Out of the Office and Into the Jungle..Outward Bound Sabah

Here I go again..3rd attempted writing on the OBS Team Building Course we had recently..the two were accidentally deleted.

Left home early and all the way I was worried about leaving my children but at the same time excited..a little sense of freedom too hehehe..I felt a bit guilty of having so much fun when my kids are looking for me. Benjy didn't want me to go coz he said he will miss me. Hubby didn't want me to go coz he will be lost without me. Baby didn't want me to go coz he still needs his nenen bergerak. Nabil didn't know head nor tail heheheh..he's independant. But I think this is good for me..me time..my space.

Day 1..We were divided into 3 groups. The instructors did the dividing so no cliques, existing groupies made their own team, we all have to mingle with different people. After all this was the point. So each team was given some "gong" if we need to use it for our team performance later. The boys were so happy they got their toys.

Ni dia si Batlan..kena bully saja dia ni. He came royally and annoyingly late so the boys didn't let him get the lower bunk. Ada cerita...(byk cerita dia ni tp yg paling hot saja lah)..
He had an encounter with the "unspoken" jeng jeng jeng...typically him, he didn't participated in the camping activity and slept alone in the dorm. Earlier that evening Michael already "met" with the lady in white gliding pass his dorm, when he followed her thinking "it" was one of us she made a turn and dissappeared behind the dorm. Well he didn't waste a single second hanging around after that.
So si Batlan ni not feeling well maybe so he was sleeping and suddenly the dorm lights and fan were switched off which he dismissed as maybe the boys were fooling around. Then he heard scratches at the window and he jumped down from the top bunk and screamed angrily towards what he thought was the boys. When he waited at the doorway nothing was there but pitch black darkness..then it dawned on him. But he still stayed in the dorm. 2 of our guys saw the lady in white and I was told one Singaporean student also saw "it".

Then we went river kayaking..semua pucat nampak air. This is one commonly shared major phobia for us. Mostly do not know how to swim. So when the instructors told that we were having a compulsory capsized drill everyone's blood went cold! But after everyone managed to do it, then we proceeded to cruise the river with our double kayak..relaxing you say?? I couldn't feel my arms for a while..punya jauh they brought us upriver..Si Makcik Janisa capsized once lagi. Tapi semua puas hati because they have conquered one of their fears. See the wet and smiling faces.

This was supper..after "Nightline" we were feasted with biskut krim and self service nescafe and teh. Never had a plain biskut krim tasted so sedap. Nightline was a challenge that had us all blindfolded and walk through te jungle and bushes aided only by the sound of the instructors whistle and a rope that was tied around trees and such. No torchlight was allowed unless we were in danger or hurt. Segala semut kerengga semua merayap naik ke badan. We bumped into tree stumps, akar kayu melintang, knocked into tree branches, peluk batang pokok lah, naik turun bukit lah but at the end everyone said they had fun.

At the dining hall, no one was exempted from cleaning their own dishes, mopping the floor and wiping the tables.

Day 2..After morning drill, breakfast, dorm inspection and exercise we did the Rope Course..This is Madame Makcik Janisa our cleaning lady in the office, she's 53 yrs old. Without her silly antics and loud singing noise, it will be pretty quiet. Seen here sitting on her laurels while the rest of us were busy cleaning up the dorm to be ready for inspection. But what I respect most was that despite her age and limited strength she tried to do all the tasks / challenges. She was so happy in the river that she requested the intructors to capsize her twice! I think all the instructors were impressed and will talk about her long after we left.


Rock Climbing..this was the toughest for me. I scaled the side wall which was tougher rupanya. Begegar my arms trying to get a good grip, my palms were sweaty and I kept on slipping. It was physically hard. But we all managed. Even our Puan Hajah here made it to the top.

The Flying Fox..The first thing that came up to my mind as we were approaching this haunted looking tree was..the ladder. Punya tinggi!! When I finally reached the platform my limbs refused to move and my butt won't budge even wit my eyes shut. So the instructor had to shove me off the edge. Kecut perut syal! My heart was in my mouth.
But after the take of it was WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE............!!!! Exhilirating..now my heart will go on.....heheheh I can do this again.

The Giant Ladder..psst Fabmom, Whimsi, Shabbymom..si Batlan n Rajak made it all teh way up! This ladder has 5 giant steps. As you go higher the gap got further apart even with my arms outstretched I coulnd't reach it...(pindik la bah tu kan). I enjoyed this challenge..but fyi the whole thing is bloody wobbly.

3pm masa untuk cari kayu api for the bonfire. 4pm we collected our camping equipments and rations and set upcamp. Our rations include 1kg of frozen chicken wings, rice, salted fish, cabbage, carrots, onions, ginger, salt, cooking oil and bananas. By 5pm it rained. Most of the ladies ran helter skelter back to the dorm to save their shoes and clothes drying under the sun while I squrried to save our firewood for cooking.
We saw a snake earlier on slithering on the grass so that night the men gave up their tent for us and we moved it to the boathouse. I couldn't sleep a wink that night as I have caught a cold and the asthma that I thought was cured, hit me. It was darn cold and I shooed 3 ekor ketam that tried to creep up our tent. I remembered my late Grandma once pesan, never to sleep on a cement floor..nanti sejuknya masuk ke tulang..so true
This was our kitchen, chef was Puan Hajah. Our campsite was in the best location, next to the boat house. Ada cerita lagi..dalam kesibukan semua orang preparing dinner, one of our staff bbq-ed the ikan masin which was a jungle taboo. And almost immediately after our friend remembered this he heard a strange bird-like noise coming from the trees above him. This was about 6pm-ish. So he threw 1 piece of the salted fish into the bush and telling "it" to go away so it did he thought. Until while on his way home he heard it again near his house. And he noticed 2 bite marks on his elbow and knee which looked like fang bite already blue/purple.

Peh! We had a grand banquet that night..sayur nangka masak lemak cili api dengan ikan masin, ikan masin goreng, bbq chicken wings, fried chicken wings, tumis sayur kubis and nasi putih. Dessert we had apples & oranges that I brought from home and bananas. We used banana leaves as plates and my oh my it made the rice so fragrant and everything else extra deliscious. Lapar bah tu..semua pun jadi sedap. Nangka muda tu we found it near our campsite. Lada padi petik dari dlm hutan.
After dinner was the group performance and we didn't have the time to practise. Our group performed a short sketch and not surprisingly some forgot their lines eheheh..the other groups did group singing and after that all of us danced sumazau. si Makcik yang almost everyday melalak mengilai menyanyi dalam ofis tiba-tiba malu pulak refused to sing..until si Michael chased her around the boathouse with a kereta sorong. The Instructors were mighty amused.


Day 3...The morning after was cleaning time..the ladies were smart enough to get busy and the men had to scrub the pots spotless! hahahaha

Our last activity was called Prison Break and as the name suggest we had to carry four 4WD tyres as our "vehicle" of escape, cross over the "prison wall"
and then 6 of us had to be blinded folded while the other roll the tyres and look out for each other. I volunteered to go blind, I think it will be more interesting. Then we waded through thick stinking muddy waters towards the beach..and OMG the water was murky to the point of black. I threw my shoes and socks away after that. Then we washed ourselves in the sea, mandi manda lagi. Then the final task was to buld a raft and paddle across the river in a race. Syok juga perasaan bila dijaga oleh team mates..if in the office it felt like everyman man for himself and we don't trust each other. Here we look out for each other and the team leader was constantly shouting out caution and warnings to his team so that nobody got hurt. Whatever it was the leader yang tersadung, terlanggar, terjatuh dulu and then made sure this team mates did not go through that..so symbolic. How I wished our Bolai had the heart to be with us. Shows a lot.

PRICELESS!! Kedapatan suda ni illegal smoking..tepi longkang dekat semak dalam belukar..mana-mana pun jadi lah just for a puff of nicotine stick eheheheh..jajal kan mua si Joe but please be informed that my friend here is one of the gentlest, politest and nicest guy I ever met. Penat banget la suda si kawan ni..bukan dia sorang ja ni, ramai lagi tu di belakang sana betapuk heheheh..

We had the best fun and experience of our lives...great company (each other)...we took the challenge and test our capabilities to the limit and discovered strength that we never know we had..we grew closer and faced our fears together..the lessons each of us learned I hope will be used in our daily lives ahead and not left behind as memories at OBS Kinarut.