Outdoor cooking was erm... MESSY. -faints. I think if we had less variety of raw food to choose from, our food would have tasted better. Let's see.. we were given carrots, cabbage, eggs (yum) and RAW FISH. mmhmm. The fish was the most headache-y part of the entire cooking process. In the end, we kinda gave up on cooking fancy stuff and just cooked the noodles + salt and pepper. Nice simple dinner. haha! ohyes, brian exposed his hidden talent of cracking eggs! (: He was the official egg cracker of the night cos' he cracks eggs like those hawker uncles selling omelette/ hokkien mee. ahaha!

bedtime was unexpectedly pleasant. First time I felt so comfortable sleeping in a stuffy tent with a sleeping bag and an inflatable pillow! alright, I think it was the pillow that made the difference. haha!
Tuesday 29/05
woke up at 6.00am, by then it was so bright already. Felt well rested, despite an achy back due to the annoying rock that I slept on the entire night. ahwells.

RAFTING was the first activity of the day! Never quite mastered the skill of rafting on the many occasions that I've done it. Most of the time my raft would fall apart once it reached water and the instructor would go "never mind, good try. Now pack up" But this time it was different, everyone was so determined to accomplish the task no matter how long it took. Started off with the main structure of the entire raft, basic shape, tied the barrels to the side plus the mast and sail. Brought our raft out into the sea, everything seemed perfect. All the ropes were holding as we slowly mounted our structure. Next moment, SNAP. The wooden sticks holding the bamboo together broke into half. After that, everything just came undone. Brought everything up on shore, redid the knots, attached new wooden sticks, this time we left the mast behind...... out to sea. This time the prospects were promising, everyone looked so hopeful and excited, 3 people, 5 people on board. Then, SNAP. This time the wooden sticks broke right through the middle. Our raft was practically in two pieces. Being the leader of that activity, I had to make a decision, come up with a new layout, a new plan or just pack up and debrief about our mishap. I was uncertain at that point in time, but Mr. Koh and Miss Lim came up to me and said that we still had time, we could press on if we wanted to. I looked around me and saw a few defeated faces, but yet there were those few who wanted to see this project succeed and not leave things hanging in midair. So I decided to give it another try, we'll rid of the wooden sticks that have failed us twice, we'll just use the bamboo poles and barrels. This time we changed the entire structure to a T shape. (haha! yes, T again) It was lunch time already, we were all hungry and tired, but we perservered and ensured that every knot and clove hitch was properly done. It was the moment of truth...... at first the barrels flipped over, but the structure still held. 4 people on, 7 people, all of us+ mr koh and omg the ropes were still holding on! okay, I have to admit that water was up to my waist o_o" but still, we floated! :D :D It was nice seeing everyone's face beaming with pride and a sense of accomplishment. When we paddled out to the first green buoy and I touched it, I was happy. I knew that WE'VE finished the task that WE'VE set out to do, and WE did it well (:

mandy: AHHHHHHHH!
us: what!
mandy: I dropped an eyelash!
us: -.-"
mandy: I wish that it'll grow back again.

mmhmm, apparently mandy's wish was that we wouldn't have to go through the wakatobi jungle trail which was our next activity. Well, her wish didn't come through eventually, but God kinda delayed our trek as it started to rain. Bintan rain= torrential downpour= tents die= if you didn't water proof your belongings, ggxxed. Ran to the hotel lobby where we were to take shelter. And who would ever give up the chance to sit on a proper toilet bowl! (: hahahaha! the golden throne, I didn't want to get up from it la :/ ANYWAY, it poured for about 45mins before clearing up. Poor mandy, should have seen the look of depair on her face when Mr.Loh said "okay, we're going to resume our activities. Those going for the Wakatobi Jungle Trail, this is one you'll never forget" mmhmmm.... left the comfort of the lobby and walked back to our flooded campsite. We were just crossing our fingers, praying that we wouldn't be greeted by a private swimming pool when we opened our tent. THANK GOODNESS there were only puddles of water in the tent and my clothes were, relatively dry. Poor sophia's tent collapsed on them :/

WAKATOBI JUNGLE TRAIL. It wasn't that bad really. The mozzies weren't as vicious as other groups claimed, thanks to my imba mozzie repellent patch (: poor lester's neck was all bumpy with mozzie bites after the entire journey. In a way, I was thankful for the rain that brought about big puddles of water+ streams were we could jump into and splash about. hahahah! When it was time for mandy and I to take over the GPS to lead the group to the checkpoint, we kinda found the wrong one -.-" sadd. The little arrow on the GPS was so misleading! pointed us to a dead end. hrumph. Anyway, we all managed to get out of the jungle trail alive and kicking. yayyy. Alyssa had a free ride for the last part of the trek as she was supposed to be "injured" and we had to carry her on a stretcher all the way back to campsite.

debriefed and started to plan for campfire! panick panick cos' we haven't even thought of our item. -faints. Had a super grand dinner, buffet style near near the beach. spammed myself with fruits! yayy! fruits prevent constipation! ohyea... before I forget, here's what aunty lester said on our way back to Singapore "the lobby toilets were so nice that I forgot to constipate" HAHA! lester's hilarious. Anyway, thanks mandy for agreeing to malu yourself for the group! haha! Put up this really weird item where mandy was just screaming throughout the entire thing "AHHH! IT'S AN ANT!" then we just had to ENCOURAGE HER HEART to kill the ant. yepp. That so made sense.

Wednesday 30/05
Thank God it didn't rain at night, cos' my sleeping bag was soaked through, I didn't get to sleep with a comfy bed and instead had to make do with whatever dry ground we had in the tent+ my inflatable pillow of course (:

Last activity of the camp... AMAZING RACE! Everyone was pretty dead by that time and poor alyssa was nursing a cough so yea... we took things quite slowly. Walked from one checkpoint to another whilst completing the tasks set for us. I can say that the tasks weren't as challenging as the previous ones that we did throughout the 2 days but it was a very good time for us to reflect on what we've learnt from each other and to set goals for our respective ccas. What we want to achieve/ change to improve as a team.

Honestly I feel rather pressured to live up to the high standards that my predecessors have set before me. When people ask if I'm the Canoe captain, they'll go wahhhh, you've got big shoes to fill. I know that many people are watching me, my teammates, my seniors, teachers and even my peers. It's good to know that Canoeing has earned for itself a good reputation of a group of people whose passion for the sport drives them towards their goal of gold and a "never-say-die" attitude. Whilst people may think we're a masochistic bunch who are happy with gg trainings, I beg to differ as the camaraderie and dedication we show for the sport and team that we love is no doubt the strongest driving factor of the CCA. I have faith in this team and I believe that I will be able to inspire them to fight hard for the name of Raffles Canoeing. I'll not allow such external pressures to affect me, of course I'll definitely strive to continue what my seniors have done but I'll also want to build a unique team of Raffles Canoeing 0708, one that will leave a legacy of determination and fire to fuel many generations to come.

thank you 4A+ mr.koh for sharing this experience with me, it's been an unforgettable 3D2N spent with you all <3