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.

Of Maggi Mee and Nasi Lemak

picture courtesy of KEVII website

Was chatting to YF, an old KE mate on MSN. He's going to Harvard in August and lamenting it's back to hostel life for him.

Oh fond memories! Communal showers and toilets, where you can be "serenaded" by popstars wannabes. Queueing up for mediocre food at the canteen while trying to work out what kind of suspicious meat was used. Queueing up for a turn at the washing machines and dryers. There is no funnier sight than a row of plastic buckets with wet clothes and it is an understanding that the person who empty the dryers would courteously put the next bucket into the dryer. Woe betide the ones who "jump" queue!

I have no idea how hostel living is like at Harvard. At the prices they are charging, obviously it would be of better quality than dingy dear ol' KE hall and I'll bet it is more scenic and atmospheric than the concrete monster that I called home for a good 4 years!

Well, one thing that KE hall has that Harvard won't have. Fong Seng Nasi Lemak! Mention that to any true-blue hostellite and you can see how misty eye they get (plus possible dribbling and drooling).

Come 11.30, a series of knocking on doors and "Oi fong seng! want or not?" A list of orders later and the hostellite lucky enough to have a car will make the journey to Pasir Panjang, next to the bus terminus. Hot from the back kitchen, lovely fluffy fragrant nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaves. Want something more substantial? Just add anything from the spread available - from chicken wings and otak-otak to sotong balls. I once had stir fry green beans so fresh and sweet it has to be plucked fresh 3 seconds ago.

One of my fondest memory is a whole big group of us walking all the way from KEVII to Fong Seng just to eat the nasi lemak in the middle of the night, with the would-be doctors and dentists in their blue scrubs and the rest of us in shorts and t-shirts. An 30min stroll there and back but what fun!

Well, it is not every night we go for Fong Seng. Most of the time, it is the trusted maggi mee embellished with fishballs and seafood sticks. If feeling a bit flush, it would be the cafe down at NUH (with all that 127 steps there and back) or Pasir Panjang Hawker Centre where my Chinese friends will partake in the Teochew Muay there. Once we saw Channel 8 artistes gulping down supper dressed up in Chinese period costumes - they must have done some flying- in-the-air kungfu style filming nearby.

Fuelled with supper, it is usually time to hit the books but most of the time (well, for me at least), supper continues with chatting to the early hours of the morning.

Of Bell Ringing amd Marilyn Monroe

TV in UK can be mediocre. What with all the reality tv programmes nowadays. Sometimes watching the upteenth Pop Extra/Pop Idol/Castaway/Celebrity BB, I can cheerfully strangle the person who germinate this idea. Most probably the said person is sleeping in a pile of cash by now.

Now with the success of "How to solve a problem like Maria?", where they search for the singer to sing Maria on stage, we have the show to look for the next Jason and the show to look for the next Danny and Sandy for Grease. Argghhhh... stop it already! Don't let me get started on the search for the next Pussycat Doll.

But I digress.....

Really this post is about the gems you can find in midst of all this tat. I love BBC documentary for its weird and quirky subject matter. The other night I watched a reporter interviewing people who 100% believe they were re-incarnations of famous figures in the past. There was a Merlin magician, dressed in the most outlandish costumes and one who believed he is Father Time, re-incarnated to lead humans to a new dawn in the humankind. So desperate was his belief that he rage and rant against family and the mental health service who was trying to help.

Of course no reincarnation story is complete without one believing she is Marilyn Monroe re-incarnated. As opposed to the other cases, this one was in U.S. and her psychiatrist is more than happy to believe her. To the extent of putting her under trance so that the reporter can witness Marilyn Monroe incarnate. Hmmm.. the fact that the psychiatrist shared the same hotel room + wearing a Hugh Heffner like robe made it so sleazy somehow.

The other programme was all about 2006 Bell Ringing compeition. Who would have thought that Bell Ringing could be a sport? but then if you have climb hundreds of stairs up to the bell tower, jerk a 1/2 tonne bell about and emerge with armpits drenched in sweat, why not?

What struck me is how competitive it was! The lady from the College Youth really wanted to win so bad, you can taste it. And the intense wait for the results and polite bravado at tasting defeat. Oh well... there is still the real ale tent for winners to toast their wins and for the losers to drown their sorrows.