Drink up me hearties yo ho!

human beings are rather erm, interesting.

sometimes when i sit in a car and look out of the window, i see people scurrying about their everyday business. at peak hours especially, people are rushing home, buying dinner, meeting people etc etc.

but we're so tiny. i dont know if it's the view from the car, but it makes people seem so tiny. so it's like tiny people all going about their daily routines, in this huge world.

and i get reminded of ants.

sometimes we think our problems are so huge, that it'll affect the entire world. but the world is huge!

i've lived in a well for much of my life. contained to the east side of singapore (as if singapore is not small enough). 5 years ago, if someone told me they stayed in erm bukit gombak or something, i'd think they're from another planet - pardon the exaggeration! i do occasionally travel to central singapore, but hardly beyond that (before NTU). and occasionally to other parts of the world, but that's once or twice a year, at the most - with hardly any interaction with locals.

Thanks to the exchange programme in Canada, YOG, and other opportunities to interact with the rest of the world, my horizon has expanded - somewhat?

posted by audrey @ 4:55 PM

Youth Olympic Games:

on friday night, i watched the first two live soccer matches of my life.

The group of us from team 3 - Yee Theng, Clara, JJ, Darren and Ashley headed down to the Jalan Besar stadium to watch Bolivia vs Vanuatu and Zimbabwe vs Singapore.

I kinda enjoyed the Bolivia vs. Vanuatu match! I think the main reason was because we spoke to athletes from both teams hoho. Luis Benegas, and his friend Vaca from Bolivia. Betch Spenson Ham and Jeleney Waiwai from Vanuatu.

The part i liked best was when Luis scored. we heard the commentator say: goal scored by Luis Benagas. we screamed. was looking out for him the entire time hahaha. 2 days before, i did an interview with him (about his birthday that's coming up!). but he couldnt speak english, so we got a translator on the phone to speak to him. was quite an awesome experience!

so in the end, it was 2-0 to Bolivia! Vanuatu was no match for the fast footwork of the Bolivians. samba football HAHA! At the end of the match, Vaca (Luis's friend) spotted us in the stands and waved. we waved too, and did the 'good' sign with our hands. he did it back. YAY.

The second match was Singapore vs Zimbabwe.

this game was crazy. the stands starting filling up with students. the Singapore team was absolutely fueled by the support of the spectators. the first goal was scored within 10 secs! OHMEOHMY. the second goal was scored before the clock hit 10mins. the third goal was scored before the half hour mark. i wasnt expecting this.

i think Zimbabwe felt the effect of the lack of support from the spectators. i learned that this phenomenon is called the 12th man - effect of fans on the performance of the team.

but some comments from the spectators were really uncalled for. one boy sitting near us shouted 'we dig a grave for you!' when a Zimbabwean boy fell and lay on the floor for a while. how mean is that!

Another Zimbabwean boy fell, and wasnt helped up. he walked back to the side crying. poor boy! they're lilkids afterall.

and because of the overwhelming support for singapore, i was sorta rooting for Zimbabwe. i didnt want them to win, knowing it would be an embarassment to Singapore if we lost the first game before the opening ceremony. but i didnt want Zimbabwe to lose too badly, cos the poor players would be so demoralized.

and i also interviewed the Zimbabwean coach 2 days before. he was a really nice guy - animated and friendly. but he did say he wanted to 'hammer' singapore. HAHA. guess he must have swollowed his words by the half hour mark.

in the end, Zimbabwe did score one goal from a free kick. i was relieved, the dejected Zimbabwean players needed a morale booster!

Final score, 3-1 to Singapore!

ohohoh and there was some hilarious drama too. one Singaporean boy was injured, and a female angmoh medic came out to help him. many people in the stadium cheered, and some wolfwhistled. later on in the game, a male medic came out and the crowed boo-ed. OHMEOHMY. the female angmoh medic came out again to help him, and the crowed cheered.

what a strange crowd we were sitting with. or maybe all crowds are like this. i wouldnt know, these were the 2 first live soccer games of my life.

posted by audrey @ 2:28 PM

i admire people who love their jobs.

Yesterday we had a dialogue session with veteran journalists, which i found inspiring. They love their jobs.

One of them was Rohit Brijnath, a famous sports journalist. He gave some amazing insight! He said that even now, after reading his articles, his friends still say 'what rubbish have you written?!' It's so true, not everything we write is going to be great.

When he was 22, his editor threw his article on the floor and said it was rubbish. What he said made me..sit up. Criticsm hurts sometimes, but it's highly necessary. When people criticse my writing (or whatever else) i feel horrid. i sit and moan and be un-merry for an entire day. BUT, that should change.

He said what's important is to have a good friend to show things to. Someone who isnt afraid to criticise your writing, and praise you when it's good. (for some reason Dan Humphrey and Vanessa Abrams popped into my mind, HAHA!)

He also said that he'd wake up every morning feeling nervous. - about what he'd write for the day. Some days he doesnt write well, but he'd challenge himself to be the best that day.

All 3 of them were so passionate and excited about their jobs, even after so long.

that was inspiring.

I keep having the feeling that my writing's going down the drain. I need to find it, and be willing to accept criticism.

SIGH!

posted by audrey @ 11:10 PM

I THINK THIS FONT IS SUPER UGLY. BUT ANYWAY,

i am here to answer the question: HOW IS SCHOOL.

This question is difficult to answer in a single sentence/word.

but i guess the word to sum up school so far: interesting!

apologies for my limited vocab, bows.

i've had 4 lessons of my YOG reporting course so far, and i'm finding it honestly interesting! we're starting to think of content for our newspaper, and how we can have an edge over the biggerboys (other newspapers). HAHA! monday's lesson was most interesting though, it was VIPees galore.

When we first stepped into class, the secretary to the President's office (i'm trying to avoid using names) in NTU was there waiting to shake our hands. my hands were slightly sweaty, i was kinda nervous. HAHA. he spoke to each of us for bout 2 mins before we sat down.

and then some people from the YOG organizing committee came in, and NTU's corp comms people.

the one who did most of the speaking was the deputy chief executive officer of SYOGOC and used to be the Press secretary for our prime minister. he was gooood, and really humble! a lot of yog background info and journalism tips which were helpful.

he spoke to us sociology kids during the break.

after the whole session, he came to us again to shake hands before he left. and he said 'you're audrey right.'

YAY, he remembered my name.

posted by audrey @ 10:34 PM

i am back from heung gong! okay, hongkong. hahaha!

i went there with my aunty. she saw an ad for 2 to go tickets and was asking around -who was free. and i was! so i went. HAHA! it was a really last min decision. only decided bout 2 weeks before leaving.

let me list what i found interesting in point form. a more efficient method.

1) Our room number was 911. BEAT THAT. 911?! HAHAHA. i was giggling inside when the receptionist told us that. so i'm glad to say that i erm, survived 911.

2) I think almost everyone in HK wears the same kind of specs. The army specs with thick black frames. it' like..EVERYONE. almost. there needs to be some variation!

3) We blend in so much. If we dont open our mouths, we would just be seen as local. Hongkongers look very much like Singapoeans. haha! but i cant speak a word of cantonese. (mm sek teng/gong) and my mandarin is in quite a bad state. my aunty was doing the translating. haha! ohya, and people could tell i'm singaporean. guess our singlish is quite good HAHA.

4) Their service was REAL GOOD. They really know how to please customers, i must say. The sales staff wont follow too closely, and they wont disturb unless you're really interested in something. and they're friendly! Singapore has got something to learn.

5) Their pace of life is really fast. nobody spends more than 15 mins eating i think. so the crowds in eateries move real quickly. no time is wasted. and i guess the eateries earn more with faster flow.

6) There was once we were at this restaurant. At the table next to us was a couple - Chinese lady and French guy. they were speaking 3 languages! English, Mandarin and French. rather fluently too. they didnt mix the languages within a sentence, but were speaking in blocks.

7) I was in Hongkong on a Saturday. On Saturday, i noticed most people out shopping were couples or friends. On Sunday, there were lotsa domestic helpers and foreign workers out cos it's their free day. On Monday and Tuesday there were students in school uniforms, office people and tourists. HAHA!

8) I met Louis Koo. HAHAHA i'm quite amazed. how coincidental! going to hongkong and meeting a huge hongkong star. whee!

alright i have come to the end of my list.

BUBBYE!

posted by audrey @ 3:50 PM