Volunteer Orientation Camp 2011 (VOC 2011) - A Great Start to Our COR'12 Journey!

 This year's VOC was held from 27-28 September 2011, which was right smack in the middle of recess week. While other people were stuck at home studying, or back in school having extra classes, COR'12 was having fun at Aloha Loyang Resorts!! (yay us! :D) For those who didn't manage to join us for the camp, or for those who did come but were stoning/spacing out half the time, here's a short recap of what you may have missed! 

P.S Disclaimer! Do note that this was written from your (very tired) PnP member's point of view, I tried my best to recall and write about what happened to the best of my ability! 

P.P.S I confess: I was one of the people zoning/spacing out most of the time! :P (Don't judge!)

Day 1

Day 1 of VOC started out bright and early. At about 8.30am in the morning, Pasir Ris MRT was a sea of colour as the groups gathered outside the station, each clad in their respective coloured T-shirts. The brightest and easiest colour to spot would definitely be yellow, which was the colour assigned to COR! Everyone gamely turned up in yellow t-shirts and presented a united front to the other groups, despite some COR members having different interpretations of the right/exact shade of yellow! (In our defence, it was very difficult to find a 'yellow' yellow shirt ok!) 

"C-O-R!"

We then made our way down to Aloha Loyang, and kept our belongings, before heading out for the first activity. While waiting for the programmers and VOC chairperson to get ready, we introduced and learnt each other's sign names, which were all very interesting and suited our personalities very well! This was followed by a 'test' of our memories, when we played 'Concentration' using our new sign names! Even though we all tried our best, I think we were all too tired or couldn't remember the signs, because we kept messing up the game! As a result, our 'lovely' CGLs, decided to start having forfeits! (Many thanks to MARCUS, who GENEROUSLY donated a MARKER for the forfeits!) 

CGLs: Shuwei, Marcus & Stephanie! 

(sorry Gui Ju, the photos with all 4 of you too blur already!)

We definitely became much more alert and careful during the games that followed!

(=

After the VOC chairperson's opening speech, the camp officially started!! Before the actual camp activity started, we managed to play more games, as well as learn cheers! After that day, I think whenever I mention VOC COR cheers, everyone will automatically think of Marcus and his very 'dynamite' cheering skills!! :D Credits go to the CGLs for coming up with such cute cheers, the lyrics were all very funny and easy to remember! But it took us quite some time to master the cheers because everyone was laughing too hard at Marcus!! "NO, STOP, WAIT A MINUTE!" 

Marcus?!

We also played many camp games such as the '洗牛奶/Xi Niu Nai' game, 'Give Me Tempo Ready Go/请你跟我这样作/Qing Ni Gen Wo Zhe Yang Zuo' and the very-popular MRT game! After playing so many games, there are sure to be forfeits right? After all, isn't that why we play those games? There were a few '老鼠屎/lao shu shi' who very sportingly carried out their forfeits, much to the amusement of the other members! 

Xian Hui, who're you thinking of??

There was also the one and only Ding Zhi who came up with very... 'interesting' ways to avoid getting forfeited!

"Listen to the master..."

Unfortunately, even his fengshui was no match for COR'12, who were even more eager to get him forfeited after that! And what COR'12 wants, what COR'12 gets!! 

The fun continued during our very first camp activity, which was '180 Seconds No NG'. In this game, we had to complete a series of tasks in 180 seconds, without any mistakes - AT ALL. Once there was a mistake during any stage of the game, the whole group had to restart the game. After several tries, COR managed to: 

toss and catch the ping-pong balls,

slide the coins, 

memorize the poker cards, 

pick up the green beans dizzily, 

and eat the Cheezels un-glam-ly! 

Through this game, it was evident that our teamwork and enthusiasm needed no NGs!

Later on, all of us participated in the programmers' unique 'Online Shopping' experience. Our teamwork and coordination was put to the test again as we navigated the web of raffia strings in order to find the items required, and at the lowest possible price too! 

During this game, all the inner 'aunties' and 'uncles' of COR'12 were unleashed! Judging by our performance and 'auntie-ness', hopefully COR'12 will be able to go overseas and camp for longer, or for less money!! 

Other games which we played that day included:

The 'charades' game: Discovery of potential '爱演/Ai Yan' competitors for Shuwei!! :D 

Candidate #1: Wilfred (Hidden Talent!)

Candidate #2: Cheryl (Dark Horse!) 

Candidate #3: Dawn (Most Popular!)

Two words: 爱/Ai. 演/Yan. 

The 'Scissors Paper Stone Chair game': The game that unleashed the fury of 老板娘/Lady Boss!!! Also the game where we realised how violent an innocent game like 'Scissors Paper Stone' can get! Also where COR members sustained 'battle' scars and injuries in the name of the game!! 

The price of victory. 

The very violent 'Grab the clips' game: I think we really scared off the other team in this game! haha COR guys=power, but COR girls=damn FIERCE man! 

Fierce (?)

Awesome display of teamwork at the end, when we cornered and took down the last man on the other team! ^^

"Action sia!"

 But all of us must already be getting old, secretly damn tired after this game right?? 

'Bomberman' game: okay, i forgot what this game was called. but basically it was a game of luck and... I guess we weren't that lucky that day? :S

The day ended with the excitement-inducing Dinner Hop, where we ate the best 'camp' food ever! Solving clues and completing tasks, while being able to eat delicious food from around Singapore, what more could we ask for? 

After gorging ourselves with food and laughter, we headed back to the resort, where the night did not end just yet! Preparations had to be made for our upcoming performance the next day (or later that day). After some discussion and hilarious ideas, we finally came up with a musical theme for our performance, showing how people from all over the world became united and came together to form COR. (I think. Hehe!) It was sure to be an entertaining performance, but perhaps a little bit too self-entertaining than the others!  

We were also given a very (x 148378947) fun and interesting song-signing lesson by none other than Siok Wen Lao Shi! :) Amazing us with her advanced and ultra-pro signing, as well as teaching us patiently how to sign 'Reach Out For The Skies', it's no wonder she is our chief (interpreter)!! I'm pretty sure everyone had a lot of fun learning how to sign the song for our performance the next day! 

Day 2

After breakfast, we proceeded straight to the dirty games!  

Things kicked off with a tame start, as the first game required us to roll through puddles of soapy water and find and match photos to the names of RSPHI and COR seniors. With the help of our seniors, we were able to complete this game without much difficulty. 

The next game was more challenging, as we had to dig and find water bombs buried in the sand, and hit our opponents before we got hit ourselves! It was a mad dash all the way - rushing through certain actions/tasks before we could start digging (my personal favourite was the hyper-speed version of the chicken dance! LOL!), then rushing to dig out the water bomb without stepping on and bursting the hidden ones, then rushing to take out our opponents or ducking to avoid their bombs! I think the undisputed MVP of this game would have to be 老板娘/Lady Boss, who achieved a perfect All-Kill every time she entered the game area! Impressive!! 老板娘就是不一样/Lao Ban Niang Jiu Shi Bu Yi Yang!! It was also during this game that the 'LAST WARNING' cheer was created, livening up the atmosphere greatly. 

After the heart-pumping action of that game, we then moved on to the game of 'Dirty Twister', also known as the game of the long-limbed people. (cough..Wilfred..cough) The only Twister game in history where the colours of the spots changed colours as the game progressed - due to people 'blending' the colours together by stepping in and out of different plates of colours. We also witnessed the creation of colours never before known to us, such as Curry-Sauce-Brown, and Soya-Sauce-Black! A very 'tasty' and 'colourful' game, indeed! 

The last game was the 'Police, Tiger, Machine-gun' game, which was basically a variation of 'Scissors, Paper, Stone'. The losing team had to run towards a set of 'shields' behind them, before the winning team got to them with cups of water and water guns. Not the most exciting of games overall, but we did get a good shock (although it was a bit delayed) whenever we realised that we had to run for cover. However, it was quite entertaining to see 老板/Boss being chased around to avoid being dunked with a pail of water at the end!! LOL! Rare chance to see 老板/Boss being bossed around! :P

After the dirty games, we washed up and plunged straight into the next game, which was like 'Running Man'. (Sorry, I forgot the actual name of the game!) Basically, all particpants were spilt into 2 large groups, the chasers and the runners. The runners' objective was to find a hidden person around the beach area, and safely transport that person to a safe house. The chasers had to try to catch and 'imprison' as many runners as they could, before they could find and bring their head to safety, by grabbing the cloth strips attached to the runners' backs. Upon being caught, runners had to perform forfeits in the 'jail'. We started playing this game enthusiastically at first, eager to try out the techniques that our resident 'ninja' Gui Ju taught us to hide from and then catch the runners! 

Running Men. :D

However, after running after and catching a few people, most of us were too tired to keep playing at that level of enthusiasm and intensity. (because we are _ _ _ already!) By the time it was our turn to be the runners, I think some people were too tired to put up any resistance. 

Forfeit!

The chasers for the second round evidently felt the same way, and some even sat down to have a rest with us just before the game ended! After all, our 老板, Jenson, had been safely and swiftly rescued, thanks to the sharp eyes and quick action of our members. 

Despite everyone being tired out by the game, we still gave our best shot during the performance that followed. After watching the other groups' carefully planned and elaborate skits, we wondered if our performance would be too 'different'! Our opening act was top-notch quality, a harmoniously sweet a capella rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Alyssa, Eileen, Xian Hui and Xinyi's solid performance wowed the crowd and transported us into a dreamy jungle environment. This 'jungle' then parted to reveal a mountain, which Dawn, Gui Ju, Wilfred, Lok Yin and Jie Min proceeded to climb and conquer! Their high-spirited performances left us all breathless...with laughter, as they comically hiked up their fictitious mountain to the tune of "She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain". Then, we plunged into the depths of the ocean with Alicia, Stephanie, Willy and Yin Suen, as they transformed into lovely and graceful mermaids/merman. Their captivating 'fan dance' had us all swaying and singing along to the song "Under The Sea". Land ahoy! We next emerged from the sea and reached the fascinating and modern city, where we met the 4 most charming ladies you have ever known! Ding Zhi, Zhixiang, Shuwei and Marcus stunned us by giving a (much too)convincing performance of "Barbie Girl", complete with song, dance, and flirty/dirty/perverted looks! The 'R-rated' moment where they took off their 'trash'-y skirts was almost too much to handle - how to laugh and breathe at the same time??? However, we quickly calmed ourselves down and united together to sign the "Reach Out For The Skies" song, which was the highlight of our performance. It was an inspiring way to end, which ultimately embodied the true spirit of COR - to push our limits and stretch our horizons by reaching for the skies. 

Jungle girls!

:)

The performance thus ended the 2D1N VOC camp. Though it was short, we managed to squeeze in a whole lot of fun and good times in that period, as well as grew closer to our fellow COR members. (although we may have alienated the other RSPHI groups - especially RSPHI Kallang! :P) All in all, it was a short but sweet camp that was a great start for our COR journey and friendships! Looking back at the pictures and writing this post relieved some great memories for me, and I hope it has for you too! COR'12 LOVE! <3

 Yellow nails! FTW~! 

Birthday girl! 

COR'12: Reaching for the skies!

written with love from PnP'12 :)