this is such a wonderful day =)

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Day 9 - 18th Oct 05

I woke up at about 7.45am today. the latest yet!! We were suppose to gather at 8 to go to the market for breakfast. but we ended somewhere else at a restaurant cos the market was closed cos we went too late. alot of stalls close liao. breakfast was pretty heavy. when everyday you drink milo and a piece of bread with some jam then suddenly rice with 7 dishes. omg!! full sia..

after that we went to the Phanomrung Historical ruins, an extinct volcano for 900000 years and the palace of the cambodia kind when they came to conquer. the architecture was pretty old but amazing.. got a little lesson on thailand history.. haha.. exploration done, we went shopping at the tourists shops. bought a necklace for bq... dunno what to buy oso.. not really interested in shoppin.. and somemore this being a tourist attraction prices surely higher.. lucky got p'gai to bargain for me.

we were suppose to go town for luncg after that but our taxi truck ended somewhere ulu cos the driver thought we were going home, then had to drive al the way back. so much for thai car massage.. ---' i only bought beancurd drink there.. pretty borin.. so shuang go 7-11 aircon.. haha.. cos mrs hong wanted to bu packet tissue but only got toilet roll so we went 7-11 lo.. after that we go back.. too late to go fishing liao.. pikul cookin dinner.. gotta write the love letters later.. Day 9 liao

we helped pikul prepare dinner. cut the cauliflower, slice the carrots into shreds, rid the winermelon of the skin. learned that cooking is so tough. a few ppl feel sick today. shi ying, melissa, jing ling.. haiz. hope they get well soon.

~Audrey~

1:55 AM

Day 8 - 17th Oct 05

Got up before 5am cos kanna disturbed by the lights. some of them woke up early to go see the 5 beauties make up. jennifer, karen, qiong ping, michelle and melissa was the thai costume representative for us. hmm, we had french toast for breakfast.. tasted quite nice. after that we prepared to go to the sports day festival. aoy brought us to a place dunno where and there were alot of people dressed in different colour shirts. it was a pretty grand event and i felt honoured to be there. our 5 beauties arruved soon after. it appeared that the 8 villages in buriram province were fighting over who should lead the contigent march when they heard we had 5 thai beauties coming. but in the end to avoid the quarrel, they decided to give us the honour to carry the national flag and our 5 beauties to lead the whole contigent process.

me photographer!! so hot!! the march was like abt 0.5km or 1 km. i accidentally step onto the mud, yucks. my shoes all dirty.. the contigent was very long, didn't manage to take a good photo. but towards the end when the march was ending, i manage to hitch a ride on the police truck!! lolx.. ms n limin got on oso. i finish 1 batt very fast, so gotta save. ms video cam also no tape/ so i went back with pikul to take the tapes. her hat flew off halfway.. had to run back to get it. reach the house pikul realised she got no key!! so she rode back and came back with Ja. after gathering everything we went bakc. they were about to start the volleyball match. oh yea, at the VIP seats just now, qp went to see got tape in the van anot, then the speaker was like introducing the 5 beauties asking them to stand up 1 by 1. in the end mr tan had to say 'hong nam! hong nam!!'.. muahaha.. like joke lai tt.. everyone laugh.. the volleyball game was pretty funny. only xinyi was professional. we kinda got thrashed. but its ok, friendly match. after that we headed to a 'restaurant' nearby for lunch.. had kway chap, so i don't need to do duty, just serve.. lolx..

after lunch we headed back home for some beauty afternoon nap.. hot weather makes me drowsy.. we headed for the farm at abt 4pm. tried my hands at carrying bamboo poles to the fields, diggin holes to plant the poles, pushing back the soil into the hold. under the sweltering sun, it was so damn tiring. i've learned how to appreciate what i have. the fields was planting long beans and they are clingers, tts why need the bamboo poles to support them. we also tried to pluck coconuts with a blade tied to the end of a bambo stick. i succeeded at my 1st try!!! woohoo!! karen and joannie successfully broke the blade. shiying and gang managed to pluck coconuts with 6 ppl together. poor juan mei couldn't pluck any. the blade keep faling off. then just when going to get the coconut down they left, poor jm soooo disappointed.

we trudged back back home after carrying all the bamboo to the fields. so long walk my leg pain.. muz have been the longest walk in my life.. cos no van to come fetch us mahz.. imagine the small children coming to the fields after school to help their parents. omg.. i'm soooooooo fortunate. my legs were like breaking. we had dinner upon reachin home.

~Audrey~

1:28 AM

Day 7 - 16th Oct 05

Today we went for church service at about 9am. some kids came along also like Jom and bichoi. I ate a light breakfast because they say later got heavy lunch. The ride to the church was quite long. mr tan said we were free to walk around (outside) if we did not want to attend the service but just dun wander off too far.The talk and songs sang were all in thai except 1. p'gai was the translator. I did saw a very pretty singer though.. haha..

after service we had lunch. the people queued in an orderly manner to get lunch. the kids were most enthu. then we chatted with the band and took loads of pics with them. after that we headed back home to prepare to go to the dam for swimming.

there were alot of children in the house and they were running around asking us to write our names in their book/paper like fans asking superstars for autographs. it was a pleasant experience to see them so happy.. its like they respect us alot and i feel really touched. after that we prepared to go to the dam. it was a pretty long ride again. it looked more like seawater to me but pikul said its quite clean. we chiong into the water (mr tan already swimmin) and played games. i stepped on alot of rocks and some sharp stuff n some disgustin muddy mud.. so pain.. we played frisbee, basketball, tiger oxen, lao ying zhua xiao ji etc.. i even dong bang a girl piggyback here and there.. haha.. it was pretty near cambodia, 30 km away.. the scenery was breathtaking, especially when it was going to rain, the waves started comin in.. oh yea, lunch!!

sticky rice, papaya salad and chicken wings. i ate abit only.. considerin the fact that by the time i went toilet to wash hand and come back, left only abit.. lolx.. i ask qp to take picts of e scenery of me as my hand was dirty and she took loads.

it was getting dark, so we headed back. free thai car massage!! e bumpy road.. i slept on e way back. .dinner was porridge, on the house i heard.. so after that i went up to see the thai dances on tv while some stayed downstairs to practise their song, flying free. ver ytired.. wanted to sleep but they still rehearsing.. even jm buai ta han go upstairs sleep.

i notice that nowadays i go to sleep early and wake up early also.. everyday is packed with activities.

~Audrey~

1:10 AM

Day 6 - 15th Oct 05

was woken up by roosters at 5am!!! some of them was also gettin up preparing to go to the morning market. urgh!! can't go cos got breakfast duty... i went back to sleep and woke up at about 6. when everybody woke up we kept the mosquito nets and help those who went to the market to bring their luggage up. after that we went for breakfast. gai on the tv to watch den me n qp join her. but when she left mr tan scold us say cannot watch tv, say spoil the purpose of coming her or wuteva.. blahz.. then there was this cute boy who came the earliest. we took photo with him.

gradually the children started filing in and the marketing team also came back. oh yea, the marketing team went marketing to prepare lunch for the kids.. n meishan also brought a new basket plus 2 chairs. hehe... aoy played some games with them to warm them up like the 'motorcycle bang bang' and the 'smile' song... there were about 160 children when we expected 80. the small hall was full manz.. so while they prepared lunch (joanne, jennifer & mrs hong), we kept them entertained by dancing and teaching them english about singapore. got 1 qn they ask say guess how many hong nam there are in singapore.. i myself oso dunno.. lolx.. oh yea, we also played blow up the balloon game and blow it as big as possible. i was in the latter. all my life i've never been able to blow a balloon, but dunno why today i suddenly full of air blow a very big balloon.. wahaha.. yeah!! my virgin balloon.. lolx.. marcus couldn't blow at all.. so i gave him mine and blow his then accidentally go burst my balloon.. boohoo!! sobz.. it was actually impromptu cos there was not enough balloon sculptures so we had to make more and they entertain them by dancing.

after that we had to split up into 4 groups.. each group had to take about 40 ppl each to play games in the school field.at the bball court, shi ying suggested we sing a birthday song for steph. not yet her bday la, but big crowd so would be fun. i paired with karen to play captain's ball with half my kids cos we split into 2 grps. eve, marcus n steph took the other group. when the older ones began to get bored we changed to the tiger oxen game. played 2 rounds of it then became lao ying zhua xiao ji. i was the eagle and had a chao hard time catching them. pant pant. dehydrated!!!! all of us nv bring water. scorchin sun.. so we rested under the coolin shade of the trees before we trekked back to the house where icy cold water awaited us.

we served lunch to the kids. there were sitting in small circles. when 1 of them haven't got the food they all waited patiently. e were last to eat but the food was delicious. but some of them threw away their food and said they eat very little only, maybe its because they are not used to the big portion. after luncg some of them stayed back, so we played wit them and did balloon sculptures as some of them lost theirs in the school field. it was delightful to see the smiles on their innocent faces. however after a while i became tired and went upstairs to rest while they continued playing.

the room was sooo hot!! urgh.. at about 3 we got up to go visit the villages. those kids who are being sponsored. there were mosquitos everywhere, but the stray dogs were very tamed. the condition of their houses was like oh my god.. i'm sure i can never survive living there.we also went to see bichoi n jom's house. they live very close to each other. even saw jon's nude baby picts. lolx. jom's living condition is alot better than bichoi one. and the '8' gang decided to sponsore bichoi. its like everytime they come to out house play its so far a walk from theirs, and they come everyday, with smiles on their faces.. but when we went to their home its like what!? honestly i didn't expect to visit their home, and where we went there they are not thir natural selves anymore. it was pretty depressing to see someone we know and love live under sucj conditions

total we went to 3 villages. even met the girl we saw in the video. her grandmother was taking care of her and sibling alone for their parents have passed away. it was very touching to hear their story and most of my teammates started shedding tears.we also went to the house of the little girl who helped the 2nd grp paint the school everyday . when we went into their abode we say papers posted on the wals with their names written on it. it was very heartwrenching and touching. as they began sheddin tears of pity and sadness, all the mixed feelings... we wrote notes of encouragement tn the papers. she and her grandmother earn only 20 baht a day selling the little fishes they catch. its not even $1 and we can spend $5 on a single meal. its so upsetting to see all these.

it was getting dark and mr tan was shooin us back to the vans to go the next village. when we arrived it was only 1 shed in the middle of nowhere. there was no light at all and it was also another little girl who worked with grp 2 painting th school walking there everyday rain or shin. further than all the rest. it was a complete family this time though, the others belonged to broken families. theit only problem is poverty. the were cooking dinner and the father offered us their only dish. they didn't have enough for themseles yet they are still so generous. it really made my heart go out to all of them.

when we went back to the house, everyone was hugging and tearing. today taught me a lesson not to take things for granted, be it money, family or friends. i felt extremely fortunate. we were discussing whether to pool money to sponsor a kid or collect donations in the school to help csp like setting up a stall or a booth, but it made me think what would really happen when we step back into our society again, the rat race that didn't exist here in buriram. but one things for sure, you have to see it and experience it to be able to feel it.

~Audrey~

1:08 AM

Day 5 - 14th Oct 05

I woke up latest today again. they were already keeping the mosquito nets when i awoke. pikul prepared breakfast for us today. saying we everyday paint need strength and energy. porridge with boiled ehh. it was delicious. i had 2.5 servings. gosh.. how can find such wonderful porridge in singapore. pikul in indeed a good cook.

after that we went to paint again. wanted to move on to the 3rd building, but the teachers there say no need. just wrap up the 2nd one will do. so we touch up on the diamonds. paint paint paint. i did mainly the door and window frames. in the end my hand was al black black, worst is cannot wash off the stains from my fingernails. haiz.. went back for lunch at noon. fabulous meals again. we each gave a bit to bichoi and jom. i craved for the yam ice cream so i went to buy them. i bought 12, only 53 baht, $2. so cheap...(12 not for me only hor.. for my frenz n bichoi n jom).

went back to work again. brought my cam to take picts. this time while on the way there, grp 2 arrived in pikul's van. urgh!!! they finish liao... haiz.. but i later found out they paint only 1 building and with the help of alot of people somemore. anyway, they came to help us out. this is called teamwork :)the cow for dunno what reason started mooing and mooing... so noisy.. hehe.. heavy rain, alot of worms came out.. got 1 almost 30cm long i almost step on it.. yucks

we were almost done at about 5pm. so we packed up and prepared to go. marcus, jing lin, eve n xue fang had fingerprints on their shirts and pants. marcus was most comical. we took picts here and there. on our way back we saw pikul and e teacher still painting the hall windows. looks much nicer now. click click..

when i went home i wanted to bath but the hong nam was occupied. then it was my turn to prepare dinner. me, qiong ping and eve. we scooped the dishes, fried fish with papaya salad, pork and tom yam soup. the fish was delicious. after makaning we had to wash the dishes. so many!! back pain. i went to bath at the back toilet, my 1st time. the front toilet was choked, think bcos got too many ppl use.

we had to wash clothes. finally after 3 days of wearing dirty smelly clothing can wash them liao. so many stains i don't think i'll ever wear them outside anymore. then ms broke the plastic dustbin she was trying to seat on... wahaha.. so funny.. i laugh until got stitch.. pity never take video.

arr... my leg pain after all that pesty mosquito bites and tiring paint work and stupid slippers givin me rashes. they're all downstairs packing the gifts for tomorrow's csp children fun day. yawnz... i went down to help them make the sculpture balloons.. i only know doggy.. lolx.. tmr muz wake up early to prepare breakfast.. sobz.. can't go to the morning market with them

~Audrey~

1:01 AM

Day 4 - 13th Oct 05

Time passes in the blink of an eye. it was soon day 4. i had a very good sleep, having prepared mattress, sleeping bag(blanket), and pillow and jacket. hehe.. i woke up the latest i think. breakfast was bread with hotdog. mr tan was asking xinyi to form a 10 man volleyball team for the sports day, so she asked around and i volunteered.

after that was painting time. mrs hong wanted some of us to touch up the hall while the rest go start on the 2nd building. but the teacher say she ask the children go clean up the building first, so we continued to touch up. but it appears there was still alot to be done. i went here and there to paint, climb up and down. we also did the gloosy wood. make it look like brand new.. the paint smelly siaz.. like e glossy green paint. now left the exterior top part only, marcus and qiong ping was still hard at work. i tried to help them so i climbed the ladder which appeared to be very high.. got fear of heights.. so i came down almost immediately after trying to cheng qiang.. they're my ou xiang man.. played abit of volleyball with bichoi n jom n some of my teammates, hand pain. ouch!

went back for lunch!! fried guo tiao, very nice. got tan xing. singapore's one pale in comparison.i think should learn from the thais their cooking

went back to work. i dilly dally on the way there to buy ice cream. yam flavour again. 5baht yummy.. we shifted the stuff over to the next building, the nursery.. it was dilapidated.. urgh!! the bottom part is easy to paint, but the top part got alot of diamond shaped thingy very hard to paint. tedious work. halfway through pikul came with 1 sack of coconuts and chop chop chop for us to drink. pikul say she got stuck in the mud for abt 1h that why so late come. we kept painting and painting, the other group finish go back bath finish liao we still stuck in the scool, got rain somemore. joannie they all take my camera take pictures here and there. then i borrow her memory stick use.

we came back at abt 5.30 or so. i immediately went to bath. it felt so refreshing after a day of sweaty work. i have to wear the shirt again tmr also manz.. stinko.. dinner time we had to wait for some others. mr tan face black siaz.. when everybody came he started lecturing us say water tap left on, people not doing their duties, not punctual for dinner. haiz.. dinner was beef curry, some chix n veg. the dishes are wonderful, everyday different. thanks to our wonderful neighbour cook. lunch and dinner cost less den $5 per person.

we had a briefing after dinner and mr tan separated us into 3 groups for a sharing session. shi ying, germaine, marcus,joanne, clarice, juan mei and me were in mr tan's group. we went upstairs to talk. we really went into personal issues like family problems, friends problems, how we miss our family and how to appreciate them better. all of them cried (me 1 drop of tear -_-"). it was really a sharing session and very touching. at first i shed only the skin, didn't really go deep. but after all of them finished theirs, i felt i had to share... and i did. i wanted to share juz tt i didn't noe how to open my mouth, but finally i did it.

after the session we went down and some people came to hug us because they saw us crying.. our team took the longest i think. i had no tears, but qiong ping knew i was in mr tan group and came to hug me also... it was heartwarmin..we went to see jennifer they all try on their thai costume for the sports day. kinda fun, like parade like that. different poses for the camear, pretty babes.

now they are practising a thai dance. chimology.. taught by jang n ja. had to learn, tiring also they still not tired.. my hand twist and turn until so suan.. haha.. 12+ liao.. me going to bed yawnz..

oh yea, juz now got a man came to offer coconut. so kind.. the people here very friendly

~Audrey~

12:59 AM

Day 3 - 12th Oct 05
don't even know if i got any sleep at all... so cold.. no pillow.. blanket half gone.. head and back aching.. urgh!! stupid roosters cuckooin..

had the same thing for breakfast.. yawnz... rest for awhile before we started painting.. our team was separated into 2. i was with mrs hong, we are going to paint ban doon school, the one we went to yesterday whereas the rest with ben will go to baan hin klon school further down.

we started painting the hall 1st. it was in a terrible state. sooo messy... we began pushing and shifting the things to the centre and carrying the things outside so we can paint the walls. it was a tiring task trying to even open the paint can and mixing them with a stick. the paint was pretty diluted, so had to mix hard and thorough and long.. i had to churn them until they were thick and had a light greenish colour.

we started painting the school. it was tiring and arduous but we perservered on. halfway through, mrs hong fed us cookies.. so sweet.. we had to pint the interior and exterior and give the walls 2 coats. we were painting the bottom exterior when mrs hong came and say the principal wants it glossy green. i felt so angry, couldn't he say so earlier. but mr tan say we are here to serve, we are not just painting the schools but also their future, so just do whatever they want to make them happy. in no time at all, i was painting all over the school. we were trying to find bamboo sticks to stick into the rollers to reach the high placs. pikul got a few more brushes and rollers for us to paint cause not enough.

i was actually kinda slacking off after a while.. haha..juz nice, lunch time!! we trodded back for lunch, to serve our hungry stomach. we had fried egg and some chilli minced meat with rice. packet food. tasted quite nice.. we rest for a while before headin back to paint.

this time we started giving the walls the 2nd layer of coat while some was still unpainted. marcus and qiong ping were reaching high places, climbing this and that to reach the ceiling wall. so hardworkin.. mrs hong said that the 2nd grp have already finished painting cos got alot of people help them.. from e village one.. kids and men.. poor us.. the guys all run away.. useless bunch.. oh yea, got 2 boys. jom n bichoi play with us every night and help us paint the schools also. they kinda cute..

it was getting dark soon and we had to leave and continue the next day. for dinner, another sumptuous feast. steamed fish, egg with pig trotters, bittergourd.. the fish was delicious. i seem to have beter food here then food at home, maybe cos i hardly hv home cooked food. mr tan was commenting that we have the best food here compared to other overseas community trip who have to cook themself.

after dinner, clarice and marcus had to wash all the bowls. poor thing.. tonight was especially alot because mr tan wanted a communal dinner where we sit in a circle and share the dishes.

we had a briefing afterwards and then went to play games. a few other village children came to join us. we started playing the animal game and had to get jom n bichoi to teach them as we desperately tried to unsuccessfully show them e game. they also taught us some of their games and it was very fun and tiring. it was getting late and they had to go home. so we pitched the nets and went to sleep

~Audrey~

12:55 AM

Day 2 - 11th Oct 05
6am!!! still in a daze.. helped took off e mosquito nets, kept our sleepin bags, changed into our jeans, ate milo cereal and cornflakes for breakfast.

After that we headed for Ban Doon School to de-lice the children's hair. All of them had school uniform, but looking at their feet, some had torn n tattered shoes on, others slippers, and some none.. their faces all look the same to me, all e girls like 1 hairstyle only, the guys standard crewcut. we started playin lao ying zhua xiao ji to warm them up to us, we had to group them into many small groups cause alot of students. we had to use examples to teach them e game. they were all very eager to play n obedient.. aoy taught them to say 'welcome to buriram' in unison... so heartwarmin...

morning assembly.. they sang their school song etc. after which they did the 'wai' to each other to foster better relationship, i can never find this in singapore, e bond they hv among frenz.. every little thing done can boost relationships. we then proceeded to the hall for a talk by the principal and to meet the villages elders n heads. there was a very cute and well groomed dog, a golden retriever i think. after the talk ben tan gave out our love thailand t shirt to the principal and the village heads as a gift.

After that we started to de-lice the children's hair. those who hv lice on their head have already been picked out by aoy, shortening the no. of children we hv to delice. i was impressed with the orderly queue and patience they showed while waitin for their turn. singapore children would hv been whinin n complainin to their parents. i worked with jennifer n started delicing them one by one. the medication is supposed to have a hot stingin sensation but they all juz lie there and made no sound,imagine what sg children would hv been doin by now. we went through them one by one taking turns, i could see many lice eggs embedded in their hair but apparently couldn't see any lices, but jen caught 1 though. she was like scoldin me how come i took such a short time to go through their hairs although i think i did a not bad job, hers was more thorough and patient, i was quite impressed actually... haha.. so after that i started to buck up..

meanwhile, those who did not need to delice went to play games with e other half of e grp. tiger n oxen. so after we deliced everyone, took some picts, n off we went to join in the fun. oh yea, i blanjah some of them ice cream, 2 baht onli, so cheap... e yam flavour was yummy.. i've fallen in love with it. tiger n oxen was played with people holdin hands forming a circle( fence), some tigers outside n oxens inside. tiger suppose to catch oxen la, n fence muz deter them from doin so. some of e kids can real chao fast sia, heart attack.. without shoes somemore.. no wonder they fall down not pain we pain.. pantz

after playing we went to rest.. i bought a mantou, so-so la.. den we went to visit their classrooms.. i think we are very fortunate to live in singapore. the classrooms there have rice sacks tied below the ceilin to keep the soil n dust from fallin down whenever someone walks above. no aircon or anythin.i would hv died complainin. there were 2 girls who were very enthu in takin picts with us. in their hands were 1 piece of sticker given out doin e game and they were very happy n satisfied playin with it. the simplicity they hv is beyond what we can find in singapore.

after tt we went back for lunch n chillz the whole day... accomplished our task quite fast. had chicken rce for lunch, fish n some other dishes for dinner. was playin dai dee the whole day with mei shanz, juan mei n clarice. couldn't really sleep at night cos very cold. oh yea, the village head brought as blankets n mattresses n long pants this afternoon upon hearin we were freezin last night. the generosity of e ppl there.

village life is very simple n slow paced. even stray dogs are tame. there's one dog who faithfully follows us everywhere whenever we enter ban doon school n our house, but he's abit smelly though.. hehe

~Audrey~

12:50 AM

hi guys... really sorry for the late update.. completely forgotten.. realised that ba cares is comin round the corner.. n this blog is used to tell future overseas trip goers what happens!! haha.. anyway.. i'm gonna update abt the trip.. its from my personal point of view.. lifted from my diary.. so yupz.. no offence.. here goes....

Day 1 - 10th Oct 05

I met my team at the airport at 6am. Mr leow and 2 previous overseas volunteers came to send us off, and some parents as well. We checked in and went into the departure gate and walked ard.

We boarded the plane, I had the window seat nxt to jennifer. the scenery was very nice, the clouds had diff patterns and colours. i wonder what it's like to seat and play on the fluffy white vapours. from e sky, i could look down and see singapore, like a mini display, so pretty. food came, i didn't hear e stewardess properly, so i took e same as jen, duck rice -_-"... i had duck mee for dinner e night before lor.. after eatin we packed e pepper n salt, butter n jam to bring to buriram juz in case.

When we landed, we went to check out and take our luggage. ben tan was commenting that the system in singapore is diff. if there is no queue in a counter they will move e ppl there to shorten e queue, but thailand hv to queue chao long. We took e luggage tt carried a yellow ribbon. after checking the everyones' was there, we went to check out.

Pikul and 5 other girls came to fetch us and presented us with garlands around our necks. i feeel so honoured and touched by the warm welcome that was received. we loaded our luggage in the cach and proceeded on our long journey to buriram where a new chapter is soon to begin.

2hrs ride seems like very long as i dozed off halfway. comparing the infrastructure between bangkok and buriram, i could really see the difference between th rich provinice and e poorer province. and for the 1st time in my life, i saw cows and chickens and mules along e road, wandering freely. real life!! so... we stopped halfway for toilet break, the toilets was like yew... only water to flush down, kinda not say dirty la, but like very old n dark... after tt we stopped for lunch at a restaurant, kampong style!! the decor was very nice with waterfalls and all, even the toilet had plants n flowers that look like a high class hotel with the exception of a squatting bowl n a pool of water to 'wash up', no tissue! the food was real nice though, the catfish was delicious, looked like rock brown sugar but yummy!! Aroi mak mak... n plus some other dished like fish, chicken, chao spicy tomyam soup etc. cost only abt 2100baht for abt 29 ppl. so cheapz...

We reached buriram at abt 5 pm, after 6hrs of ride.. left our luggage at the L.I.F.E foundation house and went for a stroll. the sun was about to set and the scenery was gorgeous. we past by houses on the way and you can really tell the diff between the rich n e poor.

After that was diner!! rice, drumlets, mixed veg and fishballs. there was a lot of 'wings' (some dunno wut insects) gathering ard e garlands so we quickly throw them away. they also offered us some fried grasshoppers.. gross... i didn't wanna touch.. haha.. but a few of them dared to hold them and take pictures pretendin to eat the grasshoppers.. haha.. for future storytelling

The condition of the place was far better then i expected, my imagination brought me to the worst scenerio.. anyway.. we set up the mosquito nets n ZzzZzz... couldn't really sleep.. quite cold... juan mei oso..

~Audrey~

12:44 AM

Thursday, September 22, 2005

We returned to school for the talk on NYAA (National Youth Achievement Award) together with the Cambodia team. It was pretty enlightening, and we were encouraged to take part as this award is highly valued by employers, and also since we are going on an overseas community service trip, it can already cover the part on 'Exploration/Expedition', so we need just focus on the rest of the 4 segments. It was pretty interesting and attractive, as almost half of us went to obtain the form to participate in this scheme.

After the talk, we stayed back and the cambodia team went to the opposite room. We rehearsed the 2 thai songs and dance namely 'Khwaam suk yuu nay caay chan' (There's peace and happiness in my heart) and 'Oo Phern rak' (Dear friend) and also our theme song, extracted from 'The land before time', 'If We Hold On Together'. These 3 songs are very meaningful and had a deep inpact in us. We has fun practicing and laughter and smiles were all glued to our faces.

We discussed about the upcoming camp after the rehearsal and talked about who bring what (tissue paper etc), the balloons stuff and so on... After that it was home sweet home. All of us are enthusiatic about the bonding camp and is looking forward to having fun there. Smilez!!

8:38 AM

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Today, we gathered at level 7 conference room at Blk 72 for a briefing on our overseas trip. There were 2 speakers, Michelle and Joy. Joy was apparently from Buriram, the place where our group is heading, therefore her knowledge of the area was very useful to us. Michelle is doing missionary work in thailand and she speaks fabulous thai, translating all that Joy was saying.

We were given an overview of the whole situation that we would most probably encounter there. Like the food, land, schools, weather etc. The most important was the people, they taught as how what to do when we meet them like the 'wai', where we put our hands together beneath our cheeks as a form of greeting. And that we should not be alarmed when we see heads popping in from the windows when we are dining as they are the curious neighbours wanting to see where we come from. We were also taught basic thai language, and the joke was on the 'most important phrase', 'Hong narm yuu thii nai kh?' which meant 'Where is the toilet?'. This was because we were discussing about the toilets previously and Michelle twisted it in such a way to make it sound fun.

After the briefing, we paid the remainder of the fees and collected back out medical fees as well. Have fun!!

8:21 AM

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Today we did commnuity work for the ex-leprosy patients by cleaning up their wards at the Silva Home at Buangkok. Mr Ben and Mrs Jenny made arrangements with Gladys, who is from the Leo Club of Singapore Metropolitan, for Serve Thailand 2005 to do community work there so that we can serve and bond together and prepare for the trip.

There were 3 meeting avenues, one at Ang Mo Kio Mrt, one at Seng Kang, and the last directly at the Silva Home, 9am. All of us attended and contributed to the cleaning of the home. We mainly cleaned up level 2 wards. With all the arms in hand(rags, brooms, mops, water), we set about making the wards a better place to live in. The work was distributed among us and we started cleaning and scrubbing and washing the dirt off this place. With not a moment to lose, we raged war on the filth in the wards. There were 2 wards on level 2, so we divided ourselves.

Some of us cleaned the beds, some did the walls and railings, some did the windows and mainly the guys did the fans and changing of water... Our rags became dirt black within a moment, from cleaning the many beds in there to scrubbing of the dirt of windows and railings, the water was changed so frequently as it turned black the moment clean water was splashed inside.. We worked and worked, our arms and backs were aching from all the cleaning. We had a break in between, water and snacks were provided. We took the time to stretch out and relax our aching bodies. After that, it was back to work. This time, we raged war on the floor. There was a mini flood and grime was stuck all over. So we set to work. Some of us continued on cleaning the windows, fans and beds, while some attempted to rid the floor of the flood and dirt. There was only one pipehole where we can push the water into, so we swept and mopped, trying to push the water down the hole, but the hole was too far and the water kept flowing back. Kinda unsuccessful. So the guy told us to get rid of the dirt off the floor and after that he'll use the hose to wash everything away. We took all the weapons we could find, mops, brooms,dustpans and that 'rake' or whatever its called, and sweep and scrub and mop... quite tough as the stains are very stubborn. There were not enough tools to go around, so Mr Ben told us to use our feets, which we discovered were alot more useful to get the stubborn stains off. After the 'hosing', we proceeded again to rid the room of water. But it seems they are forever there. We worked together in sweeping them to the toilets where there's a pipehole, mini tsunami, or so we termed it. After much hard work and 'fun', we got rid of most of the water and Mr ben told us to let the fans dry them. We proceeded to lunch. Oh yea, did i mention Mr Tan broke 2 tools while working, soooo hardworking.

Lunch consisted of chicken rice, charsiew, egg, shao rou... a mixture of 2 in different lunch boxes.. it was sponsored by some organisation. There was enough to go for 2nd helping, but not many of us did. So after lunch, we headed for home.

It was our concentrated effort that managed to turn the wards into a clean, healthy living environment for these ex-leprosy patients. And we were glad to be given this chance.

4:35 PM

Monday, August 22, 2005

hi all.. hope u like tis blog.. feel free to add your blog link at e side.. edit thru template =p

5:39 AM