So it is that time of the semester again. The little pause before the semester accelerates, stress heightens, momentum gathers until it climaxes into the swan song that is examination. The dilemma between wanting to fully enjoy the break and doing the necessary work to prepare oneself of the looming doom. This time, however, semester break poses no dilemma. There is simply no option of bumming around during the break. And strangely enough, this is not something to complain about. I think it is because this is the last semester break. I am going to kiss formal education goodbye by May this year.

There is something poignant about the last of everything. The last dinner with a friend who is leaving for good, the last embrace, the last day wearing a school uniform, the last day of every year, the last bus/mrt to catch for the day, the last episode of Friends. Every goodbye makes one feel more lonely, more alone. Every goodbye distances one from someone but brings him closer to another someone. When I was young, I used to like this children stories in which we have to make decisions at certain points in the story, and each decision brings us to a page and into a plot which would be different if we chose different path. There are two or three possibilities to the ending of the story, but interestingly I might end up with the same ending even if I chose different paths at the particular crossroad. There are many crossroads in the story, and the ending is the result of all the choices made along the way.

Sometimes I think living life is like buying a one-way ticket to a certain landmark. We make choices and don't plan to come back to where we started. If things go well, we proceed; if it doesn't, we have another plan; a detour not a return. The decisions I have to make this year give me so much anxiety, but with that comes the little tingle in the ear that usually signals something exciting coming my way.

i prefer coffee to tea
tea is nice but coffee is what i like
no milk or sugar, please
don't ask why

i like summer all year long
bright sun whenever wherever
snow is pretty
but, oh dear!
sun is what i will miss

a one-line note is better
than a long colourful Super Wall post

a familiar stanger's smile
is sweeter than an acquaintance fleeting 'hi'

after all,
to choose is a privilege
so, my love,

be choosy!