<![CDATA[<body><script type="text/javascript">
function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) {
if(window.addEventListener) {
window.addEventListener('load',
function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false);
} else {
window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; });
}
}
</script>
<div id="navbar-iframe-container"></div>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
gapi.load("gapi.iframes:gapi.iframes.style.bubble", function() {
if (gapi.iframes && gapi.iframes.getContext) {
gapi.iframes.getContext().openChild({
url: 'https://www.blogger.com/navbar/10851068?origin\x3dhttp://thethinkingmachine.blogspot.com',
where: document.getElementById("navbar-iframe-container"),
id: "navbar-iframe"
});
}
});
</script>]]>
Monday, May 26, 2008
~ 8:56 PM ~
Well, I'm technically back from the wondrous rainforests of Kota Tinggi since Sunday afternoon. The trip there was a refreshing one, and that of vibrancy and mystery. The Sec 2s were fun-loving, and to see them graze roam freely is to embrace the love of youth. I loved my youth, so what else could I do to relive it? So I stood and observed, perhaps to love it again.
Could it not be more coincidental that the number 15, for which is the number after 13 and 14, should mark the group I am in charge. Why 13 and 14? I cannot tell, yet they know.
I do not know anyone of them, and I should not, for I do not teach them. The students were energetic and distinct, untouched by the corrosive hands of conformity. How sad will I be, if I were to see them don a lifeless mask in future schooling. All the more I have chosen to leave the place.
I live among my peers, Mr. L and Mr. T. We of similar generations were on our last trip in the organisation, perhaps to end our times with a rest. The beds were 2, one single and one double. Mr. T took the single, while Mr. L and I shared the double. then we began our life here for 4 days.
First it was lunch. Like every other lunch here, it was a few dishes and rice. Quite on the positive side, but other winged lifeforms were patrolling and eying our food as well. "Shoo!" said Mdm Th. "Shoo!" said Mdm Y. Yet the disgusting pests keep coming and coming. Well, I say we burn them! Of course we didn't really burn them, but in our hearts we probably hated their presence as much as we were afraid of the diseases they carried. So fragile are us.
Activities were carried out differently in various groups. Mine started out with 3-in-1 Tower (I can't really remember the name). With 1 tower, we could: (A) Do some Rock-Climbing! (B) Abseil! (C)Perform the Flying Fox! Pure fun and excitement...if not for the slow queue and limited lines. I wonder if everyone had a chance to actually climb up there.
Next, there was the Jetty Jump. It literally means what it literally means: Jump from a jetty. With a life vest. With 2 instructors in the water. Into the lake seemingly deep, but disappointingly shallow. I felt the urge to plunge into this safe form of fun, but curbed my enthusiasm as I quickly realised my shortage of clothes and footwear. Perhaps next time.
Later, I followed them to a nearby river. They had some 'river cascading' there, yet it was more of get-stuck-adjust-get-stuck-again ad infinitum. the river was just too shallow for their body on tubings to sail down. One instructor reflected to me that the water level was much higher before, as shown by a nearby riverbed now protruding. Recent deforestations caused soil erosion, tainting the water and reducing the volume. I shook my head, and felt the pain.
Finally for the first day, we took a bus to the riverside of Johore River (I think). A ferry took us down the river, where we saw beautiful scenes of fireflies in the mangrove swamps. The number was of that I have never seen. So bright is their collective light, that they rival those among the stars. Some commented that the fireflies on trees appeared like Christmas trees. Yet I disagree. This is what nature has given us, so how could we compare it to those made of man? Cherish the beauty, for I think the days would not last.
(The second day continues in the next post...)
