NORUYO

OlympNUS

I went for OlympNUS, a Freshmen Orientation Camp organised by Muslim Society in NUS. It was fun, but I regretted not preparing myself better before the camp to network. Instead of printing cards, I wrote cards. It was annoying but I guess it was a lesson learnt.

Firstly, I must say one thing: SYC taught me that networking is important, so I wanted to make use of OlympNUS to network, but I was intimidated by the large number of smart Malay/Muslims. Haha. I was at NUS after all.

While the memory’s still fresh, here I go for my reflection before I turn in tonight. (:

Day 1 (13 July 2010)

Reported early but started late. I don’t blame the organizing committee at all because I heard many were going to skip OlympNUS just to go Oweek (which is filled to capacity for girls. silly, i thought).

I was in ARGOS (Black) and my Nobles were Neni & Hasan. They are one fun bunch! (: Hasan is an entertainer and Neni is the enthusiast! The first day was quite slack because it was more about getting to know the people in the group. We played Wacko, Greek Jungle & The Voyage. It was fun and noisy. I cannot believe us girls could scream so loud! Haha!

After that we had Zohor congregational prayers followed by lunch. Then we made shield to represent our teams. Mine was ARGOS!

Following that, we had to present what our shield represent. For Argos, “the grass is greener on OUR side!”

After that, we had some games. I forgot what it was called. We started of by going to the Stairway to Heaven (it’s this super high staircase) where we had to stack boxes according to sizes. I remembered playing this at Science Center during SYC 2009, because Aiishah dragged me into the Math corner. Haha. But, it’s a good thing that she did, else we wouldn’t have been able to solve that in 3mins! There were 5 boxes altogether.

After that we played The Bridge where we arrange ourselves on chairs according to the description given by the Station Masters. Check it out.

After that we had this weird mix of fruits and other ingredients. We called this station The Blender. Haha. We had a mix of green apples, tobasco sauce and orange. It was ewwww, really. Haha. I remembered telling Argos an interesting fact: Tobasco sauce was designed to kill all bacteria, so having it in the drink would be safe for our stomachs.

Our last game was to transport water using paper cups. We were sadly the last group so we had to use the contaminated cups. Haha! It was disgusting, but I was fine with it because the bacteria in the saliva would have been killed by the time it reached open air. Haha.

Then we returned to YIH Activity Room where Hasan became our usual entertainer. He was telling us lame jokes but that filled our time! Haha. When the High Priests (The MCs) called upon us by saying “Warriors Unite!” we gave him a roaring “OLYMPNUS!”. We played a silly game while waiting for our guest speakers. It’s called The Broken Telephone. It’s passing the message from back to front using only actions. Our group got it right – A vocalist, 2 Guitarist, 1 drummer, forms a band.

After that we had Asar congregational prayers. I love the congregational prayers because they make me feel a sense of serenity. They make me feel like I am worth it and that I make a difference in the jemaah. If I wasn’t there, there would be one less person doing the jemaah. I don’t know. I just fell in love with NUS Muslim Society.

Then we had talks by seniors. One of them was Fadzuli, Founder of Fadzuli.com. He’s like Mark Zuckerberg – a University dropout but successful entrepreneur. He gave me the inspiration to work harder and not let the Malay community constantly be stereotyped. The other guest is a teacher in RGS now. She’s very smart and loves to take opportunities. She’s Syairah’s friend, whom I was introduced to. She gave me the hope that I am not a typical Malay for I am already not the typical Malay who cannot study. Because I was in NUS. I deserve that place in NUS and I will work hard to determine that I am unique in my own ways.

After dinner, we had the Engine Run. It’s like an orientation around the Engine block. According to the seniors, this is the largest and most complicated blocks in NUS. You may be on the 3rd floor at one end but as you walk, you end up being on the 7th floor. Haha. The Engine Run was really fun because we get to play silly weird games with a twist. Oh, the thing I like about this camp – It’s VERY halal. No physical contact! Haha.

We had 3rd when we thought that we were 2nd last. Haha. It was hilarious. But we didn’t get the medals because they only have enough for the winning teams.

We ended up lying down, stargazing. Then I got bored and returned to Argos and waited for instructions. We were announced the 3rd position. Then they gave us the luxury of cramming ourselves into this small white van to return to YIH. We were like sheep and goats.

We had supper and turned in. We couldn’t shower because the queue was so long. We decided to just wake up at 4.30 or 5am to take a shower.

Day 2

The day began with a queue in the girls toilet. It wasn’t long but the wait was long since the people inside thought there was no one in the toilet. Haha. But it was fine, I wasn’t late.

Had breakfast, then returned back to the room and slept quite awhile. We were supposed to report to YIH at 7.30AM but Ain, Maryam and I only woke up at 7.34AM! Haha. How fun! We quickly rushed and went to YIH.

We had mass games. First up: Tug-of-War, against Athens. It was a horrible experience because we lost badly and Neni Farahin broke her toe nail as a result. She was injured so bad that she couldn’t play. The flesh on her toe could be seen so clearly. So our motto of the day became “All for Neni!”

So we played  Monkey against Sparta and we won. We played Dodgeball against Sparta (because there was a mix up in the groupings) and we won again. Then we played dog and bone against the Brown team (forgot their name) and we won too! So what if we lost Tug Of War? We won 3 other games, ALL FOR NENI! (:

After that we had Zohor and then off we went for Food Trail. It’s the best part of the day because we get to taste different food in NUS and decide which would be the best. Haha. So fun. Argos was basically famished so we shared all the food quickly. On average, we finished the food in about 2-3mins. That’s quite fast. It’s like you put the food in front of us, give instructions to other teams, return to us and we finished the last grain of rice already. The most entertaining one was at FASS I think, the one where we were supposed to sing Ucaplah Alhamdulilah by Raihan to the stall owner. Haha.

Then we had The Bidding Game where we played Auction of mysterious food item based on their Nutritional Facts. We bid and won Instant Noodles and Jelly. We kept raising the prices up, but we were unlucky because the bid was stuck on us. Haha. We lost the points.

Then we were given a very boring talk by Mendaki. I don’t blame the organisation, I blame the speaker for not being prepared. She was so uninteresting that I chose to read the brochure instead. The brochure was more vibrant than the speaker. No offense. That’s where I learnt that I need to be more prepared. I learnt that from EDS interview round 3, I had to be more prepared for presentations. I lost my game during EDS because I was only at my 3rd out of 10 slides and the time limit of 7 mins already reached. I couldn’t think on my feet either, so I lost the battle when the impromptu question “Why do we say we’re head over heels when we are happy?” was asked. I couldn’t answer.

So back to OlympNUS. After the boring talk, we had dinner and headed off for our Photo Hunt. We were to take photos based on the clues given. It was like our NMA Camp’s PhotoHunt.

We reached first because I didn’t check the envelope properly and only saw the bonus photos when we reached the meeting point.

So we relax and had fun. The other team members slept. My team members were the nicest people ever. I had never met anyone with such kind hearts in my life. They’re like gems. Acquaintances I should make as friends. (:

We were so tired but we insisted on discussing for our performance night. We are the slacker team so we decided to let Hasan strum the guitar for a medley while we sing along. Then we had a heart to heart talk with each other. It was nice (:

Slept without Ain.

Day 3

Woke up early and head off to Pulau Ubin for amazing race. It was interesting but I am so lazy to update the details. We got 3rd position for the race but we didn’t win.

Then we had mass games at Changi Beach. That’s when I hurt my body really bad. It’s ALL FOR NENIs! Haha. We won 2 games and draw 2 games. The toughest game and most competitive: Human Futsal. I had to partner a guy. But since I couldn’t fight his strength, I lowered my CG so he couldn’t pull me. I ended up blocking the goal in the last few rounds after learning his tactics. You either play smart or play rough. I chose to play rough at first and lost the battle, so I decided to play smart. Haha.

We returned and dressed nicely for “a very important dinncer with a very important guest”. True enough, the guest was Mr Hawazi Daipi. The dinner was important as well. Kami makan berdulang, bersimpul kaki dengan menggunakan tangan. Seronok rasanya (:

Malam terakhir. Performance night. We sang and we were greeted with the “encore” shouts. So we encored. It was fun and hilarious.

Went to Fong Seng for supper. It’s blardy expensive can! The mamak shop so expensive. But nice. Aiyoh.

Day 4

Water games. The motto: Lose and get wet!

So that’s what we did! We aim, we prepare for launch and we fire the bombs like no one’s business. I got shot a couple of times the first was from Ahmad Basyir. Pfft. At the ear some more. Pain but it was okay.

Showered and packed. Then get ready to leave YIH.

Argos decided to hang out at BK FASS. We lepak until 2PM and took the cab back to Woodlands. I mean, I took the cab with Hasan, Dinie & Syairah.

Went home and slept. All of us kept sleeping in the cab, lucky the taxi driver woke us up to ask for directions. Haha.

OLYMPNUS ROCKS! <3

It’s been awhile

It’s been awhile but I’ve never forgotten about you, dearest blog.

You were always my companion, don’t you fret.

So, I betrayed you. I finally set up Tumblr and left you tumbling behind him. He’s so much – more interesting, more up to date, not old-fashioned. But, I still love you. Because I grew up with you. See, 273 memories we have etched together in our hearts. Even those things we shouldn’t have said or done, right, dear?

It’s been awhile, so here I am entertaining you.

My fellow audience.

My dreams that I’ve listed down since I was in JC1 is slowly coming true. I used to have a checklist, and most of them are now “Check!”, “Checked!” and “okay, tomorrow it’ll be CHECKED!”. Alhamdulilah. Praises to Allah SWT for giving me the drive to continue what I’ve always wanted to do.

So let me start a story.

It has been my dream & passion to do business.

At the age of 8, while kids my age were playing with toys, I made and sold friendship bracelets. How much? $0.20. In 1998, that was like half the price of a slice of Pandan cake. Oh, how much I enjoyed Pandan cake when I was a child. Brings back childhood memories. I wasn’t like any of those 8 year olds around. I had to give up my toys the moment I turn 8. It was a sign of age. I chucked all my toys away and started begging my mother to bring me to the libraries to borrow craft books, where I learnt to improve my friendship bracelets.

That was when I was 8.

My next leap of faith in the business world was when I turned 11. It was nothing to be proud of. Being a child, I didn’t knew what could be done and what couldn’t. So this is something embarrassing that changed my life. When I turned 10, I sold mix-cds for $2-5 dependending on the number of songs they requested. I would decorate the CDs by hand, and that’s what attracted friends to this thing I do. But I was caught by the Discipline Master. I was the Assistant Head Prefect. How embarrassing was that?

But after that day, I sort of took an oath not to download music illegally. So, I’ve been a true supporter of the originals. If I want something, I’ll pay for the CD. Listen to the songs until I get bored then stare at the collection of CDs I have. I owe the Earth alot for creating more non-recyclable waste. Sorry Earth. Blame the US for not allowing Singaporeans to purchase songs from iTunes.

This happened when I was 11.

Then I entered the next phase in life, Secondary School. I had many friends, but I didn’t know much about business. I combined efforts with a friend to sell Hari Raya delights (cookies, crackers, etc). This happened when I was 14. My dad would drive all the way to Parit Raja, Johor to buy the delights for me. Then he scolded me badly for giving all the profits to my friend, since she managed to sell more! Haha. Foolish, but I learnt from that day how to divide profit.

My life in secondary school doing business continues. I had enterprising experience through Care & Share, our school’s way of selling for charity. Learnt how to deduct cost from total money received. The basics of Economics came into play here.

I baked brownies and sell cookies on random basis. When friends order, I’ll make and sell them for 5% profit. This continued all the way till I entered Junior College.

This happened in secondary school, 13-16 years of age.

In JC1, I sold cookies & cakes for Hari Raya at the end of the year. My promotional examinations clashed with Ramadhan, so I managed my time and sold what I could. I didn’t overstretch myself. I took economics in JC, so I roughly knew what was the expectation of business.

In JC2, I sold more cookies & cakes for Hari Raya at the end of the year, while preparing for Preliminary examinations in preparation for A-levels. I didn’t let that stop me. I continued doing what I love.

After A-levels, which is recently, I realised I have so much free time. I picked up beading and scrapbooking. I fell in love with it and decided to set up Noruyo Creations in full.

Fully established, with the exception of registration with ACRA, Noruyo Creations is now ready to stand on her own.

My life is a turnaround, but I won’t let any of the challenges ahead bring me down. I’ve been planning this subconsciously since I was 8, and only consciously when I was 17 because we were forced to plan our future, in 10 year gaps. That’s when I realised what I was made for. Allah created me to find purpose in life, and I’ve found mine.

Have you found yours?

19 on the 19th!

It was great having SKASH around to celebrate my birthday. Although he wasn’t around, having SKASH around really made my day. It’s like I feel so much better and brighter after spending so much time with them. They made my day brighter.

I don’t know what else to say. Words are never enough to express my love for all of you. You guys are fabulous bunch of people and are like family to me!