A Lovely Ordinary Day

Haven't had one of those in a while. To revel in being simply ordinary. Finding pleasure in routine, and being unexpectedly surprised when I least expect it.

It was gonna be one of those days. School in the afternoon, a girls' night out in the evening. Nothing seemingly out of the ordinary. Maybe it was the shoes that put me in a good mood. Gorgeous shoes make me happy.

Shiny patent with snakeskin. How can one not feel happy simply looking at them?

Off to school I went, feeling positively happy and rather sexy, may I add. Besides, I was about to participate in a debate and there's nothing like good ol' linguistic and mental aerobics to get the old heart pumping.

Maybe it was the way the shoes were pinching my toes (I'm still pursuing my lifelong ambition of losing feeling in my toes so that I can wear absolutely horrendously painful shoes). Maybe I just like to argue and emerge victorious. Maybe I simply needed to let off some steam. Whatever the case, I skewered the opposition and did a mental victory lap when I felt them recoil at my aggressiveness and admit defeat. Oh yeah baby, victory is sweet.

Had to hang around school for a bit while I waited for the girls. Chilled out at the cozy and comforting BE Campus radio watching movies and Facebooking (I'm borderline obssessive). The pleasant surprise came in the form of Shah gifting me with a friendship keychain. It was so unexpected, so sweet that I couldn't stop grinning. Good friend, he is.

We finally made our way to the NUS Law School for an outdoor screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Audrey Hepburn, relatively cheap booze and good friends... Can you say great evening?

And being US, we camwhored as usual. Besides, nostalgia hit us with a vengence and being at the old campus surrounded us with sweet memories of our youth. Has it really only been 2 1/2 years since we were last at Bukit Timah?

Shaky group photo courtesy of Tan Li Qin's unsteady hands. Haha!

Shaky booze shot courtesy of Aw Jialing's unsteady hands. (!!!)

The camera people got progressive better.

The posters touted that tiny screen as BIG. Law people need to get some perspective. But I have to admit, sitting on the ground, with the overcast skies and familiar buildings surrounding us... it was nice. Almost like a hippy vibe going on. People were lying on picnic mats, drinking beer, lounging about the campus. Haha, the 3 of us felt like intruders. We were possibly the only non-NUS people around.

I really like my shoes, ok?

And if we worried about sticking out like a sore thumb, that feeling basically went out the window when we decided to do the SMU jump. Hey, it may be the NUS Law Faculty now, but it'd always be our roots, ok? They even kept the same building names!

Unfortunately, my top kept flying up when I jumped. Some of the photos are rather indecent. Sigh.

It took us numerous tries before we perfected the timing. I think the other people thought we were complete idiots. Oh well.

Jump! Take 1...

Jump! Take 2...

Finally! Success! I should have tucked my legs in more.

After all that exhuasting jumping, we took it down a notch and decided to jump pose and look cool.

Not contented with posing at the Federal building, we wondered around the school, pointing out things that had changed, and things that were still so achingly familiar. The Vietnam cafe was no longer in existence. The place of deliciously thick and fabulous sandwiches. Food Haven had been obliterated. Ficus was now a place of memories. They renamed the library. And on and on it went.

Look! It's Manasseh Meyer!

Kicking up their heels...

We are such unimaginative people. Ran out of ideas so decided the classic was still the best. Jump we shall!

The old campus holds many fond memories for me. I still remember coming for the selection interview, competing with 9 other candidates for a coveted position in SMU. Writing a stupid essay about a 50-cent coin. Being forced to do stupid things on the upper quad for freshmen camp. Buying books for the first time and cursing SMU Verts for their ineffective ways. Being absolutely spooked out by the School of Accountancy's lift as it had 2 doors, but one was always shut. It was rumoured that if that door ever opened, your time was up... Running up the slope when I was late for morning class. Strolling through Botanical Gardens to get to school when I was early. Stopping every few minutes to greet or talk to someone as the community was so tight and everyone knew each other. Sitting at the Vietnamese cafe drinking coffee and checking out the hot exchange students who hung out there regularly.

Such precious memories. Committed to my head and heart. Holding them dear as I draw ever closer to my graduation.

I'm getting old.