I had a chance to talk to my friend EC before I left the Philippines again. He also went on exchange in Singapore, same time as I had my exchange program. While I went to NUS, he went to NTU (Nanyang Technological University). I was telling him about how I have to face 7 modules each semester, and on top of that, I have my teaching/training duties for MTG and AMO, and therefore making it hard to head a project.
He sort of mentioned that now that we're back to the Philippines, we're "back to reality." I immediately agreed to his statement.
Thinking about it now, that statment might be flawed (no offese EC :p).
If we are back to reality now, then it implies that our Singapore stint wasn't reality. In a way this might be true, as we were there studying 3 or 4 (or 5 for NTU) modules, on a pass/fail basis. However, I refuse to believe that Singapore was yet another fragment of non-reality, for everything that happened in Singapore is real to me.
I was able to study for real, go around Southeast Asia for real, and more importantly, I was able to make real, genuine friends, which I won't forget "until the day that I die". I must say that in a way, going to Singapore is an escape from the Philippines (not reality in it's entirety).
Singapore was real, and reality is always happening, no matter where one is.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
May 12: I'm OMW, so I'll TTYL
Monse and Yushi introduced two new acronyms to me when I was in Singapore.
Monse once texted OMW, which means "On My Way". I didn't know what it meant, so I asked Monse about it. What a shame on my part right?
Yushi used TTYL in chat a lot. When he first used it, I was like "huh? what do you mean?" and he gave me the meaning: "Talk To You Later".
It's funny how new acronyms can make life harder and easier at the same time. I guess I'll be using these acronyms more often now. I'm getting used to it anyway. Haha.
So what happened today?
I woke-up early to finish packing. Jess, papa and I brought our things to the foyer at around 9:30. I brought Jess' luggage up the stairs since it lost one wheel. Ate Jenny helped us carry some stuff. Thanks Ate Jenny for all the help this semester!
Jess tried to bring my 32-kg luggage up the incline, but she can't do it. Good thing Kuya Vince from the Western stall was there. He helped us in bringing the heavy luggage up the stairs.
We stayed at the AC Caf for a while to eat and rest. At 10, papa and I the remaining bags in the guestroom and brought it to the AC Caf before we checked-out at the check-out counters. Jesse and Roy arrived at the AC Caf soon after. Actually, Jesse was already at the AC Caf when papa and I returned to the caf. Ate Mu was also there, since she was bringing us to the airport.
Thanks Jesse and Roy for sending us off! I hope you enjoy your last few month/s there in Singapore. Thanks for being good friends to us. I hope to see more of you soon. Let's always keep in touch and may God bless you always!
We arrived at the airport early. Papa and I weighed our baggaes and found it to be 10 kgs overweight. Jess' luggage was also overweight. So since Jess wasn't carrying any heavy handcarry, I asked her if it's possible for us to "morph" her bag, by using the extra handcarry bag we have, to carry the extra few kgs overweight. She agreed. Yey!
We checked-in at the counters once they were open. I called Yushi up to tell him that I've already checked-out. I would have called later on but then it was already early morning in canada, so I decided to call at that time so that I won't be much of a disturbance. Jess then went with her friends who came to the airport to send her off. Gwen and Jess asked her friend to take home some stuff, since Gwen had a big overweight baggage. I then went to the GST counter to claim my GST refund.
Jess went with her friends to breeks to eat. Smile's friends went ahead to the Departure Hall, while the rest of us with papa and Ate Mu went downstairs to the Kaya Toast Restaurant. At 1:30, we proceeded to the Departure Hall and waited for Jess to go down to grab her handcarry luggages. Monse went with her back to her friends.
Ate Mu waited outside for Jess. To Ate Mu: Thank you for being such a jolly and wonderful friend to us. You never make us feel that we're anything different. Thank you for all the help and for bringing us around as well in the latter days. I enjoyed your company and you are really a jolly person. Keep on being jolly. Ilang beses ko ginamit ang jolly? HAHA!
We went through immigration and realized that we didn't have to surrended our Student Pass. Yey! We then went to the GST counters to refund our money. My money was reimbursed to my credit card. Great! I'll get it from my sister soon. I called Karina up just to say goodbye, and told her that I'm gonna call again when Jess is already with me.
I called Monse up for one final goodbye, and I passed the cellphone to everyone. When it was Gwen's turn, she began crying. Oh Gwen, we won't forget your emotional moments.
While we were on the airplane, I happened to help Elizabeth Oropesa with her luggage. Great. When we were seated, Jess and I called Karina from Indonesia. We were on the phone even when the plane was already moving. Haha. Pasaway!
I don't get why the stewardesses didn't check before the plane started moving. It was kinda weird. While on the plane, I wasn't able to eat anything as they didn't have vegetarian food. Great. It was a good thing that I ate Kaya Toast before boarding the plane. I hope this won't happen to me in my next trip.
We then landed and went through the health check, which basically is just this gun-like temperature screening. It's not much of a hassle though. We then got our luggages from the conveyor belt. Although we were the first one to get our things, it was actually us who left the airport last. We took photos and said our goodbyes. No more sadness guys! We'll surely see each other somehow, anyway. I'll miss you guys!
My sister and mom were waiting outside for us. Papa and my sister went to the car ahead to bring the luggages. Mom and I waited for everyone to exit the airport before we went to the car. We then proceeded to my grandma's house to say hello to everyone. We then ate at this Chinese Restaurant, North Park. I ate tofu and century egg porridge. Yum.
As soon as we got home, mom began unpacking my luggage. I rested for a bit, talked in YM with some people. I ended up sleeping at 11 PM. That's early for my usual sleeping time in Singapore is in the early morning. Yey, I'm starting to fix my sleeping habits again!
Monse once texted OMW, which means "On My Way". I didn't know what it meant, so I asked Monse about it. What a shame on my part right?
Yushi used TTYL in chat a lot. When he first used it, I was like "huh? what do you mean?" and he gave me the meaning: "Talk To You Later".
It's funny how new acronyms can make life harder and easier at the same time. I guess I'll be using these acronyms more often now. I'm getting used to it anyway. Haha.
So what happened today?
I woke-up early to finish packing. Jess, papa and I brought our things to the foyer at around 9:30. I brought Jess' luggage up the stairs since it lost one wheel. Ate Jenny helped us carry some stuff. Thanks Ate Jenny for all the help this semester!
Jess tried to bring my 32-kg luggage up the incline, but she can't do it. Good thing Kuya Vince from the Western stall was there. He helped us in bringing the heavy luggage up the stairs.
We stayed at the AC Caf for a while to eat and rest. At 10, papa and I the remaining bags in the guestroom and brought it to the AC Caf before we checked-out at the check-out counters. Jesse and Roy arrived at the AC Caf soon after. Actually, Jesse was already at the AC Caf when papa and I returned to the caf. Ate Mu was also there, since she was bringing us to the airport.
Thanks Jesse and Roy for sending us off! I hope you enjoy your last few month/s there in Singapore. Thanks for being good friends to us. I hope to see more of you soon. Let's always keep in touch and may God bless you always!
We arrived at the airport early. Papa and I weighed our baggaes and found it to be 10 kgs overweight. Jess' luggage was also overweight. So since Jess wasn't carrying any heavy handcarry, I asked her if it's possible for us to "morph" her bag, by using the extra handcarry bag we have, to carry the extra few kgs overweight. She agreed. Yey!
We checked-in at the counters once they were open. I called Yushi up to tell him that I've already checked-out. I would have called later on but then it was already early morning in canada, so I decided to call at that time so that I won't be much of a disturbance. Jess then went with her friends who came to the airport to send her off. Gwen and Jess asked her friend to take home some stuff, since Gwen had a big overweight baggage. I then went to the GST counter to claim my GST refund.
Jess went with her friends to breeks to eat. Smile's friends went ahead to the Departure Hall, while the rest of us with papa and Ate Mu went downstairs to the Kaya Toast Restaurant. At 1:30, we proceeded to the Departure Hall and waited for Jess to go down to grab her handcarry luggages. Monse went with her back to her friends.
Ate Mu waited outside for Jess. To Ate Mu: Thank you for being such a jolly and wonderful friend to us. You never make us feel that we're anything different. Thank you for all the help and for bringing us around as well in the latter days. I enjoyed your company and you are really a jolly person. Keep on being jolly. Ilang beses ko ginamit ang jolly? HAHA!
We went through immigration and realized that we didn't have to surrended our Student Pass. Yey! We then went to the GST counters to refund our money. My money was reimbursed to my credit card. Great! I'll get it from my sister soon. I called Karina up just to say goodbye, and told her that I'm gonna call again when Jess is already with me.
I called Monse up for one final goodbye, and I passed the cellphone to everyone. When it was Gwen's turn, she began crying. Oh Gwen, we won't forget your emotional moments.
While we were on the airplane, I happened to help Elizabeth Oropesa with her luggage. Great. When we were seated, Jess and I called Karina from Indonesia. We were on the phone even when the plane was already moving. Haha. Pasaway!
I don't get why the stewardesses didn't check before the plane started moving. It was kinda weird. While on the plane, I wasn't able to eat anything as they didn't have vegetarian food. Great. It was a good thing that I ate Kaya Toast before boarding the plane. I hope this won't happen to me in my next trip.
We then landed and went through the health check, which basically is just this gun-like temperature screening. It's not much of a hassle though. We then got our luggages from the conveyor belt. Although we were the first one to get our things, it was actually us who left the airport last. We took photos and said our goodbyes. No more sadness guys! We'll surely see each other somehow, anyway. I'll miss you guys!
My sister and mom were waiting outside for us. Papa and my sister went to the car ahead to bring the luggages. Mom and I waited for everyone to exit the airport before we went to the car. We then proceeded to my grandma's house to say hello to everyone. We then ate at this Chinese Restaurant, North Park. I ate tofu and century egg porridge. Yum.
As soon as we got home, mom began unpacking my luggage. I rested for a bit, talked in YM with some people. I ended up sleeping at 11 PM. That's early for my usual sleeping time in Singapore is in the early morning. Yey, I'm starting to fix my sleeping habits again!
May 11: Karina's Send-off
Well, not exactly Karina's Send-off alone. Wayne, Jun and Sita were also set to leave Singapore that day, but the focus of this entry will be Karina leaving Singapore.
I woke-up at 6:30 AM to meet Karina, so that we can go to the foyer to meet Smile, Gwen, Jhoana and Bonvin who were set to send-off Wayne, as Wayne was set to leave for the Philippines today. When we got to the foyer, Jess was there. We waited for a while for them to arrive. They woke-up a bit late for their scheduled departure from PGP.
To Wayne: Even though you accidentally left the photo at the check-out counter (haha), I would still like to thank you for being the Filipinos' kuya, our kuya, in Singapore. Thanks for all the help you've given us, for the guidance during the semester. I hope we still get to see you sometime. God Bless you always!
As soon as Wayne checked-out, and as soon as they left PGP, Karina, Jess and I went back to our rooms. I went with Jess to her room to get her things. We transferred her things to the GSA as she didn't extend her room stay. She then went to Karina's room.
Karina asked for help from me through text, but I wasn't able to read the new message from my cellphone immediately as I was still chatting with Yushi that time. Sorry Karina! I didn't look at my cellphone that time. Good thing Jesse and Roy helped Karina bring her things down from her room to the Foyer. Thanks Jesse and Roy! (No thanks to Jess as she didn't carry anything. JOKE!!!)
Jess then accompanied Karina to the check-out counter. Jesse, Roy and I waited at the Foyer for them. Dinna and Sita arrived at the Foyer with Karina and Jess after 15 minutes or so. As we waited for Karina's taxi, I was able to take group photos, with me in the center and everyone on the background as I was using my cellphone from afar. Good job with the photos! :))
Jess and I rode the taxi with Karina. We bid goodbye to Sita as she was set to leave in the afternoon for Malaysia. When we got to the airport, I was somehow astounded with the amount that Karina paid for the taxi. Usual price would be 21 SGD. But Karina paid almost 30 SGD, as it was "peak hour" according to the cab driver. Whatever. There wasn't even any traffic.
We then went on to the check-in counters for Air Asia. It was kinda confusing as there were no specific counters for the different destinations. Karina's baggages were around 6 kgs overwwight, so she had to pay 54 SGD for the overweight. Boo!
We waited for Monse and John to arrive. Jun soon arrived at the airport with her friend Lai Ping, as she was also set to leave today. Jun is riding Thai Air to Laos via Bangkok. Monse and John arrived at almost 10, since Monse woke-up late. Good thing (or bad thing as it was unsafe), that John was able to enter Monse's flat and her room, as she didn't lock the doors, to wake her up.
All of us went to the entrance of the Departure Hall at 10:20 to send Karina off. This time, I didn't feel sad nor crying as I was happy for Karina, that she was going home. I don't know why, but I didn't feel sad at all. Perhaps, I was optimistic this time, and it wasn't raining yet that time, which made me feel much much better about Karina leaving. Unlike Yushi's wherein I was alone going home, with Karina's send-off, I was with Jess, Monse and John. I was happy that Karina was finally able to go home. I was happy for Yushi too when he was going home, just that I was with him at the airport overnight, and left the airport alone, which made the situation a bit more sad, so to speak.
Aside from the Filipinos, Karina and Yushi were my 2 closest friends at NUS, and still are my closest friends from NUS. I have formed a bond with them which I didn't had the chance to form with other people. I would surely miss them, but I made it a point to always talk to them whenever I'm given the chance to do so.
We rode SkyTrain to Terminal 2 to ride the MRT going home. It started raining when we were already at Tanah Merah Interchange. When we got to Clementi, it was raining so hard that we decided to ride the taxi going to NUS. We went to McD afterwards, but decided to eat at TechnoEdge instead. As I had to get my GST refund slip from Central Forum, I decided to wait for the rain to at least soften before going across the roofless walkway to Central Forum.
I saw Gwen at the Foyer and together, we went to The Deck to buy her favorite food. As the rain wasn't pouring as hard, it almost stopped when we were about to leave the Library premises, we decided to walk to TechnoEdge to be with Monse, Jess and John. Soon after, we went to the bus stop, where we saw Jesse going to TechnoEdge. Good thing we shouted his name so loud that he saw us. Haha! Jess had to get her refund from YIH, so only 5 of us went to PGP. We decided to go to R6, as Gwen suggested.
Later on, I went back to GSA. Papa and I went to POSB to withdraw money. I learned that there's a 2000 SGD limit for ATM withdrawals per day. So I had to go inside, queue-up and wait for 30 minutes before withdrawing the reamining 2500 SGD. Sigh, I just hate long lines.
I then went to a money exchange and changed my SGDs to USDs. Papa and I went back to PGP. I then went to PGP AC Caf to have one final dinner with John, who was set to leave at 11 the next day, Jesse, Roy and Jess. I could actually feel the silence at the tables even when we were talking, maybe because most people already left. I was happy to have one finalinner with them, but I kinda felt sad that it might be our last time to see each other (well, at least for John, as Roy is surely coming to the Philippines and Jesse might just come back to the Philippines).
I was supposed to meet Gwen at the backgate at 7, but Monse texted, so I thought of waiting for her. However, she was kinda far away, and so by 7:20, I met Gwen and Rob, along with Jess, at the backgate, to leave for the Laksa Steamboat. We missed the stop for Laksa Steamboat, so we had to alight at the next bus stop and walk back.
Jess' friends came over at the place and gave her a gift, which made Jess cry a bit. I was waiting for Monse to arrive, as both of us are practically eating the same thing. But then she decided not to eat. Since I already had dinner earlier, I decided not to eat as well. It was fun hanging out with the NUS Filipinos for one last time.
We then went back to PGP and parted ways. Jess and I decided to have supper at K Gourmet, for the first and last time! We ate hasbrown, vegetarian spring rolls and brownie with chocolate ice cream for dessert. Oh Yum! (as Jess said it last time :p)
We went back to GSA. Jess finished her packing, while I finished uploading photos. Jess thankfully tagged people for me, as I was really sleepy. She was able to talk to Karina for a long time. Thank you Karina for giving the idea to Jess to push me off the sofa bed. Haha!
Karina has been and will always be a good friend. I'll surely miss her. This might be one long entry, but it's worth it to remember every detail of this long day. May God bless you always Karina! Same goes for Sita, Jun and Wayne who left the same day.
I woke-up at 6:30 AM to meet Karina, so that we can go to the foyer to meet Smile, Gwen, Jhoana and Bonvin who were set to send-off Wayne, as Wayne was set to leave for the Philippines today. When we got to the foyer, Jess was there. We waited for a while for them to arrive. They woke-up a bit late for their scheduled departure from PGP.
To Wayne: Even though you accidentally left the photo at the check-out counter (haha), I would still like to thank you for being the Filipinos' kuya, our kuya, in Singapore. Thanks for all the help you've given us, for the guidance during the semester. I hope we still get to see you sometime. God Bless you always!
As soon as Wayne checked-out, and as soon as they left PGP, Karina, Jess and I went back to our rooms. I went with Jess to her room to get her things. We transferred her things to the GSA as she didn't extend her room stay. She then went to Karina's room.
Karina asked for help from me through text, but I wasn't able to read the new message from my cellphone immediately as I was still chatting with Yushi that time. Sorry Karina! I didn't look at my cellphone that time. Good thing Jesse and Roy helped Karina bring her things down from her room to the Foyer. Thanks Jesse and Roy! (No thanks to Jess as she didn't carry anything. JOKE!!!)
Jess then accompanied Karina to the check-out counter. Jesse, Roy and I waited at the Foyer for them. Dinna and Sita arrived at the Foyer with Karina and Jess after 15 minutes or so. As we waited for Karina's taxi, I was able to take group photos, with me in the center and everyone on the background as I was using my cellphone from afar. Good job with the photos! :))
Jess and I rode the taxi with Karina. We bid goodbye to Sita as she was set to leave in the afternoon for Malaysia. When we got to the airport, I was somehow astounded with the amount that Karina paid for the taxi. Usual price would be 21 SGD. But Karina paid almost 30 SGD, as it was "peak hour" according to the cab driver. Whatever. There wasn't even any traffic.
We then went on to the check-in counters for Air Asia. It was kinda confusing as there were no specific counters for the different destinations. Karina's baggages were around 6 kgs overwwight, so she had to pay 54 SGD for the overweight. Boo!
We waited for Monse and John to arrive. Jun soon arrived at the airport with her friend Lai Ping, as she was also set to leave today. Jun is riding Thai Air to Laos via Bangkok. Monse and John arrived at almost 10, since Monse woke-up late. Good thing (or bad thing as it was unsafe), that John was able to enter Monse's flat and her room, as she didn't lock the doors, to wake her up.
All of us went to the entrance of the Departure Hall at 10:20 to send Karina off. This time, I didn't feel sad nor crying as I was happy for Karina, that she was going home. I don't know why, but I didn't feel sad at all. Perhaps, I was optimistic this time, and it wasn't raining yet that time, which made me feel much much better about Karina leaving. Unlike Yushi's wherein I was alone going home, with Karina's send-off, I was with Jess, Monse and John. I was happy that Karina was finally able to go home. I was happy for Yushi too when he was going home, just that I was with him at the airport overnight, and left the airport alone, which made the situation a bit more sad, so to speak.
Aside from the Filipinos, Karina and Yushi were my 2 closest friends at NUS, and still are my closest friends from NUS. I have formed a bond with them which I didn't had the chance to form with other people. I would surely miss them, but I made it a point to always talk to them whenever I'm given the chance to do so.
We rode SkyTrain to Terminal 2 to ride the MRT going home. It started raining when we were already at Tanah Merah Interchange. When we got to Clementi, it was raining so hard that we decided to ride the taxi going to NUS. We went to McD afterwards, but decided to eat at TechnoEdge instead. As I had to get my GST refund slip from Central Forum, I decided to wait for the rain to at least soften before going across the roofless walkway to Central Forum.
I saw Gwen at the Foyer and together, we went to The Deck to buy her favorite food. As the rain wasn't pouring as hard, it almost stopped when we were about to leave the Library premises, we decided to walk to TechnoEdge to be with Monse, Jess and John. Soon after, we went to the bus stop, where we saw Jesse going to TechnoEdge. Good thing we shouted his name so loud that he saw us. Haha! Jess had to get her refund from YIH, so only 5 of us went to PGP. We decided to go to R6, as Gwen suggested.
Later on, I went back to GSA. Papa and I went to POSB to withdraw money. I learned that there's a 2000 SGD limit for ATM withdrawals per day. So I had to go inside, queue-up and wait for 30 minutes before withdrawing the reamining 2500 SGD. Sigh, I just hate long lines.
I then went to a money exchange and changed my SGDs to USDs. Papa and I went back to PGP. I then went to PGP AC Caf to have one final dinner with John, who was set to leave at 11 the next day, Jesse, Roy and Jess. I could actually feel the silence at the tables even when we were talking, maybe because most people already left. I was happy to have one finalinner with them, but I kinda felt sad that it might be our last time to see each other (well, at least for John, as Roy is surely coming to the Philippines and Jesse might just come back to the Philippines).
I was supposed to meet Gwen at the backgate at 7, but Monse texted, so I thought of waiting for her. However, she was kinda far away, and so by 7:20, I met Gwen and Rob, along with Jess, at the backgate, to leave for the Laksa Steamboat. We missed the stop for Laksa Steamboat, so we had to alight at the next bus stop and walk back.
Jess' friends came over at the place and gave her a gift, which made Jess cry a bit. I was waiting for Monse to arrive, as both of us are practically eating the same thing. But then she decided not to eat. Since I already had dinner earlier, I decided not to eat as well. It was fun hanging out with the NUS Filipinos for one last time.
We then went back to PGP and parted ways. Jess and I decided to have supper at K Gourmet, for the first and last time! We ate hasbrown, vegetarian spring rolls and brownie with chocolate ice cream for dessert. Oh Yum! (as Jess said it last time :p)
We went back to GSA. Jess finished her packing, while I finished uploading photos. Jess thankfully tagged people for me, as I was really sleepy. She was able to talk to Karina for a long time. Thank you Karina for giving the idea to Jess to push me off the sofa bed. Haha!
Karina has been and will always be a good friend. I'll surely miss her. This might be one long entry, but it's worth it to remember every detail of this long day. May God bless you always Karina! Same goes for Sita, Jun and Wayne who left the same day.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
May 10: No-one got sent-off today
Although Annie and Sisi left today, their send-off were technically the night before, after Josef, Carmen and Morten left.
It didn't rain today.
In the early morning before Yushi left, it was raining hard for 2 hours, while we were watching Gran Torino. There were even thunders during that night. I kept on saying to Yushi that Singapore was sad because he was going.
During the early morning after Ashley's departure from KE7 and Josef, Morten and Carmen's send-off from the foyer, for at the time they were still in Singapore, it also rained hard for an hour or so. Singapore was again sad. In a few hours, Sisi and Annie left as well.
But today, it didn't rain at all. Maybe it's because no one had a send-off today.
So what did I do? I woke-up early and brought half of my things to GSA. Papa and I were supposed to hear mass then go to IKEA, but I was too sleepy, so we decided to go to IKEA first. But papa later on found out that IKEA didn't sell what he wanted to buy. So he just went to church as I was really sleepy. I went back to my room after an hour to get the second batch of my clothes, and all my stuff. I basically emptied my room.
I had lunch with Amal, Ash, John, Monse, Karina, Sita, Roy and Jesse at the Non-AC Caf. Welcome back Ash! I was supposed to go to Jesse's to leave some food and detergent, but good thing I met him on the way, so I didn't have to go all the way to KE7. I took videos of people today as well, and finally got a decent video of Jesse.
I went to Chinatown and Bugis with papa. We then had dinner at Blooie's behind PGP. The food wasn't really good, maybe because I don't like the tomato sauce used. I then had dinner with Roy, Ef, Karina, Monse, John, Jesse, Jun and Sita at AC Caf. Jesse read a message for everyone. Some became quite emotional with the message.
After sometime, we then went to KE7 to drop-off some things to Jesse's room. I then went to PGP GSA to sleep.
It didn't rain today.
In the early morning before Yushi left, it was raining hard for 2 hours, while we were watching Gran Torino. There were even thunders during that night. I kept on saying to Yushi that Singapore was sad because he was going.
During the early morning after Ashley's departure from KE7 and Josef, Morten and Carmen's send-off from the foyer, for at the time they were still in Singapore, it also rained hard for an hour or so. Singapore was again sad. In a few hours, Sisi and Annie left as well.
But today, it didn't rain at all. Maybe it's because no one had a send-off today.
So what did I do? I woke-up early and brought half of my things to GSA. Papa and I were supposed to hear mass then go to IKEA, but I was too sleepy, so we decided to go to IKEA first. But papa later on found out that IKEA didn't sell what he wanted to buy. So he just went to church as I was really sleepy. I went back to my room after an hour to get the second batch of my clothes, and all my stuff. I basically emptied my room.
I had lunch with Amal, Ash, John, Monse, Karina, Sita, Roy and Jesse at the Non-AC Caf. Welcome back Ash! I was supposed to go to Jesse's to leave some food and detergent, but good thing I met him on the way, so I didn't have to go all the way to KE7. I took videos of people today as well, and finally got a decent video of Jesse.
I went to Chinatown and Bugis with papa. We then had dinner at Blooie's behind PGP. The food wasn't really good, maybe because I don't like the tomato sauce used. I then had dinner with Roy, Ef, Karina, Monse, John, Jesse, Jun and Sita at AC Caf. Jesse read a message for everyone. Some became quite emotional with the message.
After sometime, we then went to KE7 to drop-off some things to Jesse's room. I then went to PGP GSA to sleep.
Friday, May 8, 2009
May 6-7, 2009: Yushi's Farewell
It all began with me going with Monse to Jesse's room. Yushi was bringing all his extra stuff to Jesse's room. His Fellowship friends were there to help him pack and to say goodbye. By 10, they all left. Yushi, Jesse, Ash, Monse and I then went to the foyer to meet-up with Karina, Roy, Sita, Midhun, Jess, Annie, and Josef. Yushi gave his sim card to Annie as Annie asked for it for her friend.
We all walked to the bus stop near Science Park I. I rode the bus with Yushi and Monse to Buona Vista. Monse alighted at Commonwealth to go to her house. Yushi and I then continued the journey to the Airport. We caught the last train to Changi Airport at 11:22 PM.
When we got there, we looked for the terminal where United Airlines check-in is located. It turns out that Terminal 3, where the MRT station is, is Terminal 3. We looked for a place to go and stay for the next few hours. We went to the third floor and saw closed shops. It was kinda creepy then as everything was closed. We went down to the main floor for Departure and looked for a place to plug our laptops.
We then went to the seats near the entrance doors, near the electronic weighing scale. We weighed Yushi's large bag, and it weighed 22.8 kgs, 0.2 kg from the 23 kg limit. I weighed myself, ad got 119.9 kgs as my weight reading.
Yushi showed me photos from home, photos of his friends, some of them I can recognize. I got to see how they lived before. I saw old photos of Jesse and Ashley back in their 1st year. It was somehow fun to see their old photos and how different (or same) they look like.
We then watched a movie which Yushi got from Jesse. Gran Torino, with Clint Eastwood in the lead. Yushi bought some grape juice before the movie started. The movie was rather nice. I found it tragic and at the same time funny, in the way the Mongs were portrayed and all.
Although it would take a long time, we still tried to copy some photos from my laptop to his laptop, photos from our friends. But then with limited time, we failed to copy everything. I decided to just burn everything in CD's and send it to him in a package.
Yushi checked-in at around 4:40. He was assigned the seat 51A on hsi way to HK. After check-in, Yushi ate one of the mangoes I brought to the airport. Luckily, it was the sweet one. He stayed with me for 45 more minutes, waiting for some of the photo transfers to finish. At 5:30, I went with him to the entrance of the Departure Hall. I gave him a giant hug, well, it's normal for me, but giant for him. Haha. I don't usually give hugs, but I felt like since there is a chance that I won't get to see Yushi again, then a hug from me to my kuya is just right.
I waited until he finished immigration, before I went to the MRT station. The train just arrived when I go down at 5:47. It left Changi at 5:52. I got to Buona Vista at 6:40. On my way hom,e I felt sad and tired. I didn't even know that I fell asleep already until I woke-up at City Hall station.
I reached PGP at nearly 7, and found that I forgot my adaptor plugs at the airport. I also forgot to get the EZ link from Yushi. In the end, I decided to send an offline message to Yushi, before I went to sleep. It was 7-ish already by then.
Yushi was kuya here in Singapore. And for a person who never experienced having a kuya, parting with him was hard. But I'm happy that he's now back in Canada, at least he can rest well there. In a few days, I'll be taking another friend to the airport, and I just don't know what will happen. The day after that, I'm going home to the Philippines.
We all walked to the bus stop near Science Park I. I rode the bus with Yushi and Monse to Buona Vista. Monse alighted at Commonwealth to go to her house. Yushi and I then continued the journey to the Airport. We caught the last train to Changi Airport at 11:22 PM.
When we got there, we looked for the terminal where United Airlines check-in is located. It turns out that Terminal 3, where the MRT station is, is Terminal 3. We looked for a place to go and stay for the next few hours. We went to the third floor and saw closed shops. It was kinda creepy then as everything was closed. We went down to the main floor for Departure and looked for a place to plug our laptops.
We then went to the seats near the entrance doors, near the electronic weighing scale. We weighed Yushi's large bag, and it weighed 22.8 kgs, 0.2 kg from the 23 kg limit. I weighed myself, ad got 119.9 kgs as my weight reading.
Yushi showed me photos from home, photos of his friends, some of them I can recognize. I got to see how they lived before. I saw old photos of Jesse and Ashley back in their 1st year. It was somehow fun to see their old photos and how different (or same) they look like.
We then watched a movie which Yushi got from Jesse. Gran Torino, with Clint Eastwood in the lead. Yushi bought some grape juice before the movie started. The movie was rather nice. I found it tragic and at the same time funny, in the way the Mongs were portrayed and all.
Although it would take a long time, we still tried to copy some photos from my laptop to his laptop, photos from our friends. But then with limited time, we failed to copy everything. I decided to just burn everything in CD's and send it to him in a package.
Yushi checked-in at around 4:40. He was assigned the seat 51A on hsi way to HK. After check-in, Yushi ate one of the mangoes I brought to the airport. Luckily, it was the sweet one. He stayed with me for 45 more minutes, waiting for some of the photo transfers to finish. At 5:30, I went with him to the entrance of the Departure Hall. I gave him a giant hug, well, it's normal for me, but giant for him. Haha. I don't usually give hugs, but I felt like since there is a chance that I won't get to see Yushi again, then a hug from me to my kuya is just right.
I waited until he finished immigration, before I went to the MRT station. The train just arrived when I go down at 5:47. It left Changi at 5:52. I got to Buona Vista at 6:40. On my way hom,e I felt sad and tired. I didn't even know that I fell asleep already until I woke-up at City Hall station.
I reached PGP at nearly 7, and found that I forgot my adaptor plugs at the airport. I also forgot to get the EZ link from Yushi. In the end, I decided to send an offline message to Yushi, before I went to sleep. It was 7-ish already by then.
Yushi was kuya here in Singapore. And for a person who never experienced having a kuya, parting with him was hard. But I'm happy that he's now back in Canada, at least he can rest well there. In a few days, I'll be taking another friend to the airport, and I just don't know what will happen. The day after that, I'm going home to the Philippines.
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