Mad Rush... Jam Pack January

Ahhh...... Finally has the chance to log in and add a new entry to my blog. It has been a real packed month, though fulfilling. The schedule for the past 1 month:

Week 2:
- AKLTG Jump Start Programme for Jurong West Secondary School
- AKLTG Operation Live! Ops for Boon Lay Secondary School

Week 3:
- School Reopens =P
- AKLTG Camp (again..) : Operation Live! Ops for Commonwealth Secondary School/
- Dragon Scouts Venture Initiation.

Week 4:
- Kayaking 4 star up at Ramunia. Organised jointly by Water Venture and OBS

Week 5:
- Rushing through Tutorials and lectures for week 3,4 and 5.


AKLTG Camps

Ran 3 camps for AKLTG Outdoor Education Branch. Jump Start was my very first camp with AKLTG. Went in pretty confident. It then came to my realization that this was a very different experience from what I had before. Although I have been coaching paddling and conducting training sessions for the scouts for many many years, I realized running a life skills camp is a totally different ball game altogether. The pedagogy is totally different. Right here I am dealing with fresh and young sec 1s and it is expected of me to inculcate success principles and life skills to them. Been a technical person, this proves to be challenging for me. Initially, I had trouble motivating the kids and get them to participate 100%. However, I believe that if I can’t then I must.

The next 2 camps proved to be much better than the first. For one it is a thematic camp where we emulate the environment to be like that of the army’s. Been in the SAF for 3 ½ years, playing the theme was chicken feat. I also followed Nicholas’ advice to come in stern and strict during the introduction before gradually warming up to the participants as the camp progresses. This is one important lesson I have learnt and it works. Guess I have always been the soft kind where participants are to be treated like customers. So much for coaching corporate programs. This will be an area that I will have to improve on. That is to be stern and picky when the situation arises. Do not compromise the standards for if done so, it will breed inconsistency. I have the tendency to allow the participants to climb over my head and thus will have to work on this area. It is not my style to be stern, unlike in the past. =)

Used to have bad impression of AKLTG OE coaches. My first interaction with them was at an indoor coach training session. They were a rowdy bunch of unprofessional coaches. However, my perspective of them changed after coaching with them for several times. They are a batch of coaches, although playful, who are dedicated to their work. They strive to give their best to the participants. Their debrief pointers are carefully thought through and they are able to draw relevance and relate it to the participants daily day lives. (AKLTG places a lot of emphasis on debriefs after activities and it can last up till an hour. This is never an easy task and most of the programs I have done tend to do this haphazardly. I realized that this is the most important segment of the entire session as it summarizes and reinforces the learning objectives for each activity. ) Some even stayed up till the wee hours of 3pm to practice their footdrills and discuss with the senior coaches as to what more can be done to mange those problematic kids. Many of them are there to make a difference in someone else’s life. At the end of the each camp, you will see tears rolling down the cheeks of many participants. At least that is the indication for me that we have put in our 110%.

Special thanks to Gopal, Jeff, Jefferson, Nicholas, Sherm, John, Ivan, Diana, Wana, Ridzuan, Tian Jun, Vivian and many other coaches. I appreciate your sharing and have learnt a lot from you people. Also to Franco for roping me into OE. (FYI, the youngest coach here is 17 yrs old and they really impress me with their dedication to the task and maturity in dealing with knotty situations)


Dragon Scouts Venture Initiation

[The journey begins]


[where are we now?]

[Continue journey]

[Navigating through the water?]

[Lost in the jungle?]

[Ferns everywhere, way out?]

[Kevin Lee...]

[Panther Patrol]

[Rain or shine, we will still push on]

[keep your body close to the fence]

[Out of the Jungle]

[Taking a break]

[Ventures running the show]

[Dinner: Campbell, Maggie, Hotdogs, Longgans]

["Campfire"]

[You people are slow.... Waited for half an hour already]

[Night Navigation]

[Reading the map is not easy in pushing up position]

[Finally, the top]

[Prior to Initiation1]

[Prior to Initiation2]

[From Scouture to Venture]

[Now you are part of the DSGVU.. One for all all for one]

It was a 2 day 1 night camp where we initiate the scouts into the venture unit. 3 initiatees attended the camp with around 8 leaders/ ventures running the programme. During the 24 hours, the initiatees had to complete a series of activities before they were awarded the venture flashes. This included the total hiking mileage of 21 kilometers in both urban and closed terrain, “campfire”, 1.5 klicks of solo night walk, solo night and the final push to Bukit Timah Hill. This camp serves to gel the new ventures together and kickstart their journey as a worthy venture of DSG.


4 Star Kayaking Trip up to Ramunia

[Ready for the breaking waves]

[Helmet - essential to keep you sane]

[Prep the boats]

[Checking the lanes, safe to launch?]

[Janice, what ya doin'?]

[Song Sheng, refresher, pretty nice surf huh]

[Zason doing a solo launch]

[The Yellow Team]

[The Yellow Team with coach - Gideon, the pro]

[Coach - Richard, the red team coach]

[Coach - Ai Chin, the dynamic]

[Coach - Daniel, the cool]

[Coach - Jacob, the Jackson]


[right Coach - Meng Teck, the boss]

[My buddy - Ping Chuan, the Commando]

[4 Star participants]
[Back row L-R][Zason, Veit, Yong Kok, Ping Chuan, Qin Sheng]
[Front row L-R][Crystal, Janice, Jeremy]

For more photos, visit:
Lai Mun's Album
and
Chris Consolidation 
(courtesy of Chris and Lai Mun)

Check this out too:
Crazy Wave

Kayaking will never be the same again! It is definitely a humbling experience up at Ramunia. One must really respect the nature for if you don’t, you will expect a nasty outcome. Fortunately, the mother nature was kind to us and all of us survived through the course, without injuries and 100% passes. If you think your skills in flat water are good, put it to test at Ramunia. Now I can understand why paddlers like to chase for the waves generated by the bum boats. The surfs were addictive and the thrill is beyond what words can describe. Can’t wait to go for the refresher course this coming year end.

My objectives for the trip were to test out my skills in more challenging waters, learn a bit of kayak surfing and experience the different methods employed by the Level 4 and 5 instructors.

First, paddling in choppy water with wind of considerable speed blowing at you is a totally new experience. The boat tends to weather cock into the wind and this is irritating. Have yet to counter this. Rescues and towing went pretty smoothly. I thought my rolling was good but my port side roll needed more improvement, especially when the waves came crashing on you. I also tend not to get into the setup position for Eskimo roll in imminent capsizes, which were frequent during surfing due to improper techniques. The rest seems alright.

Secondly, the surfing was an adrenaline pumping experience. Improper trimming of the boat caused me to get pinned into the water. If you don’t know what that means, it means that the front part of your boat, which is the bow, gets submerged into the water and the back (AKA stern) gets lifted up. Pinning is not a common event but I got pinned 5-6 times throughout the trip. It was fun, but dangerous if not properly handled. Shiok! My buddy, ping chuan, who is a scout too, was damn good. He managed to surf on the 2nd day. Whereas I was only able to catch it on the 3rd day. Surfing was not as easy as I thought. When I said catch it, I meant that I progressed from the stage of conscious incompetence to conscious (half) competence. It is still not a second nature to me and I have to constantly figure out how I should place the stern rudder, where to edge, how to trim the boat, and look out for where to go. Multi tasking, just like flying, although not as shag. When I first attempted the surfing, everything seemed like a flash. You just performed stern rudder and hoped to surf but ended up capsizing/ pinned. You were so engrossed in getting the edge and stern rudder right that you vision just ended up blank – don’t know where you were heading. Things got better with more practice.

Thirdly, the coaching team was VERY professional. The conduct of the course was pretty well structured and organized with extensive coverage for safety. My opinion for OBS changed after attending this course. (My motivation to fly wavered during these 4 days. Passion for outdoor versus Flying. Tough decision. ) The coaches were so seasoned and well trained that you see no hesitation in the execution of their program. The coaching methods they employed were worth adopting. Firstly, they used video cams to film our progress and daily reviews were done while watching the playbacks. It made us aware of the bad habits that we were not conscious of. They also dug a trench in the beach and piled the sand adjacent to the trench to simulate the swell. They were so resourceful that they made a kayak out of a hard sponge and attached a Barbie doll found along the beach to the “boat”. We learnt through experiential learning during the course of 4 days rather than “I say what you do what” kind of learning process. There were sessions where the participants were to present on certain topics from the handbook. They did timely reviews and feedback throughout the day. Learnt a lot from the coaches, in terms of personal skills as well as coaching methods.

In conclusion, to sum up this lengthy post, January was a fun filled month and much effort will have to pour into my studies now. =)