There and back.


As whoever reads my blog knows, I attended the Young Writer's Camp. A 4 days 3 nights camp which was held in Bkt. Tinggi; Gracehill Lodge.

Let me give you an insight of what I thought the camp 'would' be before I even boarded the bus. (yeah, yeah here comes the negative thoughts)

I didn't expect to blend, to be noisy, talkative, participate with a positive mind, or even survive the campsite. I would forget to bring something (which I did) and complain a lot during the entire process of the camp.

But guess what? It happened otherwise. Well, except for forgetting to bring an exert, soap, extra jeans and my toothpaste. Yes, I brushed my teeth everyday using someone elses' toothpaste.

I don't think one post would summarize the entire camp experience so I'll break it down to 3 parts.

To tell you the truth throughout the camp, I felt like the odd one in the crowd of 30 + people. Everyone was fluent in speaking English, intelligent, outstandingly creative, humorous, profound in general knowledge and political issues and their writing skills are impressive. I couldn't help but feel a certain level of intimidation and challenge. Luckily for me, they were all very friendly people; approachable.

Having slept only for 5 hours or so (yes, I was excited), I felt drowsy for the first day of camp. I tried my best to keep awake and thankfully somehow I did. In my head, the way I imagined how Gracehill Lodge would look like dissolved into nothing when I reached my destination. It was more than I expected it to be compared to the other camps I've been to. Well, except that our dorms wasn't all that cooling during daytime.
.
.
.

The bus stopped at an open land; a little muddy, rocky and steep. We had to walk deeper into some urban area. Anyway, enough with all the descriptions. This is how Gracehill Lodge looked like, well, partially.
.
.
.
.
.

The "courtyard" leading to the dorms on the left and our dining/kitchen area which we bypass to get to it.
.
.
.
.

Campers lining up to get writing essentials.
.
.
.
.

Lazed around for 15 minutes or so, you get pics of my legs. Half of it.
.
.
.
.

See that other platform across? It's 8ft high and the pool's deep end is 8ft deep. Try getting yourself up there and getting pushed off the platform. Refreshing, I would say. Not to mention lots of river water will be heading up your nostrils. Thanks a lot Brudda Ken :p
.
.
.
.

Somewhere during the evening.
.
.
.
.

Brain dead.
.
.
.
.

Playtime. I didn't sit in this session.
.
.
.
.

Sleepy, dumbfounded face in the morning. Doing some writing.
.
.
.
.

Trio's! My fav spot in the entire campsite :)
.
.
.
.

A board where you put your ideas, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.
.
.
.
.

Yes, the S.A.D club was born on this very board.
.
.
.
.

A camp where they make you line up like Standard 1 kids. Only difference: youngest to eldest; not shortest to tallest.
.
.
.
.

I was in between the 2 guys looking right.
.
.
.
.

What happens? Well, keep reading within these few days to get the gist on what happened. Meanwhile, you can get yourself engrossed reading these blogs :)
Ethan
Jian Eu
Jian Lin
Daniel

Elliot
Darren