So far, I HAVE:

• Been mistaken for a local
• Jaywalked likka boss like all the Londoners do
• Been asked for directions THRICE. Wut! 
• Taken the tube & bus
• Walked home alone at night :O
• Been pretty ambitious with walking even 4-mile-long routes (the tube is just way too costly)
• Skipped all the formal programmes for the international students orientation :O
• Shopped. A whole awful lot.
• Watched a musical at West End (Mamma Mia!)
• Witnessed (albeit only briefly, and a rather uneventful) a peace strike
• Been to a traditional English pub
• (Updated 24/9) Watched soccer in a bar
• (Updated 24/9) Eaten fish & chips
• (Updated 25/9) Cooked & done laundry!

And I HAVE NOT:

• Unpacked my luggages
• Really been taking any pictures. Rare for how I am really.
• Watched the London Philharmonic Orchestra
• Watched a real soccer match

1. I hate packing. I've always hated it. Years of camps haven't done much to change this. 

2. Mom should be proud of me!  

3. Evidently, my apparel color palette is lacking in diversity. 

4. Somehow it seems I don't quite have enough warm clothing. Ever since returning from Washington, Singapore just got too hot for me to bear and all new clothes I bought were perfect for summer. So I am in need of winter clothes. Hopefully I can tide through the first few weeks! 

5. Miscellaneous allowance of a grand was seriously busted on loads of necessary pre-departure randomness. Jabs, visa application, accommodation deposit, SATs. Honestly thankful we got this extra K relative to scholars from other organizations, it would've been quite crazy otherwise + all the textbooks. 

Impending departure still feels vague. Merely but odd whiffs that evaporate mischievously - who knows how long they're in to stay?  

No, not denial, no. Just not quite feeling it. I speak as if I know of how one should really feel at this juncture, at this period of transition. Really though, how is one actually supposed to feel? It seems no English word can quite aptly, concisely summarise this awkward feeling. Times like these you wish your vocabulary could perhaps use some expansion. Futile attempts to describe this, other than "vague" - only because it's quite indescribable, incomprehensible. 

But here's the thing with departures. No one can truly feel ready. There will always be some loose ends, some yet-to-bes, some never-to-bes and some abandoned plans. No one who've had connections with the people, and the place, say wholeheartedly: goodbye, I'm ready for your absence in my life. 

I think the UK-bound bunch are indeed really feeling the weight of our impending departures. All over facebook it's clear that for us, these last few days and weeks are spent wisely, purposefully. Much-treasured quality time. As Esmond puts of this transitional phase: "Edgy and exciting. I like it more than if I didn't have it. Makes me treasure what I have more!". Indeed I don't think I have ever felt more blessed - it has been an opportune point for me to reflect on all that I have been deeply grateful for, all that I value, and show this appreciation before eventually flying. 

The absence of loved ones with leaving and receptivity to the new page ahead are not mutually exclusive. But at the same time, aren't necessarily as intertwined as many make them out to be. One can hold on to all that beauty she has back home, without closing doors to newer people, as long as neither is at the expense of the other. There is a fine, delicate balance of letting go so as to not wallow in homesickness. Just like how I got by during the four months in Washington, I probably won't be miserably home-sick - I've never been the sort. 

I fully intend to rock this new chapter all-embracing. Embrace, explore, experiment. 

5 days. I'm thrilled. But for now, it is going to be a very rich and treasured quality 5 days that I have with everyone here in Singapore. I won't ever be ready to leave them all behind, but I'm ready to make the best of these 5 days. Let's go.

You left, I died, 
I went and you cried 
You came, I think 
But I never really know 
I've served my time 
I've watched you climb 
The wrong incline 

I loved Italy. I cannot imagine the same magic happening with anyone else other than Sar and Shan. The company was the highlight, but the reason why the Italy trip was so epic was also due in no small part to the musical backdrops. Being the melodramatic people we are, it seems every moment is a movie moment <3 On that note, Sarah Nat you seriously need to send us all the video footage! 

Part 1 of the soundtrack consists of the songs that we were actually singing or were listening to. Part 2 will be the songs that will be tracks inspired by the trip - the things we did, the things we talked about, the setting. My memory isn't serving me well enough to recall all of them, but at least the most memorable are here ;) Sadly, nothing quite describes the moments as vividly as living them, there and then. That is a beauty I cannot translate, but a beauty that lives inside us (: 

That moment while we were panting up the steps in the glorious Italian heat, and a happy goober dude rolls past us in a Segway. Thereafter, the song plagued us for the rest of the 2 weeks! 

In our hurry to hunt for supper places, we suddenly realised that there were beautifully, colorfully lit lanterns floating across the sea into the horizon. That was truly a magical night - it was a blanket, a sea of colorful lights. The way it appeared in Tangled's final scene, we saw it in the sea. It was an enchanting night. So much that Sar teared (never mind that she's my favourite melodramatic friend). That was shortly followed by 45 minute fireworks display not like anything we have ever seen before - one after another, the lights that filled the sky reflected across the sea as the lanterns drifted further. Stunning, spellbinding night. 

Come So Far - Reminiscing about year 1... and Ben's version of the song

Ben's version: "Hey old friends lets looks backs on the crazy clothes we share!" We've come so far indeed (: 

The bus ride from Florence to Siena was particularly scenic. Epicly, these 2 tracks played on Sar's iPod while we were gazing out of the window. The pace our bus was going and the "panning" was unbelievably in sync with the songs. So darn epic! We collapsed into this loud fit of laughter that the whole bus could hear us. We tried to contain ourselves, promise, but really, that epicness cannot be controlled. Time To Say Goodbye was also later performed by a live band over dinner at Florence the same night!(:

Magical times those were (: