I have been a true blue NTU-ian, having spent my three years of tertiary education in the Nanyang grounds. NUS, to me, conjures up a vague memory of cramped blocks of building claustrophobically close to one another with little greenery. Indeed it is so.
My first stop was at the Business school where I was greeted by a long flight of stairs to reach the canteen. Despite walking around, we could not spot any lift. My goodness, were the talks to make Singapore more friendly to the elderly and less mobile people just talk? How could a world-class college which educated some of the elite students of Singapore be so lacking in basic infrastructure? Moreover, that was not the only long flight of stairs I have to climb for the day.
In case, you think this was going to turn up to be a whiny complaints of a bad day spent at NUS, you are completely wrong. In fact, the trip to NUS was the highlight of the day.
The various canteens had so much to offer at so cheap a price. I had the western food from the Business canteen. Wow, the quality was good. My friend had the Mediterranean food and it looked exotically delicious. Most of these were below $5. Amazing!
As it was V-day, the school grounds were occupied by many stalls set up by the students in celebration of the day. Of course, for those of you who had ever joined any club in poly or U would know that V-day would be one of the best days to canvass for the much needed funds for your club. The flowers and cuts gifts sold to fellow students who wished to impress their girlfriends or who wished to profess their loves to their crushes all meant potential dollars to us. Many years on, I could see that this still remained one of the most lucrative occasions.
As it was still a school day, touring around the campus also provided an opportunity to look at the youngsters of today. My friend pointed out to me the differences between the students of the Arts, Business and Engineering schools especially in terms of dressing. I was surprised that there was indeed marked differences among the cohorts. Well, I was certain the Engineering students were late bloomers and sooner or later, they would catch up with their Arts or Business peers. I wonder the apparently different dressing sense was also replicated in NTU. Hmm.
Time flew especially happy times. We could not believe that we had spent close to 4 hours at the campus. If the opportunity arose in future, I would definitely come back to try more food and to people watch.
