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Sunday 31 October 2010
slacking away again. 31/10/10.


well, now i'm waiting for Liar Game ep 9 to complete loading..

been watching loadsa shows recently.

had a 2movie back-to-back race with erica on friday.

caught Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, followed by Legend of the Fist: Return of Chen Zhen 15mins after. xD~!

loved Detective Dee. altho i wish they could have played up Carina Lau's character a little more, and defined the single-handed guy better. plus the Donkey Wang guy.

one thing tho, they stretched out the cute albino guy too much. he totally became our main focus for the movie!! he's soo adorable!!

didn't think i'd enjoy the show cuz of Andy Lau. no idea why, but i juz have an aversion for shows he's in. only wanted to watch Detective Dee for the story. a little disappointed, tho.

Kindaichi shows are waaaay better.

so, ya. the cute albino dude caught my eye. he resembles the cute hair stylist. ^^

BUT BLOODY HELL. FUCKING ANDY LAU. I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE 4HEAVENLYKINGSHIT. WHY THE HELL DOES YOUR RETARDED CHARACTER OPEN THE DOOR ALL THE WAY TO THE END AND KILL MY CUTE ALBINO?!?!?!?!

DIE!!!!

hah.

Legend of the Fist was disappointing. the front caught me, but the rest was 'zzzzzz'...

watched Battle Royale 1 and 2 at home. woah.

i wanna check out the action directors.

altho it's not as bloody, or graphic as reviews stated. a little boring at some parts. too toned down.

dunno why the rating was R. totally a NC-16.

what else.. watched Letters from Iwo Jima again. love the way Nino played Saigo. totally didn't pay attention to Watanabe Ken-san. he got "gulped" by Nino. haha. can totally imagine Nino doing the headbob thing now.


i think Liar Game should be almost done loading. catching season 1 online, then season 2 on dvd.

i didn't manage to buy season 1, only season 2. stupid right? lol.

Fieary. 31/10/10.

juz added colours randomly. rainbow post~!


15:08
when will my dreams be fulfilled??

Monday 25 October 2010
configuring daddy's laptop. 25/10/10.


rah rha rah rah rah!!!!

stupidconfigurations!

and dammit, my daddy's space button something wrong.sometimes cannot work.

my stupid little netbook shitted up, so i'm gonna be using daddy's lappie till i get a new one.

i need to install MathCad into the laptop, so i can use the damn software for my Mathematics B moduletutorials. grawr.........


apparently,we are only entitled to have ONE laptop installed with SP software, so i have to uninstall everything off past laptops, etc.

MY BLOODY NETBOOK BLEW UP INTO FLAMES! HOW ABOUT THAT!

lol. sounds quite funny, now that i think of it.

but, ya. boring, hassle-gritted procedures to go through.

waste of my time.

even completed Inorganic and Organic Chemistry homework liao. given a few hours ago somemore.

see? soo hardworking.xD~!

Fieary. 25/10/10.


16:13
when will my dreams be fulfilled??

Friday 22 October 2010
Sakae Sushi. 22/10/10.


so yesterday, i was planning on ambushing my bestie at work. (Sakae Sushi)

so i went to check out Sakae's website on the opening times, promotions, etc.

clicked on one of the newsletters, and saw something about looking for a monthly blogger. ME ME ME! I WANT THE 50BUCK VOUCHER, PLUS THE CARD, ETC!!

I WANNA BUY THAT ADORABLE GREEN FROG WITH SAKAE DOLLARS!!!!!


and their organic green tea too.

ya, so anyway,

today, there was no practical for anatomy. thank God! i don't wanna be cutting up organs in my first week of school!

in the morning, erica said she'll meet up with me at 5.

my class ends at noon.
i'll be waiting for a teacher till 2.

so between 2-5, i had absolutely nothing to do.

out of the blue, i decided to contact my mom, whom i haven't seen in over a year. wow.

ignoring whatever went on between then till now, we decided to go for lunch after 2.

she loves raw salmon. i love sushi.
we both love eating, eating, and eating.

=)

salmon + sushi + many many servings = buffet~!!

skipped over to clementi's Sakae branch at CityVibe for their tea-time buffet.

love it over there.

went there once with bearbear before. normally at that time, it's quite ulu. or rather, somehow, i don't see many SP students there. (even tho our school is juz 1 mrt station away.)

compared to woodlands, Causeway Point's Sakae Sushi, this outlet is much better-lit.
the lighting is much warmer, stimulating our appetites.
everything on the menu looks ~~yum~!

all of a sudden, my mom started waving like mad at the counter to call a waitress over. now i know where i got my ditzy genes from. at least, some of it. ^^

being familiar with the buffet terms, i started spamming my orders.
O O
\_/
v

aiyah. fail. i tried to draw a huge greedy smiley, but it ended up looking more like a praying mantis.

no pics.. ='{

never mind, Sakae has the menu online, right? juz copy from there!~ *proud look*

so here's a list of what we ate;

1.) Kitsune Udon
2.) Wakame Udon
(tried to order butterfry mentai, but dun have.. =/)
3.) Ajitsuke Idako
4.) Chuka Hotate
5.) Chuka Kurage
6.) Egg Mayo
7.) Ebiko
8.) Tuna Mayo
(also no more salmon avocado.. =1)
9.) 2 Salmon Mango Temaki
10.) Maguro Temaki
11.) Fried Tofu
12.) Potato Croquette
(WTF?!~ NO RENKON CHIPS?!?!?!?! NOOOOO!!!! ERICA AND I LOVE THOSE! WE COULD SIT AT SAKAE FOR 2.45HOURS JUZ EATING 20PLATES OF RENKON CHIPS!)
13.) Amaebi Sushi
14.) Ebi Sushi
15.) Kani Fumi Sushi
16.) Salmon Sushi
17.) Tai Sushi
18.) Shime Saba Sushi
19.) Unagi Egg Mayo Makimono
20.) Soft Shell Crab Makimono
21.) Kansen Maki (pink plate)
22.) Tempura Cheese Maki (pink plate)
23.) Hana Maki (red plate)
24.) Unagi Maki (red plate)
25.) Cha Soba
26.) Miso soup
27.) 2 Vanilla Brownie icecreams

^^ long?
i still wanna try Sunshine Maki next time. hohohohohohoh! premium makimono!!!

now, for a brief review of almost each item.

shaddup. don't complain. i want that $50 voucher and other perks.

Kitsune Udon & Wakame Udon - aiyah. i still only like the soup. ordering this was a waste for me cuz,
a.) i don't like udon cuz juz ONE noodle will fill up my mouth, so i can hardly chew. yes, my mouth is that tiny. i normally give the springy springy fat fat wormy noodles to erica. she can finish 3 bowls of udon and still want more. she loves it.
b.) i don't each fish paste anymore.. so the cute swirly pink thing will always fly from my bowl to someone else's.

Ajitsuke Idako - mamma mia! tastes like charsiew octopus!! =D now i know why gek loves this seasoned octopus! soo sweet and savoury!

Chuka Hotate, Chuka Kurage - sadly, they were spicy. so i couldn't eat them.

Egg Mayo - i guess this dish should only be eaten at the start of the meal. either that, or i had too many flavours on my tongue already. hahahha!

Ebiko, Tuna Mayo - they're juz a must-have for a sushi meal, larh, harh?
(also no more salmon avocado.. =1)
2 Salmon Mango Temaki - took the mango and gave the rest to mummy. xD~! i always get the salmon mango dishes for the mango..
Maguro Temaki
Fried Tofu
Potato Croquette - love. best plate out of everything. xD~!
(WTF?!~ NO RENKON CHIPS?!?!?!?! NOOOOO!!!! ERICA AND I LOVE THOSE! WE COULD SIT AT SAKAE FOR 2.45HOURS JUZ EATING 20PLATES OF RENKON CHIPS!)
Amaebi Sushi
Ebi Sushi
Kani Fumi Sushi
Salmon Sushi
Tai Sushi
Shime Saba Sushi
Unagi Egg Mayo Makimono
Soft Shell Crab Makimono
Kansen Maki (pink plate)
Tempura Cheese Maki (pink plate) - one thing erica and i will always eat when we head to Sakae.
Hana Maki (red plate)
Unagi Maki (red plate) - unagi, soft shell crab, meat floss, cucumber. what else was in it? the combination of flavours was enough to satisfy me.. even tho it was only the first dish i ate. hahahahha.
Cha Soba - okay larh, not to my liking. the dip was not sweet enough. and the noodles tasted a little funny.
Miso soup - erica told me the Sunplaza outlet makes their miso soup from powder, so i asked the waitress. glad to hear that the Clementi outlet actually uses real miso!!! =) the girl was like, "what?! no! here, we do not use powder! we make it from the actualy miso!" =) can taste the huge huge huge huge huge difference in the weight of the soup! ^^ like any other person with japanese blood, i love my miso authentic! ^v^

2 Vanilla Brownie icecreams - THEY WERE OUT OF MANGO!!!! but okay larh, given that i hadn't tried this flavour before, it was stupid and rude to say tell my mom that the vanilla probably not nice. hahah. this was awesome! i gave the nuts to mummy, cuz i don't like nuts. the vanilla was soo soft and melt-in-your-mouth, i could eat 5 cups of this and still want more!
not exaggerating!

lol. that's it. 27 dishes. ^^

mummy and i were calculating, $18.90 for adults, and $13.90 for youths. $32.80 = 16coloured plates! yay! we overate our money's worth! xD~!

oh ya, halfway through, i was telling mummy about the different grades between salmon parts, and picked the better pieces of salmon sushi for her off the belt. so.. i guess.. 30dishes total? X]

dunno whether the chef made a mistake or something, the higher quality of salmon, the belly section, where the highest grade of marbling/fat is, was coming out on coloured plates!

don't care, juz eat! also not me kena sack, hahah.

ya, what else?

oo! the green tea! best thing to wash down all that rice with.

and the vit e they put in the rice! and nutritional value of the rice! and serving timings when you order out of the menu!

aiyah, this post too long already.

if i get the blogger award thing, i'll blog about those then. ^^ shrewd enough?

Fieary. 22/10/10.


21:04
when will my dreams be fulfilled??

Saturday 16 October 2010
Zappy Boy wet wipes. 16/10/10.



the first time i ever came into contact with ZB wipes was while working in the YOV.

i fell in love.

today, on the bus trip home, i fell in love with ZB wipes again.

most people use wet wipes for cleaning oily fingers, wiping mud off legs, sterilising open wounds, or (for the more daring) cleaning off makeup.

here are 2 more non-conventional uses for wet wipes.

1st: discovered while bullshitting during work.

in the YOV, i was in charge of block 67, with the Spanish team in the lower floors.

2 rooms had massive ant nest colonies in the cupboards.

erica and i sat down to clean up the tracks after vacuuming everything away.

the rag wasn't working, and there was a packet of ZB wipes staring at me from the drawers. in an attempt to waste time and resources, we decided to see if wet wipes could do any good.


THE RESULTS ARE MIND-BOGGLING.

no pressure needed to be applied, nor any scratching, angled wiping, etc.

all that needed to be done was to swipe the wet wipe over the tracks, and voila! cleaner than those floor mop advertisements. i could almost vouch that cupboard surface even twinkled at me!

glazing the rest of the cupboard through was a breeze.

Zappy Boy wet wipes can remove all traces of ant nests!




and here's the second time ZB wipes got my heart skipping a beat:

today, i was on the bus travelling home after an all-night filming session.

our hair was stuck solid in geeky hairstyles, thanks to multiple coatings of hairspray.

i was juz done removing my makeup with ZB wipes, and was combing through my helmet (and rapidly frizzing-up-thanks-to-the-bloody-strong-hold-of-the-damn-spray) hair.
then, i thought; 'i still have quite a few wipes left in this packet, i wanna use it up.'

being the joker/bullshitter, i turned to J and asked him, "oei, u think wet wipes can remove hairspray?"

"dunno, you want to try?"

"ya. pass me one."



O.O


at the sides of my head, where there were only singular coatings of hairspray, A SINGLE SWIPE OF ZAPPY BOY TURNED MY HAIR SOFTER AND SMOOTHER THAN EVER!

all fatigue and boredom immediately disappeared from out exhausted eyes.

"can i please have one more wipe?" *hopeful puppy dog eyes*

the guys started scrambling for my ZB, combing through their rock-heads with ZB wipes like they were limitless credit cards.

my hair has never felt soo healthy in a long long time!

one wipe managed to get half the hair spray off my head within half a minute. how awesome is that?

i gotta go find out where to get more. i only have individual sheets left!

so once again, Zappy Boy wet wipes can not only vanquish ant nests, it can also whish away pesky hair spray!

here's how the packaging looks like;

picture stolen off google images.

and the best part, it's non-alcoholic, so even Muslims can use it! yay!

at least, the last time i read, it was non-alcoholic.

ALERT: THERE ARE BOTH ALCOHOLIC AND NON-ALCOHOLIC ONES. CHECK THE DESCRIPTION FIRST!

aight, off to shower then complete my REM sleep. feel soo full after eating at DXE.

Fieary. 16/10/10.


18:52
when will my dreams be fulfilled??

Sunday 10 October 2010
expensive day of 1st exps. 9/10/10.


yay! expensive day of first experiences.

juz received 100bucks pay, and blew it all within 6hours. hahah.

ate dinner at 雪の焼, got a classique pedicure at the 1st floor, then went for a 45minute foot, hand, and shoulder massage at Kenko. ^^

had DIY icecream, pedicure, and foot reflexology, all for the first time.

got butter splishy splashing all over, a nice young pt captain waiting on our table, who later taught us how to DIY icecream.

quite fun, actually! ^^ "like spreading butter on a bread"
except their kiwi flavour sucks!

pedicure took happy toe 45mins.

first time going for 1. hahah! felt like a princess when they wore slippers for me. awww... ^^

foot reflexology and the massage was soo awesome.

i wanna compliment Joanne Ong. her skills are amazing; the right amount of pressure where it should be. and she's soo polite and cheerful!

recently, i haven't been having any inclination to blog at all.

i've been doing soo many things that are blog-worthy, but i have absolutely no mood to do so.

okay, u know what that means?

HIATUS!!! ^^

Fieary. 09/10/10.

it's 10/10/10 already. i wonder how many couples are getting married at 10:10 later.


00:26
when will my dreams be fulfilled??

Friday 8 October 2010
Prime Gymnastics. 7/10/10.


went for trial gymnastics class with erica last night. thanks, Gloria!! ^^

class started at 8pm.

did warm-ups till like, 8.30?

oh gosh.. i never felt soo unfit before!! couldn't even keep pace with the circle exercises!

they hopped, skipped, jumped, ran, while i eeped, trip, stumbled, panted.

i couldn't even follow some of the stretching exercises.. =,[ whimper~

so while everyone was leisurely stretching their joints, i was perspiring buckets, and straining hamstrings.

hahha.

at least i can do a headstand!! ignoring the toppling backwards 4seconds later. hahahhaha!

handstand too!

then did trampoline zombie jumps. soo fun!!

aiyah, i totally shouldn't have waited till now to post about this. totally forgot everything i originally intended to type, except that 2 guys had really sexy abs, 1guy had this cuute furry mohawk, and could do awesome somersaults, and there was also a guy called Keane who went for trial with us.

supposed to be 1.5hours, but mr How let us play till 10.

OH OH!!

there's this girl called C(K?)aren. it was her bday. so during conditioning, at the jumps station, How asked her to demo how to do that station.

when she was jumping, blackout.

H told her to juz wait there first.

A CAKE APPEARED!!

soo sweet of them!! ^^

okay, the colouring is a little funny.

anyway, i'll be back.

400+ for 3months, 3lessons week. very reasonable and cheap for adult gymnastics.

shall use this for my NYAA gold.

i feel taller already. my back stretched out. almost strained it tho. very.. comfy. hahah!

Fieary. 7/10/10.


13:08
when will my dreams be fulfilled??

Thursday 7 October 2010
busy busy busy. 7/10/10.


juz got home after going out early last morning.

this will be the.. 3rd? day in a row without at least 5hours of sleep.
hahah.

up to my neck with schedules to follow, and commitments to keep.

fun, tho.

awfully enjoyable. ^^

God, i pray that you will grant me your strength and joy with each passing second, bless me to excel in everything i do, and juz have a hell lotta fun all the time.

more activities tomorrow. losing my voice.

damn you, sunny. i love you.

Fieary. 7/10/10.


02:17
when will my dreams be fulfilled??

Tuesday 5 October 2010
a more formal version of IT Joy's informal journal. 18/09/10-28/09/10.


1st Day


At 7.30am, we gathered at Changi International Airport’s Terminal 2, for our 9am flight.

On the 3 hour 15 minute flight, after helping us change our USD into smaller denotions, Prasanth started chatting with the man seated on our right, a university Portuguese Linguistics lecturer. He recommended us restaurants and dishes, beaches, and places to visit.

Apparently, some of the beaches have erected warning signs about crocodiles, which were supposed to be rather common in their crocodile-shaped island. He, however, had never seen any first-hand before, so he told us not to worry.

Upon arrival at the Dili (Timor's capital) airport, we met Michael. (He is AMAZING. our trip was a success largely due to his sincerity and commitment towards us.)

First stop, to buy local SIM cards to call home, and Timor’s first supermarket, which is owned by a Singaporean. The owner of the supermarket gave me her contact details, asked me to pass a copy to whoever was holding the camera, and another to our in-charge. She also told us to contact her if anything happens, immediately.

That was the first time I ever felt such love and concern from a fellow Singaporean, overseas. In times of trouble, Singaporeans will stand together to protect each other. I am thankful for our social studies and civic and moral education in primary and secondary education now. It made me realise how important total defence day actually is in bonding Singaporeans together, regardless of age, race, or religion.


Next stop, a Canossa convent.
Immediately after getting off the van, we were welcomed by an aisle of Timorese girls around our age. Their voices were so sweet; I bet they melted some of the guys' hearts!

"Welcome to our family~ we're glad that you have come to share your life with us~ as we grow in love and, may we always be to you~ ..."

They sang Welcome to our Family, as taught by Michael.

We were presented with Tais, Timor's traditional cloth, and after the first song, everyone spontaneously burst into a round-rosy, step-in-step-out kind of dance. Everyone joined in. ^^

The welcome meal they prepared for us was quite a spread! Turns out that almost every meal the convents provided us with would be as extravagant on their part.

However, not everything was smooth flowing. Halfway through the meal, there was a blackout. Twice, their generator stalled.

In the following 10 days thereafter, the lack of electricity would pose as the greatest deterrent to our purposes in Timor.

After the power came back on, everyone finally noticed that there were winged insects fluttering around the light, and our food. to get rid of them, we switched off the light near our table, and let them swarm to where the other light (with a handful of gargantuan wall-lizards) were. The rest of the dinner was in peace.

Mana (in Tatum, their local language, MANA = big sister. MAUM = big brother) then told us the legend behind Timor's island.

It is as follows;

"One day, a boy saved a baby crocodile. He fed it and took care of it till they were both big.

Then, the crocodile began to have 'bad' thoughts. He wanted to eat the boy.

However he thought about it, and said, "no, the boy saved me while I was a baby, and took care of me. I shouldn't have these 'bad' thoughts."

So he regretted it, and eventually promised the boy his own land when he dies.

The crocodile then began his search for the best spot on earth, and lay down to die.

Where his body was, the land began to form, and following his body grooves, Timor now has plenty of mountains, and the shape of a crocodile."

Mana also told us that dolphins and crocodiles could be seen at the beaches, and in the town of Los Paulos.

“It's fine to pass a crocodile by on the streets there, as you'll be fine if you do not harbour 'bad' thoughts towards the crocodile. Thanks to the legend.”

However, the Southern beaches facing the Australian seas are too dangerous to swim at, due to too many saltwater crocodiles.

Mana also went on to tell us about Timor's history, civil wars, how the Canossa sisters helped the people, placed themselves in cross fires, etc.

One particular story I listened to was about how the competition between the various martial arts groups blew up into full-blown civil unrest. it is frightening how such childish matters could blow up and cause the place to become a ghost-town.

With each period of unrest, Dili was empty for at least one point of time.

The whole time we were at dinner, I kept hearing someone play the guitar. He had talent, but no proper skills or technique. Hearing the same coarse playing styles over the duration of the trip, in the different towns, made me realise that what the Timorese needed was not aid, but nurturing and education.

2nd Day

it was a Sunday, so the schools were all closed.

Vicky and 3 boys went for morning mass while the rest of us stayed behind to recover from jet lag.

We went for lunch together at Dili’s first food court, Dili food court, which was owned by a Singaporean. ‘Tzi-Char’ style and Roti Prata for the win. The pricing similar to Singapore’s, except that everything was in USD.


Pro: suited to our taste buds
con: expensive. Very expensive.

3rd Day

went to a college/grade/kindergarten school campus to set up around 50 computers around the college building.

It actually went by smoother than expected. Majority of the computers were working fine, there were enough software CDs and thumb drives to go around.

The only major obstacle was a lack of extension cords. We could only install software in a maximum of 4 computers at a single time.

Replaced Norton Anti-virus with Avast, and installed Microsoft Office 2003 into each and every single one of those working computers.

Guess what, they were asking us "why 03? Why no 07?" Maybe Timor is not as backward as we thought. At least, in the towns.

Internet was available at that school. I heard it was the Ivy League equivalent in Timor.

4th Day

went back to the same campus to set up 30+ computers in the kindergarten building. I wonder what 4 year-old kids would need Microsoft Office for.

Since there were only 8 computers, those that needed fixing/special attention were getting tended to by our awesome technical dudes.

I went to try teaching the kids how to play skipping rope and zero point. Embarrassing moments need not be publicised. Sweets were given out, and someone needs to teach those children how to share!

While waiting to go for lunch, we went into the senior high classes to introduce ourselves. In first class Jane and I went to, we ended up explaining what our Singapore flag symbolised.

5 stars - peace, prosperity and progress, democracy, justice, equality.
Crescent moon - a young and rising nation
red - brotherhood and harmony
white - purity and innocence

hope I got them right.

In the second class, we ended up discussing the differences between the education structures in Timor and Singapore.

I heard someone mention that the students there are all from the wealthier/prominent families. For example, the minister's kids. So then why do THEY need our computers?

After our work was all done, Michael brought us to the beach in the outskirts of Dili. The water was crystal clear! Their beaches could rival Hawaii’s! Minus the waves, of course.

The boys played in the water and volcanic sand illogically.

5th Day

we spent over 4 hours by van travelling from Dili to Baucau, made a pit-stop in Manatutu, and took a quick glimpse at some of the computers there.

The kids had already set up the computers themselves, and were currently using Adobe Photoshop!!!

Stunned, we continued our journey to Baucau in silence. Again, the scenery was amazing.

The beaches could rival Hawaii’s and Bintan’s, the fields/plains/shrubs, Africa’s or the Australian Outback, hills/mountains/valleys, New Zealand and the Swiss Alps without snow, and the miscellaneous unclassified views and trees, the beauty of Israel.

everyone was preoccupied with observing the scenery, that the first time anyone in my van spoke, was when a grasshopper jumped through our speeding van's window and caused a shriek-fest in the middle-back seats.

It was so dramatic; I wonder how those guys are going to protect our country in the future.

"Nata!~!!! Kill it! @!!! Kill it!!! Where is it?!>!? AHH!! IT'S MOVING!! KILL IT!!@! @#NATAAAAA@!!!"

We eventually survived, and reached Baucau at 6pm.

From some others, we received news that in the past few days, there was a little tension between the locals. The local police were riding around in open vans, making an announcement in Tatum, then in Portuguese, warning the people to stay away from violence.

I could only understand something along the lines of "no fighting or you'll be arrested. Everyone back in your homes by sundown." Their tone was extremely threatening.

For dinner, we went to Amalia’s restaurant, as recommended by the lecturer we met on the plane. The food there is delicious!

6th Day

travelled 4 more hours to a mountain convent.

Using photos and words to describe it would never do the place any justice. The closest comparison I can think of are the Tibetan and Nepalese snowy mountains.

Vicky tried to teach the high schoolers “Old MacDonald had a farm”. She altered the lyrics into "Sister had a little farm~!"

It was the best footage of the day; VICKY CHICKEN/DUCK DANCING.

Travelled another 4 hours back to our abode.

In the evening, we hopped over to the convent next door to set up 10 computers and have dinner. I fell sick for the rest of the trip, could not be of much help. I apologise for being a hindrance sometimes.

7th Day

Travelled to Los Paulos, the supposed city of crocodiles, but we did not see any.

Set up many more computers in another convent school there. like every school but the first, their generator could not power up sufficiently, so not much could be done.

On the way back, the driver had to keep honking at the chickens (mainly), goats, and buffalo blocking the road. He told us that if a bull sat on the road, our minivan would probably flip over during the crash, and the buffalo could just get up and walked away leisurely.

8th Day

We spent the day in silence and motion-sickness, travelling back to Dili.

9th Day

went west to Ermera.

while the guys did their thing, I went with Vicky to teach the girls there how to sing Pass It On, Give Thanks, Morning Has Broken, You're My All In All, Welcome to the Family, and the Alphabet song.

We accepted a dinner invite at a Singaporean coffee processing plant. Bill and Natalie, thank you for the sumptuous barbeque.

As we sat around chatting, Natalie told us of a new health department their plant just opened, and offered me an internship. Bill held a very intellectual conversation about Timor's politics, etc, for over an hour. It felt like we were back in Singapore, hanging out for a meal and a decent conversation. Bill, Natalie, thank you for the homely reception, it took away my home-sickness.

There was one important point in the conversation that stuck to me quite deeply. The government claimed to have invested 70 million USD into improving the roads, but less than 700 thousand was actually put in. I think everyone has driven there could testify for that.

10th Day

I left the main group with Vicky to visit the Mother Theresa's nuns in Aileu.

The altitude went up to 1300m, 864hPa.

We brought back a box of intricately created paper cards to sell. they were made by jobless mothers taught by a Polish sister there.

IT Joy Timor Leste shall set up a booth to sell each card at 4bucks each soon. all proceeds shall be flown to set up the orphanage there.

We also donated the rest of our instant noodles, snacks, sweets, and other miscellaneous usables, including around 200USD in cash.

Finally went back to the first convent for a gala/farewell dinner. The girls included us for another mass dance session from 8.15pm to 10.40pm, according to Sister Aurora.

When we finally stopped dancing and sat down for dinner, it was a silent, tired affair. Yet it was evident in everyone’s eyes that we were going to miss Timor Leste. There, we learnt many valuable lessons, how enjoyable a simple life is, and how to appreciate and cherish what we have been blessed with.

The final debrief was conducted in our room, before ending to pack/play the rest of the last night away. We addressed a lot of issues, left all our unhappiness behind, and assigned final work for the after-trip wrap up.

The 10 days must have exhausted me without any indication. I fell asleep while packing.

11th/LAST Day

only while boarding the plane did I realise, 'our trip has concluded.'

Well, I guess that concludes the 11-day community involvement project in Timor.

This trip had lots of ups and downs.

there was insufficient planning and preparation due to poor communication abilities between Singapore and Timor Leste, printer toners being packed and sent wrongly, parallel cable, extra OS, etc not being prepared. It was still an enriching experience, however.

Like what Daniel said (at least, that's what my hazy memory tells me), shortcomings are inevitable, but they are what made the trip fun and enjoyable.

This trip has truly taught me how fortunate we are to be staying in Singapore, where everything is available at whim. We have tech shops, convenience stores, fast food restaurants all over the place! life in Singapore is so comfortable, we can even drink out of the taps!

In Timor, there are few street lights, 2 Singaporean-owned supermarkets, bottled mineral water that tastes funny after 3 hours, and the only decent food available are the hotel restaurants and a Singaporean-owned food court!

Here, we have buses, trains, cabs, all air-conditioned and clean.

In Timor, the people were hanging from outside the buses, no trains, cabs have no air-conditioning, the seats are all half-rotting and worn-out, and the rear-windows are pasted with posters and other paper things where the glass would have been.

Having been there and back, I appreciate our Singaporean government a lot more than I did at any point of time before. If Timor had someone like Lee Kuan Yew to lead them, there is no doubt that they'll be as booming within 10 years. They have oil, land, resources, and aid. the only thing Singapore had was people.

Hopefully someone reliable and worthy would step up to be Timor's Lee Kuan Yew.

Back to issues addressed in the final debrief.

In order to improve future overseas projects, different leaders should be appointed to be in-charge of different things. e.g., one person to pack the parallel cables, one to secure the software over, one in charge of adapters, another in-charge of banners, etc.

Each member should also put more initiative into the things we do, take up responsibilities and be accountable for them, and be more sensitive to each other’s feelings. There was a bit of bullying and teasing going on, but it was all good fun in the end.

The DPA students of our group talked everything through and agreed that we were just acting silly, and are still going to be.

Vicky, thank you for organising and planning such a meaningful community service project. Thank you for choosing the 13 of us out of 30 over people to go for this wonderful trip. It is a deep honour to be the first school ever to go into Timor Leste for community service, as a group. Even when things were getting hard, the budget was running out, and through other such problems, you took each one on as it came, and never blamed anyone for anything. It was a joy following your lead.

Michael, thank you for being our guide throughout the entire 11 days, renting the vehicles, bringing us out to eat, bridging the communication between us and them, and taking care of almost our every whim and fancy. Next time, it'll be our turn.

To the guys on the trip, all 11 of you, thank you for doing all the physical work, caring for one another, playing around and lightening up whatever tension that formed, teaching us life skills and lessons, and making this whole trip such a light-hearted affair. I have never gone overseas with such a fun bunch, and I hope to be able to lead another group with the school, following what you have taught me.

Jane, thank you for being the only other girl on this trip with me. You were such a generous roommate and pal during this trip, especially in the later half, where things were not flowing as smoothly as intended. Whatever the guys lacked in gentleness, you made up for it with your feminine charm. There are more things to thank you for than could ever be written. Thank you for everything.

Thank God for this wonderful trip.


Fieary. 18/09/10-28/09/10.



22:44
when will my dreams be fulfilled??

God is good. 5/10/10.


today was packed full with activity!

8am, went swimming with erica till 9.

reached school at 10 for tc rehearsal. sat there, did basic theatre warmup, then sat down to do light make up for filming after noon.

left at 11.20, without rehearsing. never mind.

went to the filming venue, had 30mins to spare, went to eat lunch.

CHICKY MEAL!! ^^

chicken roller is awesome food.

filmed from 3+ till 10+.

very fun filming. cute hair stylist.

finally met someone who mixes his fried rice and meefen/horfun together. Sunny. ^^

made him get me water soo many times. hahaha.

went home, dad was in a good mood, asked me which digestive organ is what, and told me that he also eats the same way. HAHAHHAHAHAHAH.

today was serious fun!

thankyou, God, for blessing me soo.

passed all my modules. ^^

tomorrow, getting up early to train gek for her military napfta test.

aiming to hit 52kg by dec 25. ^^

hallelujah.

Fieary. 5/10/10.

what God has done for me today gives me hope for my future. new promises await.


00:04
when will my dreams be fulfilled??