Went for one-star kayaking. It's not as hard as it sounds. You just go there and learn some basic kayaking skills and POOF!! You get another badge in your No.4 Uniform. The Part A's and Part B's are going. This week, the majority of the Part A's and a minority of the Part B's went. We basically have to spend 12 hours in the water. Like what the coaches said, 1-star is just a test whether how confident you are in the water.
Day 1CHIONG-ed to school. Was almost late. So the "platoon" (you can't really call it a platoon since it's a mixture of 2) got up the bus and the bus trip took about 45 minutes. Reached a place called "Sarimbun Scout's Camp".
When we reached, my platoon mates saw some girl scouts. They all like damn worked up, like they never see girl before. LMAO!! We did some introductory stuff and learnt how to paddle. It took us 2 hours before we could get into the water. WOOHOO!!! The place was beautiful. There are lots of crabs!! Small ones. About the size of your thumb. If you see a small hole in the sand, there's probably a crab inside. About a few kilometers away was Malaysia. The first thing I did when I saw water is to wet my socks. That feeling rocks. But I pity the fishes.
We cleared the first part of the course, swimming 50m with a life vest. It sounded hard, especially in the sea. But everybody passed that test, even the non-swimmers. Next was the capsized drill. We learned how to do the capsized drill. It goes like this:
1. Check depth.
2. Hold on to the kayak with the paddle.
3. Put your head down and take a deep breath.
4. Rock the kayak until you capsize.
5. (Underwater) Tap the kayak 3 times. The longer you can hold the better.
6. (Still Underwater) Kick you legs out of the kayak. Get yourself out of the water from the paddle's side.
7. (Out of water now) Holding your paddle, move to the bow of the kayak. Raise up your paddle and shout for help.
This might help the Part B's who will be going this coming Saturday. So after the capsizing, that's all for Day 1.
Day 2Same thing again. CHIONG-ed to school, almost late, Bus Trip, BLAH BLAH BLAH.. When we reached the camp. No more long briefing. We get to the water immediately. Today, I didn't wear my socks. I've decided that the fishes needed a break.
We got a kayak each and started kayaking around. It was like walking, just that you use paddle instead of legs, you are in the water and it's hard to control the direction. We paddled around. It as really fun. I lagged a lot at first. I was afraid of capsizing in a place that is 150m deep. So I paddled slower than usual. Then, Coach Eugene made me capsized. I did. After that, I wasn't afraid of capsizing anymore. From the 2nd last, I became the 3rd.
Finally the Basic TX Rescue Test, unlucky sia!! Same group with Zui Siang. He is the noobest guy in our platoon. Everyone hates the way he act cute. Keep on making stupid noises. Almost caused me to fail.
After the Test, we paddled back to shore. It took us like 10 minutes to paddle back. On the way, I saw some kinda black thing floated up. It swam for a few meters, then it plopped back into the water. I was freaked out!! Paddled like crazy!! When I reached shore, Ivan said he saw that thin too. Good thing I didn't capsize there.
And one more thing, You Kuan capsize 3 times. One of which, he lost his glasses. Serve him right!! Told him my rubber band method works.
P.s. I've got a sunburn!! YAY!!! Finally, I am not as fair as before. But it is damn pain!! When I flex my muscle, the skin at my elbow will feel CRAZILY PAINFUL!!
