day01

YES~! The day had finally arrived!

We're all so excited. Though most of us still don't believe that we were going to Italy! Within a few hours..eh, not a few. And we woul be in Rome!!

Now, we're heading to Amsterdam from Singapore, it took 12 to 13 hours. Long flight i know. Mr.Michael asked us to sleep but well, we were all so excited and, there were too much distractions. Infront of our seats, the mini-TV had all the latest movies and hit songs..so we didn't sleep much. Mr.Michael also allowed to change our seats so we can sit with whoever we wanted, i didn't change though, happy with Maryanne next to me :).

Ate, slept, watched movies were all we did and eventually...time passed and we arrived at Amsterdam!

At there, outside was snowing. OMG! We were all going crazy, we wanted to play with the snow so badly but...humm, it was so near yet so far. We waited for 2hours and took another 2hours flight to reach Roma!

During that 2hours, there was no distraction and all of us were so exhausted, most of us fell asleep quickly. By the way, the buns they gave us were so Yummy!!!

2hours later, we reached our destination safety, we reached ROMA! The temperature was 18C degree or lower, we were all so excited and i would take as much pictures as i could. We took our first ride to Italia's restuarent for lunch and then went to the Colloseum, too bad it was closed so we went to the LaFontana di Trevi, where we could make a wish, toss a coin inside and it will come true. Heehee! So 2 wishes were made, i hope they will soon come true <3. Then we went for dinner at a Chinese restuarent, not as nice as the Italian lunch though...

We were at the hotel and after debrief, punishment and reflections. I get to sleep with Nicole!! :D. The hotel was so creepy and the rooms were also so creepy. Light out at 10pm so we quickly showered, prepared for the next day and very fast fell asleep. Hope tomorrow will be another awesome day!. - MAI

Hey Diary!!
So, today us the day i'm going to Italy, so excited. I had a hard time packing my luggage because all the clothings are super huge and thick! My luggage ended up super bulky and i had to chained just for security.

Okay so, the point is i've went through a lot of troubles just to go for this Italy trip and that's why i'm so excited. It started with my visa problem which is so hard to get ! Then, after that, it was my last-minute shopping issues, which fortunately ,didn't fail except for the fact that, i didn't bring anypouch to keep my valuables and so , i was scared to lose my things..
And now, im on the way to the airport to meet all the dancers.

HEHE, SUPER BIG MAMA LOVE,
KARTINI

DAY #1.

ok, so i was pretty excited for Italy cos well, it was my first time traveling without my parents. I felt happy yet a bit scared cos i usually never sat on a plane flight without them. we met Mr Dan at the airport, and Mr Michael gave us a short briefing. Nat, Serene, Ryan and Nana also came to send us off. we said goodbye and boarded the plane after given 20 mins for roaming around. my boarding ticket was so cool except that my name was spelled a bit weirdly. cos it's too long. -.-

the plane ride was like 12 hours. it was pretty uncomfortable but i sat with Ms Mandy, Nicole and Atika. haha. Nicole & Atika very cute! they sleep on each other's laps! food was ok, i guess. can't complain cos i was super hungry! :(

oh! i watched movies cos i couldn't sleep, thanks to the majorly uncomfortable seats! :( but oh well, 12 hours is no joke. so that's all for day 1, hope the rest of the days will be MAJORLY AWESOME! :D

love, Rachael.

DAY 1...

YAY! This day has finally came, this would be my first trip to Italy! I'm extremely excited! :) I did some last minute packing and i'm all set to go. my mother drove me to the airport and we had dinner together. Soon after everyone had arrived at the airport, Mr Michael gave us a briefing and said that we had to meet 5 mins before the meeting time and do a reflection of how the day was twice a day. We met our tour manager for our entire trip, Mr Dan and he was quite humorous. We took our boarding pass, said our last good bye's to our family and took a group photo with our parents.

We boarded the plane to Amsterdam which was 15 hours long! My long sleep only took one quarter of the distance. It is very uncomfortable to sleep in the plane. Argh...why can't this plane go any faster!!

That's all for day 1.

Love,

Janelle

Day 1! :DD

Its Day one! I’m so excited! It was my first trip to

Italy

! I packed my luggage and my dad drove me to the airport. When everyone reached the airport, Mr Michael gave us a briefing and told us to be prepared for the weather there. Later on, we met our tour manager, Mr Dan. He was nice and funny. He gave us a short briefing and passed us our boarding passes. We took a group photo with all of our parents and boarded the plane to Amsterdam.

It was a VERY long flight. I slept for a few hours and I was sooo bored. But Luckily, there were movies and shows for entertainment. :D

End of Day One!

xoxo,

SiChing

Day 1 !!!

Dear 'my non-private diary',

I'm all packed and ready to go....I wasn't really excited, maybe because I was still feeling the norm. Until, i took a cab to Changi Airport and this super huge aircraft flew passed my head, and thats when i felt so so so so excited to go to Italy, plus this is my first time travelling without my parents ( well, i bet its everyone's first time), and i felt totally grown up :)))

Anyway, we met our tour manager, Mr Dan!! Then we checked that we had everything needed, and we boarded the plane towards Amsterdam, man it was a long flight. Luckily, our flight was complete with entertainment. hahahas, the food on the plane was great, and it was a pleasant flight.

Thats for Day 1!
Love Kim Sarah

Day 1:

Heyy Heyy HEYY!!

Day #01
I feel so excited! It's the first time I am going to Italy, Europe! Italy is 7 hours behind Singapore's time. I reached the airport about 8:50pm and i was waiting with my parents for the others. I was touched when i saw Serene, Nathaynia, Nana and Ryan at the airport sending us off as it was not early and they sacrificed their time to travel all the way to the east. We hugged them and they wished us have a safe trip and have fun. We had a briefing by Mr Keh and Mr Michael and then it was time to bid goodbye. I was a little nervous then, but i managed to give my parents and little bro a goodbye kiss.

We met our local tour guide, Mr Dan upon checking in our luggage. He was nice and a little funny. He brought us throught the check in and gave us many instructions throughout.

when we are about to enter the departure hall, we had a group photo with our school's banner and we said a prayer to God to watch over us. I hope that the weather in Italy is perfect for touring. I look forward to arriving in our first destination, Rome!! :D

XOXO,
Sheryl

Hello peepos!

Okay, so Day 1! I was excited and 'yaying' in my heart all the way to the airport, thinking that we'll be seeing and learning many new things over there and also knowing that we worked hard academically and in Dance. Yes, and I reached the airport at 7pm+ to have dinner with my father at Terminal 2(Terminal 1 is having renovations) and Kimme joined us too. After that we went to Terminal 1 to meet the other dancers and the teachers (Mr Michael and Miss Mandy).

I was happy to see Ryan, Nat, Serene, Nana the seniors over there to send us off! ^^ So nice of them! Okay then we had a briefing by Mr Michael and Mr Keh! After that we were given some time to go and hug and say goodbye to our families as we are not able to see them for 8 days! :(

As soon as we checked in, Mr Michael introduced Mr Dan, our tour manager, to us. He is such a friendly and nice person! (Shall tell you at the other posts why).

We took a group photo with our banner. Okay so bye family, as we made our way to the waiting hall... Finally we are able to board the plane! As we seated down, I realised that I'm seating beside Mr Michael. HAHA. He told me to hit him if he snores. But when the plane was stabled, dancers changed their seats with other dancers so I get to seat with my wife, Alphonsine!

Its a 12 hours flight from Singapore to Amsterdam. Luckily there's a TV entertainment for us to watch movies and listen to songs! :D By the way, its so difficult to sleep in the plane. I have to fidget here and there. Its a miracle that I feel asleep after that.

After the long flight, we reached Amsterdam! And guess what, its snowing! We took many many pictures of
it and I took a video of the place snowing. Right, then the plane to ITALY arrived! As we walked on the pavement to the plane, we can already feel the chilling cold whether from outside already. So we started whoo-ing and jumping.

2 hours of flight from Amsterdam to Italy. Not that bad though. I keep drinking the apple and orange juice they served us on the plane. Without knowing, the plane is arriving Italy! The pressure in my ears were killing me! >.< Anyway, we reached ITALY not long after and we were like wheeeeeeee!!!! ITALY! :D But the thing was, it was 9th December when we
reached Italy. One day pass so
quickly. Aww... but its alright! We reached Italy! :)

That's all for my Day 1!

Sorry I can't find my pictures at the moment! The photo above is one of the scenery I took in Italy.

LOL,

Victoria

P/s: LOL = Lots of Love <3

15 hours to go & Italia will be mine!Ciao Bella and Belo ^^
As promised, here is my post regarding my trip from day one all the way to coming back home. So are you ready for it? I wanted to post these entries on the exact day but there was no Computer nearby at all! Sigh. Seriously, we can't live without Internet! :D

On 8 December, all the 15 Dancers together with their families were all present in Changi Airport Terminal 01. My whole family was there too even though my brother didn't exactly want to follow as he said: It's my best few days without you in the house! And I was like: What the heck KUUYAAAA! Sometimes I do think back what made him say that? Am I that evil to him? Ohkay, I shall not talk about that now. ^^

So we have to transfer plane. Singapore to Amsterdam would be 12hours. Amsterdam to Italy would be 3hours! A total of 15hours! I do hate sleeping in the plane and get this, it is the first time that I am flying off alone (without family) in another continent. I mean my FLIGHT experiences are limited, just Singapore to Philippines! I was rather scared and missing my family when I was in the first plane.

Let's start from the beginning shall we?

SINGAPORE AIRPORT.Like I have mentioned, my whole family was there. We were supposed to be in the Airport by 9.30pm and guess what time I was there? EIGHT IN THE EVENING! Yes, my parents are more excited than I am. They were practically nervous when there was no taxi! Hehehe. So anyways, Nana came with us as well as she wanted to send the dancers off. Awww, how sweet is that?!

If I am not wrong, Mai was the earliest! While Farliana was hmm. the latest! :O
Ryan as well as the senior dancers were there to send us off! I was completely touched by that. I feel bad though, I mean they should come with us too! They are after all dancers right.
Hmm, so before Mr Keh (yes! he came to send us off!) gave us his last few words, the dancers did what they do best, CAMWHORED! Hahaha. Actually, we were waiting for Farliana to reach so Mr M gave us free time. Everyone was giving one another hugs and there were 'enjoy & take care' messages everywhere. And as usual, Ms Serene Ng gave us a tight hug each! She gave us this 'voucher' that says: FREE HUGS! lol. I almost cried when the seniors hugged all of us. Memories always make me cry.

Once Ms Farliana reached, we had a briefing by Mr Keh. He mainly told us to enjoy and take care. Then Mr M took over and gave us few pointers as well. It's mainly about our safety and the safety of our passports! And of course about moisturizing and hydrating ourselves. Sometimes I think that Mr M can be too 'kiasu' and always too ready with anything! Hehe. But then again, thinking about it futher more, he does have a point of being too overprotective and all, after all, we are talking about ITALIA which is in another continent! :O

As the briefings going, so does the time! And before you know it, we have to say our last farewells to our families and give them a tight hug. Let me tell you something depressing or should I say, embarrassing? Up to you to decide... Here it goes: On 8 Dec 2010 at 10pm, Dianne Mae Cosrojas Romo hugged her parents for the first time ever. Yes, I have hugged them before that was when I was really young. Ever since I 'grew' up, I never really show any of these actions (hugs, kiss, iloveyous). It felt weird in a good way though. When I hugged my mom, emotions come rushing in but of course being me, I push it back all in. I always do that, keeping my emotions bottled inside. Is that good? At that moment, I felt the mother-daughter bond, I didn't want to let go but of course, I have to. ^^

After that emotional scene, the dancers had to leave and check in their luggage and alas! Mr Dan, our tour manager (right?) has arrived! Yay. He was the same guy who accompanied us to get our VISA! ^^ Love the guy, he's soooo fun to be with! He will be with us for the whole trip!

Hmm, after that, we had to go and said CIAAOOOO!

AMSTERDAM AIRPORT
Have I told you that it was a 12hours flight?! Ohgosh, was dying out of stiff neck & I badly want to do some splits! Haha. Yes, I do splits when I've been sitting for many hours. Thank goodness there was an entertainment tv where we can either watch shows/movies or listen to music! ALLELUIA. :D

I was sitting with dear Nicole for few hours after that, she changed seats with Si Ching in order for her and Atika to be together. No surprise, those two are inseparable, not that I care since I'm too sleepy. My 12 hours flight had a patter which was: sleep, wake up, watch movie, sleep, wake up, eat then off to sleep again! I keep waking up cause it was damn uncomfortable! I MISSED MY BED! Ohs, and get this! I went to an Airplane Toilet for the first time ever! Hahaha! Totally cool. Hehe. But you so don't want to change in there. I was changing and I have like 3 layers! First layer was my Tights, followed by the Thermal Wear then another Tights! SO HARD TO CHANGE. Next time, will just wear jeans!

Have I mentioned that when we reached AMSTERDAM AIRPORT, we saw snow falling! YESSA! There was snow and we were like: We wanna touch it NOWWW! We were practically embarrassing ourselves with our reactions (took photos, videos, squealing). So ignorant huh? Who can blame us, we have never seen or felt snow! That made all of us even more excited to reach ITALIA!The sad part about it is that since it was snowing rather hard, they had to de-ice the plane and thus the time of the flight was changed! :O We were few minutes behind scheduled time!

ITALY AIRPORT
And finally, after many hours (seriously!)...
The Ballerini have reached ITALIA! Say OHMYGOSH much? Hahahahaha. We were totally excited and screaming. The moment we step out from the plane to get on a bus (to go to the airport), I could already feel the cold air! And then I said: I am breathing Italian air! Hehehe. We actually need to ride a bus in order to reach their airport! How cool is that? Hehehe.

As I entered the Airport, one glance at the signs and I know that we have finally reached Italy! The signs were all in Italian. Thank gosh I learnt it. ^^ So we had to wait for our luggage, and it felt like a century! Seriously, the bags took so long! So we were once again behind schedule. I was rather nervous, cause I have this feeling that we will skip few activities cause of that. Hmm. So after a century, we finally made our way to the bus! OUR FIRST ITALIAN BUS!

This is rather random but I just want to say it right here.
Everytime Mr M or Mr Keh talk, they never fail to mention Inspiring other people. Then there's always this question in my mind: How do you inspire these people? HOW?So hopefully, after this whole trip, my question will be answered.

so dear beloved readers, I shall continue this post later on.
this would be on my 2nd day (9 December). actually, when I
reached Italy, it is already my second day! I know, so fast right?! ^^

ALRIGHTS, arrevederci amici!
Dianne Mae

ps/ would love to thank Nana and Ryan for giving me the necklace :) It was really nice of you guys. I am really thankful. Gratzieee!

pps/ something funny to mention, when we were in the Amsterdam Immigration, the officer talked in my native language and to think he was DUTCH! I was taken aback when he spoke to me. Cool though ;)

ppps/ did you know that even before we could leave, we already owe Mr M 100 push ups or so? we were late (as usual) and as a punishment, 1minute=10pushups! So sigh. We had to do the pumpings right there, in the SINGAPORE AIRPORT gateway! :( Hopefully, after this trip, dancers (esp me) will be on time or EARLY!

Singapore Amsterdam Italy Airport ♥

Magic in the Air

Heavy and huge,

Wingless unlike a bird or a bee,

the aircraft takes off and glides

swiftly through the clouds.

Science and Technology,

yet it seemed as though

it was simply Magic...

Nope, I still feel the norm. Maybe because I still can't believe that we were at Changi airport, waiting for our KLM flight to bring us to Amsterdam and then take a transfer flight to Rome from there.
Italy is the furthest country I have ever been to yet. In fact, the only country out of Asia that I have ever travelled to so far. I knew that it was a matter of time that I would feel the excitement. Maybe when I got there and saw what it was like, I would have the 'feeling'.
Well, I was right! When I reached there..oh, wait. I'll save it for my next post hehe.

Where was I? Ahhh..the airport.

Wow. My whole extended family came down just to send me off!

3 uncles and aunts, 5 cousins, a mother and a sister.

You must be thinking I should feel happy and honored, well, I AM!

Just that I didnt like too much attention there. =S

Furthermore, the trip wasn't even for more than 2wks! HA!

My uncles and aunts took turns telling me to be wary

in Italy, as it was known for its cases of theft and molestation.

They were already scaring me even before i even arrived there..Goodness..!
But I guess that was good, as it made me very alert during the whole trip.

Surprise, SURPRISE!

Guess who was there to send us off too?

Our one and only..........MR. KEH!!!

So nice of him to talk to us before we departed the airport.
Safety measures, health measures and all,
they showed his concern for us all to be back in one piece.

( It's no wonder, coz if we didn't, our parents would probably hunt him down man! =P )

Once the tour-guide(Mr. Dan) arrived, we said sweet goodbyes to our loved ones

and dragged our luggages to counter01.
As if we were gonna be gone for months, we said goodbye again outside the departure gate and took a picture with our dance-Italy trip banner.

We were finally in the Departure Hall and were allowed some free time before the arrival of our flight.
We were given a time to be back by, however, it was not followed. A group of people were late by a few minutes (no surprise).
Mr. M then announced 'DROP'. We looked at each other, puzzled.
Were we supposed to do it now? With everyone watching us?
And then went the (expected after 'drop'), '+1, +2, +3, +4'!
We knew too well. I pulled a face (Hey! I'm honest okay! I did!)
and went down in position, aware of the staring around us.
This was not pleasant and I knew it was just the beginning.

12 LONG HOURS.whooshh..Thank G there was an 'entertainment screen' full of movies, TV shows and music attached to the back of every seat, keeping us occupied during the long, VERY long flight.
It's amazing how an airplane can fly, despite its gi-normous size and weight...
It was definitely the work of a genius indeed. Who would think someday humans could fly too?

When we got to Amsterdam, the temperature dropped and to our great AMAZEMENT,
when we looked out the windows of the Amsterdam Airport, it-was-snowing!!
Like cavemen who had discovered something new, we started video-ing (not that they could back then) this rare sight.
Well..I was one of the cave-people. (-__-)

Our next flight to Rome took about 5hrs.
Oh and did I tell you? They served food and drinks on the KLM flights. PLENTY of it.
I kept heading to the cool plane-toilets.
There was this biscuit (made in Holland) that they gave us. It was round and was filled with sweet caramel.
Damn, that was delicious! I managed to get 3 more. The others weren't too happy as they had only 1 or 2.
HAH, you can ask them. Mad at me during the trip over that. -Diaoz-

Changi Airport, meeting place: T1- near counter01

Departure Hall

12-hr flight; complete with entertainment

Amsterdam Airport

That's all for Maryanne's day01!

Stay tune for day02..

During day 01 at the changi airport, i felt really excited and curious. A dream come true. Not knowing what we are all going to experience, not knowing what would be in store for us. Seeing all our family and friends who are sending us off and being there with us before we go, makes me feel really lucky. And it is also such an honour having Mr Keh to send us off!

Shortly after eveyone has arrived, Mr michael gathered us and briefed us about what is going to happen and what we are suppose to do when we are in italy.

This is the notes i have taken down when mr michal briefed us.

Carry on bag

Extreme cold weather clothes.
Moisturiser , lip balm.
Spare set of clothing.

2. Passports must always be taken care of and with ourselves.

3. Transportation

Bus rides are very long therefore,
Conserve energy.

4. Water taxis ( venice )

Take a look at the life vests.
Luggage should be manageble if not, ask for help.

5. Water is portable. The travel agency will give us water but we should top-up in the hotels.

6. Always meet early. Always meet at least 5 mins before the meeting time.

7. Dance workshops

Must be very warm.
If you're not feeling well, tell the teachers.

8. When there is waiting time, refletion journal should be used.

9. When going to toilet, be in 3s.

10. What we have must be closeby to us as there are pickpockets.

11. Get pills if needed.

12. When entering a new place, always ask for maps. If we are lost, contact the teachers.

13. Take note of all the nearest hospitals.

14. Reflection journal must be written twice a day. ( Digitalise it, take a picture )

That was what i had taken down. After that we were given some free time to talk to our familes and soon we had to leave and check in our luggages. As we are checking in our luggages, we met our tour manager, Mr dan yo :)

Anyway you get the idea of what was going on. When it was time to enter the plane, it felt so exciting! Finally leaving singapore and on my way to italy! But first we went to Amsterdam to change plane. When we were waiting for the next plane again, eveyone was near the window. And when we looked out the window, thats when i saw snow falling down fron the sky for the first time! :> Everyone was taking pictures and starting on their reflection journal.

In the plane it felt fun as well. The food was awesome and we were well entertained. :) I enjoyed the plane ride all except for the landing :( The pressure was really bad.

This are some pictures i have taken for the first day :)

CHEEKS! ^^

KIMME!:)

JANELLE! <3

AMSTERDAM AIRPORT WITH SNOW! :D

:) End of day 01.

xoxo, alphonsine koh.

We are flying off today! I'm so excited this will be my 1st time riding on an areoplane.I packed everything that was needed and my dad drove me to the airport. Afterwards, we meet our tour manager; Mr Dan. He then gave us our boarding passes and necessary instructions before checking in. Then off we go!

wenxin-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DAY 1.

okok so we gathered at da airport and my family sent me off. i was really excited! i couldn't wait to see what italy's like.
we met mr dan our tour manger, really nice guy. :)
got on the long plane ride. good thing there's entertainment.
reached amsterdam and it was snowing and we were like pressing our faces and hands against the glass window of the aiport like swakus. haha.
after which we took another plane from amsterdan to rome. glad that we had safe trips.

xx, nicole.

Day 1
We were all told to gather at the airport to catch our flight at around 10pm. I still remember the sheer excitement that we had, it all showed on our faces. It was almost time for us to check in. We had to say goodbye to our parents and such, as we all know without them, this trip is pretty much impossible. We met or tour manager, Mr dan whom also became part of the family for the whole trip.

We took off at 1am in KLM plane. It was my first plane ride. Besides the disappoint of me not assign a sit beside the window, i sat alone with two Caucasian guys beside me so i couldn't talk to them about or tell them how i feel about my first plane ride, though it was all sparks and fire going on inside, i kept it cool. We landed at the Amsterdam airport after 12 hours. We we greeted by snow! Sadly we only got to see it through the glass window. That sure did excite us further. We took another plane and arrived at Italy. Where it all began.

-farliana ghani (4/5)'2010

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Day 1
There were spasms and giggles that took place the whole day (haha). I had dinner with my parents at Astons in the airport and headed to the meeting place. I had a mini heart attack when I realised I had forgotten to bring my dance notebook! :O But fortunately, Ana and me managed to get it at a bookstore once we checked in. Well, of course before checking in, we had group discussions and photos and our dear farewells to family and friends. We were also introduced to our tour guide, Mr Dan, and he was totally awesome throughout the whole trip. I also made some last minute calls to my friends that couldn't make it to send me off ;)

In the plane, I was kinda jealous cos Ana got to sit beside a hottie hehehe. Nicole exchanged seats with Siching and she sat beside me instead. Both of us also took turns to sleep on each other's lap and watched movies together. The food was good but the :( part was that I had trouble sleeping! It was uncomfortable and I kept waking up at every intervals and besides that, I also had ant bites on my legs! Nevertheless, I was grateful that it was a safe flight to Amsterdam and to Italy.