Haze

PSI 190 tonight. And it's been above 100 this entire day.

Singapore needs rain badly now.. Where's that tropical rainfall when u need one...

Sensitive nose + haze = sick :(

Celebrating a bro's birthday

So we gave our friend here a good revenge for all the things he did before presenting him his bd present. he'll be wearing long pants for some time ;) 

Opening the present..

Operation Peng San

Operation Peng San!

I've been crazy on kayaking for this past week. I was really excited to go for this expedition and I'm glad I had enjoyed every minute of this despite the pain and soreness I'm going to feel after today. But there were certainly some epic moments that happened during this trip.


Epic moment 1:

Zip-locks arn't water-proof

I don't own a water-resistant bag like pretty much everyone else on the trip. Instead, I relied on a cheaper alternative which was to layer pack all my things in ziplock bags to waterproof my belongings.

And the whole point for water-proofing everything? That's because everything (and I mean everything) goes into your kayak. And there'll always be water in there even with your spray skirt.

Yet despite my precautions, my ziplocks decide to burst, tear, malfunction. Everything got dip in seawater, including my clothes, toiletries, and my sleeping bag!! :( fail #1.

(luckily i decided to place my phone into a lock&lock container. It remained seawater free. a guaranteed brand indeed.)

Epic moment 2:

You're not alone

I wasn't the only one who had belongings getting a free soak in seawater. In the end, all of us just laughed it off.

Epic moment 3:

Mozzies

We slept in the outdoors. And mosquitoes came like mad. I didn't sleep well that night. And my partner decided to mysteriously disappear . I found out the next morning, he had joined the instructors and slept indoors.. while i remained outdoors as a peace offering to the mozzies.

(it didnt help knowing that there's been an increasing no. of dengue cases >_> )

Nevertheless, despite the setbacks, I enjoyed the company and silly moments we had together. Made more new friends, and there was even this girl that I got mildly interested in, haha. And I'm not just referring to looks, the fact that she's a skilled kayaker and could complete the expedition on her own (I was struggling on my second day :( ....) made her more attractive..

Hahaha, unfortunately girl company is not on my current list of priorities right now. And I guess that topic would something interesting to write down about on another post. Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures I managed to scavenge during the trip itself.

20 km route from Pasir Ris WV to Sembawang WV

My kayak partner Jay for our doubles kayak

Members of our Meetup group who are doing operation PengSan

We saw this really huge ship

Stopping at Punggol beach to have our lunch

At Sembawang Water Venture, parking our kayaks here for the night



Setting up camp

The shed that we'll be sleeping under



Beaching off from Sembawang WV the next morning

Horseshoe crab

Kayaking past the sailing club



"Chionging the last few metres to shore

End of Operation Peng San!



Kayaking to Pulau Ubin with strangers

Once again through the meetup portal, I decided to join a group of kayakers, this time.. to paddle from Pasir Ris beach to Pulau Ubin.

And when I've met them in full gear, i realised that these kayakers are very experienced. Water-resistant bags, full sun-protection gear and even possessing their own personal paddles (which costs more than $500, I'm guessing)...

Me- uhh ziplock bags to put my phone and money in, and some cheap $7 sunglasses. i almost didnt want to be there.

However, these people were really nice. Though I was slightly offended at how they were overly worried at my ability to kayak straight in a bandit (my prefered type of kayak), I'm glad they let me join them despite it being my first expedition at sea. This guy known by his forum name jmarki, helped refine my kayaking technique as well as share some useful knowledge of kayaking at sea.

Overall, it was really good experience. 20km which is crazy distance for a first expedition, but i made it through alive (credit to good weather and gentle seas) . Now, I'm prepared mentally and know what to expect on Operation Peng San, a 40 km expedition that I'm going for next week.

A safety briefing before setting off

Made a new friend, Jay, who will be going for Operation PengSan as well

Beaching at Pualu Ubin for lunch

Paddling towards OBS side of Pulau Ubin

Beaching at Coney Island before making our way back to Pasir Ris

Kayaking at Pasir Ris Beach

It's been quite a bit of time since I last kayaked...hence today's practice session along Pasir Ris beach. I'm trying to refresh my paddling skills and see if my kayak can at least move straight for a signifiant distance.

But today's practice session was a bit more special as I'm kayaking with people I've never met before. Today's session was set into motion through a meetup portal called..well..Meetup. It's name has already made the purpose of the website self-explanatory. And all I can say... is that it's a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

I'm in this group called Practice Group for Beginner Kayakers and today would be my first time meeting up with others through this portal. And after today's first virgin experience, I'm glad I took up the opportunity. I'm actually meeting people who enjoy kayaking and outdoor activities as much as me. We shared stories, funny experiences, and I got to learn more about kayaking from the more experienced kayakers.

Today's session ended well. I had so much fun and can't wait for tommorrow's expedition to Pulau Ubin, which I managed to know about through the group as well. Unfortunately, tommorow's weather forecast shows there's going to be thundery showers in the late morning to early afternoon. Hope it's not going to affect the expedition too much. Ah.. can't wait...

The view from Pasir Ris beach



Setting off



A horse-shoe crab. Unfortunately, it's already dead :(

A group shot before we made a U-turn back towards water-venture to wash up.

An injured fish- it was still swimming but in a very weird way.