Ahh.... Finally I am back online....Woohoo.... 1 week in Bali, Indonesia, without Internet.... Sigh.... Anyway, the 7th International Mathematics and Science Olympiad 2010 was indeed an awesome event..Too bad I was not able to write about it few days ago, because the Internet service is expensive in Holiday Inn....Picture of the room...
Okay, here goes...
Day 2
I had breakfast at Fave Hotel, it was quite surprising when they told us that we will only stay for a night there.. Packed up, I held those weird Souvenirs carefully, because they are so So so fragile...and brittle....Hop onto the Bas Pariwisata (Tourist Bus) which took us to Aston for opening, I really enjoy the local scenery along the way. That was the time I get to meet my team, Yew, John, Ms Neoh, Koh, Chew and Ong... All six of them... in our SP Math, Malaysia jacket.. here they are
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| ~S.P.Math Malaysia Team |
There was lots of local boring dance during the Opening Ceremony, and they invited another Big Guy from the Department of Education to grace the opening ceremony... He gave a long long long speech, very very boring...At 11.45am, after the ceremony, we were once again transported to Holiday Inn to check in and start our question selection for the competition... It took us the whole after noon, tedious, exhausting, I just realised that there are at least 4 Ph.D holders in the room...Once again, speechless......But, in order to gain some "respect", lol, I tried to sound out here and there a bit....hehe... got bit of sense of achievement...
At last, chance to get out of convention room, go out to hunt for stuff... Too bad... what I got was just a baked corn, 5000 rupiahs...But anyway, I saw lots of local delicacies stall around, I am so not going to eat in the hotel...
Day 3
Today is the big day for those contestant, all the best for my students@juniors...We tutors didn't really have a chance to rest after the meeting yesterday... There's a bit of drizzling here, on and off... I really felt like being in the rain, not in the convention room...discussing Biology and Physics...
For today, we are going to discuss the answer scheme for those Theory papers, I was quite unhappy when other tutors are late >.< ....Chaos....Argh....Arguments are happening in this very meeting room, to produce the best, fair and just answers for all candidates...
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| meeting....discussion.... |
Oh yeah, I ran out during dinner time with the Math Tutor, Mr Toh... And took a cab to the nearest mall, Discovery mall, where I spent my first 100k rupiahs... buying some souvenirs and local food stuff.... There's nothing much to shop, except for those local craft works...
After walking around, we wonder what to have for dinner....Suddenly, I got a phone call, telling me that the local "Babi Guling" is something you can't miss when visiting Bali...And so, we walk along the street, but there's no shop selling it.... When we went to a tourist information booth, the guy there wanted to scooter us there with a fee of 50k per person...Who cares about the money, rite?? Fortunately, we took a scooter, cause there was a serious traffic jam along the way....LOL, but the scooterist drifted few times when transporting us there...What an experience... Oh ya, the Babi, it was really nice nice nice.... argh... terribly nice....and spicy..haha....never regretted giving up the dinner in Holiday Inn...It cost only 100k rupiahs, so cheap, very cheap for something so nice... >.<
At 9.00pm, I got back the photocopied test papers of my team... The results are...dunno wat to say.....Spend the whole night marking till 11pm, and I finally got their marks....Speechless.. went to bed
Day 4 ~ Outing
The organizing committee rewarded us with a day trip to local places of interest, after loads of meetings and markings....First stop...
The Barong Dance
Basically, a kind of Hindu Mythology dance, which involve a transformation of a creature call Barong, and another evil one call Rangda....
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| Rangda vs Barong... vry retarded... |
Next stop, we went to a Silver Shop, where silver accessories are sold at high price...to leech tourist's blood...
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| other tutors browsing those item |
Antonio Blanco Art Museum
He is a Spanish artist, a kind of contemporary artist...His paintings are mostly topless, and very artistic....Got a few shots outside the museum, because camera in prohibited inside...
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| pirate =P |
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| there is one PhD here, guess who >.< |
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| entrance of museum |
Lunch At Bali Zoo
Yeah, I just had lunch there, just lunch and nth else.....
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| i like this, like like like... |
Tanah Lot....Temple of the Sea
After lunch, we rushed to the Tanah Lot....It's a Hindu temple built on the Sea, literally.... This picture explain everything...
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| Tutos at Tanah Lot... |
I missed the Sunset scene here, due to early departure for meeting that night....Sad.... But the stuff here are really cheap and negotiable... I got the same souvenirs for three different prices... 30k, 15k, 10k rupiahs .... LOL.... Anyway...I like this place a lot, the sea breeze and waves and the nature...
I ate a extreme spicy Baked corn which cost 5000 rupiahs, but he charge another Korean or Japanese tourist 10k... The world is too realistic....Key chains.... T-shirts.... Spent a lot....woots....One more thing is that our tour guide - Kartika... is so freaking funny... that he made us laugh like mad throughout the trip...But he mispronounce the word "Sun Tan" into "Santan" which means coconut milk....
Back at Holiday Inn around 6pm, then meeting to discuss about the "Experiment" paper... den we get back our teams' papers.... All six of them (my team), are doomed in this paper.... I dunno wat to say... seriously...... >.< Disappointed, I went to sleep after killing some zombies using peas....
Day 5 ~ Moderation
Finally, moderation..... It started around 8.30...when I argue and fight for marks in order to salvage a few Medals for my kids.....It was really intense speaking to the juries which consist of qualified lecturers or teachers... Thank God, I managed to get what we should get after the limited 30minutes of moderation....Group photo of the science tutors...
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| Ph.Ds, Lecturers, Educators, Officers, Teachers... etc... |
You know what, I finally had my got a chance to do some real shopping, spending money like a millionaire...The LO (Licensed Officer) Patrick took us to a souvenir shop, and at that place I spent around 400k ..woohooo, gt lots and lots of stuff...haha... in only 40minutes.....
At night, we initially plan to go Aston to meet with the rest, but the trip will take 1 hour, so we changed the plan... New plan - hunt for food and stuff to buy...We walked along the Kuta beach while watching the sunset......sad thing is that I was alone that time >.<
I spent a lot on dinner at a restaurant called Blue Planet, A Seafood Mahagrani, and Apple-sauced Pork Chop, lol.... 380k rupiahs.....But I really like the atmosphere there, lighted candles, dim light, live band singing 1970's song...I was lucky to have heard my favourite song - To Love Somebody by the Bee Gees...Here is what 370k looks like....
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Tiger prawn, Lobster, Grilled fish, Card, Squid rings....>.<
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It was really a great meal, or should I say the best meal in Bali......and to spent the rest of Indonesia currency, I once again went to a department store and buy stuff like there is no tomorrow..... Finally, I hit 1M, hahaha - Luwak Coffee, Prawn Crackers, Local biscuits etc..... etc.....I really did spent like a millionaire....Consequently, I'll have to carry all those stuff back using both of my hands... =( .... very tiring....
I slept quite late cause I'm killing zombies once again.....swt....
Day 6 ~ Closing Ceremony @ Cultural Night
It was another new day in Bali, no program in the morning, except for self-packing up to check out during noon time...I skipped the hotel breakfast which cost 165k rupiahs.... and went out to roadside stalls to have Mutton Fried rice and Soto Balavia..... too nice .......miss the sambal very very much.......love it to the core.....I must come back to Bali next year....
There was a shocking news, when Patrick told us that we are going to another hotel... Surna Paradise Resort or something like that... Swt.... Changed 4 hotels in a week..... what a joke.....>.< ... Anyway, the Malaysian tutors, just had lunch there and planned to squeezed with the rest of the team in Aston..... Due to Friday prayers, we waited for the muslim leaders, a bit delayed.....But we make it just in time at 3pm for the closing ceremony and prize giving ceremony.....And as expected, the Big Guy was late due to traffic jam......It started around 4.30pm.... Results : Math: 1 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze ; Science: 4 Bronze.....There was a new record for Malaysian history, when one of our student for Overall Best in Mathematics....Malaysia Boleh.....
2 of the boys who didn't get anything cried....... It reminded me of myself 6 years ago in Hong Kong >.<
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| ~Team Malaysia~ |
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| My Team -Front(From left): Ong, Chew,John, Neoh,Yew,Koh ; Back(From Left): Dr Loo, Me |
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| Theam (Overall Champion) being interviewed, LOL...... |
Cultural night was a must for this kind of international gathering as the second objective of this competition is too form bonds between participants of different nations.... you know what, when I saw those kids going around changing souvenirs, I really miss those time when I was going around doing the same thing......Things really have changed......
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| cultural night |
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| Ong with Thailand kids.... |
I guess that's all for the big day, where SP kids are made known to the world, when Malaysia Boleh is once again heard in this kind of International platform..... Thank you God for everything You granted us.....
Day 7
It all started with a breakfast at Aston....when 2 boys, were late and got scolded by the team leader..... We took a bus to Denpasar Airport where we checked in and bid farewell to Bali Island..... The team went back to Sungai Petani.... as for me...nowhere else but KTT.... =)
Labels: event, food, overseas
