TRIP TO BANGKOK - The Days Before

As I was adjusting back to my daily life after my mini escapade to Sabah (which I’ll blog about once I received the pictures from my friends), I got a phone call from my faculty.

“Tai Boon, awak telah dipilih untuk menyertai Program Mobility Pelajar ke Thailand.”

At first, I was skeptical. Is this for real? Hold on, maybe this is one of the Hitz.fm Gotcha call. But in the end, it turned out to be the real deal after all. :)

Great! An all-expenses paid trip to Thailand! 

Soon, phone calls from seniors and friends came pouring in, some asking for travel trips (as if I’m a seasoned traveler. Haha) But mostly, the calls were from seniors who self-elected themselves to be the leaders of this trip and started delegating jobs.

A trip, which I initially presumed to be a fun and simple trip, turned out to be an educational/ cultural exchange kinda trip. Me and my wishful thinking. There is no free lunch in this world, of course there would be something for us to do in exchange for our paid trip! Haiz….

So, after plenty of e-mails and phone calls from my seniors, I was made to understand that we are supposed to carry out the role of ambassadors.

“Wakil UPM dan juga wakil Malaysia”, as the kakak from my faculty’s administration office informed us. Hahaha… What a title.

Then, came the part I dreaded the most. Found out that I was in charge of a cultural presentation. I have to give a 10-minute presentation on Malaysian cuisine. Not that I hate giving presentations or being lazy (okay, maybe a little), but 10 minutes on Malaysian cuisine?!

Where do I start? Chinese, Indian, Malay  and Baba & Nyonya cuisine? Appetizers, main courses, desserts and drinks? 
Mana cukup masa weiii……..

Furthermore, if we Malaysians know all about the tom yams and mango kerabus, what makes you think that the Thais are ignorant about our nasi lemaks and teh tariks? Just Google or Wiki and they will have tons of information lah…..   

So, I decided to tell my leader.

Me: (stating all the reasons above, hoping to be given another task, or maybe another topic to present on)

Friend of mine: True true. I agree with Tai Boon. Why don’t we do a cultural dance performance instead? I can be in charge of it.

Leader: Great idea. Okay, we’ll do a cultural dance performance.

Me: (in my mind) YES!!! Then I wouldn’t have to be in charge of anything anymore. Hahaha…

Leader: And Tai Boon, you will still be presenting on Malaysian cuisine. So, we will have a presentation AND a performance. Very good, very good.

Me: Crap……………………………………..

So there I was, on my 22^nd birthday, alone at my rented house in Serdang, preparing my presentation. What a way to celebrate my birthday :( 

** But then I received a call from Cat, and got to know that DC is celebrating Wong, Ee Kai and my birthday. Only I was not there. But at least I got a song and an MMS of my cake.

Thanks guys!!! :) :) :)

There's Spiderman on the cake! :)

To be continued…