the first thing i saw in my mailbox today was the email from boss bidding.

signaling………….. the beginning of i-can’t-mention-the-word.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. My summer ain’t over yet! It just ain’t over. Let me stay in bliss for at least 2 months more, please!

(i don’t wanna start planning school stuff!!!! NOOOOOOOOO….)

it is saturday night and i. am. officially. shacked.

but the coming week bodes well! more meetups, wednesday night (my foray back to normalcy – at least for me, now); AND, relatives from china which i will be bringing around town!

(it is HILARIOUS. my mum wants me to bring out one of our relative’s sons – and gave suggestions on where to hang and chill. which i will, i guess!)

So, i think i shall be spending my sunday with the relatives, and probably monday and tuesday nights as well.

the good, and well, not so good points of having a huge family. i want time for friends too!

(especially the one returning saturday night. i can’t believe it’s been ONE YEAR! I MISS YOU!!)

alright that’s it for now. i’ve been going on at bullettrain speed and that’s because i’m still feeling woozy from the 3am conversation. now i know why momma keeps going on about sleeping early. i am feeling the effects of my sleep debt, already.

that’s it for tonight. ciao bella peopleee!

(l-r) marinating chicken for field cooking, preparing the food for cooking, the next day at bukit timah hill, an artistic attempt at photography on our hike!

after going for the camp, i realised that i am, growing up – no more late night chats in our sleeping bags, i got up the next day feeling that my bones were aching from the hard floor, i refused to stand out too much in the sun without applying sun block…. (everything that comes with becoming an adult and being all careful about skin and health).

well! i am transforming into a lady! (which is a good thing, i’d venture to say). And i’m ready, armed with siren red toenails (courtesy of my mum’s nifty toenail painting expertise), white little tote and working style dress – to take on the corporate world! (starting tomorrow!)

(oh, i know i might be stepping on a few toes here, but bear with it. just hear me out!)

as i sit here waiting for my groupmate to finish tweaking our little wiki (and she’s been working since morning on it, bless her soul), i start to wonder if we’ve really been hit by the IB effect. the, you know, let’s work till we finish every single piece of work, and i don’t care if it’s past midnight!

my groupmate announces with a flourish to me over msn, “i’ve been working till 3am!” and something in me goes, “what???? 3am???” okay. maybe once in a while’s fine. but it amazes me when we say it with such great satisfaction. Does this mean school’s transformed us into such hardworking creatures with no lives whatsoever beyond the sliding doors of the smu gantry?

i must admit, though, with my head humbly bowed, that i too, have been saddled with the IB effect. It’s infectious! (unhealthy but infectious!) it’s a bug going around school. seriously. we suddenly forget that we’re actually entering the prime of our lives (the glorious twenties, haven’t you heard?) and we should be enjoying ourselves. After all, don’t the seniors always feed with you this line – “you have all the rest of your life to work!”

*ducks from the indignant voices of friends who, despite my consistent explanations, argue that i’m not giving myself a good summer break*

yes, yes. i know that i shouldn’t be the one to talk. But seriously – i try! (to have a break). I.E. i’ll enjoy myself over the weekend! and nights out after internship! and, and….. (voice trails off)

(back in full force)

it’s a neverending cycle, a race to the top. you work hard, someone works harder, we all study hard and it results in the library opening 24/7 to feed our hungry little minds with knowledge. (someone snorts here!) I’ve never known of a library opening 24/7 during studying hours (it’s destructive! whatever happened to a life outside school, someone tell me!) The state of school. university life.

i’m just hoping my internship experience proves otherwise – that i can meet new people with their own take on uni life, and learn that it isn’t all about chionging (i.e. heading out in full force, a local army term, for the unacquainted), till we lose sight of ourselves along the way.

but right now, it’s back to good old wiki-ing. i leave you with a picture of my team before our project sharing last tuesday!

all the webby stuff! (nah, i just like this pic i got from a friend).

a few hours left and we’ll be done! anticipating the weekend…. (already!)….

Who is living the LIFE over in the US! It’s amazing. Even though they’re studying, they still have time to spend playing and enjoying the campus!

their gorgeous, gorgeous campus residence (they call it the Mudgehouse)…

absolutely quaint, don’t you think?  I wish i could be there too! (or at least i know i’ll be visiting him sometime soon :))

Well – i do know, though, that the grass always looks greener on the other side. As much as his life (or the lives of my overseas pals) look really good – with all the freedom, the journey of self discovery, and all that – but i do know that they’ll be back soon enough, joining me as we enter the ranks of the workforce. And i can be thankful that i have friends and family here (the conveniences of living with our families that we often take for granted) – and that i can enjoy my own little journey of self discovery here too!

Looking forward to his return and more news about his exciting life in the US! (i shall attempt to create an exciting life back here in sunny singapore as well – now who said we can’t have fun in good old singapore! :P)

dinner tonight with the girls and mr eligible bachelor no (i can’t remember what!). hahahha. My foray into the life of an exciting 20-something adult!

 Also, I’ll be tagging or searching for more blogs who have similar interests as me – hope we’ll hear diverse opinions from people who stop by!

tata and see you back on monday!!!!

(best photo i could find! of some of my pals goofing around at the zoo. guess what, i’m gonna be there in the jungles for real, now! goooood luck to us!)

And… did you know? There’s the chinese version of facebook! Apparently it’s called Xiao4 Nei4.

Alright! there we have it. The web’s linking us all up, even China’s catching on….