Hello Guides!
We kick-started 2018 with our Year One Orientation on the 12th of January! Like previous years, we teamed up with the Scouts to prepare for this big day. There were a total of 4 Orientation Preparation (OP) dates before this, and much effort was put into ensuring everything went smoothly for the actual exhibition. There are 8 committees in total which involved the Guides and they are: Gateway, Kitchen Shelter, Gadgets, Mini Games, Outdoor Cooking, Decoration, Fireman’s Ladder and 绳桥 (“Monkey Climb”).
We 集合-ed at 10.35am to put the final touches to our structures and practise for the performance. After which, we changed into our Guides’ uniform and had flag raising.
When the Year Ones arrived, it was finally the time to showcase all the hard work and effort that we had put in all this while. First, there were performances put up by the 4 Uniformed Groups, including our very own Fireman’s Ladder and 绳桥 committees!
We kick-started 2018 with our Year One Orientation on the 12th of January! Like previous years, we teamed up with the Scouts to prepare for this big day. There were a total of 4 Orientation Preparation (OP) dates before this, and much effort was put into ensuring everything went smoothly for the actual exhibition. There are 8 committees in total which involved the Guides and they are: Gateway, Kitchen Shelter, Gadgets, Mini Games, Outdoor Cooking, Decoration, Fireman’s Ladder and 绳桥 (“Monkey Climb”).
We 集合-ed at 10.35am to put the final touches to our structures and practise for the performance. After which, we changed into our Guides’ uniform and had flag raising.
When the Year Ones arrived, it was finally the time to showcase all the hard work and effort that we had put in all this while. First, there were performances put up by the 4 Uniformed Groups, including our very own Fireman’s Ladder and 绳桥 committees!
Afterwards, the Year Ones were free to walk about and visit the various booths where we had prepared structures for them to play with and food for them to enjoy.
Here are some thoughts from a few Year Twos and Threes about what they have gathered from the entire OP experience.
A Year 3 from 绳桥 said…
CCA Orientation this year was very fun. However, I felt that there were not enough practice dates and initially our performance was not up to standard, so we had to practise as hard as possible during OP. Even though the Year 2s were new to 绳桥, they managed to learn the skills quickly. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach the time frame during the last practice. On the day itself, our first performance went quite well. However, during the second performance, some of our members felt very anxious and nervous and fell when they were climbing across, but they still tried again. At the end of the performance, some of us felt quite disappointed, but we knew that we had put in our best for the performance and with the seniors’ encouragement, we felt slightly better. We could not have put up a 绳桥 performance without the effort of our seniors and juniors so we felt very grateful for one another after the performance. From this OP, I have learnt that everyone has an important role to play in the performance and that we have to continue trying our best, no matter what the outcome will be.
A Year 2 from 绳桥 said…
When I first found out that I was going to be in the 绳桥 committee, I was actually quite excited, but nervous at the same time. I understood that being in this committee meant that I was going to perform in front of the Year 1s, and I really wanted to make a good impression on them. Before this OP, I had only experienced climbing the 绳桥, and that was months ago. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed that experience and looked forward to practising. On the first day of practice, I felt rather overwhelmed. There was many criteria to fulfil, such as a time limit, the act of landing in the correct spot, and making the whole process look effortless, without falling and getting injured. Despite all of the challenges shown however, I persevered with the help of my friends as well as the care and concern my seniors showed. After the first few practices, I managed to get the hang of it, although I was not really smooth and quite slow in the process. On the day of the performance, I was quite worried that I would not be able to climb the rope. I had slipped and fallen a few times prior, and I did not manage to turn and land in the correct spot properly. However, the whole performance went smoothly, without any major hiccups. I was really happy after the performance as I had significantly improved since my first time and I think that the juniors liked it as well! One of the major challenges I faced was landing in the correct spot. It was quite hard for me in the beginning as I always fell instead of turning, or I simply gave up on turning. After some encouragement from my friends however, and a few pointers from my seniors on how to achieve landing in the spot, I managed to do it! I have learnt that practice makes perfect. I thought 绳桥 would be easy to master, but I was wrong. Instead, it took me many hours to learn the basics and skills, and I still have much more to improve on. I do hope to improve on my speed the next time I do this. I also wish to master the smooth process of turning well as climbing without swinging the rope too much and slipping. In a nutshell, this year's CCA exhibition was rather eventful for me, and I do look forward to next year's exhibition. I am also glad to have helped encourage more Year 1s into joining Girl Guides, and showing them a part of what we do in this CCA!
A Year 3 from 绳桥 said…
CCA Orientation this year was very fun. However, I felt that there were not enough practice dates and initially our performance was not up to standard, so we had to practise as hard as possible during OP. Even though the Year 2s were new to 绳桥, they managed to learn the skills quickly. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach the time frame during the last practice. On the day itself, our first performance went quite well. However, during the second performance, some of our members felt very anxious and nervous and fell when they were climbing across, but they still tried again. At the end of the performance, some of us felt quite disappointed, but we knew that we had put in our best for the performance and with the seniors’ encouragement, we felt slightly better. We could not have put up a 绳桥 performance without the effort of our seniors and juniors so we felt very grateful for one another after the performance. From this OP, I have learnt that everyone has an important role to play in the performance and that we have to continue trying our best, no matter what the outcome will be.
A Year 2 from 绳桥 said…
When I first found out that I was going to be in the 绳桥 committee, I was actually quite excited, but nervous at the same time. I understood that being in this committee meant that I was going to perform in front of the Year 1s, and I really wanted to make a good impression on them. Before this OP, I had only experienced climbing the 绳桥, and that was months ago. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed that experience and looked forward to practising. On the first day of practice, I felt rather overwhelmed. There was many criteria to fulfil, such as a time limit, the act of landing in the correct spot, and making the whole process look effortless, without falling and getting injured. Despite all of the challenges shown however, I persevered with the help of my friends as well as the care and concern my seniors showed. After the first few practices, I managed to get the hang of it, although I was not really smooth and quite slow in the process. On the day of the performance, I was quite worried that I would not be able to climb the rope. I had slipped and fallen a few times prior, and I did not manage to turn and land in the correct spot properly. However, the whole performance went smoothly, without any major hiccups. I was really happy after the performance as I had significantly improved since my first time and I think that the juniors liked it as well! One of the major challenges I faced was landing in the correct spot. It was quite hard for me in the beginning as I always fell instead of turning, or I simply gave up on turning. After some encouragement from my friends however, and a few pointers from my seniors on how to achieve landing in the spot, I managed to do it! I have learnt that practice makes perfect. I thought 绳桥 would be easy to master, but I was wrong. Instead, it took me many hours to learn the basics and skills, and I still have much more to improve on. I do hope to improve on my speed the next time I do this. I also wish to master the smooth process of turning well as climbing without swinging the rope too much and slipping. In a nutshell, this year's CCA exhibition was rather eventful for me, and I do look forward to next year's exhibition. I am also glad to have helped encourage more Year 1s into joining Girl Guides, and showing them a part of what we do in this CCA!
A Year 3 from Fireman’s Ladder said…
Fireman’s Ladder wasn’t something new to me as I was in this committee for last year’s OP. Just like last year, Fireman’s Ladder was really fun and I am glad to be part of the committee. Even though it may be the same committee, some things differed slightly as we had a new IC and there were also new juniors joining us. Some of them may have struggled for quite a while before flipping over the ladder but yet, they still managed to do it, which made me feel rather proud. At the same time, I was reminded of myself when I first joined this committee last year. During our practices, our timings had to be under 3 minutes and apart from that, we had to straighten our legs as we flipped. However, there were times when I couldn’t flip as fast as I should and this made me feel quite stressed. Despite that, I was glad that I managed to flip faster as we practised more and I was glad that the other members were also putting in effort to improve themselves as well. :” Fireman’s ladder is a performance committee which aims to impress the Years 1s by showing our energetic and agile selves and I hope that we managed to achieve our goal by doing our best.
A Year 2 from Fireman’s Ladder said…
After attending OP, I feel like I have learnt a lot about my committee, Fireman’s Ladder. During the process of OP, I learnt how to flip on the Fireman’s Ladder, which I had not tried prior to this. I also learnt some soft skills, such as teamwork and communication, to ensure that the performance would run smoothly. At first, I was worried that I would not be able to keep up with others, as I did not attend the first OP session. However, my IC, Yuzhou, was patient and encouraging during my learning process. Thanks to the patience of the other members, I felt less worried and was eventually able to catch up. One other challenge I faced was that my timings were inconsistent, so I was afraid that I would be slower during the actual performance. I learnt that practice makes perfect, and if I practised more, I would get better and more confident about this. I hope to improve by stepping up and taking the initiative, such as to 报时 without being asked to, and trying to help out other committees when we are not practising.
Fireman’s Ladder wasn’t something new to me as I was in this committee for last year’s OP. Just like last year, Fireman’s Ladder was really fun and I am glad to be part of the committee. Even though it may be the same committee, some things differed slightly as we had a new IC and there were also new juniors joining us. Some of them may have struggled for quite a while before flipping over the ladder but yet, they still managed to do it, which made me feel rather proud. At the same time, I was reminded of myself when I first joined this committee last year. During our practices, our timings had to be under 3 minutes and apart from that, we had to straighten our legs as we flipped. However, there were times when I couldn’t flip as fast as I should and this made me feel quite stressed. Despite that, I was glad that I managed to flip faster as we practised more and I was glad that the other members were also putting in effort to improve themselves as well. :” Fireman’s ladder is a performance committee which aims to impress the Years 1s by showing our energetic and agile selves and I hope that we managed to achieve our goal by doing our best.
A Year 2 from Fireman’s Ladder said…
After attending OP, I feel like I have learnt a lot about my committee, Fireman’s Ladder. During the process of OP, I learnt how to flip on the Fireman’s Ladder, which I had not tried prior to this. I also learnt some soft skills, such as teamwork and communication, to ensure that the performance would run smoothly. At first, I was worried that I would not be able to keep up with others, as I did not attend the first OP session. However, my IC, Yuzhou, was patient and encouraging during my learning process. Thanks to the patience of the other members, I felt less worried and was eventually able to catch up. One other challenge I faced was that my timings were inconsistent, so I was afraid that I would be slower during the actual performance. I learnt that practice makes perfect, and if I practised more, I would get better and more confident about this. I hope to improve by stepping up and taking the initiative, such as to 报时 without being asked to, and trying to help out other committees when we are not practising.
A Year 3 from the Gateway committee said…
The OP experience had always been fulfilling for me. Even though we would get numerous blisters, it made us tougher than our usual standard during 集合. OP also promoted inter-batch bonding, which is really necessary for the Year 3s as we will be stepping up as leaders soon and we would need to learn to work with different people. OP also strengthened our hard skills such as lash-tying and physical strength, especially when we carried the spars. Overall, OP had been really enjoyable for me as I got to experience all the hard work behind the scenes to build a grand structure like Gateway.
A Year 2 from the Gateway committee said…
The process of OP was a tiring yet a fruitful one. Throughout the 30 over hours spent on building the gateway, I realised the importance of tying tight lashes and the sense of urgency. This is because if we do not tie our lashes tightly enough, the resulting structure might be unstable, increasing the chances of anybody -- including those who needed to climb up the main frame to do rafting -- or the Year 1s who are walking across during the CCA Orientation to get injured. I have also learnt the importance of the sense of urgency as we should not tie the lashes slowly as it might affect the timeline that the IC and the AIC have set for us, as we might overrun, hence causing everyone to go home later. At first, I was devastated when I learnt that we need to take down the entire gateway after spending hours building it. However, I gradually realised that when we take down the gateway and rebuild it the next time, there were slight improvements on the gateway itself. Moreover, since the gateway was the main iconic structure which will attract the Year 1s to join Guides, it has to be up to standard. In a nutshell, I have enjoyed this exhausting process of building the gateway as I felt proud when the Year 1s were climbing down the gateway happily.
The OP experience had always been fulfilling for me. Even though we would get numerous blisters, it made us tougher than our usual standard during 集合. OP also promoted inter-batch bonding, which is really necessary for the Year 3s as we will be stepping up as leaders soon and we would need to learn to work with different people. OP also strengthened our hard skills such as lash-tying and physical strength, especially when we carried the spars. Overall, OP had been really enjoyable for me as I got to experience all the hard work behind the scenes to build a grand structure like Gateway.
A Year 2 from the Gateway committee said…
The process of OP was a tiring yet a fruitful one. Throughout the 30 over hours spent on building the gateway, I realised the importance of tying tight lashes and the sense of urgency. This is because if we do not tie our lashes tightly enough, the resulting structure might be unstable, increasing the chances of anybody -- including those who needed to climb up the main frame to do rafting -- or the Year 1s who are walking across during the CCA Orientation to get injured. I have also learnt the importance of the sense of urgency as we should not tie the lashes slowly as it might affect the timeline that the IC and the AIC have set for us, as we might overrun, hence causing everyone to go home later. At first, I was devastated when I learnt that we need to take down the entire gateway after spending hours building it. However, I gradually realised that when we take down the gateway and rebuild it the next time, there were slight improvements on the gateway itself. Moreover, since the gateway was the main iconic structure which will attract the Year 1s to join Guides, it has to be up to standard. In a nutshell, I have enjoyed this exhausting process of building the gateway as I felt proud when the Year 1s were climbing down the gateway happily.
A Year 3 from the Kitchen Shelter committee said…
This being my second year in KS, I thought that it would be slightly easier than my first as I already roughly knew what to expect. Even though the many days of OP were tiring, I felt a great sense of satisfaction each time we finished building the structure, and especially on the day of the CCA Orientation itself. I learnt many new things during OP such as learning to take the initiative to ask the ICs for something to do, in order not to waste time and also to take initiative and suggest ideas to the ICs whenever I felt that something in the KS could be improved. Last year, I did whatever the ICs told us to do and did not really understand what was going on. However, this year I learnt that giving suggestions is important as well because being a part of KS meant that we all had to do our part to make the KS the best that it could be. I think that I improved in tying and removing wet lashes, especially since it rained quite often throughout the course of OP and I slowly got used to the wet lashes. All in all, I feel that this experience had been very enriching.
A Year 2 from the Kitchen Shelter committee said…
OP has been a rollercoaster ride for me. I made new friends from both Guides and Scouts, improved on my lashes and skills, and had both tough and fun times with my committee. On the first day of OP, I was a little scared as it was my first OP. I did not know who my fellow KS members were, nor was I sure of what we were supposed to built. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure of what the KS was going to look like. I had been absent from the first 2 OPs so I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to fit in with my committee. However, the first day of OP turned out pretty well for me. On the actual day, I felt both excited and nervous. As we were hurrying to finish the KS, we 搬-ed the floorboards up, even before measuring it. Thus, we had to bring the boards down and shift the floorboards accordingly. With the help of our seniors, we managed to finish the KS. When the Year 1s arrived, I heard a few of them looking at our KS and saying “ That’s so cool!” and I felt a great sense of satisfaction. Over the course of OP, I bonded well with my committee members and honestly, I felt that KS committee was one of the more bonded committees. My friends and I miss OP now and I’m looking forward to the next OP!
This being my second year in KS, I thought that it would be slightly easier than my first as I already roughly knew what to expect. Even though the many days of OP were tiring, I felt a great sense of satisfaction each time we finished building the structure, and especially on the day of the CCA Orientation itself. I learnt many new things during OP such as learning to take the initiative to ask the ICs for something to do, in order not to waste time and also to take initiative and suggest ideas to the ICs whenever I felt that something in the KS could be improved. Last year, I did whatever the ICs told us to do and did not really understand what was going on. However, this year I learnt that giving suggestions is important as well because being a part of KS meant that we all had to do our part to make the KS the best that it could be. I think that I improved in tying and removing wet lashes, especially since it rained quite often throughout the course of OP and I slowly got used to the wet lashes. All in all, I feel that this experience had been very enriching.
A Year 2 from the Kitchen Shelter committee said…
OP has been a rollercoaster ride for me. I made new friends from both Guides and Scouts, improved on my lashes and skills, and had both tough and fun times with my committee. On the first day of OP, I was a little scared as it was my first OP. I did not know who my fellow KS members were, nor was I sure of what we were supposed to built. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure of what the KS was going to look like. I had been absent from the first 2 OPs so I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to fit in with my committee. However, the first day of OP turned out pretty well for me. On the actual day, I felt both excited and nervous. As we were hurrying to finish the KS, we 搬-ed the floorboards up, even before measuring it. Thus, we had to bring the boards down and shift the floorboards accordingly. With the help of our seniors, we managed to finish the KS. When the Year 1s arrived, I heard a few of them looking at our KS and saying “ That’s so cool!” and I felt a great sense of satisfaction. Over the course of OP, I bonded well with my committee members and honestly, I felt that KS committee was one of the more bonded committees. My friends and I miss OP now and I’m looking forward to the next OP!
A Year 3 from the Gadgets committee said…
Before OP began, I was determined to make this year’s CCA Orientation better than last year. However, we encountered countless difficulties as certain structures did not work as well as expected and we constantly 过时-ed, causing several setbacks. This mounted stress on each person as we were pressured to finish tying our lashes in time, as well as ensuring they were tight so as to ensure the safety of the Year 1s. In spite of this, I still felt a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when we finally finished all our structures, as although time was limited and our manpower reduced during first few OP sessions, we all did our best and gave the Year 1s the best presentation we could. This OP taught us all perseverance in the face of difficulties, gave us a better sense of urgency and allowed us to improve our skills together. While I am largely satisfied with the outcome of OP, I still hope to improve in certain aspects, such as the speed and tightness of our lashes, the creativity in our structures and increased efficiency in completing each task.
A Year 2 from the Gadgets committee said…
I feel that OP was a very fun and enriching experience for me, as it allowed me to learn many new things I had not known before. I had expected OP to be boring but instead, it gave me a chance to bond with the other guides as well as get to know the scouts better. One of the challenges we faced while building the structures was that the frames were not stable. Many of our structures did not turn out the way we expected them to and it was rather disheartening. However, after seeking help from the seniors, we managed to resolve the problems. I think that my committee could have made decisions more quickly instead of spending much time deciding what to do. In addition, OP taught me the value of hard work as I felt very satisfied that the Year 1s seemed to enjoy our exhibition very much. Overall, I think we did quite a good job of attracting Year 1s as they seemed quite interested in our displays and they also asked questions about our weekly 集合 activities.
Before OP began, I was determined to make this year’s CCA Orientation better than last year. However, we encountered countless difficulties as certain structures did not work as well as expected and we constantly 过时-ed, causing several setbacks. This mounted stress on each person as we were pressured to finish tying our lashes in time, as well as ensuring they were tight so as to ensure the safety of the Year 1s. In spite of this, I still felt a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when we finally finished all our structures, as although time was limited and our manpower reduced during first few OP sessions, we all did our best and gave the Year 1s the best presentation we could. This OP taught us all perseverance in the face of difficulties, gave us a better sense of urgency and allowed us to improve our skills together. While I am largely satisfied with the outcome of OP, I still hope to improve in certain aspects, such as the speed and tightness of our lashes, the creativity in our structures and increased efficiency in completing each task.
A Year 2 from the Gadgets committee said…
I feel that OP was a very fun and enriching experience for me, as it allowed me to learn many new things I had not known before. I had expected OP to be boring but instead, it gave me a chance to bond with the other guides as well as get to know the scouts better. One of the challenges we faced while building the structures was that the frames were not stable. Many of our structures did not turn out the way we expected them to and it was rather disheartening. However, after seeking help from the seniors, we managed to resolve the problems. I think that my committee could have made decisions more quickly instead of spending much time deciding what to do. In addition, OP taught me the value of hard work as I felt very satisfied that the Year 1s seemed to enjoy our exhibition very much. Overall, I think we did quite a good job of attracting Year 1s as they seemed quite interested in our displays and they also asked questions about our weekly 集合 activities.
A Year 3 from the Mini Games committee said…
OP enabled me to learn how to build different structures and also allowed me to brush up on both my hard and soft skills. Through this OP, I was able to bond more with my batchmates as well as my juniors. Although the Obstacle Course station was rather empty, it was still an enriching experience. This year’s Mini Games structures were different as compared to last year’s, but I felt that it was more successful this year. However, had there been more preparation dates and time for us to prepare for the actual exhibition and had it been held on a Saturday, I feel that it would have been much better as we could further improve on the structures. Nonetheless, OP was fun and I had a great time.
A Year 2 from the Mini Games committee said…
Being in the Mini Games committee was a fun and enriching experience for me. Even though I felt slightly frustrated as we had to come back during the holidays for the first few OPs and had to 拆掉 our structures at the end of the day, I knew that all this preparation helped us to improve on our structures and working speed so that on the actual day, we could manage to complete everything on time. OP also helped me develop a better sense of urgency, because on some days we were unable to finish all the structures we wanted to build as we worked too slowly. I learnt how to work with the scouts and guides from different patrols, and also learnt to take more initiative so that the ICs did not feel too stressed or overworked. I hope that I would be able to put what I have learnt from OP to good use and 报时 more often in the future, without the seniors having to remind me as this will help increase our efficiency. On the day of the actual OP, I felt satisfied when the Year 1s enjoyed our structures, and I knew that all our hard work had paid off. Overall, OP was an enjoyable and memorable experience for me.
OP enabled me to learn how to build different structures and also allowed me to brush up on both my hard and soft skills. Through this OP, I was able to bond more with my batchmates as well as my juniors. Although the Obstacle Course station was rather empty, it was still an enriching experience. This year’s Mini Games structures were different as compared to last year’s, but I felt that it was more successful this year. However, had there been more preparation dates and time for us to prepare for the actual exhibition and had it been held on a Saturday, I feel that it would have been much better as we could further improve on the structures. Nonetheless, OP was fun and I had a great time.
A Year 2 from the Mini Games committee said…
Being in the Mini Games committee was a fun and enriching experience for me. Even though I felt slightly frustrated as we had to come back during the holidays for the first few OPs and had to 拆掉 our structures at the end of the day, I knew that all this preparation helped us to improve on our structures and working speed so that on the actual day, we could manage to complete everything on time. OP also helped me develop a better sense of urgency, because on some days we were unable to finish all the structures we wanted to build as we worked too slowly. I learnt how to work with the scouts and guides from different patrols, and also learnt to take more initiative so that the ICs did not feel too stressed or overworked. I hope that I would be able to put what I have learnt from OP to good use and 报时 more often in the future, without the seniors having to remind me as this will help increase our efficiency. On the day of the actual OP, I felt satisfied when the Year 1s enjoyed our structures, and I knew that all our hard work had paid off. Overall, OP was an enjoyable and memorable experience for me.
A Year 3 from the Outdoor Cooking committee said…
On the day of our exhibition for the Year 1s, I was tasked to go over to help at the Kitchen Shelter committee, hence I missed the starting of the fire. When I rejoined my committee, the fire had already been started and was already somewhat stabilised. However, charcoal was used instead of kindlings, which really slowed down the cooking process and we thought we would not have enough time to get the food ready. I think that we should not use charcoal next time as it produces a similar amount of smoke to kindlings, but it is less efficient. Luckily, we managed to overcome the problem by replacing the charcoal with kindlings and we managed to get the food ready in time, before the Year 1s’ arrival. The fire altar and kitchen shelter were also rather well built, at a safe height but I felt that the kitchen shelter had too many guylines, which could pose a tripping hazard. Overall, I think that Outdoor Cooking was quite a success and the reviews regarding the food prepared were rather positive.
A Year 2 from the Outdoor Cooking committee said…
I felt rather nervous when I went for my first OP session, mainly because I had missed out on the first 3 sessions during the holidays. I was afraid that I would be totally unaware of what I was supposed to do and that it would be very awkward, since I was not familiar with the people in my committee. Luckily, my first OP session was not awkward at all. We had to build the fire altars before we could start cooking. After that, I was assigned to do food preparation with some of the guides while the others manned the fire. I think I was tasked to prepare "pancakes in an orange", so I had to remove the flesh from the orange without breaking the orange skin. However, we soon realised that the pancake mix would leak through the holes present at the bottom of every orange, so we tried using aluminium foil to cover it but it did not work. In the end, we decided to scrap the dish. Additionally, we scrapped our pineapple rice dish as it took too long to prepare and cook, and we did not manage to taste it the first time we cooked it as the scouts had accidentally dropped it on the ground after it was cooked. On the day of the exhibition, we cooked chicken, pancakes and french toast and they were all quite popular among the Year 1s. However, most of the Year 1s were more interested in roasting the marshmallows themselves. Even though we also had food at the redemption booth, almost no one came to the booth to redeem the food, as the booth had been situated rather far behind. Thus, I felt that it was better and more efficient for us to serve the food by going around and passing food to the Year 1s. The whole OP experience had been rather meaningful and enjoyable for me.
On the day of our exhibition for the Year 1s, I was tasked to go over to help at the Kitchen Shelter committee, hence I missed the starting of the fire. When I rejoined my committee, the fire had already been started and was already somewhat stabilised. However, charcoal was used instead of kindlings, which really slowed down the cooking process and we thought we would not have enough time to get the food ready. I think that we should not use charcoal next time as it produces a similar amount of smoke to kindlings, but it is less efficient. Luckily, we managed to overcome the problem by replacing the charcoal with kindlings and we managed to get the food ready in time, before the Year 1s’ arrival. The fire altar and kitchen shelter were also rather well built, at a safe height but I felt that the kitchen shelter had too many guylines, which could pose a tripping hazard. Overall, I think that Outdoor Cooking was quite a success and the reviews regarding the food prepared were rather positive.
A Year 2 from the Outdoor Cooking committee said…
I felt rather nervous when I went for my first OP session, mainly because I had missed out on the first 3 sessions during the holidays. I was afraid that I would be totally unaware of what I was supposed to do and that it would be very awkward, since I was not familiar with the people in my committee. Luckily, my first OP session was not awkward at all. We had to build the fire altars before we could start cooking. After that, I was assigned to do food preparation with some of the guides while the others manned the fire. I think I was tasked to prepare "pancakes in an orange", so I had to remove the flesh from the orange without breaking the orange skin. However, we soon realised that the pancake mix would leak through the holes present at the bottom of every orange, so we tried using aluminium foil to cover it but it did not work. In the end, we decided to scrap the dish. Additionally, we scrapped our pineapple rice dish as it took too long to prepare and cook, and we did not manage to taste it the first time we cooked it as the scouts had accidentally dropped it on the ground after it was cooked. On the day of the exhibition, we cooked chicken, pancakes and french toast and they were all quite popular among the Year 1s. However, most of the Year 1s were more interested in roasting the marshmallows themselves. Even though we also had food at the redemption booth, almost no one came to the booth to redeem the food, as the booth had been situated rather far behind. Thus, I felt that it was better and more efficient for us to serve the food by going around and passing food to the Year 1s. The whole OP experience had been rather meaningful and enjoyable for me.
A Year 3 from the Decoration committee said…
For OP, I was assigned to Deco committee, and I felt that this year’s OP was a success. In Deco, we prepared the decorations needed to decorate the structures the other committees would be building. Making decorations may seem very easy but in reality, it also takes quite a lot of work. We had to paint and design many posters, as well as make over 80 souvenirs for the Year 1s. Although decorating did not really put our physical abilities to the test -- unlike that of other committees -- I did learn a thing or two, like how to hand-make a windmill and paint in the quickest and fastest way. Our OP sessions were rather smooth-sailing, apart from having to deal with low quality brushes and glue spillage. However, we did not have enough time to complete the decorations and our seniors had to stay back to complete it, which made me think about how we could have spent our time more wisely by allocating the right people to make a specific decoration and save more time, as some of us knew the art of calligraphy while others did not, or how some of us knew how to blow balloons while others were afraid of popping them. Overall, I think we did a great job in decorating the place and I am happy to see that all of the souvenirs had been given away.
A Year 2 from the Decoration committee said…
A challenge we faced while preparing for OP was the lack of materials. We would occasionally run out of certain materials or be unable to find it, so we had to improvise and change the design of the decoration. During the actual exhibition, there were not enough souvenirs for all the Year 1s so we had to make more, right there and then. We ran out of yellow, blue, red and green pipe cleaners so we had to use purple ones instead. One thing I learned from OP is to be creative and always have a back-up plan as most of the time, things would not go as smoothly as we wanted it to, so a back-up plan was essential for the continuation of activities. Even though I did not really contribute much, it was an entirely new experience for me as it was my first OP and I hope to be able to perform better next year.
For OP, I was assigned to Deco committee, and I felt that this year’s OP was a success. In Deco, we prepared the decorations needed to decorate the structures the other committees would be building. Making decorations may seem very easy but in reality, it also takes quite a lot of work. We had to paint and design many posters, as well as make over 80 souvenirs for the Year 1s. Although decorating did not really put our physical abilities to the test -- unlike that of other committees -- I did learn a thing or two, like how to hand-make a windmill and paint in the quickest and fastest way. Our OP sessions were rather smooth-sailing, apart from having to deal with low quality brushes and glue spillage. However, we did not have enough time to complete the decorations and our seniors had to stay back to complete it, which made me think about how we could have spent our time more wisely by allocating the right people to make a specific decoration and save more time, as some of us knew the art of calligraphy while others did not, or how some of us knew how to blow balloons while others were afraid of popping them. Overall, I think we did a great job in decorating the place and I am happy to see that all of the souvenirs had been given away.
A Year 2 from the Decoration committee said…
A challenge we faced while preparing for OP was the lack of materials. We would occasionally run out of certain materials or be unable to find it, so we had to improvise and change the design of the decoration. During the actual exhibition, there were not enough souvenirs for all the Year 1s so we had to make more, right there and then. We ran out of yellow, blue, red and green pipe cleaners so we had to use purple ones instead. One thing I learned from OP is to be creative and always have a back-up plan as most of the time, things would not go as smoothly as we wanted it to, so a back-up plan was essential for the continuation of activities. Even though I did not really contribute much, it was an entirely new experience for me as it was my first OP and I hope to be able to perform better next year.
We hope that everyone enjoyed their OP experience, and that the Year Ones had a blast during the CCA Exhibition! May the Year Ones be motivated to join us on our Guiding journey :D
Published By:
Arielle
49th 届 Secretary
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