Trip to Penang and Phuket (Part 2)

Group Photo in the balcony

We had signed up a land tour in Penang from 1400 to 1945. Me and my family woke up at about 0800 to have breakfast at a restaurant called Bella Vista.

Bella Vista sign

We were supposed to have breakfast with our cousins and second aunt. Usually, we are always late. So, we woke up early that day to beat a record. Guess what? They didn't show up! They had woken up late and gone somewhere else!

Anyway, never mind that. After breakfast, we went to The Lido for disembarking. It was raining outside, so we were given ponchos. We were dispatched in groups according to which tour we were joining. There were quite a number of people in our group, almost the number of people seatable in a normal coach.

Me in the poncho!

We were first taken to ride in a trishaw. The coach let us alight near the gathering point. I rode in the trishaw with my cousin. The trishaw took us through the streets of Little India. The trishaw was wet due to weather, so the cover had to be put over us. The view was therefore affected. To put it simply, it wasn't a good day for trishaw ride.

Street Scene

My dad in the trishaw... imagine the cover drapped over your whole body

After that, we visited some Buddhist temples. A few photos we took...

The Lying Buddha. The one in the pink shirt is my mum. Compare the sizes.

After all the visiting and taking of pictures, the guide then took us to a chocolate shop. Many types of chocolates were available. There were durian chocolates, coconut chocolates, even chili and curry chocolates!

The shop's exterior

Curry chocolates

The shop's special... Durian Chocolates!

After that, we headed down to Gurney Plaza, which was near the sea. There was an amazing view. It had also become rather cooling, so I enjoyed that part the most.

View of the sea in the evening from Gurney Plaza

We went for dinner first, at a cluster of roadside eateries. Many of the reknown Penang foodstuff were sold there, waiting for us to try them. yum!

the stalls have not opened yet...
my dad, myself and my aunt (from the left)

My younger brother

After that, we went to Gurney Plaza for a little shopping. I bought some shirts while the rest bought some other stuff. Sadly, we couldn't finish looking at the different shops as we had to get back to the bus on time.

View from ship from jetty

The next stop was the jetty. After having dinner at The Mediterranean, we went to The Lido to enjoy a performance by the crew. Photos were allowed this time, so there will be many shown to you readers!

Mass dance

Duo in romance
MJ resemblence!

Looks like a bunch of thick-skinned women? Look closer...

it's cross-dressing!

Due to our rather packed schedule the next day, we decided to tuck into bed early.

NOEL!

You might be wondering what 'NOEL!' is. Yes, it's got to do with Christmas and no, it features no Santa Claus......





It was my band's EOY concert!



It was a Saturday then. 11 Dec. I was excited because this was going to be my first concert i have ever performed. We had been rehearsing since June. Sadly, I had maths tuition class before that. My mum said it was the last lesson, so it could not be missed. My section leader was pretty pissed when I told him that. It's like I make excuses for myself to be absent all the time. No doubt he was pissed...

After the lesson, my parents drove me to school. Luckily, the band had not left the gathering spot yet! Therefore, I was late, but on time...( ok, that sounds wierd...)

Still, I got my tuba and all the stuff I needed and went down to the Cheng Yi Auditorium at the JC side of the school. It was a long walk, especially with my tuba. The JC side is all the way at the other end of the school compound. It was up the hill and down again. (Grand Duke of York...)

We got there and deposited our instruments under the stairs to the RUA (Room Under Auditorium). We were int=structed to help out the JC with whatever they needed help with. After all, we are still one big fanily...

The JC band leader had ordered abt 30-40+ benches from the canteen, which had not arrived. Therefore, we were sent to help with the benches. 2 to each bench. The canteen was a several metre walk away. We had almost 60+ people helping out with the benches. 2 main conditions had to be met. Benches must not be shaky (a leg is shorter than the other legs) and must not have some bird shit on it. Many a benches were rejected. But in the end, we still got all our 40+ benches.

We had to haul them in after that. It was tiring work. Some of us had already changed into the suits for later's performance. Poor people sitting around them must have been stunk out. The chairs on stage had to be take out then. It was done in no time at all. The counter outside was set up. The chairs and percussion were set up. Then came the practise.

The conducters had already arrived. The conducter for the junior batch, Mr Kiang, a plump but jovial and funny man, ran through the songs we were supposed to play for the concert. After that, the junior band evacuated the place to allow the seniors, the JC band rehearse. We deposited our instruments in the RUA and went all the way back to High School side for the food. (By the time we finished, it was almost dusk). There were 7 big bags of food, 10 each bag, and another 3 for conductors.

We brought the food back to the Cheng Yi Auditorium to put the JC's food there before realising we could've brought the food back to OBR (Outdoor Band Room, Hish School) first and sent a team to bring the food to JC. Therefore, there was a quarrel between the leaders of the group. Luckily, it didn't last long. The food had gotten them to stop the inseccant quarrels and focus on eating. We refuelled water at the nearby food bar and changed into our suits.

The only thing I couldn't do myself, was the tie. Just the day before, my dad had just shown me how to do it. But due to the great upheavel of events, I had forgotten how to do it. I asked a band leader, Jay to remind me again how to tie it. He showed me and tied others. I tried tying my own. I was still tying even when I had gotten out of the OBR, heading for Cheng Yi Auditorium. In the end, I gave up, going back to Jay, asking him to help me tie it. }: {

We went through warm-ups and scales once more before letting the audience in. Meanwhile, we sat at our places and waited for the MCs to introduce the band and the conducters. Then Mr Kiang got on stage. We played the songs and got off the stage. It was a rush and a hectic mess. people were rushing out in any order.

After that, we were allowed to go up to join the audience at the back. It was a very entertaining show the seniors put up. Most of the songs were pop songs and Christmas carols. In fact, it was so good, that there were many who wanted an encore piece. Sadly, they were disappointed by the MCs. Nevertheless, they played a short piece.

After all the audience have left, we were to help with the putting back of benches, chairs, stands, instruments etc. After all was done, it was a quick dismissal. Already 2300 by then, so I went directly to the car.

That's the end of that wonderful day.

Cruise to Penang and Phuket (Part 1)

This year, we decided to go on a cruise instead of a plane. We have been taking the plane for one too many times already. Therefore, we wanted to experience going out to sea again. It was also my brother's first time out to sea, so he was rather excited. Cousins were coming too. Days before, the bags had already been packed. All there was left to do, was to wait...

The day finally arrived after my band concert "NOEL!"(which you can read about in the previous post). We got out of the house by about 1100+. We took a cab all the way to the Cruise Centre at HarbourFront. It was a hellish queue. It stretched all the way to the lower floor.

So, My dad and I checked in the luggage first and met up with our cousins. Second Aunt was there too. We all Started the queue and boarded the ship. We were Balcony Class. Second Aunt and her sons (my cousins) had a 'World Cruisers' Class (common rooms).

The ship was huge.

Side of Ship

T

H

I

R

T
E

E

N

S

T

O

RI
ES high.

View from Observation Deck (Deck 13)

As long as about 5/4 of Vivo's length.

It is Virgo, biggest of the Star Cruise fleet.

(see more at Star Cruise website)

The lobby was huge and dazzling, lots of gold. Plush chairs were lined in neat rows by the side of the lobby. juice or i think sparkling alcohol was served. We waited till all of us had gotten on board and had settled into the rooms before going up to have lunch at Deck 12. The ship was still docked at HarbourFront and would only start the departure at 1800. Meanwhile, we went around exploring the ship. There are many eateries, restaurants. There is a whole lot of other stuff to do. There is a library, a game's corner, pool, arcade, gym, driving range, disco etc...

Corridor

The captain ordered a mass gathering of passengers for a brief on how to use the life vest and what to do in times of emergency. The briefing took about 10 minutes. We returned to our room first to get ready for dinner. By 1800, the ship was moving. Many were seen on the deck, including ourselves. We took quite a number of photos. Then, we went up to have dinner at Deck 12. It was a FOC buffet called The Mediterranean Buffet. We had a seat that was downwind from the smoking area. We didn't like, it, but it was all we could make do with. Our first dinner on board the cruise was not really satisfactory due to the seat. The beef, according to my cousin, wasn't good either. The view was good though.

Ship's moving!

We went to a show at The Lido. It was a comedy. The main star was a superb juggler. He entertained the audience much! I really liked his performance. Sadly, no photography was allowed, so i only got photos of the theatre itself...

The Lido

There was a football match to be broadcast on board in a small theatre that night. Chelsea against Newcastle. At 2300. My older cousin and I decided to go watch as there would be sufficient time to wake up and be ready for the land tour the next day. Furthermore, he is also a fan of Chelsea. Of course he would watch the match. I was just tagging along as a neutral party. Most of the people there were supporting Newcastle. We were the only ones standing out. It ended as a 1-1 draw, so there was great disappointment.

福建节

星期6。 我要与红团组员一同到新加坡大会堂。那里就是举办第三次福建节的地点！我们要在那儿耍武术，唱歌跳舞。



那天，我一大早就起了床，搭地铁到新加坡大会堂。会堂外摆满了许多摊位来售卖福建食品。许多红团组员都已经到场了。我们就要在停车场的入口表演。



不可思议！



我们彩排时，就挡住了许多来往车子的路，双方很不方便。有一次，一辆车停在我们彩排的中央，带来许多麻烦。

彩排完毕后，老师们让我们去参观会堂外的些食物摊位。那里有一个个的福建美食，如kongbabao，owajian等等。我和团员们一同去吃东西，添饱肚子。

后来，等了差不多25分钟后，大人物来了。教育部长黄永宏先生到场咯！表演就开始了。

。。。可惜，我们只是为几位重要人物看罢了。。。真浪费！

过后，我们都到会堂里等老师。里头摆了关于福建人的传统的物品。里头也讲到那些伟大的福建人物和他们对社会做出的贡献。那里也有讲到华中呢！:)

就这样，我团员们都做巴士回到会馆去。我呢，父母都来接我回去。这一天就这样结束了。

Aphellion Nite!

The End Of The Year!

Aphelion Nite was held on a Fri. It was 2 celebrate the end of the year with our Aphellion-mates. And, as the name suggests, it was held in HCI at night. They provided dinner and a show.

Dinner was at 6. When the food was uncovered, there was a stampede for the food. I had to wait almost 10+ mins to get the food. There was SweetNSour Fish, pineapple rice, macaroni and cheese (which was not so good), veg and prawn fritters. the drinks had almost ran out by the time I got to it. They had to get a refill. The only thing not so good about it was that they only had enough drinks to support all students and staff for only half the meal. (hope this can b improved!)

The performance started in the auditorium at about 6:30 . It started off with several songs and some rock music. The 2 boys singing up on stage must have thrown their faces to space: their singing was horrible. The bands were not too bad, except for one of the players: he had the speaker blasting right into my face. I couldn't hear anything else. BOO! (you might think i am "too harsh" to criticize this guy, but if u were there, you would have written the same thing on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, diary...blahblahblah)

After that were some games. The games were played by both students and teachers alike. They were hosted by our class' old buddy. So, we knew him very well and used this point to get an advantage. There was a "Don't Forget The Lyrics" game, a competition to see who would be the funniest person in the whole auditorium and a Limbo game. The Limbo competition was a free-for-all. Students were seen rushing up on stage to get a chance to win "glory" for their class.

There was a voting session conducted by the teachers for a "Mr Aphelion". The students sent up a voting for a charming and warm-hearted guy up on stage to enter a competition. Winners received a prize. Sadly, our class only got the runner-up. Why? Cause there were only 2 people in Lower Sec category.

As it neared the end, there was a sing-along session, hosted by all Sec 4s. They were given glow-sticks and were asked to line up on stage to sing "我问天". It was fun. After that, unexpectedly, was a literal glow-stick fight between the Sec 4s and the Sec1s to 3s. Glow-sticks were bombarded from the audience to the stage, only to receive a "return fire" of glow-sticks at themselves.

The whole thing ended at about 9. Actually, most of the Nite was taken up by the Sec 4s. It was like a graduation ceremony for them: we were just there to 仇热闹. Hope we can include the Sec 3s to 1s more next time.

"Sports Day"

The "Sports Day" was a day where all classes competed in an inter-class competition. Of course the levels will be the same lah.



the FOSHA (Festival Of Sports Health and Arts)(and it is NOT some Buddhist organisation) is held annually. It is played by Sec 1s and 3s (the Sec 2s are at OBS and Sec 4s at their graduation stuff)



5 sports to choose from: badminton, basketball, soccer, table tennis and frisbee. Divide and conquer. Class will be divided into different teams to take on some games. winners get points, losers also get points, but not as much. teacher says this is to promote everyone to PLAY! HAVE FUN! YAY!



I wanted to go to the soccer team. Since i was in a team as a goalie in primary school, my "resume" was accepted. I got into the soccer team.



The soccer court we played in was a street-soccer court near the JC side. On the first day, it had rained. since it was open-air, we had to play in the shelter nearby. Our team played against another team, which was ok. We beat them 4-1.



The next day was disastrous. It was a sunny day. However, I got the "cursed" side of the field. ( There is a 'myth' that the side closer towards the High School side is so-called cursed). The myths were true. We were pwned 4-NIL! Off the list we went into the trash...

Conclude this big jump...

Ok, so i didn't blog for a long time...

it's now sch holidays in HCI.

This is to sum up whatever there was for the past 8-9 months.

1) the EOY
2 ) the "Sports Day"
3) anything else that happened.

if i can't finish it up within this entry, i'll do it in subsequent ones. haha.

1) EOY

EOY was DREAD. }:O

EOY is End Of Year, which means exams.

It was gan chiong this and gan chiong that.

Teachers also start printing past year papers for us. The papers were not that tough though... haha!

So, to put it in 2 words: gan chiong

The seniors, the sec 3s and 4s, were the first to kena. a week later, we were next.

EOY was a "whole school event". No classes, no visiting teachers, and most important of all, NO TALKING. Once we were finished with our papers, we were freed, only to fly back to "The cage" the next day... :`{

The EOY lasted for a whole week. After that, we were the happiest jolly-men on Earth.

The results were reasonable as well... haha... (faking it)

I'm in band!

Hi everyone.

This is Wen Yang again and I have gotten into a CCA. That is : Millitary band!

Yeah! Band ROCKS!!!!!!!

Well, mabye not...

You see, I got into band because I was "conscripted" into the band. That is, I was placed in band due to my P1-3 experience in band. Practices are on Tues & Fri, from 1430 to 1800+ (It doesn't end on time... NEVER!)

The Hwa Chong Band, which had an initial strength of 20 members when it started out in 1967, now has a total strength of about 80+ -100 members, including Sec 1s. The band is a indoor and outdoor band consisting of woodwinds, brass and percussion. The band has clinched many gold awards in SYF and NBC competitions.

When I first joined band, I felt that it was going to be the same rather "bad" old experience in Primary School band: conductor everyday also scold us for playing out of tune and all the crap, in the end, leave the band. (WTH!!!I left because I couldn't dahan this attitude). However, it was different. This time, the conductors could dahan for some time before shouting very loud but remain amiable. Surprising!

Some of my calssmates and ex-classmates are also in this band. Zhong Zhi, Ethan and Jia Hao are in my Sec 1 class. Old friends Yan Shen and Jing Kai are also in the band. I have also made many friends within consortium and inter-consourtium in band.

In the band, I play the tuba, even though I used to play the trombone. The conductor, Mr Kiang, can actually sympathise with me for the first few times because, coincidentally, he was also a trombone player who was transfered to tuba as well! I have 3 Sec 4 seniors, 2 Sec 3 seniors and 2 Sec 2 seniors. Now, the Sec 4 seniors are actually not doing much, just slacking every practice. The Sec 3s have taken over their roles as SL (section leader). Kang Ming, the SL of Tuba, as well as a holder of the position major, is an amiable person. He likes to joke. So does the other Sec 3 senior, Shin Hen. Both are ProEd. My 2 Sec 2 seniors, Jarred and Keenan, are the main force of the tuba section. Both are from Aphellion. My Sec 4 seniors are all from ISpark. (See the pattern?)

Currently, I am getting ready to join the main band in the Flag-raising ceremony daily (school days that is...). The main band is also rehearsing for the performance at Merlion Park (right beside the Merlion: Trouble...NOISY!!!).

Looking forward to it!

There is a bad side to it, and that is the outdoor. We will have outdoor practices on Wed. We would be told to stand in the hot sun and endure "massive" physical training. Occasionally, there would be a last-minute run around the High School campus, which tires. The practices are intense and are usually accompanied with much shouting, screaming, barking of orders and pumpings, which i hate...

In the end, I don't know whether to love band or to hate it... All i know is, just enjoy it! Don't worry, Be Happy...haha... :)

You can visit the "Band Blog" to find out more about the Band: www.hciband.net

Sec 1 camp

There was a sec 1 camp during the last 3 days before school holiday. St Johns island was the campsite.

On the first day, we gathered in school for the coach to take us to Marina South jetty. When we reached there, the Aphelion consortium classes took the ferry (a 20-30 min long ride) to St Johns. It was raining when we got there. The wind was tremendous. Some umbrellas were turned inside out. Soon, the wind died down and we went on to the campsite. Sadly, our campsite was the furthest away. Carrying a big hand-carry was definitely not a good idea. (Tiring like hell!) Luckily, we were sleeping in a dorm that day, so there were beds : only framework and dirty mattress with dust and whatever with dirty pillow cases and bedsheets but PROPER beds. We ate lunch in another 'canteen' dorm, where everyone said the "Hungry Cheer" before digging into our food. After that, we were told to assemble at the basketball court, converted into a main meeting area. All the classes were there, waiting for the speech by Mojo (chief of camp) and Mr Tan, teacher in charge.

There were some miscellaneous games and the preparation for campfire later in the day. We were the duty group for that day's dinner. We were supposed to collect the food as it was ferried in from mainland Singapore. However, we waited for almost 2 hours and still nothing in sight. We played a game of 'Truth of Dare' while we waited. The breeze at the beach was magnificent. The food was heavier and more difficult to carry than expected. I could hardly carry the 20 packets of rice assigned to me up the hill. There was a complaint from 1a1 when we got here. "So slow one..." Slow?!! Lunch came in later than this, and you still call us slow?! Wah Lau! Damn angry! Ungrateful people lah! (By the way, the duty group for lunch was a1)

Don't care them, let's go on with the story...

After dinner, we were sent on a scavenger hunt for our friend, Kendrick, who had been 'kidnapped'. We were supposed to do some activities to gain chances to get keys, which can open the 'padlocks' and 'chains' bundling our friend, freeing him. We were so lucky. 2 tries, 2 keys. Most groups took longer than that. We were the first to find Kendrick too. He was located in a rubbish dump behind basketball court 2 (another one), with some trainers and other 'kidnapped' people. We soon got him back and talked about our experiences. Kendrick said that the trainers thought bundling them with chains and padlocks was too cruel in a way, so there were none. He had slept while waiting for us. We then had some time to do some puzzles.

Bedtime, the other students made noise, causing the teachers and instructors to keep coming in to reprimand us. It was after i went out for toilet and came back in that i could finally get some sleep.

The next day, was woken up by Anthony if i don't remember wrongly. We had breakfast in the gathering site: fried rice. I licked the box clean before dashing off to get the hot milo. Luckily I got it quickly, If I had been any later, i would have gotten stuck in the long queue for milo. Games by the beach were up next. This was the first time we were able to play near the sea. We were given 1 min to explore the beach. I got quite a bunch of seashells and dried sponges washed up along the shore. We had lunch in the same canteen dorm.

Campfire was up next. By then, it was already evening. The campfire was burning very strongly. The flames rose like the deepest pits of hell. The music was playing while everyone was dancing. The classes, one by one, came up to perform their cheers, dances, or whatever they had. After the big campfire, was the mass debrief and sleeping time. We were sleeping in the tents this time. My tent mates: Aloysius, Ethan, Zhong Zhi and Ye Kai. We sub-divided the tent into sections where we slept. It was so hot in the tent that I had to actually go outside for several minutes to cool off. However, it was very cold outside. Hence, I went back into the tent to warm up. Around perhaps 0000h-0100h, I dozed off.

The next day was more relaxed. Nothing but eating and getting the ferry home. But it was just not the day for me. You see, my bag had a BIG hole. I had trouble getting the bag here and there without enlarging the hole. We had nasi lemak for breakfast. I added too much chili and ended up burning my nose and throat. We (half of the class: we couldn't fit the whole class!) were able to take the open air ferry back, so I got to see the waves and feel the breeze. But the waves were so loud I could hardly hear what my friends were saying. We got off the ferry and got back to HCI. I took a taxi home to reduce inconvenience.

On the whole, the camp was rather fun!

=>=>=>

4km run

There was a 4 km run organized not long ago. The track was around the school compound. That was a Thursday, during PE. This was a gathering for the whole Sec levels.


At the start of the run, a torch was passed down around the track to symbolise the start, just like in the Olympics. The main holder was then lit by Dr Hon, the school principal.

The race started with the competitive runners. We dashed off after them. The route was leading out into the JC section, up the hill, down the hill, up the hill into boarding school, all the way down, onto the street outside and all the way back to the start. It was a long and tiring one. I finished nearly the last in the whole cohort.

After we launched, the other levels also went. The sec 4s went first, then the sec 3s, then the sec 2s. There were bottles of water given out during the run. A Milo van was parked at a side to facilitate the pupils with milo. The crowd there was very long. Some took 2-3 cups at a time.

After thet, there was a research studies programme, so there was no class that day. After reasearch studies, we were dismissed. =)

CNY

CNY was very widely supported by the students in HCI. Being Chinese and all, who wouldn't?


On that day, our school held this celebration. The students came in bright colours, mostly red. The other levels and students from the JC side also joined in the fun. Everyone gathered in the hall. There, performances were put up by some EP3s. Chinese Orchestra played several tunes, Chinese Drama performed a funny story about them, the Wushu team showcased their aerobic moves on stage, and mostly not forgetting, our lion dance team. The lions pranced up and down in the hall with the drums and cymbals ringing. The hall was madness.


Later into the performance, 财神爷 stepped into the hall. Chocolates and candy were flung amongst the crowd. Although we all knew he was just a costume put on by someone, everyone kept this festive season in the air. Songs came after that. The crowd roared with great enthusiasm as the song played on the speakers.

School was dismissed early, so I decided to go back to KHS to visit 柯老师. Many ex-students were there, waiting for the security guard to open the gate. I managed to find my way round him. Since KHS had moved to a holding site, it was rather hard to find my way round KHS. After a few minutes and lots of help from the teachers, I managed to locate him. I chatted to him about Secondary school life before going back.

It was good to be there again.

Hi all!

Hi all! This is WY now blogging in hci! My previous blogs are in wy97khs.blogspot.com. Can go there if you want.

Life in HCI is rather tough though. HCI is in Bukit Timah, so have to get up by 5.30. After reaching school is the same whole process of flag-raising and pledge. Classes start after that.

Some of my KHS friends are in HCI as well. Sadly, got none in my class. :( First day of school was a real new life. Mr Chua, our form teacher, teaches Math. Mrs Lim teaches HCL, Ms Leong teaches Science, Mr Ho's History/Geography(otherwise known as Humanities), Mr Guo in Art etc... The classroom is situated on a hill, so the everyday climb up it is tiring. I usually arrive at 7+.

I have School/Military Band as my EP3 (CCA). Practice days are Tue and Fri. We haven't gone that deep into it yet so I can't tell you much. However, there is one thing I can tell you: when you start Band in HCI, and if you are one who has studied music before and can read notes, good luck to you. You'll be stuck learning all the same things you've learnt in Grade 1. Very boring......

The happy time is recess. The canteen food is shiok! Long queues are common, so have to wait rather long to get your stuff. The 菜饭 is very nice, especially the stall 2. In the plate deposit area, workers have a hard time clearing plates for stall 2, while the other stall (5) has almost nothing for clearing.

I love HCI...