Gene Kwok

Mich, Jamie and Rini surprised me with this portrait of me that they painted.! I think they’re very talented! It’s very pretty! :D

Some of my dear blogger friends! They are the most entertaining bunch of people you’ll ever meet! Hahaha! Mint came too, but she isn’t in the photo because she had to rush off for a performance. Thank you for coming all the way to Pasir Ris! and for all the wonderful gifts!

I was very touched when I received this photo scrapbook from Yanhui because I can see how much time and effort she must have put into it despite her busy schedule. It is over 80 pages long and contains more than 100 photos of me from my childhood to the present! Every page is decorated with doodles, stickers, captions and beautiful messages.

Of course, I also need to give special thanks to my Mom for helping to coordinate everything with my friends. :D Love you mom.

Joanna gave me this special cap with my name on it. She says it’s a one of a kind design because she made it herself! Wahaha! I think it’s very unique. She also gave me a huge wish bottle filled with stars!

Steve surprised me with this personalised teeshirt he designed himself. I think it’s very cute. The little lion is supposed to be me! Hahaha!

My friends surprised me with this message when I looked out the window at midnight! :)

Thank you my dear friends for planning such a wonderful party for me and helping to make my 21st birthday so memorable. It was really a day of surprises after surprises! Thank you for all the beautiful gifts! I’m am truly blessed to have so many wonderful friends around me. Thanks for all the love! <3

I had an awesome time in Hong Kong getting to know some of the youth leaders over there during the Singapore-Hong Kong International Youth Exchange Programme. Every single day was packed to the brim with activities! It was exhausting but very fulfilling!  

There’s really too much to write about, there’s even a whole blog about our journey! http://shinkyep.wordpress.com (We even had a social media team that took care of all the blogging during the trip.)

I was very honored to have been among the 25 Singapore Delegates selected. It was an amazing experience and I learnt so much! It was actually very cold over in Hong Kong (about 10 degrees), but the warmth of the Hong Kong delegates that hosted us made it very comfortable.

I’ll just post a few selective photos, since there are so many!

This is one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. We took a boat ride for about 2 hours to an Island called Tung Ping Chau. It was a gorgeous island, completely preserved, the waters were crystal clear. There was a bit of marine life, sea urchins, little fishes etc.

Me and some of the Hong Kong Youth Delegates! =D

The waves were HUGEEEE, the boat was tilting from side to side, like some amusement park pirate ship ride. But it was fun! And we played games on the deck!

I had a lot of fun with Jieying, all kinds of weird kung fu poses along the way. We had to climb these big rocky structures against the sea. This part you see is the easy part. After this we literally had to climb upwards with our bare hands!

This photo was taken by my friend on our trip back from Tung Ping Chau to Hong Kong Island. I was just admiring the beautiful sunset. =)

We pulled a special performance during our farewell dinner. =) It was hilarious!

As you can see, we do goof around a lot. =p

It was a beautiful trip, and I’m glad to have made so many wonderful new friends. =)

Look where I went yesterday!

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt about visits to the Zoo, it is that you have to be really early to make the most out of the trip and to see all the animals! The last time I went to the Zoo was about half a year ago (thanks to tickets from NEA). I didn’t get to see so much that time because I went in the late afternoon and most of the animals were already sleeping! I’m serious!

So this time, having a bit more experience, we went earlier! =D

In fact, I got up at 7am in the morning. My mom woke up and asked me where I was going. When I told her enthusiastically, “I’m going to the zoo!”. She thought I was trying to be funny!

These are our tickets. They even come with F&B discount vouchers. 

Our happy little group for the day. (excluding Jamie who was taking the photo)

Here she is in a photo with me. =)

Credit for all the photos in this post goes to Jamie, Joei, Rini and Mich. Basically everyone aside from myself la! =x Lots and lots of photos of the animals we saw. But I’m just going to show you my favourites. I don’t like reptiles, and I don’t like fish! Ughhh!

I like warm and furry mammals.
Moooo! Wait, that isn’t a cow is it? It’s a ram!

Such a pretty animal, the zebra! It’s easy to see why the Zebra has inspired so many works of art and fashion.

Donkey! Ahhhh! Very cute right?

This is one of my favourite animals, the Kangaroo. Kangaroos are usually quite shy. They’re also warm and fuzzy, and they don’t really bite. (Kangaroos are strictly herbivores) You can even feed them at the zoo (for five dollars) during specific feeding times! Be prepared to get your hands full of Kangaroo drool though. Kangaroos drool a lot, like a dog would, as it helps them keep their bodies cool under the hot sun. If you look closely, you’ll notice this kangaroo drooling as well. =p

Did you know…
 

The white tigers were probably one of the biggest animal attractions at the zoo. There were lots of visitors crowding around them and snapping photos. (Including Mich and Jamie!) We were stuck there for some time and I was getting impatient! I don’t really like tigers, and did I mention? I don’t like reptiles, and I don’t like fish! 

This tiger wasn’t very happy with me. =x

This emu made Jamie laugh like a mad woman. Hahaha! It does look pretty funny, doesn’t it?

Don’t forget these little guys… the penguins! We went to see the “Splash Safari” show. It was spectacular! I especially love the sea lion segment. But be prepared to get yourself wet, they don’t call it the “Splash Safari” for nothing! :p

I’d like to introduce you to my new pet crocodile. It doesn’t bite, promise!

And finally, king of the beasts, the Lion! This is my favorite animal of all. Or perhaps it shares that title with the kangaroo and the rabbit. The lion is a symbol of strength, courage and pride. I feel associated to it in so many ways. For one, it’s the national animal of Singapore, my country. I was born on national day, I’m also a Leo. Roar!

This is the oldest animal in the zoo, a giant tortoise measuring more than 1 metre across! They say it’s about 70 years old. It moves really, really slowly! We asked it to pose for us, this is the result:

Fortunately, we found this statue of a giant tortoise. Doesn’t it look like it’s in excruciating pain? I bet a lot of people have tried to climb on it!

Ahhhh. My back! It hurts!

And then we came to what looked like a kampong house in the middle of nowhere. Inside, we found this very realistic looking wax figure of a woman doing her laundry. There were also a few other wax figures, but they were too creepy. This lady seems nice, so I took a photo with her.

Found this on one of the walls inside.
I had no idea cockroaches used to be this big…

Little toys can make a lot of fun if you’re with the right people.

Another adorable creature! =D



I had lots of fun at the zoo!

Isn’t it amazing, how nature can create and support such diverse life? It’s hard to imagine, but we are the greatest threat to these animals. It is estimated that because of human activities, more than half of the world’s species will be extinct in 100 years. It’s a sad fact.

But we can do our part to help save these wonderful creatures by being more environmentally conscious. Reducing our carbon footprint is one way. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Keep an eye on overconsumption, use energy saving appliances. You can look at this website for 100 ways to help do your part in saving the earth. 

Believe it! We can make a difference!