The ONE80 Experience
Remember the reluctance I had when forced to go for this church programme, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. From Camp ONE up till the X-pedition, my idea and attitude towards the programme changed drastically for the better.
X-pedition
We reported in the late morning to Mount Faber Park, where the beginning of a long hike would begin. As I had trekked similar distances before, I was under the illusion that it would be an ease. Little did I realise that I was greatly mistaken. Shouldering my day pack, I got ready as we began to depart. Everyone's spirits were high, and pleasant singing and music from a ukulele shattered the silence that hung over the park. We hiked up the "mountain" at a steady pace, with the wind blowing gently on our faces, and the sun's rays warming up our skin as the beams peeked through the foliage. I was rather familiar with the trail, as I had been there before. The Jewel box (at the top of Mt. Faber), Henderson wave, Hort Park and Kent Ridge park are a few of the checkpoints we made. We had a short respite at Hort Park. It was also where we had our first water point. I found it ridiculous though, that they should be giving us 1.5litre bottles even though we did not require them. The journey was fairly easy, and I had barely even touched the water I already had! Still I was forced to carry the weight of an extra load of fluids. That was also when I began drinking water by they gallons ever so often, in order to lighten the burden on my shoulders. Of course what goes in, must come out, as you will soon understand.
After a toilet break, we set off on our journey towards West coast park which was our campsite. As we continued our hike, fatigue gradually began to set it on us. The load on our shoulders seemed to get heavier every minute, as did the extra burden I now carried in my bladder. Thankfully we had a lunch break at Haw Paw Villa, where I could finally fufill my 'duty' to the call of nature. This was actually my first time to Haw Paw Villa. I found it a rather weird place to have a lunch break, as we were - non literally- eating in hell. What's worse was that we played a game in hell. The game actually was fun, apart from the fact that we were creeper out at every corner we turned. The game was kind of like a treasure hunt, where we had to find figures in the different stages of hell and take picture with them, as proof that we completed the task. One of the figure was a humanoid rabbit. There were a few others, which I shall decline to specify. There were also various stations as well where we could further earn points for our team. The game lasted an hour, but by the end of it, we were exhausted from running around hell. The rested of the journey led us to hiking to West coast Park, where we pitched 4 men tents which were our accommodations for the night. Lulled into a deep torpor by the constant chirping of crickets and the cool breeze from the coast, I had a rather pleasant sleep. I awoke though, to much stiffness in my legs.
It was announced that we had a quest to complete during the remainder of the X-pedition. Our groups, which consisted of at least 5 people, had to appoint a ring bearer, who would have to be defended at all costs by the rest of us. We each had to don a white tee shirt. The quest would only be completed if the ring bearer dropped the ring into the depths of Mount Doom. We were energised at this, as there was now a new meaning to our hike. We had to be constantly on the lookout for attacks by 'Orcs'. The attacks were water bombs filled with coloured water, as well as water guns loaded with coloured water. During the later half of the journey, we were faced with puzzled and amused looks from the general public at our unique appearance - coloured shirts in the most random patterns, paint smeared faces. Some even were made to wear party hats when they were captured by the 'Orcs'. It certainly was a queer looking convey of people! It was along this period of time that I faced the greatest of agonies -The urge to relief myself. Unfortunately there were no toilets where we were hiking and I had to wait till we reached our next checkpoint. Thankfully I was not alone. My friend Gideon and my group leader Joel also faced the same torture. Finally, we could no longer withstand the torment, and had to use a train track pillar as a 'bush' to pee. It was actually very funny, as on a few occasions there were a few cyclists cycling around. So, we had to manoeuvre ourselves around the pillar to hide ourselves from view. It was very amusing.
That evening we slept in the church at Bukit Panjang. We were greeted with a pleasant surprise by our parents who planned a dinner buffet for us! It was the best meal we had since the past few days, and we could finally fill our stomachs to our heart's content.
The next day was the most gruesome of the journey. It was also the longest journey so far - a 25 km hike to woodlands through the jungle trails. Weary and tired from hiking up hill, we were also tormented by the scorching heat and hissing mosquitoes crying for our blood. Of course there was also the risks of mountain bikes charging down muddy slopes skidding round corners barely missing us by inches. However, when we finally emerged from the jungle trail at Mandai, just at the entrance to the Singapore Zoo, there was a sense of satisfaction among us.
The remainder of the trek to our last checkpoint at woodlands stadium was fairly smooth sailing, and I shall not talk so much on it. But you should be glad to know that everyone reached Woodlands church safely and all in one piece. And so this was how it all ended. Or so we thought.....
The last march to Mount Doom began at the clash of the four armies, on the desolate field. Placed right in the middle of the field were items we could use as weapons and defence. As the whistle sounded, a mad charge began as hobbit, elves, dwarves and men kind stampeded towards the pile of items rushing to obtain the best items for an advantage. And thus began the last battle. A water bomb flew towards my face. Slamming it aside with my makeshift cardboard shield I pressed forward despite the onslaught. My fellow hobbit, armed with flour bombs used them to their optimum potential wrecking devastation to the battle field. The dwarves were hard pressed to defend their base. Similarly on the other side of the battle ground the elves were at war with man kind. Shouts and battle cries filled the air as both sides traded blow after blow. A loud cheer rose up from the elves as a flour bomb found its mark. Penetrating through the thin newspaper sheet rimmed by a hula-hoop, all they needed was to throw a ball through that gap and score a point for their team. Rushing to mend the gap, the team being crushed scrambled to push back the onslaught as they released their champion Aragón. Played into the arena he rushed around the battle ground wrecking havoc to whoever stood in his way. All cowered in fear at his presence. Team after team made alliances. Team after team traded blows, as alliances were broken. When finally, the game ended.
The objective of the game was to throw balls through the opponents hula hoops. Whenever a ball succeeded in passing through a ball, that team's ring bearer could then proceed to another stage. There were 3 stages in total and the last stage required the ring bearer to throw his ring into the fiery pits of mount doom. There were 4 teams in total - the Elves, the Dwarves, Men, and Hobbit. My team was the Hobbit and we had won the game! As only our ring bearer succeeded in casting the ring into mount Doom. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as we attacked the various teams to allow our ring bearer to proceed to the various stages. Although the game was rather hectic, It probably was the most heart pumping war game I had ever played. Of course we were all muddied after the 'battle' and caked in floor, but it was worth it. I departed from the church for home that day tired and muddied, but satisfied and full of enthusiasm.
Another of my highlights for the ONE80 experience would be Inspiration Week One. It happened a few weeks before X-pedition, but would be an experience I would never forget. It was part of a voluntary work project, where we went to the different parts of Singapore to help out. It was the first time I interacted with people from the lower social strata as mostly the people around me come from well to do families. During which, one of the projects in which my group was to go to Whampoa to conduct a survey of the families living in the rental apartments. This was my first time being to Whampoa. It was unlike the more developed parts of Singapore, and had a more quite neighborhood, much like the traditional Kampungs. The flats were in an L shape, and there were quite a number of apartments on the ground floor, unlike your regular HDB flats. The flats were very small, and a lot of the residence would put tables and chairs outside their houses where they would do stuff. One home we visited had the residence sitting outside eating food outside the house. It was certainly different from what I was used to. From the outside the building looked acceptable. But on the inside it was a different matter.
I was appalled and stunned when I realised how poor the living conditions of the people were. There was a family of 10 who had to cramp into a small apartment only slightly larger than my bedroom! Some of the volunteers working at the organisation reaching out to these people shared that when the children wet their beds, they would not wash the mattress at all as they could not afford to waste water, and thus could only live with it. As such there was occasionally the rather strong odour of urine from the houses. The living conditions seemed unbearable yet they were living in there for over 5 years. It really made me appreciate what I had more. I was paired up with a friend and group mate Nathaniel. As we walked along the corridors to the various apartments to conduct the surveys we were filled with a little trepidation. It was pouring outside, and the lights were not in good function. It was a little intimidating in fact as some of the apartment doors were in the shadows, and were not well lit. The doors were mostly closed, and as we knocked hoping for a response the darkness toyed with our minds. What if the resident was unfriendly? What if he kidnapped children? Thankfully most of the houses did not have an occupant at that time, and we moved on. Another house had an old lady living in it. I was aghast when I saw that her fingers seemed to be mutilated. As she shared her story, she told us that she had fallen down and had to have her fingers amputated. She also showed us food vouchers distributed by the neighborhood community service. That was when I truly realized the importance of learning mandarin. She told her story mostly in Chinese, and as my knowledge of the language was limited to the textbook, I had slight difficulty communicating with her. This also happened for many of the families who could only speak mandarin and had only a very sketchy understanding of English. The language barrier made it difficult to survey them and it took a while for us to get ourselves understood .
We had arrived with a rather joyful nature, and left with a sober heart, as we realized that we were under the delusion that everyone lived a happy life in Singapore. This short experience I had getting to interact with these people from a different social class made me realise how privileged I was, and how differently people in Singapore actually lived.
X-pedition
We reported in the late morning to Mount Faber Park, where the beginning of a long hike would begin. As I had trekked similar distances before, I was under the illusion that it would be an ease. Little did I realise that I was greatly mistaken. Shouldering my day pack, I got ready as we began to depart. Everyone's spirits were high, and pleasant singing and music from a ukulele shattered the silence that hung over the park. We hiked up the "mountain" at a steady pace, with the wind blowing gently on our faces, and the sun's rays warming up our skin as the beams peeked through the foliage. I was rather familiar with the trail, as I had been there before. The Jewel box (at the top of Mt. Faber), Henderson wave, Hort Park and Kent Ridge park are a few of the checkpoints we made. We had a short respite at Hort Park. It was also where we had our first water point. I found it ridiculous though, that they should be giving us 1.5litre bottles even though we did not require them. The journey was fairly easy, and I had barely even touched the water I already had! Still I was forced to carry the weight of an extra load of fluids. That was also when I began drinking water by they gallons ever so often, in order to lighten the burden on my shoulders. Of course what goes in, must come out, as you will soon understand.
After a toilet break, we set off on our journey towards West coast park which was our campsite. As we continued our hike, fatigue gradually began to set it on us. The load on our shoulders seemed to get heavier every minute, as did the extra burden I now carried in my bladder. Thankfully we had a lunch break at Haw Paw Villa, where I could finally fufill my 'duty' to the call of nature. This was actually my first time to Haw Paw Villa. I found it a rather weird place to have a lunch break, as we were - non literally- eating in hell. What's worse was that we played a game in hell. The game actually was fun, apart from the fact that we were creeper out at every corner we turned. The game was kind of like a treasure hunt, where we had to find figures in the different stages of hell and take picture with them, as proof that we completed the task. One of the figure was a humanoid rabbit. There were a few others, which I shall decline to specify. There were also various stations as well where we could further earn points for our team. The game lasted an hour, but by the end of it, we were exhausted from running around hell. The rested of the journey led us to hiking to West coast Park, where we pitched 4 men tents which were our accommodations for the night. Lulled into a deep torpor by the constant chirping of crickets and the cool breeze from the coast, I had a rather pleasant sleep. I awoke though, to much stiffness in my legs.
It was announced that we had a quest to complete during the remainder of the X-pedition. Our groups, which consisted of at least 5 people, had to appoint a ring bearer, who would have to be defended at all costs by the rest of us. We each had to don a white tee shirt. The quest would only be completed if the ring bearer dropped the ring into the depths of Mount Doom. We were energised at this, as there was now a new meaning to our hike. We had to be constantly on the lookout for attacks by 'Orcs'. The attacks were water bombs filled with coloured water, as well as water guns loaded with coloured water. During the later half of the journey, we were faced with puzzled and amused looks from the general public at our unique appearance - coloured shirts in the most random patterns, paint smeared faces. Some even were made to wear party hats when they were captured by the 'Orcs'. It certainly was a queer looking convey of people! It was along this period of time that I faced the greatest of agonies -The urge to relief myself. Unfortunately there were no toilets where we were hiking and I had to wait till we reached our next checkpoint. Thankfully I was not alone. My friend Gideon and my group leader Joel also faced the same torture. Finally, we could no longer withstand the torment, and had to use a train track pillar as a 'bush' to pee. It was actually very funny, as on a few occasions there were a few cyclists cycling around. So, we had to manoeuvre ourselves around the pillar to hide ourselves from view. It was very amusing.
That evening we slept in the church at Bukit Panjang. We were greeted with a pleasant surprise by our parents who planned a dinner buffet for us! It was the best meal we had since the past few days, and we could finally fill our stomachs to our heart's content.
The next day was the most gruesome of the journey. It was also the longest journey so far - a 25 km hike to woodlands through the jungle trails. Weary and tired from hiking up hill, we were also tormented by the scorching heat and hissing mosquitoes crying for our blood. Of course there was also the risks of mountain bikes charging down muddy slopes skidding round corners barely missing us by inches. However, when we finally emerged from the jungle trail at Mandai, just at the entrance to the Singapore Zoo, there was a sense of satisfaction among us.
The remainder of the trek to our last checkpoint at woodlands stadium was fairly smooth sailing, and I shall not talk so much on it. But you should be glad to know that everyone reached Woodlands church safely and all in one piece. And so this was how it all ended. Or so we thought.....
The last march to Mount Doom began at the clash of the four armies, on the desolate field. Placed right in the middle of the field were items we could use as weapons and defence. As the whistle sounded, a mad charge began as hobbit, elves, dwarves and men kind stampeded towards the pile of items rushing to obtain the best items for an advantage. And thus began the last battle. A water bomb flew towards my face. Slamming it aside with my makeshift cardboard shield I pressed forward despite the onslaught. My fellow hobbit, armed with flour bombs used them to their optimum potential wrecking devastation to the battle field. The dwarves were hard pressed to defend their base. Similarly on the other side of the battle ground the elves were at war with man kind. Shouts and battle cries filled the air as both sides traded blow after blow. A loud cheer rose up from the elves as a flour bomb found its mark. Penetrating through the thin newspaper sheet rimmed by a hula-hoop, all they needed was to throw a ball through that gap and score a point for their team. Rushing to mend the gap, the team being crushed scrambled to push back the onslaught as they released their champion Aragón. Played into the arena he rushed around the battle ground wrecking havoc to whoever stood in his way. All cowered in fear at his presence. Team after team made alliances. Team after team traded blows, as alliances were broken. When finally, the game ended.
The objective of the game was to throw balls through the opponents hula hoops. Whenever a ball succeeded in passing through a ball, that team's ring bearer could then proceed to another stage. There were 3 stages in total and the last stage required the ring bearer to throw his ring into the fiery pits of mount doom. There were 4 teams in total - the Elves, the Dwarves, Men, and Hobbit. My team was the Hobbit and we had won the game! As only our ring bearer succeeded in casting the ring into mount Doom. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as we attacked the various teams to allow our ring bearer to proceed to the various stages. Although the game was rather hectic, It probably was the most heart pumping war game I had ever played. Of course we were all muddied after the 'battle' and caked in floor, but it was worth it. I departed from the church for home that day tired and muddied, but satisfied and full of enthusiasm.
Another of my highlights for the ONE80 experience would be Inspiration Week One. It happened a few weeks before X-pedition, but would be an experience I would never forget. It was part of a voluntary work project, where we went to the different parts of Singapore to help out. It was the first time I interacted with people from the lower social strata as mostly the people around me come from well to do families. During which, one of the projects in which my group was to go to Whampoa to conduct a survey of the families living in the rental apartments. This was my first time being to Whampoa. It was unlike the more developed parts of Singapore, and had a more quite neighborhood, much like the traditional Kampungs. The flats were in an L shape, and there were quite a number of apartments on the ground floor, unlike your regular HDB flats. The flats were very small, and a lot of the residence would put tables and chairs outside their houses where they would do stuff. One home we visited had the residence sitting outside eating food outside the house. It was certainly different from what I was used to. From the outside the building looked acceptable. But on the inside it was a different matter.
I was appalled and stunned when I realised how poor the living conditions of the people were. There was a family of 10 who had to cramp into a small apartment only slightly larger than my bedroom! Some of the volunteers working at the organisation reaching out to these people shared that when the children wet their beds, they would not wash the mattress at all as they could not afford to waste water, and thus could only live with it. As such there was occasionally the rather strong odour of urine from the houses. The living conditions seemed unbearable yet they were living in there for over 5 years. It really made me appreciate what I had more. I was paired up with a friend and group mate Nathaniel. As we walked along the corridors to the various apartments to conduct the surveys we were filled with a little trepidation. It was pouring outside, and the lights were not in good function. It was a little intimidating in fact as some of the apartment doors were in the shadows, and were not well lit. The doors were mostly closed, and as we knocked hoping for a response the darkness toyed with our minds. What if the resident was unfriendly? What if he kidnapped children? Thankfully most of the houses did not have an occupant at that time, and we moved on. Another house had an old lady living in it. I was aghast when I saw that her fingers seemed to be mutilated. As she shared her story, she told us that she had fallen down and had to have her fingers amputated. She also showed us food vouchers distributed by the neighborhood community service. That was when I truly realized the importance of learning mandarin. She told her story mostly in Chinese, and as my knowledge of the language was limited to the textbook, I had slight difficulty communicating with her. This also happened for many of the families who could only speak mandarin and had only a very sketchy understanding of English. The language barrier made it difficult to survey them and it took a while for us to get ourselves understood .
We had arrived with a rather joyful nature, and left with a sober heart, as we realized that we were under the delusion that everyone lived a happy life in Singapore. This short experience I had getting to interact with these people from a different social class made me realise how privileged I was, and how differently people in Singapore actually lived.
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