"You've just gotta have to experience things for yourself before you can begin to appreciate things."
- By my mom, or whoever the hell said that to me within the family...
Trust me, it's true. Lemme attempt to tell you why. This is gonna span the longest blog entry ever in this blog. It's a true story from the eyes of a traveller who's just your average Joe, without much muscle power, kind of weak in the mind, easily gives up, is shy and easily embarrassed like a sissy, has lots of problems and secrets that he refuses to share with others around him, for fear of being laughed at...
Oh wait, that was what I thought of myself earlier on before the trip. I mean, how can anyone like me, having considered all these above mentioned qualities, be fit enough for such a trip? Not to mention that my last asthma attack was when I was nine, though I didn't suffer any more attacks after that...
After months of physical and mental training down at Serangoon Junior College, affectionally known among us as SRJC, we finally made it through the series of events that caught us on a rat race. The Promotional Exams were considered the killer exams - there were quite a couple of us who failed it and had to repeat the next school year. Next came Project Work - nobody was ever fully prepared for what came next. Then, the holiday lecture demon caught us, as well as the re-exams coming at the same time, leaving us with almost no more breath to draw from our so-called "battered bodies". I thought to myself, how on earth did I survive all those before the SR Global Classroom Experience (SRGCE) programme trip to Lao Cai, Vietnam?
Things like being late for school for more than 3 times didn't seem as scary after all. Things like ridicule from friends didn't seem that painful anymore. Homework didn't seem as devastating anymore at that point in time. We continued on with our intense but minimal training for our intended destination, to conquer that "demon of Mount Fansipan, the roof of Indochina." If not now, then when? If we couldn't handle all that urban stress, what more that physical and mental torture that is to come when scaling that monstrous hike up that range of mountains to get to the top?
Finally, the holiday lectures ended, and many other events soon followed. My paternal grandmother suffered a heart attack, mainly due to the paternal uncles' financial matters and uncalled-for stress at her age, with diabetes and high blood pressure plagueing her body that was worn out and weathered over the years. With much worry, I had to take my worries of homework and family matters aside. It's a tough choice - I could've told the teachers I can't go, right at Singapore, but then it wouldn't do justice to whatever I've been doing since the day I set out to do. It's all or nothing.
**This is kinda long, so I'd rather have it split into chapters to make it easier and more interesting. That's how the trip was, for me.
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