OBS Experience Part 1

it's been a few days after I came back from OBS but the experience I had there, I would never forget. I was sent there to attend the leadership development program for petronas scholars. I am in the petronas scholar 3/2009 batch.

actually, before I went there, I've already have a brief idea of how the place was and what activity I'm supposed to do because my brother has been there twice. I was thrilled and excited but was a bit nervous too.

in front of gym hall

Day 1 :: 11 June 2009

I arrived at utp as early as 6 am. the bus will pick us up to obs at 12 pm. I scratch my head not knowing what to do. haih. after perfroming my subuh prayer, I went to our house. luckily it's not locked, so i went into my room and sleep. at 10 something I woke up, eat my breakfast and wait for the bus. it came at 12 pm and after settling everything, we started our journey to Outward Bound Malaysia in Lumut. we arrived there at 1 something with everyone looking so nervous and hungry! after everyone's there, we were devided into watches. I got into watch Korbu with other 13 team members from not just utp but uitm and utm too. our instructor is M.J. who is indeed a great and funny guy.

on the first day, there's not much physical activities. after eating our lunch, we need to surrender our handphones, wallet, money, id and our electronic items because we nee to get back to basic where all this stuff does not exist. I stayed in Irau dorm with ulu sepat and my watch members. to get to the dorm, I need to go up 106 stairs!

Day 2 :: 12 June 2009

we woke up very early and gathered in front of the gym hall to sing negaraku. korbu, ulu sepat and camah was in the same group which is group 1. after breakfast, we learn to do knotting and then go to the sea for our water confidence. we were asked to put on our life jackets and float in the water. then, group 1 was thought about whalling while group 2 learned about kayaking.

whaler

that was my first time on a whaler and yes, it is not easy to navigate a whaler. synchronization is very important, if not, you can paddle for hours with your team members but the whaler wouldn't go anywhere.

"dip, pullllll, up"

"dip, pullllll, up"

"dip, pullllll, up"

Day 3 :: 13 June 2009

on the 3rd day, we begin our expedition, whalling to pantai syawal. at first, the weather was okay and our whalling was smooth. we whalled untill noon and stop for awhile to have our lunch. after lunch, we continued our journey. but at that time, everyone was already tired. luckily there's wind, so we sailed. in the afternoon, the weather suddenly turns bad so for safety reasons, all whalers was towed. after a day of whalling, getting towed was indeed great too. haha.

this is NOT pantai syawal

as soon as we arrived at pantai syawal, we need to set up our tent and start cooking for our dinner. pantai syawal is not a good camping site. huhu. there is no much place for you to set up your tent and there are only two wells for you to clean yourself up. more unfortunately for us, it was raining bad that night, so we slept in water. camping there was really back to basic.

Day 4 :: 14 June 2009

we whalled back to obs in the morning today. somehow, my leg was swollen. on the way back, there were some funny incidents which I shouldn't mention here that I will never forget (i believe fellow Korbu know what I'm talking about. haha). as soon as we arrived at obs, we cleaned our stuff and prepared for the kayak lesson in the afternoon.

during the kayak lesson, everyone looked very tired. we did another water confidence test where our kayak is overturned. kayaking was easier and much lighter than whalling. we each got a partner and my partner was paklah (not the prime minister eyh). after dinner, I was brought to the clinic outside obs. the doctor wanted to cut my carbuncle but because i need to go camping the next day, he decided to give me medicine only.

eyh.. gotta go.. wait for part 2 eyh..