twenty three

you know you are getting old when you hear about your friends around your age getting married next year. yes. not one of them, not two of them, but three of them.

and these are only the people i know of.

considering how many people i know and don't keep in regular contact with, i honestly don't know how many more "hong za dan" (red bombs in chinese referring to wedding invites that usually come in red envelopes) i would receive. in a few years time, i am really going to belong to the "uncle" bracket. bah!

i turned twenty-three today and this birthday is special because someone else organised a mini party for me for the first time ever. thank you ailing for just pulling a few of the older people to your place for an informal gathering - just so that i can relax and not mug on my birthday.

it felt kindda surreal hanging out at holland village on a saturday night once again. it's my first time i've been there in more than a month and it felt weird. but it was a good break i guess.

the south asian studies paper was ok i guess. everything i studied for came out. there were no last minute stunts in the question format and requirements. there was a this small difference in the way the partition question was phrased - they asked for the lingering effects of the india-pakistan partition, instead of the reasons for it. but it was ok. much better than the first 2 papers. much, much better.

when it was time to make a wish before i blew the candles of my tiramisu birthday cake just now - and in the process apparently sliming the top of the cake with my saliva, i closed my eyes but my mind was a blank. at the top of my head, i wished my CAP score would improve(do i hear a collective sigh of resignation?) but i quickly realised that there was more to life than my CAP score. heh. so in the end, i wished that i would be happy this year.

so thank you ailing and james for opening your home. and daniel tham, vicky, angie, jimmy, vincent, mark, john, hua hui, deborah and rachel mok for being there at the cosy get-together.

thank you rachel, sida, william, stephanie and ivan for the green sweater. and everyone of you for simply remembering.

twenty three. man, i am no more "emerging from the wilderness of adolescence," but in my early twenties now. just found out even xingteng got attached. gee. talk about peer pressure.