Day 58

We went to Settlers at MP, and when our time ran out, we hopped across the street to Hong Kong Cafe for supper/dessert. I was so looking forward to night cycling, but there were a dozen reasons why we shldn't go that night, so the plan was scrapped. Xuan and i stayed over at Lynn's last night and it was quite cool cos her room was such a....girl's room....It opened my eyes to what a girl's room shld be like. Plus we got to see an endangered species in her house, a pig-nosed Turtle. Completely Lovable, it even had an ornament for it to rest on. Had brunch with Xuan at the nearby hawker ctr and we got to chat for quite a bit on the train ride, reminisent of those bus journeys home when we were in vj.

And here's a pic we took at Settlers. Digicams are so ubiquitous nowadays, every event or outing that we hv there are pictures to post, ppl wld become blasé after some time right? Sigh*

Day 57

It culminated into the most mortifying experience. None of the disaster remedies wld hv helped. I cursed every infinitesimal split-second i had to remain at the scene...

My 2-day relief teaching stint would have ended on a high note had they not decided to extend it and then drop another bombshell this morning. I was to relief a P1 form teacher. Gosh....P1, it took everything out from me to get them quiet and sitting at their desk but their silence cld not last more than 10sec. By the last period (P.E. lesson) I was gasping at them to stop running around the hall! Alas when the bell rang for flag-lowering, the principal strolled past, saw me struggling to gather the class, and so decided to bestow her own 5-minute chider. These 5 minutes....cost me dearly. When she was done, the class stampeded down to their classrooms to take their bags. And they HAD to cross the entire school population already assembled at the courtyard. Everyone was looking as they ran to their classrooms, trailed by their teacher(me) and then head back again to join everyone. Teachers, students, HODs, even the whole line of parents who stood by the gate looked on as the "circus" performed.

If I thought that I had made an impression on the first 2 days, at the end of today, I'd become infamous.

No one needed to hear my defense, I believe all of them had cast their silent verdict on the new teacher.

The Fairy Reel

A awfully nice poem, especially if you read it aloud.

The Fairy Reel

Neil Gaiman

______________________________________________

If I were young as once I was,

and dreams and death more distant then,

I wouldn't split my soul in two,

and keep half in the world of men,

So half of me would stay at home,

and strive for Faërie in vain,

While all the while my soul would stroll

up narrow path, down crooked lane,

And there would meet a fairy lass

and smile and bow with kisses three,

She'd pluck wild eagles from the air

and nail me to a lightning tree

And if my heart would run from her

or flee from her, be gone from her,

She’d wrap it in a nest of stars

and then she'd take it on with her

Until one day she'd tire of it,

all bored with it and done with it.

She'd leave it by a burning brook,

and off brown boys would run with it.

They'd take it and have fun with it

and stretch it long and cruel and thin,

They'd slice it into four and then

they'd string with it a violin.

And every day and every night

they'd play upon my heart a song

So plaintive and so wild and strange

that all who heard it danced along

And sang and whirled and sank and trod

and skipped and slipped and reeled and rolled

Until, with eyes as bright as coals,

they'd crumble into wheels of gold  . . . .



But I am young no longer now,

for sixty years my heart's been gone

To play its dreadful music there,

beyond the valley of the sun.

I watch with envious eyes and mind,

the single–souled, who dare not feel

The wind that blows beyond the moon,

who do not hear the Fairy Reel.

If you don't hear the Fairy Reel,

they will not pause to steal your breath.

When I was young I was a fool.

So wrap me up in dreams and death.

______________________________________________

Day 56

~music.culture.life~

That's the slogan at DXO@Esplanade. I was there today for the event i was mentoring for YCM. Today has been an exceptional day for me, I'm feeling very blessed as I'm writing this, not to mention a bit 'high' such that i thought i couldn't put it off till the morning to write this. I think XX, Des & Daryl are feeling the same way too bcos we just parted ways not long and in less than half an hour they called me out again.....for a late night out. Lol. Unfortunately I rejected their kind offer becos of my 'curfew hours' and also because my shoulders ache badly now. I'm still able to hold out a little longer to type this now-- credit goes to my sis who has just given me a nice shoulder massage. Thank You :)

There was absolutely no hint this morning that the later-half of my day wld be so great. I woke up the latest and had to eat 2 last burnt eggtarts because the other kuehs were gone. And I was having a hard time deciding whether to go to mwh or meet up with the rest to celebrate xx's bdae. Both of which i really wanted to go. MWH bcos aft today it'll be the 2nd coffeeshop outing i'll be missing (the last time was becos i was sick) and I was intending to pass the aunties some presents....XX's bdae bcos i've been missing many class gatherings alr. But for XX i was willing to 'sacrifice' cca.

Met WH and des at Taka at 2 to buy a cake for xx. We went to Rive Gauche-- our class ever-beloved confectionary ever since ZH started the trend. We knew xx didn't like chocolate, but which cake to choose? With raised eyebrows, I volunteered "I've seen xx order mango juice often"....and we all settled for mango cake. Haha. It's amazing we didn't know xx's preference after so long.

Anw the bdae girl was told no one else cld make it except lynn n Sy so she only brought 2 of the Taiwanese biscuits for them. She gave such a huge gasp when the 3 of us popped up at Sushi Tei to suprise her. It was a spirited gathering, xx was talking so animatedly and loud that though i didn't tell her, i thought that the whole restaurant cld hear her. Another suprise came when she returned from the washroom to find a cake waiting for her ;D Gal, so much effort went into the execution of the suprises, i hope you were touched!


Left them at 4+ and rushed to DXO. Alone the whole evening, i was sitting at the bar counter...trying to focus all my attention to the glass of Coke i had because i felt quite conspicuous...I was all alone when everyone was in groups and my top was glowing luminious under the strobe lights (no one had warned me against wearing white). Gosh. Then we played a game whereby we picked one of the cards littered on the floor and had to find our partners with the matching cards. The first 6 couples to complete the challenge were invited onstage. I went and Lo' & Behold there was more installed. We were grouped into fours to form a band. Our group "Hair-Raisers", whose name was proudly contributed by me, won the next round. We were to mime a rock concert to the music rolled out. 1 person was given a wig and a toliet brush as a mike. 2 were given brooms to act as guitarists. Another was given a pot and chopsticks to act as the percussionist. I was one of the guitarist and we rocked to the music. Our group won because the lead singer was so immersed in his role he jumped off-stage. Lol. A courageous performance by all of us.

There were music performance by artistes from Music Story, Project SuperStar finalist Candyce Toh and students from the various ITEs. Best of all, the event climaxed to an end where everyone hit the dance floor. I only looked on, but the energy exuberating from the dancefloor made my heartbeat quicken too. I shld be down there too, if only my friends were with me. Lol.

Then I won at the lucky draw, both 5th (a DVD player) and 6th prize (a hi-fi set). Gosh...I went upstage to carry the huge prize and when I made it back to my seat, I was called up again. It was utterly embarrassing cos I heard many ppl say "Again!!" Tonight's group was really hung up on the lucky draw, at every prize....they urged the mcee to pick another winner if no one came up within the count of 3. So you cld imagine the 'unkindly' reception when i went up yet again.

And because of my huge win tonight, I was unable to even carry the stuff further than the entrance of the pub. In the end stood stranded outside the pub waiting for S.O.S., waiting for all of them to finish their ktv session and come to help me. Standing for an entire hour in heels....that explains the shoulder ache. But god was kind to me, the DXO band started playing al fresco right before me, their crooning deeply engaging, and i even got to watch the soccer match b/w Japan & Australia on the plasma TV. Haha. Halfway through, fireworks lit up the sky....they were having NDP preview today. What a coincidence! I need not tell you how good the view from the Esplanade was...

Finally everybody came and we ate dinner at Makansutra at the Esplanade. We were supposed to meet at Clarke Quay, but everyone accomodated me because of my unexpected new extra baggages and changed location. Thanks again!! We ordered a spread of Hokkien mee, Oyster omelette, Char Kuay Teow, StingRay, Chicken Wings, Carrot Cake....Awesome.

Haha but halfway through, I got a fright. I knocked down my water bottle and it hit a cat on its head. I totally didn't know that there was a cat beside me, much less that my bottle wld hit it and it would stare at me for so long....Hate cats n i didn't dare to look down. It was Daryl who picked up my waterbottle and told me to say sorry to the cat...Sorry...

Anw I got home and Leng told me my name was in today's newspapers. I had won us a $15000 Kitchen makeover. Actually they called me last wk but I was not gg to announce this until we were done with it, but since WH also phoned me to confirm if it was me....i'll confirm that yes it's me....Lol.

I said last night that "Tomorrow will be better" and it was better!

Thanks to Des & Daryl who helped me carry all the stuff tonight, all the way to Boon Keng =) Thank you all for the excellent company today!

Day 55- Book Review

upon Leng's request, i'm gg to write a book review today

Basically this only for your benefit since you said u didn't understd much and wanted my interpretation:

thoughts on THE ALCHEMIST

this book is written extremely beautifully. the script is simple but the essence of it....poetic, illuminating. We already talked abt this and i feel that the reason that i was awashed with reflections while you felt lost was because i linked parts of the book with my own life, my own experiences. I thought that it's also best to just focus on a few paragraphs that are more important.

1. "It's true that everything has its Personal Legend, but one day that Personal Legend will be realized. so each thing has to transform itself into something better, and to acquire a new Personal Legend, until, someday, the Soul of the World becomes one thing only..........That's why alchemy exists....lead will play its role until the world has no further need for lead; and then lead will have to turn itself into gold."

I liked this paragraph because it talks abt progress, and that translates into hope. Hope for a better future. Before reading this book, I thought alchemy was hogwash, i thought of mad scientists giving up their lives just to persue sth that was impossible. But this book gave a brand new meaning to Alchemy.


2. "When I first reached through to it, I thought the Soul of the World was perfect. But later, I could see that it was like other aspects of creation, and had its own passions and wars. It is we who nourish the Soul of the World, and the world we line in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse. And that's where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are."

This one underscores the meaning of our lives. It's not abt love in the romantic sense, but more of humanely love, all-encompassing kind. We all leave behind a legacy that exceeds our lifetime. It doesn't have to be a legacy that you have to be aware of, doesn't have to be something great........but we all leave behind an imprint on this Earth, this Universe. And it makes you want to leave behind as positive an impression as possible.

3. "Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. they are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend...." and "We, people's hearts, seldom say much abt those treasures bcos ppl no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them- the parth to their Personal Legends, and to happiness.......So we, their hearts, speak more and more softly. We never stop speaking out, but we begin to hope that our words won't be heard: we don't want people to suffer because they don't follow their hearts."

I was worried when I read till this part because it reminded me of my own Personal Legend. I thought abt what I wanted to study (you know what)......but I kept it buried in my heart. I still think of it sometimes and i still cling on to the hope of fulfilling it one day. But I'm worried that my heart will "speak softer and softer".......I want to be like the boy who told his heart to sound the alarm if he was "off-course" and swore that he'd heed the alarm bells if it rang. The "mysterious force" is not so "mysterious" afterall to me, it takes the form of family commitments, financial problems, fear of the unknown etc. But apart from all that, I felt the author was creative enough in his approach on the subject. He had approached it from the heart's perspective. It's like there's a little voice calling out inside you and many ppl just blanket it out, that's when our lives fail to have a meaning, we lose track of our Personal Legends.

See, I singled out these paragraphs because they were related to me. But there r others too, like how the boy speaks to his heart, how he cleverly improves the business at the crystal merchant's, the story told by the king abt the spoon of oil, how the boy was told to observe the omens, how he spoke the Language of the Universe in a foreign land......all of it is touching in itself.

But gal, you also don't hv to read too deep into the story la......along the way i was enjoying the scenery too.....like i loved how they called the wind "levanter", and how the shepherd boy came from a country called "Andalusia", all the beautiful names. Remember "Maktub"-- the most beautiful things in life are not seen, heard or spoken but felt by the heart.


thoughts on AMERICAN GODS


thoughts on ANANSI BOYS


(I'll do them later......)

Day 54- Ipoh Cameron Trip

~a Pensive adagio~

I feel i've been guilty of negative knee-jerk responses....like when ppl invite me to sth, i say 'no'; when someone says i like you, i say 'no'; when someone asks do you want sth, i say 'no'; when answering how are things gg, i say 'fine'; when someone ask me how is your trip...i say it's 'ok', when actually i cld've said 'it was great'.

Then afterwards i'd grimace inwardly, wishing i'd said more or "yes please"...

My first response to "how was the trip?" was "it was not bad but i wished we cld've seen more if not for the rain". I was reflecting on my weekend trip to Ipoh and Cameron when i realised that the truth of the matter is that it didn't take me long to list some things that were worth remembering. Amongst all the griping on what we didn't do, there were events that shone through (at least for me) and these ought to be retained.

For this trip, what was most important for me was the cultural exchange. Ipoh wasn't very much different from Spore in terms of architecture landscape but it was different in its people. I found it really exciting to be part of a whole Cantonese-speaking population. And they were not like the unfriendly Hongkongers i met in HK. The generousity extended was sincere. I enjoyed ordering food in Cantonese, listening to the stall vendors speak Cantonese, learning Cantonese with JL from Cat and LY etc. When we were in the Dianxin restaurant, an old lady held my arm and said sth to me in Cantonese when we left the table and i smiled bk....(which coincidentally reminds me of the Language of the Universe from The Alchemist which I'm reading now). Many thanks to LY and his family who also GENEROUSLY hosted us.

I remember how the fruit seller who supplied us with so much free fruits that I ate the most the nx morning, and the sweet corn that we had to lug back to Spore and which is still in my fridge. I remember the vendor selling honey who was generous with his compliments and with his honeycombs samples. I remember how some friends from Cameron drove down to help jumpstart our engine when our car broke down midway bk to Ipoh. Thank you lots!

When we were in Ipoh, we got to taste white coffee and I got to stock up on sweets and mashmallows :) We also got to visit the temples in the hills where we fed the tortises kangkong and the columbarium. When we drove up to Cameron it wasn't particularly scenic but i sorta felt like i sat through a geography lesson. Terraced land, landslides, freshwater streams, plantations.....flashed past. We were split in 2 cars and kudos to the drivers cos while we got to sight-see, it was tiresome for them to drive us for hours.

The climax of the trip wasn't Cactus valley for me, but the Pasar Malam. I can't exactly pinpoint why, maybe it was because we were recharged from the steamboat dinner, maybe it was the nice weather. Or maybe it was the whole buzz of the night mkt, its many stalls that sold flowers and tea and toys, and the sweet smell of fried food that wafted through the air.

Cactus Valley was also memorable. The place was brimming with flowers of every kind and we got to pose for so many photos until eventually my camera battery was exhausted. I enjoyed the opportunity to once again appreciate Nature. So much greenery and fresh air for our lungs that cannot be matched in Spore.

Unwittingly ever since we boarded the bus we were already part of this whole cultural exchange...the wakeful sleep we had on the coach watching some stupid show called "big bad wolf", the number of highway toll booths Cat n I were trying to count, the lack of streetlamps along the journey... In Ipoh, I found out Orange plus Watermelon juice is completely unheard of and if you order that you'll be charged double. I enjoyed shopping at the departmental store and listening to LY speak Cantonese and Malay to the salespeople depending on whether they were Chinese or Malays. It made me wonder what if I were born in Msia.....maybe my dialect won't be so bad afterall (and my grandparents wld be proud of me) and i can switch between languages easily. One part of the cultural difference which i failed to fit in was......"littering"....

Lastly, i'll remember the purple cabbage, purble broccoli, purple yam chips, chocolate-coated strawberries, and the vermillion roses we tried to 'sneak' past the customs (actually we just brazenly carried them past). I'll remember drinking so many cups of water in the morning as forfeits such that everyone was rushing to use the toilet. I'll remember the "Rock" game which we couldn't get enough of. I'll remember Cat getting high after the beer session on the first night.

Suprisingly yesterday AhGong made me a sour plum drink which I had for the first time 2 days back in Ipoh.


http://picasaweb.google.com/sheeyee/IpohCameronTrip
http://picasaweb.google.com/jun240885/IpohTripJuly07

Day 53

Cedarian gathering on Wed. During dinner at Waraku restaurant, the staff there were v fired up, shouting orders and constantly patrolling the aisle and getting WF all annoyed haha. I reasoned that it was some sort of "psychological tactic" used to hurry the dinners. Like once they see your plate empty they suddenly appear at your side to clear them so that you do not dally ard and make the ppl queuing outside wait too long. But ironically we spent nearly 10 min trying to get their attention when we wanted the bill so i wonder if my reasoning was correct. Anw i had this 'uma tama don' which sounded like some profanity that i was almost in a whisper when i ordered my food.

The turnout was good 7 ppl, almost our whole ol' clique of 8 since everybody's back from their exchange prog. We took a stroll along Clark Quay to check out 'from outside' the pubs n eateries by the riverside. I didn't know they gave the place a face lift such that it now looks more happening. Along the way i picked up a Turkish ice-cream....

Everyone

Turkish Ice-Cream!

Day 52

I think it's been too long since i last went to the zoo so yesterday when i saw a monkey i was slightly entranced. The resident spotted it and grabbed my hand asking me along so i grabbed another resident's hand and all of us went "monkey seeing". This particular monkey was 'huge' and it actually climbed into one of the wards and stole an egg to eat! It broke the egg by dropping it from the 2nd floor...another amazing feat. Anw i was also gladdened that the residents actually responded to the monkey.....becos sometimes when i'm talking to them they stare blankly n i keep wondering if they understd me. It's nice to keep them engaged cos i won't want to sit 24/7 with my mind totally blank. When i'm old nx time...(maybe in a home like that) i hope someone does the same for me :)

Day 51

Attended ahChong's wedding reception on sat. Congrats to the newly weds. A very compatible couple. Although we're like sort of 'distant' relatives, when i saw how caring he was towards his wife and i was happy for them :) 777 couples got married on 070707 and it's so cool to be able to say you know at least 1 out of these 777 couples and didn't miss out on all the excitement!

Well as distant relatives we only meet once every cny....anything other than that wld be what Chinese describe as "red/white" affairs. It's a pity not knowing your relatives well.... Like every cny we go there n watch a video of one of our supposed cousins at the lion dance tournament. They're natn'l champs who rep spore yearly n are extremely talented, but there is that sense of detachment somehow watching them from the blackbox. Finally we got to meet them in person today! I tried breaking the ice with 2 'new' cousins and we mumbled a few words to each other. it wasn't a terrific exchange but at least, they got to know of our existence and that was the takehome of the wedding today.

~Birkenstock sandals r not for gals only~

Day 50

Seem to be mtg up with the same ppl many times this wk. We went to ECP today and played some games at the beach....frisbee, charades, 'lao ying zhua xiao ji', BFSF etc. and each demanded forfeits. Ended with an egg tart feast and then headed to the arcade to watch Yq do the parapara dance. It looked fun, if i hv the chance one day i'll try it too.

Day 49

Attendance was poor at mwh and for the 1st time i was actually happy to leave right on time. Jam n i went shopping at Vivocity. Jam's a great shopping partner n i realised she has gd funky taste for clothes. Too bad we can't really dress up when we're volunteering or in sch. We made a pact to shop for dresses tog aft we graduate in a year's time. Shopping wld be better then when $$ comes in..

after tt i joined tim n jo for the Shine post party at Coastes @Siloso Beach. I was looking fwd to it actually, a beach party! and u had to rsvp for it! but it turned out to be a small event, more like a guise for a celebratory gathering for the main comm ppl, none of them i knew. plus i felt bad cos i knew 2 of them didn't want to go n i was like...a huge lamp-post in the way?? anw it's no fun gg to parties w/o a partner, only consolation was gd food, free flow of ahem....soft drinks n juice, and free performances.

Day 48

After a seemingly interminable long wait, finally it was my last day. Auntie C was super nice, she not only told me her name n address and asked me to visit her someday. She offered to buy me nasi lemak and also showed me her grand-daughter's photo n said i remind her of her grand-daughter. Wahahaha...I'll miss her. Then the previous saga continues as uncle A did not show up. Heard fr a few ppl he's confined to bed and contemplating making a police report. But since it's my last day i won't know the ending.....but i've got a hunch these r just exaggerated gossips n the whole matter will fuse aft awhile.

For lunch, i met JX and YQ at PP and we went to eat at the hawker ctr before joining the rest at Katong Shopping Ctr for KTV! Ha, they told me to recommend food cos i'm supposed to know the area as an ex-victorian but i cldn't really think of anything excellent cos i nv did venture out during my schooldays. Haiz, lousy me. For dinner we settled for Katong Laksa and rojak (my treat :)) Hope nx time they'll treat me back!! haha. I was mortified when someone asked me what i sang when he heard i went ktv...*hai* don't ask! =X(wo de hua wen bu shi hen hao....)

~KTV gang~

~Girls~

~Guys~

Day 47

"AYE-YA-AI-YA-AI" the newspaper job is getting more and more dramatic. Today 2 uncles came to blows with each other....all becos Indian guy A took a Chinese paper from me and the Chinese guy B was not happy abt it. Two men both over 60 yrs and fighting over a newspp!! Omg.

*Hai* but this put to test the Genovese Bystander effect which we learnt in class. Would I step out to stop a fight if I saw one? or would i standby and do nothing? I got my answer today. I'm ashamed to say I stood by, luckily there was another Mister who intervened to break the fight. This was most heroic as the Mister had to come b/w the 2 men who meant business.... The way I saw B throw a punch at A. Whoa....

Anw Auntie C (the previously featured) came along today and bought me biscuits. Knowing that Friday's my last day she said that she'll miss me since now that we've "grown chummy" if another distributor comes along she's worried that they "won't get along as well". Haha Auntie C has been consuming too much honey lately. Btw us, we know the real reason....

Then there's the industrious Auntie D & E. Trying to fool me everyday by making several trips and cleverly seizing the opportunity by slipping into the queue when I'm the busiest. I'm not stupid...I see you...just that I won't blow ur cover. But!! Come on, if you do it too many times I can't pretend to be the fool so many times ya? Haha.

All in a day's work. Countdown to last day: 2

Day 46

The old lady and I finally put aside all animosity. I guess she realised my point and offered to buy me coffee this morning and was all smiles. Yayz!



Morning breadfast was Ah-Ma's homemade dumplings cos Dumpling Festival was 2 days back. 温馨 :D

Day 45

Finally a reprieve! Went to watch Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer with the Expo gang. A long awaited gathering which proceeded to Villa'ge then deserts. Omg, we ate so much yesterday...high on sugar....Really missed this group of ppl, it's wonderful that we can all meet up, take pictures with cows, drink until our faces turn red and eat melted ice-cream in a bowl :)

Day 44

Just back from camp and went to wk already.

I had lunch with 'three and a half' white men. It was funny. This morning, I went for WC mini roadshow. First time wkg for the 3 doctors + J. It's nice wkg for them, slackers....machine down, close shop. Haha that's the spirit. We nv had that back at CF. Anw these 3 doctors....I still haven't broke the ice with them yet, but they were v gracious, treating me to lunch and trying to entertain me at the lunchtable although I'm sure they felt pretty awkward with me there, cannot start their usual laughing furore. I love the "Hehe" they passed around the table, I actually fell for that! - There's a difference b/w Country Club and Community Club- ;-)

Day 43 -NVAC CAMP!!!

I’m back =) It was an eventful camp from 14-16 June.

J-- Jamboree, Vivacious, Convivial, Geniality; our four OGs
U-- Unexpected wet weather that pushed our limits
X-- Accident…along AYE
T--“The best things in life cannot be seen or touched but felt by the heart.”
A-- Amazing Race, Amazing People—I met a cool tourist who wanted my pic haha 8-D
P-- Phantoms. Why can’t we just call it Fright Night instead of Confidence Night?
O-- *ouch* Sunburn!
S-- Spirit of Compassion, SP game (we nearly won)
E—Enthusiasm + Energy, lots of it despite the lack of sleep!

Many beautiful memories to take back again….

Day 0:
There was a YCM meeting that night which lasted till 1030h. Highlight of meeting- greenhorns + tap-tap game. I went home, bathed and was given a lift to school by Tim at 0000h. What we did: discuss last minute program details, prepare and sort out log stuff. It was 0445h when they decided to go to Geylang for supper. Gwen, Ame and I stayed behind… Thanks to ZB for helping me cut out all the cue cards and stuff… he was the only counselor who joined us that night. This was different from last year when there were so many of us, but it was just as well, made it a tight-knitted ‘sleepover party’. Slept in an upright sitting position that night till my feet were numb. No. of sleep hrs: 2

Day 1:
Woke up at 0700h with a good start because of the nice warm chicken porridge bought back by Edwin from Geylang. We started preparing the wasabi, chili and salt + lemon sandwiches for the Sandwich Game. Feedback was that some people felt discomfort eating the sandwiches. Ey… maybe we overdid it? But the idea was to have fun, not to cause discomfort. Apologies =p

Joined my beloved Geniality team for some ice-breakers. Edwin had told me to prepare a whole long list of ice-breaking games (ice-breaking team-building, not ice-building team-breaking!!) but we did not use any. Instead we played the Big Fish Small Fish game. It was the first time I played that game and it was fun! Guess who suggested the game and did the most forfeits? Poor Titus… the 6 candid shots & the Indian Dance were excellent =) hope the pictures get developed quickly!!! I want to see!! Who ask u to sit beside me? Haha. Then we played Heart Attack and stampeded towards Edwin when Ken won. Some things never change…. Way to go on the Gatsby forfeit (go JL!!), the Twinkle Twinkle (who would’ve thought someone didn’t know how to sing that song?), and HE carrying Nim!

Then it was Banana Soccer and Captain’s what. How teams? Did you guys like the durian that had been kept in storage for 4 days? And Banana Soccer… poor bananas that were injured=p

After lunch was home visits to IMH and MWH. I heard many people were trying to stay awake for the imh talk… haha I understand, I was struggling not to sleep too last year but I still did. Lol. But MWH was fun wasn’t it? Someone played soccer until got injured so ‘ping ming’ means must be fun la, too bad I wasn’t there.

At last, Night O- my baby #1. We went around watching the teams at the different stations. It was fun seeing everyone getting wet and dirty and dressed funnily. Ame told me they broke 2 of my masks and necklace… aiyoh why so violent? I think that station was good and in my opinion, Ame is always one of the best station mistresses around! For me, it was gratifying answering all the distress calls asking for clues to the stations. Challenging eh? Kudos to ZY who came down to help as station master despite his busy schedule.

Who would have thought later that night brought even more surprises? We took the van out to buy stalls for Program and “shun bian” grab some supper. But on our way back on the AYE, 2 tires burst and the van tilted towards the centre barrister. Fortunately, HE managed to steer the van back on course. Although the van was badly damaged it was lucky there were no major injuries except me who hit my head and Edwin who sprained his back. Wah… I was jolted awake to see a spray of bougevilla leaves and twigs and flowers in my face I thought a tree branch had fallen on us just like the bizarre chain of tree-falling incidents recently. I think HE was visibly shaken then cos he said some incoherent things. Relax it was nobody’s fault. The van was just too old. Thanks to Nim who told me stories while we were stranded along the AYE and pointed out the silver lining (luckily it didn’t happen during the day), you can always count on him for that. My 1st supper led to my 1st accident….me and my carrot cake… No. of sleep hrs: 1.5

Day2:
We started SOC late because of manpower shortage. In the end I was assigned a station with JL. My job was easy, just had to enjoy JL’s superb acting as a 3 year old minds kid. Everyone commented during this camp that we saw a 180-degree change in him but I think a few of us knew (the impish always recognizes another imp). Anyways good job, thanks to everyone who acted. I really believe acting can be quite challenging and it’s wonderful that people actually volunteer for it haha. I think it’s because you get to hold the girl’s hands for what seemed like eternity ya JL? At one point I was about to shout “Cut, that’s enough!”

Afternoon we had Amazing Race. I was at Vivocity. Again it was gratifying to see everyone scrambling to solve the clues we had painstakingly thought up. But what was best was the wading pool where I could see the teams run in re-enactment of BayWatch beach glamour! Yummy-licious! I went to join Cat after the 2 teams had finished to go to ECP together, only to be in for another pleasant surprise…

A cute Aussie called Rowland stopped me when I was coming out of the underpass. Imagine cute Caucasian eating “Ba Zhang” (meat dumplings) calls out to you and chats with you about the sights and sounds of Singapore. For a moment there, being his temporary tour guide I felt a surge of pride for the nation Muhahaha. He followed me to the Singapore River to find the teams. He got me to pose for a picture and then it was my turn to take a picture for him. I was wondering why he emptied his pockets after he handed me the camera. But when he started doing a handstand in front of everybody along the river I was deeply impressed! So cute! And so I took a picture with him doing a handstand with the Merlion in the background. He told me he did this pose in every country he visited, that’s so original I don’t think any local guy would be this fun. He said he did Salsa dancing and “I’m in Law”…wah…..hahaha. He also said he’d email me the pictures. I hope he does =)

Beach games were pretty fun too. It’s a pity we only played 1 game. There were more in store if not for the wet weather delay. But haha I got to play too! Last year I missed out on the fun cos can’t expect the guys to carry the tall and heavy girls right? Later they back pain cannot get up how?? Ha but this time Geniality was short of girls so poor Titus had to ‘sacrifice’. Although we lost to Vivacious, it was because our team was playing for the second time in a row and Vivacious just had a break. Not fair haha. We saw a rainbow that day :)

Night time was crazy. Shortage of ‘ghosts’ so I had to sacrifice. What a mad rush as we dug the dungeon for rags to act as costumes and make up ourselves in the shortest time possible. Fight night was never rehearsed; we didn’t even have a story. Luckily, Cat and I chose a station where we could be together and we came up with ideas on how to scare the participants and improvised it along the way. We actually thought our station was quite a failure because a few pairs were not scared and one pair escaped before we could get into our positions to act our part. Another group kept chanting “restless souls” and “mass graves” as if it would chase the ghosts away. I don’t know why they did it but it made me laugh and so some of the scary effects was lost. But there were some encouraging comments after that saying our station was the scariest and Cat also emerged the best ‘ghost’! Way to go my ‘sister ghost’!!

It was a big sacrifice that night, had to endure ZY and J’s nicknames teasing =p and the camo paint…. I had to wash my face 5 times to get it all off. I was sun-burnt that day like a lobster already (Nim said ‘nice legs’…) and with all the scrubbing and washing… *ouch 3x* No. of sleep hrs: 1

Day 3:
The 5 of us involved in the accident were due for the investigation this morning but for some reasons it didn’t materialize. I was in NUSSU sec preparing for MWH Highlight (my baby #2) while participants were having Disability Challenge. It was raining and everything was delayed. At 1300h when we were to board the bus to Pasir Ris Park, we got a call that it was raining there and so we cancelled it and held the highlight in school. But the original plan of Triathlon could not be played as it involved cycling and beach games. We had to think up new games to play on the spot. Geez. CH was sick and Edwin was to collect the kids and so only Ame and I were left. Sigh* luckily everyone chipped in and we managed to prepare and get ready the stalls before the kids arrived. Thanks to Convivial and Jamboree for blowing all the balloons and Vivacious for doing the raisin station. Thanks to main com and Gary for helping tie the gigantic net! Later we even threw in an ad-hoc school tour. Some of the boys were really mischievous and lacked civic-mindedness but generally there were some who were interested in getting to know about the campus and tertiary life. They were also happy for an outing. Thank goodness we pulled it off! A bit wasted for all the games that could not be played though, maybe we can do it during post-camp retreat if we have one??

Great, then it was D&D! Yay, the place that Edwin suggested, Cosy Bay at Kallang Stadium was fantastic, the food was good. We moved outside for games, SP game, pass the parcel, lap game etc. For SP game, we had to do the Chicken Dance followed by a gesture to identify our SPs. Haha mine was a ‘Huang Fei Hoong’ pose and my SP turned out to be…..*drum roll*…JX. Well we played the elimination rounds and were one of the 4 couples left. It was a close fight between us and Jonathan and WM’s team. We were so close but lost to them still haha but it was fun. Shrek and Fiona only exchanged one letter in total haha. Thks for the chocolates! Anw we were supposed to play a trick on Edwin, Ame and CH pretending to be his SP and then leaving him to do the ballerina pose all by himself that day but he did not do the pose till the end leh….too bad. Our PD was so confirmed his SP was KH before that. We had prize giving, I forgot what Geniality got only know we cheered =X and our OGL won best OGL! WTG! I think we did great on our skit too! Three cheers for Captain NVAC, Shrek, Fiona, Donkey! Hip hip horaay!

Months of hard work, gallons of sweat and gazillions of brain cells died trying to make this camp a success. Although we did not have many freshies, the overall spirit of fun and compassion was still there! Always complained that I got bluff in this by Edwin but hmm….guess I still had fun as part of the MC. However….I think I may need to do more good deeds to make up for the bad I’m guilty of throughout these 3 days.

Evil deed count:
1) Prepared sandwiches
2) Mastermind behind the durian
3) banana soccer
4) Titus 'Big Fish Small Fish' nemesis
5) “The person behind Jamie”… sorry your trust was misplaced haha
6) Mastermind behind Edwin’s fuke SP “Invisible Woman”
7) All the NiteO crap

Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/atomatics/NvacCamp
http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j200/beaudev/Juxtapose%202007/
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/liraelyn/070614NVACJuxtapose07?authkey=lZLqvEPg1ks
http://www.pbase.com/jianxiong/nvac_camp_07

~only photo tt survived that night~
~already washed my face 2x~
~During D&D~
~beach games~
~Nite O~

Day 42

Had my 1st YCM "Let's meet" session with the applicants today. Then our group at at this coffeeshop on Armenian St. It's quite cool meeting the applicants, some talk alot while some simply didn't know what they were doing. But meeting the ppl, made the projects seem more real as compared to the 1st time when I missed the session and then attended the panel mtg. Looking fwd to the nx session :) 1.5 months time!

Fields of Hope

Nice song that I'm trying to master too :)

Day 41

Last tues we went to recee Pasir Ris Park and I got to cycle for 2 hrs. I never realised PRP was so big. Found out also that 1) I really like the sea and 2) I've a phobia of red ants. Yesterday I also went to TPCC to play badminton and I feel a bit stiff today...it seems like a 'keep fit week' this wk. Anticipating another weekend gone bcos of pre-camp.


The mad man has left me alone since. But there was an old lady who scolded me. Said she wanted to collect for some PAP member who was her friend. Said that the person was a bigshot how can I expect him/her to come down to collect personally? Made a big fuss out of it for 2 days. Sry, PAP also cannot bend rules. I'll lose my job if i make an exception for every tom dick or harry says he's collecting for their constituency member.