Walk down nostalgic lane

Today was the last day of the theory papers. A lot had happened over he past few weeks and even more so over the last few years. Found myself walking through a big part of the campus today unexpectedly but i think its a sound way to cap off my uni life (just like what they always do in the final episode of Survivor every season.. heheh..)

Warning: this is gonna be quite long and lor soh... ...

Stop 1: King Edward VII Hall
[First visit: Year 1 Orientation]

The venue of my exams this year. Still remember how i hated the place when i stayed there in my first year of university. Looks old, feels old and smell old. Still remember how i always feel like "tiao lou"-ing whenever i walked down the stairs. The dining hall was so old and stuffy and not to say the food.. yucks. Did not even went there for dinner once in semester 2. Haha and of course there was that stupid decision to run for JCRC which totally ruined me (dun think i ever recover from that emotional trauma but thanks Tor for ur card then) Realised how foolish it was of me to choose KE hall when everyone was telling me not to. Oh well was stupid enough to choose it then because of JW and also somehow influence my friends to choose there together with me. Well it was lucky to be staying with u guys (and gals too although they dun really come down that much) in the end, sort of make hostel life more interesting and exciting, especially those late nights going over to Kelvin's room and my constant whining then :p Hee hee...

Stop 2: Science canteen (aka science faculty)
[First visit: June in secondary 3 when i came over for the maths camp]

Still remember how excited i was then for it was my first visit to an university. Always dreamed of going to the university (part due to parents' influence also) but wow it was an eye-opener. The mere feeling of being there awed me. Still remember the beautiful seminar rooms in maths facaulty where we had our lessons. First impression always last and thus was quite disappointed when i realised not all seminar rooms look like those. All my subsequent visits to the university were almost always to Science but strangely enough, i never really explored the faculty after i joined the university.
Claypot stall was my favourite stall then. Must admit that the canteen did put in a lot of effort to revamp itself and currently there are definitely more food stalls that is worth our patronage :)

Stop 3: Faculty of Medicine
[First visit: Medicine interviews 2001]

Still remember my interview very vividly. Was feeling really nervous then. Had applied for quite a few scholarships after the "A"s but this was the one that really matter. Was hoping that the other scholarships would somehow train me up and prepare me for the BIG one but stupidly enough, all those interviews had their schedule after my medical interview. Doink! so i was still as unprepared as i was before. My interviewers then were Prof Voon, Prof Lee C W and a MP who i dunno his name (just know he look familiar). Haha still remembered how i fumbled during the interview then :p
Anyway, its been my home faculty for the last 5 years. Really hated some of the bureaucratic practices of the faculty and how i just pushed my way through my taking of CFMs without even asking the faculty. And how can i forgive them for screwing us throughout the 5 years.

- Rubbish PBLs without going thru clinicals
- Patho forming a big portion even though we havent had clinicals
- Numerous CAs in year 2
- No elementary clinics plus further shortening of our big postings
- Say paeds not impt then now everyone must take paeds exam
- CAs & exams NEVER start on time and always make us wait in hot and stuffy areas

The list is non exhaustive but nevertheless, there are still a few nice lecturers whom i can remebered over the years (Prof Ling, Prof Raj, Prof Gopal, Prof Chan & of course many of th enice clinincal profs who had one way or another showed why they are so well-loved by so many) and they did make life more bearable.

Stop 4: Yusof Ishak House
[first visit: health check-up]

A relatively benign place in terms of memories. Nothing much except that always come here for adminstration matters and the name which relate to our first president. Miss the western food stall although somebody told me that he is still around just that its "behind-the-scenes" now. The sushi sucks and quite sad that i never been to Munchie Monkeys. The one place that change the most during our 5 years. They even have a Cheers and Old Chang Kee there now...
Oh yeah, how can i forgot how badly i fumbled when i went to tried out for the Mandarin varsity debate team. One of 2 wishes i hope to acheive when i enter university which i failed. Sigh... :(


Stop 5: University Cultural Centre
[first visit: Matriculation]

Went there for matriculation but did not leave much of a impresssion except for the law ppl who were in white and black throughout (their tradition it was said). The 2nd visit there to watch the KE hall production was the one that left the most deep impression. Definitely one of the lousiest production that i had seen, even worse than those put up by my secondary school's drama socieies. The timing and co-ordination was just not there. Maybe it just highlighted the lack of discipline in varsity life and thus the importance of self-discipline in ECAs. Went back again in year 2 (courtesy of Derrick and haha we lamented how we got cheated again) Dunno whether they got progress cos never went to see another one again :p
Went there again for performances and seminars here and there again but i m definitely looking forward to the big one, Commencement 2006. It would be boring but i would definitely hope to be part of it (for obvious reason.. haha..^=^)

Stop 6: Faculty of Engineering
[first visit: NUS Open House 2001]

It was the time of indecisiveness between medicine and law. I did not know which one to choose and i was hoping the talk then would help solve the issue. Haha i still remember how impressed i was by the person giving the law talk. In contrast, the medical one was terrible. I was really swayed towards law then until the law lecturer reminded me about what law often entails -- CONTRACTUAL LAW. I was like, oh no that's so boring. Sort of lay the path for my inclination towards medicne in the end.
Haha that was a fun time then, going around the campus with JW, Eli and Carolyn. Can't remember whether LKY was with us or not. I am always amazed by how well the girls want their logisitics to be done. They would want to have an itenary and everything and would panic if they can't come up with one. Haha well, its always good if someone wants to do the stuff but hee hee i always have faith in my own logistics ability when the need arises

Stop 7: Central Library & Faculty of Arts
[first visit: year 3 sem 2 when i was applying for French 2]

A part of the school that was supposed to be the most vibrant yet one which i haven't fully appreciate or visit to say the least. Had always wanted to take up foreign language in the school but was quite put off by the large amount of red tape that i was put through. Will never forget the bouncing that i got when i sent them enquiries at the beginning of year 2. (I still got the mails in my inbox as evidence) Was really quite distraught by my situation with PC then and somehow it provided me with the push to just go do it and heck care everything. Really wanted the distraction then and also was looking forward to knowing new people and a change in environment. And hence begin a journey that lasted 4 semesters and 2 languages in the faculty. Hopefully, by laying the foundation, i had made it easier for subsequent interested souls to ignore the red tape too (hmmmph... still remember the time when they took 2 sems before sending me my result) Hee hee even the girl at the Centre for Language Studies know me and my register first, plan later attitude liao ^=^
Yup always look forward to my language class as an extra curricular activity. Made a few friends there too (Justin, HY, and Benita) Constant formatting of my phone meant i lost contact with a lot of them liao but think we will still know each other when we see each other next time (and then can exchange number again) But haha never met any girls during the lesson that swept me off my feet so didn't acheive the side aim of taking CFMs. C'est tres mauvais...

Stop 8: Faculty of Law & CJ Koh Library
[first visit: law interview 2001]

Yup even the law interview came later than my medical one. But by then i had already made up my mind that medicine would be first choice, so i was quite relaxed about it. Had 2 interviewers then and they kept grilling me about my Science background, saying i would be unable to adapt. Used my GP result to rebut their point. Haha and of course there was the funny thing about me not being able to recall the titles of books that i read but i can remeber the contents perfectly well. Its a habit that i had even until now. Ask me the content of any songs or books and i can say but ask me for title or author/singer? Sorry dude, i dunno. The law aptitude test was very exciting too. It was very open-handed yet it allowed you to scrutinize and reply to every line in the question. I had a whale of a time writing my answers then. Very high man!
And what else can i say about the library. Its my favourite library and i think my favourite place in NUS. Went there to research on my elective project in year 1 and i had fallen in love with it ever since. The nice colouring and lighting, cozy air-con and voila, the beautiful scenery that greets u on the other side. Its simply pure paradise.......

Stop 9: Faculty of Business
[first visit: Yr 1 HRM lecture series]

The series of waste-time lectures in year 1 which until today i do not see its relevance. Its telling us how to be hypocritical and to put up a face even when we dun feel like it. What the heck. Can't everyone just be natural? Anyway, it's one of the most waste-time thing that the school provided us with and the worse thing is i can't believe that it still forms 5% of our final MBBS grade. Gross man. Not much visits there after that except when i m transiting there or popping by the canteen to find my friends who are taking business modules.

Stop 10 (final stop): Prince George Park Residences (PGP)
[first visit: Year 1 orientation]

How appropriate it is to end memory lane with a place where it almost starts too. PGP was built just as we were entering uni, ahving only beginning accepting students the semester prior to that. Was really impressed by the place then and i had said since day one that 1 day i must stay there (cf to my old KE hall room) times have really changed and i must say it is really detiorating by the day. Finally got the chance to move in to study for my exams (and fufill a dream, it seems ^=^) Did not regret it though. it may look old (the walls in my room are like wrinkled) but the overall feel is still good. Pity that i was under exam stress when i moved in so didn't really get a chance to know my neighbours well.

Yup and that ends my journey through the school today. Like i said, it was not intentional. Just that i had forgotten that bus A did not enter engine fac proper and so i was like to lazy to retrace my steps back to raffles hall and decide to just walk all the way to business via all the links lor. Think its a fine way to end the day though. Anyway, many much things had happened throughout the 5 years in school but they are just too many and thus i only list out those that left the deepest impression on me. Hope i didn't bore u guys :)