Baseline

Im back! NO pics so dont even bother looking (right like who would? >.<) JTC was totally cool la! All the girls were in one patrol and the guys were split into two. The three are Falcon (Girls), Bear (other guy patrol) and Wolf (Hey dont be a fool they say we're no2 but we are number ONE!!!)

Heh - having post camp high. Feel like breaking out into a loud ear piercing cheer/yell hahaz. Before eating, while walking, basically all the time :) It was so fun (save for the rain haha) i dont mind doing it again. Looking forward to AJTC next year! (Advanced JTC)

Day one, registration and briefing. Setting up of campsite. At first glance the wolf patrol is a group of "cannot make it" serious. LEster chose the name out of jest at first but it ended up being our patrol name. No one objected until we spelt it out hahaz. We were going to try for color wolf >.< (Dont ask please... it seriously wasn't my idea) but obviously it was not approved. For one, any group that dares to post FURLESS WOLVES as their patrol name has to be a bit mental. And we are all mental :D fyi it is FURLESS = no fur and not FEARLESS = no fear. Pitched tents and got wood. Lashed a tripod for the chipawa (its a kitchen thing lolz, like a table of sorts with an attached other areas) and made our wash basin. basically, we didnt manage to pulla bronze medal of excellence on day one whereas If im not wrong, the bears did (on the first day night)

Campfire that night was cool (There was a council fire every night) unprepared and not knowing what lay ahead the skits and all were highly entertaining :) we were late and got service patrol duty for the next day. We were very poor on day/night one a ton of things were left undone- like for example, the falcons already had their chipawa up.

Woke up early with JEremy and Clark on day two (the 8 man patrol stayed in 2 4 man tents) to build the chipawa but only finished the sides and not the table top. Small note, is it just me of do half the people there not know how to lash? No matter :D fixed our wash basin higher too. The service patrol was given orders to do the colors raising (flag) for the day. It was cool, haha Only i know how to wear beret properly xD ok la, cannot be so proud. But somone raised the Singapore flag, YES! Not the RAngers flag or the Christian flag but it had to be the Singapore flag upside down! Hyper malu... and I got ticked off for being too stiff when marching and all... =_= I cant help it! I'm stiff and rigid when marching or at attention... and I am used to banging :P

I think by then our morale was dropping faster than a rock sinks. (Especially when the Big Bear patrol was awarded their bronze medal of excellence during morning assembly after our horrible blunder) But everything was tons better during lunch. Tin foil cooking! It was AWESOEME! We may not be a strong united patrol like the Falconites (Those girls are crazy, in a nice way) nor are we hardworking and solidly built like the Big Bears (ill explain in a bit) but we sure know how to cook! Even though we area almost always late when it comes to cooking and eating (umm firecraft is not exactly one of our strong points) the food is great! And who said camping outdoors meant your food was limited to instant noodles and canned goods? :) Attained our bronze medal of excellence (lets call it moe from now on k?) in the evening, and inventing our song :) built our tool area and tool rack along with the rest of the things needed.. FINALLY a full campsite.

That evening we would be introduced to our best (And most troublesome) friend for the rest of the camp. the dutch oven. 3 pots made of cast iron in pure solid black, flat lids and spiked bottoms. One with a diameter of 14 inches and two with diameters of 12 inches, these black monsters worked by placing hot coals above and below them to cook. They weighed terriblly heavy, the smaller ones (12 inch) according to sources weigh about 20 pounds each. (to convert to kg simply divide by 2.2 meaning the small ones weighed... ok fine (Physics mumble) had a mass of 9 kilograms each. And that is the smaller one!

We cooked or should I say we were supposed to cook chicken stew with rice but because we didnt really read the instructions we ended up with tomato colored rice cooked with all the ingredients we had and a soup. Still not too shabby, but at that point I was convinced that our silver moe was never going to be coming.

While I clocked only a simple 4 hours of sleep on the first night (from 1am to 5am) I managed a nice 5 hours on the second night hahaz (1am to 6am) so it was cooler. Ok before I continue I must state I was very disappointed with myself. Because I was alittle "delayed" on the first day, I got shoved into the roster under clean up for the first two days and firestarter for the last (like I said... firecraft -> horrible) at times I felt we were more of a circus than a patrol and we were not having behaviour fitting of a training camp. At times I felt I could have done better than the leader at that point of time, at times I felt that the mistakes we made were so stupid, and then again at times we were so helpless. But then, looking back. I never said a word, I didnt intervene, at times I didnt help to do the job i was more skilled in when offered a choice between that and a job which was easier to do.

Part of being a leader is being humble. I learnt that as part of this camp. Many things look eay until you try it. Even though I was never given the role of patrol guide or assistant guide throughout the three days everyone helped out in everything. Because we are not superman, no one is. There is not one job that one person can do alone even if the roster only had one person's name under each duty slot. Teamwork was unanimous, it was unspoken, no one asked for help, it just came and hwne they needed help, we just went. At the end of the second day (especially after the "failure" at dinner) something snapped, the wolves were in full throttle.

Third day, it was the last full day of the camp. We went for lessons on etiquitte and manners and such. It was totally wasted on us... I feel very sorry for the girls (operation falcon) for being faster, more united and more efficient than the two other patrols, that for accomplishing so much, the most they got out of the wolves was teasing and laughter. They might not be as strong as the bears physically but their spirit was evident ever since the first day, they bonded so well. I was ashamed of the mocking they endured.

At morning assembly the Bears were presented their Silver moe. But today, nothing could get us down. The furless wolves were fearless wolves. Lunch was excellent despite our blunder of leaving the dutch ovens open before washing resulting a severe hygene penalty. All JTC campers were slammed with a task to complete a 25 word explaination why it was necessary to properly store tools and utensils. As the camp progressed, our skill with the dutch oven increased by leaps and bounds. Even though it was a little wet, Dinner was perfect, including dessert.

OIn the last night at council fire the Big Bear Patrol attained their Gold moe, while Operation Falcon got both their Silver and Gold about 5 minutes apart from each other. (The wolves had already gotten our silver moe by now but I cannot remember when exactly! >.<)

The last day. Spirits were high and everyone was hyped. We had done so much in the 3 days. Almost strangers, during the service the commandant remarked that even he had thought at the start of the camp that the Wolves would not make it so far but he had to proudly pass us our Gold Medal of Excellence. The day was long and weary. I cannot remember too much, there is just so much I can say that I cannot find. Everyone passed out with their Basic JTC and JTC. I especially want to extend my thanks not only to all the commanders but especially to our Senior Guide Kenny and Junior Commander Loinel along with our PAtrol Advisor Commander Jason (Outpost #1 rocks!) for it was them that pushed us when we felt we would never make it (like when it rained on the second night)

Story time over, now back to life as per usual :) Rushed out of the campsite at 2:15pm for Youth. We ran to the road to flag a cab and caught one piling in. The driver took us to Eunos when we were headed for Payar Lebar >.< but it was only a short way off. Ahh! I left my bible and cup there!! The thing about the cup? It was a green plastic mug like those army kind. What's the big deal? It was the one issued to us by NCC when we just joined and were going for a camp! Ahh Im going to cry.. I lost my precious cup! And my bible! There was so much stuck within it's pages! And to top that off, on the way there in my rush my handphone must have slipped out of my pocket in the cab. I LOST MY HANDPHONE! Just like my mug, it wasnt something fancy of expensive but it held messages, nuimbers and tons of other irreplacable stuff. I would cry if I ever lost it but now even if I cried IW ouldn't have any tears to do so >.< which reminds me I Was supposed to call citicab to ask for lost and found by 5pm today but .. *looks at clock reading 5:20* I forgot... My father is going to slaughter me.

Yesterday was the day I lost my phone and also fathers day. That totally spoilt the mood. I dont think my parents are going to finance me a new phone if this one is totally lost. Which I have a bad feeling it is because I lost it when it was on but when I called it after service about 4 hours later it was off. I fear for the worst, thatsomeone has taken my hp. The stuff in it is irreplacable! (ereht ti tsil lli noitces terces eht dnif uoy fi)

Whatis up and what is down? Holidays only last one more week. I'll need to push all my school work in. The difference? I am actually going to get it done this time round, So Im logging off now -ciao

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I believe forgiveness is the key to happiness