Chennai - Day 4: 3 Sep 2008

Home-visit day.

I looked forward to this day, not because it was their public holiday, but for the fact that the pesky kids would be packed off with their assigned host families. Peace for 10 hours straight.

The day started off with the tree-planting task. The kids got their hands dirty once again with the soil this time round. It was obviously fun and we were doing our part for the environment. We are friends of the environment! =D

After sweating it out for an hour, the kids left with their host families, while we went to check out Dakshina Chitra, a cultural village, where a fast & furious i-Race would take place the next day. Coincidentally, we met Yuxuan and Kimberly there with their French host family. We hanged around and bought some handicrafts.

We proceeded to a shopping district in the afternoon after our late lunch in a restaurant @ Residency Towers. It was quite a posh hotel in comparison, and my taste buds enjoyed the food there.

The shopping district was nearby and we were greeted by beggars, many of them, the moment we alighted the bus. I couldn’t help but sympathize them, yet we had to ignore them for a kind gesture from anyone would invite more to come.

We bought a bit of stuff here and there. It was fun but had to be on constant look-out for pick-pockets, the uneven roads and congested traffic and such. Things are cheap there. Levi’s and other big names included. I didn’t buy much though I was pleased to see the rest reaping rich harvests from the shopping spree.

We were back in the hotel to wash up after an energy-sapping day before returning to Gateway School to collect our pesky kids. All of them chorused that they had an enjoyable time with the host families. Our greatest gratitude to all the host families for giving our kids a wonderful time.

After the thanks-giving, we headed back to the hotel. I was always well-entertained by Michael and Aravind in every journeys to and fro anywhere. It was fun having them around. I didn’t forget Ryan Lai. Fun, witty and polite.

It was 10pm local time (12.30am Singapore time), the teachers and some kids had not had our dinner. We went to Olive Restaurant in the hotel and it was then I realized, on the fourth day, that the hotel only serves vegetarian food! This meant that I had been having vegetarian breakfast every morning. This also explained my hunger not long after!

Then, it was bedtime.

Chennai - Day 3: 2 Sep 2008

CIP day.

We returned to Gateway School bright and early. The martial arts demonstration by the martial art sinseh and his very young disciples were entertaining. Then our APS spoilt brats had a go at it too. One simple set of high & low blocks and an attack. *HIAT!*

APS and Gateway School then made our way to a government school, Corporation Primary. You can easily tell that we are worlds apart. The kids are child labours adopted by the Indian Government. There was no electricity, no tables, no chairs, no lights, no fans, no computers, name it and they don’t have it. All they have were four walls and a roof. It was a poverty-stricken sight.

One couldn’t help but begin to wonder what was going on in this part of our planet Earth. We begin to understand how fortunate we are and appreciate what we have in Singapore. This is National Education.

The kids from Corporation Primary, though excited, were wary of us at first. However, as soon as they had adjusted to our presence, they swarmed you all around like superstars, stardom that you wouldn’t want. Ask Andrea.

Mr Annuar conducted an art lesson for the kids from all three schools, while Mrs Mohan spearheaded the setting up of a library corner next door. We completed our mission and headed back to Gateway without wasting a second. It was unfortunate that one APS pupil lost his handphone there.

We were back in Gateway for lunch. The school arranged pizzas for all knowing that some of our kids couldn’t take spicy food. Due to a power-cut, the joint blogging activity was scraped. In fact, we experienced power-cut or failure every single day there. We returned to hotel early that day. Dinner @ Silver Streak, the place where we had our dinner the previous day, was still quite good.

It was then back to hotel to conclude yet another day.

Chennai - Day 2: 1 Sep 2008

1 Sep 2008. Teachers’ Day. The first person who greeted me, after a little prompt from a teacher of another Singapore school, was Michael. Hence, I declared on the spot that Michael was my favourite pupil from then on. My Teachers’ Day gift was a box of name cards, which I am not sure when or how I would need them, from Mrs Nam.

Reveille was @ 6am on the second day of our stay. We were going to Gateway School and had a visit planned to one very well-established firm, Infosys.

The school is located far from our hotel in a sub-urban area and the journey took us an hour. The school is a small one with a population of 236. Most of the kids are from well-to-do local families and some from foreign expats. The pinkies (colour of their school uniform) gave us a really warm welcome.

Security was tight @ Infosys. No handphones, cameras, thumbdrives or other electronic devices capable of storing data and images were allowed. We got a bit of the video-conferencing, before a walk-around the company ground. It was kind of amazing that there are swimming pool and billiard room for the employees. In Singapore, it would have been a white elephant. You definitely wouldn’t want your boss to see you skiving in there, a sign that you have too little work. Even so, we would want to get home early after getting most of our work done.

We were back in Gateway School 2 hours later. The packed lunch was good too, local flavour. Some kids couldn’t take the spiciness, but good thing was they didn’t complain much. In fact, they were very adaptive with regards to food throughout our 6-day stay.

After lunch, we got our hands dirty with the clays. This type of activity is good for any developing child. It involves the sense of touch and elicits great creativity from them. It was heartening to see that our pupils struck up good partnership with their peers from Gateway School. Did I mention a power cut half-way through?

Buffet dinner @ Silver Steak was good. As long as I am well-fed, everything is okay. =D We headed back to hotel where Mr Justin had planned a “surprise” for us in the function hall. Though we walked into a dark room knowing that the kids would pop out from nowhere, we played along. It was good fun & laughter.

And then, it was bed again. Tired. Day ended @ approximately 12mn local time.

Chennai - Day 1: 31 Aug 2008

We are back.

From a country 5500 times larger than our sunny island, but 2½ hours behind us.

Frankly, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this immersion programme to Chennai, India. Afterall, it was during our one and only term break week before the start to a hectic Term 4. On top of that, some not-so-pleasant remarks concerning the Bangalore trip last year, and with India definitely not my choice destination for a holiday, I soon realized I was in for a surprise! =D

We arrived in Chennai after a smooth 4-hour flight. The airport was not as bad as expected, except that one immigration officer who obviously was trying too hard to stamp his authority in front of us, a group of foreigners. Our luggages had already passed the scanning machine, yet he demanded to know what was inside Kimberly’s luggage and ordered a re-scan. Was he trying to tell us that their security measures are in doubt? xD This was a bad omen to me, nevertheless I told myself to be ready for a rough encounter in this country.

Our first taste of the food in India was good. Thanks to Kabul, the restaurant. Deccan Plaza Hotel was not that bad as what some claimed in the cyber space, with exception to that hard-like-rock bed, which I got used to later.

After lunch, we proceeded to the Marina Beach, which is the second longest beach in the world. Like what Mrs Mohan had told us, the beach is not only long, it’s wide. From where we stood, we could not see the water at all! Sand, sand, sand, and it reminded me of a desert than a beach! =X

Our art activity there attracted a huge group of spectators, and the concern of safety dawned upon us. The task there was interesting and meaningful, but we soon called it a day and returned to the Hotel.

Indian-Chinese dinner @ Shogun was good. It was about 10pm Singapore time when we had our dinner. India was only 7.30pm then. Everyone, especially the kids, was tired.

I told some of them scary stories before the day ended with our daily reflections in our blogs. I went to bed @ about 12mn local time after doing part of the photostory of Day 1. Mrs Nam finished up the rest. =P