ET – Entertainment in Toilets today

Writer: Loraine Ong
Editor: Benjamin Lim

Do you need an entertainment break from studying too much and too hard lately? Or are you bored of the old, rustic look of KEVII and want something more? You can now enjoy that at a toilet near you! In the guys’ D2 toilet, you can choose to enter the world of “Harry Potter”, or “Star Whores”, just by reading the make-believes. Some stories even bring the interested reader into an entirely different time period; like one of “Jackula”…

The writer personally witnessed this different ‘world’ at the seventh Jackula hour (10pm) on 6^th November, 2009. It took her breath away, partly because of the intrigue at what some D1 and D2 guys had penned down on a stolen poster from a library, and partly due to the stench of urine from the cubicle.

Isn’t it very creative of the guys to kill 2 birds with one stone when they go to the toilet? They can both relieve themselves and add some entertainment to their lives. If you doubt the hilarity of this storyboard, the writer can personally vouch that she had a really good laugh after reading it. The plain poster that reminds the “Gentlemen” of D block (there is only one toilet for the men in this block) to aim properly into the toilet bowl was very capably converted into an anthology of stories!

For those of you interested to find out more, do be advised that the board is very explicit and may offend the more conservative people out there.

Another noteworthy lavatory display device, henceforth called LDD, came from the C2 female toilet. The person who made this handwritten, hand-drawn notice must have had a personal vendetta against foreign bodily fluids. Look at the number of angry faces she drew!

The West Wing also has interesting LDDs..

Have a look at the above, taken from the F2 guys’ toilet. Though I imagine the more literarily inclined readers would have quite a lot to comment about the literary ability of the humble toilet bowl, one must applaud the absolute civility of our longsuffering friend, considering the treatment he receives.

This LDD seems to suggest that guys in GH are shorter than they think, though it is not clear which length this is referring to =p. However, the writer is quite certain this has to do with physical stature =).

Remember, the next time you feel bored and need some entertainment, feel free to take a leak at these toilets. You will be as entertained as your bladder will be relieved.

ab last supper!

Writer: Ginny Quek
Photos: Deborah Wong
Editor: Ong Qing Liang

AB Block had its last supper for the semester on Monday and it was very aptly named ”The Last Supper”. There was no Halloween theme involved which seemed to be the main theme that most of the other blocks were revolving around so it was a refreshing change! Although I suppose some might argue that it might make the supper seem too mundane. However, any lack of theme was soon made up for by the feast that was spread out in front of our eyes.

ab block head, eddie, declaring the supper open!

tasty nuggets!

golden brown hashbrowns

ice cream!

There was indeed a wide variety of food available, and in abundant quantities too! Just to name a few dishes, there was pasta, potato salad, fried finger food, prata sausage (which was really tasty!), sandwiches as well as jelly and fruits for dessert to complete the scrumptious menu! The AB block committee had truly outdone themselves this time round.The amount of effort that must have been put in by the block committee to prepare all this food must have been huge, judging by the quality of the food! Here’s a sneak peak at what went on behind the scenes!

power of teamwork - 8 hands to open 1 can!

why the potato salad ended up looking up like mashed potato

super pro watermelon cutter

oops!

However, owing to the fact that many of the residents were busy with the photoshoot and numerous CCA trainings that were ongoing at the same time, the turnout was lesser than expected. But still, there was a good turnout with about two-third of the residents coming down to enjoy the supper. We also had some unexpected guests from CD block whom we warmly welcomed. After all, we’re all from the East Wing family!

food makes ppl happy!

more happy faces!

After the supper, there was still some food left so we shared the love with the Hallplay set builders and photo committee people who had been hard at work the whole night to thank them for their efforts. The gesture was definitely very well-received and both groups welcomed the treat with open arms (or rather, mouths). All in all, it was a heart-warming and cosy supper which was an excellent way to end off the activities of Semester 1! Now, everybody will be settling in to mug so good luck to all and have fun preparing for the finals!

cd dessert night!

Writer: Ashish
Editor: Ong Qing Liang

CD Dessert Night took place on a cool, Tuesday night, kicking off at 10pm. Many CD blockers came down, all dressed in their new CD block shirts for this year. Amidst the sea of yellow, you could just make out the colourful sweets that the block committee had provided the gathering with. Leaving no effort wanting, the block committee presented an extravagant menu for all to indulge in. The premiun selection for the evening included the following palatable items; soursop drink, chocolate cream puffs, jelly, Sara Lee cheesecake, raspberry cakes and ice cream! However, the star dishes of the night were undisputedbly Jordan’s “extra creamy” salad and banana with melted chocolate.

food!

more food!

These last 2 dishes, though popular, required a lot of effort from the block committee. It took over an hour for Jordan just to make his special salad.! Even though I pestered the chef for details regarding his recipe, he would not budge. In the end, the only info I managed to dig out was that the salad is a mixture of fruits cocktail, peaches, nata de coco, grapes, banana and coconut with cream.

The story behind the banana topped with chocolate is also quite interesting. According to a reliable source, the guys first attempted to melt the chocolate but unfortunately, they used a wrong method to melt it and the chocolate actually turned lumpy! The chocolate seemed destined for the dustbin when Nicholas, the vice block head, wanted to throw it away, thinking that it was spoilt. However, by a miraculous stroke of luck (or rather, due to the greedy taste buds of some), the chocolate was saved from the dustbin when some of the cooks tasted it and actually liked it! I guess CD blockers can only thank their lucky stars as had the dish been thrown away, a great culinary experience would have been denied to all!!

ice cream murder!

past and present block heads

The event culminated at 11pm, with all blockers having satisfied the sweet tooth in them. It was a refreshing experience seeing so many blockers turn up to de-stress and hang out with fellow blockers. Thank you CD block committee for such a wonderful evening!

cd block!

 

CD Halloween Night

Writer: Ng Sze Hwee
Photos: Zhang Jiyuan
Editor: Ong Qing Liang

It was a dark, hazy and serene night. Everything seemed exceptionally peaceful, seemingly serving as a prelude to the gloomy forecast for the night. What you are going to see is not for the faint-hearted definitely. Are you ready?

Sadako pays a visit to CD

Sadako and her friends

The creatures started their haunting at around 8.30pm, creeping along the corridors of CD, knocking on blockers’ doors and scaring the wits out of unsuspecting blockers who opened the door. Toilet-goers were not spared either. The monsters hid outside the toilets, pouncing on exiting toilet-goers. Well, luckily the victims had already relieved themselves. Otherwise, I guess the uncle will have a hard time cleaning up the results of uncontrolled bladder action the following day. The responses were varied and priceless—Some were so scared that they slammed the door after giving a high-pitched “Ahhhhh”; some stoned while looking at the enthusiastic monsters, while some laughed with them. The scaring continued as the block committee members went randomly down CD block to look for more potential victims.

As the clock struck 10pm, another scream was heard. “HALLOWEEN… CD Halloween!!!!” It was a call for the blockers to go down to the lounge for supper.

The lounge was intricately decorated with dangling bats and spooky music filled the room, creating the perfect eerie atmosphere. When everyone had arrived, the night started with the first game: ”The Word Search Puzzle” . Blockers were split into different groups and competed to complete the search for 20 over words in a pile of jumbled up words and letters. I must admit this was one of the hardest word search puzzles I had ever come across. However, with our unwavering determination and strong team work, my team emerged champion! And, we won 2 puppets!

CD blockers engrossed in the word search

Sweet victory!

Next up, we had some food. However, the amount of food was unusually little this time round. As we were wondering why there was so little food, Terence announced the start of the next game: “The Bid For Food”. All of us were divided into 2 teams (A and B), with ) and had to bid for 7 items with the “Halloween bills” ($100 each) pasted on our doors. Team A, having brought down all their “Halloween bills”, naturally had more spending power. The 7 items were unknown to us but a clue was given as to what they could be. The identity of the item was only revealed after the bid was final and the catch was: the team who won the bid had to FINISH ALL the food, regardless of what the food was or how bad (or good) it  tasted. And here’s the menu for the night…

Item 1: Dragon’s poo. Something sweet.

Final bid: $200

Winning team: Team A

What it was: Cupcakes with M&M’s chocolate! Yummy!

Dragon's Poo!

Item 2: Vampire’s blood

Final bid: $200

Winning team: Team B

What it was: Tomato juice

Team B sharing the Vampire's Blood

Item 3: Rancid goo

Final bid: $700 (Note: this made team B even poorer)

Winning team: Team B

What it was: Super sour Jelly! (haha! )

Cringing face

Item 4: Old scream

Final bid: $1000

Winning team: Team A

What it was: Oreo with the creamy side-up, topped with M&Ms.

Item 5: Blue balls

Final bid $400

Winning team: Team A

What it was: Blue fishballs.

Blue balls

Item 6: Devil’s fruit

Final bid: $200

Winning team: Team A

What it was: Dragon fruit with wasabi (yucky hot…)

Item 7: Witch’s potion

Final bid: $1200

Winning team: Team A (the richer group! Team B lost as they had no more money!)

What it wa: GINGER BEER. Cheers to our victory!

All in all, it was a memorable Halloween party especially as one bottle of ginger beer ‘exploded’, ending the night with a ‘Boomz’. Happy Halloween!

Gripes of the KE resident

Writers: Garrick Liw & Lee Lin Hui
Editor: Benjamin Lim

Most of you were excited when your application for KE7 Hall was successful, knowing that you could expect months of fun and excitement accompanied by, unfortunately, mental and physical torture from CCAs and studying late into the night (or should I say early into the morning?). What was the first thing you felt when you set foot into KE7? Happiness? Sadness? We are willing to bet most of you experienced a shock looking up at KE7 from the PGP Bus Terminal, with PGP behind you.

Yes! It’s the flight of steps you have to conquer even before you become inaugurated as a member of the KE7 family. For the vertical marathon enthusiast among you, here is a compilation on the number of steps one has to surmount (or descend) on some of the more common journeys made in hall:

1)     PGP to Dining Hall – 121 steps

2)     E Block Level 1 to E Block level 8 – 139 steps

3)     Shepherd’s Path – 87 steps

4)     Block A to Block D – 108 steps

5)     Block H to Block E – 105 steps

6)     Multi purpose Court to Squash Court- 160 steps

What does this mean for you and me? Well, a normal walk from Dining Hall after your breakfast to the Faculty of Science via the Shepherd’s Path would take 186 steps. Compare this to a 10-storey HDB flat that has 144 steps. Is it any wonder then that we feel exhausted after each day in school? Consider the steps a poor D blocker has to ascend if he forgets to bring something for his training at the multi purpose court and imagine how much of a workout the conscientious E8 blocker has to go through everyday just to have a meal or get to school!

~~Stairway to Heaven~~

Aaah More stairs!?

But maybe the number of stairs had something to do with the age of our hall. We are pretty sure not all seniors here know how old the KE7 building is: we are acutally turning 21 this year! None of us would have expected that our second home would be as old as we are. Among students here, KE7 is well known for its old exterior, especially when compared to the modern, condominium-like façade of PGP. Since KE7 is reaching 21, we should take this opportunity to vote for an entire facelift!

Wonder what it was like during puberty...

Perhaps as a consequence of its significant age (and the lack of design expertise at the time it was built), KE7 is also well known for being a death trap when it rains cats and dogs (which is all too often here in Singapore). Almost every pavement in KE7 will be flooded when it rains. Notice we used the word “flooded”, and not “wet”. But this is no mere exaggeration, just have a look at the evidence we collected below after a recent downpour! With water deep enough for ducks to swim in, even the PGP bus terminal could have formed a manmade pond.

Make sure you buy slippers with soles!

This could lead to a tragic ending…

Quack! Quack!

Going down water-logged steps may not be a concern when you’re taking your time, but making a dash for a bus down 121 slip-inducing tiles can prove to be life-threatening! If you have similar experiences, you are not alone; feel free to join the facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=88574485194. =D

f block chicken night!

Writer: Adrian Chia
Editor: Ong Qing Liang

Since the time I first stepped into KE VII Hall, I have heard countless comments from many seniors about the famous “Sheares’ Chicken” – how it is a “must-try” for its uniqueness, tastiness and sinfulness. It was said that if you lived on campus and yet have not tried the “Sheares’ Chicken” even once, you would have lived your hall life in vain and would spend the rest of eternity in regret! Well then, what is so special about this chicken to make generations of KE VII residents fall in love with it? Well, I guess the simple answer to this question would be – it tastes really good!

You fret about the walk down – and later up – the steep business slope towards Sheares Hall. Yes, the distance might be a bit of a hassle and most irritatingly, there would not be the shuttle bus service after 11pm. Now, if someone is willing to order it for you, deliver it to KE VII Hall and serve it to you, I am sure it is an offer that you cannot resist! You ask: “Wow, who on earth would be so kind?” Answer? The F Block Committee!

F Block Chicken Night on 15th October was certainly a much-awaited event that kept our mouths watering for weeks, ever since posters of the event were pasted on the notice boards. Members of the Block Committee pre-ordered the chickens from Sheares Hall, brought them back, and at 10pm, the feast began in our own KE VII Dining Hall! The chickens were truly yummy – the meat so tender and juicy, and of course, the cheese sauce spammed over them, how sinfully tasty! However, what made the chickens truly special were those sweet, juicy apples that were stuffed inside the chickens! Oh my, how heavenly! Just look at all those carnivores devouring the meat using their hands, guys and girls alike, totally forgetting about proper dining etiquette and hygiene!

the legendary Sheares Chicken!

how you should eat the chicken!

The climax of the night certainly came when several people were invited (or rather, sabo-ed) on stage to dance to the tunes of Nobody, Low and Poker Face. The prize for the winner – an extra pack of fries! At first the participants were rather stunned by the task, but soon they stepped up to the challenge and went gaga battling one another, sending the audience into a prolonged spasm of laughter. To fit the theme of the night, moves of the Chicken Dance were spotted when Poker Face was being played! Wonder-boys indeed!

the Wonderboys!

happy F blockers!

Thanks so much to the F Block Committee for organising this highly sinful, but immensely satisfying and enjoyable Chicken Night!

python in KE7! (10th October 2009)

photos by: Deborah Wong

At 230am on a Saturday morning, our hall had a surprise visitor…

a python!

say hi! xD

some KEVIIans who were there!

close-up shot

Master searching yellow pages for private pest control companies...

pest control guys at work!

capturing the snake by its neck!

huge, ain't it? and into the sack it goes!

east wing mid autumn festival! :)

Writer: Ong Qing Liang
Photos: Deborah Wong, Gopal Kumar

On an uneventful Sunday night in hall, when on return from a 57-second long toilet break, I noticed that a door tag had been swiftly pasted during my brief period of absence:

the myserious doortag which appeared out of nowhere

Looking at the note, a strange sense of excitement overcame me. It felt as if I was being transported back to the era when the humble mooncake had its beginnings, the Yuan dynasty. Back then, China was under the rule of the Mongolians and rebel leaders, in a bid to devoid themselves of any suspicion, carefully distributed special cakes with secret notes embedded in them, spreading word of an impending rebellion. This time round though, the door tag given to me was not to signal a brewing upheaval in KE VII Hall, but rather, a friendly invitation to the East Wing Mid Autumn Festival.

And so on Wednesday night, the mundane BBQ area was magically transformed into a grand celestial palace. With colourful lanterns of various shapes and sizes hung all around and the quiet, peaceful moon beaming overhead, the atmosphere was perfect.

from this.....

 

to this!

Well, some say that in the past, Chang Er was recruited as a celebrity endorsement for an unnamed slimming center and in order to maintain her 10-inch waistline, she embarked on a strict no-fat, no-mooncake diet (thus earning her the nickname 常饿, or “often hungry” ) Eventually though, Chang Er became so thin and malnourished that one day, gravity was unable to hold on to her bony frame anymore and she floated off to the nearest celestial body, where she now spends her days playing with the resident rabbit and watching the next door neighbour’s futile attempts at chopping down a tree.

the legend of chang er

Well, if the Chang Er in the story above was around during the East Wing MAF, she definitely would not be able to resist the sumptuous spread available for the night. Besides the customary festival goodies such as mooncake and pomelo, there was a wide variety of other treats available for every hungry East Winger.

yummy mooncakes

 

more food!

The spirits of everyone were kept high throughout the night with many fun and creative games. The physical fitness of East Wingers was put to the test as they ran against each other in a light-the-sparkler relay (well, actually the physically demanding part was not the spinning and running, but rather trying to breathe under the dense, cough-inducing sparkler smoke) while their mental power was tested in the “lantern riddles” and “guess-the-song” segments. For some East Wing residents, it was their first time experiencing the Mid Autumn Festival. Vibol, from AB block, particularly liked the chewy texture of the mooncake and commented that it was literally ‘out of this world’ (pun intended).

racking their brains over the riddles

 

passing on the spark

 

can u guess the song?

 

ms chang er pageant?

 

we love east wing!

As the candles and sparklers started to die down, the celebrations came to an end. Satisfied East Wingers reluctantly left for their rooms knowing that while the flames of the lighted lanterns may have extinguished, the East Wing spirit continues to burn strong in each and every one of them!

e block mid autumn festival!

Writer: Riddhwaj Jalan (aka Rid)
Editor: Ong Qing Liang

Before you read on, I would like to introduce myself first. I am an Indian student who has just arrived in Singapore a few months ago. Prior to the E block Mid Autumn Festival, I had had absolutely no idea about the existence of the Mid Autumn Festival (MAF). In fact, my initial reaction to MAF was: “does Singapore even have autumn in the first place??” So, what you are going to read is not another description of a rather commonly understood festival, but rather, recollections of the MAF experience through the eyes of a stranger to the Singaporean culture.

Well, I first heard about the existence of mooncakes a month ago, from a friend who decided to torture me with thirty minutes of “Eldorado-flavoured” epic sagas of the fabled origins of mooncakes (which didn’t help explain much actually). All I remember is that he mentioned something about a lady floating off to the moon and somewhere in the story there is a rabbit too. And so began my quest to see for myself what this mystic shaman fragility called the “mooncake” actually was.

I had a rather ambiguous image in mind about “mooncakes”. Did it look more like the moon or did it look more like a cake? Did it glimmer? Did it have a lot of craters on its surface? As such, I keenly looked forward to the E block MAF, where I would be able to lay my eyes on this legendary delicacy.

So on the night of 5th October, E blockers came together to celebrate MAF. Actually, I felt that the supper was more of an excuse for all the E-blockers to get together and repair the damage that the mid-terms had had on us. As always, the supper did not fail to be entertaining. There was a lot of good interaction, exciting games, delicious cuisine and endless peals of laughter. In line with the celestial theme, it was also the night where we had our ‘angel-mortal’ revelations.

mad rush for the mooncakes!

story telling session

I was particularly impressed by the lanterns which were put up everywhere. Somehow, they gave the event an ancient, traditional and an extraordinarily homely touch (there is one hanging on my door now). The vast variety and the difference in tastes of the moon cakes was also a kind of charm of its own; though to be honest I was hoping for a more “moonly” look (this did not stop me from popping mooncake after mooncake into my mouth though). :p

if only we had these!

sparklers!

more sparklers!

Overall I think that MAF is one of the many delights that Singapore has to offer and I am glad to have been a part of this fine tradition. I look forward to uncovering many more hidden facets of the Singaporean culture in the future!

Mid Autumn Festival A la Dim Sum

Writer: Adrian Chia
Photos by:  Kelvin Anggara

To talk about dim sum during Mid-Autumn Festival is like to talk about scoring goals in tennis. While in tennis you score aces instead of goals, you hardly hear people mentioning ‘dim sum’ in the same breath as ‘Mid-Autumn Festival’. Instead, mooncake, lanterns and the big round moon should be the main features of the festival. But this year, the Mid-Autumn Festival was truly about dim sum. Wait a second, did I just put the two terms in the same sentence? No mistake there, because this year’s celebration was really in essence, a Dim-Sum event.

At about 7pm, a group of people claiming to be the leaders of the Dim Sum clan assembled at the E4 kitchenette. After a short discussion, they started getting themselves busy with baking powder, flour, eggs, chicken wings, char siew sauce and the oven. It took a while before it became apparent they were not making xiao long baos, chee cheong funs or siew mais. They were actually preparing supper for their dearest Dim Sum clan members!

As dark clouds thickened overhead and the clock struck nine, the Dim Sums began to converge in the Communal Hall. To prevent the Dim Sums from turning cold, some energizers were played to break the ice. Scenes of them sticking stinky feet at one another, greeting each other in a silly sissy manner and rubbing their noses on particular red shirts were observed. Perhaps a secret art for preparing the delicacies?

Sticking their feet together

Silly and sissy greetings

How to greet another person in Christmas Island

Supper was served after that. On the menu were chicken wings and barley drink. Conspicuously absent were traditional items like mooncakes and Chinese tea. For those interested, check out this website which briefly tells the stories of Mid-Autumn Festival and why mooncakes are significantly special on this occasion!

Barley and chicken wings

The next phase of operation involved a route march from KEVII Hall to the SRC Field, with everyone carrying a standard gear of a paper lantern. To add to the tactical difficulty, the full moon was too shy to be seen as it was shrouded in thick, dark clouds. Along the way, there was much chatter and singing, and pit stops were made to replenish ammunition – in the form of candles, as well as to get into formation to be exposed to the flashlights of the camera from time to time. At the field, much to the disappointment of the group, the moon still failed to show up, but solace was sought in the form of chats, songs and cookies. One particular cookie was noteworthy for its its mutated size and shape, for it looked more like an oversized pizza! On the return trip, more lanterns were reduced to ashes after lighting up in fireballs.

Equipped with the lanterns

Marching towards SRC

Pit stop

All smiles =D

Upon reaching back in hall, there was one last surprise in store – a belated birthday celebration for Cui Shan. Amusingly, all the matches were used up during the road march that none were left to light the birthday candles! Nonetheless the frozen cheese cake more than made up for the minor blip!

And then the Dim Sums went to bed.

Wishing everyone a belated 中秋节快乐! (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!) =D

the e-mazing race

Writer: Riddhwaj Jalan(a.k.a. Rid)
Editor: Ong Qing Liang

 

A stranger to KE VII Hall happening to cross by E Block on the night of September 17th would definitely be under the impression that NUS was secretly training a guerrilla warfare unit consisting of young and obviously misguided men and women. Blockers were seen undergoing a variety of intensive physical challenges targeted at boosting their stamina and instilling bravery in them. The episode in question though, was just a miniature example of the “E” way of life; one we call the E-mazing race!

checklist for the night

The ‘E-mazing Race’ was a race based around E-Block where competitors vied to finish all the seven ‘E-rculean’ tasks assigned to them in the most satisfactory and fastest manner. The seven labours of ‘E-rcules’ consisted of feats ranging from throwing water bombs 4 floors up (without having them burst under the massive strength of the E-blockers), to passing a “poky stick” from one person to another in an infinite loop using their mouths. Should the teams fail in their tasks, they were subjected to a merciless onslaught of water bombs served by the Block Committee.

waiting for money to drop from the sky?

blockers putting on 'makeup'

Another game, ‘E-dible’, was nothing like its name though. Gamers were given the honour of rotating a spoon and the direction the spoon pointed would dictate how their personal sandwich would taste like. Flavours of the night included exotic delicacies such as raw coffee powder and the tear inducing sambal chilli paste. Of course, no game would be complete without KEvians’ all time favourite hobby…stairs climbing! The block committee derived a fair bit of sadistic pleasure from watching participants ascending and descending the steps of the tallest building in KE VII Hall; to add on to the physical stress, blockers were also given the mental task of counting the number of stairs they climbed.

the sandwich making table

'yummy' sandwiches

The event ended with a gigantic closing ceremony where everyone came together to play “poky stick”, and the traditional prize-giving ceremony. The “poky stick” segment in particular, was noteworthy as it generated peals of laughter and saw a lot of people in fairly scandalizing and compromising situations. The gay make out scene was probably the most well received among the lot.

happy blockers!

The objective of the E-mazing Race was to form a sense of “oneness” and to strengthen the bond between the residents of E block, while at the same time, having a blast! These objectives were definitely met as E blockers returned to their rooms with heavy (and sore) legs but a light heart!