Post Earth Hour 2009

It has been exactly 2 months since Earth Hour 2009, are you still doing your part for the Earth, every day?



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A meeting during Earth Hour:



Here's what you can do daily, for starters!

"Stern, Starboard, Port, Ballast. Jib trimmer, mast, tack…BOOM!

"Stern, Starboard, Port, Ballast. Jib trimmer, mast, tack…BOOM!

These were the terms we learnt during May Monthly meeting!

The story begins: On Saturday morning we arrived at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club at Port Klang. Ai Li, the girl who once sailed for Malaysia and who is still engaged in sailing competitions gave us a brief introduction to sailing. We were introduced to various terms, the structure of the boat, taught us about the safety precautions and the various roles of the crew on board. Apparently, we do not need a cert to sail. Here’s a quick review:

Boat structure:



Safety precautions:
Watch out for the boom (The hard steel underneath the main sail)!
If your friend falls off the boat, don’t jump in as an attempt to save them. Instead, just stare and keep an eye on them while someone else throws in the float. Laugh if you must.

Crew on Board:
There's the skipper, bowman, maintrimmer, porttrimmer, starboard trimmer, and my favourite, the ballast (the person that balances the boat by running or climbing from one side of the boat to another)!

Anyway, after Ai Li's brief introduction, we had lunched and met out skippers. They were expatriates 'orang putih' that happened to owned some of the boats that we sailed on. There were 30 Raleigh-ians sailing on 5 different boats. Some big, some smaller. By 1.30 p.m. noon, we left Shih Chung and Zhi Yong Jr to watch over our bags and we were off to sea!

We got to man the boat! It was hands on with the basic stuff. We learned how to avoid the boom as it swung from one side to another and learned to change the direction of the sails as our boat gradually shifted its direction. Altogether 3 and a half ours at sea (though we can still see land). We also noticed a rainbow like a hallow circling the sun.

Mm...sailing is very much like Raleigh. Unique and fun. An awesome adventure i'd say.

PS: Shih Chung had vowed never to be a bag watcher ever again.

For those of you who would like to know more about sailing and its terms. Here are 2 links:
http://www.asa.com/asa_standards/standard_basic_keelboat_sailing.html
http://www.iidolphins.com/BASIC_KEELBOAT_SAILING_STANDARD.pdf
http://www.euphoriasailing.com/Images/Training/Boat_layout.jpg

Cheers,
Bee Li"

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Click here for Group Photo.

Shu Woan's second phase In Expedition 09B - Part 2 of 3

First changeover. Allocation to new Alpha groups. I prayed so hard that my name would be called out by the Imbak PMs. I was quite disappointed devastated when George called my name. Nonetheless, I walked up, hugged (or did I just shook hands with them? can’t really remember.) both PMs who were stationed in Batu Puteh. Not only was I in an Environmental project that was more ‘community’ than both Community projects combined, I won’t be able to go to Imbak, and I would not get to be with Lorna, who was my PM during trek & dive! I was seriously unhappy.

During dinner that night, I spoke to Huub and Juicy, both went to Batu Puteh in the previous phase. They had nothing but praises for that place. They made really good friends over there, spotted loads of wild life and cried so hard during their last night there. Sounds interesting. They even gave me tips on where to sleep in the goat shed, so that the leaking roof won’t bother me. OK. I was less unhappy.

“Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you

Over again, don’t make me change my mind

Or I won’t live to see another day, I swear it’s true

Because a girl like you is impossible to find

Is impossible to find”

“Fall For You”, Secondhand Serenade

This song was sung repeatedly by the guys in Batu Puteh, since day 1. From the moment work commenced, until we went back. We hated it, loved it. Hated it again, loved it again. Halfway through the phase, we were singing along as well. We carried rocks, sand and gravel from the jetty to the boat. Unloading every single bag at the platoon of the Eco Camp. Carry them through the pathway into the Eco Camp, across the mud all the way beside the reed bed. Emptied the bags. Started all over again. The reed bed functions as a filter, to filter out whatever that goes from the toilet into the antiseptic tank before it enters the river. Hence the need for rocks, sand and gravel. Sounds tough. It actually is. We enjoyed lifting every single bag. We had breaks in between which was termed ‘Sabah time’. It has now become my motto. It signifies working hard, but taking time off to reflect on what you’re actually doing.

There were some individuals in the group that were less diligent than others. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was the food. Maybe it was the long working hours. Maybe there was a breakdown in the way we communicated. It did affect the group dynamics. Everyone felt it, but we couldn’t figure out how to get it sorted. Our analytical skills were slightly impaired for some reason. Although we had a schedule written out, things were just not as smooth as my Adventure Phase. I talked about it with George during my one-to-one sessions with her, on a lovely sunny day, at the Eco Camp (after we camped overnight at the Eco Camp). All we had to do was voice it out. Everyone felt something but no one said anything. Another lesson learnt.

When the guys from Batu Puteh made a special appearance at the Closing Ceremony of Expedition Borneo 09B, one of them played the guitar and ALL the venturers (and the two PMs) who were at Batu Puteh at some point of the expedition, sang ‘Fall For You’ together. I couldn’t be happier that I was allocated to Batu Puteh.

Shu Woan

Editor's Note: Watch out for Part 3, phase 3, new challenges, Mount K views everyday, plus photos as well of course, all that all that... ~to be released soon! If you had missed out on Phase 1, read on here. Want to experience the amazing experience Shu Woan had in Borneo? What's YOUR first challenge to expedition? Introduction Weekend! Register now! Cheers!

Sail-ed!

Photo credits to Eric Ho.

Raleigh-Outbac Sports Camp

Hello!

We’re organizing a sports camp as part of our fundraising for expedition. Some of us have not confirmed which expedition exactly but we’re trying to go for the soonest one possible within our means, earliest being the July 09 Borneo Expedition, whilst others are helping out with the fundraising efforts.

The sports camp is for secondary school students during the coming school holiday. Yes, I know most of us may no longer be in school. Please help us out by forwarding this email to anyone you know that might be 13-17 years young or anyone you know that might know anyone in that age group. Family, friends, colleagues, etc, etc. Yes, I know you'll get the idea. Basically anyone and everyone in your contact list. Just click forward. ; )

Your help and support is much needed to make this camp a success. Thanking you in advance. : )

-Angel, Li Ern, Hock Soon and Hui Yein-

RALEIGH-OUTBAC SPORTS CAMP

School holiday will be here soon! Come join us to learn a few sports and pick up some physical skills. We are organising a Sports Camp from 2-5 June 2009 at OUTBAC, Broga near to Semenyih. The camp is open to anyone between 13-17 years old who is interested in sports with no prior sport experience/involvement needed.

The sports included are softball, touch rugby, floorball and tchoukball. Although most of these sports are not commonly played here and may be new to some people, they are tremendously fun, enjoyable and satisfying, especially when played with real game rules. Besides the sports mentioned above, there will also be a night hike on one of the days. If you already know how to play those sports, feel free to join us to make new friends and enjoy the camp as there will be more than just playing sports. During free time, recreational activities will include flying fox, frisbee, kayaking, biking, archery and rock climbing.

The sports sessions will be conducted by people who are well trained in their field of play and basic Sports Science will be incorporated in the learning process. The Sports Camp is designed in such a way that you will get to learn A to Z of all the aforementioned sports from the fundamental skills to real life game situations.

Kindly refer to the attachments for more details. Please fill in the form and email to atls3@hotmail.com for registration. Closing date for registration is on 25 May 2009. The camp fee is RM350 per person. For further details, kindly contact Angelina at 017–698 4925 / atls3@hotmail.com or Li Ern at 016 – 360 4886 / frenzy_chill@yahoo.com.

Your participation is our pleasure. Do pass this on to your friends and family too. Looking forward to seeing you at the camp. Be sporty and healthy this school holiday!

* This is a fundraising effort by Raleigh Venturers with co-operation from OUTBAC. For more information on Raleigh International Kuala Lumpur, please look up www.raleighinternational.org.my.

Ba-tu Pu-teh

Doing environmental conservation work by the side of Kinabatangan River? Is that what you have been yearning to do?

Wait no more! There are still spaces left for the July09 Borneo Expedition, email expedition@raleighinternational.org.my for more details. Spaces are running out fast! Get out there!

Shu Woan's first phase In Expedition 09B - Part 1 of 3

Two days before I was being deployed into the jungles of Long Pasia, I broke my toe nail on my left foot while playing Raleigh Olympics. After Dr. Simon pushed my toe nail back in (I would need 2 jabs to get the whole nail out, I opted for the less painfull way), he mentioned that I might not be able to go trekking with my newly allocated Alpha group, I might have to switch groups. No way! I liked my group. It’s just a broken toe nail, no big deal.

The medics and my PMs somehow forgot about it (I think) as no one brought that matter up again. So there I was, on the bus and the 4x4 to Long Pasia. I had a serious misconception about Long Pasia, no thanks to CK Leong. He convinced me that it was TEN times more difficult than going up and down Gunung Nuang with 10kg of weight in 10 hours. I seriously thought I would die in Long Pasia. But seeing how some of the other venturers trekked during Jungle Camp, I felt reassured. Even if I were to die in Long Pasia, I would not be the first.

Trekking turned out to be quite enjoyable. I did not have any sore muscles throughout the 12 day trek. I enjoyed building fireplaces every time we arrived at a new campsite. Besides two insoles and one side of a sock (mine!) got damaged, nothing else got burned. There were even stakes around the fireplace for everyone to dry their boots. Even the guides were impressed!

Occasionally my rucksack felt really heavy, especially on days where we trekked for 7 hours. On those days, we only had crackers for lunch. If I recall correctly, we had 2 packets of crackers between 14 people. Cracker lunch was alright for me, we had different toppings each time. We got to chose from cheddar cheese, peanut butter, choc spread and tuna. Of course, we rationed every single meal beforehand. Having pasta for fre*king SIX nights in a row, that I cannot stand. I felt so weak without having rice. One night in Bamboo Camp, Lela (Sabahan venture) and I went over to the guides’ fireplace after dinner just to chat. To my surprise, two of them just came back from FROG hunting!!! Not quite sure how they cooked it, but anything with rice tasted like H-E-A-V-E-N at that moment. It was so lekker! From then on, I knew where I could go to whenever I wanted a fix. Food was never a problem anymore. I still eat my porridge in my mess tin at home!

Not being able to do a night dive was pretty sh*t at first; I was looking forward to it very much. Finding out that my buoyancy was better than I thought it was, priceless!!

It was a bit difficult to balance my time between the locals (guides, dive masters to be...) and my group. Mainly because my group was not exactly excited about hanging out with the locals, something I quite like to do. I know I can get a lot out of these people. I was also constantly translating (queries and actual conversations! Celaka betul!) between certain people. I don’t mind showing off my linguistic skills, but it can be frustrating when people become lazy and kacau me whenever I am doing something. Or when I am not doing anything. It annoys me the most when they don’t even try. Sabar saja... That was Phase 1, did not know how to tell people off......politely.

Shu Woan

Editor's Note: Watch out for Part 2, phase 2, new challenges, serene environment, plus photos as well of course, all that all that... ~to be released soon! Want to experience the amazing experience Shu Woan had in Borneo? What's YOUR first challenge to expedition? Introduction Weekend! Register now! Cheers!