There is this stall, in AMK’s central hawker centre, that sells desserts which my friends and I often frequent during our secondary school days. We would never fail to drop by this stall after our soccer kickabouts and order our favourite bowl of cold cheng tng each. So much so that the stall auntie and uncle somehow know us by face.

Then as the hawker centre undergo renovations to a so-duh-more-feng-shui-influenced-one, the stalls shifted here and there plus my friends and I rarely meet nowadays as one whole big group, we get to eat cheng tng no more.

Yesterday I happen to pop by the hawker centre again and well, not being that hungry, decided to search for that same old but refurbished cheng tng shop. It was quite easy too spot it surprisingly; it must have been the feng shui.

“Uncle! One cheng tng!” Damn he had forgotten me, or rather my face. So I handed my money to the auntie and somehow her face gleamed a little when she looked at me, or maybe my face.

“Ehh…” (I just love that look when someone recognized you even after so long. It’s so… sincere.)

“Wahh auntie you still recognize me ah?”

Maybe I didn’t change much, or maybe my face didn’t. The uncle finally recognized me but I can feel that he’s still unsure who I really was till I opened up the topic of betting in the Euro 2008.

That was what my friends and I always talk to him about because he knows we like soccer and we know he likes to bet. In a way, he sought for advices from us on who and what to bet on.

No, we didn’t bet on soccer matches. We just see the odds and predict who will win the matches. Really.

So we went to rattle on about how shitty Italy and France were and that it was risky to bet on them. Holland was on a roll and I gave him my word that they would win the whole thing. He never really change after so long, did he?

Somehow I think he took some English classes. He no longer speak the typical ah pek tongue that I was so used to. His pronunciation were so much more clearer and his big words really caught me off-guard. Plus that new pair of specs that he wears… fuuuuhhh! Classy cheng tng seller man!

What a couple, what sweet memories. It’s these things that made me realize staying in AMK for 20 years and counting isn’t that bad after all.

Now we’re feeling what the Africans have probably felt for the past 50 years or so. Maybe not even close but the temperature’s getting there.

Now we’re concerned about going green, cutting down on gas emissions blahblahblah. Last time your Science teacher teach you that the polar caps are melting and it has thus caused the sea levels to rise… you don’t want to listen right?

Now I’m rooting for Holland/Netherlands/Oranjes for the Euro 2008, hoping that they’ll finally shake away their tag of being a ’sleeping giant’ and win the cup. Don’t let this year’s tournament be another Greece-folktale please, I’ll fall asleep.

Now Singapore are no longer dreaming of South Africa 2010, I start to wonder why. To lose 1-0 away but 7-3 at home and then give the excuse that they’re just having a bad day is utter nonsense. I watched the soccer final of SUKMA XII Terengganu and I dare say these Malaysian youths are capable of whipping our national team’s asses.

Ismail Faruqi - remember this name.

Now I don’t think I’m going for Singfest 2008.

Now I don’t think I’m going for a D40, EOS 350D or even the wide-angle lenses for my Panny.

Now it’s 3 more months before Tekong extends its warm welcoming hands. My friend just texted me this morning saying that training is so damn tough. And he enlisted only last Tuesday? And he’s in the Police Academy? But I’m pretty sure that I will survive!!!

Now is the school holidays but the number of youths going for Friday prayers seemed to be lesser and lesser(level 3, Al-Mutaqqin mosque is a favourite spot for Malay youths). I wonder if the 2 factors are linked. My friend said that they pray at go to Orchard instead.

Now SingTel’s broadband deals seemed to kill the market with its ‘FREE laptop/PC/Macbook Air’ deals. But hey, you gotta sign a almost 3-year contract with them? Now that’s a rarity and daylight robbery if you ask me.

Now anyone else uses Skype?

Exactly one week ago…

I saw my mum being so proud of me for the first time in my life. She never said it but somehow she showed it. Quite blatantly I guess. She went on to laminate my cert for it to be put into a booklet, have another copy to be placed in a plague and ordered a large-sized photo of me shaking the Director’s hands. (Damn, I should have made an impromptu pose with him.)

It was certainly much more worth it than having a studio shot over at Serangoon Broadway which initially I don’t mind for a once-in-a-lifetime thingy, but the auntie’s hard-selling ticked me off. Sorry auntie, bad customer service = bad impression = no deal!

I felt bad though that she had to take a 45-min bus ride alone all the way from Dover back to Ang Mo Kio. Continue reading →

Is it just me or 2008 seems to pass by so fast? Half a year has already gone by. In these 6 months, I completed my internship which unofficially marked the end of my poly years, went on stage on grab my “diploma”, celebrated Babe’s and my birthday as well as our 2 year anniversary.

Now everyone is embarking in their own little journeys that will bring them closer to their goals. Some of my girl friends suddenly disappeared from the local radar, only to be retracked studying in Down Under. Some are jumping straight into the corporate world full-time; the part-timers are just awaiting their entries into the local universities.

The guys? Well the earliest batch of enlistees that I know of is this month so it’s just a matter of which day. What a way to celebrate the end of our teenage life eh?

I’ve seen Babe go through 3 different projects thus far and come July she’ll be off for another one. This time she’ll be away for one month plus or so without breathing the Singapore air. A few weeks later, it shall my turn to be shipped off to that sacred land.

Then I’ll open another chapter of this online abode that I’ve been confiding in for so long…

It’s 2am and I can’t sleep (yet). I’m waiting for my hair to dry. I was doing some other stuff that made me delay my bath and I just can’t let my wet hair touch my comfy pillow.

Speaking of my hair, I think I’m finally gonna cut my tresses. I guess I’m just sick of this long-hair-syndrome. I had my crowning glory days, pun totally intended, and now it’s time to move on. Maybe I’ll go to a barber instead of a salon for an unexpected change. My dreams are gonna be reality soon anyway - to be like Wentworth Miller aka BOTAK!

It’s so weird that I’m narrating my daily life. I’ve rarely done this and always wonder why people do this but I guess I realized why they do so ’cause it’s kinda therapeutic. Damn that was a perfect example of a grammatically incorrect sentence.

I’m spending the much of my days, pretty much bumming at home. Somehow one by one things are cropping up in my life, preventing me from contributing to the workforce. Ad-hoc jobs are perfectly fine, something which I’m really grateful for to certain people.

I’m barely touching 20 and I’ve gotta serve my country real soon so I personally see no point in carving a career within these short few months. I’d rather do things I never had the chance to do within this time frame. ’cause in 2 years time, I’m sure I’ll be a changed man be it for better or for worse.

So let’s see what I can do or rather wanna do:

1) Do more photography. I wanna work around my FZ50 and overcome its limitations.

2) Be fitter. Really.

3) Learn elementary Chinese language. So far I can only understand a little what people say but I can’t really respond to them ’cause my brain somehow slows down when it processes Chinese characters and that irks me. Another perfect example of a grammatically incorrect sentence. Kids, consult your parents before reading my blog.

4) Read up on photography ’cause I don’t feel prepared to move up to a DSLR yet even though I’m damn tempted to do so. If my dollars make any cents sense, that is.

5) Spend time with my family and friends. It has paid off slowly so far. I’m understanding them better and starting to see life in a different perspective, which is kinda refreshing since the teenage air is kinda foul.

Let’s keep it at 5 for now. I think my hair is dry enough.

Some things are worth more than money. Others are just priceless. You decide where you wanna put the price tag.