Out of my "comfort zone"

Hey guys as promised, this post is going to be about day 2 of my camp. Reason why I didn't take much photos on day 2 was because we did wet activities and I was pretty determined to not let my iPhone get soaked in muddy water. Okay jokes aside, let's talk about what I did.

Day 2 was, wet. We went to KOREF, which also Kahang Organic Rice Eco Farm. I guess the name is self-explanatory but basically, KOREF is arice farm and the thing that makes it unique is that it is an organic rice farm. I always learnt in Geography how planting rice was actually very bad for the environment (some super science-y theories that my brain chose dispose off) so I was pretty happy knowing that that organic rice farms were actually a thing. Coming to KOREF was actually what I was really looking forward to since the start of the camp so I was really excited. I knew that the weather was going to be hot, but dude, I wasn't ready for what was coming. It was literally a heatwave, I felt like invisible fireballs were being thrown at me. Still, the view was pretty dope.

Now that I think of it, the view is a little deceiving. Disclaimer this was the view when we were entering KOREF but when we actually there, doing the activities. It was so so so different. The first activity was low elements. Not trying to be cocky or anything but when I first saw the low elements, I thought that it would be a piece of cake or what I usually say "chicken feet." But things took a turn (obviously for the worst) when I ACTUALLY attempted it.

The first obstacle is the log thing where we had to balance on a log and walk across to another patch of land (I like to call it safety haven). Everyone cleared it. Meanwhile, I fell on the first step I took. Headfirst into the muddy waters. I expected myself to be all muddy, covered in dirt and freezing but surprisingly the water was WARM. That's how scorching hot the weather was. I burst out in laughter knowing that I fell into the waters. Such lack of balance (like the lack of balance in my life).

The obstacle that I faced the most difficulty was actually the climbing net thing. If you look closely in the picture there is a net like thing in the middle of the picture. It is way bigger than you think and we had to climb over, yes you red right, OVER the net. Like are you kidding me? It took my so long to gather to courage to over it. I could climb it no problem but going over was a huge challenge. I had this fear of falling down and I was so sure I was gonna fall and break my nose. But I had to do it, others were waiting behind. Eventually I did and this really taught me to face my fear, or getting out of my comfort zone. I am really thankful to everyone there who continuously cheered me on because I really didn't want to do it but I didn't want to let my peers down so yeah. I saw how effective encouragement actually was. I spent of the rest of my time there falling in mud water, walking on logs, ropesand having a really good time basically. I was soaking wet at the end but it was worth it.

Well, I don't have pictures of anything else because the activities were too muddy and wet for my phone.

So we went rafting after we completed low elements. Our goal was to be able to get to the about side of the waters which was this grassy patch of land we called the "fluffy island." Let me tell you, if you thought that rafting was easy, please re-consider that thought of yours. Even getting on the raft took us ages and in the end I became the "engine" of the raft.

After lunch we had a race similar to the Amazing Race concept. I'm not a big fan of such races because I usually get excluded but this time it was actually quite fun. My team wasn't the first in position but I really admired the perseverance displayed by my fellow members. There was this task where 8 people had to jump one rope 10 times in a row. We failed every attempt even though we tried every single way and strategy we could think of. Spoiler: we still failed in the end (in case you thought that this tragic, repetitive, rope skipping activity would have a happy ending like every cliché movie). But I was so proud of my team and if you're reading this good job you guys <3

THEN, came the activity I had been waiting to do for literally the whole day, rice planting. It was such a cool experience. Sorry but bear with me. We were tasked to put some kind of rice plant into the paddy field. The first time I stepped into the paddy fields, I got such a shocked that I almost fell on my butt. The texture of the mud was so weird. It was like stepping on plasticine, wet plasticine. My feet would get sucked into the mud, it was literally quicksand, or quickmud in this case. However it was strangely therapeutic once you got used to the feeling. I had so much fun but it was really hot like even my clothes dried up. It wasn't an easy task and I learnt to appreciate rice a lot more, every grain just seemed so much more precious now.

Okay I'm really sorry for the lengthy post but if you really read it through, kudos to you, you are amazing. I'm gonna talk about the Bazaar I went with my class next and this time I PROMISE, very short and very sweet.

Basically at 10:30pm, right after debrief, my class decided to go for the Bazaar that was outside our hotel. Honestly I never went to one before (yes, I can see how shocked you are) so I was excited. There were A LOT of people, A LOT of food, A LOT of clothes and a crazy atmosphere. We didn't explore much since there was a curfew but I did get a cup of ice blended green tea, some iron patches (yes till now, I still can't decide which patch to put on which clothing) and everyone in class got a blue bandana each too! Overall I would say that a Bazaar is just really lively with lots of good food and good vibes too. I wished I stayed longer but oops, party pooping curfews exist (I'm stating the obvious again).

That was pretty much it for day 2, I kind of stayed up till 2am talking to friends and just spending our last night together. Also, our hotel had a power trip and I'm pretty sure it was because it was haunted. The post is getting super lengthy so I'll leave ghost stories for another post. Do tell me if you are interested in that, would love to write about that.

To be honest, I didn't feel that I was really out of my comfort zone because I really like the outdoors and to be blunt, I felt that we were already quite pampered. Our leaders constantly told us to wash up and made sure we were okay with the activities, and the moment we came back to the hotel we got to bathe immediately. We even had ice-cream. Overall I thought that it was a really refreshing experience but it wasn't as tough as I imagined it to be.

ALRIGHT I'M DONE! I thank you so so so so so so so much if you actually read everything. I just really wanted to portray and show how the camp was like and without the aid of visuals, it was pretty hard so yeah naturally words had to fill up and replace the missing visuals. Still, I hope you liked it and thanks for being here! Do subscribe for more and I promise future posts won't be so wordy.

See you guys real soon! xx

Sherry