Outward Bound Retreat...

We had a Family District Leaders' Retreat at Outward Bound, East Coast Park today (thanks to Michael Foo).. but alas! we did none of the much anticipated dangerous physical challenges.. like kayaking, bungee jumping or abseiling.. much to my disappointment..*haiz*..ha ha ha!!! Wan Leng split us up into two teams A and B (such exciting names?).. and we landed in team B (total of 12 people). I started on the wrong foot.. er.. by helping the other team strategise the first task.. very blur man...

The final goal was to purchase the material required to build a free-standing 'missile' launcher (i.e. throw a water bomb at team A without using any hands or parts of the human body). Firstly, we had to think of a feasible design for the launcher (fortunately, we had engineers, computer scientists, financiers, teachers and an occupational therapist in our midst). Next, we had get enough money to buy the stuff we needed by completing various tasks. So, we decided on the following:

1: Sing at least 5 songs from the '80s in 2 minutes:

We managed to scramble up some songs.. Greatest love of all.. That's what friends are for.. Eternal flame.. Shoulder to cry on.. and Tarzan Boy! But mostly in bits and pieces (i.e. parts of stanza or chorus only).. quite a rousing ending indeed!

2. Juggling:

Using only 1 hand, we had to toss a ball to 3 different people.. sounds easy? okay lah.. it wasn't that hard but we had to throw simultaneously and if any ball dropped on the ground.. we had to start from zero...

3. Passing the moon ball:

This was by far the most time-consuming challenge.. passing a large 65cm beach ball.. 30 consecutive times to 4 different bases (in a square-fashion).. 3 people at each base with 1 leg placed in a hoop.. no holding the ball.. no stepping out of hoop.. very frustrating but we didn't give up and made it in the end!

4. Human knot:

The most confusing task.. we randomly clasped hands with the person standing opposite us.. and then tried to un-knot ourselves without letting go of the hands. Quite a fair bit of moaning and groaning.. carefully stepping over.. going under (er..arm-pits).. twisting and untwisting of the body..ha ha! We should have video-ed this...

5. Skipping rope:

A super long rope.. with 2 people holding the ends and the rest jumping 6 consecutive times in the middle.. TOGETHER! Must have been a funny sight to behold..

6. Traffic jam:

The aim was to move everyone from one side to the other.. in a V-formation. And we were only allowed to move forwards and not step back. Complex task but if you know the formula.. then no sweat lah! Something like 2 steps forward on this side and 1 step on the other side???

And so, by then end all that.. we accumulated 19,000 points.. which was enough to buy these items: (Hmmm.. I think this can be sung to following tune: On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..)

• 1 trash bag (to weigh down the hoops)
• 1 masking tape (to tie up all the loose ends)
• 1 bungee cord (to spring the surprise)
• 1 ball of string (to tie down the launcher before cutting it to release the 'missile')
• 3 hula hoops (for the base..which admittedly wasn't as good as team A's design)
• 4 wooden rods (to make the tripod)

However, despite the short-comings of our launcher's base, we managed to achieve a maximum distance of 8m.. just 1m short of hitting the other team!!! Ha ha ha.. cos we're supposed to be nice people right? It was a fun day.. and oh.. not forgetting the good food too! :0)