An Enjoyable Trip

Just came back from the Malacca-Batu Pahat trip with the students. On the whole it was very enjoyable albeit tiring. Throughout the trip I was in a very relaxed mode, even joining in their rubbish-talking. I guess I do surprise myself sometimes. Was only less relaxed when they did dangerous things like hiding in the cupboards or walking slowly when crossing the highly disorganized roads.

Throughout the course of this trip, I got to understand each individual student better and this is something I'm really glad to have done as it had helped me to appreciate every single one of them more. Perhaps I should write a little about each person here. Will start off with the girls:

1. K - She doesn't talk and mix much with the other 'noisy' people but she is observant and seems to think quite a bit. Sometimes I don't know what she's thinking, especially when playing TT. At times I feel that she isn't feeling happy, but not exactly sure if what was troubling her is what I think. She actually broke down after a match and I can't understand why either. =S Also, her playing style has changed a lot after the training 'camp' the previous week. She has become so unbelievably aggressive, even choosing to use backhand topspin to receive service. Really surprising. With such a playing style comes greater risks of course...

2. WL - Another 'more quiet' one. 'Quiet' in the sense that she doesn't talk loudly but she definitely whispers a lot. A lot of 'gossips' that is. =P Nevertheless, she's extremely likeable as she's very well-behaved and trustable and doesn't go around 'quarrelling' with others or disturbing others. The best thing about her is that she is very filial. When we went shopping, the first people she thought of getting presents for were her parents. Her parents are really lucky to have a daughter as 乖, thoughtful and filial as her.

3. J - She's not 'loud', but not very quiet either. Another professional 'gossiper'. Often trying to put people together. On the first day I got to see how 'ji po' both she and WL were already. But of course I had my ways to prevent myself from being 'matchmade' by them. *smug look* However, she is not a very disciplined girl. She actually used the calculator while doing her Maths homework. Tsk tsk. Also, she is easily distracted by others, as can be seen when she took out her homework before her but ended up watching YR play game instead. *shake head* =P Behaviour wise, I guess I have to admit that she is quite well behaved and wouldn't anyhow go annoy others. Has a likeable personality too.

4. YR - She's 'loud', but has a softer side too. She is one who loves attention, as can be seen from how loud and often she screams. She is also very rough, often kicking or smacking Shizhi and Thomas. With the boys she is equally rough. As a result, they don't like to play with her. Alas, on the last night, some things happened and it seemed like she felt hurt/upset by it. This morning, she was so quiet... so unlike her usual self. I guess a heart is still a heart... it is susceptible to hurt. =\ Hope that she would be back to her happy chirpy self soon, minus all the kickings and smackings. As for her 'softer' side, I must say I was quite touched when she asked me when my bday was when we were shopping inside a gift shop. Although I didn't tell her(they gotta realise its not easy to dig such personal info like bday and age out from me =P), I must say that it was nice of her to have asked. As such I conclude that she is actually good-natured...

5. YL - She appears quite noisy at times but she actually has a quiet and observant side too. At times she would sit with K's mum and myself and listen to our conversations. I must say that she has good self-discipline. She would do her homework without people asking her to, even in a noisy room. She's the kind who knows that work is more important than play. No wonder she does well in her studies. She is actually not as playful as she seems, as can be seen by the way she 'controlled' herself in the arcade. Perhaps just a little careless to have lost her mum's hp. I can only hope that her mum isn't too pissed and harsh with her. =x

6. SY - She's extremely good natured, but also VERY ROUGH. I saw the way she hit the boys and I was STUNNED. Alas, she's very generous and she shares stuff with the others very willingly. She's just innocently violent. Also, she seemed to enjoy being cared for, as can be seen when she would occasionally walk beside K's mum or myself to tell us very trivial things. A very innocent young girl...

Now for the boys...

1. N Tan - This guy is extremely intelligent. Can see how he uses his intelligence in the 'wrong ways' from the way he talks. =P I'd be inclined to think that he eavesdrops his parents' conversations very often such that he can even 'memorize' a lot of stuff they say. Some things which he said really sound too mature to be from him, so its gotta be from his parents(as I strongly believe he is still an innocent little boy). However, it was really interesting to note that he is actually quite sensitive towards others' feelings(or at least he tries to) and that he is very concerned about others.

2. N Teo - This boy is full of surprises. Looks so 乖 but is actually so playful. But he's nice... he actually chipped in 10RM for a ball which he wouldn't even get to bring home. Looks quiet but once again I need to remind myself that 'looks are deceiving', evident from what I'd seen the past 4 days. Just looking at people is enough to give him something to talk about. He's another one sensitive new aged guy... After telling me that he thinks I looked like one of the M'sian girl's mother (*gasps*), he asked me if I was angry. Then he questioned me on what I would do if it was N Tan who had said that and what I would do if it was him who had said that. So innocently silly. =P

3. JM - This guy is a true blue 'brother'. Can tell that he is one who 讲义气 and will not hesitate to help his 'brothers' whenever the need arises. Though he appears playful as well, I realised that he can be deep in his own thoughts at times too. I sense that he is a very resilient boy. Also ought to mention that he seems like the kind who likes to do things his own way, as can be seen from his very unique (table tennis) playing style.

4. E - He's the youngest to have gone for the trip. He has a very pleasant personality and really took good care of his 'brother' JM when the latter fell sick on the 2nd day. Seeing him play table tennis makes me laugh, as he keep falling onto the floor. I think he is the most well-behaved among the boys. He asks for permission for almost everything that he wants to do. Still not very mature in thoughts but one can see that he is inherently kind hearted. He's just a little clumsy sometimes but I feel thats what makes him so cute and adorable.

On the whole, watching the way the boys played, talked and behaved kept me entertained. I can never forget how 2 of them were holding on to ONE bowl of soup on a tray. Each person held one side of the tray and they were walking like crabs in the food court. Almost laughed my heads off. On the other hand, they have impressed me with their strong bonding. They are so close to each other and united in almost everything that they do. I heard about the 'pillow fight' they had with the girls, or rather, how they were hit by the girls with the pillows and how they blocked one another from being hit. It must have been a very cute sight!

Also, have to say that I had a nice time being in the same room as K's mum. We chatted till late on the 2nd and 3rd nights and we talked about everything under the sun. Its amazing, considering our age difference. Perhaps she's young at heart(simply because I refuse to think that I'm old at heart which isn't even true anyway =P )...

Just felt a little bad about something I did during the trip though. I told a white lie(which I very seldom do) but I shall not reveal what it is. It was after weighing the pros and cons that I decided it was better to tell a white lie. Otherwise may get someone else into 'trouble'. Managed to fool the silly kids with ease so kudos to me. I have also deliberately put this paragraph at the back of the entry so that any of them reading this more-than-2000-word entry would miss this portion as most people would already have clicked on the 'x' at the top right hand corner of the screen after reading a paragraph or two. =D

Watching all of them have fun and squabbles the past 4 days really reminded me of those days when I went on overseas trips with my teammates. I was probably just as mischievous, especially with my sharp tongue and naughty ideas, but thank goodness I wasn't violent like them. We would play 'blind cat' in the hotel room on the last night after all the competitions have ended and we would have fun disturbing the 'blind cat' by 'hitting' him with our pillows.

At times, we would disturb the coaches by putting a bag of rubbish just outside their room doors and also putting another bag outside our own room door so it would seem like we were also 'victims' of mischief. Once, one of us(NOT ME) even took away one of the coaches' shoes that was being placed at the door to prevent it from slamming shut and had it placed outside another coach's room with the hope that the coach who 'lost' a shoe would think that the other coach had taken his shoe for fun.

Once, we even threw banana skin into the the team managers' bathroom through the open windows because we found 1 of them really irritating.

Well, thank goodness these kids didn't think of all these things. Looks like it isn't time for my 'retribution' yet. =P

After talking so much about the kids, I guess I ought to write down some things which I had learnt too. In terms of culture, even though almost everyone whom we had met at the table tennis friendly matches were Chinese, we all held different beliefs. As a local Chinese, I do not pay much attention to all the small little things like asking parents to eat first during meal times, etc. During my casual conversation with my friend's mum(who is the coach at Malacca), she mentioned that she taught all her players that and made sure that they did that at home. Such practice was probably common here decades ago, but was most likely abandoned by many after being a little more influenced by the western culture. My personal opinion is that after all, 'we' are one family... so why stand on ceremony? But I guess they are still pretty much influenced by the Chinese school of thoughts and thus still value and see the importance of these practices.

Knowing that my friend's parents are people who value these practices, I had not much of a choice but to be especially courteous to them during the dinner which they treated us to, in return for their kind hospitality. After all, I was still a kid when I first got to know them so I guess its also natural for me to show them due respect even till now. Nevertheless, I still think that I wouldn't really care about these practices now that I'm back in my own country. Ironically, I too find it quite 'fake' for myself to be doing these kinda things... =P

All good things have to come to an end, just as this trip had. Its now time to be back in the more serious mood and prepare them for the upcoming nationals which I really hope they would do well in.