Smile as often and much as you can

"You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing." ~ Michael Pritchard

MPX 2 Trip(Day 8)

It's Sunday and is also the Exhibition day. We brought lots of stuffs over from Spore (Beatty Sec) to showcase and play with the kids here.

There are musical cups. (in charge by Charmaine) Wow, I'll say Nikun is talented at this, man. Cool musician.


And there are the horoscope cups, Handmade Jenga, jig-saw puzzle and...

zero point. Haha, even Ming Sing wants his share of fun!

Luckily, I was feeling better from my fever. If not, I would have miss out all these fun.
We also started our origami lessons, folding flowers, boat and of course the 1000 cranes project.
It is for the blessings to all the children.

We worked for 2 days for the 1000 cranes and another 2 evenings to string them together. Thanks for making the dream come true, MPX2. It's really a great sense of achievement.

Thanks god we have Chantria. He lent us the "super-needle" as well as brought us the string.






















The night was really amusing. I guess most of us was really slacked out today, playing for the whole day with the hyperactive kids. There were lots of snoring at night, haha. One after another.

MPX 2 Trip (Day 7)

Day 7 was our 1st weekend at Koh Krobey. And I was sick, shivering cold. I had absolutely no appetite and ate very little porridge. And I can only sleep and sleep and sleep, thus I miss the visit to the slums. Basically, I couldn't engage in any activities with the kids and that left me with one option other than sleeping. To have another look at all my team-mates. Haha, reframing. A pretty poor one in fact.

I think I downed a total of 5/6 panadols before I feel even better. That's my worst record.

I have to express my thanks here to many people who took care of me and those who sent their blessings.

Starting with my team-mates

1. Vivian who kept the 3 of us company in the morning and took care of us. Ya, drink more water, I remember.
2. And the other 2 ladies, Chui Jia and Yee Teng who helped and showed concern as well.
3. Tedmond for cooking the porridge.

Also to my dear friends in Spore.

1. Definitely have to thank you, Louise. Yah lady, lucky you offered me a thicker jacket on the last night. Think I could just go numb with the cold.
2. Bernie for sending your get well wishes upon hearing I was sick. Could almost hear your voice through the sms.
   
3. Pete for "How much better are you feeling?" msg and the hourly recovery messages to the collective consciousness.
4. Ama, for your Intention. And asking how I was 2 days later.

Wonder how words got spread among you guys/gals.

MPX 2 Trip (Day 6)

I think this is the day when our work starts to get easier and easier. We have nothing much to do at the site, and end up playing soccer with the kids in school. That evening we had a match with the soccer team. They are really good footballers. I was damn shack out by all the running.


Don't really know what got into Ming Sing tonight. He is super-hyper, dancing, smiling and rolling on the floor for almost the whole night. He is just super cute. :-)

At night, there is this singing competition going on between the two countries. We just take turn to sing a song. That's when these 2 songs come to remain intact in our hearts and minds.

"Take Me to Your Heart" by MLTR

Take me to your heart, take me to your soul,
Give me your hand before I'm old,
Show me what love is - haven't got a clue,
Show me that wonders can be true,
They say nothing last forever,
We're only here today,
Love is now or never,
Bring me far away...

Take me to your heart, take me to your soul,
Give me your hand and hold me,
Show me what love is - be my guiding star,
It's easy - take me to your heart...

and the english "老鼠爱大米"

When that day I hear your voice
I have some special feeling
Let me always think I don’t wanna forget you
I remember at the day
You are always on my mind
Even though I just can think about you
If the day in the future
This love will becoming true
I’ve never change my mind that I will love you forever
I don’t care how fool it is
I will let my dream come true
I will tell you something I wanna let you know, I let you know

I love you, loving you, as the mouse love the rice
Even every day has storm, I will always by your side
I miss you, missing you
I don’t care how hard it is
I just want you be happy
Everything, I do it for you

These are really two special songs for the whole team.

And tonight is also the fateful night for me. Fever strikes me, leaving me 'crippled' for the weekend. Oh man, it really feels terrible especially when I don't feel like eating anything and all I can do is sleep on the hard ground.

MPX 2 Trip (Day 5)

A statement flashes through my head in the morning when we were on our way to the school.

"No one is better than the other person."

The villagers here have their own work, style of working and living, style of living. I don't supposed I can say I'm having a better life than them. I can only say I am given more choices for my life.

I would think who is better would be based on situations. However, sometimes there was never a chance this someone can display his talents. Perhaps there is just not enough time for everyone to outshine one another. I guess that's why we have to learn to grab hold of opportunities or even create opportunities for ourselves to shine. (but please no back-stabbing, there's a saying: "Be good to everyone on your way up because you never know who you're going to meet on your way down")

Things doesn't get sorted out easily because of changes in the environment. Alas, environment, being at the lowest level, constitutes causes that are highly uncontrollable.

The Phase 2 cook-team when marketing today. They bought fried spider. Had it with my lunch since we are running short on dishes. Hmm, it tastes like meat floss. The legs are quite crispy. Between the lower and upper half, I prefer the lower portion. I think those who ate them will agree. The after-taste for the head is just, erm... a bit weird. Will upload the photo here once I got them.

Update (28 Jan):
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Update (28 Jan):
The best part of the day was the swim at the river after work. Lots of us were there - the kids, guys and gals from the team. Whew... we had our mud war! Haha, seems like most of the time, Amanda was the target.



Another thread of thought occurs tonight after looking at the kids and the team. If we do know how each and everyone will feel, will we still behave towards others in the same way? Are we talking about understanding and putting oneself into another person's shoes and to realize the highest positive intention behind the behavior? Probably what we need is not just only the highest positive intention, it have to include respect and concern for the individual.

Today, countless examples once again tell me that human being always yearn for a sense of belonging and acceptance. We need to feel useful and wanted and in this cause, you sometimes fight for the limelight and forget about how other people too have the same yearning as you do!

MPX 2 Trip (Day 4)

Day 2 of construction: Continue digging and carrying of the soil.

Today, we got a pleasant surprise from the students. They brought fruits for us. And another interesting event happen to Kelvin, haha, he got a fan club. Or else also called KFC. The school girls always gathered together and was giggling off everytime this particular girl walked off with Kelvin carrying the basket of soil.

Someone says that I bring myself down to the level of communication? Hmm, perhaps I was just focusing on this style of communication that's all. And the question I asked myself there and then, "Do I like this level of communication?" There's no definite yes-no.

One other question started bogging me on this afternoon.
"What's keeping one from interacting with one another and making new friends here?"
Is it

1. Langauge? Maybe
2. Background?
3. Time? Cos we might just never meet again for the rest of our life. A friendship needs time to bulid commitment & trust. Not willing to face the parting later on.
4. Shyness?
5. What's in it for me?
6. Easier and more comfortable to hang out with own peers?

I think I've come to this part of the world looking for my own answers to my own questions as well as to move away from negativity like betrayal, mistrust, misunderstanding... ...

One thing which went quite bad today. My sensory acuity and observational skills seems to have deproved. Am I that bad?