I do enjoy

staying over in NUS (school). S15/16 (pinpointed building) is quite a place for me, when there are less people bunking over in desperate attempts to churn out programs/reports due the day before.

Yes, yes... many of you (including you and you!) shudder at the thoughts of any decent, sane human being even relishing the idea of it, and I'm not minutely surprised. Why would anyone give up the comforts of one's snuggly bed at home and prefer sleeping on benches in school?

Here's why.

I'd prefer to be a King of thieves than servant of royalties. Over at NUS, there's no one to nag my ears sore, or frustrate my senses. I can do whatever I want, and I'd much prefer it that way. When I'm tired of studying, I can just lie down and rest. Take a nap till kingdom comes. At night, I can take a walk around school, admiring the night sky, the stars, the surreal serenity of it all. I can walk over to SRC and do my exercises, before heading over to Dover market for dinner/supper. If I happen to meet any Med friends studying, I can go over to NUH for dinner as an alternative choice (though I'm not very agreeable with the quality of night food there...)

There's no television in school, and that's a boon for me. I'm a person with little discipline - if I'm at home, the television will be intermittently switched on (want to watch) and off (feel guilty about wasting time) the whole night, and it's really far from productive. Too much overheads involved, and nothing studied goes into my head. What about laptop? Isn't that a form of distraction? Heh, sadly, it is, but to a smaller extent. I mainly use it to check emails and blogs, and turn it off when not in use. As setting up me laptop is a tad bit too tedious, there's a higher impedence to switch it on again.

I'm quite a hermit, in the sense that I feel completely at ease with no one to talk to but God. In fact, I think only when there's no distraction around me then I start talking to Him. I am a seed sowed amongst weeds. There's more where that came from, but I'll leave that to the next millenium... Without anyone to talk to or any distractions, life takes on a simpler tone - all that I do is sort out my fuzzy thinkings, think of what's dinner, think of how great life can be (it's sorta like fishing, or sitting in a rattan chair in front of my provision shop watching the children play). With my main hobby (and allowable one) being drinking water and going to toilet, one can hardly be distracted into doing non-relevant stuff (relevant being study and sleeping and enjoying the quietness [of still waters?])

And is sleeping a problem? Not anymore. Sleeping on benches can be quite a healthy thing to do (it does wonders for your back!), when compared to sleeping on cushy cushions. I think everyone should try sleeping on floors(or tatami) for a short period of time just to see what I mean. If Little Dragon Lady can sleep on a tight rope, why can't I sleep on a bench? And I don't think you can get any fresher air than what I'm breathing every night. It's like being in the great outdoors. When I wasn't used to the cold morning before, I used to wake up feeling all cold and shivery, but I guessed I've built up my constitution in the past few months, and I'm no longer susceptible to that. However, the Yong Tau Foo soup every morning is still a treat for a cold and hungry stomach.

Let Eric have his Opera Garnier - I have my NUS SoC and I'm a contented man.