I'm lost!

Monday, 11th July 2005

Literally. I got lost hiking on a trail in this village called Betws-y-coed(see wat i mean when i say the welsh language is unpronounceable)..

I arrived from Llandudno in the afternoon..checked in at my B&B..then went to this waterfall 'Swallow Falls'..wah biang..walked about 40 mins there, paid 1 pound to enter..then realised it's such a small area tat u can walk round the whole place in <5 mins..felt a bit cheated..

Anyway, i a bit buay gan wan..walked so far just to see this tiny waterfalls..so i tried to locate this trailhead about 500m away..according to the map i have, it's an 1-hr medium-grade trail..quick check at the time 4.45pm..should have enuf time lah hor..so i went ahead..

It's still ok at the beginning..cos only 1 trail..then it split..wif no clue on the map, i just anyhow humtum..see which one looks more well-trodden & more uphill..walked³..came across this farm..dun care, climbed over the gate..then realised it's private property..climbed back out again..beginning to suspect i'm a little lost..

Walked somemore..shit..5.50pm liao..i figured i'm somewhere near the top liao but dunno how to get down..according to the map, it's supposed to be a loop..but it somehow just din feel like one..

Boh bian..had to continue walking..quite glad tat the sun sets only about 9-ish, 10pm here..

Uh-oh..6.15pm..still lost..i'm almost prepared to spend the night here liao..and then, i heard a car..i flagged it down & asked for the directions down..the driver said it's quite a far way to go & then asked if i would like a lift..there were already 5 of them in the car but wat the heck..dunno how long i'll need to walk out of this place & i still needed another 45mins to walk back to my B&B..

They managed to make some space for me & I squeezed in gratefully..can u imagine 3 big ang moh guys & me in the back seat? It's a normal sedan car..so not exactly very roomy..

Found out 4 of them were from Liverpool & 1 from Manchester..heng ah, can still talk cock wif them since i stayed in Liverpool from about 2 weeks..

Anyway, they showed me the map they're using & it's those real topo map..& me, a 2 pounds map from the TIC..those machiam World Walking Day kind..just the agar-shape of the route..they must be thinking, this xiao geena thinks she can navigate using those maps..

When we reached the foot of the hill, they offered to send me back to my B&B..of cos i was very grateful..

Finally reached 'home' at about 7pm..

There u have it..my first hitch-hiking adventure..a bit scary i must admit..but oh well, thanks to my lucky stars..i survived it..

Stay tuned for more adventures coming up..

Greetings From North Wales!

Hi folks

Aiyo..really ah..everywhere i go, something sure happen..dunno if u guys in Sg are aware..but there was an evacuation of 20,000 pple in Birmingham city centre on Sat cos of a bomb threat. The bomb was actually diffused by the police. To think tat i passed by Birmingham twice en route to my strawberry farm!

Anyway, from Liverpool i headed to North Wales since it's only 'next door'. The coach took only about 2.5 hrs to reach this coastal town called Llandudno (i hate the spellings of the Welsh language ; no idea as to how to pronounce the words at all)

Another reason why i'm here now is cos fish was here with her 2nd sis who came over for a holiday..met up with them over the last 2 days and they're now back in London. Meanwhile, i'll continue to travel ard Wales on my own for the next week or so..

Alright, time to log off...expensive terminal..

2012 Olympics

The host city for the 2012 Olympics was announced in SIngapore at 7.46pm local time. My location? Somewhere in the middle of England in a little town called Ledbury (tat's btw the place i was picking strawberries)

A sms from Ms i-can-take-photos-again informed me tat London had won the bid..oh, good for them..they did try very hard..judging from wat i see..

For some reasons, i felt quite emotional when the results came thru..was it cos London won? Highly unlikely..i like UK yes..but not so emotionally-bonded to it..

Think³..the only likely reason was i knew how much effort & hard work my ex-colleagues had put in for this IOC thingy..had i not quit my job 2 mths ago, i certainly would have been involved wif them..And wif the announcement, they would be able to heave a big of relief and breathe a little easier from now..Singapore is mentioned in the media all the time & i feel so happy & proud of them..knowing tat they're part of the 'mu hou ying xiong'..hmm..kinda miss the camaderie when we're slogging together in the good ole days..esp when u're all alone out there..feeling a little lost from time to time..

Ren jiu shi zhe yang..mei you le jiu te bie xiang nian..sigh..

Many many thoughts..

The past 2 weeks or so had really been an eye-opener for me..working as a manual labour..picking strawberries in the muddy fields..living in a caravan..being around so many pple from so many different countries..

I had wanted to arrange my thoughts then blog it down chronologically..but i decided it cannot wait..so i shall blog as & when i think of something..it may not make sense to u..but these experiences are too precious for me to 'forget to record it down'..

First, the camp was full of pple from Poland, Latvia (somewhere near russia), Romania, Bulgaria(the poorer eastern europe countries if i may call them, no offence meant)..and after living with them for just 1 week, u can tell these pple are really motivated by money..or shall i say, the fight for survival..be it rushing for the morning van, rushing for the strawberries, rushing for the bathroom..we are simply no fight for them..maybe cos we know we're here just for the experience..& we dun need the money(as badly as them in any case)

Thru talking to a few of them, we found out tat a summer worth's of job earnings here can probably last them for a year back in their own country..which is why they're so much more willing to put up with hardships..(yes, i admit, the spoilt singaporean mentality is at work here)

How they're being 'bullied' cos they dun understand much english..nobody ever questions how they're being paid, why do they have to do tis & tat & why are they being charged for tis & tat...i think we're the only 3 with so many qns..perhaps this is how the farm works..i dunno anything about farm operations..

It was also a very good lesson in humility..when u're treated as second-class citizens and u're just like everybody else on the farm..worse when u're a newbie & u obviously dun blend in wif the majority..i just hope all these can make me a better person..

I also almost lost my temper a couple of times during these 2 weeks too..i blame it on the accumulated fatigue & stress of travelling..for those who know me long enuf..i dun lose my temper easily..

It was also during this period when i had my first thought of giving it all up & just flying home..luckily the thought went away after a night's sleep..i had promised myself if i had such thoughts for 3 consecutive days in a week, it's time to SERIOUSLY consider about going back to home sweet home..

Time's running out..till the next time..

i'm safe & sound!

I've just arrived back in Liverpool and am thus safe and unaffected by the bombings in London; my 2 travelling companions as well as my frens in London are all safe & sound..

Within 3 hours of the bombings, i've received >10 calls & smses asking about me..i really appreciate it & sincerely thank all those who asked after me..at least i know i'm not forgotten in Sg :Þ

Just a quick note to inform everybody tat i'm ok over here..dun worry, i treasure my life more than ever now..

Till i find a cheaper internet..this terminal is super ex!

It's strawberry time!

Since i've got some free time(ok, maybe 'a lot' is more appropriate) now and very importantly, i've got convenient internet access(it's dialup though but it's free so i shan't hiam) & i found a 'publisher'(thanks to wei), i shall work diligently to clear up my blog's 'backlog'..

Got quite a lot i want to blog about..maybe i might seem too cheong hei & bore u pple out there..but hey, this is MY blog & these are MY memories, surely i have the right to capture them here?

Alright, let's start with the strawberry picking stint..yes, go get a cup of tea(strawberry milkshake for u cordell?!)..make urself comfortable in front of the screen..ready..here we go..


IN THE LIFE OF A STRAWBERRY PICKER

Sunday, 26th June 2005 - Arrival @ Siddington Farm

Today i met my 2 frens in the small town of Ledbury..i came down from Liverpool and arrived at about 5pm..2 hrs before they are scheduled to arrive from London..walked around the high street but most of the eateries were closed..found one open & went in..one look at the menu & realised it's quite a posh place..boh bian..needed to kill time..paid like 8 pounds for a salad..*.*

My 2 frens arrived at about 730pm and we sat there waiting to be picked up..half an hour gone past and no signs of anyone..made some calls and the pickup finally arrived. The 3 of us climbed in and were driven to Siddingdon Farm. We were greeted by rows of caravans and were shown ours. We were sharing a caravan wif this Latvian guy called Shasha..dunno about the spelling but it sounds like this lah..i know i know, it's very cha-bor sounding (anyway, more about him later)

The caravan is no bigger than the living room of a 5-room flat..there's a so-called living room, a tiny kitchen, an even tinier loo(3 of us are rather long-legged and we can barely sit on the toilet bowl..we'll just knock the door open lor) and a small doubles room.

It was a cold night and we were told there were no hot showers(read : we din bathe tat night) Too tired to recce the place..we had a simple dinner of bread(wat else) and went to sleep. The 2 of them took the room and i slept outside..my bed was the sofa bed in the so-called living room. Wrapped myself in my trusty sleeping bag & it's off to meet my grandpa..

Monday, 27th June 2005 - Registeration

Woke up at about 8am..washed up a bit..had a simple breakfast and we went to the office to register. The office was just a simple container at the back of the farm. There was a queue of people there..mainly Polish..and we just hang around, waiting for our turn.

After wat seemed like forever, we managed to get ourselves registered and were told to start work the next morning. We were given an info sheet..the terms din seem so bad..or so we thot..with the rest of the day free, we decided to walk out to the town centre and get food enough to last us for the few days.

It was a good 30 - 40 mins walk out to the Ledbury town and we went to our fave supermarket Tesco (cos it's the cheapest) and bought the usual stuff like pasta, bread, cereal, milk, etc.

Back at the camp site, we decided to check out the shower..it's err...not exactly wat u would call clean..but well..at least the water's a bit bit warm..

Spoke to a few of them who can speak some english..we learnt tat the working hours differ from day to day and we will be given breaks in between & so we would need to pack our lunch out wif us..

Cooked our dinner and then we went to bed..anticipating(eagerly? anxiously?) the next day..

Tuesday, 28th June 2005 - My First Time

Today, I had my first experience in picking strawberries..reporting time was 7am & we woke up at abt 6am (btw, for those who are not aware, the day lights up at about 4+am here). Washed up in the icy cold water, had a quick breakfast and headed out to the gathering spot. We only managed to squeeze onto the van at about 8.30am(there were about 200 other workers). We were brought to this strawberry field about 15 mins ride away and we saw rows & rows of strawberries..there were already many others who already started work..

We were given our barcode label and from them, i'm known as labour #301(4D anyone?) We're under this Bulgarian guy called Auriel..we were then given our tools - a 2 trays lined with 6 big punnets & 4 small punnets & a sledge to drag the trays..and of cos, the most impt tool of all - our bare hands. We were briefed tat there were 2 classifications of strawberries - the nice big fat juicy ones are class 1, the not-so-nice-but-still-ok ones are class 2..and then, we started work.

Everytime we finished the 2 trays, we were supposed to bring them to our leaders and they will scan in our barcodes..

Strawberry Picking - A Dream Job?

All i can say is, after 4 days of strawberry picking, it's BLOODY tough.. Strawberry picking is back-breaking hard work & the pay is damn pathetic! I think i haven't been thru' such physical hardships in a looooong while..and if u throw in the dire living conditions..BUT it's all for the experience right? At least i've earned myself the bragging rights of being a strawberry picker once in my life.. Internet time is very precious here..i will add in daily accounts of my life as a strawberry picker at a later date.. For now, i expect everybody who's reading this to think of me the next time u eat strawberries..