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Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Islamic Studies Camp Report

Hello there blog! Oh how i've missed you! I've not been blogging for a while now as I was so caught up in preparing for my finals last month. Classes for the new semester just started last Friday and I will probably go on another hiatus since I have about 3 months to prepare and submit my OBU research project. Anyway, I think I should serve some justice to my blog for abandoning it. So lets get on with it! I was browsing through the list of documents in my e-mail account that I've sent or received throughout the years and I stumbled upon one dated in 2009 entitled "ISLAMIC STUDIES REPORT". It was the report we were assigned to for our Islamic Studies class. We had to prepare a report (more of like a journal) depicting our experience throughout the Islamic Studies Camp held in FRIM. This is what I wrote...

ps: It's going to be a VERY LENGTHY post! Please excuse my literature :P


20th March 2009 (FRIDAY)
The day started with me having to sit for my T8-Audit PT2. My friends and I had to leave the examination hall early as we were told that the bus that was taking us to FRIM would leave at 5pm. As I left the examination hall, I could feel a rush of excitement as I have been looking forward for this camp for weeks! All camp participants had to gather at the foyer before departing. We departed from Sunway University College at around 5.30pm. I slept throughout the journey to FRIM as I was dead tired from studying audit the night before.
We reached our camp site at around 7.30pm and had our dinner straight away.  There weren’t many tables and chairs around so my friends and I had to sit cross-legged on the floor and ate our dinner with our hands as the plastic cutleries provided were very flimsy. It felt awkward at first but it was kind of fun because it felt as though we were in some village far far away from civilisation! Haha! After filling our empty stomach with the scrumptious meal (p.s: everything tastes good when you’re hungry!), we then performed our Maghrib prayers. After performing our prayers, the girls and the guys then proceeded to their respective camp sites to set up their tents. It was my first time ever to camp under the stars! It was so exciting!

We then performed our Isyak prayers and gathered at a spot for our next activity which was the night walk. We were divided into two groups and a ranger was assigned to each group. I was in the first group so we went in the forest first followed by the second group. The ranger brought us deep into the forest...we walked in total darkness as we were not allowed to bring our torchlight with us. As we walked, the ranger would stop us at one point to give us a brief talk on some trees and plants. We were told to be attentive to the ranger’s explanation as the information would be essential for the activity that we were going to do the following day. The night walk was kind of tiring as we had to walk for about 2.5km which took us about 2 and half hours! But all in all, the night walk was awesome!

The night wasn’t over yet...all of us had to gather at the “pondok”. The AJK had to re-group other groups besides group 5 and 7 because most members from the other groups couldn’t make it to the camp. Group 5 and 7 ROCK! We have team spirit! Yayy! Group 5 was renamed to Group 1 whereas Group 7 was renamed as Group 2 and the list goes on. After sorting the rest of the participants into their respective groups, we were then given the task to create our team’s logo, flag and also cheer. While we were all busy preparing our team’s logo and flag, the AJKs distributed files and name tags to all participants. They also gave each participant a biscuit (to be kept behind the name tag) that has to be taken good care of. The biscuit had to be treated as though it was some precious jewel! Marks would be deducted if the participants were to break or destroy their biscuit even if by accident.
 It was about 12pm and they told us to stop drawing, etc and go to sleep. For some reason, Shahira and I couldn’t sleep so we went down to the campfire site to laze around while Atira went straight to sleep as she was already pooped out.

Shahira and I didn’t stay out that long because it was about to rain. As soon as we got back to our tent, it started to rain. I couldn’t sleep because it was raining outside and we had to cover every airway of the tent...I needed air! OXYGEN! The tent was kind of stuffy and packed. Why? Cause we’re girls and we don’t travel light! The tent was packed with our luggage etc. Despite the fact that it was raining outside, it was quite hot in the tent. So yeah, I did struggle for a bit...kept tossing and turning. Looking at Atira sleeping so soundly like a baby made me go green with envy...hmmphh! I managed to doze off around 2am. ZZzzz....

21st March 2009 (SATURDAY)
Rise and shine sleepy heads! I woke up at 5am because the alarm rang but everyone else seems to be sleeping still. So I decided to doze back...I woke up half an hour later to perform our Subuh prayers. After Subuh, we had to gather at this particular spot in our respective groups and get ready for the first activity of the day which was jogging. We had to do a little bit of stretching first. We jogged for about 10 minutes and then had our nasi lemak breakfast to replenish the calories we’ve just burned! -___-“

After breakfast, we took our bath and got ready for the next activity. Atira, Shahira and I were the last ones to take our baths as there were only 5 shower cubicles and about 20+ girls to share it with! How on earth do they expect us to get ready within 15minutes?! It’s simply ridiculous I tell you! And for that, we were late and received a good scolding from Irfan. Haha dude! You’ve got to understand our situation here! It’s not like we were late on purpose! LOL..just kidding. But it was alright cause Irfan wasn’t a pain in the neck like that certain someone (I shall not disclose any names or should I say name). *evil smirk*

Alright...back to the presentation... each group had to present their team’s logo, flag and also cheer. We named our group SAMANIAH which means 8 in Arab because there were 8 eight of us in the group. Our team’s logo was a picture of a puzzle with symbols resembling our team spirit, passion and togetherness. Last but not least...our team’s cheer! It goes like this....GO SAMANIAH! YOU’RE THE ONE! YOU’RE THE BEST! GO SAMANIAH! It was a lot of fun seeing other groups perform their cheers too! Although I think our team’s cheer is the best...Group 1’s @ Al-Quds’ cheer was also entertaining! Their cheer goes like this...TAKBIR! ALLAHUAKHBAR!! 3..4..SHUHH SHUHH...BAIK PUNYE! Kinda awesome don’t you think? Haha! 

After the presentation, we played this game (too lazy to elaborate) and our group WON! GO SAMANIAH! We then got ready for the next activity on the agenda which was the religious talk by Ustaz Asrizal. At first I thought that the talk was going to be boring like any other religious talks but I was wrong! The talk was somehow interesting! I never knew that religious talks could be so interesting. I guess it all depends on how the person presents their talks. Anyhow, the talk was kind of longwinded…it felt as though the talk was never going to end! All of us had to sit cross-legged on the floor for 1 and a half hours!
I had leg cramps several times! OUCH! At last we were given a short break to have our lunch. After lunch, the talk then continued for about 30minutes or so. We all learned so much from the talk..didn’t we? hmm..

Performed our Zohor prayers as soon as the talk ended and got ready for the TREASURE HUNT! I absolutely love treasure hunts! But little did I know that it was going to drain every single energy I have left in my body. Before the treasure hunt started, we played this game to test our teamwork. We were all blindfolded and was told to make a perfect square using a piece of string. I’m not sure which group won though...but who cares?! Maybe some do...but not me! I couldn’t care less because it’s all about having fun and not winning or losing.

OK! Treasure hunt time! Each group was divided into two and were given a set of question papers to complete and a plastic bag to collect leaf samples.  And OFF WE GO!!! We had to run here and there to search for answers and also to collect leaf samples. It was bloody tiring! The treasure hunt lasted for 2 and a half hours. Our group came in second from last but we ended up getting 2nd place for the treasure hunt because we got most of the answers correct! Not bad huh? GO SAMANIAH! 

My body started to ache after the treasure hunt but it was all worth it because I had a blast! We rested for awhile and then decided to take a bath! We really needed the bath! Huhu! We then had our lunch and performed our Asar prayers. While waiting for Maghrib, our group had a quick meeting about our group performance later that night. Performed our Maghrib prayers, had our dinner… we had a BARBEQUE DINNER! YUMMY!

After dinner, we then proceeded to the last activity for the day...the group performance! Our group was second last to perform. It was fun watching other groups perform! Their performance was really exciting and not to mention funny! I can’t remember the last time I laughed like a hyena! Our group’s sketch was quite good for something we prepared in the 11th hour! The main actors were the Terengganu boys, Hazwan and Shahir. Ahaha these two are so funny and wacky! You should listen to their Terengganu accent! After our group performed, it was then al-Quds’ turn to perform…the much awaited group to perform. Why? Because their sketch was properly written and directed by Shakir @ Ket and…was prepared many weeks in advance whereas other groups did a spontaneous act. In a nut shell, their performance deserved a standing ovation because everything felt so real! It was kind of scary but hey…that’s going to happen to all of us one day…DEATH! Everyone was silent throughout their play. *woooo*

As soon as we got everything wrapped up…we played this one last game…I think it was called “Chap Kali Chap”. I have never played this game before…and you know what? I really enjoyed playing it! It was bloody awesome I tell you! Oh and before they let us go, ustazah asked all of us to write down our dreams on a piece of paper, scrunch it up and throw it away! At first I was hesitant but ustazah told us to…so I did…WE ALL DID! But it was all a trick..damn..should have known…you don’t just throw away your dreams…you have to work hard to achieve it!

So after that, we were all dismissed. Shahira and I didn’t want to sleep because we wanted to make the day feel longer as we will all be going back tomorrow. Atira wanted to sleep but since Shahira and I planned not to…she tagged along because she didn’t want to sleep alone...(hehe pity Atira...sorry!). We and a few others went down to the campfire site to “lepak” and we talked for hours! I tried to stay awake but my eyelids were so heavy and I went back to the tent with Atira to catch some Zs leaving behind Shahira and the others. It was already 3am then. ZZZzzz…

22nd March 2009 (SUNDAY)
I woke up at 5am because we were going to have a Qiamullail session. Everyone looked like zombies! Mind you…I only slept for 2 hours! We had the Qiamullail and then waited for Subuh. While waiting, all of us dozed of at the “pondok”.  The girls were all still in their telekung and the guys with their sarongs..haha. We were all dead tired and our whole body was aching especially the legs! After Subuh, we gathered at one spot to have our morning exercise lead by Pn Nora. We did all this weird aerobics exercise moves and it looked as though we were line dancing because we had to line up in rows. And yes, it was fun! Wheehee!

We then took our bath and had breakfast. The next activity on the agenda was the jungle tracking. We had to hike up this hill that felt like it was going to take eternity to get up to the hanging bridge. It was so tiring. Which reminds me…I have to start exercising! Need to work on my stamina! I wasn’t really looking forward for the hanging bridge as I have this fear of heights! The hanging bridge was 150m long and it was a few hundred or thousand meters above sea level! Well maybe I exaggerated a bit but it was so high up! You have no slightest idea how I felt when I was on the hanging bridge. All I could think of was to get to the end of the bridge safely. My friends told me not to look down but I couldn’t resist to have a little peek as to how high up am I right now. Boy was I terrified! Atlas I arrived safely at the end of the bridge and wow wasn’t that an achievement! GO NABEEHAH! *pats own back*

We then continued our jungle tracking and head towards the next stopping point…the WATERFALL! As soon as we arrived at the waterfall…all I could think of was to jump straight into the river! We were all so excited! We spent about 20 minutes or so at the waterfall…splishing and splashing! It was FANTASTIC BOMBASTIC I TELL YOU! I love standing under the waterfall..feeling the gush of water falling on my back…massaging my back. Hmm just like Osim uPapa! The boys got a little bit carried away with the “rock slide” (I bet their butt is going hurt the next morning)…HAHA! We wanted to spend a bit longer there but we had to go back.

We arrived at our campsite…all soaking wet! We went straight to the shower, took our bath and had lunch. We then performed our Zohor prayers and had our very last activity before we go. It was the Heart to Heart slot where participants would volunteer to go up in front of everyone and talk about their experience and what they got out of the camp. The AJK then separated the girls from the boys and asked us to play “OOOH SOOM”…if both people shows their fist at each other, then they would have to give each other a hug. But if they show their palm…then you’d have to shake their hand. All the girls showed their fists…so we gave everyone a BIG HUG! WE also gave ustazah a BIG HUG! Hoho! Before we went off to pack our bags, we sang a song at the top of our lungs! We sang the song twice because most of us requested for an encore!  Aahh lovely!

We then packed our bags, undo the tent and got ready to go back home…home sweet home…I miss my parents, brothers (not really..just a bit) and my toilet (cangkung toilets are a big no no!)! The bus arrived and we all head back to Sunway University College. This time, everyone slept throughout the journey back! Can’t blame them, we were all pooped out and our body was aching so badly. We arrived in college safely at 6pm. All I can say is that the camp was AWESOME…I had a BLAST…I learned ALOT…made LOTS of new FRIENDS and I think I’ve insaf-ed a bit..hehe.

THE END! Till we meet again guys! :D I miss all of you already!!!