Council Camp 2014!

About two thirds of the holidays were eaten up by SPSU and council. BUT NO REGRETS AT ALL. Holidays is not about touching homework. I've slogged a good share for my exams so I don't wanna touch any kind of school work during the holidays as far as possible.

Whole of first week was taken up by the interview and then spring cleaning on Friday. The second week was my only non-school related activities week but went to see the doctor, helped out in VBS, went back school twice to sign some documents. So only was left about 2-3 days spent nua-ing at home. OH MYYYYY. I didn't get to bake. So sad. Then the third week was council camp and then acer training. So drained, honestly. But feeling really great.

Some nice pictures I managed to dig out.

Second day in the morning. Racoon circle was a really fun game. Did outdoor cooking and managed to light a fire with a flint striker. During the practice round it took me sooooo long to do it man. Even after when Ray helped me so much, I still couldn't light the flame and he started bursting into laughter. BUT, I still managed to light a fire after much help from Ray ya. HAHAHAHAHA. Then later there was this light fire competition which required two guys and two girls. But apparently the girls in my group couldn't start a fire at all during the practice session so they sent me. CRAZYYYY. I managed to start a fire cause Ray helped me a little. All by my own?! LOL. Maybe even 1h later you'll still see me scraping off the magnesium off the stick man. BUT HEY I DID IT THIS TIME WITHOUT THE HELP OF ANYONE AFTER 10 MINUTES INTO THE COMPETITION!! Round of applause for HuiEn please. Some guys couldn't even do it. :P -proud show off moment-

First paintball experience! Didn't get shot by any pellets. -victory hand sign-

1³, also known as one cube OR one cute. HAHAHAHA. Group shot before we sent our team in for the final stage. AND WE WON YAR. Played twice and I managed to no get shot during those two games. Yayyy.

Went water trekking and water abseiling for the third day. Wasn't the first time I did water trekking but this time was slightly different from the other time I did it in sec 3 at Kota Tinggi. This time we were trekking up a lake(?) There were times we had to climb up rocks and even did bouldering. The guys were really nice to make sure all the girls were fine and alright. Special shout out to Amir, Benji and Matin for constantly keeping a look out for me. Thank you guys!

Now, water abseiling was something I have never attempted before in my whole life. BUT COME ON, there's the word "water" there. Should be really fun yeah. When I first saw the two waterfall routes I went... Oh my gosh... how am I gonna do this man. The route with more water was obviously more slippery. But the other route was as good as a tangent line going up vertically. It was that steep.

Victory shot with Jingyee's GoPro after I conquered the waterfall behind me! Trust me to say that the waterfall was much much steeper in real life. Probably it is due to the wide lens on the Go Pro that made it look so gentle. When you look up directly from the bottom of the waterfall, no joke man I tell you. Went up feeling nervous and excited but enjoyed the whole process. Any idea how much I love these kind of adventurous stuffs even though I may look weak or complain at the slightest dirty? HAHAHAHA.

Since our group was the first one to start hence first to finish, we had a suuuuuper long break. Reached back the campsite at 345 but they said dinner would be served at 630. We had the luxury to take our time and slowly bathe, rinse our dirty clothes, had two rounds of ice cream and even sit down in a circle and chit chat, talking about our lives AND TAKE A GREAT NAP. Then at 630 they said that the other groups were not quite done yet and dinner wasn't quite ready yet so it was adjourned to 730. More break time! Arguably one of the best days in camp cause we were really comfortable with each other already and we had so much break time as a group that we were able to talk to each other in a not so formal setting cause all of us were lying down in a circle.

 It was totally unplanned when we all wore Doneska shirts together. Therefore, a picture together is a must.

 4am prank on the males to carry on the council tradition. Went full force all out on Terry Daddy when I decided to give him a full powder bath from literally head to toe. So much prickly heat that I think I finished whatever was left in Natalyn's bottle on him... which was probably one third of the whole bottle.

STRYKERS FROM COUNCIL CAMP!

 Bus on the way for lunch en route Singapore!

 

 The group who opted for malay hawker food instead of Mary Brown's. 

 And on the way back to Singapore, the last few moments together.

Apparently my group love to make fun of my voice cause they think it's really high pitched, so much so until Amir influenced the bus to do it too. What a great leader yar. Do you sense the sarcasm there. But more annoyingly cause Amir was sitting behind me, so he and Haiqal mimicked what ever I said. Haiyooooo. Annoying, but I love you abangs still.

Also special shout out to all the different people who offered to do the dishes for me after every single meal even though I declined your help but you all still snatched my plate and cutlery away replying me that “这种事是给男人做的。” Bringing gentlemanliness to a whole new level. I would say even more than the guys in SPSU even though SPSU guys are great too.

Have learnt a lot from the camp even though I was greatly disappointed in the beginning that we weren't going Telunas and it wasn't going to be a retreat but an adventure camp instead. But it was a really enriching experience there because I was able to look at how the seniors lead and get to see how different kind of leadership styles work with a different group of people. And really, they are one bunch of thinking people... something I have to learn to do more. It got me thinking how can someone be so good a leader that by just through stepping up and taking lead, everyone just follows suit. What is that something in him that makes people willingly or even want to be led by him?

And another more significant takeaway from the camp was me was to be appreciative of even the littlest things that people do for you. Even though the service you buy from others may not be of good quality or people are paid to do a certain job for you, it is still good to be appreciative to whoever that does the job for you, even if it may be just a simple thank you return.

Got to know a lot more people and the camp really bonded us a lot. Glad to have met each and everyone of you all. No doubt this was one of the best camp I have attended so far because of every single one of you guys who decided to attend the camp, especially Strykers and One Cube. It was just different from every other school camps because usually the group would take at the very least a whole day to get comfortable with each other. But we synergised so well that it only took us one game together to get us warmed up with each other.

And lastly, here's to much more 55th moments with you guys. ♥

Maybe.

End of May. So soon. Feels like I've been schooling for a long period of time. Really looking forward to the holidays so much. School has been pretty much... tough. Academic aspect I mean. Feels like there are so many hypocrites around, or should I say... double-faced people. They act as if they're so nice and kind in front of others, but then behind your backs they backstab you so much. People I thought to be kind or innocent, behind that angelic faces hide some really dark sides you wouldn't have imagined if you've not seen it personally. The reality of the people in my class really scares me sometimes. And I question myself why can't I have a really bonded class? I never seem to have one. Even in primary school or secondary school. None. Never. How does it feel like to have a bonded class who has occasional gatherings?

 

55th Council

Has been a really crazy week from the 19th to 23rd. Got into Students' Union. Project submissions plus getting all my tutorials done before the tutorial lessons. Cultural Intelligence Presentation on Monday, but only 50% done on Saturday. Marketing Intelligence & Research Presentation on Wednesday, I was like 0% done with the presentation, flip charts and information that I needed to research on. Tutorials due Wednesday and Thursday. And then I had to find articles for my Gen Ed to get it signed by the lecturer by hook or by crook by Friday. My gosh. I'm just so glad I survived the week.

Following week was supposedly revision for me since I was done with all my presentations. But then again, I got busy with seniors' graduation. So... the past week was filled with bittersweet emotions. So happy for them finally completing their studies at SP but then part of me feels a little reluctance because I'll be missing their presence around school even though I may not be very close to some of them, or even though I may be an awkward turtle around them.

 

Aaron's was on the 26th. Remember how he likes to kachaiu me so much. But then he's a really great senior. So fun to be around with.

 

 

Syza's was also on the 26th. First time I saw her was during DBA bonding day where she was my group's facilitator. Didn't know she was from spsu until I saw her at prep camp.

 

 

Kamsssss. His was on the 23rd but then we all had spsu interviews so we couldn't make it. Complained he selfie-ed with the excos while I was away at Korean class. So had a legit pic with him on the 26th while he lent Syza's gown. HAHAHAHAH. Was great having a long chat with him while we waited for Aaron to be out. Such a great OLD senior. :P

 

 

Dearest GLTs graduated on the 27th! PROJECT SURPRISE GLTs: SUCCESS.

Could see Trixia's teary eyes. Roses, sunflowers, polaroids and cards. The GLs are such romantics. We'd make good future boyfriends and girlfriends. HAHAH. And the best part, they weren't expecting anything but just a group picture. Yayyy! Love them so much. So blessed to have another pair of parents in poly. Could really feel the love from them. Wore Darryl's extra large gown.

So fun. Hehe.

 

Weijian's was on the 28th. Even though he's another senior that likes to kachiau me a lot too but he has been a really great great great gramps that I can feel dotes a lot on me.

 

Zakros, Luchesse and Buffalino at his grad.

 

 

Grandma Tiffany graduated on the 28th too. Have heard a lot about her as a freshie, but saw her for the first time in my life was during her grad. She's sooooo gorgeous and sooooo cute. Really glad to have a granny like her even though she may not be active in spsu but always a part of us.

 

 

Last but not least, a super duper overdue photo of Syazwan during his grad back in 2013 cause he finally looked through his phone and realised that we had a photo together. Love to see him go crazy with Imran. They're like chemical reaction when they're together. So funny. Thanks for being such an awesome Chief cook during my foc days as a freshie!

 

On a side note though, can you believe I used to look so cute back then in 2013. Not that chubby, not that heavy, much more radiance. How horrible I look now. I formally apologise to those who see me everyday today. HAHAHA.

Next stop: MSTs then holidays!

Viva Vox V

Hello friends. Have been so infrequent in my blogging ever since the holidays. Busy and lazy I must confess and apologise. But I'm so touched I've got  my loyal stalkers fans -ahem Jamz I'm looking at you- coming to my blog once in awhile to check out for any updates. So before I move on to May's happenings I shall randomly throw back to April during the FOWA period since I didn't update here about  FOWA cause I was so busy getting ready for school right after FOWA. My gosh.

OC shirt. #campMystiqa. Had a great experience being the Chief Cook although it became quite stressful during the meal times due to the pressures coming from everywhere but being the finance for FOWA made me learn a lot not only about the finance stuffs cause I had to do them independently, but much more than that, I think I've learnt a lot from the Camp Chiefs, how to understand both sides of the story and to lead them too.

And  moving on............. What happened in May so far... I don't know actually. The school term moves so fast. Before I know it, it's already week 4 into the term and submission + presentation week is 5, MSTs fall in week 6. Only 10% completed on my projects and I don't even know what's going on in classes. Well, just pictures so far from May that I dug out from my phone.

School everyday became much tougher ever since Jamie left, but I guess I'm coping slowly. Just that it's kind of weird and awkward for me sometimes cause 3 different project groups with 3 different cliques in the class. Ruisin's, Shelyee's and Gibson's. And the question "sit with who" kind of pops up quite frequently during lectures and I think it's really weird for people to see me sitting with a different bunch of people during different lectures.

Attended Saints Chorale's concert last night after much persuasion and close to begging from YuanXing. HAHAHA. Okay, felt really bad like it seemed as though I just couldn't turn down the invitation. Was really hesitant and honestly, lazy to go for the concert. But just felt bad if I were to reject the invitation cause I've turned down a hundred and one jios to go to other choir concerts but then this time it was slightly different: it was HIS concert. Sigh, got to go and support.

Went with Dean, Diana, Jesselyn and Samuel but was kinda surprised at the amount of familiar people who went.

The CSS Chorale!

Kind of cool if you were there to witness how CSS invaded SAJC. Probably the only school that would gather together and take a big group shot even though you may not know everyone personally who would be in the same photo as you. All we did was Chloe shouting "Commonwealth take photoooooo!" And everyone just gathered. Quite a sight, and so much warm feelings.

Met so many old friends whom probably lost contact for the last 1.5 years ever since graduation. Sooooo happy to see them again.

Monique in particular!! Have seen or at least bumped into the rest of the commonwealthians once in awhile but haven't seen Monique since probably results day. Oh my gosh it's been sooooo long. Though once in a green moon we text but nothing feels as good as to be able to see her in real life. One of my dearest choir friends who hasn't changed and grow distant despite taking up leadership roles, always supportive of me and always there for me.

And not forgetting the performers!!

No regrets attending Viva Vox V at all. It was worth more than every cent that I spent. Even though I was sitting at the second tier, the choir still sounded great. And really glad that I went because not only did I manage to do mini catch up with old friends but also the concert has unlocked this small part buried deep in my heart the love I grew for choral singing and made me miss terribly singing with CSS Chorale and MTDC 2010/2011. Well, as the saying goes, you never learn to cherish some things till you never get to see them anymore.

And not to mention how proud I am of Yuanxing. Remember how he used to be such a carefree person in choir. Ahem, more like a person who couldn't be bothered at all. But now he has became the VP of Saints Chorale. Shared with me all his troubles, grievances and complains about how to make the choir more bonded and sing better. Saw his growth throughout thee one and a half years. And to see him grow an even stronger passion than me for choral singing. Just this amazing feeling how you see your friends grow and mature and I saw it so much in him.

Get well soon my dear, though you caught a fever and some food poisioning, though you looked so stiff doing all those chorography, but you did a great job completing all those pieces and you looked absolutely cute doing those moves unwillingly.

So this is his last concert which marks an end to his choir journey in SA, he's gonna step down soon. Like what?! My friends are all stepping down from their leadership roles? Time is passing way too fast. The last time I caught up with most of them, they were still talking about all the stepping ups. But then again...

C'est la vie.

Area C. Pit 11 & 12.

HOW'S LIFE FRIENDS? Busy days during holidays have been quite sporadic for me. There can be this week whereby I have to be out the whole time and then for the next few days I have what I call the nua-at-home days. Just dramas, chips, green tea and me.

Had a Phantomanni gathering recently at ECP. Initially wanted to just show my face and go. I'm really bad at such social events and especially when it was a big bunch of people. But I guess it wasn't so bad cause I did have a lot of fun. Two pits were booked. Helped to prepare the food initially but since the other pit started cooking, I started to take the food and feed those who were helping with the BBQ-ing since there were quite a lot of people helping already. One less wouldn't make the difference... would it?

Well, though I haven't been to a lot of BBQs per se, but through out all my BBQ experience, I realised that those who grilled/cooked the food more often then not, will keep cooking the food. And even though you ask them to eat, they'll prolly just much a bit and then go back to cooking. So I decided to feed them during this BBQ! Hehehe.

Didn't take a lot of photos this time round. And out of the few photos I took, there were so many you could hardly even see me AND they weren't very upload worthy also. Sigh. But shall just post a few for memory sake.

With fellow Phantom!

I tried playing with the light curves guys. HAHAHA. If not you could probably only see Juveno and Pavan only. The rest was seriously just black faces. Even mine... :(

Think this BBQ has helped us bond more though. Closer even to the GPIC  & AGPICs.

It was such a great night. Thank you guys!

Waddup. I'm back.

HOLAAAA! It's been so long since I last typed a post. Almost close to 2 months..? Wanted to type one during the post submission/revision week but guess I was too lazy. Wanted to type one after exams but guess I got too excited and carried away by all the dramas. Plus, I was really busy with all the GL trainings and all. So... expect a really long post today. Not really sure if it'll be wordy, but  definitely it'll be an entry that has the most pictures that I've ever submitted.

So let's start with after exams... first up major activity was GL outing on the 11th where we walked from habourfront all the way to Henderson wave, then down the hort park trail thingy and went to Alexandra where we had my favourite AVOCADO MILKSHAKE SHAKE SHAKEEE. One of my favourite pictures of that day.

Then we had GL Prep from the 13th to 14th. Yep, as the saying by the seniors go, you can never fully prepare yourself for SPSU prep camps. No matter how mentally prepared you are, you'll still be taken aback when you experience the real stuff first hand. So things we were served as appetiser: run to FC 2, 3, 5 4 to take group photos in order, with all our stuffs on in 10 minutes.

Then when we had to go WCP at night. WE PROUDLY WALKED HALF THE JOURNEY THERE. HOHOHO.

We were given a few hours to rest before starting our night's activity so... camwhore time!

With Ragu my fellow Finance!

Right and so throughout the whole GL Prep we were counting the number of stages we have survived and pushed ourselves on. So during every meal we go xx out 6 stage completed! And finally it was time for us to pack up. Being efficient GLs... Camwhore as we packed. JK. Cause we ad about 20mins spare. So, why not? ;)

And during our debrief...

Summed things up and we all applauded ourselves for surviving all 6 stages of GL Prep! Got to know some of the GPs better and was really thankful to how kind, understanding and nice the GPs were. Although it was in their initial plan to tekan all of the GLs and it was the GPIC who told her GPs to not tekan us at all, but I believe that all those words of encouragement when us GLs were really down and broken, couldn't be all fakes.

And then we had camper's briefing on the 17th. Well, 17th was a food day. Constantly updated my Twitter with pictures of food. Had free Macs breakie that Jingyee helped me queue for cause it was National Breakfast Day. Pictures pictures, I have none. Actually I do. Pearlyn took a picture of Rihan and I with the SPSU Standee but... I don't look too good there so I shall not humiliate myself and put it here. Went to Queensway shopping centre thereafter with a few other GLs cause I didn't have enough shorts to last me through FOC. HAD THEIR AWESOME CURRY CHICKEN NOODLE/WITH BREAD, BREADED CHICKEN RICE AND LAKSAAAAA. And muachee too. Lunch was too good we had a second round and ordered more curry chicken, chicken rice and LAKSAAAA.Then later in the night, had JU SHIN JUNG BBQ WITH MA CHURCH GIRLS. Ohhhhh myyyy. After living around this area for 12 plus years, I finally got to eat JSJ. Food there was good la guys. Totally worth every single cent.

HOHOHO. And now that's left with is the most major event of my holidays which is... DENG DENG DENG. JENG JENG JENG. SPSU FOC!

Was really busy on Day 1 daytime cause I had to get to know allllll my kids. Was less busy during the day and that where WE GET TO SNAP SOME PHOTOSSSS. After human jenga, the above.

Nice photos on hand as of the second day: SWOOSH. With my dirty and smelly but most adorbz kids.

Proud mummys with our families' flags while our kids were playing Multiple Captain's Ball.

And during reunion night! Pictures with Daddy and Sissie cuz Bruddar was busy preparing for campfire.

Do understand the shag faces by then cause we've been surviving on less than 3 hours of sleep per day if you start counting from Day Zero and not to mention we have to be hyper maximum around the campers, which is basically 90% of the day.

And so all good things have to come to an end. We finally reach the end of camp and that is the break camp period. Names revealing and all. So sorry kids that I cheated your feelings and that my real name is not Reneé.

Some of the photos on hand that I got, with my kids.

Introducing my hansum handsum sons...

Introducing my priddy priddy daughters...

 

More pictures of my girls cause girls love selfies more hehe.

Halmahera as a whole

And not forgetting the big family in SPSU; Halms with their elders! My siblings, Daddy & Ah Gong!

Was getting my hair ready for a selfie

#BUFFALINOLOVE #SIBLINGS4LYFE

And so after camp we had a camp debrief, followed by a GL debrief. We were made to share our experience and unforgettable moments of the camp. So much tears. That probably explains those uglier eyes of my if they weren't already uglied from the lack of sleep. Pictures with my fellow Phantoms that are on my hand.

Doneska with Mummy Rose!

And Doneska with Papa Pontos! All of us were trying to imitate his face. LOL.

And our official graduation shot! With our two dearest GLTs. They trained us from the blurest bunch of people ever to the mums and dads of FOC.

Darryl gave this really fatherly hug after the photo. And he later revealed to me during dinner that he almost cried when he saw me crying during the sharing session.

And not to forget the Phantom family!

No doubt, created the best memories as a freshie in SP with these bunch of people... well with Ascomanni as well but in all honesty, I've been spending at least three quarters of my holidays with Phantom and from strangers, we became such good friends. Though outwardly I may have complained about the amount I've spent just to prepare for SPSU FOC, but deep down, no regrets at all. Thank you all for such wonderful and invaluable experience and memories. Made so many new friends from this camp be it from Phantom, Ascomanni, Minchalefts or the Tsunamis and forged stronger bonds with those who I was already friends with. As the saying my seniors go once again, the best time to make true friends in poly is during camps. And I really feel that this has really lived up to its meaning through my 2 SPSU FOC experience from a camper to a GL.

Halms is quite like Buffalino because they open to each other slowly but I can feel that the kids are really closer to each other after the camp has ended. Think we have met up the most after camp compared to other families. Met the boys just on Tuesday at vivo over lunch at Soup Spoon. For Pretty Son Lucas before he goes to Malaysia.

Well... with two other guys from other families. But Halms is a friendly family we love to make new friends right? Hehehehe.

Then they wanted to meet up on Thursday again with more Halms. Had lunch at FC5. LOLOL. LUNCH IN SCHOOL CAUSE I GOT FOWA MEETING AND MY KIDS WANTED TO EXPLORE SP. Meh. Nah. Just play pool after lunch. KFC-ed with Glendon while my kids went healthy with Subz.

They were meant for Fiona via WA. But since he sent me. Why not?

And then the famous white wall for a family photo.

Caption: "Halms looking at priddy gals and handsum bois." But in actual fact, we were looking at some pillar for the sake of "a different pose please".

 

So then after all the photo taking, had to rush all the way back to union for FOWA meeting! Bid my kids goodbye and ran back! Meeting with FOWA OC was funny as usual. After 4 hours of meeting, we had this 15mins break. So Marie, Glendon and I ran to the white wall to take more photos. Actually the smaller white wall this time since there were lesser people this time round. So the only few photos that I have on hand... 

 



K. So that's all for this lengthy post. Goodnight and Goodbye!