Party Time

Back to the past...
5th July 8.00pm
Sekolah Kebangsaan Zainab 2

Dressed in our ethnic costumes, we left the hotel all ready to go to SKZ(2). We are going to have a farewell party. The room is now all decorated with balloons and streamers. There were food everywhere. My buddy clad in a light blue baju kurong came forward and told me to have some food. I wasn't that hungry as I just had a steamboat dinner so I just took some rice and a cup of juice. The both of us joined our friends at the rows of chairs. A young malay girl held on to a tray and dished out eggs that were dyed red. 
After dinner, we enjoyed a short performance by the Malay students. They performed a Dikir Berat performance, something like acapella. Cheryl recorded the performance, while Netishka and I licked our ice cream that were being served to us.
After the Dikir Berat performance, it was our turn to perform for them. All of us has been practicing a few songs, "Moments of Magic", "Chan Mali Chan" and "Rasa Sayang". We stood on stage and presented our voices. Everyone sang along and applauded for our performance. The performance was followed by a gift exchange. I gave my buddy a few metallic bookmarks with pictures of Singapore on it as well as a plate with a picture of the Merlion. She in turn gave me a batik pajamas with a huge painting of flowers and intricate patterns. The teachers gave us souvenir keychains of the school to keep as memories. We then proceeded to mingle around and say our goodbyes. It would be the last time we are going to see them. Feeling sad, we left the school. We hugged our buddies for the last time. Some of us even cried. Even after when we went back to the hotel, some of us were still in tears. It had been a great night and I wished we could stay a little longer, however, it was already so late... By Wen Yu

As soon as we were dressed in our own ethnic costumes that we brought, we took our presents and boarded the bus. There was going to be a farewell party for us. The room that we did our waus in was transformed. It was decorated with balloons and decorative items. There was a table filled with a large variety of food but I only ate a bit as I had already eaten my dinner and I had lost my appetite when I remembered that this was going to be the last time I am ever going see my buddy Husna...sniff...sniff...After we were seated in the rows of chairs, we began eating our food.
After we finished eating, the malay pupils did a Dikir Berat performance which I throughly enjoyed while eating the ice cream that was served.
Oh no! It was our turn to perform now!! We'd just had a last minute rehearsal at Fatima's room before we came! We did three simple songs,"Moments of Magic", "Chan Mali Chan" and "Rasa Sayang". Before we started singing "Rasa Sayang", our buddies came up to sing with us! We all sang our hearts out!
After we performed, it was time for the token exchange. My buddy gave me a cute little teddy bear and a photo clip. I gave my buddy two big boxes of chocolate! We were also given a keychain and a flower each from the school.
We said our sad goodbyes, some of us hugged, some of us cried. I blinked back tears as I hugged my buddy tightly. "Bye......" I said softly as we parted, tears filing my eyes...... By Klara