Urbanization.
I took a glance at the twin towers, the sparkly, shinny, all lit up, twin towers. It stood tall as if it was about to touch the dark skies, stood firmly, with a proud, proud look. Nobody can doubt the beauties of a scene like that; all would dread a view like that. Yet, I know one thing that's more beautiful, more amazing than anything technology can bring -- nature.
That was the night I came home from Outward Bound. In the car, on the way home, noises of construction came crashing into my ears, my eyes saw workaholics walking back and forth the pedestrian street, huge traffic filled the roads of little India, clearly, I longed the feel of nature again. My heart was thumping hard, missing the sight of trees, the soothing voice of the jungle, & the glory of Mother Nature.
Last night, when I fell asleep out of exhaustion, I felt super comfortable, maybe too comfortable. The coziness was obvious. Nothing like the dormitories we were given, which was stuffy and hot, overcrowded and overpopulated. Too comfortable, is the word I can describe my home as.
I joined a camp from 2nd December - 11th December. It was a ten days course, to the renowned Outward Bound, Youth Adventure Course 26 course in Perak, Lumut. I wanted to have fun; my mind was preparing itself for “an experience of a lifetime”. Yan Hui, Yung Ming, Sean, Kuok Ren and my cousin Zhuo Xian from Johor, too joined me on our journey to Perak. & there we went, setting off 8am in the morning! Lumut here we come!!
Day One & Day Two, a classy warm up.
Sempadi.
Those were the words uttered to me by the female instructor. She told me my group is Sempadi, joining me would be Kuok Ren & Yung Ming. Yen (My cousin), was sent to Yong Belar whereas Yan Hui and Sean were members of the Korbu group. What did this group hold for me? I questioned. I wondered. I imagined.
I looked at everyone at the table, an awkward sense filled the table, it was the I look at you, you look at me moment. The girls were as still as wooden logs, the other guys were silent as if they were just punished in school for a terrible offence. Truth was, the only people talking were Ren, Ming & myself. We talk too much :)
Another OB rule was dropped upon us. Back to Basics. No handphones, no money, no ID, no food, no sweets, no nothing. So we pretty much it was a slap in the face, saying “Get used to being outta your concrete jungle!”
Like all camps, after dinner, we were told to introduce ourselves. Most admitted they were forced to be here. One admitted she enjoyed the camp too much the last time so she came back again. Three of us buddies, said we wanted to come cause we had temans here. I could see lots of reluctance flying around. Tough luck, guys?
Next, we got to know our new dorm. We got our dorm key, which had a holder saying 228 steps! Killer steps.
Words can't tell it all, but pictures...... can mean a thousand words.
I told myself. Day one, Aung. Day one....
Next day, after rope climbing (not much to tell over there), we finally got into our wet attires to go Kayak-ing. It was only training, to tell us how to handle a kayak, how to capsize in style (okay not really, but more to capsize and seek rescue). Yung Ming and I became partners; us two skinny people got together and started learning how to kayak. He took the backseat so he basically had to put more strength into kayaking, and it was easier to have an experienced guy behind, especially when he has handled a kayak before…
There's not much of a tale to tell about the first two days. Let's just say....they were warm ups, to what I call, a beautiful journey.
Day Three - Four. Kayak XPDC, the journey begins…
Day Three. Shawal Beach!!!
We got into our kayak diamond formation, with Sean and his partner, as navigator and the spearhead to the diamond. Right flanks and Left flanks were too filled by other kayak couples. Fikri (not sure how to spell his name) & Yen took charge of the Captaincy in the middle whereas the last couple, Ren, and Vira, a Thai dude from Perak took responsibility as the sweeper.
We set off in the morning, like a pack of birds, as if we were migrating to another country, in a perfect diamond formation. I grabbed my paddle and jumped into my Kayak, and told myself to put all I've got. Show 'em what's kayak-ing about. =) Syawal Beach, just you wait, I said......
We kept paddling, and it felt like we were kayak-ing endlessly in this borderless sea. Yung Ming kept correcting my paddling methods and I kept trying to please him. We knew both of us were unlikely partners cause of our physique, but we kept going. Ming paddled in madness, trying to show off his machoness :) I tried to keep my pace and rhythm. We tried to synchronize our movements. He kept giving me support and motivation. He said, let's show our moms what two skinny idiots can do. Let's show how terror we were :) Whenever I stopped, he kept pushing me hard. I tried my best.
I gave it my all. We were in the middle of the pack and it was a satisfying journey throughout. But mother of nature clearly was against us, the tide became stronger, the wave went against us and rain soon poured all over us. We felt a weight pushing us down, I couldn't see the shores anymore. All I saw was tired faces pushing themselves hard to get their asses to Syawal.
Rain kept pouring. We were soaked, yet we just pushed and I told myself. A lil bit more. I couldn't feel my strength anymore, I barely felt my hands. Yung ming felt worse. But we just kept going with the pack. Determined, we went on. We went on and on and on and finally after a 2 hour battle we reached our destination - Syawal Beach.
When we got there, we unpacked our belongings from the speed boat and set up our campsite. It rained so heavily we were all shivering, cold, as if ice age struck us. By night fall, our campsite looked all ready & the girls prepared us all with hot, cooked canned food & rice. Since our stomach kept grumbling, anything we tasted, tasted so good.
Thank you, girls I barely know/ talk to. :P
If i were to thank them personally I would go like:
Thank you.....ummm...who are you again? :)
Camping was horrible. I slept outside at the beach with a few guys & the tide kept coming, it kept going stronger and stronger and soon it was close to the camp mat we slept on. We had to abandon mat and squeeze ourselves back into the tents...
Day Four. Our Kayak Back.
Before the sun rose up, we packed all everything and got our kayaks ready. Like a fleet of birds, we left. Kayaking home (OB) wasn't as tough as we were always in front of the pack. Only at times we found ourselves paddling with full strength to get our way back to the front force. It was a smooth journey, the waves were calm, and the sun was up. I was grateful for the weather.
Kayaking XPDC ended when we reached Outward Bound Lumut.
To prepare for Hiking XPDC.
Day Four, after the Kayak.
In the afternoon, we were all taught how to use the compass and a map. Back to the classrooms, I thought. Bearings, coordinates, all those things.... Geography! After that short post- PMR geography class, we were instructed to walk outta the OB camp. I wondered what we were doing. After that, Sempadi seemed so clueless of what to do, where to go! I asked Ruari (The mat salleh instructor), whether we were already going to jungle. He laughed and said yes….
Tristan came and said : Lost already?
Ruari replied and said : Yeah. They didn't know they were going trekking.
Our navigator, Ren, used the bearings, and brought us into Teluk Batik (I think that was it). The jungle was a training ground for amateur trekkers and we needed to find a whole list of places and collect the alphabets on the trees at the checkpoints.
The girls clearly were annoyed, the guys clearly were clueless. Our navigator looked damn blur and we were so disorganised. I heard one of the girls saying "I so trust the guys" in sarcasm. I THINK it was Stephanie :)
We missed a few stops and definitely hadn't had the greatest of treks. In the end we only got a few alphabets and were unable to form the motto "To Serve, To Strive & Not to Yield" of OB.
One word. FAIL.
I think we sorta did fail our trek training, & I was pretty concerned how our Hiking XPDC to Penyalang would be; we were shit!
Day Five - Six. Hike to Teluk Penyalang XPDC, a memorable hike.
Doesn’t everyone say that OBS was challenging, it’ll be memorable, it’ll be intense, & it’ll be an experience of a lifetime? I started to ask myself. Would it really be wrong to say I’m starting to regret? I don’t feel any magic. We’re already almost towards the second half of the trip…..yet the feeling of wanting to go home hasn’t gone away. Ex-bounders all over have claimed they had one of the best trips ever; I was starting to regret listening to them….
Day Five.
A couple of bearings, a map, & a disastrous impression that we have to climb up four peaks was thrown to us. Yes, it was 6KM only, but Kak Sri said she expected us to only reach at 3pm. It was 9…… & she too had to add “If you get lost, we wouldn’t help much….” To add fire onto oil, we too had to carry our heavy sacks along with us! It was full of cooking & camping equipment. Me, I still had mixed thoughts when we entered the jungle; I was a bit reluctant, seeing how we screwed up our trek training. And to make things worse, I was captain. I’m still not sure how I got the role though…. Ren became our navigator, Vira & Ming became the sweepers, Melvin & Wei Tung was the pacers.
At the very least, I really prayed Ren would have a great sense of direction, we can’t afford to make false moves, cause if we do, we might end up in Africa. :/ Exaggeration..
It was a case of going up and down hill throughout the whole journey, pretty much like a roller coaster. We walked and walked and walked and walked. We were clueless of where we were heading to, the instructors barely gave a helping hand. The tropical rainforest was full of slimly leeches, waiting for blood to prey on. They were bloody annoying, and when I say bloody, I mean for real. They bit through our socks & took a sucking at our legs and feet.
The front few kept screaming in support of the back few, making sure nobody gets left behind. I kept screaming SEM while the sweepers would reply with PADI, as a sign that all was present, everything was OK. One time, when all got sick of walking, we chanted SEMPADI all the way, to raise our hopes and spirits.
Every peak we conquered was a sense of victory. I say victory because at the least, we know we’re on track. By the time we reached our fourth peak, I felt I was an infant, finally able to walk… It was that sort of accomplishment.
The tiring walk continued and the downhill travel was super tough. The more we slide downwards, the more our feet would get pushed to the ground, hurting. Occasionally, we would too slid down like humpty dumpty, falling and hitting the ground.
But we just kept our tempo and finally, like we figured, sooner or later, our doubts of never reaching there vanished. We arrived at the opening of the forest; we walked out like cavemen finally seeing the light. We walked out tall and proud, safe and sound, & anxious to get to the campsite. It was a feeling where you just went to war & you’ve just arrived back at your home country, after years and years of battling enemies. Sort of. Another thing that really boosted our morale was that Korbu hadn't arrived yet, we felt good, but still, it wasn't about winning.
Blood was spilled, battles were won & victory was ours. Opps I meant:
Leeches was ignored, tiredness were won over & destination reached :P
All that seemed unnecessary before seemed worth it now, when we arrived.
----
The group campsite was built and it was only then the guys started to get closer to the girls, in my opinion. We talked a bit here and there, helped one another set up tents, & even Vira and I too helped the girls wash the mestins. It was then the girls started becoming livelier and less quiet. Those girls…..kept ordering us to this and that, WITHOUT EVEN SAYING PLEASE, so we decided we just had to label them as bosses :) Of course, in a good way. It was a weird way of saying, hi, nice meeting you :P & the girls began insulting the guys. Sigh. & I thought they were nice people.
& this time if I were to thank them for dinner it would be:
“Thank you Wei Tung, Steph, Wei Qi & Ynna……”
We sat around the bondfire and starting bonding with one another. Told stories of our own & got closer to one another. The girls weren’t quiet anymore definitely. Yung Ming was his usual hyper, crazy self, mumbling about Robert Patterson & twilight. Mostly insults. I felt warmth, not from the bonfire, but from the bond of Sempadi, that was growing stronger every day. We were so carefree, the feel of being over there really brought my soul to calmness :)
:P
Next morning, we hiked back, with sore legs & our oversized heavy sacks.
It was a pretty amazing five hour hike.
Clearly one act of kindness led to another, & when Wei Qi was stung by a bee/wasp/butterfly, when she started feeling dizzy, headache & a burning sensation, Vira decided it was his responsibility to help her carry her heavy sack. He carried his bag at the back, and carried Wei Qi's bag in front. Like a pregnant woman, opps, i meant old man :) Wow. Admiration. Macho! Nobody could really say we don't have team spirit :) Nobody gets left behind, remember?
When you fall, we pull you up. When you are tired, we rest. When you kena leech, we sing!
In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the leeches sleep tonight~ The Jungle Book.
And soon, all that hiking came to an end and we slowly but surely reached OB’s campsite in jubilant mood. I was ecstatic. I was rather happy we finally didn’t get lost and have reached our land. We cheered in joy while awaiting Korbu’s arrival. & later on we partied with a dish of our own.
Condensed milk + Bread + Sugar crackers with a drink of Sarsi :)
A diabetic’s menu.
Day Seven – Eight. Final push : Solo camping.
Man I was having the time of my life already. Screw what I said in day five.
I couldn’t wait for solo camp. Ten matches, a candle & some canned food was all we were given. Of course a tent sheet and aluminium foil mat too. We had to live alone all day/night and make our own fire. Well, before that we played a game, well it was kind of a serious one, called hot seat.
We had to criticize each other, one by one, and accept whatever criticisms fired to us. Some gave honest opinions that ABC didn’t help out, didn’t do much, or talk too much.
And when it came my turn, I couldn’t really figure what they’ll say about me.
Let’s just say after that it was all smiles.
Then soon our camping challenge began. I was situated at the fourth campsite uphill. After setting up my tent, which was at a slope (because there weren’t many good spots), I worked on my fire. I….failed to do so. Some of my matches broke apart, & at times my fire would die out. I know I’m no scout, but I did try. Well, one of the reasons why my matches starting breaking apart was because my match box starter was wet, I carelessly left it on the ground and it got muddy, making the rough surface wet. Everytime I tried to light a match, it would either break or fail….
So guess what? SCREW SOLO!
Let’s get back our Sempadi spirit and get together and party!!
We came as individuals, grew as a team, and so no solo camp is going to make us back as individuals :)
Everyone started gathering with one another to those who have campfires, & yung ming helped me make mine. I learned from that, & I have feeling I won’t fail so miserably next time, and succeed. I owe it to him man, sifu.
At night, when everything got darker, Wei Tung came to my fire & cooked with me. Haha, man, grateful she came and helped me make my rice. & unfortunately a dead fly fell into her rice & she indeed made her own fly rice. She threw it out and ate it anyway.
Soon, Ynna came too and joined our dinner but Ruary came and broke the fun.
What a memorable day, from making that failed fire, to having a successful dinner. Epic.
Later at night, when everyone else went deep into slumber, I could barely sleep. I could only hear footsteps & voices but nobody was there. A bit spooky, but I figured it was nobody, just the forest perhaps. & what really gave me goosebumps was when I heard celine dion singing. Luckily, it was just people partying and karaoke-ing nearby.
At around 5am, rain poured endlessly and my whole mat got wet. As I said, I slept at a slope, so water flowed down like a river and I just had to live in coldness. Even my heavy sack couldn’t block all that rainwater from flowing downwards….
Next morning, we walked in the rain back to OB, 20 minutes journey or so, & it was indeed freezing cold. We had to wash our things & clean all our equipment. I was already going to freeze into ice when the girls started taking their half empty, half full gallon bottles and poured all over me. I was so innocent yet I was ambushed by those retards. I was so freaking cold!!!!!
Haha it was all fun when I started using the hose and spraying the shit outta them.
Day 8 – Rafting
I’m getting lazy to write so lets fast forward to Day 9.
Day 9 – Wall climbing & BBQ night
We got ready in our climbing attires and went wall climbing. Wall climbing might seem easy, but if you’re not Jack the spiderman, you won’t get close to the top. I climbed a few paths and succeeded but there was one purple one, which had rocks half the size of your fists, it was tough and I couldn’t climb that. Mr spiderman, Jack, managed to climb it in 29 secs….Ikal was amazing too.
Insane. Imba.
BBQ night
We prepared a comedy/drama for the audience on that night. Credits to the whole team, that gave their all.
The whole team was very well prepared before the performance and we had many cheers & round of applauses from the crowds. We portrayed our whole journey at OB, though, a short ten days (yes I say short), but it was all so meaningful. It would be goodbye tomorrow. Here you go! Photos! 
Day 10 – Farewell, I’m sure we’ll see each other again.
One thing I hate most about camps, is that whenever you start feeling closer to your members, you have to separate. I really really wish all Sempadians all the best, we’ve really had such a bliss together, & definitely I’ll be keeping in touch with all of you as much. To Kak Sri, who taught us so much, you’ll always be an instructor I won’t forget.
Cheers. To sempadi.
I guess that’s really, goodbye, to all of that.
I seriously love you guys.
I'm missing you guys like hell.
& farewell is definitely not goodbye, it’s just a meaning of I miss you and I’ll see you again – Vira.
=)
I feel lost, without you guys. I feel like I'm in a world I don't know anymore. People say you can get homesick. I say I'm getting OBsick. A city ain't as beautiful as the forests. A walk in nature.
And finally....
we were overjoyed you see.
One of my fav photos :)
I dedicate this post to all Sempadi.
From yung ming, ren, melvin, ynna, steph, wei qi, vira, tytus, lippin, wei tung, naren, namora, suren & yip wai.
Kak sri.
Ruari.
Cheers to all of you!
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mischievous
amused
energetic
envious
