So how's your trip?

Hmm, let's see. Where shall I start. It was good.

I got many bruises on me though. One at the back of my leg cos of carrying the tables for the BBQ in Thailand, and another on my head - from laughing too much. DREAM07 really was a blast. From the school lessons - story-telling, games - to just hanging out with the kids, playing with them, running like mad with them on our backs and going on even though every part of us aches so bad. I really miss Ban Meata. Just the way we were there - so eager to serve, able to accept anything and everything, even the water that tasted weird, the food that contain love that the top restaurants cannot put in, washing the dishes and making a game out of it, waking up early in the morning to the roosters call, going back to sleep cos you're too tired. MANNN! I really miss it there.

My two little challenges were achieved too - cutting fruits with the staff and not crying on the last day.
I made a new friend Jib and she isn't a kid. I learnt many new Thai words. I saw Jelene coming out of her shell. I poked Sandy 41273468 times. I enjoyed the school lessons and playing with the kids. And it is really amazing just watching them grow and mature from 2 years back when we first when up there. Joe was that quiet guy who sat still on my lap on the journey to the waterfalls, while Jack was the agile one, standing up on Elizabeth's legs, doing stunts here and there. I still have the picture of me washing the socks with Jack. Now, he wants to do it himself - wash socks himself (and he does it so nicely, making sure the WHOLE surface area of the sock is covered by soap), carry a filled laundry basket that looks bigger than him himself. Joe is still that quiet boy who occasionally shows his mischievious grin and do something cheeky like tickle you and run away. Yet he still shows his love openly here and there.

Ploy went home. Still rather sad, but I shall pray. For her and her brother. Guard that seed O Lord.

It was the worse trip though, if you'd count the suaning. Ultimate. It used to be intensive Rae and Pam suaning, and now its my turn to have a taste of it. But, it's okay. I'm gracious. :)

I loved R&R too btw. Mountaintop Experience was like all years, good. I still can't control the tap for this one though. ALWAYS tearing even if I'm not the one sharing. Shopping was fun. Went on an ultimate high, disturbing and getting disturbed, just having genuine fun with people I love. Jelene really showed a totally different side of her. o.O She started suaning me too!

I'm making a promise now - I'll go over and serve for a month or 2 when poly ends. :) Cooking, cleaning, teaching, whatever.

Sometimes I really dread Singapore's lifestyle. In Thailand, I was physically tired from the running around. Here, I'm mentally and emotionally and physically tired - the whole rush of everything. It bites a rather huge chunk off your enthusiasm.

I won't post pictures yet cos I think we should all wait for the video - which Joram eagerly volunteers to do! Also cos I'm lazy. :)

LOVE you guys!

-thanks roomie for bringing soap powder even though I didn't use it. Thanks for turning of the lights every night. For once I got a lazy roomie - like me!
-thanks Ernest for being such a pain. I treasure our weird friendship that banks on dissing me. haha. Great job with the school lessons!
-thanks EQ for.... being EQ. haha. For reading Neil Gaiman too. Spoiler of the balloon market. haha
-thanks... erm everyone else. GOOD JOB! they won't see this anyway.


Did I mention that the trip was good?
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It's about another five hours till I leave Singapore and skip a whole week of school, for the kids and for God. It really hasn't sunk in yet, and honestly I don't feel prepared. Have been in a mad rush to complete assignments so that I can go on the trip without worrying. I can now, just that I have to hurl out a report in three days time when I return.

SHUT UP JANINE!

Yes, where were we? Ah. I'm really excited. Butterflies in the stomach, can't sleep, though I should be sleeping!

Dear LORD, give us that extra oomph! Use us as Your instruments to touch lives. Help us take that step out of our comfort zones. Most of all, let it be all You. God-relient. AMEN!

People, pray for us. Journey mercy, weather, safety, everything! I don't think I would like to experience and earthquake again! :x
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Peter and Isaac's restaurant is so cool. It was pretty fun seeing it for the first time with guests in there, cos we had to be sneaky so the guests won't see us. So you can imagine three girls being amused and giggly in Peter's house that transformed into a restaurant with super nice ambience. And there's Isaac in his suit to perform his flambe (is that how you spell it? - its the fire thing anyhow) Ah.. so nice. I can't wait till we do the restaurant thingy for missions fund. :)

(HI PETER IF YOU MANAGE TO FIND MY BLOG)

You know what. God performed a miracle again. (this is for people who didn't understand my previous post. it was quite ambiguous.) I can go on the mission trip without caring about school at all. Because of God's favour. Ms Chee has so nicely allowed me to take the skills test earlier, even though initially she replied my email with a cold "according to the student guide, absence without approval means failure". At first I thought I'd just give up the 15% already, and was prepared to, but God had other plans. :)

I'm a happy girl. I've done my interview with Botak Jones for Yummy Foody, half done both SMM journals and MCP proposal. Now, I'll just have to complete both journals and proposals and thailand, here I come!

BTW, Clement! DREAM07 is a mission trip my youth group is going on. :)

Anyway, Belle is mad and Christine is a pig.
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painful scary uncertain


trust is essential to maintain sanity

hope. key to carrying on.

//edited.

alalalala
life is wonderful.

DREAM07. im longing. if only it'd last forever.
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OHMYGOSHIMSOIRRITATED

Why do they open at 0830 and only loan out recorders at 1030? Why do they make us return recorders before the end of the day when our days end at 4 the earliest? Do they expect us to take cab? Do they think we are filthy rich kids? Do they expect us to fly? WHAT?!?

IMSOIRRITATED!

hai.
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I really have been dreaming a lot.

Yesterday's was the best so far. I dreamt my mummy gave birth to another girl. So I have another sister! I just felt so nice and warm in the dream, to have a little one to shower my love over, to watch her grow up and all. ah.....

I even went to the extent of thinking of her name if my dream really somehow materialises. It will be Ng Jinling Joy. HAHA. I'm mad, yes.

It's quite silly of me to consider this. oh well.

Anyway, just read an email regarding the upcoming movie The Golden Compass, based on the first book of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy - Northern Lights.
It basically says that the movie and books promote atheism and is out to challenge The Chronicles of Narnia. Go HERE and read if you want to know more.

I was rather disappointed because I was looking forward to watching the movie, and even wanted to read the book. But then again, I reckon that this is no reason to not watch the movie. I read a few of the book reviews and you come to realise that people who love the books are not into the book for its atheist ideology whatsoever (they probably don't even realise it), but other values like courage, love and the likes. Supposedly, the author's aim is to get kids interested in reading the trilogy after watching the movie; the second and third book are less subtle.

Ah well, let's see how the movie turns out.
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I've found Katie Gillespie on Facebook and I'm so happy! Lost pretty much all contact with her since she last moved and after I lost her email address a few years ago. Saw her sister Claire (who btw was my sister's best friend) when we were back in Australia the other time and was supposed to meet up with the whole family for dinner but she never got back to us.

She's a dancer. The sweetest kind of friend who'd write little notes for you now and then. I still have them. It used to be me, Anita, Katie and Emma. A pity that the drama that comes together with high school tore them apart. I'm quite glad, on hindsight, that I came back to Singapore for secondary education. Life would really be so much more complicated if I'd stayed there. Instead of having little spats and worrying about grades and all, I'll probably be going through the turmoil of going out, dressing pretty, donning makeup and all. I'll also be witnessing things like drug abuse, promiscuity and the likes. In high school. I'm serious.

But childhood there is nothing like Singapore's. If not because of the world renowned education system, then the amount of land - or lack thereof. I remember the excitement of completing our little fun homework - doing it as perfectly as possible for hope of the cool rub-and-smell stickers Mrs Zeller use to reward our notebooks with. (I still keep my exercise books just for the stickers. And maybe to remember Mrs Zeller.) We'd run outside - barefooted - with either our bikes or blades and head over next door to get Kumi and Selena, our Japanese fused with Aussie blood neighbours. Cycle all the way up to the top of the mini hill and take turns "flying" down and enjoying the breeze against our faces - always armed with that trusty helmet.

Then there's the field beside our houses with the two horses. We'd pry the red juicy berries from their thorny skin and feed the horses - this alone would take us a good half an hour, as we'd retreat our tiny hands too quickly, dropping the berries, for fear of losing our fingers.

And if the day's wet, Nintendo came into the picture. Both us and the Dobsons had a Nintendo set each, so we had four controllers in total, meaning no one would be left out. Mario Kart was perfected and we could easily beat boys, who are supposed to be inclined to such things. Their trampoline too was available to jump around on till our heads ache. Ahh, those were the days.

Sleepovers were a common event. PJs were coordinated, parents knew each other. It was all so nice. Mrs Gillespie's dinners were really good. Her lasagne is better than Pizzahut or Pastamania. In fact all her cookings have that homemade goodness. Her muffins were to die for. Katie would bring them to school and share them with all of us. Muffins that oooozed chocolate out. I could blog a whole post on sleepovers.

HAHA. I have digressed.

I want my kids to have this kind of childhood. Yet I want them to have Singapore's education. Yes, having my cake and eating it. I guess it is a give and take. You can't be smart and enjoy life. LOL (pinch of salt please)
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I've not felt so happy in a long time. :) We finally found somewhere to walk for fun. After the long tiring morning in church doing the recording, only to realise there is no way to digitise whatever we've filmed, we brainstormed for places to go for about half an hour. Somewhere during the half an hour I got dubbed Barbara. o.o

Anyway, we eventually found out where Arab Street was (kudos to Ernest and his efficiency) and decided to head over, and boy was it a fun day with new experiences. Haha. We had lunch at some Malay eating house which for some reason was selling Chinese zi cha and all seven of us - the present people and jeslin and jelene - shared crispy noodles and mui fan. Rather interesting meal. It was worth the money too! We all forked out about 2.5o each. Aunty Jessica/Jelene treated us drinks, which were so much more expensive - I'm such a miser.

Besides that, we walked a lot. Went to the few little eclectic shops that were open and marveled at the prettiness of both the shops' designs and the products. The interior design of the shops are sooooo detailed. And pretty. They're like doll houses if you took away all the clothes and put furniture. I felt kind of bad though, cos EQ was quite bored. Haha. We were saying how we could rent a shop house there in future and showcase our scrapbooks and all. LOL coolness.

I was looking for the movie/cafe place that I read about in lime or some other magazine a few months back, but sadly didn't find it. Now that I'm home, I've found it! - online. PitchBlack That's not their website, but an article written by someone else. Their website's not very informative. o.o We shall go there one day people! On a day when it is not a public holiday and shops will not be closed. There are many more shops to visit. :) So exciting. The cheese brownie looks good, and it's only 2.50! HAHA

Ah, any more public holidays coming up?
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Yet another excellent read turned motion picture.

I loved the book and am hoping that the movie does it justice, though from past experience, you sort of learn that that just doesn't work. Like the Nanny Diaries, or even Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I think the main reason is that with books and words the author presents to you, space is left for one's imagination to freely perceive the intricate visuals of the scene, and we all know that it takes a lot of skill to even attempt to match up to one's vivid imagination. Even then, the images formed in the minds of each individual after reading a novel can be very, very different.

Zoe! Go read the book. Cheng San library would have it, except I guess many more people would start borrowing it. Neil Gaiman is very interesting. I wonder how his mind works, really. The things he come up with in his books are mind boggling.

I never really read sci-fi much before Gaiman. I attempted reading another author once, but got lost in the first chapter. You know, those fancy shmancy big words they use. Gaiman doesn't do that to me.


And stop gossiping about me you two. I'm sorry zoe for being so incontactable. Haha. Blame it on my lazy bone. I doubt I'd be able to go out of Singapore with you guys, if we are. I'm financially VERY tight. Which is very sad. :(
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I'm missing JARLZ a lot. :(

School's rather interesting though. Thank God I'm okay with machines.

Okay I have nothing to blog about. :)

P.S. - Ronald's an octopus and Zoe's a pumpkin.
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