Thursday.

I woke up at 6. Fortunately my room mates aren't like steph and joce...haha...they could actually wake up:) My whole room was ready way before roll call...so we kind of slacked and waited till later. Then I went over to other rooms to give people a wake up call...

Later we went back to the Begonia Terrace for breakfast....

(separate from day 2)

Hurts break our heart
Hope seems to fade...
But those who hold on to the hope that
HE has given them
Will not only find comfort
But have the wounds completely
Healed :)

After my class went crazy when we won the games on Wednesday, Helen rushed over to hug me. Then after dinner that day, since I took very little and she ate very fast, she dragged me into the D'Marquee, where there was no one except a very cool PA person who was playing with tonnes of disco and stage lights. She asked me to help her with some dance steps and then since there was very good acoustics in there (lovely echo if you project your voice), we started doing rubbish. While she was quoting shakespeare (my knowledge is nearly zero), I did sound effects (yes, I know. Very silly. But that's me :P) We went outside to the main en trance of the D'Marquee as well, and I think I said really dumb stuff like,"The moon is round! But hark! Where is the moon?" Shucks, I think she really couldn't take it. Laughed and laughed...and she still remembers that quote till today.

...Day 2 again
After breakfast, it was back to the dance rehearsals before the actual programmes started. Wah...scolded and scolded yet again. But must just control lor...because our leaders really want maximum quality...
Today's programme for the odd classes began with the feminine workshop. It was deportment day. All of us had to bring our heels (the ones we were to wear that night) and a hardcover book into the room. The whole session, honestly was quite draggy (and the trainer still said it was very short...haha), but we did learn how to sit down, stand up from sitting down, walk (on the ground and up and down the stairs), as well as a lady-like standing position (11 o' clock and 2 o'clock position)... Later we also touched on dining etiquette and stuff.

Yes, the 3 hours+ spent in there was exhausting, but we finally got to break for lunch. Once again, it was dance rehearsals after that. After everyone had gathered back, we were to proceed for our station games at Pasir Ris Park. Please note that this was close to 1pm. We had different games...I don't think we did very well...but who cares? haha...when we came back, there was prize presentation...we didn't win, but we were still crazy, so that was fine:) Everyone was forced to go for the tea-break, but we came back soon after for the allocated time for.....make a guess....yes, dance rehearsals....haha...wah! I can't count how many times we were screamed at in total, but we rehearsed with the music twice after those without music, then went back to our rooms to get ready for the formal night.

In my room, I was the first to bathe so I came out, dried my hair, and then changed into my gown. Don't ask me how I changed when my other room mate was bathing. It's quite obvious. Anyway, I waited for everyone to change, then we started our make-up together. Foundation first...then eyeshadow...wait. I was thinking, should I put mascara? Do I dare to? haha...in the end, I did lah. My eye lashes were still a little curled from the day before, so should be ok. Aiyo...I had to redo the mascara for my left eye 4 times because I'm right-handed, so it's very hard to do for the left eye. The mascara would either smudge because I blinked or it would get onto my inner eyelid. Terrible leh...tears would naturally start coming out because very painful then everything would smudge and have to wash and redo. Good thing I only had to do once for right eye. For eyeshadow, I chose blue and purple to match my black gown...rouge (pink lah..haha) and then lip stick and lip gloss. I looked...okay...I think. Then I had to do my hair. I really didn't know what to do with it. My neck was burnt from the afternoon's super hot sun, so I couldn't take everything off my shoulders, my scalp was also burnt so I had to change the parting, and my hands were burnt...In the end, I decided to keep it vey simple. I just took some hair, did some loop to it, and then added this silver flower to it. The rest just fell naturally. It was already 15 minutes to roll call, so I added a little simple jewelery on top of everything...a necklace and bracelet. Yup, I was done :)

Oh yes, I forgot to mention. Reason why I didn't complain a lot about the burns is because I'm still thankful that we played in the afternoon. The rules for one station for the classes that played in the morning were different, and a lot of people got injured. Someone I know, Chia Ming, had a deep cut on her face because of that, and she had to go and get it stitched up. I think that was the end of the camp for her. No formal dinner. No dance competition. :'(

I went to other rooms to visit...they were not finished at all...so I helped as much as possible. I got a shock when I entered Helen's room, first because she screamed when she saw me, "Ah! So pretty!" and secondly, because of her costume...haha...I don't know how to describe it. She was truly different from everybody. I'll try to post her pic here...haha...I must say, that every single one of my classmates looked absolutely beautiful. Some were extremely elegant, some looked very sweet, and others, exotic. We proceeded to the D'Marquee, where it was already transformed to a spectacular ballroom (that's why the PA guy was testing all the lights :P) It was as though I was entering this super high class gathering. Hundreds of people I once knew as Nanyang girls were transformed into beauty queens, and I really did come to the conclusion after everything, that we have a lot of potential models. So many people were stunning. I think the happiest people in that room were the male waitors...haha...they can deny it, but watching from their faces, they were checking out, ok fine, looking at the girls with awe :) I think at least 2 or 3 thousand photos were taken even before the programme started. Wow! haha...We even took photos with our teachers:)

Later on, we were invited to take our seats and the programme commenced officially. The waitors and waitresses then brought out the salad. Hmm...quite nice:) We then had table games and all...the rest of the food...soup: cream of mushroom, main course: grilled chicken with hashbrown and vegetables, dessert: strawberry mousse with thinly sliced, triangular shaped kueh lapis on it, a cke underneath and a chocolate leaf, topped with chocolate sauce. Cool :) literally...Between eating and all, there was also a fashion parade for all classes. We had to apply what we had learnt over the past 2 days, as well as the 2 pre-camp workshops, and parade on stage as a class. Heh heh heh...I didn't trip :) Some people did, though. Poor thing...

After the emcees said goodbye, I think that's when the night really began. With music blasting in the background, thousands of photos were taken again. People grabbed the mikes to call their classmates, ex-classmates, cca mates, and even OBS watchmates from last year to go and take photos. If that wasn't enough, I'd like to warn you of something. Never put girls in the ballroom alone. The dancing went really crazy. Gown or no gown, we were just dancing and dancing and dancing...funny dances...haha...Remarkable! Nobody even ripped their dresses. Conclusion: we're crazy! In a very good way...haha...

At about 11+, I was very tired already, so I went back with my room mates. Soon, the teachers chased the rest back too. But who was ready to sleep? Not yet, anyway:) I went around talking to people first, before finally changing and then packing 80% of my luggage. My room slept at about 12.30....

Today.
Got up slightly later than yesterday, but I wasn't late lah. We brought all ous stuff with us and put them in the D'Marquee while we went to have breakfast for the last time. And this one you must guess...guess what we had after breakfast? Dance rehearsals! haha... but this was very short...because the teachers called us together. It was time for the folk dancing competition. For once, my class wasn't the first to go and present our dance :) But really, most of the class dances were excellent. Very well-prepared and beautiful. The most popular choices for the dances were Irish and Indian dances. For my class, it began with Spannish(tango), then followed by Polish and Irish... And this class performance was spectacular. We made the least mistakes we ever made, and it felt so wonderful:) I remembered all the steps! Whee! Even our leaders were so excited. It truly was the best performance we had done. After sitting down again, we continued watching the rest. They were wonderful too. I came up with my best conclusion: I'm glad I'm not one of the judges...haha...oh ya. The judging criteria: authenticity(dance must reflect a certain culture), how the actions coordinate with the music, rhythm and timing. We also found out later that the judges weren't looking at the people in dance CCAs. They were looking at the rest :) Once everyone had finished dancing, the judges left for a while to decide on the winners, ad each class took turns to say a class cheer :) Then the judges returned and gave the emcees the results. But they still didn't want to tell us. The teachers came to tell us how well we did and they were very pleased and so on...then they finally announced. "The top 3 classes...in no order of merit are...(pause) 401! (screaming and hugging), 403! (more screaming and hugging) and 405!(even more...)" haha... just for your info, 401-406 are IP classes..hope the mainstream classes don't think there's a bias somewhere...My class was really so relieved and happy. I think we must have had oneof the toughest training because the president and vp from modern dance, as well as an excellent chinese dancer were coaching us, and all I can say is, it was worth it:) Thank you Liu Qian, Su Wan and Regina:) You guys were fantastic!

The day ended with the final debrief and feedback forms. The classes then departed one by one back to school and left from there. I was lugging quite heavy stuff, so I took a bus to the mrt station instead, and then changed to a direct bus to home instead of the usual, where I have to walk about another 400m from the terminus. Right now, my body's aching from all the activities and sunburn, I'm tired and a little worn out (I still have choir workshop tomorrow without any practice at all), but I want to thank God for everything. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to go to this camp (the extreme opposite of last year's OBS), teaching me in the way I should go, and giving me wonderful friends, from my class, school, church and other schools. I'm really thankful for every friend that I have :)

To end this off, I'd like to put down a note from my teacher who is really anti-Christ. I asked all my teachers to write something on my camp booklet. What she wrote is probably one of the best compliments I can ever have...

Dear Cherlyn,
Thanks for being one of the few Christians who do justice to the faith.

She who has lost it,
(her name)