What's in Your Room?

Thomas in his cosy room:)

Ah, aren't we all curious to find out what people have in their rooms...

Having been on a few exchange programmes myself, I understand what it's like to move your entire collection of prized valuables to another country, whilst adding on to that collection during your stay there! So when I met Thomas Luff, a fellow student at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information in NTU, I asked to take a peek of his room!

Thomas is from Miltion Keynes in the UK and does linguistics back home, but is doing modules at WKWSCI, and is interested in sports journalism. I found out that he lived in the same hostel as I do, and he was kind enough to let me visit him. So, to all you hungry voyeurs out there, Thomas has agreed to give up some privacy for y'all.

Beware of the girl who sneaks into boys' rooms...hehehe...

As I stepped into the room I felt like I was enveloped in a combination of humidity and heat. It was crazy. And I'll tell you why. I never expected a non-local student to be able to take the heat! I had expected the door to be open, the windows too, and fans blasting away at maximum speed! However, the place was enclosed, and quiet. Of course, he did have a huge fan right infront of him, but it just didnt feel right, and I couldn't explain why. As I stood there thinking, I realized there was very little, almost minimal ventilation. I mean, for us Singaporeans to live in such conditions is okay because we're so used to the heat, (and sometimes even I cannot stand it that way), but for someone who lives at a place with cold seasons, it was totally unexpected and UNBELIEVABLE!

I could tell Thomas was amazed at how amazed I was. That aside, I must say Thomas has a very interesting room to share.

A DESKTOP GIRLFRIEND! His father gave him this figurine. What a cool dad!

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..."A short note written by his girlfriend of a year, Rachel, to him. :) A small passport size photo of her is just beside.

A good luck card sealed with a kiss. "My girlfriend gave the picture to my mom and asked if she would make me a card before I came to Singapore." The words "Good Luck" are written by his mom, a calligrapher as well as an art designer.

In the midst of all this blogging hype, nothing feels as personable as diary, in physical form. Thomas keeps a diary that was designed and bound by his mother. His room mate was like, "What! You keep a diary!! My goodness." To which my reply was, "I bet you didn't know so much about your roommate until today."

"Never, never, never give up." -Winston Churchill

Rachel gave him: A cow figurine, a dice that says 'Yes', 'No', and 'Maybe', and a puppy. "My girlfriend likes cows...and she says I look like a puppy," Thomas said with amusement. As for the dice, it's because he's a very indecisive person.

West Ham United cup. No explanation needed. No haters, please.

Some of his favourite books...

Maps to help him get around

A basketball for the ocassional game here.

Thomas used to play the basketball competitively back at home.

A silver pen given to him by his grandparents before he came to Singapore for exchange.

Looks like a hairdryer but it's actually a webcam.

Creams for his skin. "I have very sensitive skin and so I bring with me creams around to curb the rashes," says Thomas.

"I stopped eating this halfway...I don't know, these things just don't taste the same here as they do back home. Like chocolate? It just doesn't taste the same here...I don't know why."

When chocolate doesn't taste the same...it means you're homesick.