It's been a long day today and I've got to book into camp in 6 hours. I don't know why I'm not in bed yet! Anyway, kicked off the day with a trip to the Expo. It's crazy because taking the train from Woodlands would definitely render me late for my appointment at 1145 so I took 168 to Bedok before changing to the train. Luckily, I was late for 5 minutes.
It was scarily crowded. I was overwhelmed by how many people showed up. I had no idea that Singaporeans were that eager to seek some sort of holiday from this place. It costs 3 bucks to get there. At first we were just looking around at the stuff that interested us. However, once I got my hands on a few good brochures, I've decided that the 3 bucks I paid was not just for sightseeing - and I proceeded with the help of Daniel and Terence to grab souvenirs from the shelves and table-tops! This included a frisbee!
The place was really cool because it made me want to travel the world to gain insights on different cultures and ways of life.
We didn't manage to find a cheaper deal than the one offered in the Classifieds. I'm beginning to think that it's a very valuable portion of the newspaper after searching for jobs and now, travel opportunities! The place was called Seiki Travel, and so we went to Lucky Plaza at Orchard, where we met Sern Hong. However, there was a bit of a mixup as that place was Seiki Holidays and it didn't offer the budget for the trip to Bintan that we wanted. Instead, it was at Tiong Bahru. Sern Hong rushed off to church while we took a cab down. We were pretty much exhausted from all that walking and dragging along the plentiful kilos of brochures we managed to get from the NATAS fair! In the end we sealed the deal at $120 for 3D2N at Bintan and we'll set off on the 15th of this month. Before the transaction of the deposit went underway, I had to leave to go to my grandparent's place to celebrate my birthday, along with my aunt's.
My siblings and I went to buy 2 cakes and shop at NTUC before making our arrival. Took plenty of pics that came out really blur because I have a prefernce for taking them without flash, which results in the usage of slow shuttle speed, which is absolutely shit for capturing subjects that don't stay still! The dinner was amazing - I had third servings.
After 19 years of this tradition, I never get sick of it. Especially when it's with my extended family. The feeling of having so many people to celebrate it with is magical and I feel blessed to have them (and the accompanying ang paos) around. From my nephew, cousins, aunts and uncles and of course my family, everyone made it special. The young kids were quick to rob me of the chance to blow out my birthday candles though. Hmph.
I meant that in a joking manner.
Anyway, while I was doing nothing there I watched quite a lot of Chinese MTV and everything. It's amazing how fun having SCV can be when you don't have it - it's shocking to see what you're missing. Youtube is not a replacement for good television, honestly! While we were watching that Channel 8 show where people had to come up with mass displays, my grandmother took out random photographs from the past. Very very old photos. Included was one of my great-grandfather, who was really a handsome fella. It made me wonder why I hadn't inherited a tenth of his looks! His eyes were big and a prominent, big, strong-looking nose. Looks kind of Burmese to me. I can't even begin to describe his nose. Hmmm. Oh, and also a charming smile.
A picture which transcends time.
And in case you're wondering, my aunt and I do share the same birthday. She was brimming with excitement the day I was born, and we've celebrated it every year since then. It's really cool. Unconventionally enough, she's gotten to know this guy from Romania in an online game and well, she might be moving over there with him.
My coming birthdays may never be the same again.
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