Misson Impossible

Tues, 29 July evening met up wif Kel n Sebastian. Just doin some shopping at Pac Plaza. Waiting for Jeremy then. Sebastian left after awhile and both of us ended up at Lido. Had a little adventure..hehe ( had a adventure in the morning too when me and Jeremy can't find his car after b'fast. Went searching high and low in Bedok South neightbourhood. This neightbourhood is really big.) Ookie back to Lido adventure. In case some of you might not know, there's a private garden up above the ticketing teller, above the big screen. It's on the 10th floor in the open air. The pics with Kel doing the hand thing and me at the ledge were taken at the garden. The garden is usually closed to public and you need to climb over the gate.

Went off the Holland V(again). Met up with Dickson, Ronald, Amelia and her friend, Marilyn at Breko(again). The girls left earlier 'cos they got to work the next work. Chill again.. and i found out Ronald like latte too..*smile* Charmaine came later for while to say hi.

Met up with Jon on wed evening and Charmaine and her friends, Phoebe, Veron, Nelson, Eugene and Kentie. Suppose to met up Susan cos she's flying today to Taiwan. Bon Voyage ger

Chill at Holland V

"Disney Fest" just started. Wasn't that bothered with the "mickey mice and donald ducks."

Met up with Jeremy and Dickson after their tennis game. Went Holland V for late dinner. Saw a couple of friends. Carol, ASh, Shanlyn and Nick. Went Breko after dinner to chill out. Amelia came to join us later. Nick too. Dicky look shagged after their so-called healthy day. Guess the work in the day + game in the evening thawed him away.

Did some catching up with Jeremy at his place(that's like 2am in the morning) after holland v + exchanging ideas n info. boy we came that far. Both our priorities changed, horizons broadened. it's easy to say, screw the law, go do your major instead. but with age comes maturity, and with them, responsibilities. when you're 15-18, you can afford to dream about saving the world. or changing it. but when you're 21-24, on top of grappling with bread and butter issues, it also becomes a case of not so much what you want to do, but what you should do. i won't feel at ease if after all the efforts of the last decade, i blew it all on an ideal. the ideal that i wanted to make a difference in others' lives.i won't take a career that's going to pay well and allow me to live well. it won't make sense.

As far as i am concerned, the stakes is high. The dare to be different. And i'm betting on the stakes. Youth. when i m 40 or 50, i don't want to stop, look back, and think, i screwed it up. that i could have had it all - all my dreams come true.
above mentioned is also^ adrian loo's post qoute plus xiaoqiang's thoughts & feelings.

Saw a picture in TODAY's newspaper on the cover page featuring a whale shark was tied with the rope at the tail. The whale shark with unknown reason was washed up to the shores in China. Fishermen tied it to attract tourist. Curse the chinese fishermen.

"may the fishermen strike by lightning even the sky is clear or no CAT 1 status."

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Cancer today : "Don't count on getting help from others today. Go it alone. Someone may think that you like them more than you do.

Qiang's today's Chinese Proverb:
"If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words."

Qiang's today's Japanese Proverb :
"The reverse side also has a reverse side. "

Qiang's today's Biblical Proverb
"Don't run too far, you will have to return the same distance. "

Went back camp on Sun. Wasted my time there. Shan't elaborate much about it. B'cos of this stupid thing, i can't go to Zoukout. It was raining heavily before i met up wif Shawn & Joanna. Send Fred off at the airport. His mum & Dad and gf, Jennifer was there too. My cam was low on batt but managed to do some shots. His dad is very healthy-looking despite his old age. Both old folks are very friendly. Jennifer tried hard to fight back the tears, but in the end... you know *sob sob*. The lady who took the group photo for us was very beautiful. Too beautiful to be a mother of three. Frankly speaking when i approached the nearest guy to take a picture for us, he turned to his wife, said " you are better in this. " when i looked up to pass the camera. I had this shock.(0_0) MY GOD~! the wife looked so beautiful. Really!

Too bad didn't really catch a pic of her.

Went to Bliss after that. It's a restaurant-cafeteria lookalike subsided next to Punggol Park. Food is cheap and nice atmosphere. But the food came abit slow. Recommendation from Shawn is Ham & Cheese Sticks. It's really delicious when u had the melting cheese inside your mouth.

Many(who know me for the 1st time) asked me if i am doing my 2nd degree.. i drive.. marketing manager.. had masters..real estate agent... etc. The answers i gave them always left them speechless. Maybe i looked like any of those mentioned aboved. Or i speak like one. But no....I'm sorry that i'm neither one of them. I am still a national slave who has 27 days left in my contract. But to all these questions, be it they asked truly or they asked for the sake of asking, they did boast my morale and ego. i think i can easily pass off as a broker or any of those above .(^.-)

Any company wanna hire me?

Last night was a long night. Decided to get out of the house eventhough my head was feeling giddy. Suppose to meet Frederick, Shawn at HIDEOUT. Beer n trance weren't in my favour last night. Sorry pal...next time.

Met Kel, Michelle & Ian and Steve. Kel was at Flesh Imp buying clothes..the shop had Converse Sneakers going at $15 instead of $23 with purchase of a T-shirt. Had dinner at Noodle Bar at Heeren. Didn't really had dinner there, i had mine at home. Went for dessert instead. Their Peach Fantasia ran out, so i had a Mirabelle Plum. Steve's slippery hand toppled more chili powder in his noodle..tsktskstk.. *wahahah* Mich's lips looked abit swollen. Tomyam huh? Kel had Green Curry( which is my fav.) What was Ian having? Jeremy came after they had their dinner for a while. (i've something to write about Jeremy later^_^..) Jeremy came with his newly bought p**is-size |-_-!|phone Sony Ericsson P800. Wanted to catch a show with Dickson, Jeff and his friends. but they forgot to buy my tickets. (.\/.)

Jeremy left a little while later and We hit this " WALA WALA CAFE BAR" in Holland V. This 2nd Storey was packed + a Live band going on. didn't really like that place. But we decided to chill outside the cafe. Ian had this " hoegarden beer" pine-size( in Europe, beers come in pine, in S'pore beers come in mugs or jars) It's really HUGE. Didn't really had anything..don't wish to interrogate my head. Nick came later. Kel was snapping some "obscene" photos with my cam which i decided to delete them from my cam.^_^ Still the night at Holland V brings back some fun memories i had in my poly days. We had this "hand slapping" game which Kel called himself a pro..wahahah but Mich was fast though. And she hit really hard.

Jeremy came and we went for supper after settled a place to meet Dickson and Jeff. Ian & Mich went back their own. okie this place is near NUS, call Fong Seng had quite a variety of food; nasi lemak, cheese prata, bla bla bla.. But their nasi lemak wasn't that nice. the rice and chilli wasn't that great. but i am hungry, so who cares.. Met Michael. Ok, guys, if you wished to meet NUS or NTU girls, you might want to go to that place.

Jeremy send all of us back.. The trip to Nick's new place was a long, long journey. Nearly hit one of the motorist. Close shave for all in the car minus away the swearing. then we were talking about how i met this guys.

Kel>> I met him in one of TP's basketball competition during my poly days. Both of us was sub-com for it.

Nick aka Nicholas>> i met this little boy at one of the Karens'(there's too many karen) house party at bukit timah. that was like so so long ago.

Jeremy>> wahahah this bugger.. i met Jeremy during the early days of IRC-ing when they had this irc meeting thing. i still remember the channel name, #slackerz. Jon and Hanwei intro this wonderful group of friends to me which we still hang out together after so long.

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*picture deleted*

Exclusively for Jeremy * deleted*

Changed new pic. gonna try something..

I was counting down to Friday which was also the last working day for me. Yesterday was a rather surprising day for me. My whole office was hoping that boss would say the golden words. Not until yesterday when my CPT announced 2 days off for us.. I went point-blank................ I was like huh? 2 days? the i only got tomorrow and Fri to clear my day offs..which means today is my last working day..~ Wahoo~!

I draft a farewell mail to those in my camp wishing goodbyes and wishes.. I really had no idea this week would end earlier. But the sad thing is i had to come back to work. My Chief Clerk begged me to come back. You can never expect a Master Sergeant to beg a poor corproal the way she beg me.. Even my CPt cannot stand it. eww~ I agreed in the end.. which also means my ZOUKOUT on Saturday is gone... i can't go...Geez..*sob sob* i will miss you guys there.. *sigh*

Last night, watched a movie and played pool with Adrian, Hai Liang and Eng Tat. Met their friend, Michelle. Think i met her somewhere before. The movie " TOMB RAIDER 2" is abit crap. And it sounds damn funny when Angelina Jolie speaks mandrain. The gadgets is cool so there is still a plus point. You can never imagine people in HONG KONG, living in a Junk had a LCD satellte TV. Go watch the show only if you like Angelina Jolie.

i just found out the arcade centre, E-Zone in CineLeisure has closed down. There is a KTV and a Pool/ Billard place below the " Singnet HELLO" Shop in Orchard Rd.

I saw a newspaper article last week saying that the heat of keeping clown fishes went up after the animated movie " Finding Nemo". Today's LIFE! featured an article again. I totally agreed with the protesters. Singaporeans who bought the fishes have missed the inherent messages in the movie. The sentiment of the movie was on the the father finding his son after his son was kidnapped.

Parents should educate their children probably and not buy them the real fishes. There are toys, internet or even reading up on marine life to put the message over. It's call PAMPERING and not EDUCATING if parents buy the fishes cos their children likes them. It's even selfish of them if they bought it out of blatant greed.

I personally felt that the clown fish should be put in where they belong. The oceans...NOT any aquariums. Their beings co-exist with sea anemone and corals reef. F.Y.I, corals is fast depleting and they are dying. They are all part of the ecosystem. The so-called "perfect marine "aquarium probably kill the poor clown fish due to unconditioned water/ salt content, temperature. And cursed those local fish traders who wished to make quick money teaching the wrong things to the newbies of rearing fishes.

ARGHHH~! angry~!

Haha. i have only 4 working days left. counting counting..*tick.. tock.. tick.. tock.. tick.. tock.. tick.. tock..*

Yesterday, the dinner was at Toa Payoh Lor 8 coffee shop. but this stall is call CHUA ++ something something ( can't remember). Only to realise that the owner of the stall is a village mate of my grandma at the end of the dinner. Met a few relatives whom i never seen before. Met grandma's elder sister's eldest son. Met grandma's 2nd sister. Met the rest of the cousins. Got teased by grandma's 2nd sis that my teochew sounds funny. duh~..only realise it's because of the teochew we spoke at home is different. Cos my dad is a "poh leng". There are a few kinds of teochew too.. ( -_-!) "Poh Leng " cook the best teochew food according to my grandma. A important lesson of the roots was learnt thru the dinner.

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today's Cancer : Concentrate on doing something important that will bring you satisfaction and a feeling of
accomplishment. You can lend a helping hand to others, but don't donate money.


Qiang's Chinese Proverb: "Don't build a new ship out of old wood."

Qiang's Arab proverb : "Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure
of thy desire. "

Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

Haha. i have only 4 working days left. counting counting..*tick.. tock.. tick.. tock.. tick.. tock.. tick.. tock..*

Yesterday, the dinner was at Toa Payoh Lor 8 coffee shop. but this CHUA ++ something something. only to realise that the owner of the stall is a village mate of my grandma at the end of the dinner. Met a few relatives whom i never seen before. Met grandma's elder sister's eldest son. Met grandma's 2nd sister. Met the rest of the cousins. Got teased by grandma's 2nd sis that my teochew sounds funny. duh~..only realise it's because of the teochew we spoke at home is different. Cos my dad is a "poh leng". There are a few kinds of teochew too.. ( -_-!) "Poh Leng " cook the best teochew food according to my grandma. A important lesson of the roots was learnt thru the dinner.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
today's Cancer : Concentrate on doing something important that will bring you satisfaction and a feeling of
accomplishment. You can lend a helping hand to others, but don't donate money.


Qiang's Chinese Proverb: "Don't build a new ship out of old wood."

Qiang's Arab proverb : "Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure
of thy desire. "

Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

Haha. i have only 4 working days left. Hurray~ counting counting..*tick.. tock.. tick.. tock.. tick.. tock.. tick.. tock..*

Yesterday, the dinner was at Toa Payoh Lor 8 coffee shop. but this CHUA ++ something something. only to realise that the owner of the stall is a village mate of my grandma at the end of the dinner. Met a few relatives whom i never seen before. Met grandma's elder sister's eldest son. Met grandma's 2nd sister. Met the rest of the cousins. Got teased by grandma's 2nd sis that my teochew sounds funny. duh~..only realise it's because of the teochew we spoke at home is different. Cos my dad is a "poh leng". There are a few kinds of teochew too.. ( -_-!) "Poh Leng " cook the best teochew food according to my grandma. A important lesson of the roots was learnt thru the dinner.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
today's Cancer : Concentrate on doing something important that will bring you satisfaction and a feeling of
accomplishment. You can lend a helping hand to others, but don't donate money.


Qiang's Chinese Proverb: "Don't build a new ship out of old wood."

Qiang's Arab proverb : "Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure
of thy desire. "

Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

Qiang's Biblical Proverb :
Don't run too far, you will have to return the same distance.

Qiang's Chinese Proverb:
"If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words. "

Cancer today - Don't count on getting help from others today. Go do it alone. Someone may think that you like them more than you do. Lucky Numbers : 3, 16, 19, 34, 38, 49

An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you do.
Dylan Thomas (1914 - 1953),

Ex is over...Finally..which also means i get to clear my leave soon..wahahhaah..counting, counting and counting.

Was at Zouk on Friday 18 July. They were having this " Girlie girly stuff event". Yes, there's alot of girls. Many many more. Was meeting Dickson and saw Shanlyn(ermm..i think it's spell like tat) and ASH . maybe Pebbles, Ashley and Wang too..(the latter three went liquidroom instead). Met Hanwei. Introduced to Karen and Dixon(hope i spelled his name correctly) Met Danli and gotten introduced to Angela( from Friendster) It's damn crowded in Members'. Hanz recommend a new drink. Lychee liqour + 7 up, quite a sweet drink though, ladies' drink lah. Got it for one for one. Saw Matt, Vincent & Mei, Ronald...and long lost Donna

Now i really wondered where is Kelvyn. Ian too.

Met Amelia and Adeline. Met a couple of guys from BMT recourse. And i saw Federick. He really put on weight. Plenty of food and drinks huh~ in Australia. Missed him deeply man. Adrian was there but didn't get to meet him. Probably dancing away with Matilda at the dancefloor. Saw Jeremy & Geri. Matt was gone after the 1st round of 5-10 game. But earlier, everyone was buying him drinks..caught him on a KFC ad on saturday morning tv ..Wow~~~! Mei was abit moody due to the crowd. Karen was high on beer. but she's good. in fact, she resembled someone but i just couldn't make it out who she is. 2nd round of 5-10 got me abit high then.. BEERS~ now where's Jon & Candice?

Slept till 11am on Sat, 19 July. Went Chinatown. Had dinner with Lip & Jol and Jonathan Boey at Boon Tong Kee. This Boon Tong Kee was probably the only in town that offer other dishes other than chicken rice. Like Hor Fun, Beancurd in Claypot. Then we were at this very oriental departmental store, can't remembered its name. 1st floor was the necessaries, 2nd was clothes. 3rd floor was those sweets, snacks and herbal stuffs. You Mei Shu wine was going at $37.50 /700cc. Lip spotted a bottle of wine which cost 3k. When he held the bottle to his eyes, a staff came closer. hmmm..Nothing happen actually... 4th floor was antiques..Then i saw this poem almost found everywhere in this floor.

Nice to look, nice to hold,
Once drop, consider sold.

wahahah..to think the chinese trying to show how "powderful" their english is. Saw something which caught my eyes most. A nice, professional hand craven book made of wood. It's made up of 2 block of wood. the outside was designed like those ancient scriptures. The inside is just the inner plain of the block with every single chinese character craved clearly and space evenly. moreover it comes in a nice box with a magnifying glass.

Went off to meet Kelvyn and Ian. Saw Jeremy & Geri and Amelia at Starbucks, California Fitness. Introduced to Lynda (or Linda?) Lynda was Geri's real sis which i thought she was Kel's sis..hmmm..Chat a while and went home. Wasn't dressed to club. Jeremy & Geri and Lynda went off earlier. Ian went off to meet his friend. Poor Amelia..she lost her hp at the toliet.( curse the bitch who took it, muahahahah~) Luckily her sis was around the area.

going off to Grandma's house later for dinner.. plus abit of catchup with the elders.

LAND OF DUCKS

okie.. new photo uploaded. Solve the problem with Dotphoto.com. Hopefully it stays this way..^_^
Still stuck in the middle of the exercise. Geez..When are they going to finished? *sigh~* Lunch and dinner still sucks. The most incredible thing SFI( Singapore Food Industry) can do is that no matter how they cook,the meat, vegetables and beancurd taste the same. Same taste, same colour. They are extremely generous with the rice and stingy with the rest of the dishes. Last night, i was queueing up for my dinner which then i asked for little rice. Then i asked for more vegetables. The beloved auntie tried her very best to give me just one stalk more after the usual serving . ??? (.\/.) You know that she could have scooped up a ladle full of vegi again but NO! She didn't.

Today, i changed a new strategy. i asked for more rice, and tell you u mght not believe it. The aunties are so generous with the dishes. i gotten more vegi and meat. No wonder they say " Seeing is Believing".

Been getting high with caffeine. At least 12 cups a day.. the next time you see me, look out for my coffee stained teeth. Been partcipating in their prolonged Ex Meetings, which i what they were saying. I felt like i am a chicken roaming and trying to survive in the LAND OF DUCKS. The topics are dry and boring till they are so effective in hypnotising me to sleep. Every now and then, i tried to slipped away with sip my hourly dose of coffee to keep me awake. In case you might not know. I am not the kind who have to drink coffee everyday. But it seems like i turning into one soon. i feel like i've been drugged.

hmmm....dotphoto seems to have problems...i getting abit annoyed... i will try to rectify this problem..

Remember.

Sat, i ended my work at about 5.30pm.. Went back home, changed, and went off to meet Roger, Lip & Jolene and Jon. Sat was a whole wet day though. Bugis Junction changed abit, here and there. We had dinner at Billy Bombers. Their serving is still, BIG.. Went Marina Square, Jolene bought a number lock. We were browsing thru some books for the next planned trip, New Zealand.
I wanted to join them in Krabi, Thailand in August, but *sigh* money is always the factor the stops me. I need the money for reinforcement in August and Sept. I guess i will just have the photos they bring back for memories.

Sun, i was at Clarke Quay where i met Cynthia( from TP Design) at the flea market. She was entertaining to a lady customer. I went," hi~" and walked off. But this trip at Clarke Quay weave back my childhood memories. It was TOYS~! TOYS~! Transformers, Visionaries, Centurions, Masks, StarComs, Smurfs, Carebears, Gundams, etc.. I still rememebered that during primary school days, i would run home to catch the 6.30pm cartoon shown on CH 5 Mon- Fri( my primary school is next to my flat).
Remembered i could recite the spells in the Visionaries.Remembered i had Carebears' sticker album. Remembered that i threw my tantrum at my parents to buy the toys for me..whahaha... Nowadays, kids played mostly with computer/ video games.

But I still prefer my era.*grin*

qiang says : "He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever."

============================================================
Beautiful Dreamer
by Stephen Foster

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd a way!

Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng, --
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea
Mermaids are chaunting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.

Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart, --
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

qiang says: " when the news of the Ladan and Laleh death broadcast over the media, i wasn't feeling anything. perhaps, i didn't know them in the 1st place or i felt the lively personalities. Is is their real personalites; or they knew something going to happen. Therefore they gave their last burst of fiery?i did met them once at Marina Square.

According to the papers, "Landan and Laleh means fragile flowers in Isaerl. "
Fragile flowers yet stands strong. On this earth, we humans are still considered small eventhough we self-proclaimed as the most intelligent beings on this earth.

Yet a tiny tremor from the arms of mother nature will left us, humans on the bream of survival & death. Perhaps we shouldn't go against what was meant for us? or we shouldn't go against the will of heaven... i remembered once a wise man told me this,

" a man greatest capability wasn't giving birth nor saving lifes, wasn't scaling the highest mountain nor dive the deepest ocean. Wasn't shouldering the history of mankind nor explore the width of the universe.
it is to create a miracle."

the wise man is called xiaoqiang * wahahahahah*.
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a friend

Standing by,
All the way.
Here to help you through your day.

Holding you up,
When you are weak,
Helping you find what it is you seek.

Catching your tears,
When you cry.
Pulling you through when the tide is high.

Absorbing your voice
When you talk.
Standing by when you learn to walk.

Just being there,
Through thick and thin,
All just to say, you are my friend.

- Brittani Kokko -

Yesterday, i had my dental check-up at Tuas Naval Base. The trip there was not very enjoyable. 1st, the trip was long. It's long even when i took a train from Clementi MRT to Boon Lay MRT. For those who are waiting to do their Dental FFI, you can take bus no. 257 from Boon Lay Interchange to Tuas Naval Base. The bus route is a loop and the bus trip wasn't short too. It went from housing estates to those heavy industries. For the first time, i felt minor when the bus travelled thru' the heavy industries areas. Big cranes, big wheels, big tyres, big iron rods, big concrete drains..etc. AND IT STINKS THERE!!

All this journey took about 45 mins. For those who have had experienced waiting to consult a specialist or doctor. It was no different either. Waiting evolves into boredom. And the water cooler was shut down because of SARS too. *argh~* When it's my turn to see the dentist, it only lasted 5 minutes. All this long journey plus waitng time is about 2 hrs. Appetizers = 2 hrs, the main dish = 5mins. I gave a " aren't you suppose to check my teeth?" look at the dentist. He just looked at my teeth, said something to his assistant and said " it's done."

Short stories - Smirking


We were ideological enemies. Ever since uni days when we sat on opposite debate teams - she all for capital punishment, me all out against it. She seemed obnoxious and rude then. I hated her for what she stood for and how she behaved.

We had classes together, she loved arguing and would pick to bits our opinions, then give her own as a finality. I hated her criticisms.

We started arguing one day, I was so angry I was on the verge of screaming at her. She continued to smile and smirk and argue back. Finally, I exploded and gave her a slap in the face. She retaliated by grabbing me to her and kissing me! I was so shocked I couldn't move. When I finally did manage to move I slapped her again and walked off.

But, here's the thing...the kiss felt so good...and so right! I was so confused. From that day, I began to look at her differently. She continued to be the same, smirking at me until one day I realised her smirks were shy smiles.

One day, I smiled back.

Wosh~ haven't partying so hard for a long time.. I seldom go clubbing that often as most of my clubbers fren know. Last fri (July 4) and sat (July 5) , i went to Zouk for 2 consecutive nights. Both nights was fun.

On Fri, it was "ZOuk-In" It's the 1st time, Zouk allow flip-flops, bikinis and beachwear into the house. i went in my normal jeans n t-shirts after an ugly experience of people stepping on my toes. i pity those toes of others.. Bikinis was everywhere and it was eye-catchy when the UV lights falls on the white strips of the bikinis. Sometimes you just can't keep your eyes straight. The organisers also had a this big sand-pot in the dance floor. Yesh, it's sand, ferns, coconut tree, coconut leaves rooftop..Trying very hard to simulate a beach in Zouk.. Met Pebbles, Ashley and Wayne...It's been long time since i last saw them..They were all looking fine..doing fine.. Pebbles changed a new Honda Civic car... Quite fancy it but it's abit small for me.. whahha

Sat, was Clara's( Jeremy's sis) Birthday at Zouk. Gotten her a bouquet of sunflowers. Could gotten her iris or something else.. Unfortunately, most of us can't get into Velvet. Anyway the music is good. Zouk's in-house DJ, Aldirin was spinning..Can't remember what was he spinning though. But i met Matthew who came back from Australia. Met Adeline n Amelia (kel's frens) . Ian got his share of teasing the angmos n girls. Michelle is gone~ last nite... wahahah.. was going to Clara's house for another 2nd drinking session..but i was too tired liao..

woke up today at 2pm.. phew~ what a weekend to spend..^_^

Always be nice to those younger than you,
because they are the ones who will be writing about you.

Cyril Connolly (1903 - 1974)

You will find that the mere resolve not to be useless,
and the honest desire to help other people, will,
in the quickest and delicatest ways, improve yourself.

John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
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qiang says : "it's another episode of qiang's regret story."

Singapore True Love story - " Then i accompany you to wait for the transport."

(also playing Beyong - Love)

The year 1997, i just enrolled into Temasek Polytechnic. Studies was rather easy for me. I wasn't paying attention to studies since it was easy. So the 1st thing i asked every morning wasn't " lend me copy tutorial.." or " got study for today quiz?"; it's " where are we going after lesson?" Still, my results still have distinctions in them..*grin*

So much playing involves high expenditures. I went to pick up part time jobs ensure my parents that it will not harass my results. i got introduced to "stewarding" in Westin Hotel down at City Hall. Nice name huh? Stewarding.. Don'be mistaken. It's actually washing the dishes. There, you met extreme people. Aunties, uncles, ah lians n bengs, apple-polisher, etc. All with different background, complicated, complex, simple. Some do for quick money( you get the night's pay in cash on the same night) Others just want to have something in their ricebowl. One thing that is a plus point is you get to eat your meals at the staff canteen F.O.C , free of charge. that saves alot... at least for the old folks.

Stewarding works hand to hands with Banquent's staff. Banquent's staff are usually bengs n lians.. alot of wannabes.. the best is when u heard one skinny ah beng talking loudly to some lians" i want to be Xinn Ga Por Chen Hao Nan!" wahhahaah...(Chen Hao Nan is a gangster in a hongkong famous movie) i usually laugh at their stupidity and actions.. I had my mop hair then which quite a few ah bengs envy. they couldn't keep long hair because of their scope of job. they can't stand the dirtiness of the washing too.. so they just looked or sometimes stared at me. when some ah lians came along n said they admired me for my long hair.. i just smiled. This will send some ah lians go "hehehe" or blushed that night. And this also send those ah bengs who want to "sian" the ah lians to stare at me..wahhhaahha

i gotten to know a Banquent staff, let's call her XL. My job at stewarding is to bring the soiled dishes and glasses to the washing point. her job is to serve the dish out to the table(s) allocated to her and bring back the soiled dishes to me. Sometimes when i saw her carry a big tray of plates or glasses, i will offer my help..not just to her alone.. but sometimes she carry until she was slanting to her sides while walking...i will run forward to help her.. broke a few plates here and there lah.. but we just laugh over it.. sometimes when the newer Banqent staff broke a hill of plates or glasses.. i offer my help to sweep for them.. i guess they aren't have the strength to carry the whole tray full..

I can't really remember how we got started talking but it's like those teasing here and there kinda of thing. Then it's year 1998. Things started to get abit different. A few times, after work n wash-up, me and the stewarding crew will eat at the staff canteen. Sometimes it's 2am in the morning. XL work late too. We are waiting for the vehicle to send us back at the drive-in opposite of Raffles hotel. Sitting there, waiting, waiting. Then came those ah bengs n lians usual noise. Hahaha.. those were days when one try to talk louder than the other. My mop hair was a trademark i guess. XL came over and squatted in front of me. i looked up and she asked" want to go to Victoria street to eat supper?" (in mandarin)

"i 've eaten. anyway now waiting for the transport." (in mandarin)

" Then i accompany you to wait for the transport." (in mandarin)

"Not nice lah, your friends is waiting for you. You go ahead." (in mandarin)

" orr.." (in mandarin)

It's just a few minutes. although i used to look out for her a few times. But i never realised she is sweet in her own way. Especially after she let down her hair after bath. And the shampoo fragrance. She did asked me a few times to join her and friends to eat supper. But i turned down the offer. Then still in 1998 Feb, the saturday before V'day, She asked me whether i 'm free on that day thru pager. That time pager was a "IN" thing.

i went " huh?"

i was rather surprised she asked me. But i told her i will be working on the day. She said we could meet up earlier and maybe a game of chess at marina square. I nodded at her request. The sad thing is that i didn't turned up on the day. cos i was in the middle of 2 persons..One is her..another is my fren who fallen out of love on Vday. I chose to accompany my fren instead.*sigh* When i turned up for work, she was there sitting at the security table. I thought XL said she wasn't working on that day???? hhmmmI remembered she did give me a sad face. I felt remorseful when i didn't showed up and only told at the last minute. *sigh* that working night wasn't happy for me.

After that night, a few nights after work. i did paged her, leave her a voicemail or did the alpha-numeric thing.
she usually was with her friends. I was feeling rather 1/2 dangling in the mid-air. Several occasions when i saw her with her frens or some guys during working. i felt sour... it took me a rather long time that i realised i did have a liking in her. But that was too late.. Everything was too late.

The same year when we had our 1st Xmas dinner also at Marina Square, Breeks. I asked her out along. The present wasn't a fanciful kinda of thing. It's a sailor calender round and specially designed in such a way that you can find which day the date falls in a week from the year 1997-2000++.. All you need is rotate the movable disc on the top. it is extremely correct. Today, you can't find that calender anymore..

i only wished that XL is fine, healthy and she is happy with the man she's with. For, i was a guy who never appreciated her and took a long time to realised i like her too. The song mentioned above is also the song i used to listen after work in Westin's Staff canteen jukebox.