Hello Guides!! Today we had another Patrol Activity(PA)!
(: P2, P3 and P6 did Outdoor Cooking(OC), P1 did inspection and tent-building,
P4 did a mini Obstacle Journey(OJ) and P5 made a kitchen dresser and did some
Physical Training(PT)! Here are the respective reflections from the patrols!
We started off having a combined 配备 inspection with P4 twice, and practically only the y2s were prepared for
this, some of us experiencing carrying a 配备 for the first time. The
inspection layout turned out to be very neat, and both patrols managed to keep
within the time limit given. However, for our second activity, our patrol only
had 30 minutes to build a dome tent, and most of us being new at it, we had to
resort to asking the seniors for advice. It did not turn out too well as many
time extensions were requested but we always 过时. Next, we had to build
an eight-man tent, which we failed badly at again. One of the main reason was
because when we were supposed to 抽 our lashes at the same
time, one of our knots would come out and we had to repeat the process over
again. Even though this was largely similar to our previous PA (how we built
the kitchen shelter), some of the y1s were still clueless and the y2s were busy
teaching them. That wasted a lot of time and the time extensions did not come
handy. Lastly, we had to finish our PT that was left uncompleted from the last 集合, and in total had to do 260 Kallang Wave pumpings together as a patrol,
including our seniors. At the end of the day, even if the seniors did scold us
badly, I feel that I learnt a lot from this PA, not only tying skills, or the
steps to build a certain structure, but most importantly, it definitely built
up my leadership skills which is the most important.
P2 Ixora (Wei Mei)
We
did Outdoor Cooking for this PA. We made s’mores and popcorn this time. We took
longer than expected to build the fire altar as the zinc plate could not fit
between the 木 and we had to 重打some of the lashes as the fire altar was slanted.
Towards the end, before we stared the fire, the zinc plate dropped and so some
of us had to reattach it the fire altar using 白绳 and 八字结. By then we already spent a lot of
time on the fire altar so we had to work faster. I was the PL for the second
part of OC. It was very stressful for me due to the time constraint. I had to
allocate manpower efficiently as we had to start the fire, prepare the food,
make popcorn, roast marshmallows. I also had to ensure the Years 1s had the
opportunity to start the fire and cook the food. In the end we used solid fuel
to cook the popcorn while some of us fixed the fire
altar. All of us including the Year 3s had the opportunity to roast
marshmallows. In the end, we managed to complete the OC even though we 过时 by a lot. We had to improve on 3 things: constant
cheering and 报时, sense of urgency
and allocation of manpower.
P3 Jasmine (Jo-Anne)
For patrol activity (PA) this week, we did outdoor
cooking. Firstly, in order to be able to cook on a safe platform, we had to
build a fire altar. We were originally given 20 minutes to finish building the
fire altar. Even though we managed to build the gadget in time, our lashes were
very loose and caused the structure to become very unstable and unsafe for
cooking on. Thus, we had to 重抽 our lashes many times
and subsequently were punished for it. As for outdoor cooking, our patrol had
originally planned to make stir-fry broccoli, carrots and potatoes and instant
noodles with egg and mushrooms. Starting the fire was difficult as we could not
sustain the fire and used up a lot of 木麻黄 as a result. Although it
was tough, we seized the opportunity to teach the year ones about fire-lighting
using kindlings. Eventually, we managed to effectively sustain one fire and
used that fire to cook our dishes. However, our vegetables could not soften
despite cooking for a very long time and as such, we ended up with hard
vegetables. In addition, we exceeded the time given of 40 minutes and the time
extensions granted and was also consequently punished. Despite all the mishaps
that occurred, we still managed to enjoy the food we cooked and the satisfaction
was unbelievable. In a nutshell, we learnt that constant 报时 and cheering were key to ensure that we are able to complete the given
task efficiently and will try to improve ourselves for the net few 集合sin terms of speed and sense of urgency.
P4 Orchid (Maisy)
On Monday 20th July 2015, Patrol 4 Orchid had patrol
activity. For the first part of patrol activity, we had a combined activity
with Patrol 2 (is it? ). We were given about 5 minutes (give or take 2 minutes)
to pack a 配备 and assemble at the General Science Laboratory
Area. We were then given about 5 minutes (or less?) to unpack and arrange the
logistics in the 配备 neatly and aligned with
the other patrol's logistics. During the process of unpacking, we found out
that we had over packed the 配备 which resulted in us
being almost unable to fit everything into it. After inspection, we were told
that our logistics were not aligned and were given 2 minutes to neaten and
compact everything . After inspection , we were told to pack up all our
logistics and move on to the second part of patrol activity which was our
obstacle journey. The first station of our obstacle journey was located at the
General Science Laboratory Area where most of our girl guide activities are
held. We were given 20 minutes to light a fire, firm a distress signal
for food and cook an egg while doing Caterpillar. We split our manpower into
two groups , with Maisy , Xinjie and Linmin in one group and Kyna,
Hsinyue,Sophia and Clara in another group. The first group did Caterpillar
first while the second group started the fire. We were told to 'caterpillar'
around the perimeter of the General Science Laboratory Area which was very
tiring . Along the way we were tested on trekking signs out of 3 we got 1
correct ( though our answers were mostly very close to the answer ._.) . When
the 10 minutes were up, we continued on with what the other group were
initially doing . They had finished the distress signal and all that was left
was the egg. While waiting for the water to boil, the floor near the stove
caught fire, causing the fire to enlarge dramatically. Fearing that the fire
might spread, we put out the fire and started another stove on the tiles near
the grass patch. As the water started to simmer, the aluminium foil on the mess
tin b started to melt due to the raging temperature of the fire and we had to
put it out . By then time was up and we didn't get to eat the egg. We cleaned
up the area and went on to our second station which was in Block G on the 3rd
level. Upon arrival, we were told that we had to build a creative gadget that
none of us had seen before . We were handed the proposal and given 20 minutes
to complete the gadget. For this activity, Maisy was the PL and Hsinyue was the
PS. The gadget was a miniature seesaw. Due to the unfamiliar structure ,
it took time to think of how to build it thus resulting in much time lost in
the first half of the time given. While a few of us built the gadget for 10
minutes, the other patrol members did physical training such as kallang wave
pumping etc. In The second half of the time given, the patrol members worked
faster and managed to complete part of the structure. However we were unable to
build the gadget under 20 minutes and asked for a total of 12 minutes
time extension. We managed to finish the structure within the time we requested
, though the wrong wood was used for the different parts of the seesaw. We took
a patrol photograph before taking apart the structure . After keeping the
logistics, we had a short patrol corner to get to know everyone better before
we headed home . :D
P5
Sunflower (Chen Wei)
On
Monday, we had patrol activity! :D First, we 集合-ed to
Valerie, then we were told to discuss about the structure of a kitchen dresser
and decide on the logistics we needed. We were quite unsure, so we asked the
seniors and they gave us some hints. After gaining a clearer understanding of
the structure, we went to get 8中长木,2长木,6青木 and 6白木. 6 of
the 中木 was to be used to tie 2
tripods and 2 of it was to be used for the shelf/counter. The 青木 was to
used for 定脚 for the tripods, while
the 黑木 was for the structure's 定脚. 2 of
the 白木 was for supporting the
counter, while the other 4 was brought along in view that we could use them to
place more things on the kitchen dresser, but that turned out to be a wrong
decision. After that, we started to
build the kitchen dresser within the time frame of approximately 25 minutes,
with Valerie being the PL and Shevonne being the PS. It was a great practice
for our lashes although we needed to improve our sense of urgency.
Next,
we ran one round around each level all the way up to level 6, then went down
the stairs to level 2 GSL. Following which, we did Physical Training. We had to
do 3 circuits of 10 jumping jacks, 20 burpees, 20 pumpings and 2 minute 站马 within
the time frame of 15 minutes. This was a goal set by our patrol, and it was
tough but we managed to achieve our goal with a slight overrun of time.
After
that, we had 2 'lottery PT' whereby we chose 2 slips of paper from a zip lock
bag, on which would have our physical training requirements. We had to do 1
minute planking and 5 minute leg raise.
Finally,
we had a patrol corner whereby we discussed our feelings about the patrol
activity. It was a shared opinion that our sense of urgency should be improved,
and that the PT was good for us to train up our stamina for ATC. I am glad that
this was a fruitful PA which would help me with my obstacles in the future.
P6 Morning Glory (Claire)
On
Monday, we had built our own kitchen dresser for a fun outdoor cooking
experience afterwards. During the building of the kitchen dresser, there were
some flaws. For example, we started off slowly, taking very long to tie a
tripod lash. Our senior advised us to focus on one tripod first before moving
to another, After their advice, our pace was clearly fastened as everyone
rushed each other, Although we overacted the time by about 1 minute, building the
kitchen dresser was a good lesson for us to learn from our mistakes and to know
them. Next, for the outdoor cooking session, due to the strong wind initially,
we were unable to start the fire. Hence, our PL (patrol leader) had to assist
us. In the end, we used a lighter although we should not do so in future. It
was tiring yet enjoyable sustaining the fire and preparing for the two creative
dishes we (Y2s) thought of. I realise that our patrol has many “fire-breathing
dragons”. This is because to sustain the fire we need to blow at it – 2 short
breaths and 1 long one. Fortunately, the kindlings we picked over the weekends
were mostly dry and were sufficient for the whole session. Our two dishes are
s’mores and pizza bread. Our pizza bread was successful but for our s’mores, we
overcooked it, partly also due to the large fire. In the end, instead, we just
placed marshmallows on sticks and roast it over the fire. Overall, it was a fun
and enjoyable PA with Patrol 6 Morning Glory and I hoped to have such PAs again
in the near future!
Another
fruitful PA has come to an end! (: We hope the guides enjoyed themselves!
Cheers,
47th Batch Secretary
Michelle