10 Things I Miss About Singapore.

After being here for almost a year, I think it’s about right for me just to think about what the things that I really miss are. I mean, this is not the first time that I’m away from Singapore for so long, but this is really the first time that I am away from Singapore and I don’t know when I’m going to return. So I guess it’s only fair for me to start writing about what I miss the most about Singapore now.

10 – The dumplings (as in those nonya ba-zhang)
I like those ba-zhangs because they are available all year round! And yes, they do taste great and even though they are wrapped using nylon strings, they still taste good.

9 – Subway
I don’t mean Subway as in the MRT, but Subway the sandwich maker. Subway seems to be everywhere in Singapore (though the 2 of my most visited stores are the Jurong Point branch and the NUS branch), and I like a good sandwich anytime. It’s not fun when apparently there’s only 1 Subway store in Hong Kong, and it’s worse when it’s in Wan Chai and nowhere near where I live or work!

8 – NUS
I didn’t think I’d ever say that, but actually yes, I do miss NUS. I miss NUS for the big space, I miss NUS for the people, I miss NUS for the peace. If you think NUS is a messy place, wait till you come to see the universities in Hong Kong.

7 – Peace
Relative to the previous point, I miss Singapore’s peace. Peace as in the relative quieter environment, if you know what I mean. I don’t see that many irritating politicians trying to mess up the place like they do in Hong Kong. It’s not as if I like PAP, but I don’t like it when some idiots out there want to mess up the place in the name of democracy.

6 – Zouk and Mambo Jambo
Let’s just say that Mambo is the thing that accompanied my so-called darkest time in NUS. I have no qualms in talking about it now since it’s so long ago already – it was the period when I lost the girl I was really in love with at that time to another guy which ended up didn’t treasure her. Of course, Mambo used to be an numbing agent for a while, but for one reason or another I enjoyed going there so much that it became a part of me, almost a must-do thing every Wednesday. I guess I’ll always have a piece of Mambo within me, even though it’s been a hell of a long time since I was last there.

5 – Big House
Let’s be honest, houses in Singapore are big. Even HDB flats are big. In Hong Kong, I think I’m currently living in a place that’s about three times smaller than my flat in Jurong West. Not fun.

4 – Cheaper Things
Things in Singapore are generally cheaper. Bus rides, MRT rides, food, etc… I remember I didn’t have to top up my EZ-Link card in July when I was back for about 10 days. In Hong Kong, 10 days is about all I can manage every time I put in $200 in my Octopus Card.

3 – Old Chang Kee
I miss the curry puffs, and they don’t franchise it in Hong Kong. I know you have tons of different other types of snacks and finger food in Hong Kong like your fishballs and all that, but I like my Old Chang Kee.

2 – My Mum & Dad
I know it’s not a nice thing for me to leave my parents in Hong Kong while I seek to work here in Hong Kong. But hey, they supported me so I think it’s only right to miss them. OK what am I talking about?

1 – My Lot of Friends
I spent the best 4 years of my life in NUS, and the friends I made there are always the ones that I’ll treasure the most and indeed miss the most. It’s amazing to think that people I got to know when I was a freshmen are still very close to one another – and we’ve already got a married couple within them (Congrats Roland & Juana… remember to send me your wedding dinner invitation! I’ll make sure I’ll fly back for that meal)! Of course there are a few people who will drop off from my list of friends here and there, but generally most are really for keeps and I really miss the lot of them, especially I’m facing those relatively boring nights here in Hong Kong. It’s not as if I don’t have friends in Hong Kong, but I think those I made in Singapore are the ones that I can really open myself to.

Of course there will always be things that I don’t miss about Singapore, but let me think about them later. I need to do my laundry now.

Academic Week.

Yesterday evening’s class was as boring as ever. Nothing new to learn, nothing interesting to discover, basically, another waste of 3 hours. The only highlight in an otherwise highly forgettable evening was chatting with some of my classmates about the iPhone SDK. Not that I knew too much about that, but at least now I know something. It’s easy to lose touch with the IT world whenever you are not doing an IT job, you know…

Attended the opening ceremony for one of the student organization’s academy week yesterday, and I think it was a very interesting experience. The whole idea about academic weeks is actually really simple – choose a theme, have a couple of speakers to talk about some interesting stuffs about the theme, have a bit of exhibition showcasing some special topics on the theme, and that’s it! If you want the academic week to be more value adding then just make a bit more effort. Some organizations plan for about half a year for their academic weeks, so I think it can be done.

I even have my own name tag for being an invited guest!

And as an invited guest, I get to keep a souvenir as well! The best thing about this little thing is that it’s hand-made by the students, so I think it’s worth much more than a cold paper weight or something like that.

I wonder why we don’t do that kind of things when I was back in university.