in less than 2 months, i will be concluding my final undergraduate
journey here..at NUS. yes, the National University of Singapore.
the prestige. the scary. the bitter. the bell-curved university.

i vividly remember my first day in nus open house.
about 4-5 years ago. i came with a group of secondary school mates,
including jimmy. i remember we visited pgp for the first time, cuz
jimmy cousin sis was staying at pgp, and had my first meal
in the pgp aircon canteen. i remember is the un-delicious beef noodle.
little did i know, the place called pgp became my last home in nus...
and in pgp, i definitely have a whole lot of memories..both happy and sad.
i remember meeting a bunch a girls who late became my ji muis..
i remember meeting a tall guy who allowed me to use his room as a vacation storage in yr2,
without paying any rent =)...and he later became the most important person in my life..
i remember celebrations after celebrations, the late night study, the supper, the little talks.
and so much more, that i will and promise to make a collage out of it.

above all the friendships...is the academic. of cuz, this is a uni i'm talking about.
yes, the tremendous academic workloads. the vigourous academic culture.
most of the time..it is always academic-linked..be it a cca or a community service.
initially, i tought well this is the university culture. i have to accept it.
work hard, get the results, and get out, i hate nus mentality crop up
until i went for an exchange...
i sort of re-discover myself. i feel so relaxed, so joyful and for the first time
i feel so peaceful. i would sit by my room window and stare at the beautiful los angeles.
and i know....God is great. the world is not as small as i see it is.
i can be whatever i want to be. if i choose to pursue it.
with kindness, with passion, and with honesty.
and i told myself, as i sat by the window...i'm extremely blessed to be in LA.
and it's all thanks to NUS, faculty of science for their generous sponsor,
or else it'll just be a nice little dream for me. and i'm truly grateful.
i know when i'm back, i'm a student with a different direction.
and no matter how hard the journey is, i'm going for it.

and then there's the one year long thesis. although i didn't get my
first choosen project in malaria,
i did get something un-expected. a supportive supervisor, who later became a good friend.
a bunch of crazy lab mates.. who loves buffet, bowling and k-box.
and i get to work with bsl-2 pathogen. and a bsl-3 in the future.
so i guess, it's quite true when they say when one door closes, another door will open.
it's only the matter of time when you land on the unexpected or the unwanted
and you could probably say this to yourself
"hey this is not that bad at all!" in the end

so life in nus has thought me one thing
the real world is going to be far more unpredictable.
because it's such an oyster out there with so many diff kinds of ppl.
you'll just have to hear, speak, and see no evil.
and it's going to be another transition. i hope nus has given me all the guts!

happy 24 to myself.

papi: "eh today ur burfday le. happy burfday ah. big girl already"
me: "-____- big girl? i think i'm old liao. no more girl girl."
papi: "where got old, u still depend on me so not yet old. u only consider old when you're independent, financially..hehe"
me: "........erm yeah, once i graduate deh! i will then be independent lor.."

can i stay young girl girl forever? haha....hmm maybe not!