12th Goodwill Camporee, Trang

Today's entry is a dairy I wrote during my trip to Thailand Camporee in 2003. The trip with the scouts, from Singapore, was both an exciting and experiential learning event in my life lets start and let your imagination take you for a ride through my journal.

Dec 4, 2003
Time: 2007 hrs
I had just crossed the Woodlands checkpoint and I am on the bus going to somewhere in Malaysia for dinner. The bus is now totally dark as the bus driver off the lights, and only me and my lights are on. There are several cars passing by us! I had never been in Malaysia at night before, besides with my family. Ken (that stupid bird) is by my side and he is damn noisy right now. I am now thinking of my Father, Cindy, Qun yu, Yan ni, Amanda, Airpork and many more. It is a very bumpy ride right now and we are now at another checkpoint again. Everyone seems to be asleep! Will be continuing the next time round.

Dec 5, 2003
Time: 0046 hrs
Dinner was done only a few hours ago. After dinner, I continued my trip to Thailand. We passed by the out-skirts of Kuala Lumpur (K.L.) and saw the 'shining' Twin-towers. It was totally cool and beautiful at night. It seems taller than before thou and the bright silver lights brighten it up. But before I could even take a snap shot of it .... too bad. I missed it. I do not even know whether if we are now in the Ipoh state or just wandering off somewhere else. I really wonder how the Ipoh state looks like ... ?

Dec 5, 2003
Time: 0649 hrs
Now I am at one of the coffee shops, in Malaysia, having a little 'Morning Tea'. We are going to reach the Thai borders soon within about 5 mins. All of us had already changed to our Full-Uniform (Full-u). My idiot leader (Jedi) keeps talking and talking. Ken has finally quiet down somehow. The bus driver was acting as though he was a Formula 1 (F1) driver. So fast! I believe all of us only got a bit of sleep. (Yawn yawn) I didn't get to look at the Ipoh state as I was catching some sleep. (Sad)

Dec 5, 2003
Time: 1109 hrs
Now we had reached Thailand a few minutes ago and just had my breakfast. It was very nice and spicy. We are now going to the campsite. We shared a bus with a group of Indonesian Scouts and Girl Scouts. All of them looks excited and are singing happily. And my stupid leader (Jedi) is cracking a lame joke to us. This bus is so much better than Singapore (I think) as it can play music to allow people to listen and a television is installed to watch music videos. I am beginning to enjoy this trip.

Dec 7, 2003
Time: 0034 hrs
Now I am at one of the information centre for shelter. It rain and stopped, rain and stopped, many times. My tent is flooded now. I tried draining the water but to no avail. Some of my guys are now sleeping and they are sleeping so closely together. This is worse than any other camps. I couldn't sleep in the tent as there is not enough space for me either. I gave up my place to a BPSS guy (Sec 2) called Wei Zheng. My eyes are closing soon and I am thinking of home now. This is the first camp that I thought of home. I miss my family and Cindy, Qun yu, Amanda and many more.
Today's activities were fun and exciting. I went for hiking first then pioneering. The hike was about 2 hrs and it is about testing us on our scouting skills and knowledge (e.g. Scouts Promise and Laws, Scouting songs and Exploration). For the pioneering project ... we could not complete on time. The project is a to re-build another identical structure using bamboo. The Grand-Opening was really an eye-opener for me. I kinda love it as there are fireworks too. Now some of the Thai-scouts are in the shelter singing... they really love this place...

Dec 9, 2003
Time: 1022 hrs
It has been 2 days since I wrote in my notebook. Finally, we are leaving the campsite. I do not feel much sadness. But I will miss this place and the people here. If Singaporeans were to follow the Thais' gestures ... perhaps it would be a better place to live in (I think).
On Dec 7, I had water activities which are so fun. I have never experience such types of games (Flying-fox into the water and Rafting) in Singapore before. I also took photos with the instructors and guides (tour guides). I was kinda shocked when one of the ladies held my hand ... What the Hell !! It was also the King's Birthday celebration on that day. More Fireworks !!
On Dec 8, it was the best day in the camp. It was because of the cave activities and the jungle trail too. We rowed a boat (actually it was the instructors doing it) into the cave and the cave walls were so close to our FACE!! Cool right? The other activities were games and sight-seeing outside of the campsite. The jungle trail was one of a kind as it was very special. There was even a tree top walk. And at night we had the Closing Ceremony. More Fireworks !!
Today during breakfast I saw a very cute dog and the owner asked for my number too but I did not give it to her (Sorry, overseas calls are very expensive). This is the first time I see dogs with blue eyes. Cool! Now on the bus.

Dec 10, 2003
Time: 1134 hrs
We are now leaving the school that we had stayed over-night. It has been a long time since I slept in an air-con room during this trip. We also went shopping at the nearby shops and malls but I do not seem to see anything that fits for my Dad and Grand-parents so I plan to buy their gifts at K.L. For some reasons, I got this feeling that (will be back someday, somehow ...) some scouts I knew were totally crazy. Why? Because they were shopping like mad people. Now as I write and let my mind wonders around, I suddenly thought of Yi lynn. Hopefully I can get a chance to see her in Malaysia. Guess what? I really love this trip.

(Sorry, the photos could not be uploaded yet. I will try to do it asap)