt???
He said no....
He then rolled his sleeves up a bit...
guess what????
Tattoo...
his arms are full of tattoo...
thats why he needs to be in long sleeves...
He also told us he a yellow ribbon guy....
He actually opened up to us...
that aint easy for everyone...
I mean actually telling ppl such private stuffs...
Is it an attempt to scare us???
I dont think so...
Its just affinity i guess...
He only told us..(me mathias and Dickson)
Other ACEs didnt know...
I dont know whether its right to say this here but i felt strongly to type it out...
I m sure he doesnt mean...
The willingness to open up shows that he have changed for the better...
He has turned over a new leaf....
And i m proud of him....

Ok a little too emo...
So after that was SHOWER time...
Shower not bath...
So that means its very fast...
and i made sure it was...
2-3 minutes per person...
I dont think they wish to stay in there too long either...
I have a watch...but i chose to roughly gauge the time....lol
I bet ppl in the longhouse could hear me "screaming"....lol
"Time's up....."
"Out ....NOw"
If they still dont want to come out i will then proceed to plan B
Turn the lights off....
" Oi............"
" Come out now !!!!!"
"Bang!!! Bang!!!"

After that was dinner time...
Cant rmb whats for dinner...
Every meal is just the same to me...
food with irritaitng flies and syrup drinks...
After that it sort of rained...so cant have reflections out in the open...
So we have got to go into the different tents and conduct reflections...
I took 2 tents and did reflections...
had their cooperation....was quite well done...
Was late for ACE meeting cos i was doing reflections...
When I was about to run up the slope...
2 boys approached me...
told me something about vandalism with suntan lotion...
I was already late....couldnt bother much....i told them to find me later...i need to "fly" now
After that was ACEs meeting with bernard teo at the toilet....
Yes..toilet...fine lar...toilet area....still it was not a very good location for a meeting...

Then the Drama came rolling in....
We finished our meeting then we were walking to the long house...wanting to laze around...
then suddenly...an announcement was made...
the whole camp is to fall in in front of the long house at once
We were puzzled...
totally clueless...
then bernard teo adopted a very serious tone....
i was like...oh....something really bad happened....
so it was a SLASHING incident....
Slashing of tents...
With a Knive...not a jack knive that everyone have...a real knive...
how they know???? the slash is jaggered...
a few tents were slashed...
there were even ppl in the tents when its slashed...
in one incident...a person's head was just a few centimetres away from the slash...
imagine if the "slasher" would to slash another few cm nearer....
OMG.....its an SJI camp....
Its the first night..and this happen....
What a GREAT start to a camp....
One by one suspects were called up to the long house...
for???? for interrogation...
interrogation that really looks like an interrogation...
torch shine at their face real close...
shouts could be heard even when the door is closed...
those innocent ones were forced to SQUAT and heads down....
LIKE criminals....WTH...
Luckily ACEs were spared from the squatting...but we didnt dare to sit...
so it went on and on....
new names were shouted...
and new figures went up the long house....
noticed a pattern...
alot were from 201 and 202...
how ironical...
the supposedly most "guai" class....
an hour went by....
investigations were still going on...
ppl were tired of squatting...
some sitted down...
tried to turn a blind eye to them...
I KNOW its tiring...
Instructors came by and shouted....
" ACEs make sure every single one of them squat properly....if not U squat"
Ok...i seriously dont want to squat...
Many others too....
So we were FORCED to ensure that everyone is squatting...
I know u wont believe it...but i felt the pain seeing them squat...
I think the teachers realised it...
They made them stand....
Thats much better...
another hour passed...
Bro. mike and Mr lui were informed....
Nathan threatened to call the police if the culprit still doesnt turn up...
that was not the only incident....
vandalising the tents with suntan lotion
and possessing a lighter and threatening to burn down tents...
what happen to the sec 2s this yr man...
this dragged on to around 1am...
in the end...force by force were sent down to clear their tents...and bring everything up
all jack knives and sharp objects were surrendered...even nail clippers...
all the bags were placed in front of the long house...
they only got to bring their sleeping bags anf water bottles down to sleep..
ACEs bags were left in their tents...
then it was sleep time and sentry duty...
no duty today so went to sleep...
Darren Qingwei Richard and timothy together with Dickson and Mathias was in my tent....
2 big ppl in my tent....call darren to "go away"...he dont want...
surprisingly it was not as squeezy as i thought it will be....