CSP6 day 1

So i touched down in HK at about 12+ in the afternoon and met up with Joy for coffee. We were supposed to meet at the Kowloon Station but somehow we managed to bump into each other in one of the train cabin while at the Prince Edward Station! I was speechless when she tapped on my back on the train as it was really a great coincidence for us to meet in a big city like HK. Anyway, it was nice catching up with her and I was reminded once again how I should really treasure my time as a student. Work life can be a real drag!

Anyhow, I met up with the CSP representative at the kowloon station in the evening and got transferred to the dorms of City U where we'd be staying for our first few days in HK. I was one of the last ones to arrive at the reception booth and was hurried through the check-in process. One thing I remembered vividly was the super ugly purple jacket we were given as part of our delegate uniform. The CSP polo T-shirt was alrite but th jacket is really too teletubby for me. Well, i told myself i should take comfort in the fact that there'd be 200 other teletubbies like me. I was also pleasantly surprised to find Teng Guan, my OCS Delta mate from Platoon 3 whose name eluded me when we greeted each other (it was pretty damn embarassing thou i'm used o it...my names-retention ability is almost obsolete), and Evelyn fromm Michigan! I soon found out that there were about 11 of us from Singapore, a lot more than I expected. Apparently PSC sent out a mass email to advertise about it so I guess most knew about it from that.

The welcoming session for all the delegates (obviously no one wanna sit in front...haha). Basically telling us repeatedly not to be late and the penalty coming with it. The guy giving the talk is our delegation leader, Dr Albert, a psychologist by training and now doing admin work in HKU. Personally, i have great impression of him after the trip and thought he handled the whole trip well and was open-minded about alot of things, a rare trait these days..

The night ended with a dinner and some performance put up by the HK local delegates. I gotta know a few of my group mates on the first night. Weisiang, this singaporean dude whom i'd come to know much better thro the trip was sitting beside me and we had a blast talking about the similarities between the almost regimental nature of our trip to our army days. Sitting on my left was Sophia, this nursing student from HK and then Queenie, this 19 yr-old gal from canada who can speak fluent cantonese, mandarin and of course english. i reckon at that point i'm possibly the oldest dude around, thou i'm quite used to the idea now since i've been living on a freshmen hall the whole of last academic year. Of course there's also Gladys who went thro great pains to explain to everyone the legend behind her name ("Glad" + "lady" + "s")....she's certainly the most bubbly and talktative character on our table that nite..

Anyway, after a military-like dismissal from the dinner ("ok group 1 leave now the rest please stay...ok now group 2...group 3 pleas stay put..."), i went back to my dorm to get an early sleep. I have yet to meet my roommate thou (little do i know he'd turn out to be the best dude i'd be hanging out with for the rest of the trip) since i check in late and slept in early. There was some mention about a voluntary taiqi session at 6am the next morning! I thought who'd be so crazy to wake up at those wee hours. Apparently i was one of them when i woke up automatically at 530am! damn jet lag!