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Day 4 , 11 February 2014
The neighbors surrounding my tent were awakened by the sound of me answering my nature's call at the ghostly hour of 5.05am. Didn't realize the commotion that I had made until someone asked my unfortunate tent mate who just happened to be brushing her teeth with her, so, where did she do her business. Conclusion : a silent night is a deadly weapon...
At the usual time of 6.45am we gathered for our morning circle. Felt stressed while the daily journal was read out. Forgive me, the English standard had been too high. Pity the next media manager. He will have a hard time writing out the next journal since the bar was set high. Breakfast was cup noodles which I found it amusing. Because for me, breakfast consists of bread and a cup of hot beverage. And cup noodles is usually reserved for OT or supper. My amusement turned to horror after the role exchange program. I am the new media manager. What? At that moment, my only thought was to strangle the 1st media manager for setting the standard too high. Want to learn singlish? I am an expert in that. Expect me to converse in English, sorry please find someone else...
Next, we had a challenge involving wooden planks. Felt like a carpenter. Team leader was given 5 minutes to memorize the layout of the planks. Then he will work with the team to build it. If he fails to remember, he will get another person to memorize with him within a 3minute timeframe. If he is suffering from amnesia, he will get another 2 persons to memorize with him but they will only have 60 seconds to do so. We accomplished the mission in well, 30 minutes. Do you know what Singaporeans are famous for? Kiasu! So, being typical Singaporeans, we decided to have another round to see if we can complete it in a shorter time - 60 seconds. And another round - 23 seconds. While playing this game, I felt like we were competing with ourselves. Just like life.
From 10.45am to 2.50pm, we hiked with a 1-hour break in between. So how long was that? 245 minutes equivalent to 14700 seconds for a distance of 6000 meters ( I have decided to convert it to seconds and meters to have a sense of achievement). Along the way, a herd of camel greeted us. Before we had even reached them, they swayed their buttocks and walked away. Guess that camels are shy creature. The most well-prepared pair in our team had a heated debate on whether the last camel in the herd was a male or a female. Their arguing point was the thing that sticks out beneath the stomach. With so many pairs of eyes, 12 pairs in fact, scrutinizing that THING, I wonder if the camel regretted coming to this area or not. If it wished that it was an ostrich, since ostrich can hide its head in the sand when it is embarrassed. We also spotted a baby camel. It approached its mother (I supposed since I can't differentiate the gender) and was kicked away. Thus it turned to its father, an assumption again, for comfort. The father arched its neck gracefully and rubbed its head gently against its child's. I was touched. Who decided that animals are inferior beings and humans superior? At least their feelings are primitive. Unlike human, animals do not hide their emotions.
About 5 kilometers into the hike, fatigue set in and some of us grew restless. Thus someone decided to sing but he only remembered the chorus so another teammate sang the opening for him. When it was the chorus part, she stopped and the guy continued. I almost collapsed on the sands while trying to contain my laughter cause the effect was so hilarious. The girl has a high pitched voice and the guy's is low. There is a obvious difference in the notes. It is like going from a high key to the low key without any transition in between.
Upon reaching the campsite, we sat on the dune and waited for the 4-wheel-drive Land Cruiser to reach us. Are you wondering why we chose to sit on the dunes? Because they make excellent spectators seats. We can have a perfect view in case the vehicle get stuck in the sand. Of course, being kind hearted people, we will laugh if it really get stuck but after laughing, we will help to get the vehicle out of its predicament. Our tents were set up on the site where goats answered their nature call. Thank God they were dried up. At least I can convince myself that they were merely chestnuts. While dinner was prepared, the OB Singapore instructor taught us the different methods of tying knots. Most of the time, I found my foot entangled in the rope. I have to admit that rope and me do not share any affinity.
Dinner was vegetable stew with sausage and pizza. Know what? I am thankful that our Chef had joined this program. The food that was cooked by them are better than those Michelin-rated restaurants. Given the limited ingredients, they can just whip up any dish and it tastes fantastic.
After dinner we surrounded the campfire and had a personality test done. Not the usual type where scenarios are given and you choose the answer of your choice. Twist was someone will write down what they think you are justified by their reasons. Final activity was Arabic lessons. The wind was howling and the night was freezing. Definitely a lesson I will not forget.
- Lim Ming Lian
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