yes people i survived the trip and im back in one piece!(:

it is really a wonderful, brilliant, marvellous, bravo, great trip! although the journey was a tough and challenging one, we pulled it through. there are many things that happened, many stories to tell. there are many thoughts to share, many emotions to reveal. there are just too much to be written, so just a brief one and the rest will be vividly remembered within my heart.

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we embarked on this journey half a year ago
as a challenge to ourselves.

we met with a lot of obstacles and challenges,
not knowing where to go,
not knowing who to turn to.
but we all stood firm,
and decided that the trip will happen
no matter what happens.

there were times when we could not come to an agreement,
there were times when we were lost,
there were times when we felt like there was no hope,

there were times when we were all very tired
there were times when we were disheartened
there were times when we just wanted to say goodbye to this journey

but there were many more times
when we decided to grit our teeth tight
and continue pressing on.

THEY appeared
in many different ways
to offer us a helping hand
and to shine the light
along the dark, rocky journey.

THEY were there
to show us what happiness really is,
to demonstrate what carefree is all about,
and what content really means.

THEY were there
to provide us with a different perspective,
a different lifestyle,
a different value system.

THEY were there
to set us thinking,
and reflecting upon ourselves.

THEY were there
to teach us to cherish,
and to appreciate what we have back at home.

THEY were always there
to give us pointers,
to show us the way through.
they may not be explicit with their answers,
but they always set us thinking.

THEY were always there
to point out our mistakes,
to identify our areas for improvements.
those moments of reflection may seem harsh,
but they are really treasured and missed.

THEY were also always there
to offer us encouragements,
to support our plans and pre-trip sessions.
without them,
our plans would have just remained as plans.

THEY were also always there
to help to teach and interact with the students,
to make Thaton School such a lively place.
because of them,
love letters from the students kept coming in
to express their gratitude,
to affirm us of our efforts.

THEY were also always there
to shovel the pebbles,
to fill the buckets with sand,
to mix the cement,
to build the cubical,
to relieve those muscle aches.
because everyone played their part,
thats why the cubical existed
before any of us knew it.

THEY have helped me
develop myself
and make me a stronger girl.

THEY have helped me
crawl out of my nutshell
and be exposed to the outside world.

THEY have helped me
stretch my potential
and unleash many things within me

THEY have helped me
and i hope i have helped them
in a way or another

because only then,
i have achieved
what i set out to
at the beginning of this journey.

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the planning and execution of this trip is definitely not an easy one and it wouldnt have been possible without the following people:

1) EXCO!! Kelvin, Poline, Donovan, Yiliang, Cephas, Charmanine
i am really thankful for you guys! without the support from everyone of you, i dont think we could have made this trip possible! despite all the problems and disagreements we had, we all pressed on and encouraged each other on. there is just too much that i want to say to you guys but all in all it is really my honour to be part of the exco and GOOD JOB everyone!(:

2) teachers! mr teo, mr pek, ms ng
thank you teachers for always helping us along. with your guidance, we (esp the exco) all have grown in one way or another. the reflection sessions where we trashed things out were really useful as they really help us develop and reflect. you guys were also always there to encourage us and spur us on, when you all know that the going will be tough for us. i really thank you all deep down from my heart. thank you.

3) bunk mates at pakui! bernice jing haoran
omg!! im super uber super uber thankful for you all!! you girls always stay up and wait for me to come back from my reflections late into the night, help to chase the puppies, kittens, chicks, lizards and what not, in our hut away. the firing sessions we have at random places will not be forgotten and the times when we chat, and massage late into the nights will also be remembered! and thank you all for putting up with me when i had diarrhoea that night and that night of diarrhoea will always be part of my memory(: i love you girls! thank you!

4) wushu people! jing esmond shuqi kevin alvin jt zhaijuan elroy
you guys did a brilliant job during the cultural night! despite all the last min changes and stuff, you guys still did it! im so proud of you all and i hope you guys enjoyed the practices we had together and all the laughter we shared together!(:

5) bus mates! poline cephas kelvin alvin jt donovan caitlin yiliang
all the eating, sleeping, laughing, singing done on the bus will never be forgotten! holding on to our pretzels and singing our lungs out to the various songs will always be remembered! thanks for making the long bus rides so much more bearable!(:

6) random people whom i want to thank and affirm!
ck: dude thanks for always going crazy and helping with the education planning bit! i will make more cornflakes for you when i got time okays! really glad to have known you better this trip(:

shihang: thanks for helping to get the cultural performance going okay! it is really greatly appreciated!

wuqiong and shuqi: thanks for being so supportive for everything, be it pre trip or what! and thanks for all the fond memories we had bunking together during the last night and I WANT TO PLAY 蹲麻子!!

althea: thanks for pei-ng me talk through the last night despite you being super tired okay! really enjoyed catching up with you and yup, hope your auditions went well(:

caitlin: omg SAME VILLAGE!! really lucky to have you around so that when the guys are in their own world, i wont be alone and at least now we got a bit more power to fight back! now we need to recruit more ppl into our village to slam those guys down alrights?(:

finally,
a big THANK YOU to everyone who has made this trip what it was throughout the last week!

VIP REACH 2008.
Chiangmai, Thailand.

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time for some photos! people, please send me photos okay!!