Yeah. So listen.

Especially since this is the first time since I got back that I've managed to blog.

I'll have you know I haven't had enough sleep now for the past 4 weeks. I basically jumped right into the programme after 2 weeks of nonstop project meetings...then got thrown right smack in the 2nd week of term after another 2 weeks of waking up early, staying up late, and doing lousy articles.

I'm not going to give a looooooong detailed account of my trip (maybe next time?), especially since I gave up keeping a daily journal in Singapore. I would rather have the extra sleep than stay up writing. :P

For starters, it was VERY FUN. Particularly the Singapore leg, for many good reasons. Firstly, it was our second week so we were all much closer. Secondly, 5 of us were housed in each room (3 dorms in each room) so there was much more interaction. Thirdly, most days we were free from dinnertime onwards so there was enough time to EAT, SHOP, and do other random things. And LASTLY, precisely because we were so free during mealtimes, plus the fact I was only one of two Singaporean delegates........meant that at least some of the others had to stick around with me and try Singaporean food! :P

I will start in KL though. Other than village-visiting day and our trip to the newspaper and the Petronas towers, we were stuck in the hotel THE WHOLE WEEK. Seriously. It was one whole week of hotel food, which wasn't too bad (the dry noodles never failed me), and a choice of water, tea or coffee. The tea stopped working halfway through so I "upgraded" to coffee. But because of the serious lack of fresh air, by the end of the trip a lot of people were falling ill.

And like I've said, we really didn't have time to do proper shopping. I had (I think) a total of 2 hours. Luckily for me, I have perfected the art of speed-shopping. :P I bought one long-sleeved blouse, one black puff-sleeved jacket, a cornflower blue jacket, and two pairs of pointy heels - in black and brown. All on sale.

I was reaaaaaaaaally glad to return to Singapore. But it was damn hard packing everything. My mother decided to meet me at the airport to take the bulk of my stuff home, but firstly I had to find somewhere to stuff everything. :P

The plane ride was very short but didn't feel short enough. I actually filled in my immigration card, which was stupid because I don't even need it. Sheesh.

Our welcome dinner was at IndoChine on Club Street, which was the first time in one week that I got to drink a carbonated drink. Then we were transported to our hostel on Prinsep Street. We had mostly all changed roommates. My new roommate was from the Philippines, although my old roommate (from Thailand) was in the next dorm. I spent the night catching long-legged spiders.

The next day our programme officially started, but we had half the afternoon off. We were all given free passes to the National Museum, so we visited the Singapore History Gallery, which I didn't visit before since you have to pay to enter. It was very very cool, even though I'm pretty sure I've seen some of the stuff back when the museum was temporarily by the river.

My first buy in Singapore was The Sims Pet Stories! Unfortunately the price had already increased. :P Even though it was Sunday, I didn't have time to install it till Friday night. I also brought a group of girls to try Mos Shakes. Oh and we visited two This Fashion outlets. I was debating on whether to get a $12 dress (couldn't try so I wasn't sure if it was too short) and finally decided it was only $12 so who cares.

For the rest of the week I mainly stuck around with one group, consisting of my old roommate, the other Thai delegate, and my new roommate. We went to random places to eat, like Wisma's Food Republic, the basement of The Cathay, the bratwurst shop at the Plaza Singapura basement, etc.

Oh and I think I bought the most stuff. I didn't spend as much because two of them bought mobile phones, but I did buy random stuff like "vintage" tees and even Merlion keychains. Oh and I met my father one day so he could hand Lenny over. I happened to be waiting for one of the delegates to get her hair done at the hairdresser's (we were at FEP), so I had dinner with him (yay! Free!).

On one of the nights we had a free ticket to Transformers at PS, which was fun. What was funner was that, before the movie, my little group finally decided to quit talking about buying the Shutter DVD to watch at night, and just buy it. It was 2 for $30, so I got the Tristy & Issy one too.

That night six of us crowded round a laptop watching the DVD. I insisted that all the lights be switched off. :P Five of us squeezed onto the sofa. We left the lights in the common area on when we went to sleep, and even left the dorm doors open. I wasn't concerned because I was so damn tired that I fell asleep straight away.

The rest of the week we joked about having neck pains (if you've watched Shutter, which you probably have, you'll understand).

We also visited Sentosa (had 1 free luge ride and visited the Images of Singapore, after which I pointed out my house when we dropped by Fort Siloso), SPH, the iShop at Cineleisure (had a crash course on iMovie, which I'm supposed to already know very well) and, on the last day, MediaCorp.

You know I don't like going to MediaCorp. Bad memories. But apparently we were on CNA that night and I didn't get to watch. So I was on CNA twice in 4 weeks! :)

The final dinner was also at IndoChine, except upstairs. The whole meal was fusion food. Then, when the meal drew to an end, everyone started crying and hugging everyone else. I flattened myself against the wall and inched slowly away. :P

I didn't sleep the whole of Friday because I wanted to leave as early as possible on Saturday (having already made plans to shop and meet Sam). At 4-past a.m. the first group of delegates (including my new roommate) left for the airport. I thought my old roommate and the other Thai delegate were leaving at the same time, then found out it was 7 a.m. So I stuck around till 7, then found out that they were actually leaving at 9.

I couldn't wait around any longer for them to wake up, so I left. Wheeled everything out to the traffic junction....................and then a major storm started.

I was completely drenched. Fabulous. Got home and unpacked, then took a bath. Was supposed to leave for Bugis not long after that, but my aunt was around and my mother blatantly told her I was taking a nap first.

I forgot to set my stupid alarm so by the time I woke up it was mid-afternoon. :P But it was a fun day getting to shop at my own pace for once. And I went completely broke. I shall go back soon. Next week. :P

And now, before I talk about my week back in school.............PICTURE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I chose mainly group photos. The first two are mine; the others I stole from the data CD they gave us.

Having lunch at the village. LtoR: Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar. And some random Singaporean.

At the National Museum.

Waiting to march to SMU. This photo should not be published anyway else cos I'll probably get in big trouble. In case you can't see clearly, I'm holding the Thai flag. The Thai delegate was like, "Wanna trade?" so we did. Then Brunei wanted to trade too. Hahaha.

At Sentosa! I'm not sure which part. :P

And here's my little group (minus the other guy, haha). The girl to the right was my new roommate.

On the Skyride after luge-ing. The guy beside me was one of the student volunteers for the Singapore leg.

Jessica wrote home at 12:34 am