mocha-choco-lata ya ya

Saturday, June 24

argh c'est terrible. i've been feeling so moody for the past few days. and i just can't find a reason for it.

WARNING: EXTREMELY LONG (PHOTO) POST AHEAD. it's a summary of my entire week, if you make it to the end i salute you.

1) GUNUNG RINJANI
Rinjani was awesome, and that's still an understatement. people who saw my photos agree that it looked amazing (and that i take pretty photos, but that's beside the point)
Great food, great view, best of all - great company

Day 1
Mrs Anis and her kids came to see us off at the airport. her son is incredibly cute! (hey even chaochao agrees and she hates kids) oh my one weakness is cute kids.
rachel came too, and batch 14 gave her her long overdue bday present - a tent! (so she can camp in her garden while we're camping on the mountain :P) Touched down at Matara airport (which they shared with the military) then wan driven to Pondok Sembalun to rest. It was freezing cold at night and we had no blanket. It was just mr tan's winbreaker plus no socks throughout the night. and the toilets that siti, serene, juan and i had were outdoors so yet another cold-enduring session.

mrs anis' son is incredibly cute!!!

grp pic of odac at the airport.

sunset from the airport

some insect-looking helicopter!

Day 2
Woke up at 5+ for banana pancakes. oh, were they good. we had 14 porters and 2 guides. the porters carried all the food and tents etc. we only had to carry our personal bags which we so light at just 5-6kg. spent the whole day hiking towards base camp. the sunset was beautiful with the mountains. the most hilarious thing that must have happened had to do with the toilet. wynne, elynn and i went with weili to the toilet. AND THEN WEILI'S CAM FELL INTO THE DEEP DEEP HOLE WHERE YOUR POOP GOES! omg lah hahah sorry weili, i know it isn't funny, but it is! mr tan haikang took two walking sticks to try to dig out the cam, before mr kenneth tan came to help. hahahahahahahahaha ohmygosh. super funny! they spent like 45min over the hole trying to dig it out!

view as we were climbing

sunset view from basecamp!

viv and i at basecamp!

siti and i at basecamp!

elynn and i at basecamp!

sunset

one of my favourite pics. now you know why i love the outdoors so much.

view of the summit at sunset

view of the summit

the green toilet!

mr tan haikang trying to dig out the camera...

Day 3
EXTREMELY important day. woke up at 1am to get ready for the summit push. left base camp at 2.30am. the summit push was the toughest and most punishing leg compared to the lengthy but mildly exerting climb the day before.
punshing, tormenting, harsh, are words i can use to describe it. there's no other way. i still can remember so clearly how frustrating it felt whenever i took a step. they said that for every two steps taken, you would slide down one. well, it felt like i slid down three, it felt like i wasnt moving at all. we all had to fight the cold, the hunger, the pain, the exhaustion. i'm so proud of odac. if you thought kinabalu's summit push was tough, rinjani's summit push seems 10 times harder.

but then, when we reached the summit. instant gratification for a mere brief moment at the summit. you could see for forever, even to australia! standing on the small plateau, it just feels like you're on top of the world, i imagine everest must feel the same. i'm not saying much because there's nothing much to say. you just have to be there and then, to taste your pain, sweat and frustration.

when we came down, it was major reflection time. you just have to come to terms with your weaknesses, because being in a extremely trying situation brings out the true you, without the screens and shades of life. why climb a mountain? why continue climbing mountains? what pushes me to do so, especially one such as rinjani? when i could be climbing mount ophir in m'sia?

that night, we had performances by both teams which had to include a poem, a story and a song. our team came up with a great song.

(to the tune of 'at the beginning' by richard marx)
We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming, what we had to go through
Now here we are
At the base camp singing,
This song just for you

Siti says: This morning...

(to the tune of smth, but i forgot)
Rinjani- here we come
We will try to conquer you

Siti says: But can we make it?...

(to the tune of 'complicated' by avril lavigne)
Chill out, watcha yellin for?
Rinjani- just a volcano
No need to worry
We'll just do it
And go to the top
Isn't that what we were supposed to do?
Why think so much
Just chiong your way
Then we'll be happy

Siti says: But...

(to the tune of 'in the end' by linkin park)
We tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
Without reflections, there's no use
The process is more impt than the outcome
(to the tune of 'reflection' by christina aguilera)
Writing my reflections it will show,
What i have learnt
From this trip i've gained so much
I'll apply them to my life
(to the tune of 'it's my life' by bon jovi)
cos it's my life
it's now or never
i ain't gonna live forever
i just wanna learn with ODAC
it's my life

(to the tune of 'bad day' by daniel powter)
But Rinjani's so tall
We're going to fall
Encourage each other
SO we can conquer
But it is so hard
We keep slipping down
We work at a smile
And we go for a slide
Cos we can do it
(to the tune of 'i believe i can fly' by r kelly)
I believe i can fly
I believe i can touch the sky
I want to make it up the summit
Take my stick and slide away

Siti says: So...

(to the tune of 'graduation' by vitamin c)
as we go up
we remember
all the times we had together
and as our lives change
come whatever
we will still be, ODACians

Siti says: Cos this is...

(to the tune of 'where we belong' by tanya chua)
Where we belong
where we keep out heart and souls
where dreams come true for us
We're ODAC, nothing will change that

Siti says: Cos...

(to the tune of 'we are family' by sister sledge)
WE ARE FAMILY nananananana...
WE ARE FAMILY

ok, so i admit the lyrics are somewhat screwed but you know what, we had a lot of fun. and i think it's a great medley. i mean, how many ccas get to do this? not many. i love odac so much, it hurts sometimes.

after that we lay on the ground looking at the stars, full silence for just 5 mins. the most amazing thing that happened. the night sky was just spread out to wide above us. there were so many stars, more stars than i have ever seen before, and probably more stars than i would ever get to see. i saw so many shooting stars, i've lost count. i prayed, i made wishes. at that moment, i felt so small compared to nature. so vulnerable, reminding me that no matter how powerful man makes himself out to be, at the end of the day our earth can still render us powerless. before we respect ourselves, before we respect others, we should respect nature first. the reverence is so strong within me.

grp 1 at the summit!

view.

crater lake.

the land and sky

bamboo bridge mr ismal built by himself

cow poop!

Day 4
We decended today to Senaru where we had our first bath in 3 days! ohmygosh, i could kiss the beds and showers. even though we had to bathe in freezing cold water, i missed showers so much. how many people can stand not bathing for three days, in dusty conditions, in the freezing cold, having to satisfy your toilet needs in just a dug out hole, bear the pitch darkness, and still suppress the exhaustion and pain, to continue encouraging each other and to be able to summit a mountain? not many, which is why i treasure and am extremely proud of every odacian. to those who think obs is can-die...well, obs is like luxury compared to rinjani, obs is nothing, it is merely a taste to the outdoor life. and brief taste that does no justice to the actual thing. and if we find obs unbearable, then as humans, we are too spoilt.

Day 5
went to the nearby waterfalls! oh such a beauty. the water was crytal clean and we had tons of fun splashing and getting wet in the freezing cold waters. then we had some shopping and came home!

batch 15!

last pic after touch down at changi airport ):

rgodac. we drew this in the volcanic ash as we descended.

RGODAC MT RINJANI EXPEDITION 06! I LOVE ALL THE MEMORIES. AND THE PEOPLE. (and i finished my reflections, exceeded my two pages)

(p.s. if anyone would like the originals of the scenery photos that i took, please, ask me)

2) PSB CHALET
quite a fun day, but had to go to school early for dwen an meeting, then rushed all the way to pasir ris to meet viv and cherm. OHMYGOSH I AM CHAOTA! like really sunburnt! the right side of my face is peeling please! ohmygosh. how can this happen! i bet it's because the sun was shining on one side and the wind was blowing on the other side of my face. That's why only one side got chaota! no fair cherm and viv only got away with slight sunburnt on their noses please. psb chalet was fun, even though there were less people than expected. the holiday bungalow is damn big. and i sort of learnt how to play mahjong (ahemnattayahem). and i had to call my mum to ash her help me collect chao chao's birthday cake from awfully choc cos i was just too lazy to drag myself down to bukit timah (even though it's near my house and i was craving for island creamery ice cream -.-). heh then i went to get marshiemallows for the sec 1s bbq!

3) Springfield and CHAO CHAO'S BDAY!
Springfield was good lor. except i did the worst possible way to end a climb. I SLIPPED ohmygosh so angry with myself please. i wasn't even tired. at least if i was tired and could not reach the next piece i could have jumped and gotten one mark higher. at least if i wanted to let go i could still jump and gotten one mark higher. but no, i had to slip and so i didn't even get to jump.

then we went for lunch! and CHAO CHAO BLEW HER CANDLES AND ATE MY BDAY CAKE! yes chao chao, you better be damn happy cos im like broke now from your cake and nydc dinner (ok lah im not cos ppl owe me money heheheh)

(SORRY RACHELPHOAHUILING. im a horrible best friend cos i couldnt go down in time to meet you. and it's quite funny you got locked out of your house. but i promise your bday present will be great okay! and uhh we have our rock climbing and kayaking date.)

we went to watch the omen at tampines with weili cherm and serene. wth, next time i know horror i sit with serene and cherm cos AT LEAST THEY'RE HUMAN ENOUGH TO BE SCARED. even weili isn't too bad, at least she's comforting. wah i sit next to chao chao then hide behind her shoulder. she didn't even comfort me, THEN SHE LAUGHED! blah you ungrateful pokk. it isn't funny at all. but the omen has some christianity related vibes that i didn't like. i didn't know, if not i wouldn't have watched. (btw my no fear hoodie from london is hawtt pls, even chao chao agrees!) then chao chao and i went walking around window shopping killing time until 7.15 for her bday surprise. so we roamed the whole of tampines, then we moved to bugis before omi finally called and said we could go!!

we met dawn at orchard mrt station, where she gave chao chao her first clue. then evelyn said her mum didn't allow her to go and nattay said she couldn't come cos her baby bro was sick. chaochao and i thought that only two ppl were going in the end but it was a trick. damn i fell for it also! we're so shibai.

chao chao is super blur, you can tell from the photos and vids. but the funny part was that to get the clue from the counter people, she had to say "my name is chao chao. today is my birthday. my friends left something here for me". Only the salespeople from the wallet shop and HMV made her say it. OHMYGOSH HILARIOUS! X) too bad i didn't manage to video the HMV one because cunning chaochao lured me away. but it was hilarious. the HMV guys wrote her a note and spelt her name wrongly- CHOW CHOW. we had dinner and nydc after, yum. (and we saw ms low with her friends). omi is super nice give me spongebobaquarepants sticker so im very happy! i crush spongebob and squidward pls. heh aiyah photopost, go see for yourself.

my cake!

look at her spas smile!

on the escalator...

evelyn nattay dawn

omi and nattay kissing the bday girl

elynn looking like her present -.-

yumilicious mudpie!

me feeding chao chao!

me eve nat YUM!

look what i made for chao chao...

second page, and i printed on glossy photo paper sommore!

the book chao chao needs (and wants?) the most

omi gave me stickers! yay, love omi!

4) HW + Fathers' Day Dinner
OHMYGOSH AGAIN. my scalp is chaota now! ultimate grossness. I spent thurs finishing up my hw and doing proposals, then had to meet my parents for belated fathers' day dinner. and i had to bring my younger sis and younger bro along. was so tempted to cab there! but decided against it cos i didn't want to be broke. so yeah took the mrt. taking public transport with my siblings is horror and pure torture. at least not my bro, cos he's streetsmart and cute. but my sis is like the blurrest person ever. and she's p6! ah i can go on ranting about her but nvm. ohyeah i promised my bro ice cream date (:! anw, HAPPY BELATED FATHERS' DAY DADDY!

killing time while waitin for parents

the nice fountain outside my mum's workplace

uhh i ran away? (p.s. those are my sis' shoes and not mine, i borrowed them)

a very strange thing happened today. after we got home and i went online and all, was very bored, so i started blog surfing. and guess who i found?! i stumbled upon a pic of my math tuition crush in p6. and he's like in acsi now. :O:O:O i am 99% sure it's him cos the name is the same and well, the guy in the pic looks like him. (but then again that was p6 -.-). but it really looks like him! ohmygosh.

5) Sec 1 bbq and chalet
KEVYNA PANG PANGSEI me for our sec1s bbq! cos she had smth on until 9. so oly jukhie and i went in the end. yay jukhie! (wear a nice dress for prom okay!) i almost got lost at downtown east but she saved me! and we were helping them bbq when it started raining ): (damn the weather) and because jukhie couldnt cover me with the umbrella, i was totally drenched. lucky i brought change x) we left quite early and i went to orchard to mee my mum afterher wedding dinner. she bought me goodwood park hotel durian cake! sinfully good.

my one must have- meiji choc!

an old photo with my cousins and my bro (the youngest looking one). strange, im the only girl...

so yeah, thinking back, it has been a good week. but ohwell, except for me (and you) feeling moody.

mummy's brought me shopping today! my first official shopping trip during the GSS. i haven't been in s'pore at all. (the pony bag is chio!). my bro got a new watch (again!) ohya! i saw pseudonym busking for charity! i almost didn't see and walked past it. then i turned back and saw alyssa nyam frantically gesturing to me to go back. they were really good though, i liked it. so i went back to donate. aww, to bad my cousin wasn't there!

we spent so long at the basement of isetan waiting for mum and aunt at the hokaido fest. so boring, we were just sitting on the railings, watching the bags and chilling on my ipod. my bro's quite funny though, he kept treating me like a baby "baby don't go near the smoke later you explode". so was quite amused. my bro is super super cute! we didn't have enough time though, didn't even get to taka. went to my aunt's house for tea after that and laughed at all the Samsui photos. dorothy's bf looks like her (which is bad...) and darren looks like derrick too (which is even worse...) but the photos were all so amusing!

`wordsofthecynical
7:13 pm

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