Home Stay Programme at Sungai Rambai, Melaka
&
Youth Forum - 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM)Last June, I was given the privilege to join an awesome 10 days event,a Homestay programme held in conjunction with the 17th CCEM at Melaka, and to attend the 17th CCEM as a youth delegate.
There were youths invited from all over the Commonwealth countries, with the total of 122 people from 27 different countries at the homestay programme and more than 180 people at the Youth Forum in KL Convention Centre.
It is going to be a pretty long post,
so I'm going to let the pictures do the talking from this point on.
Homestay Programme at Sungai Rambai [9th - 11th June]
Homestay, Parit Penghulu, Sungai Rambai.
Almost the entire village is dedicated for homestays.
The welcome banner at kampung's community centre.
One of the kampung houses at Sungai Rambai.
The kampung elderly greeting us when we arrived on the first day.
Azie and I
We were treated with some lin chi kang-looking drink during the welcoming ceremony.
Me and my foster family..
Top row: my kind and hip foster mother, Bibi from Tanzania and my foster aunty
Bottom row: Aishah from UUM, Me and Ashiya from Maldives
The beautiful green stretch of paddy fields at Sungai Rambai.
Me and my foster family at the paddy fields.
I was so careful trying not to fall into the pools of muddy water.
Us at one of the landmarks at Muar, Johor - Muar Trishaw.
My foster family brought us there, which is just 15mins away from Sg. Rambai.
Me and Ashiya, my beloved foster sister. hehe
At the foster home...
The dining table
The newly renovated rooms.
I didn't expect a house in a small kampung to look so new and comfy. hehe
Me and Aishah's room.
The living room.
The toilet,
which was my main concern when I first reached the kampung.
I was kinda worried that we had to do our business in those open toilets next to the river,
where the droppings will go straight into the river. hehe
Luckily, we had a new, in-house, flush toilet with nice tiles. =D
Bibi and Ashiya's room.
The pre-dining area/kitchen.
They were having some durians while waiting for dinner.
One of their cats, Putih, eats durian!
Damn Malaysian right..haha
They had around 10 cats in the house,
which freaked out one of my foster sisters.
Bibi was so awesome,
she prepared dinner for all of us the entire time we were there.
The kitchen area
Bibi cooking some Tanzanian style chicken.
Voila, first night's dinner!
The ingredients were all very simple - flour, vermicelli, potatoes, fish, chicken and spices.
And Bibi cooked wonders..
That's the first time I'm seeing someone baking bread.
It has always been High5 bread for me. Hassle-free. hehe
There were chickens running all over the house.
This chick is so cute! hehe
Making bunga telurs' at a Malay Cukur Jambul ceremony.
A group picture in one of the nicely decorated rooms in the Malay house.
I think its a bilik pengantin (newlyweds' room)
I forgot what was this called, Bunga Wangi I think..
It was made by my foster family the night before the ceremony.
We were up till very late, carefully slicing the pandan leaves thinly.
The Bunga Wangi, all wrapped up to be given to guests as souvenirs.
We were hogging the sofas during the ceremony cause it was so hot outside.
I learned how to make ketupat holders.
Mine is a cute Onion Ketupat =)
Batik painting.
One of the prettiest batik designs there...
The Maldives word looks so nice in orange color. hehe
During one of the kampung games..
The poor Indian guy was trying so hard, tugging on the leaf to pull me.
It was funnn.. =)
The Malaysia team at the tree planting ceremony.
Every different country was given a coconut seedling to plant.
Maldives - The Sunny Side of Life =)
I must go there soon...hehe
Us at the Tanzania's coconut tree spot.
There were 27 coconut seedlings planted in the Sg. Rambai field that day.
A group photo during one of the dinners hosted by the Malacca government.
The Nilai group during the dinner.
From left: Jason, Azie, Me, Benson from Nigeria, Ganesh and Chris from Kenya.
Serah from Kenya, Andrew from Swaziland and Me.
The Nilai Group on the last day of the homestay.
Our foster families waving at us and saying goodbyes' when we were leaving the kampung.
It was a pretty emotional moment..
My foster mom was so sweet and nice to us.
She gave us this cute goodie bag as a souvenir when we left the kampung.
Taman Mini Malaysia & Mini ASEAN [12th - 14th June]
The entrance of Taman Mini Malaysia and Mini ASEAN
We were given a big warm kompang welcome and Malay dance at the entrance.
Me, at the warm reception.
Our 5 buses.
Mine is the special silver one far back.
Portugese food for lunch...
It was delicious! =)
During one of the meal times..
This is where we ate our breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday there.
At A' Famosa..
The view of Melaka Maritime Museum from up above, from the Menara Taming Sari.
Azie, me and Peter from Ghana.
Ashiya, Mustapha from Nigeria and Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam, the Ketua Menteri Melaka.
Me and Lucy from the UK during our visit to the mosque.
Me and Serah with a Chinese Guardian Lion.
Us in one of the chinese temple.
The entire group picture at the World Youth Foundation, Malacca.
During the river cruise around Malacca..
The night view of Malacca was awesome,
and we had a really good tour guide during the cruise.
We also had a exciting boat race with the other boat,
which is actually illegal since the river is so narrow.
A small group picture after the 40 minutes awesome river cruise.
During every dinner, we were entertained by traditional dance performances.
After a while, more and more people would join the stage dancing to the traditional tunes.
The stage was initially occupied by only 5 dancers, but the number grew to about 40+. lol
It was pretty fun to watch. hehe
17th CCEM Youth Forum at KL Convention Centre [15th - 19th June]At the International House, University Malaya
The entrance.
The building looked really old from the outside,
but the outlook sure does not do any justice to what is in the apartment.
The living room,
where there are sofas, cabinets and study tables.
Every room in the apartment has an air conditioner!
My hostel room only has one fan.. =.=
UM people are so lucky..
One of the two rooms there.
Looks like a hotel room, right?
One of the 3 study corners.
The fully furnished kitchen.
The washing machine and dryer.
I asked one of the international students in UM how much was the rent,
and if I'm not mistaken, its about Rm2200 including utilies a month.
The washroom.
That means if there are 4 people per apartment, it is about RM550 a month.
Quite expensive for a student accomodation, I think.
Our traffic police stopping the cars for our buses.
Everyday, we had to endure the heavy trafic from UM to KLCC.
Lucky for us, we were escorted by traffic polices,
which was so awesome and fast.
What might have been a 2 hours' journey being stuck in traffic only took us about 15minutes. hehe
And the faces of drivers clearly showed monologues like..
"Walau, who the h**k is so important...
must travel in so many buses, blocking traffic only..%#@^% !"
Our whole group, on the way to the hall for the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony..
One of the ministers were yawning! haha
Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth countries.
During the opening ceremony..
During one of the group sessions..
Corey from Barbados, one of our coordinators, guiding the session.
In the washroom..lol
Our Nilai editorial team came all the way from Nilai to do a news coverage on the conference.
We were taking a picture on stage, after the opening ceremony,
with some random leaflet we saw outside. lol
During lunch..
Some of the youth delegates with the Director and General Secretary of the Commonwealth Secretariat, and one of the ministers of Pakistan.
4 of the only 5 Chinese girls in the forum.
From left: Siew Kuan from Singapore, Me, Shu Hui from Stamford Malacca and Hui Jing from UMS Sabah.
During our chinese dinner at PICC, Putrajaya.
I was teaching everyone how to use the chopsticks LOL
PWTC washroom. hehe
Before attending the Education Ministry's Musical Showcase, PWTC.
The music showcase was breathtaking.
The musicians there are so talented.
And I was sitting about 2 metres away from the VIP of the night,
Datuk Muhyiddin.
It was no biggie though...the Queen was supposed to come.
So I was pretty disppointed when our DPM turned up instead.
After cultural youth forum opening...
From left: Me wearing a New Zealand outfit,
Christine from Botswana wearing something from the Carribean,
Prabhu from India wearing his own traditional costume,
a lady from Botswana (i forgot her name =| ) wearing the outfit of Trinidad and Tobago,
and Raksea from India wearing a saree.
Me and Rashid from Bangladesh wearing his traditional dress, the Super Chinese professor.
Super Chinese was some 'language' created during the homestay and spread like wildfire throughout the entire forum.
Apparently, on the first day of the homestay,
Rashid and a few other guys wanted to learn Chinese from a chinese girl but was refused, probably cause the girl was too shy or something.
So, they decided to create their own Chinese instead. LOL
FYI, Super Chinese is nothing like the original Chinese language.
It only comprises three syllabus, 'Ni, Ching and Chang'.
It was pretty silly and funny to watch them speak, cause they'll go like..
A: Ni ching ching chang ? (with a serious look)
B: Ching chang. (replying seriously, as though he understood what A was saying)
lol..it was pretty offensive as a Chinese to hear that at first.
h*ck, I was ready to wave the China flag already. haha
but after a while, I know they are just having fun and not insulting the chinese language, I joined them instead and got awarded professorship as well. lol
all so crappy, but funny at the same time. hehe
Aimie, Azie and I, while waiting at Putrajaya.
Rashid and I, stirring dodol at UPM.
The dodol pot was so hot and they were using some spade-looking thing to stir it.
The dodol was so sticky and tough to stir,
I was practically digging it up and pushing it around instead of stirring.
The aunties preparing the dodol said that it takes about 6 hours to be ready
and they have been stirring for about 3 hours already.
I helped to stir for about 10 minutes and my arms got tired,
imagine them doing it for the past 3 hours,
and 3 hours more for the dodol to be done. wow!
Me, Rafi from Bangladesh and Azie,
during the river cruise at Putrajaya.
The river cruise was amazing..
I never knew that Putrajaya had such amazing buildings.
I guess everything looks better from the water. lol
Serah and I. =)
Bibi and I. =)
Group picture on the top of the yacht.
It was breezy and nice to be on top the yacht.
Cruise Tasik Putrajaya is definately recommended for anyone who wants to see Putrajaya by water, cause the yacht is so darn awesome.
Me!
Needless to say, 17th CCEM Youth Forum is the best experience I've ever had so far,
and I'll never forget the friendships and lessons learned during that journey.
Respect and Understanding,
the key to overcoming Commonwealth barriers. =)
Labels: college events, current affairs
Homestay, Parit Penghulu, Sungai Rambai.
The welcome banner at kampung's community centre.
One of the kampung houses at Sungai Rambai.
The kampung elderly greeting us when we arrived on the first day.
Azie and I
Me and my foster family..
The beautiful green stretch of paddy fields at Sungai Rambai.
Me and my foster family at the paddy fields.
Us at one of the landmarks at Muar, Johor - Muar Trishaw.
Me and Ashiya, my beloved foster sister. hehe
The dining table
The newly renovated rooms.
Me and Aishah's room.
The living room.
The toilet,
Bibi and Ashiya's room.
The pre-dining area/kitchen.
One of their cats, Putih, eats durian!
Bibi was so awesome,
The kitchen area
Bibi cooking some Tanzanian style chicken.
Voila, first night's dinner!
There were chickens running all over the house.
Making bunga telurs' at a Malay Cukur Jambul ceremony.
A group picture in one of the nicely decorated rooms in the Malay house.
I forgot what was this called, Bunga Wangi I think..
The Bunga Wangi, all wrapped up to be given to guests as souvenirs.
We were hogging the sofas during the ceremony cause it was so hot outside.
I learned how to make ketupat holders.
Batik painting.
One of the prettiest batik designs there...
During one of the kampung games..
The Malaysia team at the tree planting ceremony.
Maldives - The Sunny Side of Life =)
Us at the Tanzania's coconut tree spot.
A group photo during one of the dinners hosted by the Malacca government.
The Nilai group during the dinner. 
The Nilai Group on the last day of the homestay. 
Our foster families waving at us and saying goodbyes' when we were leaving the kampung. 
My foster mom was so sweet and nice to us. 
The entrance of Taman Mini Malaysia and Mini ASEAN
We were given a big warm kompang welcome and Malay dance at the entrance. 
Me, at the warm reception.
Our 5 buses.
Portugese food for lunch...
During one of the meal times..
At A' Famosa..
The view of Melaka Maritime Museum from up above, from the Menara Taming Sari. 
Azie, me and Peter from Ghana. 
Ashiya, Mustapha from Nigeria and Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam, the Ketua Menteri Melaka.
Me and Lucy from the UK during our visit to the mosque.
Me and Serah with a Chinese Guardian Lion.
Us in one of the chinese temple. 
The entire group picture at the World Youth Foundation, Malacca. 
During the river cruise around Malacca..
A small group picture after the 40 minutes awesome river cruise.
During every dinner, we were entertained by traditional dance performances.
The entrance. 
The living room, 
Every room in the apartment has an air conditioner!
One of the 3 study corners. 
The fully furnished kitchen.
The washing machine and dryer. 
The washroom. 
Our traffic police stopping the cars for our buses. 
Our whole group, on the way to the hall for the opening ceremony. 
The opening ceremony..
One of the ministers were yawning! haha
Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth countries. 
During the opening ceremony..
During one of the group sessions..
In the washroom..lol
Our Nilai editorial team came all the way from Nilai to do a news coverage on the conference.
During lunch..
4 of the only 5 Chinese girls in the forum.
During our chinese dinner at PICC, Putrajaya. 
PWTC washroom. hehe
Before attending the Education Ministry's Musical Showcase, PWTC. 
After cultural youth forum opening...
Me and Rashid from Bangladesh wearing his traditional dress, the Super Chinese professor. 
Me, Rafi from Bangladesh and Azie, 
Serah and I. =)
Bibi and I. =)
Group picture on the top of the yacht. 
Me!
2nd incident: i turned into a housing area after another ... See morekelisa, yes female driver as well.she stopped her car in the middle of the road so i assumed that she was home n wanted to park her car. Then, she suddenly reversed all the way down the road,heading towards me! Me honked like mad, accidentally pressed a button and switched the radio channel, which made me even more mad cause I was previously singing along with a fav song. Grrr.. Apparently she made a wrong turn and wanted to reverse all the way back to the main road.
WTF!