Pulau Ubin's Water Pollution

On 7th March 2012, the day everyone was waiting for was finally here! It was the first day of our EFL camp. All of us woke up early in morning and did our last check for unpacked items before heading to school.

The school hall, our assembly area, was packed with secondary 3 students happily chatting and all excited for the camp. We waited for what seems like ages before our Principal finally came up the stage with a microphone to give a speech followed by a prayer before sending us off. As our form teacher, Mr. Mano was the teacher-in-charge for EFL (Education For Life) program, our class was the last to leave the hall, as we bade farewell to the empty hall.

Unfortunately, our bus came 30 minutes late. Due to the fact that we were the last class to to move off even though our class was the first to submit the forms, our bus was old and small. Everyone were full of complaints when they saw the bus. The whole bus was packed like sardines! Some of our classmates had to take 3 people to a seat, squeezing together putting our bulky luggages in the middle lane of the bus. Halfway through the uncomfortable journey, some of our classmates seated at the back started screaming. Apparently, the air-condition at the back of the bus was leaking on them. The cold, dirty water dripping on them had caused so much of a commotion, that they had stuffed tissue paper into the gaps of the air-condition. Talk about being funny!

After the long, uncomfortable (and wet for some of us') bus ride, we finally arrived at Christ Church Secondary School to do our high elements. Upon reaching, we hurriedly grab our water bottles, threw our heavy belongings into a small storage room, and settled down into our respective classes. We had a safety briefing and were taught how to put on our helmets and safety gears. Our class was then split into three groups due to the size. The high elements were enjoyable and exciting to most of us. Some of us even managed to overcome their fear of heights with the encouragement from their peers. [pictures]

Shortly after, we broke for lunch at the school's canteen to replenish our bodies which was deprived of energy. Our lunch was simple dish of rice, chicken wings, vegetables and cream puffs for dessert. Sadly, not everyone had the cream puffs as the amount was minimal. Our friends were surprisingly chatty even after the tiring climb but well, what's a camp without bonding? :-) [picture]

After our lunch, we went on to rock climbing [picture] . Many of us were just sitting around chatting while waiting for their turn to climb. Most of us did not manage to reach the top as we did not have the strength to or did not know which rock to step on! Most steps were either too small, or really slippery. Despite the many warnings from our belayer, we still slipped and and got suspented in mid-air. Many of our hands were sore and painful after climbing. Around 4:30pm, we left the secondary school and took a bus to Changi Jetty, where we made our way to a bumboat that 's to Pulau Ubin from mainland Singapore. Luckily, our bus was bigger and more spacious this time with a storage space for our luggages below. The whole bus was engulfed in talks and laughers as different people who came from other classes comes together as one to get to know each other as the classmates that they are going to be for the next two years.

We arrived at the beautiful resort in Pulau Ubin after the fascinating bumboat ride which was a very interesting experience for us. [picture] Our teachers then gave the leaders (a group of six were chosen to share a chalet) the key to our chalet so that we can wash up after the long and tiring day for dinner! Rushing up, we explored the whole of our chalet and there was only one word to describe it - Amazing! We then went to the canteen to wait for our dinner after we washed up.

I remembered that we had to do a "Makan Cheer" in order to have our dinner. In the end, the whole canteen was in big chaos as we were not synchronized at all. Talk about unity! The instructors then had a hard time getting us to lower our volume. After our dinner, we were given a debrief and what to expect for the next day and were told to call our parents to inform them of our current situations and destination. We went back to our Chalet to washed up, and drifted into dreamland slowly and unknowingly after a small chat :)