The Adventure Camp Story - Part 1 By: The Boss No comments

Have you ever had one of those days where you just didn't want it to end? Well my friends...I had 3!!! Can you believe this? 3 full days of fun, laughter, loads of camping and great fellowship with my fellow rangers! Yeap...that's how the rangers do it! Waking up to the sound of the river flowing, the freshness of the morning dew, the cool mist that blankets the land, campfires at nights, sitting and brewing a hot drink under the starlight....I'd do it all over again, pals. Nothing beats the fun and the adventures of the outdoors! Cmdr. Kenny was sorely missed...hahah...wait for the next one dude! Same goes to Cmdr. Sheila and Alison...:)

Preparation for this Adventure Camp started more than a month before the camp. Lots of stuff and activities needed to be planned and sourced. A big thumbs up and a bigger thank you to all the commanders and rangers who helped tirelessly and sacrificially to make this camp a success. Just so you would know, all your commanders went through a lot to make this camp as good and thoroughly enjoyable for each one of you. So if you see them, practice the David Wong-methodology...give them a HUGGG! :)

The morning started early for many of us. Some commanders were even awake by 6am...frantically hurrying to the wet market to get all the supplies needed for our 1st night BBQ! Grabbed every chicken wing and lamb that was available...haha. Then at about 9am, the campers started gathering in church. Great to see them all hyped up and looking forward for a torturious...opps, I mean wonderful time! Haha...nevertheless, some were expecting to be tortured! I wonder why...:) Everyone was busy checking to see if they got enough food to last them over the next 3 days. Yeap...just in case you're wondering if the rangers had their meals catered...haha...you're wrong! For this camp, every ranger had to cook their own meals. All part of the training...and everyone did well. My tummy can assure you that...

Stoppped by at the Sg Buloh rest area for one last 'civilized' meal before we headed off into the wild. Everyone was busy stuffing down burgers, fast food, salt, pepper, etc etc into their throat...anything edible basically. Ohh...some even had the luxury to enjoy a fantastic scoop of Baskin Robbins (31% off on every 31st!)!! Now aint that a great start to the camp or wat??? Stuffed...we then continued our trip and finally arrived at The Woods Resort at about 1.30pm. I guess everyone's reactions was kinda like similar to mine when I first visited the campsite a couple of months ago..."Wowwww!" Trust me friends...I've been to many camping trips, but this is certainly up there with the best. Nice flat grounds, shady, sufficient sunlight...best part of all is the fact that we're right next to the river! Yupp...all the mermaids and dugongs couldnt wait to take a dip...

After camp briefing and laying down the ground rules...the rangers hurried off to pitch their tents and get their chippewa kitchen done. Just 2 main rules for this camp...1. If its alive, dont kill it. 2. If its dead, dont bring it back to life.

Keep camping simple, thats my policy...

For this camp, the rangers were split up into new patrols, together with new faces as their Patrol Guides and Asst. Guides. It was a good to see new faces taking the lead, calling the shots, and taking responsibilities upon themselves. Leadership training camp for some of them, I'd say. The campers were divided into 4 patrols, as following:

i) Adventure Boys - Lazy Roach

ii) Adventure Girls - Lil' Ladybirds
iii) Expedition Rangers - Mighty Lalat
iv) Expedition Rangers - NyamQuito

Man...I'm telling you. The names chosen for their patrols....some really fit the character of the rangers itself! Some identified themselves with flies...irritating, quick, hard to swat, loves to hang around...errr...rubbish....then we have the ladybirds - graceful, pretty, spotty (sporty)....up next, the lazy roaches - lazy, loves to dwell in dark places, eats everything & anything!! And finally the mosquitoes...pests, bloodsuckers, eats and sleeps, makes that irritating buzzing sound in your ears....haha...fun camp wei! Well...we got them all, friends!

I'll narrate the story even as we go through the pics. Easier for me la...have fun reading!

This is how the campsite looked like. Its a great place. I'd recommend this place to anyone who's planning to have a camping trip. Any supporters??? Great spot, beautiful river...ahhh, the beauty of life! A great way to admire and enjoy God's creation is through camping, my friends. Just ask any ranger, and they'll agree!

While everyone's busy doing their lashing and ropecraft, here's Shaun Lim showing you how to hit a home-run!

The weird alien-like creature that got everyone jumping and screaming. Ever seen a stick insect in the wild??? Well, he's one fella we caught trying to crawl up our legs...nasty looking lil' fella!

Here we see the Lalat quartet taking some time off to chill in the baby pool. These 4 fellas are guilty of at least 3 crimes during the camp...1) Running off to the river during camp setup time 2) Abusing the camera lense and the photographer (occasionally themselves!) 3) Disturbing the peace and tranquility of the jungle...the usual crime.

After the heavy downpour on the 2nd day, all the guys decided that's it time for some macho-ness aka football in the rain and the occasional puddle of water and mud! This was like...Malaysian football at its worst! Hahaha...in fact, at times this was more of a comedy show! Ppl slipping and sliding all over the place..poor Ting Han got his face 'repaired' in a collision. Hahah....thank God he's alive and well! At the end of the day...the kampung boys won (the shirtless ones).

Wonder what the girls were up to??? They were chillin' in the river...having an All Women's Conference...:) They had their manicure, pedicure, and body massage stations all set up!

Well...naturally....after waddling in mud all day long, its time for the wild hogs to take a dip and have their very own guy conference. Topless, of course! :) That was the only requirement to join the conference. Man...noticed how 'white' these boys are??? You guys need some colour...

There were the usual fun times in the river...icy cold water...but its a great way to freshen up ourselves after a long day. The best part of all was splashing cold water on Daniel Ng and listening to his reaction. Classic, man! Try it friends...in church, in school...just pour cold water on him! :) And oh...congratulations to David Wong for going through a record of 5 baptisms!

The Mighty Lalats posing with their tiny kitchen...saving wood eh? :) Patrol Guide Jason Ong and Asst Guide Cheryl Lim leading the pack. Wahh..some more so ngam, both also wearing different colour! Top fly, wei...some more can hang clothes on the chippewa kitchen! Multi-talented wei...Job well done by everyone. I wonder what's up with Phaik Joo and the pot...:)

And here we have the swarm of Lil' Ladybirds! Cute leh??? Well...they certainly are. Its great having each one of them in the camp. Everyone's got a different and colourful character! The quiet, the weird, the silent, the loud, the mysterious, the fascinating, the public announcer, the parrot...for some of them, this was their first time camping. And they did tremendously well. Worked together as a patrol, lived as a patrol, grew as a patrol and enjoyed this camp, together with their patrol members. Camps are a great place to learn many valuable lessons and truths in life. Everything we do affects those around us. The decisions we make, the words we say, our attitude...and everyone pulled through despite the occasional hard times, and enjoyed this camp the way it was intended to be!

Di mana ada gula, mesti ada semut...Di mana ada sungai & ikan, di situ lah Cmdr. Gideon akan berada! Haha...beautiful river, fishes swimming around...the only missing piece in the puzzle was Cmdr. Gideon. And he didn't disappoint! He showed up with Elisa and Elena and his fishing rod in the front seat. Haha...in over 3 hours plus, he practically cleared the river of fishes! All ended up in his red bucket...steady man! That's why he's known as the Ultimate Fisherman! Sounds like a Starbucks drink eh...:)

Kelly, Kimberly and Su Vien preparing a scrumptious dinner for their patrol - Spaghetti! Who says we only eat Maggi mee and drink milo in camp???

I like these bunch of Adventure Rangers...they're oh-so mischievious, mysterious and you never really know what's running through their head! Looks like Ting Han's face seems ok after a nasty tackle in the earlier football match! Here they're seen preparing dinner. The first attempt at cooking rice in a mess can turned out rock hard. But hey, they got it right the 2nd time (almost became porridge)! Well done, lads...Anyone care for rice and curry? Yummy!

They dont call themselves Lazy Roach for no reason...here's one fella who lives out the patrol name...sleeping while the rest are busy working!

Ah hah! And here we have our master chef Andy cooking guess what...NASI LEMAK!! WOOO HOOO!!! The santan never smelt that good, I'm telling you...plus his very own camp-made sambal ikan bilis...its to die for! Fuuuyoh! Some more got spectators...:) Good stuff, bro...Its always good to have the best cook on your side!

And here we have the NyamQuitoes working hard to get their dinner prepared. Fantastic bunch of guys, I'm telling you. Great to work with, fun to be with...just makes me wanna cry...:) Their tagline: We Like To Suck, But We Don't Suck!

Just sounds so wrong, guys...haha

Here's Nick Choo and his...err...mess can and a fireball!

'When the night is gone..and the land is cold, and the moon is the only light you see...'

The Ladybirds enjoying their moment together after dinner...

Our very own chinese version of 'Jamie Oliver', Cmdr. Andy putting the final touches to the dishes for our Commander's nasi lemak meal, which naturally some insects crashed the party...

"I think this is how we do it..." Su Vien and the traditional can opener she got from the museum!

I'm telling you...food never tasted this good! I'm sure Michelle will testify to that...amen?? Enjoying her dinner kau-kau in the cool of the night!

The look good in the day...but even better at night! Just look at the amount of food consumed by these Ladybirds...scary wei!

Cmdr. Zhi Fung getting the rangers into the mood just before campfire night! Song and yell presentation time!

"Why Lord...why me???" I cried...

Our ever popular Cmdr. Collin given the honour to light the flame for the campfire after his tiring 10m Olympic torch run...poor fella...must be tired...

There's always something special about sitting around a campfire under the starlights...that fire carried on burning throughout the night...providing us with warm fellowship all night long...

"Dei...is that a bear track? No la...maybe its a....deer track?? Rabbit track?? How about a pig's track??? Hmm...cant be la....maybe its a...its a.....its a......

TRAIN TRACK laa.... (ok, for those who didn't get it, nvm...)

The campers were in for a fun night, for sure...esp since their commanders pulled out every trick and joke from our treasure chest collection! :)

Here's the fortune teller Cmdr Reuben together with our first victim, Zhi Kai...before he took a very very looooooooong walk...

The patrol guides and their assistants going through a mind-teasing 'opposites' game...poor fellas...physically drained throughout the day...now mentally drained also! Haha...

The final 2 contestants doing the 'One, Two, Juice!' using body actions! Haha..here's Nick with Melissa doing the 'water' dance!

Oh man...is that what I think it is?? Is that ....poop???

"Ya la...certainly tastes like poop!" Collin happily answered...:) We'll save the ending for next time, friends...

Here we have Andy telling us a story of a very short man...and we're not referring to Daniel Raj ok...seriously...:)

A scene from the next short skit...I guess some of the senior rangers are very familiar with this one...

It only takes a spark to get a fire going...and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing...

That's how it is with God's love...once you've experienced it, you've shared His love, its fresh like spring ...you want to pass it on...

"Light of the world you stepped out into darkness, opened my eyes let me see..." When we sang that song that night, the words somehow became so real to us. And once we began to worship Him, the warmth of His presence just began to fill that place...its was a special feeling dwelling in His presence, its the midst of His creation...God was there, friends.

Once the campfire service ended, the rest continued to do a whole lot of weird stuff with their candles...esp the wax! One of it included waxing cmdr Andy's hair on his feet...:) Man...you should hear him scream!

Plenty of wax figures were made that night...including this one!

Well..after a fantastic day, its time to just chill out...laughing, telling jokes, singing songs...playing with wax...testing out ppl's slumberland (stomach)....

Amy requested for this...cauz her face wasn't in the previous shot...just look at her laughing wei...wat a nut! :) (she's the one with the Selangor colour tracktop!)

Ok friends...this has been one super long post...and now I'm tired...stay tuned for the 2nd and final part of the Adventure Camp story. Its been a wonderful camp with special memories for me. And to top it off, I'm proud to be a part of these wonderful bunch of rangers...they never fail to amaze you, and never fail to impress you. They also never fail to irritate you! :) But hey...I salute each and everyone of you ranger and commander!

Have a great night ahead and stay tuned for the concluding story! I'm off to dinner now! Till then, God bless!!