3 days of kayaking to learn more than the basics that were taught in the one-star course. More than 3 days of muscle ache to make up for it, as well as a nice, shiny certificate to prove that one has done and PASSED the course. 
This was what I went through on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But the experience sure was fun!
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Friday – 6/6/08
We had a little lecture in the classroom. And the instructors were telling us about stuff we can expect in the two-star course and what we’ll have to know to pass it…
I thought we would be using Bandit again… That was a kayak that I really enjoyed paddling in, compared to that heavy fibreglass-what-do-you-call-it kayak. That was a killer to maneuver and carry around too.. T.T And this thing called a sit-on kayak we used during level camp. That sucked. But too bad, we were going to use this kayak called a Dancer… It doesn’t even maneuver like a dancer. In what way is it a DANCER?! I really don’t get it… ><
In any case, we went into the sea – the part near the jetty, where the water stinks most… T.T All of us had to get soaked in it! And we did capsize drill there. Can you imagine? All that oil [from the boats?? I guess] and leaves and who-knows-what-other disgusting things floating around that place.. We heard from our instructor that someone had lost a camera there too.. But it was waterproofed, so if anyone finds it, it’s probably still usable… And I failed the capsize drill on the first try.. T.T So I had to take it again and taste that disgustingly salty water.. (Yes, I know, I’m whining about it.. -_-) But I passed, so all that doesn’t matter.. (:
We practiced a little of the low recovery and I tried to do the eskimo bow rescue, but failed miserably.. I couldn’t even push myself up! T.T And when I finally pushed myself up, I didn’t have enough strength and flopped back to the waters again.. -_- I was so frustrated!!! ><
That was the end of the first day, and after bathing, we had a briefing on the expedition we were going on the next day, cause it was in the requirements to pass. <insert random stuff about going home here>
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Saturday – 7/6/08
We were supposed to go on an expedition – 6km, but it was raining heavily and there was even hints of an impeding thunderstorm, so we had no choice but to cancel that.. We still had our food on board with us, though.. And the one-star people (De Hui, See Ting and Wilson) were there too, but we didn’t really talk to them much. We went, “Hello!” to them and we went off happily for our course with people that we all know (yeah, squadmates!), not like them, who had to do the course with adults they didn’t even know in the first place.. Haha.
So we paddled around on the sea instead of the jetty that day, and I must say that the water there is much cleaner without the obvious oil thing. The fun part was that there were ships and boats moving around there, so whenever one of those vehicles passed by, we waited in anticipation of the big wave that would follow soon after. Haha. The wave is probably considered small compared to those of other countries.. xD Yeah. And I just wanted to mention that we were paddling in the rain, which would’ve been cool if not for my stupid pair of glasses clouding my vision due to too much water droplets on the lens… -_-
We had practice on eskimo bow rescue (that was cool, but I couldn’t do it on the first day, haha.) and we learnt how to do low brace turns too! ^^ That was super cool!!!! And when I nearly fell into the water, I just did a simple low recovery and I went back up… So I didn’t capsize.. Though it was a close shave. *wipes sweat off eyebrow*
Then.. I can’t remember what else we did, so I shall skip to Sunday! The last day!
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Sunday – 8/6/08
We saw Maggie Mee!! And Rui Xiang chased after him when we saw him(: He was taking his three-star course. When Karmen saw him (she came later), she gave that ‘am I seeing who I am seeing?’ look + gasp. xD And he said, “Yes, I am who you think I am.” And we all laughed like mad at Karmen’s reaction.
We watched a video on the four-star course, which was held in Malaysia (very long ago -_-) and had a glimpse of what it would be like… I was totally convinced not to go for it, since I probably won’t be able to handle all that.. Yeah, I know that I suck. -_-
Expedition! I was in front initially.. Then I kept getting bumped by the other kayaks.. And I kept doing stern rudder which slows me down.. So I was at the back not long after we started.. -_- And the instructor at the back was looking at me, and the rest were like, “Jiayou!” Haha.. I appreciate the thought and encouragement, but I get more stressed with the encouragement. ><
When we got to Loyang Beach (yep, that’s Pasir Ris) we wanted to go on further to Pasir Ris Beach so that we could see the year 1s to 3s learning ONE-star… xD We’re so evil(: But we didn’t, cause the instructors were worried that we might not be able to make it all the way there and back to Changi Point… We were disappointed, but at the mention of food, everyone was very happy.. Haha.. We had all sorts of food, like Nasi Lemak(Eugene… xD), apples (Dawn and Karmen), dove chocolate (Karmen), some sort of don, I can’t remember which kind (Karmen), and bread (Yu Fen and I)… And others, but I can’t remember them all… ><
After our filling lunch, we went to play in the beach and discovered just how dirty the waters were… -_- And Karmen went into the water with her apple! So the guys decided to splash seawater (which = salty) on her apple.. XD I think it sort of tasted salty.. xD I know, I’m evil.
Anyway, we paddled back to Changi Point after our lunch, and the instructor at the back taught me some tips to move faster and maneuver better(: And the instructor in front made me the temporary expedition leader since I was always lagging behind. Haha. And when I was in front leading, I paddled frantically so that they won’t bang into me that often, and the instructor wondered why I was suddenly paddling so fast.. Haha, and I told him that I just didn’t want to bang into people that often.. XD But I have no idea if he heard me.
After me was Zhan Jie, who was also lagging behind.. >< In the end, we all were told to paddle backwards (?!) and then with our bare hands.. (!!?) Yeah, but it sure was fun.. And we paddled backwards with our bare hands too.. What a killer.. ><
We had our eskimo bow rescue assessment.. And I didn’t even manage to do the entire drill!!! >< I was pretty nervous.. Yeah.. When I did the test, I was pretty surprised that I could do it.. I was thinking, this is it, it’s do or die. So I did it.. And good thing I passed the first time round.. If not, I’ll have to paddle back to shore, empty the kayak before paddling back to where the assessment was being taken.. It was a pretty cool experience though.. (:
We learnt the bow rudder too.. Which was pretty hard to use, actually… Cause you had to use strength to keep your paddle there… ><
After all that, it was time for games! We had to fill our kayaks full of water before we could paddle back to shore.. T.T And Yu Fen fell into the water.. I was there saying, “Hey, what a good idea to fill it up immediately!” And then I fell in. -_- And Rui Xiang did the rescue, which meant that we had to start from scratch when I already had half the kayak full.. T.T So the instructors were saying, “Wow. You guys are so slow?!” And we told them that we had capsized.. ><
When I finally had it full, I started paddling back to shore, using a bit a sculling… What was that called again? Either way, it’s a type of recovery.. And used low recovery for the rest.. When I nearly reached the shore, I nearly hit some swimmers (I think) and nearly capsized, so I used the low recovery to upright myself (and splashed lots of water at the kids).
After all that fun, we washed our kayaks, paddles, spray covers and buoyancy vest, and went for a shower.. Then, it was time to announce the results!! >< I was wondering if I’d fail, cause I took so long to “save” Yu Fen in the kayak-to-swimmer rescue. But to my amazement, I passed! And that’s what matters.. Haha. The certificate was nicer than the one-star one too!! Maybe it’s because it was a newer version.. Maybe the one-star cert is now nicer too.. I wouldn’t know.. Ours is from two years ago! xD
And that concludes the two-star kayaking course from my point of view! Haha(:
