BTN camp
So yeah, I'm back in one piece, alive and healthy. :-)
What more could one ask for, when almost one-third of the participants fell sick due to some viral infection?
I don't really have any major gripes about the whole thing, EXCEPT the conditions of the toilets/bathrooms. Some statistics first: There were 74 girls, and only 5 showers. On the first day, I had to bathe squatting in the tiny jamban cubicle, using a hose which didn't look too clean, to put it mildly. Day 2, I bathed in a proper, if filthy, shower-room which was flooded up to one or two inches high coz the water wouldn't go down the drain-hole. Imagine, all the soapy water sloshing around you and certain floating objects which I couldn't identify without wearing my glasses (pray they were just twigs)... hello??? A bath is supposed to make you CLEAN, and not dirtier than before you bathed! Anyway, on day 3 and 4, I managed to have a proper bath but very very rushed (i.e. less than 10 minutes). Worst thing is, the water supply from the showers ends after around 8pm. It just stops. Just like that. When that happens, you either do what I did on the first day, or have a sarong bathing party!
(At this point, I realise that my terminology is wrong - I should say 'shower' instead of 'bath' but who cares...)
And I haven't even mentioned about the awful stench of the toilets..... gross.
Well, hygiene (or rather lack of) aside, the camp was okay, since I didn't have very high expectations anyway. It's a government camp, people!! The saving grace of my 5 days there was the fact that I was in the same group as Amal, Isya, Azween and Alvin, thanks to their 'strategising'. Hehe. We got a very emo facilitator. He cried at every other Latihan Dalam Kumpulan session and at the end of the camp, I was really beginning to doubt his sincerity. Mr Waterworks was hugging all the guys on the last day and sobbing like he'd known them for decades when really we'd only been together for 2 days - how attached can you get? Well nevermind about that, maybe some people are just emotional. I know he had but good intentions and he IS a good man, that's a given.
The camp was rather lacking in the area of eye-candy but there were one or two good-looking guys. VERY good-looking, actually. Quality, not quantity, eh? *wink*
As for outdoor activities, it was disappointing. No flying fox, no kembara, no barbeque, no camping, no nothin'... Only marching, jogging and some forgettable game called Bola Kubis or something. Oh, but I ran 2km in 17 minutes 55 seconds, which is even below the cut-off time for the guys! Hehe. Bangga. Actually I think I was slower than half of the girls. :-P
What did I gain from this camp? Besides knowledge on the inner workings of the government and such, nothing much. I suspect it is due to my indifference towards the camp.... I expected nothing, and I got nothing. *shrug*
What more could one ask for, when almost one-third of the participants fell sick due to some viral infection?
I don't really have any major gripes about the whole thing, EXCEPT the conditions of the toilets/bathrooms. Some statistics first: There were 74 girls, and only 5 showers. On the first day, I had to bathe squatting in the tiny jamban cubicle, using a hose which didn't look too clean, to put it mildly. Day 2, I bathed in a proper, if filthy, shower-room which was flooded up to one or two inches high coz the water wouldn't go down the drain-hole. Imagine, all the soapy water sloshing around you and certain floating objects which I couldn't identify without wearing my glasses (pray they were just twigs)... hello??? A bath is supposed to make you CLEAN, and not dirtier than before you bathed! Anyway, on day 3 and 4, I managed to have a proper bath but very very rushed (i.e. less than 10 minutes). Worst thing is, the water supply from the showers ends after around 8pm. It just stops. Just like that. When that happens, you either do what I did on the first day, or have a sarong bathing party!
(At this point, I realise that my terminology is wrong - I should say 'shower' instead of 'bath' but who cares...)
And I haven't even mentioned about the awful stench of the toilets..... gross.
Well, hygiene (or rather lack of) aside, the camp was okay, since I didn't have very high expectations anyway. It's a government camp, people!! The saving grace of my 5 days there was the fact that I was in the same group as Amal, Isya, Azween and Alvin, thanks to their 'strategising'. Hehe. We got a very emo facilitator. He cried at every other Latihan Dalam Kumpulan session and at the end of the camp, I was really beginning to doubt his sincerity. Mr Waterworks was hugging all the guys on the last day and sobbing like he'd known them for decades when really we'd only been together for 2 days - how attached can you get? Well nevermind about that, maybe some people are just emotional. I know he had but good intentions and he IS a good man, that's a given.
The camp was rather lacking in the area of eye-candy but there were one or two good-looking guys. VERY good-looking, actually. Quality, not quantity, eh? *wink*
As for outdoor activities, it was disappointing. No flying fox, no kembara, no barbeque, no camping, no nothin'... Only marching, jogging and some forgettable game called Bola Kubis or something. Oh, but I ran 2km in 17 minutes 55 seconds, which is even below the cut-off time for the guys! Hehe. Bangga. Actually I think I was slower than half of the girls. :-P
What did I gain from this camp? Besides knowledge on the inner workings of the government and such, nothing much. I suspect it is due to my indifference towards the camp.... I expected nothing, and I got nothing. *shrug*
posted by may at 11:20 PM
6 Comments:
hey! i survived the camp too! heheh..
i guess its ok.. everything i expected - food, sleeping place, toilets n all.
i beat u to the 2 km run.. ! muahaha... u should be ashamed of yourself. (12 minutes).. yea yea.. say all u want about me being a guy but i have more mass to support than u.
*clears throat* a LOT more mass, ian... haha.. sorry, couldn't resist a jibe on ur cute fat body :-P
Hmm. Hi May, Alvin here. Choong. Thank BNM we don't have BTN. But then again I sort of love BTN and those camps where you survive on the bare minimum. Ah, well. Mind if we link blogs?
hmmmph, easy for YOU to say, alvin! but i thought all overseas-bound scholars are supposed to go for btn... yeah of course u can link me. as you can see, i've already linked ur blog *grin* keep up the good work! :-)
poor dear. at least you've got some tales to tell yr grandchildren next time =)
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