Cliched, but I'm still going to use the phrase "time flies" for the time that, well, flew by, in the past three months. I was suddenly aware of the fact that it was the halfway mark week for my internship last week, and almost the halfway mark this week, when the weather started to change and bugs appeared in our house.
Summer is approaching, or some have said, has come, and even though one might associate the season of summer with youth, sunshine and the beach's golden, silky sand, I only associate it with one thing and one thing only- heat.
Back in winter when all was cold and pests such as mosquitoes were dead, I was okay with squeezing in trains with other people. For we weren't rubbing actual shoulders, we were merely touching thick winter coats together. No bodily fluids were passed and no human contact was established. And even though we were butt-numbing cold, the natural air-condition calmed our inner senses down.
Enough with the flashback. Now the assimilation back to Singapore's blardy hot weather begins. And with that, all the heat, sweat, and most importantly, the inconvenient armpit sweat stain is back in full blast.
Other than this though, I had an intense April 2009. It was a month of working my ass off, then playing my ass off, then the cycle repeats itself. The adventurous housemates would suggest a destination, and we'll buy tickets, pack our bags and whisk ourselves off polluted Shanghai into a magical land where fairies, gnomes and leprechauns co-exist in harmony.
I'm kidding.
I haven't seen my leprechaun lately though, since the last time Ros wanted him to be a Harry Potter look-a-like. What I have seen, and experienced are the bus rides in China when I went to Tsingdao, the land where Tsingdao beer is manufactured in, for a short holiday. And the amazing toilets that accompany these bus rides. Basically there are 2.
1) Toilet in Shanghai Bus Station
This toilet is the epitome of all toilets. It was like a long drain, only you take out the drain grills, add in seperate walls (but not doors), and hey presto, a very useful toilet that allows one to see the side profile of girls squatting with their butts let loose.
Can you visualise it with my mini illustration? Minimal waste of resources (no need flush!) and maximum impact.
2) The toilet on the sleeping bed bus
We were almost late to catch the bus back to Shanghai because of "Guo Tie" issues. Yes, it's the fried dumplings I'm talking about. We only found out that it was a sleeping bed bus after we boarded it, where instead of seats, there are beds for people to lie in. Our beds were near the in house toilet, and Yuan Xi, who went to Tsingdao too, was most unfortunate to get the bed nearest to the toilet. Everytime someone opens the toilet door, they let out a smell similar to "rotten cabbage" and his head is always precariously near the door when it opens. In a bid to reduce the number of people who goes to the toilet, he would stare menacingly at them as they make their way to the back of the bus. Driven mad by the smell, he said, "New fragrance from Calvin Klein- Toilet." He was quite certain that when he got home from the trip (it was a 12 hour bus ride), his housemate would ask him, "Eh, why you smell like toilet ah?" But as bad as it sounded, the toilet was really quite alright, like an airplane toilet, only smaller, lousier, smellier and you have to draw the curtain when you pee/shit if not the vehicle next to the bus can see your whole butt.
Other than checking out these toilets, us GIP students are also trying our best to write 2 essays entirely in Chinese. It has been a definite challenge, and my favourite website during this entire time was translate.google.com. Finally, just half an hour ago, I completed my second essay. It seemed impossible, but I'm really done, and my Secondary 1 self would have been proud of that essay.
As we're smack in the middle of the halfway mark, I'm just torn thinking of having to go back home in 3 months time. I want to go back to Singapore, but at the same time, I don't want to. I want to play my basketball again, start on my FYP with my FYP mates, catch up with my friends, but the thought of going back to somewhere too familiar is just so uninteresting. Looking at my lifestyle now where every weekend is a different youth hostel, bunk bed, Italian/Japanese/Korean/Taiwanese soundalike/British room-mate and almost a mini-adventure, and the one back home where it's always Orchard, or if you want variety then maybe City Hall, my mind gets me in a whirl whenever I think about it. I already forsee myself being a little bit different when I go back- at least I'll be having decent hair and a very reinforced concept of what constitutes a fashion disaster- and I envision a "time gap", a duration where I will keep talking and talking and talking about the things in Shanghai. I can just see it now, the blur faces, the irritated faces, and the faces that roll their eyes to which I'll retort "黑暗带给了我黑色的眼睛，而我却用它反白眼”.
Don't get it right? Nevermind la. It's only the halfway mark. There's still 3 more months to go!
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