On the 30th of May(Saturday), Beatty Beavers went on a hike to MacRitchie Reservoir at Thomson Road. All the scouts who were going to this excursion gathered at school just before 9am. A school bus ferried us to Thomson Road and we alighted at the car park of MacRitchie reservoir. There were about 12 of us scouts who went to the HIke, together with Scouter Huda and Scouter Kumanan.
Here is a little information about MacRitchie Reservoir. MacRitchie Reservoir was
constructed in 1867, by a donation of S$13,000 by philanthropist Tan Kim Seng. In 1891, the reservoir was extended and the enlarged impounding reservoir was renamed as Thomson Road Reservoir in 1907. Then, in honour of the Municipal Engineer, James MacRitchie, who designed and built the reservoir, it was renamed again as MacRitchie Reservoir. The park area is approximately 12 hectares and it was opened in 1967. The park has a food kiosk, an exercise station and several shelters and benches that face the scenic reservoir. Knowing all these information really made me appreciate the place even better, since its the oldest resevoir still in existence in Singapore.Since 2 Patrols were involved, Scouter Huda guided Tiger Patrol lead by PL Alvin,
and Scouter Kumanan guided my Patrol (Lion Patrol) lead by PL Xuan Jie. Together as a Patrol, we embarked on our trek along Lornie Trail. Unlike the other trails I've trekked elsewhere, the path was not covered with proper concrete and leaves from the trees filled the path. Shortly after we started walking the Lornie Trail, Scouter Kumanan pointed us to a variety of jungle flora and fauna. One such flora of Macritchie was the Wild Pandan leaf. This plant has two flat edges and in the past, it was use to built attap houses after it had dried up as it was hard enough. Unlike its domestic species, this plant did not have the unique smell. 
After hitting the end of the jungle trail, we decided to take the wooden board trail next to the water. While trekking, we saw plenty of water
skaters, dragonflies and small fishes. We even spotted a kingfisher, which Scouter Kumanan said was a Stork-Billed Kingfisher or otherwise known as Common Kingfisher. There were also some fascinating plants like the Jering plant, which the seeds can be eaten and are use for medicinal uses and the facinating thing about this tree was it's fruit. The fruit of the tree looked like a pocupine, dangerous enough to hurt you. But later we realised that it a way for the fruit to bear the impact on the ground when it falls, just like the durians. Although we took a bus to the reservoir, going back home was different as we had to walk back to School for the Investiture Ceremony. On the way back, our Scouters instructed us to work together as a Patrol, to budget and purchase rations for our lunch, which we were to cook ourselve. The challenge behind this was that, we had $20 given for a patrol of 7 and had to make full use out of it to cook the most number of dishes for lunch.
As we walked back to school, we decided to cook Chicken, Fish, Chye Sim, Rice and Soup. Well doing marketing at the wet market was certainly not an easy job, especially so when it came to choosing the right fish. Hence, we decided to purchase our groceries at Shop and Save, to save all the hassle.
If buying groceries for lunch was a headache, cooking it was a challenge.
Thankfully, my PL (Xuan Jie) and APL (Mao Wei) were both Camp Cooks for NPC 08'. That saved my Patrol slightly, since they were good in instructing us on what to do for cooking. Without them, I guess we probably would end up eating half-cooked food. The food may not be that delicious but we were so hungry that we just gobbled down everything in an instant. Altough cooking as a Patrol was in a state of chaos, since most of us cooked for the first time, I felt it certainly brought our Patrols together well, and I enjoyed every bit of funny moments that happened during the activity.
The day soon ended, with a simple ceremony, which is the Group's 56th, to welcome the tenderfoots into the Worldwide Brotherhood of Scouting, as newly invested Scouts. The Sec 1s took their Scout Promise and were adorn with the Scout Scarve, an identity synonymus with Scouts. The whole ceremony, though short and simple,
reminded me of my very own back in Sarimbun Scout Camp just about a year ago. Looking back, it truly has been an eventful first year for me in Scouting.Reported by,
Jason Tan
(Lion Patrol)
