This is a note by my friend, Wei Sheng, on facebook. This is the link to the post: https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=141660789193066&comments&ref=notif¬if_t=note_reply
So, I was fb-hopping when I stumbled upon this link:
http://www.ri.edu.sg/main/schoolinfo/general/rafflesexperience
I had expected it to be of a certain slant, and I think I was definitely proven right.
Okay, so I watched the entire video without even turning on my speakers to listen to the audio. But I doubt it makes a difference to my opinion either way.
Still, what would my raffles experience be?
1. the multiple attempts where we descended down the mysterious flight of stairs from room A67 at 1230 hrs, in search for the ever-elusive LT1, only to find that that flight of stairs somehow always leads to the back of the queue at the yong tau foo stall (or the wanton mee or mixed rice store, depending on your inclinations at that particular moment in time).
2. being at the back of the queue, only to find out that the person (or persons) in front of you are similarly infelicitous voyagers who were in search of that very same LT but were permanently detoured by a mysterious force (acting from a region within the abdomen) to the stalls (or so they claim).
3. the multiple occasions in the labs when the products of our rigorous scientific investigative endeavours somehow borne results which had an uncanny resemblance to our prescient insights, and our innate inclinations for (all too perfectly) linear curves.
4. or when our own Inner Eye was curbed by the unpredictability of the experiment, we sought the powers of corroboration which only required minuscule physical exertions, such as a all-so-minute shift of the hand, shift of a piece of paper, bat of an eyelid or glance of one’s right and/or left eyes before all was well and all was good (or bad, depending on how much time had elapsed in the particular situation).
5. or if all failed, we relied on the “preparatory” recipes that were dispensed to us, rattling off its instructions, procedures and limitations word-for-word to one another, always making that foolhardy (but surprisingly (?) judicious) decision that just because it was “preparatory”, the real thing would be 99.99999% similar.
6. the times we spent at that far-flung corner of school, surrounded by books that we hardly ever touched. Multiple pieces of paper with endless lists of questions printed, surrounded with annotation and scrawls, some of which, being smiley faces, crude language and explicit images, were supposedly part of an elaborate symbology for us to attain enlightenment in the conundrums which were presented to us.
7. when we brought in work from multiple subjects, envisioning a 3-hour horizon to knock-off time where we could accomplish much and complete much, yet culminating in a mere half-page worth of text or the untidy scribbles of solutions to a grand total of 2 or 3 part-questions, the result of intermittent bursts of laughter, gossip and exclamations.
8. harvard university foolscap. with an unlimited supply of base paper originating from the school printers.
9.endless soliloquies bout our futures, launching our persona so far through the stream of time, being fully paranoid that every step that we were going to make in the months to come were the butterflies that could result in our prosperity or our bust.
10. but now, having forgotten what exactly was said, was proposed, was rebutted, was expounded upon, was rebuffed, was poked fun at, was slammed, was criticised, was gossiped about, was swore upon, was envisioned, was hoped, especially when most of us, instead of riding on our projected trajectory straight to the shore of prosperity, achievement and self-satisfaction, now find ourselves wading through the murky marshland of NS which looks similarly homogenous, gloomy and expansive on all sides.
i hardly recall the vivid, dynamic images in glossy technicolor that the video so triumphantly present, adorned with punchy platitudes, awe-inspiring action and blanket bylines.
but sometimes, the best things are the ordinary.
Last 2 days! Read More »
I woke up at 6.30 because of god knows what, couldn’t go back to sleep and started on my expedition to the north. After packing my room, I went for breakfast (squid noodle!) and set off at 7.30. I drove from the city to the north, past Ong Lan beach and then towards Cua Can Port. The drive was pretty cool because of the rain the previous day and I stopped for pictures once in a while. It was very very dusty though so I was really glad I brought my mask. The view from the road was kinda cool too and I was going at 60-80km/h so the wind felt awesome. After Cua Can I went to Ganh Dau with a stop at Bai Dai which was not as nice as it’s said to be. I prefer Bai Sao and Bai Truong. Then I drove to Ganh Dau and walked across huge stones to see Cambodia. it’s the closest I’ve ever been to Cambodia! Again it was so so. There were people offering me snorkeling trips too but I was kinda tired from all the driving and the prospect of driving back so I declined.
I drove back to Duong Dong by the route through the forest so I rode 20km of red dirt road, crossed 17 bridges and battled hunger because I thought I didn’t need Pringles or Oreo. I saw a group of tourists stopping at a forest opening so I parked my bike and followed them. When I asked them if there were anything inside, they replied in some weird language I’ve never heard so I’m guessing they were Cambodians. Some were darker than I am too. (I am super dark and tanned now) After 5 minutes of walking in the forest, I decided that was enough and headed back. The disappointment from Da Ban stream (or the lack of it) the other day and the fear of getting my bike stolen in the middle of nowhere kinda hindered me too. 1km from Cua Can, however, I found a small store that sold some snacks so I jumped right in and got some dried jackfruit. It tasted so good. Afterward I drove back to Duong Dong and took a shower at 11.40. So I drove for about 3 hours 40 minutes with a 30 min walk to the beach. I was so tired that when I went to Elyce’s place, I went straight for a nap after a beer and some Pringles.
After chilling, we went to Oasis for dinner where Elyce had veggie lasagne and I had Fish and Chips (my portion was HUGE; the fish was good but the fries were only so so). Then we had apple pie with ice-cream which tasted wonderful!
We drove back to Elyce’s place for a drink at her hotel then off to sleep at our places.
The sunburn hurt so much today when I wore my backpack. Damn! It’s hot as hell again after the cool rain yesterday. Elyce is not going for the motorbike ride tomorrow. I wonder if I should do it. It’s gonna be quite lonely for me. Geez. Read More »
We just went snorkeling and it was made of pure awesomeness. Read More »
Sorry that I have not blogged properly for the past few days because the internet at my place was down down down.
So Elyce and I chilled for day 3. We went to the beach and sat in the shade. I continued reading “the heretic’s daughter” which is a very dark book for me. I can’t really fathom how people could have been so obsessed with the idea of witchery and heresy and Christianity in general like they used to do in the 17th centuries. Read More »
I woke up at 6 because I forgot to switch off my alarm for Day 1. After lazing around for a while I went for a swim. There were weird creatures in the sea when I was swimming (I’m guessing they are sea porcupines/ sea snails) anyway I evaded them like the plague. It’s really refreshing and cool to just chill out in the sea and just let my thought drifts. I am so gonna buy a vacation house/ buy a house near a beach some day. So when I walked back to my room, slotted my key in and turned it, Read More »
(the first part of this comes from my journal so the tense is a bit messed up)
I’m on my way to the airport now. Elyce went out drinking till 1.30 so she’s a bit tired. I hope this will be fun! (I wanted to add a picture here but WordPress is kinda screwed so i couldn’t add it geez. I think I will learn how to post a gallery from elyce)
We are at HCMC airport now. It’s 10 mins till we board. We reached at 9.10 and went to CT mall to hang out. Pringles with laughing cow cheese is soooo awesome. I had a superb nap on the bench at the airport too. Poor Elyce had to stay awake to look after the stuff. Sorry!
I’m in Elyce’s room now. We just came back from one hell of a trip. We went to the market to get tanktops and beach towels (which in my opinion are a waste because they are just like my hotel towels) Then we drove to a minimart to get like 20kg of liquid (water, beer and coke). Elyce had such a hard time balancing it at the back. It was definitely fun though. and super hot. we were sweating like mad the whole time. My hotel was okay until a leg broke. My bed leg broke so it was like tilted. I was sitting on it with my laptop and I suddenly lunged forward and heard a cracking sound. between saying oh shit and panicking, I put my laptop onto the bed which totally stressed it and the bed leg completely gave way. So I was moved to another room with 2 fans instead of 1, which is awesome! The walk from my place to elyce’s is not really long but it’s hot and makes me sweat. I lugged some of my stuff over there and will be spending lots of time there. We are chilling and waiting for the night time. There’s a mute guy at my hotel who is a room service guy. He is so friendly and nice to me that he makes my stay here even more enjoyable.
I had a swim which was okay though the water was really warm. Then we chilled and took pictures of the crazily nice sunset. When it’s dark we went to the night market to eat seafood fried rice and seafood noodle which were really great at Thanh Tuyen. We might come back there. We walked around the market a bit then toured the city at night on my bike (an Exciter! it’s so awesomely strong!) then we sat at the sun chairs (that’s how they call the beach chair here) and star-gazed. It was really serene there with the waves crashing in and the warm breeze (everything about phu quoc weather is either hot or warm). It was just a perfect moment for me there, sitting in on a beach chair listening to the sound of the waves while talking with my friend and just totally relaxing. After that I went back to my room and bathed. I forgot my earphones at elyce’s though so I had to walk back to get them in order to watch something tonight. I’m gonna watch a movie and go to sleep soon. Night world!
I’m going to Phu Quoc tomorrow woohoo. I’ve decided to bring my laptop along because that gives me more flexibility and I can be up to date with my TV shows! I wanna keep you guys updated with my trip too so i’m gonna try to compose my travel log regularly haha. Okay i’m off to finish packing!
