-f.l.y-: December 2007

It's been so long since I last posted an entry that I can hardly decide upon what should I blog about. Well, in terms of chronological order, my results this term has been, well, satisfactory..... taking into consideration the circumstances surrounding my exam preparations. Ideally, I would say this sort of results just makes the transcript look average... but nonetheless I'm glad that my consistency throughout the semester has reaped some dividends. I'm already looking forward to next semester to put things right once again, to get the kind of transcript that would be the envy of a lot of people. We shall see.....

Anyway, Saerom's visit to Singapore allowed me to travel to a lot of places that I normally wouldn't have gone to. Sentosa's Images of Singapore.. The new Sentosa Express.. Jurong Bird Park.. and perhaps most significant of them all, M.O.S...Yeah, it's been 3 years since I last stepped into a Club. The last of which was at the now-defunct ChinaBlack, supposedly a NTU NBS Bash. Not much has changed since. I still didn't go to the dancefloor. I still feel the same way about Clubbing as I did 3 years ago. Boring I may be, but that's just that. I was especially startled at how much Sentosa has changed. The once-iconic Clock tower has now given way to the I.R. and Universal Studios and the previously free Musical fountain now costs something like $6 or $4.. Speaking of the Musical fountain, despite the new setting by the beach, the show was largely disappointing.

Change. Much has Changed in Singapore. The ones mentioned in Sentosa somewhat pale in comparison with what has been going on around the island. I'm sure all of you would have noticed the changes Singapore has experienced of late. These changes would certainly appear much more extensive and widespread to me due to my extended absence. Just walk down Orchard Road.. "The Ion".. The new development at Specialist Shopping Centre.. The Singapore Flyer.. and the list goes on and on. And these are just the 'hardware' The Government is certainly leaving no stones unturned in transforming Singapore into the vibrant city that everyone is talking about. Perhaps more significantly is the 'software' issues.. Of course, most recently, there's the hotly-contested topic of increased taxi fares.. but what has caught my eye the most is how prices in general have increased. If my memory serves me right, and correct me if I'm wrong, inflation this year is at a 16 year high. As an Economics student myself, I'll be the first to say that, trust economic data with a pinch of salt. The flexibility in defining what's in what results in data being highly skewed and meaningless. However, New notices displayed at bus-stops informing of "Revised fares" just reaffirms the fact that the cost of living is certainly creeping upwards. Bus services. Despite the increased fares and newer buses which are wheel-chair accessible, having to wait 20mins at City Hall for Service 14 just before 8pm on a weekday is certainly not good enough by my standards at least.

With the Singapore economy surging ahead, I suppose it is inevitable that there will be upward pressure on prices. The challenge will be to ensure that the underprivileged is not left behind as the rest of the country enjoy a higher standard of living..

No visit to Singapore is complete without trying out the local delights. Hokkien Mee, Stingrays.. Satay.. Made me realise that I actually haven't eaten a lot of those food before. -_-

At Jurong Bird Park. "Dimbulah, Australia's finest coffee". Well, none of us have ever heard of Dimbulah in Aussie....

That's Terry from 2C/1999 and his Girlfriend, Esperanza in the middle.

It certainly was a huge relief that the clock struck 5:30pm on Nov 8, signalling the end of my Exams and in turn, my tumultuous semester. As I remained on the seat as others packed and left the examination hall, my mind raced through all the emotions and the ups and downs throughout the past few months. It was by far the most difficult semester that I have had to go through, in every sense. All those midnight oils burnt rushing assignments.. Countless sachets of Nescafe 3-in-1..Finally I could take a well-deserved break and sleep soundly without having to worry about waking up early to finish school work.