was posted at 10:57 AM with 0 comments
Overseas Trip to
MAWAI ECO CAMP
01 Dec- 04 Dec 2011

Hey there! So recently, seven of us (Felicia, JiaHui, Nisa, Syuhada, YanTing, Jingwen & Genevieve) went for a combined UG and adventure sports overseas trip to Mawai, in Malaysia.Here are some of our reflections about the trip for you to enjoy! :D Sorry I can't put ALL our reflections cuz the post will be UBER long and y'all will be bored. Our combined reflections are like 10 Microsoft word pages! :P The pictures haven't been uploaded yet! Keep checking for them! :))

Day 1
- Set up canvas beds
- Asli animal traps demonstration (Natural Innovations)
- Swampforest walk
- Asli water obstacles challenge
- Designing of flag & reflection

Reflections

There was a swarm forest walk and water obstacles. During the swarm forest walk, I got to taste different types of edible plants and leaves. Throughout the walk, I had some difficulty with some of the places but thankfully, people from other CCAs helped me along the way. I talked to some of the girls from other UGs and got to know them slightly better. The water obstacles were really challenging and required a lot of balance and concentration. I felt there I could have had more perseverance with some of the obstacles. I also felt that I could have more initiative during the V-bridge obstacle. However, I am quite satisfied with a few of the obstacles that I went through as I completed them pretty easily. I also got the chance to talk to some of the guys from NPCC while waiting for my turn to complete the obstacles. The flag-making activity at night was a good bonding time for Guides and NPCC. We made a flag with the themes, ‘family’, ‘confidence’, ‘survival’ and ‘feetprints’.                                      
                                                                                                                                                 -YanTing




Today we headed of to Mawai. We arrived in school at 7.30 am and found out that Leeyana had food poisoning and that she won't be able to go to Mawai. we felt really sad for her as we knew she really wanted to go. the bus ride to Mawai was really quiet. We didn't talk much to people from other CCAs. The sec 2 guides however did talk to Abu and joked around. Jia Hui kept asking people for bubble gum saying that she will only be their friend if they give her their gum. When we arrived at the camp site, we went to set up our beds. Then we had lunch and went to the animal traps demonstrations. Next we went for the swampforest walk. It was really muddy and hard to get around. Luckily some of the boys from other CCAs were kind enough to help the girls out.After the walk, we went to the water obstacle. It was very enjoyable. i was very proud of myself as i managed to complete 3 obstacles. WE didn't manage to complete the group obstacle. it was raining at night so we couldn't go for the firefly cruise. Instead we made Flags to bring to Gunung Arong the next day. Sleeping on the canvas bed was really scary. i was afraid of falling so i didn't sleep at all!
                                                                                                                                                     -Nisa

Day 2
- Set off for Mt Gunung Arong (300m high)
- Lunch at summit
- River cruise @ night (Fireflies watching)

Reflections

The trek up the mountain was quite strenuous, and it wasn't surprising that many of us were out of breath. :O However, it really helped to strengthen our bonds with the people around us. It taught us a lot of teamwork, and I learnt that by encouraging others, we actually encourage ourselves too! I learnt perseverance, as well as the power of mind over matter, and we eventually made it to the summit and got a breathtaking view of the sea. The trek down was no easier than the trek either, as one instructor quoted, someone once said, "I climbed a hill but came down a mountain." However, it did bring out the best in everyone, and strangers were helping strangers so that everyone could come safely down the hill. Also, I learnt the true meaning of going "slow and steady" during the both the trek up and the trek down. We had a lot of fun trekking the mountain and our time was filled with lots of laughs, determination and staring at the ground. :P

The firefly cruise taught me a lot about fireflies. Did you know that there were fireflies which glowed blue-green? During the cruise, the driver switched off the boat's engine and for a while, we sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the forest. It made me realise that here in Singapore, we are always surrounded with noise, be it that of traffic or people talking, that we forget what silence sounds like. To be honest, before the boat's engine was switched off, I didn't realise that it was making any noise at all! We're so used to the noise that we forget that sometimes we just need a little quiet time to remind us what silence sounds like.
                                                                                                                                                 -Genevieve


Today we went on a hill trekking, which was uber tiring and tough. I have never had such experience so I didn’t know what it was like trekking a hill. After today, I realised I have bad stamina and I had actually wanted to give up when we were just 100m above ground. The walk up was definitely steep and dangerous. I almost fell a couple of times myself. Thanks to my fellow friends and teacher who continuously encouraged me, I managed to pull through the whole trek and reach the summit successfully without giving up. Encouragement is really powerful as it can change a person’s mindset drastically! I have never expected myself to complete the trek while climbing it as it was horrendous and I was very tired. I am proud of myself for persevering all the way and not giving up. Determination plays an important role too. Without it, none of this could have happened.
                                                                                                                                                    -Felicia

Day 3
- CIP @ Kampong
- Community Sports activities (Traditional games, etc.)
- Campfire & Sing-along

Reflections

Today, we went to the Kampong for Community Involvement Programme. We did many things there including cleaning the windows, helping them to remove grass, etc. I think cleaning the windows was quite disgusting because the windows were really dirty and while we were cleaning, there were hundreds of flies flying around us. Next, we had to clear the grass patch. Clearing the grass was very tiring, and yet was very fun. After we had placed the unwanted grass into the garbage bag, they told us to burn it. I was rather shocked because in Singapore, we didn't do such things as it was heavily polluting the air. After all the work we had done, we had some Community Sports activities such as traditional games like congkak, learning how to make ketupat and learning to play instruments. I really enjoyed playing congkak as I used to play it when I was in primary school. Learning how to make the Ketupat was rather difficult. I gave up halfway while trying to learn it. I think if I had the chance to learn it again, I would not give up so easily. I also really loved playing the Malay instrument (I don't know what it's called). Later at around 4 plus, we returned to the campsite to prepare for the campfire. Each CCA had to come up with a different performance. We came up witht he History of Guides, NCC with the chicken dance, Scouts with the "Bom Chika Bom" dance, NPCC with a cheer and adventure sports with a song performance. Overall, it was super fun and we got to get along with other people from different CCAs.
                                                                                                                                                    -JiaHui

Today's Kampong visit for CIP was a truly memorable experience, we received a very warm welcome when we arrived at the kampong. Also, we helped to do cleaning up at the village, which was a very meaningful activity to do for the people living at the village. We also had to opportunity to learn traditional games like congkak, we had a lot of fun at the games and we also had the chance to play and interact with the kids at the village! Other than that, we also learned how to make ketupats, it was very challenging for me because i couldn't speak Malay and had a hard time communicating with the villager trying to teach me, but it was very heart-warming to see them try so hard to teach us even though we couldn't talk to them in their language! We also learned some simple Malay musical instruments and had a band to perform a few short demos for us, it was really enjoyable and interesting! Overall, this experience made me realize how fortunate i am to be living in a urban city because the villagers living at the kampong are not as privileged as we are to have such amazing facilities at home or at school. I'm glad i got a chance to do something for them. 
                                                                                                                                                  -JingWen




Day 4
- Aerobics class @ Kampong
- Performance for villagers
- Gift exchange

Reflections

We spent our last day in Mawai learning some basic Malay Dance aerobic moves with the villages! This activity really brought everyone closer as we did a mass dance together, as one. I learned that we should do activities as a whole, not by one person to enjoy it fully and make more friends! By this activity, I could help those who were unable to catch up and I was able to show my potential and be more friendly towards other people!

In conclusion, I learned that we should have a strong mindset towards anything we plan to do! If we do not have a strong and stable mindset about a certain activity, negative points would appear and we would avoid doing that certain activity. I also learned that we have to be prepared for any emergencies or sudden changes and adopt to them. The weather was unpredictable during the camp and we had to do many activities that involves perseverance and commitment such as the muddy swampwalk and climbing the mountain. Other than that, we must also improve on certain things. I noticed that other CCAs did not complain on the dirty environment we were camping in and they did not bother about the insects. They didn't care about the number of insects swarming around them, how many mosquito bites they got and how the insects irritated them. We could improve in that. We should be like them and should not care about those insects who didn't even bother us in the first place. We should also work on our initiative. I notice we did not take the initiative in most of the activities. We learned our lesson so we will take more initiative in the future! The most memorable event that happened to me was the CIP work. With that activity, I had bonded with other people, getting to know them better and had a chance to work with them, to learn from what good qualities they had and help them improve on their insecurities. We also got to help the villages, without expecting anything in return. That should be the way of life. I really enjoyed the camp and I will recommend the juniors to go!
                                                                                                                                              -Syuhada

*Asli= aborigines/ native people
____________________________________________________________________________________________

And that's it! I wish we could put EVERYTHING, but that'll be too much. Get more info from those of us who went! Words simply CANNOT express the Mawai experience. Hehheh. :P We all learnt to be more intitiative and to look out for each other. Everyone was really participative and thus we had the BEST TIME EVER!! I'm sure if we had to make the choice again, we would all choose to go to Mawai! Lastly, thank you Ms Lau for looking out for all of us! :D You rock!

And guides,


 G-DOUBLE O-D-J-O-B 
 GOOD JOB *clap clap*
 GOOD JOB *clap clap*

It's a new cheer we learnt from the scouts. We'll introduce it to you next year! xD


HERE'S TO THE AWESOME MAWAI!!! :D

*Pictures coming soon!
** Btw, sorry the font is all different, blogger's messed up again!