12th Feb, Sun - Today is my birthday. I'm 21 now. This is the first birthday i'd celebrated outside my country. On the night before the day, i'd never expected any celebration because the let down thing is that, the next day we're having our practical exam... Basically, i passed the 12am in my room, playing Civilization IV and listening to Jamie Cullum's 'Twenty Something', getting bday messseges from my friends around the world, and my frens here juz came into my room and wished me.. That morning, before we're goin out to have a lunch at Hao Hao Restaurant, my Mauritian fren, Rudy, crashed 2 eggs on my head, gosh, it's so smelly.. I was treated for my lunch, and also they bought me a decent chocolate cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to me in the restaurant.. The other time of the day was spent preparing for the practical exam next day... Though my day is simple and I'd never received any presents, but its quite fun and meaningful... People say, on the 21st bday, you'll be given a key as present- a key to enter adulthood, to become a more matured man, a man who is able to take care of himself well, and also able to take care of other people and many other things, apart from having the 'passport' to enter casino and to vote..."After years of expensive education,
a car full of books and anticipation,
I’m an expert on Shakespeare and that’s a hell of a lot
but the world don't need scholars as much as I thought"
14th Feb, Tue - It's Valentine's day. I'm still single and available, and so do not have any date, except with my books, the next day is the last day of exam. In this 21 years, i'd never officially have a girlfriend. However, i had 2 very memorable crushes- one in the last year of my secondary school, and one during pre-u. Those were the time i'd really felt in love, and to experience most of the things a lover experienced - dreaming of the girl, feeling confused most of the time, distractions in studies, unsure of when to confess, thinking of her no matter where i am or what i'm doing, calling and messaging her, asking her out for a date, buying her presents, thinking about a future and a home with her, feeling jealous, etc... Anyway, for the time being, i'm enjoying my bachelorhood very much. Single is simple, and double is trouble. Now, I don't feel like being attached to anyone, or taking the responsibility of other person; i'm free to do anything i like, stay out as late as i could, being in a group with anyone, and there's no such responsibility to call or message someone all the time, or being disturbed by meaningless messages when i'm having a long deep sleep... I don't know when will i meet the one God prepared for me, but I'll wait, patiently, and prepare myself for it when the time comes... I'd always hoped for a relationship that will last forever (though i sounds impossible), and i hope i'll be able to love someone well and build a harmonious home with the one that i love and love me. (Oh well, i do received a valentine present from Liverpool for winning Arsenal 1-0, haha...)
"Maybe I'll just fall in love that could solve it all,
philosophers say that that’s enough,
there surely must be more.
Ooooh Love ain’t the answer nor is work,
the truth eludes me so much it hurts.
But I’m still having fun and I guess that's the key,
I'm a twenty something and I'll keep being me."
15th Feb, Wed - Exam is over. Though i do not think i'd done well, it's still a day to be celebrated... I hated the period of exams, and i'm upset with my life while preparing for it. I'd hardly slept for more than 4 hours a day as i burnt my midnight oil till very late, and also the period of time is too short for me to prepare all the papers well... I hated the condition when i know what will come out in the exam but not being able to study them due to lack of time and energy. I hated the last minute work. I hated the medical students' life of being tortured by the papers. And hence, i told myself to study constantly, to read something everyday because the amount needed to be memorized is so much that i can't feed on all of them and digest them and absorb them in short period of time, and so i think the key is to repeat them over and over again, to understand them and digest them slowly bit by bit when there's time...
That night, my classmates celebrated my belated birthday at a Palkhi Restaurant. Though we do not eat enough for that dinner, but the environment was great and i enjoyed it. This time i'd received a chocolate bar, a cup of special milk shake and a card.
16th Feb, Thurs - Class commenced as usual. Though the attendance was poor, i still went to all the classes in order to make up my missed classes in the past 2 sems, as attendance is really important.. I'd found out a new way to spend my time in the lecture hall apart from doing my lab records - reading story books.. Last time, when i'm too lazy to listen to those boring lecture, i would be sleeping on the bench, but with an extra interesting story book beside me, i'll be using my time more usefully, hehe...
18th Feb, Sat - My friends from Manipal came over to visit us. We went to a nearby beach which i'd never discovered... We took auto to a river bank, and crossed a river full of jelly fish on sampan, and reached an island with a beautiful beach... The sand is quite smooth and the sea water is quite clean, plus the sunset is amazing... We played around like crazy monkeys, splashing sea water on everyone and 'applying' sands on everyone's face, running around and shouting around, trying to give away all the stressfulness of the exam... We returned home dirty and full of sand, exhausted... We took a great dinner at Hao Hao again, and that night me and my friend Yi Pin were sleeping together on a smalll single bed, which i don't sleep well... Anyway, a real boost for me that day was Liverpool won Man Utd in FA Cup, and i teased all my ManU friends here (Liverpool took the revenge, haha)
19th Feb, Sun - I skipped church, again( sorry Lord)... We all went to Manasa Water Park which is about 30 mins away... The water park is quite decent, with few long water slides... A whole big bunch of us had great fun in the water, being crazy once again... I'd never expected this town would have this kind of park, though it's uncomparable with Sunway Lagoon, but it's ok, at least there's some place we could release our stress in the future... We took our lunch at Cherry Square, and returned even more tired and sleepy... My friends from Manipal left and life is back to quiet and normal once again... I watched Godfather II once again, and Silence of the Lambs that night, and lastly slept soundly after a tiresome week...
"I don't want to get up, just let me lie in,
leave me alone, I'm a twenty something."
