Festivity over

hmm i just realised this is the 50th post of the year! nice number. i shall not spoilt it.

its now 26th december, and the spirit of festivity has seemed to have totally vanished. something is terribly wrong this year. in the past years, even a month before christmas day, the 'festivity is in the air' mood would be instilled in me, and grows stronger as it nears the day itself. after which it would decline rapidly but still last a few days.

this year the mood was hardly there.. much weaker than last year, despite some supposed mood-stirring events like the TC christmas play (the failure which i wouldnt wanna talk about.) i think i only started getting the mood like 5 days before christmas.

this christmas has also been better for me in the social area - twice as many cards given and received, though some ppl really do the cards a disservice by writing less than 10 words. plus, 2 presents from jymers compared to 0 last year. and 4 presents from relatives. but i guess its hard to buy presents for me cos whatever i want is either not for sale or too expensive.
but yet the mood left me so fast.

something funny about christmas that applies to almost everyone - it is prepared for and sometimes celebrated as far as 2 months before, but yet after 25th dec, there aint anymore celebrations. the tree may be still up for awhile, but nobody appreciates it anymore once that day is over. but by right, it should be the opposite. i mean have some preparations before, then celebrations on christmas eve and day, plus for another 11 days after. thats whats the "12 days of christmas" thing is all about.

maybe one of the causes of this is.... poly! argh. only give me 2 weeks of break, and even then theres assignments and exams ahead, it so spoils the mood. so to those who want to enjoy a good christmas, one of the factors is not to go to poly.

O where art thou, christmas?
i thought i found u,
but now youve gone away...

eww sounds so emo. hope for better mood this cny. aritem off.

Camp Shout Part 2

we had a quick supper then slept at 2. awkening next morning at 8.30. not enough sleep for me. at least they excused me from stretches an warmups, and after breakfast i went to school.

on the bus, there was this crazy old woman talking loudly to anyone nearby who would hear. she was saying stuff about religion or christianity... not sure if shes actually for or against it. i went over to sit just behind her but still cant hear clearly. heard "satan" and "devil" a few times. she seemed to be condemning. she also mentioned that shes from japan, and many ppl doubt japanese christians. then she took out a old, torn and rugged bible with a bookmark that showed a young woman's picture. she said " i am this woman in the bible!" then some other stuff that suggested shes some great historical figure. at the next bus stop, the bus driver stood up and said "auntie, u come here la. stand beside me and teach me. no need to shout in the bus."

my school ended an hour early, and i could have gone to join everyone at west cost for afternoon games without having missed much of it, but i had earlier told my friend who was in the finals of some ambassador competition that i would be there to support her that afternoon. well that turned out to be a good choice cos the afternoon game was cancelled due to rain and i reached church just in time for everyone else to return, wet and deprived of the fun war game.

while everyone was Qing up for the toilet cubicles, i wrote another letter to my mortals and this time gave some sweets. i found a fruit tips in my sock and a even worse-handwriting reply saying hes not left handed, but deliberately writing bad. joyce had no clue who her angel was. sometimes i try to ask questions. she also told my group during dinner about her angel and expected it to be a younger guy. perhaps im younger at heart. its kinda fun to hear ppl talking abt me when they dont know who theyre talkin abt.

the last camp dinner was very obviously the best. western cuisine of pork chop or chicken chop with coleslaw, fries and spags. the last camp session after dinner took really long. cos after the sermon was the altar call session, which usually takes up half the time. much greater response from everyone this time. but somehow less ppl went into sobbing or isolation mode. and halfway thru, due to a sudden surge of comfort, i started laughing. but im not crazy.

our last supper was also the best. 4 whole boxes of donut factory donuts, which are the best donuts i eaten to date. and i finally found out where evryone goes to at night and leaving the place feeling so empty. dunno y the debriefs had to be done in such a cramped n secluded place. i hanged around doing nth much.. picking some food and waited until a the horde of committee members emerged from the aplha office at 2am. then i decided not to stay up longer since theres nth to do, and set the record as the first to sleep. apparently some didnt sleep at all.

nothing much happened on the last day of camp, as was for most of other camps as well. the last few hours are just spent packing up, cleaning the place and doing wraping up procedures like presentation of prizes and revelation of angels. my angel turned out to be a younger guy, which is Isaac. he generously put in 2 more chocolates b4 giving me my sock. joyce was sitting at a corner waiting for her angel to appear. then when i gave her her sock she took a while to believe me cos it turned out im an elder guy who has been around her thru the camp, listening to whatever she said about her angel. as for joel, he was emotionless when i gave im his sock.

the mayans achieved the 9th position.... out of 9 groups. This time we couldnt say "at least we are not last." But oh well, we may be last, but definitely not least!! =)

Camp Shout Part 1

no more detailed camp accounts like for the past few ones. they somehow get started but never get done. i shall get this done in 1 or 2 posts.

starting on dec 12, on the last week n my school term. what a bad timing. bringin it forward just 1 week would allow me to go for the whole camp. i went to school in the morning and only managed to join the rest in sentosa at about 1. my group was the mayans.. not sure why all the camp groups were named after ancient civilisations. missed the icebreakers and my group was delayed in set off cos they were waiting for me.

well i might as well have missed it then. we had to go to checkpoints around sentosa to find our next clue. it might have been fun if there wasnt the risk of wasting lots of time and energy. the checkpoints were such that we just went back n forth along the beaches like some repetitive patroling session. got us all tired and bored. plus the clues were confusing. thank goodness my group was really small so we were less likely to get slowed down by any slow ones in the team. at the last part we had to solve 5 riddles. but nevertheless, we didnt do very well either.

halfway through the game my classmates called me to settle some project mess that i left behind for them. presentation the next day, and still some tweaking to be done. the situation got complicated cos i wouldnt be going home so i have no access to my laptop. so they were saying like "wah thanks lah. u go sentosa to party then we have to edit for u. u dun wan to prepare nvm.. tmr u better know what to say. go enjoy ur ****ing holiday la." but obviously after they told me abt the situation i couldnt really enjoy myself anymore...

when we returned to church i went to get my mortal. but i accidentally drew 2 names and realised too late, so i had 2 mortals. and so happens one was my brother, the other my camp group leader. bath time is letter writing time for me. i wrote my first note to my group leader.

after dinner we had the 1st camp sermon, then group discussion. only now did the campers get their copy of the camp booklet. the next activity scheduled was the night games alr, which ends too late so i decided to go home and prepare for tmr's presentation. and at the same time get to bathe in my nice bathroom and sleep in my comfortable bed.

i came back to church the nextday at 11+. lunch was scheduled at 11.30, so i planned to go thr, eat lunch, then return to school at 12 for 3 lectures. but it turned out the 2nd sermon lasted so long tat we only ate lunch at ard 12.30. i figured its not worth going back to school for just 1+ hours of lectures and miss the afternoon games for that. it was the first time i deliberately pon lectures.

i found a angels note in my sock. i immediately expected my angel to be an elder guy.
it had bad handwriting, and said that i would get a surprise after the movie that night. judging from the handwriting i really thought it was left handed. but i guess i was wrong.

the afternoon game was at changi airport. we were given lots of question to answer by finding the specific places around the airport where the ans can be found, eg the price of some item sold at a shop in the airport. plus there were pictures to take, eg with a pilot, and items to obtain, eg a harry's bar napkin. that was the 1 thing that i felt screwed up the gameplay. it was worth 150 points. thats so much that any team who got it would have no problem beating another team that doesnt. and the way of getting it is not through skill, but more of luck. it was very hard to obtain, but not because its a very hard to find place, but cos its not even accessible to us. so we had to somehow find someone who has access and persuade them to help us get the napkin. which of course is a 1 in a thousand chance. then the aztecs were very lucky to remember that elza was so happens flying off at that time, so they called her to get some napkins for them. and they utilised their advantage by trading their access napkins with the other 2 americans in exchange with all our brochures and napkins. that harry's bar thing shouldnt have been put in. the mayans managed to achieve the most varoety of zo cards and straws. but still, 8th position. well at least not last.

during bath time aka angel-mortal time, i found a cadbury boost in my sock. and that was supposedly the surprise. came too early, and didnt surprise me. but just that gift alone made him more generous than many other angels who gave just a few sweets, notes or none.

this time i could say over at church before going to school the next day. schools at 10.. got some time to spare before sleep. so i could stay for the whole evening's events. after dinner theres the 3rd sermon and then some movie time. it wasnt really a movie, just a short documentary on the persecutions of christians in some asian countries and how the christians live with it.

before the movie i went to the main toilets and found a group of ppl, both guys and girls, gathered inside the male toilet. some in army uniform. they were very surprised and i just went away. then adrian came up to whisper to me, "whatever u saw just now keep it to urself ok.." so i was mentally prepared for the underground church game that started quite abruptly after the movie. at least this time there was a short game briefing, unlike the previous time i played it in pri6 which left us confused. but the starting was nice. junxu said lets pray... then suddenly the red guards ran in and started shouting at us to get out. a nice shocker to give us a jump start.

the christian role is the most boring role in the game. i spend the first 15 minutes just walking around the church in countless rounds waiting for some pastor to reveal himself to me. but apparently all of them were too scared of informers. my first service attended was busted before it actualy began, and later i only managed to attend 1 fully. the game ended just when i was being caught in another service. yay no tortures.

in need indeed.

a few months ago i was at the bus stop beside dover MRT after some cca which lasted until night, when i was approached by someone for help by giving money. I refused to help him even though i had the money cos i doubted him.

then yesterday it happened again. this time it was a young man who couldnt speak much english and had a funny accent... duno wheres he from. looks quite malay, though.

he told me he left his wallet in the taxi after alighting. his girlfren was stil in the cab, but not contactable. so he wanted money for taking mrt. i asked which station hes going to, and i couldnt understand him even after many repeats cos of his accent. i finally realised its Boon Keng station. he said it like phuket.

there was still a loophole - why should he drop off at dover when he lives at boon keng which is so far away? i doubt hes a SP student. but still he sounded more convincing then the previous.

he said he needed $5, and i was taken aback by the amount. but he said he would return it to me. i didnt think so. i checked my wallet.. i had some coins, a $10 and $2 note. so i offered him $2, saying thats all i have. we were doubtful that $2 could pay for his ride, then i recommended taking bus. 2 bux could afford a ride there if he knew what to take.

then he asked for my number and address so that he could return the money. either he did that to gain trust or that he really was so willing to repay kindness he would find me and return a miserable $2. either case, i didnt want him coming to find me, and i still doubted he would find me. plus its only $2. so i just said "you take, you take. no need find me."

what happened next was rather unexpected. from the plastic bag he was carryng, he took out and gave me a 87g box of Meiji macadamia chocolates! by this its confirmed that he was not a fake. that box sure costs more than $2. and its delicious. heh.

so it does pay to be helpful. sometimes. for all i know, if i had helped that old man, he may have given me some antique jewellery! haha.