Have you ever been to a buffet where they haven't served curry yet? When that's three nights in a row, I have to keep running to the toilet, and I can't even say 'toilet' when I'm in America, like how you have to be careful with 'pants' in Britain.
There is a Fantasic Four postcard on the table next to me, and Ioan Gruffudd's stretchy fingers are beginning to frighten me. I'm turning it over.
On Friday, we rode rattling back to Tampines MRT in the back of James' van after CG dinner, making jokes about what type of goods we were along the way. People are funny, sweet and strange when they try to 'do good', or 'be good', or do God's work, as it is easy to say in church but not at all when you're outside it. But when you see hard-edged, deadpan cynicism coupled with real earnestness, and those who never stop trying, what else can you want to do but learn from it?
On Saturday, I saw 1c at Sean's place again, where merrymaking included squashing ourselves around his room, barbequing marshmallows and sitting in the dark or around the TV, semi-bonding.
Jie Qi: "If I eat any more chocolate I'm going to turn black in colour."
Mamaleng: (After Mark makes dismissive comment about girls' 2.4 timings) "So?! Can you give birth?"
The Jelita building is practically in pieces now, and if something like that happens to Serene Centre when I'm in Virginia I'll never, never forgive the construction authorities.
The UVA gathering at Mr. Kirtland's place involved wandering around a resort-ish pool area, seeing the same faces as on the 30th. And everything/everyone was unfamiliarly easy. Gordon Kirtland is a nice, kindly man who told us several riotous college stories. Their all-male acapella group ('The Virginian Gentlemen') who were swamped, boyband-like, by Deprived!girls when they sang at MGS and had to make undercover getaway to get back to their cruise, and kids streaking along the Lawn in the middle of a hurricane. And we're already planning to hit NY for the new year countdowns in Times Square, in all our NotS'pore!excitement, that stretches and holds you every time. Since there is a 90% chance I'll be staying at Hereford, there's 90% chance I'll be stranded on a hill and none of the lazy Singaporeans are going to want to climb up and visit me, hoho.
I'm barging into the kitchen at inopportune moments these days, demanding to be allowed to take over whatever complicated cooking process my mum is carrying out. But I still have to wash my hair, buy insurance, eat lunch, plan courses and go driving today, and I haven't done any of that, so I have to. Start.