6 March 2009
The Preamble – I guess it was the sort of day that you never want to end, and you just keep hoping that it can go on, and on, and on.
Yet it all comes to an end. I wish it didn’t have to. But as they say (cliche alert!), all good things come to an end. Well, so do bad things, but that’s aside from the point. This is probably my first foray into writing a blog entry that describes the events of a day. It’s something that I’ve tried to abstain from. But to use yet another cliche, there’s always a first time for everything. I’m still not familiar with this style of writing, so I have the tendency to jump between tenses. This problem should sort itself out once I get used to writing in this manner.
Dawn – Finished writing the set of notes/letters for the class. If you didn’t get one, that’s because I only wrote them for those whom I thought would be around at school today. If I mistakenly thought that you were overseas or you wouldn’t be around today, my apologies.
Morning - Slept for about 2 hours. I wouldn’t call it a power nap (the buzzword filter in me hates that phrase). Far from it actually, I still woke up cranky and sleepy. But for some reason, I still got up to finish preparing the notes. I wanted to thread a piece of yarn through each note and tie it nicely. I actually bought the yarn to do it, but taking more than 5 minutes on each one would mean being late for my next task of the day. A simple staple would have to suffice.
Late Morning – With the notes complete, I travelled down (or up?) to Novena to meet gaofie’s friend. Objective – to pick up gaofie’s letter of authorization which I would need to sign off for his result slip. Nice, his friend was on time. After which, it was one station back to Newton and a bus ride along Bukit Timah Road to Al-Ameen for lunch.
Noon – I was supposed to meet half the class for lunch at Al-Ameen. I’d have liked it to be a whole-class thing, but I guess not everyone is a fan of lunch, and some of those who wanted to come couldn’t, for reasons related to the (in)efficiency of ummm.. let’s just say, a very large organization. When I arrived, yuanfeng and ruyi were already there. So that made me the third person to arrive. Right, I’m stating the obvious. While waiting for the others to arrive, we changed tables twice for various reasons. Finally, we were all gathered under the humble roof of Al-Ameen, all 11 of us – Yuanfeng, Ruyi, Andy, Lishan, Yong, Ojl, Kitty, YY, Kaiyao, FK and myself. And how do I put this? The food wasn’t bad, or at least I didn’t think it was. But making sure they got my food to the table? That’s a different story. I eventually got them to bring me my order, but not without telling them off. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ll wage war against Al-Ameen though, I might just give them another chance. Maybe.
Afternoon – I met 41 on the bus back to school. Damn, it’s been a long time since I last saw 41, though I’ll be seeing him again soon, hopefully this week. Back at school, we met Eric, Pat, Songyuan and Tommy at the canteen, after which, up to the hall we went. Unlike what I thought it might be, the atmosphere in the hall was actually rather convivial. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. And for the final time, we were gathered in the hall, sitting on the hard floor. Maybe I’m bothering too much about the little things, but why ask us to sit around like little kids. Couldn’t we just stand? That aside, it was a case study in human psychology to see how people reacted when they received their result slip. For many, they signed off their result slip without a glance, instead choosing to take it to the back of the queue before looking at it. It seemed that those who made the biggest show of being nerve-wracked and on the verge of crumbling were those who were likely to do well (and who did), yet those who didn’t do so well remained stoic and composed. Ironic? Perhaps. An interesting observation? Indeed. By the time I was done with going around to say my thank yous, it was time to go.
Next stop, Suntec.
Evening – The bunch of us made our way down to Suntec. Call it deja vu or simply a coincidental repetition, it felt a lot like our post-PW outing in J1. Unlike that previous outing, this time it wasn’t JustNoodles (which actually serves a lot more than noodles), but 翡翠拉面小笼包。Well, at least that was round one. We sat around and ate an early first round of dinner because Ruyi and Eric had to go off first. Meanwhile, others arrived, including Mr Low.
Slightly Later that Evening – After 翡翠，next stop – Swensen’s. It wasn’t exactly round two of dinner because it wasn’t as if we ate two dinners. Rather, those arrived later had dinner here. And of course, what good is a visit to Swensen’s without ice cream? (thanks Mr Low!). Some time later, Dr Choe arrived. Yes, Dr Choe of our long-gone-J1-PW-and-GP-days! I guess that made it seem even more like deja vu, especially when we gathered to take the (mandatory) class photo.
Even Later that Evening – By the time we were done at Swensen’s, it was getting late, maybe 10pm or so. Yes, I know the definition of late varies between people but for most class outings, this would probably be late. Some of us left for home, while others decided to stay out a little while longer. A year ago, I wouldn’t have expected myself to stay on. But this time, I did. The remaining handful of us – Chonglin, Tommy, Pat, Meiying, Mr Low, Dr Choe and myself headed over to 老巴刹。We walked there. The route was reasonably scenic, and the conversation was good, the only thing I could complain about was the humidity, but that’s just being petty. Along the way, we passed several places where we had been as a class (or most of a class) before. Crossing Cavanegh Bridge outside VCH, Chonglin and Tommy taking a photo on the bullock cart, and walking through Raffles Place to 老巴刹, these were things that we had done before, and we were doing it again. We sat at 老巴刹 for awhile, eating satay. Why satay at 老巴刹? – you may ask. I don’t know either, but after 10pm in the CBD, there isn’t much food around, is there?
Finally that Evening – and then it was time for it all to end. We walked to Raffles Place MRT, and then it was time for us to part. When we shall meet again, I don’t know. Pat and I took the green line towards the west, while the others took the red line. We got off at Commonwealth. I walked with Pat to the bus stop and she took the bus. And then I was alone, thankful for a day of wonderful memories, yet unwilling to accept the fact that it was over, that once again, I was all by myself, a lone figure facing a world of uncertainty. Wait, not really. I’m starting to get a little too dramatic. But there’s an element of truth to that. I will cherish this day, and the days that came before it. Yet I know that this is but the beginning of another journey, or maybe it’s a continuation of the journey that I’ve gone along thus far with some changes to the rules of the game. Whatever the case, I don’t know what twist of luck got me this far, but what I do know is that I ought to be thankful, and I am. Amen.
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March 10th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
AHH BEN! thanks for your note! (: damn i didn’t know you were at novena that day maybe you could have popped along at my office building and i’d have taken the chance to take a break there were so many bloody calls that day i hate fridays haha. yay outing on sunday again! (:
March 10th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
hey siak, no problem. you’re more than welcome. i wasn’t exactly at novena though, only went up to the control station and then back to newton. and sunday, ah ha!