i look abit stupid in the third photo
- the cap says "F*** the FAKESHIT" -
(very appropriate considering the superificiality of many things now)

CONFIRMED:



I'm going USA from 9 Dec 2009 to 9 Jan 2010!

A little longer than expected but still very psyched about it! haha
travelling so far! travelling to USA!
&
travelling with one of my DEAREST FRIENDS, Krys!



But then again, i'm SUPER ANXIOUS...
(call me paranoid)

1) i have a few admin stuff to clear before i leave so i have not done any! - what if they dont clear?
2) what if something happens just before i leave?! *touchwood*
3) i will be travelling alone from Singapore to San Francisco! - never done tt!
4) there's a change of flight at Manila, i hope i dont get lost/miss my flight! - i wont know what to do! *touchwood*
5) accomodation plans when at the different parts of USA not settled! - will i have a roof?!
6) during my time there, what if something happens?! *touchwood*
7) i'm scheduled to reach singapore on 11 jan 2010, what if it get delayed? - i'll be missing one day of school, i dont wanna miss more days! (sorry for the mugger attitude! haha) *touchwood*

someone guide me! haha.
OR
punch me awake and tell me to not worry! hahaha...

Until then, i have 4 more months before December!
I'm spending alot on this trip so i MUST study hard in this FIRST SEM!
(pray hard for me!!!!!! haha)

OBS

Finally i have the time to update about OBS! haha
In short, OBS was not as physically demanding as i thought (probably our programme planned that way) but it made me think back on alot of my personal issues - things about my life and decisions, my relationships with family and friends, and of course, the future.


my dear fellow MOH scholars :) hee


my group, HOLT!

the reason probably why it wasn't that physically taxing probably was tt they wanted us to engage in discussion/sharing/feedback before and after activities.




my group was pretty quiet at first, even i was quiet (as usual? haha).
but it was probably til the last two days that everyone started to open up and we all started to have alot of fun talking to each other.


having cam-whorish fun at our dorms.

***********************************

day 1 was high elements where we had to climb some high obstacles.
we were also taught how to belay and stuff
pretty fun tiring to climb up the obstacles, and it felt quite easy hehe.

* interesting point: the instructor was relating the act of BELAYING to our lives.
belaying, as u know, is like supporting the climber as he ascends/descends, and therefore similar to anyone in your life who supports you:
making me think of my family who has supported me all these years AND
my dear dear good friends who are always there to listen to me :)

************************************

day 2 was personality analysis using MBTI.
realised i was
1) a CLEAR introvert
2) a moderate THINKING/JUDGING/SENSING person.

which in simpler terms meant:
i am not a easily sociable person, especially with strangers.
i am a very practical and matter-of-fact person.
analytical and logical
scheduled and organised

* i dont like that i am not as sociable as i would like to be. but well, i can't help tt.
i can talk a hell lot when i'm with my good friends but i dont like to share much with people i dont even really know well enough to trust them.
but then again, "the more you share, the more they share with you too"!
(i wrote this for a fellow "introvert" haha) so i guess i need to be more open. ha.

********************************

Day 3
- Raft Challenge -


HOLT Challenge Flag :)

For this raft challenge, we split into 2 groups.
one to earn the points needed to built the raft
and the other to build the raft.

Obviously with my lack of "engineering" knowledge/skill, i went with the team that earned the points needed.



honestly it was ALOT of fun.
we had to all skip together, juggle ping pong balls (tt was hard!), untangled ourselves from each other, solve puzzles and even sing!

all these while the other half worked hard at the raft! THANKS!



but we left the last game " human caterpillar" to the builders so they have some fun too


builders

and we "gamers" camwhored :)



the builders even joined in the photo taking middle of their games
(quite comical - got time limit, still can stop and take photo! haha)




all together again :)

then it was time to test out the raft we built!


does this look like "SURVIVOR"?


the flag waiting for us!
(our instructor: KM)


ah, success!

****************************

after the challenge, some of us went to the jetty to enjoy the beautiful scenery!
with the wind and sunset, it was wonderful :)





********************************

Day 4
- Sea Expedition -

we learnt to kayak too on day 3 and already we set on for an expedition the next day!
i've always wanted to try kayak since it seems to be very interesting paddling in the water and moving the boat with coordination. haha, so it was pretty exciting for me to finally try it.


my dear kayak mates - QY and JB!
(it was a tri-yak)


basically, we kayaked around half of ubin, from ard 9am to 33o pm.
sure it was tough to keep on paddling but my dear kayak mates KEPT on playing the brainless game of FUZZY WUZZY enroute there.
And QY and I could never ever get it!


camwhoring at sea haha.

then on the way back, i think our kayak was really noisy cause we continued to play our own games like ROCKS!. Very distracting. Very good. haha.

It was really a fun fun fun experience.
On top of that, it was quite a mental challenge too trying to perservere on and keep paddling when there seems like no end to it. haha. but i enjoyed every moment of it.

* major point: trying to pee in the sea IS DAMN DIFFICULT.
and EMBARRASSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**********************

Still Day 4
- Camping the Night Out -

After the expedition, we also had to spend the night out in the "wild" aka an open field area NEAR the forest. Still i got ALOT OF MOSQUITO BITES!
(still itching and scratching like a monkey now! haha)


some built tents, some cooked


talking to each other under the stars ***


HOLT

since it was the last night at OBS, we didnt really bother to build a good tent, especially since we didnt expect it to rain too (weather has been very good the past few days).
the tent was basically JUST A PSEUDO-SHELTER. ha

unluckily, it started to rain around 4am.
the girls from my grp were saying they were trying v hard not to let water come in and they were like packed like a cocoon.
as for the guys (all guys in one tent ourselves), we decided to camwhore at this unexpected misfortune.



then the rain became FAR too heavy that we decided to abandon our tent. haha.
and continued to camwhore in the rain. haha


me and chanzy


what the tongue was for i seriously dont wanna know!

the rain made the whole night SO unforgettable :) haha.

********************************

Day 5
- Final day -

We did our commitment jump.
(my commitment is to GET FIRST CLASS HONORS!)
(cause i didnt know what else to say haha. but i seriously hope to achieve too!)


a random shot of me before the jump.


and that's me


AND THE FINAL GOODBYE



Thanks to all my HOLT grpmates for the interesting experience :) ha
but of course, to all fellow scholars for being part of this (i believe) once-in-a-lifetime experience.
We all had good fun :)

**************************************

Overdue Photos


dinner at Marche


drinks at Gloria Jeans


this is a posed photo but looks candid right?
(v funny, i really like it)


STIFF NECK STIFF NECK STIFF NECK
STIFF NECK STIFF NECK STIFF NECK
STIFF NECK STIFF NECK STIFF NECK
(just wanna keep saying STIFF NECK when i see this pic!)

and the rest of the sorta "get-to-know" session...