Its story time!

Academics, family, friends and sports, these are the only priorities in his life, and his main priority in life would be to excel in his favourite sports, which is swimming, and true enough swimming took up most of his leisure time. Academically wise, his coping rather well given his tight schedule where he have to juggle training, friends, academic and at the same time being actively involved in school events. That’s Jay, final year student in a tertiary institution leading such a wonderful campus life, and an enriching life outside of school. Apart from trainings it’s all about chilling out with friends in pubs having fun and lots of bonding/interaction sessions.  Well it’s a life people would envy without any worries in relationships, money and friends as he is born into a rather well to do and caring family, having friends revolving around him and love comes knocking on his door where he toyed with that feeling and the next moment he rejected it blatantly as he sees it as 1 of his last priority at this stage of his life.

Everything in his life is being well planned and at the moment being his last semester in school he treasured every minute he has in school, signing up for events and camps that are held in school to be fully involved for the last time before leaving school, and also at the same time leaving Singapore for London to further his studies. Spending every moment available to him with his friends and family, hoping that these memories would be with him when he left Singapore because those are the things that he treasured most. Gatherings and outings were a norm at the period of time, receiving heartfelt wishes from his friend and relatives makes him even more determined to be successful in life.

It was during the final month of the semester and to end everything on a beautiful note he decided to help out in one of the most anticipated camp in school and also being his last camp in that institution. Pre camp briefing was just 2days before the actual camp starts, while attending the briefing he saw lots of familiar faces, people that he met throughout the 3years in school and the pre camp briefing turns out to be a small catching up session! Time flies and its Day 1 of the 3D2N camp that was held in school, the seniors that were involved were appointed as team leaders for various groups in the camp as its natural for the seniors to lead the juniors and help them to adapt better to tertiary life. In camps mirror grouping is often used so that team leaders can help out one another during the whole course of the camp, and Jay’s group was being paired up with Casey’s group who is a friend of his during their elective class. They hit off  almost immediately babbling throughout and catching up on what’s going on in each others life as they knew each other a year ago through an elective class that they were in, and eventually they lost touch when the class comes to an end.  Jay felt so lucky to be paired with someone he knows as compared to being with someone new.

While conducting ice breaking games for the 2 groups Jay and Casey had fun interacting with their juniors and showing them the way of life in a tertiary institution, the chemistry that the both of them had was so strong that it seems that the 2 groups have been merged into 1. After everyone gets to know each other the next segment was for the campers as well as the team leaders to learn the “camp” dance and everyone had to find a dance partner. It was so natural that Jay and Casey looked at each other with such mutual understanding that they say: “hey! lets pair up for the dance!”. They seem to be like friends for years but when it comes to dancing that tinge of shyness that is within them still portrays on them during the dance, they giggled at each other whenever they execute a wrong move during the dance and taught each other how each steps were to be executed properly. That was exactly how they were like throughout the camp, helping each other out during games covering each other’s role when the other party is busy and it seems like their juniors not only bond within their group but also made new friends with the mirror group.  

It happened during the last night of the camp when the organizers had a Halloween party for the campers to enjoy themselves thoroughly as well as the team leaders and the committees members to let loose as the amount of effort they’ve put in for the camp was tremendous. However some of the campers in Jay’s group didn’t like the “clubbing feel” thus they literally sat outside of the event hall staring into empty space. Jay noticed that and went out to keep them company, having small chats with them to keep them entertained till the event is over. Casey, being a non-clubber didn’t like the event as well, and decided to get out of the hall for a breather, while walking alone along the hallway she saw Jay & co, sitting by the stairs chit chatting and decided to  join them. Being a small group the topics that they touched on where more personal, and through that Jay got to know Casey better and eventually Jay realize that his in love with Casey. The feeling within Jay grew strong as the night went on and he felt that she might be one and love was no longer last on his priority list. Before they knew it, the event was over due to the strict regulations that the school has that everything have to end before 12 midnight, thus everyone was called back to the hall for debriefing. It was lights out soon after the debriefing, Jay had difficulty sleeping and he knows clearly whats the cause of it, Casey was all over his mind, he even pictured them being together, getting married and setting up a family, all those were just fantasies of Jays’ and he told himself to get real and stop fantasizing, how is it possible for him to get into a relationship where he have to leave Singapore in a months time and not be back for such a long period, how could a relationship in this situation last? That was the question the Jay asked himself and he was really in a dilemma on whether should he continue to be by her side or should he just stop at the “casual friend” stage. He knew that his feeling towards Casey was true because it was the first time that Jay is willing to sacrifice his time and probably his studies just to be with her, and the thought of being with her, and be by her side whenever she’s feeling down proves it all that this was the love of his life. Despite being in a relationship before, his love for her was different from his previous relationship and never in his life had he had such a strong feeling for someone, someone he truly loves.

Soon it was nearing dawn, the organizing committee as well as the team leaders had to be up to prepare for the final event: the amazing race before calling it a day and putting a perfect full stop to the camp. Time flies as they were having fun and soon it was time to say goodbye, everyone seems unwilling to part and this is especially true for Jay as this might be the last time he gets to see Casey and he decided to enjoy the final moments with her with the one last dance that everyone had to do before parting their ways. During the dance Jay truly hoped that time would stop and allow him to mesmerize himself in the atmosphere and the feeling of dancing with someone you truly love.

3minutes was all Jay had, to spend quality time with Casey for what might be the very last chance that he had, he truly enjoyed it and finally the moment he dreaded most has arrived. After the final debrief campers and the committees broke up into smaller groups for photo taking sessions to keep the memories that they had forever as well as exchanging of email address to keep in touch with everyone. Jay and Casey exchanged email addresses…


To be continued...

Dear   Journal,

Its been a long time since I last make a post, and I have a valid reason for that! I’ve “devoted” most of my time to the SAF and weekends are always so short that it just passes by with a blink of an eye. Its really down to time management as every week I’m only entitled to 48hours of free time to myself, so every second COUNTS!

So for the past 3months or so, I can proudly say that I’ve been through a lot, be it in Tekong, India, or Sispec, these 3 different places gave me experiences that I really value and it changes my perspective towards life and I’m clearer or what I want in the future. I guess for every recruit or NSmen-to- be would dread Tekong the most as that marks that start of their NS life, however I believe that every NSmen who passed out from Tekong would miss that small little island as it holds the memories of what they’ve been through, true bonds that were formed on that island, as well as the fun times that they had.

8days in India was indeed tough; the moment I got down the plane I had a culture shock which demoralizes me even before I start my trip. Honestly I felt that this trip that I’ve planned wasn’t a well-planned trip and I’m really ill-prepared for it, probably that was why I felt so lost when I was in India. Can you actually believe that I spent 3weekends planning for that trip, with the first weekend doing research about India, and the 2^nd weekend making enquiries about all everything related to the trip and did all the bookings on the last weekend. Of course I had fun in India, but whats most important is that I learnt to treasure what I have and I realize how naïve we are as compared to them, also it really motivates me to work hard and make full use of my life when I have opportunity to, where the Indians over there even they are willing to work hard they are sort of destined to be stuck in poverty due to the poor governing of the country. Maybe another 20-30 years where India starts to develop and prosper that her citizens would enjoy a better life, but till then lets just hope for the best for the people living in India.

Sispec opens up my horizon towards what NS can be like, it’s no longer the carefree life that all recruits used to have in Tekong, you’re expected to produce results and there’s no room for errors, so the stress factor is definitely higher. The degree of freedom and flexibility you get over here in Sispec is higher than what you get in Tekong, but the price to pay when you screw up is higher as well. Who doesn’t like being spoon-fed like a baby, where everything is being prepared for you and guidance are provided round the clock for you, but ask yourself again would you learn if you’re always in your comfort zone, having a decent amount of pressure and stress is definitely good facing challenges and racing against time to solve them are enriching as well, don’t you think so? Life is tougher over here but it builds up your character and prepares you for the journey you’re about to take in afew years time.

Going through so much within 3months and being in so many different places in such a short time really gives me no time to seat back and reflect upon what I’ve gone through so far. Reminiscing those days when I’m still studying does rejuvenate me, the carefree life that I led and the fun times that I’ve been through keeps my morale high and hopefully the next 1year 7month would over before I even knew it.

So where will my next destination be?

Signing off,

Hahas its you and me again blogging in this virtual reality sharing my thoughts with the virtual world and let it be inked in this virtual world while the real memories fade away as the time goes by.

Been really busy every since I came back from Japan,  lots of catching up to be done with the people around me and I realize that everyone have been the same although they are all heading in different directions now. Recalling back, during those days when we’re still in RP/Sec sch everyone has the same aim of passing the required examination and get out of school, while now the girls are entering the universities (Jealous!!!) and the guys are heading to tekong, everyone with different priorities in life and busy working towards them. That’s a good thing! And it’ll be interesting to see what everyone would be like 10years down the road.

Apart from all the meeting ups it’ll be working! Its fun being a camp instructor when you get to handle those kids, and interact with them as well as looking after their welfare. It also made me realize that those small little details that I use to overlook when I was a camper myself makes a difference in people lives. Most importantly those Japs kids are seriously cute! And they can sing Majulah Singapura, literally my jaw dropped when they sang it during a forfeit where I asked them to sing a song together.  Had 2 camps that are being organized by the Japanese school and it really bring back memories during my time in japan, the culture, the food, the people make me really miss my time there. While reflecting back from the time I left Singapore till now, the things that I’ve done, the dreams that I’ve chased and the knowledge that I’ve gained is definitely worth the time and effort and the initial fear of leaving my comfort zone to experience something totally different.

Of course when you work hard you play hard! So after handling 3 camps within 2weeks its time for scuba diving again, it was redang that I planned to go but it turned out to be fully book, cuz I went to make enquiry just 3 days before my planned departure date -.-“  So I’m left with Tioman and it turned out well! I experience another kind of scuba diving, and it was really an eye opener for me because of the condition that I dive in. Stormy weather with choppy waves, sailing out in a sanpan  and diving into the stormy ocean, initially I thought it’ll only happen in Hollywood movies but I actually did that. I seriously wow-ed to myself after the whole thing ended and I guess there are still lots of things that I’ve yet to experience.

Well the past 5-6months was indeed fulfilling but those times that I’ve spent in Sec sch and RP was essential as well, as I believe that it helped shape me to what I am today and for the next 2 years of my life would be another kind of experience that would change my life as well. Theres no bad experience its just how you look at it and how to put what you’ve learnt to use. Everyone is just like a mass of clay going through obstacles in life helps mould that mass of clay into a beautiful sculpture and every sculpture would be different. So its 2 years of giving back to Singapore before I’m off to pursue my dreams again.

Signing off,

Dear Journal,

Alright I know these photos have been posted before but I was browsing through photos albums in my com with the hostfamily and explaining to them what’s happening in each photo. So while browsing through them lots of memories came back to me, especially during those RP days, having fun together, doing FYP, and lots more. 

Why good times have to end so quickly? In less than a month’s time which is on the 22^nd of May I would be back in Singapore the tropical city! Shouldn’t I be feeling happy? HAHS probably I’ve grown accustomed to the way of life in Japan and realize that it isn’t that bad afterall staying alone in a foreign country. Realized how our foreign friends felt when they came to RP to study, staying alone in Singapore for 3 years, have to adapt to the local culture and etc. As compared to them I’m like 4months only!? Haha probably after NS I would be a foreign student myself, and MICH I’ll see ya in Aussie in 2 year’s time! Hahas, probably you’ll get used to your life over there and wouldn’t want to come back!

A couple of days back my mum sent me an email informing me that they’ve received my enlistment letter from SAF! AWWW…. Its on 13^th June, oh man that’s like less than a month after I’ve returned to Singapore, that is so fast wouldn’t even have time for me to get my things done when I’m back, like passing my TP and taking the SAT test! Also I was hoping that I’m able to go Aussie before my NS, all these plans would be put on hold till I’ve completed my NS. SADL Bye freedom cya in 2years time…

Stop whining like a sissy! WAHHAHAS.

In Japan they have this period where they called it the golden week, there will be like 1week+ of public holiday in May and it’s the period where Japanese would go travelling! And I found this great offer on the newspaper where they bring you to Hokkaido for a 4d3n trip during the golden week and my hostfamily told me to sign up for the trip as its really worth it! And so its Hokkaido and Guam for me before Tekong. LOLS

Signing off,

Alright its time to blog again! Its mid April now and weather in Japan is getting hotter as each day passes, the highest it went to was like 28degree Celsius in the afternoon, OMG that’s like Singapore!

Tomorrow would be the start of my new Japanese course in a new school, and sure I’m looking forward to it! Went for the orientation and the students who are attending that school is around my age! 19-25 woots!

Something interesting happened yesterday! Grandma had free movie tickets to the movie Twilight(yea it just came out in Japan)and she went to watch it with her friends and told me about the it when she got home. I was so surprised that she watched it and told her that theres actually 4 series to it and we chat about it the whole night. LOLS! Even showed her the books and start pronouncing each word with her! HAHAS! Ok just amused that a 74year old grandma would watch twilight. Oh! Speaking about movies, movie tickets in Japan are hell lot more expensive than Singapore, guess whats the price of a movie ticket? S$30!! That’s like 3 times the price of a movie ticket in Singapore and yet we’re still complaining about how expensive our movie tickets are. LOLS!

Signing off,

Dear Journal,

This week I’ve been idling around and I hate it! My next course would only start on 13ths of April and ever since I’m back from my trip theres nothing much that I can do and it just doesn’t feel right to be rotting at home. Alright I did manage to find some recreational activities to keep my occupied, signing up for tennis courses and shopping! Ok I feel bad that I’m spending money again, especially on shopping when I told myself that I’m only allowed to shop on my last day in Japan but ended up shopping a month earlier. Tennis was my 2^nd choice, although it’s something that I’ve always wanted to learn as well, but initially I wanted to take up tennis and scuba diving, but even the scuba diving instructor itself discourage me to take it in Japan because, currently they do not have an English speaking instructor and my Japanese isn’t as fluent that incase of an emergency they’re worried that I couldn’t communicate with them. ARGH! So probably I’ll sign up for scuba diving when I’m back in Singapore -.-“ but still I think that my time in Japan is a good opportunity for me to pick up something new and its such a waste that I couldn’t learn scuba diving now! ARGH!!!

Its Sakura season now, with full bloom Sakuras all around Japan, and to the Japanese it’s a joyous occasion where they would have picnics under the Sakura trees and you’ll see tons of them on weekends, with boxes of bentos laying around and chit chatting while enjoying the view. It’s the first time I experience such occasion, because you don’t see that in Singapore and its fun especially when you can gather with a group of friends and enjoy your day in the garden just catching up with each other on their life, etc. Alright I don’t think it’ll happen in Singapore, because theres no Sakura in the Lion city! 

The feeling of being back to your comfort zone feels so good! Travelling to foreign countries can be fun and I’ve experience a lot, learnt a lot, asked a lot, see a lot and definitely enjoyed a lot! But being so used to Japan culture where people are gracious, polite and people do stuff orderly and I had a culture shock where I travelled to Korea and China. Don’t get me wrong; Koreans and the Chinese are friendly people! But their way of life is definitely different from the Japanese, they can just shout across the street to get the attention that they need and in China theres no queuing up probably because of the amount of people in their country (Chinese made up ¼ of the world’s population) they have to be competitive in order to get the things they want.

Its my first time backpacking alone and I’ve to admit that before the trip I’m really scared! Because there wont be anyone for me to rely on if I face any obstacles and I’ve to solve any upcoming problems on my own, the going is tough but the experience is unforgettable! Meet lots of people throughout my trip, made new friends, friendly passer-bys that provide me with information and help, scammers that tried to scam me and all these are just part of the experience you get while travelling so no matter if its good or bad, just accept it with and open heart and you’ll enjoy the trip!

I’ve learnt that no matter how hard you prepare for the trip, how much homework you’ve done before the trip you can never be really prepared for it, because lots of things occur unexpectedly and you’ll have to solve them on the spot, thus be mentally prepare that problems would occur at anytime of your trip! Haha only now I’ve realised how useful my problem solving skills are when problems occur unexpectedly and requires you to deal with it on the spot!

I’ve got to say that backpacking alone is a whole new kind of travelling, its completely different from travelling with friends and tour groups, it gives you the freedom and flexibility that you can change anything and everything last minute to your liking and don’t worry about being lonely because you get to meet lots of people throughout the trip as long as you have an open mind and a positive attitude! Out of all the people I’ve meet, this fellow backpacker left quite a deep impression in me, shes from England and shes backpacking alone for 8 months! Can you imagine how tough it’s going to be and she’s gonna travel through the Asia continent for that 8 months with English language as her only form of communication. OMG kudos to her… anyways learnt a lot from her and picked up a few tips from her on backpacking and things to lookout for. According to her plans she’ll be in Singapore in June so hopefully I’m not enlisted yet and I’ll be able to show her around Singapore, our Lion city! WAHAHHAAS!

That’s all for now, and I think I’ve grow accustomed to the life in Japan that I really felt a sense of relief when I touch down at Kansai Airport. Hopefully I can travel again before I get enlisted. *fingers crossed*

Best city visited: Beijing

Best Beach: Yongmeori Coast – Jeju

Best Architecture: Bird’s Nest – Beijing

Best Scenery: Great Wall of China

Best Moment: Pusan with my Korean friends

Toughest Moment: Climbing up Hallasan(2,000m in altitude) - Jeju

Worse Moment: Couldn’t get my train tickets from Beijing to Shanghai

Wheres the pictures? Facebook please… livejournal is bad at handling pictures.

Signing off,

Dear Journal,

Its time for some updating been rather busy recently, planning for my stay in Japan, ahh sad to say that my dad wants me to stay in Japan indefinitely till it time for my NS enlistment, which is kinda long! Hopefully I’m able to come to an agreement with him that I’ll stay for another 4weeks and back to Singapore on the 2^nd of May!(high chances of succeeding:P)Thank you for being so understanding regarding this issue that I’ve to extend my stay in Japan, I really do miss you and I hope to see you soon… <3 you!

Ok apart from all the admin stuff that I’m doing to prepare for my extended stay in Japan I’m rather stressed out with the planning of my own itinerary for my trip to Korea and China. Been doing lots of research for the past few days and hope to be fully prepared when I travel next weekend because it’s the first time I’m travelling alone and to a country where I’ve completely no knowledge of their language.  Wish me luck! I’m really scared but at the same time I do look forward to this experience!

Here are some of the photos that I’ve taken over the weekend, once again credit to the hostfamily for being so kind to bring me out for sight-seeing and this time round we’re at this island so where off the coast of Osaka to observe whirlpools forming, and we even board the ferry to get close up to the whirlpools, although I’m alittle disappointed that the whirlpools aren’t as big as what movies usually display them to be, nevertheless I enjoy this experience as it’s the first time I witnessing such a natural phenomenon happening.

Here are some pictures from the ballroom dance that I’ve went yesterday, I would have to say the dancers are superb as their moves are simply so powerful, accurate and elegant.
 

This is the first time I’ve been to a social dance party, and the people that are dance fanatics I would have to say, they grab every opportunity to dance and I manage t o see he 10 different ballroom dances and I really enjoy them, so envious of them that they could dance so freely! Probably if I have the chance I would like to take up dancing as well! Been chatting with this Japanese lady during the event and she told me about how popular these social dances are in America, Europe and even in Japan the craze is going up. She graduated from America and told me about their prom night over there, they would go to prom with the person they like and to be able to dance these beautiful dances in the ballroom and it’s really romantic! It’s a must for the teenagers over in Europe and America to learn social dance and being able to dance with their love ones during prom night is really fantastic.(OK I’m so jealous now!) Hmmm.. What about the culture in Singapore? What do we usually do during prom night, holding it in a ballroom and everyone is with their partner dancing elegantly in the ballroom? Haha! I don’t think so, prom night over here in Singapore would probably be dinner and clubbing? This really makes me wanna atleast in some point in my life graduate in America/Europe to be able to enjoy their prom night. To you: So shall we study abroad together?

Dear Journal,

This week have been pretty smooth sailing and before I knew it, its another week gone and everytime you look up at the calendar you can see that march is approaching which gives me some emotional relieve because it proves that time is actually flying! And in no time I would be back in Singapore. This are some week-old photos that I have stored in my phone, they are taken last weekend while attending this social dance competition with my hostfamily. As the grandma likes social dance a lot and the instructors are involved in the competition as judges we decided to attend the competition. The whole thing was held at this “expo” area in Osaka which is very much like Singapore Expo where its spacious with pieces of land left unused.

Dear Journal,

Its another weekend again, and credits to my hostfamily again as I get to visit other places in Japan again. they brought me to Kyoto again, although its my second time visiting Kyoto there are still lots of interesting places that I’ve yet to visit. So this time round we went to this castle made of pure gold! Omg  its said to be built for the kings to live in. these are some of the pics I took while on my way to the castle and while I’m in that area.

Alright its bamboo forest after visiting the castle, its magnificent to be surrounded by bamboo as you’re seriously being surrounded by tall trees and it really makes you feel short.

Alright basically that’s all for Saturday.

Signing off,

Been rushing through new moon in the morning and forgot to bring my camera along therefore the pictures taken might not be up to standard as its taken from my phone.

Its another free day for me today, so its time for another round of exploration of Osaka city, had the Osaka city map from the tourist information counter and decided to go to the “Orchard road” of Osaka. As usual as school ends and after I had my lunch, armed with a map in hand and a mp3 to keep my entertained throughout my journey I’m ready to set off. It’s a 1 hour walk from my school to Shinsaibashi which is the town area of Osaka. So along the way didn’t manage to take lots of pictures, firstly due to the fact that I didn’t bring my camera along and using my handphone to snap pictures is rather inconvenient thus theres only 1 photo to share.

Alright so after walking around town, this area is also famous for their “American street” which is at the back alley of those high end boutiques. so I make a turn in and to my surprise the back alley is so much livelier than the main road and its not thus dark unsafe back alley that are shown in the movies rather its like a shopping area for youngsters! And I have to admit it does have a tinge of America style in it as you can see the graffiti on the walls as well as shops blasting R&B music.

Sensing that its going to rain as the sky is getting cloudy I decided to make a U turn back home, probably next week I would visit Namba which is another place where youngsters frequent but its like another 2km away from Shinsaibashi which means there would be more walking! Yes and as expected halfway through walking home it started to rain, haha but I’ve my umbrella along with me! So yea after about 2hours of walking I finally reachedhome and now its time for a nap as my legs are aching from all the walking I had!

Signing off,

Dear Journal,

Picasa(its a photo editing program) is driving me crazy! I’ve no idea what I pressed and it deleted all my photos in my memory card, which means pictures that I’ve took in Japan are all gone! OMG~ LOLS I wanna post about the before and after of pictures of the puzzle I made, but seems like I can only post the completed 1 now, as the undone pictures are all gone! Yea so here goes.

Happy Valentine’s Day :)



Signing off,