Year End blues

in a few hours time, its gonna be the end of the year and the start of next year. and now is really the time to feel the year end blues. an extremely emo period or day, thinking of the next year coming and reflecting on the year past. first to backtrack a few days..

christmas time! this year's christmas was really like a shadow. i so didnt feel it at all. makes it seem like this christmas was a really lousy one, but in fact it was better than some of the previous ones, just that my standards and expectations has increased. i remember how i used to feel the 'festivity in the air' every december when i was young. i was excited and anticipating. now, the only thing that brought out the festivity was the decorations all around. i knew christmas was coming, but my heart wasnt prepared. and neither was it when it did come. i hardly got into the mood at all. there was mission trip christmas party, C@BV, jym christmas party, christmas service and gatherings, but nothing really so big and invoking of the christmas spirit. before i knew it, christmas was over. (by right its still christmas now, but everyone is out of the mood by now.) sometimes i see the decorations that are still up and the christmas tree in my living room, and it takes me a while before i suddenly realise, oh, christmas is over already! somewhere deep inside me thinks it still has not come yet!
oh how i hate shadow christmas. all thanks to all the stupid projects that totally spoils the mood for celebration. nevermind, im sure next year's will be much better!

SP just 'welcomed' its new principal this semester, and that smart guy is the one responsible for setting the start of the new term for all SP students on 28th dec! never before have i had a new school term starting just before the new year!! so in school it sometimes feel like the new year has come already. then i realise, its still 2008. especially when the lecturers say ' see you all next year!' ... seriously weird and confusing for my bio calendar. plus its also unusual for students to be so busy with school work at the end/start of the year. work really numbs the sense of time.

now before the new year comes, i shall think of my new year wishes, goals and resolutions. in general i just wish for another year of good growth. growth as in a really wide term. and i look forward to some of the things coming up in the next year... like the end of my poly studies and my attachment. thats a really big thing.
Situations have not been so good to me this year, but God certainly has. ironic? i dont think so.

i can now see that many people everywhere are having year end or new year parties. theres stuff going on at the function room, bbq pit, along and in the pool. lots of people gathering and enjoying themselves. just now there was 3 pretty little girls in pink, yellow and white princess dresses playing with the fish downstairs. not to forget the siloso countdown beach party or the one at marina that many of my classmates are going. wished i had such parties going on for me too. but i guess a nice drink and the watchnight service later would do for passing the year.

Christmas @ BV

Time to post about christmas @ BV. first of all, it came at a rather bad timing, when my project group is all in singapore and ready to chiong through the projects. i had to plead with them to let me off on saturday, but i really had to go on sun. not only that, it had to be on the last sunday before christmas, which is when the mood is highest among the church, and whatever christmas events can be held. fine, C@BV is a christmas event, but it had to be secularised because its for the general public. it also took 2 days off my time for doing projects, card writing and blogging. still, i had to give that up cos i knew C@BV was gonna be worth the time.

So, i was supposedly in the committee for this event but i missed a few of the meetings, then there was a long silence before it until suddenly i was told i am in charge of one out of the 20+ groups helping out at c@bv. and i didnt have to prepare anything. so i was kinda relieved i didnt have extra work to my load to rush, just go there on the day itself to help out like all the rest.

i was posted to look after the Slide. was kinda sian at first cos i wanted a games stall. but it turned out that the slide is actually one of the most fun activity to handle. a far superiority over its counterpart, the bouncing castle. i understand why the castle is unpopular in the first place just as it is - its small, dark and boring; all you do is jump around. interest expires before the time limit. only to make it worse, it had the added feature of aromatheraphy inside it, which obviously didnt appeal to many ppl, including me. i could smell it from the slide. some kids actually got out of the castle after a minute complaining of the smell, and the parents would demand refunds. but no can do, coupons already torn and dropped in. solution? transfer over to the slide! just as well anyway. whatever u can do at bouncing castle, can be done at slide too. they should have figured it out..

being in charge of the slide, i had full rights to be on it, and at the same time play with it. i could play all day on the slide and still not get fully bored of it. just wish it could be higher. and i think its the only activity that i can play all i want without seeming like im exploiting it. unlike all those game stalls, where the helpers arent allowed to play at all, or risk getting scolded by the Ringo uncle. other activity stalls which were not so interesting or had poor business (its interrelated), had its helpers come over to be calefare at the slide. so i always had more helpers than needed, and i could go on break whenever i wanted. in fact, more than 2/3 of the manpower put into the slide came from those not in slide groups. several jymers came over and wanted to play... i made some of them pay and they did, others who pestered me to let them on, gave them discount. but those who offered help, i let them in free. then i went off to sip some mango lassi...

the bad side of being in the slide - sunburn. headache/dizziness from all the bouncing. abrasion from slide. got abrasions on both elbows and knees.

on to overview of the activities. games were way overpriced. no way i would wanna play them. what, $3 to roll 3 balls on an uneven panel, with (assuming equal probability) 1/81 chance of getting 9 points, for which u just get a stupid monkey. the block buster and rifle thing aint any better. but the worst is the wheel of fortune. its $3 for one spin, and theres just so much probability of getting 1 point, for a really dumb SHAMPOO SAMPLE or small toy worth less than $1! getting 3 points is like.. 1/16 chance? then again, just a stupid monkey. these poor BV citizens just dont realise how much theyre being cheated. no offences.

bouncing castle and slide, to think of it, its really expensive. for previous carnivals it was $2 for 5 mins and it was already ex, now worse! still, it had really good business and the parents paid so willingly for the child play. unexpected of these supposedly needy BV residents... but i understand why they would still pay for it.. $3 for a fun new experience isnt so bad after all.
the boat thing was not worth though. its not even fun.. the boats are slow and have to peddle it yourself. such a small play area also, and no tricks and stunts to do. gets real boring. the water ball is ok though. relatively. sustainable interest, maybe even repeated. if i could, i would go in with another guy and play wrestling. would end up like tau pok instead. the motor car thing... boring. but would be good if the car was faster and had a bigger 'race course'.

food.. some were ok, some cheap, some really ex and unworth. good buys were mango lassi, intanbul chicken, honey aloe vera, maybe ramli burger. bad buys were doner kebab, (fake) sharks fin soup, jelly at drinks stall, and worst of all.. fried durian! the rest were quite ok. both days, spent all my coupons on those good buys, except for $2 spent on books.

talking about the 2nd hand bookstore, i think its a really good idea, a win-win situation for stall owner, book donator and book buyer. too bad im not a bookworm, if not ill really swipe up all the books there. (ivan didnt go there i believe...judging by the books remaining.) but i managed to get 2 chicken soups with the price of 1 miserable fried durian. kept it there for safekeeping, but forgot to collect it =.='

as for all the other stalls, didnt pay much attention to them cos aint interested at all. those like sand art, henna, engine oil (dunno whats this about), balloon sculpting, CDs and the eraser art pieces. more a family thing.

performances were quite entertaining some of them. such as the yoyo, spk choir, some of the bands and choirs. the rubbish bin hitters were fine, but by the third time i had to cover my ears. i can see alot of preparation went into the performances, but the audiences were really few, and mostly our own people. no complaints though - i get to enjoy them.
as for the lucky draw.. i dont know how people get so many. but one thing that really spoiled it is that the contents were never cleared out. so even at the last draw, the very first ticket still stands to win. like this, it only encourages people to buy all the tickets they can before 3pm on sat, and none on sun. i was suddenly given like 10 tickets at the end of saturday.. which had to be put into a box already half full with tickets.

not forgetting, the street soccer competitions at the other side. the NTSS team was fighting over socks with some other team... watched for a while, not very entertaining though. cause im not a soccer fan. but i got nice free 100 plus. if it were so easy

ok thats all i have to say about C@BV, guess i covered it all. in conclusion, it was a great event, a good idea. would be great to have something like that again next year, at another place, but earlier! not so dangerously close to christmas.

Mission Over

The mission trip has come to an end and it was a really great one. so much better than the first time i went. today was just spent packing up and making the bus ride back home in the morning.
when it first started and a day passed, i thought its gonna be such a long time there, away from home, and felt a bit homesick and occasionally worried that i left something undone at home or left out any items and preparations for the 9 days. but as the days went by, i got more and more accustomed to the place and the lifestyle and by the time it was the last day, it felt like it passed so fast and its sad it had come to an end.

Thank God for the great mission trip. there was no serious obstacles to the plans (except for the cancellation of the tracking with Bukit Panjang ppl to make time for rehearsals), no situation or time where i really suffered in any way. in other words, it was a comfortable mission trip. there was a fair share of free time, though not very much. but thats not a bad thing cos all its so much better to have the day filled with meaningful activity. whats really great about this mission trip's activities is that it was constructive, meaningful, enriching, enjoyable and fun at the same time. such is the joy of service.

not only that, there was growth in the social area too. through the mission trip was i able to get to understand many of my fellow trippers much better. indeed the best way to get to know people is when working with them. i also managed to make friends with some of the malaysian kids who attended our programs. exchanged email adds with 2 of them, and for the rest we probably would lose contact, but if we are fated to meet again, we shall.

More details shall be coming up...
this trip serves as a good appetiser for the jym mass missions in june next year. they sound like theyre gonna be just as good or better. but this time the timing is just not on my side; school term starts just when the missions does. so its quite likely i will be forced to miss this great opportunity. for now until then, ill just have to pray that it will be brought earlier, or that i can afford to skip the first week of school. May God make a way for me...

Whats next..

alright, camp is over. perhaps Acacia didnt score that well as i might have expected, but we still rocks anyway! fun level was below expectations. seen a lot of effort put into the activities, but the people affects too. sessions were great though. can really catch our attention and learn a lot of them.

recollections for each subsequent camp seems to be getting shorter and shorter... maybe ill spend more time on it when a really impactful camp comes. but for now, i shall cut out all the in-between time fillers and minor activities and just point form the main ones. so it would be just 1 or 2 posts in the recollections blog. i don want it to end up like all of the other recollections which remains incomplete till today (except CADC FOC... achievement!) dont really count the shah alam one since its so summarised.

ok camp's down... so fast. juggling it with study and exams sure spoiled much fun, but at least its better than last year's situation. well, my last test for the term has ended yesterday, but hardly had any time to myself after that. now looking forward to the mission trip and christmas stuff.

Door to door buona vista outreach was... rather unfruitful as it seems. more than half of the homes had nobody in. not surprising actually that ppl arent at home on a saturday afternoon at 4+. but for those who were at home, most of them were recpetive. only a few thought we were salesmen or were paranoid. just 3 floors of 1 block in 3 sections, but it took longer than expected even with all the empty homes we had to skip. all the other groups of ppl finished faster than us and were done by the time we finished just section A and B... they must have really skipped those homes which looked empty, or didnt really wait after knocking. I waited at least 30secs for every home. there were not as many old people or those who cant speak english as i thought. but all we saw were rather ordinary folk, no interesting characters, other than a catholic man with a cool name 'Alphonsus'. flyers were printed in way excess amount.

ok, time to pack up for the mission trip... i pray it will be good! Yeah good is really vague, but exactly, it should encompass everything. looking forward to a fun, enriching and fruitful time. cheerios!

mixed season

Finally, ive got my new laptop! perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that my previous one spoiled. cos it was not worth repairing so in the end i got a new, much better one! yeah, its my christmas present from my parents. its been more than a month since its breakdown. happened during the project period and caused very much inconvenience, but i still survived and managed to do all i needed. sacrifice some comp time, joel had to sometimes also, and the biggest help was the school comp lab. now im gonna be so busy with stuff in the next 3 weeks i probably wont have much time to spend with my new toy. but it would come in handy for the term starts, when maddening piles of projects are heaped on us. 

now im spending a little time just before i sleep to get mentally prepared for the camp in several hours time... still hasnt really sank into me that its gonna be camp time soon!

maybe because what i did just before - studying. euh, im still rather pissed at this really unfavourable time to have test week. cant enjoy myself and feel so happy cos annoying studies clogs my mind. but still, thankful that the whole 2nd and 3rd day is uninterrupted and i only miss up to the amazing race. 

and soon after the camp, its gonna be mission trip! which means i only have sat to pack my stuff and do whatever misc things before i go. i hope ppl dont organise outings during the time im away... after that still coming up chritsmas at BV and then christmas celebrations and events... gonna be such a packed time until the end of the year. packed with things to look forward to, and yet squeeze in time to do 5 projects... ouch. 

that i shall worry about later. for now, its just camp ahead.

i have the strong feeling that Acacia is gonna rock! oh yeah. even though theres only a few older ones... still we can.