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I was on the way to the ThinkQuest 2007 Local Awards Dinner & Ceremony at Pan Pacific Hotel when Dori called me... she sounded so exhilarated over the phone. Why? Haha... her team's (they've been spending countless weekends at our place burning midnight oil) shortlisted energy saving animation beat the rest of the teams in her school to emerge as champions... and apparently they're able to showcase the animation to the Prime Minister in time to come. WHOA. Hahaha... So proud of my sister!! Hehehe... and glad that the judges liked the concept, part of which is my contribution! :P

Okay, back to the awards. :)

It really brought back fond memories of the times when I was a student member... the dinner, the presentations and all... It's heartening to see the ThinkQuest scene in Singapore so vibrant again, now that Oracle's taking it up full force. Not to mention that we have a very enthusiastic coordinator from Oracle - Hui Seng - yesterday's dinner's success must have meant a lot to her. :)

And yeah. They were so shocked and surprised when I told them my age. Okay I admit I do look a little young for my age. Good or bad? Hahaha... well well.

Singapore maintains its status as one of the better performing countries in the contest, with 2 second place and 1 third place divisional winners, and a couple honorable mention winners. I had the privilege of meeting them yesterday at the awards event. :)

I shared with those present my journey in ThinkQuest... and really thank God for making my sharing on stage a candid one that brought intermittent laughters... if Galvin goes up there alone, all you'll hear is ..... ..... silence. Hahahahaha.

I really hope my students will finally get a taste of it all this year. Ask anyone who's been through it... they'll tell you that it can be quite addictive, especially when you've won. You'll want to take part in it again till you're not qualified to do so. Quite a number of them are repeated winners this year. They'd been to San Francisco last year for the international awards ceremony... and they're going there again this coming November.

And all I'm hoping this year... is that some of them will break into that cycle. They're more than capable... they just have to see the worth of the competition and commit themselves to it, which I guess most of them won't, since they're just so many competitions and programs vying for their attention at the same time.

Just hoping that there will be. :)