Favourite Actress (at the moment)

Ueto Aya 上戸 彩

Trip Planner

So what have I been doing lately?

I've been trawling the websites and travel guidebook to research for my backpacking trip in July.

The internet has almost everything; the amount of information available is truly amazing. However not all are exactly useful and some actually contradict one another.

Specific example:

Some reviews claimed that XXX Hotel is fabulous and the best place that they had stayed in during their trip but there were also guests who absolutely hated the place.

I come to realize that planning perhaps makes up half of the fun of traveling.

You guys can guess where am I going from the picture below....

Sorry for the light reflection on the blue book but I'm sure that you all can make out the words...

Certified Facilitator

Finally I finished my facilitators' training with the end of the mock camp yesterday.

I would say that I've learnt a few things about myself.

1) I have to be more focused.

2) I need to open up more to people whom I don't know very well.

3) My observation skills are not bad.

4) I hate to be confrontational.

5) I'm actually quite good at lame games such as Tiu Tiu Tiu.

So the next camp is the real thing already.

And I hope that I won't screw it up for my freshies....

Weaknesses

If you guys can recall, I actually applied and was selected to be a facilitator for the Freshmen Teambuilding Camp. So far I had attended two training sessions and there will be a mock camp coming up next week.

During the last workshop, I received feedback from my other group members and the senior facilitators. This is the summary of what they have written (my response in yellow):

Good points:-

1. Calm and composed

Well I don't think I'm really as calm and composed as they thought to be. I was the facilitator conducting the debrief when the other members simulated a quarrel and I wasn't sure how to deal with it. Perhaps I managed to give the impression that I could handle the situation.

2. Sensible and mature

Eh.. I'm already so old liao of course must be sensible lah....

3. Observant

Not as observant as I hope to be and I was slow in picking up certain stuff at times. I think it is because I happened to highlight something that most people overlooked.

4. Responses are well thought-out.

Frankly speaking I think that they ran out of any more positive things to write. I'm pretty sure that everybody's responses are well thought-out. In fact sometimes I had nothing to say and just repeated some of the points that were brought up earlier.

Bad points:

1) Too quiet and need to open up more

Everybody wrote that so it definitely has to be true. Eh I don't know how to explain this but it always takes me some time to warm to people whom I just know. For those who know me well, I could be quite different. It is quite a serious issue and I really have to think about it.

2) Speaking up

This is sort of related to the earlier point. I feel that this part is referring more to the planning and execution of the activities. I'm almost always the one with the least to say during planning. Sometimes I took a long time to process my thoughts or was too lazy to think. This is another real problem for me.

Ambiguous ones:

1) Confident

Some put that I'm confident; most probably due to the fact that I was really very confident of the things that I was sure of. Others put that I could be more confident and I agree; I definitely could be more assertive in situations such as the last activity when I volunteered to be the leader.

2) Articulate

I only got a B for my comms oral presentation so I knew where I stand. I didn't really understand why some people say otherwise. Perhaps my English is simple enough to comprehend.

From these feedback I got to know my strengths and weaknesses. I think most of them are very true and I can definitely use them to improve myself.

My weaknesses will probably hinder me from being a good facilitator. Getting the job done is not an issue; getting the job done well is probably a big question mark.

Hmmm... perhaps I'm not cut out for the job but I can't pull out now.

I have no choice but to learn fast during the mock camp next week.

ICT (Part 2)

Sungei Gedong has a new street soccer court now and I got to play there on Friday night. While playing, I couldn't help but wonder why some people are too unwell to go outfield but fit enough to play football at night.

I also found it rather surprising that some people had rather low emotional quotient. If I were the person who needs a favour from someone, I will definitely be grateful and try as much as possible not to trouble him/her.

Of course most of the people who need favours from me mostly will be like that. However there will also be people who will think that those giving them a favour have a moral obligation to help them and take those favours for granted.

During this ICT I faced a situation whereby there were people who needed help from me. While I tried to help as much as I can, there is always a limit to my capability.

So obviously when deciding who to help, I would give those with better attitudes the priority.