On 19 October 2012 ...

During the fine afternoon... when I was just admiring the grueling schedule we were having ... we were informed the arrival of the performance instructor.

I gasped!

We only had 4 days to learn a 75-minute performance!!

Argh!!!!

We gathered in the room, and he requested us to show him all the dances we had in our sleeves.

I was actually panicking. I was filled with worries that I won't be able to remember the steps in such short stint of time. My last major performance took 10 months to practice an hour performance, and this only takes 4 days? And we are not professional dancers!!!

Another round of ... hair pulling!

As I was dancing the Chinese dance, I could see the instructor pointing something out and nodding to his assistant in my direction.

Hmm... I hope there won't be any surprises for me, because I'm a 'log' dancer!

Spinoff: Yes! I had surprises. A HUGE surprise. I was chosen to lead the team in the opening performance.

Me?! You asked a scatter-brain cat to lead?! I can't count! Help!

And that's only the beginning!

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From 17 - 19 October 2011...

Our routine was gruesome.

Our day started at 6.30 am with exercises. The day won't end until 1 am-ish. We spent the hours on finishing our tasks for discussion, training on marching and flag bearing ... and more exercises in the evening.

Our baby-sitter was a senior whom I have not met, and he was a former participant of the program back in the 90s. He is very strict, but luckily he likes to joke with us. It somewhat uplifted us.

In the evening, our seniors in charged of discussion came to drop by and enlightened us on our discussion topics.

I had already finished my discussion task one month ago, but I was not sure if mine was too simple when my essay was just comprised of one page while my other teammates - who gotten the same topic as me - had written like 5 pages.

I looked back at the question, and thought confidently that my one page answer succinctly answered the discussion question.

That night, everyone was very busy, because we had to submit our assignments to the facilitators. While waiting for my discussion mates to submit, I was discussing with my fellow mate about the questions ... and I ended up ...



Yes... I ended up sleeping sitting upright.

Spinoff: Ah!!! I didn't know I was caught sleeping!

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On 17 October 2011...

I was one of the last ones to arrive at the centre. Many team members had already moved their items from the car to the designated place.

I quickly get out of the car and removed my items from the vehicle. My friend helped out too.

When we opened the trunk, 300 packets of tea fell like waterfall...

We looked at each other and laughed.

Tidbits: Haha. What an epic start for my quarantine!

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On 17 October 2011 ...

Today was the day I will be quarantined for a week in preparation for the programme.

My friend drove a rover to pick me up, and also to transport the sponsor's items to the centre.

I looked at the time on my mobile, and I could not resist telling myself over and over again how fast time flies. It feels like yesterday that I was practising dancing....

She came up and helped me to carry boxes of items into the rover. I came out last off my house gripping the luggage handle.

I hopped onto the vehicle and we looked at each other. She was grinning, and I said 'Let's go.'

Tidbits: Wow. I didn't expect my luggage and items to fill up the vehicle. I felt sorry for her for she could not use her rear mirror while driving. Luckily the centre is very near to my home.

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On 16 October 2011 ...

I glanced over at my luggage and boxes of sponsor's items.

My stomach was fluttering and I could hear my heart racing ...

This is it...

Tomorrow is the culmination of our hard work...

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On 10 November 2011 ...

Ah! Our next destination: Philippines! I was extremely excited because I have always wondered if I would ever had the chance to visit this country.

I was indeed thrilled to see the site of the skyscrapers from far. I can't wait for my adventure to begin!



What I like the most about that morning is the sun light, because its light is perfect for landscape photography.

I basked in it for a long time ...

Tidbits: I have actually toyed the idea of visiting the Philippines a few years ago, but surprisingly there was zero promotion even during the annual MATTA aka traveling fair in Malaysia. Therefore, the idea slipped away as years passed. But nevertheless, I'm grateful to God for giving me the chance to visit!

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