My first Post of 2007

You know, each individual's life can be compared to that of a chunk of wood. We all start together, each just like the other. Same weight, same specifications. As we go on the road of life, the experiences we have coupled with the skills we learn, and blended with the talents we have, shapes and moulds us or rather, the chunk of wood.

Some pieces of wood become big sturdy ships. Ships that to some is just mere transportation, but to those in a flood, a lifeline. Ships are sources of strength and hope and life in times of distress. Some people are like that.

Some pieces of wood become small fragile pencils. Thin, light and easily broken into two. Pencils that tell of great stories or spreads important announcements be it joyous ones or sad ones. Pencils that write messages of hope or peace or light.

Some pieces of wood become musical instruments. A guitar or a violin or a clarinet or a mere drumstick. It doesn't matter what instrument, what type what size what shape, because an instrument is judged in the music it produces. and the music that is produced is of an unknown language, one that offers comfort to those in sorrow, that offers rest to those who are weary, that offers peace to those in struggles.

Then, there are those pieces of wood, who rot. Literally. Infested with termites, they feel so discouraged and distraught that they simply let the experiences that they have had wear them down and tear them apart instead of moulding them into something significant.

What piece of wood are you? What piece of wood do you want to be?

The end of 2006 draws nigh.

withlessthantwentyfiveminuteslefttillitends [breathe] howwillitallgodownwill2006godownasayearof [breathe] miseryorsadnessordespairor [breathe] happiness???

[hint: that was meant to be read very fast]

So. One year slipping off, to the recesses of my mind, as another one is born.
2006. We had many memories together no?
The joyous occasions, the sad moments.
The concert. The bus ride.
How joyful and enjoyable that moment was.
Yet it lead to disastrous consequences.
Which we both suffered for a few months.
Yet you stood by me, my 2006.
Those times were sad and dark.
Monstrosities lurked at every corner.
Sleep evaded me as stealthily as an espionage agent.
But the sun could hide no longer
And in full force it came.

2006.

A year of

Love experienced, and lost
Sadness that still exists
Joy in the midst of peace
Hope among despair
Life.
Restored.
Rejuvenated.
Refreshed.
Recharged.
Reborn.

Free TV

I'm in school! Currently in mac lab. I came to do my m.e.p. raw footages, and later gonna do psa editing. Well, I thought I might do single cam title sequence, but april didn't reply my messages. And, the student folder is offline. Darn. I may have to find replacement photos.

But. LOL Vicnan introduced me to a website that allows me to watch videos for free. And not just your ordinary youtube kindof videos, but cartoons like Justice League, Captain Planet and Tom and Jerry, [too bad they don't have doraemon] and shows like ncis and whose line is it anyway! I've been watching whose line is it anyway for an hr or two! Cant help but laugh. Oh wait, but thats the purpose of the show. hee.

anyway, dont despair cause you can watch too. And, it's free.

Just go to www.teevee.gamefurnace.com and watch away! :)

Enjoy yourself!


P.S. Btw, this is not a paid advertisement.

The sweetness of beauty,
but beauty is not sweet.
The tenderness of love,
but love is not tender.

The bitterness of rage,
but rage is not bitter.
The green of envy,
but envy is not green.

The uncomplicated complications,
The foolish wise,
The poor wealthy,
The untold tales.

Sadly Happy

Well, today was a rather eventful day!
The second out-of-school performance, TP Band played outside Katong Mall to a receptive crowd, that consisted of both the old and the young. You could say it was well-received. After all, we did play a wide range of pieces that tailors to the old and the young. (No, we didn't play Green Day or Crazy Frog or James Blunt)

It started quite alright, with good weather and a hearty. but my heart nearly stopped when I went band room to realise that my wallet didn't follow me along. It being a new wallet, and a well-thought gift from a friend, i kinda panicked. After some mental searching and some physical foraging in band room, I headed back to the coffeeshop that I had my breakfast at, and [phew!] It was there! Well, not at the same spot that I left it cause the cleaner found it and passed to the drink store owner. But. THANK GOD! If I lost it for good, I think my heart would break!

Hehe. To think of it, when I got my new laptop, I left it by accident in band room also. Seems like I'm not that good with new stuff. Wonder what'll happen when I get married? [winks]

So, after the wallet thing, we got down to business. I went to play my percussion. That's right. Percussion. See I'm a tubist, but there's no available tubas for me to play, so I ended up being a percussion rookie. Prior to this, I actually played the euphonium for an internal event. So, well, I've sampled tuba, eupho and percussion. And, I actually tried playing the timpani, and to an extent, it's easier, because it's bass cleft and the range of the notes is akin to that of the tuba, unlike the eupho, where notes are an octave higher, but then, after a day of enjoying myself, I'm told that the timpani won't be brought due to a lack of space. [Well, Singapore Is small] So I don't really have a choice but to play the smaller instruments like tambourine, and tambourine and well, the tambourine as a whole. And I'm like 'huh... how to play?' And 90% of the percussion section has the same response. 'Oh, just anyhow play/ad-lib can already. Very easy one.'
[To TP Band: Now you know why the percussion sounds so strange. Cause they don't follow the score!]
Now of course, some of my readers would be thinking, 'ad-lib, what's so hard about that?' Well, as far as I know, tubists don't really need to ad-lib ya know. So, it's a whole new experience. Totally new.
So, the journey there and back wasn't eventful, the usual choir wannabes and people trying to sleep.
Playing there was an interesting experience. Emceed by Lina Ng and another guy, [Lina Ng's that babe from the defunct-Cheng Ren Zha Zi, together with Sharon Au, Bryan Wong and one more babe, i forgot her name.] Didn't know Lina was from Cornerstone.
Oh, and I met Constance there. Spunky. Yea, that could be used to describe her. Spunky Babe. Took me awhile to extract her name from my memory bank though. Must be getting old or laggy. Helped her in accounts for a while. Back then with the butts and another babe. Whom we shall not mention. Lest the memories flood back.
So, on the whole, the performance wasn't that bad, though I worry about the conductor though. Old men tire easily. [No, I'm not talking about myself].
And the recent fireworks. Fireworks just for TP Band.
Which makes me miss my sec school band thrashing sessions. We could like just 'talk' it all out ya know. And resolve conflicts. Easily.
If only we could have one in TP Band, but then again, it may not produce the same results.


How nasty jealousy
Thy veins of immaturity
The bonds you break
The hurts you make
Incurable disease
How nasty jealousy

Fear or contempt
Deceit or dishonesty
Anger or rage
Authoritarian or Democratic
Leadership.

Mysteriouso

There he stood, with keen and a certain degree of sharpness in his eyes, his body hidden behind a pillar. His eyes glazed as he watched a pack approach. The pack was too engrossed with each other that they failed to realise they had neglected one of their own. Lagging behind, she was unaware that she had been marked out, strolling behind the pack. Then, in a split second, he charged, covering five feet with a step, and thrust a pamphlet under her nose! "For you, ma'am"

And our eyes met.

Leaning against the pillar, her fingers busy kneading her phone, she looked up and glanced around, and our eyes met. But for a split second, and in that split second, she told me everything about her.


Was exhausted from the concert, so I leaned against the pillar while waiting for my mum to be done with her autograph signing. While replying a message, I looked around, and for a split second, my eyes met the usher's and in that brief moment, i felt as if he understood me.


She told me the mixed feelings she had, feelings of pride because of her mother's accomplishments, and yet awkwardness because her mother was more of a status than a person, that is to say her mother didn't understand her well, and was too busy making her own career that she didn't have much time to understand her.


In that brief meeting of the pupils, he saw a glimpse of me, seeing who I truly was. While mentally scolding myself for being so defenseless before him, part of me argued back, questioning the length of time I had gone misunderstood, unknown and forgotten.


Her eyes, the window to her soul, gave me a glimpse into her helpless superficiality. To be proud, on the outside, of her mother and her accomplishments, yet, on the inside, a single molecule of pride she felt did not exist. She longed to be understood, and accepted, but her accomplishments always went unnoticed, unseen, unheard.

I wish I knew her.

Crap

Note: This is but a feeble attempt to pump back some blood into the frail heart of this dying blog. It may or or may not be the start of more posts. It may or may not lead to the slow merciless but not painful demise of this blog. Any relations, whatsoever, within this post to any persons is purely fictional and you cannot sue me.

So, it's the 13th of December, 2006. 12 more days to Christmas after which another 12 days of Christmas would be celebrated. But, by the Twelfth Day of the Second twelve Days of Christmas, which is actually the Twenty-Fourth Day from now, I would have handed in several assignments. Which of course gives juice to the notion that I wouldn't have a holiday. Well, not much of one actually. After all, which sane person in the whole wide world would give assignments during the holidays?!?! And. Christmas Season too.

Which, in my opinion is too Americanised. After all, what comes to mind when you think of Christmas? Santa coming down the Chimney? Snow? Sigh.

Worst thing about being a mass comm-er, is that after you learn every nitty gritty detail about mass comm, you lose all sense of appreciation and the beauty of the television and radio becomes harsh reality.

Thank God I don't learn much about the Internet and I.T. stuff.

Oh, and there was a Santa Claus at White Sands just now. A real skinny one. A real slim dude. Even slimmer than me, me thinks. Well, I know Santa Claus is more at home with the cold climate up at the North Pole, but surely, he couldn't have lost That much weight with our hot climate here right? And no, he wasn't publicity for a weight loss program. Though he would make a darn good one.

Did I mention I've been kinda busy too? Went to do filming for my PSA (Public Service Announcement) on Tuesday. Philip, Stella and Nisa are a fun bunch of people to work with. Going to Pizza hut for lunch and discussion, then going to East Coast Park to film, fighting against wind and weather, cyclists and skaters, and concluding with dessert bought through Mac's Drive-Thru.

I guess, being in Calculus does have its benefits - making more friends. I have almost different groups for each subject, which of course brings its horrors of time management and mental compartmentalisation into the picture, but hey, I get to meet lots of people! Lots of 'I-didn't-know-you-exist' low-profilers, to be exact. Which, I guess would be kinda cool. After all, I've met the high profilers, and the moderate crowd, so it's about time I met some low-profilers too. Which actually rocks, cause they can be very friendly and humorous and all. To tell you the truth, I kinda prefer the low profilers as compared to the high profilers. Pride? Perhaps, more of humility and receptivity I think. Nevertheless, I think I'll enjoy my group projects.

Change of environment brings about new challenges and surprises to behold.

Oh well, thats enough crappy rambling. Only time will tell if crap revives blogs. :)

PSA Proposal

I'm so relieved. I just handed in my PSA Proposal and it's like a huge weight just lifted off me! In fact, I'm so grateful to this huge release of relief, I'm going to dedicate a song to it! Well, to the PSA Proposal, that is. Now, in case, you're wondering what the #@%$#&%% is a PSA, it stands for Public Service Announcement, like your 'Be Vigilant, Be Resilient' or '1800-XDENGUE".

So, here it is, entitled PSA Rock, sung to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock. I know you probably forgot how it sounds like so I'm uploading it as my blog song. It should play automatically.

PSA Rock

PSA, PSA, PSA Rock
Don't forget your cover page!
Target Market and Content Page,
Let's not forget your storyboard!

PSA, PSA, PSA Rock
Half a minute to One
Production Schedule, Cast and Crew,
Proposal has just begun.

Size Twelve, One point five Spacing,
Remember to number each page.
File it, and Hand it,
Please remember to write your name!

PSA, PSA, PSA Rock
oh yes, there's your approach
Motivational, stylistic
Have a wonderful description.

PSA, PSA, PSA Rock
Do you know it's just begun
You're gonna film
And edit and cut
And that's your PSA,
That's your PSA,
That's your PSA Rock!

snoring!

You'll be amazed at what one can blog about with just four hours of work. Honestly, I'm beginning to love working at my workplace, not just because of its high wage, but also of the interesting events that happen. Let me relate.

I started work sleepily and slightly restless. Besides, ushering for the SSO performance isn't exactly very awakening.

So there I was, hoping to get a bit lucky with eye candies. I mean, hey, it's an orchestra performance, and artsy-fartsy people tend to have more pleasurable features.
Then the tourists came. Hong Kong Study group. Their first time in my work venue. Definitely.

How do I know? By the waa-ing and ooo-ing audible expressions and their numerous photo cameras and video cameras. Honestly, surely it is common sense that if the person seated at your right is told that photography is not allowed, the same rule would apply to you right!

My goodness! It was simply exciting, like a see-which-camera-can-evade-the-usher game. Telling one patron the no-photography rule resulted in two more cameras being whipped out! Not to mention their video-graphy too. Alamo's!

Then another group of patrons came in. A group of girls, in their early to middle teens. A music class, if my ears served me accurately. The most bizarre thing is, they look around to see if there are any ushers in the vicinity watching them, and because when they look around, their head moves, which grabs my attention, and so they exchange eye contact with me for a split second or two and they proceed to do whatever they wish to do, be it using their handphone or taking a photo!

Wah piang! Talk about folly of all follies!

Finally, the best for last, snoring during the performance! That's right. there's no typo error there. There was this male patron, middle aged, alone, who slept and snored during the second half of the performance. Hey, I know some musicians determine the receptiveness and enjoyment of their performance via the number of people dozing but snoring?!?!?! Furthermore, when I gently tapped him on the shoulder to rouse him awake, he stared at me!

As if I did something wrong, which perhaps i did, after all nobody wishes to be awakened during their sleep, and also perhaps he felt humiliated, but hey! his snore was low, audible and a crescendo! IMHO, it was disrupting the performance!

After the performance ended, he walked right up to me and stared me in the face! He then walked out to the door, turned and then stared at me again before proceeding off.

Well, that's all. Four hour performance. Eventful. Can't imagine what it would be like when I work tomorrow. Oh well, till then, take care ya beloved reader and God bless!

Band

You know what's most important in a band? it's not the size or how musically talented each musician. but the bond. and its effects.

The bond ensures that the band stays connected and united. It makes sure that the tuba's tempo is the same as the drumset's or the flutes' or the trumpets. It is the bond that I have with the bassoonist, that puts a smile on my face because when i play, i hear neither my sound nor my section's but that of the bassoon despite him sitting two rows in front of me and his instrument angled towards the front.

To me, this highlights one thing. We are bonded, not in its foundation stage but higher than that.

Insecurity happens to most people, especially musicians. We glance nervously at the conducter, our eyes roll from side to side, seeking security from those beside us.

But it should not. True, the conductor has his or her usefulness but I certainly don't think it's to be a metronome.

A band can thrive without a conductor or even without its members, as long as each section has one musician for each part. Why?

Because at the end of the day, it's not the size nor the commitment nor the strength but the bond itself that is important that cannot be judged in terms of monetary value or strength due to its lack of comparison that results from zilch classification values.

Which is why I love my TP Band. True, we may not be the best band in the nation, neither have we achieved any standards of excellence, but what we have is the bond. The knowledge that the bassline doesn't just play together, we breathe together, we feel the same pulse. The pulse that pulsates at the heart of each band. Whether it is to push the band forward, or to let it flow and provide foundational support, it moves together.

How do you measure a bond? In strength? If so, how do you measure strength? In numbers? What numbers? In length? Days or hours? Times laughed or length of interaction? How?

By love. By moving together as one without cue. By being in sync with a nod or the meet of the eyes. That cannot be trained. Not by words nor by nudges or pre-arranged signs and body languages.

Yet, the bond is as important as the unity within a section. For a section is no section if it is divided, just as how strong can a defence be if it is just made up of one brick? Rather, let it be joined together with other bricks and the defence would be superb.

So then, what makes a band strong? It is both the bond between musicians of all instruments and the bond within each section.

Is it hard to form and foundationalise this bond? Yes. But at the end of the day, the satisfaction that comes, and best of all, the marvelous tale told in music is the clincher for knowing you're not just a member but part of a team, a family.

school. bleah.

So it's the first day of school.
AAARGGGGHHH IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
okay. peace. calm down. [breathes in and out]
It aint easy ya know
17 weeks of school
Deadlines start from the 4th week onwards.
I'm gonna be sitting for FOUR hours of lectures on Mon mornings. Talk about lecture marathons manz.
And not to mention the fact that I'm in a diff class for every subj. Well, almost. I don't regret taking Calculus as my Elective, though I admit the reactions of those who hear that I take Calculus, are kinda amusing. 'You're taking what??' 'My god, you're crazy' 'Are you out of your mind' 'siao ah?'
However, it comes at a price, after all if I'm in a different class for each subject, how am I gonna manage the different group meetings.
O.o. I'll be like a CEO. A worker CEO that is. One that goes for meetings and 'works' as well. CooOOoOoOol.
Too bad I don't have a P.A.
alright. Enough of this castle building in the air, or in the office so as to speak :p I feel both excited and nervous for tutorials next week. Cause.. I've no idea who's in the same class with me! Gotta break ice and make friends all over again and work in groups for important projects that play a part, either a toe or a foot, in your career and.. and and and. I'm gonna learn math again!
well, sortof la. I mean, can't expect to learn basic algebra in Calculus ma right. But oh boy oh boy. It's like meeting your first love again. That kindof feeling. the heart warms and beats a little faster, the silly grin on your face that can't seem to be wiped off, the hands that tremor with a quiver of anticipated excitement, the state of relaxation of the body as it awaits the satisfaction brought about.. by math! hMm I don't sound that insane do I. Hope not.


Happy, Carefree, Quiet.
What will I be this sem?
Who I am?
Who I should be?
Who I want to be?
Or the tried-and-tested just a part of me?

What.

While re-organising my mum-organised room, I came across a story. A story I wrote based on a dream I had. And don't we all know NEVER to write stories based on dreams! so I admit though I was hesitant at that point, I still put that dream on paper. It was sad. The dream I mean, not the writing. Even after reading it now, I can still recall the dream. It was sad. And here it is, after revising what I wrote, [dad time my engrish not so gud ma]:

He stood rigid, his body tensed with anticipation and sadness as he faced the stairs.

"Daddy! Daddy!", his daughter shrieked, her face displaying an array of emotions as she bounded down the stairs, leaping towards her father.

Her father, bemused and relaxed, casually stretched out his arms and drew her towards him, savouring each second of their heart-rendering scene.

"You're back! I've missed you Daddy! I love you!", she blurted out, suddenly embarrassed by her verbal outburst of affection.

With a wistful smile, he gently lowered her onto the ground, knelt down and embraced her, murmuring into her right ear, "I love you too."

"Promise me you'll never go away again," she asked, her hands feeling his shaven-chin, her eyes a swirl of emotions and longing.

He smiled reassuringly into her eyes.

"Daddy! You're back!" his son's shout of excitement punctuated the warm silence. The father opened his right arm just as his son snuggled against him. "Mummy's been crying about you, Daddy," his son said, eyes full of youthful vigour and child-like wisdom.

"I know," the father replied profoundly, allowing himself to be tugged by his daughter up the stairs. "Now, why don't both of you run up first and let me surprise your mum?", the father suggested to his two jubilant and active children.

"Okay!" The children shouted as they raced up the stairs. The father, with a doleful look on his face, slowly climbed up the stairs to the fourth floor.

"Mummy! Mummy! Guess what?" the daughter's voice could be audibly heard from the stairs.

"Daddy's back!", the son immediately said, not giving her time to respond. Drifts of their conversation were heard by the father as he languidly made his way to the door. He halted outside the door, away from sight, his eyes teared.

He walked away.

so it is done

12 messages.
5 belatedness
5 Testimonials
8 Handshakes

What these all have in common? They were birthday greetings.

Showers of blessings rain upon those who msged me, regardless of it being a belated greeting or not; to those who took the time and trouble to write a testimonial for me, giving the total number of testimonials I have a nice round fat 100; and to those who chose to follow the tradition, to initiate the art of socialising and expressing one's gratitude and happiness with.. a handshake! :)

Thanks for the gifts too! A Maxim magazine, black pepper crab, a DVC, a bag and some shirts and a slice of cake from Chocz. Thank you! You know who you are. Especially the Maxim-ners.

So I've turned 18. A quarter of my life is gone. While I have a significant level of confidence that if I should cease to exist now, happy memories would be shared and laughed about at my funeral, there are several unpleasant memories that would stay. And to these people, I apologise. For the hurts, for the lies, for the insensitive things I've said, the deeds I have done.

You know the best thing about birthdays is neither the presents nor the wishes but the messages cause in each message, is a grain of sand. and I am made up of these grains. But each grain is different, different uses, different characteristics. Some grains propel towards beaches, others towards grass patches, others towards bottles and jars, some thrown on the ground and others gone with the wind.

And how does this apply to me? Simply cause I know who knows me. and I know who thinks they know me. And I know what I appear to be to others.

And so the question arises. Do i consolidate all the grains and make them like one? Or let it be?

Death is no respecter of man and of traditions. It can come like a lion in the day or like a thief at night. Know death, no life.

Work. New things everyday.

Work is becoming very interesting. I learn and do new things every day. Honestly.

First Day of Work: Resizing images using photoshop
Second Day of Work: Uploading of Images
Third Day of Work: Entering Customer Information
Fourth Day of Work: Calling customers to double check their information
Fifth Day of Work: Editing Passages of Information
Sixth Day of Work (Today): Printing letters and slotting them into envelopes.

Don't ask me how much I get paid. You wouldn't want to know. and that's the most truthful statement I've ever uttered. You wouldn't want to know.

I Went To Prison

Today I went to prison.

Kaki Bukit Centre (Prison School), that is.

As part of their enrichment programme, and part of community service, and as part of the Yellow Ribbon project, Temasek Polytechnic Concert Band (TPCB) performed at Kaki Bukit Centre (KBC).

Led by resident conducter Mr Tan Beng Wee, together with Cynthia, the person in charge of TPCB, the band played an interesting array of pieces, with the aim to encourage, enrich and enlighten KBC's students about band music.

Playing to a 300-strong crowd made up of males ranging from 18 years old to 30 years old, the band's performance was warmly accepted by the students with heartfelt cheers and supportive applause.

Sparking off the performance with a fast-paced piece, Elvis: The Legend Lives On, a compilation of Elvis Presley's songs that includes Hound Dog, Love Me Tender and (ironically) Jailhouse Rock, the band moved on to play pieces of different genres for example, My Way that was originally sang by Frank Sinatra and Pirates of The Caribbean: The Black Pearl , the movie's soundtrack.

A highlight of the event was the introduction of the various instruments that form a band, after which, the students heard popular tunes and rhythms played by each instrument.

The event ended with a quick Question & Answer session where the band was asked several engaging questions such as "Which aspect of band do you think benefits all of you?"

Judging by the loud applause and cheers generated by the students, it can be safely concluded that the performance was a success in terms of entertainment though one wonders if the students remember the facts they learn about the various instruments.

Girls Girls Girls

Imagine being a guy in a room full of girls.
[pauses for a few seconds to let you imagine]
Now imagine the room is but one floor in a theatre hall, and the girls are lower secondary students {think footballs fans cheering and raise up the pitch], and you're there to work and not to socialise.

Today, I worked.
Little did I know, as I slowly made my way to work, how girl-ful my day would be.

It started off fine, me reaching my workplace on time and in full uniform. Then, the news came. 'Your circle is fully sold' 'Your area will be full of students' 'Randy, note that there are four buses of students headed your way'.

[cue: animation clip of man jumping off the roof]

I have NEVER dealt with so many students before. Sure, I did baggage check for students, which was an eye-opening experience, but to tend to so many students...

[cue: blood drains from face, tongue is hanging out of mouth in horror]

I'm beginning to suspect that as long as I interact with students in the course of my work, I will NEVER have a boring day.

[cue: slight reverb on 'never']

Two groups of students, one from SAC, the other from TKGS [Thank God TKGS students were in their home clothes, I did not have to see a sea of green!]. Around 200 plus in total.

So I stood there, as they trudged towards me, four girls huddled here, three girls laughing away over there, and their male teacher behind them. God bless his Soul. How he handles them, I have no idea.

Interestingly enough, the students either feared or respected him, because his orders were swiftly executed. The students stood two by two, their incessant chattering down to a minimum, and they started to gape at their surroundings.

'waaa..' 'oOOo..' 'so nice..'

Then, just as me and my fellow usher were bringing the SAC girls in, the TKGS girls show up! So I had to leave my fellow usher to the SAC while I 'took care' of the TKGS girls.

I think I was more of a directional signboard then a usher. See, the school bought for its staff and students a few rows of seats, and each student was issued a ticket by their teacher, and the seats were mostly in the same row, so all I did was stand in front of the row, say 'this way' and angle my two hands towards the row, kind of like how the Traffic Police directs traffic.

[cue: Traffic Police to knock door to offer employment]

And the girls made good door openers!
See, two of us were in charge of five doors, but for convenience purposes, we only opened three. The girls, however, were so, shall I say pro, that they went in through the two doors that were not opened, and came up behind me. And the best part is, their seats were in the same row as the line of students I was channelling to!

Yet the show must go on!

And it did, despite the 'hushed' whispering amidst the students and the occasional 'sneak' peak at their handphone.

It was a trifle amusing to hear half of them gasp in horror/shock/disbelief while the other half went 'oh my..' when the production was at a scene where the main actor is brought to a brothel. In the scene, the actor is brought airborne by four other men and he is raised and then lowered onto three girls lying prostate before him, in different positions, summarising the three types: vaginal, anal and oral.

I must say though, one thing about students is that their loud cheering at the end of the show raises the excitement level of the ambience. Despite having watched the show numerous times, I felt compelled to clap at the end of the performance [my sociology teacher would probably tell you it's due to conformity].

So I guess that would be a challenge for theatre managers, whether to encourage schools to send their students to watch their plays and musicals. Presence of students means lesser satisfaction for the other patrons, but it would mean a boost of morale for the cast and crew because students clap/cheer/yell with all their might and [vocal] strength.

Well, till next time, this is R.D., signing off!

Two Shows, One Day, Pure Bliss.

Today was a tiring day. Oh well, earning 72 bucks for being on my toes for 9 hours ain't that bad. And the girls too, of course.
I did two events today, matinee in the afternoon and a more relaxed and happier one in the night. Had to wolf down a sandwich for dinner because I didn't have enough time to have a proper meal. It wasn't that bad a sandwich, though it costs me four bucks. But it's rather huge. So big I took twenty minutes to kiss down half of it lor. It's kindof like a kiss ya know, cause the meat is one big piece, and you wanna let go cause you needa breathe, you need air, you need oxygen! but you cant! Cause you're in a kiss! Well, sortof la huh. Depends on what point of view you look at it from, after all, nobody purses their lips to eat sandwiches. [I didn't hor!]
Anyway, on the whole, the day was rather enjoyable. Just that I ended up doing baggage check for the matinee! And there were like students of all shapes and sizes, from primary to JC if i'm not wrong. I know ACS was there. And quite a few others. AND THE LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL KIDS WERE IRRITATING! Honestly!
Cause there were like two to four baggage checkers, and for some strange reason, the students go in as a school, [not as a class, mind you] thus at one shot, you could have like fifty plus plus plus students coming. So well, it would be so not unlikely that it will go smoothly ma right, then these few people give me some sia lan face. As if i not stressed enough lor. And, hehe, there were a few guys trying to play some joke or something, kept saying they got b**b in their bag and stuff, lol for security reasons i dont wanna type that word out, anyway, back to the story, they were saying it often and the security guard nearby heard. and his body is like a bouncer. So,he turns around, folds his arms, and gives them The look. My goodness, you should have seen the guy's face. He suddenly just diam lor. Hah. That certainly helped to destress me a lot man.
And now, with the experience of checking a hundred plus bags, I only have one thing to say, WHAT ARE KIDS BRINGING TO SCHOOL NOWADAYS!
Due to the nature of my position, I had a 'first-class view' of everything in a bag and will wonders never cease! One guy's bag got five articles of clothing I wondered whether he came to watch the performance or heading for a wayang! Then, there were some utterly cramped with books, one wonders what tools [bulldozer, drill, lorries...] the student uses to retrieve something from the bottom of the bag. And of course, there were the bags who looked so heavy. So heavy with air actually. Because when they opened it for me, inside was empty save for a pencil case or a ultra-thin book or a pencil case. One even had an empty paper bag inside!
Oh well, enough of the students and their bags la, oh got some try to smuggle food in la! hee I just cant stop typing about them. lol. They hide their mac and BK in their bags then when we ask them to open their bags for bag check, they open all the pockets except the one and only [and usually the main] pocket that has the food. Directly drawing attention to the pocket that has the food. No brainer man. seriously.
Okay la, I'll stop talking about them. Let me talk about my night show instead. heex. It wasn't that bad leh. Surprisingly, or maybe you could call it unsurprisingly, I was more heartfelt in my greetings and 'May I show you to your seat' towards the patrons for my night show, as compared to the day show's 'Please open your bags for bag check {said through clenched teeth}'
Add the fact that my night people are of a higher and more mature class than my afternoon kids. And of course, the sight of two babes. [super ultra extra wide grin] The first one came with her mum, I think she's around my age, probably -2 to + 5 la. Her vital stats probably 32-30-32ish. Unfortunately, she got bf le lor. Well, there wasn't any ring visible but I overheard [they were seated right in front of me] her saying that He carries her bags for her, and I seriously don't think she's talking about her father.
The second one was nicer. Granted that she wasn't that elegantly dressed as the first; long-sleeve shirt + jeans as compared to dress, but hey, her ticket was worth a hundred and forty bucks! And she was with her sister/friend and her mother/grandmother/aunty/guardian which would mean a whooping sum of four hundred and twenty dollars! Add the fact that she's more of my age too. -2 to + 2.
I almost felt like asking her for her number, but! Not my league. Though she has or appears to have more interest in the arts, as compared to her mother/guardian who was yawning repeatedly. Definitely my type! Now, if she just came from a lower standard of living, it would be [smacks lips] irrrrrestible!
Oh, and speaking of numbers, there's this girl that I've been hoping to 'bump' into during work so I can ask her for her number. We've made friends yea, and technically linked through friends and friends of friends, but well, can't seem to see her at all leh. Always like that one, looking for somebody cannot find them, not looking for them always see them hanging around.
K la, enough nonsensical incessant rumbling and endless mutterings.
I've been thinking of getting a pink or purple shirt seh. lol. oh yah, one of my colleagues say I look like Ben Yeo. Look like meh?
hMm and she says I don't like 18 lor. wah, I didn't know I age that much that people think I'm older, or maybe she thinks I'm younger. hMMMmm. [in deep though] Then again, she's like part of the minor minor minority so that's that.
Oh, and on a final and brighter side, yeehah! I'm friends with someone who I was friends with le. Well, obviously in order to be friend that someone cant be a friend first right otherwise how I can be friends with a friend? [grins] Gotcha!

life.

tears will fall, hurts will surface, wounds will reopen
The heart will ache, the mind will break
Shattering into pieces unrepairable

Yet we do not know the length we live
How long or how short
What then can we measure it with

The joys will accompany you
The friends but make time pass by
Like a breeze, Like a second
Though it is but an hour

By days or minutes?
By seasons?
Or memories.

The sadness. the grief.
The tears flow.

The happiness. the bliss.
The tears flow.

Short or long
Sweet or bitter
Peaceful or violent
Delirious or grief?
The tears flow.

shadow lurk

Can you see the shadow in the night
It is where I lurk
Blink and you'll miss me
You think you see me
You think you know me
But you see the dark and not the moving shadow
You see the light and not the glowing seed

How do you tell an ant apart from another?
In species or size?
By gender or grain?

Take a look at me
Do you see what you see?
Or is it a mirror?

Take a look at me
What do you see?
A shadow or a speaker?
A teacher or a preacher?
A socialiser or loner?
Or all of the above?

Look carefully and be warned
For what you see may not be what you get.

The Dream

Last night, while in a deep sleep, I had a perplexing dream.
Surrounded by four walls, I'm in a room, seated. Then, I sense an evil presence within the room. With me. And fear grips me, the presence taunts me and mocks me. I feel helpless and start praying in tongues. My strength is drained. I stumble to the door and find a pathway before me. With as much strength as I can muster, I walk along the path. The evil presence taunts me from behind, laughing and scoffing. I see a road ahead and reach it before falling to the ground, my mouth still moving, tongues still outpouring.
I confess this dream has me puzzled. And I am confused.

today.

Today was a harrowing experience. Not simply because I called a guy ma'am while at work, or that I nearly panicked when I forgot my locker combination but because I had a nerve-wrecking experience around 1pm.

The ball's in my court but what will I do. Dare I whack the ball back or will I cowardly let the ball fall, no attempt to grasp the ball. Funny how when one wishes for the ball, it doesnt come, yet when it is but forgotten and assumed lost, it comes with such great velocity.

Oh, and did I mention I met my tutor while at work. Mr Kenny Yong. He went to watch Forbidden City with his mum, and for once in my life, I was more black than him. If you dont catch the joke, its simply because he ALWAYS wear black or dark colored clothes to school and my work attire is fully black. so there.

Lost in Singapore

I GOT LOST! TWICE! IN SINGAPORE

yupz, you heard me right. See, I was supposed to go to Upper Circular Road for a job interview. Well, not the road la. It's an office in a building called the RiverWalk. The thing was, I heard, o'er the phone of the address as Circular Road, I missed out the Upper.

Well, I betcha went 'huh?' when ya read that road name right. It's okay, me no hear of it till today. Anyway, so I did my 'research', checking online map website of Circular Road and trudged out of my house, full of confidence.

Only to have my bubble burst when I reached Raffles Place. See, I looked at the Locality Map, then sorta figured out I had to take Exit G. But, upon exiting Exit G (pun intended) I found myself lost. Totally. Surrounded by buildings, with no sign at all of the Singapore River, which was to be my landmark guide.

So I trotted back again, to Raffles Place mrt startion to look at the Locality Map. And then proceeded to make my way to Circular Road. With no sight of the office. At all.

Bo pian, had to call the person. Kinda embarrassing seh, to call your prospective employer and ask for directions.

Anyway, after a few minutes of determining where I was, and the direction of the River that I was facing, I managed to find the building. And the office.

And I got lost again! Well, not immediately la. We had the interview, discussion of job scope blah blah blah, and then we said our farewells, and I walked out of the office and I got lost!

Okay la, I admit I was a little courageous. I decided to walk to City Hall Mrt. With no way of knowing which direction. Well, I kinda hypothesized that City Hall wld be the opposite direction of the direction heading towards Raffles Place.

How very wrong I was. I decided to walk straight all the way. After all, Singapore so small, if you continue walking straight, sooner or later, you will meet some recognisable landmark ma right.

Wrong.

I walked straight. Ended up on Carpenter Street. No Carpenter shops that I noticed though. Continued walking. Ended up on HongKong Street. Betcha didnt know we have such a street. And, no it doesnt have any similarity to streets of Hong Kong. Continued walking ahead. Ended up on One George Street. Ended up havihng lunch at Hans. [Walking increases one's hunger] Ended up on Cecil Street. Finally a street I recognised. Which leads to Raffles Place Mrt!

I had actually be walking in a circle! Or maybe not la. Because Raffles Place has so many Exits.

So, if you ever get lost in Singapore, don't worry! You aren't alone!

It's nice rekindling the friendship fire of an old flame. Primary Six crush to be exact. Well, to be even more specific, it was a two to three months crush that started when I was in primary six and ended when I was in secondary one. If I recall correctly, I liked her for her looks.

But then, time came, life went on, and we lost contact. She went on to RGS, me SHSS. Two different leagues. Miles apart, in terms of educational status.

Yet, the feelings of rekindling of a friendly relationship. There are things yet unchanged. Her face, for starters. Radiance, for seconds. Yet, the light gloweth in her is not the true light. But she's like super duper chio.

Would there be a gap between two very different people? One who went to well-branded schools and would be the kind of people that the government loves and would definitely increase the technological value of Singapore. Theoretically. The other, a neighbourhood school, and then polytechnic, the kind that makes the life of others better. Practically.

I think so. Different ways of life. Sure, we can sit back, and laugh about the old days; the time spent together in primary school, but at the end of the day, will we still see eye to eye? Are we still wired on the same frequency?

Two ends of the educational circle. It's just like mass comm students are snobbish and elevated.

"Who say one?"
"Donno [shrugs] just hear from a friend who heard from a friend who heard from friend one.. "

But what created such a gap? That we feel inferior. That we feel superior. Aren't we all still flesh and blood, born with a heart? We may not laugh at the same jokes, but we still laugh. [Check out http://blog.vjc.sg/2006/09/01/the-teachers-day-videos/] We may not experience the same life experiences but we still experience the same type of life experience for eg relationships.

We created the gap. We reared our needs, wants and desires for power, for status, to be a prefect in primary school or to be a doctor, a highly revered position. We crave the position of power, to feed our ego, ensure our self-esteem is always high.

"Why?"
"Because I'm better than you. "
"How so?"
"Don't know? I just am."

Can this gap be bridged? Perhaps. Gandhi studied law, a position of power, yet he was loved by all people.

So, as I end this post, I wonder. How close can two people be, when both go through different roads of education? At the end of the day, what matters? Papers? Looks? Character? Level of education? Boobs? Length of waist? Finance? Interests? Love??

Singapore Dreaming

On Wednesday, 30th August 2006, the day before my the latter of my two papers, I, Randy Blah Blah Blah, attended the Gala Premiere of Singapore Dreaming. And this is my review.

Rating: 4/5
Length of Film: 105 Minutes

Directed by Singaporeans, 'Singapore Dream' revolves around a family and how it deals with issues that every Singaporean can identify with: the need to live in a condo or to be a member of a prestigious country club, mainly the 5Cs - Cash, Condo, Credit Card, Car and Country Club.

A first feature film collaboration between Singapore and New York filmmakers, the movie boasts of local stars, among others, Richard Low, Dick Soo and Lim Yu Beng. Highlighting the need of every individual of something more than money, something more than a roof, something more than status, the movie subtly hints of the existence of something beyond materialistic value.

Mr Loh Poh Huat (Richard Low), father, is heavily in debt and frustrated at the lack of success he has in pursuing his dreams. When he strikes lottery and wins two million dollars, life seems to change for the better for the Lohs family. Yet, a sudden tragedy occurs, leaving the family struggling to pick up the pieces.

The movie dialogue is in a mixture of Hokkien, English and Mandarin, coupled with English and Chinese subtitles, which can be rather irritating at times, as the eyes see two languages while the ear hears three.

While clarity of the images seem to be unfocused at times, the movie's soulful soundtrack would definitely bring back old memories for those from the older generation, while leaving a deep impression on the younger generation.

Besides being Lim Yu Beng's first mandarin-speaking role, the movie's Director and Producer Colin Goh, and 1st Assistant Director Stephen Chin, had to resort to staging a mock gangster fight in order to distract onlookers while shooting a scene in Orchard Road.

Serious messages with occasional nuggets of humour, this movie should not be taken lightly. A must-see for every individual regardless of race, language or religion, the movie will leave you pondering insightful questions!

P.S. The movie's theme song is the current audio file being played.

Auntie ah! Bo ke Lu Lian Before ah?

Worked on Tues for some straneg musical performance. It wasn't that bad, the music I mean, the patrons were another thing. It was a free performance, and mid-day too, so well, Err, quite a few aunties went. And you can tell it was their FIRST time at the esplanade. Now, just for the record, I'm not an anti-old person nor do I bear grudges against the old old and the old but it was just amusing to see them gushing over everything, from the way the building was being cleaned, to the size of the concert hall, to the mere sight of the Merlion through the window. And they definitely weren't tourist-ly dressed. So that was the highlight of Tues afternoon.
Then I went to the gym. You know, i'm kinda considering bringing like butt cushions, cause after a while when you've sat long enough on the train seat, your butt just loses all feeling and all and kinda evolves into jelly. And while your butt is busily modifying its shape, your upper body's busy trying to subtly nudge the big burly guy at your right dozing away. His head is swaying from side to side like the leaves of a coconut tree in a breeze and eeew is that saliva collecting at the corner of his mouth. eeew. Whack in the leg or nudge in the ribs?? hMm!
So there I was, thinking very hard, when this girl just walks in. Okay la, she's not exactly that hot, and she's like only sec 3 or 4 and she's from TKGS (their uniform is so greenly distinctive. I think females in army uniform is TKGS uniform!!). Anyway, she [Well, I would love to say gazing but that would be so bhb] was staring at me. So, I like glanced her way occasionally to confirm and reaffirm the knowledge that nope I've never met her before and that I do not know her. And then, it strikes me. Her complexion is beeeeaaaautiful! Now when I say compexion is beautiful,I dont mean to say its palely white or ghostly [ghastly] white but rather that it's smooth and more of like an apple skin, smooth and nice to erm, [I just cant think of any other word, caress, as compared to say mango skin - face has moles, or [gasps] durian face - face with numerous pimples. It's quite interesting to see such flawless kin. So well, that's that. for Tues! Tata! That's four Ts in three words! =>

heex

So here I am again, satisfied with my Kimchi Instant Noodles and my bottle of Root Beer, my third and final meal of the day.
Having a meal at this hour reminds me of a long time ago, when I was cramming form my Os. okay la, it was just two years ago, not that long. Yet, those were the days, lying down on my room floor, with my blanket for warmth, [burps] my discman for music companionship, and [burps] all my textbooks. Woot! my previous two burps were the same kind!! By kind, I mean the pitch, length and graph. Both started with a high pitch before dropping to a low pitch. [burps] oh shucks different gender of burp le. heh. [beams with pride] I've never burped so many times due to a Root Beer before. heh anyway, back [burps beautifully], oh man that felt so good, to what I was saying, I kinda have fond memories of studying for Os. I know I know, how can studying for Os be a fond memory? But it is. The time you spent with your boobs, sorry, books [i couldn't resist that, forgive me moi ladies], is worth it! For as long as they last. heex. There's always the small print. Well, off to bed now. [burps] hehe burpy dreams for me. tata

construct operational definition ecological isomorphism attrition regression pre test post test solomon four group sensitization maturation inter-subject diffusion independent variable temporal ordering epistemology non-spuriousness hypothesis likert summated rating scale semantic differential scale nominal mutually exclusive coding sheet population census sampling error probability sampling lottery without replacement convenience network volunteer stratified multi-stage cluster longitudinal study inverted funnel inferencial statistics bipolar adjectives standard deviance variance range t-test chi-square chi-test t-square unitizing

Sorry. Just had to get that out of my head. and where better than on blogger. In case ya wondering what those cheemological stuff are, they're what I'm supposed to know for my test on Fri. Bleah. the subject is crazy manz, seriously. oh well, back to reading words that are made of letters from the English alphabet but dont look like English words to me. tata.

Signing off with eyes going round and round and round and up and center and left and right and straight and round,

R 4 N D Y

On The Last Week Of School

[sung to the tune of 'Twelve Days of Christmas']
On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
see you all next sem
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
here's your national day lanyard
see you all next sem
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
grab your pen and paper cause the mindmap's being flashed up
here's your national day lanyard
see you all next sem
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

On the last week of school,
my tutor said to me
questions comments complaints
you're the best bunch of students
grab your pen and paper cause the mindmap's being flashed up
here's your national day lanyard
see you all next sem
good luck for your exams
here's chocolate and coffee
and a whole lot of chapters to read.

The Date.

Well, if going by the definition that a date is 'An engagement to go out socially with another person' [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/date], then I went on one yesterday. And it was rather satisfying. And by that, in no means sexual.
At first, I thought, hey what's new. I've been with girls like since sec sch and now in a course where males are the minority, surely some of my well-honed skills would prove useful in charming the girl. Gee. How very wrong I was.

So we agreed the time and place to meet. I waited and saw her looming in the distance.
Okay, that's an exaggeration. She's too small to loom in the horizon.
I saw her walking towards me and then suddenly, my mind blanked. Not because of I nervous or what k, but cause I've never really physically chatted with her before. Sure we messaged each other [a lot], and chatted on msn [frequently], but chatting in VR ain't the same as chatting IRL. For your info, VR is virtual reality and IRL is In Real Life.

Anyway, time for a commercial break. I'll be right back after you listen to the commercial. Click the play symbol. And feedback on its effectiveness using my tagboard.




Okay. Back. That advertisement was brought to you by yours truly and others. =D

Now as I was saying, I went on a date with a girl yesterday. She ain't your Jane Doe. She's rrrreally different. But the key here is the date and not her.
So there we were. she's walking towards me, I'm rooted to the ground, my mind thinking which approach should I use. Ask how was her day? Or compliment her? [sweet-talk, my love ] Or talk about the weather? Or ask if she's hungry or.. or.. or..?!?!?!
Well, I ain't gonna say what method I used but I managed to coax a few words out of her. and several heart-warming smiles. But that's not quite the point.
Ya see, we went to Yoshi for dinner. And I bloody dropped my chopsticks. Now you may be thinking what's the big deal? It's just chopsticks, just pick it up and continue eating la. But! Bear in mind, it's me, my nerves are a little higher than usual, I'm trying to ooze calm and control and all, and now i'm tihnking "Oh crap!" I've kindof severed the whole tempo and all.
But of course, mentally cursing myself wont help much so I put it out of my mind and proceeded in making small talk. I wonder why they call it small talk. More of fast talk cause it always ends up in one-word answers. To think of it, I managed to extract a few complete sentences of more than ten words from her. Hee! =X So proud of myself.
Anyway where were we?
Oh yesh. So there's e chopstick incident. So dinner's over. The ice is nearly completely broken. So we go upstairs. And then, I realized I forgotten that Gelare isn't there no more. [Oh btw, there's a shop in that vicinity selling stick-on sandals. Don't ask me how they do it. But it appears to work though] And so I bring her down again and we go haagen daaz for ice cream.
And we lived happily ever after. oops. wrong fairy tale.
And from then, it wasn't that much of any problems or anything. In retrospect and self-critique, I'll give myself a 7 out of 10 for pulling her out of her icebox, and if it were to be judged in romance and related, I would give myself a 4. Honest.

So I've been thinking and maybe we guys need some educating in dates and stuff and I've come up with three Rs to help us. No, not the reduce reuse recycle kind of 3Rs but more of Research, Reflect and Refine.

Research on the eatery places and her favourite choices of food and what tickles her or not and ai yah. simply put, do your research before a date. Can le. Save face. lol.

Next comes reflect. Every date should be better than the previous one. and in order to achieve that, reflection is in order. No la, reflecting isn't just about standing in the mirror and then asking 'wo de tou fa luan bu luan'. It's of one-self, one's date-self, and previous dates.

Lastly, refine. Refine your ways, your methods, your thoughts, your pre-planned speech and every action to be done during the date. Refine.

Alright, there I leave you now. It was good. and remember your 3 Rs. Well, it would be 4 if you include the remember inside. Till next time, this is Randy, [hey, another R], tc and happy dating! :D

Today.

Today. 14/8/2006.

On This Day, the first book that was printed was published in 1457.

On This Day, France became the first country to introduce registration plates in 1893.

On This Day, Pakistan became independent of British rule in 1947.

On This Day, U.S. ended its bombing of Cambodia in 1973.

On This Day, Hans christian Oersted was born in 1777. He was a Danish scientist who discovered electromagnetism.

On This Day, in 1945, Steve Martin, American Emmy Award-winning comedy writer, comedian, actor, author was born.

Every day some one dies and some one is born. It may be someone you know of, it may be not. It may be someone you might in the future, an employee of yours or perhaps even your boss, or it may be not.

Today, I thank God. For today. The fact that the people born today I may never meet, the people who died today I never knew, is a fact. The fact that keeps us going. That fills us with compassion and makes us humane.

We humans are a troublesome lot. We groan about our work, we moan about today, the troubles, the hurts, the pains, the sorrows and then we worry about tomorrow.

Relax. Why worry about tomorrow when you have enough on your plate.

I thank God today. For my friends. For new-found friends. For the outing I had with a female friend today. For showing me that despite the roughness in this world, where dark and morbid things lie in wait, there are people who are sensitive. Who are kind. Who are gentle. In fact, so gentle they appear to be coaxing the rice onto the spoon. Who does not live on a planet higher than those around her. I thank God for humility.

I thank God for friendship. and the fact that it never changes

From the moment we learn to speak, till the second we take our last breath of the air of this earth, friendship is there. To keep us alive, to hurt and wound us till our body is broken, to bring memories both bitter and sweet, to highlight the chracteristics of people both good and bad, to make us aware of who we are.

I've found an interesting friend. Have you?
I've thank God for her. Have You?

Memories

I slept to this song. The song on my blog. One I heard on numerous nights of long ago; at least a year. I remember then, I would turn on to NewsRadio 938 (now known as 938 live) before I slept, around elevenish. Every Wednesday night, there would be a program called Uncommon Sense, hosted by a certain Mel Gill. In the program, he gives advice to callers. It would be from 10pm to midnight and his opening song for his program would be this song "Nothing's gonna stop us now', that's on my blog. I believe he's a psychologist and trainer of sorts. I remember him giving advice ranging on all matters from education to relationships to marriages and its electrifying discharges.
Those were the nights.

I overheard an interesting conversation, or lack of it, today. I was in the bus on the way home from school and behind me sat a mother and her teenage daughter who was on the phone. She was chatting rather loudly and was hushed by her mother. Here was how it went:

Girl: You think I dont know that word ah. My friends were using it the F word in sec two lor. I heard it in kindergarten...

Mum: Oi. You're on the bus. Dont talk so loudly. You're not at home you know.

Girl: [seems to ignore her] Ai yah. If I can, I also want to be perfect lor...

Mum: Nobody can be perfect. Who you think you are. Nobody is perfect. Only Jesus is perfect.

Girl: [murmurs for awhile before silence. It appears her conversation with her friend is over]

Mum: You dont use the F word ah. It's not good.

Girl: I know la! You think I so stupid is it? My friends always use it, but I dont okay.

And then they alighted from the bus.

Some points that can be inferred:
1) Generation gaps will always exist.
2) The family's a Christian family.
3) Parents need to learn how to grow along with their teenage children.

Let's review that conversation together, shall we?

First of all, the mother interrupted the conversation. Hey, I know we teenagers are famed for our multi-tasking skills but show a little respect wont ya. Let us end our conversation before you speak to us. Cause we know you'll blame us after that for being rude and not replying/acknowledging your questions/naggings/comments.

Secondly, note that the mother seem to refute every thing her daughter said, from the F word to perfection. Sure, she's young, just a teenager. you, on the other hand, were a teenager (I just cant resist saying this) nong nong ago, and living and growing up in a completely different environment as us. Oh mama, grow up wont ya.

Thirdly, the conversation between the daughter and her friend was over. And you come and drag the past back again?? The mother referred back to the F word part that she heard. Hey, give the kid a break man. Nobody likes to be reminded of what we said ya know.

Now, I know this post is like so bias towards teenagers but you know what, we teenagers need to make our voices heard. parents need to realize that the authoritarian methods they're using on us are no longer effective. They need to realise that their kids are kids no more but teenagers.

Yea, it is kindof easy to say "oh, it's just a phase, it'll pass over' or "it's just teenager angst" but everything we do or say, has a meaning, a hidden agenda behind it. And if you can examine or seek or discover it, you just might be the one that people'll ask "how do you and your teenage children get along so well? I'm so envious!" or "how do you all remain so close? My dear old boy left me a nong nong time ago". [couldn't resist it again :)]

It's time for parents of teenagers to acknowledge their faults. Stop pushing blame onto other things. Dont use handphones or instant messaging clients or going out with friends as a scapegoat for the distant communication between us teenagers and you parents.

This post is kindof one-sided ain't it. Well, here's the other-sided passages.

It is real good that parents have tried to bridge the [generation] gap. You've barely caressed technology, learning computers and IT-related stuff, and SMS lingo but sometimes you try too hard yea?

Now, of course nobody is perfect, like the daughter said, like the mother said, like everybody says and it's true. There can never be a perfect relationship. There can, however, be a loving relationship.

Do you, parent of a teenage child, promise to take care of your teen, to love despite troubled communications, to step back and give him/her some personal space, to provide financial aid as and when he/she needs it, to acknowledge that there are some things he/she can do better than you, to allow him/her the freedom to make his/her own choices without you shadowing his/her every move, to honor and entrust responsiblity worthy of an adult, to respect as with regards to important decisions, time management and life skills, to cherish and forgive our daily and numerous shortcomings, to let us walk on our own feet and not cage us up, to heal and comfort in times of sickness, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually, and not reproach, in times of health, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, and not condemn, to love till death and beyond, till the end of time?

Do you, O teenage one, promise to love and care for your parent, regardless of age, gender, time spent together, emotional attachment, and relationship breakdowns, to buy that favourite hainanese chicken rice or changi village nasi lemak, when your parent requests you to, to take up the challenge to do the housework as and when the need arises, to try your utmost best to maintain the communication chain between you and your parent, regardless of love, time or space, to honor and cherish every of their word as if it were their last words, despite how healthy they glow physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally, to treat them with patience when it comes to sharing with them the gift of technology, to honor and respect, their decisions, their wisdom, their knowledge, their frequent walks down memory lanes, to control when they seem to be getting on your nerves and they display such insensitivity towards your feelings, to love and forgive till death and beyond, till the end of time?

DO YOU?

Oh, and the mother and her daughter? They happened to alight at the same stop at me. The girl was barely fourteen, the mother barely fourty.

Me.

So well, I'm gonna talk about me. Well, more of my idealogy.
See, I've been thinking about the girls i liked or rather, girls I had a crush on and somehow quite a significant amount of them start with J.
See firstly, there's my relationship with God. His Son is called Jesus Christ. His name starts with J.
Then, from chronological order, there's my Pri 5 crush called Juliana. Then there was Jacq in Sec 2 to 3. After that, there was Joanna, my ex. And then, now, there's this girl that has gotten my fancy who has a J in her name too.
After course I'm not exactly saying I'm superstituous or something akin to that effect but well, such common occurences do raise an evebrow or two.
Perhaps it's just my fascination with such divine coincidences if I may. [shrugs] I believe everything that happens in my life happens for a purpose even a period long ago where 80% of the time where I looked at the clock or my watch to check the time, it would be the thirtieth-seven minute of the hour. Talk about cool or what.
Back to my gist, it seems that the J-girls are quite impactful on my life. Note that this doesnt necessarily mean that all females starting with J are making/breaking my heart nor does this mean I dont have non-names-with-J crushes. Cause it's kindof bizarre if one selects 'targets' based on name or a certain letter of the alphabet.
And so as I laid on my bed, I was thinking of my life partner. Spouse, wife, darling, lover, whichever you want k.
So I'm thinking cause quite a few of my loves are like J-s so wouldnt my wife be J too?
But then it strikes me that one of my very-strong love's name started with R. So I ask myself do I really love her or is she very like me then it's like loving myself or perhaps I am just showering love on someone who understands me well enough that I feel understood and the love is a reward. After all, at that point, I felt she was the One. But then, maybe I just never met anyone like her to think that way.
But does that mean I love people who are very similar to me? Not really because there are people who are so similar to me that I snub them, indirectly snubbing myself.
Thought i met the wrong, maybe i was wrong. Then again, if she's the one, we'll be together next time. J? R?

i went shopping!

I went shopping!! For myself. lol.
Was quite bored after school today so I went shopping. Bought kimchi instant cup noodle and root beer in case of crisis. (you never know what might hit you) bought my face wash (changing from biore to gatsby) bought batteries (can you believe i'm still using a discman) bought my toiletries man. it's like pamper myself day. lol
anyway, i went compare prices between guardian and watson and ntuc and suddenly i kindof miss working in ntuc.
well, technically it's call fairprice and not much of ntuc cause ntuc is national trade union congress whereas fairprice is a supermarket and technically their price aint exactly fair but oh wells.
I miss the camaderie formed there. The intimate knowledge of a store that is frequented by people of all ages, shapes and sizes. I miss stocking goods and playing the how-many-boxes-can-you-squeeze-on-top game. Of course I dont miss the split milk cartons. the awful smell. bleah.
But i miss the spirit there you know. Though the pay is little and stuff but the staff working there are like spirited and cheerful and all. infectious enthusiasm.
memories will be memories.

ahhhh.. so hot. the girl.s.

Well, started my first show today. I'm working as an usher, btw. At an erRr prestigious arts centre in SG. lol you may be wondering why I aint saying the name of the centre i work for, simply because it has a certain code that restricts employees from lamblasting it on blogs. so. [shrugs] oh well.
It was kindof fun, my first show. I arrived there about fifteen mins before the reporting time and was eRr kindof shy. haha dont laugh k haha but well the other ushers are all 'un-virgins' so they know each other quite well le.
I was assigned ticket tripping. Not easy. But today wasn't that bad, simply cause it's the last Cabaret show so nobody will turn up with the ticket for the wrong date. (it happens more often than you think)The good thing about ticket tripping is its quite slack but the bad thing is I can't see the show. But I've got much more worth than the show cost. lol. I've got eye candies!
haha you wont believe the gorgeousness (is there such a word) and the beauty of some of the female patrons that went for the show. LOL. They were like so so so hot. ok not hot as in steamy not like the m1 kind of ad but they were the cleopatra-kind of hot. And lest you think i've fallen for some 30 yr old aunty you are so wrong. the girls were like in my age grp lor. 18 to 25 me thinks. and there was this guy who was like around my age with three of the babes. oh man. he must be a ladies man of sorts.
Now if every event has these kind of patrons, I dont mind working 24/7. Surprisingly, the SG babes oozed more sex appeal than the foreign babes. Yup, there were foreigners. Russians or British I think. Or both.
oh well. all in all it aint that bad despite being stationed with three other ladies who are like 2.5 times my age, and the fact that my feet are aching, (we cant sit). After all, I've earned fourty bucks. and my eyes have been satisfied. lol. sheesh. one never hears of any romance between an usher and a guest eh? then again, anything's possible.
Till next time, my love, tata!

oh my heart how still they lie to me

oh how still thee lie
silent yet aloud
no sign of fear
no sign of trouble
no sign of dishonest act
yet thy lie.

i thought i got over
lied to myself
no
my heart lied to me
saying she was but a memory

but she survives!

the winds howl
the waves crash
the boats swirl uncontrollably
and the crew scream in horror
like un-men, they shriek at the top of their voices
like men they die
in fear
in cowardice

as all

with all

like all

I cant forget you.

so. ppl and ppl. no ppl w/o ppl.

you know what i think. I think a lone person cnt survive by himself/herself for a long period of time. why? cause ppl fascnate ppl and no ppl can survive without no ppl. Think about it. what interests you the most? sure, you may list a hobby or some recreational activity but at the end of the day, you wlll realise that what fascinates you the most is people. humans.

I've been thinking quite a bit recently after one of my tutor remarked that I just need to grow up. And in a way it's kind of true, after all adults rarely talk about trust and all now do they? And i wonder why.

Does maturity mean that asking about trust or acquiring of a friendship status is non-acceptable? or that it's simply too blunt and such 'stuff' should be done with tact or subtlely?

after all, if we tell someone 'eee dont friend you' it's kind of considered sortof childish aint it? then how do adults do it?

While it has been a pleasure knowing you and no doubt both parties have experienced several lecels of satisfaction, we can not help but disagree to agree that it would be best for both of us to go our separate ways and cease to exist as two closely bonded humans but as mere individuals, untouched and unconnected with the other.

So drama. sounds like some tv drama relationship break-off script. at first sight.
Why dont adults treat the same respect and love as teenagers and kids?
Maybe that's the reason they get backstabbed. After all, u sae I nord ur fwen den u saed 'mai fend ow cud u baqstab me' why you so like dat wan.

Sometimes the innocence and simplicity of childhood astounds us and we wonder "tell me why we need to grow up again?"

after all, things change when we get older. old foundations are blown up. new walls erected. trenches dug. flags raised.

we love and hurt and love and like and hurt and love and befriend and hurt and love and when we think we found it all, the essence of what life is, we hurt by our own hurts and perhaps by the hurt we caused the hurt we thought was love and therefore we never stop loving to get hurt and hurting to be loved.

Comprendo? capire?

hMM how I used to fall aslp last time

Hey there! Guess what?! I've finally discovered how to preset the font face and size for my blog posts. Which means blog posts from now will never be the same again!

hMm I've been really thinking whether I really want an audio career. After all, reflecting upon today, audio's quite fair to me. I did a successful V.O. and failed at another. Sometimes visualising, or maybe it should be 'hearing' what your ideal product or radio commercial will be doesn't really help much because you have to factor in volume, depth, tempo and blah blah blah. and I kind of wonder, the warmer the room, the wider the range of the V.O., yet the Audio Editing Suites in school are super duper cold. Perhaps one of the reasons why my V.O. today sucked badly.

Yet, deep down inside, I know I really want an audio career. I remember when I was younger, around ten-ish, I pretended to be a deejay and talked myself to sleep. literally (no pun intended).

Back then, I used to listen to 105.5 FM every now and then and there were nights where I just could not sleep. So i pretended my bolster was a mic and just talked to the wall. I would play a CD on my Stereo Sound System and pretend I was introducing the tracks, the way the DJ introduced it on 105.5 FM.

So, well I guess Audio's the way for me. Now, it's just about which path to choose.

It's kinda weird trying to help a younger kid cause ya've been thru what se's been thru but its hard for u to tell her tt she'll get out of it alive and blah blah blah cause well, its beyond your grasp. It's kinda like watching the butterfly forcing its way out of its cocoon. You feel moved by its courage and perseverance and just want to lessen its suffering but if it doesn't force its way out of the cocoon by its own strength, it won't succeed in life. There's a certain level of helplessness knowing you cant do anything but knowing you should do something.

Yet another blogskin.

yet another blogskin. actually it ain't really a blogskin. it's just rearranging stuff around and importing two photos. which does bring up the question of what a blogskin is.

been kind of busy these few days. projects and all but well, there's a good outcome.

I've been considering an audio-related career. VO perhaps? but then again maybe that'll be a part-time job to earn cash while doing my regular work. After all, VOs dont pass by everyday.

Pardon me for not explaining what VO is.
VO stands for Voice Over. From radio commercials to the voices that you hear sprouting torturing questions for Listening Comprehension examinations to TV Commercials to basically everything audio and media. Even voices on CD-roms are considered Voice Overs.

Of course I aint quite sure what the proper title is. Voice Over Specialist? Voice Over Person? (shrugs)

Anyway, i'm 88% sure of an audio career. It's just a matter of what and where and how. Well, I dare say there's a huge market of audio needs, wants and demands, the risk is kindof high. Imagine having a cold or a sore throat and you wont earn a single penny. Or cent in Singapore context.

I still have lots to work on, namely nasality. What's that, i hear you ask.
It's the air that escapes from your nose when you speak. Try putting a finger under your nose and talk or humm. Feel slightly warm air coming out from your nose? Means ya have nasality.

Why nasality is bad? Nasality makes you sound really whiney and high-pitched.

So well, wish me all the best in my strive for audio excellence eh. Gotta get a grip on vocal tempo and clarity of speech.

I may upload some of the VO I do though. lol. Till next time, take care amigos!

new skin!

yay! after 2 hours, i finally got my new skin up. blogskin i mean la.
actually snatched this blogskin from one of my juniors and then changed like almost half of it; from the links to the placements to other stuff; personalising it.

I'm getting kindof sian of html for the moment. but soon. i'll tinkle around with it again to change the color or maybe insert a background image bah.

Well school is getting more fun.. 90% of my individual assignments have been handed up le. Only have MultiCam, Sociology Journal and Jap Test left. and group project for every subject. except apel and entrepreneurship la. of course.

Oh well. Till next time, (fingers crossed - hopefully I'll win the Opel car tomorrow. zZz ni has a macbook!!!! sheesh. i want one!) take care, God bless and have a blessed weekend!

the knowledge of something unknown

what if you knew something you didn't know before
something that was related to you
something that you never know you have
something bad

what if that something was threatening relationships
burning friendships destroying kinships
what if you never knew you had that something
and all along you never tried to be that something

what if this something is common in most man
but hard to change hard to get rid of
and there's no sure-win way of removing it

what if something came from behind
tripped you
stripped you
and places a knife to your heart
each beat becomes amplified
each breath savoured
cause there's no way of knowing
direction of the wind turning
there's no way of seeing
who's behind in front your left or your right
unsure of trust and who you trust
unsure of understand and who understands you
unsure of pain and who pains you

Yet God is in control and believe that I must!

amen.

P.C. Day 8

So today's Day 8 now. my stats dont seem to be increasing nor decreasing. well, the good thing is I thanked a bus dirver yesterday for stalling the bus for me and HE NODDED in response. Well, and all along, I thought bus drivers were people engineered to ensure that every EZ Link Card that passes them has been tapped. Guess they are human after all!

Well, other than that, there's nothing else im afraid. The project ain't successful.

Projects are like due around the corner and coming at great speed. But, it's quite ok la. i kinda miss my friends. But I must trudge on. To paradise.

P.C. 6/7

So P.C.'s day 6/7 and I have yet to greet any unknown friend. In a way, I think when day 10 comes, I'll just scrap this p.c. cause its freakin hard to achieve and sometimes i live to look for people i can greet instead of living normally. sounds kinda cliche doesnt it.

Anywya, you know what's the best thing about an ex? the foundation of trust has already been established so while it may have crumbled a little, it is easier to repair a wall than to build one.

Well, today wasnt that bad. I slept quite a lot but I did some work too, like reading through BMR Lit Review and touching a bit on Jap group drama and Audio group proj 1.

PC. Day 4

So it's day 4. My number of greetings and thank you-s are slowly increasing. Seriously, I am considering increasing the time frame of my 'experiment'. Maybe I'll change it from ten days to a month.

The only thing lacking right now, in my opinion, is greeting bus drivers. We tend to belittle the thought but it can actually be tough. You realise after awhile that bus drivers rarely, if not never, look at you in the eye when you're with them. Their eyes are either on the side mirror, their finger ready to press the button to close the doors, or their head angled to the left, their eyes glazing at some unknown area, their ears inclined towards the EZ-Link Card readers, listening attentively for the beeps and toots.

So, well, today I've said one greeting and thanked one person. And allowed someone to go first who thanked me. Ain't sure that falls under what category la.

I greeted the cleaner at my sch canteen when I went there for my morning ritual in the morning. Bleddy rain, make me so cold in the bus! Anyway, she greeted me back with a wide smile, showing me the number of teeth she has lost! Hee. Nevertheless, it's a smile.

Suck it. my number of messages was slight above 2000 for last month. [curses under one's breath] Well, I expected it to exceed but not that much! So sheeeeeet man. I've so gotta cut down. or my dad'll have my throat.

P.C. Day 3

yes! Finally! Hee. I'm kinda happy. Cause I've greeted someone in the lift. This lady that I've seen before in my block but never said hi. my mum chats with her though. Honestly speaking, my mum is super duper friendly, sometimes too friendly.

So that's one for the greetings.

And. I think Im growing old cause I can remember the number of times I've thanked somebody but not remember to whom I've said it. STM.

P.C. Day 2

So it has come to Day 2 of P.C. and gosh am i ashamed of myself.

Wasn't a courteous person at all. I mean, I only said Thank You once to a non-friend. Kind of pathetic.

Worst part was I actually had a few opportunities to greet the bus driver but I didn't! (curses under one's breath)

I am seriously considering setting the 100-man target to be reached by the end of the month instead of days. Seriously.

Ain't life sad.
We live day by day.
Not knowing about tomorrow
Not knowing that your best friend today
will be gone
vanished, poof, out of your life
tomorrow

Ain't life grand
the person you once knew
pops into your life
pops into your life and says hi
pops into your life and says hi and decides to stay
till tomorrow

And then life goes blam!
the person you know
you thought you knew
you knew now you dont quite know
leaves ur life
in a rush, in a hurry
as if chasing something lasagne maybe

well what can i say
you've stripped me apart
buildings crumbled
walls destroyed
even the vase is broken
the cord cut off

what you want me to do?
live life in the buff
where every hair is counted, mocked then yanked off?

show me the meaning. of being lonely. of being somebody. of being. you.

P.C. Day 1

So today is P.C. Day 1. Maybe you're expecting me to hold my head up high and say that I've met my daily quota of ten unknown people I'll greet.

I regret to say I didn't greet a single person today. That's not saying that I'm unfriendly or reclusive cause I do greet my friends but greetings friends ain't part of my personal project.

I woke up with huge expectancy, full of confidence that I'll meet my quota but at the end of the day, I'm shaken and humbled by my own actions.

I jauntily skipped out of the house, notebook and pen in my pocket, hoping to meet someone in the lift that I could wish good morning, ready to jot down happy stuff. The lift arrived vacant.

Not to be discouraged, I walked to the bus-stop with a beam on my face, as if telling the world "come! I ain't gonna frown, not just yet!"

I mentally steered myself to wish the bus driver good morning. Unfortunately, the bus was packed and upon seeing the uncle's stern, unsmiling, disgruntled face, I swallowed my words. Literally. My mouth automatically zipped closed, the smile blown away.

I think i'm gonna add another column in the counter. How many times I said Thank You because I think too many times we say Thank You without really meaning it. But from now on, I'm gonna mean it!

I can't help but shudder when i wonder how people can live everyday life without greeting someone. The mental preparation of greeting someone gives me an adrenaline and endophins-rush. honest! You try it!


Day 1: Failure!

P.C.

Yesterday, at 3am, it struck me how impolite I was. While I think it could be said the same of most of us, but I realized I dont smile that much. Well, to strangers that is. But I always felt that the world is full of friends and there aren't strangers but if the world is full of friends then wouldnt it not be a hassle to say hello or smile to one another even though you dont know his/her name or age or address or educational level or anything at all.

As such, I'm gonna embark on a personal coutesy campaign. I'm gonna make it a point to smile or greet a hundred people within ten days in July. I'm gonna start on 2nd July. And I'm gonna blog about it everyday. The people I greeted and their responses. And guess what, if I can do it, so can you.

Who: Me.
What: Project Courtesy (P.C.)
Where: Everywhere
When: 2nd July - 11 July
Why: To be a more courteous, warm and receptive person
How: By greeting or smiling to a minimum of 100 people within 10 consecutive days.

What else?
I'm gonna have a tagboard for you to post your comments. and share your experiences. And I'm gonna have a counter of the number of people I've greeted/smiled and the number of people who positively or negatively responded.

Till then, adios!

You.

Your body laid before me
Exposed, Open, inviting, enticing

My body shivers with anticipation
At the imaginable satisfaction

With as much as self-control as I can muster
I slowly reach forth, gently holding you

With great precision and respect for you,
I gently undress you, exposing your tender and warm flesh.
You offer no resistance.

I satisfy myself with you
licking your flesh
savouring every inch of it

Trailing my tongue over your outer layer,
I cannot help but moan with pleasure.

As you fill me.

Ah! The joy of a black pepper crab

Boo.

Wow. Quite a long time since I blogged and I aint sure where to start.

Lemme see.. let's start with school. Holidays are coming. Last week was quite a struggle. The various assignments due and the emotional ups and downs, like for ym jap assignment it was to my horror that i found my transparency ink smudged and the pictures incorrigible. Thank God for the kind cher who allowed me to go and reprint. And I watched Hotel Rwanda for Sociology lesson. My gosh, it was so sad. But I like their soundtrack. Feel like downloading it. Illegally of course. BMR wasn't that bad. I've learnt quite a lot about gay psychology and do you know, there are actually three genders. We all think it's just Male and Female but there is a third gender that's called a neuter. If you think it's like being neutral, you're right! Neuters are born with neither male nor female reproductive organs. In fact, one of them actually mentioned in one of the books i read, he/she/it sees which toilet has the shorter queue and then uses that toilet regardless of the gender symbol on the toilet.

emotionally, quite a lot has been going on. I survive only by praying that God bless those who curse me and bless more those who bless me. And only with this prayer have my life gone on. Cause it seems like every step forward I take, I end up two steps back. But if i hesitate in stepping forward, knowing I am stepping back, I am already stepping back. I pray for God to make the path for me that a step forward becomes a leap.

Heh. I promised earlier on about blogging about my pri 5 crush and I'm gonna do so now. It's kinda weird that I can still remember significant events about my pri sch, erm, love life. I can remember my first crush happening in pri 1 and that crush happens to be in my cg now. But. fast forward to pri 5, after like, maybe 3 to 5 crushes, I meet her. heh. let's just call her julz for short. It was kindof an irony that time cause, there I was 'chasing' her, and Siang (a close friend since pri 4, also same pri eca) chasing qi min, a girl, from choir (same eca as julz), and finally there was marcus. Also same eca as me and he was also chasing another choir girl. It was like, three guys from AVA chasing three girls from Choir. Come to think of it, Qi Min was probably the first crush Siang had ever, in his school life.

Even now, small nuggets of memory surface. I remember, on one occasion, noting the similarities between me and Julz. I recall, then, we were having Moral Ed if im not wrong, (or was it called CME then, sheesh i cant remember) and we were closing in prayer. I was looking at her and it came to me that the way she prayed and the way i prayed was the same. Diff people have diff positions of praying, some kneel, some bow their heads, others dont, some clasp their hands, others dont, and some interconnect their fingers so that their palms actually kinda cover their eyes, which was my prayer posture that day which was her prayer posture that day too.

heh. I remember playing five stones with her and other 'family members'. If I remember correctly, we had a 'marriage ceremony' at the benches in between the monkey bars and the basketball court, where daily soccer matches were held during recess and before/after school.

I remember we exchanged letters occasionally. I can recall one incident. For me to pass a letter to her, I had to pass through the girl sitting beside me, Yvonne Lim, (from shps to shss to tp) and on one occasion the teacher caught the letter-passing act. Yvonne took up the blame. That incident's etched in my mind.

I remember I used to call her often at night just to chat. I can still remember her number. hehe. That is, if she hasnt shifted house or changed number. heh Bedok Reservoir Road.

Yet, 7 years down the road, I dare say I and Julz have several similar characteristics bah. We were both, sociable with the opposite gender. If i were to call her a flirt, I would be calling myself a flirt too cause that's the similar trait both of us have. We were sociable with the opposite gender. Up till this day, I reckon.

Those were the times. of marbles at the big tree near the basketball court. of five stones at the car porch. of hopscotch beside the staircase that led up to the hall. of mee soup that went for fifty cents or a dollar and huge doses of pepper were shaken into it and people dared to drink it up. of a piece of potato with curry that filled half a bowl and went for fifty cents. of ten cent biscuits that were of black and white colors. of students just cutting queue.

Those were the days.