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Monday, February 21, 2005
Hey guys, just popping by to say hi before disappearing again... The camp was great, learnt alot, and so do i think my juniors did... More details, other day... now vvvvv tired, just returned home, dead beat tired... Before i leave, Bros, miss u all alot a lot haha.. hey u all take care k?? remember to have regular meal times k??? stay positive and smile always, i will be back soon...
Remembering On|2/21/2005 12:24:00 AM|
Friday, February 18, 2005
Alrite, new song, "Love Me"... Not asking you all to love me, just felt that its very touching ya... Such beautiful love story... Hahah but of coz if u want to love me i dun mind haha who mind being loved rite hahaa... Tune up ur speaker btw, if its a bit too soft, you got to listen closely to the lyrics... its posted on my blog too... look beside the eagle... its juz so sweet... hahaha...
Aww tml till 27 i am going to disappear for a long while, perhaps juz return on some days for some lessons and off i go again... haha Worldview youth conference... well as u all know by now haha i just cant sit still, always on the go, Yup yup!!! Got to spice up my life a little ya haha... Well, for this round, i get to be the direct coordinator for it, and imptly, i get to work with my juniors and having faith that it would be a great experience for them... Tml First day of the conference... Camp... haha NACLI well quite eager to go ya... hahaha really i must say the admin work, all the coordination, all these arh small case haha... but the withdrawal symptom is really well, cause of some people and my academic i guess... but one thing that really that is holding me back is awww i am going to so miss my dear bro... ahhahaa... going to miss him so much... He told me he will still be here(JJ) and wun die haha.... i know, he better dont haha... i am going to be so sad and grieve if he wld be ... Aww dear brother... you too, take care ya??? Going to miss you lots and smile always!!! Remember the day will only be interesting, if you allow it to be ya??? You will always be my great brother yeah ahaha... also to all my other frenz... hey study hard hahah... i will be back to join u guys soon again haha... meanwhile dun lose the stamina, train it... build it slowly and progressively, dont plunge into it, neither do u do nth about it ... build the pace slowly ya??? hahaha and u all too.. Smile!!! Day wish to be interesting... make it ya??? Alrite got to go... will be back soon... Yup Yup!!! haha...
Remembering On|2/18/2005 10:48:00 PM|
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Great Day! haha cant help it but to blog this very moment i just reached home haha... Alrite, went out with Andre, Yuyin and Juniors (Alycia, Cyril, Gillian, Jerome, Samuel) today for lunch and after which we went for pool haha... not swimming pool but eh the table type of pool... If u still dont know what i m talking about, you know those that the ball swim but not us.. Very colourful balls hahaa... Hard also... Then you control the balls with a stick.. Crap...
Anyway... I was very excited since the morning... woke up, do some work... so much work haha... piling up... But like i bother, haha when in history did my work not pile up... Alrite fine haha...
First, Lakeside MRT...
Bro was like super early, meeting time was 1pm but he was there at 1230 pm i got quite a shock actually ahah... At that time i was just wearing my shoes.. haha... then i rushed out, went to meet him.. He was there erm, sleeping?? haha though his head was covered by his hands but well haha i can still recognised him haha hard to miss actually... Then sat beside him waited for the rest... Oh ya Jerome too, one more super early one... He was standing at a corner when i reached the station, of course ask him over... Then Alycia and Samuel, 2nd lastly Gillian... But we're still waiting haha... someone not here yet hahah... But not her fault, its not time yet we said 1pm haha and still only 1255 hahaha... so we waited... While waiting, i was speculating how yuyin wld appear and poor bro haha have to sit there and hear all my crappy speculations... I was telling him haha who knows like princess diary, then she walk like some elegant princess to find herself falling down the stairs like in the movie haha, yu yin, dun angry k? hahaha just got nth to do then start fantasing some dumb movies haha... Moreover, u so tall like the princess hahah... Anyway yup... Finally, ok this is reality, she walked down the stairs and we got together and we started walking to the bus stop... Btw realised??? haha where's Cyril??? He's still in the MRT travelling from Toa Payoh, so we intended to go first ahha...
Second, BUS 154...
Not much of a big deal, we merely got on to the bus, and we started travelling to the KFC near NTUC Lifestyle... Oh ya, one thing i realised... Till now, there's still this age-gap... note the -... yup the old ones (thats the 3 of us) and the young ones are like 2 separate groups, it lasted even during our lunch... Anyway... Then Yuyin was showing me and bro some pic of her cousin... then suddenly, Tang Dynasty appeared haha... ok our stop... We alighted and started walking to the KFC which is near by...
Third KFC...
Now this is the pre Highlight... supposed to be the highlight but then erm, well ahha anyway... yup we took our seats, again, the old ones one side, the young ones another... then i went to get the food... My Treat... Alrite asked for 2 family feast... then drinks... Bro and Yuyin came along to help me.. see so nice of them haha.. Then we waited for a moment, the lady returned... WITH A WHOLE TRAY OF CHICKEN PARTS !!! hahahahahha.... You guys should see the face of me and Yuyin hahah we were like WOWOWOWOWOW!!!! then as usual i crap-ped haha... If theres a chicken famine, we know who to find hahaa... Anyway, we brought the food back... 20 chickens, 3 whipped potatoes, 3 colestraw, then 2 popcorn chicken, many pkts of chilli sauce, 7 cups of drinks haha... Mad rite haha only 8 people we are having some sort of duno wat banquet hahaha... Then get back alrite, i must agree was a little... Boring... haha... Coz the youths had their own topic which was of totally different frequency from us, so we kind of switch to our own frequency too haha... Anyway... Soon Cyril came along and joined us... We chatted and eat and suddenly, i think was Gillian, she started to say that Samuel live in the Zoo haha... Government Bred ahaha... Duno wat Gorilla and wat Orang utan... and wat only suckers see him...Of coz Samuel retaliated saying we are those suckers but i say no, we din go see him, but he came to see us, so who's the bigger sucker ahha... so mean rite hahha... but just for laugh haha.. i know Samuel wont mind haha he not so petty... haha then of coz to be fair, how can i only 'suan' Samuel rite... then i sae, "Gillian, you are fat! Cyril you are severely obese!!!" ahah Oops i know i am really quite bad todae haha... Btw remember the colestraw... None of us want to have it haha, we put in on the tray and put it infront of the empty seat that was reserved for Cyril hahaha... fancy us asking him to eat grass haha... how kind of us hahaha.... Anyway... After all that food, we were full and we wanted to go for some activities but wat??? ahha some movie, some bowling and some pool...
Fourth, Bowling Alley...
We checked out the prices, Wow expensive... S$3.90 per game... WOW... then need to pay for shoes and sock.. But we were still thinking Hmmm... Then bro say he going for pool, and we all said, hey lets go hahaa... then we went up to the 2nd storey... the stairways was a little Hmmm... Creepy... like some places where we shouldnt go... But like i care... Fifth, POOL... We went in, Jerome, Cyril and Samuel ran up to the counter and booked 3 tables, haha fast rite... dont need any promptings ahaha... They got the table... Table 1,2,3...table 2 is the baby pool... hahah... I think the lady intentionally gave us table 2 to cater to the needs of alycia but anyway hahahahahahah... sorry gal haha i think i found joy in shooting u too ahhaha... we took the trays of balls and chalks... and went over to the table... Bro went to get the "pool sticks", whatever u call it... Then, we started playing i started off with a match with Cyril, Jerome with Samuel, Andre with Yuyin... Wat about Alycia and Gillian??? 'Side'seeing... Me i lost twice to Cyril but phew only by 1,2 balls hehe... then we rotated and stuff haha... we were like so hyped up and full of energy... you can hear our voices here and there and we kept laughing and stuff haha... Full of fun... haha.. Then the 2 'side'see-r joined in... haha they took 1 table at first... haha, the rest of us we continue our games in another table(the one i used to play with Cyril)... then after 3 games... guess wat, the 2 gals had not even complete 1 game ahahahahaahahahaha..... anyway finally they finished, then they split themselves into 2 team... Alycia took table 1 and Gillian took Table 3... Table 2, Andre and Yuyin continue playing... haha... Oh yes i missed out this... Bro actually found this 'pool stick' that is shorter than all the others, and i purposely took it and offer it to alycia hahaha... horrible hha but hahahaha... then i purposely took the long one, and compare with my height... Hehe... the stick is shorter than me haha but i took that long stick to compare with alycia haha almost taller than her liao hahaha... so i told her that short stick is for kids like HER hahaha.... Alrite back to story... Now, at the 2 tables which the gals took, haha there are 2 curses(self declared) haha.. At alycia's, curse of the white ball... At Gillian, curse of the black ball hahaha... Oh Gillian prefer it to be known as the LEGEND... haha At alycia's, dont know y, whoever who tried to get rid of her would get our white balls in the hole, another words foul, and she got to keep putting the ball at where she wanted... Argh... hahah... Then at Gillian's, all the guys lost y, coz we somehow will get our black balls into the holes... immediate lost!!! haha... but i came... haha I CAME, I FOUGHT, I CONQUER hahaha... so much for the curse of the black ball... here i come and i shot the black ball as my very last ball... and i won the game and the Legend(Well-known) became a Legend(History)... hahaha... But anyway,we had all those just for fun, yup not being offensive or what haha... we set out today with nothing else in mind cept fun... haha.. After 2 hours... All things had to end...
Lastly, Home...
Not exactly home, cept for few of the guys... Samuel, Jerome and Cyril i think... the rest of us, we went other places, me to Hannah's place, Bro to Orchard, Gillian and Alycia to CCK to watch movie... We took the same bus back to the station and took the train haha... We met one of the shadows along the way, she also going Orchard... So at first Bro and her was walking together, out of sudden, the train came... then we rushed up to catch it... haha the shadow caught it... But Bro didnt... Not cause he too slow, he cld have got in, but he didnt, he waited for us... Awwww.. ahhaha anyway... yup me, him, Alycia, Gillian, we waited for the next train... Yup, it came, then we took it, at Jurong East... Sigh this most hated time is this... We had to part for now... Personally argh... if not for i have other appointments i think i would have joined Bro to Orchard yup.. But well, gave him a half hug... haha why didnt full hug??? harlow, haha yes my bro, but he's still a guy... yup shld respect that i duno wat u call it, pride of guy??? that guy should be masuline... But of course, know me enough ahha i do get a bit affectionate at times, especially this moment... Hated partings lah... so just half hug him and go off... While the other 2 gals joined me at the other train... Then at Bukit Batok... I alighted... Great day... Really enjoyed it... i got to spend such great times with my few juniors before i go off for conference and before their results... i wonder when will i get to have such great time again, i hope soon... but work certainly will pile up even more than now... Then haha at last min Yuyin still willing to turn up and help me make this such a great one haha... thanks! haha And i am even more delirious that yup got a chance to also spend more solid time of fun, outing with my dear bro yup... when school day starts, really, hard to get such times... i really treasure every moment of it... its a feeling, thats words cant describe ahhaha... Love ya Bro! And the rest of u too hahaha...
Remembering On|2/12/2005 09:47:00 PM|
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Hmm.. had 2 paracetamol tablets, plenty of water, tons of sleep, now i am alrite... Temperature back to 36.8... its really great to see my temperature decrease from 38.0 to 36.8... But anyway it did haha...
Hmm... Well while i was on the bed... i realised how much i missed my brothers... Yup Yup... At the same time i was evaluating the relationships that i have... Get used to me... I can be thinking about more than 10 things at one go... thats y when some of you talk to me i din response, thats cause i am thinking of things... mind too pre-occupied, not ignoring you all... anyway... back to topic... well then i realised actually theres a clear distinction between the relationships that i have... It also kind of correspond to the closeness with me... Say we use the level marking scheme to describe the realtionships haha, sorry too obsessed with history but its the best analogy to describe this... Coincidently ahha it nicely fits into 5 level as the LMS is... Alrite only history students will truly understand what i meant...
Level 1: Acquaintanceship
Well i supposed the large majority falls under this category... There are many pple who come and go and we often hi and bye to each other, but believe it or not, for some i dont even know who are they... i dont even know their names, but of coz if u hi or bye to me, naturally i will hi and bye back to u... thats me...
Level 2: Friends
These are the acquaintances whom i talk to more often, nt very often but often enough to build a basic friendship... I normally tend to hit off in a conversation pretty easily, only for some, simply nothing to chat, otherwise for most of the others, they actually became friends and no longer just acquaintance...
Level 3: Closer friends
Now this category is much narrower... These are friends whom i talk even more often, and not just a basic friendship... To this group of friends, i do start to share more of my thoughts and feelings, but of course still pretty much reserved... I am much more open to them though compared to the previous 2 levels...
Level 4: Semi Brothers and sisters
This is a complicated category cause, to say i am more open to them, yes i am, but you will be amazed, to most of them i am not even talking to them... but somehow its juz that readiness in opening up to them that i put them in this category... was pretty hard trying to fit them somewhere above or below... so end up i tot might as well put it here... after all there aint any levels at first, but just to illustrate, i decided to use LMS, so i thought of classifying the relationships.. But anyway to these friends, i still called them brothers and sisters on paper (thats means only when comes to msg and writing) but along the way, some actually kind of, to be crude, slide down the level... As i am describing this category, 2 person striked my mind, Yong Hui and Kevin... they are not the one who slide down the level btw... Infact i am still in pretty good terms with them but guess we're busy and stuff, our relationship kind of stagnant at that level... But for the 2 of them, great potential of moving up to level 5 anytime... serious anytime... And among all my juniors i guess Kevin is the one i dote the most yup... But to other juniors, dun be sad haha...
Level 5: Brothers
Now this is the one that i am going to elaborate more... Now this group of friends are the closest to me, infact i sometimes felt that they are closer than mere friends... For some i felt closer than friends, like real blood tied brother... I can verbally and comfortably call them "brother"... and they are the ones i love the most... alrite i know i am supposed to love all, and i do, but i cant avoid it, there are definitely some whom i love more than the others right, that made me not God... Yup whenever i have something joyous or along the streets i saw something interesting, they are the first i would think of... These are also the ones that i am most open to... at times i wanted to hide somethings from them for now, to keep them in suspense, but i would end up telling them every thing... Normally i cant lie, but to them i am absolutely truthful... But of course, they are close to me, dont mean i am close to them... Yup... Who then are the few people who are in this... the 2 prominent one that i guess you guys would come to know would be Andre and Timothy(My church one)... Gabriel once too, now also, but then, nowadaes i am pretty conscious about what i tell him, so by the time i crafted out want i want to say, i cant remember what i want to say... In any case, brothers, hey love you guys a whole lot!!!
Well as you can see from level 4, there may be a fixed category, but theres certainly no fixed placing... its pretty fluid, what do i mean... Well, you can be in level 1 now, but if our relationship should grow, you might just be the next whom i call brother... no one is fixed in any category... the categories only indicates how close one is to me... its not like a caste system or wat... Even for those in level 1, though i may not really know you, but when u truly need help, surely i would still lend a helping hand...
Alrite alrite, back to bed, and before you know it, its morning again and school again, everything shall be back to normal...
Remembering On|2/10/2005 11:37:00 PM|
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
What a new year... Woke up with a sneeze... and now down with a sore throat... accompanying the sore is temperature... Argh... Dn Raj, a doctor... advised me not to take food like BBQ Pork (Ba Gua) and other heaty food... It will aggravate my condition... But sorry Dn, i really tried, but i just cant resist it... I know i am quite a glutton... but the fact is even with a sore throat, i ate tons of BBQ Pork... From every house i went, next a KFC dinner... and logically i should feel that all the food taste bland... But odd me... All taste Superb... haha... i dun feel any blandness at all... the only thing i felt is the after effect... The sore... Oh pray for me... I dun want to miss out on all the good food...
Remembering On|2/09/2005 10:02:00 PM|
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
SUNBURST YOUTH CAMP 2004:
MY FEELINGS, MY EXPERIENCE, MY RECOUNT
Mmmm...
Months ago... here i was moaning and groaning over the dance practices... sad case man... Moreover, not much information were given regarding the camp... Everything was so misty and vague... Nothing was really done to hype us...
But it all changed...
If i havent been chosen, i would have lost big time...
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11 December 2004 Here i was on my father's car travelling to RELC hotel...
Dozing off in the front seat, under the blanket of the dark sky...
As we were approaching Orchard, the blanket was slowly lifted up from me...
The dawnlight started to glare at me...
I woke up to find myself at the glass door of RELC... Getting off the car with my luggage... i stood at the door, looked up...
a banner, "SUNBURST YOUTH CAMP 2004"...
Oh well i am here... lets just say make the best out of it then... In a way i am sort of detached from the world... all i get is to connect to this big world through smses... Oh i am going to miss my friends... my brothers...
Walked into the auditorium... felt the 'artificial' breeze... even though its the orientation period, well not going to care, just dump it aside and lets play...
Shortly, all the Singapore delegates had arrived... we sat in the front row... Listened to what Colin had to say... and after which... we went to take our bags and cash... now the camp was starting to hyped up... the atmosphere was building... We received our bags and everything... Moved back to our seats... and we started to unpack... WOW $110... not bad huh... paid for... then in the bag.. document bag, pen, camp booklet, water, maps, etc... then we started chatting with each other again while waiting for the foreign delegates...
First up the UKs... Next India... and so on... till the last Vietnam, arriving at 10pm in the night... The day seem pretty wasted cause there's not much of a program except waiting... For me, i am not that bored, cause my 2 room mates, India and Cambodia, arrived pretty early, think was 10am and 2pm respectively... well, had some chat... after which tea and soon after the Welcome Dinner... My table was pretty fun with all our crap-s and lamer-ies... For some of us, for the first time we got to really spend time with our fellow Singapore delegates from the other group...
At the end of our dinner, we had some time out... We the Singapore team, started our own programs... We went out to Orchard, bringing along our ASEAN friends... As per norm, Orchard was filled with crowds... Actually the crowd was simply too big... we had to keep squeezing through... We were also in a constant fear that we might lose our overseas friends
Then we went to our rooms, grabbed some stuff and haha we started another of our own program... running around the hotel and bunking here and there... it was pretty fun, but poor lift, had to work overtime just to make our 'trip' a success...
With that we ended ...
Sunburst Youth Camp Day 1
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12 December 2004
Once again horizon was lit...
This time its different... We were all geared up for some adventures...
We cleaned up ourselves, packed our bags and started to run down to the restaurant for breakfast... haha... as many of you would know my favourite time of the day... MEAL TIMES!!! haha... The few who sat with me got pretty shock seeing the amount of food i eat, servings after servings... And yes, we had egg, sausages and bread... and i sort of 'hemmed' everything together and started eating... haha sound horrible huh haha hemming my bread... haha.. anyway...
After our filling 'bread'fast, we went down to the auditorium to receive the 'sacred guide' for the day.. so much for sacred guide, its just some instructions for our OBS trip (those that were believed to keep us safe) and briefly touched on the programs we would be expecting... Oh boy, how excited i am.. its my first time to OBS... haha i had many adventures before... from the Hills to SAFRA but never OBS... we hopped on the coaches... Next moment... i was asleep...
The coaches weren't alone on the trail to the Punggol Jetty... The dark clouds were just above them, racing with them... With every stone throw, the clouds just got darker and heavier... They were simply too greedy, kept drinking water to ensure that they were hydrated during the race... Finally, the clouds realised that they had drank too much water... instead of helping them, it became their burden... They were too bloated, and decided to release some water... Fine... the worse thing was they released on us... it started to downpour... Such a wet blanket... and i really mean 'wet blanket', metaphorically and literally...
With not much of a choice, we started to pull on our ponchos... we looked like some little duckies, with coat ranging from blue to red to white... we waddled off the coached and into the sea... some of us were on 'slow feet' while some on speedboats... Nonetheless, we reached OBS... But with all thank to Mr. Dark Clouds... we had to stay indoors... The atmosphere was really dampened by the thought of indoors... We dont get to play those high elements... Whatever it was, programs had to carry on...
We separated into our groups, and one of the OBS trainer, KC, came and kick start the whole day's experience at OBS...
First we had some Ice breakers... we had to, as a group, without using our hands pass through a rope... the rope was tied to form a circle, but the circle was simply too small, we tried stretching and everything finally we made it!!! Then we went over to the number pad or whatever you call it... there my group (group2) was to compete with group 4 to fetch the fastest timing... It was a tough fight... In the end group 4 won... and won by only 1 seconds... but my group was pretty alrite with it, losing was not their concern... the only thing that ran through their heads were that they had started to talk... actually was it just a talk??? Mmmmm....
Next we went over to the indoor rock wall for some climbing... KC gave us more 'sacred scrolls'... from the harness to the belaying... oh boy, come on, quick, i just want to climb... Harness were given out... Got it, put it on, adjust and we're all set... my group members were also pretty excited for the climbing.. For many its their very first time trying outsuch elements... some had problems with belaying while some on their way to the top... But whatever it was, we sure had lots of fun... though some did not made it to the top, at least they can be bold to say they had tried, and they now know how it felt climbing that wall... Me on the other hand haha went for something even more challenging, i went for the 15 slabs wall... Btw the others were 10 stabs... the 15 slabs wall has more angles and its so much more difficult to climb... Me and Tze Phern, tried it out... On first try, TP reached the 8th or 9th slab... on second 10th or 11th... me on the other hand climbed only once... and i also reached the 8th or 9th slab... i couldnt carry on even though i still have the strength to climb... just got to blame that i didnt strategise before i gone up there... up to the 8th or 9th slab, i realised i was stuck, i could find no other pieces to step on and to move on i would need to jump and stretch to that red grip some distances away... but its still a great climb...
After my climb, i went anchoring belaying and many many more haha... you know, i just like to explore new things...
First i went over to Rose... she was belaying Christopher i think... and haha Kellie was anchoring Rose, but i decided to give both of them a boost... i held on the rose's harness, while Kellie was turning behind to speak to sufyan, Rose suddenly flew haha... its qutie a comical scene... i immediately pulled her down and Kellie turned back and firmed her on the ground...
Next i popped by Nurain's group... there LiMin was climbing the hanging elements... She was trying to go higher, but she realised that the hanging ladder was simply too slippery... So haha lets just say i be a nice guy, rather a joker, and give her a lift.. And really gave her a lift... her belayer held on to her rope, i gave her belayer a boost by pulling the rope for her... then i pull and pull and LiMin effortlessly climbed up, rather haha, dragged up haha... LiMin, don't angry arh haha...
Then, KC gathered us back again, took off our harness, and started to go for my favourite time... LUNCH... haha... We were given plates and cups, but we had to wash it ourselves before going for food... And first and only time in Sunburst that we had to wash dishes haha... But this is what i call camp haha... maybe too used to the type of D.I.Y Camp... hahaha... We had a nice meal and carried on with our 2nd half of the journey in OBS...
All of us were full, and some of us, rather me, haha felt drowsy... So the instructors just started off the 2nd half with some ice breaker games to wake us up... We had a game of "Giant, Wizard, Dwarf"... The game went like this the dwarf fear wizard, wizard fear giant, giant fear dwarf... if u should lose, run to a nearby tree to take refuge... My group, for all 3 games, insisted on using dwarf, hoping our opponent (Group4) would use giant, but true enough hope... haha.. group 4 first used dwarf, and the following 2 turns used wizard... we started running towards the tree... but the tree is too small to hold us, so some were caught and forced to join another group temporarily...
After that child play, we returned back to our original groupings and moved on to more new activities... The subsequent activities, are what i call, the true team building games... It really bring out the real in us... First was a game which required us to walk blindfolded from 1 tree to another which was, like who knows, 100m away... And all these in 45 minutes... My group started strategising... there were discussion and also occasionally yellings... In this game, colours started showing... Some were more dominating than others while some simply kept quiet... But i guess this is normal... In time of struggles like this, we all tend to express our survival instinct... Its also what made us unique... I can still remember the individual and how the character expressed while working with one another... I can still recall some of their faces... Some of them really had a hard time trying to grab the attention of others, while some were simply trying to understand what was being discussed... One great barrier between us was language barrier... But it didnt stop us... We strived, we fought and we won... Together as a team we moved in a straight chain to the destination...
Then we went for more at the grass patches... There we were supposed to as a team 'grass-skate' ... It wasn't as easy as it sound... Half of the group will be stepping on the two pieces of small and thin planks, with ropes attached to it... The group had to by holding the ropes and by coordination move from one end to another... So here we were to try it out... Now this is another obstacle that really expressed the true self of us... And also one which we learnt many valuable lessons... Half of the team (Including me) got onto the plank, we tried walking... Just one step, and we almost fell off... Some of us lifted the right leg but some left... end up we almost fell from both sides... But we geared up, the first man gave the command and we started moving forward, but its still pretty frequent that some of us still took the wrong step... And it fetched quite a bit of amosity... There were rantings and scoldings.. Some even insulted and sweared... For a moment, it seemed as though there were going to be some bloodshed around... Just a simple game, but really... It shows... Quite an eye opening experience to see what a simple game can do to people...
With that, our day at OBS drew near to a close, but before we end off with a reflection time with KC, we gathered back indoor for a debrief... This debrief is an interesting one... The trainers sum up the whole purpose of our trip in OBS with a simply puzzle game... Every group was given an envelope, a Hula Hoop, a puzzle board... In the Envelopes are puzzle pieces from all the different boards jumbled up together... We were supposed to take the pieces and move round exchanging the pieces to piece up our puzzle... We were timed and the timing for every team was recorded... The slowest team took around 9 mins... Then we had another round... But this time, its not individual teams timing but the trainers wanted us to challenge ourselves to complete all the puzzles... Every single team, in 7 mins... Not every team 7 minutes, but 7 Minutes for the whole SunBurst team... In the previous round, we started to fight for our own victories... We didnt bother bout others... Just go and find our pieces... But in this second round, we worked together... As a whole we just help one another find our pieces... and guess what we made it in... 4 MINUTES... it really shows how team work helps... Even with such huge crowd...
Record Breaking huh... but its time... there's an end to every beginning... OBS trip had to come to a close... All groups went to get our bags and reflection time with our trainers... As we were on our way to our bags... One of my group members, Dwitya, came up to me and shared with me what she had learnt through the activities... She learnt how to understand people and not to be over dominating... And hearing that, i was so glad, just so happy for her... Indeed she had received some of the best gifts one could ever get... Such experiences, such lessons learnt, its for life... Its priceless and she had it... Then, once again, we were in front of KC... He issued us our certificates and evaluation forms... We shared our opinions and learning points... Really glad to hear that my all my group members learnt something...
It was really an adventurous experience... At times, i was also in such a fright... Fear that they might end up with a fight... Cause in certain point in time some of my group mates just got heated up and and the fire just seemed to spread like forest fire... But i am really glad it all ended well and everyone brought back something which more is precious than jewels...
Then we all headed back to RELC... Once again we took the ships and reached Punggol jetty... over there we walked out to the bus waiting area... Now the bus wasnt here yet, but nonetheless we found ways to entertain ourselves... My dance group, we stood in a circle, and we started singing, " My Froggy lies over the ocean, My Froggy lies over the sea, My Froggy lies over the ocean, so bring back my Froggy to me.. Bring back, oh bring back, oh bring back my froggy to me, to me..." but they ended up changing the lyrics a little haha, " My Froggy lies over the ocean, My Froggy lies over the sea, My Froggy lies over the ocean, DON'T bring back my Froggy to me.. DON'T bring back, oh DON'T bring back, oh DON'T bring back my froggy to me, to me..."... though yup it ended up that way but it was fun though... and guys i know u guys are joking only haha such cute and charming froggy like me, why would you want to leave me in the ocean and sea right hahaha....
Anyway, the bus came... we rushed up the bus, grabbed our seats (typical Singaporean) and next moment, we were all in slumbers... Obiviously i had no idea what happened during the trip cause i kind of turned piggy...
However, there's one thing i know... that's the moment we reached RELC, ITS DINNER!!!! hahaha finally i get to have my meals again... well for a person like me who really loved eating... Dinner is one that cannot be missed... This was still the first day, I was still not really close to the foreign delegates yet... I was still with my fellow Singaporeans for dinner... But its different, now its with the seminar group not my dance group... First i got acquainted with was candice... she was sitting right beside me, but i had no idea who she was then... We had a nice time chatting... We met up with issues about college and bulk of it about our churches and doctrines...
After that really sumptuous and filling dinner, the seminar group went on ahead to prepare for the country exhibition and the seminar which would be held the very next day... What about the dance group??? We rushed to People's Association (PA) for our practice... this would jolly well be the last time we stepped into PA as a Sunburst dance team... We used the choir room and started turning and twirling away... While we were walking out of PA after our dance, we just kept looking back and just go, "Oooo this is going to be the last.." But moments later, we started to crap and joke as we always do again... We are supposed to return to the RELC, but we ended up going for supper in the nearby McDonald which we always go... Also this is perhaps the very last time we would be eating in this particular branch as a whole Sunburst Dance Team... With that, back to hotel, back to another round of bunking in each others room before i returned to my room for a nap...
With that there goes ...
SunBurst Youth Camp Day 2
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13 December 2004 RING!!! RING!!! The stupid phone just kept ringing... Seriously i cant be bothered to wake up to pick up the phone... But thankfully, i had a great roommate from India, who was willing to pick up that stupid computer generated morning call... Its only 6.30am... Anyway, that phone woke me up still... As a routine, i brushed my teeth and stuff, and get changed into my school uniform... Whats Up with the uniform??? Seminar...
With all ready, i went down for my breakfast... Up till now as you can see, there's this sense of reluctance in my tone... Well, its just me... Having to be unwillingly, forced to wake up, i just turned grumpy... With a long and grumpy face, i walked towards the bread and eggs... Took my portion, large portion... And looked for my seat... then i started eating, as i eat, my smiles started to appear... slowly i started to cheer up... Soon after i was all hyped up for the seminar...
The moment i finished my breakfast, i rushed down to the auditorium... Finally, all ready, set, excited for the seminar... Took my seat, and waited eagerly for an enriching experience... This seminar was about our lifestyles as a teenage in our respective countries...
First up, it was Brunei, then indonesia... So on... why am i so sure that Brunei was the first group??? Cause i managed to engage myself in the first few presentations before gravity caught me... Not that i wanted to be disrespectful, but seriously, a 3 hour lecture... It takes great stamina to stay awake... But towards the last 3 groups i was awakened again... So happen its Philippines, Malaysia and none other than the host country, Singapore...
Philippine's presentation was full of life and patriotism... Gosh many of us, Singaporeans, seen the way they spoke of their country, we felt at times we odd to be ashamed... They had such loyalty for their country, while many of us here actually had plans of migration... They spoke with life, with pride and conviction... Though true it may sound a little militaristic, aggressive and rude to some people, but it still nevertheless portray a strong sense of belonging to the country...
Malaysia's presentation is one i believe we must note down... something actually happened during the Q&A and its one that i believe we, Singaporeans, have to learn... Through this presentation, seriously, i believe we all learnt that we must be more sensitive... This was what happened... Well, the Malaysians were speaking about their schools and also something about upholding the PM's vision... Well actually there's really not much a problem with them wanting to uphold their PM's vision, after all Dr. Mahathir was their leader... Now, when they ended their presentation and all ready for some questions, 2 of our very own young leaders stood up and brought forth some sensitive issues... One was questioning the commual policies that they had, the effectiveness, and can the other races really accept such policies... Next one even went furthur to question the PM's vision... Some of us really felt that those issues(at least the one on the PM's vision) were really not appropriate for a seminar such as this, cause we were not there to strain relations, but we were there for some cross culture exchange... And anyway we aint the Malaysians, who are we exactly to question... Perhaps the one on the commual policies is acceptable after all it was a well crafted question and it help us understand how not just the Malays felt but also the Chinese of Malaysia... But as for the PM's vision, i suppose its just not for us to question...
Last but not least, with an interesting skit by our very own Singapore team, we marked the end of the whole Seminar... In our presentation, we introduced not only the way we live our lives but also the food we eat and the language we used( so happen to be dialects and Singlish)... During our Q&A, we also had a amusing encounter... one of the foreign delegates question about our land size, and our dear Alex reply saying that we had artificial land... that caught many of our giggles... Cause how do we actually get artificial land??? But we understand, he was trying to mean reclaimed land...
With that the Seminar ended and we proceeded for our LUNCH... same as the other meals, we had ala carte... Mmmm cant remember much about what exactly happened...
Well, Soon after we all rushed down to the hotel's lobby once again for the countries' exhibition... Gosh, really look at all the displays that were being put up... Manificient... The foreign delegates really had put in a lot of efforts in decorating their booths and had prepared a lot of interesting things from their countries to share with us... Our ASEAN friends were all in their national costume... I walked from end to end and i was never ceased to be greeted by their warm hospitality...They just looked real good in their national costume...
UK's booth was right beside ours... They had many books and brochures that showed the scenery of their country... The meadows, the grasslands, the monuments... They just look so marvellous... I am in awe looking at these pictures... The UK's delegates also brought along some snacks from their country... And obviously, i had some of it... OOOOoooo nice... I like the liquorice and the short cake, felt they tasted nice... Really... hard to find them in Singapore...
Next up, i visited Thailand... they had many of these exquisite wooden craftworks... Me and few others from the dance group were very much tickled by this peculiar brown wooden frog... at first we didnt know what it was, then one of the Thai delegates took out a short stick and started stroking the back of the wooden frog... The Frog Croaks.. and it sounded as if it was real...
Then, we heard a hymn of melodious voices, its the Philippines... They sang several pieces for us... Their anthem and some other folk songs... though i dont understand a single bit, but then well the tune sounded nice... They all carry a strong sense of belonging to their country and the pride they had in singing wow... Remarkable!!!
What do you guys think of yellow and gold??? thats the next booth... Brunei!!! I went over... Hey Shafiq became the bridegroom of the day... He was dressed in a very elegant yellow and gold wedding grown or whatever you call it... this is pretty meaningful as its in junction with their crown prince's wedding which took place not long before SunBurst... through their exhibit, we got to learn more about the wedding tradition in Brunei... Just a footnote, the prince is indeed the prince... An entire issue of newspaper attributed to his wedding, and gold seems to shower from heaven...
From there, i moved on to India... Now haha i started to see bronze, pewter and other metals... there were many interesting figurines on the table... Elephants, bells... However, all of them looked very expensive, thus i didnt really dare to touch it, before i create some destructions... but for the very first time... i tried out henna... Sam offered to draw for me my name in Hindi... and i thought for the fun, lets do it... and yup got some clay on my arm... For a moment, i kind of became paralysed cause i didnt want to move too much, otherwise who knows the clay like think might just fall off...
Though some, i moved on to the station beside India, and that is none other than, Indonesia... Haha 2 beautiful maiden, Tirza and Desi, in their traditional kerbaya greeted me and introduced me to several of their countries delight, as per normal, i would without any hesitation try them out... hahaha... i like one of them, but i cant remember what it was... Hmmm.. but i had this bad encounter with this fruit... I think its nutmeg... I think... it tasted, not very sweet, a little sour, yet a little bitter... crunchy... erm, just not my taste... Not that the fruit is horrible, just that it does not suit me... And here comes dwitya, she gave me this biscuit of cracker kind of thing, erm except that its a little tough for such delicate teeth of mine, it tasted great, really... Its kind of i dont know how to describe... Just good... haaha i think this is the booth and got me to stay the longest haha...
Then its TEA BREAK... we had some cakes and puffs... And coffee... Well, haha as you all can expect, its a feast for me... haha.. I enjoyed the food, taking plates of them actually, without anyone really realising it... i took a few pieces, put on my plate and went eating and walking, visiting the booths again... Delicious...
Now with my stomach partially filled, i passed by Indonesia and saw them playing this game... it goes like this: we formed a circle, our hands on each others, then we count 1,2,3,4 then some bahasan indonesian then we are to smack the hand of the one nxt to us... the one who got smack is out of the game and is required to sit in the middle of the circle... the circle will just get smaller ... We had quite a bit of fun playing this game... Simple as it may appear but certain one that caught us excited...
Then i returned to Singapore... Some games that were played by our fathers and grandfathers were being sort of brought back... One of those games that attracted large crowds to our booth is 'zero point'... everyone from the various countries came over to try jump over the string of rubber bands... we had 2 person to hold on to the rubber bands, making it like a pole for limbo rock... then we had then to jump over the rubber band by flipping or any other of their own methods...
Soon before we knew it, its DINNER time... This time its slightly different... Half of our table is filled with our overseas friend... As per norm we had ala carte buffet, enjoyed chatting with each other and also deciding where to go after dinner cause its reflection time...
For the whole night... We did something, but i cant exactly remember what... Hmmm....
Anyway With that there goes ...
SunBurst Youth Camp Day 3
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14 December 2004 Awww... Its 5.00am.... So fast??? It seemed just seconds ago that i was in slumberland... I got up, changed into my dirty outfit... SMSed Grace to ask if she's awake??? And yes she was... then we met at the lobby.. We went for a jog round orchard... Was quite refreshing.. For once Orchard seemed to be owned by me... The Monarch of Orchard... Though its not at all fruity but well haha.. On this empty morning streets of Orchard.. We jogged... Enjoying the every landscaper that we pass by... We saw this short cute branch of McDonald, quite interesting... Sounded like as if we were a couple huh haha... Nah! not that Grace is bad, she is pretty nice, just not my type... But she's a very nice young girl haha cute as she is... Make a very good friend yup! Anyway, we just enjoyed jogging and running, trying to get back to RELC fast... we passed by Raffles Girls' School, the Pines... And finally RELC....
Gosh my stomach was yelling away... rushed to my room... Wash Up and Got changed into clean clothes and rushed down again in that slow cuboid for BREAKFAST.... i instantly grabbed a plate and started to stack first the bread, next the egg, then the sausages... then found myself a seat, and started munching away...It was heavenly!!!
Then we assembled back in the auditorium for a really short briefing... and we went off to board our coaches... We were going to National Technological University (NTU)... Along the way, my bus was filled with songs cheers and laughter, but before you knew it... There were snores everywhere...
Soon, NTU was right before us... a bunch of zombies started alighting the bus... We walked up to our ushers... and we just tag along to the lecture hall... We saw a bag on each of our chairs... we picked it up, sat down, and started to see whats in the bag... WOAH... NTU water bottle.. those metal type one... a box of paper clips, a NTU Polo T-shirt... We happily just took it and waited for the whole introductory session to commence...
A white hair man stood up and standed introducing NTU... He's a lecturer from the university... then he showed us a video... BORING... many of us ended up continuing our dreams... Then, the lights came on, its our tour, finally... We were brought around the electronics faculty where we got to see mechanical devices and also computer programming... shan't dwell much into it cause, to me, there's nth interesting about it...
Then from there we proceed to Science Centre... First we gone for the Omni Max Movie... It has to do with hurricanes and typhoons... Aww.. boring... Sorry but really... many of us fell asleep for almost the whole show... But the seat... The aircon.. the environment... really very refreshing... Then from there we went over to the Science Centre for some exhibition... And seriously, was also pretty boring...
Now now the highlight of the day... we went back RELC for dinner, and we rushed off to Night Safari... We packed the entire vistior centre... and groups by groups we dispatched from there to the different sites... Me, Grace, Roshni were with the Indonesian team... We just had so much so much fun... First we took the tram around the safari... Seeing the many creatures there.. some asleep some still active running about... It was nice but it was not all... Then at the end of the ride, we returned back to the visitor centre where we rushed off to catch the animal show... It was an interesting show... I was really amazed by the wolf and the lion... they way they jumped... WOW... Impressive... Then after all that, we went on a foot trail... We walked around trying to catch a glimpse of the animals, but to our dismay, most animals were sleep... But nonetheless, we had lots of fun walking and making noise... I recall our encounter in the bats tents... The bats were all hanging upside down on the nettings above us... Many of the girls just screamed and shouted when the nets moved slightly... It was really dark, we couldnt see anything... all we could do is hear... and its pretty horrifying to suddenly hear something flew by and in fact just right in front of us...
We walked and walked, we joked and chatted... Finally we reached the visitor centre again... The whole trip wouldnt have been so fun if not for Tirza, Intan, Dwitya, Gita and the rest of the Indonesian team... Really they had made it such a great nite... Such a highlight... Its so great, its hard to express it out in words...
But still all good things had to end... we returned back to the hotel... and there goes another day...
SunBurst Youth Camp Day 4
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15 December 2004
Once again its morning...
Not any ordinary morning, but the start of an exciting adventure ahead...
Though i have lived in Singapore for such a long time, but i seldom go to sentosa, even if i do, its palawan beach that i normally would hang out... But this day, once in perhaps a decade, i am actually going to go around the island, and explore the sights that we, the mainlanders, probably wouldn't know existed...
The trip there was filled with anticipation and joy...We just cant wait to get off the bus and start the great journey... My whole dance group just kept chatting non stop... we kept discussing what do we want to do there and stuff like that, after all we are the host, and we are going to bring our foreign delegates around... Gosh, we just had so many ideas...
Finally we reached the visitor's centre... we alighted the bus, ran and formed our groups, grabbed our maps and started on this hike... As per norm, me, Roshni, and Grace, and the delegates from Indonesia formed one team... Haha being such enthusiast, we just rushed off without even prompting, infact haha I think without even hearing what the ST crew got to say... We're just too excited...
First, we went to the monorail station at the visitor centre... Along the way, we passed by this clock with many tendril and vegetation around it... Our Indonesian friends felt it was a pretty nice structure and wanted to take a picture with it... Of course haha we three just join in... Popped our heads in and started taking photographs... then we continue our walk to the monorail station haha... But before we reached, we saw this shelter which was by the sea... Haha scenic isnt it? Haha once again we took pictures... Btw I hope you guys who read this, don't be irritated by us our love for photo taking, I believe as you read on, you will realised that we really took a lot of pictures... I think one every few steps hahaha... And I am not kidding… just that perhaps by different people...
Alrite, back to the expedition... Finally we reached that double storey white tower... Monorail Station... Our original intention was to go for a ride, but something else caught our attention... CINEMANIA... This place is a legend... Its where the movie is a simulated virtual joy ride...We all rushed there to catch an early show since we're already here… I went to the ticket booth and get the tickets for everyone... Well quite a good deal S$10 per person... Before we enter the theatre, we entered this dim, blue and green florescent lit room... the walls somehow glowed… actually not somehow, haha as I said, florescent… the interesting thing was, some of us shirts glowed too... haha we didn't expect that haha... Now for the highlight, we went to the capsules (special seats for the movie) and took a seat... each capsule can hold up to 4 person... we spread ourselves into 4s and took a whole stretch of capsules... Then, the lights dimmed, and finally, pitch darkness... We're all geared up for some shakings haha... the filmed started rolling and our seats started moving too... We started off with "The Lost Treasure", followed by " Grand Pix 2"... something like "The National Treasure" but its special made in such a way that we can interact with the movie... Its v hard for me to explain how the whole thing functions, but generally, we our seats shook real hard and tossed us here and there ahhaa... we just couldn't help but keep screaming and shouting…we were as if dumped into the movie... Hahaha... When it all ended, our legs were all wobbly and feeble... But the feeling was EXCELLENT!!!
Hahha... then we're back to carry on with our adventure... Now we have to walk back to the monorail station, but before we did, we took a short appreciation walk in the garden, think is the merlion park... We walked under this cage like thing, with lots of passion plants, and vines, hanging around... Me and Rosh was sharing that it felt like some kind of aisle haha... and Rosh was sharing how romantic it was to hold a wedding there, and I guessed might as well be hers, then we all witness haha...
Back in the monorail station, we waited for the monorail train... I took out my park ranger hat, and started playing around with it... I put it on, and some of my team mates, rather all of them, started to say that I looked forgien... Grace was saying I looked like some Japanese tourist in that hat haha... Then Tirza got pretty curious and took my hat to play with it too... haha we just had fun with even that hat haha...
The next stop, we went over to the Underwater World... Oh yes, I forgot to include this earlier on... We are given free tickets for Underwater World, Dolphin Show and the sky tower... We went to the ticket counter of the Underwater World... and at the doorstep, as per normal ahha photos!!! Hahah we were really like some photo addicts hahah but its alrite whats more important is that we had fun... Yup! We went in and the first display we visited was the touch pool... The marine creatures were pretty poor thing haha, we stretched our hands in and started touching them and taking some of the starfishes out of the pool for some photo shooting... it really was STAR-fish... Next, we walk on to take the moving trail into the underwater tunnel... Just outside the tunnel there is an exhibition of piranhas and jellyfishes... We went over to take a look ... Personally, I was very much fascinated by the jellyfishes...They were magnificent... The way they sway, the way they swim, gracious and carefree... At times, how I wish life could be like that... Anyway, we stepped onto the moving trail and moved into the tunnel... Our Indonesian friends were v much fascinated by the sharks...At certain intervals, we just got off the moving trail and take photos with that giant tank...
Then finally, the whole underwater experience is over and we exited to have lunch... We went to the food court, which was just beside the Underwater World... We went over, joined like almost 5 -6 tables in order to fit all of us... Then Grace, Rosh,, and me went to get our food... the moment we saw the menu... NO WONDER WE ARE GIVEN S$110... the food is really expensive... Nevertheless, we still got some food to eat... We needed to last for the whole day... still a long route ahead..
Then after meals, we went to take the 'topless' bus to the sky tower... We just wanted to finish up all the complementary tickets before going for something even more thrilling... we enjoyed the fresh air and the cool breeze... and finally we reached our destination… We alighted and walked to this really tall tower which look like the control station at Changi Airport...We were seated in this huge cabin and was revolved up to the top... We took the ride up and WOAH!!! Never knew Singapore actually looked so beautiful... Really, the seas... the Greenery...Awwwww... After that, we got off the sky tower and go for some cable car ride... We took off from sentosa to Mount Faber and returned to Sentosa... The ride was a relaxing one... so relaxing that I almost fall asleep... serious, it travelled very slowly, but we managed to catch a good glimpse of the mainland from an elevated view... Then when we returned, we went to take a monorail to Palawan beach to join the other SunBurst mates for some get together games...
The Monorail station was totally jam packed with people... Tourist groups from China, Japan and also our SunBurst Team... we waited for like 3 train before got onto one??? Anyway, the idea is we got there still... haha...after much hardwork squeezing among the crowd and having to endure the heat... But we made it anyway to PALAWAN BEACH...haha we ran out the train and charged towards the beach...Gosh many of the others were already there... We're pretty late haha... There were just so many activities... Volleyball, cycling, cards, skating, swimming, sand playing, frisbee... My team separated the moment we reached the beach... we went for different activities... Myself, I went for frisbee felt it was the best among all and it proved to be true haha... Faith, Luqman, Russell and the few others were also there with us...We really had a great time throwing and catching the disc...
Then, its time for dolphin show... Me gathered back my group and we rushed for the pink dolphin pool, which is just some kilometres away... we sat on the sand and started watching the show... I wasn't really marvelled by the stunts but I am fascinated by how pretty the pink dolphins are... they are magnificent really creatures... Really rare...
Finally its evening... We returned to the monorail station and took the monorail back to the visitor centre where we had our dinner at Burger King... Haha, we lots of fun crapping over dinner... I think the highlight of the dinner was the 'cross-cultural exchange'...haha, Tirza started speaking to me in Bahasan Indonesia, while I replied her in chinese... We simply don't understand a single thing but talk like as if we know everything haha... Must agree its absolute crap, but when we enjoy it and had fun with it... I really feel that these craps are worthwhile...
Then, for the very last item of the day, we went for the Musical Fountain... Gosh the arrays of light performance that was before our eyes... FABULOUS! It almost appeared as if it was 3-D... The lights were just beautiful!!! Stunning!!! Really, I wouldn't believe it if I haven't seen it with my own eyes...
But all good things had to end... The disappearing of photons signalled that its time to leave...We headed back to the coach... and there goes...
SunBurst Youth Camp Day 5 ...
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16 December 2004
An orange horizon marks the dawn of a new day...
This is going to be short, for nothing really great really happened, but nonetheless I will include it in as it captured the most boring part of the whole camp...
We woke up as usual to find ourselves in front of the dining tables serving ourselves breakfast... Then once again back to the auditorium for some briefing and off we went again...
First stop, SNP (Singapore National Printer)... A short introduction, followed by refreshments... haha and I meant refreshments... no wonder its call refreshments... I was in dreamland throughout the entire introduction... Then, we were brought round the building to take a look at how our books and publications are printed... Well... Yawn...
Next, we had lunch followed by our trip to Singapore Technologies Electronics... Likewise, an introduction to the place... Supposed to be brief but end up I think almost 45mins... This one... Hahha not only me, but I think almost everyone slept... Sorry but really its simply too BORING!!! Someone tried to wake me... But I kind of nudge her away... That person so happen was Colin, if I had not recall wrongly... I almost asked her to shoo... But I turned around... Oops! And started waking everyone yup... haha... After that, we had tea and went exploring the place, looking at the new innovations created by ST Elec...
Finally, with all that we returned to RELC... Boring isnt it...
After that the dance, that's us... we went for our dance preparation...
With that...
SunBurst Youth Camp Day 6...
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17 December 2004 "How Wonderful!!!"
The Gentle Breeze...
The Warmth of Light...
The Vibrant Colours of Nature...
Went for a stroll in the small garden in RELC before heading back to the restaurant for breakfast...
Filled with expectancy, I rushed down to the auditorium... We were expecting a great and fun filled day ahead of us... It's our discovery tour!!! We just couldn't wait for it to commence...
My Team, a team of 7 (Me, Rosh, Marvin- Indonesia, Shafiq -Brunei, Wah Wah -Myanmar, Luang -Lao, Phuong -Vietnam)... Some of us were acquainted way before this day, yet for some of us this was the very first day we even spoke to one another... Either or, its never too late... Better later than never... Anyway, got our package... Checked... A file, a bus guide, a map, destination sheets, EzLink Cards... Now, indeed, we were ready to go...
We plotted our route... First to Botanical Garden... Next Fabric of the Nation... Then National University Singapore (NUS) and last but not least back to Starhub Centre, Cuppage Road... But along the way, we took many other routes and really made a great adventure out of it...
Now from RELC, we headed from Botanical Gardens... Well, we were thinking of how to go... rather which is a shorter route... then I recalled its just nearby, so I suggested lets walk there ahhaa... What idea I had huh, haha my group members would understand what I meant... haha... We walked and walked...but seriously no sight of any botany around...Hahaha...Then passed by Tanglin Mall, we thought, "Hmmm lets go get from drink..." Then we popped by 7-11 and got ourselves snacks drinks...Personally, I got myself milk...Like some kid huh hahaha...Sorry but this guy here can't grows up, still like milk...Pretty addicted to it... Haha...Anyway, we continued the journey...We walked and walked...What a long distance...Finally, we saw 2 pillars... Black Ones...I saw some small statues on it, and theres this really big black gates... "ARHHH!!! WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!" ...As fast as we could, we ran to towards the black gate to find that the gate was locked... It was under renovation... So we had to find other gates in...Continued walking upwards... Finally, through a small gate, we entered the green pasture... indeed, the pasture on the other side is always nice... Especially this pasture... Full of greenery Haha... We saw this white shelter... Looks very nice and scenic, so once again, we started shooting... haha... Took quite a lot of photographs... And after which we carry on to find that gigantic tree which we were supposed to find...We continued exploring the park... Looking high and low, from desert range to orchids to lakes... But all efforts in vain... Then as we approached the visitor centre... WAHHHH!!! WE FOUND IT!!! FINALLY AFTER 1 HOUR!!! For a moment we became some parasite of the tree... we started hugging it, attached to it... Gosh what hard time it was trying to find this immobile Ent!!! But we did anyway, and started snapping away haha... We took several photo of the tree with us posing away, all kind of pose...
Then we proceeded to the next destination, Toa Payoh, to see the Fabric of the Nation, but before we did, we went to the Botanical Garden visitor centre and check out about the Hippo Bus... Too Bad, we missed it and the next would arrive in 1/2 hour time... we didn't have such time so we started walking out... We wanted to take a bus… However... However...hahaha we're kind of lost in Evans Road... Hhahaa... Quite Comical, actually there were many times we were kind of stranded hahaha... but then under the wonderful tour guides (Me and Rosh), We'll certainly walk out safe...Me and Rosh then decided... Lets not be stranded... Lets take a cab... and we took it... but since we're taking a cab, lets go somewhere else... We decided to go Westin hotel and go up the 72 storey take a look and come down...We arrived there, hoping to see it... however...the manager refused to allow us to go up, cause its only for those who r dining in the restaurant... Sigh... How disappointing... But we didn't let it dampen our emotions and feelings... Instead, we charged up, and became even more hyped up, and all ready to run for the next destination... You can literary see the fire burning in us...We shopped and ran to the City Hall MRT station and took the North line to Toa Payoh, where we were greeted by this really big market and the HDB centre... We rushed to the Fabric of the Nation and looked at the different parchments... likewise we took pictures after pictures...hahaha... We just cant get enough of it...However, haha by now we were all hungry and a little tired, but of course, our spirits were still at peak... We went to the nearby McDonald's and had our lunch... Hey guess what, we met Mai's group in Mac's...My group and hers, we had our lunch together, and we talked, we crap-ped, and had fun... And after which, onward to the next station... We went back to the MRT train station and took the train from Toa Payoh Back to Jurong East, and change of line to Clementi... We wanted to get a bus transfer at clementi bus terminal to NUS... The trip was sure long...Haha but nonetheless, with our team of wild and crazy people from various countries, we just joked along the way, and filled the train with laughters... haha who knows, perhaps the other passengers on the trains might had found us mad or something, but well who cares, especially when we were having fun... Despite all the fun, we had to admit, we were tired...some of us, just leaned onto the safety bars and relax, while the few who are sitting, just fall into dreamland... haha... Can still remember Shafiq while he's sleeping haha... Not bad, quite good posture huh haha... Good Posture?? I am serious, while some of us might have our heads dropping everywhere, his wont... Hhaha he is really still... no movement...that's what I meant by good posture... Finally, Clementi... We alighted...Got off the train station, took the overhead bridge and walked over to the area for bus 96...
We didn't have to wait for long before the bus arrived... We took it and ride for another I think 1/2 hr before reaching the NUS campus... Not even the cultural centre yet! Just the Campus Door... we carried on walking and walking... Along the way, we talked about the universities that we would like to join in future, for me NUS and I think Shafiq too, expressed his interest in NUS... There were also the others who wished to join our NTU for bachelor's study... Anyway, finally we arrived at the cultural centre... We went for a short toilet break and meet back at the Asian Cultural Museum... Not a very big one, but enough for us to find our answer to our questions... Then we called back the adminstrators in RELC to report our answer... "YES!!! WE HAVE COMPLETED OUR DISCOVERY TRIP!! WE HAVE EMERGED THE SECOND PLACING!!!" Well haha interestingly, we won... We were overwhelmed with joy... now we were free to do anything we like, shop, eat or play all up to us... With nothing much at hand now, we took the NUS internal shuttle bus and went for a tour round the campus... Wow haha it sure is big haha... We were like some tourist from Mars, peeking out of the windows looking at the sights and wonders of the university... After a loop, we returned to our original stop and we proceeded on to our next place...MY HOUSE... haha...
We went back to our original bus stop and see if theres any bus to go to my place...well I was pretty engrossed with reading my book that I didn't exactly put in much thoughts into which bus... Rosh just told me, theres bus 188, and I without much thoughts said, oh well lets take it...the best thing here is it does not go to my house, only 187 does...Haha of course I recognised the route... looking out of the bus windows I realised the landmarks were pretty familiar ... then it striked me... IT GOES TO MY SECONDARY SCHOOL!!! But well, since we had already travelled so far, might as well haha...We alighted only at Toh Guan Road (the street beside my secondary school) and walked to the nearby bus stop where I can get a bus to go to my place... But at this moment... The sky darkened...Somehow the sky just didn't really like us...anyway, we ignored the sky and just carry on with our adventure... As we were walking to the bus stop, suddenly..."Raindrops keeps falling on my head..." Yes it drizzled... To make matter worse... Our BUS 98 IS HERE!! We put on flying shoes and ran after the bus... Hahaha comical rite hahaha… A group of people, running under the drizzle after a bus... for some of our team mates haha... this is one of the rare times they got to run... haha.. but they enjoyed the run anyway...Its good for health you know haha... Then on the bus, the rain just got heavier and heavier...Then I just told my group...Hmmm... Guys, prepare for another adventure to come... That's how to get across to my place dry...
Hahaha we arrived at our stop, and true enough its downpouring... I tried to lead them in the shelter, but apparently the rain was just simply too heavy, I called my dad to get some umbrellas down, while the rest of us pulled out our ducky ponchos... By the time we reached my house, some of us without the ponchos were wet... luckily we brought spare clothes...and for me, I am in my house, why would there be no clothes for me ahha.. then we got changed and we slack around play and crap and of course took photos... Shafiq tried using my computer but then it just didn' wish to comply... The server somehow was down... Anyway... hhaha... After about 1 hour, we decided to go back to starhub centre to report...And once again train... From Lakeside MRT to Orchard MRT... After so much travelling and adventures...Some adventures huh haha... I doubt you will get it that often alrite haha... we finally arrived at our very last stop, STARHUB CENTRE, CUPPAGE Road... We rushed up the lift, joined back our friends and started chattering about the adventures we had the whole day... haha.. Then we got our allowances and went to te nearby glutton square for dinner... Hahaha... we just had a great night eating and chattering away... Then we went shopping, and along the way i went to get files, pens and stuff... for Project Secret... Haha.. thats what i told them...
When all is done and over, we returned back to RELC... I started to draw and write and file up these small notes and letters... Was quite in a rush, i only had a night to do for quite alot of people... And with that...
SunBurst Youth Camp Day 7... ___________________________________________________________________________
18 December 2004 Time is Transient...
Grazing up at the starry night sky...
Its already the 8th day...
Soon… In couple more hours... Its all over...
How time flies...
Now the sky started to light up... I packed my backpack, got myself ready... Started to wake my room mates and went for breakfast... Well, I should say this is the day... The day we anticipated... Yet the day we dreaded... We would be having our cultural dance tonight… And after that... Farewell Dinner... I should say this is actually the last day of our camp... tomorrow its all about departure...
We gathered in the auditorium, and soon after dispatched into our buses... This would be our last expedition for this whole camp... A trip to Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve...First, we were all gathered in a small theatre in the reserve itself, and watched an introductory film on the reserve, then we were sent out for some tour around the park This time our groupings were according to our countries...
My dance group and I were attached as one group while the seminar as the other and we joined 2 different group for the tour...We had to cause our Singapore team is simply too large...Anyway, as we walk, we got more and more tired, I am sure we can all see that by the distance we were apart from each other... those who were stronger were right in front while those who were tired just try to catch up from behind... To say that the tour is interesting erm...Not really, but also not really that boring that we my fall asleep... I believe for some of us, we just enjoy the breeze and the strench of swamps... I mean we seldom would get to smell such odour everyday... hahha... Along the way, we took many pictures and were marvelled by some of the creatures we seldom see in our daily life...
Oh well... After much walk, we gathered back in the visitor centre and we were prepared to leave...We hopped on the coach again and travelled back to RELC... Now my dance group we all went for a short lunch and rushed up to our rooms to grab our costumes and started changing into it... Mmm let me see... how to describe our costumes... its red and black...Pretty much of a ethnic fusion with a chinese kungfu costume as a base, and a scarf used as a sarong and the hat... Mmm I don't know haha... its very unique... not one you will see on streets, that is for sure... haha.... anyway, we dressed into costumes and all gathered in kellie's room, waiting for make up... I don't know what they did to me ahhaha but anyway with powdering and some sketching, I ended up looking pretty fierce, and scary...ahaha... even I myself found it scary haha… that's the power of make up... can make u into a beautiful swan, but also when need be, make u into some villian.. haha..
Folly, look at the time, its time to be back in the auditorium for the Cultural Night... The time has come... The host for the night was none other than Faith and Derrick, Singapore... Just like the seminar, we also our performance was also scheduled by countries... I cant remember the sequence, but I can still remember the different perfomance...
Terrific!!! The dances were just excellent...they really portrayed the type of background and culture... Indonesia in their purple batik-like costumes, accompanied by music made by the Angke Long (Pardon me, I don't know how to spell it), in their small light steps...Brunei, in kind of festive dance, with all the sitting and all the running about, it sure weren't easy...Cambodia portrayed the type of joy in harvesting (at that's what it appears to me)... these were just a few of the dances, every country had their very own unique dances to represent them...Then finally... Our turn...
The music played... and with a lightning, the guys started to move out slowly... as if in pain... crawling...turning...Mai, Sylvia and Rosz, running out, waving a large cloth in their hands... And the rest of the team started entering the stage, while the guys running to take a backseat, for now... Towards the middle of the dance, there's a part where Luqman solo...WOW cool moves...wonder how he did that, like as if some boneless creature hahaha...sorry lah Luqman haha...I shant describe the whole dance... too many steps.. haha... seriously I cant remember the steps... but towards the end the ladies encircled the guys, and we slowly moved into our final pose...with a smile, we end the dance...
Then the whole sunburst jumped up onto the stage, and we had our finale, "I will be there for you!"... we sang and started hugging each other...some cried their hearts out... Its just surprising what a week can do to people...
Then when its all over, we were sent to the restaurant once again for our farewell dinner... It seems only yesterday that we had our welcome and now we are parting... I went up to my room, grab the files that I had prepared last night and brought it down...First we had some speeches, and then the gift exchange commenced...we started to give each other gifts and just expressed out we felt of each other, and thanking each other for that great 8 days... I really must thank especially the Indonesians... Their warmth and friendliness... The joy and laughter, and not all, they even gave me gifts... From shirts to pens to key chains to ornaments... Wow...
Oh yes and there's this group that I had seldom talk about the Indians... They were also one group who had made this all such a great experience...Though we seldom had adventures together, as in those expedition and stuff, nonetheless, their friendliness.. The lounge experiences... haha...some interestingly had some special liking for the elevator... But I enjoyed the part when we were up in the lounge just talking and exchanging viewpoints...
Then we returned to our rooms, I gave my room mates each a china hat haha, you know those with pigtails haha... I believed its something special for them... And Sothy gave me this big and beautiful cloth... I wonder what its for in Cambodia but its really lovely... and Raghav gave me this portrait of the Indian god, Krishna...
With that... SunBurst Youth Camp Day 8... ____________________________________________________________________________
19 December 2004
5++am
Someone: "Arthur!"
Me: "Yes?" (Still Rubbing my eyes)
Someone: " We're leaving, we have to rush for our flight... This is something for you, thank you so much!"
Me: "Huh, so early... Alrite... Goodbye... All the Best"
That someone is Divya and the whole Indian delegate group... I felt quite bad not sending them off... they actually took the effort to come and bid farewell to me before they leave for home.... But anyway... the fact is I didn't... They had been so nice... Yup all the joy...
Woke up soon after, I went for breakfast with the rest of the delegates who were still in Singapore... This is our last breakfast for the camp... We ate and chatted, wondering when would be the next time we might ever get such chance...
Soon, Cambodia had to made their way home... Next Brunei... So on so forth... Gosh... its really like as though it was yesterday that we met, we spoke, now we are saying, "goodbye!"... Just when we had built the bond, now we had to part... It isnt really parting actually...We could always keep in touch via email and msn... however, indeed the feeling will never be the same...Finally, left the second last group... Indonesia... Me, Rosh and Grace we went to the airport with them...We squeezed together in that small coach... Singapore indeed is small...not long and we're in Changi Airport... we alighted the coach and we tagged along into the airport... While they were checking in... me Rosh and Grace were sharing how much we would miss them... Soon they finished checking in, we moved together to the departure gates... At this point, everyone started to get emotional... We had to really part now... We just hugged each other... Some cried... Some just don't wish to leave... But we had to... I can still remember the words I told Dwitya at the departure gate, " Its not really goodbye, the world is small enough for us to meet again, we will meet again online, one day, better still you might just be the next national leader... We will meet again... Its Joy not Pain... We are going for something even greater from here..." With that... SunBurst Youth Camp Day 9: Day of Departure ___________________________________________________________________________
Its indeed interesting how a camp, a slightly more than week long camp can do to people... we were once strangers but now friends who hug, who cry for one another... friends who will ask about each other, and concern about each others well being… No ethnic or background stands as a barrier between each and every one of us... How just a 9 day camp could stir up great emotions in us... The kind of joy, the kind of experience...One which no money can buy... The strength of friendship built, the type of heartfelt feelings that are conjured in us... These things that are mentioned may not strike many of you... but certainly for us who are part of it... For us who been through it.. I believe it will bring us great memories… It will once again bring back the kind of emotions, the kind of feelings we once had... Something are just beyond what words can describe... But let the pictures tells the thousand words... In closing, this song... One song I really felt for, especially after the camp... Even till this day, this song still touches me a lot... It really reminded me of you guys abroad, and even more it made me think of my brothers here, who are very precious to me, whom i love and care for, whom i treasure greatly... Andre, Timothy, Gabriel, Kevin, Yong Hui, yes i am referring to you guys... This camp really taught me the word, cherish... However, thats another issue, another entry, for another time... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We Are One
Two very different people
Too scared to get along
Till two hearts beat together
Underneath one sun
One very special moment can turn a destiny
And what some would say could never change
Has changed for you and me
'Cause it's all, it's all in the way you
Look through your eyes
And when all is said and done
All of the fear and all of the lies are
Not hard to overcome
It's all in the way you look at it
That makes you strong
We were two (we were two)
Now we are one
We are two very different people
So much to overcome
So why care for one another
When there's so much to be done
Cause sometimes it s necessary
Just look how far we ve come
You could say my friend that
It s the end
Or a new tale has begun
'Cause it's all, it's all in the way you
Look through your eyes
And when all is said and done
All of the fear and all of the lies are
Not hard to overcome
It's all in the way you look at it
That makes you strong
We were two (we were two)
Now we are one
One moment in time
Is all the time we need
Just to make a difference
To make it better for you and for me
It you just believe
Oh yeah
Just open your eyes
'Cause it's all, it's all in the way you
Look through your eyes
And when all is said and done
All of the fear and all of the lies are
Not hard to overcome
It's all in the way you look at it
That makes you strong
We were two (we were two)
Now we are one
Oh yeah, oh yeah
We were two
Now we are one xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Remembering On|2/08/2005 01:49:00 AM|
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