Previous years have often been remembered for just one key event that rocked the world. 1997 was marked with the financial crisis; 2001 for the 9-11 attacks; 2003 for sars. 2008, unfortunately, would be remembered for many events - from the escape of mas selamat, to the election of obama, to the tainted milk incident, to the many feats of the athletes at 2008 beijing olympics, to the catastrophic degree of disasters the likes of sichuan earthquake and cyclone nargais, to the terrorist attack at taj hotel, to the political turmoil in thailand, to the global economic crisis that gripped us for months and followed us into the new year. of course there were many more events - some with more lasting impacts, some issues came, were discussed, and then were swept aside.

so that was 2008, a history-making, significant year that saw many changes in the global arena while i was in the army. and army wasnt that bad i guess, now that i am out of it. for me personally, there wasnt much in 2008 that struck me as a significant milestone or breakthrough for me, and most of the pretty memorable things were those tough times i had to go thru in the army. If 2007 was about learning, surviving, getting fit and learning new things; i must say 2008 is about applying what i have learnt, while going back to my roots of performing, the arts and debating and being with my friends. so out of army, 2008 was great for all the outings with jj, singapore debate open, jcdcs, taiwan and just slacking. and getting to know my debate juniors too.

it has been an interesting year. but ready or not, 2009, here i come.

junyi! posted at 3:16 pm.

it was a debating comeback of sorts. having not debated for like what - 3 YEARS?! yet it wasnt a 'comeback' that i would have liked, if results were to speak for themselves. at the end of this whole thing perhaps i feel that i havent developed as much as i would have liked and i feel old, tired, not as effective, not as analytical, and not as sharp or composed. i cant help but wonder though if i have lost it, or i have never had it in the first place. or could it be that increased involvement in adjudication have made me more critical of debaters, including myself.

i dont know. but it was a new format and being a technical speaker myself, i have never expected to have been bogged down by so many technical issues due to the nature of the competition. yet for all that it's worth, it was an interesting experience, and we did learn from every debate. after all it is a first debating bp style and 2, debating against overseas universities and all these bp pros. i can only hope to come back stronger and perhaps be ready for unis debate. or i might as well not join them. haha.

so many stories about the debates; i am just too tired to repeat them. but yea thanks imran for being a great teammate - all the feeding of information to a partner as ill-informed as i am haha. and thanks too turbs and jit for coming down at the ungodly hour of 845 just to watch us face our old foes. haha.

junyi! posted at 10:36 pm.

so the dont forget the lyrics episode came out and i think the camera loves me cos it kept doing closeups of the few of us. haha ok shameless. and kidding. thankfully it wasnt as embarrassing as i thought it would be and it is actually quite fun to spot people on tv. of course the real star of the show is still sj. and for all that's worth i think he did a great job and all so yay!

there are times these couple of weeks when i feel aimless. it is supposed to be a break, a vacation but something in me keeps telling me i need to doing something, i just cant put my finger to it. maybe it's the voices or the scoldings. perhaps i need more structure in my life. and more legitimate reasons to go out. (versus spending money)

oh well i know though in the end i would be complaining i am so busy i want a break, but i guess that's why we are humans. haha

on another note the rest ord today. congratulations to them for this day you have all been waiting for!

junyi! posted at 12:47 am.

so yes i am am back from my trip to taiwan. actually that was 2 days ago, but with ample rest required and stuff to settle, and recorded shows to catch up on, i decided that a blog entry could wait.

and so yes, after thousands of miles covered, a thousand photos taken and many hours spent on the road, i am back from an 8-day trip to taiwan. it was interesting and fun, although a tad tiring and that's what i absolutely hate about packaged tours. the long hours spent on the roads and the lack of time to cover a place with detail. yet within these 8 days so many things have happened in the world - obama unveiled some of the key appointment holders in his team; the mumbai attacks which i came to know of very briefly while channel surfing in the hotel room; and the senseless airport blockade that inconvenienced many and crippled thailand's reputation and its economy. thank goodness they vacated the premises and i just hope they have enough sense to stop whatever they are doing these supposed patriots and realise what they are doing to the country. i do get a little of whatever they are doing though, they have a cause to fight for and sometimes they fight for it whatever the cost. part of me tells me though that there are many selfish reasons for their actions - mainly to further their own political ambitions, although who am i to comment since i havent been following the situation that closely and that is mostly thailand's domestic politics, until they decided to blockade the airport and bring international scrutiny on the country. maybe that's what they wanted all along. 2 years already, and still such a mess.

so back to my trip, which i felt was quite a fruitful and enjoyable one, every overseas trip should be i guess, given my infrequent overseas trips, so this wasnt very much different, it was an eye opener in some ways and i liked how the taiwanese authorities tied in many aspects of taiwanese culture into an experience for tourists. there was of course the scenic views, the rich aborigine culture, the night markets and the various local products like jade, marble, pearl powder, lingzhi, tea etc. everything fits in so nicely and they have the support of the government so that makes it a cool experience for people who visit the various places. i am actually interested to see how singapore compares as a tourist destination after this trip, and maybe one day i shall just join a 3d2n tour of the country and see if i go to any factory outlets and how they introduce the country to visitors. it probably is going to be many commercialized places - loads of shopping and at most a visit to the zoo and perhaps botanical gardens and the orchid farm. oh and some photo taking with the merlion haha. some talking about the history of singapore on a trip to the museum and the merlion but perhaps that's it. very uncool. not a lot to say about the country's culture myths and legends. unlike taiwan which talked about chiang kai shek and his son who developed the country, their beliefs, how it was like and how they were rescued by lingzhi or deer foetus and what not. haha

so there would be many things i would remember from this trip - the not so pleasant being the long hours in the bus and the early mornings that remind me of army days and reveille timings; the lack of shopping; some bad embarrassing moments at factory outlets; the spoiling of my camera but thank goodness that was fixed and the rest nice moments or simplymemorable ones being the food (which i bought a lot of and ate a lot of - esp the muazhi and the various balls SLURP); the night markets; the cheap clothes (a lot of which i didnt buy due to my stalling); the hot springs (and the soaking in it in the nude); the pretty sceneries; the photo whoring (esp at those sites they use for filming - ah the fantasies we have to be in a tv series); the stories; the rich culture; the nice people who would talk to you, smile at you and welcome you; the farm resort, and esp the windows which seem to be a mirror but not really a mirror and people can actually see what you are doing inside your room but thank goodness i found out in time haha; the temples; the museum (esp the white cabbage jade); the centre of traditional arts; the aborigine costume that i tried on for fun; the bullet train; the train; the mountains; the deer foetus; the random yilu hokkien cartoon on the bus and have i mentioned food already? nevermind, that's worth mentioning again and the bad thing is many of the nice ones couldnt be brought back to the country. roar. the meals some were great and some were below average but there were some memorable ones, esp the one at this wujiao sampan rest cos everything from the interior design to the food to the cutlery were just so impressively unique.

there are some things that i dont enjoy and these could be cos it was a package tour and we wanted to explore the whole of taiwan in a limited period of time. and while there is some fun in travelling with friends and doing sight seeing yourself, there are benefits in a package tour, including not having to worry about accomodation, meals and itinery or getting lost once you get started. so all in all, it was quite an introduction to taiwan, although the next time i return to visit, it will be free and easy where i can shop all i want and visit the places i like and spend more time there.

i cant wait for my next overseas vacation, but meanwhile i suppose i have to get down to looking for a job and saving for uni and for my next vacation, hopefully with friends.

junyi! posted at 11:06 pm.