Comeback
Sunday, March 14, 2010 @ 10:09 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I have way too much to post about, but too little time to note every detail.
Directly after my last paper ended, we had a little break before setting off for our Learning Journey field trip to the Singapore Discovery Centre. I managed to play a bit of Foosball - wonder who made that orange newspaper ball.
After setting off for the place, I got a little groggy on the bus, but no, I did not puke. I think I'm getting better at controlling my headache and pains nowadays. Who knows, maybe I will not even have the problem of motion sickness in the future (is there a cure for it anyway?)
The trip was fairly interesting. They gave us a talk in an auditorium and showed us a video which revealed some gruesome acts committed during war. There was also another video showing a little of how NS life is like for the boys in their first three months. I have always been grateful that the boys are serving the nation through their national service but after watching the videos, I think my admiration just increased.
Right after the talk, they let us taste a bit of the standard Army rations and let us hold the two rifles placed on the table in front. I now know that holding a rifle is definitely no joke - not when it weighs a tiring five kilogrammes...just how do the guys carry it while they run in their trainings? Oh and I really like the biscuits and the rice dumpling!
We had lunch after that but I was really full from eating the biscuits. Somehow the biscuits were really filling. I shouldn't have eaten the biscuits though because I could have bought the pizza in the cafeteria. I remember buying the pizza from the cafeteria over there a few years back and it was delicious. Ah well. Angela didn't eat much too. I was trying to find a water cooler in that place, but to no avail,
Our SAFTI tour then started. Charmaine TTT helped me take a few photos from her side of the bus. While we were walking to the tower, I spotted this little scooter which had a basket in the front! And there was this rear mirror in the plastic cover of a 'Victory' sign hand. It was super cute! Rosi and I went back to take a picture with it afterwards.
Despite having gone to SDC thrice before, I have never gone up the tower - the previous three times always ended with heavy rain and the guide never let us out of the bus because of the bad weather, so I'd always settled for staring at the tower from a distance. Finally, I got to go up the tower and the view is magnificent, although the height is a little scary when you look down. I think my mum would be freaking out if she went up. When we went down, everyone in the lift greeted the two guys waiting outside with a "Good afternoon, sirs!"
I think they were really amused by us. We also took a class photo at the grassy slope at the bottom of the tower.
We then went to the Army museum. Where everyone took lots of photos. But because the guide moved too fast and didn't really give us much time to take them, I took more photos of people and plants than artifacts.
After the trip I fell asleep on the bus and woke up with an ache in my neck. Somehow I felt really tired.
Right after that day, we had our "I Am Gifted, and So Are You!" programme in school. It starts at 8am and ends at 9pm. When I first got to know the schedule, the first thing which entered my mind was: Wow, are we able to camp in school secretly instead so that we can get more sleep?
But yes, the programme was fun. There was a session whereby the trainers listed scenarios which made us question ourselves about how much have we done for our parents despite their unconditional love. Everyone cried really hard. I started crying way before that though. Somehow, when I watched the video of this guy who remained really positive despite having no legs, I couldn't stop my tears from flowing. The rest of the night was spent with our eyes red and tired from all the crying.
And thanks to Jolene's dad, I got to arrive home on both nights in less than an hour. Because she lives in Simei, her dad was really nice to let me take a lift from them. Thanks!
On the last day there was also the Parents' Seminar where most of our parents came and learnt a portion of what we did from the programme. I think I was the only one who didn't cry when I spoke in front of the whole crowd to my mum. Maybe it's because both of us are close, I guess. I thought I would've cried too, but somehow I managed not too. And I actually needed the toilet, but was afraid to leave the place because the atmosphere was really sombre. Ah well.
My guitar teacher just gave us the song Mary Had a Little Lamb and wants us to finish re-arranging the piece by the next lesson. But he spelt the title wrongly: Merry Had a Little Lamb. Well, Merry sure is a nice name anyway. I'm sure it is a cheerful name. Anyway, I really ought to start on the task!
Directly after my last paper ended, we had a little break before setting off for our Learning Journey field trip to the Singapore Discovery Centre. I managed to play a bit of Foosball - wonder who made that orange newspaper ball.
After setting off for the place, I got a little groggy on the bus, but no, I did not puke. I think I'm getting better at controlling my headache and pains nowadays. Who knows, maybe I will not even have the problem of motion sickness in the future (is there a cure for it anyway?)
The trip was fairly interesting. They gave us a talk in an auditorium and showed us a video which revealed some gruesome acts committed during war. There was also another video showing a little of how NS life is like for the boys in their first three months. I have always been grateful that the boys are serving the nation through their national service but after watching the videos, I think my admiration just increased.
Right after the talk, they let us taste a bit of the standard Army rations and let us hold the two rifles placed on the table in front. I now know that holding a rifle is definitely no joke - not when it weighs a tiring five kilogrammes...just how do the guys carry it while they run in their trainings? Oh and I really like the biscuits and the rice dumpling!
We had lunch after that but I was really full from eating the biscuits. Somehow the biscuits were really filling. I shouldn't have eaten the biscuits though because I could have bought the pizza in the cafeteria. I remember buying the pizza from the cafeteria over there a few years back and it was delicious. Ah well. Angela didn't eat much too. I was trying to find a water cooler in that place, but to no avail,
"Hey, have you seen any water coolers anywhere?"
"Have. There!" *Points to the water fountain thing in the middle of the pond/lake/water body outside*
How typical of Yimin to be so smart.
Our SAFTI tour then started. Charmaine TTT helped me take a few photos from her side of the bus. While we were walking to the tower, I spotted this little scooter which had a basket in the front! And there was this rear mirror in the plastic cover of a 'Victory' sign hand. It was super cute! Rosi and I went back to take a picture with it afterwards.
Despite having gone to SDC thrice before, I have never gone up the tower - the previous three times always ended with heavy rain and the guide never let us out of the bus because of the bad weather, so I'd always settled for staring at the tower from a distance. Finally, I got to go up the tower and the view is magnificent, although the height is a little scary when you look down. I think my mum would be freaking out if she went up. When we went down, everyone in the lift greeted the two guys waiting outside with a "Good afternoon, sirs!"
I think they were really amused by us. We also took a class photo at the grassy slope at the bottom of the tower.
We then went to the Army museum. Where everyone took lots of photos. But because the guide moved too fast and didn't really give us much time to take them, I took more photos of people and plants than artifacts.
After the trip I fell asleep on the bus and woke up with an ache in my neck. Somehow I felt really tired.
Right after that day, we had our "I Am Gifted, and So Are You!" programme in school. It starts at 8am and ends at 9pm. When I first got to know the schedule, the first thing which entered my mind was: Wow, are we able to camp in school secretly instead so that we can get more sleep?
But yes, the programme was fun. There was a session whereby the trainers listed scenarios which made us question ourselves about how much have we done for our parents despite their unconditional love. Everyone cried really hard. I started crying way before that though. Somehow, when I watched the video of this guy who remained really positive despite having no legs, I couldn't stop my tears from flowing. The rest of the night was spent with our eyes red and tired from all the crying.
And thanks to Jolene's dad, I got to arrive home on both nights in less than an hour. Because she lives in Simei, her dad was really nice to let me take a lift from them. Thanks!
On the last day there was also the Parents' Seminar where most of our parents came and learnt a portion of what we did from the programme. I think I was the only one who didn't cry when I spoke in front of the whole crowd to my mum. Maybe it's because both of us are close, I guess. I thought I would've cried too, but somehow I managed not too. And I actually needed the toilet, but was afraid to leave the place because the atmosphere was really sombre. Ah well.
My guitar teacher just gave us the song Mary Had a Little Lamb and wants us to finish re-arranging the piece by the next lesson. But he spelt the title wrongly: Merry Had a Little Lamb. Well, Merry sure is a nice name anyway. I'm sure it is a cheerful name. Anyway, I really ought to start on the task!
Labels: guitar, School Days
