A friend shared with me a quote:

Say what you want to say when you have the feeling and the chance. My greatest regrets are the things I did not do, the opportunities missed and the things unsaid

- Jim Keller -

Comment! (0) | Recommend!

On 5 November 2011 ...

I seriously could not believe that I'm finally ON the ship. It felt so unreal.

Though it's only the third day on the ship, we already had a packed schedule. To our relief, there's some activity happening tonight for all of us!

The Thai contingent organised a movie session, and we were required to bring a date. The early bird couples will be entitled to some gifts.

Whatever.

I asked one of my SG mates from Indonesia to be my date. All of us were acting quite awkward given that we don't know each other well. And all of a sudden we were required to bring a date to the movie night?

Err ...

Anyways ... I didn't get the early bird gift because we were late.

The movie they played is called A Little Crazy Thing Called Love. It is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, albeit predictable story line. The movie has a simple storyline. It's about how an ugly duckling has a crush on the best looking guy in school. The girl tried out many activities in order for him to notice her... The girl has been hiding her feelings for him for three years. She confessed to him on the last day of school, but it was too late for he already had a girlfriend. The truth is the guy also likes her. Both were liking each other, but both didn't have the courage to confess. And ... they finally get together after 10 years.

Duh ... this kind of movie certainly has happy ending! Here's the OST so you get a glimpse of the movie!



Tidbits: It's seriously weird. I don't know what possessed me to attend the movie night with a date. This is sooo not me for I prefer going alone than with someone else. I guess I just wanna have a boost in my sea adventure. =)

The movie is cute. Everyone can relate to this movie. I believe everyone has crushes before back in school... right? There were funny, happy and sad moments. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie despite receiving hits and slaps from my neighbour ... >.< while watching the movie.

To me ... the lesson is don't wait before it's too late. But the truth is ... it' s awful AWFUL hard to confess to someone let alone asking if the person likes you or not. No matter how many times you tell yourself that you are ready to confess, it's 50/50 that you are gonna spit it out when the person you like is in front of you.

Am I not right? When you didn't take action you will console yourself that tomorrow never dies. And the cycle repeats until you realise it is too late. Then regret kicks in. It sucks.

So whether we are ready or not, I think we should just do it. So we won't have any regrets in life!

*Sniff sniff ... watching the OST makes me recall of something I didn't walk my talk. Sigh.

Oh by the way, my date said we did get something from the movie session! It's some fish snack! Hmm ... yum yum. And ... we took a picture together with a huge heart-shaped glass frame. Owh ...

Comment! (0) | Recommend!

On 13 November 2011 ...

It's our last day in the Philippines. The PYs was given a lovely surprise during our farewell reception.

Can you guess what kind of surprise we had?

There was a Filipino superstar to send us off!!!



What more can we ask for?! He is Christian Bautista. He sang 2 songs after a shout out for encore. I was very impressed that they was a star to sing for us. I think we really felt like a VVIP.

And ... there were helicopters releasing graffiti!!



Ah!! None of the graffiti fall on me. I wanted to touch those colourful papers!!!

The PYs were also given roses when we climbed to the ship. I wanted to give the rose to my host mum who was standing in front of me, but I thought it was not a good gesture for forwarding a gift too fast. So I brought it up to my room.

I placed the rose by my room window so it will also have a view of the sea ...

Tidbits: Actually, I was not feeling well during the farewell reception due to stomach indigestion. (Let just say I overate during my stay in the Philippines). I almost decided to stay back in the ship because I fear my gastric will worsen. Luckily, I had taken some medicine from the nurse to relieve the pain. So I decided to tolerate the pain throughout the whole event. Of course, I have informed the nurses that I might request to return to the room should my condition worsen. I was glad the whole performance distracted me from thinking of the pain. And ... hehe ... I get to see Christian Bautista at a very close range!! This is the advantage of sitting right in front of the row. =)

To be frank ... the Malaysian contingent doesn't know who Christian Bautista is, for we have never heard of him before. Can't blame us when we don't watch any Filipino dramas nor listen to Filipino songs. The only Filipino singer I know is Jesse Zaragoza, who sang the English version of First Love.

When the emcee announced the guest performer the PYs and local people were cheering in disbelief. My contingent was looking at each other with a question mark on our face. Even the Bruneians knew who he is! Nevertheless, we enjoyed the performance. We were extremely thrilled.

And ... my pants almost drop from my waist! No thanks to my team member who was trying to straighten my blazer and scarf before I went to the stage to collect some souvenirs. She saw the pants were folded three times on my waistline, and she was about to unfold it!! AHHH!!! Luckily I caught her fingers! I know she was just being kindhearted, and not supposed to be blamed...

My pants is really really loose ... and I think I forgot to ask the tailor to alter my waist area. HAHAHA. My bad.

Comment! (0) | Recommend!

On 28 November 2011 ...

It was scheduled that all contingents have to perform during our welcoming dinner in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

In the morning, the Philippines contingent were practising their performance on the veranda. They sang three songs, but I only knew Anak.



I love their choral. I was sitting by the sofa on the right side of the cameraman, doing my paperwork while listening to them singing. If only I could rewind and play at my own whim. =)

Tidbits: Wah lau eh. If my memory serves me right, the background voices belong to the Malaysian contingent. HAHA. We were also there for our contingent meeting. We were quite inconsiderate... right?

Comment! (0) | Recommend!

I'm impressed with my mum.

She read me well.

She nailed that I won't bother having reunion dinner with her siblings.

I asked her how did she deduce that answer.

Simple. She replied that I have labeled them as trash.

I believe in the goodness of people, but there are times I am harsh. I have sharp tongue, but I'm no longer afraid to speak out.

My uncle and auntie invited my family for a reunion dinner on the last day of Chinese New Year. I don't look forward, but for the sake of kinship, I will bite the bullet and sail through the morbid atmosphere dinner like every other year.

The news came to a shock this evening, because they demanded my family to pay for the reunion dinner given they have been paying for the past two years.

My response was "FCUK THEM."

I was surprised with my slippery tongue. I have never used such words in front of my mum. I don't even use them to begin with except in scrabble.

I never expected my uncle to be that low. The Chinese always say we have to be magnanimous. And this is a scary sign of decay in family relationship.

My mum is the most disappointed one. She spent her youth to support her two siblings and this is how her younger brother and sister treat her. I have no words to console her. I have no such medicine to stop the bleeding from a knife wound. My uncle is now a successful man in his career. What is wrong with paying back the kindness you were once given?

My sister replied she can't afford to pay the reunion dinner. My auntie was lucky to not have me answering the call, for my reply will be the four letter word. Uncle and auntie can spread the news how ill-mannered I am, but God knows me better. Have you not heard of the golden thumb rule?

I sometimes ponder why people change for the worse. I don't remember my uncle being such a bitter person. I used to admire him. He used to be my favourite relative. He and my auntie used to shower my sister and I with gifts. When did the distance between us began to sprout?

Yes, the moment he politely said I was too stupid to get a scholarship. The moment she said I should listen to my father to decline the scholarship, perhaps it was a scam. Why would a college offer a scholarship to a stupid person like me?

I often ponder deeply. What is family for when you have such type of people?

My family is indeed a small unit to begin with. And with many more relatives dropping like flies. It makes me feel more of a stranger in my family tree.

This year, my mum and I decided to totally close doors to all relatives for Chinese New Year. It is a disheartening decision for it's a time to reunite and exchange stories with family members from far away. It is a time to be happy and forget all the worrisome bottling in us. Yet, for my family, we do not have the luxury to have such joyful moments.

I would not have the chance to experience the cheerful atmosphere like my Chinese friends always do ...

We learn to forgive, but we won't forget what they had done to us.

"To be happy is to be forgetful"

We will try to give way to store new happy memories ... because they are not worth even a miniscule storage space in our mind.

Comment! (1) | Recommend!

I just got back from my Penang trip today, and am totally drained.

I spent 3 days 2 nights on the island. My team members took me around Penang just to eat! I think it's more of a fattening camp rather than catching up with them. We had been eating almost after every 30 minutes. However, I managed to suggest places where we get to do exercise too - walking I mean. If not, I won't be able to wolf down my food.

One of the places I revisit is the Penang Hill. Penang looks so magnificent from the peak. The last time I went there was more than 15 years ago. The landscape of Penang has changed so much since then. So is the peak. There were so much changes. I don't recognise it all now.

The first craziest thing I had done during my trip is to seek fortune-telling. It's actually discourage in my religion, but I have sought for fortune-telling mid last year due to an interest of a close friend and recent events. I think I'm addicted to get my readings done. I went to one of the oldest Chinese temples and pray via the fortune-telling sticks. I had to shake it 5 times to get the right reading. Ha. The funniest thing is how fate worked. There was no one to explain about the reading within the temple. I walked out of the temple to meet up with my friends, and somehow one of the shopkeepers saw me walking around with my lost expression. He offered to read for me. I found the reading interesting and consistent with a few fortune teller's reading.

The second craziest thing is my friends took me to clubbing with some other friends until 3.30 am. During our supper, there was a celebrity sitting in front of me. My friend was encouraging me to get his autograph, but I wasn't keen at all. Coz I don't like him. HAHA. Anyways, that night I met some very important people who kept low profiles. They are very friendly and one heck sporting. So why need the celebrity's autograph?

It's a pity Jolenesiah and I could not hang out due to her busy schedule. I only managed to drop by to say hi.

I managed to achieve something in this trip. That is to eat banana fritters ala Chinese style. I have been wanting to eat that for 10 years! No joke! The last time I ate was 16. And the times I went back to Penang, I didn't have the chance to hunt for it. Let just say these operators don't have second generation to take over their business.

Although I lose a lot sleep during the trip, the most important thing is I managed to have fun with friends. That is the mission of my Penang trip.

Here's a picture of us.



I am proud to say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Comment! (0) | Recommend!