Deviation from my usual saturday routine is not something i do too often, but yesterday was special (sort of). had a talk at NUS in the morning (hence explaining my absence from turf city). met a few old secondary school and JC schoolmates/classmates there, along with the occasional army friend. quite scary to think that these people could potentially be in my tutorials/lectures next year, especially after we've seen each other so much in school/camp already. as for the talk, it was short but informative, and highlighted a few points about early matriculation which i hadn't thought about. having heard what they have to say, i think i'll most likely enroll for only one part of the special term, or choose to be ordinary and start the school year the same time with everyone else. i know it sounds crazy to even think of starting school early, but i suppose it would be good to, as the nice speaker said, "ease into school life again after 2 or more years of not studying." well, we'll see how the orientation package i'm supposed to receive at the end of the month influences my decision.

after the talk (and slacking at home a bit), i went to give my LAST tuition session. it was nothing out of the ordinary, except that i got a watch as a "thank you" present. wasn't expecting that at all. if there's one thing i feel regretful about, it's the loss of this particular source of income. oh well. at least one of my major sources of stress is gone, so i suppose it balances out. at any rate, i hope that i'll get good (or at least tolerable) news regarding the results next year.

to round off the day, i went to attend my cousin's son's (i.e. my nephew's) first-month celebration dinner. normally, i don't meet up with my dad's side of the family unless there is a wedding, funeral (touch wood), or unless it's chinese new year. so, it was kind of nice seeing all the cousins and assorted nephews and nieces that usually only appear when the moon is blue and the planets align. in the course of the dinner, i found that my cousin (whose son turned a month old), was in the same officer cadet course as my previous and current COs. i think this is, to date, the biggest coincidence i've experienced, be it in or out of army. heh. i wonder how my CO will react when i tell him? should be interesting.

ook...i've been on the computer for way too long. just let me wrap up. next week will definitely be the longest week i've had in sungei gedong since around march or so. reason being there's an exercise stretching across the weekend. better make sure i have enough uniforms and other stuff. on the bright side, i'll be booking out the following monday night/tuesday morning for my dental FFI, followed by 7 days of not being in camp due to off/leave/weekends. quite looking forward to it. but let's focus - exercise first, long long weekend later. but before the exercise, i figure i have time for a library trip now. see you all whenever!

-random thought of the day: After this week, I'll have less than 5 working days left!-