random #2253

I awoke startled, from a vivid dream in which I was cooking all sorts of excuse to skip work.

Hello Monday.

When I came out to work 7-8 years ago, I was always in awe of high-flying blue-eyed folks adept at managing politics and prides. A kindly colleague told me it’ll come with age. Now that I’m old enough, I see this is a talent like drawing comics – everyone can draw stick men and speech bubbles, but few are Scott Adams calibre.

Me, I’m eternally 吾醒目.

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Last Thursday we went to 林宥嘉’s gig at St. James Power Station. The guy was in a super high mood and it was fun watching him. Especially loved the rock segment and the ‘livehouse’ feel. I like how concerts at St James are informal and you are barely 50m away from the performer, and alcohol is definitely a plus. Though it was too packed that night so no one had room to jump around. (Crowd size at 卢广仲’s gig was ideal.)

I was caught in a petty mood before the gig because I was to pass Lun’s ticket to her friend at the entrance, and the girl was late. When I finally got into the packed room there wasn’t anywhere with a view of the stage. 

I later regretted being upset, always do.

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It’s not news anymore – teens lose interest in blogging.

I see the first sign of gap with the next gen and my heart laments my lost youth.

I had a horrible day at work

But, of course I’ll let it go. I refuse to be upset. Life isn’t fair but it’s still good.

So many shows, so little time

I’m watching too many concerts, gigs and theatre this year.

In January I watched…

盧廣仲 at St. James Power Station on 16/1

Crowd was cute and a natural. I like how he wasn’t trying too hard to please. Beyond that odd mushroom hair and square geek specs, I guess we can all learn from his philosophy of eating breakfast everyday and simplifying. And boy, we’ve all overlooked, can he sing!

棉花糖 (katncandix2) at the Esplanade Recital Studio on 22/1

Xiao Qiu talks too much on stage. She’s funny. I like very much.

Amit (Amei) concert at the Indoor Stadium on 30/1

Cheng gave me her ticket because she was sent on a work trip to India, and she being a super fan, I was this close to the stage. I do wish Amit sang more of Amei’s classic ballads, but then again, I enjoyed the feel of a rock concert very much, especially because I was sitting among some very crazy fans. Trivia of the day: 孫燕姿 was sitting on the first row with her beau, and she clapped and danced along some parts. Very cute.

I’m looking forward to…

林宥嘉 at St. James Power Station on 4/2
Huayi fare, including my favourite 陳珊妮
KoC at the Esplanade Concert Hall on 19/3
Mayday at The Padang on 17/4

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I was just sharing with Weijing on FB – read Tony Parsons’s Man and Boy! Joy passed it to me two weeks ago and I gladly accepted the offer despite my usual scepticism of bestsellers, because she recommended Neil Gaiman’s Stardust a few months ago and I loved it. Man and Boy is about a man turning 30 and getting screwed by life, and his relationship with his father and young son. Touching and funny.

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Life is good, but it’s moving too fast. It’s February tomorrow.

I’m reminded of the reason why we aren’t best friends anymore

Somewhere along the way we wilfully decided “my needs!” are more important, even if we leave each other stuck; between a rock and a hard place, an unwilling listening ear and apathy, a birthday dinner and a concert.

If we can’t see beyond ourselves, we may never see each other.

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In other news we caught Crowd Lu 盧廣仲 on Saturday night at St James Power Station! Was lucky to have won tickets on radio 1003 DJ Ah Dong’s  programme, and I gladly gave my ticket for “_____ Can Change” to my little cousin Yanshan.

The concert and crowd were a lot of fun! Mum enjoyed herself a lot, so did I :) My little surprise appeared when he sang 無敵鐵金剛 for encore. Oh Yeah!

CHIJ Punggol 1992

Until last night I’ve never tried looking for long lost friends on Facebook. I always think people who have just a few close friends are cool, discerning and have their own minds. It’s obvious I don’t get social networking. (And I don’t have many friends myself.)

So it was purely accidental I clicked on my friend Christine’s profile and somehow and landed on Donna’s picture. Donna from my primary 5 class, who stayed in the same block as me before her father passed away, who used a 大華醬青 soy sauce bottle for a water bottle, who told our Chinese teacher Mdm Guo she felt a weird itch running through her when she watched people kiss on TV. Most of us 11-year-olds didn’t understand titillation, but we knew it was something you’d be shy to share in class. I was always in awe (and a little scared) of Donna’s confidence and who-cares! attitude.

It was from Donna’s profile that I saw the group “CHIJ Punggol 1992″. Hey, that’s for the 160 of us who graduated in 1992! They collected 36 folks so far. I spent a long time looking at photos of somewhat familiar faces and found a few long lost friends. And I concluded. People go for surgery. One girl I used to take school bus with looked very good in party photos, in the Dawn Yang-plasticky way. There was another with less obvious changes, but still looked quite unlike she had only wielded a mascara wand and some blusher. Of course there’s nothing wrong with surgery. I’m just saying.

I also got to deduce who’s doing what from the profiles and photos. A few girls got married, two had uncommon faiths, the big-eyed Jaime looked like a 30-year-old version of how I remembered her, and everyone grew boobs.

That was the fun revelation of my weekend.

Yan’s 30th

Yan, Rene and I were classmates in Primary 1B. We were 7-year-olds. Now one of us turns 30.

Yan's Birthday Dinner at Mimolette

Shan, Wei, Yan, Rene (Yin was stuck at work)

We celebrated Yan’s 30th on Saturday. I was posting photos on Facebook and it suddenly came to me – we’re all such different girls, it’s quite a marvel we’ve kept up with one another in spite of.

The girls used to be my best friends in my growing up years. Even though they aren’t closest to my heart anymore (they have their someone elses) I’ve learned a lot about life’s colours from partaking in theirs.

When we were young we didn’t care about being different – we all spent pocket money on nice-smelling erasers and NKOTB cassette tapes, frittered away time on Sweet Valley High books and hours-long phone chats, and expended youthful energy on netball and petty quarrels.

But we gradually learned we were drawn to different ideas, loved boys and hated authority to different extent, got motivated by different beliefs, and felt charmed by different lifestyles. The choices we made in our moments became our days, and that turned to years.

One of us turns 30. We’ve become the girls we are now. We’ll take different paths and become different people next year, next decade, and in 30 years. I hope we’ll still get together, chit chat and laugh over good food and drinks.

30 is an exciting coming of age. It sure is.

Old phone numbers

HJ texted me for lunch today, but sent the message to my old hp no., the one that ended with 7410. I had stopped using that number two years ago.

She got a reply that said she got the wrong number, and asked her to inform me to “update her contact with OCBC… if it’s important to her”.

Such a kind soul, s/he actually bothered. (To think about it, I would’ve done the same. So people who hold that -7410 number are probably all good folks. :p )

Since I got my first handphone in 2001, I’ve changed four numbers (-6733, -4301, -7410 and -1920) five times. That’s not counting the three numbers I changed in two years in Shanghai. I don’t know anyone who changes numbers as frequently. (I guess only people who owe loansharks money do this.) I’m sentimental towards many things but strangely, heartless towards phone numbers.

I wonder about the people who are using my old handphone numbers now. One day when I’ve nothing to do, I’ll call the old numbers to find out about the people who pick up the phone. How old are they? Where do they work? Are they happy? Do they get SMS and calls from my friends?

(But you know I’ll never have nothing to do. Hahaha)

2010,我們都會過得很好的

Wenqiu + Yuki, me, Keli, Shan

We had a party at No. 9 (formerly known as Grandma’s house). I’m stuffed!

Happy 2010 folks :) 我們都會過得很好的

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I want to dress up this blog with gaudy colours and photos.

Ok it’s just a passing thought. Anything but this very serious life reflection I’m working on. Sometimes I’m so stuffy and serious I can’t stand myself.