Lebensraum

Hello People! Slept quite a lot today- woke up around 11 and took quite along nap. Thank goodness the flu thing is quite gone if not I'll have Malaria for the rest of my life. So anyway- the magazine based on the place which almost brought be malaria- Viva La Timor Loro Sae!

Editor's Note

This is the third publication and second issue of Viva La Timor Loro Sae and writing this pathetic wonderful magazine has been a great joy. Remembering the terrific times that happened just a mere 8 days ago. Jotting it down on my low-profilic blog and making sure that I can still remember the skeleton of the trip years and years later.

So once again I have worked hard on the magazine cover and this time I used a vertical effect with the REAL colors of the Timor Leste flag. The previous' issue colors were not the flag colors at all because the red was behind the transparent yellow and it turned orangey. Didn't know until the last minute and was too lazy to change. I also neglected the fact that there was no picture behind the title part like the first publication did so the white-coloured font looked a little insignificant against the yellow background. But hey, this issue is not a critics review on my previous publications! So anyway. Sit back relax and once again enjoy this pathetic wonderful publication brought to you by BigFatSmiles.BlogSpot.Com.

Signing off,
The Only Member of this Publication

P/s The 3rd day of the trip was pretty uneventful, thus is not recorded in this magazine.

Being Santa Claus
Santa Claus has to go through a chimney before giving gifts. Apparently going through a chimney isn't an easy task- likewise getting to the place we were assigned to wasn't an easy task as well. We were assigned to the district of Ermera which is south of Dili and to the sub-district of Letefoho. Letefoho is the coldest place in East Timor and also has the tallest mountain in the nation. The roads were (extremely) bumpy and it was full of sharp turns. Some parts of the roads had also fell off (check the Flickr for more detailed photos). We drove there on a 4 by 4 Pajero which was rented for about 50 USD a day. Thus the Pajero is regarded as the Mercedes Benz in Timor Leste. And should there be a Mercedes Benz in Timor Leste it would probably be disregarded because of the uselessness in the nation (the roads are REALLY bumpy).

Thus after a tiring 2.5 hour journey up the mountain, we finally reached the sub-district of Letefoho (I thought it was Leletoho at first because of the unclarity of the printing). Firstly we proceeded to the junior school and received quite an overwhelming welcome. The children there were pretty shy and did not dare approach us. Thus, having quite a mean personality, I started to snap shy and scared shots of these little kids. Finally the teacher came out and decided to pick me to be interviewed- asking me the name of the school I came from in Singapore, my name, my age blah blah blah. The hardest question to answer was "What are the differences between your school in Singapore and the school here?" Obviously there were many differences! So I racked my then in panic brains as I did not wish to offend them and came out with a pretty good one, "For one, the schools in Singapore do not have such great scenery =)" and everyone laughed in unison while I heaved a sigh of relief.

We then started giving out the toothbrushes and bags we had brought over and at this fateful moment my dear Konica Minolta ran out of battery. Feeling horrible and cheated and now hereby proclaim that I do not have anymore photos to post for the rest of that day =(

The children were very shy when receiving their gift and upon receiving started jabbering in their tongues to each other. The girls were even more freaky, upon shaking my hand they laughed like super loud. I was, erm, embarassed. Seeing the gratitude on their faces really gave me that heartfelt and heartmelt feeling. I then realised the priviledge I have been experienced in sunny Singapore and decided that there was a lot more to be done in this nation and hoped that I could come back and become part of the building of this wonderful state.
We then proceeded to the senior school.