“No pain, no gain” is such a bland cliche that people ranging from a 6 year-old toddler to a 30 year-old moron use it extremely effortlessly to sound cooler than they really are. But I, even though not a small kid nor a brainless middle-aged dope, will use this cliche to tell you guys a story, a story of my experience during the HELP University College SASA Leadership Camp at The Eagle Ranch Resort in Port Dickson yesterday.
I was the first to arrive at the venue as I decided to come on my own (actually Mr. Pretam fetched me) while my future college-mates came down from Damansara with a bus (for those geographical challenged few who have no idea where Malaysia is, Seremban is in the middle of Damansara and PD so it would be pure lunacy to actually go up to Damansara). I was 45 minutes early and nearly rotted from boredom while waiting for my fellow SASA recipients (thanksa lot you guys!)…
We were split into 3 groups of 6 as we only had 18 participants and started with the usual team-building activity where we were supposed to think of our team name, vision, mission and war cry. After a rather light discussion with our fearless leader Elizabeth, group C was given the name of the (wait for it, wait for it)—The SASA Musketeers!! Our war cry was predictably “All For One and One For All”, a tribute to the 3 Musketeers while the 2 other groups were The Red Antz and The Positives. I was really amused when The Positives (I heard Laura wanted to name them The Assassins) performed their war cry which they ended with what I interpreted as the Ultraman sign (you know when his secret weapon when the monster is about to kill him but of course fails as A. nobody likes a loser and B. the kids watching would cry and mourn the death of their fearless yet pathetic hero). Chuah was quick to point out that the sign was in fact the positive sign (like duh! hence the name +)…
The first of our activites was the paint ball war thingy which was held in Paint Ball United (still in ERR). Firstly, I would like to curse Hollywood (especially Ten Things I Hate About You) for giving me the false opinion that paint ball was in fact a non-injury game. Secondly, I would like to say that I was really hoping that I would not embarrass myself in front of my college-mates (I really tried!) but as fate has it, “Boon Ken does it again”. I got hit in my rear end by a paint ball. I am not joking.
Yes I know, laugh all you want, I know my college mates did (especially Pei Jin, *pure evil*). They were really amused by my reaction of hopping around and shouts of “My butt! My butt!” (overreaction is my middle name, along with lazy of course). Jonathan was the culprit of course (as Elaine put it, “He is so EVIL.”) as he left a bruise as painful as the embarrassment. Single-handedly I am now known as “The Guy Who Got Hit In The Ass”. Real great start Boon Ken!
Wait it only gets worse…
After lunch, it was time for the water-raft building and paddling to retrieve the flag and dismantling the water-raft competition (hooo…there I said it in one breath). It was really really tiring as the current was so against us and we had an extremely difficult time paddling accross the ocean. I could not feel my arms after that lil activity (which we lost but who keeps count? I would certainly keep count if we had won…haha).
But after seeing the 20 station obstacle course, I could not feel my whole body. And it was only seeing! My whole body was shouting “Boon Ken, you idiot, I told you we should have worked out more!” (I guess a 20-minute jog the day before the camp hardly seems like a work out). After finishing the 20 station obstacle course, I could feel a significant amount of relief as I had survived, I ACTUALLY SURVIVED!!!!
After that, the guys and I decided to pay a visit to the Jacuzzi (is it spelt that way?) as well as the swimming pool for a game of water polo before hitting the showers while the girls battled for bathroom supremacy. I guess we could’ve played a lil longer as when we arrived for dinner after our baths, we were still pretty early.
Sure, I left the camp scathed, scarred (physically and mentally), bruised and exhausted but I would certainly do it all over again (not the get hit in the butt part though). As they boarded the bus back to Damansara while I again took a lift from Mr. Pretam back home to Seremban following dinner, I was safe in the knowledge that I will be meeting up with them again for orientation in a couple of weeks time. Nevertheless, most of my fellow SASA recipients will be doing A-Levels while yours truly will be doing Foundation in Arts.
But the 18 of us share something in common—“The Story About The Guy Who Got Hit In The ASS”…
HELP SASA Leadership Camp 2006/07 in Eagle Ranch Resort, PD, crazy pose version