KE VII as I remember it

Was browsing through the KE VII website when lo and behold, there is a gallery of the facilities available onsite. Ahhhh a picture says a thousand words. Nothing like a photograph to bring a rush of memories. Like this shot of the communal hall......



....where hostellites are initiated to the family during Orientation week. The place where I fell asleep while sewing that stupid dragon for the Float, where we celebrated Malaysian Night, Deepavali Night and other what nots, where we painted scenes for Faust and other Hall productions. Scenes of comedies and tragedies for actors and dancers alike. Wushu, badminton, choir, they all congregate here after dinner.



The dance club has the other option of practicing here, the Dance Room with mirrors. This was also the room where we made up and transform plain hostelites to gorgoeus mythical beings for the annual Float. I had the distinct memory of painting one of the freshies' body with blue food dye for his role as Genie. Sigh... sadly, he did not have a fab body and has hairy armpits to boot. What luck...

Of course, there are sports facilities, like tennis courts beside F and G block...



where after 5pm, you can make out the pok! pok! pok! of the tennis ball being served back and forth. Incidentally, years ago the Astronomers Club met here regularly, late nights equipped with their huge telescope. SC, CY and I went down out of curiousity one night. In the hush surroundings with the trees blocking any light pollution, we spent the night, peering at Jupiter through the telescope and lying on our backs with the night sky spread before us, trying to spot satellites. Apparently, they move really fast in an arc like a shooting star.



The basketball/handball/netball courts behind Block H. There were no bleachers when I was there and the surface certainly did not look as nice as this. Not being remotely interested in either of the games, I would only remember this as the place of final humiliation from the seniors before the end of Orientation. And the rather good satay and chicken curry party we had for Kwang Hsien and Fook Wei before they left for Australia.



The squash courts were placed in a funny corner. You have to climb a short flight of stairs to get to them. Again, not being a sports person, I never had any dealing with this obscure corner of KE. Just the incident where YF was smashed in the face with Karen's racquet. He was wearing glasses which neccessitate a trip to the A&E (down those 127 steps again) and wearing an eye patch afterwards.

Ahhh here's the creme de la creme... the TV Lounge



where everynight at 8pm we have the Channel 5 "The Simpsons" and the Channel 8 drama competing against one another. Thankfully with two tv sets, no bloody fistfights broke out. Also the place where bootleg, pirate VCDs were shown and karaoke contests were sung. Yes, there will always be someone who wants to sing the latest Cantopop or "My Way" everytime.

Besides the canteen, the lounge has the nicest view to the sea. Airconditioned with comfy seats (although then the sofa sets were not as nice), this was where we retire just after tea to read the papers or just to chill out before heading back to our rooms.