We are but merely Lego sets....

Hi guys,

In order to deflect the spotlight on the 2 controversial videos below, I've decided to create a new post so visitors dun juz see the videos.

Its been a darn long while since I posted, so I figured this is the best time to do so coz of my holidays.

First and foremost allow me to share my experience in the Himalayas as promised. Below are the pictures I took. It wasn't the most comfortable holiday I've ever been to, but as with all things, for every sacrifice there is an invaluable lesson to be learnt.

I was blessed to be heavily subsidised for the trip so I paid only $450 for a trip that on hindsight easily cost more than 3K. The school only selected a few ppl for the trip so thank God that they shortlisted me. I guess he put me on that plane for a reason.

To be honest, the only reason I went in the beginning was to jump on the chance to visit a country that I will probably never ever visit later in my life as it is not the most ideal holiday destination. Let's face it, who in the world would want to go to Nepal when it cost more than a trip to Europe? Coupled with the subsidy and a bunch of great frens, it helped me make my mind up.

So fast forward to the trip itself. I was again blessed to be able to have a window seat after the Thailand transit. It was the afternoon and it was the best landscape I have ever seen in my life. The view from above the cloud, looking down on the snow capped mountains, winding rivers and vast greenary was majestic. The sight of houses looking no bigger than my Lego sets made my faith stronger. I thought to myself, 'this was the view God has of us'. We are so damn puny it was almost amusing. We are nothing more than a speck to him, like the movie Horton.

Oh ya btw I had 2 helpings of the airplane lunch, it was mutton that tasted so good.

When we finally touched down, it was the first time I had ever got off a plane on the runway itself! The tarmac greeted us as the stairs lowered straight down to the ground.

We spent one night in the Capital of Kathmandu and the van ride was as usual, my way of soaking in the country's culture. I've always cherished this time and never waste it on sleeping. Every face, building, shop, children, street, activity made up the country and to waste the time to take a nap is a grave mistake.

It felt like India, but in my opinion this was worse because the weather was so cold, yet homeless people were without clothes on their backs, children sleeping on cardboards while I shivered with my multiple layers of wool. An unexplainable overwhelming sense of guilt overwhelmed me, as though I was responsible for their plight.

The next day we travelled to the city of Pokhara before our 5 day trek up the mountains. It was the rural mountainous areas, away from the hustle of the city and definately more peaceful. The scene from my hotel window was unreal. Imagine waking up in the morning and sitting in the balcony, watching the sun rise up from behind the snow capped mountains.

The cold was really getting to me at the start of the trek, but after we started, it got better. The first thing that caught our attention were the porters (there is a term which I can't remember) attached to us. They were our so called guardians throughout the 5 day trek and they were assigned to carry our big bags ahead of us while we carried our small bags. When I say big bags, I really mean big bags!

Those in the army will know the weight and size of the duffel bags. A single bag of mine was super heavy and each one of them carried 3!!!! What they did was to string all 3 bags together, put them in a basket, and attach a rope to their heads for balance and off they went! The best part was, they were always 2 hours earlier in arriving! And all of them were smaller sized than me! All of us felt useless upon seeing them.

Every stop we made, they were in charge of serving drinks to us, cooking our food and ensuring our well-being. As in turned out, they became my personal life savers as well! More on that later.

The trek itself was more daunting than I expected, the steep steps were enough to kill. I began to retract my statements of the mundane training we had in Bukit Timah hill. At times it was precarious, room for only a single file. Each day we trekked for about 5-6 hours, and spent the night in 5 different tea houses, one for each night.

We only experienced snow when we reached the 4th day, when we were at the peak of the mountains. That was the first time I saw real snow, not the hail stones we find at Toa Payoh. It was as pure as Yui. And the first thing my frens did were to jump into the snow, then realised it was a stupid thing to do because we didn't know how thick it was and what was beneath it. But we couldn't care less.

It was fun at first, but then it got more than we asked for. The snow made our trek very slippery and dangerous. I had to use a hiking pole and stick it inside to keep my balance. And we fell many times. The porters, knowing we will have trouble, came back and literally gave us a hand. They did not use any poles, but walked on frictionless japalang worn out shoes with soles as thick as tissue.

Then came a part where I felt like my life was literally hanging by a thread. We were at the side of the mountain with the path only enough for one foot. Any slip will see a plummet to certain death. I did not dare to look down but every step was a uncontrollable slide on snow. Then came my Heroes. Laughing and smiling, 2 of them grabbed my underarm, one on each side and lifted me up the ground to the other side. They were laughing in their language and it didnt take a scientist to figure out their object of amusement was me. Of course I laughed along and kept thanking them, but deep down I felt utterly useless! Here I was wearing so many damn layers of clothing, with a hat, gloves and my army boots, being 'rescued' by people wearing a T-shirt and shoes older than my grandmother! They were almost like playing in a park. while cold sweat covered my forehead!

In the nightly debrief, we all agreed to give more towards their tips because without them, I was 90% sure u guys will have one less member of the clique now.

So to show my appreciation, I attached the pictures of them below. The guy in the Bandana was my favourite. We kept trying to communicate to no avail, but I guessed we understood wat each other meant.

So to him and his Band of Heroes, thank you and God bless! U guys were my unsung heroes. I will never ever forget u guys. It was my honour to be served by you. If you ever stumble across this blog, drop me a msg.

There are so much more stuff that I wan to share with u guys but I gtg now, tune in to my next part where I talk about the heart-wrenching tales of the children I saw there.

Till then, NAMASTE!

God Bless,
alvin