From Katong to Patong.

Sawatdee Khrab. (:

Sometimes, we do not need to substantiate things so profoundly, with so much verbosity, and so much detail.

Sometimes, there is no need to tell and retell the whole story, no matter how splendid or spectacular it was.

Some things in life can be so sincerely unforgettable and worthwhile, one needs not to write everything down in words, because the memories, wonderful or heart-wrenching they may be, linger long enough to last a lifetime.

I thank the children for inspiring my life.

I thank the people who took care of us and treated us as part of their family.

And I thank two very good friends, John and Nalaka, for being there with me through thick and thin. We worked as a team, we did our best, and I’m proud we did it all by ourselves. (:

Due to our difficult circumstances, we may have not gone at all, but I am sincerely glad we did.

World record time of 5hr 40min, Personal best budget of S$520

Just try to imagine this scenario: You have to entirely revamp a six-day trip to some island one night before your departure.

There are three guys and three girls in a group. They intend to go on an overseas trip.

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, on 29 August, an international airport closes down for three days.

Just before sunset, on the third day, the airport re-opens.

Danger still looms in the place.

But, before the re-opening of the airport, one of your groupmates has decided to cancel the hotel booking since the probability of the group going there is zilched by the protests.

Two girls dropped out due to parental concerns.

As a result, all credit card transactions are affected. You need to find another credit card.

The other girl is forced to drop out too.

The three boys remain, and contemplate on whether or not they should pursue their trip.

The trip is on the next day, 1 September.

At 6pm in the evening, 31 August, you all decide to re-plan their challenge week. And it means changing EVERY SINGLE THING.

You call the service in Phuket, and inform them your desire to pursue the trip. She is happy. She recommends booking a hotel reservation for you guys in a place called I.H.O.T., which stands for International House of Travelers. You don’t want to go there. You really don’t intend to go there.

So, you search for a new hotel, and make a booking online. You get a very cheap and nice 4-star hotel.

Fuck, you don’t have a credit card. You can’t book it.

You go and call your guardian. You have to go to your guardian’s house and ask her to use her credit card.

You have to rush. Time is running out.

You arrive at the place. You eat dinner first. Your tummy’s grumbling.

You get the credit card and start yor booking.

All of a sudden you realize that you have to book your plane ticket as well. You go get the credit card again.

Your tummy goes really bad. You shit for half an hour.

You return, exhausted. You continue the booking process with your two friends.

You FORGOT your passports at home. You go back home and get them.

You return, and scan all passports, all student passes. You print all tickets, all booking confirmations, and all other important documents. You print them again to have a back-up copy.

You sort everything out and make sure everything’s in place.

You sigh a sigh of relief. Check the time, it’s 11:40pm.

You all finished everything in world record time of 5hr 40min, and in personal best budget of $520.

You all go to Parkway Parade, and one of your friends withdraws money from the ATM. You go and deposit your money.

Then, you top up your Ez-link cards.

And then, you all go back home, and hope that the airport remains open forever. If it isn’t, EVERYTHING WILL JUST GO TO WASTE.

You pack your stuff.

And you sleep soundly

and await the sunrise.

And seriously, the one below is TOTALLY COOL.

La semaine du defi.

Bonjour.

Some of the groups are all-Singaporean, while some of the non-Singaporeans have inserted themselves among the locals. Good. Everyone’s got their own groups. But there’s no doubt that my challenge week group is the most diverse of all. Cool. There’s a Filipino, a Sri Lankan, two Malaysians, a Singaporean, and a Nigerian. Swanky. It’s the most ideal grouping ever among the grade 11s. It clearly lives up to the school’s value of Internationalism. Nice. But I have come to the realization that it is because of this diversity which made it hard to arrive at any magnanimous unanimous agreement among us.

All of us in the group are very close friends. I resign myselft to the fact that I belong to this circle, this clique, although I would want, as much as possible, to cut the circle. I don’t really like the idea that I am being inclusive. That’s why I try to mingle around and enjoy the company of other good friends every now and then. Just like a freelancer in search of different job prospects.

I hope that challenge week will be worthwhile, after all the money that has been extravagantly spent for THE hotel. Personally, I don’t see the need to stay there. It is such a waste of money. And dude, we are going for CHALLENGE WEEK. NOT SPA WEEK.

And the recent happenings in Phuket, they just simply add to all the excitement about going there.

PHUK ET.

Phuket.

We were discussing about joey’s rantings over challenge week.

rowland. BUSY ;] says:
ah. now, je comprends.
.rowland. BUSY ;] says:
it is ok, my deer.
[Lin³] joey says:
DER
.rowland. BUSY ;] says:
oh sorry
[Lin³] joey says:
DEER
.rowland. BUSY ;] says:
my dear
[Lin³] joey says:
HAHAHA
[Lin³] joey says:
Deer.
[Lin³] joey says:
You are my COW!

See what challenge week does to people.

If challenge week is a challenge, then the challenge week proposal would be more or so in the ranks of what we can aptly describe as insane. A few months have already gone into waste and my group is still merely on the verge of typing our title page. Add to the fact that we had people coming in and out of our group, Celine’s embassy problems, Tanya’s dilemma, the Nalaka-John-Rowland financial crisis, and Amanda’s last-minute inclusion into the NLK fraternity.

We have encountered so many problems along the way, while the rest of the other groups have started dialing agencies, typing itineraries, pressing calculators, booking airline tickets, reserving rooms in orphanages, twittering about orangutan sanctuaries, dreaming about mountain climbing, thinking of the dangers of Cambodian landmines, rejecting my lovely country – the Philippines – because of a capsized ship vessel. No, I’m not criticizing them. When it comes to traveling, I also value safety above all else. Although I would say that whichever place you go, if you’re meant to be in danger, you will be in danger, if you’re meant to be kidnapped, you will be kidnapped, no matter where you are. If you are in a dangerous place, let’s say Iraq, if you’re not meant to get shot by some terrorist, or some uncanny extremist, or some drunk American soldier, you won’t get shot. Even places like Singapore, where danger and crime are as ubiquitous as chewing gums, these places are not 100% safe. But, don’t get me wrong – I’m not being a lunatic, crime-freak patriot who worships the idea of people getting hurt. I don’t even play GTA or any other violent computer games. I love war movies though. haha. Like I said earlier, when it comes to traveling, I value safety above all else. Let’s all stay in Singapore for Challenge Week then. (:

And I’m not going to say that my country is a better destination. I’m not going to say that it has more beautiful coastlines than Thailand, or more talented people and prettier faces than anywhere else in Southeast Asia, (too bad the Pinoy government is just as bad as Nalaka trying to keep himself awake during Sunday masses) or jungles as marvelous as Borneo, or mountains as prestigious as Kota Kinabalu, or food that spells VERY DELICIOUS (with the absence of intolerable spiciness) – No, I’m not going to say them – haha – I’m just.. um… being biassedly patronizing?

See? This is just as nice as Phuket.

Ok, never mind.

Anyway, our group -FINALLY- without my presence, made up its mind. When I was told that we’re going Phuket, Thailand, I was initially o.k. with it. But as soon as I heard of the estimated budget, my eyes exponentially enlarged, shivering, shocked. I enlarged my eyes some more in the hopes of getting a clearer picture of the current situation. I resigned to the proposal because I had no choice. After a discombobulating litany of probable destinations,

from Bali, Indonesia

to Miri, East Malaysia

to Bali again,

then to Sabah, East Malaysia

to Cambodia

to Vietnam

to Laos

to Sabah again

we finally fnally finally agreed on Phuket, Thailand.

Yes, we’re going to Phuket.

And the trip will be outrageously extravagant and expensive.

We have no choice. Time is running out.

I just really hope it’s worth the money.

I so badly wanted to go to Laos though.