Batam Trip Day 1

The Day is Finally Here!!!

The long awaited day is finally here. 20 Riverlites and 4 teachers are embarking on our Service Learning Trip to Batam. Excitement and joy filled our hearts, although we had to leave our loved ones for a while.Hope the trip will be meaningful for us!

We assembled at 7.30 am and was briefed by the teachers and Mr Mah before setting off for Harbourfront Ferry Terminal. We received Hong Baos from Mr Mah as a blessing for a safe trip to Batam. And soon, off we go!

Despite the heavy traffic in the KPE and ECP, we still managed to arrive at Harbourfront Ferry Terminal earlier than scheduled. We brought 7 bags, filled with books, clothes and plush toys for the orphans in Batam, and also two sets of shelves, to be build at the orphanage. Though the bags were heavy, we managed to bring it over with the true spirit of TEAMWORK!!!

Departed Singapore at : 1050 am

Arrived in Batam at : 11.50 am

The ferry right was quite a challenge for some of us, feeling giddy after just 10 minutes travelling, that most of us fell asleep, including the teachers. Hehe.....

After loading the bags up onto the bus, we were brought to our first stop... LUNCH at Vista Hotel.

Lunch was served at Hotel Vista. It was Chinese food. We helped ourselves to the delicious yet nutritious food catered for us. Meanwhile, the teachers were busy trying to get 3g connection to enable Whatsapp to relay messages to our parents.

After lunch, we headed down to the orphanage to meet up with our new friends. At first, we were shy and were cautious when communicating with them as this was the first time we had to converse in Bahasa Indonesia. However, once we started talking and interviewing them, situation got better and we started getting to know the orphans there.

Not long after that, we started playing games with each other. They introduced us to their version of Five Stones and we taught them the Singapore version of playing Five Stones. It was an eye opener as we never thought that there was another way of playing Five Stones.

The boys were more eager to try out the other games, Chapteh and Old Maid card games. They even went out to the pathway outside the orphanage to have a mini competition. The girls just stick to indoor games such as Pick-up Sticks and other games. 

Finally we left the orphanage at 4 pm.    

We then got back to Golden Vista Hotel, our accommodation for two nights. Dinner was next on the itinerary, and it was BUFFET DINNER!!! 

After dinner, we head to Merpati Room, to rehearse for our performance the next day. Mdm Hamimah will be reading to the orphans, with the assisstance from Dhaniah and Syari. The rest of us will be performing a song titled "Home", which we have been rehearsing prior to this trip.

                         
After rehearsing for 45 minutes, it was time to call it a day. Mr Zakir and Mdm Hamimah briefed us on the itinerary for the next day. We also had time to reflect on the wonderful experience we had during our first day in Batam. We are definitely looking forward to seeing the orphans again.

With that, good night to everyone in Singapore.