Live with Intention; Play with Abandon; Choose with no regret; Laugh; Do what you love; Live as if this were all there is. What one is fated to have in life one will have; what one is not fated to have, there is no point in pressing for. Life, is not meant to be this hard.

OVE 2011 Cambodia !

Some of my favourite photos from the trip. Thanks to Shingkwan for helping me to take some really awesome photos as well! There's sadly not enough space to share all of them here, so do refer to facebook for more ! :D

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Am strangely having mixed feelings about being home. On one hand, I'm happy to be back with my family and friends, but I really miss the carefree and simple two weeks we had over there. Plus with great company, everyday was perfect. No worries and stress, everyday was just pure simplicity.

And the trip was seriously damn brain stimulating cause we kept playing alot of mind games during our free time - such as "super high level" bridge and polar bear, and alot of memory and guessing games. Some of the games were damn mindfreaky and we always drained ourselves mentally for don't-know-what reasons. But nevertheless, I learnt alot and gained much more experience!!! :D R&R was great as well, less the 7 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh during which we had around 10 bus breakdowns?? Luckily I slept all the way... HAHAHA I'm such a pig I know. And we got to visit Angkor Wat too! Glad that I managed to climb all the way to the top cause the view was so worth it!!! Just a pity that there was rain in the distance so the sunset was blocked by the clouds :/ I think the highlight of the trip was definitely the Rice Soup Programme. I can't even begin to explain how heartwrenching the situation was. You really have to be there to understand what I mean. Some of the kids didn't even have enough money to buy clothes :(

Overall, I am very grateful for this trip - it allowed me much personal growth and I've learnt alot of life lessons that I would never get out of books from all the participants and students we have interacted with. This trip has made me a lot stronger, more patient and more forgiving. I've also learnt to be more appreciative of all the blessings that I have and I made alot of new friends along the way. Without this trip, I guess I would never have interacted with some of the participants who went along and wouldn't have gotten to see a totally different side to them.

I've also learnt alot from the students at BBLC. Like what Chakmun said, these students know how to dream. In our world, we are so cooped up with results, deeply-calculated plans and complaints so much so that we have forgotten to dream. We asked several of the students there what their ambition was, and most had answered firmly that they want to be teachers/doctors/tour guide when they grow up. And to think that many of us are still stuck aimlessly in life, still unsure of what we want to do and achieve. I wish I had that sort of determination to fight for what I want all the time. And I can also never forget the look on my students' faces when they teared as we left, as well as all the heartfelt letters and gifts they gave us. It was a really short but well spent two weeks with the students and I really admire their pure and innocent care for others. In my world, I have known some people for the longest time, but we don't show such affection and care for each other as much as the students at BBLC do. Also, some of them may not have enough money to buy things they want or need nor do they have the means to lead the life we lead, but at the very least, they are happy the way they are. These kids have taught us alot and I am very grateful for that. The least we could do was to teach them English and to share with them photos and stories from our world. Like what was discussed during the trip, these children may not be able to travel out of their village to see what is on the outside, but we could help them to see the world through us. I just found it a pity that we had so little time to interact with the students as I felt that we really could have done so much more. Some of my students had asked me if I was planning on coming back again next year, but I had to disappoint them as I knew that this was my one and only chance due to PA during the next summer break. I wish I could go back to visit sometime with the rest of the team... Thank you OVE2011 for making this such a wonderful experience. Thank you Puok Village and the students at BBLC for making this such a memorable trip!! Orkoon!!! :D

Off to Cambodia tomorrow for OCIP trip till the 18th. It's a really long trip, and I am really really scared for the trip. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope that I'll pull through this. Given the recent events that occurred this past week, I hope that this trip will be one to learn, reflect and grow stronger from. I will see you guys in 2 weeks time. Bye :)