Three down, one to go. But the one left could be the hardest of all. As they always say, the worst is yet to come. Couldn't describe my lifestyle now with other words other than dull, boring and mundane. With the examinations spread out over a span of eight days, I avoided sports and exercise for fear of getting burned out. Like how I told my mum I should not train right before the MICE paper yesterday in case I didn't have the energy to write the paper afterwards. Okay laziness could be another logical reason. Cannot wait for the semester to be over and hopefully receive good grades to rescue my pathetic cGPA. 

And the dream of learning either the drums or the violin just disappeared again, considering my paltry seven days of vacation before the start of SIP. "Studied" for a short while earlier. Described in inverted commas because it was of zero effect. Scumbag brain can only concentrate with full serenity, peace and quiet. Attempted to switch on the player for some classical music of Richard Clayderman but realised I lost the disc. Yes, third-world me is still using a compact disc. Reduced to using the boombox radio but failed to search for any classical radio stations and 98.7 was too noisy. In the end, I gave up studying altogether. Friday's paper is possibly the last major examination paper that I have to undertake for the next few years, can you believe it? And after that, hopefully we are going ahead with the planned food trail on Friday! Imagine Katong Laksa, CMC Confectionery, Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice, Beancurd Salad and Pork Ribs Soup all in a day! That procrastinated diet would have to take the backseat.  

Shall end this post with an inspiring picture (with a quote from Harvey Dent):

Completely no evidence to prove that Lance Armstrong had used dope to improve his race condition. And the association had absolutely no authority to remove his seven Tour de France titles. Do those 500+ tests that he underwent not mean a thing? Even if he was innocent, the incessant accusations were more than enough to break his spirit. A person is innocent until proven guilty. Regretfully, the authorities thought otherwise.

Worked at anf for the first time in almost two months. Was reminded of how much I abhor the incessant continuous routine of folding clothes. Trust me, I don't even fold my own clothes at home. Hurl them into the wardrobe and they will be magically folded into stacks. Thanks noble mum. Was transferred to womens floor fitting room and had to be a prepper-runner-door opener. Yes you read that right, the stupid system of locking the fitting room doors, only available for access via the key. Why can't they simply utilise the "Vacant-Occupied" methodology? Cue the thankless task of opening doors while people are changing because I forgot which rooms are occupied. And yes, even though I worked only for five hours, it feels like I have aged ten. Finally ended work at almost 3pm, collecting my AAAs right after. Visited steph, sherri, zhiqi and shin at their flea over at Scape. Stayed just for a short while and grabbed burger king before heading out straight to basketball.

Fast-forward to today because yesterday was too boring to be worth a mention. Finished up my notes for LSO and MICE and felt majorly accomplished. That's the procrastinator in me. And he wins all my internal debates all the time. Went for a run to clear my mind. Really feels good spending some alone time out with nature, trees and nothing else. Did some pull-ups causing blisters to form on my palms. Stupid bars. Made a life-changing decision. Hopefully the willpower to sustain it will remain and may I have no regrets. 

Current state: Sick.

Absolutely no idea how I caught the virus but yeah, I'm sick. Always at an inopportune moment of time. Shall describe the intense day of crazy eating today which I could only taste slightly due to the annoying cold.  Went to Geylang Lorong 27A for fried doughsticks, onion pancake and soya bean early in the morning. The standard seems to have declined since the last time. And the food has become so oily. Mother had salty beancurd. Who in the world orders salty beancurd and expects it to be fit for consumption and even taste good? Apparently no one, since she gave it up three mouthfuls later. Walked around for a little while and wound up at Astons Specialities where I had my Hickory BBQ chicken. Dad was crazy enough to order the Prime Sirloin at medium doneness, which he regretted not long after. To think he ordered the dish without foreseeing his inability to chew the tendons. So that all went down my gullet as well. Bought a smoked duck a la carte over at Cold Storage for dinner. And that concludes my episode of "How I Got Labelled As A Pig."

Celebrated sherri's birthday last friday. Korean BBQ at Ssikkek over at Novena. Chomped down on beef, pork, chicken and whatnots without even identifying the meats. Did not fulfil my fullest potential due to the impending sick state. Played games over at the Revenue House as usual. Reminiscing the olden days where we used to play games and talk in one big circle. Should be roughly 2 years back. Embarked on a journey back to pasir ris on bus 21. Funny to see mark trying to maintain because of a full bladder since the bus arrived right when he wanted to visit the washroom. 

Examinations coming right up. But time is flying and soon, internship will commence. Can't wait for the meet-ups and activities planned out. Especially the korea and taiwan trips in March/April. Totally stoked to travel with close friends.

Had my birthday.....and it's gone. Finally twenty. Somehow the number in words sounds much tamer than "20". And with the Olympics happening right now, I can't help but ponder. Some people have already achieved an Olympic gold medal at the tender age of 16. What have I done with my life? 

Started off the day with text messages streaming in right from midnight. However, I have to say that I only read them at 87am because even though I turn 20 the next day, I still have to adhere to my 8-hr sleep rule. Which means I slept at 11pm. Waited an hour to reply those messages in case they were still asleep. Met zhiqi at the interchange. Attended MICE tutorial and had to present the advantages of Vancouver as an incentive travel destination. Had MICE interview right after and it went well I guess. All of us had butterflies in our bellies but they miraculously disappeared right after we stepped out of the interview room. Skipped F&B lecture because we were already almost 45mins late. Proceeded to Sugarloaf for lunch. Had the lamb briyani. Returned to library for project. Since I have already started proofreading the report for our very last project, I am trying to ascertain that there will be minimal mistakes. As a result, I ended up rewriting and paraphrasing the entire report in my own words, thus the slow rate. Went to macs after almost 5 hours of reading. Although we were having dinner after that, I could not resist having a mcchicken meal. Waited for sherri, steph and weichong before we proceeded to Tampines to meet the Avengers™. As I settled down and was having my delicious and tantalising hot peri-peri chicken, the fried penguin gang came to surprise me. Trust me, I was really surprised. My face was like :O They sat down to chat for awhile before going over to Sushi Tei for dinner, claiming that Nando's was expensive. Hello you think Sushi Tei one piece 20cents is it? Finished our meals and took a photo which looked like we were at a club. And nope, I still have not made my maiden club voyage and I intend to let it stay this way.

  

We talked at Wendy's for awhile. Makes me remember this picture:

And I have come up with a new martial art called Hok DnomYar. It consists of a combination of punches, hooks, kneekicks and elbows. After an intensive training period of 5 minutes, you will transcend the masses and be conferred the title of a "hok-er" or hawker, and you will be able to display the certificate such as the one shown below:

Parted ways and went to find the Fried Penguins™ at Tampines Mall. Talked for awhile at Mos Burger before we started to go home. Chaos ensued when I tried to get wesley to quit smoking. I know it is hard but it can be done. Returned home for another celebration with my family. And there will not be any pictures of them at all because they did not want to have to change clothes or comb their hair just before sleeping. Funny people. Just a small celebration at home without any fanfare but the setting was comfortable. But since the womens singles table tennis semi-final match was broadcasting at the same time, they quickly sang the birthday song and went back to the sofa, only returning after it ended. 

Pardon my blank look because I was really tired already at that time. Who in the world celebrates their birthday 15 minutes before it ends? Enjoyed myself thoroughly and loved the presents.

Present from The Avengers™

Present from Fried Penguins™

Really appreciate everything that everyone has done. Especially the planners. I have no idea what went behind the scenes but certainly the effort is commendable. Thank you for all the well wishes and for making my 20th such a memorable one.