oh, before i forget. would you believe in living history? the refugees we met were kmt members who came over from china during the purge, fought with the shan rebels against the drug lords and are now refugees from burma. i met a sargeant, and he speaks "kmt chinese", or rather, mandarin with a strong accent, possibly from yunnan. and many of the refugees come from yunnan. it's really fascinating.

i miss the kids, though.

on an unrelated note, a strange (as in unfamiliar) indian man talked to me on the train. considering what he was doing before that, i am highly disturbed. ok, maybe strange as in the other way too.

YAARG.UGH.

so i'm back from thailand. and gods the first damn thing i do is run 21.1 km. joy of joys, i feel so accomplished. well, i would if my knees wouldn't stop hurting. as it is, i just feel like crap, especially my knees. they feel like they're popping out sideways.

in any case, the trip's been interesting. already i miss the orphans. if they've taught me anything, its that now i can laugh more. dont sweat the small stuff. piggybacks are always appreciated. communication transcends words. not to say that learning a bit helps. i can now count to 100 in thai (marvellous accomplishment, that. thai sounds like a mix between hokkien [mostly], cantonese and malay). its simply amazing, their independance and tenacity, and how they cooperate. i dont think a 2 year old toddler in singapore will be able to fall down in the mud, toddle down a 50 degree slope, wash self and come back up to play more soccer. it'd probably cry itself silly.

and the bonding was fun. i really liked the group that went up. coke-rum is highly amusing, to say the least. and my wrists still smell of jpg and l'oreal (i think) perfume. it's been good.

i saw shooting stars!! *happy*

when i pixellate my thoughts, they never come out right