random nostalgic distraction

While, as most people who read this would know, i don't really care much for most things Chinese, one exception is with regards to some of the old Channel 8 SBC shows. When i was in primary school especially, i'd watch them all the time. At one point in time, there was something called 'one plus one' (yi jia yi), with two shows back to back, but then later it changed to one seven o'clock and one nine o'clock show. And i've concluded that if i were not interested in these shows, i probably would have flunked my Chinese all the way through primary school to PSLE (and goodness knows how things may have turned out if that was to be the case, but as usual, that's another story)

Yeah so anyways, one of these shows was Crime and Passion - i'll always remember it for teaching me that oleander is a poisonous plant. That's cos Zoe Tay's character killed her hubby midway through the show by using oleander branches to skewer meat and serve him satay. Just as well, cos she pre-empted him trying to kill her by mixing insecticide into her salad dressing. Totally random, i know...



There was another show (among many others that i found) which i had almost forgotten about, but when the theme song started playing i realised i still more or less remembered it (music + lyrics - the latter not being much of a stretch since much of it is aiyoaiyoaiyaya). Thought it was quite cool that i could still remember so much of a song from 1991 though...

location frustration

I must have rambled on here before about how staying right smack in town isn't all that it's made out to be. Inevitably, when someone finds out where i stay, it's usually followed by comments along the line of "wah, so lucky!" or "so you must be very rich!". Of course, i then would have to make it clear that either comment made is not true, at least not the way i see it.

It's usually easier to convince people that the latter is not true, after a quick explanation of the circumstances that have led the family to stay where we do stay. The former, however, is somewhat harder to brush aside. Unlike many others, i don't really see the value in living within such close proximity to the town center. So what if i can make my way to Ion by foot within twenty minutes? The hoards of people that i would encounter both along the way to and from there and in the place itself are way more than i am really comfortable with, and in any case, the chances of me making a purchase there are probably next to nothing (Certainly not from Louis Vuitton, or "elvee" as many a S'porean auntie would call it due to the fear of pronouncing it wrongly - and in their defence, well they usually do, kinda along the same lines as Hermès ends up rhyming with "perms").

And at least until the current agreement runs out (and i'd dare you to call me unpatriotic when i tell you that i'm hoping, not so secretly anymore, that it is not renewed - for me F1 as a whole is an unnecessary mass emission of carbon dioxide), every September the latest reason for me to lament staying where i do roars its way back into town. I of course i am referring to the darn S'pore Grand Prix. Staying where i stay and working where i work, it's become practically impossible for me to avoid being grossly inconvenienced by the road closures that i have involuntarily been made to accept in the name of the boost to the local economy and what not.

It's not too bad in the morning, since i leave for work at such an unearthly hour that there never is a jam along the diverted bus route, though it does add a good five more minutes to my bus travelling time, and disables the rather handy "time till the next bus arrives" digital info screen at my bus stop (i dunno what's its proper name, so it is hereby christened as such). When i've been taking the bus home this past week though, that's another story, as most of the possible buses that i can take use Nicoll Highway, which means there has been more than my fair share of being stuck in traffic (and btw, you have to appreciate the SBS Transit staff who have been stationed at key points along the temporary bus routes - i recognise one of the frequent bus inspector aunties among them; and the police too - both of these groups who probably would otherwise never come within an F1 car's exhaust's whiff of the race). On top of that, the high-pitched buzz from the cars is very audible from my place. I may stay on a hill, but i nevertheless get all the noise without a smidgeon of a view of the darn noisemakers themselves. The worst of both worlds, if you may...

So next time, don't offer your raves about where i stay. I'd prefer your condolences :p

Wake me up when September ends

So the 20 days of reservist came and went, with nothing much that i can talk about (cos well there was nothing much that went on) and i have to say that i thought it went quite well actually. At the least, Seletar Camp is quite a nice place. I'd take some pix to prove it but well of course that would not be allowed, so you've to take my word for it. For starters, managed to spot quite an impressive variety of local bird species there including more Long-tailed Parakeets than i've ever seen anywhere else, even in Changi Village. I sure don't remember them from five years ago, though perhaps it was just that i was too blur then to notice.

(Actually, it's been eons (if at all) since i've remarked on anything to even remotely do with the SAF in a positive light so well maybe the proverbial toto/4D buyers should make a beeline for their nearest S'pore pools outlet.)

Unfortunately all this came to an end on Tuesday, and as expected, the first days back at school haven't exactly been in the same mould as the days back in Seletar. In fact, there has turned out to be even more things to do than i thought there were, and whatever excess sleep and rest i did manage to get in the past close to three weeks has been cancelled out within the past two days. And in the same way, whatever sense of refreshment and recharge there may have been is long gone.

But hey, it's not all bad. And there's the year-end holiday to look forward to. Once i finally decide where it'll be at, that is...