Stories of me and myself

Happy and tired as can be...

Why? Cos I finally got to do camp again!!! Woohoooo! Badminton and camp... *happy sigh* what more can i ask for? Hee.
Haven't done camps for more than a year liao... since I entered NIE. Which also makes me an 'old bird' amongst the young new-born instructors!

So, it was a pri sch camp I did for an old friend of mine. A partner whom I trust and respect very much. The undertaking of this camp was due to a motivation to play and also to lend him a hand. Kids were very guai, nothing too much to handle, no problems at all.... Wonderful. A simple camp.

Very fun cos the kids were spontaneous. So I got to go as crazy as I could! Yay!!! I named my group "Goondu" and we were the most outstanding group with trademark 'yum sengs', 'Superman' cheer, 'Bak Kut Teh' cheer and silly durian/Macho/Sexy/'gu-niang'/sotong claps. And we would go around kachiao-ing and traumatising all the other groups and walking away smugly. Hahaha! And of course with the energy level so high, we also won most of the games! Woohoo! =)

But I was burnt. Roasted. Now with a new mark other than the fire trademark (which indicates 'perfect for roasting'). Now there's a sunglass mark. So imagine drawing 2 big circles round ya eyes, and painting the rest of your face red. That's me now. But I had an awesome time belaying the kids and getting them to step out of their comfort zone, confront their fear of heights and see them overcoming the obstacles. That's just a few of the best things i like about high elements. Gave me a good workout too! Hee.

Barney the purple dinosaur.
"I hate you. You hate me. Let's go out and kill Barney. With a shot gun 'bang bang' Barney on the ground. No more purple dinosaur." (sang to the Barney tune)
Why did this come up? Cos the PE teacher in charge wore a bright PURPLE trackpants! Which was tight! So that was the immediate image that came to mind. The safety officers at the high elements also took an indirect dig saying, "So kids... imagine Barney walking along the tight rope...." It was hilarious. I wonder if he got the hint. Anyway, there was a purple door in the school, which he enters. So yeah. Perfect. Heh.

Outdoor cooking. Learnt a new way of improvising the setting of fire using the grills above the drains. Encouraging and teaching primary school kids to cook outdoors is always an interesting experience. You need to handhold them all the way... Heh. From setting the fire for them and hearing them go, "Wow! So brave!" (amusing huh?) to telling them how much water to put in a mess tin to heating the cans up beside the fire and hearing them go, "Wow! So clever!" They make your day with their innocence! Hee.

Instructors' outdoor cooking. We, the more experienced ones, resorted to grilling our food. We only lacked the stingray, lobster and prawns. But we did have otah, chicken wings, and the normal canned food and maggi mee. So yeah, we had authentic Singapore BBBQ food and Pasta Mania. With LOTS of papaya. Imagine a whole red plastic bag filled with papaya. That's how much there was.

Oh before I forget, there was this little gal who impressed me through and through. Why? She was a pri 5 kid, small-sized, moon-shaped hairstyle, like a sweet little doll. Quiet gal, seldom opens her mouth. But man, brave beyong words! She conquered all the elements... despite the difficulties. But when faced with a difficulty, she would reveal some form of funny expression on her face which tickled me so much, especially when she was on a high element and there was nothing much you could do except balance (with nothing to hold on to) on a tight rope. Imagine a little gal up there (around 2-3 storeys high) all alone. She conquered all 6 elements like a professional, when all her peers were still deliberating whether or not to confront their fears. What's more,part of her hair got entangled in the rope while abseiling, and so she got rope-burnt on her cheek. But no, she didn't cry, she didn't even wince. But I was worried, so I attended to her. Only when I applied antiseptic to her burn did she wince a little and grab me. I'm so proud of her, cos a normal kid's reaction would be to bawl! On the face somemore! And during outdoor cooking, she was the ONLY one who dared to grab the mess tins when it was over the fire. All the other kids just whined. My favourite camper. Best camper. Just like me. Hahaha! =)

So yeah. Good all in all. Satisfied with the professionalism in which the entire camp was carried out with. Working with partner Jus is still the best. Heh.

That's it for camps for me in a long while. Bo bian. Haii...