So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf of good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.
- Time Of Your Life (Green Day)
The 18 days in Taiwan is truly memorable but I really don't know where to start. There's just so many aspects of this trip that I don't want to forget and want to record it down.
My mum asked me what is the most memorable thing about this trip...and I couldn't answer her. Nothing really stood out. Every aspect of it was memorable.
This couple of days, I find myself browsing through all the photos I took there. Looking through the photos brought me back to the exact scenes they were taken and I could still clearly remember how I felt at that very instant the photo is taken.
But photographs are nothing but mere instances of our memories.
It just doesn't feel the same. Yes I could remember how I felt at that instant, but that feeling just can't be replicated. And in time to come, would I even remember the highs and lows, happy and sad times in Taiwan at all?
Kai Herng and I were chatting on MSN the other day, and he mentioned that this entire trip feels like a dream, and we just woke up from it.
I sort of agree with him, in the sense that everything here feels so familiar, it feels as though I've never left Singapore, and that the 18 days were mere figment of our imagination cause it really just whizzed past like that. And just like how you would forget a dream after you wake up from it, I'm afraid that memories of the trip will slowly fade with time.
But as of now, I am still not totally back yet. Physically I am here in Singapore, but mentally, I refuse to move on. I guess you can say I refuse to wake up from the beautiful dream. I still find myself lingering in Taiwan, thinking about the places we went and so on.
But there has to come a time to move on, and it will really be a sad thing when the time comes like Kai Herng said, but such is the nature of things, it can't be prevented.
Life has to go on.
And it's really frustrating to face the messy room that I have to clean up and the pile of untouched holiday assignment waiting for me to complete. It just shows me the harsh reality I have to face. I feel like I'm being pulled me out of the dream faster than I want.
Enough about the sad stuff, I want to remember the good things too...
The tour during the first few days before we went to our host family to stay really brought the 20 of us from Hwa Chong closer. Although we already know each other since June cause of all the dance practice and so on ...this is different.
Back then, we met up for dance practices, we met up to go out together when the Taiwanese came, but we still have our own closer friends and family in our lives that we can turn to. But in Taiwan, during the tour, we don't have our friends to rely on, we only have each other.
Of course in a group of 20, you can't be close to everyone, there'll always be some to that you can click better with...and unfortunately...there'll be some that you totally can't click with, or in some cases...repulsion.
To me, it's ok if I can't click with someone, I just minimise interaction with that person. It's not like that person is bad or I'm hard to get along with, it's just different frequency, so I reserve any judgment for this person in this kind of scenario.
But this is not always the case, somtimes interaction cannot be avoided, and certain interaction with certain individuals who did certain things tend to piss me off quite badly, though I tried very hard not to let it affect my mood.
I know a lot of what I typed above don't really make sense to you ...it's ok...I'm not talking about you..so fret not.
On the other end of the spectrum, Kai Herng, Clarence and Yuxiang really made the tour a much more enjoyable one, it's really fun exploring all the night markets of the places we went together, and keep eating like nobody's business.
And I really really want to thank Chio for making the 2 weeks in Yu Cheng so much more fun. All your weird antics really got me laughing and it's feel really good to have someone to talk to in a totally new environment like that. Seriously I would not have survived in Yu Cheng without you (other than my buddy of course).
And among the Yu Cheng HC people, I got along with Shuying (Ba!!) and Rebecca the best (other than Chio that is)...since we pretty much went out together every night after school since our buddies always go out together. You guys have been great company.
And there's Siowyi (go join the next superstar larz...love to sing so much), Hannah (stop sleeping during every lesson!!), Koon Yu (the shuai ge that everyone asks about) and Weixiang who went Yu Cheng too...thanks a lot for being part of the Yu Cheng memory...
And special thanks to....
Peck Yan... among the NJ peeps, I think I got to know you the best, since you sat in front of me during the recording of Guess^3. You must have been too crazy that day and laughed too much to trigger off a hyperventilation days later. And stop obsessing with your daughter names...
Tan Hui...my siao ding dong dance partner...really had lots of fun learning the Indian dance with you back in June and the Ares fac dance recently...it's nice to have someone to goof around with during dance practice...
Xin Wei...can't believe you're so easily spooked by ghost stories...should have told you more ghost stories that time in Hua lian when the bunch of us stayed up late and talked in the lobby...
CHUAN HAN BANG ZHU! Xin ku ni le!
More to come...the tour itself...irresistable taiwan food...the homestay...lessons in school....
Haha...sounds like some TV show or something...actually it's just a way to remind me what I wanted to blog next...
On an ending note....
BAI MA WANG ZI I AM!! MUAHAHAA!!
