GUAJIRA

it was awesome, infectious and inspirational.

not a dry seat in the house.

and i was in the bloody front row, right in the middle of the stage.

COOLNESS!

post-dinner, pre-snack: 46.

post-dinner, post-snack: *shrugs*

one thing's for sure though...at the rate i'm going, i'll be back up there by the end of the week.

dinner: mui fan with vegetables

snack: japanese pizza and ramly burger from the pasar malam

where's the logic in that?!

oh hell.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

or so it has been for my little sweetie of a bear - GWIZZLY.

its name now hangs on the lips of everyone in the singapore delegation, as well as a few of the who's who in scouting at the world scout conference that's just past in tunisia.

here's gwizzly's journal on the places he's been, and the people he's met...

i had to get up at freakin' 0430 hrs to be at the airport at 0515 hrs for check-in on the 2nd of september.

i know i know...you're thinking why a little punk like me has to get up that early since all i need to do is to stick my stinky little ass into serene's backpack eh?

she'd wanted to give me a comb over and make sure all my accessories were there, that's why.

i made my first new friend at the airport in doha, qatar...



rainbow and i became fast friends.

alas, that was the last i saw of him for the rest of the trip.

serene's friend of a BUBBA kept him locked up in a camera bag, looking out for the pathetic little piece of equipment.

talk about animal labor...bah.

then this minister fella picked me up and seemed to like me a hell lot...



i think his name is mr yatiman.

according to serene, he kept asking for me for the rest of the trip.

i wonder why...hmm...

then just before we boarded the plane for tunisia, we met the most adorable little thing (besides me, of course)...



i still have no idea what she was about to do with me before serene coaxed her to pass me back.

whatever it was, that little girl left me with a little stump in my ass...it still hurts.



so we arrive in tunisia. and we're all stuck at the airport waiting for our visas to be approved.

i could've left with malcolm (the state coroner/east district commissioner) or mel (the girl in the red cheongsam) since they didn't need visas to get through, but i had to stay with serene.

those men around her were making her sing songs with them...i had to be there to provide her with that ounce of sanity.

for the next few days, i kept watch on serene's stuff in her sty of a hotel room.

it really isn't her fault the room was so. housekeeping oughta have done a better job.

anyways, one day, she finally brought me out to meet some people and visit the singapore hospitality suite at the souk near the medina conference center...



yes they were all hard at work, busting their butts off for the major bid.

and then i saw this...



forgive me, i hadn't seen a tree in days...this was the closest i could get to one. =(

you know it's a fun show when the delegation gives out kacang putih as well...



serene was so kind to spare me a tube.

i gave mine to a tunisian boy. bless him.

stress just kept building for the next few days and before i knew it, the bid was over and done with.

and serene could bring me out again!

i went wild, i tell ya! we took way too many pictures of me but she seemed happy to do it.



i didn't get too many pictures with her, but i thought this was pretty cool. =)

i just HAD to hug another tree again...



the olive trees outside our new hotel (yes we switched cuz the original one was literally crapped up) were the bomb...they looked and smelled so good.



yes, i laid in the sun for a good half an hour, nestled between the olives.

i reckon i must smell of the wretched oil by now.



barry, our designated driver for most of the trip (just cuz he's the only one who can left-hand-drive) is from a group called "the friendly bears".

how appropriate. =)

with competition out of the way, serene brought me to the medina conference center to sit in for a boring resolution session.

so while everyone had their backs turned, voting, i just had to have this taken...



i mean...how often do you get to take pictures like that?

so i got serene to take another one of me, smiling behind the seriousness...



i think i've matured a lot in this trip.

even andres from UNICEF saw that i was a curious little bear and wanted to take a picture with me...



all too soon though, it was time to move on...and leave for home.

i had a whole seat to myself on our way back to singapore from doha.

all snug under serene's sweater, i began to reflect on the week's happenings, or unhappenings.



you know...singapore didn't win the bid, but we managed to kick some ass.

and because we did good, we garnered some major respect and made some serious friends.



i'd say this was my best trip ever. =)

CONFESSIONS

Here's something I wrote just minutes before our plane touched down at Changi...

Reflections of a world host…



It’s all over and done now, and I’m on a red-eyed flight back to Singapore.

To say that I’m not sore about losing would be a lie.

Especially when we had the most visibility and best presentation at the bid.

The only things that comfort me right now are these:

1) We ran a close one with Sweden;
2) We were way ahead Australia and Japan;
3) Everyone who watched us (including the Europeans) thought we had the best presentation with a truly UNIQUE concept.

Considering this was our first time we ran for a world scout event, I’d say we did pretty well.

We showed them, and we showed them good.



The world now knows that Singapore is a force to be reckoned with, and not some small island that “doesn’t stand a chance of winning”.

If we had won, this would’ve been publicized, and everyone would know what we’ve done.

But because we didn’t, this will stay under everyone’s noses.

No one would know what tough competition we were; no one would know how bloody capable we were; no one (especially Singaporeans) would know we were IT.



The thing about us humans is…we always attach negativity to the word “lose”.

It’s like…most would think “oh they lost to the Swedes”.

But the truth of the matter is: We were the biggest winners of the entire conference.

And that’s why I want the whole world to know that we lost to the Swedes.

Because if you know what transpired in that seven days in Tunisia, you’d know that there was nothing more we could do to garner more votes.



Perhaps I was the biggest winner.

I was thrown into something I wasn’t sure I was capable of doing, and I did it.

Doing it was such an emotional experience for me that after we finished our performance, I walked right out of the conference hall and started crying.

Everyone around hugged me and told me how good I was and all…

They didn’t get it.

I wasn’t sobbing because I thought I did horribly.

I was crying because I went out of my comfort zone and made myself and my country proud.

CELEBRITY

i felt like such a princess yesterday.

thomas and i went to brewerkz and had a major pig-out session...couple with beer and all.

i out-ate and out-drank him. =P

yes...he's seen my "true colors"...haha.

we crossed over to TCC after and had the lava chocolate cake and some tea. uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh.

so he was about to drive me back home when nixon smsed to say that alex toh was in union...

we turned right into tanjong pagar instead...just to pop in to see how he looks like in person.

BOY WAS I DISAPPOINTED.

the moment i walked in and took one look at the guy, i turned around and said "that's it?"

if it weren't for the familiar faces who asked me for one dance after another, i'd have left there and then.

but my shoes were so wrong that although my leads were superb, i could hardly spin!

i danced till thomas had to poke his face in my way and say "eh...one more ah...then we leave."

actually, i felt like the celebrity last night.

people were telling me how "pretty" i looked last night, when i thought i looked really normal.

perhaps it was the short skirt. and the long-sleeved top.

urgh. not good dancing attire.

dance after dance after dance.

let's hope tonight'll be the same with ASERE in the house...