Sunday, January 30, 2005

I just came back from a camping trip to Pulau Ubin (by OAC) not long ago, and I haven't showered since friday night.

Anyways, this was one of the most different camps I ever went to. We had an abundance of food, thanks to our welfare reps. Other groups had only maggie mee for dinner, but we had Chunky canned mushroom soup (clam chowder some more), maggie mee, luncheon meat, tuna (4 different flavours!), pineapple and nata de coco and longan for dessert. We even had doughnuts and jellies, pocky and biscuits to eat along the way, in the middle of the forest during the hike. I mean, what kind of camp will you ever get so much food?! It's more like a food trail than a hike lor. But I enjoyed it though. :D

One memorable thing about this camp was the solo walk through the forest in the middle of the pitch dark night. I felt so small and lost in the middle of the dominating forest, and the darkness was really consuming. It's literally as the Chinese saying goes: 伸手不见五指 (stretch hand no see 5 fingers). I only had a torch to find my way through. I was feeling kinda frantic and scared, but I realised when I focused on God, thinking about how all that surround me are His creations and how He controls everything, it took away all fear. I was able to enjoy the coolness of the night air, and appreciate to the cacophony of insect calls instead of jumping at every shadow that dances.

In a way, I guess its also a lesson in itself - during the blindest part of your journey, when you can't see where you are heading and everything seems to be hindering your progress, keep focusing on God and trusting in Him to guide and protect you all the way through. And He will.

I really enjoyed this camp. Though short, but I made alot of new friends, and realised how small the world actually is. I saw how people with different personalities are able to come together to make a difference, and most importantly, learnt stuff that cannot be taught within the confines of the classrooms.

And I guess this camp will be etched in my memory, for a long time to come.

writing at 7:45 PM

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