The day did not start as well as I planned it out to be, sleeping around five yesterday, trying to finish up my school work, I arrived late today at the Head Office late. It was certainly not any better with my flu, but being a SME requires me to be resilient, to act despite of tough circumstances.
Leading my team, we decided to start on the first goal: To reach Sentosa via Bus and the Monorail. Though that was our objective, there was a more daunting task ahead of me. The SMES were tired and showed signs of lethargy over the the past few days. The question to ask now was how do I gather this team together( Jake, Nuri, Yooji, Grace, Mary, Brenda and I) and make them click. To make it worse, there was a language barrier between the korean and chinese was hindering us, and it was an awkward situation where everyone kept quiet. As the team leader, I decided to take initiative by making them talk by cracking jokes, and sharing my story with them.
Even on our way there, we were talking, laughing and cheering, Kis SME, this team name sounded weird and laughable, but as long as we had fun, it was worth it.
Upon reaching the ticketing office, Jake, affectionately called Bumblebee had no cash, before I even reached for my pocket to lend his some, my team members already took the initiative to lend him the money. However, one of them Yooji suggested that we used the money given to us for our expenditure to be divided, and we agreed. I commend her for thinking out of the box, to think of a win-win situation. She really examplified the value of excellence. That excellence was not to be a goal, but our pre-requisite.
Upon reaching the Imbiah Station, I knew I need assume responsibility, given that today was such a hot day, I needed to make sure everyone drank lots of water, and keep hydrated. It was scary, as it was different from leading my schoolmates or friends, I had to be accountable to their "babysitter" or person in charge and parents, they were also from overseas. So i had to really make sure that safety is priority. Bringing them to the Images of Singapore, with a few disruptions to take pictures.
Halfway through already, dont blame for being wordy, I tried listening to you guys, but I must express my thoughts!
We purchased the tickets from a sweet Indian lady, whom brought service with a smile. She was obviously not just interested in exchanging tickets for cash, she was interested in a fufilling job. We made friends with her, she asked us a few questions and asked about our programme. we just striked a converstation just like that. This was really great but it also disturbed me. It is so easy for us to make friends, and when it comes to our family, the people who mean to us, we treat them as enemies, not as friends. Kinship is not simply blood ties, but Friendship tied down with blood bonds. And, we certainly became closer after the whole day.
After a quick introduction, with good video effects we immediately began on our Singapore Adventure Journey, For the Koreans, and Chinese it was learning and understanding a country's history and culture, for me, it was revisiting my country's own story. Brenda and I were like their tour guides, bringing them around, introducing to them our country. They listened intently, respecting our culture, singing praises for our country and shared with us about Singapore's cleanliness, and how Singaporeans really like being clean. This point was highlighted by Grace, a chinese SME, and she said that she would use her practical action to influence her peers and spread the need to protect the environment.
With her this thought, I brought them to the Nature Discovery Trail, to learn more about nature, and to appreciate Mother Earth. also to give them a few tips on conservation. on how to protect our environment. It was my duty to drill in the concept that nature is a beautiful thing to behold, and we are only renting this earth from our future generation. To exterminate the concept, that what I do is small and little, it doesnt matter.
IT DOES. We must respect this Earth, this home to us, the place that housed human beings, from civilization to civilization. It is time for us to respect it and stop acting like little brats.
With stomachs growling, lips dried up, we headed to Subway for a quick lunch. When you have lunch, you always always hate it where there is awkward silences between you and your friendsm once again I became a joke. at least everyone had fun. Sigh,
Feasting on overpriced food in a cramped room, we enjoyed ourselves and moved on to our next station, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS people!
Getting our tickets, and vouchers, we were all packed up! Ready to roll. Going to the Revenge of the Pharoah, that mummy needs help man. He sounds like he didnt have a mommy didnt give him enough love. I learnt this theory, in his ride, flying down with the ride, a guy like me WILL get a center parting.
The rest of the time was there was really like the usual theme park stuff, going for rides to get wet, watching 4-D movies with awesome effects, taking pictures with mascots, and for Marilyn Monroe, I didnt get a chance, cause so many people were going for it!
Madagascar, Sci Fi City, Jurassic Park was all good workplaces, what I meant by that is, we were given another task for happy and excited faces, IT WAS EASY AS finding a seed in a watermelon. From workers to little kids, a wide smile was plastered all over their faces. So, happiness is quite easy to find, all you need to do is relax.
Another worthy mention, is the Lights, Camera, Action station where you get to see the movie effects LIVE. With the water really spraying around, with things crashing around, with the ground shaking literally. Well, from the dude who brought you Bourne Identity, and movies of five star ratings, Steven Spielberg. He is an internationally acclaimed director, and has been respected by many due to his excellence and his requirement for perfection to do his best, excellence was his motivation to success. Therefore, when we viewed the special effects scene we really felt the impact and power.
Okay, that somehow summed up today. And as Hannah Kim, my wonderful Korean friend departs, I pray she arrives safely and that she will still remember us. Moving back on track, the four things we picked away from today, the Olympic Values, Excellence Friendship and Respect. Also, UNIVERSAL STUDIO MERCHANDISE.
