it's about time i got down to writing about EU... been wanting to do that but i've just been oh-so-lazy to actually pen everything done. yupps. there are a lot of things i want to write about EU. so i'll split the entries into two. this entry will be about the 1st EU while the next entry will be about the second. as for pictures... i'll try my best to differentiate.. but if not, it's all about the same la. it's just pictures from EMPOWER U. hahas. to me it's all the same. x) same assists, same presenters. just different participants, different experiences.


so the 1st EU.. which is the march'06 EU. this was the 1st empower u that i was gonna be assisting in.. truthfully, i was so psyched about it. i was all gamed and prepared to take on all sorts of challenges and prove myself to others.. while at the same time experience EU again from a different perspective and obviously, to have FUN!


i was in charge of the food team. adri and mark took a gamble and put me, a first-timer, as a leader of a team. in fact, the leader of a damn "hiong" team. (hiong = stressful in hokkien, in this context) for food, i was accountable for the number of lunch boxes and the cutlery and signing the invoice and stuff like that. yeap. i had to organise my team to help me and i had to make decisions and i had to be accountable for all those stuff. if anything goes wrong, it'll be my responsibility. it was tough. but i managed. thanks to my wonderful team... glenys and shih han.. though glenys was practically missing most of the time.

from this experience, i learnt that i've still gotta work on my time management. i've got a problem with keeping to schedules.. and i realised that if i don't discipline myself too, i might create a lot of complications. i've also learn to take responsibility for all my actions. like when it's time to call the catering company to remind them of the punctual delivery, i had to do it.. and in fact, half an hour before the intended delivery time. and when the food came, i had to organise the team, direct them on where to put the stuff, delegate work and help out along the way as i settle them all. it has taught me organisation skills and more than not least, organisation skills. it also taught me communication skills. i realised that when i'm under stress, i tend to be very serious because i wanna keep my focus. but during this process, my communications skills with others deteriorate. through this experience i've learnt that i've gotta learn how to manage my stess under these conditions and talk to people in the right way. i'm rather thankful for this experience.

dancing was just amazing at this EU. the energy was flying high.. the cheering of the teams were so good and most of them were very participative when it came to dancing.. it really kept my energy up. though i must say my knees almost gave way, but it was all worth it. i also realised that dancing on stage is totally different. the energy kinda just rises by itself. when i'm on stage, i don't feel as tired as when i'm not on stage. it's so cool huhh? yeah. it's just amazing. i loved every millisccond of the dancing. x)

board break was totally amazing. this was the 1st time i was assisting. so i was put to dance with glenys, natalie and shannon. it was so so fun. especially with glenys around. all of us knows that she's a screamer and she dances like a crazy woman. hahas. so we were just having fun and trying to get the participants to join us. i was so so so happy when it came towards the end of the board break session. because we rounded up the remaining participants and danced with them in a circle. and it was only then that those guys from the class i was trainers aide in started dancing. i was so very very happy. no words can express my happiness. x) it was just overwhelming. i was also very delighted to see all the participants get through the board break. all of them broke the board. and i was especially happy to see nick break his board. he was last to do it and brent took him through it. i knew that he had massive shit on the board and yupps. his board break was just the most amazing to watch.

hands on the next day was another experience of a lifetime. bernie used to share with me about stuff like that. so i kinda knew what to expect. but i didn't realise how it really could drain off my energy. i was perspiring right after the 1st round. and after the whole hands on session, i was WEAK. we had a sharing session after that and yeap. it was time to let go. took me awhile to recover. eventually i did.. so it was all cool. the emotions in that room during the hands on was just so immense. all the negativity was transmitted to heat. how wonderful eh? the room was just HOT. hahas. amazing amazing.

other things that was cool was on the third day, brent came to sit with us, assists, at the back of the room. hahas. it was so funny. we were just massaging each other and stuff and having a wail of a time. joking and shit. it was totally hilarious. and guess what? hahas. we starting massaging hands as well.. and of cos, i was the queen of massages. hahas. brent and i were just joking away and it was just FUN. x) and then we talked about glenys being a vain pot. it was sooo funny. hahas. i suggested that glenys became a makeup artiste and brent agreed. hahas. and then glenys took out her mascara from her bag.. brent took it and tried to put it on. HAHAHAHS. imagine. and it was BLACK mascara.. and brent's BLONDE. it's so so so funny. brent didn't do a good job so glenys tried to help him put it on. and he looked so WEIRD please. hahas. ended up having to take it off. hahas. weirdness. *shakes head.

throughout the whole EU, everyone was just giving each other massages. it was just cool. hahahas. i was like always giving the presenters massages. and i was good enough that they came asking me for me. HA! the other one who's good at it would be steph x)) and of cos.. she's MY darling. ;)

brent and dale were good with the presenting. and i must say brent is just getting better each time. sadly, the 1st EU's participant weren't attentive enough and they were delaying a lot of time such that information had to be cut out. pityy...

another great thing was the assists performance. it's amazing how little time we have but yet we put up a great performances. it's just soo WOW. hahas. and i totally enjoyed myself during these performances. x)) though i have to admit practising was a chore.. but the eventual display was just fabulous. *all smiles.

and yes. there was another thing i have to talk about. and that's STEPH! hahahas. i cant remember which day it was. but she took one of the flip charts to right the assists room house rules. hahas. she was just not herself that day. i swear la! i cant remember the exact phrase but this is how it somewhat goes, "keep the room tidy at all tidy and clean it clean...." something like that. i forgot.. SHIT. i should have wrote it down. hahas. but i swear it was the joke of the day. it was oh so hilarious. totally cracked all of us up. xD

the most outstanding participant i've noticed were justin, maybelline and nick. justin's bernie's cousin. nick said that one the 1st day, he was a person that seemed like he wanted to make this whole program the worst ever. but i swear he totally changed after EU. he was so enthusiastic about stuff, so participative and he was just great! x) amazing change in him. the assists noticed maybelline because we realised that she was always around nick. hahahhas. it was funny LA. and nick, obviously caught our eyes. he was the one always raising the energy in the room. he was just fantastic. the assists had a lot to thank nick for. his help was greatly appreciated.

the other thing i wanna add would be melissa, my cousin. she was not very significant. but what struck me was when her friends told me on the last day that she couldn't stop wanting to hug me. and coming from her, my heart melted. she used to be a very conservative, reserved, problematic kid. and with her saying that.. i was just so touched.. and i knew that the program did work for her. x) i was really ecstatic.

as you can see.. EU works miracles. and that's why i'm loving it more and more each day. and so this is my 1st EU assisting and i'll blog about the 2nd on in another entry.


after this EU, i've decided to write my EU experiences as an assist in a lovely notebook. it's personal.. i haven't got down to it.. but i will. x)


"do the thing you said you will do well after the mood you set it in has gone"