Room 1626, Vistana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

I'm in Malaysia! And I want to sleep!

But since Papa specifically asked me to record my little trip, I shall stay up a little longer.

Anyway, I wasn't too pleased this morning because I was looking forward to a slightly less crazy project week - definitely not jetting off on a two-week exchange programme...

Oh well. I didn't meet the other Singapore participant till I was at the boarding gate. Checking in, by the way, took a hell of a long time because the counter staff were "trying out a new system" or something. I was reasonably early and was done only 15 minutes to my boarding time!

So of course the flight got delayed. I didn't really mind because I (finally) got to read Introducing: The Roman Empire. Then I tried to nap, but was interrupted when the drinks trolley arrived. I had tea in an effort to stay awake.

I had an aisle seat and was in like the second row of the economy class, so I was out of the plane very soon. I was thinking about how very fun it is to travel alone...when I got to immigration and realised I didn't have the stupid immigration card and (after getting it) didn't know how the heck to fill it in. :P

ANYWAY, the bags were on the conveyor belt already so Belmont and I just took them and headed uncertainly for the exit.

At the arrival area, I spotted a guy holding two "ASEAN CAMPUS JOURNALISTS" signs, one for SINGAPORE and the other for INDONESIA.

The Indonesian flight hadn't arrived yet so we waited for a while. Then the participants - two girls - turned up and we went outside to wait for the MPV that would bring us to the hotel.

I got a window seat in the middle row. It was an extremely long journey, not that I minded - except that the stupid air con was on full blast and blowing straight at me.

When we finally pulled up at the Vistana Hotel, we found out that most of the other participants had arrived and were in a room upstairs.

But we latecomers had to have dinner first! :P

Dinner was in the lobby (well, the restaurant in the lobby) and we got to order anything we wanted from the menu. Despite the tempting list of char kway teow, laksa, Hainanese chicken rice etc., I chose chicken chop with mushroom sauce. Which was nice, and I liked the mushrooms.

Then we went upstairs and sat down. The briefing was just ending! Sheesh. However, it was time for icebreaking.

For your information, there are 20 participants - two from each ASEAN country. Our first task was to form groups according to animal names we had drawn from a bowl.

I moo-ed my way over to the Cow group, which also included participants from Brunei, Myanmar and Laos. Which was a good thing because I found out that I'm not the youngest here; the girl from Laos is 18.

Next we had to learn about each other, then go up on stage and introduce one person from the group.

(Most of the participants are studying mass communication or - surprise! - journalism now, although some are studying economics and education. There's even someone studying applied chemistry!)

After this we had a very short briefing, during which the participants from the Philippines finally arrived. We voted on group leaders, then adjourned to the poolside for supper. I wasn't hungry so I had another cup of tea.

Finally I went downstairs to collect my luggage, and took the elevator to the top floor. I entered the room and surveyed the place before my roommate (from Thailand) turned up.

And now I suppose I can SLEEP. It's the opening ceremony in the morning and I'll have to wear my "national costume". Wheeee. Oh and each country has to put up a "cultural performance" at the end of our Malaysia stay. Double wheeee. ASEAN shall soon learn that Singapore has NO CULTURE.

In the meantime I have to recall the lyrics of some national songs. :P

But before I go, the schedule scares me. I see lots of workshops and there's a timeslot labelled sinisterly "project discussion". That's...like...SCHOOL!!!

You could take a little trip around Singapore town,
In Singapore city bus
To see Collyer Quay and Raffles Place,
The Esplanade and all of us

Because in Singapore, Singapore,
Their hearts are big and wide you'll find
Because in Singapore, Singapore,
You'll find happiness...for everyone

Let's go down to the riverside,
It's an unforgettable sight
To see the sunrise on a faraway isle,
Turning darkness into light

The buildings are climbing,
All the way to the sky
And there's a hundred other people who are striving,
For people like you and I