Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008 - Part 6

5th Dec - I woke up with coughs and cold. As I said, Temburong has a very different environment and the breeze is just, cold. Giving me fever at night. Despite that, I knew I had to make my move for the new day of the camp.

That morning, I was checking on the food at Department of Schools in Bangar. All was ready but campers were no where to be seen. A call from Danny made it all clear. The bus driver was late! He was supposed to pick up the kids at 7.30am but by 8am, he arrived at the Department of Schools, and without the bus key!! I couldn't believe it!! By 8.30am, he made his move to pick up the campers at Teratak Madu. Campers at Teratak Gaharu had already made their move to Bangar Resthouse by walk. Zimin made the call to Irman to inform me that he was going to bring the kids to walk to where Danny was. I thanked him for that and I passed the info to Danny. It was only 10 minutes walk to there afterall.

By almost 9am, all campers had their breakfast and I seeked Irman's help to drive me to Kampong Belais to make sure the preparation for Wajid making was ready there. All was ready when we got there, even the RTB people were ready with their cameras :) I then told the Wajid makers to wrap as many Wajid as they could as the Singaporeans were willing to buy some to bring back to Bandar.

The buses arrived at after 9am and we spent almost 2 hours there witnessing the making of Wajid and how it was wrapped. Earlier during breakfast, 2 Singaporean girls approached me and asking whether they could buy the Wajid later on. As I said they could, they gave high-five with one another! Apparently, they loved the taste of it. I gave them a few to eat the night before. I had asked Irman to buy me $10 of the Wajid so I could give some to the Singaporeans to taste before they actually witnessed the making of it the next day :)

I met Juraini, the RTB host. She happened to be Irman's friend too. She wanted to interview me but thinking that I would cough in between interview, I had her interview Danny instead. Sowwiee Danny kekeke :P Jasmine, the Singaporean chaperon was interviewed too. 3 Singaporean and 2 Bruneian campers were interviewed as well. By 11am, Danny had all the campers thanking Haji Ahad for his hospitality that day. The buses left without me soon after while Irman drove Zimin, Didi and HA to Bangar, leaving me and Sharul behind.

Waiting for Irman to pick us up, we killed the time chit-chatting with Haji Ahad and his family. Juraini and her crew were still staying back and as they had to make their move to report on 'Cuti-Cuti Temburong' in Bangar, she called Irman, telling him that she'd bring me and Sharul back to his place. It was very nice of her :) One of her crew drove us to Irman's, who happened to be Irman's ex student. All the way he talked about what a good teacher Irman was :) Sharul and I were proud! :)

Back at Irman's place, it only took me a few minutes rest as I got Danny's text asking me to check on the lunch for the kids at Department of Schools. Feeling bad, Sharul let Irman stay home while he'd drive me there. He had driven us almost everywhere in the last 24 hours!! At Department of Schools, the food was ready. The group got there a few minutes later. I had a quick bite then left back to Irman's. I needed to pack my things for the ride home to Bandar later that afternoon. Danny asked me to buy him souvenirs for the Singaporean chaperons when he learnt that I would buy mine soon as I reached Bandar. Poor Danny! He'd been so busy with the camp that he didn't have the time for himself. I was partly to blame! :( Why did I have to fall sick during the camp?!! Sigh~~ Sorry Danny for not being around 24 hours to help you with our camp :(

At Irman's place, I cooked instant noodles for lunch while Sharul fried the sausages. Irman was sleeping in the living room by that time. Poor Irman. He must be tired driving us everywhere. Sorry Irman :( After lunch, I had an hour nap. By this time, my cough ad gone worse and my breathing had become asthmatic with wheezing. Temburong had just killed me!!

Sharul and I got back to Bandar roughly at 4pm. The bumpy ride left me in pain and my right rib became sore and hurting. By then, every breath that I took caused me a sharp pain in my right rib, as well as my back. Really painful, I felt really weak. But I kept telling myself, 1 more day Suzi. 1 more day ....

After buying souvenirs, I rushed back to Sharul's to borrow his computer and printer. Danny just told me to type an evaluation form for all campers to fill in. Done with that, I rushed to make copies of the form at Batu Besurat. I was late! The Closing Ceremony started at 7.30pm and I had the Program Books!! Thanks to Fatin and Nadia, Sharul's sisters, for helping me with the stickers. There were 170 copies to make! Fuhh!

Reaching Rizqun Hotel, Fred commented on my pale look. She was worried about my condition. I gave her most of the Program Books while I took a few upstairs for the guests who had arrived. At Songket Ballroom, I was told that I'd be sitting at Table 1, with HN and the Guest of Honour, Hajah Aishah, the Director of Schools herself. Before she arrived, I had the SBC 2007 : Kinah, Didi, Hardinie and Din, to sing the closing camp song "Till We Meet Again". They'd lead the junior campers to sing the song later on onstage.

The Closing Ceremony went smoothly. I couldn't leave the table to help Danny and the rest as it would be unwise to do so. Besides, I'd to brief the guests at my round table on the camp: how it had gone, and how the kids from both countries had blended in throughout the camp. I also needed to brief them on the 4 skits of folktales of Nakhoda Manis, Sang Nila Utama, Sultan Bolkiah and The Swordfish Attack on Singapura, mostly on the nightly practice and props preparations. The important guests at my table were also impressed with the campers' Zapin and Joget's performances. When I told them it was only done in 3 nights, they were indeed surprised. As for me, I was proud of them :) They did so well that I almost cried.

Before the ceremony ended, we were surprised with the presentations of best drama, best actor and best actress :) The Killer Bees won! They performed the Sultan Bolkiah skit. Yusrey of G-cube won the best actor. He was the Sultan of Singapura in The Swordfish Attack on Singapura drama while Maftuhatus Sainah won the best actress. She was a Killer Bees and acted as Puteri Laila Menchanai.

After the prize and certificate giving ceremony, the audience were shown a video clip of the activities during the camp. The ballroom was full with applauses and laughters for a while. The campers then went onstage to perform the dances, followed with the singing of the closing camp song "Till We Meet Again". Some campers had started crying by now. As they had finished, they hugged each other and were instructed to sit on the stage and face the monitor. It was yet another video clip. This time, it was the BSC 2008 Memories video clip. The 5-minute video had made all the campers cry, and I must admit, I almost got myself crying too. Next, it was a photo taking session with the Guest of Honour. I must say, the kids looked sad in the pixies hehhee :P

Before leaving, the Guest of Honour received greetings from all. I just waited near the entrance. By this time, I was feeling weak and I really needed to leave soon. It was really cold in the ballroom and seeing the wild kids, I had to control myself. My SBC 2007 campers knew my condition and it was sweet when they kept asking how I was feeling :)

Hjh Aishah saw me just before she turned away to leave. She stopped and walked back towards where I was standing. "I must thank this lady! I must kiss you!!" With that, she hugged me and kissed both my cheeks. I was surprised as I didn't expect that from her. She continued, "Well done for a successful camp!" I replied with a smile, "We have a good team Cikgu Hajah." She left with a satisfaction smile on her face! :)

For the next 30 minutes, the kids were onstage still, taking pictures, with me too, hugging each other, with me too, bla bla bla. It was hectic. It felt like they were going to get separated at that very moment. By 10.15pm, all campers made their move to go on with the plan: walking towards the Gadong Night Market. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily so they went straight to Wasan Camp instead. By bus of course! ;)

HN congratulated me for the successful camp. By that time, my breathing had gone faster and I couldn't talk much. Sharul was no where to be seen. Turned out to be, he was asleep so I had to wait for him in the cold weather for at least 30 minutes. As soon as getting on his car, I told him to drive me to the hospital. I needed that oxygen support urgently.

My asthma had attacked me again. This time, it was worse than before ...