RE: Final Push, People!

Yo peeps,

Just want to say how proud I am of all your effort and time spent on the intensive preparations for the trip. Although many of you must be tired, I think we are pretty well prepared and ready for the journey to India. One more week so push on, folks!

Regards,
Roy Soh

Fifth Training Session

Yesterday was our fifth training session. We packed up the sweets we had bought for the orphans into gift packs. Each gift pack consists of a packet of Oreos, two packets of Toberone chocolate and two different types of sweets and mashmallows. We are planning to tie them up with ribbons so that they wil look more presentable. We also packed the bags, toys, umbrellas and the packet of sweets into different boxes. Then, we practised our songs and the different phrases and words in the languages that we are going to teach them there. We decided that one person will say the English word and then another will say the Malay or Chinese translation, and that half-way through, we can ask them what the word in Malay or Chinese is withdout refering to the small booklet we are giving them. Most of us did not know how to sing the songs and when some of us are singing, the rest were laughing as it was really very hilarious as their voices were very low or out of tune or just simply funny.

Fourth Training Session

Today, the CIP Committee together with the Programmes Committee worked together to complete the skit so that we would be able to start rehearsing the Reader's Theatre performances during the next training session. Some of the Sec 2s in the Programmes Committee continued with the booklet today. Unfortunately, they were unable to complete it. They learnt that they must be FOCUSED and do work seriously or else nothing can be done.
The logistics committee also gave more suggestions on the icebreaker games.
Meanwhile, Mrs Lim gave some of our passports back as some of us may need to travel overseas before this twinning trip. Mr Roy Soh was beside her and kept peeping at our passport photos. It was embarrassing!

Third Training Session

Today is our third training cum preparation session for our Bangalore Twinning Programme. We had to choose our t-shirt sizes and we decided to adopt the old design which is the black shirt with orange trimmings. Then we split into our respective groups to discuss and prepare for the trip. The Logistics Committeee sorted out the toys and packed the ones in good condition . The CIP Committee thought of icebreaker games - Simon Says and Numbers. They also practised singing some Malay songs. We learnt that we must take more initiative to help and that we must organise our work efficiently.

Second Training Session

Some of us brought toys and bags to donate to the orphans in Bangalore. We packed most of them into A4-sized boxes. The Logistics Committee helped to tie up the boxes. We also received our itinerary and the pack list for the trip.

On the first day in Bangalore, we will be going to a silk farm in Mysore for an educational tour before departing for Coorg. Then, on the second day, we will continue on our learning journey. We will be going to a cocoa,tea and coffee plantation, a spice garden and to see some waterfalls. We will also be learning things beyond our textbooks. On the third day, we will be going to an orphanage to donate some toys, books and bags to them and also teach them some simple Chinese and Malay. There will be two Reader's Theatre performances - the stories of Sang Nila Utama and the Bukit Merah. Through these skits, we hope that they will get to know some of Singapore's culture. Then, on the other days, we will be embarking on our school immersion experience.



The CIP group worked on the booklets on Singapore's language and some traditional Singapore songs whereas the programmes group worked on the skits and the programme for this trip. Some of us continued to learn to use the tablets so that when we are in Bangalore we would be able to post posts efficiently on the blog.

We chose our T-shirt colour combination and also recorded down our T-shirt size. When we were doing on our work, we had some visitors. A group of professors and students from a university in Thailand came in and Han Jie briefly explained to them the purpose of this trip to Bangalore.



On the whole, we have completed some work but we still have lots more to do and also please be reminded that the next training would be on 13 May, this coming Tuesday from 2.30pm to 4pm in the PCCG room.

The First Training Session

Today was our first training session as we prepare to head off to Bangalore for our overseas twinning programme.
Firstly, we were introduced to Indian culture by good-humoured parent volunteers who talked to us about the food in South India, which is where Bangalore is. Indian food is seperated into North and South India food. We learned that roti prata in Singapore is called parota there, and also that vegeterian Indian food is not all about vegetables. There are a lot of other varieties too. A lot of South Indian food that we learnt today are made of flour(eg. rice flour) and the food we learnt about today all come with Indian sambar. Chapatti, which looks like Singapore's roti prata, is also called roti in India. So, when you are India, do not say you want roti prata or they will be confused about whether you want roti or parota.


Then we went to Little India to try out the food and expand our dietary dimensions. The food was very delicious and the masala dosa is a definite must-try. The food there had myriad flavours - sour, spicy, sweet, salty in an explosion of taste, but nonetheless, delicious. It is also very colourful as there are a lot of different spices which are all different in colour.



After that, we proceeded back to school for our very first training session. We learnt how to use a tablet pc and also tried to anticipate the problems that will surface there so that we are better prepared for any contingencies. We also decided who will design the trip t-shirt and finished up some preparation for the Singapore Day (a cultural event to showcase Singapore's vibrant and unique mish-mash of cultures)at the orphanage and hosting school before we were able to go home.
All in all, a memorable day as our tastebuds will never be the same again.