A child’s dream ranges from the most horrifying events to the most fantastic ones. Dreams about devils, demons, witches, fairies, talking animals and princesses. Those dreams, however, slowly disappear as one grows older along with the loss of innocence. I too forgot about such dreams and lost the childish imaginations and innocence until my school field trip to Singapore.

Universal Studio in Singapore not only provoked the long-gone childhood of mine but also the others. It introduced the whole school to a world of fantasy where all our childhood dreams were kept secure. The busy routine of my life had erased the memories about how much I loved the talking animals in the movie Madagascar. I have always hoped to meet lively and funny creatures such as those depicted  in the movie. Yet those dreams were swept away by the loads of assignments and duties growing larger day by day and eventually blocked the path to wonders and dreams. Everyone else were like me too. We talked and laughed about the old stories and movies we used to love as children. All of us were desperate to become a part of the lost fantasy world.

In such agony to reenter the world of innocence, we not only watched the movie characters but rather became them for the day. My friends and I each bought a Shrek mask. Shrek for one, Donkey for the other, Fiona for the last and Puss in Boots for me. We visited attractions built exactly like the castles and dangerous in the movie posing for pictures. Puss hanging on a rope, Shrek saving Fiona, Donkey galloping and more. We eventually started to add on to the original movies creating a story of our own. Never in two years of school had a conversation so innocent, happy and full of creativity took place.

Once returning to our hotel after the exciting day was over, we talked about the tings that we have lost and forgot over the years. We realized how happy we were back then with nothing to stop us from thinking beyond the limits. Then, we could become anything we wanted. Maybe a fire breathing dragon, a knight who bravely fights off thousands of trolls or even a queen with the most precious gems and jewels. Unfortunately, in sharp contrast to our childhood, now our lives have become much more limited and marginalized to a certain extent. We never are allowed to overestimate about anything. Only the things we see, hear, taste, touch and smell are true.

After the visit to the Universal Studio we realized how miserable our lives were: We were taught never to step out of the boundaries. What was worse was that until a day in the Universal Studio, none of us even questioned nor realized how we have changed over the years. This acknowledged us that we did not have enough time not only to travel in our dreams but also did not have time to reflect on ourselves. Around 3 o’ clock in the morning, our thorough conversation, which is unlikely to take place during field trips, came to a full stop. We all promised each other to spend time for ourselves regardless of how busy we get in the future. We decided that losing ourselves to a bunch of work was reckless and meaningless.

Field trips are usually meant to hold no serious contemplation. But my field trip to Singapore was very different. The more fun we had, the more serious we got about the absence of fun in our lives. Originally, the trip was completely centered on ‘fun’. At least I assume that is what the teachers intended by leaving out all the visits to museums and historical sites. They might have wished to teach us not to let yourself swayed by work and discover a way of enjoying life teaching us to live life to the fullest. If that was the foremost intention of this field trip, the teachers definitely succeeded. They lead us to the lost world of innocence.