24/7/03 (Thurs)--Commencement Ceremony for Sci Faculty

After deciding that attending the commencement is beneath me and no, thank you, i don't need to acquire that kind of memories at all, I gave in and appeared at the scene and even became Fang's impromptu photographer (crossing fingers that the photos will turn out good!)

I hate taking photos. I just don't know how to smile for the camera. Grin too broadly and I will turn out in furrowed brows, looking strained and exposing the fact that i am trying too hard. Grin lightly and I will appear "wooden" and pale in comparison to my mates with beaming smiles and perfect teeth. Sigh, sigh...

What struck me most was how Wendy implored that we keep in touch, tears welling up in her eyes, saying how she didn't derive anything from these three years, except for a couple of friends.

Perhaps we were just caught up in the moment and won't act on our earnest promises, when we are back to struggling with the mundane obligations of everyday life and aren't so "high" anymore. But it was nonetheless a poignant, haunting moment.

I remember sitting alone and feeling lonely in the midst of the lively chatter during one of my first lectures in NUS. And how seeing the enthusiastic waving and beckoning of Fang and the slightly-embarrassed look of Sun filled me with this warm, glorious feeling of relief that there would at least be some familiar faces around.

I remember feeling not-very-hopeful about making friends in university. perhaps i felt superior then and was adamant that i wouldn't be able to meet like-minded souls like i would definitely do in Mass Communciations (close-knit faculty, interesting characters, happening lecturers who count horse-riding and sky-diving as their hobbies, 70% gals)

i have been so desperate to get out of Chemistry that i have also forgotten to count my blessings. But Wendy's heartfelt remark has brought me belatedly to my consciousness.

Yes, writing a blog is such an outrageously fun, self-indulgent activity that i wonder just how come i haven't jumped in the bandwagon earlier. But where's the fun in maintaining a blog when you have no friends to humour you and drop by occasionally? or when none of your peeps keep an online journal so that you can reciprocate likewise?

This seems like the appropriate moment to rattle off names but i don't want to sound like a hyper teen gal dedicating a song on air for the first time. So I will just say that i am gratified that my life has been enriched because I met you in NUS

Thanks for seeing me this far

Missed Photo Opportunity

when i was returing home, i chanced upon this cat lying blissfully on top of a car. The light wasn't good enough for me to see its colour clearly but lights or no lights, i made up my mind (pretty decisively) that i wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by

as i took out my camera and prepared for my shot, the cat sensed my movements, moved away from my position and jumped down from the car. In no time, it was gone.

Cat-1, clumsy human-nil