The Scent

I want to immerse in the scent of the rain, the scent of the soil and the scent of the beautiful air for ever and ever and ever.

Another Sunday again, the calendar of June rolls to its end. The canteen has not been issuing meal vouchers for two months, this let me ignore the evolving of time. Gazing at the screen of the cellphone every night before sleep is an effective way to remind me of time, of youth, of the life circle.

Keypad is locked, please press "menu" and then "*" to unlock...

I press the buttons to unlock, and gaze at the time again until the screen darks down again.

Keypad is locked...

"Menu" "*"...

There is lightning at present, bawling with ferocity and malice, shining up the whole world. It reminds me of Macbeth, the witches, the battle and the hill, the hell.

And I want to immerse in the scent of the rain, the scent of the soil and the scent of the beautiful air for ever and ever and ever.

Graduation test was over in another world, and in this world I am not even in the graduation year, how I am lagged by the lapse of time.

Another year.

The date due sheet pasted on Roald Dahl's "Going Solo" shows clearly the striking return date "09 Jul 2008". What was the date one year ago then? I have not seen you for the whole year by then since I retrieved my report card with you. We were supposed to go into the same school, or perhaps even the same class. "WERE". So pragmatic and so hurting, like the lightning, the hill.

It is the scent of Gas Ltd. the scent of the Golden Ammunition Garden, the scent of Emperor Lake, and the scent of No.10 1401.

And I am revelling in this scent.

Piliferous layer....

CHEER!YELL!!SCREAM!!!

Cheer for Singapore Youth Festival 2008!
Cheer for NAN HUA DANCE!
Cheer for Shirlene and Rong Yao!
Cheer for Dr Ng Eng Hen(guest of honour)!
Cheer for Miss Yeo!
Cheer for Singapore Indoor Stadium!
Cheer for Red Cross!
Cheer for BB!
Cheer for St.John!
Cheer for Choir!
Cheer for NCC!
Cheer for....Drama Club??!!!Hah!
Cheer for all CCAs!
Cheer for Nan Hua!!!
Cheer for 302!!!!!
Cheer for Singapore!!!!!!!

Malaysia,True Asia

I have spent four days in the third country that I have ever been--Malaysia. Crossing a long road at the north border of Singapore,you come to this amazing country.The country bears similarities with both Singapore and China. Travelling on the bus,although I was quite sleepy due to the night packing and early morning wakeup,I did not fail to the catch the glimmer of excitement and happiness when I crossed the custom.

It was just a visa check for me, yet after my luggage passing the automatic X-ray checking lane, I knew that I had crossed the border. As for the border issue,it was not unfamiliar to me, in the ever-romantic book in those romantic days,I happened to read about an author who accidentally crossed the border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The reason was very simple: Liechtenstein is far too small,it was depicted as the same size as an Austrian steak. Now,it is quite heartened to realise that singapore is a cute peanut compared with Liechtenstein and even so I have never crossed a single border accidentally and illegally,nor have I ever faced the fear and anxiety of "detention" or "deportation".

Today in the English lesson,Karen the cat asked me wether I brought back chewing gum from Malaysia,I gave her a naiive smile and a naiive answer,like a judge making an announcement:"it is illegal to bring chewing gums into Singapore."Yes,I am always a legal citizen, in China and in here.

The trip was promised to be an interesting one by Ms Yeo for many times during the briefing and preparation session in assembly and enrichment. This is proved to be an "unbroken promise". After the four/five(for uniform group) days, I am sure that everyone has enjoyed the integrated trip to the maximum.

Personally, I feel extremely fortunate to be able to have such experience in my secondary life.Perhaps this kind of camp is too common to be excited for some of my peers who have attended Leadership Camp,CCA Camp,Church Camp or whatsoever.But for me,this is my first camp. The first time is always beautiful due to its freshness and the anticipation that it triggers.

My excitement defeated my drowsiness as the bus left the Malaysia Immigration Bureau and headed towards the Eagle Ranch Resort,Port Dickson at Lot 544,Batu14,Jalan Pantai. On the way,I was discussing with Yan Hui about the primitiveness of the Utopia and Chinese history of the transition period from feudalism to socialism while I was obsessed by the long-missed primitive element of Malaysian highway.

The primitiveness of Malaysia is just like China,pure,fresh and original.For one moment,I though that it got me home. This feeling grew tenser and tenser as the bus passed by numerous shops,"restorants",motorbike retail shops and even the modern shopping district areas are like China's Hualian and Jinboda alike.

We arrived at the Eagle Ranch at noon when the blistering sun began to shine on us. The resort has various types of residential areas including Paddock Chalet,Kampung House,Log Cabin, Bandwagon,Tepee,Log Dorm,Paddock Dorm and A-Hut. I was assigned to the 8-person Paddock Dorm while the boys lived in the 10-person Log Dorm. Some fortunate ones,including my sister,were able to enjoy the comfort of the Bandwagon with colour TV,hot bathing water, cupboard and a big table. I lived with Yeeling, WeiQi,Shirlene,Sherry,Valerie Goh,Jesslyn and Mia.It was a crazy group of amazing creatures and we shared the dorm for the two day's time.The most interesting episode was the "bathing war".Everyone wanted to be in the front of the long queue and as a result,someone needed to make sacrifice.Mia failed to get a position in the first day and I was the last one to bathe in both days,although my hair is not the shortest. The girls joined their beds and shared the potato chips.Valerie Goh was an early bird and it was because of her that all of us got up in the morning on time. I also have to thank Jesslyn for being so considerate and helpful that she kept the dorm key every time.

We went through Jungle trekking the first day,there were a lot of mosquitoes in the jungle and I put on long pants and insect repellent.We appreciated those traps set in the forest and learned about the setting tactics. Human beings are cruel,they are cruel to strangers,to their neighbours,their friends and themselves.

The second day was a hectic day because we went through Obstacle Course, Abseiling, Archery, Sea Rafting and Night Walk. I successfully passed all the obstacles except the last one which was a mud pool,I hanged over there above the pool for several rounds and finally tried to grab the Malay safety guard.Unfortunately enough,he was not reliable and I fell into the mud pool and drenched all my back and my pants which I had to throw away later. Even the guard was nearly to fall into the mud under my powerful pull. It was WONDERFUL to be drenched by mud,although it was sticky and stinky,yet it was indeed an experience for life.

The abseiling was like suiciding. Jumping off the platform was like jumping off a cliff,or...into the sea,like Rose.

"You jump, I jump." My favourite line.

"I want you to paint a picture for me,wearing this...wearing only this." I remebered those romantic days when I crouched in the medieval armchair in my house watching the movie with my loved ones. And now, I jumped.

I had no phobia,perhaps I am only afraid of being lonely,and what is loneliness anyway? It can be translated into three different Chinese words which transfer different levels,that is,from the superficial one to the spiritual one.

Sea rafting was wet with fun. I am an expert in tying the knot and due to our cooperation, we finished building the raft like a flash of light.The raft proved to be quite stable because we successful came back from the sea without injury and disbanding of the raft.We got the 3rd position,CHEERS! I was one of the peddlers.

In the Night Walk,a sweet 309 girl walked in front of me and kindly reminded me of any obstacles and stretching out branches. She likes Chinese pop music,and I like her. She also went for the Beijing trip and loved it.

We checked out of the Eagle Ranch and headed for the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia(FRIM) in Kuala Lumpur. At first I thought it a relaxing one like going to a botanic garden.However, it turned out to be a challenging one and we even faced the danger of being bitten by leeches. Beeleng,Valerie Tjota and Fiona were bitten by those rapidly moving creatures. I got too panicky and skipped all the way in the FRIM,Jian Peng laughed at me but I did not mind.Being alive is always better than being laughed at,although being bitten by leeches will not cause death. As a biology student, I know too well that leeches produce anti-clotting substances in their saliva and some medicinal leeches are used to encourage blood flow.Perhaps I will continue to be afraid of them until one day I am really bitten by them and realise that"it is nothing".

In the afternoon we went to do CIP in the Mentally &Physically Disabled Home,the people there suffered from different kinds of deformity.They are from young to old,in all ages, achieving a life cycle laiden with sadness and bitterness. We sang songs to cheer them up.I believe we made a difference. Saying that we feel so fortunate may sound like cliche,but it is true.Destiny has bestowed us a good body and intelligence,it is our duty to make good use of it, or it is one of the most serious wastage.Wasting is a crime...

At night we checked in the Pearls International Hotel. It was grand and well decorated,except a muscular and stocky figurin man standing at the entrance.I lived in the tenth floor,and the room was quite nice.It made me think of the time when I had my graduation test. In order to save time,all applicants of our high school booked a hotel room besides the testing point.The room was even better.At night,we strolled along the lavish lane to push aside all our anxiety; in the morning, we got up early to do the last-minute revision,welcoming the tests that we began to find romantic. At Pearls International Hotel,with the whole day's exhaustion and tiredness,I stumped towards an armchair by the window and plopped in, gruntling at my aching leg and those sprawling scratches.In such a big room, my minds began to swirl again.

In the hall,I saw uniform group people for the first time since the long vacation.The aggragation was holy and impressive,although the discipline check was strict and intense. Ms Yeo paid tributes to all the group commadants and respective teachers-in-charge,I saw Mr Eric Tan,too. It was like meeting long missing brother(exaggeration only). We gave every teacher a loud applause,even the once stern figures looked so charming that day.

Then came the last day, and the day of departure. We went for the Kuala Lumpur city tour,including the police station and the National Monument. Beautiful memories were captured in photos and we all knew that it was almost time to leave.

The last highlight spot was Petrolsains in the twin tower. Initially I thought it was nothing but a boring science revision about fractional distillation or the compressivibility of liquids.To my great surprise,it was like an enormous science centre.Although I have been to many science centres alike with similar facilities for numerous times,the Petrolsains really attracted me a great deal, especially the Dark Drive.Though it was artificial,it showed all the magnificence that high-tech can show.In the end I could only regret that there was not enough time for us to speculate what we had learned.

Departure was made less depressing by a camp like this,with all of us tired and terribly missing home.On the way back to Singapore,I did not sleep and looked attentively at every patch of Malaysian land,it was a land of magic,a land that is a hybrid of achina and Singapore to me, and a land that is spectacular in its own ways.

Goodbye,Malaysia,I do not know what time I will come to see you again. I will not miss you because you are not my home,although a shadow can be beautiful,too. I am happy that I come back to Singapore again,the island, the mini-country,the home.

To my delight,I was the first person to alight at Singapore Immigration House and I was also the first person to alight at Nan Hua and cheer to all of the welcomers. That was, the first in our bus, which was the last bus to arrive in Singapore...

We Are Back!

It is not that we are away from Singapore that we know how much we love the country!

It is not that we are away from Nan Hua that we know how much we have been attached to our school!

It is not that we are away from our home that we know how much we miss them!

It is the time that we are back that we begin to retrieve all these hidden feelings...

I am back from Malaysia!!!

An Over, A Beginning

Goodbye,my dear parents,although you leave the airport in the most abnormal way,I will miss you badly. "Grandfather L","Mummy ","Uncle T","PVJ",thanks a million for coming over to see us off! Vek rabbit, William Brown, Bobo, Dorcus, Bowen,Wen Ya, Sharon, Candy, Larraby, Yichun, Ziye and Yang Xing,thank you companying us tonight! "Grandfather L",thank you for the dinner,"Mummy" and "Uncle T",thank you for the presents! Wish all of you a great night!

Fading......

Today I was awaken by a call of my phone, at first I thought it was the morning call I had set the day before, then I noticed something was wrong with the timing--it was just too early,and it was not a morning call at all,it was an IDD. I called back and to my surprise it was my mum. I told her that I was still sleeping and was a little annoyed when I heard her reporting to me the content of the luggage and the endless precess of packing and weighing. She told me that she and dad were just too excited about the upcoming departure and could not help getting up before 5 a.m. However, I did notice there was something that she wanted to say but not really dared to.

Finally,what should come did come. She posed me a bitter and intermittent laughter the typical way when she made a mistake, especially to me. Actually,I could detect the fear of her. In fact, everytime my mum does something terribly wrong or may potentially hurt us, she will seem to be extremely nervous and laugh in a self-criticising way,saying"I have made a disgusting mistake"(in Chinese dialect, of course). This time was not an exception.

"I have made a disgusting mistake..."she began.

("Hey, don't mention that! Don't mention that!"my father said alongside,but it was so loud that I overheard it yet pretended to hear nothing)

"Your father told me no to mention it.."my mum turned serious which to me it was quite amusing, driving away all my drowsiness.

"Just 'MENTION' it...you must 'mention' it.."I almost knew for sure that nothing serious had happened that I laughed at heart while pretending to be menacing.

"I accidentally opened the back of your optical camera without recoiling the film and the whole roll of film was destroyed."she said miserably.

"Oh,never mind,never mind!"I always utter out these two words without letting them go through my brain.

And I began to brood over it.

"Never mind.."this was all that I had said.The whole momery that we had shared in Tsing Hua University was gone,all was blasted into oblivion,in a split second,and...it was never mind.

What happened to my calmness? The long trekking around the lake,leaning against the sun dane, sweating profusely in order not to break the curfew,the photo that we had together by the lake,J,D,and I.

All memories will be tracked back,I thought.Finally,perhaps.

Nothing is fading,my friendship is still alive,vibrantly alive,vibrantly riveted in my mind.

When I am heading to the adulthood.

Agenda

Timetable
Valid date: 04June--13June
04th June:
morning: drama room redecoration
lunch: hostel canteen
afternoon:see off those who are going for Wild Wild Wet(Escape theme park);
room clean-up and slogan-making
night: head for Changi Airport to pick my parents;
unpack & chit-chat till midnight;
rearrange the wardrobe;
get access to the guest room
05th June:
morning: mill around NUSHR & Clementi Towncentre(chit-chat on the way)
get ez-link card for my parents at Clementi MRT;
buy snacks for Sentosa trip at Fairprice;
eat DURIAN!
lunch: Clementi Kopitiam(preferable food recommendations:Satay,Bak Kut Teh, Rojak, Char Kway Teow)
afternoon:English remedial
night: City Hall & Raffles Place(preferable sites:Esplanade-Theatres On The Bay, (went to listen to the concert,super nice!)
Chijmes,Suntec city Mall,City Hall;Merlion Park, Boat Quay, Asian Civilisations Museum(only outside) ,Far East Square(optional), The Fullerton Hotel(only outside) (also see the May Bank,POSB,OSBC)
Famous eating places: Kinara; Lau Pa Sat; Ya Kun Kaya Toast(for breakfast)
06th June:
Vivocity & Sentosa Trip (went cycling,crazily rush down within the time limit,got the second place:)
Famous eating places: Altivo Bar(sure cannot afford); The Cliff(in Sentosa)
07th June:
morning: English remedial
afternoon: Little India(preferable sites: Serangoon Road;Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple(:<) (went in and saw people worship,then ring the bell to wish for good luck)
Famous eating places: Muthu's curry; Mubarax; Tekka Food Centre(ate with right hand only, like a group of barbarians)
night: Orchard & Somerset window-shopping (originally planned to buy shoes,then bought a swimming suit with my new VISA card,lovely)
Famous shopping malls:Ngee Ann City; Paragon Shopping Centre;DFS Galleria Scottswalk; Lucky Plaza; Tangs Plaza; Shaw House(went to the cinema there but did not find the desirable movie); Wisma Atria( The Christmas light-on was marvellous!); The Heeren(too high!)
Famous eating places: Au Jardin(in Singapore Botanic Gardens???!); Killiney Kopitiam; Benggawan Solo Cake Shop( a must-go)
08th June:
CIP (actually dined with WJs at Jurong East)
09th June:
morning: English remedial
afternoon: Bugis!(preferable sites:Parco Bugis Junction; Sultan Mosque(:<); Arab Street!)
Famous eating places: Zam Zam Restaurant; Samar Arabic Cuisine(too expensive!)
night: Paya Lebar(preferable sites: Koon Seng Road; Malay Village; East Coast Park)
Famous eating places: Chilli Padi Nonya Restaurant; Kim Choo; East Coast Seafood centre
10th June:
morning: English remedial
Afternoon: Chinatown(bought souvenirs there)(preferable sites: Smith Street; Sri Mariamman Temple(:<); Pagoda Street; Sago Street)
Food: bak-kwa
night: Appointment with VIP (went to swim with WJ,then got leg fatigue)
11th June:
morning: CCA
afternoon: Appointment with VIP (actually went to do CIP the whole day,collect newspapers with mother,sister and 301 people,then got arm fatigue, and went to Popular Bookshop to get books)
12th June:
morning: Appointment with VIP
afternoon: English remedial
13th June:
morning: check-out & loister around(collect trash???) (finally we did not collect trash,we went to Pasir Ris Park and played with young children,then went to NUS)
night: Goodbye, my dear parents~~~(Changi Airport again)