Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Classes, Crappy Computers and A Camping Trip
Classes have started again in full swing. Of course, that's bloody boring stuff (hell, I fall asleep in lectures on occasion) so we'll just skip to the next item on the menu.
Right now I'm typing this from my office computer because my PC died on me last Tuesday. It pains because it just happened without warning; I came home from last Tuesday's choir practice only to be greeted with my mom asking me why the machine refused to start.
Alittle bit lot of dusting the computer later, unplugging and replugging the cables, and some monitor-swapping brought me to a conclusion that the thing was deader than a parrot in a Python sketch.
Till today I've yet to get it repaired because I was too busy running things and celebrating my birthday last week(!). But that's not stopping me from blogging about the Orientation Bash that happened in Sungai Chongkak three weeks ago...
19th to 20th July 2008 - Monash Orientation Bash
This time around, Joyce (the Activities Chairperson) decided to organise a camp to Sungai Chongkak for the freshies. We got almost 200(!) participants this time around, including buddies/helpers and the organising committee. As usual, I'll just post photos (provided by Namie) in chronological order and provide some commentary as we roll through.
Morning saw the happy (though mostly dazed) campers being randomly assigned into teams.
Joyce enjoys playing with her megaphone. She prefers calling it a loud hailer, though.
An hour and a half riding on the bus and we arrive at the entrance to the Sungai Chongkak recreational forest reserve (I think that's how it translates to English).
Bob points at the camera. We affectionately call him the Last Kelabit (note that he isn't really the last; he has an elder brother). Girls, marry him if you want your children to be non-Muslim bumiputeras.
Group and tent assignments took forever because there were just too many people.
Trees!
Zhen points at the camera. Who da man?!
While waiting for lunch to arrive and for the games to begin, the campers took it upon themselves to invade the eponymous river.
I took it upon myself to invade an otherwise nice photo of myroommate officemate, Cze Wien and her boyfriend some guy named Desmond.
Lunch took really, really long to arrive because we were almost an hour ahead of schedule. Bored out of our minds, we simply sulked.
And then we got the bright idea of preparing a circular rock dam in the middle of the river, with stones and leaves in the middle upon which we would place Darren's portable stove, which we would use to cook food we bought from MyDin the night before.
Sadly, the rock formations were indiscriminately destroyed with great prejudice by some scouts who were camping downstream from us.
Like badgers beavers making a dam.
Cze Wien could only watch from the sidelines, unable to enter the water. She was afflicted with the human condition known to some as the full stop.
Food eventually came, so everyone began eating.
Sometime after the food had been distributed, I was assigned to a game station about 200 to 400 metres downstream. I took my food pack down there and waited...
And waited...
And waited some more...
Nizmi and I waited for almost an hour and a half before the campers actually came to play our game. That was terrible time management!
One of the other games being played.
The next activity of the day was the cooking competition at 4pm, otherwise known as the "cook your own dinner or starve" game. We provided them with the most basic of essentials to start their own fires; charcoal, matches, and firestarters.
Even the foodstuff provided was spartan; eggs, flour, baking soda, baked beans and potatoes don't exactly make the heartiest of meals, but we manage.
Cze Wien and Nizmi preparing egg-filled potatoes.
Some of the campers did a pretty good job with what they were given, though.
When night came, most of the campers went for the activities planned by the Joyce's organising committee. I stayed back to help Jeevan (the official camp chief chef) prepare food for when the rest return from their activities. A little bit of drama ensued later, involving the very late return of those who went for the four-hour long night walk. Obviously, by the time they came back to camp, the food was already really cold.
This is Jeevan.
Anyway, Namie didn't take photos at night, so I'll just skip to the following day. I woke up in the morning with the best idea ever; taking a morning bath in the river! The freezing water (it was really, really cold) washed away the stench of charcoal and smoke that accumulated throughout the previous day. No photos this time because nobody really wants to take photos of topless men (Desmond and Darren included) washing themselves in a river.
After discovering that my niche in this camp was starting and keeping the fire going long and strong enough to cook food (thanks to five hours of doing just that the evening before), I shied away from today's activities and remained at the cooking area.
The kitchen finks people.
Cze Wien cooking her sausages (duh).
Campers eating breakfast (duh duh).
Once boredom kicked in, hilarity ensued:
You gotta love that expression.
This photo was taken at the game session hosted by Joyce herself. I have no idea what happened because I was back in the kitchen.
Not much else happened after the game session. The campers came back for lunch...
...and then we packed up and left. Cleaning the campsite up was a chore, though. It's a surprise that we didn't take longer than two hours.
And that's about it, actually. Would really love to write more but I got a class to catch in 20 minutes, and rest assured the next post will be somewhat more interesting, since it's about how I celebrated my 21st birthday.
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Zimbabwe finally decided to revalue its currency! Well, not exactly. The currency itself still doesn't hold much value in the foreign exchange market (except maybe as high grade toilet paper?), but at least it's not so dizzying to talk in Zimbabwean dollar terms anymore.
On the 1st of August, Zimbabwe cut 10 zeroes off its currency. Hence, Z$10 billion turns into Z$1.
Remember the last time I posted? RM1 was equivalent to Z$5.7 billion. By right, with 10 zeroes out of the picture, it should be RM1 to Z$0.57, right?
Wrong. According to XE.com, RM1 is equal to Z$2.48. That's how fast prices rise in Zimbabwe; within a week, the currency's value have dropped almost five times, from 1:0.57 to. Imagine going to the local mamak and buying nasi lemak at RM3 today, but next week, when you go there again, it costs RM15.
Zimbabwe's a pretty fucked up country, don't you think? And we're just talking about inflation here. Don't even get me started with the country's elections.
Right now I'm typing this from my office computer because my PC died on me last Tuesday. It pains because it just happened without warning; I came home from last Tuesday's choir practice only to be greeted with my mom asking me why the machine refused to start.
A
Till today I've yet to get it repaired because I was too busy running things and celebrating my birthday last week(!). But that's not stopping me from blogging about the Orientation Bash that happened in Sungai Chongkak three weeks ago...
19th to 20th July 2008 - Monash Orientation Bash
This time around, Joyce (the Activities Chairperson) decided to organise a camp to Sungai Chongkak for the freshies. We got almost 200(!) participants this time around, including buddies/helpers and the organising committee. As usual, I'll just post photos (provided by Namie) in chronological order and provide some commentary as we roll through.
Morning saw the happy (though mostly dazed) campers being randomly assigned into teams.
Joyce enjoys playing with her megaphone. She prefers calling it a loud hailer, though.An hour and a half riding on the bus and we arrive at the entrance to the Sungai Chongkak recreational forest reserve (I think that's how it translates to English).
Bob points at the camera. We affectionately call him the Last Kelabit (note that he isn't really the last; he has an elder brother). Girls, marry him if you want your children to be non-Muslim bumiputeras.
Group and tent assignments took forever because there were just too many people.
Trees!
Zhen points at the camera. Who da man?!While waiting for lunch to arrive and for the games to begin, the campers took it upon themselves to invade the eponymous river.
I took it upon myself to invade an otherwise nice photo of my
Lunch took really, really long to arrive because we were almost an hour ahead of schedule. Bored out of our minds, we simply sulked.
And then we got the bright idea of preparing a circular rock dam in the middle of the river, with stones and leaves in the middle upon which we would place Darren's portable stove, which we would use to cook food we bought from MyDin the night before.
Sadly, the rock formations were indiscriminately destroyed with great prejudice by some scouts who were camping downstream from us.
Like 
Cze Wien could only watch from the sidelines, unable to enter the water. She was afflicted with the human condition known to some as the full stop.Food eventually came, so everyone began eating.
Sometime after the food had been distributed, I was assigned to a game station about 200 to 400 metres downstream. I took my food pack down there and waited...
And waited...
And waited some more...
Nizmi and I waited for almost an hour and a half before the campers actually came to play our game. That was terrible time management!
One of the other games being played.
The next activity of the day was the cooking competition at 4pm, otherwise known as the "cook your own dinner or starve" game. We provided them with the most basic of essentials to start their own fires; charcoal, matches, and firestarters.
Even the foodstuff provided was spartan; eggs, flour, baking soda, baked beans and potatoes don't exactly make the heartiest of meals, but we manage.
Cze Wien and Nizmi preparing egg-filled potatoes.
Some of the campers did a pretty good job with what they were given, though.When night came, most of the campers went for the activities planned by the Joyce's organising committee. I stayed back to help Jeevan (the official camp chief chef) prepare food for when the rest return from their activities. A little bit of drama ensued later, involving the very late return of those who went for the four-hour long night walk. Obviously, by the time they came back to camp, the food was already really cold.
This is Jeevan.Anyway, Namie didn't take photos at night, so I'll just skip to the following day. I woke up in the morning with the best idea ever; taking a morning bath in the river! The freezing water (it was really, really cold) washed away the stench of charcoal and smoke that accumulated throughout the previous day. No photos this time because nobody really wants to take photos of topless men (Desmond and Darren included) washing themselves in a river.
After discovering that my niche in this camp was starting and keeping the fire going long and strong enough to cook food (thanks to five hours of doing just that the evening before), I shied away from today's activities and remained at the cooking area.
The kitchen 
Cze Wien cooking her sausages (duh).
Campers eating breakfast (duh duh).Once boredom kicked in, hilarity ensued:
You gotta love that expression.
This photo was taken at the game session hosted by Joyce herself. I have no idea what happened because I was back in the kitchen.Not much else happened after the game session. The campers came back for lunch...
...and then we packed up and left. Cleaning the campsite up was a chore, though. It's a surprise that we didn't take longer than two hours.
And that's about it, actually. Would really love to write more but I got a class to catch in 20 minutes, and rest assured the next post will be somewhat more interesting, since it's about how I celebrated my 21st birthday.
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Zimbabwe finally decided to revalue its currency! Well, not exactly. The currency itself still doesn't hold much value in the foreign exchange market (except maybe as high grade toilet paper?), but at least it's not so dizzying to talk in Zimbabwean dollar terms anymore.
On the 1st of August, Zimbabwe cut 10 zeroes off its currency. Hence, Z$10 billion turns into Z$1.
Remember the last time I posted? RM1 was equivalent to Z$5.7 billion. By right, with 10 zeroes out of the picture, it should be RM1 to Z$0.57, right?
Wrong. According to XE.com, RM1 is equal to Z$2.48. That's how fast prices rise in Zimbabwe; within a week, the currency's value have dropped almost five times, from 1:0.57 to. Imagine going to the local mamak and buying nasi lemak at RM3 today, but next week, when you go there again, it costs RM15.
Zimbabwe's a pretty fucked up country, don't you think? And we're just talking about inflation here. Don't even get me started with the country's elections.
