why do i love thee, ntu?
i haven't really declared this on the blog before, have i?

the singapore table tennis girls' team had their semi-finals against south korea (in derrick's words "the land of kimchi") just last friday. well, for reasons that are far beyond the grasp of normal human beings, i was in school even though i didn't have class that day. and i guess, i could say that it was that day i sealed my loyalty for dear ntu.

out of sheer boredom from our "lao-nuahing" (term coined with due respect to the lifestyle in laos) at the old canA, we decided to head on for the greener pasture at the new canA. yes, ntu has a good way of naming all their systems/locations to specify them to its precision (for e.g hall 1, hall 2, hall 3, hall 4, hall 5, hall 6, hall 7, hall 8, hall 9, hall 10, hall 11, hall 12, hall 13, hall 14, hall 15, hall 16). that aside, you see, that was where the action was at; canA was showing live telecast of the semi-finals!

it started with a few souls who were having their lunch/dinner (?) at the untimely hour of 4pm and then the olympic draw got too strong for a couple more students who were by right, supposed to be manning their booth for the cca fair just below canA. soon, canA was filled with an enthusiastic and a boisterous crowd of ntu students. things really started to hit up when the south koreans took a set right after we won one from them! not long after, no one was really eating; every pair of eyes in the canteen were transfixed on the black boxes nearest to their visual proximity. everytime singapore wins a rally, fists were thrown into the tensed air and shouts echoed into every inch of the canteen. the atmosphere was so awesome! ntu students were gathered in support of our country's bid for a finals' spot and boy, was it a tenacious one!

due to some mishap (just because singapore won a few rallies when i went to the toilet!!!!), my dear OVE darlings chased me for fear that my powerful presence will endanger our win (haha, alright i had some things to attend to too)! when i stepped out of canA into the still and quiet air of the lee wee nam library and LT1, i discovered a growing sense of love for these blocks of mundane grey. the touch of human life that was so real and unpretentious has to be the ntu spirit that everyone just felt inside the unventilated canA. i wouldn't want to compare to see whose school is better or whose school has the best ___fill in the blanks___ (to each their own, really). i am just extremely glad to be in ntu where i can be absolutely comfortable walking down the aisle of tutorial rooms, climb the many hills and slopes and complain about it, enjoy the evening sky of boon lay and rest in the company of good friends forged in the vibrant space of the ntu buildings (you may see this as an antithesis). the belonging as that of a home.

i didn't know i was such an ntu girl until that afternoon.



love.