9Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Tales of Symphonia
to the tune of Justice League Unlimited

Prologue: This clip is from ToS. It's one of my favourite games ever. I even took the effort to finish it. If you guys got the time, try it out. It's not to be missed and for the 1,001th time, ITS NOT AN ANIME!

(roar of applause)

Aww... that wasn't necessary at all. I KNOW i've been missed but who am I to deserve such a glorious welcome back. (full of egoism) ..... *chuckles*

Yeah, whats with the gap in my story? Where have I been, what have I been up to? Have I literally DIED people ask? Well, it's my duty to fill up the missing pages for you.

(nuckles cracking ..... *whispers* here we go)

Ehh, SHIT. It's been eons since I've last blogged and I don't know where to start. Heh.

Lemee think, lemee think. erm. OH!

iDARE

YES. I recall now. iDARE happened. Yeap. 4 days in Bintan, as we challenged mother nature, testing our very human limits and stepping out of our comfort zones.

If i was a loser, I would give iDARE a skip. I would go, urghh, camp!? Over my dead body! Frankly, I'm not the camping type, although the notion itself is rather fascinating to me. I would probably TRY to go for a camp but it would take countless persuasion before I would bob my head with resignation.

When I first heard of iDARE, something in my system sorta jerked on. The mere whisper of those words just resonate within me. I don't know what it was but I just knew that I HAD to take part for it. So much for my natural lack of enthusiasm for camps and all.

I signed up for iDARE without hesitation, with a noticable grin. This would be fun and hell yeah, it was ... pardon my words, DAMN FUN LARH.

A week prior to iDARE, preparation week happened. I was acquainted with my fellow groupies. We named ourselves: Super Sand Piratas. Respect US!

Our group was small, 8 to be specific as two other members couldn't make it in the end; however, that didn't hamper our spirits, instead, it spurred us on to be a stronger and united team.

Regina, Yvonne, Shawn, Emellia, Wee Leong, Edward, Shawn and well, ME =)

We were the eight fiesty pirates that made up the SSP, and of course not forgetting the last pirate with the feather on her head, the ever so graceful SF, Cheryl.

Preparation week went by in a flash. By the end of the week, we sort of became acquainted with one another and that was great. We had our IDs, cheers and skit and other whatnots almost completed and there was just ONE iDARE left to be conquered.

Monday came and we headed for Bintan. We took a boat to the island and sorta wrecked the boat on the journey, all noisy bunch of people. We had low elements games to build up our teamwork and high elements such as rafting to challenge our sturdiness on the first day. It poured hard and even though, yeah, it dampened our spirits a little, we just went on. We weren't going to let mother nature hinder us.

Day 2 came by and I challenged my fear of heights. I tried the giant swing. No joke. I was the second person to climb up the pole and I went up voluntarily. Something uncalled for. I almost wanted to die when I looked down but I just walked off the pole and I died ...... *silence* ... OF COURSE NOT! I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Heights to me now is ... like .... like ... bi sai ... =X .. whatever ..

Day 3 was the last day of the official iDARE programme. We had to conquer the gargantuan TCP and after that we had paintball. The TCP took forever, from morning till noon while paintball went by in a flash. We went to Pasar Ole Ole for a buffet dinner in which I thought was a sumptuos treat for us. We had our campfire at night which was a really special one. We sang, laughed and entertained one another with skits, songs and speeches. It was a wonderful and memorable night I should say.

The fourth day was free and easy. I chose to sleep a few hours more that day and I went to the beach and a few of us guys went on the banana boat. Damn fun again. I want to ride it forever! A buffet lunch at the resort cafe and then we headed back for Singapore.

Okok, my recollection of iDARE is just too brief perhaps. I really have alot to write about it but perhaps most of them can't be described. I can tell you about the challenges that we had to face but I can't express it to you with mere words. These memories are perhaps just undescribable.

On a serious note though, iDARE did teach me alot of things. I made many new friends too. Yeah, I have to admit that.

The organizers did a wonderful job making iDARE 06 a success. I can't say thank you enough for Melissa Tan !! for organizing this along with Vinda, the lecturers and of course, the SFs! They toiled over the months, I could see them holding meetings ever so often, even comparable to BA Society meetings. Haha. Yeah, I really do think that they deserve extra commendation and respect for pulling off this year's iDARE camp.

On a personal note, thank you for giving me this opportunity to participate in iDARE even with the complications that would probably have arose from it.

To the SSP, we PWNED iDARE! Congrats for being the ZESTIEST group and congrats to all other groups of iDARE 2006. We rock big time!

Well, a sequel to iDARE is just brewing around the corner or so I heard. If it does happen, I'm all game for it.

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Just as iDARE ended, the IMF-World Bank meetings were just underway and I had willingly volunteered to help out for it.

I participated as one of the ushers during the last official event of the meetings on the 19th of September at the Esplanade. The event was to highlight the cultural side of Singapore as well as exposing the very delicacies of our island nation.

A festival pavillion was erected along the outdoor theatre where it was divided into Chinatown, Kampong Glam, Little India, Katong (Eurasian) and Joo Chiat (Peranakan). I was deployed at Chinatown which was at the centre and it was a blessing and a curse as I could smell all the food there but .... the sad part, I couldn't eat any =X .... crap.

We donned red polo shirts with Uniquely Singapore embroided on it. Haha. I looked like a clown. Well, the expected numbers were 5,000 that night. The place was thronging like a pasar malam for godsakes and I felt like a mere ant. Anyways, we soon became figures of importance as we distributed carrier bags to the delegates to ease their burdens and for once, they were grateful to us. Some, almost bursting into tears .... okay, I was exaggerating.

The night ended with a LONG fireworks display over the marina bay. I had a GREAT bird's eye view. HEH HEH and a laser display over at the merlion area. What more to end of the wonderful day.

As the delegates trickled out, we rushed to gobble the food. I started from one end and went on a sampling spree with Kevin to the other end. I loved the Laksa at Katong and the Chicken Rice at Chinatown the best. HAHA! Oh! I just remembered, Eunice Olsen was there. Hahaha! She's damn hot! Seriously!

It was another night for me to remember as I had the chance to engage in small chit chats with the MIGHTY PEOPLE .. (oh please) ... have great fun with new found friends, crap about ugly old hags and actually ,WOW, experience work =X ... i've never worked my entire life. It's a DAMN SAD FACT!

iDARE and IMF, perhaps the most wonderful memories yet =)

That's all I'll be updating for today. My brain is working overtime already. I'll update the rest tomorrow if possible. I just wanted to take this opportunity to blog about iDARE and IMF before I lose total recollecation of them =X That would be a total disaster. I'll also upload some photos soon so you guys don't have to BORE yourselves with font 12 words =X

Oh, btw, I was playing soccer today and I bruised my heel. WTH. How can someone bruise his or her heel while playing soccer. &#$* .... which MEANS! I CAN'T WALK ... without limping. Thankyouverymuch -.-

Anyways, G'NITE!

(jumps onto bed)
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