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Sunday 23 September 2012

Sibu!!!


I have just come back from my Sibu expedition. It was a long and tiring trip. I had lots of fun and have learned a lot. After this experience, I will be grateful with what I have already and never take things for granted!

On the first day I was really excited about the cabins and where we were going to kayak to. We did a bunch of stuff on the first day such as finding out your cabin mates, practicing for the expedition and choosing our equipment. The first thing we did was picking our cabin mates. I chose Anemesh, Karil and Iyaan. After we picked our cabin mates we settle in into our cabins and unpacked the things we needed for the kayaking practice. After we settled in, we picked our equipment. To pick our own equipment such as the helmet, spray skirt and the paddles. We had to pick the one that was most comfortable. After picking the equipment we started kayaking practice! We were taught some moves such as the back paddle, side paddling etc. To be honest, it was of boring because I already knew all the moves and so did the others. So it was more of a revision of what we learnt in Mana Mana. After all the kayaking After kayaking for a long time, we finally kayaked back to shore, showered and ate dinner. Dinner was pretty good. We had noodles and fried rice along with some fruits. After we ate, we went back to our cabins and went to bed. It took me a while to go to sleep because it was hot and stunk because my bed was right next to the toilet!!!
http://negotiatingmeaning.blogspot.sg/ 


The beginning of the expedition: We traveled 8km in our small kayak groups to our camp site. My kayak group members were Karil, Iyann, Aronie, Cordney and Wasabi. Wasabi was our mentor for our little group and guided us the whole way. The 8km we traveled did not feel very far because we took a couple of breaks on the way and played some games such as piano keys and catching a ball while swimming. Piano keys was my favorite. What we had to do was raft up all the boats and the person in the corner had to stand up on his boat and run across all of the other boats! The first time I did it I could not even stand on my own boat :D. When we traveled around 4 to 5km, we stopped at a small island and ate our packed lunch. After that, we continued and finished the 8km. When we arrived at the camp side, we started to set up our tents. It took us around 20min to set them up. There were 4 tents all together, and 6 to 7 students had to cram into a tent! That night was the worst compared to the others. It was extremely hot and stuffy. Tom, Dhruv, Anemesh, Karil and I used a lot of baby powder to keep us from sweating. I think we slept around 4:30am!!!

2nd day of expedition: We traveled the same distance as the first day - 8km. I thought that the 2nd day was much harder than the first day because I did not get as much rest and tired from the previous day of kayaking. We pretty much did the same thing as the first day of the expedition. We kayaked to the next island to camp on, set up the tents and ate our dinner. But the one thing that was new was building a camp fire! We collected wood and dropped them all in the middle and lit them with a lighter. We tried to light it up with 2 sticks but it did not work out very well. We sat in a circle talking about ourselves. We got to know one other better. When we went to bed, it was not as bad as the first night. I slept pretty well actually. It was less stuffy because there were less people in the tent.

Last day of the expedition: The last day was the easiest because all we did was pack up the tents, bring all the supplies to the speed boat and kayak to our cabins. But we thought it would be too easy to just kayak to our cabins, so we decided to kayak to one of the floating village. There were many people living in the small village in the middle of the ocean. After visiting the floating village, we kayaked back to our cabin. When we arrived back, we had to clean the kayaks and our equipment. It was kinda boring and tiring. After we washed the kayaks, we carried them up the hill and put them in the kayak storage structure. We were all so hungry that when we finally sat down for lunch we gobbled up many servings of noodles. I think I had 4-5 servings of noodles and I was still hungry after that! When it got darker, we went to the beach and started another fire to relax and talk.  We ate marshmallows and cooked them in the fire. It was gooey and tasty. The best part of the day was when we went into the karaoke room. It was funny watching others sing and dance. At the end of the day, we all went to sleep in our cabins. To be honest, the cabins felt like a 5 start hotel after sleeping in the tents!!!
http://negotiatingmeaning.blogspot.sg/  


After spending 5 days with my classmates, I feel that I've learnt more about them and got closer to some. I felt as if that I had gone to a primitive world, slept in tents and on the beach, traveled from one island to another in a small boat, cooked our own food and built our campfires. When I finally returned to the comfort of my own home in Singapore, I realized how much I've taken things for granted, and after this experience, I will appreciate the things that I already have. I've also learnt that I can survive in a primitive world, if necessary. :D

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