Stock clearing

Indo trip can wait, let me clear some photos before it becomes too late haha. Another round of spring cleaning will come during CNY I guess. 

 

Tioman happened with this gang and I will think about blogging about it but I doubt I will. It's good to be back in the open waters (Hantu and RWS no count) once again after so long. Absolutely love love love the feeling of floating freely in the waters amongst the fish

 

And chasing turtles, of course haha 

Came back and met up with this Brazil bunch. I'm the only working adult in this group, old or what

 

 Then this NZ gang to the railway station before it's too late! Too many people and the impending rain didn't help. Saw Jamie Pang and Pika working on their cold pressed juice, and supported of course. (Oh and saw Tracy at Tanjong Pagar too, haven't seen her in awhile!) 

 

Then Mondate with these constants. Hopefully it doesn't become a variable with the end of hall life...

 

And then this Stockholm family. Time to go for our weekend getaway to Stockholm soon! Lol 

 

Then this, one of the highlight of this year as well. Now both my best friends from oldest of times are married (and I got to emcee for both their wedding!) I'm the only one left in out trio... Haha. Let me carry some babies soon!!! Blessed marriage laoda and dasao! It was a drunk night to say the least haha 

 

Then 7D experience with the Dream Team! 7D Was rather disappointing but this group never disappoints haha 

 

And this random night I went down to watch a Getai with my parents and Lemon. Atmosphere was good, really 

 

Weekly yoga but ahzong was overseas so this girl stood in as the substitute gay bud 

 

4 stages of impulse buy (it's on me) but ok I've been utilising it rather often actually. Also, finally got to visit Ms Blur's PGP room! 

 

Then Wild Oats at Punggol with my first friends in Uni. Rare chill Friday night not at Zouk HAHA

 

Back for some action at the familiar ground! 

 

And then with the same gang at night! 

 

Midweek action by the pool master. Also, second last course of the year and no other courses scheduled for the next year. Will miss falling asleep in class together with the gang 

 

And then Friday night with very poor attendance. Really thankful for this irritating girl though. Somehow we clicked and now I'm on a mission to find her her life long happiness. Uphill battle HAHA 

 

And midweek splurch at Muhammad Sultan. This Kaisen don cost $40 but it was shiokkkk (or so I convinced myself of it) 

 

And this jiejie appeared at my place a few times... Just to get help with her psychometric test for her job application lol. All the best, jiejie haha 

 

Her last game for NUS, and my first time attending a game as a supporter. Glad I didn't miss it! 

 

Art Science museum before it was too late. Quite a nice round of temporary/permanent exhibition (Future World and Big Data; rather apt for my interest)

 

And this tiring morning we got smashed and defeated by the trampolines. Haha. Won't be anytime soon before I go for it again, too exhausting LOL 

 

Octopus eating sotong lol. This was before a family dinner at Sentosa but we didn't get to take a photo (or at least I didn't get it) I dunno why haha. So here's me. 

Geographers cafe with the babe and she's like overwhelmed by the food in this photo lol. I like this better than the normal shot so tada haha. Food here is really good man! 

 

 And then finally one last activity before November comes and we leave for our Indo trip. This is the aftermath in bird's merc. 

 

This was what we conquered lol. A few hundred times more of this and that's the height for Ijen and Bromo (spoiler: they didn't die there) 

Will continue the next part in the next post, and Indo trip on another separate post haha 

2016

2016 has been one hell of a ride and it'll definitely go down as one of the most important milestone years in my life. 

'Cos change. 

Started off the year paper chasing, hunting down profs to supervise my thesis and psyching myself up for a last ditch effort to charge towards the elusive First Class Honours (half thought it was pretty much a lost cause, really). Took a mod that I thought will benefit my transition into working life (Housing Econs) and it probably will, just not yet. Did help my thesis though. 

Tutoring a level 2000 module was really exciting, sailing through rather smoothly was encouraging, and the above-average student feedback was a goddam ego booster. 

Won the TFF subgroup forum but didn't manage to clinch the eventual finale forum was slightly disappointing but not enough to dampen the spirit of the challenge. 

LYLC and we didn't even win a single handball match. That'll remain the only regret perhaps for my short lived Handball career so far: from champions to almost the bottom of the pack. More work to be done definitely. Anyway, it was a nice end to my conversely long lived Basketball career, scoring the final two points through free throws in the finals and, of course, we won. And win we fcking did, we even brought home the overall championship after a nail-biting track finale. Was a good year as an LYLC, not so much as a sportsman... 

And we bade hall goodbye, it was unbearable to say the least, painful to some extent. Spent a good 3.5 years (bar the exchange semester) practically living in this place and it was like what I imagined when I was young - living happily with good friends as neighbours.  I guess never will I ever live this fantasy ever again. 

--

And then came the break. 

I did my first overseas trip with just my parents. Just the 3 of us. It was really challenging but I will do it over and over again if I have the chance. And perhaps more is really to come (looking at you, 2017!)

Then came South East Asia trip with the Bros. Another fantasy of mine, another dream came true. Kangster's absence was a pity but I believe we can make that up with more short trips in the future; and I really hope it'll materialise in 2017! 

Campervan trip has always been this fairy tale idea that I only read about in magazines and sometimes in western movies. Never have I ever thought that I will have the chance to do it someday, much less at so young an age. Truth is, it was so far from reality that I didn't even have any desire for it to begin with. And then it happened. The first night was magical, and then even till now the whole trip seems abit unreal... It set the bar high but I'm pretty sure our next trip for Ms Blur's graduation in 2017 will match it up. ;) 

--

And then back to reality. This time round reality came with responsibilities in the adult world. Suddenly, I've been thrown out of my comfort zone. 

Getting the Economics Society of Singapore medal is probably the highest achievement I've ever had academically (so far, haha) and I was so freaking stunned when I realise I won it. I was half-believing I will graduate with a second upper and suddenly I was the student with the highest CAP in my specialisation?! [Had the same feeling last night when I lost hope in this particular round in my mahjong game, when I have no tai to win the game and the tiles are in a mess; then suddenly I got an animal, got a four of a kind, and drew a in-the-middle tile all in the same round and I was waiting to win out of no where! And I did just that! Freaking 1-tai but that has been the best gamr I've had in a very long while. Ah, the small things in life... I digressed]

But then all these also didn't really matter in the end. Out in the adult world, everything got reset. Once you get your first job, it doesn't really matter how exam-smart are you in school, everyone's back to square one competing on the same ground. And there's suddenly so much competition! I know I will survive, but this will take some time... 2017 will be another year of change in my career and I hope what I have will end on a high note, and this high note can be carried forward to the next department I'm heading to! Please! 

Took on more external activities after I've slightly stabilised in my work cos that's just how I function: nothing much to do and nothing will be done, at all. So TFF moved towards AF and I moved from the chairperson of a subgroup to the Vice-president of the whole Exco of SG100. Many plans are installed for 2017, and much more work is coming my way. Great! 

Didn't wanna waste my "research skills" (nothing R rated) so decided to put it into good use by volunteering to research for an NPO and it's a new project, but we are expecting it to upscale come 2017 so it's gonna be exciting as well! 

Wanted to join HDB's (or at least HMG's) Basketball team training but was kinda late and missed the season. There's a chance that I'll miss the next one in 2017 as well but the thought of having the opportunity to train with a team again is triggering the basketballer (read: team player) in me. Haha! Been wanting to quit this sport since JC cos I kinda stagnated but I just kept coming back for more. The force is strong in this one...

Ended the year OT-ing with a friendly match with the TH handballers and it's encouraging to know they have a much bigger team with big potential next year. Played with the alumnus, most of them playin for Ravens, and it really reignited my passion for this new sport I've picked up (I also don't wanna end my handball career on such a low note that is our zero-win IHG season lol). Ravens is having player issues and if skills and time allows, hopefully I'll be back in the game in 2017!  

And then I went on to countdown for 2017 with people I've met (mostly) in hall. Some of my best friends are within this group of hallmates. And then I realise we don't miss hall. We miss the life we once had inside it... The joy, the laughter, the tears, the quarrels; the sweat, the grumbles, the chill and the fumbles (if you know what I mean). Nothing will bring that life back. But we can bring the people who created the memories out... Here's to 2017, and many more years to come, many more years to live out this fantasy of friendships! 

--

2017 will never be as important as 2016, but 2017 will be the year of settling in after 2016's year of change. Hope the transition will be smooth and steady. Cheers, 2017! 

Four Seasons

Doesn't exist in Singapore but somehow everyone wants to use their name.

The food caterer bearing this name somehow became infamous, at least amongst my extended family on the paternal side. So 20-plus of us got infected with this persistent virus that caused sharp and prolonged abdominal pain. I mean diarrhoea really isn't the worst (can't imagine me saying that after such an epic episode of food poisoning), and 4 days worth of MC to rest and fight the virus didn't kill it (I took more damage, dammit). Weekend was timely but spending it practically lying on bed as with what happened the past four days wasn't something worth celebrating. 

Oh did I mention Sunday was grandma's birthday celebration at my place and guess what? Buffet time! And you know what they say about things that don't kill you? I recovered the next day (sort of, just being dramatic). 

Also, what do you do when you can't beat them? (Ah context: boss of Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter is someone my office works with rather closely, so my boss told me to, you know, be invisible) I become invincible after this. 

Uber suay

Realise I haven't blog about my Indo trip and I really wanna do that before the end of the year (probably becomes "before the end of the lunar year" eventually hah). Anyway, gotta blog about this Uber incident I had after a chill out night at Rex's (which resulted in a quibble between the couple but that's another story haha). 

So the Uber driver got kinda lost, and when he eventually picked us (me and Rubin) up, he noted that we're heading near IMH, and the mood was set before so he started to joke about whether we were booking in. He said he's from there as well and I retorted that it's a great coincidence - we can book in together! Then things took a turn and went south out of nowhere. He started talking about his failed business and the business partner that swindled all his money, and how he turned from being chauffeured around to the present state of driving a private hire. Then he talked about his wife leaving him and just as he was babbling on, we stopped at a red light. All the cars in the perpendicular direction moved as they should and would, and then it cleared. The light was still red but there weren't any cars or pedestrians crossing anymore. The green man was flashing, with 15 seconds left, 14. And then he lifted the brakes and applied pressure on the accelerator. "Uncle! It's still red light!" It was slow, so we were stuck in the middle of the box, 13. I recalled that there was a red light camera at this familiar junction I run past every other day; another inch and we would be snapped. And so he did. Silence. Everything slowed down. 12. I looked around and all I see were eyes behind windows staring at us with disbelieve. Even slight disgust, really. I tried saying something, I don't remember. He finally started to realise what he just did. Was he tired? Was he just unfamiliar with the car? Even he himself can't seem to find a good answer. All he managed was a few slaps on the steering wheel, and lamenting his own foolishness. Apparently, he doesn't have anymore points for the demerit penalty. Regardless, we got off. Rubin was relieved. I was kinda troubled though, as I watched his car slowly strolled forward aimlessly when we walked further. 

I hope you'll somehow pull this through, Chong, somehow... 

老地方

We missed Butter's closing the last time round because reasons. And now all them Bros said no to Zouk's farewell at Jiak Kim. I was devastated. 

But somehow, it happened even without the bros. And it turned out to be one of the best night ever. So good, we left only during daybreak. So good, my hearing and voice is still nowhere to be found now. So good, I think it was a best way for a closure to this chapter of my life. 

I'm so fucking glad I made it for Zouk at Jiak Kim. And now it's time to really wave goodbye to my youth, my memories.  

No more hopping from Phuture to Zouk to Velvet, no more opening bottles for tables, no more chilling outside on the kerb, no more separating friends from fights and cheering strangers on, no more sweating it all out, no more random sausage and mash cravings, no more impromptu night of chilling-turn-clubbing, and no more heading home/back to camp hungover from the loud bangs and lethal shots. This is it. Ciao/-