I'M HOMEEE!!!

Team Project Yes AR! landed at Singapore International Airport at 10.35pm local time on 28th Dec 2005.

It feels good to finally use flushing toilets, spray guns, water at a turn of a tap. To not find frogs n rats in d toilets. To not wonder if i'm washing myself w my own pee. To bathe without kain batik. To be able to bathe ALONE! To know dat wen i'm in d toilet showering, der is absolutely no possibility of ppl being able to c me fr outside. To not sleep in a mosquito coil fumigated room with 2 layers of mosquito repellent n still wake up w countless bites. To be able to watch tv, surf d net, read mails. Woohooo...

BUT, 2 weeks in Aceh, surrounded by great ppl, adorable children n neverending greenery, will do stuff to u dat will stick for a very long time. I'm currently experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

I'm missing : (in order of severity)

1. Reza
2. Reza
3. Reza
4. My SMP 3 class of 18 ppl
5. The children of Fajar Hidayah n their songs
6. The daily english lessons n art classes we conduct
7. The staff of FH (Pak "Cin", hehe...)
8. The daily dose of badak (banana fritters) with bumbu (soy sauce n nuts dip)
9. Team Project Yes AR!
10. REZA!

Ok now, Aceh was an eye-opener. First stop, Banda Aceh, Fajar Hidayah. We spent 8 days here. Great, pure kids, untainted by MTV, always singing aceh songs like 'Its I who build Nanggroe Aceh' n 'Bunga Jeumpa'. Dey r also very religious. The children were always eager to learn d english words/phrases n songs we taught dem. 14 yr olds excited over balloon animals, squeeze bag calligraphy n 'Little Indian/Acehnese' songs. Even d teachers were intent on doin d stuff d kids were doin. Plasticine sculptures, mini fish tanks. It was fun n fulfilling. Very tiring, but well-worth d energy. If S'pore students r more eager 4 d end of d lessons than d lesson itself, Aceh students r very difficult to peel away fr their activity/work. Its funny, we tell dem to stop but all work will only actually stop 30 mins later. Their enthusiasm is amazing!

Living Conditions r not great but dey manage. Everyone sleeps on matresses on d floor, even d teachers. Toilets r standard-kampung types but not enuf to accomodate d many ppl. Sometimes der's no water (these times r trying for us spore girls). Meals r very humble, rice w ONE dish, but d children hav snack times wen dey r given banana balls(sorta) or cake or jel-o. So i wouldnt say dat d kids r deprived, altho dey could do w more vege in their meals.

D teachers r so young, mostly bet 20 n 25 with very few exceptions of 29. N dey r lookin after these orphans full-time 24 hrs a day. Its a huge commitment. N dey r so patient w d kids. Their approach is always d gentle way, u can nvr hear dem shout at d children n dey r always smiling. Such admirable individuals. This trait can also b seen in d older kids. D way dey look aft d young ones r as patient.

D nature was astounding. Extensive paddy fields, rolls n rolls of endless mountains, clear skies, clouds so near, star-filled nights. Just magical.

We frequented outdoor eating places alot (like those of lau pa sat) n we noticed dat all d chairs r very low n it slants in such a way dat sitting upright is almost impossible. Its such a lazy, laid-back chair. N according to some locals, aceh is d only place wer these chairs r used extensively. Kewl!

Aceh food is pretty different, a lot of pigeons instead of chicken, a lot of unidentified meat-like-but-not-meat things, mostly d food is sweet, even their sambal. Mie kepiting is a favourite among us sporeans. Its noodles w gravy dat tastes like mee bandung n it comes w a whole crab w all d shells still intact. Messy affair. Their coffee n tea always hav too much condensed milk. But d breakfast menu is always great, sugar prata w d sugar semi-melted on d surface, sweet pulut(glutinous rice), fried stuffed tahu/tempe eaten w chilli padi. Enak!

We visited some of d badly affected tsunami areas n u can really c damage done. Altho, dey hav pretty much picked demselves up, d more rural areas n those directly facing d beach r still bare. We saw d extent of d erosion, n d barracks n d temporary residence made of tents. Pretty sad. We also visited a few of d mosques dat were hit but still very much standing n in use, despite some broken n bent pillars. We saw d sea generator(barge) dat ended up on land n a ship docked on d beach. Many areas still swampy n water-logged. Disheartening.

While we were at FH, we were visited by d west coast grc mp Mr S Iswaran n his entourage n Darul Arqam, CNA reporter n a photo-journalist fr Amsterdam.

D FH experience is unforgettable.

D 2nd location was at Sigli, Panti Raja. Panti = Perumahan Anak2 Yatim (Housing for Orphans). Living conditions here is worse. Altho we had more sleeping space, d toilet situation was bad. Here was wer d experience got properly tough. Water is salty n never clear, d bathin area is open concept n d WC uses well water. So imagine us urban kids havin to bathe w our kain batiks on n instead of using a spray gun in d WC, we hav to take water fr d well directly beside d bowl/hole itself. It gets me wondering if my waste goes directly back to d well. URGH! It was difficult, yes, but it was one hell of a good experience. Wouldnt trade it for anything.

Here we had less lessons n more construction. We painted d WC, cleaned their tiled common bathroom(which we dont use cos its super gross), n sanded n varnished d study structure which our project sponsored. D children here were shy-er n quiet-er but still as religious.

We were here for 4 days only, but managed to attend a small prayer session wer dey commemorated d tsunami on its anniversary.

D children at FH r fully tsunami victims whereas those at Panti Raja, some r orphans due to d GAM conflicts.

Ok i think dis entry is already too long. I would really like to return to aceh. InsyaAllah.

Happy Birthday ShazJana!!

Yesterday, d girls met up to celebrate shaz's bday. But unknown to me, dey were celebrating my birthday too!!! D embarrassment of havin to stand on d chair in d restaurant, holding a sparkler, while d crew "cheered" a bday song for d 2 of us. So embarassing... Aft dinner, der was cake n french vanilla ice cream, YUM YUM!
Den, d best part of d evening was d KTV! 3 hours of us girls screaming in a chorus at d top of our lungs, unable to recall d tune to songs, only singing half songs, singing to incorrect lyrics like 'want to get me floss i got my own' n 'words can bring me down'. Aft we've sung to enuf BSB songs to make us sound like hardcore boyband fans, we left still humming n singing n chilled at lido Mcd. Told funny stories till d teachers got too sleepy. So at abt 3 am, we headed for shrek's plc to bunk in.

It was my 1st KTV experience n it sure was GREAT! D singing cum screaming w superb company. Thanks babes for a very memorable b'day celebration :)

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So yesterday was my last day of IA. My sup treated me to secret recipe... Hehe, he was bacin la. He ordered a set meal for himself which comes w a drink n a slice of cake. Not knowing which cake to choose, he asked for a white-topped brownie to match his white coffee. B4 d dessert was served he said i can hav his cake cos he dont know wat he ordered n dont think he wants it. So dis mysterious 'white cake' came n it was salty! Salty! Wat sort of cake is salty!? Despite dis, it was delish, juz dat i've nvr tasted anything like it b4 n had no idea wat its called. Only aft i found carrot gratings in d cake dat i realise its a carrot cake!

Exactly one week left. Kinda nervous. Had d tetanus jab yesterday n on mc today. D area has swollen up wen i woke dis morn. Its so sensitive, grazing against a soft cloth wld make me cringe. Typhoid jab on fri. Phew, good thing d doc didnt wanna give both jabs at once. (No cat, am not too thin for both jabs.) Wldnt imagine d excruciating pain on both arms.

Tmr is active day at d plant. Exercise n all. Ish leceh.
Fri will b my last day at d company. Tsk tsk.
Last monday was d presentn day n everyone was all dressed up in smart lookin clothes n it was so refreshin compared to our daily polo-ts n sneakers look. So considering i looked better dat day than other days(cos i wasnt wearing slippers n was wearing a shirt), i asked to take pics w my sup. His reply was, "dont wan, u not wearing bright today. Wear bright colour den take picture ok." Raar! Picky old man. I was wearing black n red! RED ok, not bright enuf ah uncle?! Ok not old, n he's still d best! N he complimented my presentation. Really, i think he helped me out alot on both my report n prsntn. Without him, both those assignments will b screwed up.

Only d weekend left. Mon n tues is Project Aura : a camp for troubled teens. Den muz start packing for Aceh. Thurs, i'll b off for 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS! I'll miss home so much...

Oh! Last sat, d love n i went to watch Oi! Sleeping Beauty. It was so engaging! N so real wen d actors were all in d stall area talkin to us, askin for kucinta n dawn. Hatta was Prince bin Charming. Sheesh, tacky but good.
Aft dat, we ate at sofra. Wen it finally dawned on me dat we're eating turkish food, i was a bit freaked, cos as a non-red-meat eater, kebabs were mainly made up of lamb n beef. So besides a couple of chicken dishes, der were only salads n dessert dat i cld eat. But it was good nevertheless(correct spelling anot?). Den we had fondue at esplanade... Indulgent eh. But it was a good day spent w d love.

So, i'm excited for aceh (did i type dat already?) n hav i mentioned dat hong kong was great? Also, Disneyland was awesome!!! Felt like i was in a fairytale dream all on my own.

Met up w cat n osh yest for aceh sports shopping. It was so cool to, for once, be d passive participant(oxymoron ni). Let d oder 2 make decisions, quarrel abt who forgot to bring d shopping list, how many of d balls we shd buy. I was juz happy to carry some of d stuff n watch. No pressure of buying enuf n to stay within budget. Hah!

Ok dah, penat already, toodles for now....