Going to camps are fun times that I would participate even though no friends would join with me. I went through various leadership and religious camps that I had lost count. Each of it had taught me about how easy and difficult it is in life but the cruise had stuck in my head and I doubt the memory of it would fade, at all. 3 days 2 nights of pre-departure camp and 10 days onboard. I never imagined cruises are all fun.
It all happened when I did not concentrate on my mother's words. She asked me if I would want to try out a 14 days camp that involved sailboat. Hell yeah, I agreed without thinking further (as I always look forward to joining camps), sign myself up without reading carefully the registration form and I am off to Lumut, Perak.
Upon arriving, 16 of us (other participants including my younger brother) aboard a double-decker bus with full blast air conditioner. The whole bus was just for us, we even get to pick where we wanted to sit, running around on the bus playing chase are not an issue. Excitement filled me and it got me picturing the cruise, the food, the sea breeze and many others that you might think of. We stopped by Taiping youth centre to pick up the remaining participants, making a total of 24 participants, 18 male and 6 female teenagers then off we went to our destination, where our pre-departure camp held.
When my right foot stepped on the muddy ground, I am speechless. So speechless that I had to throw away my imagination towards this camp. Two shipping containers appear to be right under a roof where it covers a space enough to fit at least 40 people, with the sound of the river flowing at East. Toilets were located near the river beside the river, behind a house that used solely for cooking. I calmed myself, convinced that it would be a wonderful camp but at that split moment, I was shouted for daydreaming. I was summoned to eat together with people who seem like they had anger management issues and of course, with other participants.
The food was manageable. It was superb spicy mee hoon with fried fish ala Malay style. It took me awhile as I am not a fan of spiciness. Before I finished my meal, I was summoned to the space which then called hall A, and of course, by summoned, meant being shouted.
An icebreaking session was conducted by the officer. Pardon me, I only could recall their faces. Coolest icebreaking session ever as all of us, stand in a circle, shout out our name, where we are from and how old are we just once, then we have to memorize the others details. Those who unable to remember the other 23 members names would have to do 1 push up per person. I did a hundred at least and yes, right after my meal. "Stay contented, it could have been worse," I told myself. Maybe the fun part comes later, convincing myself while looking at other participants making fun and laughing at each other's mistakes, doing many push-ups. Not a great session I would say but at least it got us all memorizing the names of each and every participant including the officer's name that I have long forgotten.
Next, was grouping session and shoving the leftovers from lunch into a full belly. Dead serious. The reason why they insist us to finish our food is that the cruise apparently might not have sufficient food for each and everyone as it is a 10 days voyage. Feeling stuffed, the leftover spicy mee hoon were then shoved into our mouth by a shared spoon (yes, it is dreadful to have that) with other participants. Yuck is all I could think off but we were observed by the officers, and somewhat I could tell that I would be in trouble if I do not consume that remaining food.
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To be continue.
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Synonym96
13 November 2018
