Friday, March 7, 2008
9:38 AM
Singapore Montage
Monday, 3 March
Today is Monday, and the start of MM and SM( the official name is Singapore Snapshots). Today is also the day for the last match of the second round in the C Div Floorball tournament. Since we have a match today, the floorball guys did not go on the farm visit in which we were supposed to visit a hydroponics farm and a organic farm. Heard from the guys that went it was quite good and was definitely an eye-opener. We spent the entire morning in the 2A classroom talking trash and doing reflections on the floorball tournament. Just then, Mr Shahrom walked in and announced to us a pleasant surprise: We were going to conduct tomorrow’s morning exercise! We were immediately immersed in thought and started to contribute ideas. Ideas(some crazy and out of this world) started pouring in and very soon, due to the inefficiency of Timothy, our captain of the floorball team ,there was a din and the noise is comparable to that found in a wet market.
Tuesday, 4 March
In the morning, we went through the worksheet which we were supposed to do the previous day. It was quite a noisy affair with people trying to “sabotage” others and people shouting nonsensical answers to questions. After that, we, the floorball guys, conducted the morning exercise. Originally, the plan was for us to play captain’s ball for half an hour and spent another half an hour doing aerobic exercises. However, it was raining so we had to abandon the plan to play captain’s ball and instead do stretches and dynamic exercises at the bottom of the SR block. At first, Timothy, our captain, conducted the exercises but due to his pour counting (when we were doing push-ups and sit-ups he was counting as if he was trying to catch a train) and unclear instructions, he was “substituted” and replaced by Ryan. After we had our recess, we started on our trip to the National Museum of Singapore.
There, we visited the history of Singapore and looked at the exhibits on display from the louvre. WE visited the history of Singapore gallery as we are learning it in history now. Inside, there are lots of wax sculptures and re-enactments which provided us a visual and audio threat and served to enhance our learning of the history of Singapore.
Next, it was time to visit the amazing exhibits from the world-renowned Louvre museum. The exhibits were shipped here as the Louvre is undergoing renovation. There were sculptures of both men and women and exhibits of other everyday objects from ancient Greece. The sculptures are carved beautifully and lifelike. The other exhibits, such as vases, are really nice and the craftsmen who made them are really creative and artistic.
Wednesday, 5 March
It’s time to visit the Zoo! We set off enthusiastically and once we arrived at the zoo, we can’t wait to visit the animals living at the zoo. For the first 45 minutes, we were given the opportunity to “roam freely” and visit any exhibits we want. We visited the free-ranging monkeys first. The monkeys are so pro at swinging and climbing trees. I wonder if they are given the chance do pull-ups, how many could they do in a minute? Possibly more than 50? Next, we visited the majestic white tigers. They look so awesome in their white suits. However, as it was daytime, they were quite lazy and just slack under a tree and open their wide, big mouths at us as if yawning. Next stop: Hippos. The hippos are housed in an aquarium-like exhibit with plenty of fish and just 2-3 hippos. Despite their size, they are real graceful when swimming. After gathering outside the Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream store, my group proceeded to visit the Animal Research Facility. There, we learnt a lot about animal conservation and what do vets do. We even got the chance to visit the X-ray room! I think that some of our batch-mates already have an idea of becoming a vet in the future…