UPM camp.

Date: 26/27 March 2010.

Event: Kelanasiswa UPM. Pioneering Camp (Rovers).

Venue: Kem Ayer Hitam Puchong.

Participants: about 8 Upm rovers, 1 PSA rover, Me, & A District Trainer.

I was invited by the Troop Leader of the UPM rovers to join their pioneering camp. They planned to make the camp at Port Dickson, so I felt kinda excited. But then because the place was booked by some other group, they had to change it to Camp Ayer Hitam.

The place was quite okay, it was also owned by UPM, so they can use the campsite without any fee. Facilities wise, everything needed was there.

Coincidentally, I had some other things to do in KL during that date, so I didnt know if I could go. Then, luckily that thing finished early, so I came about a day late. I was thinking of going as a visitor anyway so I didnt feel that I missed anything.

Azreen, a Upm rover picked me up from the KTM station. She was very helpful, she helped me a lot even before this camp. She treated my burnt feet injury during ECROM, and she also offered me to follow her back to Kuantan from Terengganu. Thanks a million Azreen!

When I reached there, the rovers had just finish their tower. And I was greeted with dinner :P.
That night we played some fun games like charades, acting etc..The most awesome part was that I get to act as a victim of a monster attack on my apartment while waiting for ultraman to help.

Seeing that the UPM rovers were fun crazy minded people, Ultraman ended up shaking hands with the monster and both tried to kill me..lols..

The host of the night was CK. He was a UPM rover alumni. If Im not mistaken, he is also a district trainer for scouts. He was ultra fun, and he was the one who made up the games.

I went to sleep that night about 1 or 2 am. When I woke up on the last day, it was soooo cold.. The reason was probably that the place was covered with rainforest.

On the last day, i helped them to clean the place up and load the camp stuffs on the bus. I was given a handicraft by one of the rovers, Sri, as a token of appreciation from the UPM rovers. Thanks again guys.

Then after we reached UPM and unloaded the things, Me, Apek(PSA rover), Lisa and Azreen went to watch a movie at Mid valley..haha..kinda tired but we had a great time :)

Paint!

Date: 6 March 2010.

Event: Volunteer House Painting with Kelana A.(Rovers)

Venue: Near Pekan.

Participants: about 6 people. ;|

I got a text message from Abang Lie saying that they wanted to paint this old folks home near Pekan, atleast thats what I understood from the message. I wasnt doing much, so I figured to tag along. This was one Kelana A activity in a long time & plus, I need to get to know them better.

I drove alone to this place. To me it feels quite far seeing the fact that I drove an old dying mercedes. If this thing gets busted near Pekan, i dont know what im going to tell my mom.

Upon reaching, I realized that it wasnt an old 'folks' home, it was an old 'folk' home..

An old woman folk to be precise. It was a very small, what I would call "pondok". 1 hall, 1 kitchen and 1 batchroom attached to the back. Thats all. And plus, there were no electricity. I did feel a bit pitty for her. But in another sense, maybe she lives her life in a very simple manner, where else the city people, although more wealthy, lives in pressure and stresses of their own everyday life.

So in a way, '1' for makcik tua, and '0' for the urban zombies (that includes me).

& by the way, makcik tu sangat baik.

They started painting at about 10 am, I came about 11. One of the Kelana A members we call "mama" brought some nasik lemak & mee and set them up on the table beside the house. There were also some drinks.

It was a very hot day, I remembered leaving my slippers outside, and wore the "terompah neraka" afterwards.

We all did what we can. I can see Abg Lie was the hardest worker. I did most of the paint undercoats inside the house.

We finished about 5 or 6 pm. And We went back to Kuantan together using the road next to the beach.

The view was breath taking, and it was a nice ending to the very tiring day.

1st ECROM

Date: 11-14 Feb. 2010.
Event: 1st East Coast Rover Moot. (Scouting)
Venue: Kem Telaga Batin, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
Participants: approx. 300 scouts from around the country.

This is the first East Coast Rover Moot. I came a day late because of some unavoidable circumstances >:( . Thank God everything was good. I was also the sole representative of Pahang's Kelana(rover). This is probably because most of the rover crews were informed late.

I agreed to go the reason being I havent camp for like 2 years!..I need to go back to the glory days said to myself..I was getting lazier for the past 2 years..I neeed to camp!..And this was like a shining opportunity, seeing that Terengganu wasnt that far from Kuantan.

Being the sole representative, I cant build my own campsite, so the organisers placed me with the UPM rovers seeing that there were just 6 people..haha..Arrived about 7 pm, & when I arrived at their campsite, it was pretty simple, just a tent and a bamboo kitchen..simple but comfortable. & plus, the UPM rovers were very cool and friendly!

That night, there was a screening of scout camp montages..and also the intro to NST (National Service Team) followed by the registration of members. NST is basically a group formed for volunteers to help in dire times like natural disasters and such. The group also functioned as a help team to organize and assist camps, such as the Malaysian National Jamboree (Jambori Malaysia) among others.

The next day, we woke up early to go for abseiling and Halangan Komando which is basically running through some challenging obstacles and stuff. All participants were divided into 2. Half of us went for the Halangan, and the other half for abseiling. I was with the abseiling group. There were a lot of participants, and I end up waiting about 5 hours for my turn in abseiling. Seeing that there was not enough time, everybody only did one activity.

After everybody were settled, we went back to camp, waiting for the next activity which is Orienteering. I took a quick shower before that activity, cause waiting for the abseiling, it wasnt all cloudy in the skies. man, how i needed that shower.

For orienteering, we were divided into about 22 teams. I was in team 12 ;) ..Every team each were given 2 compasses, a map and some side questions. The side questions were interesting and annoying at the same time..haha..I got a great and very cooperative team, i guess thats the most important thing ;) ..The whole journey was very tiring but fun.

After a very long day, we retreated back at camp and getting ready for the culture night (malam kebudayaan). Me & the UPM guys did not prepare anything, so one of us came up with a sketch idea, and we all expanded it. Me, I was lucky I only needed to play the guitar..yeah!..

The night was fun, especially the Unimap performance, they got us all laughing and rolling. The only down side to the night was the 'kuda kepang' incident. Some faint hearted participants got hysteria. but all and all, the situation was under control. We went back to camp early because the culture night was put to a stop because of that reason.

On the last day, all of us was gathered at the assembly point to start the following activity which is the sukaneka(sport games). But...because I arrived a day late, i had to do the backwoods cooking instead of the sukaneka. And there are actually some other participants who did not have the time to do backwoods cooking so I joined them and formed a group.

Overall, the cooking went smoothly, except for the boiling bamboo water dropped on my feet!..ouch!..thank god I can still walk!...haha..

After all the activities were finished, we were told to be ready with our uniforms for the closing ceremony.

After the ceremony ended, all contingents went back home except for some participants and the organizing crew who stayed another day at the camp. I agreed to stay too with the UPM crew because one of them was driving back to Kuantan so I figured I could hitch along :D.

On the fourth and final day there, we went for a bit of travelling at Terengganu. Very interesting seeing that I cant remember the last time I went there.

All and all, ECROM was great!. Gained a lot of experience. Met a lot of people. Gained a new badge(kemahiran)!

Tree Log.

This is a new blog I made for the sole purpose of logging my activities such as outdoor recreation and camps.

I call it the "Tree Log" to keep up with the nature theme :D ..haha..so this is my first log, and I guess making the first log as the introduction makes sense.

I made this blog not really to attract visitors, but as a document on my experiences, and maybe share it with others. So instead of writing a log book which no one reads but me, I decided to write it publicly.

I guess that pretty much sums things up. Hope you'll enjoy, if you dont, thats ok, cause Im writing this for myself :D ..And if you do enjoy it, awesome!, maybe we can exchange stories ;)