bye chiangmai :'(

i'm seriously touch by everyone's love for me and coming down to send me off even though some of them live far away. :')

it's indeed one meaningful 40 days spent in chiangmai as i get to experience and do things that i never think i'm capable of doing and i get to meet people from all over the world.

i'm so so so glad that i choose to come to chiangmai for my volunteer trip and get to make friends with all these amazing people.

i came to chiangmai alone without knowing anyone. p'apple was the one who picked me up and yes she was there to send me off too. still remember how worried i was if she didnt turn up at the airport to pick me up. what is going to happen to me? haha. i'm definitely going to miss her and really thank her for taking good care of me during my stay in chiangmai, giving me a chance to experience many different things and always being so patient, nice and caring. i call her my chiangmai's mummy. 

just like that 40 days gone. it's true when they say that time flies when you are having fun.

i have no idea when i will be back to chiangmai again even though they are always telling me to go back. i really want toooo. but...

i met up with one fellow volunteers from US one day and boy her experience was totally different from mine. she stayed in a village area and no one there speaks english. she had a hard time communicating with them and trying to adapt to the culture. not only that she is the only volunteer there assigned to that village.

i'm really lucky to meet all these people who take good care of me and make me feel at home. and they are always bringing me out, making me laugh and most importantly they speaks english thus making things much more easier for me. 

and i do hope we will meet again some day, i will miss you for sure.

am now back in singapore but leaving again on this sunday for the second part of my adventure. cant wait but it's so tiring to pack and unpack. i wonder how those stewardess did it. went back to office today and boss dragged me in for one meeting the moment he sees me. holy shit. but YES I CAN. AND I WILL SURVIVEEEE.

Note to self

"don't rush into it when making any important decisions."

Dear self,

Please, please remember this reminder and not do anything silly that might cause you to regret for the rest of your life.

With love,
Chloe

(conclusion I get from the conversation tonight, which I think is very true and useful.)

bungy jump in chiangmai, thailand

a leap of faith. 

i reckon you  need to do something crazy when you are young and healthy. so i went ahead to sign up for bungy jump. alone. yes. no one want to do it with me. it's 2000baht ($80) per jump and they find it expensive.

                                    

few weeks back, my thai's friend (Tong) was randomly sharing with me about him wanting to try bungy. my reaction at that time was HELL NO. THAT'S CRAZY. but no idea why one morning i just woke up with this thought in my mind that "hey, im going to do bungy jump. yes i'm going to jump." everyone was shock when i told them about it and nobody believe that i want to do it.

i told lms online about it and he say "you are even afraid of cliff diving and you sure you want to do this? go try other easier jump first. 50 metres is fucking high and enough to make you shit your pants. i remember seeing a person shit on his pants after jumping off." wtf. HAHAHA and he proceed to ask me any last words? damn. such encouraging friends.

quek "you dont even dare to sit the rollar coaster and you want to do bungy jump? siao ah?" 

thai friends "hopefully no earthquake!! i dont want to see news of you causing earthquake in chiangmai!" hahaha they are so cute sometimes. 

despite all the negative comments from my buddies, i went ahead to do it. no idea why am i so determinded this time round. i kinda brain wash myself everyday "just jump only. nothing to be afraid of."

 (taking my weight)

            

i'm seriously so proud or rather FUCKING proud of myself for doing this. i stopped playing extreme sports (not that i tried many) and suddenly one day i'm doing bungy jump? wtf.

(getting ready)

               

 

thinking back i really wonder where i got my courage from. holy shit.

(on my way up)

i remember grabbing on to the pole refusing to let go before jumping, saying wtf.omg.nonono non stop.

 

the instructor who stayed with me was trying all ways to convince me to let go of my hand. HAHAHA. and before i knew it, i was flying in the air! screamed non stop and when i cooled down, i open my eyes and started to check out the amazing view. gotta thank the instructor for helping me with the jump, i think he 'push' me down. me no balls to do it myself. LOL.

omg im so brave. im so brave. im so brave. biggest achievement unlock for this year.

totally shaking non stop. when i'm done, they were asking me to do it again. hell no. once is enough i think.

in case you are wondering, a pole was given to me, grab it and that's how i come down.

i told my parents about it and mum and dad's reaction were different. dad "why you waste your money to do this? you should use the money to buy more things and donate to the children there!" LOLOL. mum "wah, you not scare arh? and start to laugh at me." i love you twoooo seriously. and i cant wait to show them the pictures. one stranger took a video of me jumping, she showed me but too bad i dont have the file with me. :(

the guy that helped me for my little adventure.

it suddenly came to me that the first half of 2012 is seriously really amazing for me. i did things that i never think i will do. traveling alone, bungy jump, etc. and not forgetting meeting all these amazing people that somehow inspire me in one way or another. (:

i am thankful for everything and everyone that i have in my life now. 2012, please continue to be that amazing for me and everyone. (:

last 15 days.

time flies and it's my last 15 days left in chiangmai: the land of smiles. for sure i'm going to miss this place and everyone i met here. life is so relax and peaceful over here that i really dont want to go back. i dont want to go back to my stressful and miserable working life in singapore. i dont want to go back to reality. back in singapore, i hate writing letters, sending emails but over here in chiangmai, i'm still doing it here but somehow enjoying it. hahaha.

i met many people here from different parts of the world. the other day i happened to meet up with people from taiwan. boy was i so happen to talk to them. i started talking non stop to them in chinese and was telling them how happy i am finally able to talk to people in chinese. hahaha everyone here is speaking in thai and i dont understand. :(

moving off to indonesia, nia after chiangmai. i will be bunking at the orphanage there. i'm looking forward yet feeling........ i don't know.

september is going to be one crap month as the ever so irritating anniversary is coming again in october. boss already started having lots of questions for me about this year event. :( sleepless night again. and end of year is always f busy for me. i can already picture myself leaving office late every night. maybe i will just keep thinking about my year end manila trip. maybe this will make me happier. :) it suddenly dawned on me that 2012 is ending already. wtf. FAST OR WHAT. time to reflect what i did for the past few months and if i did fulfilled the 'goals' i set early this year. before i forget, i need to get my driving license! MUST.

even when i'm away for my 2 months break, i'm still providing work support for my colleague back home. i is so nice. i know. and she told me that she accepted a lot of volunteers! :O heard from her that social work department is really peaceful when i'm not around. shit. why is it not peaceful when i took over? the number of incidents happened when i took over is 123456789. i seriously bring shit to my department. please let it be better when i go back.

crap i realise i always turn really negative when i'm talking about work. i need to be think more positive, be more positive then things will work out well. I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO GO BACK TO WORK IN SEPTEMBER!!! :D YESSSSSS! hahaha.

10 days

survived my 10 days village stay in lamphun and now back to the city area.

gotta admit it was one interesting experiences and i'm thankful to my host family for taking great care of me, always making sure that i'm ok and with enough food to eat. confession, half of the time i have no idea what i'm eating. no joke. one morning my host family served us grasshopper! omfg. no didnt try it. me no balls yo. told myself no more gross food after my last experience with wormies.

my stay in village was really 'healthy'. waking up at 6:30am everyday and feeling sleepy at 9pm? crap. if this continue in singapore i wont be late for work anymore! that damn rooster kp non stop that it's really hard to ignore it. am seriously thinking of kidnapping one back to singapore. HAHAH. i gate crash a funeral. yea. was really shocked when i reach the place. am so glad to have another singaporean with me to experience such 'interesting' experience. somehow i feel like superstar there, with my host family introducing me to everyone.

people there were really nice. always greeting you with their biggest smile. and of course i smiled back to with my brightest smile. HAHAHA. so far the people i met in chiangmai were really nice and am really thankful for that. (:

anyway back to my work in lamphun, we rebuild the playground and pavement for wat sribangwan school and did some painting too. the folks from NTU worked really hard, MEE TOO HOR. it's so tiring and my musclessss. thank god i brought counterpain along with me. hehe. the answer to all muscle aches. my first time doing serious construction and damn i really respect those construction workers in Singapore who are doing it everyday for us without any complains. everyone please treat them nicer!! they are always out slogging under the sun building this and that for us, making sure we have a safe home to stay, place to play.

the kids were really nice. helping us out even on weekends! carrying bricks with us, working hard with us under the hot sun. heart them soo much. and no they didnt complain at all and i can seriously see them having fun. laughing non stop as they work.

removing and replacing the bricks was a challenge too. imagine carrying it and lying it one bricks at a time... and now i know why our parents always force us to study and making sure that we have a good education.

during weekend, host family brought us out to the city to visit various temples. and some nights the rest of the hosts invited us over to their house for dinner and gathering. so nice of them yo! we need to bring the kampung spirit back to singapore!

the completed work! (Love Beyond Borders) if you look hard enough you can see my hand print there!

again farewell was hard. a teary one as usual. kinda expected it after all this is the 123456789 farewell that i had since my short stay in chiangmai. already told myself not to get too attached to anyone because it hurts when they leave. (:

with my kuan po and kuan meh from lamphun! 

sent the NTU folks off on sunday and everyone in the village came tooooo! they are already talking about coming over to singapore to visit us. WOW.

my last 2 or is it 3 weeks stay in chiangmai. wtf. so fast suddenly. for sure i will miss everyone here. i dont want september to come. i dont want to go back to my 'robot', stressful life in singapore and i know september will be really crap because there are many events going on during that period. folks here are asking me to come back again next year to help out with their conference and be a staff. i'm seriously thinking about it but if i really do come back it means i will need to postpone my studies again. whaaaatttt.

dad is always asking me to go home whenever i call back and he dont even mind paying for me to change my flight back home. dad i know you miss me but im not done yet. not yet. (:

rainbow

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true"

Farewell

Teary farewell with the kids from new York. They seriously play a big part in making my first two weeks in chiangmai bearable. Because of them I'm not homesick. (:

Always hate to say goodbye and I believe and hope we will meet each other again somewhere.

In lamphun

Don't worry, im still alive! Haha.

Am currently in a village and bunking in one of the folk's house. It's a very nice experience, waking up to non stop kp-ing of the chicken everyday! Hahaha. Been waking up at 6.30am? Seriously i'm considering bringing one chicken back with me to Singapore so I won't be late anymore! Haha

My hosts are really nice, treating us well everyday. So nice that my other partner feels uncomfortable! Haha

Staying with me was another guy from Singapore. Im seriously very happy to have his companion. At least someone to go through all weird experiences with me! Haha.

facetime

facetime is awesome. keeping me connected with people back home and in other part of the world. :)

with LMS. he is in shanghai noooow.

quek in japan. 

folks in japan (sorry for unglam picture)

and liwen's 21st! sorry that im miss your pinky party. have fun babe. :)

second week here in chiangmai and yes im adapting well. i starting to fall in love with this place and the people here.

Wormie.

I must blog about this. This gotta be one of my biggest achievement level in weird food I tried. Not that I tried a lot... Anyway I ate a freaking worm yesterday! OMGGGOOOODOOO RIGHT. HOW BRAVE. I know I know.

And guess what? It freaking taste like potato chips. NO JOKE.

Street children project

visited the street children's accommodation area today and i'm really thankful for everything i have in my life now. a nice home to go back to at the end of the day, not having to worried about money issues in my life other than occasionally worried over not enough money to feed my shopping addiction. this is bullshit.

try imaging yourself living above the swamp. definitely not pleasant with those creepy bugs crawling around and not forgetting the smell from the swamp. one thing that i learn from them, no matter how bad their living condition is, their smile is always there. you should see how friendly they are, smiling non stop at us intruders when we visited them. they make me believe that we should never be tied down by our problems in life. or maybe to them all these are not even a big problem.

 "drying your clothes the 'natural' way"

 

i met a little boy there. he kept yakking non stop to me in thai and i have totally no idea what he is talking about. just went along with him, smile, acknowledge and repeat after him. a bit weird initially but we got comfortable with each other after a while. i think he got used to me eventually. i was making random noises and he started following me. nice. :) i need to brush up on my thai. i need to learn some simple greetings.

 "a doorway to a better future."

Learning Thai

no joke when i say i lost track of the day and time when i'm here. totally relaxing myself and not doing anything. well it gets a little boring sometimes after all i'm so used to my busy life in stressful singapore. :)

learn thai today with the teen from new york. it's fun and obviously very hard. cant get the pronunciation right. OMG. and i managed to know the youth better today. not so lonely after all! they were seriously crazily high and fun. 

 my name in thai.

 

met my host for my home-stay trip today. going on 17th July. excited yet worried. not sure if i can do it. that is for sure stepping out of my freaking comfort zone. 10 days out in the village staying in someone else house. alright chloe JUST FREAKING DO IT.

Visiting the temple

Temple visiting was not too bad today. but once it's enough unless it's those die die must see kind! HAHA. somehow i feel that all temple look the same. 

it's a beautiful daaaaaaaay!

 

you dont say?

 

 

over dinner today, one of the senior staff from YMCA shared about people not being able to get themselves detached from their phone. which is so bloody true. yea im guilty of that. even having dinner with a group of friends, you hand will still be busy checking out your phone. forever busy on social networking website. ahhh the whole damn phone is really taking over our life.

full attention no longer given to whoever is there with us. i thought that by coming over to Chiangmai, i will get less attached to my phone but NO! old habits die hard. again whenever there is wifi, i will just connect and FB, twitter all day long.

i.need.to.change.

landed.

The happiestthing that happened today was having someone there wait for you the moment youarrived at the arrival gate. Thank you GYM for blessing me and making sureeverything goes smoothly. :)

Another thingthat I’m super thankful for, a whole freaking room for myself in the hotelitself! Just nice enough for me and there is free wifi! I wont be thatdisconnected from the world after all! :D

Made a fewnew friends and glad that everyone here is really friendly and nice. Just cameback from partying with them. haha! Oh yea, 4^th July is independenceday! And I saw fireworks from the mountain. First time with a different view.

Apple toldme that students from New Yorkare here and NTU is coming too in Mid July! Gosh sounds exciting. Going to jointhem for home stay in the village.

And I wonderwhat’s in stall for me tomorrow! Shall continue to explore the area near YMCA. Thereis a mall there and my favourite 7-11! Im sure and hope I will lose weight. Onlyate freaking salad earlier.

And thatconcludes my first day here in chiangmai.

p.s.breakfast at 7:30am and I’m definitely going to skip that. I need to sleeeep.

transit

Holy shit, after all the kan-chiong ness and blurness, I’m finally waiting for my flight to chiangmai. Flight to Bangkok was delayed. Landed at 2pm and my boarding pass to chiangmai wrote flight at 2:35pm. Got a shock and freaking chiong out. Once out of the plane, I checked with the ground crew and crap that’s actually my boarding time. Flight is actually at 3pm. rush for nothing but still Thank you GYM!

The whole freaking airport is so long! Walked non stop and took me quite a while before finding the right gate. When I found the right entrance, I walked through the immigration gate without showing the staff my passport. And I swear the staffs were laughing at me! CUI. But still LIKE A BOSS! HAHAHHA

I need to stop leaving my things around. Almost left my freaking passport in the toilet. WTF!!

Anyhow 1 hour plus more to chiangmai!! :D

waiting waiting.

 *no, i'm not going to london. i'm on my way to chiangmai! :)

I is very brave. Embarking on my first ever overseas trip alone. Currently awaiting to board my flight to Bangkok, will transit there before going over to chiangmai.

I’m not sure what to expect or rather basically I’m going there without any expectation. So I wont be disappointed if things didn’t turn out “my way”.

Boarding at 12:25pm and im here way too early.

I hope I wont be sitting beside any weirdos later.

I cant wait to reach chiangmai.

I cant wait to start my little adventure there.

I need to be alert and navigate my way well.

Cannot get lost and be blur there!

Dad just called me again to remind me to buy a prepaid card and call home. Ahhh…

i’m going to try penning down my thoughts and little happening everyday. Please be discipline yo!

And please please folks at Chiangmai, please remember to pick me up later!

Leaving on a jetplane

All set and ready to go!

Finally embarking on my little adventure, first to Chiangmai follow by Indonesia to spread some love to the folks there. Pray hard that all will be good and I will come back safe and sound. Yes I'm going alone. It's going to be fun and I'm freaking sure about that. Missss me!