Brunei 4th-6th May

Brunei was our first stop out of Singapore. We were welcomed by Mr Nithi, Deputy Ambassador of Singapore Embassy. We went through customs in a breeze and we were given a preview on what to expect in the next few days in Brunei. Being able to speak in Malay, it was much easier for me to remember the names of the places of interests that we were recommended to go to to be able to meet with the local people.
The first thing that we noticed about Brunei was the slow and steady pace that was taken by the community there. Every 5-10 mins of traveling on the vehicle, we'd only see 1 or 2 people walking down the pavement by the road. Massive difference from Singapore I'd say.
At a nearby shopping mall appropriately called, “The Mall”. Supposedly the mini-orchard of Brunei, we were greeted by an almost deserted mall. Families in Brunei normally spend their Sundays at home with their families. Overall, the locals could speak English so communication wasn't really a problem. We were then greeted by this group of cute young girls who just came from a birthday party. After a short while of interacting with them, we noticed a group of middle-aged ladies standing around us. At first impression, I thought they were the children's mothers but then Damien shed some light on it saying that they were actually the maids of the children. One to attend to every single one of them. At that point of time, we realized, we might be with the children of some of the richest families in Brunei. Stroke of luck brought us to meet another group of girls but this time teenagers. They were very friendly and the thing is, they really look like Singaporean Chinese school girls. One of them willing to become our tour guide on the next day.

We went to Kampong Ayer, (water village), it is actually a village of Kampongs built on stilts. Very traditional. We were there at sunset so the whole place was majestic. We didn't managed to get to the village but we did pay an amount for a boat to bring us around the village. A nice touch of tradition amongst the concrete buildings around the island. Even though we only had an afternoon to catch the sights, I felt that it was well worth it the places we went to for the day. Point to note; never wait for a cab in Brunei, there only 30 in the whole state. One more thing, everyone owns a car in Brunei.
Breakfast was a 'treat' as we were greeted by many breakfast sets, only difference between them? The way the egg was prepared. We were treated to a number of Brunei goodies which looked familiar to me but then they were presented differently than in Singapore. Finally something familiar, to me at least.
That night,we met up with this girl and mum who we met the previous day who became our guides. And we happen to find out that her family was rumored to be the richest family in Brunei (they own a chain of 8 huge departmental stores around Brunei, “Hua Ho Supermarket”). Really nice to be able to meet nice people who were able to trust perfect strangers to bring us to the Palace and this huge Pasar Malam. Every store had a shop space, compared to Singapore but then they didn't have so much things to sell, and even sold them at super low prices. Imagine a packet of Nasi Lemak was sold at 80cents. (notice the ease of converting Brunei currency). This was where we had the 'Pop Pop' icicle. Just bad-tasting crushed ice with flavored powder. Of course being in that place was a treat for me and Damien as we were suckers for places with such good environment for taking pictures, with all the smoke from the food and the bright tungsten lights. This was also a place where the Brunei families came together at night to make a living and mingle with the rest of the community.
At this point of time, we were feeling that Brunei was coming to an end. Going to the Singapore Embassy after that was a treat. It felt like it was a small part of Singapore, in Brunei. Ambassador, “It's easier to strike oil in Brunei then to hail down a cab”. So we were told to take a picture with the cab because of the it's rarity in Brunei. “Empire Hotel”, just it's name sounds majestic, needless to say the hotel itself. Built by the Sultan, the whole place looked like it was made with gold. It even had its own mini man-made beach within its compound. It was plain ridiculous. Never thought I'd come face to face with such a fancy place, it was almost surreal.

Where I've disppeared to..

Due to some reasons that i cant disclose, im not able to state here the reason why ive been travelling ASEAN for the past few wks (until further notice) but then i can still talk about my adventures. so here goes...

The nonsense things..

Even now as I am writing this post, I am trying to figure out ho to solve this stupid Rubix cube which i bought last x'mas. This picture is the closest i got to 'solving' it. I really need someone to tell me how to do it man. Seriously, the kind of things that i do to fill up my time, and i still cant figure out how to do it... ~annoyed. really havent been doin much lately as i haf been handing over my classes (art and dance) over to my bosses as i'm flying off in 2 wk's time. for almost a month i foresee.
my god, im soo gonna miss hm man. the longest time ive been away from hm i tin was once wen i went to taiwan for training for 5 wks. im sure it's not gonna be the same la s this one i wont feel so useless as compared to training. i TIN im gonna miss danish my nephew (pic) he's in K2 this yr and he's getting quite irritating nowadays (as much as i love him) he's super hyperactive and sometimes u juz dunno how to handle him. and he loves to like juz runaway to my mum cuz she always pampers him. so not fair.. i wasn't treated like tt wen i was young. ~jealous haha so old oready..

i noe someone who ADORES him, maria. she juz doesnt understand why i treat him the way i do. (u noe i always scold him) cuz my mum seldom does. so i cannot let him be a spoilt child whenever he's in my hs. see tt pic? doesn't it look like somethin u'd see at a malay wedding? we call it 'hantaran'. it's actually somethin made for maria's recent lasalle assesment. packaging design and then her concept was laces. i call it 'Laces and Balls'. the balls is another installation. 1st time record: 24 hrs looking at maria's face, haha. tt night we juz stayed up the WHOLE night to juz rush her assessment projects which was due the next morning at 10am. 'twas crazy. we were trying to keep ourseleves awake by singing songs and saying jokes.

i tin the chinaman tt was sleeping there also wont be able to sleep i tell u. haha. 'twas kinda scary la the place, dark and lot's of things all ard. seems like working in a very old, unpacked basement or attic.luckily we managed to finish everythin on time and i tell u it wasnt an easy feat. since those sleepless nights durin poly, i havent done this for soo long. anyways, the picture of the pic is actually of a monkey tt is made by PUMA. in ian's shop, its a cool soft toy of a monkey tt u can pull it's eyes out. COOL RIGHT? it's one of my hangout places in orchard whenever someone bails me out, and believe me it has happened to me so many million times. so i'm glad i can go there to haf company, haha. reminds me, im gg there later too, haha.

to add to my collection of nonsense things tt i've done lately, this is a pic of me and my troupe members being squeezed in a car to go to a concert. we had no choice but to squeeze man, really, and it wasnt somethin very fun to be doing wen u're in a very comfortable position. as u can see u can even see me in tt picture. actually i was on the right side of the pic being squashed to the side. record: 8 adults in a norm-sized car. the nonsense things i do in life. haiz...

A.P.P.L.E.Q. = Q.U.I.T.

As the days go pass..

Seriously, i need more motivation in life man. see the things i do on a normal sunny day outside? (ok it was gonna rain) but still... my god. ok teaching's gd and everythin but then how much time is tt occupying my life? oh man. i cant wait to fly off in 2 wks time. slowly ppl are like askin me to buy stuff for them and i dun even noe which currency to change to. (actually considerin to juz buy everything from s'pore.. haha)

Thx to wushu training, i almost sprained my ankle and it's super hurting now. somethin i juz discovered this mornin while going down the stairs. seriously not my cuppa tea. stick to dancing, stick to dancing.

Juz went for typhoid fever and tetanus jabs today for my upcoming trip on the 19th April. but it's all able to be claimed. bloody hell 82 bucks man! and tt maria so funny was SO SUPER scared of injections. die die want me to go first. she didnt even go for the Hep B jab in poly 2 yrs ago. i juz don und why somebody can be so afraid of somethin so tiny... at least im scared of BIG, SCARY CROCODILES. my biggest fear ever in my life. oh man, juz makes my hair stand.

This officically makes the 1st wk tt im teachin every single day of the wk.
Mon: Art club
Tue: Creative movement class
Wed: Ethnic fusion
Thurs: Art class
Fri: Metal tooling class
Which reminds me i haf to source for references for my student tmr now.. hah

A.R.T.Y.F.A.R.T.Y.

Pri Sch kids!

A day ago i was teaching Yio Chu Kang pri, "Ethnic Fusion". 'twas kind of a last min contact thing but then i stil went cuz i was kinda short of cash, even now. well 'twas s'posed to be a mixture indian, malay and chinese cultural dance. simple stuff for pri 2 kids. and i tell u... the kids were like SUPER DAMN CUTE!! MY GOD! i stil cant get over the excitement. i really felt like i was a kids central show host la wen i was there! like, "Hi Kids! Bye Kids!" haha. really dam fun and i really want to go back again next wk. but then might not be able to cuz i might be replaced by someone.

Cuz next month i will be flying to 9 diff ASEAN countries with 4 other people for history in the making. kind of like a freelance project thingy. kind of a big thing so i tin it'll be publicised soon. juz went for the meeting and i tell u its gonna be SUPER busy for the 5 of us over there man. looking at it... i tin im gonna need alot of sleep wen i finally come back. estimated time frame out of s'pore: 19apr-22may. 2nd time ill not be in s'pore in my life. hopefully it'll be a gd experience for me la. at least ill haf maria to keep me company over there.

Today was the very first art class for pri sch tt i started teaching. Woodgrove pri 6 students, wire sculpture. was abit of a rush for me this mornin as i had to prep quite a number of stuff for class. almost got myself into trouble as i tot i din prepare enough stuff for 2 classes consecutively. phew! 1st obstacle over many, many more to go. am i really doing the right thing?

well, i kinda realised i'd much prefer to teach dance rather than art cuz i guess i dun haf to dress SO formal for tt as u've to be more carefree and flexible. and at least i get to move my body and teach ppl dance. haha. i soo need to set my priorities right man. i don like the feeling of not being in control of my life.

S.H.I.T.

Pulau Ubin

Last Sunday, (which was yest), i went to Pulau Ubin with Maria and it was a tiring but swell time...
We rented bikes for 3 bucks til 6pm but then were there onli at 3plus la, haha. so late thx to me. but then we stil enjoyed ourselves. stupid brother of mine bluffed me saying the camera was fully-charged but it went flat the moment i rented the bike la. din even managed to get tt many pictures.
Officially, tt has to be one of the least developed areas in s'pore la. and tt was the first time i actually stepped on tt island. thx to a bunch of ppl who totally forgot abt me a few yrs back wen they went there. stil dare to ask me why i din come. -pissed off.
Tt place is really untouched man. (well mebbe only by the villagers there, should i call them tt?) anyways, really had a BALL of a time taking photos there man. and also cycling up and down slope. got quite a bit of exercise there on a bloody sunday. but it was all gd. gd company, gd fun, gd time. too bad we couldnt stay there longer cuz there were no streetlamps. it would haf felt like brunei jungle at night. (like as if i've experienced it before) everything is soo rundown there and maria loves takin pictures of old those old school stuff so she loves it.. needless to say she wants to go there again.
At the end of the day we kinda decided to be cam whores and take pictures of ourselves in the best lighting of the day: sunset. wow. we sure took alot of emo pictures man. its amazing how the sun can make u look so gd. haha. aft tt we went back to changi village and had queued up for one of the best nasi lemak in s'pore. (im sure u've heard of tt place. really worth the wait as we sat down at changi beach to enjoy the sumptuos meal w sugarcane. wow, excellent sunday man. well, half a day la.
Then we went to meet taufiq at tampines to juz chill out. wow how long has it been since i saw tt guy... actually jus a wk ago la, haha. one of my best buddies in 1SIR. really thru thick and thin. bloody ass. seldom go the east side so muz say hi. i felt kinda bad actually wen i couldnt meet him the day before so i wanted to make up for it tt's why la, haha.

On a side note, im stil in the process of finishin my mini project of makin the ant and now ive run out of wires so im stoppin there. i labelled the diff parts of the sculpture so it'd be easier for my kids to follow step by step. i hope everything goes well. i juz got a call from Peter today actually and he said tt ive been shortlisted to be the videographer for him wen he goes overseas so now i juz haf to ask my 2 bosses whether anot i can be replaced for the period tt i'd be flying in april to june. im sure it'll be a gd experience and an opp of a lifetime man. imagine... 10 diff countries in 5wks! imagine the number of pictures i can take within tt amt of time. hah. i really wanna go man. and anyways i kinda scrapped commonwealth sec's hiphop class cuz it got changed to thursday mornins. so it clashed w my art class. so sad.. i was really enjoying doin tt class.
Really makes me wonder... what do i ultimately wanna do in the future...

D.I.L.E.M.M.A

Gotta get busy...

Recently, I have been looking for a job from everywhere (mostly as a teacher).

Starting from next week actually i'll be teachin quite a few classes:-

1. Commonwealth Sec, Hiphop
2. Lakeside Pri, Creative Mvmt (whatever the hell tt is...)
3. Woodgrove Pri, Art Club and
4. Art class : wire sculpture

So as u can see... on the right is the process of ME trying to figure out how to make the bloody sculpture. Quite fun la actually cuz i LOVE handicrafts.. (only it takes time) Hmmm, looks kinda ugly in this pic tho. Doesn't matter. I'll have a separate nicer lookin model to show my kids. Sounds like life model, haha.

I dunno whether im takin the right path by becoming a teacher but i've always like being a role model and being able to help ppl improve their lives and help them in whichever way i can. (wow, sounds so benevolent) so hero ideal.. haha. mebbe cuz i juz watched transformers..


Other than tt i guess ive been occupying myself with my dance troupe (SFA) and my salsa lessons i guess. Just been elected publicity dept for my troupe so it's gonna be quite a busy end of year for me as there's gonna be a massive production at the end of the yr.

Actually there are 2 more jobs which are pending. One of which is to be a Media Arts t'cher. I tin tt one should be teachin abt filming stuff la. And one more, more appealing one is one which i am to be either a photographer or videographer for this guy called Peter who's travelling to overseas to hold shows for children of the various countries. It's for a gd cause.. It'll be a GREAT experience if i get selected for tt one. (fingers crossed)

So hopefully after this I'll be busier and ill think lesser abt life and stuff if my brain was much more occupied. til next time then! wish me luck!

B.I.K.E. Woohoo!