The things that give me enjoyment change through the years. As I gain SOME age, different things occupy the center(s) of my happy universe.
Kindergarten Years (5-6)Looking out for mama after school because this means that I can go to the nearest heartland to shop! (Whoever gets excited about going to Clementi Central at 20?) Otherwise, it's back to my yellow bus queue. ):
A mum-like picture. Thankfully, my mama does not have blue hair nor blue lashes.
Getting to drink Coke or any carbonated drinks.
No one really cares about getting coughs at this age right? And we love to blow bubbles through the straws into our drinks!
Any off-the-shelf chocolates/candies.
Primary School (6-12)Getting to stay out with friends till 5pm!
Of course I'm referring to my generation. Kids nowadays have lessons till 6pm! Tut tut. Where is the childhood??
Post-exams when we can bring games to school. Zero-point, five stones, hopscotch...
Being kids, we also had violent games like "Which Barbie shall the fish eat today?"
Singapore version of Monopoly. Can haolian when you managed to buy "Queen Astrid Park". Till this day, I still don't know where it is. Muahahahahaha.. I love to use the "Iron" token!
Earning a badge for Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.
Looking back, these badges are not worth the effort I put in lor! Because my mama never helped us do our homework and I was competing against classmates whose mothers painstakingly helped them collect seeds of fruits and whatnots. Pui! Losers!
Secondary School (13-16)Taking neoprints after school! Going to town was the highlight man! Before assembly in the morning, we would already start discussing where to go after school (There were buses to everywhere near my school.)
That's right! I even have a book of neoprints! I hope I don't get murdered after posting this up. If I do, please tell Mr. Policeman that everyone in the pic is a suspect. Hahahaha...
Buying a Baby-G!
Woo ahh wee!!! I actually won one when I submited one of the neoprints from the pic above for a contest. Want to guess which pic? It's supposed to be a "Wacky Neoprint Contest" by the way...
Owning a pager! I had a fucking expensive white Motorola MemoJazz and a pink Hutchison's.
Remember the good old SunPage? That was what I subscribed to. Wonder if it is still around now?
Junior College (17-18)Not falling ill for the month. I have to say that I hated JC and would get so stressed by it that I get sick on a monthly basis. My friend even lamented the lack of clinic membership at that time because it would come in handy for me. (+_+") There was a very concerned teacher who would eyed me with suspicion each time I handed in an MC. How loving.
This could have been my motto then. At least I can escape some lessons.
Escaping PE during my first 2 months at a particular JC. I couldn't bear to stay for 3 months because it was atrocious. They very kindly remembered to billed me for the 3rd month though. Their PE sessions involved at least 10 rounds about the track.
The sight of this makes me puke. I got my Nafa Gold after switching to another JC even without the help of 10-round PE sessions. Pui!
Avoiding the discipline master during the routine hair-nails-uniform-socks-shoes-earrings-neck check. I didn't see how dyed hair can affect a student's performance and I still don't. Maybe they just want to discipline lah! My cool mama even paid for my dye session.
I have seen students from other JCs with this kind of hair color! Maybe their parents were part of the alumni. Haha... Or they were school "swimmers" whose hair got bleached by the chlorine. Complete with highlights.
University - Undergraduate (19-22)Successfully getting the modules I balloted/bidded for. During my first year, I had the pleasure of trying the balloting system which was far less complicated (and luck-based) than the current auction-like bidding mechanism at NUS. But the latter was better la. After some training can become expert. More on this
here and
here.
Balloting was like Russian Roulette. You never knew what you were going to get. And the consequences of not getting what you want can be just as fatal (for your grades).
Being in the same tutorial slots as my friends. Because you mostly do projects with people from your tutorials. If you get those you not gam with, it can be quite a bitch. But that's life,
non? Some lecturers also required us to work within assigned groups to we can learn to work with people of all kinds. The most memorable was a girl in my group who used phrases like "... bowed our knees to the superiority..." and "capitalism is the good of the world; communism is the evil of the world..." and she insisted on editing the final project paper. In the end, we got a big fat ugly C.
Passing with a C sucks too, Mr G.
School days ending by 2pm. The worst is to travel all the way to school for a 1-hour tutorial. Firstly, you cannot skip it (Attendance as part of your grade.); secondly, the 1-hour tutorial lasts for only 45 minutes because NUS requires all lessons to end 15 minutes before the hour is up so students can travel to other parts of the campus for their lessons. The mother of all crap will be get the best slot of 2pm-3pm or 3pm-4pm tutorial slot on Fridays when there are 5 other tutorial slots for Thurdays which you did not successfully bid for. With this kind of slot, you cannot plan to shop before or after the lesson. Shitty!
No school bus to send you to and fro also. Imagine the transportation fares you could have saved!
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For now, I will be happy to make people laugh! Most importantly, people like myself! Tee hee hee...
