Diary Entry: Day 7

Written By: Shafira Sahara.

Do you know how the beginning of something always feels so long and the end always too fast?

Signing up on this latest 'In Search of...' Trip, we were cleverly given seven days to spend in Chiang Mai. Today is day seven. I opened my eyes this morning thinking "where has day one to six gone?"

However I did not think for long. At 11 am we all met at the guest house lobby to have our final practice for the cultural performance. At first, the Saman group started. Our pace was growing faster and faster as our confidence increased. I was smiling proudly until I heard Cici and Bats whacking each other during the windmill segment. Everything is fine though. We knew the consequences when we agree to do this Acehnese dance.

The result of keen Bhangra practice for the last two weeks

  

Afterwards, the Bhangra group practiced. When the Indian music started playing everybody jumped around. It's the first time the Bhangra group had practiced with the music on, so their pace was increasing as well. A fan was highly required then because the weather was burning hot. In fact, some of us actually dominated the fan by sitting right at the front of it. Sweat was dripping like the impending rain.

After the practices, some of us went to lunch. It was quite funny though, because we all went mad about the food. There was a kind of nostalgic taste to the sweet and sour Tom Yam, the deep fried crispy garlic fish and even to the mouth-watering Thai Ice Tea, shanom. It might be the fact that we were extremely hungry; or the fact that this taste would be the last one we have in this beautiful city.

The beauty of the city and the food faded when we got back to our guest house. Reality kicked in. We had tons of work to do. Most of us spent the day working; writing our pieces, editing our videos and choosing photos to go with the articles.

The clock struck six and our lut dengs were ready to take us to our farewell dinner. All of us were dressed more culturally than when we attended the cultural dinner. On the one hand, the Bhangra dancers were wearing long scarves around their necks and everything was very colorful and alive. On the other hand, the Saman dancers were dressed in black shirts and dark pants with colorful sarongs. The leader of the pack, Dr. Yeoh, was wearing a Batik shirt. Although we had rushed to reach our destination in order to welcome our guests, it turned out to be an unspoken rule in Thailand for guests to arrive an hour after the invitation. In complete excitement with pre-performance nerves we waited.

 A collage of people that this year's episode of In Search Of brought together

The guests started to come, one by one. The first to arrive were from EMPOWER--which is understandable since they work just across the street from the restaurant. After that, a steady flow of guests continued to arrive and the show began.

Hosted by our student guide Jutha Srivatananukulkit and our very own Cyren Wong, the programme was packed. It started with a performance from the student guides, a Thai dance. This was followed by an energetic Bhangra performance by Monash students. After that, a series of performances lighted the stage, including a Taylor Swift rendition by Juree, the slapping performance of Saman dance, a lady-boy dance performance by Cyren and Juree and two photo slide presentation by Joe and Dr. Yeoh.

Rapid, intricate movements of Saman

Before the end of the night, Dr. Yeoh grabbed the microphone and went up to the front of the stage. As much as we hoped for him to do a rendition of AC/DC or Simon and Garfunkel, he was there for a speech. He emphasized the importance of opening our hearts and minds, in that it would be the key to our understanding things beyond our comfort zone. He also emphasized the need for us to be careful because these study trips can change our lives.

 Dr. Yeoh switching gear from his usual wittiness to a wise old man

We wrapped up the night with a performance of Dikir Barat, a traditional Malaysian dance. In the dance, everyone sang a couple of verses and chants while we moved in synchronized movements. The air, then and there, felt like it belonged to us. The past seven days that we've spent together seems to have been both long and gone too fast all at the same time. It's long because every day was productive. Even on a free day like day seven, we woke up early for practices and breakfast. But it was also short because there were still places to see, things to do. The days passed-by too fast and we were at the end already.

We came on this trip smuggling different cultural background into one tuk tuk (or maybe more than just one tuk tuk in this case). We met new friends, embraced new cultures and maybe even found a new dance partner. We've eaten worms, gotten sick, did not sleep and made our own experiences. We laughed a lot and cried a bit. Yes, we made our own experiences and loved them.

As we finished the Dikir Barat, we sang the famous song Rasa Sayang. And I really felt it. And I think everyone felt it as well. The love. The Rasa Sayang.

 Weiyan and Sze Jia expressing their Rasa Sayang to our pathfinder

This has been a great trip, overall. Chiang Mai, may your beautiful city and your welcoming people be blessed. We have learned a lot, things that people learn in a lifetime we have learnt in seven days.

Now we go back to our hometowns, with open minds and opened hearts.