Long Holiday Ahead

It's the festive season (Eid Muhbarak or Hari Raya) and if the moon is sighted tonight, I will have 5 days leave from work including one day ‘forced’ leave meaning to say it will be deducted from my annual leave next year :(

Anyways, I can’t believe I don’t have any travel plans during this long break. I would have book my tix to Singapore but the hotels are so damn expensive because of the GP season. I’m still deciding where I should go (Miri? KK?) Or I’ll just stay home and play my PS3 for countless hours.

I’m really dead bored right now with no plans in mind. Been surfing the Internet for hours now in search of something interesting that can occupy my boring spare time. I’m taking a break now to write this blog. Thought I should update it.

I went to Kuching about 2 weekends ago with some friends. I can’t say much about it because its top-secret hahaha didn’t went anywhere interesting not even to town. We had other things to do there so it wasn’t a leisure trip. I went to Kuching twice before, it’s a nice place rich in history. There are a lot of road constructions going on there which never seems to end ever since I first visited there. Other than that, I’m happy that they have Starbucks coffee at their airport.

Ok what am I going to do next? I’m not in the mood to go shopping because it’ll be difficult to get parking; the shopping places are crowded; traffic jams everywhere, definitely not my cup of tea. Hope there's something to do during the holidays besides eating!!! Will update soon.

WYD@SYD2008

So I've not been keeping to my promise lately to update this blog dutifully. And I don't know how many people do actually read this boring blog of mine. But anyways here I am now trying to spare some time to update it after being idle for quite some time.
I've been traveling on a monthly basis now (not for work) ever since my trip to Sydney in July (which btw was awesome!). I was in Bangkok two weeks ago, commuting between bandar and Miri (not far, I know) last week and next week I'm off to Kuching. Though it is tiring I enjoy every single bit of it.
Like I mentioned earlier my trip to Sydney was awesome. I was there for about 2 weeks to attend the World Youth Day and met a lot of people from all over the world (my facebook friends are growing in numbers now). Explaining where my country is located was a bit difficult, some thought it was in South America and some thought it is Bolivia??? Anyways I've my Nokia N95 with me and show them the exact location (a tiny dot on Borneo island).

Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera house

On arrival in Sydney, we went to Broken Bay for our Days in the Diocese event. We stayed with foster family in the Australian outback. It was a great experience! The weather was extremely cold for some of us, funnily I felt warm on the first day we arrive until night fall. It was almost 0 deg C during the night. We attended some music concerts and workshops but sadly I had to leave early for Sydney just after 2 days in Broken Bay as I was part of the International Liturgy Group. I felt so sad to leave everyone and to be separated from the group.

@ Mingara

I took the train from Woy Woy station to Central Station in Sydney which is about an hour journey. Took a cab to the ILG headquarters at the University of Sydney. The oldest university (I guess) in Australia at 150 years old. The building architecture is so beautiful, just imagine its like Hogwart in the Harry Potter movies. Anyways, I have my own room at the girls' dorm which I'm very thankful of hehehe Next, our names and tasks were posted on the board in the common room even before we arrive! My tasks was to receive Holy Communion from Cardinal Pell during the opening mass in Barangaroo and Papal stage escort during the evening vigil. Seeing or meeting the Pope has always been part of my life mission! I went to Rome last year during Easter sunday just to see the Pope but didn't get the chance(to cut the long story short, it was the final blessings by the time I was in Vatican city). Everyone were pretty excited about their tasks and along the way we made new friends. They were 142 of us from 59 countries. The day goes by like this in the ILG: talks in the morning, grab a packed lunch from the cafeteria and either walk (from the uni.) or take the bus to rehearsal site in the afternoon till nightfall. We have rehearsal almost everyday and it was tiring and also freezing especially when we had our full dress rehearsal (some of our clothes were not meant for cold weathers). Nevertheless we enjoy each other's company, most of the time talking and laughing.

Some of the ILGiers

I keep in touch with the group via sms and phonecalls. You do tend to miss your own friends from home at times. I remember the time when I finally meet up with them at Hyde park, they were queueing up to go in the merchandise shop and some of them were in St. Mary's Cathedral. They were screaming and hugging and soooo excited when I told them what my tasks was. I was so happy to see them, it felt like ages (it was abt 4 days to be exact).
Barangaroo, the site for the opening mass, was fully packed on Tues 15th July. We had to go through the VIP entrance and security was really tight. We waited for more than an hour in the dressing tents before we were allowed to go to our seats near the stage. It was nightfall when it was our turn to be on stage to receive Holy Communion, and we were shivering to our bones because of the cold wind from the sea. Thank God you can't really see it in the video hahaha After the mass, we rushed back to the tent to have our 'pilgrim' dinner (which was curry chicken 'soup' and bread) and taking advantage of our VIP pass we took a shortcut through the barricades to meet up with the rest of the group. It was soooo difficult to look for them as there are more than 100,000 people in the crowd. And when we finally did find them we were overjoyed and they kept saying 'we saw you on the big screen'. We dance, sing and jump throughout the concert, having a great time together. The group was staying at a school in Merryland which is about half an hour from Sydney Central station.
The days goes by so quickly that week. The Papal arrival (on a boat) was at Barangaroo on Thurs 17th July. The place was fully packed and of course excited to see the Pope. The crowd was chanting 'Benedetto' followed by the clapping. The atmosphere that day was just tremendous and I felt so proud to be part of it.

L to R: The stage at Barangaroo, The Pope on his way to Barangaroo on a boat, The Pope on stage.

My next task was the Papal escort during the evening vigil at Royal Randwick racecourse. We have rehearsals three days in a row at Randwick at freezing temperature but the cold didn't put us off. We were to escort the Pope from under the stage (papal tunnel) onto the stage and all we have to do was to wave like mad. Then light up the tiki torch and spread the fire to the rest of the crowd. Sound easy right? Well it was not... the stage was bigger than in Barangaroo and its 20ft high so we have to see where we're going and make sure we don't get ourselves burnt from the torches, etc. After the rehearsal we have to find our own transport back to the uni. I think I'm getting the hang of the transport system in Sydney.

L to R: View of Randwick, behind the stage and under the stage in the Papal tunnel.

Anyhoo every night after the rehearsal I really try my best to be with the group. On 16th Jul was the Asian Youth Gathering (AYG) at the Olympic Park. A group of us board the train at Central station and try to get to the venue on time. Unfortunately the event was over by the time we were at Lidcombe (an interchange) and I saw my group getting onto the same train to Merrylands. I got drag in by them leaving my other friends behind at the station. Wat a day! It was my first visit to their accommodation and the school staffs are very friendly. I only stayed for a few hours and took the train back to Central alone before midnight! It was scary but thank God I met some good people on the train.. One lady start a conversation with me and asked me if I'm from Brunei because I carrying the Brunei flag on my backpack, coincidently she was from KB but have move to Perth about 20 years ago. She told me she will be visiting Brunei at the end of the month. Small world after all. I didn't get her name though.
We attended catechesis at St. Benedict's church about 15mins walk from the uni. (I took the bus instead) and experience the great Aussie style bbq for lunch. I meet up with the group a couple of times after that though for a short while only as I've to rush off to rehearsal or to another WYD event with the ILG.
On Friday 18th July, we attended the Station of the Cross. It was very beautiful the way it was acted out and we were in reverence.

L to R: The Last Supper, The Pope saying a few words, St. Mary's Cathedral

I had to leave as soon as it was over and rush back again to Randwick for the final rehearsal. After the rehearsal, I rushed back to the uni. pack few of my things and took the train to Merryland (alone) because I wanted to be with the group for the 9km walk the next day. My sleeping bag was already the Uni. of South Wales (UNSW) our changing place, near to Randwick. I spread out my jacket on the classroom carpeted floor and doze off to sleep as it was really late by the time I reached Merryland.
The next day we got up early and prepare ourselves for the 9km walk. We were to start from North Sydney and all the way to Randwick. Took the train from Merryland and head to North Sydney, along the way some of us got confuse and board off at the wrong station. When we arrive at North Sydney, we waited for the others before embarking on our journey. It was fun and a good experience.

Passing through the Harbour bridge

9km is not that near especially when there are hills involve! Not having enough sleep, energy and stamina really challenge all of us during the walk but nevertheless we overcome it. Upon reaching Randwick, I overstretched my left ankle tendon. It was an old injury I guess I must have stressed on it during the walk. The group entered Randwick through one of the gates but I had to go to the Uni. which was way up on the hill. I wanted to cry but I just carry on despite the pain. After walking for about 10minutes, I finally reach the uni. alone (again!). I freshen up and rested my ankle. After getting few mins of sleep, it was time to move. Got into my national dress and limp all the way down the hill to Randwick. It was painful but I couldn't back out now. I didn't have the chance to go to the first aid tent to get it checked!
We were escorted to the papal tunnel and waited and waited and waited for which seems to be 2 hours. We prayed the rosary together, took photos and waited again. We could hear the performance above our heads on the stage but unable to see it. Then we were asked to standby near the door, everyone was nervous and excited to see the Pope.The Pope quietly make his way behind us, we turned and stood in awe. At first he look scary but then he smiled and gave us the blessings. We managed to say 'We love you, Papa' before we went out and that widens his smile. He didn't look scary after that hahahaha but in fact he look cute like a small child. And of course I noticed his red loafer which was very striking.

Escorting the Pope and carrying the tiki torch

The atmosphere that night was exhilarating! There were thousands of people, screaming, chanting and all I can see was flashes of camera lights. I didn't feel the pain anymore when we stepped out onto the stage and I was saying out loud 'wow look at that' and I even forgotten that the Pope was behind us! It was an amazing experience for me and I can't believe my first world youth day will be this way! What an opportunity!
After the night vigil we were to sleep under the stars on the Randwick ground. It was cold, a bit noisy but who cares when you're so tired. The loo (toilet) was far from where we were sleeping and I could feel the pain in my ankle again. So I decided to go to the first aid tent (which was also far) and get it checked. They put my ankle on ice for 20mins but it was still swollen so they had to bandaged it. I went to our group's sleeping area but some was asleep and few were missing. I wanted to meet up with our Bishop but he was not around yet. I've not seen him for more than a week when we were there but we kept in touch through phonecalls and SMSes, which surprised some people in the ILG. hehehehe
I did manage to get some sleep after tossing and turning. They woke us up at 6.30am for breakfast and then morning prayer. We rushed to the performers tents and use the loos there as it was cleaner and more private. My hair was in a mess and decided to use a beanie to cover it.
The final mass was attended by almost 400,000 people; celebrated by the Pope. I was taking some candid shots of everything then as I was focusing on the stage, I thought I saw a familiar face and it was none other than our Bishop! Standing in the middle of the stage taking photos and he was also projected on the big screen! Not believing on what I'm seeing I asked a friend to look through my camera lens and confirmed it. Even some of the priests in front of us was laughing and asking us what he was doing. It was really hilarious.

15secs of fame, the Pope during the Final mass.

The Pope gave a very touching homily and some youths got confirmed on that day as well. He announced the next world youth day will be in Madrid, Spain in 2011 and look forward to see everyone there. As he bit farewell (which was the saddest part) we cannot help but to chant 'Benedetto' and scream 'Viva El Papa'. It was such an amazing moment and I just couldn't believe I was part of it.
My first trip to Sydney and my first World Youth Day have been the greatest trip of my life. I have new friends and a close bond with the group. What more is there to say but to look forward to another great adventure...


There's more to this story, will try to upload some pic in another post.