Back.
Won't say its bad but its not as good as the last trip either. As usual, I'll just highlight stuff
that strikes me, be it in a good way or the other.
Day 0
Ok. An 'emergency' just after school when I was about to rush home for HQ. My mom sms-ed saying that the school has some problems with my application for the LOA. Won't go into much details except that I had to risk it not being approved. I was to go for the trip that night and the status of the application was still unknown. It was a big risk to take. And I took it.
Was obviously late. Didn't get to really meet all the cadets. Much things weren't done properly and it made me nervous and a bit pissed at the same time. Didn't sleep for the whole night. Was slacking around and did some detailing and planning.
Day 1.
Breakfast was fortunately early and we managed to depart quite early. Settle admin stuff and all was a go. A TO was found missing and was not being able to be contacted so we just left without him. ....hole.
Passed the Malaysian customs and I was in the first bus. When the first bus left after some time, I noticed that the second bus was nowhere to be seen. So me and CM informed someone. Guess what was said. "Nevermind, don't care." -__- Self-explainatory.
Reached Yong Peng. Was given 20 minutes which I don't think was sufficient. But in the end EVERYONE was later than 20 minutes. Was told to remind the cadets not to be late. -___- Look who's talking?
Reached the resort. Briefing was done and all that. Warrant Kitto has retired, which is really saddening and so another warrant took over. He's new to NCC and I find him quite inflexible and kan chiong. I may be kan chiong at times (and I'm trying to break that) but I can't stand to see people being kan chiong. It pisses me off: being kan chiong and seeing others being kan chiong. Went through the usual adventure stations. Nothing much. And then it was dinner followed by free and easy. Oh ya, met Anthony( Clt) and another guy from the East district. We were in the same Clt course and the other clt frm 50th is from TP infocomm engine school. The world is small.
Day 2.
Set off for CP 4 after warm up. There were 3 female rangers ( Kak Dillah, Kak Waddah and I forgot the last one..ooops..sowie..hehez) as there were 11 female cadets. 3 from Nan Hua and the rest from Crescent. Nan Hua cadets were hyperactive. Crescent girls were too serious. Sometimes la...for this trip I think a bit better. Anyway, girls are not under my direct control. So anything about them just reflect to CM. I had to carry a tent AGAIN just like the previous trip. Nabeh, heavy sia. Once I reached base camp, it was really a relief. Tents were set up and so on.
We were left with pretty much rest time as the next hike will only start the next day so we bathed at the stream, cook some meals and relax.
Me, Clt Harith and Clt Hariz set up a 'balcony' or our the Clts tent. It was pretty creative I must say and I was pretty excited too. It was actually initiated by Hariz.We made use of groundsheets and poncho. It was cool. The TOs from the next camp which at that time was the East district were amazed I guess. lolx...well, we didn't really had much to do. Hahaz...i think I'll do it again the next time. Wee.....
Built a small bonfire. Couldn't make it big as said by the rangers. Not higher than 3 feet. It was okay with me and soon everyone gathered around followed by a short briefing for the next day. Experiences were shared and stories were told. :) After all were sent to bed, me, harith,hariz and Abang Mail (a ranger) sat at the logs and talked for a while. It injected some repentence and awareness in me and I find the talk to be really warm and it opens my heart. What was sure was that I felt a good change of heart that night.
Day 3.
Ready to move by 8.30 am. Everything was good. Weather was still ok until, later. Much later. A few places before the KFC, was warned by the rangers about a bee/hornet/wasps nest. If I'm not wrong it was a bee's nest la. Not really sure. So me and hariz took the 'road shoulder' and climb at a faster pace. We were all the way at the back and we took like about 10 minutes to reach the front man. I forgot that I missed my breakfast in the morning and by the time we reached the front, I had a headache and I felt giddy. my stomache felt different and I was lucky I didn't collapse. We told the cadets too move on and not stop at the bee nest area. It was slow but that was expected and no surprise.
I sat there while the cadets move. Drank some water and ate a bit of chocolate. After some time we saw the last few people again. Was still feeling unwell and it really worried me. I wasn't sure whether I could keep up but hell, I was so pissed that I refuse to give up. Stable or not, I'll move. That was the promise I made with myself. And so after about an hour or so, I was fine. Mind over body.
Reached the summit. Yeah. Took pictures. Had lunch. And time to go back to base camp. As usual, I was at the back again. Going down. Really tested my patience. No details required.
Still at the back after a few hours. Was the last pack. Reached the water point which indicates that it was time to speed up and base camp was near if not for...
He fell. Or slipped rather.
"See, this is why I don't want to move fast. Go back early for what?"Fark you.
I don't mind if you're slow.
I don't mind if you're not very confident.
But I am f****** pissed if you don't realised that you're the one causing others problem.
What more, blaming others when you have yourself to blame.
Good thing I didn't blast that moment.
I was too sian already. The dark clouds marched in. 10 minutes away from the camp, it poured. Really heavily. Was drenched wet by the time we reached base camp. Central had arrived taking over East's campsite. Thanks to that someone, my stuff were wet. Was really fed-up. Whatever it is, what is suppose to happen(a.k.a takdir) will happen. So that kinda cool me off.
Had some hot drinks and food. It was refreshing. Was wet, wet and wet. Cold, cold and more cold. This time, saw my instructor for Clt course
Wanted to have bonfire again but the rain had just finished and so the dry woods were wet so in the end we just chit chat among ourselves. It went on and on till 1 am when I finally conked out.
Day 4.
Woke up at 5:30 to have already heard voices of cadets. Went in to my own tent to see CM still sleeping. Packed some stuff. And then decided to cook some water for hot drinks. Went down to the stream alone with a torchlight. It was still dark then. Filled up some empty bottles and washed up for a while.
It was really cool and surprisingly not very cold. Felt refresh and very relax. Nobody to bother me. No one to piss me off. It was simply simple. That's what nature does to me. It relieves me of my tension.
After that, area cleaning. Cadets were moving slowly. Gave them hints that time is running. While everyone was assembling into their respective platoons, I went around to check and shake their tents, picked up their rubbish and so on. I just flipped the base of the tent and I can hear the rattling of sand.
What pissed me off really bad was that they didn't clear their rubbish, completely. I collected them all. Lay them on a plastic bag infront of them and told them off. I was literally shaking with anger. Gave them a piece of my mind. The whole campsite went silent. I was firing like giving them artillery fire. Like what Harith said,
"Dia kalau marah, pokok sampai bergoyang". I myself was surprised at what I had done. I'm not sure of what I felt. I'm puzzeled till now. Anyway, I hadn't scold the cadets since the first day. Even giving mass instructions or talking to them as a whole course were minimal. They tried to play
pang with me, this was what they get. If they think I am someone who they can afford to overlook, then I've just proven them wrong I guess.
I don't fire at a constant rate.
I bombshell.
Saw the air and sea district while on the way down. Was happy to see the Clts, feline, mirza and a cadet whom I remembered.
Once we reached the ground, there was mass check of items. Went to get some shirts and gave some to the rangers. I was happy to see them happy. They do treat their souveniers very dearly and I felt kinda touch. Hahaha...hope to see them again soon.Everyone wash up, and ate lunch before boarding the buses back to Singapore. On the way home, played mafia with some cadets, teachers and Joshua the medic, on the bus. It was a cool card game. Might try with my friends or wad. Maybe during class gathering.
Was raining again and the causeway was smooth thankfully. Nearly blasted again just after the Malaysian customs. We told the cadets to do headcount but they were just plain ignorant. CM did the controlling which saved them another bombshell from me and the driver actually shouted at them after several failed attempts to headcount properly. It was just taking too long to do a headcount.At the Singapore customs, I tried the manual gates. Scan passport and give your thumbprint. It was cool.
At Kranji MRT station, everyone from the first bus was dismissed. CM wanted to go and eat along with the NH cadets and an ACS guy but I couldn't go since I've run out on Sing. dollars. Plus, I was waiting for the second bus to make sure all was safely through the customs. When all was confirmed,called Lt Rizal to inform him all were ok because I was afraid that the TO OIC did not inform the HQ that all was back safely. Set off home from there. Was surprisingly not very exhausted.
It was a different experience at the same place, the same mountain. This is my 3rd time on Mt Ophir and I can't help to notice that I am always among the last person in any part of the expedition. I think of myself as the last man. I prefer to take the responsibility in having everyone safe. So I place them at the front and volunteer to be at the back. I told the cadets once that if they're to break away from the person at the front, they don't have to worry. Don't holler at the front man to slow down. If they're unsure, just stop and wait for the rangers or the officers to come by. We will guide you back. We have it covered. One thing about being the last man who is capable of moving at a faster pace is that you have to have enough( a lot) of patience rather than stamina. The speed at the back ranges from very fast to very slow. The change in pace is drastic and it can piss people off. If you have a slower man at the front, your job is to WAIT,HELP and ENCOURAGE him to keep moving. This time I think its a lot worse as compared to the last trip I went. WL, you have the right to be happy. Why so? This is because even when the terrain allows people to WALK FASTER, the slowest person this time round (shall not name who) didn't. Maybe he is not confident. Okay, I can take that. But if you ask me why should we move faster, then to hell I wish you. We are all tired, exhausted, drained and sweaty. We want to reach the destination as fast as possible so we can REST. Damn you, if not for the rangers who told me to be patient, I would have just left you behind. One for all and all for one. That's what it is all about. If you can't think for others, then you deserve to be pushed off the track into the river. The thing that I enjoyed most this time is the CLTs can take a so called harder route just to test ourselves. Its not that we leave the cadets on their own. It is just that we took the 'road shoulder' sometimes. It was fun and adventerous as we had to jump more and try new ways of going up and down. But was sad that I couldn't bash through at some parts as there was this someone, you-know-who. Was on the way down from the summit when the officers at the back encounter an ant trail. It was cool. There were just so many. And the ranger told us that if we see them it means we are neat a river. Interesting stuff. One of the rangers said that one of the 'rules' of the jungle is not to be too happy. Infact, I believe that it applies everywhere. In Malay, they say, "jangan suka sangat". No one really told me why but I think that if you are overly happy, then some bad things will bound to happen. When you're too happy, you will forget stuff. You lose your conscience and that's it. you lose touch with yourself and also the surrounding. Ignore what I've written if you're lost.
Will post pics if blogger likes me. Lolx...
