4th Semester

Endless skies, endless possibilities

Never stop running, never stop discovering

Tomorrow will be the first day of my 4th semester, the first day of my 2nd semester of my second year. Time flies huh! I really feel that the first semester just went by like that. And I can't believe another semester is waiting for me to conquer. Yes I'll conquer it! Woohoo :D I know it's hard to accept the transition of holiday to school, but we all gotta do it! And I will do it :)

Anyway since today is the last day of my September - October holiday, I've had an awesome one! Met Nivedha first to pass her the photos I took for yesterday's event. I hope the photos turned out alright. Then I went to Scape to support Junhua and Togo along with a few GTs! They were in a competition by Starhub called the Now You Can series and well even though they didn't take home the prize, I have to say they really did a good job! Their idea is really good. So does the winner one.

If I were one of the judges, I will really have a hard time choosing the winner seriously :/

After the event, some of the GTs went for dinner at Vivo! It was difficult to find a seat at the Food Republic but we ended up going to the rooftop park and da bao our food to eat there. Good choice! The breeze was really nice just now. So peaceful, calming and refreshing. A perfect way to enjoy our last day of holiday I guess :) And I really enjoyed the company of my awesome GTs! :)

And I headed home first while the rest continued to have dessert hehe.

Oh well, I still can't believe that school is starting tomorrow. Time really flies huh. Well I guess the fact that I had an awesome holiday with my Inner Mongolia OCIP trip, SPSB Korea trip and my hometown, how could I not feel that time flies really quickly? Time flies like a blink of the eye when we're having a good time. And when we realise how fast it flew, there's nothing we could do but to laugh and smile.

And be shocked.

My JC friends just had their last day in JC last week I think. And I'm about to start my 4th Semester tomorrow. Time really flies huh. It feels like it was O Level yesterday, and now my friends are graduating from their respective JCs soon. Well I still have no regrets for not going to a JC. Even though I still have 1.5 more years in poly, well... I just want to make this 1.5 years an awesome one.

To all my JC friends, all the best for your last hurdle for A Levels! Don't stop fighting okay, it's there, it's within your grasp, you can do it!! :)

And to my poly friends, to the year 2s, lets welcome the new semester with fresh, bright optimism and joy! To the year 3s, enjoy and jia your for your last semester :D

Before I end, let me list my "New Semester Resolutions!"

- Be punctual for class!

- Manage my time better (last sem, I feel it was improved, but not fabulous :P)

- Get better grades, if I did my best last sem, then my best can be better :D

- Be more positive about things

- Make a difference in more people's lives

- As Steve Jobs once said - "Stay hungry, stay foolis" [I think it's important for a research student like me]

- Lose weight

- RUN and RUN and RUN more! (For SCMS 10K!)

- Play well in MD :D

-And the list goes on...

Alright I guess I'll stop here. Still need to pack and tidy up some stuff. Gosh, and I could have done that just now. Oh man it's not even school and I'm already procrastinating! Nooooo! Alright ciao!

Congrats once again to Vivastudio! No worries, I feel you all did great :D

Without Vision, Men Perish 

Flying back, again

Harrow! I'm currently at Jakarta Aiport's Starbucks. Yup I'm flying back to Singapore soon :/ Sigh two weeks fly really quickly huh? I mean it's like 14 days ago that I reached here, now it's 14 days later that I'm back here flying. I wanted to blog last night but blogger is giving me problem and I couldn't blog. Just now I couldn't blog either but well I signed out and the problem was fixed.

Yesterday was an alright day I guess. In the afternoon spent the day outside with my sis. We went to the tailor to get my pants re-sized, cause it's apparently huge -.- and we did some last minute shopping. And then we went to a restaurant where we went to get dinner for my dad. It's at this place in my hometown where there's still lots of paddy fields. It was the early evening so the view was awesome.

Of course I shot lots of photos hehe.

Anyway yeah that's all for my last day here I guess. I ended it off by accompanying my mum and sis doing some clothes shopping hehe.

Well I always have this sulky feeling on my last day of holiday in my hometown. I guess everyone has it. Don't you think it's tough for everyone to accept the transition between holiday and school? Like during holiday we get to do whatever we want and we can laze around all day long and just simply like use the computer all night long. Well sure we can do that during school, and our result will be jeopardised.

And I guess with the creation of my own room, which is really cosy and nice, I feel like nua-ing all day long haha. Even though my room is smaller than the one in Singapore, it's pretty cosy and nice. It's like my little haven. Wee.

But as the river flows and the season changes, the day goes and the birds flying in ranges, life has to move on. It all goes back to C'est la vie. It's life, and we have to move on right. There are times for fun, there are times for work. There are times to rest and there are times to study. So the holiday, as I was saying, is my time for rejuvenating after such a long period of work and stressful period of school.

Well all I could say is that my holiday has been an awesome one. Spending two weeks in Inner Mongolia and one week in Korea, then another 2 weeks in Indo is really awesome haha. I get to travel a lot, and I love exploring new places. It's one experience that I'll never forget. And well yeah, it's such an awesome holiday, I get a seriously good time to rejuvenate and take a break after a semester of stress. I mean seriously, my third semester is kinda hectic.

Alright I guess that's all for today. And that's all for this holiday. I'll be busy tomorrow and on Sunday so I guess it's a great way to take my mind off to not feel home sick, especially when I get back after my hometown. Oh well. Take a positive mind Adhi! Lets welcome the 4th semester with joy and happiness. And optimism and hope... My flight will be departing soon so see ya! :)

Ah well, what an awesome holiday it has been :)

Heavenly Road

Hello all! Okay I feel guilty for not blogging, even though I promised that I will blog.Oh well was kinda busy at night doing lots of things like sorting out photos etc. And I just made a video just now :P Very nice, I'll publish it  on a later date hehe.

Anyway so far my days here are alright, just that on Monday I was feeling kinda sick in the afternoon, like a bad stomach ache and nausea feeling, and then I felt sort of feverish in the evening. Somehow this always happens after I ate this bowl of porridge I used to have, like last week. My dad tells me most probably it's cause there's too much MSG inside it. And to someone who is not used to it, your tummy might not be able to accept it and yeah... Voila.

But anyway I'm good now. And I was better on Monday evening. The other two days are fine, but last night was really... Special! Okay it was 3:35 AM in the morning and my dog went missing. So my mum and I went to search for her and... She was at this 2.5m hole down below! Apparently she fell down in the dark. So I just decided to use the ladder, went down, carried her, and went up!

It was my first time saving a life, and it felt really good... It's like the best feeling I've ever felt in my life. Cause if we were not to find her, she would be left there in the cold and she might die! Oh man, she's really lucky. But poor her, she was trembling like mad when I was carrying her. And after she was rescued she was sneezing non stop. Must be really cold huh. Anyway all is well now so yup! So glad she's safe and sound.

And I went to the dentist again today, to get two holes in my teeth filled. You know I think thanks to me being a biomed student, the thought of going to a dentist is more scary than going for blood test -.- I mean seriously! Haha, actually I hate the drilling sound. In fact all the sound that the tools produce. Be it the drill, the cleaning thing or even the air gun thing. Argh haha. But my teeth is good now teehee.

Alright as promised I shall blog about my Inner Mongolia OCIP once more right? :)

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Inner Mongolia OCIP write up #4 - Grasslands

One of the things I love the most from this trip, or from Inner Mongolia itself, is the grasslands. Before the trip, I could already picture myself standing on an empty grassland enjoying the breeze, the wind, the sounds, and most importantly the freedom. Well even though we didn't get to enjoy like just standing alone on the grassland for hours, but I truly enjoy seeing the grasslands. Even though it was from the bus.

There was once where we went to the Yang Pang village, where we took a stroll at a place around the village. Then on the way back to the village, we walked on this empty grassland. It was me, Jesslyn, Junhua and Elijah. While walking alone with Jesslyn, the place was REALLY QUIET. You could hear nothing but the sound of wind blowing, and cows mooing from the distance.

It was really blissful and peaceful. Like as if time stood still while you're walking.

When asked to describe one of the best moments from the trip, I mentioned the above - the silence I had while walking on that grassland in Yang Pan village. And Jesslyn agreed as well. It was really one blissful moment I wish I could relive over and over again. It's so rare to enjoy such feeling right?

I'm making this write up short and sweet. But I just want to tell you, to share with you, how blissful the feeling of enjoying the silence of the grassland. 

It's one thing you can't get to enjoy often.

It's rare.

When the silence within merges with the silence outside, peace is achieved :)

Jasmine

Hello hello! The past two days have been an awesome one :D Yesterday I went to Jakarta! Even though I was there for a little while only, got the things I wanna get! Hehe. Shall explain more.

We're supposed to leave for Jakarta at 9, but due to some communication breakdown we ended up leaving at 1 :P Anyway we left at 1 and we reached Jakarta at 5! To me that's very fast, inclusive of like 45 minutes of lunch I think. Usually it takes about at least 5 hours to reach Jakarta -.- so I think we're quite fast! :) Started by going to Lotte World! It's like a huge Carefour that sells international stuff too. Lots of Korean stuff there. They even have Lotteria and Angel-in-us coffee! Wow...

Next we went to my aunt's house first to drop some stuff, and we continue our shopping hunt hoho. Got myself a new headset! Which I really love! Small, compact, simple and foldable! How sweet is that... And I got myself Lenka's new album "Two" as well. It's a great album so I went to get it :P Heard her songs in Youtube and they're really good. So it's totally worth the buy hehe.

As for food, we went to eat this.. Literally translated, bone satay. It's like small cuts of meat with bones there, and we get to like eat it and spit the bones out! :P It's pretty yummy though, and one unique experience to eat it as well. Their "soto" is very nice too, so do their other satay and grilled tofu. We spent about 5 hours out, to me it's kinda short but at least I got the stuff I want so yup! :)

It actually rained quite heavily in my hometown last night! It finally rained. Apparently, it hasn't rained here for about a month or so. So the farmers would be dancing in joy, as they bid farewell to a very long dry season :) And thanks to the rain, I really had a GREAT sleep last night! After a long day :)

And as for today there's nothing much, but went to my dad's garden and the gardeners were having a soccer match! It's really funny to watch them. It's really awesome too. Like nature soccer. No field but soil, no shoes but bare feet. Somehow, I enjoyed watching this more than watching a normal soccer match. There's joy and simplicity in it, which you won't find in normal soccer matches :)

I guess that's all for today. I should be writing another write-up about my Inner Mongolia OCIP but I'm kind of rushing now so... Tomorrow alright! :P Nights~

Simplicity in joy. Joy in finding simplicity

Happy one month anniversary to Green Desert @ SP Fall :)

Hello all. As the title suggests, today marks one month since my Inner Mongolia trip! So if I were to say that 30  days ago, I was at Beijing Huairou uhh I think gathering at Elijah's room playing taiti and having fun there. Sigh time really flies huh. Somehow one month flies really quickly. I guess cause the first two weeks were so awesome (AKA my trip) and the next week was awesome too (Korea trip) so time flies really quickly I guess.

But what else can I say? The trip was really awesome. I don't think I want to repeat and type what I feel about the trip as I've written about it in the past 3 posts I think. And so yeah... I guess the trip itself is beyond words. I can't really fully describe it! In words. And I don't think I wanna write a day per day basis cause first I'm too lazy to transfer, and secondly it's gonna take a long time.

I just feel really blessed and lucky to have been chosen for this trip. I mean there are 25 of us and there were 74 students who signed up for the interview. The chances are 1/3 right? It's not even 1/2, the chance is smaller. I remember how much my eyes widened when Jess told me that statement. And how I was feeling really worried for the next about... 10 days while waiting for the result. I was telling myself how slim the chance was, I mean 74 to 25! It's a 1:3 chance after all.

Then I remembered it was a Friday, I was eating with Lizzie and Minli when I saw Kai's post on my wall saying "Adhi, Candy, Jonathan we're going to Inner Mongolia!". At first I couldn't believe, cause I didn't see the email. Just to double check, I went to my email straight away through my phone and the first thing I saw was "CONGRATULATIONS Green Desert @ SP Fall Team" or something like that, from Jesslyn.

That day was to say one of the happiest day of this year I guess :P

It's kind of funny how everything started from a  Facebook banner in DSD's wall. In fact it was on my news feed. When I see the word "Inner Mongolia" I was really intrigued by it. I mean it's not really every year that we get to go for an OCIP in such a unique place of Inner Mongolia. And after all, I've never been to an OCIP before. Hence I've been always on the look of OCIP trips organised by SP. So when I saw that banner, I just signed up straight away and sent Jesslyn the email.

Then from banner to pre-trip meetings, pre-trip activity at Ubin, then finally the trip itself. I remember how excited I was on the Sunday night before the trip. Our flight was early, at 9.30 and we have to meet at 7 in Changi. I ended up sleeping for only 2 hours. I remember I slept at about 3.30 and woke up at 5.30. And I was kind of wide awake on the plane to Beijing - that's how excited I was.

Then the trip itself happened, and I was having the best two weeks of my life. I've never been involved in such a big environment project before. Apart from the usual clean-ups and collection of recyclable materials. Our effort may seem kind of "little". People may laugh at us when we tell them we're going there to plant trees. But actually we're all making quite a huge impact on the environment, as we try to combat the sand storms that Beijing is having here and there.

We turn desert green. How cool is that! :)

Kind of a pity that I wasn't really aware of the environmental issues around me before the trip. Well I do know some, and I do carry out the usual 3R habits at home, like recycling paper and reusing stuff. But after the trip, I'm kind of more aware of my surrounding. For example during the Korea trip, I was looking at how the people there carry out the recycling activities. I was happy to see recycling bins everywhere there :)

Well so to put it this way, I'm aware of the environmental issues we have before the trip, and now I'm more aware of them. So it's good right :D

But ultimately, even though we go there for an environmental project, at the same time we're all going through a journey of self-discovery. We're finding who our true self is, and well we learn more things about life as well. There's so much things we can learn from nature, so much. And as we plant our 1133 trees, we too, took back so many things these trees have taught us.

And not forgetting the friendship that we have forged together. For two weeks we went through everything together. Having breakfast together, having lunch together in the field, having dinner together in the hotel (or out with our friends). We worked together at the field. When we have problems, we work together and fix it. Basically we're really bonded with one another.

I guess that's the reason why I feel so emotionally attached to this group of people very much. Take it Duolun Grand Hotel as our "house". That's where we all took a break after a hard day's work. It feels like we're living in the same place for two weeks, under the same roof. So I guess the fact that we're living in the same place together make us bond together as well. Even stronger.

That's a reason why I feel the trip is an awesome one. We're all so bonded! So I like :)

Duolun - the beautiful town we spent for about 10 days. The friendly locals, the walks I had around the town and the food. Such a great place to be at. I'll definitely miss its slow-paced and simplistic way of life. When I got back, I feel everything is so rushed and oh well. So different. I think we all can learn from the people there. Living a simple way of life, living a "balanced" life, don't rush things.

And similar to any other overseas trip, be it just travelling, or exchange trip and OCIP trip, the thing I like about them is the fact that I'll really forget about life. Just forget everything. And be focussed on what I'm doing in that country itself - have fun and well in this case plant trees. Honestly speaking, being there makes me forget so many things. Makes me to just NOT THINK about life. And it really felt good, really do.

That's why when I returned to Singapore, the withdrawal symptom was so great. and this can be caused by two things I guess - one because I was having so much fun in Inner Mongolia and/or two I don't wanna return to reality. It's pretty rare in life, that we actually TOTALLY forget about life and just be focussed on another thing only. And when we do, I guess that's when we really feel blessed in life.

Okay I guess I've digressed quite a lot from the trip itself.

But anyway yes, the trip was one amazing journey I'll never forget. And if given the chance, I really want to relive the moments all over again. But knowing we're all human, and that we don't have the ability to return back to a certain time, I guess the only way I can relive the moments is to look at my photos once again. Right? And to read my journal all over again I suppose. Words and photos are really the best friends of a sentimental person like me.

Yan Chang Zhang told me before we left to return here and bring my grandchildren/children along, and tell them that we planted these trees in 2011. When he told me that, I felt really happy and touched. And at the same time, I feel determined to return there in the future. Oh I forgot, the watering uncle also told me something along that line too. We've only met, and he told me that. Such hospitality aye? :)

Alright I guess that's all for this post. To end it of, enjoy this video montage I created two nights ago haha. It's a video montage of the photos I took in Inner Mongolia when we were there. Hope you enjoyed it. Song used is Sacral Nirvana by Oliver Shanti and Friends. A song I always listen to when I was there on the bus, or in the hotel at night. So the song really suits the video I guess. It's like experiencing what I see, what I hear there. Well not a 100% exact but just, enjoy! :)



Cheers to a great team, a great trip, a great town, great sights, great locals, AMAZING journey :)

Clock ticking

Okay I just came up with this line JUUUUST now.

As you listen to the silence of the night
Where you can only hear the clock ticking with all its might
As it reminds you of how time always fly
As you listen to life goes by


Make the fullest out of your life my friends, we only live once.


Amazing no? Haha, I realised, weirdly, how my poetic senses come alive when I'm just blanking through the air. Just like during the Korea trip, where I actually made two poems during our 2 hour bus ride back to the hotel. Back in Inner Mongolia, where I wrote a total of 4 poems, just by staring at the window. It's amazing how inspiration just come to you in a blink, yet it can also leave you in a blink. Hmm.

I take inspirations mostly from my surrounding. Or from an event that happened. From music, or from people. I wouldn't say I'm easily inspired. But I love being inspired. And when I'm inspired, I really am inspired. Really! Haha. Inspiration does wonder to so many things.

Anyway enough of inspiration talk. Today was alright I guess. I went to a dentist! Argh, I have lots of plaques he said. So today I went for a plaque-clean up heh. It was alright I guess. My teeth are now clean, shiny and plaque free! Weee. But it's also hurting. I guess plaques (or some sort of other protection) helps to protect your teeth from coldness. So now it's pretty "sensitive" to cold things, sweet things and hot things -.-

My sis told me it'll be gone in one week's time. Uhh. Okay...

My aunt came to my hometown today! She's here now so yay, I guess my house won't be so "quiet" and hopefully I have more things to do in the afternoon :P And I'm planning to go to Jakarta with her on Friday to go there and shop shop I guess :P

One more good news is that my photography hands are on the move too! Been taking a few pictures today so yay :)

Today I won't be writing about my OCIP trip. Cause... No mood! Heh. But tomorrow you'll be in for a surprise! :) And today, I'm just sharing a poem I wrote on the bus. Enjoy :)

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Inner Mongolia OCIP write up #3 - In The Grasslands of Inner Mongolia [A Poem]

In The Grasslands of Inner Mongolia

In the grasslands of Inner Mongolia

As the gentle wind blows softly

Whispering a story to my ear

As the trees dance slowly with the wind

In a graceful choreography

In the grasslands of Inner Mongolia

As cows roam everywhere freely

Munching on the grasses hungrily

As the insects play a symphony

Of interesting rhythms, a beautiful melody

In the grasslands of Inner Mongolia

There lies a picturesque scene

Filled with colours, filled with textures

Of flowers white and purple, grasses brown and green

One of the most beautiful painting, I've ever seen

In the grasslands of Inner Mongolia

As blue sky and green land stretch wild and free

In a land of peace and harmony

Let us not ruin this land of beauty

A gift given by nature, for you and me

:)

Moodless

Hello everyone! I'm back in my hometown already :D Yup actually I got back on Friday already, just that I couldn't find the time to blog. Either I fell asleep or I just simply forgot to blog. Now that I have the chance, I shall blog. I have to keep on writing about my OCIP trip anyway. I'm only done with one post. And I have more to go eh.

Anyway here I am back in my hometown. So far my days here are alright I guess. So much has changed! :D Today went shopping with my mum and sis hehe. Got myself two pairs of long pants (finally) and 3 pairs of short pants. Not bad, they are having some 50% discount thingy so it's worth it hoho. Sadly today I wasn't feeling uhh good, not sure why a bit moodless and just shen ti bu shu fu to put it that way.

I went to my dad's garden yesterday. The place changed quite a lot there. More technology hahaha. We're planning to plant more flowers to make it for CNY, cause that's when the flower sale is blooming. All I can say is that... Going there really reminds me of my Inner Mongolia OCIP again. Cause there's like soil everywhere. And plants everywhere. Plus it was chilling and windy there. Everything reminds me of Duolun and our planting days :(

Sigh, seriously, never have I felt so emotionally attached to a team, a place and a trip before.

Anyway here it is, my second OCIP trip write up.

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Inner Mongolia OCIP write up #2 - Yours Truly, Duolun

Our project is carried out in a county in Inner Mongolia, China, called Duolun. In Chinese it's called 多伦. In Mongolian (I think) the place means 7 lakes if I'm not wrong. Or place of lakes or something like that. Duolun is a beautiful city. It's actually a county, like there are small towns/villages scattered there. The county itself is huge (7 times of Singapore) and there are lots of grasslands, empty lands and hills. There's a lake there too.

Anyway during the interview, Jesslyn asked me if I'm okay living in a very simple accommodation, and I said sure I don't mind. From this question, it leads me to a conclusion that we'll be living in a very simple lifestyle kind of thing. Perhaps a very small town, no technology, no shopping etc. I once thought that the place we're going is a village, and life there is super simplistic. I didn't even think of staying in a hotel. 

But alas I'm wrong. Duolun city is a decent-sized city with buildings etc. There are supermarkets, small shops, restaurants and hotels. We stayed in a nice hotel as well. The room is cosy and nice, even though the toilet is a bit too "dark" for my design liking. But at least everything is functional so it's good. Despite of its seemingly bustling state, I feel that Duolun itself is quite of a quiet town. Life there is simple, slow and nice.

Shot this when I first arrived here

It's the thing I missed the most about the town - it's simplistic and slow-paced lifestyle.

At night, the seemingly bustling town is pretty quiet and cold (as it was autumn). The shops there close at about 8.30 PM. But there are some shops that close at 10.30, like the big supermarket. The locals there are one of the friendliest locals I've ever met. Whenever we say thank you, they would say you're welcome. When we're leaving the shop, they would say please be careful, walk slowly.

The ubiquitous rows of shops

I want to mention a special local. There is an optometry shop in Duolun, and some of us (Ahpa, Clarence, Yong An) went there to get some new glasses. There was a day where Ahpa, Clarence and I were in the shop and Clarence was still making his glasses. We were supposed to meet at 7 in the hotel and we were not done yet. Looking at us to be in a rush, the owner of the shop offered to send us back to the hotel with his car. And we really did, we went back to the hotel in a local's car! 

The usual laundry shop we went to

The thing is this. We're in a foreign country and we don't know anybody. At first when he offered us, part of my heart was asking "Can we trust him? We don't know each other". Yet his hospitality tells me that it's alright, we can go with him. There's just something that tells me it's okay to go with him. The other people in his shop are kind too. There was a female assistant in the shop whom we talked to the next day. While waiting for Yong An's glasses to be fixed, the 4 of us were chatting with her, just like friends.

We never met, we never talked before. And we talked like as if we know each other for a year.

Us and the super friendly optician and his assistant!

Another thing I miss about Duolun is the sights and views. The town itself it beautiful. Simplistic architecture, no grand designs. But that's the thing. Its simplicity makes it really beautiful. And the sights of the grasslands, the hills, the lake is really gorgeous as well. Making it one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I wish I could have the time to FULLY explore the town, and the county itself. Maybe in the future.

Somewhere near our planting site

Lake Duolun

Duolun is really wonderful. It's a town I'll never forget. And I'll certainly miss its slow-paced and simple lifestyle. Something that we, humans of the 21st century need. The friendly locals and the wonderful sceneries. I'll miss the weather as well. It's cooling and windy autumn in the afternoon. And cold nights with quite strong winds sometime. Everything comes to a beautiful marriage of a wonderful trip. Oh not to forget, the awesome different food I've eaten there as well.

Mr Lee's beef noodle! So delicious

Thank you so much for the wonderful memory, Duolun. And I hop that I can one day visit you again and relive all the moment I had with you back in September 2011. 

Yours Truly

Adhi

Monument at Duolun