LIfe is fun and sweet!

Some of you will know that I've been spending lots of time with the GIC scholars. The friday that just passed, I had dinner with the Stanford people at Crystal Jade Kitchen at Plaza Singapore. It was nice to meet them again after some time. Most are working already, or heading into Officer Cadet School by the 19th of Sept. After dinner, they were going to watch "Be with Me", an Eric Khoo film.

Instead of joining them, I met up with the GIC people for Nicole's farewell. Nicole is one of the GIC scholars who was interning at GIC for her summer and met her at the beach trip with Seiwei. She's done with her internship and now heading back to Malaysia before going back to Imperial College for her 3rd year. The group of us went to Post Bar at the Fullerton Hotel for drinks. I know most of the people there from previous outings with them, except Elwin, whom I just meet. I know I look mature but it's kinda freaky that people always guess that I am older than them. Elwin thought I was older than he was, even though I am 2 years younger than he was. Hmmm. We then headed back to Nicole's apartment at Darby Place for more drinks (Whisky Coke) and chilling. After 2 hours, all of us left for home. I had to tutor kids early in the morning. Sigh.

Anyway, Saturday came along, too fast, and I had to get up for tutoring. The good thing was that I was going to be hanging out with Steph for the rest of the day, so I was excited. Tutoring ended with the the usual talking with the parents about the progress of their kids and reassuring them that I'm doing the best to maximise their potential. I met up with Steph at City Hall, to go to Funan to buy a backpack for her sister. I wasn't sure why Funan, coz it sells electronics more than anything else. We didn't find it, but we went to Sakae Sushi for a really fun and chill lunch. The conversations with Steph is just really easy, as we talk about everything. There's nothing we can't talk about, and I can't emphasize enough how great it is to have someone with you who understands you, is unassuming and just amazing company. I'm lucky to have found Steph to be that person for the past weeks.

After lunch, we headed to Raffles City to try to find her a watch. She's been wanting to find a watch for herself for a while, and haven't been able to find one that she really wanted. Shopping with girls are fun. They do most of the oggling and shopping while the guy stands there to be the commentator. She notices a lot of random stuff when we walk along, while I'm just looking at, "Where's the next watch shop?" Steph remarked about guys being the hunters, therefore having tunnel vision, while girls have lots of peripheral vision to multi-task and shop. =) The search was unsuccessful, although we did go into many cute shops that sell cute gifts, etc. We then headed back to Steph's place for her to change, as she was going to watch Quidam with the GIC people later that night. We took the bus to Bugis for dinner. Met up with Desmond, another of the GIC scholars. He's a really funny and amazing guy. Behind his half ditsy and half "beng" exterior, I know he has a brain way smarter than mine (not that it means anything), plus lots of street smarts. After dinner, they left for the show and I left for home to rest. I was going to meet up with them later for supper after the show.

I got home, chilled and took a nap. When I got up, it was 10.30pm. The house was dark and my parents were asleep. It feels like it was the dead of the night, although I knew that it was still early and that I was heading out for more fun and excitment with friends. My parents sleep really early, and it's kinda a bummer. I'm still not used to the sleeping early, coz I'm practically still on study hours, waking up late, sleeping late and hanging out till the wee hours of the morning. I met up with Seiwei, Steph, Desmond and Elaine at Arab Street for supper. We ate at an Indian stall which sold really HUGE murtabaks. For those who don't know what that is, it's like a huge quesadilla stuffed with meat. I had a mutton one and it was just so big I couldn't finish it, which is pretty rare for me.

After that huge supper, we headed back to Steph's place to watch episodes of Lost. Desmond didn't join us because he had to leave for Hong Kong the next day. So it was just Steph, Seiwei, Elaine and I. Lost was actually pretty good, and we watched 3 episodes in a row. Then it was 3 in the morning and Seiwei had to go to church at 9.00am. So Seiwei and Elaine left for home. Steph and I stayed up to watch another episode, before I crashed at her place. Coz we were both going to church at ARPC at 11.15am and it's fun taking a cab together anyway. And also that I didn't have to drag myself home at 4 in the freaking morning.

It was a good sleepfor a Sunday morning today, although a little short. We got up and caught a cab to church. I needed some milo to perk me up, although Steph was the one who was nodding off at church. =) The sermon was VERY good. It was forceful in the right way and the pastor did a very good job backing up his arguments. We were studying Revelations Chapter 4 and 5. The whole sermon revolved around the fact that God and Christ should be the center of our lives, because They were the ones with the plans for mankind. Without Them, it was pointless to be living in this world of despair, hurt and lawlessness. I'm not going to go into a religious sermon in my blog, but just that I was very impressed by the sermon.

Steph was supposed to go to Queensway to shop for her sister's bag again, and her friend backed out on her. So I volunteered to go with her. We had lunch at the Adam Road food center and took a cab to Queensway. Her sister specifically wanted the Deuter AirContact 55+10, in red or orange. It was tough to find and there wasn't the 55+10, only 50+10 and 60+10. So we ended up trying to find Steph a pair of cross-trainers, which also proved very elusive. Steph herself commented that she dreaded going shoe-shopping with herself. I remembered the last few times I did shoe-shopping with a girl, I nearly choked with boredom and frustration. =) So, after hitting a few shops, we stopped and headed to Ikea next door instead.

Now, that was a really cool Ikea trip. Steph and I were basically imagining what our dream house would be like and what we would like to design it in. At every exhibit, we would comment about what we liked about it, and how we would incorporate some of the designs. A few things we settled on:
1) Modern Western Design
2) Bedroom with walk-in closets, no pine wood, but rather Mahogony or Oak
3) No footboards on the bed
4) Sinks with at least 2 bowls
5) No hanging of glasses on plastic racks
6) No hanging of spatulas above the stoves, coz they get greasy
7) Lots and lots of knives
8) Island cooking counters for the kitchen, along with breakfast counters
9) No kid rooms, not unless absolutely necessary
10) Need to have an AV room with red, gray and cushy designs
11) Jacuzzi that has steps up but sunken into the raised area
12) More
Feel free to consult me if you need to design your house. I'll gladly do it! Maybe I should be a designer.

The whole Ikea trip was just really cool, coz one, Steph is great company, (How many times have I said that?) two, I got to stretch my imagination on what I really wanted my future house or apartment to look like, and three, it's just so sweet to be sharing with someone about something personal like house decorating.

Once the Ikea trip was over, we headed to Secret Recipes for some drinks and headed back to our respective homes by MRT. I still had to tutor tonight, although just for 2 hours. Payday again! Steph was really tired and it has been an exciting weekend. She needed to get some sleep or she would be a zombie for work on Monday.

She has another 8 days left in Singapore, before heading back to Malaysia and then to Cambridge for her 3rd year. This is going to be the last 8 days we have together for a long time. She most likely would not be back in Singapore next year, so it would be at least 2 years before we see each other again. I don't know what to feel about that. It's sad to have left Stanford and know that it will be long years before I can see many of my friends there again. That is still so fresh in my mind. Now, I am going to be saying the same to someone I met in Singapore. How would 2 years change us? Would we be able to click together as well as we do now? Life leaves so many questions for us to find the answers to. I guess the best we can do now is to enjoy the 8 days we have left and keep in touch through these 2 years. I feel that for people like us (scholars, or mobile people), change is so prevalent in our lives that it is nearly impossible to guess at what miight even happen. As much as I enjoy the change because it brings about difference and excitement in life, some parts of life, I would like to be a little more predictable. Friends around me, not leaving too abruptly, etc. Sigh.

Just to end on a good note, I am happy with the way things have turned out and I could not have asked for more on the facet of friends. I thank the Lord for all He has provided me.