Yay, just came back from our venture camp yesterday! It was more fun than I had expected! To tell the truth, I was actually pretty worried before the camp, cos I didn’t have a good idea of what it’ll be like, and the preparation seemed like a lot of work, especially when it was during the cct period. But thankfully, my fellow experienced 01 batchmates really helped a lot, haha in getting all the stuff needed for the camp, especially the survival kit, which in itself consisted lots of stuff.

So with all everyone’s help, I was really reassured closer to the camp that we were going to succeed and pictured us doing well! Haha, and I wasn’t wrong. (except that I of course I couldn’t imagine the activities we would be doing…)

Haha, and soon came the first day of camp. Getting there wasn’t easy, cause I just couldn’t find it on my street directory for some reason, and my parents weren’t free, so I took a cab there! The taxi driver saw me carrying the big bag, so we started on a conversation about scouting, which lead to his NS days, and jungle survival stuff, haha. It was really an interesting conversation! But the things I learnt couldn’t really be applied, unfortunately. Anyway, when I reached, thought I was early but some people were already there, like Francis, Anurak, Rong Jun. Tak Wei arrived same time as me haha. Most of us arrived early to do our sorting out of rations, and then came the GC, actually 4 of them, Zhi Xuan, Chee Yeow, Yan Wei and Hao Qin, with Mr Chan. Inspection time! Still scary as ever, but fortunately we had enough time. Still got pumped a little for latecomers though. Haha.

So after this we all left for our first activity- the close terrain navigation. First checkpoint- somewhere within the Bukit Timah Nature reserve. The walk there was quite fun, we were all chatting and trekking at the same time, so it was a bit slow, but still, good warm up! One place we passed which left an impression on we was the big flyover we walked on. Really beautiful place. People will scold me for this! But I kinda enjoyed looking at those ‘majestic’ ERP gantries, while the cars drove past them. Not because all the IUs were “di-ing” away, but because the general scene was quite impressive from where I was standing, haha.

Anyway, after we got to the checkpoint, which was rather easy to spot because Mr Chan was standing there, haha. The difficult part came. Looking for the white card to get our next clue. Only managed to find it after quite some time because, again, Mr Chan hinted us and said that he could see the card from where he was standing, haha. Thanks, sir! Haha, anyway, we were split into small patrols after this, and without Mr Chan’s hints, it was only going to get tougher.

For our patrol, Alvin, Sup, Zhong Jun, Zi Heng and I, our second checkpoint was the most difficult one, it was located far from the rest, and deep inside a forest kinda thing. On our way there, the sky just turned dark and we heard some thunder. Ok maybe it might have been the shooting range in the vicinity. The temperature dropped. So you can imagine what it seemed like. Cool, dark, cloudy, windy. In a forest. Zi Heng correctly pointed out that it reminds him of the scene from Twilight. Haha, and I couldn’t agree more. It was like something fantasy-related was going to happen at any time, haha! Especially when the sun suddenly started to light up the forest, and rays of light were beaming through some of the tree canopy…woa… So, we did spend quite a lot of time looking for it, but Chee Yeow did give us some hints, again, and we managed to find it!

Just when you start to think that we are some useless scouts who depend on hints so much…see this. Some of our checkpoints are supposed to be for OCS training! And, we did well for our next checkpoint! No hints, nothing. And we got there fast! Just pure dead reckoning, as we call it. Lols. At this point I realised I like pacing. Cos I was getting used to it and it wasn’t that difficult, except that you have to really maintain your concentration.

But, I was supposed to navigate next! Haha, so I happily took on the role, and…yea started trying it out. I have learnt these skills before, but it’s the first time im putting it to real practical use! With some advice, I managed to plot and find our way to the next checkpoint! Erm…but wait. The way we got there…heh… What we could have taken: The boardwalk at the reserve, and just by walking on it and following the one-way-only path, for 500m or so, we could have reached it easily. The way we actually took: climb up this steep steep slope, some parts at about 70 degrees…while grabbing onto tree stems, roots and avoiding those thorny plants and caterpillars, haha. It was really challenging, and we took too much time, like really, compare the 2. But having said that, this stupid mistake we made could easily have been one of the most memorable parts of the close-terrain navigation, lols. Its puzzling how things can turn into something completely unexpected.

Not sure if the order is correct, but I think we went to the next checkpoint on top of a small hill. This time there was a road, so it was easier, but less fun, and the concrete road made me feel uneasy. Prefer stepping on ground during hikes, haha. Anyway, we met Kenneth’s patrol there on the hill, and apparently they have been searching for their white card for some time already! Zhi Xuan was there with them, and now Chee Yeow joined him. We, on the other hand, joined in the search. We were really lost, okay not lost. Just couldn’t find the white card after like almost 20 minutes. The VTLs, decided to be mean and not tell us since it was our last station anyway. Haha. But in the end, I think Alvin found it just behind some bushes on the left of the place we placed our bags…we have been searching the forward so thoroughly we forgot about the sides…haha. So Alvin like really saved 2 patrols and we all went off happily! Haha.

I remember stopping off at the ranger station for a drink and refilling, and then meeting the last patrol. Took some photos, had a short rest, and then hiked to Thomson Forest where we were going to have our survival night! Lols.

Survival night was a completely new experience, unique to the ventures. And so we were all really more excited than anything about going into the forest and proving that we can survive in it by ourselves, haha. We were given food, almost too much of it: Chicken, Fish, Mushrooms, Eggs, potatoes as well. My partner was Alvin, haha! Think we worked well together. Once we got there, we surveyed the area to find out which was the best place for everything, and decided on them. And then, since the shelter was more important than the food, we started on the shelter, building the structure and then gathering and stacking leaves on it. The traditional jungle kind of shelter. Haha. We spent a little too much time on it though, and only realised when the sky began getting dark. Alvin decided to go and cook, while I continued with the building. In the end, thankfully Alvin managed to cook us both, the mushrooms, egg and the fish. The rest were just too much to cook. He did a great job! Considering the forest was wet, because of a rain earlier, all the twigs and leaves we needed for the fire was wet and less effective. Also, the forest was so dark we couldn’t see a single thing after we turned off our torches…so yea! Alvin was a great cook! Loved the mushrooms. Haha. Luckily I didn’t let Alvin down as well and also got a decent shelter after my finishing touch-ups. The night was really tiring cos we all wanted sleep after the whole day of hiking, but night sentry was a must. And in a 2-man group like ours, sentry times were crazy. So, luckily we called Chee Yeow and explained our situation. He allowed us to rest from 2-5 am without sentry, and that was really helpful for more sleep! Haha! In the night, Alvin and I talked about lots of things, from 01 stuff, to class stuff and also played some games! Like the one where each person has to say a word and create a story. But I apologise to Alvin for the countless times I fell into slumberland while we were talking. Lols. So sorry!

-End Day1/Part 1-