You already got me coming undone. - A trip like no other.

I won't say I had fun. That is a given. And a fact. I won't go into details about what I saw, heard, smelt and touched either. That I leave to photos, because they speak a thousand words more than what is in my available vocabulary.

I still remember the words I scrawled onto the TOOP application form:

I want to experience humility and step out of my comfort zone.

Now, I won't say I have been completely humbled after one day in Indonesia. That would be ludicrous.

However, you don't just walk into a barely-sturdy shelter-for-a-school and use their hole-as-a-toilet without feeling even the slightest hint of something.

To say I am lucky to be born in Singapore where the sun shines to no end (unfortunately, in some cases..) and the opportunities smile at you would be too easy. Somehow, (and call me cliched) I feel like I should start doing something to expose myself to more of these situations.

Trust me, when I say this, I selfishly do not think of the poor people or the children. After all, what makes you think they need anymore help than they already have? Though I'm pretty sure they'll smile should I go over and 'do my part' for them, I'm thinking I'll come out of it with more benefits.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, living in the comfort of my own home, with a whole room to call my own, and a good education being served to me on a plate, taking things for granted pretty much becomes a given. I get upset because I have friendship problems, or because my mum didn't get me something when she promised.

And then there are these people, so hospitable, giving whatever little they can afford to give. Wholeheartedly and without regret. And ironically, they're probably happier than I am right now.

What is worth more? Giving ten dollars out of your hundred-dollar allowance? Or the two dollars you need to survive on for the rest of the week?

In the end, we all need these trips (both the real and metaphorical ones) not to give THEM what they need, but to remind ourselves of what WE lack.

And of course, the cam-whoring doesn't hurt. :)