The Journey Home... a very thankful narrative.

Thank you, God, that You still love us and take good care of us, even when we're two bumbling blur people who can't even read the time of our flight correctly... Amen!

Yay! I'm finally home, (and finally blogging again) after a long time. And as mentioned above, I nearly didn't make it home... like, 5 minutes short of not making it home.

It starts, with the long week of horrendous topic tests. Physics and Bio... grk. And they love to torture us by placing the tests on the most convenient days... the Monday sandwiched between the long weekend, and the afternoon of our last day of class before the two week break. And they just have to make the exams so fast-paced and hard...

These tests don't just test how much you know... they also test how fast you can think, how fast you can write, and how long before you give up and just start laughing manically to yourself about the hopelessness of the task. There's no time to second guess answers, no time to go, 'Hmmmm... I wonder what is the best way to answer this?'. It's all 'Arrrghhhh!! Write faster! Write faster!! Don't know the answer? Doesn't matter!! Just write something! And fast!! *pant pant pant*'

So, the last day of class was the Bio test. And gosh, it felt so good when it ended. The weight was finally off our shoulders and it was holiday time. So what if we screwed up the paper? We have a whole 2 weeks to ignore the problem and pretend the test never happened.

Soon, everyone is rushing off in all directions, with their packed bags. Bus station, taxi, mummy and daddy etc. etc.

Tricia and me had the taxi booked for 7.20pm. So we headed back (around 4pm) and started packing. Everything was smooth and steady, fun and happy, la-la-la and wheeee for those 3 hours. Our increased heart rates from the Bio test were finally coming back down to normal.

And then, we headed down to the bus stand to wait for our taxi. 7.25pm. He still wasn't there. I said to call him to ask if he was on the way.

Tricia called him, and a few seconds into the conversation, she looked at me and did the universal sign of 'we're in deep trouble'... the action of the finger slicing the throat. My already tender heart rate went up a few beats.

Our taxi driver forgot our booking. He was at least half an hour away.

Then a number of things happened in sequence.

It hit Tricia that our flight booking paper, which we need to get the actual tickets, was still upstairs. And for those of you who haven't read my previous post, we live on the FIFTH FLOOR (ominous capital letters). Uh-oh.

Then it hit me that the paper stated that departure was at 8.20pm. It was now 7.30 pm. We had to check in at least 45 minutes or so before the flight. Double uh-oh.

Basically, we were both under the assumption that 8.20 was the check-in time, not the actual flight.

And um, yeah...... the paper with the flight details was posted on our notice board, which was basically right in front of our faces whenever we sat at our study tables. (which was a lot due to studying for the Bio test). The paper has been there for about a month.

So yes, despite that, we still got it wrong.

In my defence, it was the BIO TEST!!!!! (everyone around go 'yeah, yeah, yeah... excuses, excuses...')

So there it goes, like the cascade of events in blood clotting, we were off in full adrenaline and panic mode. (told ya' it was the Bio test.... XD)

Tricia sprinted up the stairs for the paper. And lugging our heavy suitcases and backpacks, we raced to find a cabbie. This isn't usually a problem... but whoops, it's 'buka puasa' time. Thankfully, we managed to catch one guy who just pulled up as we ran up.Talk about Godsend!

And he was a pretty nice guy. He actually changed his radio channel to a Chinese radio station, just because he had Chinese passengers. Cool or what? Too bad we didn't understand Chinese... Ahahahaha...

We made it to the airport at about 8.10pm. The check-in counter for Penang was already closed. We ran to the guy at the counter and started begging for dear life. Thank God for this guy too, as he argued with the people on the other end to let us on... 'Kesian juga mereka ini... boleh kah?'

The people on the other end kept saying through the walkie-talkie 'Tak boleh, tak boleh', which of course totally freaked us out. I don't think I stopped praying since we stepped into the taxi...

But finally, he printed out tickets and told us to run for it, with our check-in bags. So there we sprinted, ala The Amazing Race, with our big heavy bags. And geez... airport terminals are long and far...

We finally managed to get into our seats, red-faced, oxygen-deprived, dehydrated, sweaty and panting like crazy. The plane took off 5 minutes later.

So yeah, in conclusion... Phew.

Praise God!

One Week In

Voila! I have finally managed to appear back to the online world after one week of absence. The Orientation Week here at Intec was long and tiring. It was informative and pretty fun at times, and the facilitators were nice people. But each day lasted from 6.30 am til 11+ pm. And the facilitators adhered to the timing very accurately. There's no such thing as starting late, nor ending early, nor much periods of rest in between. There was of course, plenty of 'ending late's. But anyway, even if we still had that wee bit of energy left to go online after ending the day, there is no decent internet anywhere... I finally managed to get my hands on Digi Broadband. It's not as good as home, obviously, but it'll have to do.

On the plus side, we now have 4 days off to recover from MMS (Minggu Mesra Siswa). Classes only begin on Wednesday. Immediately after the last session last Friday, most of the new students could be seen scuttling across the hostel grounds with their bags, eager to go home and get back to civilisation. Tricia and I stuck around and spent our day exploring Shah Alam, and of course, saying 'hi' to good ol' Sunway Pyramid.

I thank God for the strength He has given me. 6 months ago, I would have cried every time I realized that I'll be away from home for 2 weeks, 1 month etc. But now, even with 2 months until my next long holiday, I'm actually feeling okay and happy with where I am. God heals!

So, what's home for the next two years? Kolej Akasia in Shah Alam. Yes, it's a hostel, but it's called a college... *shrug*. While there are some definite adjustments and changes in lifestyle that we have to adapt to, it's not a bad place to be in.

For example, anytime we want to leave our rooms, even if it's just to make a one minute trip downstairs to the water cooler, we have to begin the process of taking off our shorts and T-shirts... change into our long pants... put on our jackets... and put on proper shoes. Oh, and we're 'fortunate' enough to be on the 5th floor, which is the top most floor. It's no wonder my parents keep saying I get thinner and thinner every time I go home...

Then, of course there's the misbehaving piping. As a church friend puts it, there's either too little water or too much. The tap at the sink has not worked since we arrived, and the toilet stopped being able to flush for a few days. Meanwhile, some other block had a burst pipe. XD

There's also of course the little critters sharing the apartment with us. Ants which appear in the manner of minutes if there's a tiny crumb on the floor, mosquitoes every night, spiders and a big lizard which is currently hiding from Tricia and her rubberband. So yeah, it is a pretty crowded house.

Also, we're in an area where there really isn't anything to do. Which is the point, I suppose. They keep us in a place where there is nothing for us to occupy our time with, except to study. :P

As Esther also mentions in her blog about her Kolej Terlampau Talented, it's the same here. There are 675 JPA scholars here! And maybe a hundred more from other sponsors like MARA, BN etc. The ALM group (A-Level Medicine) is the largest. Lots of doctors and pharmacists coming up... Other programmes include ADFP, A-Level German, Russian, AUSMAT, etc. Classes have yet to start yet, but uh-huh... we're obviously in a community of smarty-pants, which is quite intimidating and pressuring at times, haha.

The A-Levels we're taking is different in the sense that we don't take the AS and A Level exam separately. We sit for everything at the end of two years. So basically, we just have to keep downloading information into our brains and pray our heads don't explode with the overload of facts. Also, it would be good if someone invents an external hard drive for human brains sometime in the next month or so.

The campus itself is a bus ride away. Commuting on the bus back and forth the campus and hostel is of course another part of Intec life which requires skill and strategizing. The campus grounds are big and hopefully we won't feel so lost walking around in circles soon.

So yeah, that's my first week at a glance. Let the journey begin!

Maths Homework

Jonie: -walks in- Class! Ms. Ho isn't here today.

5 Airf: YAY!!!!!! (No offence to all teachers, it's just a normal reaction... XD)

Jonie: But, she left us homework. Take out your Maths textbook!

5 Arif: WHAT???!! Awwwww...
A: Whatlah... got h'work summore...
B: Yeeer... cannot finish Physics report.
C: Aiyah... thought got free period....
-general grumbling-

Jonie: Oi! Fasterlah! Take out your Maths textbook! I read to you.

D: Write on the boardlah!.

Jonie: No marker pen. Take out Maths textbook!!

-the few who didn't grudgingly walk to their bags to take the book-

D: Nah. Marker pen.

Jonie: Ok. -Proceeds to write on the board-

'MATHS TEXTBOOK'

5 Arif: -Sighhhhhhh....-

'PAGE: APRIL FOOL!!'

5 Arif: -dumbfounded silence-

"JONIE!!!!!!!"

Jonie: -collapses laughing-

5 Arif: -goes beserk laughing and yelling at Jonie for the next 10 minutes-


Kudos to our class monitor for successfully fooling the entire class in one shot. XD

And for the rest of the day:
Jonie: Class, Pn Chang isn't here. Bio in class.
5 Arif: Sure wan ah not?! You tipu us ah, Jonie?! We don't trust you anymore Jonie!
Jonie: AIYAH! I'm not lying lah this time!!! -laughs again-

Happy April Fool's Day. :-)

Getting 'Retricked'

So, who knew for sure that 'retricked' is not an actual word? All of you did? Good! Why didn't you tell me a week ago?!
Of course, you needn't tell me that if I was not so blur as to think it was an actual word... it cost me about 82 friggin' points! Bleh... Sthooopid (re: Post on Prefects Camp)!!

I'm talking about the Scrabble competition last week. All in all, it was seriously fun -geek-. Although by the end of the day, we were all pretty knocked out. Who wouldn't be after 6 games?

We were matched according to our spreads. I did pretty good for the first 3 games, got trashed on my fourth game and everything pretty much went downhill from there. XD My fourth game was against Ms. Retricked. 'Dang it, girl, I gotta shake your hand. You re-tricked me!' -curses stupidity- I went from a positive spread to negative in that one game. Trust me, you don't want to know anymore than that. My opponent meanwhile, went on to win first place. Haha. I hope she remembers my contribution to her. She owes me biiiiiiiiiig time.

But anyway, Xin Fang placed no. 5, which is awesome because she will get to represent Penang at national level later on. The others also did great. It was indeed an interesting experience, as we got to meet and play against all kinds of people with different habits when it comes to playing.

And of course, there's that adrenaline rush whenever one tries to play nonsense words, whether intentionally or otherwise.

There is a certain air of vindication whenever one gets challenged on a word that one knows exist.
A: -places word 'Lavalava'-
B: -eyes you suspiciously- Challenge.
A: Sure. No problem... -Struts confidently to computer and hides a smirk when word is accepted-
B: -completely baffled- 'Lavalava?????'

Of course, it sucks when you think it exists, when it actually doesn't...
B: Challenge.
A: Sure. No problem.
B: -types word into computer- Not accepted.
A: WHAT??!! But... but... I thought... but... WHAT?!!! -sigh- -walks over and removes letters from the board dejectedly-

But sometimes one doesn't get challenged at all.
A: -Places 'ac' on the board- -stares at opponent, ready to be challenged-
B: -Goes on with his turn-
A: -Heaves a very silent, but very big sigh of relief- 'Sucker... -snicker-'

Then there's that obligation on ethics when it comes to being fair when using the clock.
-B doesn't press the clock eventhough it's A's turn-
A: 'Hmmm. Tell or don't tell? It's his own fault for not realising it... Hmmm... I'll just wait a moment more... Ladeedadeda' -takes own sweet time shuffling tiles-

At the end of the day, our minds were so 'scrabbled' that nothing but Scrabble tiles and Scrabble boards loomed in front of our eyes.

"Time to go home."
"Home... H-O-M-E. Home. 9 points..."

But heck, I wouldn't mind doing this all over again. :-)

Together We Are Three!

Last day, and aren't we all relieved. Not sleeping properly, not bathing properly, missing almost a pint of blood thanks to those mosquitos... and school the very next day... what more can they throw at us?

I was up early, again... While Nadzira and Jo slept on, I walked around aimlessly debating whether to wake up Jess or not. It was 5 am... I decided against it for two reasons. One, she probably won't be pleased after the hellish Saturday night sleep she had. Two, I'm not really sure which tent she was in anyway. How would it be if I shone the bright torchlight into the wrong tent and woke up the wrong people... whoops!

So I went back to bed/cement floor, dozed for an hour, then only did I wake her up. Thank God I did get the right tent...

We sat at our familiar haunt again. Exercised again, as well as practiced the self-defence moves Mr. Michael taught, then had yet another Twinkie. After that, pack up. Tents came down and were stuffed mercilessly back into their bags (good riddance!), bags got shoved into one of the rooms, and we lazed around until we were called back into the hall.

Pn Sarimah read out a list of 'possible scenarios or problems faced by prefects' and we took a poll to see which problems were a... well, problem to us.

Then, out go the Form Fives and we Form Four prefects had to take a rules test. Don't scorn... we'll all have to study the school rules for our Civics exam soon! After answering the paper, the Form Fives came back in and the awards presentation began.

Pn Salmah and Pn Su both made speeches then, the food hampers were given out.

Best Team in Challenges: Lincoln
Best Team on Frat Night: Ghandhi
2nd Overall Best Team: Mandela
Best Overall: Mongkut ;-)

See! Best quality Mangkuks, tau! Made in China... uh... Thailand.

We were finally dismissed. Homeward bound where our lovely soft beds and hot showers were waiting for us. I slept the afternoon away and did not rise til' dinner time.

For all the whining I'm doing, I have to admit, this camp was a nice experience. For one thing, we've learnt to laugh at each other and ourselves. We've learnt how to handle many rule-breaking situations and we've gained quite a lot more friends. Hey, when we spend three days together away from civilization and are forced to come up with nonsense sketches, deal with hooligan-ish students, race for toilets and so much more, we're bound to end up much closer to each other.

Prefects Board 2008, together we are one! ;-)

Off to climb the Bt. Larut pile of homework. Thank God it's Sunday tomorrow. Nites!

Together We Are One... uh... Two

Sorry if you had to wait forever for this post. Whoever said Form Four was a honeymoon year should really reconsider. Ah-hah! They should be sent to school with us and live through the never ending piles of homework, tuition after tuition, sports practice, club meetings and extra periods and school on Saturday! Fan-TAS-tic...

But you don't want to listen to our 15-16 year old young lady-like complains, so onwards with a full day two of prefect's camp! Hmm... it just occured to me, exactly a week ago at this time, we were in Pusat Sukan Air Pulau Pinang... eating dinner I think.

Ok, so we last stopped the story back at 4 am in the morning where I had a grand total of 2 hours of sleep last night. I think Julin as well but she actually can't sleep bacause she was too EXCITED and HYPER about it... go figure. Then again, don't bother. It's Julin, nuff' said. XD

All four of us in our camp crawled out of bed (or more accurately, crawled off the cement floor...) and like I said, sat at the edge of the camp area and enjoyed the sea breeze.

At 7 am, we gathered in a circle for morning stretching. Or what can only be categorised loosely as morning stretching. 1, 2, 3, 4... zzzzzzzzzzzz... -arm plops down pathetically-

Different people have different bathing strategies. There are those prefects who wake up in the middle of the night and bathe before everyone else, there are those who wait til a more rational hour and 'keh sio' with everyone else. Then there's those who don't bathe at all. I choose not to name individuals *ahem*.

Breakfast right after that. One...uh... I'm not sure what it's called, though everyone knows what it is... those Gardenia buns with some kind of flavoured cream in the middle? I always thought of it as Twinkies, dunno why. Correct me if I'm wrong, kay?

Next was the How to be a Good Leader by Mr. Michael Ng, whose credentials are very long and impressive. He's a really cool guy. You know those types of motivators you can't help but listen to? (As opposed to the types where you just nod off 5 minutes into the program...) After his teamwork and leadership talk as well as a singing session of Hoobastank's 'The Reason', he set us to work on our specific prefect unit's visions and goals.

Then, tea break where I had my 2nd Twinkie of the day. After tea, we presented our unit's goals and how we're going to achieve them. (Are we carrying out those goals now I wonder?) After that, self-defence with Mr. Michael. We learnt three basic but effective (especially the third one, right, guys?) defensive moves. Very fun. HIAH! :-)

Lunch time. Ta-pau food again.

Next activity on the list was called Challenges where the committee members acted out all kinds of scenarios that could occur in school and we were supposed to show how we handle them. Geez... the way they did it, it was as if our school was full of hard-headed hooligans. The bonus scene especially, where chaos simply ruled. There were people running around, people 'dying', chairs almost flying, screaming...

Tea break. 3rd Twinkie.

Now it was time to prepare for frat night and the BBQ dinner. Frat night... the time where we had thrown our dignities down the drain and concucted crazy sketches that made little, if any sense at all.

We had our BBQ first. Yummy, thanks to Pak Cik Din as well as Jannah and Shankeetha who did the barbequeing.

Then, we gathered in the hall and prepared for the grand show down of senseless sketches.

First up was team Ghandi, with their sketch about twin sisters Kiki and Lala. Obedient, smart Kiki (or Lala?) was hoaxed into going to school in bad-girl Lala's place (or Kiki? Ah... wateva...) to take an exam for her. There, Kiki bumped into a boy and it was love at first sight. Or rather, a symphony of Kutch-kutch Hotta Ay (I KNOW I spelt that wrong. Don't laugh...) at first sight. Head-over-heels in love Kiki messed up the exam and mum had a near-crying fit back at home. The End.

Next, was team Mongkut! -applause- :-)
Ours was a Tarzan and Jane story. Tarzan was best friends with a female gorilla but immediately falls in love with Jane. Gorilla gets mighty jealous and plans to get rid of Jane. (I don't think about the PG13 implications behind this...) Two Mission-Impossible-but-not-too-bright types of hunters came up and shot Jane, mistaking her for a gorilla. See what I mean? Along comes the Jungle Bomoh and her trusty assistant. After many trials and errors involving no Holy Water, no Coca cola and no Sprite, they finally revived her with Spritzer water and the chant 'Cawanmushimashimaro Ajinamoto!'. Tarzen meanwhile becomes hysterical over the loss of Jane "GO AWAYLA! YOU'RE NOT JANE!!!" and Jane comes back and they marry and live happily ever after. And Gorilla found a new mate. The End.
Tarzan's performance (Senior, Florence) earned her the I Am Legend title at the end of the camp. The Bomoh (Min Yan) won Hidden Talent.

After that, team Mandela. They went creative and made 'The Making of...' version of our camp. They had a bossy director with a torchlight camera and an assistant using a biscuit tin as the uh... black and white 'Action! Kiap!' thing.... Geez... what is that thing called anyway??
The team captured a lot of hilarious moments like all the hysteria on Pulau Jerejak as well as imitating a few memorable quotes and actions from different prefects throughout the camp.
The story ended with the whole cast quiting and the director trying to do everything herself, finally confessing all she could do was say Action and Cut. The cast returned in the end. The End.

Finally was team Lincoln. They presented their version of 'So you think you can dance'. There were ballet dancers who couldn't do splits, clumsy hip-hoppers who slammed into everything (at one point, one of them slammed into a table, hard. And it might not be on purpose...), two girls doing the tango (a lot of falling down) and the Indian dancers (who won...). Cue the 'Oh, Muthu!' and 'Oh, Minachi!' and slow mo running. Also, Muthu kept on confusing names and kept trying to hit on one of the judges 'Jangan lebeh-lebehlaaaaa!' This judge, Yusmawarr, won Personality Make-Over.

When it was over, we had our laughs, now it was time to cry. The radio turned on and we attempted to sing some songs. Seniors started hugging and crying and it was so darn touching. If I cry next year, no one is allowed to snap pictures. XD. So the singing session didn't really go on after all. We ran off back to our favourite bench and sang as a little group to the sea.

Sleeping that night was a bit better since we were so darn exhausted. instead of two, I had maybe... uh.... 3 hours. Ah well... it's an improvement. And I caused Jess to have to bunk in with Phaik Chern as I had rolled over to her spot while asleep. But I think we were all more comfortable that way.... hehehe. It rained sometime during the night as well.

I gotta mention a few things that happened in my tent, just for laughs.

Incident number one: Ajinamoto.
We were lying down in our tent talking when suddenly in mid sentence, Jessica stretched her hand out with amazing speed, made a grabbing gesture and screamed "AJINAMOTO!!!!"
She actually said "I saw a mosquito!"
Now her new Japanese war cry is Ajinamoto. And she does it amazingly Japanese-like.

Number Two: I'm so STHOOPID!
I was murdering mosquitos everytime I see them. Again, lying on our backs, I saw a mosquito flying past overhead. WHAP! I killed it. Then, I did the stupidest thing ever. I opened my hands and the mosquito carcass fell onto my face.
Me: Must never do that again.
A minute later, another mosquito flew by. WHAP! And I opened my hands again. One spilt second later...
Me: ARGGH! I'm SO STHOOOPID!
And Jessica bursts out laughing.

Number Three: Nadzira's strange sleeping habits.
On the first night, it got windy. Jess, Jo and Nadz were asleep. I wasn't. One part of our tent began flapping around, making quite a noise.
After one terrific FLAP!, Nadzira bolted upright, looked around for all of three seconds with half-lidded eyes, then slammed her head back onto her pillow. I thought she was awake now so I looked over. She was asleep. Sleep-sitting? Creepy.......

Ok. Part Three soon. School tomorrow. Better head in. Nite!

Together We Are One

Prefect's Camp 2008. Time for 59 of CGL's finest *ahem* to be dragged off out of civilization to learn to be more... well, civilized people. No phones, no computers, no MP3s, hard gravel/cement beds under the stars and filthy bug-filled bathrooms for three days. Survival of the fittest, baybeh. Ok, perhaps 3 days isn't that bad. But since we're all tired and snappy and sleep deprived, why not complain anyway. It's human nature. XD

Since I'm not allowed to be liberally humourous and whiny in my report for the school magazine, I'll be liberally humourous and whiny here instead ;-).

Everyone met up pretty much on time at 8 am Friday morning at the Batu Uban Jetty (there's a Batu Uban Jetty? Yes there is.) to ferry across to Pulau Jerejak (there's a Pulau Jerejak? Yes there is a Pulau Jerejak too... again, how dare I call myself a Penangite... :-p) Heck, before this, I never acknowledged Pulau Jerejak as more than 'the big island opposite Queensbay Mall'.

We were divided into four groups, named after great leaders. Mandela, Ghandi, Lincoln and Mongkut. I'm in Mongkut and if anyone dares to make another crack about Mangkuks, I swear I'll get Chow Yun Fatt as King Mongkut to give orders to behead you all.

Once at the island, we divided into 7 teams to play the three telematch games on the beach. Passing water balloons (wheeeee... O.o), searching flour for sweets with out faces only (and imerging looking like snowmen as well as inhaling a load of flour) and the mad bull race (spinning round a cone 9 times and running across the beach (hilarious... we had a bunch of drunkards running haphazardly down the beach, falling down and getting sand on our faces to join the flour).

Then, a walk across the suspension bridge, a test of bravery and steadiness. Some prefects just waltzed through like it was nothing while others were screaming and edging along the bridge inch by inch. More often than not, the braver ones were the ones thromping down the bridge, causing it to wobble left and right, scaring the one's behind her witless. Poh Ean did an amazingly accurate impression of the screaming prefects later on during Frat Night.

Next was the Flying Fox activity. Again, some leaped off the surface and slid down the rope like they did it everyday while others... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! -reaches platform face completely pucat-
You get what I mean...

Lunch was next. And everyone was impressed. Instead of the usual ta-pau food you come to expect during these camps, it was a hearty buffet lunch. Everyone had great helpings of everything... but not overdoing it as we had abseiling afterwards.

Abseiling was where we climbed up high to the top of a metal platform and made our way down on a rope. Once again, there are various breeds of prefects. The quiet, steady 'whoosh' down the rope with unreadable faces, the 'WOOHOO' types who slid all the way down without holding the rope, and the 'Sob, sobs, sobs' ones who can't seem to let go of the rope for more than half a second.

And when it comes to the instructors who were supposed to be supporting our weights on the ropes so we wouldn't fall, a bunch of us were telling them how to do their jobs...
Us: Abang, pegang ya!
Abang: Ya...
Us: Pegang tau!! Pegang!!
Abang: Ya, ya... saya pegang...
Us: Abang!!!!!!! PEGANG!!!! Jangan bagi lepas!!

After that, we piled back onto the ferry and headed back to Penang Island, onto the bus (whose air-cond doesn't seem to work) and off to Penang Water Sports Centre in Batu Feringghi.

Teams got to putting up their tents, while others looked on, due to the lack of tents. After some chaos in trying to find accomodations for everyone, the 100m dash for the toilets began. I always got to the shower early thanks to the close alliance with the all-round champion-sprinter for-toilets, Jessica. XD.

After washing off the dirt of the day, (or as much dirt as possible) we had dinner, (now the basic ta-pau camp food) and laid out our beds. If you call a blanket and a folded up towel which served as mattress and pillow respectively a bed... Then, housekeeping, where rules of the camp were explained by commitee members, ties were learnt to be tied and a group discussion for school rules were held. Then, off to bed.

We're ahead of schedule by a more than an hour, and weren't we glad. Piling into our tent, we tried to go to sleep. Tried. My tent's location was as bad as it could be. Right beside the toilet, so footsteps trudging noisily through the gravel could be heard all night. One hour past, no one in the camp could stop talking. It was hot. There were mosquitos feasting. 2 hours. Noise died down a little. Exhausted, but still no sleep could come. 3 hours. 1 a.m. Jess and I got up and sat at the bench outside for a good long while. Nadz joined us for awhile and so did Julin. Went back to sleep and kept on waking up in regular intervals all night long. Thunder rumbled, Mat Rempits roared, waves pounded the shore, more footsteps going to toilet. All through the night. I heard it all. I envy everyone else who actually slept more than 3 hours. I had 2.

Climbed out of bed at 4. Stayed out on the bench by the ocean, just enjoying the breeze and waiting for the sun to rise. It is really peaceful and beautiful and you curse the fact you didn't have a camera...

I'll write day two when I can. This is getting quite long and I don't want to overfeed you. You'll get tired. I am... XD
Bite sized chomps, yea. Til' next time.

Vivid Crimson out.

Travel Ramblings of a Mentos Addict, Part 5

Ok, I better just post this up quick before Jessica gives me the silent treatment. Heh, which is the latest fad nowadays when you think about it. (Like I said, 'Teacher, we can't help you with the SPBT books anymore. We're not talking to each other due to Kitaro and casinos and wineries...')

Final day in Australia. The week flew by. This last day is going to be spent on Great Ocean Road, which has the greatest collection of natural rock formations I've ever seen. I'll even say that even if they weren't the only rock formations I've ever seen...

Once again, we rise early in the morning and climbed onboard the bus for another long journey across the great lands of Australia. Remember our Form 2 Geography book that says Australia is a country that is 'kurang penduduk'? Darn right. Maybe the sheep and cows actually outnumber the humans...

After a long while, we arrived for a fish and chip lunch (western food! Finally!) and a shop in a small town. The lady in charge sure got up on the wrong side of bed that day... :-p.

Then, Great Ocean Road, where each formation is more amazing than the next.

As you stand there, at the top of the cliffs, and look down at the furious waves, slamming against the rocks, and feel the cold ocean breeze... (and swat at a bunch of flies) then you realize how the little things seem just that. Little.
And forgive me for saying but I'd like to give a few grumbling people onboard the bus a big telling off for thinking all this scenery isn't worth their time climbing down from the bus to see. (Shopping, I ask you! Why buy pleasures when you can witness all these beauty for free??) But hey, that's just me.

First stop was the 12 Apostles (the way our tour leader pronounced it... I could've choked... 'apotions'). These '12' limestone rocks were previously known as the Sow and Piglets. Apparently the name wasn't glamorous enough so they changed the name to the 12 Apostles. Now, don't bother counting. These are limestone rocks, and as we learn in Geography, hakisan ombak is at work. There are only 7 or so left.
The Twelve Apostles

One of the lookout points

Next, was the Loch Ard Gorge. This one was named after a ship, Loch Ard, (Duh... :-P) carrying 54 people aboard on a journey from England to Melbourne. But the ship capsized and 52 of the passengers died. Only two 18-year-olds survived and found shelter in a cave. Very Robinson Crusoe...

Lastly, was the London Arc. Previously known as the London Bridge, looking like it's namesake in London, one of the arcs broke off and collapsed back in 1990, (leaving a couple of tourists stuck on the remaining arc... they had to be saved by helicoptor later... XD) and so it was renamed London Arc.London Arc... imagine being stuck on that remaining piece for hours...

Our tour leader told us to keep the pictures safe, as word is this remaining arc might be falling apart soon, so we could get a lot of money from the original picture. Heh.

Long drive back to town to a souvenier shop where everyone spent a small fortune. And then to dinner, at the Crown Casino. Another buffet meal where more than one stomach (and filled wallet) was needed. The place was packed. Again, very Vegas-like, filled with slot machines for lucky people to win money, only to spend it all away on the designer brand shops lined up on the ground floor.

After that, time to bid Melbourne farewell and off we go to the airport for the late night flight back to Singapore, then home sweet home, where I slept most of the weekend away. :-)

Gotta love the holidays.

Note: Thanks Jess, for helping me upload the photos... bwahahahahahahahahah!

Travel Ramblings of a Mentos Addict, Part 4

Day Four

Whoops... took me a long while to get this up... heh. But hey, it’s up now.

So, first day in Melbourne, where the weather was thankfully tons cooler, but that does not deter the flies... obviously...

Our first stop was Victoria Market, where they sold everything from fruits to T-shirts. Just when you thought there were plenty of nice souvenirs to take home, you flip that key chain over and lo and behold, Made in China. But still, there were plenty of fascinating things to see.

After an hour there, which sadly wasn’t enough for many, (that’s the Malaysian shopping spirit!) we headed for the Melbourne Aquarium, which wasn’t really all that cool. Kind of over rated. The Penang one had tons more fish. But, yes, Jess... plenty of sharks in captivity. J

Then, onwards in the City Tour to the likes of the Parliament House, St Patrick Cathedral, Art Museums and a really nice park (Melbourne is called the Garden City as there are really a lot of gardens and parks...) where Captain Cook’s parent’s cottage was located.

Toilet break for all as we’ll be journeying on yet another long road trip towards Phillip Island. By now, highways are fairly predictable... cows... fields... horses... fields... more cows... more fields... and bundles upon bundles of rolled up hay.

After plenty of snoozing and developing stiff necks, we stopped at a winery for a wine tasting session. I can’t say ‘yum’ cos’ it wasn’t to me. I think Phaik Chern would have enjoyed it though... heheh.

Everyone climbed back onto the bus a short while later, some more tipsy than others, and after an hour or so, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant just outside the bridge towards Phillip Island. Lobster baybeh! Ok, fine... half-a-lobster-each baybeh!

Finally, we arrived at our destination. Just in time to watch the Penguin Parade. In fact, more than in time. We were a good hour ahead of them. A good freezing cold hour.

The penguins here are the tiny types. No more than a foot high. What happens is mummy and daddy take turns going out at day break, hunting for fish. They return at sundown (hence, Penguin Parade) to the sight of hundreds of excited tourists staring and pointing at them, and return to their burrows.

One wonders, as one stands with jacket fully zipped up and hands stuck in pockets in the make-shift stadium-like area where everyone sits to watch the penguins come home, just how much money these people were making off these innocent penguins.

One wonders, why so many people would come all the way from Melbourne (3 and a half hours away) and wait out in the cold for hours just to watch 5 minutes of tiny creatures waddling up the beach.

One wonders whether ones hands have frozen in ones pockets yet.

And then, when the penguins come up, and one gets so close to them that one could touch them, ones heart simply melts into pure mush. And it’s all worth it. It’s really all one can do to restrain from catching one and stuffing it under ones jacket and take it all the way home to Malaysia. Heh.

Promo pic I found online... but nothing beats seeing them in person... uh... penguin... whatever...

Sadly, I couldn’t take any pictures. Cameras and hand phones weren’t allowed as the people in charge are afraid the fame and glory of getting their pictures taken so often will make the penguins conceited and demand a share of profits.

Ok, just kidding, it’s because of the flash from the camera that could frighten or blind the penguins.

Good ol' Tony... "Heheh... better check, Nick, or else... Vroom... Creaaakkkeeee!!!"

Ok.. hands up, who winced?? I did.

Another long journey back home in the dark of the night, where we placed all our faith in our bus driver, (Nick) to get us back to our warm hotel beds safe and sound.

Next: Last day, mounds of rocks.

Travel Ramblings of the Mentos Addict, Part 3

Day Three

Sydney city tour. First stop was the Sydney Fish Market. It smells of… duh… fish. But there are plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as well, along with every kind of cheese in the world, (including a kind called Edith… hehe… tell your sister, Esther.) lobsters, crabs, oysters… seafood haven.

It’s summer time, and it’s hot. Even hotter than in Malaysia… seriously. And of course, flies, flies, and more flies. A walk along Darling Harbour came next. Hot. Nuff’ said.

Next was the building everyone knows, Sydney Opera House. No entry. We just snapped quick pictures outside and quickly hunted down any place there was shade (Umbrellas and a large sign board were among such places…). A little boy from our tour group went missing for awhile and panic ensued. Not sure whether the boy’s parents or our tour leader, Tony, felt more panicked. Hehe.

After that, all aboard on Captain Cook’s cruise ship around the harbour. Captain Cook, by the way, was the guy who brought the first ‘Aussies’ into Australia. Mind you, they were convicts.

Not the best part of the holiday, as I was hit with another round of nausea. So, lesson learnt… rocking ships and A380s… not for me.

Ah… Bondi Beach. Some of you might know what this place is famous for, and for those who don’t, you can guess. It’s to do with a beach, and PG18 material.

Unfortunately, (or should I say fortunately??) it was near evening and the weather cooled down, perhaps a little too cold for any in-the-buff beachwear, so don’t worry, nobody saw anything they shouldn’t. Bwahaha.

Of course, that didn’t stop the males on our tour group, (especially Tony…) from spouting all kinds of PG13 jokes…

Ok, ok… on the right! Ladies, no need to look…

Nah! Nah! On the left! Men, no need to look…

Yeesh…

Dinner was at Star City Hotel. The huge buffet dinner makes you wish you had four more stomachs to sample everything. And after finding out the price for the dinner, you damn well wish you did have four more stomachs to eat its worth.

There was also a casino. Very Vegas. (grins) Although the rules clearly state under-18s were not allowed, I got in anyway, after a quick passport ID with those big, burly, bald headed, bouncer type guards.

That’s all for Sydney. We head for the airport for our local flight to Melbourne. The flight was delayed for quite awhile thanks to incoming storms. But thankfully, we arrived safe and sound in Melbourne. And, in contrast to that afternoon, it was freezing. A good 10 degrees. On to the hotel and off to bed. The next two days in Melbourne made me wonder whether it really was summer in Australia or not.

Next: Penguins! Squeeeeeeee!

Sorry... not pics again. Bad connection...

Travel Ramblings of the Mentos Addict , Part 2

Parliment House, the most expensive building in Australia.

Day Two

I started ambitiously writing what happened during the day every night in the hotel. It worked for Day One. By Day Two, I gave up. Tiredness! Not lack of discipline, Jessica.

Woke up bright and early for the hotel buffet breakfast. Sure beats bread and peanut butter at home. Onwards to the Koala Park Sanctuary. Koalas are even lazier than us 15 year olds. They sleep pretty much three quarters of their day away. They don’t need water, and if they’re not sleeping, they’re munching away on the eucalyptus leaves. What a nice life… XD

Also got to see tiny penguins, (but I’ll talk more about that when I talk about Phillip Island) kangaroos, a very angry peacock and cuddled a humongous wombat. Also, there was a sheep sheering demonstration but no one could really understand what the guy was saying, as his accent was so darn thick. More like, “So ya mrghh-hrggh-furgh-tha-grggh…”

Then of course we clambered back on the bus, smelling of ammonia and dung.

Oh, and one thing I have to mention. The flies. Those bloody creatures are everywhere. Regardless whether you bathed or otherwise, they’ll still come to you, buzzing in your ear and in front of your face. Waving one’s arms furiously in front of one’s face soon became a sort of secret greeting gesture…

The angry peacock, hissing and picking on the poor ... whatever that creature is...

Next stop, ah… the Blue Mountains. We got to sit the world’s steepest railway, the Scenic Railway as it plunges us down to the bottom level of the mountains with a 52° incline down 545 meters. Huzzah.
If you look closely, the darker area there... that's the railway.

And no sooner do you get off the train-thingy… railway thingy… whatever… you get treated to the one of the most spectacular sights, the Three Sisters Rock.

Now listen up, story-telling time, with help from Tony the tour leader and wikipedia… ahem.

The Three Sisters is a formation of sandstone rocks, caused by erosion over the ages. (Geography…) But naturally, there is a legend behind the Three Sisters just to make things more interesting…

There were once three very beautiful Aborigine sisters. They each fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe. Of course, marriage was forbidden by tribal law, so a fight broke out. To protect the three sisters, a witch doctor turned them into stone. But he was killed in battle and no one else knew how to turn them back. So here they are, still stuck as stone today.

And Tony added that the tiny little rock beside the three was the youngest, fourth sister. She was the naughty one, who always went out when she shouldn’t, til’ late hours of the night, so the witch doctor turned her to stone too… Heh. Don’t believe him.

The Three Sisters. (And the fourth baby one on the far right... :-) )

After that, we walked through the forest and took a cable car back up to the top.

Next stop was Echo Point, for the best view of the Blue Mountains. Heights do not deter flies, as we were once again attacked by them.

And for the record Jess, the Blue Mountains were blue when I was there:

Why are the Blue Mountains blue? The blue haze is of a different hue and deeper than anywhere else in the world. It is caused by the Eucalyptus trees emitting oil vapour into the atmosphere along with fine dust particles and droplets of water vapour. They scatter the blue light more than any other colour in the spectrum.

What an expert I am, eh?

Ok… fine… that came word for word from a Blue Mountain guide book mum took from the hotel…

Back to town, with a quick stop at the Olympic Stadium, for toilets and photographs.

Then, back to the hotel. Some went out walking around town, but good ol’ Mentos Addict and Tangerine & Ginger flavoured Hacks Lover stayed in our room, watching NCIS and Numb3rs… Heh.

Tomorrow: City Tour in Sydney. Where the weather is hot and flies aplenty.

Travel Ramblings of the Mentos Addict, Part 1

After a week in lovely Australia, I'm back. Well... technically, it's more like five days, four nights, seeing that two more nights were spent on the plane... nasty advertising tactics...

Neways, I'm back in one piece.... although all slush on the inside from exhaustion. But slept the whole afternoon so I'm 'almost' back to normal.

I'm Mentos-Addict, due to the 3 tubes of Mentos brought along on the trip, which me and my mum, Tangerine-and-Ginger-flavoured-Hacks-Sweets-Lover (called that for obvious reasons...), chomped down unmercifully throughout the trip. Heh. I'm serving these posts in bite sizes, or else I'll be typing all day...

Day One (Or should I say, night one?)

Met up with our 21 other tour group members at the airport at 4 pm, as well as our tour leader. 24 in total. First, off to Singapore's Changi airport. Then, aboard the, can you believe it, Airbus A380, only on it's 3rd voyage to Sydney.

But honestly, other than the fact that it is of course, HUGE, there's not really anything else that is special. Ok, I'm saying that cos' I was attacked by nausea throughout the flight and I'm grumpy cos' I was in no condition to enjoy any of the hundreds of music albums and shows they have (including CSI and CSI NY.. ish...)

So, after about 8 hours of sitting uncomfortably in a glazed trance, trying not to gag everytime meals were served, as well as enduring the woman who was blowing her nose in regular intervals behind me, the guy who was coughing consistently in the seat somewhere in front, an the baby who cried all night long, we finally arrived in Sydney, 7 am local time (3 hours ahead of Malaysian time).

No rest for the weary. Off we go through 2 hours of getting through customs, and an hour of waiting for our bus driver, Bill. Finally, we're on our way on a 3 and a half hour journey to Canberra.

Canberra, is the capital of Australia. Stop thinking it's Sydney. Turns out, Sydney and Melbourne were fighting over who gets to be the capital, so they decided to pick somewhere else to develope into the capital instead.

Bill is one jolly guy with quite a thick accent. One hilarious thing was Tony, our guide (whose English ain't too hot), had a hard time understanding him, and vice versa. So one would ask the other a question, and the other will either not reply or answer something completely different.
But they bonded anyway, referring to each other as 'my boy' and 'my man' everytime. XD

Everyone pretty much zonked throughout the journey to Canberra, waking up with stiff necks.
First stop, was the Cockington Green Gardens, filled with minatures of people, buildings and what not. Amazing detail. There were tiny golf courses, villages, football stadiums, castles... you name it. Outside the Cockington Green Gardens

Next stop is the Parliment Building, the most expensive building in Australia. We got to go inside and take a look around. Saw the potrait of ex-Prime Minister, William McMahon, as in Julian McMahon's (of Charmed and Nip/Tuck) dad. Cool or what? Also, we went to the War Memorial, what can I say? It's cooler than the Penang one. Hehe... But as we were 2 hours behind schedule, there wasn't much time to look around. Onwards to Embassy Road, where we got to see all the different embassies, including Malaysia, of course. :-)

Finally, we head back to Sydney, another long bus journey. The hotel bed never looked so good. Zonked out immediately.

Day 2: Blue Mountains.

Will upload more photos later. Connection is nuts right now...

Gila-gila Mentos signing off!

Of Forts and Fish

And I call myself a Penangite. After 15 years of my life on this tiny island, I never knew there was such thing as a War Museum and Aquarium in Penang til' today.

Finally, a post-PMR school activity that doesn't involve sitting on the hall floor until one's legs go into full rigor mortis, and eyes don't glaze over at staring at some slide from the computer.

'Lawatan Sambil Belajar's are always fun. There's something nice about sitting in a bus with your classmates off to visit someplace. Today was no exception. 39 students and 2 teachers were packed off to the War Museum in Batu Maung.

Now, this is the best way to learn History. Rather than cramming pages upon pages of text into our heads, we get great exercise and a fun experience. And yeah, we learn a little something-something as well.

The War Museum was once a fort built by the British from 1930 to 1939. No wonder it took nine years to build... this place is a fair size. We walked for a couple of hours, providing breakfast for the tropical rain forest mosquitos. We got to see tunnels that were 100 feet underground, places where cannons once were, ammunation the size of a medium-sized dog, torture chambers, soldier barracks and offices.

Equipped with torchlights, we got to go through two tiny tunnels that had walls 4 feet thick, which were used for hiding during attacks.

Definitely not for the claustrophobic.

And I learnt a valuable lesson to keep my torch light aimed in front, so that I don't ram into a wall before I actually see it. Also, I learnt not to be possessed by fear so deep that I want to race out of the tunnel ASAP, leaving my poor torchlight-less classmates screaming in the pitch dark.

Heh. Ok... I'm exaggerating. But I'm not kidding when I say the dialogue while in the tunnel went like this:

A (with torchlight): Woah...
B, C, D (holding on to each other's waists for guidance, like a human train): Woah!
B: AHHHHH!!!! Don't WALK SO FAST!!!!
C & D: WAIT!!!!!!!!!
A: OK! OK! (slows down) Turn coming! Watch out!
C (Head hits the low ceiling for the 5th time): Ow...
(seconds past)
B, C, D: AHHHHHH!!!!!!!! DON'T WALK SO FAST!!!!!
A: OK! OK! Solly!

Yeah... something like that.

On the whole, a really great trip. A few things were a little disturbing, like the sex crimes, torture chambers, Yamashita Tomoyuki's boots at the spot he was hung... things that make you think how darn lucky you are to be born a good forty years later.

Now that we've had enough of guns, we head towards the Aquarium, to feast our eyes on fish and corals. God's beautiful creations. Blue, yellow, blue with yellow stripes, etc. Also, we see the impact of Pixar on everyone. Every surgeon fish and clown fish we see is affectionately referred to as Nemo and Dory.

And along with Ms Koay, we mixed and matched the fishes in the aquariums with the ones displayed on the directory. (Some were mysteriously missing though...)

A: Ok, see if you can find the black ribbon eel!
B, C, D stares for a while: THERE! THERE! THERE! (points frantically)

Aren't we an enthusiastic bunch?

What a day. Tomorrow will be another field trip. This time, to the USM museum and gallery. Wheeee!

It's a doggy-dog day

10 hours in the Youth Park open theatre taking care of 7 dogs has left me completely exhausted, as well as has given me a permanant dog scent. I'm telling ya... after a long bath, I still smell dogs...

What a day! It was absolutely tiring, but absolutely fun at the same time.

Sadly, I didn't get to see much of the activities of this one-day camp. The only things I saw were Aunty Rosy's dog demonstration and the PAA (Penang Dog Agility somethin' or other...) dog show. I didn't even get to see the other booths! For 90% of the time, I was confined at the back field, taking care of the dogs. I never had a pet dog in my life, and today, I have spent more time with dogs than I ever did for the past 15 years of my life. Needless to say, I got to know them all pretty well.

Jessica and I car-pooled there and we were the first to arrive. Within the next few minutes, we were joined by Huey Tien (another volunteer same age as us) and her dog, Bridget. We played our part in the food chain by being the mosquitoes' early breakfast feast. Tricia came soon after that and we had to set up the tables and hang the signs, banners and all that what nots. (Climbing again... as if Ms Koay's curtain torture yesterday wasn't enough...)

Tricia and I paired up on the Std Six Registration while Jess took Std Four. Not much to say here, just the usual 'banyak udang, banyak garam, banyak orang, banyak ragam' kinda thing with the parents and their kids. Quite a scare though, it rained for quite awhile. But thank goodness it was sunny for the rest of the day.

Then, onwards to the canine station. The dogs from the SPCA hadn't arrived yet, so we just played with Bridget, and fed the mosquitoes even more. Later, we got to watch Aunty Rosy and her dog tricks, but had to leave halfway. The dogs had arrived.

Throughout the day, Tricia, Jess, Huey Tien, Eunice (Carmen's sister) and me were baby-sitting the dogs as group after group of kids came to see, pet, and feed them. It was fun at first, but by the 4th group, the dogs and us were kind of tired out... Jess got to go to the reptile station, where she got to hold a boa 15 times... which was, in her words, 'The happiest moment of my life!' Which I rolled my eyes at... but then, I don't have her affinity for reptiles, so I can't talk... :-P

It was super fun in some ways. We got to go into the enclosements and control the dogs... and get licked all over. And we introduced them to the kids as if we had known them all our lives when it was just a few hours... :-P We also had to keep them hydrated (not easy, I tell you, seeing they're always playing around and upsetting their water bowls...) . But the least glamorous of all, is of course scooping up their poop with a cangkul and dustpan. Hahaha... but hey, that's an all rounded package if you have a pet to be responsible for, right?

At the end of the day, when we were all smelly and fur invested, we had to pack the dogs off back to the SPCA and take down the enclosements. After cleaning up everything we were supposed to, it was homeward bound... to my Tree painting... and here I am. I'm going to bed directly after this... yes... I'm aware that would be around 9pm. And I don't care. Why, oh why, is there school tomorrow...

So, before I sign off, let me introduce you to the seven fellows that made today such a great joy.


-Bridget- (Huey Tien's dog)

The friendly fellow who bounces up to greet you, but barks alot at the other dogs.






















-Limou and Ivory- Two of the more active ones that loves to pick a fight with the others.






-Mocha-
Another hyper one. Loves sticks and grass... But hey, what else did he have to play with anyway...





















-Skylar-
Jessica's baby. Quiet fellow. But she wasn't feeling well for awhile. Kept coughing. The coolest thing about her is that one eye's brown while the other's blue.

And my FAVORITE!!!














Meet Holly. The baby of the lot. So sweet and cuddly. And Tricia and I were absolute beasts to it, making it wake up when it wanted to sleep... and videotaping it! (I'll find a way to post it here. It's hilarious!) Well, Tricia more than me... Hehe...

Not to mention, it reminds me alot about Danny's dog on CSI NY... *grins* You know me...



















And check out how photogenic Tricia and Holly are together!




























Getting seriously sleepy now. Til next year, at SPCA children's educational camp 2008!
WUFF!

Saturday? I think not...

Throughout today, it hardly occured to me it was Saturday. This is of course contributed to the fact that there was school today, the second of three replacement Saturdays for the Hari Raya break.

On the whole, it was a tiring day in school, but thankfully we didn't need to study. Instead, it was, once again, gotong-royong. Geez... this school is never clean enough, is it? It was a repeat event of February's gotong-royong as the first half of our class was once again assigned to the SPBT store room under Ms Koay. Group B had Ms Cheah in the bengkel kayu.

You'd think I was training up to be Spiderman's apprentice from the way I was so 'gung-ho' about climbing up the less than stable, but unfortunately high book shelves to wipe the windows. But I went for it anyway, since I did the exact same thing during the first gotong-royong. Also, me and Chen Ni had the 'honour' of hanging up the freshly laudered curtains, (that we sent for washing during the first gotong-royong four months ago... and just only got it back... wonder why it took so long... they washed them thread by thread??) Maybe we didn't do too much of a good job cleaning up as the clean curtains became dirty all over again almost immediately after we hung it up... whoops.

The others meanwhile, hustled and bustled around, wiping the shelves and helping Ms Koay organize the new text books into their respective shelves. But as we all know, those fresh, new, clean books will soon be filled with one thick film of dust within a month... Hermione Granger would cry.

After over 2 hours of cleaning, we left. The SPBT room is now considerably cleaner. Well, it should, seeing that all the dust, dirt and grime from the room transfered onto our bodies instead. Thank goodness for teachers like Pn Kang who let us off her double BM period... who would be in the mood to study after becoming human dust magnets?

Two Saturday school days down, one to go.

Tricia, thanks for coming to the Youth Park 10 minutes late, resulting in me standing around looking like a lost, lonely fool... but things picked up quickly enough. The older volunteers were quickly divided into pairs. They are to be the group leaders, chaperones, care takers, baby sitters, (I'm not sure what the exact term is) for the 9 groups of 10 kids each tomorrow, otherwise called Foster Parents aka Foster Mummy & Foster Daddy. (Cute, eh?)

Then, it was us younger volunteers' turn to be sorted. We won't be leading the kids but we will be covering all other nesessary aspects of running the camp smoothly, like being stationed in the various animal booths.

Ok... they don't trust us teens with 10 to 12 year old kids, but they trust us with tiny, vulnerable puppies????

Tricia and I, along with Jess will be at the registration booth, signing the kids and their parents in. I better get a good night's sleep tonight... my P.R skills will not be at their best at 7.30 am on a Sunday morning... after that, because there aren't many volunteers, we have to dash over to the Canine Station, where all the puppies are. (YAY!) What we have to do is, as the woman in charge, Aunty Lily, puts it, "Make sure the kids don't get out of control and *mimics wringing gesture around a tiny puppies' neck*"

Sure, the three of us will guard the dogs, but who will guard us? I for one, cannot resist a cute little puppy... hahahah... Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

I'm kidding! I'm kidding!

All in all, I really looking foward to tomorrow, despite the fact that I'll be exhausted by the end of the day... and a whole week of school to follow after that. *sigh...*

I took a few pics of the hardly-ready Youth Park Open Theatre... and I'll try to snap some pics tomorrow. Kinda like a before/after shoot to share with you all.

Where's everything? Believe it or not... behind the stage. (That white wall over there) We have our work cut out for us.
And that woman in red? She's not a volunteer. She's my mum... *chortles*

One of the many canopies set up for the booths tomorrow. Empty now... filled with reptiles of all sorts tomorrow.

Some volunteers setting up a tent. The one I'll be in tomorrow greeting kids and parents with sleepy eyes.

Who knew volunteer work could make me so excited?

Until next time, Fern signing off!