SABAIDI!!!

i'm back!
and yes, in one piece.
but i'm sick. yet again. have been since last friday =/

i miss laos like madness already!

and i've only been back for like what...4 hours?
during the short nap i had on the plane i dreamt of the kids again. and i woke up crying.
i miss them so much.
and i can't believe i misplaced the stuff they gave me.
the gorgeous blue and red plasticine flower some girl gave me.
the drawing kaisone gave me...a picture of me.
the PERFECT polaroid mel took for me when i left my camera at the school, of me with the kids when we swam in the mekong river.
if i continue thinking about it i'll cry again :(

all i can say is that i've learnt A LOT during this trip.
i grew up.
yes. i grew up.
as wen jie said, one year down the road we'll probably forget the kids and they'll probably forget us, no matter how much we miss them now.
but if there is one thing i know for sure, it's that i will never forget the life lessons i've learnt.
lessons that were taught by the kids.
lessons that may perhaps seem cliche.
lessons that may be insignificant to others.
i've learnt them.
i really have.

i'll update more along with pictures when i upload them.


my 17th was fun...would have been better if it wasn't the 2nd day of the trip and 1st night at luang prabang and that we didn't know each other that well yet.
i'm really touched that people i knew for like less than a month would remember my birthday and set alarms to wish me and sing a song at 12am singapore time even though we were on a tortureous bus ride.
and another song later in the day, and another at dinner.
and that yummilicious cake mrs ting bought from Joma bakery :)
they really did make the 17th a good one.
you would think that someone closer would have done more. it didn't even come close.

12 november 2007. it really was different this year.
different. better or worse. whatever that means.
it really was different. i thought wrong. i'm really disappointed. now i know.
they weren't worth it. all of it.
i feel stupid still clinging on to some hope now.
stupid. stupid. stupid.
empty promises. oh wait. what promises?

i came home today to find an envelope sitting on my table.
a birthday card from tree...i miss that girl truckloads.


it was a different world. a different life.
the smiles that came straight from the heart. the touches that touched my heart.

the memories will be engraved in my heart for life.
OCIP 2007.