25 And A Half Hours Later

Okay T plus one day (after exams that is). Had a sumptous and loony meal at Four Seasons ... peppered with Hailey's insane antics and Sherwayn's comic relief moments ... also a celebration for Victor's birthday which is on the 12th.
Abt the paper? Next topic pls ....
We strolled back in the fine London weather taking more than an hour to reach home I think and all the while we toked and joked ... finally able to release some steam. Its just great to finally see the smiles and laughter, a real contrast from just awhile ago.
Back home I could NOT sleep again ... actually engaged the better part of 3 hours searching for a short trip for us to occupy these two weeks we have left in London. Hmm actually it ain't all relaxed ... right now I am surrounded by 9 months of clutter, memorabilia, junk, food and memories ... these have to fit into boxes which at this point of time I DO NOT have.
Post Exam blues. Feels queer.
Met Jacky, Hailey and Yirong for lunch today ... just a last goodbye before we leave for Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. I know over the course of the year I have not made a great effort to know many foreign friends. Yet I must say that there are a few good ones like Jacky for example. Nice to know that we have friends and ties further afield than tiny little old Singapore. Even if its home and home to friends and family ... somehow it seems just that bit smaller now that it already was. In London you really see how big the world is and how sheltered our lives really were. I'm sure its the same if I ever get the chance to study or work abroad again ... every time u move on ... to somewhere new ... somewhere larger ... Yet this in no way tarnishes the joy of home-coming. Small and sheltered as Singapore is ... it is home Truly. No other place evokes the simple warmth and comfort of that little island ... one does not realize the uniqueness of one's culture till one is able to mix and fraternize with other cultures.
An incident a week or two back comes to mind ... we're at dinner with Jen, President of Passfield Hall and Rayna, my Bulgarian friend, Kiong, a South Korean, Sherwayn and I. Jen remarks that when we speak to her we seem to have to make an effort to enunciate and use full sentences but when speaking to each other ... we Singaporeans seem almost to have a totally different language. Ideas, forms and whole phrases are shortened into words such as "got meh?", "si bei sian!". It something almost uniquely Singaporean ... this tendency to cut entire chunks down into bit-sized bits. A reflection of the pace of life and mentality in Singapore? - Faster, Quicker, The Rat Race Is On.
11 Days left in London. I will miss the life I have here. 12 Days to Home. I miss Home too.