Not so long ago, I was all excited about going back to school. The stationery shopping after a full decade was fun. Haha. Then, I had problems managing my intensely hectic schedule and called it quits. At the urging of my course mates, I re-registered myself the next semester.

It’s been three and a half years!

The time-juggling feat hasn’t been easy. While I breezed through some modules effortlessly, I had a hard time reading some of the stuff chucked in my face. But it’s been pretty enriching and enjoyable, especially since I took two electives that were not related to my core subjects.

In Modern Chinese Literature, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Chin Kwee Nyet- a former radio and television news anchor. I could have sat there all night listening to her perfectly enunciated Mandarin. A term later, I was totally intrigued with what I learnt in Singapore Sociology. And it’s been really satisfying churning out wordy essays- something which I haven’t done in a long time.

Even before I clear this hurdle, I’ve been looking at courses for the next academic year. Heh.

Two papers this week, then two more the next. And I’ll be done!

Don’t be mistaken. The Book Café serves more than eggs. It was a pure coincidence that all of us ordered breakfast at 6pm this evening.

It’s been more than four years since I last popped by. Full marks for its atmosphere, and thumbs up for the excellent service. The Rösti on my Prosciutto (available on weekends and public holidays only) was done to a perfect crisp, and the best I’ve had in a while. Delish!

I’ve been hanging out at J’s place lately. Meet my new friends.

1) Tristan- Male golden retriever. He’s huge. He stepped on my toes a couple of times, and it was rather painful. Haha.

2) Tiny- Male poodle. Very noisy. Can’t stop barking.

3) Red- Female poodle. She’s pregnant at the moment.

4) Isolde- Female husky. She came up to me, rested her paws on my chest and looked right into my eyes. The other time, she was howling at me in a corner, and I pretended to nod in acknowledgement. It was almost like we were having a private conversation. Hahha.

The thought of keeping a pet has never crossed my mind. Until now. I really like the big dogs. Unless I move, I won’t have space for a golden retriever or husky. So I’ll have to contend with driving 70km to and fro and seeing my new friends once in a while.

Update: I received their SMSes, calls and emails all within two hours of sending the above letter. They were quick to react, but surely they could have kept to one single channel of communication. And I’m highly unimpressed with their recovery procedures. They called me ‘Miss Teng’ the first time, and ‘Mr Tan’ in the follow up email. The lines in uppercase, “PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL STRICTLY FOR EMAIL RECIPIENT ONLY” at the top of the email was totally uncalled for, in my opinion.

Industry insiders say that individual agencies hire telemarketers on their own, which makes it impossible for the corporate office to track down this person.

Case unresolved, but closed for now.

No one goes through primary school without using those four words. No, it cannot be a stormy morning. Flash floods didn’t occur in Orchard Road when we were in school. The picture has to be all bright and cheery. And of course, the protagonist has to be Xiao Ming.