TNS day 1

Day 1 (Saturday):

My father drove me to school as I was carrying a lot of stuff for the 3 day stay in the apartments at school. I met up with my friend to borrow DVDs in the library before lugging our luggage over to the apartments.

Draw lots for the roommates. Well, I know most of them anyway. Only 3 rooms will be occupied instead of 4. The country we got was Japan.

Moved in. It's hot and dusty. Immediately, I switched on all the air-cons in the bedrooms to 16 Degrees Celsius and put the fan on high. It's really too bad the living room has no air-con.

Saw our 1st challenge. We had to prepare a dish from the country we got, which was Japan in our case. It's so much easier to prepare than the fare from Israel and France. At least we didn't have to research.

Went to Tampines 1 for lunch and to buy the necessary ingredients for the Japanese curry and miso soup. It's all instant, except for the chicken, potatoes and carrots.

After that, left for Lucky Plaza via the Express bus service in which we have to pay $2 plus. And because there was so many people, there isn't any seats for us. Well, isn't that dandy?

We had to "infuse" ourselves in the "culture" and took some pictures. Took another bus to the Peranakan Museum. I liked this part the best. It's really insightful to see the cultural side of the Peranakans. Had fun embossing pictures on the paper too. The designs are really beautiful!

A few of us decided to cab back because of the heat and the crowds. No way am I going to waste money on a bus, standing no less for half an hour. I rather spend a little more, comfortable in a taxi. Apparently, some of us had the same idea.

Reached first and started cooking. Found out the stoves don't work and the hot-plate too. So, we used the one in the empty UK room. It took too long to boil the water on hot-plate and we had a good idea. To boil the water in the kettle and used it to cook the chicken pieces. The cooking was quite a success.

Finally, after everything was done, we took the pots and some cutlery to the BBQ pit. The Israel team were already there. They prepared chicken wraps. The French team prepared garlic soup and French toast. The teachers started their grading and tasting since the guys' teams (Germany and India) were late.

And that was our supposedly dinner. Knowing me, however, I just ended up eating some rice and miso soup. I did try the sausages too. The BBQ, in the last minute, was cancelled.

Went to opposite petrol station for some food. We wanted to go for a midnight movie but didn't.

I brought Love Actually the uncut version there because my friend asked me to. Got all of them excited over the uncensored parts. Haha, however, they were not fated to watch it as it would not start in all the laptops. We tried and tried to no avail. Ahh, they were disappointed.

Bathed in cold water since the heater was spoilt. Slept at around 2 plus and woke up at 4 plus because of the air-con. It's really, really cold despite me setting it to 25 Degrees Celsius and a low fan. I wore long pants, jacket and socks with a holey blanket.

So, I woke up around 4 plus since I can't stand it. Felt quite awake then. Went online for a while and went to bed in another room at about 5 plus. Slept till 7 plus and woke again. During the dawn, I switched off the air-con completely.

TNS

Ahh, where to begin? I'm in no mood to write anything now so inspiration will have to hit me before I'll update about the TNS 3-day-stay.

That will be tonight, I suppose.

Seriously, I've no time. Tomorrow I'll "leaving home" again. Sigh, you think I want this?!

A short and and bittersweet summary: It had been an experience to have, indeed. There are good moments, and even more bad moments.
I'm so thankful for the H1N1 flu to cut short the original 3 weeks stay. If 3 days has been a downward spiral, what will 3 weeks be? Hellish, I think.

I'll continue when I return from another movie outing! Yay!