cny celebrations

hi all! i guess you guys had a great time in college participating in all the fun activities! i was just stoning (perhaps that's why i left school early) and watching apollo and athena dance...

went back to my primary school yesterday. for those who still don't know where i was from, i was from ANGLO-CHEENA SCHOOL (never understood why it's called anglo-chinese anyway... everything's so anglo in acs)!

somehow, when you're at this age, you tend to feel nostalgic. memories flow through our time-weathered minds. it's crazy how much you can actually talk with ex-classmates you haven't seen for months (almost 5 months, since teachers' day?). a whole one-and-a-half hours! you talk about everything under the sun - the inefficiency and idiosyncracies of school management, the poor implementation of the ib in acs i, the lack of vibrancy in the local education system, council activities in both schools, the failure to nurture kids to become better persons, girlfriends, rugby, swimming, why samuel couldn't turn up (council... :/)... endless topics about our little lives in this little red dot.

even after visiting our teacher, the whole bunch of us went to wheelock place for sakae sushi (hey hey guys! i think this is a darn good place for stj! :P). although there were about 12 people whom i have never met before, there's this acs spirit that i could feel, bonding strangers together. i just sat at the table and listened to their conversations, their ramblings, their frustrations. like, doing nothing but listening to people (whose names i know nought). it felt heart-warmingly special to, once again, be part of the community that i left 5 years ago. the friends whom i have known for two-thirds of my life thus far.

eventually, there were only 3 other guys. then we started to yak more about our pri sch lives, recalling our ex-classmates and their whereabouts. we ate, ate and ate (food opens your mouth, remember?)... it struck us how much time we had until the day we enter the army. 10 months and counting. suddenly, i sensed the urgency to have more outings together with my pri sch mates, to keep our childhood memories alive, to maintain the strength in our relationships.

another thought struck me. what about my chi high buddies and college mates? my friend said, "no matter where you are, *points to my heart* you know that, deep down in you, you're an acs boy"... i used to think that pri sch buddies are meant to be forgotten. but now, i have to change my belief. they are there to remind me of the embarrassing things i had done, to remind me of the bullying i had suffered, to remind me of the stars that we folded, to remind me of the dreams that we shared, to remind me of the naivete and innocence of our kiddy actions...

as i left the restaurant, it occurred to me that, perhaps, that day might come soon for me to realise the "hc-half" in me...