ALEXANDRIA


I just got back from Ubin yesterday. Man, it was one hell of a camp there.

The first day we set foot on the island we played an 'Amazing Race' of sorts. We ran around to four places not even 1km from each other, then marched about 2km all the way to the campsite. Most of us got tired half-way through, but when we got there we really thought it wasn't worth it. Yes, no error.

We started to pitch up our tents. I'm useless at campcraft so I just stood there holding the poles and making sure the balance doesn't tip the tent to one side while my teammates did all the tying. We only had four people, so that's three people tying fourteen knots and tightening the pole sheets in five minutes. I really felt like I loser, seriously.


KREITHOLBIEN


So after that we had our dinner. We had maggi mee. Fascinating. The CIs gave us the whole three-day ration packs and we had to decide how much we wanted to eat during the three days' meals. We settled for the bare minimum - at least one pack of maggi for every major meal.

So yeah, we accidentally went to the Sec 2 pondo to eat our dinner. No one told us otherwise, not even the CIs standing there. That night we had one hell of a scolding just for that. Fun.

The next morning we got up at 6 AM and had to fall in by 7. Not really good because the tents were uncomfortable. But hey, 4 people in a 6 man tent? Come on man, we had enough space to fit two elephants in. The tent was bare and empty except for us and our bags. Mosquitoes and ants visited us relentlessly the whole night, and some of us managed to get about an hour's worth of sleep.

Had physical training about thirty minutes later. Ran up and down the campsite. After that we had our breakfast - dry biscuits. Couldn't even eat one, but I somehow managed to stuff it in.

We didn't do much throughout the whole day except for Jetty Jump, thanks to the rain. Instead we just sat at the hall and chatted around. Our unit decided on what we were going to do for the campfire performance.

Then we went for Jetty Jump. We jumped from about three meters from a plank into the sea. Almost everyone tried it. The ones who didn't couldn't imagine what they missed. Before we jumped in, the CIs made sure we were conscious of what we were doing, then let us onto the plank.

I was in the air for about 1.5 seconds. The sea water had actually risen because of the rain, but the sun was beating down and the sea had receded since the last time I saw it. I didn't expect to be there for the last one second. Then BAM - I was in the salt water. I went in about 4 to 8 meters, then rose back up because of my life vest.

They had a rope attached to the ladder up from the sea. I grabbed onto it and screamed something to the CI who asked me if I was okay. I pulled on the rope (even though I could swim) and went back up to my squad. Ridhwan was already soaking. He had jumped before I did. He saw me soaked and he grinned. Then he became all EMO again. Guess what? I EMOed with him. LOL!!

So anyway, like I said, it was the only activity we did. Went back and changed, took a bath while Group 5 ate dinner. Showered for thirty minutes in the sec 2 toilet because the CIs let us use the CI toilet. So yeah, Daniel, Ridwhan, me and one other guy were the only ones there - tons of space and no water shortage!! Man, we indulged like we would never take a shower again.

When the Sec 2s got here, we dried ourselves and left. When we passed by the hall our sir shouted at us "Thirty minutes, arh!". We grinned. Four of us in a shower shed that can fit about eight people - and we took thirty minutes. Oh god, it was fun. We had another extra thirty minutes because they let us shower/eat for one whole hour. So while the rest of the Sec 3s complained that there was not enough water flowing from their showerheads, we were standing outside, showered and all.

Then we had dinner. Maggi Mee. Nom nom nom.

To be frank, since we had an entire hour to eat, me, Hediat and Alex dropped in three whole packets of maggi mee and baked it till it was dry and sticky - then we ate until we couldn't. Our group CI came by later and asked us to help him finish up some biscuits.

After that, we had our campfire. I was sleepy throughout, so I wasn't as enthusiastic as I would've been. But what the heck, it was fun.

After that we were dismissed to go to bed. I mean tent. Because that's what we sleep on. A tent.

Some of the other tents got flooded because of the rain, so the people inside were either sent to sleep in other tents or at the canteen. Canteen! Lucky bastards. But anyway, Wei Xiong joined my tent, so we had five people inside. Some of us were afraid of powder on the tentage (yes, powder, not ants, but powder), so we squeezed in. Heck, fun again.

The next day, we unpitched our tents and sent the stuff back to logistics after we scrubbed every piece of equipment sparkly clean. You think that was easy? Imagine scrubbing one side of the tent sheet clean, then wondering how the hell to turn it over on the mud. Since we only had four 'actual' tent-mates, we struggled. Eventually our sit came in to help us, and everyone chipped in. Yay. >___>

After that, we had one hell of a time. We took a photo on the flag podium - an honor we couldn't resist. Few people were ever allowed on the podium, and we were one of them. Wohoo!

So after that, the unit cheered and did whoknowswhat. We fell back later into our units and gathered our bags - then we collected all those extra rations. My bag was almost overflowing and I had to pull my sleeping-bag out - I had used it as a pillow. It wasn't heavy anyway, so I put it over my main bag which could have easily weighed about ten kilos thanks to all the retained water. Then we waited. Vans came in to collect other schools, and we waited for our own vans. I sat there beside a police van and admired the mud-clogged wheel. I decided to amuse some of my friends and joked around about it. Well, they laughed, Faris said "What the hell, man?" and yeah, our van came.

The Sec 2s left first, so we took the second van. All the way back, my squad-mates and ma'am spoke in Malay. Since I didn't know a god damned shit about Malay, I didn't say anything. Yeah, they talked about me. They had no guts to talk about me in a language I understood. But I understand - their gutless morons. Chickens. Like I'd give a bloody damn.

As we boarded the boat back, no one said a word. We left Ubin behind, a distant memory we'd keep for a few years to come. Until NS, anyway. And we reached Singapore, got off the ship, and proceeded to the awaiting bus by the jetty.

I fell asleep on the bus. Wei Xiong woke me up when we reached Yew Tee. The bus was quiet. Everyone was either emo or listening to their own damned music.

We got off the bus, and we bid our farewells to each other. Oh, and we got more homework. Damn. Anyway, Ridh and Dan went to change and have their lunch. I went back home, the sordid loser I was. I went back home and thought, "Wow, and look, I'm still alive".

It was, after all, a survival camp.






.Arshad