[ 18072004 11.44pm | bandung revisited ]

found this on adelyn's blog... its damn funny... and it tells of the entire trip. cant help but laugh as i read it...

http://infinitude.diaryland.com/040621_61.html

yozzie.i'm back.din feel like cumign back though.had too much fun there.itz strange u noe.when i went,i was near-tears.went ard huggin pple in church.jan n shuqi specially came to send me off after their under no roof thing.was touched man.haha.ya anyway had so many new experiences at bandung tt i cant count dem.

walked on e airport tarmac for e first time while walking to e plane at senai airport.we took airasia.realli no frills.even e drinks cost money.n everything is free seating.n e plane is super cramped.n has a smell.haha.
bathed in freezing cold water too.e villa we stayed in had 2 toilets,one with sitting toilet n one with squat toilet.no showers but dere was a big tub with plastic scoops.n no hot water.so e first splash of water is alwayz a shocker.practically jumped abt when e water first touched me.was screaming silently aso.haha.n after bathtime ur fingers n toes r alwayz freezing n numb.oh there's no flush system too.no toilet paper aso.basically had to use e water to clean ur business n to force e contents down e toilet bowl.
there were beds n mattresses w pillows included aso.so brought my sleeping bag for nth.haha.me,huiyi,lynn n rachel shared a rm.me n lynn bked this bed with zebra print bedsheets cuz we tot it was cool.wah regret man.e bed is rocksolidhard.first nite was real bad.couldnt sleep at all.prob cuz it was freezing,there's a light fr outside shining in my eyes, e bed sux n i'm missing home.but e subsequent nites were nicer cuz we switched rms w e guys.their beds r so much nicer n comfy.e other mattress in our rm was realli soft n squishy tt u culdn't get up once u laid down.tok abt extremes.
there were 2 worksites we went to n we split into 2 grps to take turns to work at e sites.my grp-me,lynn,shanci,pinyoon,michelle,liyang.e other grp-tammy,huiyi,rachel,nicholas,tengen n weejin.our site was situated inside e village n we had to walk quite a dist.spent e first day forming a human chain n passing bricks 2 at a time to each other.but we still couldnt finish this huge wall of bricks.haha.den afternoon was spent making e foundations of e hse.had to fill this narrow 1m deep trench with rocks n cement.n we were sandwiched between 2 huge mountains of soil.had to b careful not to let any soil fall into e trench we were in.or else will haf to dig them out.did with shanci but our butts were so big every move we made caused sum soil to fall in.so it was frustrating.summore it rained n we had to run out n everytime we ran out we wuld step on sum soil n later we wuld haf to dig it out.
anyway our schedule fr mon-fri was liddat-8am-12pm:work,12pm-1sth:lunch at e villa,1sth-4.30pm:work.e villa is onli 5mins by lorry away fr both worksites.sat behind a lorry 4 e first time.coudl feel e wind in my hair everytime n e feeling is indescribable.usually woke up at 6am n i'm usaully one of e first to wake.cuz i din wanna fight w anyone for e toilet.anyway i go back to slp after washing up.haha.oh n a grp of indo-chinese joined us for work.they're abt same age as us.v fun n nice pple.helpful translators aso.miss them man.angeline is 17 n her bro samuel,who's 14,is real funny.their nephews r christian(16 n has a thing gg on w huiyi) n david(13).mia is 16 n studies in e US.she's here w her mum Ruby as part of her sch summer proj.yupz.they're a real frenly bunch.
laid bricks e rest of e 4 days.ya n made best frenz w cement.had to climb realli high n instable makeshift platforms to lay bricks on tall walls.risky job.but we had insurance.haha.michelle fell off one of e platforms n half a brick landed on her head.poor thing.haha.
oh n we got to plaster cement on e walls aso.itz like e hardest job man.it involves technique n wrist motion.which i seriously lack.everytime i smack cement on e wall,it starts sliding down.demoralising man.haha.but managed to finish half a wall w mich.
n i rode a motorcycle for e first time too.so fun!all of us were practically fighting for a turn on e bike.me n mich squeezed on e bike n bhas(one of e HFH pple there) drove.wat an exhilirating experience.haha.
e food at e villa was great cuz we had cooks living next door.so e meals were great.ate rice,fish,chicken,mee etc.e bananas were specially gd.melt in ur mouth.haha.n one of e homeowners gave us realli great strawberries he grew himself.damn sweet man.so we were real blessed to haf great food n enuff to eat n nice beds to slp on.e living conditions were better den expected.
think our rm set e record of being e messiest ard.haha.by e second day,everything was all over e place.huiyi even threw her undergarments ard.lucky e guys din c when they switched rms with us.sum of us aso reported missing items like underwear n nametags.haha.auntie susie said our rm resembles tt of a bangladeshi workers' quarters,esp since we got a clothesline draped with towels n watnot hanging fr e middle of e rm.n e rm's pretty dim aso.n is pervaded by a certain smell cuz we dunno how to open e windows until e 2nd last day.haha.
visited a cow shed near e villa on thurs after work to c e milking.wat a horrible experience.we were walking on this narrow path betwn cows n e cows were shitting like there was no tmr.i was standing right behind one's backside n coudl c itz butthole open n e shit fall out.itz green n real squishy btw.n one cow shitted real near us n itz shit splattered all over our feet.was screaming when e shit landed.haha.n we got to try e milk after itz boiled.vv nice.
got sunburnt too.n my nose exfoliated.but it wasnt v bad thanx to tammy n her aloe vera.haha.took a few stalks of aloe vera fr e hse opp e first site.tammy peeled e aloev n gave everyone a piece to put on our noses.rubbed it everywhere man.my face,my arms,legs..instant relief.haha.tt disgusting lynn went to eat her aloev after spreading it on her face.haha.tried abit of e aloev n almoz puked.gross stuff.damn bitter n it has e plant smell.totally unlike e aloev in e apple aloev juice.haha.
got to noe my teammates better on dis trip.hu wuldnt after seeing them for 24hrs for a wk?haha.discovered tt shanci is vv amusing n funny.hahaha.she makes me real happy.hahah.reminds me of jan except jan says stupid funny things but shan says intelligent funny things.n lynn is realli blur n slow.haha.n entertaining aso.e indonesians gave us this can of bear brand milk w a pic of bears on it so we bluffed lynn tt it was bear's milk.so she was like,'i'm so excited!i'm gonna try bear's milk!'haha.she even said it tasted n smelled diff.den she saw e label tt says:'bear brand milk is made fr fresh cow's milk'haha.so hilarious.we're so mean.n huiyi is a real heavy sleeper.nth can wake her man.we haf to shake,poke n slap her to wake her man.on e bus trip back,we even played bridge over her n used her as e card table.n she din even feel anything.haha.n her snores punctuate my slp every nite.haha.we recorded her snores on e last nite.soudned like a cow moo-ing.haha.n i find nick vv cute.his hair is v nice to touch so we always mess up his centre parting.haha.did a wall with him.so funny i tell u.he reminds me of my bro.
had a mini campfire on fri nite.danced e frenship dance which lasted quite short cuz dere were so few of us.haha.den cooked corn over e fire.e corn is outta of this world i tell u.so sweet.haha.i'm drooling.den we sang songs aso.o did i mention tt joyo plays e guitar realli well?he noes so many songs k.n his voice isnt too bad aso.n we taught him e chords to guan huai fang shi.haha.n we celebrated uncle py's bday aso.had cake.den all of us left cuz it was freezing except chriz n huiyi hu were alone outside playing guitar.heehee.scandalous.tsktsk.
din bathe at all on e last nite.tt day(sat) was r&r n we visited a tomato farm where e tomatoes were as big as fuji apples n saw goats.also went to a traditional market in lembang.but din buy anything.went horsecart riding instead.6 of us were squashed in one cart.haha.den visited a baptist church in bandung city.attended their youth meeting.played sum games with e youths there like broken telephone.e guys all haf e same hairstyle.as in centre parting n real long sideburns.n e gals were quite chio.long hair.v feminine.felt real ugly next to them cuz i had on jeans n a lousy tshirt onli.n e jeans were small n tight n totally unbreathable cuz they belonged to rachel.i din bring mine,so lent fr her.anyway,really regret not having enuff time to interact w e indo youths at e church.sum of them were expressing interest in e HFH's projs,esp e pastor's son hu seems particularly interested in shan.ahaha.
den we went to dis tea house for dinner.e soup dere was great altho i dunno wat they put inside.hehe.den slept all e way back.reached at 11pm so obviously it was too cold to bathe.ended up washing my hair w shan n hy.screamed when e water touched my head.n my head turned numb later.
ya so spent e rest of e nite n morning playing bridge,bluff n snap.angel n sam stayed w us but chriz n david had to leave in e afternoon.poor huiyi,her bf chriz has left.haha.anyway,playing bluff w sam is so fun cuz he's so farni.whole day wanna expose pple but get it all wrong n eventually getting all e cards for keeps.haha.den after getting bored of cards we watched sum euro cup match n mtv.they haf cable leh.can u blive it?!den we watched this bollywood movie n tammy kept putting in dialogue.so hilarious.was rolling on e floor.den fell asleep at 4am with lynn's legs as my pillow n my stomach as tammy's pillow.hmmm.den woke at 6 cuz it was bloody freezing n went back to e rm to sleep.
e last mornign was quite emotional.cuz we had to leave angel n sam.crying is contagious i learnt tt day.first angel started cryin n getting all those tissues out.den lynn n tammy n pretty much everyone followed suite n let e tears flow.even en cried.so sweet.he was like rubbing his eyes n saying,'not my fault..'when we teased him.but i din cry leh.dunno y i cannot squeeze any tears out.but i felt sad.realli depressed.hugged n sqeezed angel when we left.sighz.e onli person hu's e same age as me n i had to say gdbye.realli miss them.u rawk gal!n ur silly bro aso.haha.
e trip back to s'pore was pretty solemn.did nth but slp n play bridge.at senai,uncle bok sent me to mandarin hotel to meet my parents for dinner.felt happy to c my family but cant help feeling tt part of myself is still at bandung.sighz.
i miss bandung.i miss e frenz i made there.i miss e frenz here in s'pore.i miss e food.i miss e weather altho it can get bloody cold sumtimes.i miss everything!!
n i thank God tt i din follow my heart tt time a few mths ago when i hesitated abt signing up.i'm so glad i listened to tt small voice n signed up.n i din regret n nv will.

...

yeah, i know its a little outdated... but reading all this... transports me back in time...
sigh.


weiming ah. you should come to church. there was a sermon on the da vinci code you know.
alwyn, how come u have internet over there?

had combined class today, the aim was basically to ease those who have been in church for ages into serving ministries. like... TEACHING.
teaching is actually a good way of affirming how much you know. but, after tuitioning, i really dont think that teaching is a gift of mine. it takes too much effort and its not something that comes very naturally to me. or maybe i've just had bad experiences.
oh well.
its really true that after going to church for a long time, you tend to wonder why you're there, what on earth is everything for...
i wonder what kind of changes i would make if i could...