Nagoya Part I - At the Airports (20/21 December 2008)

Not that any reader of this blog would still need to know the reason for me having to be at the airport on 20 December 2008, much to my chagrin. Thanks to one of our matters, and not to mention our ultra capable associate director, one of our clients ended up sponsoring my birthday treat to Japan. And so, after watching NTUC Income's soccer match (or rather Lim Tong Hai), I rushed back to pack and whizzed off to the airport.

Apparently according to the brilliant associate director, it's hard to survive in Japan if you do not speak Japanese, or at least that was his reason for wanting someone to pick our CID officer up from the Nagoya airport. Me? In a bid to save clients' money, plus not wanting to be a useless pain, all I had to do was to follow clients' pretty detailed instructions on how to take the airport bus, and act kawaii with "sumimasen" peppered with loads of English and sign language to buy the airport bus ticket. Seriously, there wasn't much of a problem, save for the fact that I missed the bus and had to wait for an hour plus plus for the next one to arrive.

When you've time to kill alone in a foreign land, what would you do? Explore of course! And so, I backtracked into the airport and wandered amongst the array of interesting shops and deco.

Even the sky garden was nice enough to walk around. I particularly loved the part where you could play a tune by hammering the various bells. So much like the Handbell Ensemble in RGS. Beautiful.

Roasted in Winter

What kind of hotel gives dumb solutions like to open your room window if the guest complains that the air conditioner seems to have broken down and the entire room is extremely stuffy?

The place I'm staying at!

And a train just went past... (btw, the hotel is connected to the train station

Argh...

Aside from this minor problem, I'm surviving pretty well here =)

Tong Hai wished me Happy Birthday!!!

Yes, I know I sound totally like a fan girl, but then again, that was really the turning point of my an otherwise horrible day. Despite feeling blue enough to want to hide from the entire world, the chance of watching my favourite local player in real life action made any other reason minor. And so, even though the match was past half-time, I still made my way down to Serangoon stadium. And it was way more than worth it.

Can't remember which year it was, but one of my previous birthday wishes was to have a poster of Lim Tong Hai. And now, instead of a poster, I had the chance of a real-life encounter with Tong Hai! Looks like birthday wishes do come true... in a matter of time. Plus you need to be pretty thick-skinned too. Haha..

Aside from Tong Hai, and since there was this rare opportunity, I managed to get a photograph with David Lee (the real person is so different from the fierce impression I had when he was during matches) and Nazri Nasir respectively too. The only person missing was Steven Tan. Didn't see him although I thought he was confirmed as one of the players too?

Come to think of it, it's been 14 years since Malaysia Cup. Seems so near, yet so far. In fact, yesterday's standard was disappointing. Then again, who cares, since I was more focused on the Number 8 jersey (which, coincidentally was his jersey number in 1994 too).

Then again, I must say bumping in Mr 0543 was a cheering up factor too. Though I realised I accidentally "uncle-ed" him too loudly already"

Of course, that's not to say that everyone else's well wishes and presents are redundant either. In fact, it's always these simple stuff from people who mean a whole world to me that keeps me going each and everytime. In fact, the spoilt brat me actually kept a mental list of the wishes I wanted. You people are my best-est presents in life, so there you go, Gek Koon, I shall use this year's birthday wish to buy another year of friendship.

My Birthday eve dinner, kindly sponsored by Jan (Tiger beer) and Gilson. Thanks for my dessert too, Mr Chan!

噢買尬

無猜無邪 無私無暇 的友情無價 你是買不到的奢華
天涯有天 風景有風 浪花有花 再加上我有你就夠啦

Plus my nicest Mr Randall Tan too....

Farewell to a memory

Whilst spending an entire day cleaning up (ie. dumping away a whole load of things) in my room, sis commented about how when throwing away things, we're also throwing away a part of our memories. Perhaps that's why we can't bear to throw things away. Since young, you've always insisted that we should throw away things we no longer need. Yet, I still see you keeping clothes that you've had since your youth. What does that mean?

In any case, you've succeeded in moulding people who are capable of deleting memories. Just like how we happily threw away loads of the lecture notes/study materials that we had painstakingly compiled.

Sayonara, my first office bag. Thank you for keeping me company through the ups and (more often than not) downs of pupillage. I loved how I could always keep my hands free and feel not much different from a school girl just by having you slung across my shoulders as I wandered everywhere to find myself, or simply to watch the various election rallies. You'll probably be my favourite bag ever, even if that one chapter of life is now history.

Warehousing Duties

For the frog-in-the-well me, this was the first time I've been to a warehousing place. And to think I ended up spending almost the entire day there.

Tiring..

"Life is just so unpredictable"

Either I'm observant when it comes to MSN nicks, or I've a perchant for "borrowing" their nicks to blog. Whatever the case, the multitude of events in the year can be best summed up by Chee Min's too-the-point nick. Whatever the case, I presume I'll not get quoted for quoting MSN nicks this time round since (1) Chee Min doesn't know of the existence of this blog (2) there are no "interesting" photographs of a certain subject to make this entry of any interest.

******

When it comes to opinions, who's to say who's right and who's wrong? You may say that your actions are for the future of your country, but seriously, is it worthwhile to get your way at the expense of your country's economy? Now that hundreds of tourists are stranded in your country, do you seriously think they'll be back anytime in the near future? Who are you kidding?

Or how you're waging war for ... (did you even mention what you were fighting for?)? How is your purported cause more important than the other lives that were lost? And what did you achieve? Because of your purported importance, you've laid to rest so many hopes and dreams of others, including your own. How worth it is it?

Not that I knew anyone who's a victim of these major events in Asia. Yet, these events so close to home cannot help but make me wonder if power, rather than just money is the root of all evils.

The vulnerability of life should, by right, make us treasure what we have even more. Yet, the amazing thing about life is that it's way easier said than done. I, for one, do admit that despite Meisi and Guohui, I still don't make it a point to meet up with my dearer friends as often as I should. Example (1) Lijia's birthday's been over for more than a week, and I've still not scheduled a long overdue meetup. (Deserves 1 slap) Example (2) the once a year meet-up with Ciyao still hasn't materialised. (Deserves another slap) Example (3) When I bumped into Tony and Vivian (ok, not a terrific example, since I'm not that close to them, esp Vivian in the first place) during lunch today, I was mildly stunned to see Vivian pretty heavily pregnant. That goes to show how long since I've last kept in touch with them.

Anyway, on the bright side, it doesn't necessary mean that not keeping in touch means you'll totally not hear/see news about people. Just a moment ago, I did a double take when reading an article on some suit that a Singaporean singer is taking up. A senior counsel and another lawyer James Low. James Low?????? Wait a minute, the senior counsel should be from Drew & Napier, meaning James Low = James Low Yunhui? Haha.. Haven't heard of that name in a really long while. Seriously, I wonder how he's doing now...

PS: I'm still undecided whether to see a doctor about my left eye, despite the affirmative views from Weiguang, Weiling, Cailing. Hopefully it'll disappear by itself tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

Belated Thanksgiving

It's been exactly a week since my encounter with that disgusting old man with a protruded mole on his cheek. Truth be told, the impact still lingers on, though not as sorely felt as last week. Perhaps I've just put too much pressure on myself (not that I didn't enjoy my lessons though). Still, I do not think I deserve to fail, and that, I'll always thank the idiot of a tester aka old man. Oh well, whoever says looks are deceiving will sure have to eat their words in this case..

In any case, there's always a silver lining in everything. It's through falls that you know which outstretched hand awaits you. Then again, I don't know whether it's a good thing or bad one either. The more genuine the concern, the more easily the running tap flows. =) Still, I would give just anything to keep my dearest friends who are the safest harbour I can ever get. Thank you!

Aside from friends this time, there're also some instructors to thank. Whilst I was sitting alone at CDC that day, my warm-up instructor came up to chat and said Eugene called him to ask about my test results. I must have been in quite a bad state at that time though, but I truly am grateful for the words of comfort and the insistence that I book another re-test. Eugene was equally reassuring and smsed over 3 days about booking of my re-test. He even asked for my student ID so that he could help me book. Then again, that was a little late though, since someone from customer service had already offered to help me get the earliest possible date for the retest that afternoon when all I did was to ask another instructor to check on my behalf whether there were available test slots at a particular time. All these, of course, made the probably easily contented me feel ultra loved.

Of course, with so many expectations to meet, I can't possibly not retake (even if I've even less confidence now) right? Though this time round, like what 0543 suggested, I'll take fewer lessons, meaning I'll have more time for myself and those more important to me, for eg. meeting up with my dear friends to celebrate their birthday etc (sorry!!).

******

The above is, of course, not the only reason for me being grateful to people who are important enough to me. Even on Friday when I needed someone to keep me company to do something that may/may not be very safe, I still had a wonderful buddy who agreed gamely to make a detour/have a super late dinner just to go with me. Thanks, my favourite Mr Chan!!! Some people are way more dependable than others (who cannot even be bothered to answer simple questions), and this is what makes them my dearest friends and people I'll do anything for, rather than just mere acquaintances. =)

Our dinner. What's wrong with not having rice?
Stop staring, you rude/ignorant people!

Safiah's Last Day..

Pictures say a thousand words. Or do they?

Not very creative me

When I come up with ambitious ideas like folding 1000 cranes in less than a month, obviously the procrastinator in me will never get it done. Of course that means I've to come up with some last minute ideas..

Now I know why Gek Koon didn't inflate the toy. Haha

But you know what, watching you play with it did more than brightened up a otherwise less bright day. Happy birthday, Guohui, and may you recover soon!

A Crazy Saturday

Just when you thought that being excited about an interview because you can lunch with a friend of yours after that is crazy enough, the same person comes up with even crazier actions for you to shake your head in despair...

Frankly, even up till Friday, I wasn't really that excited about going to Batam. Despite how people oooh and aaah about the prices over at Batam, they were just that. In fact, the only attraction that held for me there was just the chance to meet up with Itak da ge, one of those handful who count as my most important friends, and whom I've not seen in over a year (no thanks to Daryl). Thus, the only thing that made me excited on Friday about my impending day trip was just Itak da ge's comment about getting his girlfriend's boss's car to fetch us.

Perhaps it sounds silly, but the best memory I had of the entire trip was when Itak da ge thrusted the car keys into my hands and allowed me to collect the car from the car park. Mind you, the car wasn't even his car (fyi, it was his girlfriend's boss's car). And he knew that my driving test would only be next Monday. Still, the trust he had in me gave me the warmest and fuzziest feeling. How many would let another drive their car? And there he was, passing me the keys without a moment's hesitation so that I'll get to practise a bit more, even though he kept saying he'll not take the car when I'm driving. Angel didn't complain too, and was even game enough to sit beside me and offer words of encouragement.

Still, the driver for the entire day was still my da ge. In fact, both Angel and him were essentially our driver cum photographer cum tour guides for the entire day, making me feel ultra bad for imposing on them for the entire day. With such wonderful friends like da ge and Angel, what more can I ask for?

The best part about having a local bring you around is that you get to go to places that are off the beaten track. For eg, Angel's work place, aka 106.5fm. Having tuned it to it for a short while when Itak was still working there, having the chance to see for myself how the studio looks like was of course a chance that I would not pass. Unlike how our radio stations would probably look like, 106.5 could well be described as a family home. Situated at the top of a hill, there was nothing post like what you would expect of Mediacorp. Instead, all you had was an apartment with an excellent view, and a whole bunch of people walking in and out, and knowing each other with all familarity. I can imagine how nice and simple it would be to work there. In fact, other than the radio station part, the place was also where a group of little kids gathered every Saturday to learn Chinese. Doesn't all these make the place sound more like a kampong family rather than some commercial station? *nods vigorously*

All good things must come to an end. In spite of me suggesting that we go home earlier, we ended up taking the last ferry back to Singapore. And not before Itak da ge telling me he'll let me see his shop another time, else I would miss the last ferry. So off we went to for our dinner by the sea before heading back to the tiny island called Singapore.

Da ge, thank you for taking the time out to bring us around, even though you didn't have to. In fact, I felt extremely bad to cause Angel to have to get another person to take over for the art session, and you for having to drive us around, follow us everywhere and even pay for a lot of our food/drinks. In fact, thanks for being one of the most wonderful da ge I can ever have. You know, on the way back to Singapore, I mentioned to Shuyun that you would probably sms me later that night if I didn't sms you to let you know I'm back within a certain time. True enough, you really did. And not forgetting the driving part. Thank you so much! The trip to Batam was wonderful, simply cause I got to meet up with you, and meet Angel finally, even if we didn't really chat a lot, I think. I'll aim very hard to pass next Monday, so that the next time you're in Singapore, I'll rent a car and this time round, I'll be your chauffeur, k?

Nasi Lemak tastes especially nice when...

You're having it for lunch at 3.30pm on a weekday at your office table and your last meal was a piece of bread 7 hours ago.

Shuyun's last evening in the conference room

What happens when you name your food after people?

This! (if the food has a doggie name)

And this! (if the food is named after Hong Lim Park)

后青春期的诗

Finally. Something to look forward to, to get me through till lunch.

(photograph from omy.sg)

噢买尬 噢买尬
真的太久不见啦
我随时ok就等你电话

哭阿哭阿哭阿
哭到眼泪都乾啦
哭到海滩只剩下沙
整个世界只剩下
你听我说话
一直到天黑也不回家

混阿混阿混阿
混到天空都老啦
计画依然没有变化
剩下我们说的
神话梦话废话
就着样陪着我长大

噢买尬 噢买尬
这是一定要的啦
喝到挂唱到哑
笑到流泪哭到趴
噢买尬 噢买尬
真的太久不见啦
我随时ok就等你电话

巴黎铁塔东京铁塔
蛋塔金字塔
回忆慢慢积沙成塔
回忆回不去了
但你一起来了
一起到更远的未来吧

无猜无邪无私
无瑕的友情无价
你是买不到的奢华
天涯有天风景有风
浪花有花
再加上我有你就够啦

噢买尬 噢买尬
这是一定要的啦
喝到挂唱到哑
笑到流泪哭到趴
噢买尬 噢买尬
真的太久不见啦
我随时ok就等你电话
噢买尬 噢买尬
这是一定要的啦
喝到挂唱到哑
笑到流泪哭到趴
噢买尬 噢买尬
真的太久不见啦
我随时ok等你电话
老地方见等你电话
无时无刻等你的电话
我随时ok就等你电话

For some reason or other, some of the lyrics actually reminded me of some people. And for that reason, it overtook 突然好想你 to be my favourite song in the album.