All Worn Out

I finally got the time to actually sit down at the desk inside the Spinworkx shop to type out something for my blog.

It's been over a week since I sat down and actually typed something long so I figured after a hectic week with APac CHRIE and a lil help over at the Singapore Yo-Yo Championships, I'd write sth so I can hopefully look back at.
The past few days of APac CHRIE have been really tiring and I think it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the students and volunteers who had chipped to help make this event a success.
Of course there were conflicts along the way, lack of manpower, disagreements, clash of egos, etc, but I guess take any event organized by a group of people who have no choice but to work with each other, and u'll prolly have these issues to face.
Planning was no easy task, a lot of the students from the different rebels were involved, not many were interested, but those who did volunteer were truly a great help.

A lot of the guys spent hours working on the planning stage. Even on the last day before the event, some of us worked till it was almost midnight, when Dr Andy had chased us out of school cause he wanted us to get some rest.
So what did we do? We ended up going to Mcdonalds to sit down and continue with our work.

I took pictures, but for some reason they have disappeared, I think I deleted them! I recall leaving at around 1:45 or so sharing a cab with Jacques since she lived near by.

I'm actually quite glad things went rather smoothly on my side. The pantry flow was smooth, and so was the 2nd day for breakfast, lunch and tea breaks. I think I have the people at Suntec to thank for with regards to this part. Their execution was damn good in my opinion...you can't say it was perfect, but it certainly did not hinder the delegate's timings, which to me is a great thing =) The dessert station wasn't perfect, but besides the lack of cash to fund some of the stuff we wanted, the operations seem to go rather smoothly.
Dinner at Jumbo was another interesting highlight on the second day. I found myself having to manage the Jumbo Seafood dinner at Clarke Quay which was an optional dinner for those who were interested.
Tours had a slight hiccup and almost got the delegates on a boat ride all the way to the Robertson Quay where Double O was near, instead of Riverside Point where Jumbo was. But luckily with some last minute changes, the delegates made their way to the right location.
Of course the highlight of Jumbo was for the delegates to have a taste of Chilli Crabs, which was something a lot of delegates hadn't tried in terms of "local" food, you don't get them off regular stalls in coffeeshops so Dr Andy figured this would be something worth having that the delegates could enjoy.
I think from the looks on their faces, you can tell they did =)
And so did the main committee! =)
A funny incident that happened during dinner was one of the delegate's son kept hitting on Valerie and Angela. I thought it was damn hilarious...he would walk up to them every now and then, sit beside them, make some funny face, and then run away, then walk back again. It was rather amusing, so they promised him a picture which I took, I couldn't find the time to pass it to the kid though, but I thought it was rather hilarious =)

I think the biggest highlight for the volunteers came during the dinner at Amara Sanctuary where everyone had the opportunity to sit down and enjoy their meal with the delegates who sat in the same ballroom.
I think from the looks on their faces you could tell the food was really good and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I mean, look at the chicken or salmon, I thought they looked fantastic!
The chicken looked great and all but to me the Salmon was to die for! I wanted something light and I had chicken rice for the past few days so chicken was out of my list of "things to eat during APac CHRIE"
Excuse the lighting, this was taken in a spot-light area though, hence the dark shadow on the right. But who cares right? The fish looks great! And it tasted great too! Danielle didn't like the apricot sauce, I thought it was pretty astounding though. =)
Looking back, APac CHRIE was certainly an eye opener for everyone, especially those who helped out throughout the process of the event to make it a reality. I for one thought it was one hellava blast to hang out with all the students from different classes and getting to know them better.

Maybe I'll take part in ICES next year if I got the time...we'll see.

It's almost 11, time to go pick baby up. =)