This nice old man from the pool gave me a bag of fruits today. Did I mention that mainly expats and retirees go to the pool near my house? The expats are always sun-bathing, while the retirees are there everyday. This nice old man is one of them. I recognise a few regulars, because I see them there everyday too, and they go really early. To give you an idea of how early they're there, most of them are always out of the shower by the time I arrive at 10am for my swim. They're there so often that they chat with the lifeguards as though they're old friends. The lifeguards recognise me (we say hi and bye everyday) but we definitely don't chat like they do. Oh, also, there's this Caucasian lady - mid-twenties, maybe - who can speak Mandarin and always chat with the retirees when she's there. Which is think is pretty cool.

Anyway, so I guess the nice old man recognises me too, since this is the second time he gave me fruits. The first time he did, I thought he was just trying to get rid of them, so he shoved them to whomever he saw. But this time it isn't. I just think it's so sweet. People at the pool near my house are so nice. The lifeguards are nice too. There's this Indian one who has the brightest smile whenever he says good morning to me; and another Indian one who's always joking around with me ("Girl, you swim everyday until you become black like me already."); this other Chinese guy whom I secretly dub Papa Bear (because he looks like one) and who's so friendly; and another Chinese guy who looks like Kermit the Frog (in a cute way, that is); this girl in her early-20s who, strangely, reminds me of Ms Seow because they look tanned and sporty; and lastly, a couple of other young Chinese lifeguards and a Malay one.

I live in such a lovely neighbourhood. I love Singapore :)

Oh, and on a different note, I'm currently reading this children's fantasy story called The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart, which has proved to be a more enjoyable read than I'd expected. Now, I'm looking for the sequel. It was there in the library the last time I saw it, but now someone's borrowed it. Damn. Ah well. Better luck next time. Also, I'm re-reading the Jessica Darling series, by Megan McCafferty, and I have to say, I'm enjoying it more this time round. For me, this series will always remind me of my JC days, because I read them during that period. Jessica Darling is completely relatable in a neurotic, overanalysing way (she's a genius - who ends up going to Columbia after high school - who lives amongst her shallow 16-year-old peers out of the need to be normal after her soulmate-cum-best-friend Hope left New Jersey). I like that the writer doesn't make Jessica talk in a completely shallow way; through her writing, you can tell that Jessica is intelligent and misunderstood and a very observant individual. In some other YA books (I shan't name names), the writer writes in such a way that makes the reader feel as though she's talking down to us. In this other books that I read ... okay, I'll give you the title: Swoon. It's about a girl who falls in love with an errant ghost who possesses her friend to seek revenge against those who persecuted him. The plot sounds nice, doesn't it? But the writing style was so bad even the plot couldn't save it. I gave up halfway and returned the book. Such a shame. The premise of the story was promising. Remind me never to write like that.

Also, I'm currently in the midst of bidding for my modules for school. I bidded for 3 modules in Round 1c: The Nature of Language (which the seniors say is great fun, and which a hell lot of people bidded for: 392 bidders for 381 vacancies, just to give you an idea of how popular it is), Intro to Communications (also another popular module), and French 1.

In Round 2a, which began this morning, I learnt that I've successfully bidded for Nature of Language and Intro to Communications. I DIDN'T GET FRENCH!!!! *bawls* But I'm going to try bidding again. The lecture slot that I chose is a very popular one. Last I checked, there were 11 bidders for a lecture with only 6 vacancies. But I'm NOT going to be outbidded this time. I've been given more points for this round (while I was left with 220 points in the last round, I now have 592 points), so I'm going to throw in more bidding points. I am going to get into French 1, lecture group 8, no matter how many points it takes.

Also, we're required to take 2 General Education modules, 1 Singapore Studies module, and 2 Breadth modules throughout the course of our education in NUS. So I was thinking I'd get it over and done with. So I'm going to take 1 SS module and 1 GEM this semester, along with the 3 that I'd bidded for. Problem is, a lot of the exam and lecture timetables clash, between GEM/SS and the regular modules. Which is incredibly annoying. I can't take the more interesting SS modules because of the regular ones I'd bidded for. Ah well. Let's hope it all works out. Fingers crossed!