This is 1 day after I have returned from OBS and I still have that rocking sensation from kayaking. I know a lot of people are excited about what I did so here goes:

DAY1
We arrived at Camp 1 and I thought that the whole day was kind of boring. It was mainly orientation. The 30 of us were sorted out into 2 watches and I was in .... WASHINGTON! Our buddy watch was TOCK SENG. Lishan was our instructor and Steven was Tock Seng's instructor. We picked a rock and was supposed to talk to it (which I did not because I just chucked it into some corner of my bag after picking it) and played trustfall. I think trustfall was really fun even though I thought it would have been kind of scary. I realise that I'm quite pessimistic about certain things sometimes. We also played the blindfolding games which were quite ok. Lunch at the cookhouse was quite nice. We pitched our tents and cooked rice and curry chicken in a "controlled environment" at Camp 1. Cooking was cool because we got to eat food we cooked by ourselves. I cut myself with the edge of the tin but I enjoyed opening tins with jack knives even though it was S-L-O-W. I can't believe I actually complained about sleeping on the grass in a tent on Day 1 after I experienced worse over the next few days.

DAY2
We had this PT thing with the 5 basic exercises and a run in the morning and raising of the flags. It is so weird that we have to tuck in our shirts everytime we raise the flag. And the tj peopl in Camp 1were quite slow in raising the flags sometimes. But never mind, it's great that they volunteered to do the job. We were blindfolded AGAIN. Lishan really loves her blindfolds. This time we went into the tunnel/sewage thing with Tock Seng. It was really hot and everything. I was seriously drenched when I came out. It was rather frustrating trying to get all the jigsaw pieces and piecing them together. We did not get all the pieces because we didn't search thoroughly enough the first time and had to go through it AGAIN. Then Sarah touched a lizard which was totally GROSS. And we only had 2 light sources to be shared between the 2 watches. What was worse was that the jigsaw pieces were of lousy quality so they kept being torn out together with the masking tape which was used to be stuck to the tunnels. But I think it was really fun going in together into the tunnels as a group and shouting "HUMP", "TURN RIGHT" and etc. to each other. Sarah's "1,2,3, BLOW!" to cool everyone in the tunnel was really hilarious too. Then, Lishan was either "sick" or having some family matters to deal with and she left. A new instructor, Kiah Hong came. Haha. He's quite funny. He taught us belaying and then we were allowed to climb the rockwall. And then came the blindfolds. AGAIN! We were challenged to blindfold ourselves and attach ourselves to a partner and climb to the top of the wall (in pairs). Peiyu was inspiring. She held on even though she had some difficulty climbing and she did not give up. YAY! I climbed to the top but sadly the tape thing came out so I wasn't attached to Zhengliang and we didn't reach the top together but never mind. I was seriously surprised that I could climb so high because in P5 camp, I could not climb beyond the 3m thing. It was sad. After climbing, we trekked to Camp 2 and had dinner in the dark. Tensions were high because the rice wasn't cooking fast enough and everywhere was dirty (no detergent to wash our tins and pots) and I didn't bathe. Hah I know you will say I'm dirty and lazy but I was too tired to care already. My haversack was heavy but I realised it only felt so because I forgot to put the waist thing the next day. Camp 1 seemed a lot better compared to Camp 2.

DAY3
We continued the PT thing with Steven and Kiah Hong. Then, our 2 brilliant instructors SCAMMED us. According to them, there were news. Bad news: We are going trekking again. Good news: The school called up OBS to tell them that NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC wanted to have a feature article on NY so they remembered the 30 of us who weren't away on holiday like the rest coz we are in OBS so we were supposed to write something for the article and take pictures. -.-" It was so fake. AND LAME. So we trekked about 10km. We went to this German girl shrine, passed by this holiday resort (which was super qian bian when we were suffering throughout the trek), reached the peak of pulau ubin and saw the most magnificent view of a quarry and shouted washington and nanyang loudly such that we heard ECHOES and went to another quarry (ketam quarry) in an attempt to build a raft which failed. Along the way, we kept asking passers-by (tourists and residents) to transport us along, carry our bags etc. HAHA. Then we trekked (apparently all the sightseeing in front was a detour) to our last campsite- a disgustingly rocky place where we had NO TOILETS! I didn't sleep a wink the whole night. I just kept waking up whenever the instructors shone their headlights and waved the thermometer at feverish Nicole. It was too difficult to sleep on rocks. We had to pee in the bushes too. Ee Hsien and co shitted in the bushes. I was glad with my accomplishment though that I survived the trek and didn't give up.

DAY4
We were finally returning to Camp 1. After the ordeal of having no toilets, Camp 1 seemed like a 5star resort. SERIOUSLY. We went kayaking for 7km too! I kayaked with Zhengliang and Hoon first. It was fun and tiring and we almost gave up but I'm glad we still reached Frog Island (pulau sekudu which I'm not sure how to spell). Not that it was particularly exciting there. We saw a jellyfish hauled up on a paddle by Steven and I had to pee in the sea. The kayaking journey back to Camp 1 after that was scary. I was kayaking with Caijing and Nettie and I was very tired. Hoon and Zhengliang seriously seemed stronger after I experienced the return journey. We were stuck in some poles covered with barnacles and I was panicking coz I thought we were going to perish on the sea there. YIKES. But we made it out and reached Camp 1 pretty fast because of the tide and the wind. Although the tide nearly killed us because it kept blowing us to shore. Kiah Hong and Steven scammed us again. They kept going round us with the kayaks in their speedboat and making us bob up and down on huge waves made by the speedboat. And they still CLAIMED they were doing that to test their engines. So incredulous. But I admit it was quite fun. I LOVE KAYAKING! At least you get to eat all the snacks and you don't need to carry heavy stuff. We cheered during our debrief (what say you say and shan ge) and it was fun! Our last campsite was an oceanview one at Camp 1 and I think it was great compared to the other campsites. It looked like the OBS journey had turned for the better. We got to shower and this time I treasured it wholeheartedly. We also binged loads of dinner food from the cookhouse. It was pure heaven after all the not-so-skilled cooking we had at the previous 2 campsites (excludes the 1st day because Lishan helped us). We also chatted quite a bit after dinner before going to bed. I had a great sleep that night. It was brilliant.

DAY5
We had PT and flagraising again but I didn't complain so much. After all, we were at Camp 1 the brilliant 5star resort and I could bear with PT. We did the 5 basic exercises but we did some dance thing in sec one the one you tap your foot in place of the run. We wanted to do nan zhong quan but we forgot all the moves and the algorithm march was just so boring. We cheered again (what say you say again and unite). Then, we put up this TV show thing for Steven and Kiah Hong and 2 other instructors. It was an Ultimate Guide to Survival in OBS. Nettie, Natalee and Ee Hsien were brilliant narrators (or should I call them sugar, spice and everything nice? or maybe the sweeties haha). We basically acted out 3 tips. Tip 1: Drink ample water or you suffer some consequence which was Charis acting out having spasms and collapsing and us calling Steven and Kiah Hong who walk in gayly together. HAHA. The instructors were all depicted gayly. Tip 2 was to never believe your instructors and we acted out the national geographic thing. I forgot to mention that Steven and Kiah Hong attempted to continue their scam- Steven put on some drawing of a tie and shirt which had the National Geographic sign on it plus a moustache and Kiah Hong had a moustache so they were trying to act like the people who asked. ROFL. Tip 3 was about having nice instructors (because they kept asking Nicole who had a fever to measure her temp. and drink lots of watr which was really kind of them). Just that Sharlene thought they were wild boars and we kept waking up. The performance was fun and hilarious. TEEHEE. Then we packed our stuff in the store and washed everything. Thankfully, washington didn't need to pay for any damages or losses. We tried to steal a bottle cap to make up for the one Kangyan lost at sea but it was so fortunate that Tock Seng had an extra one coz we failed at the stealing. I'm so GLAD. Then we got back our valuables and bought the souvenirs and went home. The bus ride back to school was kind of sad. I miss the camp in a weird way. I believe what the instructors said at pulau ubin- Your real journey begins when you step back onto punggol jetty. Seriously, OBS felt like a training school to teach you how to live your life to the fullest. I think I really feel I'm out there in the real world right now.

I have to admit that OBS is dirty and gross but it's still the best camp ever. It's extremely meaningful and enriching and I will never forget it. I would probably not consider becoming an instructor but I don't mind going back to pulau ubin again to see the instructors. If I ever go back for another camp, I will believe what others say- OBS is truly fun.