International Hot Air Balloon Festival

About a week ago,during the school holiday,my mum took my siblings and I to Putrajaya to watch the Hot Air Balloon festival.It was a timely trip as I was getting dead bored of my study-holiday(I was studying for the monthly test that I had to take after the holiday as I missed it when I went for MSSD).

I was a little excited at first because I've never seen a hot air balloon in real life before that.And,I was also looking forward to getting a ride on the hot air balloon.So,my mum decided that we leave the house early and meet up with her friends in Putrajaya a little earlier.

Unfortunately,my mum's friends who went there way much earlier at 7 a.m. still didn't manage to get the tickets for us.Apparently,hot air balloon enthusiasts started lining up for tickets since 6 in the morning.So,we concluded that luck was not on our side that day.Even if my mum's friends had planned to come even earlier,it would have been too early for them to wake up and make up considering the distance of their house from the venue.

Well,it was a little disheartening to have missed a chance to get a ride on a hot air balloon but I was not going to let such a thing to spoil my happiness on my day out.To be truthful,not getting a ride wasn't so bad because looking at the hot air balloons taking off from ground and flying away till the eye could see no more was just too spectacular to be described in words.There were hot air balloons of various interesting designs-a tree log,the Darth Vader,the Japanese anime Doraemon,and even an upside down balloon(only the design was upside down).

Obviously,we couldn't have spent the whole day just viewing balloons.There were other activities held around the venue as well.One of the best games to be played was the water orb.Basically,you get into a ball filled with oxygen and the ball is rolled out into the lake.Then,you just have to play around like hamsters in the orbs.Sounds childish,but if you are the type that wants to try out knew things,you would surely enjoy this different experience.Well,I enjoyed my time.

After that,it was my brother's turn to play something and he chose to a ride on a horse.So,my mum had to fork out some money which wasn't really worth the ride as it was too short.While watching my brother having a great time on the horse,I noticed a few guys zooming in the air-they were paragliding!

I had para glided once before,during my last trip to Penang.But that time,it was controlled by a motorboat from sea.This time around,they were power paragliding,which means they were maneuvering the parachutes in the air by themselves.I really wanted to try it out but too bad for me,I couldn't find the counter most probably because the paragliding were only conducted by trained professionals.

A day of bad luck,it may seem to you but I really did enjoy myself during my time in Putrajaya.

It was a great way to release some pressure after a whole week of facing the pages of various reference books.I hope I will be able to go for the festival next year as well-perhaps I might finally get my chance to hop in a hot air balloon!

Great Timing

One day after the disappointing 4 days of the district-level athletics championship,I had to attend the prefect camp.A few weeks ago when the date was announced,I was really looking forward to attending the camp.

But,a turn around of events during my athletics championship made me very disappointed that I wasn't interested to go for the prefect camp.In addition to that,the Friday which was the first day of the prefect camp was supposed to be the day that my training friends had a farewell party.So,I practically missed out on the last party with my wonderful training friends.

The only thing that I could hope for was that the camp would provide me some sort of happiness after a bad week.And that's exactly what happened during the camp.

Once we arrived,we were supposed to set up our camp.I've joined camping trips where I had to sleep in camps but never once have I help set them up.So,this time,I was determined to learn to set up a camp.After setting up the camp,I found out that it wasn't that difficult at all.At least,I learned something new at the very beginning of the camp.

The only activity that day was ice-breaking.There were a few games that were planned to help us to get to know other prefects especially the ones from the afternoon session.We were also instructed to use different languages.It was fun but I was feeling really sleepy as the game was held way past my bedtime.

The next day,I woke up at 6 after quite an uncomfortable night.It didn't mind the comfort level as such things were normal during camping trips.For the first time in months,I didn't shower in the morning(due to lack of time) and just managed to brush teeth,wash face and change T-shirt for the morning exercise.The main activity of the day was the jungle trekking.It was a long long journey to the midway point of Gunung Angsi.The only bad part of this experience was that we had to walk back the same way,not an alternative route.Other than that,I really loved the sight of nature throughout that journey.

That evening,there was a game that required great teamwork.Each group had to work together to place a small ball the furthest from a given point without touching the ground after the given point.After some great teamwork,my group managed to win that challenge.

Next morning,there was a ball game after the morning exercise which was fun to not only play but also to watch.After that,we packed our camp and sat in the main hall for a speech and the closing ceremony.There was also a photograph session at the end of the closing ceremony.All the prefects were so heated up to get themselves in all the pictures as chances of returning to that wonderful campsite in Ulu Bendul,Negeri Sembilan was not that bright in the future for most of us.

As I mentioned earlier,the short-lived happiness during the camp managed to distract me a little away from the disappointment of not performing well during the athletics championship.I managed to forget the past to enjoy myself during all the activities.That camping trip was sadly,the last prefect camp that I would attend.Something memorable but short-lived,I will never forget the fun I had with my fellow prefects during the 3 day 2 night trip..........

MSSD Klang Athletics Championship

The competition that I had been training for had finally arrived.It was the district-level athletics championship which is held annually for students in primary and secondary schools.I was looking forward to this competition since I started my new training session in May last year.I was registered to run the 200m,400m,4x100m and the 4x400m.

My main target was the 400m.That was the event that I had been training for for the past 2 years.There were many obstacles during that period of training,especially severe injuries to my quadriceps.With my goal in mind to clock a new personal best,I brushed off all those obstacles to get myself well prepared for the competition.

Unfortunately,this year's competition just wasn't my year to shine.Everything was going on well during the heats(morning) and the semifinals(afternoon).When I started my final race,my body just didn't move to it's full potential.I only managed a 4th placing behind 3 of my old rivals.I clocked a personal best but it wasn't even near to the timing that I had targeted.I can call it one of the most disappointing days of my life.

I tried to forget that race and was ready to help my school win the 4x100m relay the next day.Again,bad luck struck me.The fourth runner did not pass the baton properly to me and it fell.I'm not blaming the third runner for the mistake because I treated him like a trained runner when I started running although he wasn't that experienced in relay races.A few coaches who knew me applauded me for picking up the fallen baton and finishing the run but that was the only compliment from that miserable day.

Day 4(I had no events on day 1) was the day that I had my 200m.I fared slightly better in the heats and semifinals,finishing first for both.During the finals,I was ranked 3rd and managed to maintain my ranking to claim the bronze medal.It was a very hard fought medal,a simple gift for my efforts during training.Winning only a bronze medal meant that I missed out on the state-level athletics championship.It was really disappointing as I thought I had worked really hard during training.

When I went home that day and as I stared out blankly into the sky,I started to think of the amount of effort that world-class athletes would have put in to achieve outstanding times.And if what I thought was really hard work only brought me to my level now,I started to think of the amount of effort I had to put in to emulate them.That evening,I decided that it was too late for me to turn back on athletics after enduring 2 years of training and I would surely continue to work hard to achieve my goals.............

An Emotional Farewell

I was there in the school canteen,forcing myself to enjoy the soup noodles as the fried rice was not prepared yet.My friend came up to me and dropped a bombshell by saying that my history teacher was going to leave the school on Friday,which was in a few days time.I didn't believe it at first keeping in mind that I have one bunch of funny friends who come up with weird things at the most unsuspecting moments.Unfortunately,I found out that my friend was indeed saying the truth when I walked past the staffroom and saw my teacher shedding tears of sadness.

Let's rewind to the moment when she first stepped into my new form 4 class......

She came in with a steady control on her walking style while clutching her Form 4 history textbook in one of her arm.The first words she uttered was her distress over the cleanliness of my class and immediately ordered the student on duty to empty the rubbish bin.

To be honest,some of my friends,or should I say most,were terrified with her stern look the moment she walked into our class.And we were running scared of her after she explained the endless list of rules that we had to follow strictly during her classes.The rule which I still remember is no looking out through the windows to take a peek at what's going on in the field,a rule that I found pretty hard to follow in the beginning!

As time passed by,all of us learned that she wasn't just an ordinary teacher who threw unimportant rules at her fellow students,but a rather kind woman who had an excellent way of teaching her students history so that they would find it very interesting.Well,I did find her classes very interesting because she always had a deep knowledge about the topic that she was teaching.

The best part of her classes was when she incorporated daily happenings into her lectures and always showed us that history repeats itself in one way or another.She would always go"Dot,let's stop our lesson for a while" and continue with her stories of recent events that have connections to history.To me,students don't feel bored in her class because she always added some sensible and sometimes humorous points to her stories.And that's how I managed to score well for my history paper during the Year-End Examinations.

Well,let's get back to reality and all I can say about the past few days is emotional.She started crying on Tuesday and did so every consecutive day till Friday whenever her students came to see her a say their goodbyes.I didn't have much time to see her and even missed her farewell speech to my classmates due to my athletics training.However,I did steal some class time to say my last words of gratitude to her.

When I met her that Thursday,she told me that she will always remember me as the person who reminded her of the name of the place that the British had exchanged with the Dutch during one of her classes.It was indeed touching that such a small thing could actually have such an impact on such a great person.

So,why was she leaving?

Well,after some investigation,my friend found out that my teacher had voiced out something during a teachers meeting.Apparently,my teacher voiced out something about the uniformed bodies camp(Kem Perdana) and the Parent Teacher Association in my school.The headmistress got angry and fired them from my school,just like that.What a way to "appreciate" such a great teacher.I have no idea what was running in the headmistress' mind when she made that decision.

What's gone is gone and there's no point fretting over it.Her departure will no doubt be a very great loss to not only the students but to the teachers of my school as well.She was such a great teacher that no one was ready to let go of her so soon.

You know,on Friday(her last day),I asked her to stop crying.She told me that how could a mother not weep when she was about to leave all her children who were crying and go to a another place.That's when I realized that she had always treated us like her own children,regardless of race or religion.Her passion for the profession of teaching and her motherly love for us will be sorely missed.................