Our day started at 7.30a.m., when we all arrive at school and assembled outside the auditorium. All of us were very excited, eagerly waiting for the unfurling of the events to come. It was our first time participating in a hike organized by the company. We tumbled aboard the bus, and chatting and slapping on sunscreen.
We were walking along, when Mrs. Poh told us to run. It was not a very brief distance, but we still had our store of energy full. I guess it was akin to a warm-up run, but nevertheless, many of us arrived breathless. Then, our hike officially started. Our aims for the day were: happiness, excellence, resilience and determination, and the first letter of these four words form the word “herd”. I think that, within this word itself, it is also full of meaning, as a company and patrol is like a mini herd and we take care of each other.
Our first station was just a short distance away, on the event lawn. There, we took a Kung fu pose jump shot, and “competed” against patrol 9 in a game of dog and bone. The “bones” were foodstuff and scrapbook materials and the patrol that got the item gets to keep it, to be used or eaten during the hike. There was a twist to the game, as there were multiple choices and the person with the number corresponding to the correct answer had to do ten jumping jacks before running out to grab the bone. It was very funny and everyone was trying to jump as fast as humanly possible.
In between the two stations, we were trying to complete the tasks given, such as navigating the maze, finding out that the red, blue, yellow and green objects were recycling bins, taking a picture of the garden house and searching for a flower in the flora walk. Out of those activities, the one with the most learning points is the maze. Each of us held on to a section of the hemispherical football and tries to control the tiny ball that is within the maze, guiding it towards the centre. It was vexing at first, as we were not very successful and the tiny ball had a mind of its own. However, through patience and perseverance, we finally managed to coax the ball into the centre of the maze. Teamwork was important, because if one of us were not of the same mind as the others, the ball would not go in the direction that we wanted. We also learnt not to be too agitated and form a strategy first, before proceeding calmly; slowly but surely.
As we were overambitious and tried to complete all of the tasks given, we did not arrive in time to go through the 2nd station. Despite running part of the way there, we still did not arrive at station 2 in time and could only complete a part of the station. We learnt that we should prioritize, and also, though it is a hike, but we should not stroll either, but move faster. Still, this did not dampen our spirits, but we continued the hike.
At station 2, we were given a map and told to find the shortest route from point A to B. it was deceptively easy, so much so that we suspected a trick at first. After we had arrived, we had to answer some questions that required us to think out of the box, a.k.a. 欠扁问答题s.
At station 3, the activity requires us to stand in a line and hold crushed paper balls in between our shoulders. There were questions to be answered and the correct answer merits 2 steps forward while the wrong answer earns us a step back. It was difficult, as there were paper balls on both our left and right, thus, if the paper ball on the right is dropping, one cannot move to narrow the grip on the paper ball, since doing so will cause the paper ball on the left to drop. This game requires teamwork and helping each other, as one person also cannot hold on to any of the paper balls.
At the fourth station, we were given a large piece of newspaper, and the whole patrol had to step on it; not feet are allowed to touch the ground outside of the newspaper. There were slips of paper scattered around us and we were to reach for them. On each piece of paper is a question number corresponding to a question. The newspaper would be folded for every two questions answered wrongly.
At the last station along the southern ridges, there were several tasks to be completed and our patrol split into three different groups. One pair went off to take photographs of different objects using different camera settings, another pair had to answer questions put forth by the station master. The rest of us searched for a plastic bag that belongs to our group; it contains slips of paper that with the steps for developing negatives. We rotated the jobs and after we found the plastic bag, we had to rearrange the slips of paper in the correct order.
The end of the 5th station means the end of our rural hike. Before continuing on our way to Vivo City, we took many photographs that were in the mobile task booklet
Upon arriving at Vivo City, we finished some more photography tasks and almost did not see the hike I.C.s when we went to the assembly area at the fountain. After we had eaten our lunch, we stayed at Long John Silver’s for awhile to do our scrapbook.
We assembled and was dismissed for a shortened version of activities in vivocity.
In the first station, each of us had to come out and imitate the person or object that is given to us. It is a game that is unlike taboo or charades, as we could talk, but we had to become the given person or object. There were guiders and leaders of the company and other rather random objects such as staplers, and carrot. Next, we were given 15 minutes to go and source for the objects, or anything that can represent the object, and take a photograph as proof. We went into Daiso and used our creativity and what we could find there, coming up with connections that were slightly stretched, such as a pen that looks like an ostrich wearing a tutu, to represent ballerina, an eraser that looks like a stapler, etc.
We were then given a clue to the next station, which was in front of the Food Republic, and is all about food. This time, we played “taboo” and all the words were foodstuff. This station tests our communication skills and how we communicate as a patrol. Then, according to another clue, we had to find a kind of snack, buy it and eat it in front of the station master. Another bonus required us to memorize a little poem that is part of an advertisement.
After these two stations, we assembled for company games!
We played all the games in an outdoor pool, with the water barely reaching our knees. The first game we played, all of us were given an identity, either a duck or a cow. Then, closing our eyes, we had to find others of the same type. Once the game started, there was a cacophony of moos and quacks, as each of us tried to find a match. When the game ended and we opened our eyes once more, we saw that all of us we standing in little groups. Through this simple game, we realize that strategy is important, and the point of the game was not to try and outdo each other with the moos and quacks. Instead, we should get only one person from each group to call out at a time, so that it is much more organized.
The second game played was blow wind blow. However, there was an alteration to the game, instead of being people, we were cars and each round, and there were conditions to be met, before we could settle into our new places. There were situations like: a flat tire and we had to roll on the ground for ten seconds before running back; ERP gateways and we had to go to the centre of the circle to get monopoly money; car wash and we had to submerge ourselves in the water before running to a new place. Needless to say, most, if not all of us, were wet before the game ended. Mostly, it was from well-meaning friends who wanted to help each other cool down, there were even a bucket and cups floating around. It was fun.
The final game that we played was musical box. There were a number of things being passed around and the music was provided by us, as we sang guides’ songs. There were different rounds, with a different thing being passed around each time, like ice cubes, rice grains and half a banana. The people who were lucky enough to be holding on to the item when the music stopped had to go to the centre of the circle and do their forfeit.
Then, it was prize giving and then we were dismissed. Though our patrol was not part of the top three, we had tremendous fun throughout the day. We learnt many things, such as perseverance and determination, and we tried our best to achieve the four values of HERD. We also came up with a new patrol song!
Love guides!:)
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