yesterday was ORA day. also, Raffles Trail day. Groups of people like Leican, Zhen Xiao, FUNGI, Yan Jun, and I went from one end of Singapore to the other, accumulating points in hope of getting enough to win something. The boys really wanted the prizes bad.

7th: Crumpler Bag
6th: Larger Crumpler Bag
5th: I can't rmb..
4th: Palm Top
3rd: Camera
2nd: Ipod Nano
1st: Ipod Video

Hahah, we would have gotten 1460 points, if we didnt kena Jack by the last station.

There were 24 stations in total, and 3 hours to complete the trail. Each group received a score card and 3 sheets of paper containing the station places. Places were labelled Green, Black, or White, and groups had to report to the stations in order of the 3 colors. For example, our (assigned) first station was all the way at River Valley Rd, Jalan Kuala, CHIJ Kellock. I think it was Green. So our next station had to be somewhere from the paper with all the Black stations.

Anyway, everyone had about 2 hours to prepare routes and plan strategies. It was a rare sight -- you enter RJC theatre 6 at 8plus in the morning, and you see clusters and clusters of RI, RGS and RJC students (there was no age limit i think) poring over books and discussing them. Street directories, maps and bus guides, at that. I was never a fan of these books. Everybody was like taking this reaally seriously - all for that Ipod video.

So, strategies were laid out, cheating methods were shared, rules were repeated, stomachs were filled and bowels were emptied. It was time for the Ceremony. Everyone was supposed to keep absolutely silent, but no one did anyway. We assembled at the parade square and stood under the sun for 15 minutes waiting for photographers to get as much of us as they wanted. Finally, Mr. Lee Hsien Loong himself came out.

My eyes went all O.O at the sight of him. Who knew he'd be here!

Anyway, Mr. Lee stood on the platform and held out the horn. PORRRRHHH. That was the cue for everyone to rush towards the exits like a bunch of fangirls and guys chasing after their star idol. In this case, however, everyone had their Ipod Video in mind. Lol.

Almost everybody ran from the School to the MRT station. Except our group, which contained someone who had yet recovered from sickness, and someone else with a leg injury. It was really funny, because another someone was a great runner. Imagine his frustration. I was none of the above mentioned, so i guess that makes me and Fungi neutral.

The process of the trail was invigorating. We started off on the wrong foot (due to some irresponsible old bus driver) but everything else went smoothly. We worked smart, and quite fast. We were also lucky, and almost always didn't have to wait long before the train/bus came along. We took initiative and went around getting help from shopkeepers, bus drivers and passersby. The group worked pretty well together, other than a few times when we wasted time because we lost each other. There was someone to lead and always check things out in advance, someone to do planning, someone to ring up contacts, and someone to provide drinks. Hahaha.. It was quite fun working with the bunch of RI weirdoes :)

My point is that, although we didn't get our finall 400 points, and even if we had, we would be far from winning, i'm really happy with the group. We did our best, and i feel that the rightful amount of points for us should be 1460. =)

I won't forget that day.






(I saw a few ppl along the way.. Shiyun and a few China trip ppl.. It was great ^^)

We were the second group to return to RJC, and even took a group photo under the side of the banner that read "finish". We went around browsing ORA booths, drinking punch, eating ice cream and watching people burst balloons. Along the way, we received pieces of information, each carrying the Total Points of other groups. All were higher than ours. Naturally, Hope was slipping right through our fingers. ..But some was left caught in the middle of our clenched fists.

We got back, it was Prize Ceremony, and the group with 1700plus got the 7th prize. There was an outburst of loud groans and moans. If Hope is something visible, you could then look up and see whole Fog made up of many groups' little traces of Hope.

Fungi watched, heartbroken, as his beloved was given away in nicely wrapped boxes.. Bye bye, Ipod Video. Hahah, i had no desire for it in the first place. I was thinking the crumpler bag would do nicely. But ah well. In case you're curious, the champion was a group of RI guys, taking away the top prize with 1900plus points.

I changed, and left in a cab. I was supposed to meet CongMing there at 4, but reached at 4.30 but only saw YingYing. She is also in NAFA. I wonder if she knows Baby or Kaiyan. CongMing arrived a while later with his troops. Haha, actually it was Silei and the others. Now that i mention the group, lets just take the opportunity to run through their names. :)

Silei, Peixuan, Weng Chi, Yu Xiang, Jia Hao, Jia Ming, Yuh Sin, Fan Tuan, Val, Lydia, Shimun, Sherry, Yingying, Mao Mao, Me and.. (shit i duno whats her name. >.<>.<>.<>Comic people. The first place we went was Kino's comic section. Haha.. I got myself a Deathnote and Deception Point. :) Bookshops are my heaven.

We went around cute shops, and then took neoprints. Really kawaii. Some went back first, so there were only around 10 of us left.. We took two sets, one with all of us, and one Girls-Only. They were nice, but i was too tired to get all hyper.

I went back with the others on Train, but fell asleep and before i knew it i had missed my stop. I changed trains, then i continued falling asleep on and off. In total, i think i overshot my destinations 4 or 5 times, and sometimes even ended up on the Green route, when i was going NorthSouth. Lol. It was close to 1am when someone woke me up at AMK. Shit. Overshot again. And it was the last train. I sighed, stretched, got up and flagged a taxi. I fell asleep on the taxi.
Yes that's how tired i am.

In one day i fell asleep in taxis twice, and on trains 4 or 5 times. I rock man. I reached home, finally, got a really bad scolding from my worried parents (they couldnt reach me and i couldnt reach them because my handphone was off), cried, bathed, read Deathnote and fell asleep in the process. Until today my mum is still Dao-ing me. Sheesh.