Wednesday, December 15, 2004
- argh leave ur email/blogs when u tag then i can go spam ur blogs too! lol. add me to msn too! my email's on my blog :p
i'm so happy. i shed 2kg after coming back. haha.
i went onto friendster and found out lots of weird stuff! friendster nv ceases to surprise me man... but now i wanna try to blog abt my trip cos i promised derrick...
1/12: okay our flight was disgustingly early in the morning, like at 8+ so we had to be there at 6. then we all were like pigging out on subway and starbucks and whatnot. our luggage must've weighed a ton! i know vidhya's luggage was like 20+ kilos liao. lol. i like the yep shirt. it's pretty cool. it's this black polo tee with the nj crest (all the -white- parts were black lol.) and our project name printed on the sleeve. much better than that excuse for a polo tee nj has :p then we took a valuair flight to bangkok int'l airport. wahlau the flight was damn boisterous. i was sitting between yi hern and huimin, and huimin wld be grabbing my hand when the plane took off n landed while yi hern was like damn excited la. lol. they shldve swopped places and then huimin wldnt hafta look outta the window. we kept playing cards and all too. but then there werent many ppl on the plane so they all joined in the noise and merrymaking too :p then joseph was talking animatedly to this guy sitting beside him. lol. first revelation of ur gay tendencies eh supergay? :p we nv let him forget it. haha.
then after that we rush like siao from bangkok int'l airport to the domestic airport. it's only abt 500m, but twas over rough terrain with heavy luggage on trolleys. ten min walk my foot ah. then rush rush rush, go check in and eat lunch at this weird buffet thingy. not much food, but then had great company. sat with leekoon and serene and vidz. so like that loh, then when come to sorting out the bill, the waitresses were pretty slow and all of us were getting agitated cos we were scared the plane wldnt wait for us. it was sth like our flight was at 130 then at 129 we were still paying the bill?! then after we finally settled we RAN LIKE HELL for the plane. luckily everyone got on. whew.
this tahi airways flight was the absolute shortest flight i've ever taken. it was like 50min long only? then got some weird food on the flight that even terence refused to eat (and lemme tell you, that means it's pretty bad) i only saw this like 2-3 times on the entire trip. lol.
then when we reached khon kaen, i was qt shocked at the airport la. it's qt small, to say the least. there're only 2 gates (as compared to 50+ in singapore.) two luggage belts so we can't possibly get lost anw. the entire airport (not counting runways etc) is smaller than nj i think. then the thai host Koon Noi (not sure how to spell) was so sweet! she, her husband (Koon Suriya) her DAMN cute kids kao hom and din met us outside with roses for all of us. so sweet right?
then we all piled into a bigbig bus (alliteration! :p) and went to this monastery. wow. it was so cool! it has this pagoda-like structure and it's nine stories high. we climbed all the stairs of course. haha. it's a lotta stuff and the artwork there is to die for. it's so beautiful!
after that we left to go to the CHF - Child Help Foundation, where we stayed for the next two weeks la. OMG! it's so damn nice there. i was expecting like a hut or sth. then they actually built a very nice and modern two storey compound for us. -feels guilty- then they got mattresses and blankets for us to sleep on too! there were 6 rooms in total la. two bigger ones and 4 little ones. so one of the bigger rooms was designated the meeting room, then mr gwee (one of the teacher i/c) took ONE ROOM BY HIMSELF! wow. haha. then the 6 guys squeezed into one room. leekoon serene lishan kahling char and ms wong (the other i/c) took the bigger room upstairs (so u can imagine how squashed the guys were) and huimin hui ting lu and justine took the second last room. the last one was ours of course! nus nana vidhya and me took the last room. funkaeeeee.
so we settled in. end of the first day.
i'm giving up on dates cos i really can't rmb when we did what. on the 2nd day (i think) we went sightseeing ard KK. we visited the market, which stinks but is SO fascinating. i especially liked watching them make the popiah skin - it's like this big ball of dough then they skim it over a really hot surface then voila - popiah skin.
then we dropped by this place which sells thai silk. wow. twas qt pretty la, but then wasn't really tempted to buy. haiz. big mistake. i shldve, then gone and tailored a skirt or sth. bah. too late. figgered i shldnt burn money so soon, but i cldnt have foreseen the next two weeks right...
FREAK i just typed a super long testimonial for joseph then they tell me i can't submit comments yadayada. -curses- forget it la. literally.
then we went to Big C, which is REALLY humongous. it's like a supersized carrefour. then vidz and i went shopping, but vidz went crazy. she bought a super lotta stuff lah! she spent abt 1500 baht which translates to abt 60 bucks. it's a considerable sum considering i only changed abt 3000 baht. nvm.
ate lunch there which consisted of pointing at pictures; our thai isn't good enough even now to order food. mai pen rai la... after lunch we came back to CHF and shoveled dirt. qt fun la. i haven't used a shovel before, not really. then we played in the haystack with the little kids. they're really very daring and heck-care la! they'll jump off the trees into the hay and cling onto you while you're shoveling and beg you to swing them into the stack.
then we had to give this impromptu eng lesson to a few kids. they're qt sweet la. then it turned into this origami session. this little guy named bia (beer, whatever) folded me a heart. so cute. but then he's qt a naughty kid, for all that he's abt 14.
on the 4th dec there was this kinda sports carnival thingy at CHF. it was interesting. we spent the 3rd day preparing for it. set up tents, clear garbage, etc etc. the rubbish the ppl left behind was........ and there was this procession to CHF, then we were all supp to march in front la. then terence had to hold the portrait of the king and walk right in front, amidst all our snickers. it seemed rather like a funeral procession. but was cute la. then went to help with the serving of food, kahling and me served icecream to grubby little kids non stop. the icecream was this weird mix, home made. the auntie actually put vegetables inside! -shudders- and not veg like yam or what. green veg like kailan and what not.
on the 5th, we had a slack day. i helped edward and pohshen set up the computers in the IT lab we were gonna set up for the kids. halfway thru, the electricity went haywire (no pun intended) then hadta stop. thailand has starshaped fishballs! so cute k. i really like em. somehow it just tastes better.
at abt 4, we got ready to go to the night market. it was the king's birthday, so it was a public holiday. those kids got us doughnuts. i like the weirdly shaped ones with white icing on em. mmmmmmmmm. on the way to the night market, this grp of girls (somehow when the grp of us get together crap happens :p) were piled into the pick up and then we played zhong ji mi ma, then the losers had to go say a pick up line to a guy. lucky there were only 6 guys then not so bad, or else surely kena liao! i think there were ninie of us in the back of a small pick up, then nus refused to play. chicken. so luckily huimin n i got away scot free. MUAHAHAHA.
some of the pick up lines and who said them:
huiting to jojo: your father must be a baker, cos you have hot buns!
the look on jojo's face was priceless.
then nana to terence: your pants must be a mirror, cause i can see my face in them.
she accidentally said face instead of myself which we said earlier... made it even more insinuating! haha. poor nana.
then cannot really rmb who said what to who liao... but really was very funny.
at the night market, i tried insects! i think it was silk worms or sth. not bad, you know. they kinda taste like prawn crackers. haha. and the earrings there are so cheap! one pair costs abt S$0.80 really. haha. so of course i went ballistics with the buying. then we went to eat at this place which supposedly has the best food in the province. supposedly because it tastes funny. the sticky rice was meant to be eaten with your hands. the food was either hot sour spicy tough or a combination of the above. i don't possess a high tolerance for chili, so it was pretty sad for me.
the next day we went to this temple to teach monks. actually the original plan was that they wld come to CHF but then they complained that there were no tables and chairs and it was very uncomfortable. -sweat drops- like, hello, they are monks? lol. then it was nothing short of traumatic. first, they turned up 2 hours late, then they make a hell lot of noise and it was so chaotic. arrrrrrrgh. i was teaching with serene and yi hern thankfully. if i were by myself i might have killed them all. we planned such a regimented course :p but then we cldnt stick with it cos of the varied levels of english competency. it was impossible, in short. but i think we did some good.
hahaha there was this day where we had to cook breakfast lunch AND dinner. a master chef i am not. i'm not even an amateur. then we were given these food when other ppl were allowed to go shop and told nah, cook. so in short, no one died. whew. but it wasnt pretty!
haha try this trick on ur friends. it's pretty funny. we tried it on the monks. well, since yi hern thought of it it has to be pretty -cold-
us: what is this? -hold up one finger
the monks: one!
us: and what is this? -hold up two fingers
the monks: two!
us: one plus one equals? -hold up three fingers
the monks: (very happily) 3!
yi hern and i were hysterical. then that night we got to go to the night market again! a different one. lol. what is it with guys and getting drunk anw? (-_-") then got some more earrings (i know, i'm obsessed.) then took the sorngtel back i think. sorngtel is this pick up like vehicle with the back converted into a place fr ppl to sit. it costs like 5baht per trip, which is super cheap la. i rode for the 1st ever time in a pick up when i went to KK. wheeeeeeeeee.
we did some shoveling, laid the foundations for the pavilion we were supp to build. we formed this assembly line and transferred stones and sands to the site for them to make cement. then we went shopping to fairy plaza. i know, it sounds like all we did was shop. in a way, yeah. but then we did work, only not a lotta it. i bought this original Levi's cap and then everyone started to want to wear it, which caused it to show a lil wear and tear alr. grrrrrrrrrrr.
then we went to the monastery for teaching again. we taught them how to sing "home" haha. better than teh pingpong song that edward kept singing what!!! twas qt interesting, can saboh ppl to sing solo (like terence -laughs-)
the hosts were very nice. they brought us to this mountain village Loei. it's freaking cold at night there (think along the lines of 5deg) but they built this beautiful bonfire for us. i have this fetish for fires. it looks so cool. and knowin that it has potential for destruction only makes it more fascinating. it was so so so beautiful. beyond description. then we played zhong ji mi ma/truthortruth and then terence kena!!! but i won't put his dare here la, not very nice.
oh yeahhhhh. i forgot the way up. the usual bunch of girls (usually huiting huimin char nana nus lucinda justine vidz and me) were in the back of a pickup on the way up, a 2.5hr journey then we played zhong ji mi ma/dareordare. i damn SUAY LA! kena'd 5 times before nus kena, cos the rule was we'd stop when everyone had one to do. lucky i weaseled out on my dares. NANA IS AN EVIL CRITTER! the dares she comes up with are UNBELIEVABLE! and i don't even dare to contemplate doing those i had to... gross loh!!! vidz did hers. and a few others, vidz had to go up to jojo, smack his butt and say "i like big butts and i cannot lie!" then lucinda and justine had to wax poh shen's legs. nana and huiting had to poledance. hui ting had to lick stuff off joseph. huimin gamely proposed to leekoon and serenaded edward. actually hui ting and me were supp to play strip poker, but it was so cold everyone just had to wear like two shirts, two jackets, two pairs of pants etc. so it kinda defeats the purpose. haha.
after that we came back to CHF. on the way back vidhya's cap flew off! haha. twas so funny. then this motorcyclist stopped and picked it up. he passed us at the petrol station ltr when we stopped for the horng nam and we saw the cap on him!!! damn funny k.
on the 12th we started to learn the dance that we had to perform on the 13th. yes, we did it. woohoo to us! then we went to the temple where the monks performed this ceremony of bai see suk which is like to welcome visitors and to bless them. then they'll tie a piece of string ard ur wrist. then we ended up with qt a few. the next day at our performance they did it again! then i took most of em out and tied them onto my journal. i haven't -counted- my blessings -winks- but i estimate got abt 50? lol. oh yeah... i forgot abt tanya/oom! this..erm..transvestite guy/girl, i nv was sure, fell in love with joseph. then i think jo was qt repulsed by him. but qt cute la, that guy.
then nth much happened the next day. we cleaned the entire compound, top to bottom. our room was really clean, singapore standards, for once! wheeee. so shuang. then we rehearse until the performance... we ordered in pizza and KFC. their hawaiian is to die for k, it's so nice! nicer than pizza hut :p then the performance was not bad la. the fashion parade we put up was okay, but like qt weird cos pee son pot was translating then very luan. lol. then lucky we dance no need translation. then after everything was over we had a fun time whirling ard the floor. the kids are crazy la! they'll grab you and whisk you into the circle then you just hafta dash ard with them. -dizzy- actually that last night (only two nights ago!!) we didn't really intend to stay up, but we all didn't succeed. except terence. he took a nap while i was taking a shower then i cld hear the guys trying to sucker him into saying stuff in his sleep! lol. then a few of them went to the lake again. lol.
on the 14th we woke at unearthly hours. i act as the alarm clock for 8 ppl, and whoever i meet on my way to the toilet, usually some stray guys. vidhya is the worst! i rmb got once she overslept despite my trying to wake her up and she almost missed breakfast. she also takes damn long showers. REALLY. nvm la. small stuff anw... k, we woke up at unearthly hours, then we took the buses to the airport. left, came to bangkok int'l again. flew to changi. not much happened la, just had this totally unreal feeling of coming home. but then we all left a huge part of ourselves in khon kaen.... i hope we can all go back again next yr :(
Things I'm Glad I Came Back To
hot water! i simply almost froze to death in the water.
my phantom of the opera cast recording i haven't had time to listed to yet
aircon! not that we needed it there anw
com! or more like internet.
COKE! i had next to no soft drinks there. maybe that's why i lost weight.
clean water from the tap
my phone
Things I Miss From KK
the kiddies
the monks
CHF, our hosts
the excellent company
the lame jokes
the card games
the idyllic life
the beautiful scenary
the simple pleasures that we had and the pure happiness that we can get from just interacting with the kids
even miss the persistent icecream man
the night markets
Big C
CORN kaen
all the "sneaky!"s
the incessant bridge, taitee and hearts
aroi mak mak!
arai na?
chan chorp ya gon chan mai dai lie
kow jai mai?
korp kun ka!
horng nam yoo tee nai?
slash with the pen |||
9:25:00 am
