There and Back Again

I have survived, an 18km walk from Bedok MRT Station to Changi Ferry Terminal Station, and boy was it a wrecking experience. Mentally, and physically.

We were required to meet at the Expo at 8am, but the venue had been changed to Bedok at the very last minute, and although the team leader texted us at 2.30am, I didn't receive the message til 7.50am. Thank God my mum drove me. Just as she pulled up at the curb outside the Expo, I received the message and went "MUM! TURN AROUND AND DRIVE BACK TO BEDOK STATION!"

Accursed iPhones.

The thing about trekking/hiking trainings is that they are endurance trainings, and not cardiovascular trainings. That I can handle, for I do interval trainings on weekends. But endurance wise, it really put me to the test. I carried a backpack load of 8kg, but was slightly mortified when the other group members brought packed only 2 huge water bottles. It probably explained why they were able to run after the team leader in order to fill the huge gap that he had created by walking so far and fast ahead. I jogged for like a few minutes but gave up. My pac was simply too heavy to run all the way, and my back was beginning to ache.

My feet were beginning to develop blisters and basically, I just wanted to drop dead. It really did hurt. My back muscles are now aching.

And I amused everyone else by my schizophrenic fears of developing tan lines by reapplying sunblock every time we took a break and wrapping my face - with the exception of my eyes - with my towel made damp from my water. Even the SAF guys who were guarding their posts at the ferry terminal looked at me and started giggling, and I would have told them to go screw themselves over, were it not for that fact that my feet were on the verge of tearing. It was just an endless track. I underestimated how far the airport runway was, and it felt like forever that I was walking and slugging my 8kg pack and it seemed as though I was walking and walking and walking for miles with no destination. Like I was in a dessert. But I kept distracted by lively conversations with the new friends I made. Majority of the group members are from NIE, and are postgrad students - a mix of graduates from NTU and NUS - and its really interesting to gain insight into their perspectives on education. I was highly impressed by one of the member's academic abilities. He had taken entrance exams for British and American universities and got into quite a few of the universities that he had applied to. Though he had been denied the opportunity to accept Columbia University's offer because MOE would't fund him to study in the States and he eventually settled for Physics at Oxford University in the UK.

So I basically bombarded him with questions about the types of entrance exams and how one could prepare for it and learned about his experiences in Oxford.

And I met another student with a degree in Psychology from NUS as well and we talked about the differences between the Humanities programs of NTU and NUS. And another student, also from NUS with a degree in Chemistry, and told me about his experiences as an exchange student to Connecticut, USA and he happily gave me advice on what I should do, or prepare to do, if I really intend to go on an exchange.

I SO much more motivated to go overseas now.

Anyway, when we reached Changi Village, my back was almost ready to break, and I had descended from being the few walkers dominating the front of the pack, to literally being the last. It was slightly demoralizing, because I thought I wasn't as physically fit as the rest of the other members, until I realized I was probably the only girl with an 8kg load, while the others proffered loads of around 5kg. Pfft.

I kept telling myself that I just wouldn't give up; that my back pains would end soon and this would be all over in a jiffy. Its no joke I'm telling you, walking nonstop under the searing sun with a heavy pack. My dad was right. Its physically demanding.

But we all finally did it, and our team leader declared our accumulative distance traveled of 18km.

I can't imagine how the Everest walks would be like, but its something that I really want to accomplish. So. To hell with pain and just do it woman!

I gave in and ate Bakerzin's Oreo Cheesecake when I got home. Its a rarity that we have Bakerzin Cheesecake home, but only because its my sister's birthday today. Her boyfriend called my mum last night and asked for permission to come to our house at 11.55pm because he wanted to surprise her with a cake. So when he arrived, my mum basically manhandled me into my sister's room to make sure she didn't leave, while she let her boyfriend into the house with the cake and basically get all the works done. So finally my mum opened the room door, and in he came proffering this chocolate cream cake and started singing a birthday song, much to the astonishment of my sister.

We cut the cake outside in the living room. Well, she, her boyfriend and my mum did. I stayed to watch them cut the cake. I must say, it is INCREDIBLY awkward to see my sister and her boyfriend envelope themselves in a hug. I mean. MY SISTER. Hugging someone a guy. A guy who didn't even acknowledge me the whole time. I think its weird actually seeing my sister get intimate with a guy because she's so socially awkward. It felt like a disconnect with reality.

So I snatched my dog from the floor, who was lingering at our feets, and quickly ensconced ourselves under my blanket.

Just as we all herded out the room, I snatched my dog - who was lingering outside the room - and sprinted to my room to escape the social awkwardness. Well, I'm sure my sister would have felt the same way if she sees me hugging a guy. But let's ignore that for now, because I have predicted that I am destined to live my life as an old and lonely woman in a cozy yet cold cottage with 80 cats pooping on my floors.

Anyway, seeing S sing and play with the guitar has reignited my desire to want to learn the piano and guitar. But I can't get past the basic chords on the piano. I'm only playing "Colors of the Wind", and that's from a piano songbook for 1st graders.

I wonder if NTU has a guitar / piano club that I can join. I really want to learn how to play these instruments. Mum said Uncle M and his band landed a gig in New York, and will be flying there in three months and playing in different clubs for about a year. Isn't that awesome?

Maybe he has spare guitars lying in his house that I could use.