Hmm, it seems that my narration of the Senior's Camp is quite overdue this year. Senior's Camp has been greatly expanded this year since RHOC does not have Orientation to organize due to the lack of freshmen. So they gave us
The Amazing Rhace instead.
Initially, I had not intended to join, being inclined instead to fritter away time in the relative peace and quiet of my room. Something, though - I can't recall exactly what it was now - something slapped me awake and I realized how foolish I was, craving seclusion when that was the last thing I needed. Perhaps it was the long 12 weeks of the internship. I've got a nagging feeling that I could have done something much more productive than that this vacation, although I can't imagine exactly what now. Perhaps it was the seclusion of the past year - entirely my own doing, that one. Perhaps some random event or conversation. I don't know. Anyway, when Jon asked if I could go, I replied "Yay!!!" with more exclamation marks than would be considered sane.
Ah, what to say about the RHace. Fun? Yup! It was conducted ala the Amazing Race that we see on television. RHOC arranged a variety of exciting activities all over Singapore, ranging from human hamster balls to Laser Quest to... handicraft under the Esplanade... all right, maybe not so exciting, that... Camping at the East Coast Park was fun - I don't recall camping before - oh, we did lots of walking too. Cabbing also. We cabbed all over the place, mainly when public transport was tortuously slow. Especially bus 2 to Changi Village. We could have rode into the next century on that bus.
I was quite amazed at the effort and expense spared for the activities. Some of the events like the hamster ball and water skiing were really expensive. And nine RHOC-ers rushing around Singapore to coordinate must have been really hectic. All the same, we had to pay our share of transport and food, and the expected reimbursement did not amount to much in the end - only $12, out of $30 spent per person. But I guess it was worth it for the experience and company.

Company: Me, Jia Voon, Gail, Jon. Someone took this during the bumboat ride to Pulau Ubin, i.e. Granite Island.
I was going to write a full and detailed description of the whole thing but as Gail has already done a wonderful job (and I daresay my narration would be quite similar to hers) I changed my mind.
***One of our tasks was to walk to Bedok from East Coast Park and eat the bak chor mee there. The food centre was in Bedok North, which was still abuzz with people when we reached it at midnight, hungry and tired from a long day. Jia Voon, Jon and I thought the noodles were really good and we decided to return before our holiday was at an end.
Which we did last Thursday. Gideon followed us. Upon arrival Gideon commented that it was the same place that he brought his orientation group when he himself was in RHOC, in my first year. Immediately, I realized that I was in Gideon's group during orientation and I had been to that very same food centre when I was a freshie, after busy hours flagging at the town centre! Imagine how quickly such memories fade from my mind. I was completely lost then, clinging on to a senior in the midst of an unfamiliar world. A small wave of nostalgia washed over me, on top of the smell of the noodles and chicken wings that comprised our dinner.
- Oh no, I'm hungry. This is why I avoid blogging about food.
***I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Gail and Jon yesterday on his computer. Or should I say,
Willy Wonka and his Chocolate Factory, because it wasn't the recent movie with Johnny Depp in it. This was actually the 1971 version, which I didn't know existed. It was pretty charming. and full of chocolate (of course). Later all of us went to Cheers to get chocolate. This was mainly for their benefit and not mine, as I don't enjoy chocolate that much. Maybe I haven't found the right kind of chocolate yet.
- It was a musical, with songs that I felt did not fit into the story well. Really random songs, which broke up the flow of the movie. I would have much preferred it without all the songs, I was thinking, until Gene Wilder (who played Willy Wonka) started singing Pure Imagination. I suddenly realized that I
had heard this song before! Audra McDonald sang it beautifully in one of her concerts (I discovered her while searching for Sondheim's songs on Youtube, as I often do) and she said it came from Willy Wonka. So I did know the movie after all.
I will attempt to play it on the piano in the comm hall. No more teatime, so the piano lounge will hopefully be less noisy.
*Insert nice warm feeling here*