Just returned from my church camp and whoo, I must say it is a refreshing experience. I've not only got to know new people, but also bond together with the people I see every Sunday.
First day- Sunday (3/12)
We arrived in church for normal Sunday worship and Holy Communion, since it's the first Sunday of the week. There was also infant Baptism for 3 little kids, one of them who kept crying during the whole process, so cute! Ok, maybe I'm a bit sadist...ha ha! After a light breakfast, we boarded the bus to Tanah Merah ferry terminal which would bring us to Batam, our desired destination. I so regretted sitting in that bus because the kids behind me kept screaming their heads off, singing songs that were, well, rather irritating to me, but not to them. If I had to choose again, I would switch bus! That's how horrible it is.
The ferry ride wasn't any comforting either. It kept rocking up and down so much that I could have threw up whatever I consumed for breakfast. See lah, thought I was so gungho, can withstand a one hour ride, in the end leh, it was really very terrible. Just thinking about the return trip is enough to send shivers down my spine.
Finally arrived at Batam View Resort. It was rather inviting, just that there were construction going on. We had lunch in buffet style and then waited 90 boring minutes for our room key. My room mates were Lynn and Abigail. The room rox as well! Just that there were only 2 beds. So Lynn decided to move to Melissa's room, with was ok with me, since I prefer staying in pairs. After a short break, we had briefing and then ice breaker games. Kudos to Caleb and Gabriel, because their games were rather fun. Aunty Bee Cheng had a head injury during that time, it was ghastly to see her head bleeding profusely. So she headed back to her room to rest while we continued playing.
Dinner was at Kelong, a restaurant by the sea side...nice to hear the sound of the water roaring. Our table was "special" though, cos we had an extra dish, Black Pepper Crab due to "special" requests. We were all enjoying them while the other members hovered at our table, drooling...=D
Then it was time to get serious, we talks by Rev Ngoi and then our workshop session which we needed to share. It was then I got to know the members in my group better, like Wayne, Mervyn, Caleb, Sock Ling. It was quite a strange feeling. I see them in church every Sunday, but I never got to talk and communicate with them as much as during that session. It certainly brought us closer.
Feeling tired after the day's programme, I headed back to my room- 437 to wash up and retired for the night. Oh, and by the way, I'm staying beside Gabriel's room and opposite Jason's room. Both their rooms have Channel U, 8 and 5 but my room only has Channel 8. It's damn sucky, considering the statellite dish is situated far away from my room.
Second Day- Monday (4/12)
Woke up at 7am- Batam time and then my room mate, Abigail and I headed to the lobby for breakfast. I think breakfast there is the best compared to lunch and dinner. And it totally sux considering that there is no convenience store anyway near that I could buy cup noodles for supper at night. Grr...anyway, they have scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs and even fried eggs...hmm..all my faves. Then there's porridge that you could add your own toppings for flavouring. like peanuts, salted eggs and even salted veggie. After talk and workshop at Wayne's room, we had games at the Beach. Which my group, sort of, cheated. Because we built sandcastles with additional equipment which weren't allowed. Ha ha, it was funny that even the Pastor's wife didn't stop us from doing so. Despite all these, we still ended up last. So I reckon it's God's will that we can't win since we cheated. Lol...Lunch was horrible, since ALL of the dishes contained curry or chilli in them. Under Mum's permission, I called IN-ROOM DINING!! Isn't that cool? I order Fried Kway Teow and a glass of lemon tea. But it's costly though, this 2, including service charge and GST, sum up to a total of $15. But it's worth it...for Free and Easy, I can't go swimming since I didn't bring my costume with me, neither can I go for spa. And there was a long queue for foot massage. So?? I ended up in Jason's room watching Channel 5 and U. The Tyra Banks Show was entertaining, teaching ladies about style and fashion, then Channel U was a Korean drama.
Dinner at the poolside was romantic, and the food was rather palatable. But I didn't eat much...since I wasn't hungry after a filling meal of Kway Teow. I retreated early back to my room and prepared for Workshop 3, where all of us shared views about the questions that were laid in front of us. The questions were more challenging than the very first Workshop we had. Like they asked you: Share your belief in how the life order and the planet earth originated, What do you believe in the purpose of our human existence?, Does God love humankind much more than all other creations? and so on. I think its much more difficult and thought-provoking. I'd rather do a Biology essay, since we already have information in our heads.
After that, I stayed in Mervyn's room to watch the Channel U HK drama, just in case Daddy forgot to record. And I think I"m right, because when I returned home yesterday, I didn't see any tape.
Went to Sy Bin's room with Abigail to chat with them for about an hour before returning to our own rooms.
Then once again, it was lights out and packing up to check out the next day.
Third day- Tuesday (5/12)
Once again, breakfast was at the lobby and I was stuffing myself with food since I didn't eat much during dinner and Abigail had cup noodles for supper and it was curry, so I couldn't share with her. Had to bear with the empty feeling till morning. We had the last Talk about knowing ourselves...and then there was Sharing and Testimonies where everyone gathered in a circle to share what they've learnt from this camp. For me, I think Rev Ngoi's talk was rather unique. Because all the other talks and sermons I've experienced so far was about Knowing God, how to glorify and praise Him, and such. But this time round, the objective was actually about knowing ourselves, knowing myself more. And also, this time round, the camp was more relaxing, where we don't have to prepare for any performances. Only that THERE'S NO CONVENIENCE STORE!!!
Returned to my room to pack up and prepare for check out when the phone rang. First time round, it was from the "Receptionist", informing me that my check out time is in an hour. Then second time, it was again the "Receptionist", telling me that my check out time is with immediate effect. I put "Receptionist" because I later found out that it was from Gabriel and Mervyn, playing a prank call on me...haiz....it's like I was being Punk'd.
We had lunch and shopping at a "Mega Mall". I think Singapore's malls could do better than theirs. It's like, the first two storeys of the mall is OK, but then as we go up, I find that the shops there are rather, bad? And also, the mall is rather deserted...the only people I can see is our church people.
We had A&W, and many of our members were also there. Since Singapore doesn't have anymore A&W, it would be nice to actually eat there. THEIR CURLY FRIES ROX!! I went to Polo to buy 2 shirts, a pink turtleneck and a strip shirt, erm...also pink? Ha ha...wanted to buy earrings but the shop lady insisted on receiving Rupiah...not Singapore dollars. And since I was lazy to change, I decided not to buy. Will go Minitoons to buy my dice earrings.
In the evening, we gather at Batam Centre Ferry Terminal to return back to Singapore. This time round, I wasn't feeling that giddy since I took motion-sickness pills given by Aunty Yvonne. But what irritates me is that I have a fat man sitting beside me. And it's like, his snorings rendered me unable to sleep. Luckily, we were almost reaching Harbour Front so it wasn't so bad. I was dead beat by the time I returned home, since there were quite a number of stations from Harbour Front.
And oh, did I mention this girl named Yuen Ting? Basically, on my very first day at Batam, my name tag accidentally got caught in her bag. When I told her to stop, you know what she did? She took my card out of her bag and flinged it at me without even turning around. Aunty Yvonne told me to get to know this girl better, since she was at the same age as me. But I think I decided to avoid her since she did such a thing to me. I told no one, except my mum, because others would think that I'm sensitive. But the horrible thing was that she kept sticking around me like a leech...and she even asked me if I'm shy. I was like, why don't you go ask yourself what you've done? At a particular talk, she herself sat beside me. And she calls herself a Christian, doodling and tearing pices of paper from the camp booklet when everyone was singing songs to praise God. It's ok if she does that, what's worse is that she dumps pieces of paper onto my sit, not bothering to even throw them in the dustbin. I mean, so what if you've just returned from Australia to Singapore for holiday, it doesn't give you the right to do whatever you like and criticizing my church camp, calling it boring and asking "What the hell is this chuch camp?", it doesn't render you any privilege to be rude to adults. You're not even fit to be a Christian,haughty one! If you think it's boring, go join other church camps. I'm sure my church does not welcome haughty people who are so egosiastic that they do not care about other people. Neither do I. I'm so glad you're returning to your country soon, you would so be a liability to the society of Singapore. Lastly, stop acting like you're very close and warm to me, because you know what? I think everything you do is so damn freaking fake!!