I had some discussion with my younger brother and eventually I went to sleep at 2.30am. Failing to doze off, I joined my elder brother. I woke up after 10am and went to the office.
Mike and I had our lunch at the second storey of Tanjong Pagar. He was then harassed by the car company Eazi Car Rental because they insisted him to pay the money for the wear and tear car battery. He got pissed off for the first time in front of me but I thought his temper was much better than mine.
We walked back to office and discussed over how Singapore’s review website had sided companies, probably because they were paying money for advertisements all that. There was no honest review site that allowed users to post bad reviews without being moderated by the companies. Therefore, a nasty company could easily get lots of fake good reviews on Singapore review websites. We even suspected that most of the so-called good reviews were written by the product or service companies themselves.
I had a chat with Vanessa finally after she commented on my Facebook. She thought I was doing great with an office space but I debated with her that it was Mike’s success because I did not get to contribute any amount of money. However, the conversation was short lived as usual because she was busier than me.
Mike left the office earlier to settle stuffs. I left during the evening to The Cathay’s Starbucks. Along the way, I saw that most of the shops at MacDonald’s House building were closed. Though the days when I was rushing projects with Soon Siong and the university gang at Starbucks was tough but I really missed them a lot. I had a cup of frappuccino while I tried to rush some work for the tuition agency, working on a new page regarding facebook.
It was not long before I went over to Plaza Singapura to meet up with Jenrine at the Long John’s Silver for dinner. I had quite a long chat with her over there, telling her the situation of my site. We went over to The Cathay to meet up with her boyfriend and I treated them for the movie.
Back at home, I continued with my work and at times when I wanted to ask my younger brother stuffs, he was too busy.
I started work on the home tutor Singapore page to list the tutors using Ajax. It was a stressful morning. Seeing that Lucky was bored and nobody seemed to have taken him down for a walk, I took him down alone after 3am. He refused to dump his waste downstairs but luckily the poo ended up on target at home. Clearing the newspapers was much easier than clearing the poo on the floor directly. I blogged and went to sleep near 9am.
I woke up at noon and started packing up. I went to Mount Faber Safra to join Peh and Gilbert for our post-birthday celebration. My stomach was causing problems. Anyway, Gilbert made a Doraemon cake by himself. After celebrating by the pool, just outside the gym, we started swimming. Gilbert and I were too lazy that we only went for four laps before we started chatting at the Jacuzzi.
We went to Lock Road for dinner. It was Indonesian food and the sauce for the chicken was quite nice. However, we wasted a plate of mango salad.
After Peh sent me home in his new car, I continued working on my tuition agency site.
Upon reaching the office, I was plagued with the fact that the banking colleagues were leaving. I was numbed in my brain. Their shifting to the Bishan campus was nothing compared to my dad’s departure more than ten years ago, but soon, I was going to feel so indifference without their presence. One day, I would be hearing their noises out of nowhere.
This morning, the office was noisier than before for the SYOG teams were preparing for the afternoon’s training. I helped out a bit. Joy and Hirman were already at the battlefield bravely with the HCJC volunteers while Weitat was obviously luckier to be leading the Cedar girls in the afternoon. It would be a very good experience if only I had my language skill improved that I would be able to help out. Obviously, I felt left out due to my incapability.
All of them were gone and I thought I would really be alone until Mingfa called me out for lunch together in the rain. He came over to pick me up soon and we went to West Coast market. The chicken chop was overrated. I felt quite bad for Mingfa had to take the extra miles to specially fetch me and send me back when he could easily cross over from Clementi Wood Secondary School after his morning coaching.
The tidying up of my resume was beginning to turn into a nightmare. It seemed like never-ending. I was very amazed with Josephine’s knowledge and nothing could really show my gratitude for her assistance.
In the evening, Hirman gave me a ride. When we were at the gate, he managed to attract the attention of Sie Sie by banging the left mirror but he remained cool and cheerful. We got Sie Sie to hop onto the car and we happily left together since she was on the way to Capitol Tower, which was near my place. However, we met very heavy traffic jams at AYE and Hirman turned to Holland Village but we had too many fans on the road to slow us down badly. With the radio news reporting that ECP was filled with zombies, Hirman changed his mind and decided to take CTE instead. Alas, he dropped us at the Central, where we transited to the train.
I knew well the journey would be longer than taking train directly at Clementi but did not expect the jam to cling onto my legs. I was cool with it since my main purpose was to chat with Hirman but Sie Sie could no longer make it for her Yoga class and thus, she decided to go to her usual workout place - UOB tower - instead.
Instead of having Monday blue, I settled a for a Monday black. It was one of the rare occasions that I would forget to bring my wallet along. The waiting time for the lift was more than ten minutes with weird people boarding it to waste extra time.
Lunch was together with Weitat and Joy at IMM. After going to both Starhub and M1 shops, we went back to the office. I was wondering if I should get an iPhone since the price had dropped a lot. However, the short battery lifespan and instability continued to bug me.
I did not pay careful attention to the time and just nice, Joy offered to give me a lift to the MRT station. We met Zaki on the way down and he offered to drop me at somewhere near his place, which I turned down since the journey would be longer than taking a train; I would not want to carry a heavy bag over my injured shoulders to walk towards Dhoby Ghaut MRT and having to cross over to change train at Raffles Place.
Soon, I regretted since he would be going over to Bishan soon and that I would not have such chance to chat with him again after that.
Kachua arrived at the college early from work and we went off to IKEA for dinner. The special meal for the day was fried dory fish. It was in fact quite normal and overpriced, but I liked the simplicity.
We walked around the furniture department on the second level and my sights were on the chairs and sofas, which were too big for my house. The entire place was freezing and I regretted changing into my shorts and slippers. The coldness almost made my toes cramp. We went to Anchor Point after that for a quick shopping before buying a hotdog bun back for Jingkun.
The games were quite nice. Eventually, we did not go out for supper. I was glad that Kachua was around because I would get a free lift. This time, we met David on the way to the gate and Kachua offered to give him a lift as well, dropping him at Pasir Panjang Road.
I had another great day. It had been a couple of months since I last played badminton. It was the first time I used the new racket. The six of us, inclusive of Hirman, Weitat, Jingkun, Mr Neo, Dorothy and I rotated to played doubles. I was totally off form and kept missing easy hits. However, the company was great.
Dorothy kindly brought us (Jingkun, Weitat and I) to the nearby coffee shop for dinner in our smelly jerseys and bodies. That was the second meal of the day, which we had together. After that, she sent us back to the campus before going home.
We were too tired for volleyball. I could have done so much better if I was not distracted in the office earlier when I was trying to trim my fingernails. The long nail instigated fears in me and I did not dare to hit the ball, which caused a lousy performance in front of all the girls, women and aunties-to-be.
After washing up, Weitat sent Kok Chiang home. Then, he drove Gin, Tony and I to my place. The prata shop was surprisingly closed for business, and we shifted to the Golden Café coffee shop.
I had a great Thursday after so many months of dull days. I stayed alone inside the office until Tze Khit called me. I met him up at the canteen before Kachua joined us.
Volleyball was fun. I felt good that I did not do as lousy as the previous time to disgrace myself again. My team lost most of the matches but we played with fighting spirit, which was more than satisfactory.
We went to Newton for late dinner and I started digging into the remaining of my chicken cutlet, which Weitat bought for me just right before the volleyball game.
It was the first time I took Tze Khit’s van and Kachua’s Malaysian car, on the way to the hawker centre and then my house.
It was one of the greatest nights ever with the companion of so many volleyball-mates. Even though we were lack of many others and could never get together in a larger group, the night was awesome enough.
Last Friday was a meaningful day. I had chances to render help to others on my free will.
Hard work was never too bad with good colleagues around.
Lunch was great with Dorothy, Jingkun, Weitat and Elvin at West Coast Plaza’s Dian Xiao Er.
In the evening, Magdalene, Weitat and I took Hirman’s car to shop for Jenne’s birthday cake. Poor Hirman was staying behind to decorate the place. I was full of guilt because he had to take cab in the darkness after that to join us. Anyway, the shopping was fun. We went to Chinatown Plaza and realised the cake had to be pre-ordered. Then, we walked to Amara Hotel and saw some stylish looking cakes and decided to order one. We had sushi to fill up our stomachs before setting off. My extreme lack of sleep put me to bed during the journey.
Timbre @ Old School was a cool and cosy place to hang out. However, the hard fish and chips sucked to the maximum. However, other food tasted quite well, such as the chicken wings and pizzas. There was a high price to be paid for.
We went to Zaki’s studio apartment after that and the night was filled with interesting craps. The fun and sincere people touched my heart.
I took a free lift from Weitat on Tuesday evening home from office. He was going to fetch his friend at the old Gan Eng Seng School campus near the railway station.
It was drizzling, which probably answered to the mystery of three car accidents in Singapore at the same point of time. Moreover, there were also three cases of car breakdown, which kept Weitat’s journey fully occupied.
The mass traffic jam did not affect me a lot since I did not have any class or date for the evening. However, it took me an hour to reach home and I almost dozed off completely inside the car during the prolonged journey. Even though my usual MRT journey was only twenty minutes, exclusive of walking and waiting for the train, I was more than comfortable than squeezing with the ungracious people.
Wednesday evening, Hirman waved over to me when I was leaving the office. He was going to the airport and would pass by my place.
The comfortable trip back was so much better than squeezing in the train with so many uncivilised people; moreover, I had a companion to chitchat with me.
I could not help but to indulge in being sent home.
Last Friday was the final two assignment submission of the Database module. The struggle inside the office to accomplish the task 4 and assignment 2 caused mild headaches.
I refused lunch out but luckily, my buddies changed their minds and decided to stay in school that I did not need to packet my rice from the canteen.
I failed to progress much in my work. However, it was a good learning process to piece my UML diagram from papers into MS Word. It was never my fore.
Just after I was joking with Hasnah to get her down to SIM to have her dinner, I met Josephine Ong who offered to give me a ride. I was quite embarrassed for I managed to find out she was actually not on her way. We did not have much time to chat because her Masda2 picked up too fast at the traffic lights.
I grabbed a burger and finished it before going into the lab, which was supposed to be empty after 5.30pm, burying my head into the computer screen again. It was a torture to eyes and mental.
I was quite ashamed of myself for not able to recall everything Mr Japit taught, but, a small clarification managed to resolve most of the doubts.
Yuanle’s little pointer solved a big problem of mine for the database. I struggled through the remaining work with me after ten PM. I felt quite embarrassed for making Mr Japit stay back - it reminded me of what I had done for others previously.
Friday was quite a special day. After some hesitation, I finally decided to go into the office in shorts. When I saw Alvin wearing more causal than me, I knew I was safe. Afni made some cupcakes for everyone. Most people were in high spirit.
I went to Pui Kuan straight away for the amendment of the poster once again and around an hour later, just before everyone was moving off, she told me there was another amendment.
Things almost turned sour when Weitat dragged the time. He was helping Madam Seet with her work and at the point of time when we were moving out, he was not down at the car park yet. Jingkun was frustrated for the sudden delay because it was already planned since so early. I felt it was ridiculous as well but I remained silent since it was pointless to say anything or to change his decision like always. We decided to go ahead with the game without him but he turned up to ease our disappointments.
Joy sped off in her Suzuki, sending the four “hunks” she claimed to Hort Park. We were quite lost at first but we eventually got ourselves registered at the car park and took a picture to start off. Our initial plan was to stroll off fast but the teams in front were running and thus, we followed.
Jingkun was deadbeat somehow at the start at Forest Walk unexpectedly. My right knee started to ache soon as well. Weitat and I tried to take the gradual slope up to realise taking the stairs could be much faster. We reached the Hilltop and finally climbed up to the usual Henderson Waves.
Next, we tried to fool the rest of the teams into wrong direction but it somehow did not work. The journey towards the Cable Car station marked my greatest mistake as I led the team to take the stairs up. It was the normal route for trekking but the other teams took the road instead and made a faster and less effort trip.
The finish dash down the stairs towards the Harbourfront MRT station allowed me to lead all the way, except that we were all lost at the entrance since it was the last station and yet nobody was around to receive us. Jonathan and Joy were doing their shopping and had to rush over.
I was told of reporting near the food centre and quickly rushed over to get the puzzle from Sharon. It was a magic cubic and Jonathan quickly torn it apart to cheat. The next puzzle was a list of location for us to decode and we simply continued solving them by the crowded covered path besides the food centre. Some people were doing surveys near us and we borrowed a pen from a sweet girl but she was gone when we were about to take off. The pen was from City Harvest.
We went to Yuan Ching, Bukit Timah, Adam Road and finally Clementi to take pictures with the stalls. Our greatest defeat was at the traffic jams and we did make some minor mistakes in turning, but overall, Joy was reckless enough to help us speed up a lot. The final mistake was that we should have asked Joy to wait for us near the main road instead of the car park because it took us quite long to get out afterwards.
It was a very enjoyable day even though we could only emerge as the fifth team out of twelve of them. We had nasi lemak from Adam Road for our lunch at the school canteen. Later on, it was announced at the prize presentation that they had extended it to five teams instead of three, and we were glad to receive the twenty bucks NTUC voucher.
I took a lift from Bernard and then Weiming accompanied me until Commonwealth MRT station.
My elder brother and I were engrossed in the 倚天屠龙记 on channel 8 every weekday at eleven PM and thus, we watched it online after midnight and dozed off together.
I had lunch with Faris, Cheng Hong and Weiming together yesterday. It was the first time I dined with them together after almost a year. I felt weird to put on seat belt at the back of Faris’ car but since Cheng Hong did it, I assumed it was polite.
Anyway, we went to Jurong East and I only knew it was somewhere near Mingli’s house. I had a plate of chicken fried rice from the Muslim stall and it was quite good. All along, Faris talked a lot and his stories were very interesting. Weiming chatted with him more inside the car and when we were eating, Cheng Hong had more experiences to share.
I kept quiet most of the time since I had to gobble up my hot food in order to rush back for briefing. Nevertheless, I was in an outer space when their conversations involved with some names in the market.
We were late for the night cycling briefing but luckily someone had opened the theatre to house all the early birds. Faris gave super interesting talks and I was very impressed with his jokes to entertain the kids who were getting impatient due to time delay.
The stupid parrot, African Love bird breed, flew off last Saturday afternoon. We initially thought he had gone into hiding in some corners of my packed house like usual. So much for his foolishness to explore the outside world, he certainly missed his cage where he would rest in daily. He would definitely not be able to get back since he could not fly well.
During evening, I woke up from my nap to join my younger brother and my mum at Ikea. My brother wanted to get a table and chair to make himself comfortable at home when studying.
We had our dinner at the Ikea's restaurant before moving on with our shopping session. Our first glance at a glass dining table kept us so excited for it was only at a hundred and twenty-five bucks, and it came together with four chairs.
Next, we proceeded to find the green desk which we saw the previous time but to our disappointment, it was phased out already. We ended up having to decide on other colour, which cost thirty bucks more. My brother was interested in a sofa chair which was at sales but it seemed to be quite huge for the pathetic space in the room. I chose a chair with good cushion for him.
Alas, we began pondering how to get the stuffs home. Delivery charge was at fifty bucks for items of total cost less than three hundred dollars and we felt it was stupid to waste so much money simply for the dining table which cost only around two and a half times the delivery charge; it was not worthwhile.
We did not mind taking cab home but it was raining and the queue was terribly long. Then, we decided to call friends up for help and we would rather give the fifty bucks to any of them. My brother tried one but timing was not correct. Next, I called upon Weiwen and he was ready after seeking approval from his "CO", but we were afraid that the stuffs could not fit into his car. He suggested get Hubert for help since he owned a van but however, Hubert's phone was switched off. We really hated to trouble Weiwen since his status had risen from "in a relationship" to "married" already. Finally, we decided to trouble my mum's boss since they owed us big favours.
We quickly made the payment as the last customer after receiving great helps from the staff, Tina. The car arrived soon and we had to endure the short period of nonsensical preaching.
It was a night of hell for me with the fixing up of the dining table, four chairs, study table and the cushion chair despite we had three people working on them. My back started to ache in no time. Nevertheless, it was great to own such a stylish dining table, which I expected to be in a mess within a week.
Beach on Sunday was a total waste of time until I saw an angelic smile.
We were forced to leave with an approaching dark and magnanimous cloud after simply a lost game; waiting by the side of the court proved meaningless finally. We witnessed ships disappearing at the far side of the sea within minutes and even the two dragon boats quite near us vanished within some seconds.
I was sitting inside Darius' car in both trips and could feel the difference of the cosiness as compared to other cars; nevertheless, I would rather buy a cheaper car in future.
We had dinner at Dian Xiao Er at Vivocity and it rubbed a big hole on my pocket. The food was nice but I would make it a point that such luxuries food should be kept away until one day when I strike it rich.
In the Olympic mood, nobody was really keen in loitering around the shopping centre and the crowd dispersed after dinner. Mingfa gave me a ride me home in his sister’s car together with Weitat and Mingli.
I started switching on the television to support the Singapore table tennis girls but I was disappointed.
I started my previous Sunday unusually early. Knowing that it was a special day, I presumed nobody would be late and thus, I made an effort to be on time and even had the chance to top up my Ez-link card and also withdraw money.
Mingfa and Shirley picked Mingli up before coming over to Jurong East MRT to meet me. Then, we waited for Weitat before going to Mingen's place at Choa Chu Kang. Next, we proceeded to the Singapore Zoological Garden. I was not very interested in fact since I had been there two years ago with Fatty Si and there would not be many changes; I joined my gang mainly because I did not want to be a wet blanket.
Just as I thought we could get at least some staff discounts, Fatty Si told me she was not working there anymore but luckily Mingen had the privilege from his friend.
Poor Mingen was still having diarrhoea. We had brunch at KFC while waiting for Jingkun. For as much as I hesitated to bring a bag along due to the weight, my decision eventually proved me hopeless; a small pouch was actually sufficient and that it would not pose much problem to my feet. The sudden additional weight almost twisted my mood completely.
The sky was grey and I hesitated again, however, they decided to proceed. It started pouring heavily upon we passed the gate. Luckily, the weather pardoned us soon and that we were able to make our ways around the zoo in the merciful tiny raindrops.
We covered only slightly more than half of the trip I had with Peisi, missing out the most internal part at the pony area, the hot ass baboons, butterflies and bats, and some other animals. We missed all the shows and we were especially disgusted for we made it on time for the elephants show except that the crowd blocked our visions.
After the excursion, we went to Orchard for karaoke session. I took Jingkun's car at the front seat for the first time. Tiffany joined us at the Orchard's Party World but she and Mingen did not join us after the singing session.
The rest of us had dinner at Newton. I should have asked them to go to Chinatown instead. Anyway, the sugarcane juice from the drinks stall facing the car park totally sucked for it was simply tasteless, which was the worst sugarcane juice I had ever had. The lady helped us to replace the cups but there was not much difference.
I did the most unexpected thing on this Tuesday, which was playing golf. It was a good recommendation by Irwin before he left Singapore again.
The afternoon placed me in sweat. I was with my gang at CCAB and my bag was inside Weitat's car boot. The match we were watching ended late and thus I delayed the meeting time with Irwin. I was lost when I realised they were not going to leave any soon. The place was not very accessible and the fastest way was to wait for Weitat to drop me at Queenstown MRT station.
I was unable to direct Irwin to the place but he was alright to make the trip down to fetch me. I waited at the main gate at Evans Road, which was opposite Mr Prata shop. After the long wait with many cabs passed by, I regretted not flagging for any of them and arranging to meet Irwin at Queenstown MRT station directly. I supposed I could have taken Weitat's ride.
So, I boarded Irwin's car in guilt some time later. In fact, joining my gang at CCAB was a wrong decision even though I would be loitering outside all by myself if I were to part with them right after lunch.
Anyway, it was my first trip to Queens Townclub, which was near Margaret Road and besides a prison. The weather was too welcoming for relaxation and I almost thought it would drizzle.
I felt weird to be at a place which was supposed to be very high class, though the place looked shabbier than what I had imagined. It was still a marvellous place after all, which was very good for relaxation.
My first swing of the club was still alright, for at least it did not land within five metres. I missed the ball many times and the grass carpet probably hated me for hitting it. I tried hard to get my posture correct, but however, was too impatient and exerted too much strength each time.
I was supposed to go to the beach on Sunday after missing from action for so many months, but I remembered promising Weiwen to attend his wedding dinner. My gang called off the plan somehow as well, probably because Weitat was in need of a new laptop and he was captivated by the IT fair at Suntec City.
Fook Min came over to fetch my brother and I but there was a change of plan and thus, we waited quite long by the road side. We went over to fetch Hubert at Henderson Road before speeding off towards Hilltop Garden Restaurant, Club CSC @ Bukit Batok (91 Bukit Batok West Avenue 2, Singapore 659206).
I was impressed by the place, especially at the swimming pool view where families gathered to enjoy the man-made paradise. The beautiful place reminded me of Jurong East Swimming Complex, though was not as well designed, but kept memories of friends and laughers.
Scenery
The pools areas seemed very happening...
Corridor of the dining hall
We were pretty lost in the early evening. Waiters and waitresses were preparing the tables, and we saw many young kids among the crews. All the unseen preparation work created a horror impact on me and I would never dream of being the central of attention in such occasion with such big hassle. In fact, it would never be my turn as I'm too weird and lousy a guy for any romance, and that I do not even have any career.
The stage
Meeting up with familiar but distant faces was a satisfaction. I even saw Wendy and Loraine and began chatting with them; and afterwards, I met Weirong before realising I was keeping his very outdated number. I did not know anyone within the table except for the two ladies, and thus, I felt very uncomfortable throughout the night.
The guests were very late and the dinner started at mid eight plus; this ugly Singaporeans' bad habit disgusted me. I supposed the lonely lift and the cramp car park path did not cause the problem but the very stubborn wrong mindset of Singaporeans who thought wedding dinner ought to start much later than the stated time.
I had a cup of brandy given by Reuben, which was the second time I drank this year, and guilt strike me badly. He tossed me and I emptied the entire cup into my stomach, and soon, my face was blushing.
Bernard and Weiwen
Time to merlion soon
Everything seemed to go smoothly. The dinner ended before eleven and all guests started to disperse in the midst of my daydream. The bridegroom was then pressed by his "brothers", including my elder brother, to drown himself in alcohol. The battle lasted for some time and they went to the toilet one by one.
My brother and I boarded Fook Min's car, whereas Hubert accompanied the new family. Fook Min proved me the F1 race could really be conducted in Singapore at night and it was a great experience. My brother started to throw up upon reaching the car park while we waited for the bridegroom's car to arrive to join in the party.
Fook Min dropped us downstairs our house where my brother continued partying while releasing the stinks.
It was already after one in the morning and I had missed my favourite "少年杨家将" show for the good sake.
Wednesday was an unusual day which I was out the entire evening with Weitat to shop for his clothes. He drove to school as his dad was not using the car and sent Mingli and Jingkun home after work. He was supposed to meet up his friend at Marina Square and since my mum was not cooking, I joined him.
He was pretty quick at his pace and we did not waste much time during the shopping trip, which was why he preferred shopping alone. It was a good opportunity for me to get updated with the current trend since I would rarely do any shopping by myself.
We headed towards Wisma after that, stopping at the car park opposite Cineleisure before walking over. Eventually we had our dinner at Takashimaya's MacDonald's, where I enjoyed a MacSpicy chicken meal probably for the first time this year. We made a final trip back to Marina Square towards the Topshop before we yielded to the night.
It was all thanks to the car that had made travelling much faster and convenience. Weitat did his confession about his laziness and dependency on the car, and I had to admit that I was at times tempted by the easing of legs muscles.
Our difference was that I was brought up in a less fortunate family that I was more determined to take cheap public transport, and needless to say, had no second choice.
