The rest of the week was just attending faculty orientations and trying to sneak into other hall functions for free food. HAHA. The lengths we go to for free food.. quite embarrassing really, but it's a survival skill I suppose.

I think I have learned a lot since I've come here. It's not just the academics, which incidentally just started today. It's also about really being independent and roughing it out. Now, I not only have to study, but also settle my own fees, manage my finances, fill out all kinds of crazy forms like the working with children form (stupid guy at the post office) and the police check form, cook my own meals, clean my room, do my own laundry.. the list is never ending.. OH YES! and settle the ant infestation in my room. damn ants. I have been killing at least 20 every day for the past couple of days. damn ants. It does feel quite good though, knowing that you've completed something and feeling like you've learned something from it, feeling independent. Even though I've only been here for 2 weeks, I already feel like I'm prepared, or preparing myself to live on my own. I mean, I am 20 already. In 10 years time, I could be living on my own already. and I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. I also am very thankful to the friends I have made here :) They have been an absolutely wonderful help and I think without them, I would be lost. HAHA maybe my feeling of independence is actually delusional. :) but without their help, I think I would have been completely lost :)

On Friday, the medicine students went to Phillip Island Adventure Resort for our transition camp and it was AWESOME! :) I met my PCL group and they're really nice people! Geetha is in my group and there are 2 other Malaysians. There are 15 people in the group and it's nice and small :) There were some lectures during the camp, but there were 3 highlights of the camp for me :)

1. the Giant swing, which is basically 3 poles placed in a triangular manner. the pole forming the apex of the triangle was like a pulley system thing so you will be strapped to a couple of ropes between the 2 poles forming the base of the triangle and then the rest of your group on the ground would pull you up to the top of the pole (which is about 4-5 stories high) and then at the top, you have to pull a rope that would release you from the pulley rope. so you will be the one to initiate the release. and it was SO FUN! The first swing felt like free fall and the wind up there was so strong I could hear it whooshing past me :) you really DROP down and it was really exhilirating. :)

2. Hanging out with the Singapore gang :) It's true that since we're overseas, we should mingle with the locals here, but I guess in the end, international students will still cluster together especially if you're from the same country. There was one day, during free time, we decided to go play captain's ball at this patch of wood chips. well, there was no grass, just wood chips. There were like 20 of us down there and it was so fun! It brought back memories of secondary school and JC days when we used to play games during PE. and that was my first serious work out since I got here. :) but I felt really good after that and it was so so much fun! ;)

3. The last night was awesome! we went to watch the penguin parade at the beach and they were SO CUTE. They came up in little groups from the sea (and kept on getting swept back in in the process) and slowly waddled to their burrows. I remember for one particular group, the group was way ahead and there was this one lone penguin trying to catch up from behind and it kept on falling over because it was trying to run stomach first and it kept on falling over hee hee so cute. :) When we got back to PIAR, most of us were exhausted but after my shower, kaiwen and sheryl came to look for me and we went to the dining hall and sat there for a while talking to perryn, hc, lynn, zhi xuan, amin and some other guys. then we decided to play cai quan. the penalty was that the people sitting on the left and right of the person who guessed the number correctly had to drink one cup of water each and whoever drank slower had to drink another cup. it became pretty chaotic actually.. there was water all over the place because people kept on grabbing the cup and sloshing water over the table. :) after that a lot of other people came, like jeffrey, eugene.. and it was so funny because we were all drinking like maniacs. I think I drank about 20 cups of water. >.< +++ and I got water poisoning after that. In a time span of 3 hours, I went to the toilet like 7 or 8 times. :) and we all discovered that kaiwen drinks damn fast.. we deduced that her wind pipe is her second oesophagus. ;) that night we slept at 3am and we were all damn high :)

here's to the singapore meddies :)