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Thursday, May 18, 2006

Just Another Clubbing Night

Or you could just call it "Why I'm not a big fan of clubbing."

1) Convincing myself that it'll be fun.
Everytime someone suggests that we go clubbing, I'd think "Ok, maybe this time would be different." And after that, it just feels like all the other nights I've spent clubbing.

2) Feeling like a dork without gelled hair or swanky clothes.
Even the employees manning the door dress nicer than you. Res Ipsa Loquitor.

3) Stupid !@#$%^&* Cover charge
Some clubs allow girls to go in for free. Then they make suckers like us guys pay to enter, based on the premise that free entry for girls means more girls will go, more girls means more targets for guys and more targets for guys means that us suckers should pay the hunters' fee. Seriously, would operating air-conditioning, strobe lights and throwing in 2 measely drinks cost over 20 bucks? I don't think so. I smell rip-offs.

4) Expensive drinks
Someone should tell those clubs to smuggle in duty-free alcohol. Will save them loads of money. =P

5) Alcohol-fuelled madness
People go in, drink stuff, mix them around and overshoot their bodies' alcohol metabolic limits with calculated efficiency. Whatever happened to "enjoying the drink"?. And why do they do that? To feel high enough to dance and not worry about 2 left feet. Or 2 right ones for that matter.

6) Where are all the seats?
They're all reserved. Unless you're willing to contribute to the GDP by spending on an overpriced bottle. "We don't want people to drink cheap housepours and do idle chit-chat. We want them to dance like mad and drink like mad. It's good business."

7) What dance floor?
It's just a huge orgy of gyrating bodies! Bumps to your face, people grinding against your butt, being jostled around... Oh, and a word of advice: wear covered shoes.

8) 2 left feet. OWWW! Ok, now I'm left with 1 left foot.
I can't dance for nuts. Not that I have the space to do so anyway. Heck, you don't even need to dance! Just let the masses jostle you around!

9) Lust is in the air... Oh, lust is in the air...
Guys approach female strangers and start dancing. And start snuggling. And start kissing. Strangers, mind you. You don't have strangers approaching you on the street and kissing you, do you? The SDU might just start sponsoring clubs since some people go there to get lucky anyway. Might help with the cover charge too. =P

10) Superficial. Everything.
Do you really think that the girl you danced with last night had any feelings for you? Do you have any for her? Do you really think that the club is a good place to find a bf/gf? I mean, just being in a club to pick out a partner seems like a pretty desperate move to me. Conservative, old-fashioned, uptight me would prefer to find a girl through more conventional means, thank you very much. Even speed-dating sounds less dangerous.

11) When the lights come on
You're half deaf, you're dehydrated and you wonder how you spent the last 4 hours of your life. If you find someone to share a cab with, lucky you. If not, the taxi drivers are more than happy to collect your fare rated at 150% of normal. Tough luck. You sit alone in the cab, wondering why you even bothered to come out. You didn't find any new friends. (Sure, some of them might prove to be not-so-superficial out of the club, but you don't know that yet. Do you want to find out more about them in the first place?) Your clothes stink. You're tired. Then you wonder if you'll suffer from a hangover. Oh, just thinking of it triggers a minor headache on its own. And you'll sleep in till late morning when you get home. That's one evening and a morning gone. Hope you enjoyed yourself.

Hope this post doesn't cast a negative light on clubbing. I'm sure people out there love clubbing and find some reason to go back week after week after week. I don't. To each his own. But please, if you could care enough, enlighten me on what that reason is. I'd like to know, and I'll try not to be sarcastic with my reply.
Till the next clubbing outing! -Jimmy

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Much Ado over Summers

Have a nice summer holiday, no matter how you choose to spend it!

The long lazy summer holidays descend upon us. Freedom for the next 4 months! At least, that was what we thought when we were busy mugging for the exams and needed a morale boost. That was what we wanted amidst all the frentic studying, group discussions, practicing on the past year papers. But seriously, what are we going to do with the 4 months of freedom? With the third week of the hols already under way, I have yet to find a proper long-term plan that will keep me adaquetely occupied for the coming months.

It's not as if I intend to bum around the whole of the holidays. I would seriously long to go out of the house on the third day of lazing around at home. I need a proper routine to keep me occupied. I have an expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro planned, which is not only going to be a blast if it pulls through, but a great community service opportunity. (Shameless advertising pitch: Please help with the fund-raising! Buy our cute T-shirts for 12 dollars only! Follow this link: Dare to Dream Blog) After the climb, I had expected to be heavily involved in planning the night biking and helping out as facilitators in the ASOC and SMUX camps.

But looking at how I spend my days, I find lots of free time between my present commitments. And all this time, I'd be thinking of how I could better spend the time.

Look at friend D. Even while we were looking like zombies and reading page 138 of the textbook for the nth time, D had already secured a job for the summers. Isn't that the kind of foresight that we should be inculcating in students, as opposed to plain hard studying? The job sounds like it's good money, and I'm sure it'll only further beautify D's already impressive resume. Just listening to a day in D's working life, and I feel happy/jealous.

Friend E was seeking out internship opportunities before the hols started. Even though the recommended time for internships would be later in year 2 or year 3, E believes that it is not how much one has learnt from the textbooks, but how much one can contribute to the company that matters. Friend E is also of the mind that being able to secure an internship at a prestigious company, no matter which year of studies one is at, is a definite strong point on one's resume.

Friend F managed to successfully bid for a spot in the summer term. This means that while I'm slacking away at home, F will have a one module lead over me. (Not exactly, but at least F will cover this module before I do.) I figure summer terms are a pretty good deal, considering that you get to finish more modules within the academic year, and at the very least, you could keep the momentum from the normal terms going. It sure beats grinding to a halt and resting for 4 months and then finding that the machines are in dire need of oiling when the new academic year starts.

Just looking at friends and how they are somehow doing something productive for the holidays makes me feel pretty bad. Not to the point of feeling pathetic, but bad enough. Why didn't I think of clearing my community service hours earlier? Why did I think that a trip and some camps would definitely pack my holidays? Is there any way to salvage the situation?

I was talking to friend Z about how sucky it feels to know that so many of your friends are doing things to beautify their resumes and maintaining their study streak. Friend Z replied simply, "It's times like this that you'll be glad to have friends like me. Someone who would laze the day away with you, someone you can call up to Ubin for some cycling, someone who would gladly go night cycling with you on a bat." I thought about it. Yeah. Sure some of us might end up with nicer looking resumes. Sure some of us are keeping our minds sharp with summer terms. But isn't being a balanced individual also about having interesting hobbies and just having time to enjoy? At the very least, that's what I think my summer is shaping out to be. But next year, that may very well be a different story. -Jimmy