..:: 590. The One With Year-End Summex ::..

So much have happened in the month of dec and i did not have time to update my blog. shall do a fast recollection.

30Nov - 5Dec

went to vietnam with my Nanyang Business School mates. signed up the trip knowing only 2 people in the group. i had so much fun that was beyond words. the morning parts where we spent visiting companies were fulfilling and the hanging out at night just topped the whole trip. the last night at ho chi minh city was the ultimate. we played quite a few games, getting to know each other really well. i'm glad i stayed up till 4am and went crazy, just that booze was missing!

mui ne was alright i guess, i felt the company and cam-whoring were more important than the places we visited. probably it was the hot weather and the only thing to see was the sand dunes. the exciting episode of the stolen slippers and the ultimate sabo where i had to dance on the bus for a forfeit during a game which led to my downfall.

when we reached the vietnam national university for a cultural exchange, the students there prepared a lot of performances for us while we had none. so i was at that instance, the representative for our school for a performance. my mind went blank when i heard my name. lucky they had the song sexyback by justin timberlake, if not i would be dancing to some folk songs.

i guess the dance clip can be found in youtube. thanks to steph leong. -_-. i felt like an animal in the zoo, while i was performing, all the cameras were recording and flashing... i think i hadnt done hip hop for very long, once i got down on the floor to do floor works, i couldnt get up in time so i had to dance on the floor for a while. but hey, all of them didnt spot it =)

next event i guess would be my VI Camp

i must say i always look forward to VI Camp. Firstly, it was the time i get to interact with youths and i am excited to share my experiences and see how i can help in developing their leadership.

the next great thing was that we had a great team. small but mighty, everyone had something to offer. i was impressed by the junior mentors, i missed those times where you get close to the trainees and you get to hang out and know them better. but when you are asst chief trainer, you will feel that gap.

oh... talking about being mentors, i am kinda excited cos i am in for the next batch again! but this time, the level has just gone up. AYO becomes the mentors. LOL. I am back to my mentoring days.

seeing what the trainees went through reminded me of the old days. nothing is new, the sleep deprivation that resulted from poor time management, the injury-prone exercises that were meant to stretch you mentally and physically. the old ones will always tell you that they had them worse. i was quite shocked to see 23 trainees had to struggle to carry 1 casualty. that made me reflect on the issue of safety vs reality training. during our time we had to carry our bags and at the same time evacuate casualties, there was no such thing as 'bag party'. times had changed. i still remember those days, we screamed our lungs out pushing one another. yelling (in good will) to push and encourage one another. even doing cheers to get our timing in sync to carry the casualties.

all in all, i think the camp went really well. the pace started slow and unpleasant but picked up when we decided to change our strategy. it was heartening to receive feedback from trainees so that we can improve our conduct of the programme. sadly, there were some who were not interested to give any comment. Given the benefit of doubt, i believe they had more important things to do like work and study.

i was thought to be sarcastic at times. well, i dont deny it. i could have tell some of them straight in the face, change this and that. in reality and in the working life, you can be the one who dont use them (sarcasm and criticism) but you can never avoid them. i have learnt to go around them in the hard way. when i say something, i always try to make it a point to deal with the matter rather than the person.

there was of course a lot of drama going on, but i feel that we should not take things too personally. there are many times where you are too angry that you let the emotions do all the talking or writing. that is when things just get worse. communication - talking things over calmly really helps. Putting across your message tactfully in writing or speech is equally important.

was reading through some of the blogs and i realised there were so much fun going on behind the scenes. mizael and i started this noose trend and seemed like it has created some stir.

blogging is a personal thing. you can write whatever you want in an open diary knowing that a lot of people will read. however, i do advocate blogging responsibly. yes, you can write to spite or diss someone but with some level of control, decency and maturity. especially if you are going 21, becoming an officer or what not, what you write reflects on you.

ha. so whats the point of blogging if you cant be yourself huh? i guess those password protected entries would come in handy.

VI Retreat

this year was my first time attending the retreat. had a great time with my batch mates and i was happy to see all of the trainees passing out and enjoying themselves. i think that is one of the most important part of being a VI, the friendships you made. I just enjoyed the times we sit down and play games with the juniors, getting to know them and hope we can exchange advice. I was quite amazed by my batch mates and some of the juniors who still managed to win the captain ball game without sleep the night before. we totally rocked. ha.

Results

on the sun night, i had to do fyp conference on the phone. my other half of my mind was thinking about the results that were going to be released at the stroke of midnight. all was well =) couple of As and Bs which i was happy with given the tremendous workload. Looking forward to my last semester with all my favourite modules.

happy for my friend who recently got a job =) now a civil servant like myself.

i will definitely miss schooling and my friends. i also cant wait to start work, earning my first official pay check. meanwhile i still wish to travel to bangkok and then india for my graduation trip.

every year it is compulsory to have new year resolution right?

-Get 2nd upper honours
-Get back IPPT (G)
-More involved in Red Cross
-Go for lasik
-Get PSP (deep red)
-Travel to Bangkok and India