In Continuum.

Ill

It is a bad time to fall sick, but I guess I have fallen victim to the virus that has been floating around my social circle as of late. Just yesterday, Cheryl stumbled into the lecture hall just before our Literature Review presentation, looking like a strayed member of the army of the dead. Her face was so pale that she could have stood in front of a white board and disappeared. It didn't help that she was having a terribly high fever at the same time, which meant that she couldn't even click the mouse for the rest of the group. So her group had to work without her, pretty much like the Xinchee situation in my group. Apparently, Xinchee had some kind of knee reconstruction surgery a few days ago, something about transferring the right hamstring to the left leg, to act as the ligament. It's a complicated surgery that has granted him six weeks of holidays at home, but at the same time the doctor forgot that when you rid the left leg completely of hair due to surgical reasons, you should also shave the other leg just because we look more normal that way. In a way, Xinchee remained at home while we presented not because of the pain in his knees, but really because his legs look weird in comparison with one another - one carefully shaved and the other, a black forest.

So you see, everybody is falling victim to some kind of injury or virus, and it is indeed a bad time to be this way. The examinations are around the corner, and the last thing I want to be distracting myself would be any kind of flu bag affecting my system. Battling stress would be stressful enough, and to take pills in between those dreadful battles would be much worse. But I guess in a way, this is going to help me get through things a lot easier because I can't talk right now, which also means that I won't be talking to anybody any time soon, which in turn means that I won't be engaging myself in any mindless conversations or other forms of distractions. That is not to say that I do not enjoy mindless conversations, but I guess the finals are just infinitely more important at this point. Besides, there is always the wonders of the Internet, where one can speak without speaking, how amazing is that. To injured and ill people like me, this is a god-sent technology.

Despite the bad throat though, I still found time to have fun yesterday after school, since it was - technically speaking - the last day of the semester. We still have the last hurdle to lift, but at least right now we can all focus on the books, rather than the assignments and the projects, the papers and the presentations. It is just going to be the books from now until the end, and I can't wait to wear my victory bandana into the examination venue, literally. I guess this semester has taken its toll on everybody, taking five modules for the very first time. It has been quite grueling, and it feels almost like a really long and dreadful outfield, only with less physical activities and more brain work. So when the last week came rolling about around the corner on Monday, there was an unexplainable happiness lurking around the faces of everybody, a kind of exhilaration none of us can fully explain. Like those last minutes left to the outfield just before it is officially announced, we are just glad that it was coming to an end I suppose. Studying by itself is not that bad an experience, and it is only so when coupled with endless assignments and projects. Now that we are having a one week study break, I say bring on the textbooks and bring on the notes.

Our way of celebrating the end of the school term was to head down to City Hall for a great feast at a cafe, which I believe is called Miss Charity's Cafe, though I cannot recall the full name. This is probably the most colorful restaurant I have ever been to, with their pink, yellow and green tables and their equally colorful chairs and decorations. The food were pretty top notch as well, and affordable to be honest. My wieners - as in sausages - tasted great, and that should be my new year resolution of some sort for next year, pretty much like the Tiramisu one I had for this year. The sickness did not prevent me from having fun with the rest of the gang, just diving into the thicks of the celebration mood. I wasn't intending on letting anything get in the way of my celebrations, not even the sight of Raffles Hotel right next to the restaurant that brought back certain undesirable memories, especially for the fact that it is close to that time of the year all over again. That is probably why I hate Christmas, why I hate it all over again. I liked it for one year out of my twenty-one years of life, but I guess we are back in square one again.

As of this morning, I have completely lost my voice. Picking up the phone a few minutes after noon, my mother called from the office to see if I have woke up. The voice that came out of my mouth when I picked up the phone was something out of this world. It was probably a mix between Yoda, Jar Jar Bings, a random goblin from The Lord of the Rings, and definite a hint of the guy that does all the voice-overs from movie trailers. My mother held the receiver away from her ears for some time, and wondered if she dialed the wrong number. I tried to adjust my voice, but it only made it worse. So we ended the conversation early, and here I am wondering if my voice is ever going to come back. But here, at least I still have my voice on my blog, nothing here has changed I am sure.

This is probably going to be a short entry, because today is going to be meant for my casual reading. It is a beautiful day, and I already started it late. The medicine last night knocked me out cold, and I do wish to get something productive done before the weekend is here. So I am signing out now, going to have my lunch and kick start the last week of the semester without truly falling victim to this illness, though I might have already have fallen into its trap. I need to clear my head, stop taking those accursed Strepsils and get right down and dirty. And it begins - now.