This term has passed so fast - it's just three weeks to term break now. I've been rushing my projects and assignments the past few weeks. Recently I'd also found time to attend Karen's and Kai Xin's harmonica band concert and Elijah's play.

The first week of school was comparatively less hectic than I'd expected, although the new timetable is making everyone bleary-eyed. Having four days of 8am classes and one at 10am can be a killer. Especially when the projects start tumbling in or when I live on the other side of the island. I end in the evening on most days too, so I'll just have to jostle with the peak hour crowd on the trains.

On the bright side, my new modules are generally interesting. I found PPS (Philosophy, Psychology and Society) and SD (Scriptwriting for Drama & Sitcom) particularly interesting. I know I've said I might be better in journalism, but I'm having second thoughts now. My journalism module's pretty dry. Hopefully, it'll only get better from here. Anyway, PPS is fun. I'm not sure how usual philosophy lecturers look like, but I certainly did not expect such a cheery, young twenty-something lecturer like ours. Everyone was surprised.

For our first Philosophy lesson, we had to draw out our life's philosophy with a caption under it. I wasn't sure what I ought to draw in those few minutes given. My finished product was a rough drawing of Winnie the Pooh, accompanied by a large pot of 'hunny'. 

Honey is sweet. It's tasty. It's also Pooh's favourite snack. But it could suffocate flies. When you leave honey out, flies might land on it and get stuck in the agonisingly sweet honey. It's quicksand to them. There's also an episode of Winnie the Pooh, when his head gets stuck in a pot of honey. He got too greedy. Since we had to explain our 'philosophies' in front of the class, I just came up with quite a lame reasoning. Something along the line of "life is deceptively sweet and we get stuck by our own doing sometimes due to greed". I think it was something about 'balance'. To be honest, I doubt my explanation was good enough. 

Anyway, we dealt with the question of reality for the rest of the lesson. Do we really exist? Have we been dreaming all along and there's an alternate reality which we don't know about? There was also the 'brains in vats' theory which I find slightly disturbing. I agree with Plato's Allegory of the Cave though. That we are all prisoners and what we know of the world are just 'shadows' based on our sense. It's a pretty abstract video but the link above supplies an accurate explanation of the allegory. What we perceive as reality are just our senses - what we see, hear, feel, smell and say. Whereas the 'real world' is made up of our different ideas.

Mark gave the example of the cat. He asked us to draw a cat in 30 seconds and all our drawings were different. Some were fat, some had stripes, some were anorexic, some had no whiskers. But they were all cats based on what we seen, heard or know of cats in general. It doesn't make any of our cats fake - they are cats even if they look nothing like each other. Our drawings are like the shadows the prisoners saw, and the 'real cat' is something we cannot see as our sense are bombarded by our experiences with cats.

It's a pretty abstract idea, isn't it? 

Yesterday didn't start off very well. I came to know about certain unhappiness between a few of my classmates but could not do anything since I gave my word that I wouldn't interfere. I wish I didn't do that since said person wouldn't learn his/her mistakes. Why does everyone keep spoon-feeding him/her? 

But I'm not in the position to say anything since I made a big blunder afterwards. I was supposed to meet my classmates and take the shuttle bus together to the chalet since Matin had already checked in. Unfortunately, a few were late and the bus was too small to contain all of us. Coupled with the fact that some were complaining about how hot it was, we decided not to walk but to take a bus to Downtown East and then walk from there. 

I was so sure that we had to take bus 403 from the interchange. We ended up going all the way to Pasir Ris Park, which was in the opposite direction, and then making a loop which brought us back to the interchange once more. I felt really bad. Pascal later remarked that I shouldn't ever be a tour guide. I agree. 

Last Friday was my second time to Nex, the gigantic shopping mall in Serangoon. I met up with Stefanie, Avelin, CX, Ziwei and Joey for lunch there. I got lost as usual, but I found my way eventually. It took another forty minutes to decide on where we should eat. I was starving by then. Our group eventually chose Swensen's. 

I've finally started editing on the photos I took during my trip to South Korea two years ago. Yes, I didn't type anything wrong. It has indeed been two years and I have not bothered to touch them ever since I dumped them all into my computer files - till now. 

I don't edit my photos usually but I had the intention to do so for my South Korea trip since the photos taken were mostly too dark due to the poor lighting (it was winter). Since I edited about ten out of the hundreds I took, I think it'd take another two years for me to finish editing all of them. Well, I might be able to finish all by the end of the holidays since I'm only editing the lighting. I'm a lazy person. I admire those who can go through hundreds of photos and edit their faces and bodies one by one. I've only tried to edit my face and Mummy's wrinkles once. The result was quite strange unfortunately. 

Anyway, since I've edited a few photos, I decided to upload one (or two) onto my tumblr page. It's not as populated with Kpop posts now, so don't worry about getting bombarded by Super Junior posts! This is the first time I'm uploading a photo onto Tumblr actually. I usually just reblog images, GIFs or put up quotes. It's quite ridiculous that I'm only uploading a photo onto the site when I've been having it for about a year now, isn't it? It's also a little strange uploading the photos since they were taken in winter, during the Christmas period. Maybe I should keep them and post them here when Christmas comes! I'll have months to finish editing them then!

Moving on, I'm officially free from school now! My last CA10 of my first academic year was completed yesterday. I'll have more time to blog now. The only thing left to do is to wait for my results and maybe get a job during the holidays. I hope I'll be able to pass French - I didn't do well for the last exam. Oh well. 

By the way, I never knew there was a lighthouse at Fort Canning Park! I was there during my VPPP CA10 filming and saw this! 

Does this mean the sea used to be at Fort Canning area? 

Disclaimer: 
This post was written on New Year's day but it wasn't published. Till now, that is.

2011 has been quite a year for me. I was initially hesitant about going to a polytechnic. I must admit that I had some preconceived notions about polytechnics based on what my teachers and seniors told me. But I don't reget going to SP.

I really ought to be starting on my other projects and scripts now, but I'm so mentally drained after a whole week of editing concepts, presentations, writing and brainstorming for new ideas. I can't bring myself to start on my CA10s yet. Well, at least not tonight. 

There are quite a few unpublished posts in my Blogger account right now. I just never found the time to complete those posts. One of them is my 2011 summary post. I usually sum up a whole year's events and thoughts in one post during New Year but I failed to do that for 2011. Another that I promised but failed to post would be the LEAP camp post. 

Well, I've finally completed and published the post about LEAP camp. I doubt anyone would read the whole post since it's very long. I could not think of any other way to post about it though. Read the post below! 

Next update would include 2011's summary post!

Since it's been ages since I last posted, it's going to be quite a long post. You've been warned!

We had to attend a workshop and briefing for the two days before LEAP camp. Monday (which was the first day) went well. We chugged through all the seven habits that the camp was based on. It was nice to meet four of my classmates after such a long break - Zhao-yi, Shaw, Matin and Wai Meng. And although I sat with my classmates during the workshop, I befriended the people from the neighbouring table. In fact, I got to know Serene, Gui Yu, Clare, Mark, Hui Juan and Benjamin by the end of the first day.

The second day was much shorter. I was expecting it to be as long as the first but we got to go home by noon. We played a few ice-breakers before having the brief about the camp. There was also a revised packing list given to us. Thank goodness I'd only packed my sleeping bag in, so it didn't make much of a difference to me. They then divided us into our camp groups.

Joey, Stefanie, Shaw and I were talking about which animal each of us bear a resemblance to this evening. It was mostly thanks to Abdul Matin who is still continuing with his cow jokes actually. Funnily, the animal they said I was like was a polar bear. I've gotten comments that I look like a hamster, a guinea pig, a bunny and even a cow (no thanks to Matin), but never a polar bear. I mean, polar bears are one of my favourite animals so I don't mind it at all. But it was quite a surprise to me all the same. 

Stefanie went on to remark that I'm like a polar bear because of the wintry feel I give off. Shaw and Joey also agreed that I am quite a cold person at times. I never really thought that I appear to have a cold aura around me. To be honest, many have said that I'm a distant person despite my friendly exterior. I wonder if it means that I'm intimidating. 

It feels as if the holidays are already here. Since I don't have MST (Mid-Semester Test), the only projects I'm working on right now are my CA2s which are due in January. I'm quite nervous and apprehensive about the pitching process and the story synopses we have to make. Hope all my stories won't get shot down!

I've also sat for my French exam. To be honest, I didn't study a lot for it. I only revised a few days before and I'm lucky that the exam wasn't too tough. Pascal told Ziwei, Joey and me to write "omelette du fromage" if we got stuck. It means cheese omelette, if I'm not wrong. I'm not sure if I'll do well, but I'll pass. I got 87 for the previous exam, so hopefully, the results for this exam wouldn't pull it down too much!

Friday was also the opening of the Singaporean branch of Lush at Wisma Atria. Ziwei, Stefanie and me went to visit Shahidah who's working there. The entire shop was packed with customers and slabs of soap were stacked everywhere. Each piece of soap is handmade and have unique names like 'Porridge', 'Karma', 'The Godmother', and even 'Dragon Egg'. I love 'Rock Star'. It's a pretty shade of pink and it smells so sweet! I'm returning to the shop once I find the time to buy it! 

Shahidah led us around the shop and told us about the different types of soaps and the stories attached to them. It's amazing how she could remember everything! There are about 200 products to memorise and she has already memorised a good part of nearly all of them! I never really thought about the amount of things a salesgirl has to learn and memorise in her training before this. Well, now I know. 

The next day was spent singing, eating and talking. After lunch at Pastamania, we went to Kbox. Joey, CX, Shaw, Stefanie and I spent the next few hours there singing as many songs as we could. Ziwei came only after three hours - we actually thought he wasn't coming at all. It was really fun singing nonsense and even though a lot of people cancelled on us, I think it was still a great outing. My voice kept trembling when I sang too, since it was freezing the room. It's pretty funny, now that I think about it. 

I later met Cong Han at Vivo for dinner. While waiting for him, I decided to visit Page One. It was my first time in the store and I didn't expect it to be so big! Their literature section has so many classics - I think it might be more than Kinokuniya's! I didn't buy any books though. I need to save money to buy Christmas presents soon. Oh well. 

We had a takeaway dinner at the open space at the top level of Vivo. I didn't even know there was such a place. Maybe it's because I usually keep to the first two levels. Plus, each time I go to the third level, it's to take the monorail to Sentosa. Oh, but it looks pretty at night with all the lights around. We even saw fireworks in the sky, thanks to a performance going on in Sentosa! Coupled with the Christmas carols playing in the background and the lighting, it's as if Christmas is already here! Seems like the cold weather also gives everyone the Christmas-y feeling, doesn't it? Just thinking about it makes me feel like doing some Christmas shopping soon...

I think I ought to post about the Writers' Festival before I forget. 

Stella and Ms Gamar managed to get tickets for us for three of the events held during the Singapore Writers' Festival. I chose to go for 'Balancing the Books: Creativity VS the Bottomline', a panel discussion about the compromise between writing and money. Two writers, Michael Chabon and Joe Haldeman, were present and answered many questions which were raised by the moderator and from the floor. I was amused by their frankness and witty remarks. The writers also made clear the difference between writing for money and writing for passion. I'm not sure if I'd ever be a novelist, but one thing's for sure: I do hope that my writing would bring me money in the future. 

I also bought a book 'The Catherine Lim Collection' that features at least four stories written by the Singaporean author. Because I got it from the festival, there was a discount and an autograph from Catherine Lim on one of the pages. This is the first time I'm getting a signed copy for a book! I've read the first story in the book so far ('The Serpent's Tooth') and it's pretty interesting. I never knew that the traditional Chinese way of treating backaches was to make the patient swallow (yes, swallow, not chew!) newborn mice wrapped in salted leaves. I'm not sure of the reason, but the mental image alone is pretty morbid to me! 

We later had lunch at Plaza Singapura when the panel discussion ended. It's seldom that we get to eat as a class. Well, it wasn't really a class actually, since all of us broke up into three groups to eat at McDonald's, Long John Silver's, and Yoshinoya respectively. But I got to eat with Yvette, Hazel, Cong Xu, Chuan Ying, Zhao-yi, Annzy and Zi Wei at Yoshinoya. It's rare to eat with them - except Zi Wei of course. In fact, I just ate dinner with Zi Wei at the Somerset branch of Yoshinoya just a few days before the panel discussion. The time after lunch was spent loitering - DTVM's best at that - or in Internet slang, 'trolling'. It'd be great to go out as a class again. Even if it was a fairly short 'outing' that was somewhat just an extension of going for the panel discussion at SMU on a Sunday. 

Other than the Writers' Festival, there really isn't much to post about. I highly doubt that anyone would be interested in the research papers and concept paper I have to do for my CAs. Oh but I hear that the first CA for my journalism module might be a debate! Sounds a little intimidating yet fun, doesn't it? 

Oh oh oh, and I just got a new dress and a pair of casual shoes over the weekend. It's a beautiful blue dress and I can't wait to wear it! It might be too formal for school but I think I'm going to wear it on my birthday nevertheless. I'm the birthday girl after all! As for the shoes, it's this pretty shade of pink that reminds me of cotton candy! I think Mummy has spent quite a lot on the dress and shoes but she said that they are my birthday gifts! 

To be honest, I usually feel excited for my birthday when I see Christmas decorations being raised in the shopping malls and streets. It's usually an indication that my birthday's coming near since the decorations are usually put up a month and a half before Christmas. Unfortunately, maybe it's because my CAs have taken up so much of my time, I've not gotten the chance to see much of this year's Christmas' decorations. Maybe I ought to make a trip to town soon! 

I've been terribly lazy lately. Well, I have been posting about stuff but I just didn't publish them on my blog because I preferred everything to be in chronological order. And the thing is that, my post about the LEAP camp is an awfully lengthy post on its own. I've not even ended it yet. That's the reason (or excuse, depending on how you see it) for the absence of any new posts or updates on this blog. 

Anyway, I've just decided that I shall post about post-camp events first, at least till I've completed my post about the camp. By then I'd be able to shock you all with one of my longest post ever about a camp. Well, not really the longest, since the one about my trip to South Korea was so long that it covered four posts. I think I'm just a pretty long-winded person. And since this blog kind of doubles up as my personal journal sometimes, albeit with all the bitching and ranting taken out, bear with me, if you can. 

To be honest, I didn't do much after I came back from the camp. I fell ill and spent a good part of the last week of the holidays just being home. I tried to watch more dramas to be able to write my reviews but it wasn't exactly good progress since I couldn't find a few episodes so I couldn't follow the plot properly. Then there were also my stories to tackle. I rewrote a paragraph or so but that's all I did in that week. I should really find time to write a new chapter at least. I'm such a procrastinator, aren't I? 

I also spend a lot of time sleeping. The cough syrup that I took had a drowsy side-effect on me. I vaguely recall dreaming of a few great stories while asleep. But the problem was, I couldn't remember anything when I woke up. Except the fact that it was a really good dream. How do people keep dream diaries? I seldom remember my dreams. Well, I only remember a few particularly vivid parts, or maybe a vague sense of what it was about. 

Anyway, my camp group (we named ourselves 'Shaka Laka Bung Bung', 'Bung Bung' for short) met up on the last Friday of the holidays. It was a little strange initially, seeing everyone out of their camp clothes and talking about things other than the camp activities. We went to town and I got to go to the new H&M outlet there. I must say, the baby clothes are pretty over there! It's as if those little tots you see on the streets have their own haute fashion cult too! 

I didn't get to stay with them to play pool at night, since I had to attend ACER's teambuilding session the morning after. I took the train home with Syafiq and it was nice talking to him - I didn't get to speak much to him during the camp. He told me about his course and if not for him, I wouldn't really know DADP is actually about. I was quite surprised that Syafiq enjoys writing stories too!

The next day was mostly spent in school, where I met the people in ACER for the first time. We played icebreaker games to lighten up the atmosphere. Michelle also told us about the objectives of ACER while the senior told us how to deal with the different types of students they encounter. I wonder if I'll ever be able to be as good as them. I sometimes clam up in front of unfamiliar people (just like how I did in camp). If only I could be myself with friends and strangers alike - just like Matin and Joey who can be so comfortable and affable with everyone. It's funny that I was able to do public speaking before, but when I need to talk to a small group of strangers, I freeze up unconsciously sometimes. 

Anyway, it was altogether a cheerful and fun session with the ACERs and although the seniors offered for us to join them for lunch, I decided to head home. My mum was cooking, after all. I chatted with Syuhaidah on the way back. It's nice getting to meet Syuhaidah again. She was in my group, Masquerade, for CASS FOC. We got to talking about our courses and school in general before our stop eventually came. 

After the weekend came the first week of the second semester, of course. It was exhausting having an 8am-6pm Monday for the first day right after the holidays. I got to learn about the technical stuff, like the camera and we even revised about the different types of shots. Unsurprisingly, I slowly dozed off when we came back to the lab after trying out the big camera outside. It was pretty bad of me since Mr Esman and Ms Gamar were trying to carry on with the lesson despite us being half-dead. We were barely surviving the seven-hour module. 

But otherwise I guess the rest of my modules are pretty much fine. After the first week, I pretty much got used to the timetable and the classes. I mean, I even enjoy VPPP (Video Productions, Principles and Practices; the seven-hour module) now. I still think handling the camera and directing talents could be scary sometimes, but it's really fun editing it and then seeing the fruits of your labour on screen. I'm hoping that I'd be able to do well for my modules though. This semester's modules seem so much tougher with a lot of research involved. There's also the conceptualizing, pitching and script-writing to worry about now. It's not just stories and articles anymore. 

I have one more CA10 left to go and I'll be free to enjoy my holidays. I'm kind of glad that I don't have to mug for exams like other students out there given the uniqueness of my course. There can't be exams about writing after all.

I'm sorry if I haven't been updating this blog for a while (if anyone actually comes here at all). The bulk of my CAs are done. I just have two more to tackle and hopefully, I'd be able to do well for all my modules. 

It was my turn for Show and Tell last week and I sang 'Somewhere over the Rainbow'. My voice isn't as strong before. Probably due to the lack of practice. I miss singing so, so much. Even more than that, I miss performing on a stage. There's nothing better than being able to perform to an audience, bringing an artform to live and showcasing a masterpiece. I miss that. 

It was a relief that my classmates didn't mind my singing. I'm not exactly a great pop singer. I seem to sing choral pieces more comfortably as compared to pop songs. Unless it's classical pop. Anyway, I'm glad that they were alright with what I sang. 

Moving on, Stella showed two parts of my favourite movie 'Spirited Away' during lesson last week! Too bad it was the English-dubbed version. The Japanese version with all the original seiyu was so much better! I ended up watching the movie the seventh time that night, since I realised I forgot parts of the movie while watching the two short segments in class. That's just how much I love the film.

I also found out how great anime OSTs can be, by the way. I'm using four anime tracks for my VC CA10. I know most are using pop songs but I find instrumentals easier to convey emotions. In fact, I was listening to Joe Hisaishi's compositions on loop while writing my CSM CA10 piece. It keeps me focused and more importantly, inspired. Hopefully, my story would be given a good grade. I wrote about self-esteem. Part of the story is true actually. It's up to those who have read it to guess which parts are true and which parts are not. 

I'm not too sure how I should end off since it's been such a long time since I last blogged. I just saw this quote on Twitter a few minutes ago though, and I thought it kind of relates to my story:

It's true. The most painful thing in life is that sometimes we lose sight of who we are because we value others' opinions way too much. We forget that we're special in our own ways too.

This year's National Day Parade was different from the previous ones. It was made into a five-act musical featuring the relationship between a mother and son whilst showing how the nation has progressed over the decades. There was also an acoustic version of the national anthem accompanied by the fireworks that were synchronized to the beat of the music. Nothing better than to stir up everyone's patriotism with colourful fireworks and awesome music. 

I haven't got much time to update for the past few days. I managed to leave my house keys at home last week. I was locked out for two and a half hours before my mum could rush back to open the door for me. It was a horrible time spent getting grilled by the sun - I'd much rather wait at the bus stop than to sit with my neighbour who is a lunatic. 

Oh, and our class went to Kinderland last Friday, to tell them two of the children stories our classmates wrote. My group's story about the traffic light's Red Man and Green Man was picked and it was interesting watching the reactions of the little kids around us while we told the story. There was also this girl, Natanya/Natania, who was not shy at all. She answered nearly all the questions asked by Ms Stella and hugged me when she heard that there would be a story about bears next week (she's scared of bears). The children were just all so cute!

There was also the series of projects given to us, all due at the end of the month. I'm worried if I'd be able to finish it on time and yet do a good job. I've been questioning my capabilities these days. 

Anyway,

My tutorial today was canceled as my lecturer had a family emergency to attend to. I hope my lecturer is alright. It seems pretty serious if she has to cancel a tutorial in the last minute. 

Unfortunately, I was tapping out of the ticketing barrier at Dover station when I received the text message that there would be no tutorial today. Since they were also already on their way to school, I waited for Matin and Zi Wei at the station. We wanted to meet Avelin, Joey and Wai Meng afterwards but they asked us to head over to Orchard Road first since they wanted to finish up their breakfast at Raffles Place. They ended up staying at Raffles Place till noon instead, while Matin, Zi Wei and me ended up loitering in Takashimaya. 

The three of us spent nearly two hours at the McDonalds' at Lucky Plaza. I've not been to town for ages actually. The last time I was in that same McDonalds', I was with Juniper, Yi Bin and Claudia. We were ordering the tops for the choir's performance at the Singapore Conference Hall. That was two years ago. I guess I didn't really go out that much when I was a Secondary school student, huh. 

We later went to the Kinokuniya branch at Takashimaya. I bought a novel and then dragged the guys over to the stationery section. They didn't seem fascinated by it though. On my way there, I found this handbook on Singlish and it was really interesting learning the different terms. I didn't know Singlish could be so complex or diversified! Anyway, we tried to search for Zi Wei's manga afterwards but either the shelf doesn't exist or the book is hidden in some obscure corner. I'm guessing it's the former. 

Lunch with mummy at Bugis Junction afterwards was nice. Mummy bought another two books for me at the Kinokuniya branch over there. They were not really pricey so she decided to buy it for me. I've got plenty of books to read now! I just need to find time to read them all.

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By the way, I just realised it's Racial Harmony Day today! Happy Racial Harmony Day, everyone! Maybe we could get everyone to dress up in ethnic costumes next year!

Why is everything placed on a Wednesday? This wouldn't be the first time I'd be skipping French lesson when I think I really ought not to. But the leadership training session seems important too. There is also the briefing for the leadership camp going on at the same time and I need to hand in my registration form for that too. I'm just glad that my dilemma isn't as complex as Wai Meng's, who has so many more events to go for tomorrow. 

Today's the first time I went back to school on a Sunday. It was all for my General Education project. I didn't even know we had a project till one of my Gen Ed classmate told me about it. Thank goodness my group finished it within three hours this afternoon - just a day before the presentation. 

It's also the second day I skipped lunch. I haven't been feeling well and I couldn't eat much before leaving for the SIWF yesterday. It was the same today too and I got really hungry once it's mid-afternoon. But there's no way I'd be losing weight any time soon. Mummy is shoving food to me just because I couldn't eat lunch on both days. I can see my weight fluctuating once more. 

One more thing:

IS THERE A WAY TO REMOVE A SPLINTER PAINLESSLY?

There's a splinter embedded in my palm. It got stuck when I carried the wooden paddles to the raft after the race yesterday. Help. 

Last Sunday was my last guitar lesson. I didn't say much to my teacher or to Eugenia and Tammy. I didn't know what to say. All I knew was that I felt really emotional, thinking of the past four and a half years with them.  While Mr Wong went to photocopy a Beatles' song, the two girls and I talked about how the first few years were. 

I remember Eugenia being the only girl coming to the first lesson in a skirt (not a wise choice). There was also Eugene who sat next to me for the first year before he quit altogether. He was the guy who nearly snapped his guitar strings while trying rasgueado and caused Kai Ming (who left the class in the first year too) to laugh so hard that he had to step outside just to cool down. There were also Jason, Owen and a few others whose name I've forgotten. That was the original class, before more students were added in to replace those who'd left. 

I managed to take a photo with Mr Wong and the two girls before I left - not for good, I hope. Maybe there'd be a day when I'd go back. I couldn't help but cry a little afterwards but it's time to move on, I guess. I've already made my decision and I mean to stick by it. 

That aside, lots of things have been happening and I've been kept so busy and tired with my projects and whatnot that I've not gotten much time to blog. There was the Singapore International Water Festival (SIWF) organised by SP at the Marina Barrage today. I was a last minute addition to the raft race team for CASS so I went to support them for the raft race. I still feel bad that I could not get on the raft. I mean, if I could have done the rowing, Matin would not have to rush from his photo shoot to get to the Marina Barrage in time for the race without his lunch. 

It's a mystery why I am such a bad swimmer - that is if I can count as swimmer. I've taken swimming lessons (no thanks to my secondary school), but my hand-leg coordination is horrible and the coach kind of gave up on me after several failed attempts to teach me the technique of treading water. Till today, I have no idea how one treads water. Which is really scary to me, since that is the basic survival skill when you get thrown into water. It's a miracle that I could kayak for three days during OBS. Well, not that much of a miracle actually, since I was coerced into kayaking. There wasn't a choice. My poor friends had to pull me by the life-vest each time we went into the sea. I really should learn how to swim, so that I never need to inconvenience anyone because of it again. 

Painting the raft aluminium turned out to be quite a good thing, since it was a really striking colour. It was easy to see which was our raft, even when Zhao Yi, Stefanie and Matin were out in the waters. It was pretty cute watching them paddle. Unfortunately, when they finally reached the jetty, there was some difficulty in getting the three of them and the raft out of the water. I freaked out initially because Matin looked like he was in agony from where I was standing - imagine Ms Josephine's and my shock when he dropped into the water instead of getting onto the platform. We ran down to the jetty immediately and the two of us were panicking (well Ms Josephine was pretty calm but her face looked really anxious). 

Once we got down to the jetty, the three of them were already out of the water. Turned out that Matin's foot was just caught in the ropes and he dived underneath to get it out, I think. At least it wasn't anything serious - although I really thought that he was in agony for a while. Zhao Yi and Stefanie managed to get out after being hauled up by one of the student helpers. The student helpers were a great help by the way - especially so when the raft was so heavy. 

The three of them later went to the water play area to cool off, with Afiq joining afterwards. I guess I spent the time watching little kids play with the fountains. There was this cute little toddler who rush back to hug his dad's leg each time he got scared of the fountain. I couldn't help but smile while watching him. I think I now can understand a little of how parents feel when they watch their children play or grow. The little boy was utterly adorable!

There wasn't much to do after the race. The team finished second from the back, which is good nevertheless. I mean, the raft wasn't built for speed so it wasn't that bad. Not to mention that the three looked like they had fun rowing today. It was a nice experience, I suppose. Maybe I should learn how to swim before trying for the raft race next year!