DSG Hawaii Overseas Exchange Day 6

Day 6 of Dragon Scout Group Hawaii Overseas Exchange, it’s a day of packing up and preparation for the upcoming domestic flight to Big Island on Day 7. First thing in the morning, the boys and girls strike tents, dismantle and place it on the basketball court to clean, dry it from the morning dew and packing it into the bags for storage. The tents would be given to us as gifts that DSG would be bringing it back to Singapore and share with fellow DSG scouts.

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During the morning flag break ceremony, Troop 147 took charge and shared with us how they do their morning ceremony. It’s a Flag Raising ceremony and they taught our boys and girls how it was to be conducted.  During the Flag Raising ceremony, we all learned something new about Scouting in other parts of the world and how they conducted their morning ceremony.

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This was the final few hours that Troop 147 would be spending time with us. During breakfast, there were more interaction, chattering, gifts/badges exchange and photo taking. It was great to see the Scouting spirit and exchange from both sides of Dragon Scouts and Hawaii Scouts. After breakfast, dismantling continued with the big dining tents being taken down by both DSG and Troop 147. With such teamwork together, the job was completed with efficiency and lesser time. The spirit of DSG and Hawaiian Scouts helping each other epitomize our Scout Promise and Law

THE SCOUT PROMISE

On my Honour I promise that I will do my best
To do my duty to God and the Republic of Singapore
To help other people and
To keep the Scout Law

THE SCOUT LAW

A Scout is to be trusted
A Scout is loyal
A Scout makes friends, establishes and maintains harmonious relations
A Scout is disciplined and considerate
A Scout has courage in all difficulties

 The dinning tents were dismantled and stored away. DSG and Troop 147 shake hands and bid goodbye to our Troop 147 friends. They would be packing up and depart from the DAV campsite later in the afternoon while we would be going for a visit to the other side of Oahu, on the windward coast where the Valley of the Temples is located. Mahalo! Till we meet again, Hawaiian Scout Troop 147!

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We had a very scenic drive towards the Valley of the Temples, cutting through the lush green mountains, through a few tunnels too. At the Valley of the Temples lies a cemetery and the main attraction is a Japanese Temple called Byodo-In, which translates to Temple of Equality. Located at the base of the lush valley, Byodo-In was very beautiful and tranquil. There was a big sacred bell bon-sho when visitors crossed the bridge from the car park towards the temple. It was customary for visitors to ring the bell before entering the temple for happiness and longevity. With many DSG boys and girls ringing the bon-sho, we would bring many happiness and longevity to themselves and the DSG family/heritage/history too! Do check out this website for more information on the Valley of the Temples! We stayed there for a while, relaxing, enjoying the peace and tranquility that the Valley of the Temples gave to all of us.

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Next up, we traveled to a nice beach (I would try to find out the name of the beach from my Hawaiian hosts soon), relaxed, took photographs and DSG was leaving their footprints on the sandy beaches, with some interesting captions too! We proceeded to shopping in Honolul, at Hilo Hattie and it was a time for us to grab some gifts for our family and friends back home in Singapore.

Returning back to DAV campsite, it was community service time, for DSG to give back something to society, helping out at the caretaker’s compound while some of them were cleaning the 2 rental vans and cars. With dinner and Flag Lowering, this signaled the end of our stay at DAV campsite for the last night before we fly over to Big Island the next morning. Our backpacks were packed and loaded into a small pick-up truck, helped by our kind Hawaiian hosts who took care our backpacks while we just brought our daypacks over to Big Island. The adventure at Big Island promised to be an eye-opener for all of us and we enjoyed the travel experience far and beyond our imagination.

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