COR'13 VEE-OHH-SEE

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the VERY FIRST blog post by your very own COR’13 COMMITTEE!  

Yeps, a whole new year has passed since COR’12 and this year we are embarking on a GREATER AND BETTER COR’13! *APPLAUSE*

Okay anyway, this blog post will dedicated to the recent Volunteers’ Orientation Camp (VOC)!

The objective of the VOC was for COR’13 members to get to know each other better, and also to allow us to gain confidence in communicating in sign language to our dear HI members during the HI outing at the end of the 3 Day 2 Night Camp. All the freshies had a FANTASTIC VOC all planned out for us by our seniors, so THANK YOU SENIORS!

Day 1: 28.09.12

10:00 p.m. Meeting at Eunos MRT (Team Armstrong). Meeting at Paya Lebar MRT (Team Chang-er)

Day 2: 29.09.12

12:00 a.m. Arrival at East Coast Park for Night Cycling! 

But of course, things are not as simple as it seems. There’s a challenge for both teams before we can embark on the night cycling trip: the POKEY game!

Challenge 1: Get to the end of the line by passing Pokey sticks by mouth from one team member to another. First team to reach the finishing line wins!

1:00 a.m. Set off! Cycled for 33 km around eastern side of Singapore, covering from East Coast Park to Changi Beach, cutting across Loyang, Tampines, Simei and Bedok before reaching our starting point at East Coast Park. Pit stops along the way!

Don’t we all look so happy? :D

5:30 a.m. Short stop-over at Simei MRT for a cup of kopi and toast! And of course, more games! 

Challenge 2: Getting to know your group members better. Question & Answer! Answer on personal questions posed to each COR’13 member. Guess who in COR has the longest face? :P

7:00 a.m. Arrival at ECP. After all that hard work, we finally reached our destination! Rejoice! :D

7:30 a.m. Wash up and Breakfast!

9:00 a.m. More games!

Challenge 3: Photo booth! See who is the most 不要脸 (Throw face)! Group photo first! :D

And here comes the real thing!

And we proudly present to you: Most-cui-est faces ever

10:00 a.m. Mass dance! Oppa Gamdam style!

11:30 a.m. LUNCH!

13:00 p.m. Set off for mini amazing race! Look at how ready the 4 teams are! 

Challenge 4: Skipping Rope Charades! Gesturing to your team mates while skipping! The team to guess the most words correct wins!

Challenge 5: Henna Drawing! Teams are to memorize a picture and members take turns to draw on one team mate’s arms. The team with the drawing closest to the original picture wins!

17:00 p.m. Arrival at some place in Sengkang for Running man!

Challenge 6: Running Man! Run away from the other team while searching for cards!

18:00 p.m. Rest, Dinner and Preparation for Appreciation Night.

20:00 p.m. Appreciation night! The most epic appreciation night ever with 2 more challenges installed for us!

Challenge 7: Shaking off the post-its. The video below explains everything!

Challenge 8: Whip your hair! :D Guys are to do push-ups until their girls manage to whip the 2 hair-ties off their head! :D

                                    

And of course, not forgetting performances by both groups, Team Armstrong and Team Chang-er!

22:00 p.m. Set off to place where we are sleeping for the night! And guess what’s the best thing? The rubbish chute downstairs caught fire! What an epic experience!

22:30 p.m. Home Sweet Home!

Day 3: 30.09.12

9:00 a.m. Rise and Shine!

9:30 a.m. Set off to Park

10:00 a.m. Games!

Challenge 9: Catching! Members to form groups of 2. There will be a catcher and a runner. Runner can run to any groups and hook onto the person’s arms. The person at the other end will “bud off” and becomes the runner.

Challenge 10: IQ Quiz! Questions on Mathematics, Science and General Knowledge will be posed to both teams. Teams compete to answer the questions. Teams with the most points wins.

12:00 p.m. Lunch and set off to another area for the relay games.

13:00 p.m. Relay games. One word: AWESOME! :D

Team Armstrong all ready to set off!

Bouncing in a gummy sack!

Rolling in the deep!

They stole some time to feed each other Super Rings! *Munch Munch*

Last but not least, we will never ever forget all the retarded things we do! OMG!

14:00 p.m. And it started raining! COR’13 had some great heart-to-heart talk at Macdonalds! Not forgetting our dear P&P Yvonne’s birthday! 

17:00 p.m. Rain finally stopped! Set off to Punggol Park for HI BBQ!

18:00p.m. Arrival at Punggol Park and preparation for BBQ!

Here's our very professional girl guide in action!

19:00 p.m. Arrival of the His and games organized by our dear CGLs!

We are all happy with the food! 

Practice signing!

The peeling the pomelo game starts now!

And the winners for the peel pomelo game are:

Playing with Sparklers!

Our very OWN COR’13!

And our HIs!

Last but not least, COR and our HI FAMILY! 

23:00 p.m. Home Sweet Home!

Let us hear what our fellow COR’13 members have to say about VOC’12!

“VOC is a good chance for me to get to know the committee members. [I] finally got a chance to know their names (Hopefully I still remember them) and a chance for me to disturb new people. [I am also] able to enhance my annoy[ing] people skills *watch out people*! It is [also] great to be able to meet many new HI’s and celebrate moon cake festival with them. [I hope] there will be more fun outing[s] and new HIs join[ing] the COR big family.”  -Ang Ding Zhi (CGL)

“VOC was a rather chill camp and that’s what actually allowed me to interact with all the other comm[ittee] members and not just my best friend Naz! I feel that after this camp I'm a lot closer to everyone else inside the camp, including the very “dao” Hui Xian. I also got to see everyone's goofy side, the most from Yao Jun, with his inner drama mama!

 The HI outing was also very fun and interesting, and even though it’s my first time actually interacting with the HIs, they made me felt like I knew them for a long time. Overall, the entire experience was fun and very very interesting!!”   - Shiah Jing Yun (CGL)

"On Friday night, the Volunteer Orientation Camp begun! It started off with night cycling from East Coast Park and looped at Simei. Without a doubt, we were tired after cycling for 33km. However, I am certain that everyone enjoyed themselves, cycling through the peaceful night and motivating each other to the end. I think we should have a few hours rest though, so that we could burst with energy for the later part of the day. The other highlights of the camp are appreciation night and playing of games at Sengkang Park. In my opinion, the seniors did a great job for the games were creative and fun.

The final night of VOC included barbequing with Hearing Impaired. It was my first time meeting them. They were patient although I faced difficulties in communicating with them. I had to fingerspell most of the time ): From then on, I am determined to conquer sign language! MUAHAHAHA."                                                                     - Nasuha Bte Rohaizad (Biz Mag)

Last but not least, let us hear from our very own COR’13 Chairperson, DAWN and our fellow seniors! 

YAY, wasn’t that a FANTASTIC VOC? Stay tuned for more COR’13 action, brought to you by your very own COR’13 P&P!

Love ya! BANG GANG LO!

Introducing the 4 great teams that survived this

“Beyond Borders, Beyond Self” camp!

…

And not to forget, also an eye-opening trip for those who

Got to take flight or visit Vietnam for the FIRST time

…

And here was how the pokemon journey went …

DAY 1 

Flight from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City.

Educational trip to know more about Vietnam’s rich history before embarking on other exciting activities!

Visit to the War Remnant Museum and visit to historical landmarks such as General Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Check-in at Madagui Campsite for stopover.

DAY 2

Learn more about the plantation Vietnam is famous for: TEA PLANTATION!

Check-in at Tuyen Lam Campsite in Dalat!

Experience tent pitching, raft building, raft competition and new activity introduced by participants: DUNKING!

We even joined in the Vietnamese cultural dance at night!

What makes the experiences more unique was that, all these activities were done in 10+◦C aircon-like temperature!

DAY 3

After being greeted by the fog early in the morning, it’s time to stretch ourselves for a day of adventure!

First up, Razorback Trekking up the summit Pinhatt Mountain!

Next up, team building games and the challenging rope course (Zip Lining, Monkey Bridge, Leap of Faith)!

Our dinner was made sumptuous with the ever-so-popular fried egg!

After the meals, night walk was cancelled because of the rain. However, the camp spirit remained high!! Many had used the rainwater to shampoo their hair and we even opened our very own COR Club! The idea of the club was inspired by the group hugs to keep ourselves warm!

DAY 4

It’s time to bid goodbye to the scenic view and fantastic air-con temperature!

This also mean we’ll be having our last breakfast meal, our last group shot, our last ferry ride and our last look at Tuyen Lam campsite.

Back at Ho Chi Minh, it’s time to check in to Hoang Hai Long Dragon Hotel! It’s time to adjust back to the urban life and start our APPRECIATION NIGHT!

Kwee Fang’s Poi Performance with LED light and the volunteer’s musical with song sign and dance performance were splendid! And the HI’s pokemon performance was totally hilarious! Kudos!

The mood then turned slightly emotional when the HI and volunteers sharing sessions began. It was indeed a heart-warming session! Of course, a twist of event occurred and it ended off with what most of you had expected… TAUPOK!!

DAY 5

Time flies, especially when you are staying in the hotel! It was time to check-out and continue with our last 2 activities in COR’11!

First was the visit to the Hy Vong School for the Hearing Impaired and Intellectually Disabled. In the school, we got to learn the Vietnamese Sign Language from one of the teachers. It created an amazing scene of 4 languages (SEE sign language, English, Vietnamese, Vietnamese Sign Language) and 3 interpretations used to communicate ideas from the Vietnamese sign language teacher to the participants and vice versa. At the end, we presented the gifts prepared by the participants to the school’s principal in hope that the gifts will be beneficial to the students.

We then had our last COR’11 meal at LION Brewery and Restaurant followed by shopping at the famous Ben Thanh Market! Coffee, shirts, bags… … you name it, they have it!! This place poses another opportunity to go “Beyond Self”! It’s time for the participants to unleash their aunty/uncle’s side of them! Bargain or let your wallet down!!!

After 5 days of fun and going “Beyond Self”    

…

EVENTUALLY

    …

WE RETURNED!!

BUT WITH MORE FRIENDS,

COURAGE AND EXPERIENCES!

The COR’11 camp spirit would not have been the same without each and every one of you. Thanks for joining COR’11 and I do hope that these 5 days of camp had allowed you to forge more friendships, create new experiences and also challenge you to go “Beyond Self”!

And also special thanks to the 6 facilitators: Stephanie, Adrian, Kah Wai, Baosong, Yanting and Jasper who joined the volunteer’s team in May. Without your effort and help, I’m sure the camp would not have run as smoothly. And definitely, we’ll hear less crazy laughter!

Last but not least, a BIGGGGG thank you to the 26 special individuals in the COR’11 organizing committee. On 23 September 2010, which is also our 1^st meeting, nobody knows exactly where COR’11 will be heading to. Taking flight was merely just a vision and no one was sure if we could be the first batch of COR to bring 50 over participants up on flight.  The Program Directors were frantically coming up with alternative programs if flight falls through and the Business Managers were stressed up by just the look at the canvassing targets! However, with all of your trust and believe in one another and also your relentless effort in participating in every single canvassing (even the occasional paid surveys which sometimes yield little profit), WE’VE MADE IT!

51 PARTICIPANTS UP ON FLIGHT,

TO A COUNTRY WHICH COR HAS NEVER VENTURED TO BEFORE!

YOU’VE MADE IT HAPPENED!

Though the journey may be tough at times, I hope this is a good learning journey as well as fulfilling experience for all of you. Take a short time off your stoning sessions to reflect on the things that happened in the passed 1 year. There are simply too many significant events to state: DCCL, BS1, BS2, VOC, COR’11 photoshoot, sentosa & botanic garden outings with the HI, Garung Guni, Kukup committee outing, Recce trip, Meet & Greet, Pre-Camp.. ..  Regardless of scale and level of significance of each event, I hope there are things you can take-away from each of them.  And after COR’11, our respective learning & volunteering journey continues… but in different paths this time. Do keep in contact. Stay tune for Jason’s thank you message =)

In all, Thank you everyone for the wonderful journey!!

Smiles and Retires,

Ming Wei

Vice Chairperson

Camp OutReach 2011