Well, I'm back from my 3 days 2 nights retreat with my volunteer group!

Basically, I was in a super long meeting that required us cabinet members to evaluate and reflect on our year. We stayed at this super nice house that had a huge kitchen, playroom (with a pool and pingpong table!!), jacuzzi, nice bedrooms, and this AMAAZING VIEW...which was blocked by fog...unfortunately..

Anyhoo, it was the kitchen that captivated me the most. THEY HAD THIS REALLY AWESOME WALK-IN PANTRY!! AND THEY HAD ALL THE SPICES THAT I ALWAYS WANTED. You know that feeling you get in your stomach when you win a raffle prize that is like, for a niffy gift card? It was sorta like that. I was so excited by this pleasant surprise. I TOTALLY wanted to use it all but I had no internet access to look up recipes. Still, we improvised to make our own rub for our chicken. It was nicely done, I must say. I contributed whatever I knew to help cook. Fried rice... chicken...eggs...quesadillas... It was cool since I rarely cook at home. :]

What's really crazy is that I convinced 3 other people (with no baking experience whatsoever...or so they claim...) to bake banana bread with me at 3AM! There was no butter so we used veggie oil.... a cupful of it. THAT'S OILY AS HELL! But then other people don't have to know so I'm good 8D. Can you imagine the chaos in the kitchen on the second night when 6 or so people had to cook for 22-23 folks? FRIED RICE WAS FLYIN` EVERYWHERE! Those nice cast iron pans just don't cut it for fried rice. We need a flippin` wok, yo!

But it was so tiring the next day because I had only 2 hours of sleep. It sure wasn't nice to sleep at 4:30AM and wake up at 6AM cause of the noise and uncontainable excitement in everyone. My eyes weren't bloodshot though, just had that burn-y, watery eyes feeling. I had double-vision in my right eye the whole day. It was so annoying to read words or to see people's faces from far away... They literally had four eyes on their face when I looked at them. (They looked like bugs...or maybe they are buggy-y looking from the start! xD)

Everything was so pleasant even though I spent those few days with fellow volunteer leaders and not with my closer friends. I share a bed with another girl so now I can scream to other people that I slept with a total of 3 girls in my life LMAO. I didn't want to leave that place. It was my dream home. I felt so carefree because there was no schoolwork or family matters to stress over. Just for a moment, I was free. *sigh* All good things come to an end some day or another... However, one bad thing is that there was no internet access for me. That was a bummer.

Anyhoo! I sketched something during that retreat so I plan to update soon! That's another good news. ^o^

Cheers!
Here's to vacations! *clink glass*