Deadline for soccer is 5 Dec which is just less than a week away. For those that do not have enough soccer hours, there will be one more soccer session next week. If you were to check previous posts, I did mentioned that there will be 2 more sessions apart from the original one on Friday. However, this has changed as this week is a rather busy week due to service. Thus, we cannot afford to have 3 soccer sessions in one week.
The extra soccer session will most probably be held on a Tuesday or a Wednesday as we have service on Monday and Thursday and a soccer session on Friday. Details will be confirmed later.
That extra soccer session is our last attempt to help you fulfill the requirements of 'NYAA Silver Physical Recreation'. For those of you who do not have enough soccer hours, do write down your own entries of your own soccer games. But if you do not even play soccer outside NPCC training times, I suggest you might as well shout on tagboard and declare yourself as NYAA Silver failure.
Speaking of that, if you know anybody that is going to fail NYAA Silver because of not having enough physical recreation hours, do tell them about what I mentioned earlier regarding declaring himself as failure. I got a feeling that there is this certain someone in our squad that fits this category very well and he has a personal message on MSN that says, "Rank is what you wear, respect is what you earn. But it seems like some people just don't get it.' Alright, if you want to prove to your dear squad that you earn the respect of us, jolly well do what I told you to and I will admire your courage for admitting your own mistakes,failure, foolishness and ultimately your stupidity. If not, prove me wrong by getting the necessary hours of soccer needed by Dec 5 alone with a ball and those trotters of yours.
Enough said. I guess the message is clear. Chopping board shall be updated on Dec 5.
To the person I am talking about, your 'head' shall be chopped if you do not have enough hours.
This is a rough overview of what we will be doing for Service for the next two weeks.
Session 1 will be from 10 am to 1 pm. Session 2 will be from 2 pm to 5 pm.
You will be divided into groups of 3.
Group 1: Bing Yu, Jun Jie, Si Rong Group 2: Jia Xuan, Kenny, Wei Xuan Group 3: Brandon*, Wee Liang*, Wei Lun* Group 4: Shaun*, Syakir, Ying Yao* Reserve: Fu Zhi, Wei Xiang, Aloysius
4 Dec 2008
Session 1: Group 3, Group 4 Session 2: Fu Zhi, Syakir, Group 2, Name*.)
11 Dec 2008
Session 1: Group 1, Group 3 Session 2: Group 2(except Kenny), Group 4, Name
Note:
- Name* ppl going for 4 Dec session will not go for 11 Dec session. Fu Zhi will go instead. - Name* wil be one of those whose name has an asterisk. - Name will be one of those whose are red in colour. - Check the groupings on top for reference.
In addition, there will also be a Christmas celebration organised by MPFSC on 10 Dec for around 2 hours. We will be there to help out. There will be a meeting on this coming Monday for this event from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm at MPFSC.
Do tag if you are unhappy with the arrangement. There might be changes to this arrangement due to unforeseen circumstances.
There will be two service session tmr. 3 ppl for each session. The service session will be a lesson where by you guys will help the teacher in teaching the senior citzens computer skills. The people involved will be those not overseas, stable physical recreation hours for NYAA Silver and people who have less than 8 hours of service so far.
And coincidentally, there are just 6 of these ppl!
Session 1 (10 am to 1 pm): Bing Yu, Jun Jie, Si Rong Session 2 (2 pm to 5 pm): Jia Xuan, Kenny, Wei Xuan
The venue will be at Marine Parade Family Service Centre(MPFSC), Blk 53 Marine Terrace. Basically, MPFSC is at the block beside Ngee Ann Primary School. It is the estate where we do our NPCC Service Day. So I guess you guys should have no problem reaching there.
There will be more of such service opportunities in future, every Thursday until the end of the holidays.
Date: 17/11/2008 - 19/11/2008 Participants: All except Wei Xuan
Day 1
We arrived at Pulau Ubin and and gathered at the basketball court near the jetty for attendance taking. After that, we took a long walk to the campsite where we were divided into our groups from 1 to 5. We were introduced to our Group CIs (Cadet Inspectors) and they led us around the campsite, familiarizing ourselves with the surroundings that we will be living in for the next few days.
After lunch, which was instant noodles prepared by ourselves and can food, we played ice breaking games to allow us to be more familiar with our group mates. After knowing who our tent mates will be, we started tent-pitching. Using our campcraft skills, we managed to pitch up our tents.
After dinner, we were given an orienteering lesson by group CIs. From the lesson, we learnt the way to use the compass as well as map-reading skills. After that, we had a mock campfire. During this session, we were led by the song leaders to say various cheers and campfire songs that were going to be used for the actual campfire. We said cheers like ‘flea fly’, ‘gako the frog’ and ‘Titanic’.
After about one hour of cheering, we returned to out groups and were debriefed by our group CI, before going to sleep.
Day 2
In the morning at about 6am, we had our flag raising ceremony. Following that was morning PT. We did push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks and a few other types of exercises. Then, we ate our breakfast.
Next the various groups went to carry out various activities. My group started with a crash course on outdoor training. This course involves three activities which are namely fire building, shelter building and water confidence course. From the fire building course, we learnt two things that are required for a fire besides oxygen. They are namely tinder, easily combustible material, and kindling, material needed to sustain a fire. Thus, a good campfire requires a good mix of tinder and kindling. For my group, we did not have shelter building as the station for this activity was not set up yet. Instead, we had a tour around the old part of the NPCC campsite which was unknown to most of us. The last activity to build up our water confidence was jetty jump. We were required to jump from a platform 3m above the sea. This was the most enjoyable activity to most of us.
After we had lunch, my group went for ‘treasure hunt’ which was actually a modified version of a land expedition. Our starting point was the basketball court where we gathered for attendance taking. From there, we were given clues to our next check point. The ending point was the campsite and we managed to complete it earlier than expected. We had a group discussion for our campfire item after that.
Next we had dinner. Following that was the campfire where we cheered throughout the night. After that, we had a mass debrief, a group debrief and a unit debrief. After washing up, we went back to our tents and sleep.
Day 3
In the morning, we had a fire drill. After that, we attended the flag raising ceremony, had our morning PT and ate our breakfast . Then, we unpitched our tents, cleaned the area and went for the debriefing session. During the debriefing session, they announced the prize winners for the best campers, best groups and best campfire performances and best CIs. Then, we walked back to jetty and took the boat back to Singapore.
*For Day 2 activities, do edit according to your sequence of events.
Date: 20/11/08 Participants: All except Wei Xuan Duration: 1 hour
On ROD, the Sec 4s held their final parade. There was some confusion as some of us forgot the format of the parade. The Sec 1s did not know the dressing drills as they lacked practice.
Lol today we played in a very dark environment... o00oo00 we took penalties that we didnt even noe fly until wher haha....
Diary entry:
Duration: 2h
Due to a shortage of time, we could only practice penalty kicks using different styles and each person was given an opportunity to be a goalkeeper and learn the various skills required.
Currently, 81.25% of us will be done with our physical recreation component of NYAA Silver with two more soccer sessions which will be held next Friday (28/11) and the week after (5/12).
As for the remaining 18.75%, one of them is not able to complete the adventurous journey component. Thus, he is defined as gone case and he will definitely not get NYAA Silver. As for the remaining two, they will need more than 2 soccer sesions to complete silver.
This is what I have in mind. We will have two additional soccer sessions on 1/12 (Monday) and 3/12 (Wednesday). Timing will be decided later on. We can also use these days to plan out future out activities, trainings, UTC, Challenge Unlimited,etc. So, HOP and HOT please take charge. =P
Aloysius and Wei Xiang, do come these soccer sessions. Don't waste the $12 you choose to spend on NYAA and our efforts to save you one last time. Don't attend these sessions or leave half way during the game and thats the end of you.
Right now, there is no more shelving offered by any NLB libraries. As there are only very few slots available at the school library, only those who have 8 hours of service will continue shelving at VS. The people are namely Brandon, Fu Zhi, Shaun, Ying Yao, Wee Liang and me.
For the rest of you, Mr Khoo has two suggestions. Both of them are related to providing service to the elderly. However, once you all start on this, the hours you have accumulated for shelving will be erased and your no. of hours for service will start from zero. You all are not allowed to add hours accumulated for both types of services together.
For MPFSC, you all can know more details by visiting this page.
You all will choose one of this places to do your service. Do vote wisely as you guys will be the ones planning what you all will do there. When you vote, do consider factors such as distance, activities, planning and timing.
You all can vote at the right-hand side of the page. Deadline is 30/11/2008. Once again, vote wisely.
To prepare for STC which will held next week, we did a revision on the steps needed to pitch the 4-man tent required for STC. We then tried out pitching the tent and taught the Sec 2s the way to pitch the STC tent. We taught them about the parts of the tent(ground sheet, inner sheet and outer sheet), the way to identify the 3 sheets, the knots required for the tent and pegging. They also tried out pitching the tent. After this training, the Sec 3s became more familiarised with the tent and the Sec 2s managed to learn a new skill for outdoor training.
Often prided for its natural splendor and spiritual allure, yet an adventurous experience in Nepal cannot be complete without its beautiful people.
The month before my departure from Nepal, I was sitting in the bedroom sorting my belongings when I stumbled across a Nepal Tourism Board brochure. I had not read it since the day I took it from the Tourist Information counter at the airport almost six months ago. I flipped open it and browsed the recommended activities list. A sinking feeling of regret came over me. Right on the top of that list, in bright big font, the word ‘Trekking’ shouted out for me. I was going to leave the country without having being ‘a big part of the ultimate Himalayan adventure’, as the tagline proclaims.
The Kathmandu Valley itself is a good place to start for experiencing Nepal. Yet, it will not be fair to base impressions of Nepal solely on the memories of its capital. In order to fully realize Nepal’s wondrous allure, one should ideally immerse in its untainted natural splendor and rich socio-cultural heritage. There is no better way for an up-close experience than to trek through the land and meet the people first-hand. More importantly, the essence of trekking is having the worthwhile opportunity to witness Nepalese in the villages and small towns going about their daily lives.
A week after that thought-provoking evening, I was given a priceless chance to visit the hillside village of Deupur, located at the Parbat District of the Dhawalagiri Administrative Zone in Western Nepal. Traveling 2 hours along the Pokhara-Baglung Highway, we went through Naya Pul which is the starting point for the popular Jomsom trek. Moments after driving past there, our vehicle turned right and crossed over the Modi Khola, headed for the southern face of Phalate Hill.
Steering cautiously over the jarring track surface, the driver expertly guided our four-wheel drive along the narrow winding path that snaked its way upwards through the densely forested hillside. As the vehicle ascended, the foliage thinned considerably and I could occasionally view through the gaps in the greenery, the grey wispy streak that was the Pokhara-Baglung Highway, winding its way through the spurs and ridges of the southern hills towards Kusma, the district’s headquarters. After thirty minutes up the track, our driver made a quick turn and accelerated hard up a steep slope and the scenery of forested woodlands changed to that of a large settlement of sharply contrasting off-white buildings nestled on neatly cut out terraces.
Our first stop in Deupur was Jana Netra School where we were warmly received by the principal, Durga Prasad Poudel and some of his students who presented to us bright scented floral garlands. Decked out in their navy blue uniforms, the children greeted us enthusiastically as we toured the compound. Peering through the slates of the classroom windows, we observed the students at class. The classroom settings add new meaning to the term, ‘shared learning experience’. Due to the lack of teaching resources and space, classrooms are tightly packed to full capacity. Students in Class 1 to 3 squeeze inside one room for lessons, separated only by porous thin wood planks, haphazardly nailed together to form temporary partitions. Despite the trying environment, it was heartening to see students show eagerness to learn.
After waving goodbye countless times to the boys and girls of Jana Netra, we left for Rajendra’s old family home where we stayed over for the night. Old friends and neighbors, who heard of his visit, had gathered by Rajendra’s home to give him a warm welcome. We went along with the group as they went for a nostalgic stroll around the village. It was late afternoon when we got to the village outskirts where we stopped at a well-manicured patch where villagers used as a vantage point to view the surrounding panorama. Unobstructed views of Panchase Hill in the southeast, the highest landform in the vicinity as well as other settlements that are dotted along the Modi Khola. The best memories of the trip though were not just solely of the views here but the time spent at the hilltop.
The tranquil night made for a good night’s rest. My photographer colleague and I awoke with renewed vigor as we prepared for our challenging climb up to the summit. Accompanying us for the next two days was Bishnu Subedi, a teacher and trusted neighbor of Rajendra’s as well as a former student of the former who helped us out with our gear. Before the ascent, we were shown a temple dedicated to the goddess Durga. Lying neatly on the altar were numerous archaic curved metal blades, coated in reddish-brown speckled coating of rust. “These are the hunting knives and weapons of the army of an ancient king”, explained Bishnu as he unsheathed a huge khukri with a blade as long as one’s forearm. According to him, stories tell of an ancient Malla King who constructed a winter palace at Deupur and part of his legacy still remains atop the summit. Folklore or fact, the tales got me really pumped up for the climb.
Tightening my boot laces and with a last swig of refreshing spring water, we set off. Along the way up, we came across villagers who were wearing flimsy slippers, carrying remarkably massive loads of stone in wicker baskets with the ropes strapped across their foreheads. Instead of sullenly going about their chores, they still found a moment to pause and give a greeting smile. Inspired by their resilience, I pushed on and after an hour of hiking on inclining trails, we reached the summit.
The level ground atop resembles more of a continuous ridgeline than the usual conical hill shape. Due to the ideal flat terrain atop, revealed Bishnu, the king used to ride his horses along the summit. As if to prove his point, he led us to the remnants of a caved-in grotto, overgrown with creeper plants and weeds, which was supposedly the old stable for the king’s mounts. Right here was the ancient king’s other legacy – his summer palace. My hopes of setting sights on wonders of a forgotten time fizzled out. Not surprisingly, nothing much remained. To dampen matters, the ominous storm clouds that had been gathering in the distance during our ascent had now amassed above us.
“There is a temple built during the time of the old king that we can seek shelter from the rain”, Bishnu calmly assured us. We made a beeline for our accommodation for the night. Pushing through the bushes, we emerged onto a clearing where in the middle stood an abandoned small stone enclosure. The mandir’s small stature belied its huge reputation. Devotees from as far as Pokhara make a trip there to pray for good health, a child, a job or even rain - which was something that was in abundance then. We packed inside the storage shack beside the temple to seek solace from the pouring rain.
Despite the cacophonous din of the pouring rain upon the thin zinc roof, I succumbed to the exertions of the ascent and dozed off on my haunches. The pattering of raindrops gave way to a crackling sound as a burning smell wafted through the shack. A fire was started and huddling around it were, soaking wet, our two Nepali guides. It turned out that when I was resting; Bishnu and his young friend had spent almost two hours in the freezing downpour to collect water that was trickling from the spring’s source. Their bodies were clearly shuddering from the damp cold yet when we offered our apologies for the trouble they went through, both humbly dismissed our concerns. “Please, it is no problem at all,” Bishnu replied through chattering teeth.
The next morning we retraced our steps back to the eastern end of the hilltop to catch the sunrise. Patiently we waited, until the golden glow of the sun finally peeked through the dense cloud layer and cast its rays on the snow-capped Annapurna II in the north. Nothing beats having a ‘sunny side up’ to start the day.
Gathering our belongings, we headed towards the western edge of the ridge to begin the descent. After a steep descent along narrow, tricky paths, we hiked up a short distance to a huge expanse of terraced land. Former farmlands, they are now grazing pastures for livestock for the people of Deurali VDC which lies on the western slope of Phalate Hill. The unobstructed and level ground makes it a choice location for paragliders who occasionally practice their sports there. Crossing over the boundaries of the two VDC, we returned to Bishnu’s home for a taste again of his outstanding hospitality - Nepali tea with freshly produced goat’s milk and a generous helping of rich honey, freshly extracted from his own honeycomb.
Rajendra and Bishnu are examples of those who have benefitted from receiving an education here and eventually returning to help improve the lives of the next generation. However, the efforts of the few are insufficient to sustain the growth of the community yet they do not want to depend solely on handouts from tourists. “Hopefully, tourists who drop by are moved by the sincere hospitality and friendship of our community and wish to do something for this place,” elaborated Rajendra.
The people of Deupur are rich in their hearts but most are financially less privileged. Despite being set amongst picturesque surroundings, the community lacks the support to maximize the area’s inherent potential. The potential for tourism in the area is immense. There is steady supply of water and power. Currently, families run home stays for trekkers, bringing the adventurers back to when the Annapurna circuits were not being overtaken by apple pie lodges.
Not only that, the view atop the hill is astounding, with a clear and unobstructed view of the mighty Himalayas, as well as utterly gorgeous sunrises and sunsets at the top of the hill. With the development of the present dirt road, adventure seekers may be able to enjoy adventure sports such as paragliding, rock climbing, hiking and camping, all of which are currently being carried out, albeit in a much smaller scale.
Like the fabled city of Shangri-La, a heaven on Earth that no man was meant to find, Deuper lies somewhat off the main trekking route towards popular Ghorepani. Trekking season in the spring and autumn months sees an influx of tourists swarming into this region. However, Deupur can be developed as an alternative to the congested Poon Hill/Ghorepani route, leading to a more authentic Nepali trekking experience.
Both the Deuper and Deurali VDCs are hoping for entrepreneurs to further develop their locality into a community-driven resort area. They are keen to participate in mutually beneficial developments that can channel much-needed income to their community especially the schools. The villagers realize the importance of education and the constructive role it plays in helping the younger generation improve their lot. Besides improving their overall quality of life, such initiatives will in the process, boost Nepal’s reputation as a world-class hospitable trekking destination.
Nepal brings to mind a gorgeous Himalayan hinterland that is shrouded in an enchanting veil of spiritual mysticism. A land within a surreal environment set upon undulating terrain and bounded by insurmountable snow-capped mountains. Put aside the religious and natural appeal and what strikes me most is the humble, resilient and endearing nature of its people. This little adventure may not be the typical trek on popular routes visited by hordes of tourists. However, the uncontrived hospitality and deeply meaningful interaction with the heart-landers of Nepal make it all worthwhile.
And so at the eve of my departure from Nepal, I found myself sitting in a similar position with the room still in a mess. Taking up that Nepal Tourism Board brochure, I flipped again to that same page and satisfyingly crossed out the words in big bright font. I had, in my own privileged way, been a big part of the ultimate Himalayan adventure.
The writer would to give thanks to Dy. S.P. Rajendra Gurung for making this visit possible.
For more information on Deupur, contact him through the following –
for the 1st time in history, infernoz won blizzeroidz by a score of 2-1. WOOHOO. Congrats to evry1 who played and u did a great job :P.
Duration: 3h
Diary entry:
Today, we started off by taking penalty kicks. Then we played a full match with our sec2 juniors and we beat them by a score of 2-1. This was an evident improvement as we had never won them before.
Today, we started on a new section of soccer known as free kicks. Each person took turns to take free kicks at different areas of the field and for different purposes such as for crossing or shots. After practicing for a while, our accuracy improved and we could generate more power. Our match at the end had a score of 11-3.
Today's soccer teams was quite imbalanced but i noe its not quite fun for the opposition so next time i will try to ensure as balanced as possible, anw please try not to be so tired after a while and persevere longer :)
duration: 3h
Diary entry:
With everyone present today, the practice for corner taking continued and we improved on our accuracy and tactics to ensure a higher chance to score goals. There was a significant improvement from the last time. The match ended with a score of 4-0.
Hi guys today's soccer was kinda short lol but its all rite, anw for those people who have not enuf hours yet, relax, we r holding more sessions, but for those who r mega low, then i dunno......
duration: 2h
Diary entry:
Since there was less people today, we had to practice our crossing techniques today with less partners. Today, our main practice point was that we started to try and take corners, even though we were not so good, we kept practising then we proceeded on to a match and the score was 3-1.
Basically, we will need to have 18 hours within a minimum of 5 trainings. 14/11, 21/11?, 28/11 and 5/12 should be confirmed dates for soccer. The fifth session should be held somewhere from now to 5/12. Please give suggestions.
If you have copied down the physical recreation entries, please add a heading which indicates the week to the entries. For example,
Week 1
22/8 Entry
28/8 Entry
Week 2
5/9 Entry
Week 3
...
Should be clear enough. Refer to the info on top for your headings. Do follow this new format from now on and make sure that you attend all the soccer sessions and play until the end of the match. If not, you will play soccer by yourself.
Alone.
Service
As you know, there are no more shelving opportunities offered by NLB. Those who who have achieved 8 hours of service and above so far will continue with shelving in the school library. The rest of you will do your own service. You can approach Mr. Khoo for suggestions if you want to.
Adventurous Journey and Skills
Do remember that STC is on 17-19 Nov. For skills, we will just practise for 1st class drill badge and muster parades.
General
Lastly, I would just like to remind you guys that you paid $12 for NYAA Silver. So do NYAA Silver properly. $12 can be use for better things such as donating to charity. or giving it to me. Make full use of the $12 you choose to spend on NYAA Silver rather than on charity.
Date: 8/11/08 Participants: All No. of hours: 1 hr
To prepare ourselves for the upcoming STC, we did a revision on the basic knots and lashes required. We then taught the Sec 2s these knots and lashes and gave them a test.
Date: 7/11/08 Participants: All except Sylvester Duration: 2 hours
Some of us took the sec 1s for drills today. We revised the basics and trained them in more marching. They had some problems coordinating their arm swings initially but they improved gradually. Overall, they made some improvements.
The rest of us practised our rifle drills. We also practised some marching. This was to prepare ourselves for the upcoming first class drill badge.
hi guys, this fri we will have soccer in the evening after trainin, which is wat 215, so please do turn up :) so u can get ur physical recreation and skills hours :)
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