Day 28 — Someone that changed your life

Another tough one. This year, I attended many activities, each with many people, and all of them, changed my life.

I don't know who to start with, so instead, I shall write one to the 2010 YEP team. Being a simple person, I'll just make something general so there shall be no secrets about anyone(as if there were any to hide).

Honestly, I don't know everyone very well. All of us do know a lot about each other, though to me, nothing beats all that without having gone through something with everyone. We all had.

You guys taught me new things in life, many of which are things I did not know were unnecessary. I'm the kind of person who likes to be there for everyone, and where I can't help, I'll be at my worst. Through photography, I have achieved it, though there were times I was tired and wanted a break, but, you guys always come first.

I liked to travel, so much it did not occur to me that I was able to take initiatives to gather like-minded friends to do go on morning walks with me! Even now, I'm planning for a short trip within the island.

The company with everyone, was a great escape from the stress of studying. There was lots more to just the simple stuff we did over there, since there was the administrative work, and the foundation laying for us to do what we went there to do. Lots of effort put in, many times the reward we harvested, though the fruits of our labour was shared with not just us, but the people as well.

Though the place did not change much within the year, travelling with everyone, has shown me that the place might be the same, but the environment does change. No matter where you go, each time you went back to the same place, you can be assured of a different experience, better or worse. That's what makes me like travelling so much. To like the place is one thing, but to embrace what the place has in store, is another.

I guess, as much as I would like to travel, I should do it on my own, or with a group of friends. There's only so much the school can do for the students. Shortly after our return, I registered for another YEP, but decided to withdraw as a student leader, simply due to the fact that I wanted someone else to feel the great joy we all felt during our journey. I wanted to pass a stack of paper and a pen to someone, so that he or she, could write a new chapter into his or her life.

It's more than a year since we all met for the first time, but I'm glad, and amazed, we are still closely knit together as great friends, and I'm sure, we will always stay that way.

Day 14 — Someone you’ve drifted away from

First got to know you and many other awesome people to come during the first then TDP activity. Got along quite well, you taught me many things, some of which I later passed on to other friends.

Three years sure pass fast, and very soon we'll be collecting our certificates. We did many activities together, especially under NYAA. Wonder what happened to the scheme the small group of us came up with. Seemed like everyone became overly busy and caught up with other stuff and studies that it's become silent. Perhaps we'll continue once we graduate?

Hope you're coping well with your final semester, since the final sprint is usually the toughest. After that, we'll pass the finish line, collect our prize, and enjoy.

Haven't got much to say, though there's something I plan to do after completing poly, while waiting to enlist. You, Samuel, me, and maybe a few others, go on a photography outing to some parts of the island?

All the best!

Fate: Your Next Stop In Life

When an opportunity comes, you either take it, or have let it go, in the faith that a better opportunity might just come your way later on. The decision, the choice of choosing the better path to take at a crossing, to help you reach your next destination in life, leads you to your fate, the next stop on your 100-year or so journey, that seems endless, even at death.

In the past, I used to believe that fate was simply determined by time, nothing else. This was one of the million things I had never realised in detail till after my O Levels. Since the day I stepped into campus as a full time student, I never expected my life was going to sky rocket, with experiences I used to think that were impossible, unfolding before my eyes. The result of a simple, yet important choice which I made, and a journey I was fated to travel, at the cost of 1 grade point at the 2007 General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Examination. I only have those around me, close or far, to thank, for helping to give me the confidence to make the life changing decision, and helping me reach where I am today.

Just a day ago, I was given an opportunity to help in a charitable operation by helping a team of 2 friends to go to a couple of secondary schools to pick up used clothes donated by students today, but I decided that it was a bit of a risk, as I was going to miss a whole day of school. However, it turned out the day's activities in school was kind of unproductive, with me returning to the realm of gaming with some classmates, though I managed to catch up with the class, and our Final Year Project(FYP) team managed to come up with a list of things to do leading up to the third panel.

Something amazing about fate, it employs the economic theory of opportunity costs. You can either have one way or another, but each time, you can't enjoy the best of both worlds, since no one can be at two places at any one time. If I had gone for the collection(a rare opportunity), I would have missed school, and the introduction of The Christieara Programme(YES I FINALLY HAD THE RIGHT SPELLLING) for the first year students, coupled with introductory speeches and sharing sessions by representatives from the California Challenge and Dumaguete (Philippines) Youth Expedition Project. The TCP sure is becoming more geared to providing students with a holistic education during their stay in NP!

Met lots of people, friends and saw over 700 students beggining a new chapter in their 3-year journey with NP. I returned to the days of being an event photographer. Thanks to Joel for giving me that little push to go forth and take up the role. Reunited with about half of the Cebu team of 2009 who are now members of the Overseas Merit Fellowship: California Liberal Arts Challenge 2010.

Helped to transport the collected clothes at 8pm when Danial and his partner arrived with the clothes. How I wished I were 2 years older today, so that I could help the Operation Juvi team with their collection, to be able to hire and drive a van without difficulty, to be able to collect all the donated clothes from the participating instituitions around the island, and helping the team to save precious time and manpower on travelling around to collect donated clothes. Before that, a small group of us went to Makan Place for a late dinner. This evening was the first time I dared to reach out to a toddler who found a temporary comfort by my side. I wonder if it's the same for all young children, or if I had something in me that never failed to invite them to stand beside me. Somehow, it fills me with joy inside, calming my senses, making me feel as if I were floating in the air..

"Luck favours a prepared mind" John Chng, TCP manager

7 nights later, though I could not remember the plot, I was still able to go places with them.

Day 13-Cousins' Visit

Here's celebrating my 300th post!

This morning, I had 2 dreams, the first was set in pure darkness until toward the end I started to see light. The second was a continuation of the first after I woke up at 6am, and tried to sleep to continue dreaming(Lots of Deja Vu moments from today were from that dream).

The first dream probably started at 4am this morning, maybe earlier. I can't determine the time, or place in the dream, as my surroundings was pitch black. It started with me hearing a friend's voice, telling me,"Hey, wake up. She's online."

"Huh? Oh oh! But so early?"

I saw her profile flash at the bottom right of my sight. I wasn't seated in front of any screen. I looked around, it was pure darkness. The only thing I could see was a small tab showing her profile name and picture, stating she was online. I got up and went to the computer, and started a conversation. She asked about the school I was studying at, about the courses offered there. Suddenly she said that she was planning to make a trip to the school with 2 other friends to look around, as they had never been there, and would arrive between 11am to 1pm.

After she went offline, I could see the cabin, and my room mate behind me. I woke up at 6am.

I tried to sleep again, to continue with the dream. Somehow I wanted very badly to see how the day developed. At around 6.30am, I found myself waking in the cabin again. I saw her still online, and went to chat with her. However this time, we were talking about the times we had feelings for each other, and though I could feel she was hesitant to start over with me, I was hinting to her I would like to start afresh. She was refusing my hints in a sweet tone. Her message had the word "Auttthhhhiiiiinnnnnnnggg", which I stared hard at, trying to decipher the meaning. Did it mean "outing"? Her last message before going offline was asking if I was interested in her close friend, 'Alanor'(the name isn't spelt that way, though it sounds the same).

At 10am, I got changed, and went to the school. The crew was at Makan Place, so I went there to join them for brunch at 11am. I saw a group of 3 girls. I went to them, and invited them to join us since we had some extra portions. The captain invited them to join us on the short voyage to Orchard Road after lunch, as we were going to relax for the afternoon, before preparing for a battle at Mount Faber in the evening. They agreed, and decided to tag along, and return to look around the school when we return in the evening.

At Orchard Road, the 5 of us went to a department stall at one of the top floors of a shopping mall. We met another 2 friends there. One was teasing her, while another, was teasing the both of us, asking how the both of us were getting along.

Just then, the captain and 4 other comrades came, and told us to look out the window. It seems that the battle had started way earlier than we had expected, and we were mobilised to take part in the defence as well. As the ship was docked somewhere far from our location, and the 5 of us had no choice but to head over to the site first, since we could summon our crafts, also known as mobile suits(something like a super sized suit, but it's armed with weapons) from our present location. She held on to me, asking to follow me on board the craft. Somehow, without even thinking, I simply allowed her to follow. However, the both of us had to get to somewhere else before we could summon our crafts. I brought her all the way to Vivo City, so that I could prepare her to join me on board the craft, which could only seat a pilot. I was able to modify my craft at a secret workshop there by configuring the craft. Before I pressed the button to summon the craft, I told her to prepare herself for the flight to the battle site. I woke up at 8.45am.

Once again, I tried to fall asleep at 8.45am, and at 9am, I saw myself seated in a circle with the crew and with her seated opposite me on the floor outside the entrance of Makan Place. Her friends, and two of our friends who we met at the department stall, were not present. We were having dinner, talking about all kinds of stuff. Although we were not seated beside each other, I felt as though we had reconciled.

She was about my shoulder height, and her voice seemed to have gotten a little higher pitched.

I woke up at 9.45am, but my head felt really heavy, as though it wanted me to sleep on to continue dreaming. However, I did not want to go back to sleep or I might sleep till 12, and might not be able to remember my dream upon waking, as that heavy feeling in my head wasn't a good sign. If I had fell asleep, I would go into a deep sleep almost immediately and would wake at least 2 hours at 12pm, unable to remember whatever I had dreamt.

"This evening, my cousins came over to visit, and to pick up some pills as one of my cousins would be going overseas on a back packing trip in the coming week. Had my dinner late this evening as I had just returned from an evening run, while everyone sat at the table and chatted about our overseas experiences. I can't help, but feel the warmth. The conversation has fuelled my desire to go on a long trip with a group of close friends."

Back as Promised

2 weeks have passed. A week of examinations and a week of intensive preparation.

Won't be expecting good grades for the examinations this time, as I planned and did things in such a way that most things happened at the right place, at the wrong time. On Friday, went with the team for their immunisation at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, before leaving with Marcus and Shen Faye at 3.15pm.

The week after was fully occupied. Monday to Wednesday, I attended a standard first aid course, which was kind of like a refresher course, as my certification had expired 5 years ago. Tuesday night was spent totally on packing my bags for a camp the next day, and for the up-coming overseas trip the coming Monday, so I did not study for the first aid test. On Wednesday, found out that I was not going to be part of the orientation camp in April. On that same day, met Koon Teck to collect the First Aid kits and some stuff that would help us during the 14-day trip to Dumaguete City in the Philippines. Passed the course with 28 out of 30 for the theory, and cleared the practical and CPR test. Attended a pre-trip camp after that. THat's the first time I attended a camp for the purpose of bonding with team mates, getting to know the stuff we're going to do there better, all in preparation for an overseas youth expedition programme. Went to play pool with Danial, Iqbal, Mel and Hui Yin that night, before buying supper for some of the others back at the apartments.

On Thursday, ran 10 rounds at the stadium, before heading back to join the rest in preparing for the Cultural Nite performance. Had lunch with the team, and left for our pre-trip community service, which seemed like what a team would do in the I&E in Action Module, under the Community Pathway. Had a strong sense of deja vu once again during the briefing by Melinda at the centre, when I remembered the scene where we were all standing round her as she gave the briefing. Can't really remember when I dreamt of it, and what happenedin that dream, except for that briefing scene.

Today went to get some stuff to pack for the trip. In the morning went to Yio Chu Kang to meet Jacy to collect her package for her kids, before heading ome for lunch. Went out to change money and purchase some stuff to use over there for the 14 days, and went home for dinner. Joined some friends for dinner at Brewerkz till 9.30pm before heading home.

Shall complete the packing and final baggage checks later in the morning, before returning to sleep the afternoon away till 4pm. Tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to do a short post before heading off for 14 weeks. Would only be able to post again after that.

I'll be on my way back soon. Please wait a little longer...

"Journey" To The Past And Back

In the past week, my mind and subconscious travelled back in time. On Monday, I dreamt of me being 14 again, going to a polytechinic which looked like a secondary school.

During the rest of the week, my dreams were somehow filled with images of the past, showing what the future would be like if I made the choice to take a different route at each junction back in those days. My waking life over the week was miserable, filled with nothing more than sheer regret. It's the same thoughts of "Why didn't I have the courage to make the move back then? Why didn't I sign up for it? If only I hadn't done this, if only I had done that."

Wednesday, I had a dream, as a result of too much video games. Found myself in a boss fight with 2 other characters. One girl, and a knight. The knight refused to accept me for some reason, which I forgot what it was after I woke. The fight took place at a small village, defeated the boss, and moved on to a cave, where we fought off monsters. Somehow, we ended up at school, and fr some reason, we made our way to the SDAR office. There, for some reason, the knight finally accepted me, and things started happening at a fast rate. A girl(not the one I started out with), rushed to me, passing me a small, A5 sized ring binded booklet, its cover made of recycled paper. Along its left side, was 2 words spelled in capital, and 4 digits, in olive green colour. On the right, were 4 photographs, presumably from a tour. She said that she was there to pass me the booklet on behalf of a Dr. __________ (it's an Indian name). On it was a note, which was a message written to her asking to pass the booklet to me, his name was at the bottom of the note. I fell into a daze as I saw the cover page and flipped the booklet open. I woke after that. That evening, I wrote a message, which might not mean anything to the recipient, but it helped me let go.

On Friday, I went to Pizza Hut with the peeps from N4. On the way back, I 'saw' the girl who passed me the booklet in the dream I had on Wednesday. She asked for directions to the school, and ran off. So, in the dream, she passed me a booklet, while in person, she asked for directions. Weird.

In the evening, went to Kismis field for the ME fun day. The tug of war lasted 5 seconds, with us petite friends, losing to a bunch of muscular students. It wasn't demoralising at all, in fact, our bonds got stronger. Then came the relay. It was funny to meet the same opponents, but it was funnier to see how we reacted to one another's ways of completing his leg of the relay. Rushed off to meet Zheng Yan and Zihao for the barbeque at Toa Payoh.

We took 157, and arrived at 7. Someone said Ryan would be late, but she never mentioned which one. As a result, both were. Nearly the whole class was there that night, and it was a night worth remembering, although there was no stayover due to a low response. Went for supper at King Albert Park with Zheng Yan, Ryan Ng, Jing Hui, Chiahua and Gekshan. At 12.45am, Jing Hui and Ryan Ng accompanied back home for the night, after we saw Chiahua, Gekshan and Zhengyan off halfway during the journey.

In the morning, they left, and I headed off for Lakeside at 10.15am. I reached at 10.35, and met up with Zhong Rong and Zijie(Yes! I finally met him in person!). Zhong Rong gave mr Liew a call, which gave us the reassurance that we could crash the secondary 1 CCA Open House without any complications. Went on a tour, and noticed the changes in the school(not physical changes though). At 12, went to Jurong Point for lunch with Andy, Zhong Rong, Zijie and the juniors. Had a nice time getting to know them a little over lunch. 1pm, we went to take a group photo. Before that, a few more joined in. A strong sense of Deja Vu. Many thoughts ran through my mind at the time, and that, prompted me to tell someone something later that day. Whatever the dream was, don't think it would be appropriate to describe it here nor what I felt due to sensitive issues(leave me a message if you are serious about it).

Took the train home after taking the bus back. Finally, I could catch up on my sleep. That night, was probably the best night I had that week. Regrets that I had back in old school that I kept close to me, I finally let go that dreamless night.

Sunday, I had my first driving experience on the expressway. It was no different than driving on the road, except that with low mental stamina, I found it hard to concentrate, to maintain the vehicle's course within the lane, for it was always moving toward the right. Even as I kept to a speed of 60km/h which made things easy for me, I found myself starting to become mentally tired 15 minutes into the drive on the way home. It's better to be physically tired, than mentally tired, for the consciousness of an average person is way stronger than the physical strength of the strongest person alive.

So many things happened in a week, I found myself 'travelling' to the past and back, through gatherings and re-visits. On Monday, I opened my eyes to a whole new future. I am starting to let go of the past regrets which have, and will continue to prevent me from doing some things in the future. Only by letting go, would one find more roads to choose from. Looking forward with no regrets, is better than looking back and wondering if the choice made was the right one.

And A New Decade Begins

Leagues later, 2009 has become yet another completed chapter in the history book. 10.10pm on Friday, on 1st January 2010. A quick look back at 2009.

First 'adventurous' journey home from Merlion Park on 1st January 2009, on foot, which lasted 5 hours. First camp and sparring competition. My first overseas trip with the school. Started on my driving lessons in March. Formation of a new CCA. CCA orientation camp. Went on neighbourhood photo-taking tour in Bukit Panjang, Chua Chu Kang, Taman Jurong, Rivervale, Sengkang, Tampines, Kembangan, Siglap, Pasir Ris, Loyang and Changi. Downfall of a great friendship with friends whose faces I have never seen before. Got my third phone on Saturday,5 September. My second, and very likely, my last sparring competition. One star kayaking course at Pasir Ris Beach. First leadership camp in school. First Marathon, completed in 6 hours 50 minutes due to unexpected circumstances. Night cycling around the Eastern Park Connector Network on Sunday, 27th December.

2009 has been a year where countless lessons were learnt, and many fond memories forged. Met many great friends, learnt ways of finding out who was true, and who was not.

The past year was filled with more hardship and sorrow than happiness. Pressed badly for time due to many commitments and the lack of proper time management. Lost many things I held closely to compared to the bonds and memories I gained.

The last week of December 2009 has been a great one. Saturday,26th December, went to my Primary school teacher's home for a primary 5,6 class gathering after our last gathering 2 years ago. It was difficult indentifying some of us, as everyone of us had changed. Spent a day gaming, taking photographs and having dinner and supper together.

A day later, went out for night cycling and photograph taking tour of sights seen along the Eastern Park Connector Network with three friends(after the first attempt in September failed due to torrential rain and time constraints). With that, I have become more aquianted with the Eastern part of the country, though some areas are not the safest places to be after midnight. Monday, reached home, packed, headed back to school for a last minute meeting.

Tuesday, had my driving instructor on his last day at the school. Wednesday, rushed to complete part of a project in school before going to the bus stop to meet some friends, beore heading off to Toa Payoh. That day, was the first time we had more than 10 volunteers helping out, delivering food to the senior citizens in the town. The night before, I had a dream of myself with a friend, helping two girls in finding their direction. It did not dawn upon me unil later that afternoon at 4.45pm, that I would be meeting them, though their looks were slightly different from the images I 'saw' in the dream the previous night. Met 2 new friends, and a former room mate at the previous camp. we completed our area in 45 minutes, before heading off to the HDB hub for dinner.

Thursday, went for my last driving lesson before the new year. Did not have much major problems, except for the minor mistakes that I never found out. In the evening, went for a 9 kilometre run that lasted 55 minutes, before watching a disappointing countdown party on television, and keeping watch of a blue moon from 1 till 4am.

Today, rushed part of my project, before continuing to Orchard Cineleisure with family to catch Avatar 3D at 1.50pm. It was a great movie, currently the best movie I have ever caught at a cinema. The graphics, cinematics and plots were espeially stunning. I had two dreams of the plot over a span of three days, which kind of gave me a short preview of the movie. Went shopping, before heading over to Jurong East for dinner after going home.

2010 began with a bang like the previous years, however, I have a gut feeling, that this year, things would be unimaginably great. Miracles would unfold. I don't know how, but I just know it, that 2010 would be a year that is filled with more pleasant memories compared to previous years.

2010, I see you. Top 3 resoultions(I'm still thinking of more to fill in). Finding you, because I just haven't met you yet. Finding my first GPA of 4.0. A chance to travel to places I have never been to.

CampTCP5 '09-Day 3(The Moment I Confessed To The World)

"Attended a camp with a friend, at a school on a Friday. Booked in at 4pm, had activities till late, and we had the best night walk ever. Pitch black environment, used torches(those used in medival times) as torchlights and the monsters and ghosts, were real. We even entered the bridge of a space ship!

The next morning had some games, before we had the prize pesentation. For some reason, the both of us were down to help with the area cleaning, and when we got back, we were dismissed.Here's the weird part. A girl and her father, came to us, asking for a friendly match. Alright. This match is something that would never happen in real life. Seen the anime Avatar? That's what happened. They controlled water, we controlled fire. Behind them, was a boy who could control air. We sneaked up to him, told him our plan, and we got down to it.

However, we were never successful. Until when we finally managed to carry out our plan, the girl suddenly ran to the washroom, and came out soon after, only to throw out. Someone threw a roll of toilet paper out as well, and out came the cleaner, angry about the mess she made.

We just let her let lose her anger and she walked away. I went over to her with her father. He asked if she was fine before bringing her home. He thanked us for the time and took her home.My friend and I stayed there for awhile to help with the cleaning, before going off. We went to the bus interchange together, before going our seperate ways. Went to wait for the bus, before, I met her again. Asked where her father was, she only said he had to rush back to work after something cropped up. Offered to accompany her home, and the dream ended when we boarded an SBS bus.

Here's the weird stuff. A camp at a school? A super realistic night walk that was out-of-this-world. A girl who I had seen in 4 dreams, including this one. The first sighting was in March this year. A bus insterchange that was fully air-conditioned.

Some traits. 160 to 165 in height, sky blue tee with some sliver lines and white shorts, shoulder-length hair tied up with a black band and, neither too thin nor plump. This might freak some out. Aged between 14 to 16(though I think it's more likely to be between 15 to 16).Weird eh?

Discussed this with Jon, and we both agreed it was weird with lots of weird stuff, though some parts might just become a reality. Honestly, I hope this dream doesn't come true in any possible way. As for that girl, I don't know if someone like that really exists in the real world, an even if someone really exists, I have nothing to say, other than, how was it even possible for me to dream of someone I have never met in real life? "

That night, the final conversation started with me poping the question,"I just remembered something. Have you guys ever dreamt of someone you have never met before in real life?"

Cardus said he did, and he had a nice experience in that one(for more, just ask him). "Well, I also did, and that dream was this camp itself! Almost everything came true." That got Dax and Gary excited. I wondered if Philip was still awake, as he was acting kind of drunk although he as damn sleepy at the time. I told them about the three scenes that happened earlier during the day, as well as the team mate I saw a total of 9 times in my dreams so far. They went on asking me if I could do an introduction the next day, before I gave in and turned in for the night.

I slept for 2 hours, before going back to pack my bags and prepared to head to Ourspace. Breakfast that morning was similar to the breakfast I had back in the Philippines, but I did not have the appetite to eat much. As expected, they called me over, and asked who she was(although they only knew her name). I told them, and was relieved they let it rest after that.

"The next morning had some games, before we had the prize pesentation."

Session 6. The Moat Game. The ultimate test of our teamwork. Apparently, in my dream, we finished it in under 15minutes. However, during the actual activity, we were at it for 185 minutes! Throughout, there was something that was missing in the game plan. Cooperation among the sections. Had a short lesson on that, before we went back to the same place we first gathered at, for lunch.

The closing ceremony was grand with all the good food at the buffet, though I liked the closing ceremony we had the night before we left the Philippines more. As expected, there was the prize presentation.

We had out final M&M session. Before that, I had wanted to use the same move I used 2 years ago during the Graduation Nite Dinner, which was to tell her in person just after everyone else had gone off. That day, I did not. That's when I disclosed the dream to them. Finally, I told them 2 things I had wanted to say the night before. The first, was a brief overview of the things I did and experienced during my 7-day trip to the Philippines. The next, was the dream, which I was hesistant to tell at first. "Seen the anime Avatar? That's what happened."

"Alright, this is going to sound very freaky, and some might get freaked out. Has anyone watched the TV programme Flashforward before? It's because I can, kind of see the future in my dreams. And there's one that came true. Ok, Since March till Friday night, I had 9 dreams of the same person. I'll tell you about the person later. The first two I saw were just shadows, but for the third, I dreamt of this camp. Almost everything in that dream came true, and on Friday when I joined the team, I was freaked out as well. I dreamt of me running from someone, the grid game, the campfire and the moat game. As for the person who I saw, is among us, is a girl, and she is..."

The girl who I had dreamt of for 9 times, was Belinda. I got the results I had anticipated. On the inside, I was cursing and swearing. 'Why? Why did I have to go around scaring people off like that? Yes, no doubt anyone would find it really cool and interesting, but, won't it cause unnecessary harm to some?'

At 4pm, Cardus, Gary, Dax, Jaemeng and I left for Ang Mo Kio Hub via SBS service 74. We went to buy tickets to My Girlfriend Is An Agent, before going to the arcade and went to meet Cardus' friends. Had western dinner, before going to watch the movie. At 10, we went to the Air conditioned bus interchange to help Cardus purchase his bus concession, before we offered to accompany Jaemeng to her place, before we went to the bus stop, since it was along the way. After boarding the bus, we had a little talk about how they were going to give Jaemeng a surprise this evening at her home(wondering how it went), and discussed about the possible reasons about of all things, I 'saw' her more than 5 times.

There you have it. The third dream I had. On a side note, although most of the events in the dream revolved about the same person, in real life, the same events took place, except each time it was a different person. There were small portions which did not occur fully in real, but were linked to some of the events that took place. Thus, this dream, to date, has one of the highest accuracy rates I had so far, with roughly 90% of the events I dreamt about happening during the camp.

Today nothing much happened in school, and apart from that, I'm not really in the mood to study, and I'm too tired to type on. Got lots and lots of catching up to do tomorrow.

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines-Part 7

Today was relatively slacked, and it's the first and only day I will feel that way. Monday's the start of school, and tomorrow, I'll be on a 36-hour rampage without sleep, away from home. Ok, here's the last part of the trip, and it's the perfect timing to post something short, for I have to get some sleep to prepare for the very very long day ahead. The night before was the first time I stayed up all night without sleep in a foreign land.

Soon, it was time to leave. We said our last goodbye to the centre, and unwillingly boarded the vehicles that would take us back to the ferry terminal. Everyone took the ferry together to Cebu, where we parted with Mr Chan and Mr Saceda. Compared to leaving the children, that moment was the hardest moment during our trip. We had already felt like a family, and left almost as soon as we came. Hazel, one of our hosts during the trip, would accompany us to the airport, but she was taking the bus which carried our bags. I was touched by her generosity. Even if it were me, I would not want to travel eight hours back and forth from the centre to the airport and back, of course, unless I was the one driving the bus. As we drove off, I felt lighter. I had left another half of my heart back in Dumaguete. The journey home was quiet, and everyone, unlike the journey on the first day where everyone was active and alive. At the airport, we said a final goodbye to Hazel, before moving into the departure hall. There, we were greeted with another surprise. We had to pay 550 pesos per passenger as airport tax!

Sadly, we were not seated close to one another on the return flight, and thus, the flight back was slow and steady. I managed to catch some sleep on board the plane before we touched down on home ground. After clearing the immigration, I found myself adapting back to my old, fast-paced lifestyle.

Alright, please don't expect any new posts tomorrow or on Saturday, as there is the possibility I would be away from an internet source during that time. Sunday I'll be doing a small update, with a short post, but don't expect the photos to be up so soon as well(over a thousand to upload), as I'm still trying to figure whether to upload all, or just select a few. So long then. Next few updates on the trip would be photos taken during the trip.

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines-Part 6

Today marks the last day of the module 1TDPS, and I will have 1 less module to deal with this semester, meaning 1 day of holidays (might be able to clear my driving course on Tuesdays) after the June holidays. The presentation went very well, though therewere a couple of hiccups along the way, but not as bad as I have expected. That, was the first time I took part in a presentation that lasted for an hour, in formal attire. Ok, that adds on to the list of "firsts" which I told everyone in the room during the reflections section. Went for lunch, before going to West Mall with Joel and Joey by cab. Met Ronney, went to Subway, before I left in a hurry fr the drivng centre. Started the Basic Evaluation Test 5 minutes late, but I finished it in 5 minutes. Checked the test till there was 15minutes left and decided that I was getting bored looking through the same questions for over 20 times. Submitted, found out I had 91%, which meant a pass, and left for West Mall. This time, I went on foot. Call me crazy, but today's walk was nothing compared to the near 6-hour hike I had on 1st January. Met up with the same group at 5.30pm, and this time, Xing Dan and Tricia were with them. Went to slack till 6pm before heading home. Anyway, let's get on with the sixth day of the trip, which also meant the last day of service to the kids at Candau-ay Elementary School, and the closing of a new chapter.

We have come to the sixth day of the trip, and sadly, another new chapter in our lives was about to come to a close. That morning, myself, together with a few others, decided we would walk to the school. As usual, Joey led everyone in the warm up, and we played some games. We then went on with our reflection session with the students, before they were released for a break. I went with Ivan and Mierco to the roadside stall to pay for their food and drinks. I felt that, it was the least I could do before I bid them farewell. After returning to the classroom with them, John brought us guys to take a look at the progress of the dirty kitchen. It was nearly complete!

Finally, it was time to bid the children farewell. It was painful to even think of doing so at first, but nonetheless, we had to say goodbye sooner or later. I was reluctant to leave the school. I very much wanted to stay behind with them as well. However, we had other plans. We could not afford to waste anymore time. There were other children who needed our company, even if it was going to be just an hour or a day spent with them. I made a promise to Dellwen, Mierco and Ivan, that I would see them again in future, whether is it going to be soon or somewhere in the future.

Shortly after lunch, there was a change in leaders for the afternoon. Samuel was going to take charge of our brainstorming session with the staff and principal of Malaunay Elementary School. Once there, we went straight to the principal’s office, and we began with the meeting.

As there was still some time left before the closing ceremony after we returned, we decided to head back to the river for another small adventure, except that this time, we would head downstream. I learnt the songs we would be using for our closing ceremony as we went on, to make full use of the time and peace. We passed houses along the way, and we came across a retired teacher and his neighbours who were at the backyard of their homes. They were really hospitable people, and they never hesitated to welcome us! What I least expected was, the teacher actually apologized to us that he was not prepared to provide anything for us, which he would have done if he knew we were coming! When we were about to leave, he said that we were free to go as far as we wanted, and cautioned us to be careful, for the rocks there were hard and sharp, and the area was badly damaged by a recent flood. With that, he thanked us once again for visiting, wished us a pleasant journey, and hoped that we could return in future to Dumaguete. Unfortunately, we preceded only a little further, before a large obstacle blocked our path. Yet another part of the restraining wall of the river had collapsed, destroying our hopes of venturing further. We turned to look at the river, however, there were insufficient rocks for us to use as stepping stones. As we did not have enough time to go further, we started taking photographs, before heading back to the centre to make our final preparations for the closing ceremony.

That night, we had yet another different style of dinner. We were having a restaurant style dinner, and were served by waiters, though it was still a buffet dinner. That night, was the night of the nights I spent at Dumaguete. The team leaders and teachers gave their addresses, Mr Chan as well, and we also performed two songs for the educational representatives, as well as the teachers and principals from the two elementary schools which we visited during the course of our trip. Later that night, we went over to Mr Saceda’s residence once again, for a sing-along session. It was the longest and the best session we had.

Out of fear I might not be able to wake up the next morning, I decided to stay up the whole night. I went star gazing, spotting a shooting star. The stars in the night sky were something that could not be seen in Singapore. That was something I would miss once we left in the morning.

Tomrrow's post would cover our return journey back. Anyways, tomorrow is the first day of the holidays for me, and it happens that it's also the only day I would be bored. The only thing I want to do badly is wake at 5.50am, and go for a jog between 6.15 and 6.45, before continuing with games and stuff, napping from 3 to 7, before having lunch, and sleeping the night from 12.30am to 12pm the next day, just for tomorrow. Friday and Saturday would leave me awake for at least 36 hours, with 2 barbeques on 2 consecutive days. Sunday, I'll have to give my room a major facelift. The current situation is so bad that you might want to consider taking up life insurance bfore entering. Just joking. The room seems as though the place was the aftermath of a magitude 6 earthquake.

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines-Part 5

Today's a very special day. It marks one year after I first entered the school for my first lesson. The first lesson I had at 9am was Engineering Math, and we were doing some basic tutorials on functions, practically A Math stuff. Ever since I left MI, I wondered whether the choice of going to study in a polytechnic, where the style of learning and the environment were very different from what I had been going through for the past 10 years, was the right one to make. Before that, the past 4 years I had were eyeing that one spot in a junior college, until last year, that one month of experience totally forced me to make serious reconsideration. If I was operating at 80% capacity in a centralised institute and yet score single digits for every test in the first month alone, I might not even stand a chance going beyond the first term in a junior college. Thus, I made the decision to go to a polytechnic. I had wanted to get into aerospace technology, but perhaps I was destined to take another route, one that had easier competition and more doors to many portals. In February 2008, I was posted to Mechanical Engineering. So, after all those months of work and slacking, I'm now here. Indeed, being posted to a course with a sky-high cut-off point was a blessing in disguise.

Anyways, on to the fifth day of the reflections. If not for the posting to my current course, I might not be here today posting stuff about a joint community trip to a foreign land. So, off we go, with the fifth day.

It was the fifth day, and also the highlight of the trip. In the morning, we met up with our students before having Joey leading the warm up, playing games such as before we settled at a corner to ask our students about their ambitions. Ivan wanted to be a nurse like his mother, so that in future, he could use the money he earns to build a house for her. Dellwen wanted to be a chef to cook delicious food for his family in future and others. Mierco wanted to become a scientist who would come up with new ingredients and food to contribute to the community. I was taken aback by their dreams, for although they still young children, they had already have made rough plans for what they wanted to do in the future! I remember that even at that young age, all that I ever wanted to do, was to study hard and clear my PSLE so that I could get into a good secondary school. Dreams could come later on in life. In addition, the students all wanted to take their education to a higher level, to go on to study at a high school before going on to a college or university in future. The children were also given the assignment of letter writing. They would reply to the letters written to them by friends from NJC. As they were not veterans with their usage of grammar and vocabulary, we stood by them, providing them with assistance in correcting their mistakes. Although the letters they wrote were simple as compared to the letters written by an average 10 year-old child in Singapore, these children wrote their letters with great sincerity and effort, and that was what made their work stand out.

We returned to the centre for lunch, and started off on our rehearsals for the Cultural Night performance. It started out badly at first, for most of us had forgotten some lyrics to some songs. The Cultural Night committee went straight into an urgent meeting to find a solution for the problem at hand. We decided to not sing for two song items, but we would go on to perform all the songs with actions. We noticed some of the children from Candau-ay Elementary School who had come down five hours ahead of the Cultural Night to watch our rehearsals and attend the concert later in the evening. Although we wanted very much to spend time with them, we had a goal, to put on a good performance for our hosts at Saceda Youth Lead, representatives, principals and teachers from the schools around Dumaguete and not to forget, the children we made friends with.

Soon, it was dinner, and an hour later at 8pm, it was time for the Cultural Night. We were greeted with another pleasant surprise when we were told that a traditional percussionist band was there that evening to not only watch our performance, but perform for us as well! The opening ceremony of the Cultural Night was very solemn, with the singing of national anthems, but once that was done, the mood changed in the blink of an eye. Everyone was in high spirits, ready to celebrate the time we had that night.

Our performance that evening went very well indeed. It was followed by a performance by a cultural percussionist band, and there was the finale, where we all danced to the music played by the band! The band’s music was something that I have never heard before, very original indeed. Their music gave me a feeling of peace in my mind and soul. I felt like I was floating in the air, relaxing, forgetting my worries. Moreover, the instruments they played were all hand crafted by them, from recycled materials. Remarkable. After the Cultural Night ended, some of us stayed behind to admire their instruments and their music, before they left on their journey to perform at another location.

That night, was also the only night where we had supper. We were given eggs to eat. However, the eggs were only the tip of the iceberg. There was something more to the eggs. Inside each egg, there was an embryo. Some had tiny bones and feathers, some had none. Yes, the egg yolk and egg white was still in the egg, so except for the embryo, the egg was still normal. That is the Balout. It was voted the Second Most Exotic Food in Asia by the National Geographic.

For consuming the Balout, we got a reward. It was a biscuit covered with bread crumbs, with a layer of cream sandwiched in between two pieces of biscuit. The cream tasted like vanilla ice cream, only better. Once again, the night ended with another debrief.

Tomorrow's the final day of our module, and after that, it's freedom for the next few days before school reopens again. There would be a group presentation in the morning, followed by lunch, and everyone would go for a movie after that. However, for me, I would be going to sit for an evaluation test for basic theory at the driving centre. Hopefully I would be able to pass it, book practice sessions every Wednesday for 11am slots and sit for the actual basic theory test on Thursday, 7Th May. Once done I would be taking lessons every Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 to 10.40am, before going to school for self study and lunch till 1pm. Hopefully, I would clear everything by July, latest August, so that I can break the time limitations of taking the public transport home before 12am in future.I just hope everything can go well without any errors tomorrow.

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines-Part 4

Well, before I begin, I just remembered a dream which I dreamt about around five years ago when I was 13. At that time, I still could not remember how many people I was travelling with, but we were travelling in a vehicle, something like a van, but it had horizontal windows running along its sides. The rear was exposed and there were no safeguards to prevent passengers from falling out. I was standing at the rear, after managing to run after it and jump on board. We were travelling through a mountainous region on a two-way passageway, with little traffic regulations in place. Come to think of it, that dream came through as well! Although I can't relate it to exactly any actual incidents we did over there, I am sure that we did visit the city in the dream on such a vehicle. If I'm not wrong, the vehicle is a jeepney.

Ok, here we go, for the fourth day. I can't really remember much about the exact order of activities that happened at the school, so I'll just post what I do remember up here. For days four to six, the reflections posted here were only briefly included in the report to suit the maximum number of pages allowed.

The fourth day was the first day of our three day visit to Candau-ay Elementary School. We took a 15 minute walk down to the school, which was a stone’s throw away from the centre. As there were no high rise buildings in the area, we felt the full effects of the blazing sun. There was also no wind to reduce the heat that we felt. We were greeted by many children who were waiting at the gates for us. Everyone settled down, and in our facilitator groups of 2 to 3, allocated 3 to 4 students to a group. My group consisted of 4 facilitators and three students. The facilitators were Yiting and Grace from NJC as well as Samuel and myself from NP. Samuel joined us on the second day when Grace fell ill. The students were Mierco, Dellwen and Ivan.

Soon after, Joey led everyone in the warm up, and we played games to break the ice. There was a short presentation by Violet, Xing Dan, Nisha and Li Chen on Singapore, Japan, India and China respectively. The presentation was aimed at getting the students to know more about their neighbour countries and the region. The children were very attentive and were very interested to know more about the world that they lived in. As there was much time left, we invited the children to take us on a short tour of the school compound. We played more games and found out more about them before going back to the centre for lunch. After lunch, we headed back to the school for more activities. We had a Spelling Bee contest, where the class was broken into four groups, and a representative was sent by each group during the group’s turn to spell a word. That was followed by an activity where students and facilitators each had a piece of paper on our backs, and others went around writing good comments on the pieces of paper. The purpose of the activity was to increase the self confidence of not only the children, but the self confidence of the facilitators as well. Following that, there was an origami session for the students. Gerald’s group came up with the idea of folding paper planes and having a flying competition, to compare whose paper plane could land the furthest. In the evening, everyone concluded the first day, and we returned to the centre.

While preparing for our dinner, we noticed a large fire at a farm near the centre, and as we heard dogs barking, we initially thought that it was an emergency, and went to inform Mr Saceda, who told us it was nothing to be alarmed about, as it was normal to see large fires in the evening. Although we ended up laughing at a false alarm set off by us, we were glad that we were alert and observant of our surroundings. We still had the “Kampong Spirit” that is slowly becoming extinct in Singapore.

We realized during our planning for the second day’s activities, that things did not go very well according to plan that day. There were too few activities to last at least two hours for each session, which had us thinking on our feet after completing the day’s activities before the day ended. For the next day, we planned to have only one session for our activities, so as to make time for our final rehearsal for the Cultural Night performance.

Later that evening after we were done with our planning for the lessons for the second day at the school, we went on with our second attempt for the camp fire. This time, we invited the farmer who started the fire we saw earlier to help us in the setting up of our campfire. As expected, he did not even use half of the bottle of kerosene to start the fire! When we started the fire, it was a burning success! We managed to keep it burning 10 minutes before our rehearsal, up till the end of it! It was a night filled with success. The final plans for the Cultural Night were confirmed and rehearsals got into full swing that evening. Due to time constraints, we decided to do away with the skit, and instead, perform 4 songs. We would also be putting up a short fashion show of the ethnic costumes of the Chinese, Malays as well as the Indians in Singapore. As for the finale item, we would be performing a dance item, choreographed by students from NJC. The rehearsals went well that evening, and we managed to get ourselves more familiarized with the songs and the order of items we would perform on the stage the following evening. I have never felt so great during our trip, where I experienced for the first time during the trip, that the NJC and NP teams had truly become one with one another during that night alone. Although we were all tired to the point of falling asleep, there was pure cooperation among the members, nothing like what we experienced back during our past meetings and briefings.

Last night watched the movie August Rush after finishing the previous post. it was a great movie, so great that although at first it seemed to be like a movie inspired from a true story, but as you approached the last scene where the chracter August Rush composed his piece, it seemed more of a fairytale. The music was not very original, and part of it was from a piece composed by a famous composer. After doing some reflections, the perspectives people see music can be observed from the movie, without a doubt. Not to spoil things too much for those who have not watched the movie, the movie is filled with coincidences,where one coincidence would lead to another, bringing the whole story to a short, but disappointing close. I prefer clear-cut endings compared to endings that end half-way, leaving the audience to ponder about what happened next. Two more days before we're done with the module. oh, and I guess I better get to sleep soon so that I can wake in time to go for my first ever morning run alone, at 6.45am, maybe earlier at 6.15am. It's part of my training to wake early for school, as lately I have been waking at around 10 to 11am, even with 3 alarm clocks working to wake me up.

Once it's Sunday, I'm going to spend time to update the music piece(might leave the current one there) as well as the links list.

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines-Part 3

Alright, here's the longest post. Day 3. The day that was filled with the most number of surprises, both good and bad. That day, left the greatest impact on us.

3. Day Three
On the third day, after breakfast, some of us went on a venture to the farm behind the centre. Although it was meant to be a visit to the farm, some of us decided to go further. We wanted an adventure. We walked up stream along the side of the river behind the farm. However, due to time constraints, we had to return to the centre shortly after reaching the side of the damaged dam. Later on upon returning to the centre, we were greeted with a surprise. We were going to the beach! We took about 20 minutes to travel there. On the way we passed the Airport which serves the domestic flights from Manila. The runway looked decent, but the fence was similar to that of a private house. How good it would be, if terrorists never existed, and Singapore’s Changi International Airport had fences like those? The waters at the beach were crystal clear, not the very salty, bitter water we have back at Sentosa’s beaches. One could wade more than 20 metres away from shore, but the waters were no higher than just above the waist. The houses there were mainly attap, with only one or two modern-looking bungalows lining the backdrop of the beach. When some of us went to wash up, the tap we used was something that was extinct in Singapore. We had to pump up water from a pipe into a pail!

In the afternoon after lunch, we met up with students from Candau-ay Elementary School, who brought us on a short tour around the village. Firstly, we visited a dumpsite serving the city. Once there, it was not the majestic hills of refuse that shocked me. It was the people who did. There were scavengers, young and old, scavenging for recyclable items among the hills of refuse! Some of the young were still children, and were students from Candau-ay Elementary School! It hit me that the families who were hit with poverty had a key to help them escape the poverty cycle. The key was their children. The community gave out scholarships to top students who deserved to carry on with their studies at high school or college. If the children were able to move on with the help of a scholarship, there would come a day when the child of an affected family helps the family to break free of the poverty cycle.

Next, we walked back to the centre, and along the way we explored an avenue, looking at the extent of the damage done to the area, caused by a very serious flood on 7th February. Once back, we decided to continue the adventure from where we left off earlier in the morning. This time, John, our teacher in-charge decided to come along with us. We went further up stream this time round, with the aid of our guide and young host, Elaine. Many of us discovered something about ourselves during the short expedition. We had the intention of reaching a waterfall, which Elaine said she knew of. However we had to turn back once again as we were running out of time to go any further. During the journey, we met with many dangers. However, with us working closely as a team, we overcame every obstacle and everyone returned safely. Along the way, we observed the immense damage caused by the flood on 7th February. It was shocking to see the amount of damage caused. Even the rock wall which protected the village from flooding was badly damaged.

Dinner that evening was very special. We were going to have dinner under the stars! On a side note, almost all of our dinners at the centre was candle-lit, including the dinner we had that night. The guys also had a pleasant surprise, when we were given a bottle of local beer to drink. It tasted very different from the local brands we have back here, and it was better, in fact, although the alcohol content was similar.

That night after dinner, Mr Saceda invited us over to his residence for a sing-along session. He taught us two songs, Seasons of Love, and If We Hold On. Those songs showed me the spirit of the people of Dumaguete City, nicknamed The City of Gentle People. Although it was just the second day of the trip, we were already feeling the warmth of the people there.

Upon returning to the centre, we had our preparation for the first of three days of lessons for the students of Candau-ay Elementary School. That evening, we also managed to clear the grey areas in our purposes for the trip. After we were done with the planning of lessons, some of us decided to integrate a small campfire with our rehearsal for the Cultural Night which was to be held on Tuesday evening. We managed to set everything up quickly, but there was only one problem. We were unable to get the fire started! I even used a can of deodorant spray in hopes of increasing the intensity of the fire, but that failed as well. Mr Chan was surprised that, with us using the whole bottle of kerosene to fuel the fire, we were still unable to get it started. A bottle of kerosene was enough to start two to three fires larger than the one we were having that evening. Although we failed miserably, we decided to try again the next evening. I felt that, although it was a failure, it was good that we admitted our failure to the group, and decided to not give in and try to have the campfire again the next evening when we were having our rehearsal again. The night ended with our very first debrief session in the trip.

Today, I had a great dream. We were back at the centre on a follow-up trip, and this time, there were 2 other schools with us! So that makes 4 schools in all. We were all missed by the people there, and they were so glad to see us all back as well! The centre had been through an upgrade, and it now has 2 storeys! Facilities were better, and it sure looked like a small school with modern facilities! Sadly, for today, I had not started on the research for my part of the presentation, but I'll be doing it as soon as I post this up.
Anyways, the next few posts from tomorrow would be a little short, for I had forgotten the flow of activities we had planned in advance. Hopefully I might be able to recall as I go through the day's events one by one.
Three more days to the end of my first module in the first semester of my second year!

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines Part 2

Today's going to be on the second day itself. Anyways, have decided to just do one posting for each day, so as not to bore people who dislike reading stuff more than 8,000 words long in one shot. So, there you have it, the second day of the trip:

2. Day Two
Early in the morning the next day, I felt surprised that, although it was only 5.45, the sun was already out! I soon figured that though Singapore and the Philippines share the same time zone, the time which the sun rises and sets are different! The sun rises early, and sets early in the Philippines.
After breakfast, we visited Malaunay Elementary School. We were presented with a warm welcome ceremony shortly after arrival. After Joey led everyone in the warm up, the group of 80 children was broken down into eight groups of 10, each group accompanied by two facilitators from the team. Soon, we were underway with our games planned for the children.

We were led to a classroom for lunch before we carried on interacting with the children through singing and dancing with them, talking to them and playing games like volleyball and soccer. The day at the school ended in torrential rain, and we had to return to the centre to prepare for the next activity in line for us that day.

During the facilitation of the station for Scissors Paper Stone, one of the four game stations, I realized that although the children wanted to have fun, they were rough as well. It was the same for the Captain’s Ball station. Although it made us facilitators and station masters worry for the safety of the children, the children took things in their stride. Even when a child fell and hurt himself during the game, he just took it lightly, and went on with the game. Back home in Singapore, one would expect the child to break down in tears upon falling, whether or not he was injured. During the lunch break, while some of us stayed behind for a game of Captain’s Ball, the children joined in as well! We also had a hard time keeping up with their pace when we ran with them. It wasn’t very surprising to see them being very physically fit as well, for there were numerous steep slopes that led up to the school. That’s nothing to the people who live on the hill, the students and teachers who go to school on foot daily. Wow.
What touched most of us, was when the buses we were on left the school, there were children running after our buses, as though they wanted to continue the day of fun with us and did not want us to leave so soon. It was a painful, yet memorable experience.

At 4pm that afternoon, we visited the urban city area of Dumaguete City. The pace of life there is very fast, with much life and vibrancy, compared to the neighbourhood where the centre was located, where things were very laid back, and where there was lots of peace and quiet. For a short moment, it felt as though I was at Singapore’s Orchard Road. We went shopping and exploring the area for about an hour. It was 6pm when we had our dinner at a Chinese fast food restaurant. Although the food did not taste like the original from Singapore, I felt back at home just by looking at the menu.


Anyway, today was a rather short day. Had the best sleep since the second night spent at the centre. No dreams, which were a good thing, but at the same time, ito me, it's a signal that something bad might happen the next day. Today, woke up after 11 hours of sleeping at 1pm. Went for brunch, and stared at the computer screen for practically the rest of the day. A day of relaxation after finishing the first part of the module the night before at 11.28pm, approximately 31 minutes before the deadline. Hopefully I would not annoy anyone when I say that, I completed everything without final checks at 3pm, at the new cineplex near Bugis with Joel and Gerald. We had wanted to go to the National Library, firstly to experience the G force of the lifts followed by intensive study. The moment we entered, the female guard asked us why were we at the library. Ironic, for people obviously went to the library for educational purposes. The library's closed on public holidays. So, I'm back to enjoying a day of holiday with nothing in mind, only pure relaxation. Did nothing, except doing random stuff and gaming. Of course, I got bored halfway. Great thing it's almost a new day, and it will soon be time to restart my engines after letting them run for 40 hours since Thursday morning without rest. Tomorrow, it's going to be more research and compilation, though not as intense as what was done over the past week. So, that would mean more opportunities to make detours while heading to the destination in mind.
I'm so looking forward to the next day, for without much to do, I'm as good as an aimless wonderer.

NJC-NP Joint Comminuty Service Project to Dumaguete City, Philippines Part 1

It's the longest report I had ever written. In 5 days, I wrote 35 pages, an estimated 12,000 words and inclusive of 2 days of research and reflection. Oh yes. This is not the actual report that I submitted to the school as part of a module. Some parts have been removed due to content sensitivity and confidelity. However, some parts have been added as well. On the final post, I'll post up all the posts as one single post. Anyways, here goes the first segment:

1. Day One
On the first day, we gathered at Terminal Two of Changi International Airport, before checking in our bags, clearing the immigration and finally, boarding the plane that would take us on the first step of our trip. On board the plane during the three-hour flight, everyone was enjoying ourselves and taking time off to get to know one another better and break the ice.

We landed safely at Cebu’s Mactan International Airport after the three hour flight. We took three buses, each looking like vans, to transport our bags and us to the SYL centre. The students and teachers from NP and NJC took two buses, while our bags took the third. Once ready, we embarked on a bumpy, four-hour bus ride to the ferry terminal, while enjoying the sights along the way.

Compared to the orderly traffic and inconsiderate drivers we have back here in Singapore, traffic rules at Cebu are nearly non-existant. Traffic is unregulated and not all traffic lights are in operation at many road junctions. If the drivers back home in Singapore are known to be inconsiderate, how would fellow Singaporeans rate the drivers we met over at Cebu? The long, exhilarating ride was tough, but was an eye opener to many of us that afternoon. Although it might have caused some of us to feel frightened when the bus we were on seemed to be on a collision course with another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction while overtaking a slower vehicle on a narrow road, it felt as though I was inside a video game. There were many near-misses with other vehicles and to add to the excitement, we were travelling at high speed!
We arrived at the ferry terminal shortly before 6pm, and the sun was setting! At 6pm, we boarded the ferry bound for Dumaguete City. The sun was setting as we sailed toward the Island, and it was definitely a sight not commonly seen back in Singapore.Upon arrival at the ferry terminal, our journey had not ended. Some of us were directed to a jeepney, a public bus, to a bus as well as the car of Mr Saceda. It was pitch black when we travelled the final kilometer to the centre, though it was not yet 8pm in the evening. When we finally arrived, we were warmly welcomed by a banner. I felt at home once again.

Well, that's all for tonight, the second day will be up tomorrow!