SMU students are rich. This statement is not without reasons. First, I know that not all SMU students are rich. There are people we know who consider themselves needy and there are people we know who envy the rich. My statement that says SMU students are rich is a encompassing statement that generalizes the perception that people have of SMU students and the word people would naturally include SMU students themselves, i.e. me.

We are who people think we are. It doesn’t matter if you think of good things all the time, help old ladies cross the roads and donate thousands of dollars to charities every year. If someone spoke to you and had the impression that you sucked, you sucked. So what made me make the statement that SMU students sucked? I mean, rich.

What is the definition of rich? Obviously one would think of monetary possessions. The poetic ones would declare "Happiness!" while the pessimists would probably murmur something along the lines of "as long as we don’t die the next minute, we..". To me, richness definitely has something to do with money; not its volume but the way we behave towards it. Therefore, a rich SMU student will be able to buy coffee at TCC every other day, see a $20 bill at Ice Cold Beer as simply chilling time and take the taxi home from school whenever they want to.

And I hereby declare that SMU students are rich because this morning, I saw (or heard) a girl who dropped a coin outside the Pick & Bite outlet in school. She looked at it, bent a little and walked off to buy her coffee. Although it was probably only 20 cents that she dropped, the way she neglected it struck me hard. Alternative costing theories infer that the effort to lower your body and pick it up off the floor was worth more than the amount dropped. How much is that effort worth to you, if I may ask?

Can I say that SMU students are rich just because one girl refused to pick up dropped coins off the floor? Yes. Is it undeniably true? Probably not. Did I pick it up the floor then? No. But do I consider myself rich? Not at all. In fact, I deny the statement that SMU students are rich and disagree with myself. And if I do not like people who make sweeping statements about me, I guess that in this case, I have to hate myself.

Definitely at the top of the list of The best places I’ve visited in my life; Marrakech of Morroco is an incredibly rustic and different experience. Although exceedingly infused by the hordes of tourists, it still remains the most beautiful place I’ve been in, especially of the desert trip. Stella and I spent a night under the stars (where we could actually SEE the milky way with our naked eyes), ate and danced with normads and rode on butt-destroying camels for hours. I have to say this one more time, Marrakech is simply breathtaking.

Click on photo to access "Barca ~ A trip to Marrakech"

I travelled to Amsterdam: the land of weed, mushrooms and prostitutes. And guess what? I went alone. Stella was in Singapore that weekend for her sister’s wedding and I had absolutely nothing to do and so I decided that Amsterdam it is! But alas, what a bad decision. It was a trip filled with rain and clouds, shitty roommates who snored like a train and weed that smelt disgusting after getting hit with it continously for a couple of days. But nonetheless, I met up with Cake and Andrew who made it so much bearable. The Anne Frank museum made it worthwhile too.

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Bilbao ranks as one of the most beautiful cities I’ve been to and it’s in Spain too! After the installation of the Guggenheim museum, Bilbao has gone through an evolution from an industrial city to one that is constantly pumped with the energy and inspiration of arts, beauty and colors. A friend said this to us while we were bringing him around Barcelona, "Why is everything of the same colors?". Bilbao is the exact opposite; a refreshing bundle of shades and hues that always brings out our happier innerselves.

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It’s been a while since I posted anything, guess it’s the final year syndrome. This is how I’ve been spending my time recently: 70% looking for a job, 20% having fun and 10% school work. Trust me when I say my work’s chui; 2 failed Management Accounting tests in a row and I really mean failed as in below the passing point. Well! Anyway, it’s time I finish posting the rest of my exchange pictures. This one is of Zaragoza, a weekend trip I took with Stella to a much colder part of Spain. Trivial question of the day: Is Zara from Zaragoza? Nope!

Click on photo to access "Barca ~ A trip to Zaragoza"