(Note: No spoilers ahead.)
So, I watched Dreamworks Animation's Rise Of The Guardians today. I must say after watching the amazing trailer, I had REALLY high hopes for this film. I also had really high hopes for Pixar's Brave (one of my Oscar nomination favourites) which turned out to be a big disappointment.
To be honest, I was afraid that Rise Of The Guardians would be a letdown, and I was really hoping that this movie would get a Best Animated Feature Academy Award (that's the Oscars, BTW) nomination.
Well, after watching it, I must change that statement, I'm not hoping for an Oscar nomination for this movie. I am hoping for an Oscar WIN.
Yup, this movie was that amazing.
The beautiful storyline, the stellar voice cast, the goosebump-inducing music by the awesome Alexandre Desplat, the animation itself, everything was beautiful. (Also, the jokes were funny without being too American.) Though I must admit, some parts made me think of Peter Pan (both Disney animation and live action films). The Sandman, yetis, Easter eggs (and bunny), tiny elves, and baby tooth fairies were so adorable! And Jack Frost is the awesomest-cutest male animated character EVER. (Oh yeah, and no kissing!)
This is also the first movie that made me cry. But I wasn't crying because I felt sad. No, I was crying because I was happy. Yup, this film made me shed tears of pure joy. It made me believe once again in all the things I had forgotten, magic, imagination, wonder and hope. This is the most beautiful film I have ever seen, animated or live-action. Thank you, Dreamworks, for this amazing experience.
Watch it if you haven't yet!
Lastly, I shall end with my Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination predictions.
One website predicted Pixar's Brave (The Big Disappointment), Disney's Wreck-It-Ralph (Ew, No), Tim Burton's Frankenweenie (haven't watched it yet so I can't say anything about it), The Painting (never heard of it, so ditto), and ParaNorman (No way! Did anyone even watch this movie? Maybe I'm just being biased because I was annoyed with the trailer being used as a YouTube advertisement).
As possible spoilers, they listed Rise Of The Guardians (as you know, I disagree with this, see above), Hotel Transylvania (oh Gawd, no), Studio Ghibli's From Up on Poppy Hill (comment below), and The Lorax (no comment). I totally agree with their list of longer shots though.
So, here are my predictions:
1. Dreamworks Animation's Rise Of The Guardians (nuff said, literally)
2. Disney/Pixar's Brave (although I was disappointed, the only Pixar movie that wasn't nominated since this category's inception in 2001 was 2011's Cars 2, and I'm really not surprised)
3. Tim Burton's Frankenweenie (I'm being biased because it's Tim Burton)
4. The Lorax (it was a really cute movie, and compared to the other contenders, this is a better choice because it had a good environmental theme going on) if this doesn't get nominated, then probably Wreck-It-Ralph, cause people will be biased towards Disney.
5. Studio Ghibli's From Up On Poppy Hill (Being even more biased, but this was a really beautiful story. Unfortunately, unlike all the other films, it doesn't have a fantasy thing going on so some people may not appreciate it.)
One last thing, I BELIEVE!
Ok, I'm done. *satisfied grin*
(Note: No pics because I'm typing this on my iPod.)
Additional notes on Rise Of The Guardians (17th December 2012):
Ok, I do not appreciate the reviews given by the critics. THIS MOVIE WAS NOT MEANT TO BE SCRUTINISED TO PIECES BY ADULTS. It was meant to be enjoyed by children and to let them believe in things like imagination and magic which have been lost in this modern age of ours. SO STOP LOOKING AT IT LIKE AN ADULT, AND JUST TRY TO REDISCOVER THE CHILD IN YOU.
In other news, the movie has just won the Best Animated award at the Hollywood Film Festival, Audience Favourite Children's Film at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and Best Animated/Mixed Media Satellite Award.
Pending nominations:
1. Critic's Choice Awards for Best Animated Feature, other nominees: Brave (No), Frankenweenie, Madagascar 3 (NO.), ParaNorman (No.), and Wreck-It-Ralph (No.).
2. Annie Awards for ... a lot. The Annie Awards are solely dedicated to animation, so that explains it. Anyway, 8 nominations. Huzzah! But the nomination list for the main award, Best Animated Feature, is pretty crowded. Other nominees: Brave, Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, ParaNorman, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (Aardman production), The Rabbi's Cat (It's French), and Wreck-It-Ralph. I think you should know how I feel about this by now.
3. Golden Globe Awards for Best Animated Feature Film, other nominees: Brave, Frankenweenie (Yet to have an opinion), Hotel Transylvania (Surely not), Wreck-It-Ralph (I'm beginning to see a pattern here...).
Random thought, I have never been this supportive of a Dreamworks movie before, except maybe How To Train Your Dragon. I was pretty biased towards Disney/Pixar.
Kay, I'm done.
07 December, 2012
01 November, 2012
You Can't Stop The Beat
So it's been almost a year since Hairspray, and I think it's about time I make this long overdue post. Oh well, better late than never?
Hairspray was something that could or could not have happened. It was something that would either inspire me, or crush my dreams. I regret nothing. I loved every second of being able to spend time with these wonderful people. Being inspired by these wonderful people. Crying, laughing, praying, dancing. I wouldn't change any of that for anything in the world.
Ok, let's start with the auditions. They were held in the black box theatre above City Ballet. We had to dance, sing two contrasting songs, and perform a monologue. I didn't do that well, but I asked Xavier and Sylvia for advice afterwards, which helped me a lot.
By some miracle (and a lot of pushing), I managed to weasel my way into the ensemble. First rehearsal, at first I couldn't go, but I managed to work my way around that too.
And then after that, well. . . I learnt how to sing and dance, and I had fun. :)
I'm really grateful for this experience, thanks to this, I think I'm a bit more confident than I was before. :)
"It was hell at the time, but after it was over, it was wonderful." ~ Billy Wilder
Hairspray was something that could or could not have happened. It was something that would either inspire me, or crush my dreams. I regret nothing. I loved every second of being able to spend time with these wonderful people. Being inspired by these wonderful people. Crying, laughing, praying, dancing. I wouldn't change any of that for anything in the world.
By some miracle (and a lot of pushing), I managed to weasel my way into the ensemble. First rehearsal, at first I couldn't go, but I managed to work my way around that too.
And then after that, well. . . I learnt how to sing and dance, and I had fun. :)
I'm really grateful for this experience, thanks to this, I think I'm a bit more confident than I was before. :)
"It was hell at the time, but after it was over, it was wonderful." ~ Billy Wilder
31 October, 2012
Regarding Something Completely Unrelated To Halloween
Today, I was supposed to participate in a public speaking competition, but in the end, I didn't. Read on. I'm somewhat disappointed that I did not get a chance to speak because I think I wrote a pretty good speech. Here it is:
Good morning honourable judges, teachers and all my fellow friends. The title of my speech is "the importance of being prepared". I am afraid that I have been pulled unwillingly to join this competition. Being the incredibly blur person that I am, I had no idea that the public speaking competition was today and so, I only prepared this speech 5 minutes ago. If I was more prepared by finding out beforehand when this competition was going to be held, I would not be in this awkward situation. Thus, I shall take this as a lesson so that next time, I will not be unprepared. Thank you.
Hmm, simple, short, sweet, and a bit tongue-in-the-cheek. I might have won.
Or not. On second thought, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I didn't have to present it.
In other news, HAPPY HALLOWEEN.
Good morning honourable judges, teachers and all my fellow friends. The title of my speech is "the importance of being prepared". I am afraid that I have been pulled unwillingly to join this competition. Being the incredibly blur person that I am, I had no idea that the public speaking competition was today and so, I only prepared this speech 5 minutes ago. If I was more prepared by finding out beforehand when this competition was going to be held, I would not be in this awkward situation. Thus, I shall take this as a lesson so that next time, I will not be unprepared. Thank you.
Hmm, simple, short, sweet, and a bit tongue-in-the-cheek. I might have won.
Or not. On second thought, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I didn't have to present it.
In other news, HAPPY HALLOWEEN.
22 September, 2012
The Indigo Waves
Things get complicated when it appears that they might share the same father. (Of course they actually don't, but they don't find out until the end of the movie.)
Obviously, there is more to the story. But I'm not going to tell you. . . Yet. ;)
What I like about Studio Ghibli movies are: They can exhibit true love without having to have any love scenes (e.g. kissing). Somehow, it really makes the love between the characters real and pure. Which in my opinion, somehow makes them better than Disney. (No offense! I love Disney too!)
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| Shun's poem for her, which was published in their school newspaper. :) |
How they first met:
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| Shun was asked by the student council president to jump off the roof of their clubhouse. (I still don't understand why.) The president is a pretty cool guy, unfortunately, he's not featured in this GIF. |
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| Sweet scene from the movie. :) |
Umi finds out that Shun helps out at the school newspaper, she agrees to help out too after the student council president offers to give her his usually-accurate forecasts for their next exam. (I know, how can you possibly refuse?!) She also learns that there are plans to demolish the clubhouse and she suggests that they clean it up to restore it to its former glory.
My favourite scenes from the movie. :
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| Because he's an awesomely smart genius and I like him, here's a GIF of Shiro standing on the roof and ordering everyone about like a boss. Say hi. |
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| Shun catches Umi as they board the boat to find out the truth about Shun's father. :') |
All in all, I thought this movie was simply...
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| Ditto. |
The philosophy club guy read my mind. :)
01 August, 2012
Remembrances
Today, was my violin exam. Grade 8. Spent some time stressing over it. Not enough apparently.
Date: 1st August 2012 (Also first day of PMR trial.)
Time: 3.19 PM (it took about 25 minutes)
Location: Heritage Hotel
ABRSM. Examiner: B.N. (Will not share name here, but I memorized his name, where he's from, his wife's name, and his children's names. Just in case, he fails me...)
Pieces:
A. J.S. Bach Giga, 4th movt from Partita No. 2 in D Minor for Solo Violin, BMV 1004. (Which I played last.)
B. Schumann Allegretto: 2nd movt from Sonata in A minor, Op. 105.
C. John Williams Remembrances: from Three Pieces from Schindler's List (The composer also composed Hedwig's Theme.)
I think I did ok, pretty well. I won't say more than that. :)
After that, dad took me out for tea at Indulgence. Apparently, I "deserved it" after "all my hardwork" and "endless practices". Thanks, Dad. :)
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| Hibiscus macaroon and scarlett strawberry slush. |
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| BEST. CROISSANT. EVER. |
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| Awesome fluffy tiramisu. |
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| Dad's latte. |
Went to Jusco after that. Nothing to report. Except I saw this awesome bag, and I commented it to dad. ("That's a nice bag.") Apparently, I hardly see things I like, so I got this as an early Christmas present. (I think my dad is secretly pleased that I don't go shopping all the time. Also, this is the first time we went shopping for something that wasn't a book.) But yeah. Pretty memorable day. :)
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| The Amazing Turquoise Leather Shoulder Bag! |
(No photo of my violin because the photo is on my other computer, and that computer is acting up. Will update later.)
*IMPORTANT UPDATE (14th September 2012)*
And my results are. . . DISTINCTION (139)!!!!!!! *tosses glitter confetti in the air*
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| Harry approves. |
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| Ginny approves. |
Naturally, I'm EXTREMELY pleased and psyched. Even more so, cause I heard this examiner also failed a lot of people. (Yes, I'm a horrible human being. What else is new?) So I suppose he was pretty impressed?
I will admit:
Now I'm just DYING to see what's on the comments slip. *anticipated*
22 June, 2012
ASEAN Selection Test
So. Last Saturday, I went down to KL so that I could take the test on Sunday. My dad and I woke up real early (5 AM, cause my dad had a seminar to attend), and had McDonald's for breakfast. (We had a second breakfast after that at Starbucks.) And we arrived at Midvalley at around 8.30.
I spent the day doing various Maths exercises (which in the end, didn't help me at all), taking naps, downloading apps (including Instagram, follow me: @grayrae), surfing the web.
We had lunch at Tony Roma's (never going there again), and had gelato for dessert!
Also checked out the pet shop, and outside they had these weird Mickey Mouse figures.
After that, back to the hotel for more "studying".
Dinner was Portugese Grilled Stingray and Squid. Good stuff.
THE NEXT DAY (WHICH WAS THE DAY): 17 JUNE 2012.
Hot dog bun for breakfast. Arrived at Berjaya Times Square hotel an hour early. We checked out the location of the Manhattan ballroom.
Second breakfast at Starbucks (again).
AND NOW, THE SELECTION TEST.
(WARNING: THERE WILL BE NO MORE PICTURES UNTIL DINNER TIME.)
The timetable they sent us looked like this.
9.15 AM: Reporting Time
10.15 AM - 12 PM: General Ability Test & Briefing Session
12 - 1 PM: Lunch Break
1 - 3.30 PM: Mathematics Test
3.30 - 4 PM: Break
4 - 7 PM: English Test
Expectation ↑ Reality ↓
9.15 AM: The kiasu-ness of Malaysian Chinese parents is shown, the parents begin pushing and shoving so that their children could stand in front. Me and Li Teng stick together until we are separated. The person-in-charge keeps saying: "Parents, please don't come beyond this point or you will cause a human traffic jam." Throughout the day, this lady kept using the phrase "human traffic jam". We stare at the huge doors to the ballroom. There is a sign outside which says "No parents allowed in this room." I felt like it was saying: "We shall take your children, chew them up, and spit them back out. NO ONE SHALL BE SPARED."
9.30 - 10 AM: Students are herded into the first ballroom, where tables and chairs have been arranged. The room is quite cold and thankfully I have a warm jacket AND a scarf (I was probably the most warm and toasty).
10 - 10.15 AM: Students are arranged according to index number and told to stand and wait in the room. Attendance is taken.
10.15 - 10.20 AM: There are no adults in sight and students begin to get restless.
10.20 - 10.45 AM: Students are told to find a seat, but there are not enough chairs for everyone and most of the students end up sitting on the floor (including me).
10.45 - 11.15 AM: Students are so bored they begin talking amongst themselves (including me, even though we don't even know each other, never mind, must be friendly!).
11.45 AM: Students are herded into another room. One group goes off to take the GAT, the other group goes to the next room for the briefing session (this is me).
11.50 PM - 12:20 PM: Briefing session about the ASEAN scholarship.
12:30 - 1 PM: My group is led to another room where we take the GAT which is similar to the Raven's Test (Google it). 48 questions, 20 minutes. May the odds be ever in your favour. Thanks to my awesome father who showed me a website, I knew how to do all but one question. (But I didn't have time to shade two questions, which meant I didn't answer 3.)
1.05 - 2.05 PM: Lunch break. After going out, Li Teng and I find out that our parents have made friends! And my dad bought us McD (fish burger) for lunch! *Munch munch* I finish first, of course.
2.05 - 2.30 PM: We line up once more outside the huge ballroom where the briefing session took place. We enter the freezing cold room. (At least, I think it was freezing cold, a lot of people looked cold, but since I never took off my jacket, I can't be sure, I just know it was cold.)
2.46 PM: They finally finish handing out the papers (some people sneaked a peek!) and the games --- oops, I mean, test begins! 33 questions, 1 and a half hours. Invigilator: "Please fill in your ansells on the papell." One of the instructions was: Do not waste time. If the question is too difficult, move on to the next question. All the papers (except writing) had this instruction.
3 PM: It is apparent that I do not know how to do 95% of the questions in the paper. So I try my best and manage to do almost half.
4.16 PM: The paper ends. I overhear people saying how they did 18 questions (not bad), 10 questions, and 5 questions but they think they only got 3 right. In short, I overheard a lot of people talking. But this does not count as eavesdropping because they were talking really loudly!
4.16 - 4.46 PM: Break. Most of the girls make a mad rush for the toilet. As for me, I just sit on the floor outside calmly eating Oreos and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.
5 PM: 90% of the students are already seated in the hall (including me). Latecomers were given evil stares. (We were egged on by the head invigilator, she was like "For those who came in late, all of you stare at them and remember their face." LOL.)
5.30 PM: The first part of the English test begins. 1 and a half hours. I found this part relatively easy, when I finished, everyone within my vision was still doing it. I'm fast! Took the opportunity to go the toilet although one of the invigilators had to follow me there. The first half of this paper was vocabulary (circle the correct word) and grammar (find the grammar mistakes). A passage where you fill in the blanks with the words given. They had another passage where you had to fill in the blanks with words like "to, from, those, that, etc." but there were no answers to choose from, you had to write in those words yourself. Then they had two comprehension passages. The first one was a story about a doctor getting in an accident, the other one was about Kate Middleton. Besides the comprehension questions, they gave you a word, and you had to find a word in the passage that had the same meaning as the word they gave you. It's not so bad cause they tell you which paragraph to search in.
7 PM: Part 1 of the English test is finished, leaving Part 2.
7.20 PM: Which is an essay. 300 words, 30 minutes. GO! Two questions for you to choose from. 1) Write about an event and how it has changed your life since. Or something like that. I chose the second question which was something like this. 2) Write about an occasion where you had to make a difficult decision and the outcome of that decision. I didn't find this as easy as the first half but the time limit didn't make me too nervous cause the UNSW exam is the same.
7:50 PM: Test ends.
8 PM: WE ARE FINALLY ALLOWED TO LEAVE! As I left the hall, I saw parents taking pictures of their kids coming out. However, my dad was not among them. (He was in the lounge drinking coffee.)
(The above probably has a lot of grammar mistakes. For that, I most sincerely apologize. I will check them another time.)
Dinner: My very first Subway sandwich! Hearty Italian bread, roast beef, lettuce, mustard, and olive oil dressing.
That night: Joined Instagram!
The next morning, had breakfast at Paddington House of Pancakes, had mushroom & chicken bacon soup, passionfruit & mango crush, and 'poffertjes' (dollar pancakes with melted butter & icing sugar & blueberries).
After that, lunch at KLCC, went to Kinokuniya Book Store. Only bought ONE book (this is a record), which is:
Yeah, I'm obsessed.
I spent the day doing various Maths exercises (which in the end, didn't help me at all), taking naps, downloading apps (including Instagram, follow me: @grayrae), surfing the web.
We had lunch at Tony Roma's (never going there again), and had gelato for dessert!
Also checked out the pet shop, and outside they had these weird Mickey Mouse figures.
After that, back to the hotel for more "studying".
Dinner was Portugese Grilled Stingray and Squid. Good stuff.
THE NEXT DAY (WHICH WAS THE DAY): 17 JUNE 2012.
Hot dog bun for breakfast. Arrived at Berjaya Times Square hotel an hour early. We checked out the location of the Manhattan ballroom.
Second breakfast at Starbucks (again).
AND NOW, THE SELECTION TEST.
(WARNING: THERE WILL BE NO MORE PICTURES UNTIL DINNER TIME.)
The timetable they sent us looked like this.
9.15 AM: Reporting Time
10.15 AM - 12 PM: General Ability Test & Briefing Session
12 - 1 PM: Lunch Break
1 - 3.30 PM: Mathematics Test
3.30 - 4 PM: Break
4 - 7 PM: English Test
Expectation ↑ Reality ↓
9.15 AM: The kiasu-ness of Malaysian Chinese parents is shown, the parents begin pushing and shoving so that their children could stand in front. Me and Li Teng stick together until we are separated. The person-in-charge keeps saying: "Parents, please don't come beyond this point or you will cause a human traffic jam." Throughout the day, this lady kept using the phrase "human traffic jam". We stare at the huge doors to the ballroom. There is a sign outside which says "No parents allowed in this room." I felt like it was saying: "We shall take your children, chew them up, and spit them back out. NO ONE SHALL BE SPARED."
9.30 - 10 AM: Students are herded into the first ballroom, where tables and chairs have been arranged. The room is quite cold and thankfully I have a warm jacket AND a scarf (I was probably the most warm and toasty).
10 - 10.15 AM: Students are arranged according to index number and told to stand and wait in the room. Attendance is taken.
10.15 - 10.20 AM: There are no adults in sight and students begin to get restless.
10.20 - 10.45 AM: Students are told to find a seat, but there are not enough chairs for everyone and most of the students end up sitting on the floor (including me).
10.45 - 11.15 AM: Students are so bored they begin talking amongst themselves (including me, even though we don't even know each other, never mind, must be friendly!).
11.45 AM: Students are herded into another room. One group goes off to take the GAT, the other group goes to the next room for the briefing session (this is me).
11.50 PM - 12:20 PM: Briefing session about the ASEAN scholarship.
12:30 - 1 PM: My group is led to another room where we take the GAT which is similar to the Raven's Test (Google it). 48 questions, 20 minutes. May the odds be ever in your favour. Thanks to my awesome father who showed me a website, I knew how to do all but one question. (But I didn't have time to shade two questions, which meant I didn't answer 3.)
1.05 - 2.05 PM: Lunch break. After going out, Li Teng and I find out that our parents have made friends! And my dad bought us McD (fish burger) for lunch! *Munch munch* I finish first, of course.
2.05 - 2.30 PM: We line up once more outside the huge ballroom where the briefing session took place. We enter the freezing cold room. (At least, I think it was freezing cold, a lot of people looked cold, but since I never took off my jacket, I can't be sure, I just know it was cold.)
2.46 PM: They finally finish handing out the papers (some people sneaked a peek!) and the games --- oops, I mean, test begins! 33 questions, 1 and a half hours. Invigilator: "Please fill in your ansells on the papell." One of the instructions was: Do not waste time. If the question is too difficult, move on to the next question. All the papers (except writing) had this instruction.
3 PM: It is apparent that I do not know how to do 95% of the questions in the paper. So I try my best and manage to do almost half.
4.16 PM: The paper ends. I overhear people saying how they did 18 questions (not bad), 10 questions, and 5 questions but they think they only got 3 right. In short, I overheard a lot of people talking. But this does not count as eavesdropping because they were talking really loudly!
4.16 - 4.46 PM: Break. Most of the girls make a mad rush for the toilet. As for me, I just sit on the floor outside calmly eating Oreos and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.
5 PM: 90% of the students are already seated in the hall (including me). Latecomers were given evil stares. (We were egged on by the head invigilator, she was like "For those who came in late, all of you stare at them and remember their face." LOL.)
5.30 PM: The first part of the English test begins. 1 and a half hours. I found this part relatively easy, when I finished, everyone within my vision was still doing it. I'm fast! Took the opportunity to go the toilet although one of the invigilators had to follow me there. The first half of this paper was vocabulary (circle the correct word) and grammar (find the grammar mistakes). A passage where you fill in the blanks with the words given. They had another passage where you had to fill in the blanks with words like "to, from, those, that, etc." but there were no answers to choose from, you had to write in those words yourself. Then they had two comprehension passages. The first one was a story about a doctor getting in an accident, the other one was about Kate Middleton. Besides the comprehension questions, they gave you a word, and you had to find a word in the passage that had the same meaning as the word they gave you. It's not so bad cause they tell you which paragraph to search in.
7 PM: Part 1 of the English test is finished, leaving Part 2.
7.20 PM: Which is an essay. 300 words, 30 minutes. GO! Two questions for you to choose from. 1) Write about an event and how it has changed your life since. Or something like that. I chose the second question which was something like this. 2) Write about an occasion where you had to make a difficult decision and the outcome of that decision. I didn't find this as easy as the first half but the time limit didn't make me too nervous cause the UNSW exam is the same.
7:50 PM: Test ends.
8 PM: WE ARE FINALLY ALLOWED TO LEAVE! As I left the hall, I saw parents taking pictures of their kids coming out. However, my dad was not among them. (He was in the lounge drinking coffee.)
(The above probably has a lot of grammar mistakes. For that, I most sincerely apologize. I will check them another time.)
Dinner: My very first Subway sandwich! Hearty Italian bread, roast beef, lettuce, mustard, and olive oil dressing.
The next morning, had breakfast at Paddington House of Pancakes, had mushroom & chicken bacon soup, passionfruit & mango crush, and 'poffertjes' (dollar pancakes with melted butter & icing sugar & blueberries).
After that, lunch at KLCC, went to Kinokuniya Book Store. Only bought ONE book (this is a record), which is:
Yeah, I'm obsessed.
04 June, 2012
Undignified
I still haven't finished the post about Hairspray, but since I've left it so long, might as well leave it even longer.
From the afternoon of 1st June till the afternoon of 3rd June, I've been at the OMPH Church 2012 Form 3 Pre-Confirmation Camp.
At first, I thought it was going to be a normal camp, like those leadership and motivational camps that people make me go to where we "share" our experiences. I really hate sharing my experiences at those camps because I don't know those people and I don't really want to know those people. And before the camp, I was like "I don't want to go, Daddy/Mummy", "What if they bully me?", etc. My mom told me: "Good!" But my dad told me: "Just keep an open mind."
So for once in my life, I decided to try, really try at camp. And I don't regret it one bit. :)
So I arrived at camp, which was at La Salle Center, which is deep inside the jungle known as St. Michael's Institution, which is full of monkeys also known as the students of SMI. As the number of people at camp increased, the level of my hyperness increased. And I was jumping here and there, being really really high (i.e. really energetic, not high as in high on drugs).
The camp started off with me being unable to find my dorm and lugging my luggage up and down the stairs. Eventually, I just placed myself in Room 13 with Amber (my girlfriend), with the teachers' permission, of course. Our first activity at camp was an icebreaker where we take the first letter of our first name and come up with an adjective with that letter to combine with our name to form a nickname (I hope that last sentence made sense). For example, I was "Radiant Rachel".
To make this post short, I shall leave out the constant breaks and the six meals we had a day. Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch, Afternoon Tea, Dinner and Supper. Which was held in a canteen and all the girls sat at the same table. Always. And any guys who wanted to sit with us had to have a girls' name.
The next thing we did was a Praise & Worship session, led by the Prodigal Apostles (Jason, Aaron, Stephanie, Jasper and Terence) which was basically a sing-along session. At first, I was skeptical, but since I already knew the song, I decided to sing and do the actions with the others. The song was called "Undignified".
And then the head facilitator Mervin came to begin his talk. My first thought was: Great, he's probably gonna give us those long and boring talks about how much he loves God, how much Jesus has touched him, blah blah blah, I'm gonna fall asleep in five minutes.
I was wrong.
Yes, he did talk for a long time about how much he loves God, how much Jesus has touched him, etc. But I never felt bored, not once. The way he talked to us, he didn't exactly preach, he told us his experiences in a hilarious way that kept us in stitches throughout all his sessions. But every time he became serious to tell us how much God loves us, I felt touched by his words.
That night, we watched a movie called "Facing The Giants". This is the movie which has that famous "Death Crawl" scene. Though it was the scene where he had nowhere else to go and went to seek God that touched me the most. The message? God will always be there for you. Seek and you shall find.
Aaron (a.k.a. Noraa) told us his story, which is actually the only one that I remember.
Late afternoon, after the Parent-Child Relationship talk, we were told to write a love letter to our parents. Tell them what we were happy and grateful for, what made us sad and frustrated, and what we struggle to say to them. I had no idea how much I wanted to tell my parents and I only wrote two lines for my father when I started crying. I'm pretty sure everyone heard me.
At night. The inner healing session.
We peeked into the conference room before we went upstairs to freshen up. And we saw a table, with lit candles, and a small cross. And we were scared, we knew we were probably gonna cry a lot that night.
And so everyone entered the room. It was so quiet, you could definitely hear a pin drop. There was an air of foreboding. Mervin was like: "This is the first time all of you are sitting down without making a sound, I'm getting scared."
So, with all of us (girls) armed with tissues, the inner healing session began.
Mervin started us off with two videos. These two videos. At first, I wanted to use this as the ultimate test of my control over my emotions, but then again, I really wanted to find out what Jesus would show me. And it's all because of the first video, which I can really relate to. The message is: Jesus will always be there for you.
At that point, I already felt like crying. So when the inner healing part actually began, with Mervin going: "Close your eyes. Now imagine Jesus taking your hand." I started crying. At first, silent tears. Then the boogers came, so I wasted 75% of my tissues on my nose.
"Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus. Your shattered dreams, your wounded hearts, your broken toys. Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus. And He will turn your sorrow into joy."
When I was done, I listened to everyone else. I could hear the girls sniffing. But surprisingly (or not), it was the guys who were sobbing their hearts out. My theory: As girls, we tend to cry more often. So crying is just crying. Since we normally let it out when we need to. But guys don't cry much, so when they have to, it all comes out. Listening to everyone, I just wanted to give everyone a hug. I looked at Amber, and we both went out quietly.
We waited outside for everyone to come out. And we gave each person a hug (except for a couple of guys, but I think they were shy so never mind). I think everyone appreciated that. Guys and girls. The guys especially. ;)
After a half hour or so of hugging and apologizing and forgiving, we went upstairs. Since none of us could sleep, we ended up in the hallway, sitting in a circle, playing Truth or Dare after forcing the beautiful and talented Natasha to sing Adele's Rumour Has It for us. (You rock, girl!) I had to chicken dance, which was ok. I won't go into the details of what happened during the game because what happens at camp, stays at camp. We were allowed to sleep at 12. Which of course we didn't. In the end, sleeping after 1, because of someone and someone. ;D
And on the last day. Which was today. (3rd June)
We spent the first hour in the morning doing Praise & Worship again. Followed by question time! The proud expressions of the facilitators when they saw us mingling. *smile* After that, we received our manila cards, hung them around our necks, and went around writing on everyone's cards, and getting our cards written on by everyone. I made it a point to write on everyone's card. Some people were very long-winded on mine, which in the end, I didn't mind. To everyone who wrote on my card, thank you and you're all very sweet and nice. :)
After that, we did testimonies (singular form: testimony). Some people would come up and share their experiences at camp. Normally, I don't do that. But normally, I don't participate so wholeheartedly during camps either. So after three certain people made everyone really emotional (which attracted a lot of hugging), some people were crying, some people were on the verge of tears, and I went up. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. (Then again, I've known some of these people for more than half my life so. . .)
I cried, sharing stuff with them. I looked at some people and saw that they were crying too, so I stopped looking at everyone because if not, I would never finish. Thank you to all the people who came out to give me a hug after I finished, I love you all. <3
After lunch, we had the parents' session. Which made everyone cry again. Then mass. Then lots of goodbye hugs.
After so many inspirational videos, songs, talks, etc, the camp ended. On a happy note. I think we've all gotten closer after this. And that is very good.
The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone.
~ Matthew 4:16
From the afternoon of 1st June till the afternoon of 3rd June, I've been at the OMPH Church 2012 Form 3 Pre-Confirmation Camp.
At first, I thought it was going to be a normal camp, like those leadership and motivational camps that people make me go to where we "share" our experiences. I really hate sharing my experiences at those camps because I don't know those people and I don't really want to know those people. And before the camp, I was like "I don't want to go, Daddy/Mummy", "What if they bully me?", etc. My mom told me: "Good!" But my dad told me: "Just keep an open mind."
So for once in my life, I decided to try, really try at camp. And I don't regret it one bit. :)
So I arrived at camp, which was at La Salle Center, which is deep inside the jungle known as St. Michael's Institution, which is full of monkeys also known as the students of SMI. As the number of people at camp increased, the level of my hyperness increased. And I was jumping here and there, being really really high (i.e. really energetic, not high as in high on drugs).
The camp started off with me being unable to find my dorm and lugging my luggage up and down the stairs. Eventually, I just placed myself in Room 13 with Amber (my girlfriend), with the teachers' permission, of course. Our first activity at camp was an icebreaker where we take the first letter of our first name and come up with an adjective with that letter to combine with our name to form a nickname (I hope that last sentence made sense). For example, I was "Radiant Rachel".
To make this post short, I shall leave out the constant breaks and the six meals we had a day. Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch, Afternoon Tea, Dinner and Supper. Which was held in a canteen and all the girls sat at the same table. Always. And any guys who wanted to sit with us had to have a girls' name.
The next thing we did was a Praise & Worship session, led by the Prodigal Apostles (Jason, Aaron, Stephanie, Jasper and Terence) which was basically a sing-along session. At first, I was skeptical, but since I already knew the song, I decided to sing and do the actions with the others. The song was called "Undignified".
And then the head facilitator Mervin came to begin his talk. My first thought was: Great, he's probably gonna give us those long and boring talks about how much he loves God, how much Jesus has touched him, blah blah blah, I'm gonna fall asleep in five minutes.
I was wrong.
Yes, he did talk for a long time about how much he loves God, how much Jesus has touched him, etc. But I never felt bored, not once. The way he talked to us, he didn't exactly preach, he told us his experiences in a hilarious way that kept us in stitches throughout all his sessions. But every time he became serious to tell us how much God loves us, I felt touched by his words.
That night, we watched a movie called "Facing The Giants". This is the movie which has that famous "Death Crawl" scene. Though it was the scene where he had nowhere else to go and went to seek God that touched me the most. The message? God will always be there for you. Seek and you shall find.
The next day. 2nd June.
In the morning, we sang the "Undignified" song again to wake ourselves up. "LALALALALALA HEY!"
After that, we had various talks about such topics as Who Is God To Me, Who Am I, The Challenges Teenagers Face, Boy-Girl Relationships and Parent-Child Relationships.Aaron (a.k.a. Noraa) told us his story, which is actually the only one that I remember.
Late afternoon, after the Parent-Child Relationship talk, we were told to write a love letter to our parents. Tell them what we were happy and grateful for, what made us sad and frustrated, and what we struggle to say to them. I had no idea how much I wanted to tell my parents and I only wrote two lines for my father when I started crying. I'm pretty sure everyone heard me.
At night. The inner healing session.
We peeked into the conference room before we went upstairs to freshen up. And we saw a table, with lit candles, and a small cross. And we were scared, we knew we were probably gonna cry a lot that night.
And so everyone entered the room. It was so quiet, you could definitely hear a pin drop. There was an air of foreboding. Mervin was like: "This is the first time all of you are sitting down without making a sound, I'm getting scared."
So, with all of us (girls) armed with tissues, the inner healing session began.
Mervin started us off with two videos. These two videos. At first, I wanted to use this as the ultimate test of my control over my emotions, but then again, I really wanted to find out what Jesus would show me. And it's all because of the first video, which I can really relate to. The message is: Jesus will always be there for you.
At that point, I already felt like crying. So when the inner healing part actually began, with Mervin going: "Close your eyes. Now imagine Jesus taking your hand." I started crying. At first, silent tears. Then the boogers came, so I wasted 75% of my tissues on my nose.
"Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus. Your shattered dreams, your wounded hearts, your broken toys. Give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus. And He will turn your sorrow into joy."
When I was done, I listened to everyone else. I could hear the girls sniffing. But surprisingly (or not), it was the guys who were sobbing their hearts out. My theory: As girls, we tend to cry more often. So crying is just crying. Since we normally let it out when we need to. But guys don't cry much, so when they have to, it all comes out. Listening to everyone, I just wanted to give everyone a hug. I looked at Amber, and we both went out quietly.
We waited outside for everyone to come out. And we gave each person a hug (except for a couple of guys, but I think they were shy so never mind). I think everyone appreciated that. Guys and girls. The guys especially. ;)
After a half hour or so of hugging and apologizing and forgiving, we went upstairs. Since none of us could sleep, we ended up in the hallway, sitting in a circle, playing Truth or Dare after forcing the beautiful and talented Natasha to sing Adele's Rumour Has It for us. (You rock, girl!) I had to chicken dance, which was ok. I won't go into the details of what happened during the game because what happens at camp, stays at camp. We were allowed to sleep at 12. Which of course we didn't. In the end, sleeping after 1, because of someone and someone. ;D
And on the last day. Which was today. (3rd June)
We spent the first hour in the morning doing Praise & Worship again. Followed by question time! The proud expressions of the facilitators when they saw us mingling. *smile* After that, we received our manila cards, hung them around our necks, and went around writing on everyone's cards, and getting our cards written on by everyone. I made it a point to write on everyone's card. Some people were very long-winded on mine, which in the end, I didn't mind. To everyone who wrote on my card, thank you and you're all very sweet and nice. :)
After that, we did testimonies (singular form: testimony). Some people would come up and share their experiences at camp. Normally, I don't do that. But normally, I don't participate so wholeheartedly during camps either. So after three certain people made everyone really emotional (which attracted a lot of hugging), some people were crying, some people were on the verge of tears, and I went up. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. (Then again, I've known some of these people for more than half my life so. . .)
I cried, sharing stuff with them. I looked at some people and saw that they were crying too, so I stopped looking at everyone because if not, I would never finish. Thank you to all the people who came out to give me a hug after I finished, I love you all. <3
After lunch, we had the parents' session. Which made everyone cry again. Then mass. Then lots of goodbye hugs.
After so many inspirational videos, songs, talks, etc, the camp ended. On a happy note. I think we've all gotten closer after this. And that is very good.
The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone.
~ Matthew 4:16
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