Dear Dreams – Page 239

Blackie strikes again

Last friday, into the main office…

Me: Where’s everyone?

Kuku: Oh they left for late lunch.

Me: Oh ya, you told me Joo Joo has key tags right?

Kuku: Yes, but they are for the STC building.

Me: (Damn.. that day he told me I could get them for my building, else I would have asked Joo Joo to indent some with the spared budget he annouced and now it’s too late to ask for it)

Me: Okay..

Kuku: But if you want, just tell me the number and I will ask Joo Joo to get them.

Me: I thought the budget was given to other departments already after the deadline he gave us?

Kuku: Don’t worry, Joo Joo has high power; he has the say to get anything. He has other funds.

Me: Okay then, help me to ask him okay? My building has many rooms’ key tags spoiled already.

Kuku: Okay, we will get those rubber ones… -Blahblahblah- … -Blah-.

Me: (Whatever. As long as I can get the key tags)

Kuku: The army will never give your Quek so much power because he’s always having fever.

Me: (Ya ya.. he means Quek is always “Chao keng”)

Me: Falling sick isn’t a crime right?

Kuku: I love Reuben Ow. He last time guided me when I first came here. -BLAHBLAHBLAH- But don’t know why he suddenly kept getting MC also.

Me: (So much bullshit.. how to get away from the conversation?)

KuKu: Did Quek go to your office yesterday?

Me: (Fuck.. what is he up to?)

Me: Oh ya, he went for course yesterday at STC

Kuku: BULLSHIT!! (very loudly)

Kuku: He left after the break. I wanted to learn it and that was why I stayed through the whole course until end of day.

Me: (So he’s just trying to shoot at Quek)

Me: But yesterday we were still calling him over the phone to settle stuffs over our side. He was able to know what equipments we had and then give instructions. Everything was done smoothly by him.

Kuku: But that doesn’t mean he can just do that.

Me: Okay, I got to go back already.

(gone with the wind!)
If this goes on, there will be a surpass in the number of teachers – male ones.
This topic was quite hot for a moment in camp last week.
The all girls’ school has this rule of confiscating the girls’ bras if they are caught wearing coloured ones. This is of course absurd and might as well make them to strip down to the last piece of cloth.
Guys would not want to wear a translucent short without underwear underneath, so why would girls? Even for a dirty-minded guy like me, I think it is damn indecent for girls not wearing bras under their almost see-through uniforms.
If I were one of the victims’ parents, I would have sued the principal or even the school; if I were from one of the higher board of MOE, I would have definitely sacked him or her.
It is so interesting that people of a much higher education can be more insane than me. They are trying to tempt guys like me on the street when their students are on their way home.

Out of love again

Morning I could hardly wake myself up. I was supposed to update on my overdue journals but my alarm clocks lost to my lack of sleep.

Gilbert had informed me early in the morning that he would be late for fifteen minutes and thus I decided not to go so early. I could have still made it just nice to the 9am meeting at Chinese Garden MRT station when Kian Wee called me up suddenly to meet up first.

Just when my train was reaching Outram Park, Kian Wee called to inform me that he was walking up from the NEL. Reception was bad but it was not the main problem, at least it was better than the directionless Kian Wee (lousy SISPEC) asking me to alight immediately. So, I thought they were taking their own sweet time to stroll there but Kian Wee actually thought I was at Tiong Bahru and had boarded my train. In the end, we had to meet up at Redhill.

So, Kian Hwee, Kian Wee and I were late for around fifteen minutes. We met up with Reuben and Gilbert and proceeded to Jurong East Swimming Complex. There were crowds at the door and at first we thought we had to change our plan. Chua reached there soon and together we went in.

Our expected breakfast, KFC, turned our food desire down and that we had to give a shot at the canteen inside the complex instead. Two bucks for the entrance was somehow quite expensive. Kian Hwee got himself a box of “Chwee Chow Fun” and I quite like the idea as well until the auntie asked him to put all the sauces himself (how the hell we know how much to put?) and so, I took up the six pieces “Chwee Kueh”. Each box cost two bucks and the foods were awful, especially for the “Dao Pok”.

We rented a float to share. Kian Wee and Kian Hwee locked their locker without putting their slippers in but luckily I had not locked the one Chua and I were sharing. Then, we started at the Lazy Pool which was not so cold and after a few rounds, we went to the slides. Gilbert took the first shot at the blue slide and then we tried to get Chua up who refused. I took the second lead and up the stairs I saw a girl in blue swimming costume.

The day changed ever since. I was of a short distance behind her, looking at her back and trying to remain cool at the same time. Just as I thought she was a normal girl and most probably not much of quality as luck was always not on my side, she caught me insane. As we reached the top and a string divided us from the lifeguard who was just a few metres away, we were quite lost. I soon figured out we had to make a big round over and so I directed her.

She said “You first” in Chinese and my heart started to melt by her sweet voice. I replied the same and she repeated, swinging my heart like sitting in the pirate ship; nevertheless I was still able to remain calm. I was drifting under her smiles though I could not really see her face clearly without my spectacles. Maybe I was just addicted to girls who could smile that innocently and happily. I decided to be a gentleman and lead the way then.

Just as we reached the start point, I turned around to go first since she was actually queuing up before me. We recited the “you first” a few times and she did not know my heart had already liquefied and evaporated. Calm but lost, I told her to go first since I did not want her to hear my screaming later on. So insanely I spoke but managed to convey her to go first. Nonetheless, she used her smiles to attack me again and left me frozen at the top as she went out of my sight. When the lifeguard asked for my height and weight, I looked at the paper – she was 165cm and 55kg.

Down I went and then I started searching for my new girlfriend. Kian Wee took over the float and I saw her go up again. She was in front of him and thus I was a little disappointed when Kian Wee reached the water. But my perseverance to stay there was fruitful as she came down after a kid.

Just as I was still wondering whom she came with and whether she was attached, Kian Wee told me she was not pretty except for her figure was excellent. But it was all about her sweet voice that was mesmerising me and I had never even tried to look at her figure when we spoke, though it did arouse my interest even more. So, I took the next try but she did not go up again.

And then she was missing. I was totally distracted throughout the day. We moved on to the wave pool soon when the hourly waves were activated and I was hoping she would join in. I swam near the boundary line and kept looking back, but it almost seemed like I was losing her. I went back to the slides after some time to try out on the yellow one, which I had not played since so long ago; she was nowhere to be seen again.

It was until the last waves activation before we left, she seemed to be at the slides again. I was very shocked to see her again after the waves had ended. She was with a big sized guy and two little boys. I was totally lost about her age but I guessed that was her dad and two younger brothers. I had this strong urge to go forward to ask for her number but her dad was around. I wanted to hang around to look for chance but my gang wanted to leave already.

After bathing, I wrote a message and torn the page out from my old notebook. It was my last resort – I went to the uncle who was renting the floats and asked if her float was returned. He was quite confused until I explained to him but he denied to help me.

So, I left the place in disappointment. The tiredness and sleepiness aided in bringing me down too. Knowing that it was almost impossible to get to talk to her again, it was depressing. Though Singapore was small, it was not easy at all and even if I were to meet her on the street one day, I would not be able to recognise her.

We took bus 99 to IMM for lunch and there went my money again for the lemon chicken rice and later Durian Mt. Fuji (dessert). Actually it was quite well spent for the five bucks meal, which I actually let the plastic handler of the soup go into the burning fuel under the chicken. Chua was so funny that he kept digging my bowl of dessert after I invited him to join in. I was dead beat by then. We waited for the shuttle bus while I dozed off so many times and finally decided to stroll over to the MRT station instead.

Meet the twins

Friday was finally the meeting with the twins – Pretty Yun and Fatty Si. It had been a long time since I last saw them.

Both of them were shy especially for Peiyun, who kept asking Ah Si to accompany me to go somewhere else. We went for dinner at KFC and Peiyun insisted in returning me the treat she had owed me around three years ago. I was not used to it (girl’s treat) at all and that my actual intention was to give them a treat instead, I declined but she resorted in stuffing the money into my bag.

Since I went there right after booking out, the heavy bag which contained my uniform and boots together with my injuries shagged me out. My back was aching badly but I made it a point to maintain a strong front.

We went to the Giants as Ah Yun wanted to buy some food. I was surprised that she loved cooking and that she would certainly be a good wife in future. She was kind of chasing me away embarrassingly, in a sweet tone that I was quite confused by her. Later on, I found out that that was the first time she went shopping with a guy.

Both of them were unexpectedly sweet but Ah Si had developed a big waistline since they had stopped playing volleyball. They invited me to Jurong Birds Park to watch Ah Yun with her performance and they could smuggle me in somehow. Ah Yun also had tickets to the Singapore Zoological Garden.

I got a new notebook

I can finally change into a new notebook after scribbling into my current one for more than half a year.

It is as lengthy as my journals’ webpage and certainly more, for all the draft works I had done. There are a few song lyrics, list of people attending outings and also the ROC diary which has not been typed out completely.

Gilbert had helped me design a simple book cover and carefully wrapped it up with talc, such that the original plain dark green hard casing cover had a total change of looks.

Soon, I will not be holding the old black notebook (year 2001’s AIA diary book), which people usually mistake it as bible if they never see the inner pages.

My new notebook is actually an older AIA diary, for year 2000, but the pages are still white and empty. The attempt to use it is to save money and especially to save paper. I also know well even f I were to get a new one from a bookshop; I will not bear to use it as well.

Now that my new book is out, there is a serious problem with the usage. It is of effort and hard work Gilbert had put in and that the book had actually worth more than any fantastic designed one you can get in bookshops. It will take too much courage to start writing anything onto it.

When I consult Gilbert about the new problem, he suggested, “Just write neatly lor.”

Soon, I will be putting all my thoughts onto it. In the meantime, I have to see that the more immediate required information is copied from the old one so that I can leave it lying at home.

The third SI anniversary

Finally, the Signal Institute third year anniversary is over. I have spent almost two days full at the MPH (multi-purpose hall).

It was Tuesday after my long weekend, I stepped into camp to hear the news that Benjamin and I were tasked to in charge of the sound system for the whole event. I thought it was alright since I was going to have helpers.

It was so sudden when I was first told to set up the system in an hour’s time. I was not confident at all since there was always cock-up. Anyway, there was too many communication problems between the upper level and that we actually just had to prepare the equipments by the time and the organiser would send his men to carry them over, and from then we would start to set up.

I felt Shawn was not very organised but he was extremely friendly, respectful and humble, so, I decided to give in my best once again. He did not settle for the position to put all the systems and on the first day I could only test up the system to make sure it could work.

Lunch was a few mouthfuls before I was hurried to go back to the MPH above so that Benjamin could go back to the office. For the rest of the day, I was waiting there by myself. I did not even have time to fill my water bottle to take my medicine. There was basically nothing I could do except to look after the system as the SOCC (Signal Officer Cadet) wanted to loan it out and we planned to pass them on the spot.

I was all alone but too sleepy to get anything written for my journal. The isolation was kind of sad even though I loved the peace. I felt like a jailbird actually, that I could not leave the place at all time since I was responsible for the stuffs there. My phone kept ringing by people who tried to find out the latest situations but nothing was done to help me at all.

As the organisers got back to clear and decorate the place, I finally had some entertainments with the craps they could come out with to create happiness while doing the shit job. Their warrant officer came and took over the more dangerous job straight away, which really demonstrated how great a leader he was. However, I really hated staying inside when I was the only one idling around, but my physical fitness could not grant me from doing anything and that Shep would not be pleased if I meddled in other people’s business.

At the end of the day, SOCC did not come over, but they agreed to tie down with the organisers the next day for their rehearsal. So, Shawn signed out for the equipments, which were left behind at MPH – he and his team were really cool about it.

The next morning, I went over early to prepare everything. The organisers were enthusiastic like the day before, trying to get the media rack connected such that I was kind of being blocked from doing my job. I was cool with it since they kind of knew what to do, but had to worry somehow.

I did the taping of the cables neatly all by myself and made extra effort to put table cloth to cover up the ugly tables used to hold the speakers. Even for the rostrum microphone, I went up and down the stage repeatedly to test and adjust the volume. Calling back office to get more equipments were hours of waiting each time that I really wished I could leave the place to get everything by myself. It was quite depressing for working without my colleague when I was only tasked for in charge of the event and not tasked to do it alone.

Discovering the faulty microphone cable was in fact the key to the success of the event. Previously, we were using the same cable, which was the main cause to the buzzing sound and that we did not realise it and had to lower down the sound of the system in order to reduce the noise, such that the sound was not solid anymore.

Though I was working with a fun bunch of people, there were still unpleasant stuffs, like the warrant officer expecting me to provide everything which he had not stated for in the first place. It was ridiculous for me to come out with them immediately and he should be the one contacting Shep to request for the items – not me. He also scolded me once for replying Shawn in Chinese – I was not talking to him in the first place. And that during the start of the event after certificate presentation, Miss Lee came over to drop me some food when she saw that I was not queuing up for any and soon the waitresses brought more over; he came over to chase us to the corridor some steps away to take our dinner and then he screwed us again for not leaving anyone to maintain the system. I quickly gobbled up the food and went back and soon, Benjamin came to take over me so that I could have my fill of food.

The event was a tremendous success. It was not only for the very solid sound system, but also the aids of the enthusiastic workers from the organisers, the good MCs (Masters of Ceremonies) and the sporting audience. I was shocked to witness so many talented singers. I was not sure about the others but I was so high at times, especially when the sound system was almost completely set up by me (definitely requires more people).

Suddenly, Chen De came over to ask Benjamin and me over. Quek had bought so many cans of beer to treat the whole branch and invited us over to drink and talk about the success of the event. He promised both of us to give a day off and it was effort being paid. I was happier for the effort being recognised, which would not have happened before Quek arrived in my department.

The DY commander announced the ending of the event and soon the crowd dispersed, having all the songs dedicated not sung. Packing up was fast but we left the equipments there for the next morning to collect back. I wanted to stay to help the organisers to pack up but Benjamin suggested it was not part of our job scope. I remembered the guard duty personnel for the night as my friends and I packed up the left0ver food to drop them at the guard room. At 9.30pm, I finally left the camp with my heavy bag.

My full day of medical appointments

Yesterday was a strengthless day with my back aching tremendously, which had weakened my whole body. There was soon nothing I could do to stop myself from dozing off while resting.

Even though I needed not book in for I had medical appointment, I woke up early for the 8pm physiotherapy appointment. It was a blessing anyway for my effort to be able to admire good scenery; girls from ACJC were charismatic. I was queuing up for the shuttle bus when I realised there were few people there. I quickly took a peep at the signboard, which wrote the first bus timing as 8pm, forcing me to cross over to take the public transport.

I was twenty minutes earlier. The security guard told me no one had drawn the keys to MMI yet and suggested me to go to the canteen for my breakfast first. It was weird to be in an unfamiliar place alone, but the cost of the food certainly delighted me; I bought a fillet bun with a two bucks note and the cashier returned me $1.40.

I almost caught Kenneth on the lift but I was too weak to run. The next lift was fast and we met up at the door. It was good that I needed not wait for more than half an hour again this time; however, the eighteen instead of the usual ten to twelve gym items awaited me. I helped him open the windows binding and then had a chat at the counter while waiting for the laggy computer to run.

I started off with the hands cycling machine which I usually used to warm up with. It proved that my back had worsened once again, and my movement was restricted, paddling almost drew my tears down. I could usually do it smoothly, even to exceed the given speed, but this time I had to even reduce the resistance. I did not do the rest of the stretching and strengthening properly since I almost could not move my back.

I was the first and last person to use the gym, so hardworking like usual; unlike others who left in a while by not following all instructions. I called Ou Xiang (Peifeng) up for lunch but her hall was quite far away. I woke Robin up who told me he had an assignment to be submitted in less than two hours’ time (And he was still sleeping?). So, I went home straight to eat the mini instant noodle.

I hurried off to Raffles Hospital after my lunch for my MRI. I was twenty minutes earlier and the nurse told me to leave the appointment letter on the table. It was weird for SGH (Singapore General Hospital) usually had a tray for that and I was worried that they might forget about my letter.

The ambience and the sofa-like chairs could comfortably put any patient well. It was just a few minutes after two, someone woke me up by calling for my name. I was then told to put on a robe before entering a room. Then I was given two ear plugs and told to lie down on the bed. I was then slide into the machine. It was a simulation of a coffin and I realised vampires might have installed air-con inside their “houses” that they were able to doze off comfortably like even though it was very noisy inside.

Meaningless

Suddenly I begin to think about myself again in a depressive mood. I’m falling behind from everyone in terms of fitness, knowledge, skill and other attributes.

When is the Oscars awards presentation? Which car is expensive and what is it called? I have never paid close attention to any. I do not spend time to update myself about the current affairs, I’m not taking up civilian driving course, and I’m not learning server-side programming, not revising my old work.

What is life? Is life just about working and surviving? Where should I go and what should I do? If life is so meaningless, why should we live on?

Just when life is so tiring and frustrating, we still have to move on.

My Taiwan bubble tea girl

A few days ago, I received an email for invitation to use Yahoo Messenger from my Taiwanese chiobu. I had tried it before and it was not as stable as MSN. Since most friends had long abandoned ICQ and Yahoo Messenger, I did not bother to use them again, apparently I had less problem of laggy system.

Yesterday, I decided to try the Yahoo Messenger out again and she appeared at night. This girl was the first and only (so far) girl whom I had approached to take photos with in the street, in a foreign country somemore. She was the bubble tea girl in the city of 斗六 (Dou Liu) in the central of Taiwan, but currently she had found a job at Taipei.

Chatting with her was tedious for she was not educated with English. Suddenly I realised I could not type the olden Chinese words, which she was using, but luckily she was able to figure out what I was typing. Although my Chinese standard had dropped so much, I was still able to understand her words as well.

It was great to be able to chat with her again after so long, after she got back her internet access in her new house. Somehow I was still regretful that I did not bring the Olympus C-750 along during the trip as Ben just could not produce effects that were satisfying enough.

With the cancellation of the current SOCC platoons’ Taiwan trip this year, I was not able to go there again, unless I were to pay for the ticket on my own. So, she made a request, probably a causal one, that if she ever comes to Singapore, I must be her tour guide; hopefully her boyfriend would not come along.

BeachFiesta 06' and Ah Teck's 21st birthday

Last night, I came close to a fatal car accident. It was at a roundabout near Clementi where the driver failed to stop before entering with the incoming cars on the right. Being sloppy at the late hour, not noticing anything when I was dead beat, as well as being uncomfortably squeezed in the back seats, Tze Khit’s voice brought me to attention and I noticed our car get into the middle of two cars which were at great speeds. That was how lucky we were, because if the first car had travelled slower or the second car had travelled faster, we would be hit; that would be the end of lives for three yandaos, two chiobus and a freak (Weitat).

It was the day for Beach Fiesta 06′. Huiqin had registered two teams for us. Freak and Kamikaze were the team names, which the rest of us got to know only on the day itself. We met up at Seah Lm food centre, Harbourfront as usual. Kailin and I were the early birds, followed by Wilson who drove Mingfa along. The rest were all latecomers. We set off in two cars, comfortably into Sentosa, towards the beach carpark.

The sound system terribly sucked and it was then I started to appreciate the systems in my camp, which I had been handling. There was a beach hunks and babes competition, with the females having thick make-up, which was such a big turn-off; none was impressive except for the air they carried.

To begin off the game, there was a cock up made by Huiqin who forgot to add my name into the list and thus we were missing a shirt. As I anticipated, we should have put in six names instead of four or five since the amount paid was the same, that we could get extra shirts.

Having each game with a set of fifteen points to determine winner was absurd, but we were very confident to get into the next round, until we started to merry around and lose points ourselves when playing with a lousy team. Tze Khit would have bashed them up with his spiking if we were playing on a concrete court. However, the ex PHS team managed to thrash them down to one point (a serving mistake) and then we beat the winner; judged by point system, both able teams got into the next round.

However, we did not manage to survive through the next round to the semi-final. The opponents managed to scare Hengyung, the referee, to give us a demoralising judgement at the crucial time last few points. Our ex Clementi Town, Chung Cheng High Main and Nanyang Girls’ High star players were already rusty, whereas Desert Penguin and the injured shortie could not do anything as well. In fact, I did not play except for one and a half game, and luckily for that, I had less pains for the rest of the day.

The day was actually quite boring. The sun was spanking each of us so hard that we could not really think. It was also making my eyes more uncomfortable and the tears were continuously filling up my eyes. There was no eye-candy except for one of the organisers having a unique face though not pretty. One of them looked like Evania but I was too lazy and tired to try my luck. Pauline brought her two dogs down and they caught so much attention as usual. Mocha, the older dog, repeatedly barked at the huge regular black dog who did not give a damn to him and kept so quiet throughout; Hebe joined in too and her size was more than ten times smaller.

We ended the day early at five plus, showering at the open area as all the toilets were packed. We gathered at Harbourfront Centre while Wilson sent Pauline and her babies home after we alighted from his car. I had the Taiwan Shilin chicken cutlet, which I felt could have tasted better. We bought a watch for Yang Teck for his twenty-first birthday, before Tze Khit, Mingfa, Meijun, Weitat and I squeezed into Kailin’s car to set off for West Coast Park.

It was the first time I visited there before it was re-constructed. However, the construction was still going on somehow I supposed, with the fencing up of the most inner parts. The MacDonald’s’ was nearby to provide food and air-con. The playgrounds were such big attractions that there were so many people around even at late hours. It could be so much better if there was a bicycle shop and of course, would be the best and certainly better than East Coast Park if there was a beach. Despite these, it was a good idea to organise an outing at the West Coast Park one day.

I got to see Yang Teck and his twin brother at the same time, together with their elder brother. They were all tall and huge. There was a big crowd with all their friends and relatives. It was the first time I had my fill in a Barbecue session, when I normally hardly had a few slips of food.

While sending us to the MRT station, the accident incident happened. Tze Khit and I had some chats about my injuries on the train and I reached home around eleven.