Saturday, December 03, 2005

Those 12 Dayz.

Well well... what has happened these 12 dayz were almost the best dayz of my life. okok. i noe it sounds cliche. but erm. ya. i really felt so.

Ingredients:
20 fun-loving Laviv-ies
2 wierd, wierd teachers
6 Pak-ers
some $$
bricks and pliers
and loads of love and care

Results:
-1 SPECIAL toilet
-1 embankment that aims to protect a pitiful tree
-20 fish traps that were so damn hard to make. (contaminated with our blood as the wires pierced thru our very vulnerable skin) [eekkks. sounds gruesome]
-16 meals (lunch and dinner), cooked with warmth by each and everyone of us
-countless of friendships build up between the villagers, the kids, and friends
-and tons of experiences.

Some of the more interesting events that have taken place:
1) Hotel Pura Jaya
For the first 5 dayz, no one but us. Yes you got it right. 20 occupants in one hotel. One big hotel. with no one else. Eerie yar! and guess what. we were seperated from each other by like 8 rooms apart or sth. Reason why? cos they claim that it is occupied or dirty. I doubt.

No air-con for the first 2 dayz. Life was miserable. Imagine. One room. 6 ppl squeezing on 2 beds. erm.
dirty? Tick
smelly? Tick
ventilation? NIL
Disgusted. we were almost like wanted to sleep in the hotel lobby larh! it was so the damn stuffy. and im not kidding. Try closing ur door, and window. and off the fan or aircon. and throw all ur dirty clothes and socks in the room, and sleep for 2 dayz. i bet u will nt b able to stand it lar!

Day 7
Mr Lee lost 2 handphones that were left charging in the hotel room. Yup. left it in the hotel room while having debrief. Den, came back, disappeared. Called Pak Hari. He den used black magic to find out the suspect, with juz a paper.
Suspect: female.
Long hair.
Fine eyes.
Chambermaid.
Black magic. First time i have heard of it so close in my life.
The feelings then: Scary. Eerie. Hair standing. Mind blowing.
Bbrrrr......

2) Embankment.
Took the rocks from a nearby beach and stacked it up beside the pitiful treee. Human Chain. Wheel barrow. ya. shouldnt go so much into details. Anyway, erm. casualties: Poor Mr Lee and Ser~ (sand flies attack!)

3) The sacrifices
KHOng cleared the drainage problem with his bare hands. Cos the washing area choked. Yup. Dirty KHOng. Dirty boii.

RF served as a feeder. Boi! his whole back was full of mosquito bites. Hard. Big. and Plentiful. EEeekkkS!

WN had 2 bees landed on his shoulder while he looked in agony for some brave soul to get rid of it. In despair.

4) Those favourite phrases
- Gogogo!
- Fer-___
- Wan-le, wan-le
- Huat!
Heard one of these at least once from each of the 20 of us.

5) The mystery
Day 1
More than 30 chickens. More than 20 chicks
No mosquitos.

Day 5
More than 30 chickens. More than 20 chicks
Tons of mosquitos.

Day 9 (After the campfire)
10 chickens. More than 20 chicks.
Tons of mosquitos.

Campfire dinner was chicken, satay(chicken), fish, rice, and veggies. Sudden drop in chicken no. Hmmmmm...
Were those the chickens that we fed with onions, and dirty food?
Were those the chickens that we played around with and tortured with?
Were those the chickens that were running about happily around the kampong protecting their little chicks?
hmmmm....

6) Reflections.
There was a sea. A dirty one. We looked into it and saw... ourselves. Yup. Our reflections.
Haha~ no la. here goes...

As we made our last entry into the village. Our last walk along that seemingly familiar muddy path and gave our last look at the toilet that we have built for the past 9 days. The embankment. The fish traps. And the people and friendship that we have made.

I have realised that sometimes, it’s not what we have done that matters, or whether or not we’ve achieved our target. But the friendship that we have nurtured through hardships that we have encountered and the experience that we’ve gained throughout our 10 day expedition, that really counts. We may be all players in this game of life. But it’s how we control it that will determine our destiny.

The villagers though had a rather low standard of living, but during the campfire that day, I could really, really feel the warmth coming out from the villagers, especially Pak Hari. They were all very contented with their everyday life. Catching fishes, rearing chickens. This is something that all of us should learn one day. To be contented with whom you really are, and what you already have. We all have a life. One life. Live it to the fullest.

And as i leave this village with no regrets, i brought along many sweet memories that were and alwayz will be, deeply etched in a corner of my heart.
Goodbye to you, Nongsa. Goodbye to you, my friend..

Nongsa Nongsa, gogogo!!

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