Sec 3 Adventure Camp at Kota Tinggi

I’m back from the sec 3 adventure camp~! Got a tan, bug bites, a nasty bruise on my left calf, scratches from trekking and lots of stuff to say, so you might want to consider getting a cup of coffee/milo/teh tarik before reading this.

Day 1/23.06.2008

Something stupid just had to happen at the Tuas customs. 2 brats plus a metal barrier equals to us getting ashamed by them. A few hours later, we have arrived at Kota Tinggi Rainforest Resort! Yeah, it’s a resort and also an adventure camp site as well. We moved over a hanging bridge (still hadn’t master how to walk across after 5 days) and assembled in the canteen. Instructions were then given after lunch and we checked into our tents. Following that was low elements course and team dynamics, which tested how we work together as a team. Want to try drinking a cup filled with water spitted by everyone in the group?

Fast-forward to after wash-up and dinner, we headed off for a cruise on a river to see fireflies. Oh, for the first time, I see them! This must be what people always say as the ‘wonders of nature’. That night did not pass by quietly, due to everyone being too hyper on the first day. i think I finally fell asleep at nearly 12 midnight?

P.S.: Saw a couple doing a wedding photoshoot. The bride’s gown has a really nice skirt!

Day 2/24.06.2008

At 6.30am, when I looked towards the mountains surrounding the campsite, the view looked so much like the Lava Plateau of Joaquin in Granado Espada. Our program for today was water activities, after we started on the nature elements course. There was this water activity called Indiana Jones which is really memorable as nothing beats seeing everyone fall in the pool work together to get everyone across the “bridge”. Then everyone grabbed 8 tubes for the 2 groups and headed off to the river behind the campsite for the next activity: river cascading. Oh man, it is so fun! It resembles the mini version of white water rafting, just not as treacherous. Given the chance, I will definitely go on it again! Right after that, we had a quick wash with a hose before putting on safety jackets. We’re heading off for a jump off the jetty into the 3m deep lagoon!

Went 3-man kayaking after lunch, which is more dangerous then kayaking alone. Really, I have no idea what to do if we capsized. Had another round of jetty jumps as we had extra time on our hands, followed by shower and dinner before we head off for the confidence jungle night walk. Seriously, the walk did not do anything to help boost my confidence of walking in a path at night with no lights but the stars and the moon to accompany me. Instead, it seemed to have worsen it. At the end of the walk, we had to wait for the rest of the people, so I saw stars for the first time in my life while waiting for them.

P.S.: It had been a real quiet night, I think everyone is worn out from the different activities we had been doing.

Day 3/25.06.2008

We’re heading off to trek up Mt. Panti today, so everyone had an early breakfast before heading out. I’ll summarize it all up here as there’s nothing much to say. I hurt my gluteus maximus today, from slipping off the slippery yellow mud patch simultaneously with my classmate while going down the mountain. Who knew, the patch of mud is actually hard. Didn’t fall prey to a leech for the entire trek, thank goodness~

Instructor Melvin gave a live concert today and this lead to an inspiration for our campfire performance. Thanks Melvin, for your song “Love, Me” and for your super-exaggerated actions during the chorus. Now, for the first time in my camping experience, I’m truly looking forward to the campfire.

Day 4/26.06.2008

Ah~ abseiling is so much fun~ so is going down the zip line. However, the rock wall posed a huge problem to me as I couldn’t find a good foothold while going up. One accomplishment though, I fooled my classmates and form teacher with a very silly game by Kaen that really caused them to almost whack me with frustration when they found out the answer to the game.

The campfire was a blast! Silly slides in the beginning plus entertainment segments by 2 of our instructors Wen Jie and Melvin has allowed me to truly enjoy this night. Plus our performance went really smoothly and I didn’t get any stage fright, all thanks to everyone cheering around me to allow me to momentarily forget about the audience. Thanks everyone, for participating in the cheers!

P.S.: I saw the couple mentioned above take more photos by the lagoon when I was at the extreme sports tower. Then later another couple came in at the resort. The bride had a really weird skirt that poofed out in ruffles and had trailing parts around the skirt. And she’s wearing boots! One of my classmates had the cheek to say it resembled cosplay… *face palms and whacks*

P.P.S.: I received my first camp T-shirt!

Day 5/27.06.2008

The final day… not much to say, but the boys part of the campsite is damn filthy! Melvin made a show of using a lighter and an insect repellent as a flame thrower to burn the flies that had been bothering us ever since our first meal in camp.

Here’re some thanks…

Thank you Melvin and Dee, insructors assigned to groups 7 and 8 for looking after us for the past few days. You both had been motivating us, helping us and entertaining us throughout the whole camp, so I’m really grateful for such wonderful insructors like you guys.

Thank you 3E3, for participating in everything with all you’ve got, especially in the performance. I know some of you guys did not really enjoy doing the cheers, but I did see that you guys had done your best, so good job to you all!

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So here I end my recollection of the Sec 3 Adventure Camp at Kota Tinggi, Malaysia. Thanks to this camp, I found out a real lot more of myself, and I have gained more confidence around my classmates better than the past 5 months. THANK YOU!