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| Tuesday, November 30, 2004 |
anyway had overseas cip meeting in e afternoon. post expedition list is out! im in presentation! quite cool huh. get to present at assembly talk. hohoho =) anyway we get to see all e photos taken! yay. like sneak preview like that. n we went to harbour front to eat or something.. den we were very rowdy lah. playing indian poker n doing all e dares. yanyi's "im e queen of gamblers" is damn hilarious. shld haf videotaped it down. hahahhaah. =) it's gonna be busy busy with e post expedition stuff. but going to stay over at jieru's house on sat. this is going to be funnn =) |
| Shan ♥ 11:03 PM |
| Monday, November 29, 2004 |
e entire team! =) starting from e left front: ailin, ruyan, chermaine, hui rou.... right front: yuhui, me, elizabeth n bena! =) full squad!! =D =D dinner was great lahh.. but abit ex. haha.. i had this 3 amigo pasta.. n cookie monster mudpie for dessert.. splendid! heh. i think im gaining back all e weight i lost in thailand.. haha.. 
we decided that e christmas tree looks nice. haha. so we posed! this was taken at suntec citylink mall.. =) 
huirou, bena n eliz trying to act arty farty in front of an exhibition at esplanade.. i think only huirou succeeded in doing so. lol 
ruyan, me n bena outside esplanade.. nice pic rite! i like it alot. heh.. anyway NYBT rocks! missing e good old dayssss... |
| Shan ♥ 1:20 AM |
| Saturday, November 27, 2004 |
anyway i was quite tired todae.. must be becoz of yday's s75 bbq.. i reached home at 12+ lah.. we went all e way to cheryl's house. .which was at serangoooon!! n i missed e last train. -clapclap- had to make my bro go to sa n pick me up. haha. feel quite bad. coz it was quite late already.. thank goodness he off day todae.. go watch jay chou's concert!! so jealous.. |
| Shan ♥ 10:19 PM |
| Friday, November 26, 2004 |
DAY 1 IN UDON THANI, THAILAND 16/11/2004 On our way to Udon Thani, we took flight number TG402 via Thai Airways from sg to bangkok. den we had an internal transit frm bangkok to Udon Thani. Along the way, i felt nauseous as i haf motion sickness, unfortunately. And i couldnt get adjusted to tha tair pressure a few thousand feet in e air.. it was quite an uncomfortable feeling lah. YUCKS. anyway alot of interesting thing happened on e plane itself.. Some of us even wanted to take photos with e pretty pretty air stewardess.. especially thomas lah. who tot that one of them was so chio. hahah. On e domestic flight, there was this girl from my team who took a photo of one of e air steward with FLASH. tadaaa. he noticed it. why arent u surprised? haha. but he was quite shocked.. er. i think abit unhappy too. well, if im him, i would haf flared up. oh yea, n i think our behaviour on e plane oso not say very good, abit rowdy. haha 
ok. this photo was taken on e flight from sg to bangkok. me sandra n thomas were my plane sitting mates! =) ok. so we landed in udon thani international airport. on our way to e hostel in our transport system, e song tiao... 
this is e song tiao.. we passed by cows, shophouses and some run-down houses.. it gave me a very Malaysia kinda feeling. dun ask me why. haha. Hosts at Ban Kham Youth Hostel were really frenly.. Hedy n Raul. i think that's how u spell their names. haha. The accomodation was really simple lah. u noe, just a thin, i mean a really thin mattress, with a pillow n a thin blanket.. but it was better than i expected already. 
sijia, me n Sandra.. u can roughly see e dorm from this pic.. haha. ok. there's something that i haf to mention. n that is e communal bathroom that we haf to share!!!! we haf to like literally bare ourselves in front of one another lahh. so no privacy can. den e toilets got no flush. so pple. can u pls pls pls appreciate ur toilets. n oh yea, heater too. there's not water heater in udon thani..n e water we bathed came from well. n it was freezing cold lahh.. this is a new experience. BUT a torturing one. coz we haf to do this for e next 7 days. OH HELP. DAY 2 in UDON THANI, THAILAND 17/11/2004 Argh. i vomitted on e very first nite i arrived in thailand. i think i couldnt get adjusted to that food or something.. n i couldnt sleep with all e dogs howling.. becoz of this, i was damn lethargic n weak e 2nd day lahh.. todae is oso e first day of work. we visited e site..e structure of e house was already there. But we haf to build e walls n lay e cement floor. N e worst thing is that we dun haf e cement mixer.. that means we haf to do e mixing of cement manually. It was a tough job. N our team only got 7 guys lah. So imagine how hard it was for them…coz they are doing e mixing of e cement most of the time. Haha. Oh yea, Sandra is so cute lah. There was this pregnant lady at e worksite.. she’s e daughter of e homeowner.. den Sandra wanted to ask her whether her baby was a boy or a girl.. n she suggested going up to ask.. “Kha or Khrap?” oh my goodness it was damn hilarious. For those who doesn’t noe wad im talking about.. sawadi kha is a greeting for women n sawadi Khrap is a greeting for males. Sandra was brilliant to haf tot of such a thing. Hahaha. After a hard day of work, we were bound for a welcome dinner at this Thailand steamboat kinda restaurant.. I was feeling nauseous again.. n it was quite uncomfortable.. so I didn’t eat much.. 
me n sijia 
the thai steamboat.. DAY 3 IN UDON THANI, THAILAND 18/11/2004 The 2nd nite was like damn terrible. It was e worst nite in my life, I swear.. I vomited until nothing come out.. n I felt like dying lah. N u noe e kinda feeling when u fall sick n ur loved ones are not by ur side.. n e bed was so uncomfortable. Everything was so unfamiliar.. n e homesickness thing just set it.. it was as bad as u could imagine.. argh. But thank goodness I woke up feeling slightly better but still a bit weak. At least I caught some sleep yday nite.. I was so cautious of wad I eat e entire day lahh.. im so afraid that my stomach will like go on strike n I’ll vomit again. E feeling of vomiting is prob e worst feeling of all. Eeks. Todae is also e 2nd day of workday.. n we are bound to complete our house todae.. it was tough work, really.. I haf to bend up n down to shovel gravel n sand into buckets for e cement for laying e flooor.. it was back breaking!! BUT… we completed e house!! Yay! There was a great sense of satisfaction.. u noe. Looking at ur completed house. Haha. Quite cool.. heh. N u can proudly tell pple tat u built it lo. Haha. Dinner was food specially prepared by e pple from Ban Kham Youth Hostel.. there was steamed fish! Nice. But I got no appetite sia. N I ate very little.. oh well. Anyway e logistics pple ate e fastest coz we were on kitchen duty that day.. we had extra dishes to do too! But it was quite fun actually.. washing e dishes n all. N I feel that logistics team quite united sia.. hah. 
proud to be in e logistics team!! =) That very nite we had some free time n we went over to the other side of e hostel, where e thai boys living in e hostel are staying at.. we played uno with them. Haha. There was some communication prob.. but thank goodness there was this trainee teacher who could speak very good English. Den he become our translator for e nite. Hah. Oh yea, some of e pple are crazy over this thai boy.. haha.. they think he’s real cute. I thought he was only alright. Haha.. DAY 4 IN UDON THANI, THAILAND 19/11/2004 Todae is e 3rd day of work.. n everybody is tired out from e previous few days of work.. everybody’s working pace has obviously slowed down lah. N I think pple are getting short tempered.. I was quite irritated at times by a few pple. Shant mention names.. anyway I was quite angry at myself oso.. for not doing a good job in building e wall. It was indented lahh.. I feel so scared for e owner. I’m damn worried that e wall will collapse lo. Den some pple just cant quite understand my fears. Okok. Nvm. Shall not talk bout that anymore. All this work is tiring me out..n im feeling sick again! So I didn’t go for my night walk.. I’ll join e 3rd grp tml. We had dinner outside todae n it was not a team dinner.we went in our separate grps n I had dinner at e Pizza Company with sijia, Yvonne, beiru, joan n harp.. dinner was really filling lah. N guess wad. I felt like throwing up again. Must be becoz of e cheeeeese!! We were given some time to shop n I bought a pair of slippers which cost only 195 baht. That’s like 8 bucks in sg lahh.. quite cheap hor. haha. But den basically there wasn’t much to shop coz e thais all sleep very early one.. den most of e shops were like closed before 9 lah. So wad’s there to shop. -.-“ haha. Anyway im feeling quite tired after 3 days of work.. n my enthusiasm is beginning to thin. BUT tml is last day of work. YAY YAY. 
the pathetic 7 guys in e team of 30.. haha DAY 5 IN UDON THANI, THAILAND 20/11/2004 Todae is e last day of work!! FINALLY. N we completed e house!!! 3 cheers for our team!! We haf set a new record for completing 3 houses in 4 days!! =) =) =) Oh yea, I haf to mention that there was extra work to be done.. coz they haf to dig a shithole. Haha. oops. In other words toilets in Singapore lahh.. so once again, pple I remind u to appreciate ur toilets k. they dun come easy. Especially when u haf to dig e hole, manually. Haha. but I guess e most tiring job was carrying e water from e lake to e worksite.. e place was so rundown that they dun even haf tap water..so we haf to take water from a nearby lake. Ok. It wasn’t very nearby.. tiring job.. but good muscle training n wrist training.. good for badminton! =) Anyway since this is e last day of work.. e hosts got us thai masseurs to come into e hostels to give us massage lahh.. like 50 bahts for 20 mins.. that’s bout 2 bucks in sg.. er. That’s SO CHEAP!!! N super worth e money lah.. I must boring u pple with all e words. Must let e pics do e talking. Haha. 
mass massaging session 
haha.that’s me with lousy grace taking photos..so blur. Hahaa 
happy n satisfied after massaging session. =) 
our very own qualified dancer.. DINGO! Wad a nice pose rite. 
smile! Mr ho, u’re on candid camera! =D DAY 6 IN UDON THANI, THAILAND 21/11/2004 Today is Rest n relaxation day! =) No work todae. So we were spared from the agony of waking at 6am to do pt… and it’s getting harder n harder to wake up every morning.. so we set off at 7.30am to attend a Catholic church service at 8am.. it was a refreshing experience as I haf nv attended a catholic service before.. however e service was held in thai..so I dunno wads going on oso lah. See pple do wad den I just follow. Haha. 
e church 
everybody! After the service, we headed for Sarnelli House who housese HIV positive kids.. 
the outside of Sarnelli House we were not supposed to take photos of e kids.. before we reach there, I had this feeling which I cant quite put to words.. it was a mixture of fear n anticipation.. but e moment we saw how cute e children were, e funny feeling disappeared. These kids have e most innocent smiles I’ve ever seen. U’ll nv see such smiles on faces of Singaporean kids.. they are so easily contented.. be it just a balloon or a sweet.. it was painful to think that they are actually infected with e HIV virus.. but putting such emotions aside. We carried out activities planned as usual.. I said down beside a boy named BOY who is nine years old this yr.. he has really big eyes n it seems as if it wans to tell me something.. but I cant quite communicate with him.. he was shy initially.. I mean who wouldn’t be rite.. especially with a stranger arnd.. we started with colouring.. n gosh, he’s a great artist lo.. his colour combi is damn good for a nine yr old lahh. All I could say was “Di-mak-mak” which means very very good in thai. N he smiled when he heard that… it was heartwarming.. as we spent more time together, he began to open up and was more receptive towards me.. I was constantly pumping balloons becoz he really loved it lo. Haha. and he enjoy eating sweets.. I suppose they dun get such treats very often…Before we letft, we visited their dormitory.. he showed me where he sleeps at nite n he stays in e same dorm as e older boys who are about 10 to 11 yrs old.. I waved goodbye to him for a very long time n I couldn’t really bear to leave him. Although he couldn’t tell me how grateful he was to him, I could sense e gratitude… it was all in his eyes.. that moment was very special to me.. n at that instant, I felt tears welling up in my eyes.. I know there are little chances that I will be visit this place again.. but I knew somehow, I’ve done something that has made a difference in a child’s life.. I dunno wad will happen 10 yrs down e road. I cant bear to think actually.. so all I can do now is to pray hard for all these kids… 
we visited e frenship bridge which links Thailand n laos.. 
me n mui mui trying to be funny.. haha 
dinner by Mekong river! =) splendid atmosphere.. abit cold though. haha DAY 7 IN UDON THANI, THAILAND 22/11/2004 Todae was house dedication day.. 
the house that we built! I got to cut the ribbon as an opening ceremony..wad an honour! 
=) =) we got to carve our names in front of e house too! 
carving my name! =) 
our names! At house dedication, e owners thanked us n were all very very touched.. One of them even broke down in tears of joy..  cheeeese!
although there was a language barrier, I could see that they were really thankful to us for wad we haf done.. However it was a pity that we did not manage to dedicate e third house due to e far distance… After house dedication, we had buffet lunch at a Udon Thani Hotel.. food was great!! =) 
spoilt for choices at e buffet.. We visited Don Bosco School after lunch n we sorta had a mini cultural exchange programme.. I had to put up a malay dance lah. -.-“ so embarrassing. Coz e coordination of e music n e dance was quite lagged.. den we haf to repeat e intro like at least 3 times before we could like finally start dancing. Wad a torture it was. 
the malay dancers! We played frenly matches with e pple after e cultural exchange prog.. oh ya, Sandra got fanclub in Don Bosco school. She attracts pple of all age, gender n nationalitys. So funny. Hahah.. got one girl go up to her n say “You, beautiful” hahahaha..so cute rite. Sandra, u can go marry a thai n stay in Thailand le lah. Im sure u’ll adapt well. =) 
on our way to farewell dinner. Logistics com again! =) Todae is oso e last night in thailand.. we’re leavin g for Singapore tml morning.. we had farewell dinner with e families that we built e houses for and e staff of Habitat For Humanity. Dinner was simple fare but it was e pple who made e atmosphere great.. I bought a rose for e pregnant lady n she was really pleased.. towards e end of e dinner we shook one another’s hands and she even gave me an embrace.. I felt so surprised.. but I was really happy.. I did something that has changed her life.. I was very touched.. she is somebody special to me.. I’ll nv forget her. May God bless her n her family abundantly.. 
the pregnant lady n us..she so pretty rite? =) DAY 8 IN UDON THANI, THAILAND/SINGAPORE 23/11/2004 We’re coming to Singapore! I cant wait to get home.. homesick. Hah. Anyway e flight that we were supposed to take from Bangkok back to sg was delayed lah. Den we had to squeeze onto e next flight.. n we were all separated in e process.. e most exasperating part of this was that some of us have to sit in e economy class while e rest auto upgrade to business classs.. so irritating.. n e business class pple were so super mean..still rubbing salt on raw wound n telling us how nice n comfy it was in e business class.. BISH BISH BISH. Anyway im home pple!!!! Im so glad to be home. Haha. =)  back in Singapore! N it has been an enriching trip. THUMBS UP FOR SANTOS RAAK! =)
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| Shan ♥ 1:04 AM |
| Thursday, November 25, 2004 |
| Shan ♥ 1:02 AM |
| Monday, November 15, 2004 |
| Shan ♥ 10:14 PM |
| Sunday, November 14, 2004 |
anyway i was packing my luggage for my thailand trip just now.. n i realised that there's like alot of things to carry!! other than my own luggage, i haf to carry this box full of clothes that's to be donated to the villages there..in total i think my luggage's arnd 15+ kg.. argh. i hope e wheels on e luggage dun spoil, if not that's it.. haha.. anyway i intend to leave my boots there after e trip. dun wanna carry it back. it weighs 1.5kg anyway. so heavy.. n i haf to bring back stuff for er. u guys. hahah.. im going to do some shopping, there. HOHOHO. i need a new wallet. yes yes. slippers anyone? give me ur shoe size, i'll try to get a pair for u? =) i hope things go well there.. n i hope there will be fine weather so that i wun fall sick-er. oh yea, i heard that we're using communal bathroom. oh gosh. this is so embarrassing. n e water's gonna be icy cold! BRRrRrrr... oh e worst thing is, u cant throw ur toilet paper into e toilet bowl or it'll choke. erm. ahem. hahaha.. oh well. i do hope things are not as bad the teachers have told us.. e day im departing is approaching.. counting down, 2 days time! this is getting so exciting. =) =) dun miss me guys! |
| Shan ♥ 6:57 PM |
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 |
| Shan ♥ 10:39 PM |
| Saturday, November 06, 2004 |
| Shan ♥ 11:11 PM |
| Wednesday, November 03, 2004 |
| Shan ♥ 10:51 PM |
| Monday, November 01, 2004 |
| Shan ♥ 10:54 PM |
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