Library, tsunamis and being paranoid

Yesterday, after that brief meeting with Dr Supervisor, LO and I head for the library to give a quick call to DH to come and pick us up.My Virgin airtime has long been all used up and I am too lazy to top it up...err, the library?

Wow, the library is all new. Imagine a 19th century building on the outside with an all new sci-fi look on the inside! Really. Well, for a change it does look good, no not just good but fantastic! This reminds me of my early days in the undergraduate years, the carpet used to smell. Smelt of rotten damp carpet with all that trapped dirt and grime from the outside pavement and the smell was worsened with the full blast heat from the central heating. Now? It has been replaced with the type of floor covering you would find in playgrounds.

And the alarm near the security bar, it used to falsely set off and if you were that unlucky person to have set it off, the old pak guard would come scavaging your backpack. Embarassing. Now, it has been replaced with the ones you'd see in London tube stations. Yes, those are a little bit funny but they do add that X-factor to the sci-fi look, I must say. And the pak guard? hmm...I must say I din't see him around.

And the counters...they used to be all wooden counters. Now all metal and very stylish.Chanteeeek you...!

The monitors to the computers were all 13.5" black screens with green fonts. You know like the ones you used to see back then during the dot matrix printers era , or the ones you used to use to play PACman at 7-8 years old. Now, now all have been replaced with stylish, all black exterior flat panels with stylish and sleek, tiny, all-black keyboards. Wow. I gave it a try but unfortunately my password has expired. Too bad.

I am very amused with the new stylish library. Very. So this is all where the fees have gone to. You see, they increase the education fee, the accomodation fee and all possible fees around at roughly 10-15% a year. ( I'm taking a wild guess here but yes, they do increase fees frequently) So I can see the money is well spent. Often you see new buildings are erected. Last spring we had our all-new indoor swimming pool and gymnasium. Although the scene of flabby students swimming across the pool is not a pretty sight ( yeah, because I used to wait for the 101 bus after fetching LO from her nursery...at it is directly next to the see-through swimming pool building) but I must say the University is picking up fast on new facilities. I bet in 3 years time, no more old buildings will be around. So far half of them that were around had been knocked down and new intelect buildings have been built.

Right, so much about the university new look. But I have to say if you have studied here before you'd be amazed with all the changes they have made.

After all that amusing moment, we headed for the small garden next to the library. I realised that they have planted a sun-dial like monument at the middle of the shrubs. That is interesting,I thought, because it has been there all the while and I have only just realised it is actually a sun-dial, you know like the ones they used in the old times to tell the time.

I felt like stepping into the shrubs to have a closer look at the sun-dial but the thought of not wearing a belt around my very loose-at-the-waist jeans cancelled the notion. I was afraid that I might get my jeans caught in the wild shrubs and I do not want to look like a fool with her pants down and her scarves on in the middle of the tiny garden! Very the lucah, it'd be.

As we were waiting for DH to arrive, came a person with a familiar face. Before I could even recall,

"Aaaah..look at you! All grown up!!" this lady was actually pinching LO's cheeks.

"ahah..yes ..all grown up" I could only mutter to repeat what she had just said..was still trying hard to recall siapa minah ni ye...

"Yes..you have always been pretty! Yes you have!" *pinching LO's cheek for a second time*

Ah! This must be one of LO's former nursery child minder. How could I forget!

" You remember her, huh?" I asked.

" Well, yeah because she has always been pretty. And of course I remember her for that!"

Oh wow. Really? For a second there I felt kembang setaman ..hehehehe

"SO, what have you been up to? Who's looking after her?"

"Er, we are going back to Malaysia soon!"

"Really? So how's things ? Is it all a OK?"

Alamak..for a second there I actually thought she asked about my work. You see, I hated it when people keep asking me how my work is going on. When actually it isn't going on that great. Well, although now that I have submitted my draft, the paranoia is still there. So when this child minder asked how's things, I actually thought she referred it to about my work, my project.

"Huh???"

"You know, with all that tsunamis going on"

And she was actually asking about tsunami BACK home. How daft I was!

"err..well as far as I am concerned it's pretty safe at the moment"

"Well, maybe your place is far from the beach yah?"

"Yes, true"

"OK then, all the best!" And that was an adieu .

With that adieu, I bade farewell to the library and headed for a long journey home.