My friends at PPP

Today marks the last day of lessons. Yipee! No more lessons. Just two more assignments to hand in and another grammar test. The enthusiasm is beginning to fade as I count down to the holidays...

I dropped by NUS today to say "Hi" to my former colleagues (actually, more like friends or even family!). Monday's Agnes's and Estella's birthday, and they were celebrating for them today. It was great seeing all of them again. Nothing's much has changed. The same smiles, the same laughter. In a way, I kinda miss all of them. Let me introduce them to you...

My first stop - Agnes's office - to deliver the predictable present I got for her, all wrapped up in her favourite pink colour paper - complete with purple ribbons and a card in a pink envelope.. Enjoy your gift, Miss Tan! It's funny talking to a former teacher... Guess I can get all the tips from her. Ms Tan reminds me of Addie. Likes pink, likes cats. Both have a simple childlike character that's really endearing. Agnes never fails to crack us up with her little innocent one-liners. But she can get pretty serious if she wants to. Agnes was my Aunt Agony when I was working in NUS. I'd always be popping by her office, telling her my problems, my love life (or lack of for that matter), and she'll give me advice on what to do. If anything, I really felt much better after talking to her.. She has this natural effect of making me feel as smiley and happy as she looks. I smile whenever I think of her. :-)

Next stop - the general office. A crowd had gathered there.. Juliana, Sarah, Wendy, Estella, Jo... Let's start with Juliana. Juliana was assisting me when I was working in NUS. She was a tremendous help to me. Very efficient, and very willing to learn new things. It was a real joy working with her. But what made her more lovable was her innocence and naivety. I can't elaborate much here, but I'll never forget the "skytrain" incident... Remember that, Ju? She just got married last year, and it warms my heart to see her so happy with her "Wan" and only. :-)

You all know Wendy... I've introduced you to her before.. Oh, oh.. She finally bought a flat at Punggol with Jeff today. They'll get their keys in three months' time, and I think wedding bells will be ringing soon!! So happy for her...!!

Sarah - she's like my sister. You see, I've always wanted a big sister when I was younger, but of course, how could I, right? I mean, when I was born, there's only my brother! So Sarah is like heaven sent. I treat her like my big sister. She's got two lovely kids - Grace and Joy. So lovable both of them.. Sigh.. makes my biological clock tick more... I talk to Sarah about my problems too, and she gives me an analytical perspective to things. She's into NLP and psychology, just like me.... we were saying.. maybe one day, we'll set up some private school combining the strengths of NLP and educational psychology together, and make lots of money out of it. Ha.. Ha.. Just a thought, but who said we can't dream, right? Sarah's going to India soon next year to find me an Indian guy - nah.. kidding.. Her husband will be posted there to work, and so her whole family will be staying there for the next three years. I'm gonna miss her. I've learnt so much from her - from where to shop at Bangkok, to childbirth! I'm really gonna miss her... Keep in touch via the blog or email, OK, Sarah?

Estella - She's the baby of the department. Not only is she the youngest, she's also the latest addition to the department. She also has this childlike innocence. All of us will never forget the day she freshened up the conference room using Lemon Pledge! But hey, she's no bimbo, OK? She's very concientious, and very quick at picking up new things. A smart girl, really. Happy Birthday, Estella.. Hope your candlelight dinner this year is more than homecooked beehoon!

Josephine - Whenever I think of Jo, I think of Hong Kong. And when I think of Hong Kong, I think of Jo. And I get all sorts of other associations ranging from preserved plums to dim sum to all things cantonese and of course, cheese. You see, Jo loves cheese. It's so easy to make her happy. Cheese... Oh, and she loves seafood too. I've tried to learn Cantonese from Jo for the longest time, but think I'm just bad lah.. Only know how to ask "How are you?" in Cantonese...

Last stop - Boss. Well I knew Boss since 1995 when I was studying in NUS. He taught me Social Psychology. For some strange reason, he thought I was smart. Think he mistook me for someone else. I often slept in his class and didn't know what was going on... All I remembered was he talking about some mouse and feeding it and some bell ringing... some psychological experiment, I guess... Anyway, he still thought I was smart, so I let him. Maybe I was just so good at acting lah.. Then when I left my job at Raffles, Boss asked if I was interested in working at NUS - I decided to give it a shot - and I ended up working there for four years... He still thinks I'm smart. I wonder why.. Hmmm... Boss is really quite a boss. He cooks for us at least once a year - and mind you, it's like a 8--course chinese meal OK?!!! Really impressive man!

Mummy Su Ching wasn't around. Su Ching is the second boss at PPP - that's Public Policy Programme for those of you who's wondering what PPP stands for. Su Ching's at Harvard now doing some course. She's like a mummy to all of us. I confide in her quite often too. It's quite funny how she's always on a look-out for eligible guys for me. If you're reading this Su Ching - you know who I have my eyes on, right? :-)

And there's a whole bunch of other nice friends I made at PPP - like Papa John from Harvard, Uncle Mukul, Caroline, Scott..... and oh.. Alex.. How could I forget Alex? He's really a funny guy. Will never forget the stories he told me about how a group of people mistook him for well... belonging to neither side of the gender. It's really quite hilarious. Alex is also quite an artist. He's good at photography, and writes too.. Not bad for a lecturer in Public Policy, huh?

My other family at NUS - my friends I made there - Hey, miss you guys... but since the hols are coming up, you can be sure that "I'd be back!"