Monday, March 31, 2008

Jellyfeet

That's a new term to imply the state of a pair of legs whereby further exertion of energy will result in paralysis. And it describes my legs at the moment. Nolah! Where got so serious!? Anyway was really so tired yesterday that I didn't manage to update any posts, therefore could only do it now.

30th March 2008, Sunday

I actually woke up at 6:30am on a Sunday morning! Amazing! I don't remember the last time I woke up so early on a Sunday morning! And to make it more amazing, I slept at 3am! So effectively I've only slept for 3.5hrs! I then went down to the bus-stop outside Bedok MRT to meet up with Peiyi and Peyyong, as well as one of Peiyi's friend. We then took a taxi all the way down to Singapore Botanic Gardens. Another amazing feat! I haven't been there since I was a kid? Gotta dig up my old photos and see when that was.

We were there to act as volunteers. Yes you've not misread it. V-O-L-U-N-T-E-E-R-S. What? NaFiMuYa a volunteer? OMG I can't even believe myself. But then again. Believe it! I finally moved my butt after several attempts from Peiyi to ask me to help her out in her events. Actually I wouldn't have gone if not for it being the Botanic Gardens. Wahahah! Nolah actually I very good-hearted one loh. Nobody knows only. Haizzz But anyway the job was to be station masters for our allocated stations to oversee the game being played at our station. Peiyi's company was Shan You Counselling Centre, which organized this Family Bonding Day for Maha Bodhi School. Therefore students and their families from the school participated in that day's event.

So anyway we were briefed and then sent to our stations. Peyyong and I were stationed at the last checkpoint, which was the furthest from the HQ. ZZZzzz... But then it was a good spot. It was the famous Heritage Tree, the Tembusu tree found on the latest version of our Singaporean $5 note. I attempted to take the exact tree at the exact angle, but couldn't cos there was another tree blocking my view. Therefore this is the best I could do:


We actually waited from 8+ all the way till 10+ for the very first group of families to come to our station. Throughout that period, we were amused by many kids trying to climb the long extended branch ( you call that piece of wood with a diameter bigger than my waist a branch or a trunk?) Peyyong and I were resting on the upper end of the branch while 3 boys tried climbing to the other end. Throughout the whole "journey", one of the kids, who was very vocal and very philosophical, kept saying many things that almost made us fall off the branch. "Just think of the destination" "Going up is easier." "Hey you're in the rugby team! I didn't even join that!" The boy was talking to his friend who was a bit plump and therefore found it harder to climb the branch. They had actually attempted to inch their way to the other side of the branch by pushing their bodies forward while sitting on the branch, just like how you would ride on a horse. The more vocal boy reached the end easily whereas the plump boy needed some "encouragement". LOL At least it made the wait a bit more interesting.

So along came the first group, and then the second, and the third. All almost together. The 2nd groups' parents, especially one of them, was sooooooo kiasu. Why? Cos the 1st group were still playing the game. So I told the parents to just "please wait a moment" and I immediately got a "Just now we were at station 5 and they made us wait, now here also must wait!" Wow those parents sure are typical Singaporeans. And they were told that these games are not competitive. It's Family Bonding Day man, not The Amazing Race. The game at our station is called "Listen To Your Parents". The objective of the game is to get the kids blindfolded, then the parents will guide their kid to manoeuvre around the tembusu tree and finally reach the end of the extended branch. Some parents didn't actually realize that their kid couldn't see at all, yet they pulled their kids along as though they can see what's in front of them. Luckily I was there to make sure nobody got hurt. ZZzzz... All they wanted was to reach the finish line quickly, without caring about the safety of their kids. Woah I make a better parent anyday. Ok not all parents are like that. Most of them guided their kid very well and held their arms and hands and made sure they didn't bump into the tree or trip over a root. And I didn't have a chance to take some pictures cos there were only two of us there to oversee many kids and their parents. At the beginning I told them there will definitely be some who will bump into the tree or something. Luckily nothing like that happened. Haha...

In the midst of the games, an auntie pushing a baby pram with a cage full of colourful birds in it came over to us and chatted with us. She was actually promoting a place called Bollywood Veggies with her brochures. What really attracted all those kids and parents alike was actually just the birds inside the cage.



After all the groups had finished our station. We finally climbed the trees ourselves. To my surprise, I actually found it quite difficult to climb to a higher spot on the tree, whereas earlier a girl went up easily. Gone are those days when I climbed trees as agile as a monkey. Hmm... Took some pictures and then we went around the Garden to snap a few more pictures before joining Siying and Sharon at their station. They were still waiting for their last group to arrive. Finally when the final group finished the game, we all headed to the Symphony Lake for lunch. And then it was all waiting and waiting for the families to finish up their final games at the starting point. We were finally released at around 3pm. Most of the volunteers gathered to take a group picture, however the pictures weren't taken with my camera, therefore I haven't got them now. Shall post them up once I get them from Peiyi.

We walked all the way from the Botanic Garden to Orchard, which explains my Jellyfeet. That's not the worst. We covered a long distance inside the Garden itself. Some more Peiyi, Peyyong and I even travelled to Katong on bus 16 from Orchard. And guess what? I went to Katong 4 times in a span of 2 weeks! And guess what again? I went to Aston's again! Wahaha! I suggested that place again since it was sooo worth it. It was 5pm only, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to have dinner at that time. There was no queue at all, hehehe, as compared to the dragon line found after 6pm. I ordered Pork Chop this time.


It's all so worth it for $8.50. Two large pieces of tentalizing pork chop with special gravy, served together with specially seasoned french fries and coleslaw. Aww... So we finished up and then walked over to Katong where they had wanted to exchange SGD for Ringgit. However the rates weren't as good as what Peiyi had gotten just few days earlier, therefore they decided to change their cash later this week. So we then went back home, to rest all our Jellyfeet.