Most of us had arrived and were sitting around, talking. Excitement was clearly in the air as we discussed what we might be doing at Bintan. Not long after, everyone had arrived. It was time to go. Huge backpacks on our shoulders, passports in hand, smiles on our faces, we set off.

1215
Its lunchtime now and all the Muslim students are resting and playing games. However, I just have to tell you how the journey here was. In the ferry to Bintan, none of us could sit still. We played games, took pictures and sat on the deck. But the one worth mentioning is when we took the mini-vans. There were 4 mini-vans to transport us to Loola Adventure Resort. We knew the journey was quite long but somehow I think we underestimated exactly how long it would be. The starting of the journey was quite fun. We looked out the windows, marveled at the absence of traffic lights and enjoyed the company of Techno music. However, as time lagged on, the journey became bumpier and bumpier. At first it was quite fun to bump into each other and burst into fits of giggles. However, when we realize it was going to be this way for a few hundred meters, all smiles were gone and our efforts were gone trying not to puke. When we reached Loola Adventure Resort, the excitement was practically oozing out of us. We realized our mini-van was the only one with music and it was christened the 'Techno Bus'.

We 'ooh-ed' and 'aah-ed' at the rope obstacles, clearly oblivious to the forthcoming doom it would bring us. As we walked on, we got truly excited as we saw the sea-terraces we will be staying in and the open sea. We were practically radiating excitement by now. We 'fought' to get the last cabin (the sea-terraces were given many names, cabin being one of many) and we got it! I was in it with Sherrie, Fiona and Farhain. Again, we got excited with the big mosquito nets and the simple bathroom. We stood at the verandah and enjoyed the wind and scenery for almost 10 minutes in awe (and a little bit of shock).

1900
After the shock had subsided, we went on to do the rope obstacles. It was both a nightmare as well as physically thrilling. It was during times like these when you see everyone giving each other support like never before. The monkey crawl was totally horrific as it was really high up (and you would break at least 2 bones if you did fall). We also went rock climbing. The wall was situated next to the sea and it was combined with the 'Flying Fox'. The staff at Loola demonstrated for us and the girls melted seeing the rippling muscles! Anyway, we went in pairs and right after that, it was time for the "Flying Fox'. By this time, everyone was seated at the rocks nearby where it was more convenient to see the person who was jumping. The 'Flying Fox' ended in the sea but it was low tide so we couldn't splash like we planned to.

It's dark now and the plan is to go 'star-gazing'. We spread ourselves on the wide space and well...gazed at the stars. It was now that we realize how many aspiring astronomers we had in NP. What started as a relaxing time soon turned into a discussion where they discussed what kind of stars and what constellation they saw. After that, most of them went to the dining area where they were taught how to play 'Murderer'. However, my whole bunk (another name for the sea-terrace) decided to stay at the open-aired area. Somehow we fell asleep there but were awoken a few times by sudden shouts from those playing 'Murderer' nearby. In the end, we decided to sleep peacefully and went back to our bunks.

12/11/02
It's night-time now and I've lost track of time. It was inconvenient to change the time on my watch and also to remember to 'subtract' an hour from the actual time to follow Indonesia's time. Therefore I have decided to be 'watch-less' this trip. Well, today was quite an experience. In the morning, we went to the orphanage. We went to the girls' quarter only as we didn't have much time. When we were there, we sat around nervously at first. The man who was in-charge of the place said a few words and Sir Raja had the honor or playing interpreter. However, the speech did turn out a bit different though.. We gave out the gifts and soon we were singing action songs like 'Peace By the River' and a Japanese song involving frogs. We taught the girls the clapping action and they tried to follow along but there were little fits of giggles when they missed a beat or two. We learnt that there were 16 girls in the orphanage and 39 boys. The activities for the girls were 'normal'-sewing and cooking. However I was quite shocked to know that the boys were taught to fish and to rear animals. It is definitely different from the modern lifestyle in Singapore where computers and handphones is vital to survive.

After spending some time there, it was time to go. We were then transported to a place where we would board a ship. (I was in the Techno bus again.) We got on the ship, totally ecstatic. We sat around on the deck and the sides of the boat as we set off. The wind was totally relaxing and almost therapeutic. It was fun to have our hair being blown by the wind, at first, but I admit we soon became really bored as there was nothing much to do. We changed our seating positions a few times but we were still really bored.

However, what came next was a big surprise! We were going 'Boom-netting'! The ship slowed down in the middle of God-knows-where and laid down the huge net. The excitement had returned. Finally, we have something to do! We went up to the deck and jumped in the water from there.

The ship was moving really slowly but once we jumped, the current would bring us to one side of the net where most of us were squashed. We then fought the current and even ourselves out. We jumped a few times and splashed around. Suddenly I felt a sting somewhere on my leg. I dismissed it, as it could be the net. However, the sting continued and I felt it on my arm too. I was busy rubbing myself and I looked around and it was then I realized I wasn't the only one. We were then asking around and got to know that we had been stung by a school of jellyfish. Upon hearing that, our immediate instinct was to get out of the water-FAST! We were then on the ship, shivering (from the cold) and slightly unnerved (from the jellyfish).

We then continued with our journey to the unknown island. We soon reached there but the ship couldn't go all the way to the shore (obviously) so we had to go in threes in a sampan. When everyone was on the beach, we then went snorkeling. It was the first time for me and I had always wanted to do it. The Muslims were fasting therefore we used the goggles only and not the snorkel. We went in the water and most of us were just enjoying our own company. We were amazed at the 'cleanliness' of the seawater, as we didn't have it in Singapore. We looked around at the small fishes swimming around and the coral.

After a while, we went back to shore as the sun had set and we were going to have dinner. At this point of time, practically everyone was shivering and was wrapped around in towels. We ate and waited for the fire to eat up the firewood. Serious heat was needed now and it seemed to be taking an amazingly long time to get warm. We ate satay, rice, prawns and drank Ice Tea (S$1). After a while though, the fire was really warm and we went farther away from it. We had a song competition against the officers. The theme was 'National Songs' but as we progressed, all kinds of songs were sung and I think we forgot what the actual theme was! After that, we went back to the ship, in threes again, to sleep. However, we played Murderer again until we really couldn't keep our eyes open. (Pardon the pun.) We then went to slumber land.

13/11/02
When we woke up, we were surprised to find that we had been blanketed. Apparently, it had been raining while we were sleeping and the kind staff didn't want us to get hypothermia, therefore they had done it for us. (Thank you staff, wherever you are!) We were then given a choice to fish or snorkel. Most of them went fishing, even though in the end, nobody caught anything edible. I went snorkeling again as I might not do it again and I didn't want to lose this chance. I swam around, looking at fishes and coral reef. The coral reef here was much better than near the shore. It was slightly more colorful and there were more fish, which were bigger. After a while, it was time to go. The ship set off for Loola. However, we did stop again for 'Boom-netting'. I didn't join in, as I was still cold from snorkeling earlier. They didn't 'Boom-net' for long either. After a few minutes, the jellyfish were back and a few blinks later, everyone was on board. We played games on the ship and finally arrived at Loola! 'Home Sweet Home'!

We changed and bathed and then carried on with our activities. We were split into two groups. My group went for archery first and then kayaking. Archery was okay but we did have to wait a while for our turn as there was only one bow. Kayaking was fun though. We kayaked around and learnt how to control our kayak. It was more fun and physically challenging too. After that, both groups went trekking. We were expecting thick forests, strange animals and bruises and cuts. We were sorely disappointed, as we didn't encounter any of that. We merely walked on the track and walked back. It was amusing listening to the sound of our ponchos and even more so, our appearance was out-of-this-world.

When we got back, it was time for dinner. We changed, showered and had a mini-campfire. We sat in one row facing the officers. The food was great and everyone was enjoying ourselves. I brought along 6 boxes of fire sparklers and we relived our childhood by playing with it. The boys also attempted to create a 'Rocket' with it. It barely left the ground the first time, but now we were more determined to make it work. After a few tries, the 'Rocket' did rise and turned and then dropped. It was nothing to be proud about but the fact that it left the ground got us all into a frenzy.
After dinner, we played games at the actual dining area. We played 'Murderer', 'Animal Game', 'Bom Pak Aiyoh' and a game involving our fingers. It was way past two a.m. before we realized it. The 'Animal Game' was really fun and it required us to be very alert even in the wee hours of the morning. It was a barrel of laughs watching what some people did when they confused one action to another. Some ended up doing really strange actions, which were totally not animals! After the last game, we all headed to our houses (yet another name) and fell asleep almost immediately.

14/11/02

Posing for a shot at our 'bunk' window all donned in our Bintan T-Shirts courtesy of Sir Desmond.

It's the last day today. I'm at Singapore already. Just now, we woke up and had about 2 hours to do any activity. Some went kayaking and others went for the 'Flying Fox'. After that, it was time to pack up. It was heart wrenching to pack and finally go back. Our hearts were heavy to leave the place. This place had been home for us for the past few days and we were not ready to leave yet. Armed with cameras, everyone posed and smiled for the cameras. I was very grateful to the staff for everything; so I requested to take a picture with them. A while later, everyone went in for a group photo with the staff. We then carried our stuff to the mini-vans. Each step we took made us miss the place already. Unwillingly, we went in the mini-vans and went off. I got the Techno bus again and we stopped in town. We got down to go shopping. We didn't have much time but some of us managed to get some items from Bintan. It was time to go back to Singapore. We took the ferry and played 'Murderer' again. Soon, we reached Singapore and everyone went our separate ways.

Never would we forget this unforgettable experience. We bonded, we shared peals of laughter and we had supported each other. The sea, the staff, we would even remember the wooden stilts we walked on. All these would be etched in our memories, forever. Loola Forever!

By SSgt Ameera Begum