Pulau Ubin

Hey guys! The long awaited entry about our Ubin trip (the weekend of 20th and 21st October - if u guys look back in future and thinking “when ah?”) is finally here! I’m sure all of us had loads of fun while there – good company, fun activities and but of course not forgetting the booze which all you drunkards cant live without – Yishu I’m sure you have something to say about gin! =)

Its obvious who's most excited in this pic. Arriving happy (not knowing what's in store)

On reaching Ubin, the first thing that was utmost apparent was the battle that we would have with the mosquitoes. Bags down and up came our barriers and armaments of mosquito repellent sprays and coils. Of course who could forget our leading warrior, Shei Ting, who was the first to arm herself with a hanging mosquito coil. *By doing so she gained 20 close friends immediately who flocked to seek refuge with her*

After settling down, we kick-started our trip with skits from the respective teams we were broken into. From the mini-skits presented, we uncovered a character not known (then) for his “talent” – up stepped our very popular cook , Yishu, who took on the role of a contestant in a pageant. He gave us a stellar performance, with his hard pumping hand dance moves that we would never forget. And together with his famous tag-line “I go GYM”, it would most surely go down as one of the classic moments of Project Namaste II. Damn it was unfortunate no one recorded it on video. Simply a classic. Haha.

Shei Ting happily rolling over as "Jill"

In Huiling, we have 1 certified first aider! Her, together with the medic team, organized a rather comprehensive and interactive first aid workshop for the team.

<<< Paresh, dont get so comfy.

>>> Bro, you are getting out of hand man. Now you're lying down and even got Huiling as a masseur to service you.

Negative example of how not to use a bicycle

Motay caught in action

The famous Yishu dance hand movement

Project Namaste II: October 20th 2007

For the evening, about half of us went back to our shack to prepare dinner (our first attempt at simulating our cooking team) and the rest headed over to the beach for some sports. It was quite an eye-opener for a number of us who were part of the dinner team as we learned how to chop a frozen chicken. (Thanks Louise for helping out. On a side note, they had originally wanted to practice killing a live chicken but they couldn’t get a live chicken in mainland Singapore and it would have costs $10,000 to kill 1 in Pulau Ubin). Most of us tried our hand either at opening up the frozen chicken or chopping them up. Even our girls were adventurous enough to have a go at them!! Well done girls.

Finally managed to open the chicken after ages.

<<<>

>>> Joan I heard about the "bruises" that you gave the guys in your attempts to kick the ball. Angus just before he got "lobanged" by Kat.

Facial tanning gone wrong !!!

Still trying to figure out how that piece of rag on The Destroyer's head is supposed to represent a wolf.

Late night was when the party started for the guys. Beer bottles, gin and whisky were quickly whipped out. As Paresh would so testify “Booze is the best ice-breaker” and so it did. One embarrassing tale after another was made known. But the spotlight was again on Yishu – he who thanks to his buddy, John, simply stoned after drinking some beer and then gin. It was hilarious to see how he sat on the chair… dazed even when we asked him questions. Poor guy was knocked out as soon as he hit his sleeping bag.

Despite all the fun and games as mentioned, this trip was also a very fruitful one in terms of getting serious work done. The facilitation sessions made us come to consolidate our common visions better, fostered stronger relationships, understand what we need to do as a team and listed down some possible problems the team might face. We also managed to work on the teaching charts that we would be using for the kids in Nepal.

Mostly fun and games but hey, we still got some work done

Finalists of beach hunks competition?

Goodbye Ubin