Monday, December 26, 2005
SYC 2005
my, i've really neglected my blog... and no, i'm not gonna start ranting bout how i'm gonna blog bout this and that someday soon, cos i'm not sure whether i will now.
syc came and went. my, it was one awesome hell of a week. how i wished it could go on for so much longer (and i'm sure almost everyone who went felt that way)... it's so not like a camp at all. at least not in the conventional way. and i guess tt made it really, really fun. i probably won't go on to detail everything that we did as much as i'd like to ramble on bout all the fond memories down here. they'd just be there in my heart. things as fantastic as this camp don't need the presence of a blog entry to remind me of the days...
i'd always think back of the great time there. most memorable moments were the late nights i guess. hanging out at borders til it closes, going to starbucks for some coffee and gossipping and just hanging around orchard with nothing much to do except just wanting to hang out. way until midnight and later without having to care bout the last bus and last train cos the hotel's just 15min walk away. and even after reaching back at the hotel there'd be the activities as people slowly get ko-ed. the card games, in-your-faces, even the botched movie attempts
then there's the trip to the science centre. almost everything there was been there, done that, but somehow tristan, steph and mumthaza. the four of us just went on a photo taking spree. tt was really fun. i guess we kinda got clique-y sometimes during the camp. but i thoroughly enjoyed those times. as steph said, making friends is more important than having many acquaintances
i guess i was the slackest singapore delegate around, the worst host heh. probably talked to the least number of foreign delegates, probably the worst roommate in terms of bringing them around singapore during free time and etc. but i'm thankful for all the friendships made with the foreign delegates, though few in numbers compared to some of the others out there... it was really nice getting to know you guys. goodman and hung my dear roommates (my, tt sounded gay...) i hadn't been the best roommate i guess. while other people (most notably steph ko and han long) brought the delegates out shopping at night with their free time i spent most of my time with the other singaporeans. after all they're the people with whom i can forge the strongest bonds with because of the distance and ease of meeting up. and the cheapskate gifts i bought for them (though eventually succumbing to steph and moon's taunts of cheapskate and got better gifts). actually, turns out their gifts were pretty cheapskate if i want to compare by value, but tt's not the point. ok, i'm digressing. so i haven't been a particularly good roommate, going MIA most of the time (i spent like an average of 4h a day, almost all of which were spent sleeping, in the room while they spent much more there, be it preparing for their performance or whatever). but the last day was quite memorable. we just gathered around and started talking bout our experiences during the camp, 'cheers-ing' with vietnam milk lol. (it's a pity they don't drink. more on that later) and it's like even though i haven't spent as much time with them as i could have there's still an unmistakable bond between us. just by being roommates... just by the occasional chatter when i'm in the room, asking how their days have been, etc. and apparently they seemed quite fond of me still. haha, quite pleased with myself for that. then they pestered me to teach them singapore town (not really pester i guess, but i didn't really want to, so...). quite fun. lol, it's like singapore town became THE song during the camp.
then there's still so many other fond memories. the in-your-face videos. the drinking with tristan and zhi zhan among others and how we got the alcohol (all on video even ^^). damn funny. i actually didn't plan to drink. but they were all buying either beer or bacardi. and i hate their taste. so ended up getting a small bottle of white wine. no one else wanted in the end and i downed it all by myself. my, haven't drank so much wine in my whole life. got a li'l tipsy in the morning when i finished the half bottle still left on an empty stomach. thankfully nothing else happened (though i ko-ed on tristan's bed while waiting for the bus to the airport). now me and zhi zhan were like alcoholics on the last day, thinking bout how nice the taste won and etc. i can still remember the taste of the wine. guess i'd get shiu hei to help me buy when sch reopens and drink some secretly when i have the urge.
the airport scene was great too. zhi zhan finishing a few packets of siti's tissue. then muslim going 'i'm so tired from the lack of sleep'. tristan going 'this place is so dry my eye hurts'. and eventually, after commenting bout how heartless i am when almost everybody's crying (well, everybody except nadine i think. heartless girl haha), i succummbed to accursed baldwin's sobbing like there was no tommorow and 'had sand in my eye'. kinda like junio back then.
still so much stories from the camp (including nadine, tommy and in your face episode 2, lord in your face, the wizard's hat and the bee wand and so much more) but i guess i'd stop now. i didn't even went through what we did every day and i've already typed so much. took quite some pictures but guess i won't be uploading them. anyway we have the cd they gave us with all the pictures taken by alexia, our 15 year old photographer who look 18 and not 15 at all too (everyone in the camp was so shocked when we heard she is 15)
still struggling to put syc 05 behind. i guess i'm starting to come to terms with it. it'd been a heck of a time. i hope we meet up often. too bad i couldn't make it for nadine's plan for dinner for people in the north that day and those who went back RELC to visit david. (now, i must at least make a note about the horrible food and lifts there. the chef there have it real nice. all he needs to know is 3 dishes... in the end overspent the 110 allowance almost just on food alone cos we went for our own meals instead of the sucky food. and the horrible lifts... horribly slow such that it took 15 minutes to go to ur room from the lobby. no exaggeration. and then i don't understand the rationale of 1 key for 3 people of different nationalities in one room. got locked out quite a few times. and getting locked out was such a common occurance during the camp). thankfully i made it to the airport when david was leaving. got punked IN OUR FACES by him. but i guess it's nice just meeting up with the singaporeans. can't wait for new year's day at mumthaza's.
NOTE: and just when i wrapped up with that i realised i forgot to blog bout how i feel like i don't deserve to go what with the elite being at the camp and myself but how i'm really thankful to have this opportunity as well as more bout the stallies and the colorful personalities encountered in the camp (mr sociable han loong, ladies man mus, etc) plus the scandals heh. oh well, it's time to move on, leaving those beautiful memories stored in that special place in my heart
syc came and went. my, it was one awesome hell of a week. how i wished it could go on for so much longer (and i'm sure almost everyone who went felt that way)... it's so not like a camp at all. at least not in the conventional way. and i guess tt made it really, really fun. i probably won't go on to detail everything that we did as much as i'd like to ramble on bout all the fond memories down here. they'd just be there in my heart. things as fantastic as this camp don't need the presence of a blog entry to remind me of the days...
i'd always think back of the great time there. most memorable moments were the late nights i guess. hanging out at borders til it closes, going to starbucks for some coffee and gossipping and just hanging around orchard with nothing much to do except just wanting to hang out. way until midnight and later without having to care bout the last bus and last train cos the hotel's just 15min walk away. and even after reaching back at the hotel there'd be the activities as people slowly get ko-ed. the card games, in-your-faces, even the botched movie attempts
then there's the trip to the science centre. almost everything there was been there, done that, but somehow tristan, steph and mumthaza. the four of us just went on a photo taking spree. tt was really fun. i guess we kinda got clique-y sometimes during the camp. but i thoroughly enjoyed those times. as steph said, making friends is more important than having many acquaintances
i guess i was the slackest singapore delegate around, the worst host heh. probably talked to the least number of foreign delegates, probably the worst roommate in terms of bringing them around singapore during free time and etc. but i'm thankful for all the friendships made with the foreign delegates, though few in numbers compared to some of the others out there... it was really nice getting to know you guys. goodman and hung my dear roommates (my, tt sounded gay...) i hadn't been the best roommate i guess. while other people (most notably steph ko and han long) brought the delegates out shopping at night with their free time i spent most of my time with the other singaporeans. after all they're the people with whom i can forge the strongest bonds with because of the distance and ease of meeting up. and the cheapskate gifts i bought for them (though eventually succumbing to steph and moon's taunts of cheapskate and got better gifts). actually, turns out their gifts were pretty cheapskate if i want to compare by value, but tt's not the point. ok, i'm digressing. so i haven't been a particularly good roommate, going MIA most of the time (i spent like an average of 4h a day, almost all of which were spent sleeping, in the room while they spent much more there, be it preparing for their performance or whatever). but the last day was quite memorable. we just gathered around and started talking bout our experiences during the camp, 'cheers-ing' with vietnam milk lol. (it's a pity they don't drink. more on that later) and it's like even though i haven't spent as much time with them as i could have there's still an unmistakable bond between us. just by being roommates... just by the occasional chatter when i'm in the room, asking how their days have been, etc. and apparently they seemed quite fond of me still. haha, quite pleased with myself for that. then they pestered me to teach them singapore town (not really pester i guess, but i didn't really want to, so...). quite fun. lol, it's like singapore town became THE song during the camp.
then there's still so many other fond memories. the in-your-face videos. the drinking with tristan and zhi zhan among others and how we got the alcohol (all on video even ^^). damn funny. i actually didn't plan to drink. but they were all buying either beer or bacardi. and i hate their taste. so ended up getting a small bottle of white wine. no one else wanted in the end and i downed it all by myself. my, haven't drank so much wine in my whole life. got a li'l tipsy in the morning when i finished the half bottle still left on an empty stomach. thankfully nothing else happened (though i ko-ed on tristan's bed while waiting for the bus to the airport). now me and zhi zhan were like alcoholics on the last day, thinking bout how nice the taste won and etc. i can still remember the taste of the wine. guess i'd get shiu hei to help me buy when sch reopens and drink some secretly when i have the urge.
the airport scene was great too. zhi zhan finishing a few packets of siti's tissue. then muslim going 'i'm so tired from the lack of sleep'. tristan going 'this place is so dry my eye hurts'. and eventually, after commenting bout how heartless i am when almost everybody's crying (well, everybody except nadine i think. heartless girl haha), i succummbed to accursed baldwin's sobbing like there was no tommorow and 'had sand in my eye'. kinda like junio back then.
still so much stories from the camp (including nadine, tommy and in your face episode 2, lord in your face, the wizard's hat and the bee wand and so much more) but i guess i'd stop now. i didn't even went through what we did every day and i've already typed so much. took quite some pictures but guess i won't be uploading them. anyway we have the cd they gave us with all the pictures taken by alexia, our 15 year old photographer who look 18 and not 15 at all too (everyone in the camp was so shocked when we heard she is 15)
still struggling to put syc 05 behind. i guess i'm starting to come to terms with it. it'd been a heck of a time. i hope we meet up often. too bad i couldn't make it for nadine's plan for dinner for people in the north that day and those who went back RELC to visit david. (now, i must at least make a note about the horrible food and lifts there. the chef there have it real nice. all he needs to know is 3 dishes... in the end overspent the 110 allowance almost just on food alone cos we went for our own meals instead of the sucky food. and the horrible lifts... horribly slow such that it took 15 minutes to go to ur room from the lobby. no exaggeration. and then i don't understand the rationale of 1 key for 3 people of different nationalities in one room. got locked out quite a few times. and getting locked out was such a common occurance during the camp). thankfully i made it to the airport when david was leaving. got punked IN OUR FACES by him. but i guess it's nice just meeting up with the singaporeans. can't wait for new year's day at mumthaza's.
NOTE: and just when i wrapped up with that i realised i forgot to blog bout how i feel like i don't deserve to go what with the elite being at the camp and myself but how i'm really thankful to have this opportunity as well as more bout the stallies and the colorful personalities encountered in the camp (mr sociable han loong, ladies man mus, etc) plus the scandals heh. oh well, it's time to move on, leaving those beautiful memories stored in that special place in my heart
Friday, December 09, 2005
Council Summit - Take Three
so i didn't blog bout japan as planned (but will still get it done). and right after chalet's over i gotta go to the youth camp thing. that makes three things to blog bout.
anyway, had the third 'council summit' (as eric puts it) yesterday. ash didn't want seoul garden despite the history (and how the four of us wanted to go there but didn't insist) so we went marche. for lunch. a first too. we went to the suntec one. don't really like it compared to the one at heeren. it lets too much light from outside in (compared to the underground one at sommerset), is smaller and somehow the food choices seem less. oh, and ash managed to lie terence into joining us this time round heh. lol, was laughing aloud how he managed to lie 4 times in a short phone call. seems like the 5 of them have never went marche before. so the complaining of the prices. and started pushing the blame to ash heh. in the end it wasn't so expensive compared to other restaurants i guess (and i'm kinda used to the prices at marche). but the mood and atmosphere wasn't there sadly. ended up just gossiping bout other people, leaving the others "for tonight".
hung around suntec for a while after that and went back to the usual place for dinner. and managed to convince terence to tag along too. nice. i think the manager there must think we're such troublesome customers. first we say we want our usual seat down there and then we request to have the 6 of us squeeze around a table. thankfully we got it. lol, kinda funny waiting for the sun to set and for the sky outside to darken while we were waiting before we start. the 'rookie' went first and we went a round. now that it's the third time round it's almost like we're used to this already. felt so relaxing now (not that the other times were tense, but more now). was great. and after all that it's time to part again. can't wait for next year when we can have the next council meeting. it's definitely something i'm looking forward to (and hopefully, we'd get a chalet done again next year...) i really hope things never change and we can make this a yearly thing or something like that. hopefully army won't pose much of a problem (and the clerk aspiration continues). it's just these days where you feel like you belong to this world and you're not just an outcast thrown into the face of earth with nobody to depend upon.
damn. they made me so confused now with what they said. but oh well, i'd just take whatever comes (as usual?). and i thought i my mind was set. that's the thing bout me. fickle-minded and stubbornness should be opposites. so what happens when someone have both of these traits? you'd just ponder over your choices, switch here and there with second, third, fourth and fifth thoughts before you get sick of everything and decide to be stubborn on a decision. and most of the time the decision will just be made by pure randomness. i wonder if i made the right choice then. but then again i've promised myself not to look at the possibilities. damn the council again for making me so undecided. but i guess it's nice knowing certain things. and as much as i hate them for this there's no doubt these meetings will be one of my best memories of my life
anyway, had the third 'council summit' (as eric puts it) yesterday. ash didn't want seoul garden despite the history (and how the four of us wanted to go there but didn't insist) so we went marche. for lunch. a first too. we went to the suntec one. don't really like it compared to the one at heeren. it lets too much light from outside in (compared to the underground one at sommerset), is smaller and somehow the food choices seem less. oh, and ash managed to lie terence into joining us this time round heh. lol, was laughing aloud how he managed to lie 4 times in a short phone call. seems like the 5 of them have never went marche before. so the complaining of the prices. and started pushing the blame to ash heh. in the end it wasn't so expensive compared to other restaurants i guess (and i'm kinda used to the prices at marche). but the mood and atmosphere wasn't there sadly. ended up just gossiping bout other people, leaving the others "for tonight".
hung around suntec for a while after that and went back to the usual place for dinner. and managed to convince terence to tag along too. nice. i think the manager there must think we're such troublesome customers. first we say we want our usual seat down there and then we request to have the 6 of us squeeze around a table. thankfully we got it. lol, kinda funny waiting for the sun to set and for the sky outside to darken while we were waiting before we start. the 'rookie' went first and we went a round. now that it's the third time round it's almost like we're used to this already. felt so relaxing now (not that the other times were tense, but more now). was great. and after all that it's time to part again. can't wait for next year when we can have the next council meeting. it's definitely something i'm looking forward to (and hopefully, we'd get a chalet done again next year...) i really hope things never change and we can make this a yearly thing or something like that. hopefully army won't pose much of a problem (and the clerk aspiration continues). it's just these days where you feel like you belong to this world and you're not just an outcast thrown into the face of earth with nobody to depend upon.
damn. they made me so confused now with what they said. but oh well, i'd just take whatever comes (as usual?). and i thought i my mind was set. that's the thing bout me. fickle-minded and stubbornness should be opposites. so what happens when someone have both of these traits? you'd just ponder over your choices, switch here and there with second, third, fourth and fifth thoughts before you get sick of everything and decide to be stubborn on a decision. and most of the time the decision will just be made by pure randomness. i wonder if i made the right choice then. but then again i've promised myself not to look at the possibilities. damn the council again for making me so undecided. but i guess it's nice knowing certain things. and as much as i hate them for this there's no doubt these meetings will be one of my best memories of my life
Saturday, December 03, 2005
...
i ought to blog bout the trip. must do so before chalet...
at least i've gotten myself back into reality. was still drenched in japan fever the first few days of returning. 3 consecutive days of ball, sl (my, was that stressful... i just can't handle kids heh) and science research... i guess i'm finally back to the plain ol' boring life. that's always the problem with me. the problem of how much happens in my mind. the mind's such a powerful thing. imagination. fantasy... most of the time the things that happens in my life occurs in the head. i get wishy washy so easily. hanging on to stuff that's over already. or playing some dream in my head before things happen. that's just so me. it always happens. chalets. vacations. or anything that gets me comfortable away from the usual routine... to think chalet and the youth camp thingy's coming up one after another just when i'm over this trip.
but not before i get a new hobby from the trip. it all started from channel switching on the hotel tv. so the free to air channels were all in japanese except cnn and bbc. thus, the favourite activity of many people when they're bored, channel surfing. i'd normally stick to sports. which i did for the first few days of the trip when volleyball matches and some gymnastics (lol, they should show gymnastics more often in singapore...) were showing. then on the second last day there were no sports on. next in line were game shows which normally don't require much knowledge of japanese to understand. but the game shows aired then were pretty boring. so i finally settled on a high school drama after a few rounds of channel hopping. and the surprising thing was i liked it despite understanding almost nothing of what the characters were saying. and no, it ain't some slapstick comedy type drama. or even sports drama at that (now that i mention them, i'm kinda tempted to watch hana yori dango. the japanese version of meteor garden. kinda weird considering how i used to hate f4 and such). so there you go. i got hooked to nobuta wa produce (finally managed to find the title of the series after a few hours of googling when i got back. and after some more searching finally got the downloads and the subtitles. my, it's good finally understanding what's going on. it was just amusing back in japan. now it's becoming a really great show). basic storyline's about how a guy who treats school life like a game and pretends his way as a popular guy in school is trying to help a really shy girl who is constantly bullied become the most popular girl around. throw in a weirdo and there'd be laughs abound in addition to the drama parts. my, do i love shows done like that.
oh well, i've digressed. now i forgot what i wanted to blog bout. so long then.
i just hate it that i'm not good with words... and hate it more that i care i'm not good with words. i wonder why my fingers on the keyboard stopped in their tracks then. and there i was giving myself excuses as usual. there's something i ought to do. and there's something i want to do. then there's the somethings i can do. but eventually, i just end up not doing anything as always. how me
at least i've gotten myself back into reality. was still drenched in japan fever the first few days of returning. 3 consecutive days of ball, sl (my, was that stressful... i just can't handle kids heh) and science research... i guess i'm finally back to the plain ol' boring life. that's always the problem with me. the problem of how much happens in my mind. the mind's such a powerful thing. imagination. fantasy... most of the time the things that happens in my life occurs in the head. i get wishy washy so easily. hanging on to stuff that's over already. or playing some dream in my head before things happen. that's just so me. it always happens. chalets. vacations. or anything that gets me comfortable away from the usual routine... to think chalet and the youth camp thingy's coming up one after another just when i'm over this trip.
but not before i get a new hobby from the trip. it all started from channel switching on the hotel tv. so the free to air channels were all in japanese except cnn and bbc. thus, the favourite activity of many people when they're bored, channel surfing. i'd normally stick to sports. which i did for the first few days of the trip when volleyball matches and some gymnastics (lol, they should show gymnastics more often in singapore...) were showing. then on the second last day there were no sports on. next in line were game shows which normally don't require much knowledge of japanese to understand. but the game shows aired then were pretty boring. so i finally settled on a high school drama after a few rounds of channel hopping. and the surprising thing was i liked it despite understanding almost nothing of what the characters were saying. and no, it ain't some slapstick comedy type drama. or even sports drama at that (now that i mention them, i'm kinda tempted to watch hana yori dango. the japanese version of meteor garden. kinda weird considering how i used to hate f4 and such). so there you go. i got hooked to nobuta wa produce (finally managed to find the title of the series after a few hours of googling when i got back. and after some more searching finally got the downloads and the subtitles. my, it's good finally understanding what's going on. it was just amusing back in japan. now it's becoming a really great show). basic storyline's about how a guy who treats school life like a game and pretends his way as a popular guy in school is trying to help a really shy girl who is constantly bullied become the most popular girl around. throw in a weirdo and there'd be laughs abound in addition to the drama parts. my, do i love shows done like that.
oh well, i've digressed. now i forgot what i wanted to blog bout. so long then.
i just hate it that i'm not good with words... and hate it more that i care i'm not good with words. i wonder why my fingers on the keyboard stopped in their tracks then. and there i was giving myself excuses as usual. there's something i ought to do. and there's something i want to do. then there's the somethings i can do. but eventually, i just end up not doing anything as always. how me
