What next?

Sorry for not blogging for such a long time. Been real busy these few days, especially this week.

For what it's worth, compliments of the season to all! Yeah Christmas was fun. Routine, and a little boring, but at least I got to see most of my cousins. Godpa, Auntie Girl and Kyle couldn't come over from Toronto, cuz Kyle's got exams, I think. Sean's grown his hair quite long (slightly longer than mine) but he just finished A Levels, which means he's gonna be enlisted soon. His poor hair. Everybody's all good. Heather doesn't take such an adverse reaction to me anymore; guess she's kinda used to seeing me around. Met an aunt whom I apparently haven't seen for 5 years, although I can't remember much from 5 years ago. Joshua's grown a lot, and he was literraly bouncing off the walls up to the point that Daryl got fed up a bit. Most of us did, actually. And Juvena's the only cousin who's over 20... haha! Well Janell will be join her next year I guess.

Christmas eve mass was good, but packed, up to the point that they ran out of hosts for communion. Craziness! My grandma's done away with the age-long family tradition of going to midnight mass, prolly cuz she's getting tired. So went for 2130 mass and met Victoria and her parents there. One thing I love about Christmas is how I get to dress up at least this one time of the year.

Presents were nice. Estee Lauder Beyond Paradise! OMG cool!

Christmas day was visiting my other grandma (Mum's mum). So nice to see a few of my relatives again. Eva's grown so much I almost didn't recognise her. Chuckie was so hyper when he ran into the house, he started jumping up at everybody like he always does (to my Godma's annoyance), but he immediately piped down when he saw Biscuit, uncle Kelvin's Golden Retriever. Poor Chuck, intimidated by another dog twice his size at least.

Can't remember what I did on Boxing Day, but I sure wasn't attending Boxer's Day mass with Ignatius.

Tuesday and Wednesday was OGL camp! Yes you heard right, I'm an OGL muahaha! The weird thing about OGL camp is that you meet people you've never seen before in your entire life, even though you've been in the same school as them for a year. Lots of stuff at OGL camp; dry games, wet games, placard making, mass dance. Aargh the mass dance is so complicated! I haven't got it down properly yet. Couple dance is fun, if only I had someone meaningful to do it with. It's still fun, though! Best part of being an OGL is that you can keng the first week of school, which is good cuz I have no idea what my holiday homework is, much less done it. Talk about a bad start eh?

Thursday and Friday was kayaking one start course. If only I hadn't fallen sick during the June course, or I wouldn't have to go for this. Haha but it was still fun! Go for one start course to practice the two start moves Kit taught me. Wahaha!

After first day of kayaking went shopping! Haha I'm beginning to like shopping, especially when I have an objective and when I get what I'm looking for. Went to Suntec City to look at the Salomon sale. Bought cycling pants (the ones with the padding at the groin) at more than 50% off! Wanted to buy the all condition shoes... at $38!! Cheaper that Nike and prolly better! But I already have a pair (Power...cheap brand). Must not overspend my Christmas money, or I'll kenna kp again.

Decided to detour to Tower Records. I'm impressed... They have the new Norma Jean album, O God The Aftermath, in stock. Bought that too. w00t! Think I'll go put that on now. Heard they got a new lead singer, so dunno if I'll like it as much as Bless The Martyr Kiss The Child. Ah well... holon...

Sounds good! Hehe...

After that I did something I've been meaning to do for a while: went to Sim Lim Square and, after a bit of scouting around, I bought a RAM module for my com! 512 MB DDR1... Now my com has 1 GB of RAM! Wahaha! Now I need to clear some hard disk space, maybe get a new one, and a new graphics card (which will set me back a bit, so not till Chinese New year) and then I can buy FEAR! Wahaha! Or maybe I can buy it now and play on low res till I get a new card. Anybody selling? GeForce MX 9800 or higher?

Well the year's as good as over, and like last year, I don't feel any different. In fact, this year is even worse. Meng Nan asked me to go for the countdown party with him, Fishy and Pai Kia, but I had to go to my Grandma's house. Doubt my mood would've been different there. Would it? Dunno...

School starts next week. I'm so out of the school mood I almost can't spell school. Ah well....

One year of school left, and then it's off to the army, then to university, then hopefully to RSAF. I can't imagine myself in the future. I just have this feeling. Pretty soon, I don't know what, but something is going to happen. Haha I like that song... Norma Jean... Life is getting shorter. There's this saying I heard "Life can't be considered short, cuz it's the longest thing you'll ever get to do" Haha and I agree to it, but I just feel that none of this will last. Scary, but yeah that's what I feel. Sorry for feeling so depressive on New Year's eve, but it's what I feel everyday.

Well enough of that. See you next year!

Let's all trade prezzies in our undies

Went for the reconciliation service at OLPS church on Monday. Met Cheryl and Big Joe at Tampines MRT, and apparently they were the only ones going. Dumb Edwin was busy playing disease somewhere in town.

The whole while, from when I was changing at home to the mass itself, I kept thinking about what I was going to say to the priest. I hadn't been to confession for months, maybe years. Wasn't that hard when I went through the mass. Everything covered in the litany more or less applied to me at some point of my life or the other. So that's what I told the priest, thereby having told him everything without actually having to go through the juicy details, which I couldn't bear to. If there really was a Santa, he'd probably start a new coal factory just for me. Saw Victoria there with her parents, which further reminded me of what happened that night.

On the bus from church, I got a call from Ignatius:

I: HELLO RUSSELL AH? TML ON ANOT?
R: *wincing* Huh? Wads tml?
I: Dunno lah you said that recreation thing.
R: *momentarily confused* No, you mean the reconciliation thing... oops. Did I tell you that was tml? Sorry it was today.

That was an honest mistake, really! I forgot it was on Monday too until a few hours before we met when I went to doublecheck.

Okie here's the spastic part *convo continues*
I: SO ARE YOU GOING FOR CHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT MASS?
R: *wincing again and wishing he'd stop shouting into the phone like he always does* No, I'm going for the 2130 mass and then going for family reunion, like every year.
I: Ok okie. Then maybe we can all go for mass together, like maybe on Boxer's Day or something.

omg lmao that deserves a spot in pwnage quotes

Then we went to Cheryl's house to 'ton. Small Joe and Jul were already there, watching Small Joe play FF7. Spent the night telling dumb stories (haha Darwin awards), joking, stoning, playing Cheryl's guitar and stuff. Jul was playing free disease. Dunno it was a bit sian watching her do pq, especially when the dumbass leader wouldn't listen to her suggestions when she turned out to be right. And the idiot completed his quest, but couldn't get item cuz hes inventory was full. You see? MS kills brain cells! Fortunately I know people that can withstand MS' stupidifying powers and still have fun out of the game. Bless them.

I cudn't sleep for most of that night. I've been having problems sleeping these few days, cuz I always stay up late. Never feel like sleeping, unless I'm absolutely dead tired. Didn't sleep that night till 5 plus 6. A lot of things going through my head, especially that night.

Just bought Star Wars: Battlefront II. Cool game! Haha... gonna play some more later. Will update, unless I have better things to update about.

Shopping!

Wednesday was King Kong day! Met Alex, Pui Kia, Pai Kia and Cute Boy at Century Square. Was supposed to meet them at 1400 I think. Woke up at 1415.

When I finally met up with them, we went off to play CS for a while. Pai Kia is cheap with an AWP up to the point that it isn't fun anymore.

Everyone: OIE Roy! Dun use arctic liao leh!
Roy: Okie okie... I use scout can?

CS was fun lah. I was better than I expected, especially since I can't remember the last time I played with a human player. Wheeee.... I think my best performing weapon might be the MP5, although I still like the M4. Need to practice!

We went for our 1730 movie. Well they bought tickets for 1730. At 1720 we went to the ticket tearing auntie, but she said our theatre movie had already started. I look at my ticket, and i said 1630. Wtf? So we went to kao peh the box office lady, and she took a pen and changed our stubs. Went in at 1740 for our 1730 movie, which didn't start till 1800. The movie was long, which is how I like my movies, and it was really cool! Really nice.

After that, we went to Long John's for makan, and then Roy, Alex and I went to Fisherman's Village to meet Dadi and Meng Nan for a few drinks. Didn't stay long, cuz next day had to leave for Malaysia, and I hadn't even packed.

Malaysia trip from Thurday to Saturday was okie. Rather routine; shop, visit relatives, stuff like that. For once I did a lot of shopping. Dunno why... didn't feel like shopping, but maybe it was seeing a whole rack of G2000 jackets going at RM 99 at Makhota Parade when the hidden shopper in me was awoken. Haha lame. Well bought a lot of sports and Christmas apparel, so I'm finally set for those things. Now for some reason I feel sick, not to mention fat. I wonder if I can get in a bit of cyclig after church and before Kim's party. Yeah Kim's advance birthday party is tml, or later, so yeah. Hope got camera.

Photo Journal 1 (Photos!!!)

Somebody wants photos?! I'll give you photos!!

Lol relax was just kidding

These are shots from the day I went to watch Goblet Of Fire with my Indian Brothers (and one mangen)

My brother from another mother

This picture proves that I REALLY can't smile to save my own ass.

Karthik: Patricia Mok?! No way man she's downright fugly!

Dinesh: ... shuddup and let me stare at her in peace... hee hee.... *stupor*

Presenting the people of the day (from left to right): Ah Bush (photospoiler... lol kidding), Dinesh, Dhana, me and Karthik

Front row: The mysterious rubber band! *dum dum dum duuuuuuum*

Don't ask me why Dhana is covering his balls like that, cuz not even he can tell me.

Look closely at the pic. The rubber band switched places! Haha actually we took a few shots before we saw it in the photos and picked it up, but later we put it back there cuz we thought it was funny.

Emo shot

Lol we look like a band. Wish we were, cuz that would imply that I can actually play something. Maybe I'll just do vocals. Some people would agree that I'm a good screamer.

Eclipse
We got creative with this one

HAVE YOU SEEN THESE PEOPLE?

The end of the day. Wish it didn't end man, it was great fun.

Kudos to Dhana for the pics!

Taman Negara pics WILL be up soon, as soon as I figure out how to get past the low-res problem. So will HTTC chalet pics.

Chinese Fireball! Ooooooooohhh...

After an extended leave of absence, I'm back! Lol... have been at the Teens Connect chalet, which is, sadly, the last planned chalet for me this holiday. Anyway...

Thursday: Met Ignatius and Sam at Pasir Ris at 12. Together, we went to Costa Sands Downtown East, where we met Edwin and checked in. Apparently, though, we could only go in at 1430, so we had to loiter around for a bit, eat lunch, take lame neoprints and do Sam' s surveys. When we finally got in, we just sat down, and chatted, and had a crack at the Xbox. I wanted to get some sleep, cuz I was up the whole night watching Benfica squish Man U out of the Champions League (my favourite part was when Ronaldo gave the crowd the finger). Was woken up rather unceremoniously by Cheryl, who inexpicably decided to kneel beside the bed I was on and loom over me until I saw her and got such a shock I nearly flew off the bed.

Frist day was rather uneventful, relatively. People just came in and out, until there were just Small Joe, Edwin, Iggy, Cheryl and me (poor Cheryl). Played Xbox, had Canadian pizza and tried to cram in that room and go to sleep. Wheeeee...

Friday: Woke up late. Can't remember much about this day, except that it was our barbecue day. Went to White Sands with Iggy, Small Joe, Cheryl, Jul and Yvonne for lunch and to buy stuff for the barbecue. The girls made the guys carry all the stuff back.

Barbecue was fun. Edwin came after we got back, with his chocolate fondue set. Sam, Victoria, Big Joe and Desmond (with his friend Sandra) came later. Barbecue was spent eating, joking and everything else you do at a barbecue. We had honey glazed sausages, honey glazed fishballs, honey glazed crabsticks, honey glazed satay... honey glazed everything, basically. Des was downing a few vodkas. Vodka's not my thing. Started playing lame games, courtesy of Sam.

Later that night, I went with Edwin, Des, Iggy (the misfit here... lol kidding) and Victoria to the pub nearby and we met her parents over a few drinks (Iggy has Sprite, which he apparently gets high on). Victoria's parents are the coolest parents ever! Well, second to mine I guess. Real easy to talk with them and joke. Later, the bunch of us went to Singa Fiesta at Pasir Ris Park to have a few more drinks. All the others came down later, and they left slowly. I said my goodbyes to Victoria and her family before I left with Iggy and Small Joe, a bit tipsy. Well, a bit's an understatement. Halfway through, they had to carry me back.

The first thing I did at the chalet, after kicking off my shoes, was plonk on a bed. Then I shuffled to the toilet, but Cheryl was in it. Wanted to wait, but I sort of plonked at the door and was unable to move. Edwin came later, carrying a stoned Desmond into the chalet. I think Des and I gave everyone a handful, two drunk idiots. What happened that night is sensitive information that doesn't warrant an appearance on a public blog like this, so yeah. Can't remember much anyway.

Saturday: Most people didn't come today. Had to go home to wash up, and then go to church for the IRO thing, which David insisted we all go, but when I got there meeting Small Joe, Iggy (I think these two are gay with each other) and Yvonne, there was absolutely nothing to do. Went home to sleep (I still needed a lot of it even though I only woke up at 12) and then went back to the chalet with my Game of Life.

The afformentioned gang was there, followed my Edwin, Desmond and Sandra, and Victoria. Went out to eat and went back. We just spent the night playing Game of Life, mahjong and cards. Last night was rather uneventful. Victoria and Yvonne went back later, while Edwin and Small Joe were playing Tales of Destiny II on his PS. Couldn't sleep much that night, dunno why.

Sunday: We went for 1100 mass cuz we woke up late.

And that's all there is to it, as far as I can say, or remember. Someone had a camera, and when I find out who, I'll put up some photos.

I hope.

Back to biking

Whoops... suddenly remembered that I forgot to blog about last Sunday. Guess I'll do that now.

Met Kit, Rayner and Alex at the stadium bike shop. From there, we went to Tampines mountain biking trail. I haven't rode for a long time, so my fitness level has dropped considerably. After that we went on out mountain bikes to the BMX trail. It was fun flying through the air like that. Alex hit some sort of pothole, and I have a bruise on my left knee when I flew off my bike and my knee collided with my top bar. It was worth it, though.

After that, we went to Marina Cove. I bought a Ramly burger :P. Cycled here and there along East Coast. Went to this rocky coast near the ferry terminal. It's a nice, quite place. Good for when you want to do quiet thinking, even better to bring a date there, except that it's a bit of a ride there.

I'm gonna have to resume cycling again. Soon. And studying, for that matter.

Pass the nuts

I got bored, and I need to blog about recent happenings, so I put two and two together and here I am.

Friday: Went to school to pass my one star kayaking form to Kim Wan. It's such a bother to redo it. If only I wasn't sick during the last course. I'd rather take the two star course now.

Later, I went to TP to meet Dinesh, Dhana, Karthik and Ah Bush (extra guy... lol just kidding). Ate at the new food court there. Wah bo beh zhao... especially the fish and chips. They use real dory fish. Not like in TPJC, where the fish looks and feels like yu char kueh. These are the kind of things that make JC students like me feel that the poly students are actually the smarter ones for going to poly.

After lunch, we went to the aerospace engineering block where Dhana showed me the A-4 Skyhawk that the RSAF donated to the school. Way cool, or as Ah Bush would say, NIIIICE! Then we went over to TM to watch Goblet of Fire. Not bad show, but it's like the other shows; it's great as a movie, but lousy as an interpretation of the book. Once again, they have underminded the importance of Quidditch in the film. They blew the chance in POA, cuz that was Wood's last moment of victory and they didn't give it any reverence. No quidditch in this movie. Harry gets banned from Quidditch in Order, and he isn't there for the last match in Prince. there almost definitely won't be and quidditch in the last book. In fact, I don't think Harry will spend much time in school or even go there. So yeah... they blew their chance for good quidditch action. Rrrgh.

After the movie, we went to Toys R Us, like the teenagers we are, and we were just messing around with helmets and lightsabers. Dinesh a bit havoc, spewing vulgarities in a kids' toy store. After that was Yamaha, where we went to look at guitars and drums and stuff. Dhana's still as good as ever on the guitar. Then was dinner at Mos Burger. Dhana and Karthik were eyeing these two chicks for a while, before they both left to get their numbers. Don't think they did, but they just came back and decided to dee siao us by saying they did. We believed them for a while. A while. Mos burger isn't very filling, I'm sure everyone knows that. So we went to ToriQ to get stuff. Saw the prices; Chicken: $0.90, Chicken skin: $1.00

Karthik: It's a sad world when chicken skin costs more than chicken.

Lol

Went wondow shopping. For girls, window shopping is different from guys. We go to scout for stuff we can't buy. Girls windowshop for stuff they can get, but still feel that walking around for hours without an end results is more fun. Dhana and I share the same tastes in clothes, it's uncanny. After that, we just drifted from place to place taking photos, some spastic, some a bit emo. Went to outside the closed Challenger, to some stairwell, to here to there. Had to go home eventually. It was fun.

I'll upload some pics when I can.

Damn Imagestation won't let me into their site. Now I can't get the Overseas trip photos. Fuck it lah.

Teens connect chalet coming soon! This Thursday! Can't wait.

We'll have more fun than a barrel of monkeys

Well about that previous post, it kinda reminded me of how Qiyin said she thought I looked scary when I was sick during LTC, so yeah. I know I should've started with a big hi, so I'll do that now.

HI! I miss my blog! I miss my com! Well not so much my com by now, cuz I was chionging Most Wanted last night till morning. Crazy, I know. Overseas trip with ODAC and the soccer guys was great. Hope I can remember all the highlights. Here goes...

Saturday: Due to some sort of miscommunication, I was told to report at 1730. I reached school at 1715, and waited....

There were still stragglers at 1800. Ultra sian.

Got our Overseas Trip and Adventurer T Shirs. Nice. Then followed a bus ride to Johor. Either it was uneventful or I forgot what happened. Oh yah. Stanley, the ODACian nobody ever sees, came really late, like 1845, cuz he thought the bus would leave at 1900, when it actually was supposed to leave at1830. So we were left waiting for him. Mingsong tried to call him.

Mr. Nordin: So where is he?
Song: He says he'll be here in 2 minutes, depending on traffic conditions.

That was at 1835 I think.

When he finally met up with us, we went to customs by coach and over to JB. Then we were free and easy at City Square shopping mall at JB until 10ish. Our group, Alex, Zhi Hui, Alton and me, along with Benneddict (the soccer guy with the number 16, which lead to some people calling him Bennedict XVI) were the first to arrive, and then they thought that the others wouldn't take so fast to meet up, so they ran off for Ramli burgers. They said I pangsehed them cuz I didn't join them, but I thought better of it. In the end they were the last to arrive. I think Nordin gave them an earful, but they were joking about it later.

Nordin has this weird ass way of saying certain phrases, like "disgustingly hooritzzz (horrid)" and the number "siven". He also has this habit of launching into personal recounts. No matter what he faces, he probably has some past equivalent incident happened to him. So very often he would be lecturing about something or the other, and then he'll say "I tell you all a true story. Happened years ago." And then he will go on and tell his tale. He has stories about people being left behind in other copuntries, people with invalid passports, guys in girls' tents and so on and so forth. Everytime he says the phrase "true story", people would either groan or laugh.

Saturday/Sunday: Anyway, we left on the train from JB to I dunno where (Jeranut I think, according to the itinery). Some people plonked off to sleep immediately. Some didnt sleep at all. I slept only the last hour. The rest was spent on endless games of dai dee and blackjack. There were as many as 5 "tables" opened for playing on the train. We had an entire berth (a train car lined with double decker binks) to ourselves, so if you stepped in, it looked like an illegal gambling den, but without money. After we were told to pack up, we started discreet games, and later we just went to talking cock. I dunno how poeple like Alex can survive the whole trip without sleeping. I had to sleep the last hour, I just couldn't stand it anymore. Outside my bunk was a little noisy with all the chattering, so I just put on some Norma Jean on my headphones and plonked off in a few minutes. Was a little disgruntled when Alton has to wake me up when the train reached Jeranut. At 4 plus in the morning.

Sunday: Got off the train and went over to our hostel at Tekam plantation. Actually it's more of a chalet, but we got the "economy class" bunks. We would later find out that the teachers would get air-conditioned chalets, a little similar to the chalets you get at Costa Sands Downtown East. Rrrgh. Group four (Alex, Zhi Hui, Alton and I) chionged for bunks next to each other.

Assembled for breakfast at 6ish, served by the now famous Ramly burger heroes. Then it was off to our first activity: abseiling at Gua Kota Gelangi. I'm starting to realise how little exposure we've actually had. Even for me; I've been to Malaysia billions of times, so I know roughly what to do and what not to do and a bit of Malay (enough to buy stuff, anyway) Abseiling at GKG was nothing like the abseiling we did at school. Except for the abseiling bit. Well what I mean is that it's the same thing, but in it's own sense a totally new experience. I mean, we abseiled off a bloody cliff! Okie, so maybe it wasn't exactly a cliff. More like a rock face. But it beats man-made walls anyday. And the air... ahhhh....

Abseiling was fun! After our half finished, we went off to the other half at the other rock face to see how they were doing. It was fun there, cuz we got to see Mr. Nordin abseil... after a lot of coaxing and taunting on our part (I think he's probably the biggest IDACian here, and I'm not talking about physical size) It was also fun knocking Jamie's helmety head when she doesn't expect it, especially after how she and Veron tried to do the same to me on the train (both needed the height boost of the top bunks to reach my head)

After lunch, it was off to caving, which meant plunging my new cross trainers in water and mud on the trek to the caves. How many times do you get to ruin your new shoes and still not think much about it? The caves were AMAZING. They were huge! And you could see natural stalegtite formations making shapes in the walls, like an elephant or a kris. And they were really cool and had freshwater running in them. You could set up a few campsites in there; it was that big. Wish we could've stayed longer, maybe actually stay there.

The best bit about our camp was that it was super slack. After activities were over and we went back to the hostel, the only thing we had to report to was dinner and the debrief. Other than that, we were free to do what we want. Of course abiding by base rules, like no screwing around, but other than that, we were free. There wasn't even a lights out, which meant some people didn't sleep again. A group of us was walking around the hostel compound that night when we found a cafe selling prata. Oh my God (or as Dinesh would say, Oh my Son) the prata was great. And the teh peng. And especially the tissu prata. And I should stop starting sentences with conjunctions; it's not good English.

So we ate our fill there. And reported to dinner full. Because of all the prata. So yeah.

After dinner, we just hung out. Most of us in the boys' dorm were playing cards, blackjack or dai dee. But that's not to say that only the guys were in the boys' dorm. Some of us were playing dai dee, when Rebecca came to join us:

Rebecca: Come, let the dai dee queen play.
Stanley: Whoa, how come you have so many nicknames?
R: Really meh?
S: Yeah, got dai dee queen, then I heard one "tua neh bu"...

I swear at that point I just started laughing my ass off.

Halfway through the night, Kenneth came running into the boys' dorm saying that Nordin was coming. Apparently, he was in the girls' dorm when he was discovered my Nordin. So he ran out and made for the boys' dorm to warn us. Immediately, the girls scampered. Qiyin and Su Yuan ran out the front door, which wasn't very bright considering they ran into Nordin just outside. Some other girls ran out the back door. Jamie and Veron weren't so lucky, so with no time to spare, they zipped under Alex's covers (with him out of bed, of course) and just hid there, hoping Nordin would think they were just some guy asleep.

Nordin came in and loomed over us, and then proceeded with a lecture about girls in boys' droms and vice versa, not forgetting the "I tell you all true story, happened two years ago. I nearly had to resign." and yadda yadda yadda so on and so forth, on and on about some girl that nearly got laid on his watch (but not with him watching, or so he claims) Then after a while he left. Apparently, Jamie and Veron pulled it off. In fact, they pulled it off so well that when Nordin left, a few of the guys were shocked to see the two of them leap out of Alex's sheets and bolt for the back door. I guess in the hustle to hide the cards and the money, we hadn't noticed them.

Monday: An hour plus bus ride after breakfast took us from Tekam plantation in Jeranut to Taman Negara National Park in Pahang. There was just mountain hiking up half of Bukit Teresek. Reminded me a bit of Mt. Ophir when I went up it, except more humid, shorter, and we didn't have to carry those backbreakingly heavy packs. After that was the canopy walkway. A bit like the one we have. Note key phrase "a bit". Taman Negara's was much higher up, longer, and way more impressive.

After lunch at the floating restaurant (good food), we were off for rapid shooting. Most of us, before the trip, were suaku about rapid shooting and we thought it was similar to rafting. In actual fact, rapid shooting is speeding down a river in a sleek powerboat. The ride was really nice. Even nicer was how we splashed water at other boats (there were 3 of us) when they got close. Even even nicer was how the boatman dumped an entire pail of water on Jamie and Veron each. Even even even nicer was how Nordin got the same treatment. Even even even even nicer was how, by the end of the trip, my shoes were completely devoid of yesterday's mud.

All of us ate very little at dinner, as word about the prata stall got around fast. Before we could go, however, we had to sit through debrief. Alan's speech (Alan is our guide, an army regular theat works part time for the travel agency, so we all call him Awol cuz someone said he went AWOL to come here) So Alan's speech, followed by Nordin's, Mr Leong's, Clarence's, which then led to Nordin and Leong elaborating some more, led us to sitting in a stupor for 40 minutes in the bug infested mess hall, having to cope with one or two stings. Happy to get out.

Prata that night was a lively affair, mainly cuz almost the whole 35 of us were there, including teachers. And almost everyone ordered in English and had problems :P At least I know a bit. Had a great time chatting with the guys, especially the other soccer guys; Alton, Bennedict the Pope, Amri and Bob, the only 2 Malay guys in the camp, and Eugene, the TPJC goalkeeper that can't even touch the crossbar, or so they say. Bob and Amri were trying to teach me to eat prata with my hands. Hard work.

Monday/Tuesday: That night, half of us didn't sleep. We just squandered the night away playing cards. My dai dee is getting better. But you can only play so many hands. So I decided to spend some time away from the cards, most of which was spent chatting with Alex. Tried to sleep, but only managed an hour. Then we had to pack up all our gear cuz we had to leave the hostel in the morning at 0530. At 5, everyone was up and about, except for Stanley.

Russ: Eh, should we wake Stanley?
Eugene: Eh maybe we should. Only half hour left leh.
*stuff thrown*
Eugene: Eh Stanley wake up. Only half an hour left.
Stanley: ....Fuck lah! I only need 20 minutes.

And with that, he goes back to sleep.

A lot of us were groggy from the late night, but no consequence, cuz...

Tuesday: ...it was a 5 hour bus ride from Jeranut to Perak for our last activity. We had stopovers for breakfast and lunch. And our activity... white water rafting! It was like the best moment of our trip. The four of us and Jamie got on one raft (more knocking-Jamie's-helmety-head goodness!) and we went on our way. Once in a lifetime experience. For now. It was damn fun rafting down. Sure we got stuck at some points, but at least we didn't capsize, or lose our paddles *koffmrleongkoff*. Jamie did fly off the raft near the end, though. Actually I dunno if she flew or slid off. All I know was that we hit a rock and took a big bump and there was a big spray of water. Then Zhi Hui said "Eh where's Jamie?" I turn to my right and she's gone. A little scan around the area and we spotted her drifting down the rapids.

After we got changed, we were all good and free. Free and easy till the evening beofre we leave for Singapore. So we took the coach to Hintai Mall. Nice place. Went shopping there, and finally I got my biking shades! Not a lot of tint, so my eyes are protected from dust and I can still see at night. And in proper lighting, they're fully reflective. And they only cost RM30. They're not pasar malam ones or anything. They're from an optical shop. They're just brandless. Ate at Kenny Rogers, which is always worth it if you have it at Malaysia, with the four of us, Stanley, Jamie, Veron, Shann (and her godawful... I mean godgiven new hairstyle) and Marina. Went to the supermatket to get rations for the 8 hour bus ride home, and off we were! Looong trip back, spent joking, messing around, crapping, but now sleeping as well.

Wednesday: Back home. That was fast. Let's do it again!

I'll upload pics when I can. Now I need to sleep, or sth.