Thursday, June 28, 2007
Monday was spent at nie with philip and jaron handing in our personal documents personally over to the clerk at the foundation office in block 1. As usual, Philip was the earliest whenever it comes to anything. He got a lift from his mother to kallang mrt station and reach boon lay mrt station just slightly after 10am(the meeting time was 10.30am). Followed him to look for a shop that provided photocopying services and finally managed to find one at the basement. Jaron arrived soon after and we followed him to the posb bank to settle his bank book. Even though it was 10.50am and the banks only opens at 11am, there was a huge crowd of people outside and the line was soon snaking up to the escalator region. Even though there are company policies to follow, I'm pretty sure it won't hurt to open up 5 or 10mins before opening hours right? Singaporeans can be just too rigid.
The bus interchange does look better and more airy after the renovations. No longer was it cramped, stuffy and people have problems moving around. Now it's bigger, airy and there are signs leading passengers to their correct waiting destinations. It's a long walk for me to the 199 bus stop because it's located at the furthest end. Waiting time wasn't long, between 12 to 15 mins for a bus during non-peak hours is standard. I don't need any introduction to jurong after having spend 2 year of my jc life there.
I do know my way pretty well in jurong but going to ntu is an entirely ball game altogether. The rest of the ntu campus I'm still taking my time to slowly recognize where each faculty is located and where 179 and 199 stops. Every step up a level of education is different. Your pri school looks like some small building when compared to your sec and jc. However, being in ntu, it's really one huge campus. There is all the land in to offer in jurong, which is why most of the army camps are located here. In my case, only a patch of land and a drain separates nie from the pasir laba outfield areas. A pretty fast journey from boon lay bus interchange to nie faculty area - a mere 12 to 15 mins. I'm certainly not in a position to complain much about distance. Philip lives in kallang while jaron lives in sengkang. Do imagine they probably spend 4 hours on the train and bus daily if they do not stay in hostel. It will take a toll of their body in the long term.
One thing I'm grateful for is that the entire nie campus is very new. The newest in fact, when compared to the rest of ntu. The lush landscape and building structures makes you feel like you're entirely in a different world, like you're not in jurong. Smu has the futuristic look with its modern buildings set in the city while nie compares both the nature aspect with the modern look well, making it a good place to study in. It's a certainly huge place and we did have problems looking for the foundation office in block 1. After handing over our personal documents, we accompanied philip to look for the dean in charge of their orientation programmes. As her line was engaged, it was better we look for her in person.
We soon got used to the fact that nie is divided into different blocks and each serves a different purposes. If you're teaching pe like me, it's block 5, jaron and philip will be studying in the science block. We reached the staff room only to find this sign "Outsiders not allowed to enter". Met this kind lady and asked whether she had seen assoc pro low ee ling and she brought all of us in. You would expected deans to stuck their noses up in the air and full of airs but she is certainly different. She reminds me of miss lum. We may be adults but she treats us like kids and carefully guides and brings us to the office in charge of handling the orientation forms. She could easily let others handle such inconsequent stuff but she chose to do it personally. Certainly did change my opinions of deans after this encounter with her.
We lunch at the usual jurong point food court where I spent the jc days having my lunches and dinners. Nothing has changed much and it still gets crowded when it comes to meal time. Finding a seat was always gonna be difficult. Wanted to have the good ol handmade noodles but eventually settled on curry chicken with rice. Recommended the handmade noodles to jaron though. The food court does bring back good memories. Me and my friends head for jurong point to have our meals not just in the food courts but also the fast food restaurants.
When I have dinner with the ruggers after training, it's usually the big plate western food which I always have problems finishing. Kwan Rong likes the herbal chicken with rice and homan eats everything, Paul likes food that are not too spicy, me, tong and gerald likes to have dessert after our main course from the dessert stall. However, those days were long gone and each of us will be studying in a different instituition come august. I'll be having meals with a new bunch of friends and start on a new kind of journey. It will be funny to see people with different taste buds. People who stay in halls all hang out at jurong point because it's the nearest mall and it has everything, from shops, eateries to a cinema. I need no introduction to this place but it's a pleasure to let my friends from the east know about pros and cons of this place.
I never seemed to have the luck when it comes to girls and relationships. Like I said before in earlier entries, I never had high hopes for the current girl I like so I wouldn't be too sad if it doesn't work out. The day I come clean with my feelings for her was the day I got rejected. She's a nice girl and I just don't have the luck to be with her. I'll be lying if I said I wasn't dejected or sad. I am but at least we're still friends.
Today is indeed a day where I just don't feel like doing anything after seeing the reply from her. Usually what I'll do is to get out of house and look for a place or something to do to not think of her. Back in school, I'll probably vent out my frustrations during rugby training. I like the tackling and crashing sessions with crash pads. You don't feel or think of anything at all during those sessions. I never make excuses so let's just say I wasn't good enough or I haven't done my best this time again.
Time to move on once again.
