I couldn't think of a title for this post, so I scrolled through my iTunes to look for some well-needed inspiration.

Then this song "Do It Now, Remember It Later" by the band Sleeping With Sirens started to play, and it goes: "now that I'm older I've seen all the things that I want and I'm ready to make my move". Those words there pretty much summed up the way I felt when I wrote this post about my adventures here in Ngee Ann.

And sharing with you here - the most memorable moments that I'll always remember:

My first camp at NP!

I was cast as an extra in the indie short film " Band of Mischief" by final-year Film, Sound & Video students. This film later went on to claim several awards in film festivals.

Scarefest 2010, a Halloween movement organized by stage production CCA - Stage52. It was my first Halloween and I dressed up as Pocahontas. Some of us spent hours making our characters as convincing as possible, it was effort well spent as I had so much fun!

Parading around the school in our costumes.

My CCA - New Revolving Age (NRA), hiphop dance club. This was our first performance as Freshman.

Overseas Leadership Camp in Malacca. It was a really fun trip as there was so much to see in Malacca. The hidden streets were the most enjoyable discoveries.

In 2011, I joined the Freshmen Camp 2011/12 as one of the crew members.

My first opportunity of being a Student Leader for the School of Media Studies' Freshmen Bonding Camp. You're looking at us proudly singing our 'National Anthem'.

Yes, I can do a split! Warming up for Dance4Fund, an inter-faculty dance competition.

At Camp Eleven, with the fellow Muslim girls, for our morning exercise! 

Another Stage52 Movement. This time it's a theatrical one and I was a dancer in a cabaret musical called The Guilty Ones. A big thank you to our Aunty Make Up Artist for doing our makeup! 

This is us.

Another year of the Freshmen Orientation Camp.

Here, with the people of NRA, after participating in a flash mob for nEbO's 4th birthday at Downtown East, Pasir Ris. It was quite an experience to be dancing in public to the hit song Party Rock by LMFAO. 

My coursemates.

The NRA's Freshmen Camp with an interesting theme - "Bubble Tea". It came about because almost everyone brings Bubble Tea to dance class!

Again, I had the opportunity of being a Group Leader for my group. They're an adorable bunch of dancers.

A 30-minute fish spa for US$1 in Cambodia. This tickles! I remember dipping my feet into the giant tank, laughing and crying when the fishes came nibbling at my feet (and this supposedly removes dead skin). My skin did feel smoother afterwards, so it wasn't too bad! Thank you fishies!

Star-jumping in Cambodia's Angkor Wat. For US$20, you get to visit this World Heritage Site.

Together with some NRA dancers that supported and performed for The Carnival Act, the closing event for Arts Fiesta 2011, a movement by Ngee Ann, in conjuction with the President's Challenge 2011. In total, we raised about $140,000! Good job everyone!

Yet again, another opportunity to become a Student Leader for Red Camp 8.

Learning new hiphop dance steps.

With good friend, Mardiana. We go a long way back in terms of our friendship! I first met her in a Freshmen Orientation Camp, and we've been really good friends since. I'm very thankful to have met her.

Well friends, thank you so much for reading this. Unfortunately, this would be my last post and I hope you've enjoyed reading my entries. And I'm ending off with a quote from the movie "Up":

Adventure is out there, so chase your dreams. I'm on my way chasing mine. 

Ideawerkz has launched their annual competition yet again. This year's competition is called the Ideawerkz Innovation Challenge 2011. Students participate by forming a team, or by working solo. What they had to do is to come up with ideas for the betterment of the school, at the same time fulfilling these criterias:-

1)  What can you do to make campus a livelier and cozier place?
2)  What initiatives can you mount to help students manage stress?
3)  What can you do to encourage students to be innovative? 

With so many inventive ideas, here are some of the ideas our students have contributed! Congratulations to our winners!

Shawn Tan's Proximity Sensors is pure genius. This way, I dont have to go on a Scavenger Hunt for tables and seats for lunch! With that, this makes him the Winner of Ideawerkz Challenge 2011!

Now this I find pretty cool. This will keep my feet dry! Normally, if you're wearing just socks and shoes during a rainy day, your socks will get wet, and then it will wrinkle up your toes, and you don't want that.

This movement will be great for budding musicians! Entertaining too!

This is really cool, considering there aren't enough seats available during lunch time in school.

The first time I walked past this contraption, I thought it was pretty annoying. But after seeing the reaction on the people's faces after passing this station, it's actually pretty entertaining.

Having a food delivery service in NP would totally help beat the queues during lunch hours.

I would be so thrilled if this actually happened. I could use a mini foot spa everyday after school!

Congratulations once again to all the participants!

Aside from the sightseeing, there had work to be done of course. Afterall, this was what this trip was all about - to serve the Cambodian community.

The project required us to teach English and Oral Hygiene to Cambodian Children. So off we went to our first stop in this town - the rural Old Piek Snaing Village! This village was very far out from the main part of town, and due to that - supplies were hard to come by, which resulted in many being malnourished. Besides that, there was a problem of head lice infestation among the children. So we spent the afternoon killing the pesky head lice and cooking up a nutritious meal of rice-soup consisting of rice, carrots and pig's blood for them. Sadly, the kids only get to eat the same meal twice a week, every week.

With their tummies filled, we taught them how to brush their teeth next. It was difficult at first because of the language barrier as there was only one interpreter, but we managed to pull through. Then, we gave out toothbrushes and toothpastes for everyone of them.

After visiting that village, our next community service activity was at the Kompong Khleang, The Floating Village. This village was very special because the children there are able to maneuver a sampan to their desired places in the village. It was heart warming when we saw one of the kids, after eating, immediately went to try out his new toothbrush.

Here are some of the many pics I took:

Old Piek Snaing Village, kids all lined up waiting to be de-liced.

Girls of the village.

Courtesy of Aaron Leong: Boys in a queue, waiting to be scrubbed. 

Courtesy of Aaron Leong: Big smiles from Johnson and Nicholas. "Muay, Pi, Pai!" Which means, One, two, three! It's a countdown for the icy water to reach their skins, as they brace themselves.

Courtesy of Aaron Leong: Had to tie up my hair into my cap for I was afraid the lice could jump to my hair. I had fun giving them a good scrub and a free head massage. 

Courtesy of Aaron Leong: Keefe & Jonathan.

Courtesy of Aaron Leong: They enjoyed my free head massage.

Courtesy of Aaron Leong: Rice Soup, with carrots and pig's blood.

Singing as they await their meal.

Serving them slowly..

The Lunch Ladies.

Rachael Ho, distributing the bowls.

She was the last one to finish, because she savored every bite of the soup, while others had seconds. 

Cute isn't she? Pity she's malnutritioned. 

On our way to The Fishing Village, we stopped for a bite. That's glutinous rice with beans, Cambodian style of the Malay 'Lemang'. Our boys here said it tasted sweet. 

They set up their own stalls along the road, and all of them sold the same glutinous rice with beans cooked in a bamboo roll. 

Welcome to The Floating Village! 

We've reached their Floating Church.

Us teaching them the correct way to brush their teeth.

This cutie pie on the left fell asleep shortly after I took his picture. 

Applying what she's learnt.

That's one happy baby.

Precious

Sleepy boy.

Awaiting their meal.

Azira on their Sampan.

Very caring, they are. After they had their share of the rice soup in a bowl, they 'tapao' some soup into a plastic bag to share it with their family members.

Class dismissed! 

Like a boss.

Til we meet again! 

Our efforts paid off! 

Hope you enjoyed this one, and maybe one day you'll be able to travel to Cambodia too! 

Photos courtesy of Aaron Leong, Keefe Wong & Fatin Halina

Apart from experiencing the flood, we also visited one of the wonders of the world; Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat means 'Temple City'. Like it's name, it's the state temple in Cambodia and the country's prime attraction. It's also the world's largest religious building catering at first to the Hindu religion, then to the Buddhists.

It was raining when we visited all the temples, so we got to see Angkor Wat in a different light. Angkor Wat is HUGE. It's surrounded by a spectacular moat and it was simply amazing on the inside. Walls with carvings that are perfectly chiseled, each panel with a different story to tell.

The visit was also very special because the Ta Phrom Temple was used as a location for a scene in the movie Tomb Raider. As a film student, I felt very fortunate to be able to visit a famous movie location.

I shall leave you to the pictures now and let them do the talking:

Here's a ticket that you'll need in order to enter all the temples in Angkor Wat. They snap your picture and print it on the spot. Really cool souvenir.

The moat surrounding Angkor Wat.

And it was raining...

Stone carvings on the temple walls; Khmer soldiers marching to battle.

Such detail in the carvings..

Our tour guide for the day, Mr So Hun

Steps to go up and see the other side of the temple.

We saw this pretty lil darling on our way.

It was already flooded when we came.

Ta Phrom Temple

How efficient...

Can you spot a smiling face?

Faceless temple God.

Gates to Angkor Thom.

Spot any elephants?

A temple guard at the Bayon Temple. His head and part of his leg was stolen. So they replaced his leg. His head, I'm not so sure if he's going to get a new one..

Carvings of Muslim Soldiers

The Smiling face of Buddha.

There was a photoshoot going on while we were visiting.

This place is great for hide-and-seek. 

After the rain...

It's like a boardwalk through the temples..

Replicate statue of Buddha right there, with the golden yellow sash. The real statue was stolen, unfortunately.

That would be all for this post. If you're interested in checking out other pictures of Angkor Wat, drop me an email! Stay tuned for my other posts about Cambodia! 

Til then! Toodles, my noodles! 

I am back. Two weeks later, I am flood-trained. Yes, I am flood-trained from spending time in Siem Reap, Cambodia where water-levels were thigh high. It was an eye-opening experience for me and 14 others from the School of Film & Media Studies who came along for this Youth Expedition Programme.

It happened day four into our trip, when we were all snuggled up in our pyjamas and pillows getting ready for bed when our lecturer made the dramatic announcement that we had to evacuate! We thought he was pulling our leg, but he was dead serious! So in the next 20 minutes, we were all packing our things really quickly and made our way to a church nearby that was on higher ground.

It was pitch black and we had to rely on our torchlights, and this point some of the houses were already flooded up to the knees. As walked deeper in, the water got higher. On the way to the church, we passed by the river bank and saw water spilling speedily into the village.

We camped in the church for the night, and the next morning were told that BBLC was flooded up to the knees. But our luggages, thankfully, were safe. All our activities in the village and BBLC were suspended for they were expecting another wave of flood to come but we had to make our way back to BBLC to collect our luggage.

And off we went to a hotel, for the next three nights!

Here're some pictures that were captured in the floods:

Leaving our first hotel for BBLC.

Flooded houses in the city.

Flooded up to the knees in Siem Reap.

Finally reached the entrance to the village, where BBLC is located about 500 metres in.

We had to carry our luggages in because the bus couldn't drive inside to drop us off.

The river in the day.

Our flooded journey began at our ankles.

Later, it was up to our thighs.

The overflowing river bank.

Church playground.

Overflowing river dam.

The village river.

Embarking to back to BBLC.

Villager's house.

Flooded up to out butts.

One of the kids found a fun way to entertain the flood.

He built a raft! 

A flooded BBLC.

Our flooded dorm, where we were supposed to have nice dreams..

This is Smey. (Pronounced Smai) One of the kids who goes to school at BBLC. Please ignore my very glamorous pyjamas.

Here comes the Land Rover to rescue our luggages! 

He too found a way to entertain himself with the flood.

Walking out of the village.

Finally out! 

Flooded roads.

One of the streets in Siem Reap.

A flooded church in Siem Reap.

Locals playing in the flood.

Swimming..

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: Marching out of the flood in our pyjamas.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: The flood's not that bad.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: A flooded boys dorm.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: Mr Hsien, one of the lecturers for the trip.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: Walking back to BBLC for cleaning up.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: Scrubing the donated towels, t-shirts, to be given away to villagers.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: Lots of work to do! 

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: The library got flooded too, so we sorted out the books that were still in good condition for reading.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: Mrs Sng, our other lecturer, hanging up the towels for drying.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: That's Nicholas, cleaning up the store room

Photo courtesy of Aaron Leong: What Nicholas & our other friend Johnson came up with during our 2-night rebound to BBLC.

Don't forget to check out FMS YEP CAMBODIA PART II & III for more exciting stories! 

Hey you! Have you heard of the Arts Fiesta?

If you haven’t, just know that you’re in for a treat! Our various performing groups will be showcasing their talents outside Munch, and at the Student Plaza. These mini performances will be on 24, 27, and 31 Oct, as well as 2 Nov.

Here's a sneak peek of what happened at Munch! There was a performance by the Contemporary Dance Club and other performing groups.

Members from hip-hop dance club New Revolving Age (NRA) were also selling tickets for their performance, The Carnival Act, which will be held on 4 & 5 Nov 2011 at the University Cultural Centre at NUS.

There will also be more ticketed performances by some of our performing groups, like the NP Voices, Indian Cultural Society, Concert Band Club, Chinese Orchestra Club and Contemporary Dance Club at the new MusicBox@73.

NP Voices Club's recent concert, Grandioso IV. (Photo credit: Lee Zhi Xiong)

What will they bring to the stage at this upcoming performance? )

The best part? All proceeds from the ticketed performances will be donated to the President’s Challenge 2011. You get to enjoy performances while doing your part for charity!

So grab your friends, and support the Arts Fiesta 2011! More information can be found here!

Now that I’m back (safely) in Singapore after spending 6 weeks in Wuhan, Hubei China, and started a new semester back in school, there are some things that I miss about China.

You may have seen my previous post on the food in China. If you haven’t, check it out here!

Yes, I miss the huge food servings. The mountain of fried rice that costs only a dollar.

Of course, I’ve learnt through talking to the locals that while their food is cheap, their pay is lower compared to Singapore. What we consider a meager salary from a fast food restaurant worker is higher than what they can get for a similar job.

On the trip, we also went sightseeing to the Lulin Forest, Three Gorges Dam, Yellow Crane Tower, Hubei Provincial Museum, East Lake, Wudang Mountains and so on. The scenery was a shutterbug’s galore, and we also learnt about the rich history of Wuhan, of Hubei, and of China. Here are some pictures:

One of the artifacts on display at the Hubei Provincial Museum.

The beautiful scenery onboard a boat tour of the Three Gorges Dam.

This Overseas Immersion Programme was definitely a good experience. I learnt to adapt to the dire conditions of China, and in the process appreciated how fortunate I am to live in Singapore.

If you ever have the chance to go for such a trip, I encourage you to apply for it!

Hi! This is Clara, with the last blog post on my 6 weeks spent in Wuhan, Hubei China!

So, as the title suggests, what makes a country?

If you guessed that it’s the people, you’re right! This post will be about some of the interesting people that I met during this trip.

周阿姨 (Aunty Zhou) is the caretaker of our hostel. The 43-year-old has been working and living in the hostel for three years, and has seen four batches of our NP students so far.

During the day, she will read the newspaper or watch drama shows on her computer.

What struck me the most about Aunty Zhou is that she is always so friendly and welcoming with her smile. She goes the extra mile; once, she helped us to keep our laundry that was in the sun, because we were out over the weekend for sightseeing.

严阿姨 (Aunty Yan) operates a noodle stall in the school’s canteen with her husband. The stall operates throughout the week, from 7am to 8pm.

Aunty Yan, who is 42 years old, has never heard of nor been to Singapore, so it was interesting for her when she found out that I was Singaporean. Ever since then, I have a friendly chat with her every time I patronize her stall.

To me, Aunty Yan is a motherly figure that truly cares for all her customers.

When night falls, the street outside my university comes alive. Food stalls line the place, and everyone flocks the place for cheap yet good food.

Some of the stallholders knew that we were Singaporeans. For this uncle (picture below), it was because we always bought the chicken wraps from his stall.

However, I didn’t manage to talk to him more, because he was always busy serving his customers.

That’s all I have for this post, and this wraps up my 6-week stay in Wuhan! I leave you with some of my pictures of the people I met on the streets. Enjoy!

Hi! Once again, this is Clara, a second-year Mass Communication student from the School of Film and Media Studies. After spending close to five weeks in Wuhan, Hubei China, I have a list of ten things that you (probably) didn’t know about Wuhan.

The list is a compilation of my personal observations, as well as interaction with the locals.

1. McDonalds does not deliver to all areas

In Singapore, we take it for granted that McDonalds will deliver to wherever we are at. In Wuhan, however, the place is so spread out that they do not deliver to all areas. I tried calling McDonalds once, but they told me that they did not deliver to my university. So if Ronald fails to deliver, try Kentucky instead.

2. Military training

All students (even the girls) have to go for military training, starting from as young as primary school level. The training lasts for about one or two weeks before school starts, but can vary according to the school's system. In our university, freshmen will be required to go for a month of military training before they head back to school.

3. Walmart and Carrefour

This trip is my first time to China, and I didn’t expect to find hypermarkets like Walmart and Carrefour. In fact, there are many of such hypermarkets sprinkled across Wuhan. During our first week here, we swamped these hypermarkets to get our snacks as well as housekeeping items, and whatever we forgot to bring from Singapore.

4. Cameras and Locals

Walking around with our chunky DSLR cameras, we certainly attracted a lot of attention. People knew immediately that we were not locals, that’s a given. But what intrigued me more was that they stopped to pose for our camera; moms with babies, pet owners and their pets, or just ordinary individuals on the street. Some even came next to us to look at our photos.

5. On the road

When we travelled on the road, impatient drivers would honk excessively, which can be very jarring to the ears (they even have areas marked with signs that restrict honking). However, going up the mountains for sightseeing, we learnt that they will honk around bends to warn incoming vehicles coming from the other direction, because there are no convex mirrors around the corner.

6. Dance

People would gather in groups and dance in public places. After talking to the locals, I found out that the people could be dancing for personal wellbeing, or to create hype for events.

7. Public Transport

In the middle of the road when we were stuck in a traffic jam, I saw people alighting from the public bus. Everyone. According to our taxi driver, this could be because the passengers were within walking distance to their destination and didn't want to wait, or because the air-conditioning of the bus was spoilt.

8. Toilets

In China, most public toilets have squat toilets. So while I was delighted to find a toilet with toilet bowls, I was shocked to hear a lady saying in Chinese, "Oh why is it all seat toilets?"

9. National Day
China's National Day falls on a Saturday, but most people get about a week of holiday in commemoration of the National Day. Our university thus became very quiet because most students went back to their hometowns.

10. Fireworks (no, not the song)
In Singapore, we only experience fireworks during events like National Day and New Year. But in Wuhan, fireworks can be set off during celebrations (even during the daytime…when you can’t see the fireworks) like a wedding, a newborn baby, or even to wish the elderly longevity.

This concludes the list of ten things you (probably) didn’t know about Wuhan. I hope that you’ve learnt more about Wuhan through this post. Next week, look out for my post on “Interesting People I met in Wuhan”, as well as many photos of the people I met on the streets.

Do you have any facts about Wuhan / China? Share it with us!

Hi! I am Clara, a second-year Mass Communication student. I am currently on a six-week Overseas Immersion Programme with the School of Film and Media Studies. Over the next few posts that I will be writing, I will share with you my experiences on this trip to Wuhan, Hubei China were we are currently staying in the hostels of Wuchang University of Technology. 

Let’s start off with the food! The food in Wuhan is really value-for-money. The portions are really huge! Here are some pictures:

First up, we have fried rice. This mountain of rice only costs 10 yuan, which is equilvalent to about S$2! 

 Next, we have dumplings, which cost 6 yuan (about S$1.20) for 25 pieces. 

For noodles, they have many varieties of noodles. This plate of beef noodles costs 10 yuan (S$2), and it is such a huge serving of noodles with ingredients!

Of course, we had to try their local delicacies too! This bowl of hot dry noodles was bought from the school’s canteen, and only cost 3 yuan ($0.60)! Again, there is a huge portion of noodles. Who says canteen food can’t be good and cheap?

Another local delicacy would be Tang Bao (汤包), which is what we call Xiao Long Bao. 10 Tang Bao cost 12 yuan (S$2.40). It is very hot, and best eaten when the weather is cold! Currently, it was autumn here, so the weather is slightly chilly.

In general, the food in Wuhan is more salty and oily than what we are used to back in Singapore. After a week or two, we have adapted to the food here. Also, if the food portions are too big for you to get used to, it’s good to share with a friend!

That’s all I have for the first post! I will leave you with more pictures of the good food: