Annual camp'14

Why everyone all write so long but okay.
For me, AC is really a worthwhile experience and it gave Hestia a chance to bond as a squad and with our Astraia ma'ams. AC compared to a lot other activities is of course, tougher. But im really proud of Hestia because everyone put in a lot of effort and persevered till the end. We also learnt a lot of new things and improved on things that we had learnt before.
Since everyone all write in detail ill just write the more significant parts ya.
Night-walk. I expected night-walk to be really scary but it ended up being not that scary. The first station i went to had creepy pictures we had to look for and there were also ma'ams who had to scare us in the classroom. When i first entered, I felt quite scared but after awhile its actually fun trying to find the pictures. The second station wasnt scary at all because there were a lot of us together going in the station.
Fire drills. The first fire drill could have been better as there were miscommunications and we took very long to find casualties. But the second fire drill was a lot better because we took around 10 minutes (half the time we took for the first fire drill) to find casualties and assemble.
Campcraft. Together with Astraia ma'ams, we took 25 minutes to pitch a full tent!
Campfire (last but not least). Campfire was fun with all the cheers and performances and we all did well with our skit and dance performances.
All in all, AC is a very good experience. (closing so awkward lol)

~Victoria

AC in the view of a kid

Ac was very tough for me ok. Like all those running and pt and stuff. Like I expected, I was the slowest in the unit heh and the weakest too. But I cant believe I did not faint tt is just pure miracle haha :P ( I found out during a pe lesson my stamina was very bad but I cld recover very fast after a exercise so I guess tt helped) the food at camp was so awesome omgggg. The maggi veli veli nice especially the mushrooms ( squeeee I luv mushrooms yay) but I wished I cld eat the whole can by myself heeheee and maggi tooo . Tent pitching was fantastic like I cant believe I help pitch a tent by 25 min? Omg. And thr were actually gummi bears yay my squadmate so nice gave me one. Nightwalk was pretty scary ok. The classroom one cos the pictures vwey scary . The ma'ams weren't tt scary but when they suddenly rush at u its damn scary. The toilet one was very scary cos the ma'ams started screaminh and I got so scared I started screaming along. I was scared tt someone wl crawl out frm under the sink omg. Fire drill was hell for me. I heard the whistle and then for a moment everyone hesitated then we realise it is firedrill so everyone ran out and then my leg cant fit in my horrible shoe. Then had to run with the bottle I was like dying . I cldnt eun dast enuff and everybody was running very fast.  Went to sleep with sweat on my hair and woke up the nxt day with my fringe sticking up straight. It was horrible ok. Campfire was very funny . But I forgot to say some lines for the script ahhh. But the ma'ams made the campfire very fun. Kinda dreaded going home after AC heh. 

-kid

p.s . Sentry duty biscuit very nice

Annual camp by another person

Yep I know it's boring to hear the same old story again. But I'm gonna cut it short and just say about the fun and weird stuff. But to say the truth, it is SUPER LONGGGGG!!!

So first, there is day 1 where I actually got everything confiscated except my socks (both white and black), my sch skirt, my beret and NP skirt. And yes I know you guys are gg to ask why I'm so stupid as to not check with the others on how to organise my stuff. But I actually tried and am still a bit pissed about how my stuff ended confiscated. But that is another story that can wait for a century before I tell. (Yea I'm most likely dead by then. So too bad you can't hear the story. Haha)

Now carrying on. The NIGHT WALK. Ok this is the best part!!! Not everyone agrees. But for me, it is. The ma'ams started telling us ghost stories and I got super freaked out. So I tried calming down and that worked a bit. But to say the truth, it had side effects. (I got so hyped up that I started talking nonsense and laughing. You guys will find out soon.) So right after that, we went to cedar sanctuary toilet. My ma'am and I was the second pair to go in. For your info, I was actually a bit creeped out after hearing the first grp go in and scream like there was no tomorrow. (Sry Xin Yi, don't kill me.)

Before I went in, I realised that I forgot to put batteries into my torchlight. (I mean how dumb can I be to actually forget to do tt.) Ok moving on. When we went in, I was holding my ma'am's hand. But what totally got me laughing was this picture of an eyeball. Like OMG!! IT WAS A FREAKING PICTURE OF AN EYEBALL!! And it was pasted onto the door where the mops and other stuff are kept. I mean tt is juz hilarious. (Sry ma'ams but the eyeball could have been behind the door...) Ok next. So we were supposed to find 4 candles. And since it's a toilet, ofc someone would b hiding in the cubicles. (Who doesn't noe tt!?) So we went abt opening the doors. And juz so happens, the 2nd cubicle was locked. And to say the truth, I thot someone was juz using the toilet and would come out aft tt. Now this is stupid. Cuz someone who is supposed to scare you won't juz flush the toilet and walk out lik they r not part of it.
So we went on opening the doors. (O we found 3 candles already.)

WARNING: I PUT SEC 3 MA'AM (1), (2) N (3) AS I DO NOT WISH TO SAY THE MA'AM'S NAME. (For future readers juz take is as it is.)

This is where it gets interesting. So when we opened the door beside the handicap toilet, sec 3 ma'am (1) was sitting there with this tissue paper wrapped around her head, and lipstick(?) smeared over her face. O and when we opened the door, I kind of shined the torchlight at her face... Oops... Haha... (Awkward) And I laughed. Lik imagine your ma'am who is supposed to be strict sitting there with tt makeup on and tt weird grin on her face. It's totally hilarious. And before I forget, when we opened the handicap toilet, I turned around to see if we had missed out any candles. And who do you think I found crawling on the floor? If you guessed sec 3 ma'am (1), you got it right. And I juz started laughing lik a mad woman. I mean someone who is crawling will always look awkward especially when u suddenly turn around and see them in tt position. (Sorry for the descriptions ma'am. But I juz can't help it ma'am.) And we actually opened tt door 3 times. Each time was juz equally funny. OMG hahahahahaha. Still is now. And since we can't find the last candle, I started randomly talking. (An example of my random speech. "Why did humans invent torchlight? Yoo hoo! Anyone there???") Now you noe y I said I was crazy aft calming down.

Ok so aft our unsuccessful hunt for the last candle, sec 3 ma'am (2) opened the door and said we can go out. Then when we were leaving, sec 3 ma'am (3) opened the 2nd cubicle door (she was hiding there) and said sth lik " you noe tt you were supposed to step into the 3rd cubicle so I grab your leg rite?" She totally gave the game away!! And then I was lik "uh... Yes ma'am..." Thinking to myself "oops.. I didn't noe... Haha..."

So end of story. Cuz i didn't get to go for the second one. But I think was quite a sadist. I actually laughed at the other campers who were in the classroom when they screamed. And I got so hyped up abt it. (Yep I'm evil). So see you guys next time. I'm going bck to slp now.

Awesome PX
I know you guys juz luv me. Haha.

ANNUAL CAMP 2014

Okay so there's A LOT of stuff to talk about for this camp.

This is our first ever NPCC and Cedar camp and it's been an eye-opener for many of us. We've learnt a lot from this camp, we've bonded with our Astraia Ma'ams, and I'm sure we've also improved a lot as a squad and as campers.

DAY 1
We had a lot of stuff confiscated when we fell in on the first day because some of the things we not standardized, especially our lifes! After placing everything in our classroom, we had a drill session and an orienteering and pioneering (campcraft) session, where we learnt a new drill and improved slightly on our previous ones. We used our compass to find our way to the second level (outside the Arena Sports Hall) where we had to make a throne using about 8 Dowel poles and our twine. Valerie had to sit on it (she was the lightest one) even though it wasn't completely steady but at least it didn't break hahah. My group didn't manage to go to the second station because there wasn't enough time. (The ones who went for the other one please update this post and put it in thanks.) We also had initiative games which were really fun and I think it's really effective and it helped my group bond very well. Maybe we should have this kind of games to help our squad bond hehe.

We had our first night-walk from 7:00-9:00 and it started with the Zephyr Ma'ams telling us some ghosts stories. Some of us were really freaked out especially by the one about the girl taking off her head on the track (including me) and some of us just tried to calm ourselves down before going to the two stations. My buddy and I were the first pair to go to the timber-deck toilet station. I was realllllly freaked out when we had to knock on the door so that we wouldn't "insult any spirits in the dark toilet". We were already soo freaked out when someone banged on the cubicle walls. When we went into one cubicle to get the candle on the toilet seat, someone grabbed our legs and we screamed and ran out of the toilet but we had to go in again. I didn't dare to open my eyes anymore so I just clung onto my buddy. Ma'am kicked open the door and suddenly I just heard screaming and I tried to run out but I couldn't see where I was going (still covering my eyes ik very smart) then when I finally opened my eyes I saw something white crawling on the floor and MY BRAIN DECIDED TO STOP WORKING AND I THOUGHT IT WAS A GHOST AND I WAS DAMN FREAKED OUT I SCREAMED LIKE SIAO AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE THE DOOR WAS SO I JUST YELLED AND YELLED COS I WAS AT THE END OF THE TOILET AT THE WALL (WHICH WAS ACTUALLY NEXT TO THE DOOR I TOLD YOU MY BRAIN DIED) THEN LUCkily a Ma'am opened the door and I heard something like "where's the poor girl" (yaS SCREAMED VERY LOUDLY) and then I got out whew. A few others from my group went in too while we calmed down and it was pretty amusing (sorryyyy) to hear the screams after we figured out that Ma'am Mani grabbed our legs and Ma'am Nicole was the "ghost".

We had CIs time afterwards, where our CIs talked to us for a while and we had a chance to bid for items using NP money we earned during the games. WE bought a bottle of deo and a lot of snacks to eat during the movie "Rise of The Guardians". A couple of people fell asleep but we all stood up to sing a "Teen Titans" song during the middle of the movie. Everything ended at about 11:40 and we went to brush our teeth and pack our things in the classroom. We went to sleep at about 11:50.

There was a fire drill at 12:30 and we all rushed down to find the casualties and assemble at the basketball court. There was a miscommunication and some of us thought that the fire was only in the courtyard and not in the foyer, hence some of us still ran through the foyer to assemble. We were still groggy as we were tired and just woke up so we took a really long time (over 20 minutes) to find the casualties and carry them to the basketball court. I think we could have done better for it. Finally, we went back to sleep at about 1:00 and woke up at 5:10 the to prepare for the next day.

Overall, I think Day 1 was a bit difficult for Hestia because we were not used to having a whole day NPCC activity, but we adjusted to it quickly the next day.

*My sleeping bag had some kind of bugs so I kena bitten like 6 times on my arm, neck, ear and ankles sigh.

(Sorry this is really long gonna write about Day 2 in another post)

Camp Craft

CAMP CRAFT SKILLS WE HAVE LEARNT IN 2014

Knots

1. Bowline
2. Butterfly knot (Stopper knot)
3. Fisherman's knot
4. Thumb knot
5. Half Hitch
6. Clove Hitch (Tie this using the Mickey Mouse)
7. Reef knot
8. Slip knot

Lashings

1. Sheer lashing

**Take note that the guy lines used in tent pitching consists of a slip knot, half hitches and a butterfly knot.


Tent pitching skills

1. Construct the skeleton
2. Tie bowlines on all 4 corner rings and 2 middle rings of the inner sheet
3. Pull and peg the 4 corners
4. Pull and secure the 4 corners
5. Pull and secure the 2 middle rings
6. Peg the 4 corner rings and 2 middle rings of the outer sheet
7. Pull and secure the 4 corners and 2 middle rings
8. Lay out the ground sheet
9. Roll and tie the 4 flaps tightly
10. Cut any excess twine and pick up the extra pegs

**Make sure that the tension is good when pulling and securing the inner and outer sheets

Please edit the above information is necessary, and insert your name in brackets) next to anything you are unsure of. Thank you :)

- Isha (Xin Yi added in some stuff after AC)

Drills

DRILLS WE HAVE LEARNT IN 2014

1. Sedia
2. Senang diri
3. Kekanan Lurus
4. Padan Kehadapan Pandang
5. Kekanan Pusing
6. Kekiri  Pusing
7. Kebelakang Pusing
8. Dalam Buka Barisan Kekanan Lurus
9. Dalam Tutup Barisan Kekanan Lurus
10. Dari kiri cepat jalan
11. Dari kanan cepat jalan
12. Behenti
13. Henta kaki, cepat hentak
14. Kebelakang Pusing (On March, On Hentak)
15. Berhenti (On March, On Hentak)
16. Ta'at Setia
17. Hormat Ke Hadapan Hormat 
18. Memberi Hormat Semasa Berjalan, Ke-Hadapan Hormat
19. Dari Kiri, Pandang Ke-Kiri Pandang
20. Dari Kanan, Pandang Ke-Kanan Pandang

* If you are unsure of any drill, please type your name (in brackets) next to the drill
** Please add in anything we may have left out. Thanks :)

-Isha (Xin Yi edit a bit according to what we learnt during AC)

Happy parade

So yesterday was a wonderful parade. We got Rachel confiscated BUT we claimed her back soon after =D AND, we pitched three full tents!!!!!! tho we exceeded timing, it was still ok as it was the first time we pitched the tents all by our own! Everyone was happy [i think] . Three cheers to sunflower seeds!!! Altho there were some imperfections in our various tents, at least we tried our best rite :) first aid was fun with the triangular bandages. Interesting :3 AP is coming soon and ma'ams said its gonna be very fun =D yay! excited and looking forward to it. and AC too! So many stuff to buy im gonna burn a big hole in my  pocket *creys* at least nxt yr buy lesser things yey. The sad side is tt i cant dance omg. Its just sooo hard. skit's ok , but i think i have to memorise all the lines and work on facial expressions. i hv to pull tt smile off my face o.o. Good luck to everybody and happy not so happy homework holidays. No dedications to hestia yet as thr is still one more mnth ;)

- kid