Sunday, July 27, 2008

11:04 PM / 0 comments
Shackleton watch: Nadia, Ms Amelia Lee, Abigail, Alan, Jia De, Karin, Kendrick, Ruo Lan, Sandra, Sharlene, Shu Wei, Song Wei, Tie Ning, Wen Xuan, Yan Ran, Yee Sing, Yi Fan

Haha, 2 weeks since OBS and i've yet to update on it.
Well, just a quick summary of it all.

Day 1 was more of a learning day when we learnt to tie knots, pitch tents, belay and cook outdoors. & of course a day of getting to know the fun people of Shackleton! The tent was uber stuffy.

Day 2 was started up climbing the rock wall. Haha, had a rly bad abrasion when I slipped off the wall. Bt at least I made it to the top, wih all the encouragement from friends! Kayaking was uber fun. Haha, TX Rescue was super hilarious when they struggled on board and kinda drifted away. Haha, paddled to Machor Campsite after that. Shackleton ate from two big pots of noodles directly and shared messz tins of hearty soup. Great way to bond and enjoy the great outdoors! Pitched tents with rocks instead of tent pegs, didnt rly work out v well. Pfft, other grps had btr tents... & curse you, sandflies! For biting me all over.

Day 3 was Kayaking expedition! Started raining very heavily initially, so we were late for like 1hr as we huddled under ponchos. And we guys had to dislodge the speedboat from the muddy shore. "1, 2, 3, PUSH....!" When it was time to set off, the sea was rough and we kayaked rly cautiously, desperately trying to maintain our balance, bt it was fun. Enjoyed the sights of offshore Singapore and its islands. Exhausted, we finally arrived at KK Campsite where we spent the night with a collapsed tent (we were literally "kissing" th tentage when we slept and yummy sardines + curry chicken rice!

Day 4 was the day when we were liberated from those stinky, cold and wet long sleeves and pants we wore the past few days. We built rafts (tho ours kinda got rejected, bt ya, u get th pt) and had a chance to jump into the FRESH water quarry and frolick in it. Uber refreshing aft tht and a CHANGE of clothes. After tht was lugging our heavy equipment and backpacks as we trekked back to Camp 2 (no camp 1 :() ored as it was, we bonded during the ardous trek and th feeling of reaching the camp was phenomenal. Had a cooking competition and Shackleton won with our peanuts on bread and a Shackleton story meal. HAHA. Were desperately trying to remove rainwater from the tents tht were flooded.
Last day was basically spent cleaning up and paying for losses (which included 46 tent pegs. Like omg can.). Completed our tree and bought an OBS white polo. Spent time at the jetty chit chatting with Shackleton and taking loads of pics of ALL sorts huh. Gahh, I'm so not scandalous.

Anw, the OBS experience has certainly made me learnt more abt myself and who I would like to be (no, i'm nt paid to say this). In terms of my flaws and my best leadership style, I've found them here and have also learnt of how I actually work under pressure and handle human relations and conflicts (sounds so ICEP USA :))

Thx alot for asking me abt OBS:
Kai Lin, Adrian, Shankar, Annisa, Mr Ong KK

Yea! ICEP USA peeps, you rule! Regret being unable to attend AAR )):
Thx for your concern guys! Rly much appreciated, esp since we're frm diff schs

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

9:39 PM / 0 comments
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Gahh, I'm crazy.

I gotta learn to stop laughing. Somehow, counting on each other to stop laughing didnt work out.

Of all tyms, at tht crucial ceremony. History in the making lah right. Must learn to control my laughter.

Thr's laughing gas. How abt anti-laughing gas?

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

10:46 PM / 0 comments
& i thought you wld appreciate them.

Yes, they may be cheap, but u needn't do this right?

& to think i thought of you back then, it's just not worth it.

Your actions just show everything.

Well at least now I noe what to expect.

Perhaps I'll change the concept or my mindset the next time round.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

& the stress is on!
Geography project, Greenwave competition, ROD '08, Common Tests!
Ahhh!! Week 10, please come quick and emancipate me from these!

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Finally Back From the States (Part 2)

10:45 PM / 0 comments
Departure for San Antonio, Texas (USA) from Singapore...

Our first group photo. Taken at 4am+. Off to Texas! Rly longed to remain in singapore at tht tym. Cpt James was rly nice to send us off at such an ungodly hour.

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you! Snowflakes are forming on the windows! Btw, this was on the flight NW20, from Singapore to Tokyo-Narita.

Arrival in San Antonio, Texas...
 Arrival in San Antonio, Texas. This yellow school bus, which we usually only get to see on TV, wld be our mode of transport for the next 2 weeks.

Our first dinner together as ICEP USA '08! ...at 12am tht is! Cuz our flight was delayed for lyk 3 to 4 hours cuz of bad weather. =.=

Randolph Air Force Base's Inn! The place we called "home" for the whole week we were not in SLS.

One of our rooms! Yes, there is air-con. Mainly cuz of the sweltering 34degrees Celcius temp.

The mexican food we had for brunch the next day. Yes, we were tht tired aft the 30hr flight. The food was a refreshing change of taste, though not necessarily used to it. Tacos & Nachos!
Briefing at John Jay High School - the AFJROTC unit that hosted us and conducted the Summer Leadership Sch (SLS)

The cool camelpaks we received free! Thanks alot! Our weapon against the hot weather.

Omg! Marvel at the number of awards John Jay High has received, just for it's AFJROTC Program (similar program to NCC.) If only our unit had a tenth as much. (cuz i think HQ does not give out tht many awards).

All hail, the long and humongous watermelons of the United States.
And Summer Leadership School commences at UTSA... (7/7/08)
One of our rooms during SLS, at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Yes, again, there is air-con. But we were of course subjected to stringent dorm checks (even the arrangement of your "unmentionables" had to be standardised). Two ppl per room btw.

PT every morning at 5am. Followed by a 1.6km run - every morning tht is. So see? It's not a slack trip.

Photo taking session for the whole SLS Course participants. Abt 300+ participants frm all over the U.S. We (SG cadets) are in green No.3 [In case you wanna find us in the pic]

Uniform check! Their uniform check was also accompanied by a question the inspector wld ask you, abt Singapore's history. Hahas.

Academics! Long march to this comfy auditorium at UTSA. Everyone had to attend abt 2 days of lectures regarding human relations, conflict resolution etc, and take a test on the 3rd day.

See? It's not a slack trip. We have to take a test on all the lectures and even stuff abt their uniform. Not much tym to study, abt 30mins each day, then lights out. Luckily we all passed, with "not bad" scores. :D

Introducing... my flight in SLS... "H" Flight aka Hotel Homies! Xin Ran was in the same flight too!
Our drill practice for the Drill Evaluations the next day. We were learning the American drills. Thx for teaching and guiding us, ppl!

While waiting for our softball game to commence. Btw, the handsigns mean "H" in sign language. Me = softball noob.

Doing our H Flight cheer! Shaking our butts for this part of the cheer. Boy, are they open-minded and daring! Dun think we'll get stuff lyk that in SG.

Lopez break dancing in the middle of the circle while we struck a pose (part of the cheer).

Sense of satisfaction aft tht great creative cheer!

Finally Back From the States (Part 3)

8:00 PM / 0 comments
Proudly displaying our Singapore drills in a not-so-official-but-still-attention-attracting demonstration. Hees, Yang Tinggi! (Dun ask me why Adrian is standing to my left when he is taller.)

Shankar commanding our ICEP platoon! Cheering during hentak-taki.


Marching smartly for Drill Evaluations (inter-flight test and competition)! Great diff from the practices. I bet Keesha and Hanna were surprised at us.
Hotel Homies during Drill Evaluations! Yeah, we've clinched our aspired No.1 championship!

Singapore Cadets and teachers in No 3! Just after Drill Evaluations...


Nice! Haha, watermelon...



At John Newcombe Tennis Ranch (Still During SLS)...


Paintball! Ooh.. shooting in the forest!


Attempting to build a mini-parachute! Did I mention my B in Physics?

Arghh...me attempting to climb up this 15m pole for Flying Fox - yes, the one we waited for and got rejected the first tym round...


Finally at the top! Cld see miles away from up there! Panaromic San Antonio.


"SIIIINGAAAAPOOOORE!" Haha, exhilarating!


Tubing down the river at Texas Tubes! Loved the tube shoots with JJ and Kai Lin. Time to recce? Definitely.

Final night of SLS with Hotel Homies! Hurrah!




Xin Ran & I with Flight Commanders CTO Keesha and Hanna

The 12 of us with MSgt Harwell! His lecture was uber entertaining! "Huuuuurrry up, my children.....!"

With roommate Latta Tyler! He's frm Houston.
Haha, thanks for all the stuff you've taught me. Rly had a great time over in Texas. Hope you'll come for ICEP Singapore!

Last day of SLS: Hotel Homies getting prep-ed up for POP (Passing Out Parade).

We Singapore cadets demonstrating our SG drills! Officially this time. Overwhelming sense of pride. (:

Receiving the plague for completion of the course! Each of our names (sg cadets and teachers)were read out and we marched up to collect em. Nice plague!



Best buds in H Flight! Thanks for being uber nice to us...all the smiles and chats. Rly enjoyed SLS with you guys around. Hope you liked the pictures! & Theresa's rly sensible. (:

After SLS: Leisure Time! Exploring San Antonio...

Dinner at Alamo Cafe! More mexican food (esp tortillas). :D or D:? You decide. Nice ambience though.
Our SeaWorld San Antonio adventure! It's a water theme park ((:
Entrance to SeaWorld SA.

Ooh.. high tech admission eh? Scan and go. Ez-Link? =.=


Group photos! Great day for sun tanning! Say bye to shirts and hello to fab tans!

Say hi to the Steel Eel roller coaster! Believe or not, that was my first roller coaster (high ones).
Was sitting beside Bilal.

Me: (While coaster was ascending) "Ehh? Why so long arh?"

Bilal: (Trying his best not to freak out) "Relax relax..."
Some random American behind us: "Cool! It's initial drop is 15 storeys high! & there will be 3 high drops!"
Me: *stunned* O.o

But hey, it was rly exciting! Went up with Jun jie, Ken and Bilal. In fact, it was so fun, we went for it twice. ((: Loved it. Esp with 3 drops and crazy twists.

Dolphins! (:


Killer whales galore! SeaWorld's pride and joy.

Exploring San Antonio's historical River Walk...


What a scenic view! San Antonio's answer to Clarke Quay...only nicer!
Atop the stone bridge!



We were too bored okay?

Hard Rock Cafe San Antonio! Yummy fries! Bought some HRC souvenirs too. & 4 of us are standing tgt in the middle. What a coincidence! (:

2nd theme park: Six Flags Fiesta Texas! Now, this rly is fun...with ken, jj and kai lin.

Entrance. Greetings from Bugs Bunny!

Group photo. Last day in Texas liao...

Queuing up for the Body Tube. Nice sunny weather. Oei, Jun Jie! Look here lah! Dun make me Photoshop your eyeballs in my direction... XD

Wild Wild West themed area. Nice replica of old Texas.

Posing with Six Flags mascot!

Queuing for the uber fun Tornado! Haha, doughnuts.

Ooh..the great waterfalls! What a great view! & we took this shot just beside a photo taking booth charging 4 bucks per shot. Oops! :P

Collage of the fun we 4 had at Six Flags! Totally enjoyed the crazy fun we had. If only we cld do it all over agn. Yes, your eyes are not deceiving u...we went on a merry-go-round. Told you we were crazy. But crazy stuff are what great friends do tgt.
Ken, Kai Lin, Jun Jie, Alan.

Arrival in Singapore...
Taken upon touchdown in SG on flight NW19, via Tokyo-Narita! Seatmates. Glad to be home, though I still miss the times in San Antonio.