If eating was like driving a car...

...I found out today that mine isn't the quickest one around. For years and years I thought that I was the quickest damn eater Singapore had ever seen.

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Secondary 3, St Andrews School Canteen, 6:50am.

Kingsley: "Eh no time already lah, still eat nasi lemak."

Me: "Can one."

Kingsley: "You sure?? Okay, I time you ah. We have assembly in ten minutes"

*Sits with one plate of nasi lemak - egg, drumstick, cucumber, chilli, rice ($2.50)*

1 minute 23 seconds later...

Kingsley: "What the hell!!"

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Heck man, that was when there was no pressure. Imagine being the first among your platoon in BMT. That's 37 other hungry, botak boys who all know that the quicker you eat, the more of the 1 hour allocated for lunch you get to use to sleep in bunk.

The best part is that I didn't even really try. Honest. It just comes naturally.

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Today, Lunch, AMK kopitiam.

I got my ass whooped man. By my dad. We both ate from the chicken rice stall. When I surfaced halfway through my lunch, he'd already finished and told me he was going to the fruit stall to buy fruits.

Speechless.

So there you go, at least now I know where I got it from.

Why do we have a new airport?

Is probably what you will be asking yourself when you set your eyes on the newest terminal on the block - T3. We went to visit the yet-to-be-opened terminal earlier tonight (okay so the real reason was a craving for Popeye's but that's another story)

It was about 10pm when we were done with dinner and headed over by sky train from T1, and we were met with an absolute ghost town of an airport.

Strange flaps on the ceiling give it an inverted Esplanade look

Damn we're orderly - even trolleys need to queue

This doesn't look that impressive due to the shitty pic quality, but it's actually a waterfall!

So here we were happily traipsing (wow, never thought I'd ever use that word) the empty hall, a cold, sinking feeling suddenly gripped me as a thought entered my head: "Why are there check-in bags when there's no one here?"

For a split second, images of the "I am Legend" trailer raced through my mind as I momentarily lapsed into a doomsday scenario where everyone had suddenly died because of a supervirus which we were somehow immune to...

"They're dummy check-in bags lah, dumbass," she said, reading my mind.

"-.-"

And so they were - I checked. We really don't spare any expense when it comes to impressing foreignors do we?

DIVERSION!

Jae mucking around with our soon-to-be-released campaign premium!

END OF DIVERSION!

Anyway, it's been a long while since I blogged about food. Of course, that doesn't mean that I've not been eating...


...ok stop laughing already.


No seriously, stop! Alrighty, let's begin with the bad stuff. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sad to say that the standard at Popeye's has fallen. The chicken tastes refried and reeks of overused oil. I know it's a weekend and the crowds are crazy but you cannot expect to compromise your standards right? You're a fast food outlet, dammit, you're MADE to handle huge volumes of people. Deal with it!

Ok, now the better stuff. Hooked on Heads, a restaurant specialising in fish head curry, according to this post by ieatishootipost, was pretty good.

Fish tail curry - $10

You get to choose the part of the fish you want; we had the fish tail, which ironically contained much more meat than the head, which was priced at $18 for half a head. Go figure.

Their other food was alright, though not outstanding. Overall, I'd say this is an okay family restaurant with a decent curry. Good for a visit or two.

Hooked on Heads
Sin Ming Dr (off Upp Thomson Road)

Taste: 3/5
Value: 3.5/5
Ambience: 3.5/5

We also tried the revamped Olio cafe menu a couple of weeks ago. They've set up a branch at HV right next to Harry's. I was feeling adventurous and had the laksa pasta.

Slightly over ten dollars, I can't remember exactly

It was really strange eating this bastardisation of a local dish. If you close your eyes and numb your mind to the fact that you are in fact slurping laska-tasting linguini, I'd swear you'd think it was the real stuff.

Everything is replicated, save the noodle and the excess gravy. Interesting to try, though not something I would repeatedly pay thrice the amount I do for a regular bowl of laksa for.

M had the miso-cream salmon teriyaki faster than I could warn: "too many flavours!"

Olio Cafe
Holland Village

Taste: 3/5
Value: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5

P.S. I want to play football. If anyone is reading this and is having a game, let me know ok ok ok?

Curtain Call

So that's that for school. I can't really think of anything to say, except that I know I'm going to miss it more than any other school I've been in.

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The guys were talking just after we played football today, and the conversation somehow veered towards which clothing item each person embodied (What to do, CS mah). Some had one, some had none, others had a variety...Here's a selection:

• Samuel is special, he has three signature items: Red Cap, Samford Tee, Abbreviated army long 4 pants
• Clarence is lagi more special: All V-neck tees, Fulham jersey
• Me: Oversized Fila Sweater
• Sayheng: Suggestive Statements - e.g. "I scored last night"; "Fugitive"
  

And because this is actually quite fun to do, here's my own list of clothes I associate with people:

• Corduroy shoes: Helmi
• Skinny Jeans: Jae
• Saris worn by non-Indians: Vanessa
• Checkered long pants: Becky
• Austin Powers Costume: Mr. Duffy (Don't ask me why, the image just came)
• Same Tshirt as me: Melvin
• Impossibly eternally scruffy look: PK+Sam
• Black: Nathan/Cenite
• Never-the-same-thing-twice: Rachel S.
• Short sleeved shirts: Irwin
• FCUK shirts bought-all-at-one-time-in-Australia-on-sale: Derrick
• Oppressed Oi Oi Music: Kangrong
• Teamwork: Benjy

So there's my list of people-clothes.

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FYP is tiring me out. Today was one of those days that justifies that old saying that when it rains, it pours. As I write this, I am barely awake, and it's not even 12 yet. My legs feel like lead, my mind is swirling with how fragile our campaign is at the moment.

So I shall go and get some shut-eye.

Ten reasons why it is great to be a CS student during exam time

1. Exams begin when everyone else's do, and end in five days.

2. Pre-exam study groups which have ballooned to 15 this sem.

3. Football/touch rugby breaks every evening.

4. Going on Facebook is considered research for Science and Tech Writing or Online Journalism.

5. You get all the Kant you want.

6. Canteen B coffee.

7. The occasional free food from kind souls (today it was chocolate crossaints from Mr. Duffy)

8. Group meals.

9. It used to also be the long walks back to hall where conversations ranged from potential mates to favourite cartoons.

10. Most of the grades are already decided before you step into the exam hall.

So, what's it gonna be?

"Why don't you want to be a journalist?" he wrote.

It wasn't so much the chiding tone of my tutor's comment on my assignment which bothered me, it was the genuine disappointment and frustration I sensed as he penned the personal note.

Perhaps this is my ego speaking; maybe he says that to all his students who express an interest in jumping to the dark side that is PR. Maybe he just enjoys throwing graduating students a conundrum or two.

Here, have a dilemma.

Given the spirited debate we've been having about jobs and graduation, this comment could not have come at a better time. It's a time where we are forced to defend our stand that we are dreamers; that we are people who are literally living the dream. A time where we decide, then stick with our choices.

Yet why is this bugging me so much? That my choice could be wrong.

Can I trust a boyhood ambition to be a journalist? Have I sold myself short, or was it never really my dream - my real, impassioned dream - to be one in the first place? All of a sudden, I don't know. And if my confidence in my decision wavers so easily, does it suggest that I somehow subconsciously don't believe it to be true?

I guess the only relief is that a decision does not have to be made right now. We shall see.

He giveth and taketh away

He giveth:

The FYP volunteer call yielded so many respondents, I'm still struggling to meet all of them individually. Some have been really great; helpful and genuinely excited about our project. Can you imagine? I'm excited.

He taketh away:

I thought I'd done pretty decent on the Hedwig piece. I guess I was expecting more. I didn't even do any layout because I was confident my writing was enough on its own.

He giveth:

Things are moving into high gear with the project, and I'm loving actually having to do things instead of waiting, hemming and hawing.

He taketh away:

Today was the last lecture. It's like getting off a roller-coaster and having no more money to go back on. It sucks. There is a hollowness in the way we said our goodbyes today, though we may look back some time later and mark this as the point where school unofficially ended.

He giveth:

It is a privilege to counsel a friend in need.

He taketh away:

It is disheartening to see in friend in need.

He giveth:

More than I have asked for.

He taketh:

Less than I have need for.