after finishing my exam on the 12th april, i got no days to waste. just one brief day off, then i had to attend a camp that combines the module of BTN and module set by the Bahagian Pendidikan Guru (our 'beloved' daddy). it is a kind of BTN camp, but teachers' version. it is a requirement for us TESLians thus no one is excused from it, including the chicken pox bearer Hilwal and the scrutch-occupied Kasyah. huhu.. pity them for having to attend such rough activity with not-so-well bodies. nevertheless, we all went off to the infamous D'Perkasa Camp (formerly known as Rebutia camp) right here in gombak on wednesday. earlier bofere, we had the lecture part at our very own lt3 in insted.

~DAY ONE 15 apr 2009~
on the rainy but not gloomy morning, (cheh ape daa intro mcm karangan form 5) we departed from iium chartering a bus and a van. upon arriving, i sensed that the place is somewhat close to the location where i lost my dear initial camera (sob). it is at sungai pisang. memories of that dear camera rushed into my head and i felt like spurring to the spot where i believed i had lost it and try to relocate it, if i ever get lucky. but nay, that thought is rejected first hand by my friends with the stand that there is no point in doing such action as i got my self a new one and it is not certain that i will find it. plus, following the heavy rain the night before, the stream was going crazy with extra water and rushing current thus it would be very dangerous to get across the river. i came back to my senses after looking at the stream and keep on focusing on the camp instead.

the camp was nice and clean. after some briefing, we got 'checked in' to our exclusive "apartments" (tents) right behind the hall. i was ecstatic to find myself in the tent but most of my friends hated the idea very much. i don't care. i like adventure and have been itching to go camping for quite a time. finally got the chance, felt like jumping. and i did. hehe..

the tent

then we started the modul by some indoor LDK. it was rather usual and we got to sing some nasheed songs which i was not familiar with and after singing them with our own tunes and styles (we turned the nasheed songs to rap, haha), we got lectured for it. duh, you just don't expect everyone to know nasheed songs, especially the latest ones. me, especially. i have stopped listening to nasheed after five consecutive years listening ONLY to nasheed in my schooldays. i do listen to certain songs, just raihan's and hijjaz's. then the core message is about building a righteous character of a teacher. caryying the label TEACHER on our forehead, we are required to bear certain character that is compatible and necessary in doing that. certainly i have pondered for a while about my character as a teacher-to-be. there are some alteration and betterment to be carried out for sure. hehe

for the afternoon session, we had some outdoor activity in the ice-breaking session. we played some modules that required teamwork, thorough thinking and physical fitness. i would like to highlight on the first activity we did which is the going throuh the flying fox trail. once more i got excited and rushed to do it amongst the first ones. before we could actually fly like the fox, we had to climb up some trees and go through some obstacles and it was scaaaaary. scary i told you. the excited me had become scared. i shivered and sweated along the way. it was very high up and we got only the safety hook and some line to keep us hanged on the trees, just in case. i took a long time to climb but when i reached the final section, i became brave and impatient to finish the trail by doing the flying fox. definitely, the feeling when cruising the line from a very high point is indescribable. i was very thrilled to be doing it. it was soooo fun and exciting it got me screaming like a girl. i had never screamed like that in my whole life. my friends got confused and surprised to hear me screamed that girly. haha.. being the least ladylike person, it is less expected from me to react in such a way upon doing the flying fox. huhu.. one friend even joked by saying that to find your real sexual orientation, you got to do flying fox (like i did), haha. just a joke. i know i am a true female through and through and proud to be one. don't worry. haha.. it was a very nice experience. i really overcame my fear and did it.

excited to start the climb


it was so scary, huhu


flying fox


very high up, very challenging

then, we went through the next checkpoint which requires us to swing using a rope and to land on a big tire and we had to squeeze ourselves to stand on the same tire. the 17 of us cramped ourselves on two tires and at that time, no matter how sweaty you were, you just hugged each other to save the team. it was fun and funny at the same time as we are forced to be really close to each other, despite the grudge or the hard feelings we might have for some. huhu.. we were really forced to leave all that behind and start bonding for the sake of the team.

swing like a tarzan, huhu


cramped on


happy after finishing all three checkpoints

we also bonded to do the third task which i am not that ecstatic to talk bout here. huhu.. let's just say that it was a challenge of transferring all the teammates across one small pool using some pieces of wood. it was a tiring day, really. the meal we had were nice and filling. that night, once again we did indoor LDK and this time, we had to compete by building our own university with our own vision and theme by using carrot, bell pepper, kambas, sweet potato and a good amount of candy. it was fun to put our creativity and imagination to test. my group won the competition.

building our dream university


our fancy university with her proud developers


bell pepper mosque (with my contribution, hehe)

afterward, we had to tear up some pinang fruit by only using our mere hands. it was very hard and i gave up. i let my other friends finish it. after some gruesome hour of trying to tear up the pinang clean, we were given one coconut, the ripe one, for real and do the same thing. we were all tired and sleepy but i accepted the challenge counting the fact that i was amongst the ones that know how to tear up a coconut and actually used to do it. not everyone knows and had the experience of tearing up coconut. we fixed the coconut only using our magical and powerful hands until we got the tempurung. my hands definitely hurt because of that. it is crazy though, we i think back about it. one friend pointed out that, that was the outcome of us when didn't get connected to the internet for solid 24 hours.. haha.. and it was also an outcome of holding our sleeptime. we were all very sleepy indeed while tearing all that palm fruits. owh.. the activity was just a symbol to show us that we can do pretty much everything if we really set our heart into it. we then fled happily to our exclusive tents to manage to grab some sleep at last.

the finishing product

~DAY TWO 16 apr 2009~
the next day started with an adventure, namely jungle trekking. as all had expected, we are required to pass through some rough trails and dirty ourselves to the skin. i fancy adventure myself so i just enjoyed the walk through the jungle. but the activity was lacking something. no serious thing that we actually learnt from it especially when it was accompanied by inexperienced facilitators. facilitators, talk about them. i hate some of them. huhu.. before finishing the trekking, we were required to go through an obstacle and note here, i hated it so much. there is no point of us walking through a pool of mud and water, soaked ourselves to the head and crying out our name and place of birth. it was not fun either. the facilitator seemed to have a great time laughing at us and that pissed me even more. i hate it because that activity ruined my shoes, my socks and treksuit. huh. we finishes our trekking with a visit to the river which then has been clean and not really dangerous. we spent some time there cleaning up and having fun 'mandi sungai'. we shared a good time singing some songs, with our voices fighting over the sound of the stream.


in the jungle


me =)


really dirty


back at the camp, we cleaned up and grab some long nap. we all lay down and sleep until 4 pm. i can't believe that we were allowed to do that since we're in a camp and have a schedule to follow. huhu.. it was kind of fun though, to sleep together one batch like that. it was a rare scene to behold. huhu.. after waking up that afternoon, we played some games to make us awake. once again, the spirit of teamwork is called and we had to finish them in the honour of the team. there was this game where we were splitted into three teams and we had to build a country. the mute team was just giving the design of the construction and i, among the normal ones had to order the blind team to do the construction for us. it was pure challenging ordering blind ones to do the physical task as they cannot see a thing. it also challenged my temper and i nearly throwing a fit during the game. finally, we managed to finish the construction although it was really hard. all the games are just a symbol to what we will face in the real working world. as a teacher/goverment servant (the blind ones), we need to take orders from the admin and perform the task. its hard but not much reponsibility. as the admin (the normal ones), we are having the hard time thinking about the order and the challenges. as the policy makers (the mute ones), we can just give the design without the power to say anything. it is up to the admin to manage the organisation. the game really put us into the shoes of different parties in an organisation and we really learnt something from it.

that night after some nice barbecue dinner, we set off for the grand activity, which is the night walk. i like to experience the activity but it never failed to get me shivered. upon thinking about walking in the darkness of the jungle and the fact that many other creatures would be watching us just sent chill to my bones. i felt inferior and kept thinking about Allah's power to create the world and how we should cling only onto Him and believe in His power no matter what. it was very tiring. the very long journey in the dark really got me quiet. i notice that i had never been that quiet in my life. i kept being silent and serious the whole time. we climbed, walked through trees and leaves, and even slid through the jungle dirt to get to the last check point. we end up sitting in the creek, at 3.30 am. i don't have to tell you how cold it was. we got to sujud into the water and do some taubah. we then were required to do some forgive and forget session, and mind you, our feet were still in the water. yes, we did do the part, but do i really forgive and forget? the answer is simple. not really. it is hard to forgive someone in just a flash. it is even harder to forget the deeds. forgiving takes time. it really does. the very cold and freezing session ended at about 4.20 am and i couldn't wait to sleep. we slept right after we reached the camp.

~DAY THREE 17 apr 2009~
the next morning, after sleeping for the second phase (after subuh), we started our module quite late and it was the "menara maruah" challenge. we were required to build a tower from pvc pipe cylinders by stucking them up one by one until it stands up like a tall pole. we had to support the tower by attaching four lines on each pipe and the other end of the lines was hold by a member. all 49 of us were involved in this seemed-impossible mission. i was shocked to see us doing the whole thing. i couldn't believe my eyes that we got 8 pipes up already. by the time to put my pipe, we had some trouble and the tower crashes down before we even got to put mine (no9) up. it was tiring and really challenging though. everyone is crucial in the process and every point of view needed to be considered. different point of views can either secure or break the tower. nonetheless, after only managed to put up 8 pipes, we sit down nad talked about it. again, it was all very symbolic and meaningful. we need to pull ourselves together in order to make things work. i never expected that we could actually do it. therefore, i felt really proud of my friends to be able to make the tower high. good job TESL cohort 3!


the tower in a glimpse


hold the line! keep it straight!


what a scene to behold, seconds before it started to collapse


the three gories, the one who held the base of the tower


for the last activity, we got to one last singing session and this time i kept quiet to respect the songs. we had our last LDK and presented it. all in all, the camp was a success. the modules were interesting and fresh to me. it was good to learn from. i had a good experience during the whole camp. it was fun to have an outing together with my clan like that after a long time. it was sure tiring, and left my face burnt and my skin itchy. i would love another adventure next time and let us hope that there will be no more irritating facilitators involved. haha

the camp is one nice place to take pictures, huhu