Well Singapore, you truly have turned it on. We arrived tonight to see you crying from the sky. Mitch McLean randomly mentioned that he often had that effect on people and places when he arrived somewhere new, so humbly took responsibility for the weather patterns (top bloke that guy).
While most of you will be waking up to a new day soon, your sons are finally laying down to rest after what has been a never-ending Sunday (who said weekends can't last forever). It would be fair to say the boys are gutted by the fact that while we are staying in the very classy Peninsula.Excelsior Hotel, a certain Tour Leader's desire to cram as much as possible into 24 hrs means no time for swimming or working out in the gym (NB- Harison Manks in particular was very angry by the lack of available bench press time).
Putting that aside, a new day awaits the boys in less than 6.5 hrs, so I should tell you what was experienced today before the list of events becomes too long to remember. It kind of went like this:
Sunday 8 December
10:30am- A collection of happy faces arrived ready to check luggage in for the SQ286 flight at the Auckland International Airport. Surprisingly that Skeen idiot actually decided to be present on time to call a roll ('Roll of Honour' obviously due to the inclusion of the wonderful Miss Candy in the 2013 touring party)
11:20am- Customs cleared by all members of the touring party, although Pat Jung was pulled aside and searched for being too clever (clearly he has made many enemies for being in the 7A stream this year). In a true display of team unity several others demanded to be randomly searched by the poor man who was just doing his job. In other developments George Helsby even commented that he saw tears in his mother's eye when he said goodbye which he noted was rather awkward considering he had vivid memories of her being incredibly happy when his older brother Oliver went on the 2009 programme.
1:45pm Take-off occurred without any dramas, with Jung again showing his underground mafia tendencies by cleaning up in multi-player Poker. Ben Toogood on the other-hand spent the entire flight winking at people- probably partly due to the fact he could 1) see, and 2) was actually on the plane, following a freak eye accident that earlier in the week almost derailed his participation in the tour.
7pm- Touchdown in the rain. Someone was heard to say this plane is skidding all over the show just like I will be in . . . (I will protect that student on this occasion!)
7:25pm- Customs is cleared after Jake Robson rewrites his Arrival Card thirteen times after realising he still doesn't have a manly signature
8pm- All members boarded the bus for the Peninsula.Excelsior Hotel (the hotel's location is a 100m walk from the Singapore Cricket Club for those that know the area)
8:45pm- After a 30 min drive, the boys head to their rooms to 'quickly' drop their bags
9:15pm- The final two group members arrive to meet the 9pm deadline for being in the lobby (pretty solid start if you ask me). Again Skeen bucks his own personal trend by being on time (twice in one day, I might add)
9:40pm- Arrival at the Bugis St Markets, after walking the complete block around the Hotel first to see if any of the boys noticed (they all failed!). Then it was all about diving into the market place and getting disorientated and trying to walk back out again. Some showed a sharp sense of direction, while others will be using their bag chain as a leash over the coming month.
10:15pm- Dinner at a local food court with Thai being the choice of the night ($5 per head for a bowl of noodles or fried rice or an unknown substance/texture). George Harman offers to buy the staff their meals- what a generous fella
10:45pm- A decent walk ensues around the 'must sees' of the Singapore landscape by night- these included The Eye of Singapore, Suntec City, Marina Bay Sands, The Lotus, the City Skyline looking from across the river with the 'floating' football field in the foreground. All the mean while a certain staff member kept yelling 'take a photo of that for your mum- she will love the pretty lights (and it wasn't a female staff member making these suggestions, so whoever it was it a real smooth operator)
12:20am- Back to base and into bed. Very tired boys after being up all day and all night
Well it is the equivalent of 6:21am Monday here in Singapore if it was calculated as NZ time (1:21am local time), so I'm off to enjoy a Sunday night sleep.
Best wishes to those starting a working week.
Ben
MVP- Mr Jordan. The guy hasn't arrived yet which is probably the most valuable way in which he could have added to this trip. If he doesn't arrive tomorrow he will continue to be a clear favourite for the winning this crown everyday. However if we do see his Irish eyes in the morning when we awake then there is no absolutely no chance he will ever complete something worthwhile enough to be recognised positively on this blog-site again.
Thought- A comment was made within the group tonight about how artificial Singapore feels. It got me thinking; How often do each of us work hard to gloss up our lives so it all appears picture perfect from the outside, whilst beneath the surface we are struggling to be something authentic?
While most of you will be waking up to a new day soon, your sons are finally laying down to rest after what has been a never-ending Sunday (who said weekends can't last forever). It would be fair to say the boys are gutted by the fact that while we are staying in the very classy Peninsula.Excelsior Hotel, a certain Tour Leader's desire to cram as much as possible into 24 hrs means no time for swimming or working out in the gym (NB- Harison Manks in particular was very angry by the lack of available bench press time).
Putting that aside, a new day awaits the boys in less than 6.5 hrs, so I should tell you what was experienced today before the list of events becomes too long to remember. It kind of went like this:
Sunday 8 December
10:30am- A collection of happy faces arrived ready to check luggage in for the SQ286 flight at the Auckland International Airport. Surprisingly that Skeen idiot actually decided to be present on time to call a roll ('Roll of Honour' obviously due to the inclusion of the wonderful Miss Candy in the 2013 touring party)
11:20am- Customs cleared by all members of the touring party, although Pat Jung was pulled aside and searched for being too clever (clearly he has made many enemies for being in the 7A stream this year). In a true display of team unity several others demanded to be randomly searched by the poor man who was just doing his job. In other developments George Helsby even commented that he saw tears in his mother's eye when he said goodbye which he noted was rather awkward considering he had vivid memories of her being incredibly happy when his older brother Oliver went on the 2009 programme.
1:45pm Take-off occurred without any dramas, with Jung again showing his underground mafia tendencies by cleaning up in multi-player Poker. Ben Toogood on the other-hand spent the entire flight winking at people- probably partly due to the fact he could 1) see, and 2) was actually on the plane, following a freak eye accident that earlier in the week almost derailed his participation in the tour.
7pm- Touchdown in the rain. Someone was heard to say this plane is skidding all over the show just like I will be in . . . (I will protect that student on this occasion!)
7:25pm- Customs is cleared after Jake Robson rewrites his Arrival Card thirteen times after realising he still doesn't have a manly signature
8pm- All members boarded the bus for the Peninsula.Excelsior Hotel (the hotel's location is a 100m walk from the Singapore Cricket Club for those that know the area)
8:45pm- After a 30 min drive, the boys head to their rooms to 'quickly' drop their bags
9:15pm- The final two group members arrive to meet the 9pm deadline for being in the lobby (pretty solid start if you ask me). Again Skeen bucks his own personal trend by being on time (twice in one day, I might add)
9:40pm- Arrival at the Bugis St Markets, after walking the complete block around the Hotel first to see if any of the boys noticed (they all failed!). Then it was all about diving into the market place and getting disorientated and trying to walk back out again. Some showed a sharp sense of direction, while others will be using their bag chain as a leash over the coming month.
10:15pm- Dinner at a local food court with Thai being the choice of the night ($5 per head for a bowl of noodles or fried rice or an unknown substance/texture). George Harman offers to buy the staff their meals- what a generous fella
10:45pm- A decent walk ensues around the 'must sees' of the Singapore landscape by night- these included The Eye of Singapore, Suntec City, Marina Bay Sands, The Lotus, the City Skyline looking from across the river with the 'floating' football field in the foreground. All the mean while a certain staff member kept yelling 'take a photo of that for your mum- she will love the pretty lights (and it wasn't a female staff member making these suggestions, so whoever it was it a real smooth operator)
12:20am- Back to base and into bed. Very tired boys after being up all day and all night
Well it is the equivalent of 6:21am Monday here in Singapore if it was calculated as NZ time (1:21am local time), so I'm off to enjoy a Sunday night sleep.
Best wishes to those starting a working week.
Ben
MVP- Mr Jordan. The guy hasn't arrived yet which is probably the most valuable way in which he could have added to this trip. If he doesn't arrive tomorrow he will continue to be a clear favourite for the winning this crown everyday. However if we do see his Irish eyes in the morning when we awake then there is no absolutely no chance he will ever complete something worthwhile enough to be recognised positively on this blog-site again.
Thought- A comment was made within the group tonight about how artificial Singapore feels. It got me thinking; How often do each of us work hard to gloss up our lives so it all appears picture perfect from the outside, whilst beneath the surface we are struggling to be something authentic?
Thanks for taking the time to write this before resting, Ben. We appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteFiona
thanks for the update Ben - we're relieved to hear H is complaining about something...he's been doing it for the past 16yrs which means he's his usual self & all is right in the world. cheers
ReplyDeleteSoooo good.
ReplyDelete