German

camping

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Click the links below to read the related articles:
luau? tent beach(?)

Also, click here to check out the “Behind the Scenes at VendAsta” video 🙂
It’s definitely a must see video! I guarantee, you will have a good laugh! 😀
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I’ve never experienced camping in this side of the world, hence, I was really looking forward to the first ever company camping at the Palliser Park Marina. Impediments such as upset tummy, last-minute change of transportation arrangements, lack of camping gears, and among other things did not stop TheCuriousMe from joining the said activity.

Initially, I requested to car pool with YW but something unexpected happened so I had to ask P and N for a ride. Thanks for making me feel welcome P and N!

The “shortcut” to our destination was to cross the Lake Diefenbaker via ferry. The ferry ride was awesome! I admit, it’s also my first time to board a ferry while inside the car. :p

IMG_20120817_161343 — waiting for the ferry

The social committee agreed to designate the meal preparation to each team. For the booze and pop, everyone were encouraged to bring their favorites.

TP,TheCuriousMe,&Bryce
breakfast	lunch
most anticipated supper

Overall, we had a great time! A good bonfire, colorful fireworks, interesting (!) chitchat, relaxing music, endless supply of food and booze, crazy antics, and hilarious moments. 😀

“lil execs” meeting	badminton
TheCuriousMe with Julia Roberts younger version	“i have big head and little arms”

German S’mores	American turned Canadian S’mores

The camping activity indeed helped us bond, get to know each other on a more personal level and bring to light everyone’s quirks. It was an absolutely amazing discovery! I’m glad I joined.

Famous word of the entire weekend: Positivity!

P.S.
S’mores are so tasty! Right Alan? 🙂

beach(?)

With the excitement building up at the campsite, the group also can’t wait to head out to the beach to hang out during the day and watch the fireworks at night.

At first, I was baffled because I can’t find the usual white sand and big waves that I was accustomed to. I guess, I have somewhat a different definition of the word “beach”. Don’t shoot me please? I grew up in a tropical country wherein it’s summer all year round and beaches with white sand and big waves are all over the place. Oh. Did I just define “paradise”?

courtesy of equalizerpost.com — “paradise”

As a typical Asian, I have this love and hate relationship with the sun. Yeah, I always find myself hiding from the harmful sun rays since time immemorial. At the beach, Nathan R’s shirt served as my improvised umbrella. TP thought I looked funny. I must say, so long as I have a “shade”, it doesn’t matter if I looked weird.

Anyway, TP lent me her fancy “semi-tent” (i think, it’s called a montage) when we went to the beach the second time around. It certainly made a world difference from the “umbrella-shirt”. Totally cool! Ha!

IMG_20120818_152310 — disassembling “the montage” with Baby JC

Below are the beach “kodak” moments:

	Moose Jaw sandcastle
basking under the sun	“sun scowl”

German Engineering with Canadian Little Workers	sunny sunshine!

Until next outing! 🙂

English

I’ve always thought that if you have good command of the English language, it will be enough to make you “global”. Hence, I did everything within my mighty power to learn English even though I abhor the intricacies of its “technical” aspect.

A lot of people say I speak and write English well… Hmm.… I might have succeeded in a certain way but I know in my heart that I still have a long way to go.

My accent turned topsy-turvy after communicating with people having various mother tongue such as:

Filipino (Ilokano, Tagalog, Bisaya, Ilonggo, etc)
Dutch
German
French
Singaporean Mandarin
Chinese Mandarin
Cantonese
Hokien
Bhurmese
Bhutanese
Nepalese
Indonesian
Malay
Arabic
Ethiopian Language
Hindi
Tamil

I usually adapt the most prominent accent but my tongue seemed be confused on what accent to follow. Strange huh? Even so, I did manage to improve my accent slowly and it got better when I worked at HSBC. We were dealing with American clients, so, we were taught to neutralize our accent to minimize communication barrier. After a few months, I can already speak English with that American twang.

However, when I went to work in Singapore, I needed to unlearn that American twang and speak English the “local” way inorder to get the message across and minimize receiving blank stares. (See related article -> Singlish).

Now, I need to unlearn the Singlish and bring back the North American way of speaking English. It’s a work in progress and it’s a bit difficult because I’ve also adapted the unresponsive nature of Singaporeans. It’s a total struggle!

Looking at the brighter side of things, I know things will work well in the next couple of months. The naturally bubbly, giggly. and chatty me will soon surface.

How to think English is also added in my to do list. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not removing Ilokano and Tagalog in my system. I’m a Filipino and will always be. I just want to improve myself and make my Mama proud (wherever she is now). (Note: Writing is given. :p)

Thus, my mantra now is:
“I must speak English and think English.”

Why don’t we do this together? Aja! 🙂

student life

Being a student is undeniably one of the most exciting moment in a person’s life. It is similar to having a roller coaster ride with several loops on the side. Ups and downs with matching 360 degree turn are part and parcel of the students’ life. Lectures, discussion, quizzes, examination, homework, group activities, extra curricular activities, and even cat fights and school rumble are the gist of being a student.

Also, not to forget the following:

burst of laughters
uncontrollable tears
squabbles
endless chatting (a.k.a. chikahan) and teasing

Moving forward, below were the unforgettable memories in my life as a student:
Kindergarten
Out of the blue, my classmate, C, kissed me on the cheeks. I burst into tears and cried loudly. I don’t know if he still remembers it, but I still do. He was a cutie then, I wonder how he looks like now. Hmmm…..

Primary
When we were about to be spanked with a stick (punishment for not bringing our garden tool) by our teacher, we ran away from him.

Secondary (High School)
Some of the boys in the senior class went to our room and started attacking one of our classmate. Whoa! It’s a total rumble! Chairs were literally flying and it’s a real showdown of skinny boys. (See related article –> high school )

Tertiary
I was walking towards our department building when I witnessed a lover’s quarrel. The girl threw the engagement ring with all the emotions that you can imagine in the school owner’s fish pond.
I frozed and the quickly went back to the building where I came from.

Masteral
I used to be a perennial latecomer especially in my first subject (8a.m.) which was then handled by the President of the University. Nevertheless, I still got a high grade and one of my classmates whined about it because he’s always early and he got a lower grade.

Post Graduate Course
Our lecturer team me up with a German lady and Austrian guy in a group activity. The German lady acted like she’s well verse with the topic and monopolized the discussion. The Austrian guy was just nodding his head and then asked for my opinion.

Although I was tongue tied for a bit, I did manage to give my brief but concise opinion (with a smile) which was absolutely contradictory to what the German lady was saying.

Doctorate (PhD)
Shali and I was heavily scolded by the Dean of the Graduate College because we did not attend the Qualifying Exam on the “scheduled date”. It was a shocker and weird because we both saw that the schedule should be the next day.

We were finally allowed to take the exam after being grilled. I decided not to continue my PhD after passing the Qualifying Exam. :p

A mischievous smile lights up my face whenever I reminisce my student life. I can say that I’ve been naughty and nice? 😀