Celebrated Russell's 22nd Birthday last week at Hard Rock Cafe with the rest of the guys and Wan Yong. It has almost been 6 months since we last saw Nicholas, Wei Ze and WY. Its always nice meeting up again and carry on from where we last left off. We bought Russell the Swatch watch below for his birthday present (photo below - chosen by MArc Khoo and myself). I would gladly like to have this classic leather strap watch if Russ doesnt want it, but I guess he kinda like it too. Just looking back at old photos of us 7 years ago when we were in Sec 3, I must say we really have grown up quite a bit. Of course, still not uncle yet but it is evident that we have all grown up - our conversations wasnt as crappy as before and we started talking about different stuff - internship, career, family etc... Nonetheless, its amazing how we managed to maintain the friendship though we are all leading different lives now and how we always attempt to meet up as and when possible.





The aftermath...
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Attending mass at St Joseph (City) somehow gives me a very nostalgic feeling - seems as if I had frequently visited this place before in the past. Stepping into the church itself, looking around, you will find the statues of the many saints. The serenity of the place brings about a unique sense of calmness and peace - a phrase comes to mind - what is life full of care when there is no time to stand and stare - to appreciate the simplest things in life in the midst of our busy and hectic lives.
We were looking around the compound for the restrooms. After spotting the sign, we followed along a narrow alley to the back. The whole scene brought us back to that of the 1950s, 60s (see photo below). Gomes used her phone and took the photos - used black and white mode to further give the nostalgic feel.

Moses and I outside the restroom - waiting for the gals

Walking down Memory lane...

Arts Gathering (28 Jun) - It was a great evening spent with some 30 others at Magic's place. Quite a number of freshies came. To prevent another round of stomach upset, potluck was stricter than the previous time - Moses and I wanted to Quality Control (QC) all the food, but in the end I think the food looked okay. And Steph surprisingly actually cooked her Black Pepper Crabs. It was not bad I must say, didnt know she can actually cook. Though I am not a big fan of crabs, killing crabs can be quite fun. Next time wanna kill crabs, just call me. Thankfully, no one had the runs after the event. We celebrated Moses, Frances, Carmie, Justin and Victor's birthday together. All the early July babies... something like a triduum already. Superb fellowship!



'Small Eyes' gang... Seems like Elaine has the biggest eyes!



Reunion of family members....



A big big community

OG Gathering at Helena's Place (30 Jun) - Seriously, I think my OG is super enthu and I must admit I am getting old already, cant match up to their energy level. We met up in the afternoon to buy presents to celebrate Shareen, Frances and Yvonne birthdays. (Another birthday triduum) We also decided to prepare our own dinner. And I learnt how to make Shepherd's Pie, which turned out quite nice. Will make this for upcoming potluck gatherings. Nick Lee, our head chef, prepared a unique version of pasta. We had a hell of a time after dinner. Yvonne introduced this game called 7th Grade Pig - a modified version of heart attack. This game got us quite breathless but it was fun. We also played mahjong, murderer and Polar Bear. I really like playing Polar Bear! Salimah is damn funny when it comes to Polar Bear - my great talk cock buddy during the game.


Fijians

Milk Run (1st July) - Elaine, Joel, Daryl, Ben C, Ben Huang, Albert, Debbie and I went for Milk Run. Some 12000 people turned up for the event. There was a massive congestion at the starting point, it was quite a distance before we could actually start running. We were blessed with a cloudy weather. I sprained my ankle again - old injury since FOC. I need to get an ankle guard soon. It has been quite sometime since I last ran, it was refreshing and it makes me wanna get my engines going again. Needa start running and training for IPPT next month. Gonna take it with Moses and Matthew and hopefully we will be fit enough to earn some money from the SAF.

Blood Donation / Minds / Transformers (3rd July) - Was supposed to donate blood together with Moses, Steph and Gomes. But in the end only Moses, Serene and myself went. And the best thing was, only Moses could donate. I can only donate 3 weeks after I recover from fever. Will be going again sometime next week, gonna get more people to go with me, right Steph and Gomes? More donors means more lives can be saved. :)
We met up with Gomes, Marc, Magic and Debbie at Minds. Having 6-7 people is a good number as it is an appropriate number to bring the fun out of most games. Ticket to Ride (Europe version) was a cool game. Talking about cool, nothing can beat Transformers! We were all blown away by the movie. It has been a long while since I watched such a cool action film. Simple plot of good vs evil but the whole idea of transforming a car to a larger than life robot is simply breathtaking. I especially liked Bumble Bee - he was transformed from a yellow chevolet. Perhaps, just perhaps, one fine day my dirty green Chervolet will transformed into some cool transformers too. Megan Fox is also worth the watch. Ratings for this movie - 5 out of 5 popcorns!

FOC Followup (4th July) - Follow up starts at 6pm but Fiji decided to meet up earlier at 3pm. This is the 5th time the OG is meeting up since FOC. Happening rite. We wanted to cycle but it took us quite awhile to find the bicycle rental shop. I realised PAsir Ris Park changed quite a bit, though I stay really near the park, I hardly ever use it. The few of us finally got our bikes and we headed for the playground. We were behaved like some over grown children - playing with the slides, climbing and jumping all around. We even climbed our way right up to the top of the spider web. At the follow up proper, I saw many few faces. It was a good gathering and I guess it officially marks the end of FOC but the start of a new journey for the freshies. Finally, I decided to go Mambo with the CSS peeps after BBQ. There were some 18 of us that went. I am glad I went cos the company was really good. And also, it was the first Wednesday that Zouk went smoke free. It feels good clubbing in a smoke free environment.



Deprived childhood?


At the top of the world...

Nice photo!

Enjoying life to the max..

And so, that's the happenings of my life the past week or so. Can someone tell me why is time passing so fast? It feels that the holidays are only just beginning...