One Hellava Weekend

Weekend started early on friday night when we went to "no sign board" seafood restaurant at Gelang. it was a dinner outing among a few of my colleagues, my boss was concerned that he was not invited. I mean, we really don't have to involve him if this is our own gathering do we? does he not know that we could crake more jokes without his presence? including jokes about him. Ha ha. well, anyway, we went ahead without him and few other characters. the food was okay, not bad, chilli crab and buttered prawns. On impulse, we went to my boss' home after dinner. you know me, i have a lot of impromptu moments. well, my boss' nephew- Jonathan was more than happy to have round two at his place, so off we went. sat at my boss' $10,000 Cellini sofa. i almost become a Cellini salesman when i was job hunting some years ago. they say the commission is good but i was not quite willing to do retail then. so anyway, that was just the beginning of my rather eventful weekend.

24th May
Saturday morning, we went to the temple to pray as it was my dad's second death anniversary. time flies. i always tell myself, to honour him is to live well. his blood runs in me, so i got to live well. this is just one of the ways i cope with. so anyway, the hi-light of the trip was that on the way back from the temple, my mom was extremely paranoid. because she was late for work and we were caught in a massive traffic jam throughout the entire expressway. she was blaming my sis for taking the route which was totally an unfair comment. she was like ants in a hot pan, scrambling for the phone to call to work several times. it was very sad to watch her behaving like that, so after 15 mins or so, i decided that this was the only chance i have to really tell her. i told her flatly that she has no peace of mind, and that the tension and pressure is built up because of her fear to communicate to her boss who is her brother who is my uncle and who rules like a dictator. in her mind, the fear about being late for work surmounted to such a level she was panicking and was behaving like a lunatic. for a person at age 60 to still succumb to such state of mind is so sad. what could be worse i asked her. i said if she were suddenly sick and is now in hospital, the work will still go on. they will find a way to let it go on, so nothing really is such a huge deal. is it really worth that she blames us for the situation she was in? but the message couldn't get through her head. she was still asking to take a bus along the way. it was a damn traffic jam and a bus is a worse idea. it pained me that i had to forcefully point out to her that god placed us in this exact moment, in this exact traffic jam and in this exact situation for a reason. i asked her to think about what is there to learn. i pointed out that had it been a breeze, there would be no issue. had it been smooth traffic, there will be no problem with her not informing her brother about the possibility of her being late. i told her she cannot shift the blame about whatever better route there could be because if the blame is shifted, it is endless, i can then say that we should set off at 6am and we won't be in such a situation. you must always say, "ok, so now how brown cow?" but in her heightened anxiety, she could not appreciate what i said.that's so much so of an emotional saturday morning.

i was tired and had a short nap at 3pm when i got home. woke up at 5 when brendan called to tell me my mini motor bike was services and ready to be transferred to della. della asked me to sell my bike to her for she had promised her son the bike but the shop does not carry this anymore. she begged me to let her have it. i had thought about it for a couple of days because firstly, i like the bike and it was one of my most joyous moment when brendan surprised me with it. it brought a lot of joy to me. but i have rarely used it in the last 2 years, so in a way, it was more like a prized toy. next, della is a single mom, her husband died of a car accident. she loves her son very much and naturally, more so as a single mom. she persuaded me to let go of my bike. i considered it through and through, and decided that i could manage without it as i hang on more on the momory of it rather than its practicality. plus i could still remember the joy i had when i was like 5 when my dad bought me this fabulous cool bicycle. 30 years on and i could still have that moment of delight in my heart. so i know how it feels like to receive your first bike. so, for one final moment, i took it for a spin. ran it through my car park and up and down the slopes and said goodbye to my bike.

After dinner at the hawker with brendan, we headed home to bathe and change. i was going out with my ex-boyfriend while he was heading to orchard towers to meet his old school friend and hangout at a pub with thai girls. how cool can we be? he sent me to my destination at DFS scotts and said hello to my ex. i took a snap of the two of them, though they looked like they were gonna fight but were actually chatting. i truely appreciate the understanding and freedom that bren gives me. i always tell him that first, we brought out the worst in both of us. then we grew to bring out the best in both of us. that's why we both love each other. so anyway, i was out with jon for a drink till late. he comes back like 2 or 3 times in a year as he is stationed at dalian, china. we talked so much about our work and some updates of our lives. it is really nice to have an old friend whom i can still chat with for hours. we talked about everthing from unit trust to the people in our lives, our work and our partners. it was easy when you're tipsy i guess. did you know that "Auld Lang Syne" was composed when the composer was drunk?

Sunday - 25 May
Went to my Grandpa's place to pass a bag i bought from BKK for Aunt Lily. She told me she had a fight with Julie where they hit each other, tools included Bamboo Sticks. it is terrible, these two spinster sisters are like 49 and 50++ years old and are resorting to punching each other?

Spent a while listening to Lily talk while i drank the fish soup cooked by my 80++++ grandpa. It was very very tasty and had no msg. I must really cook like that.

As it was past 1pm, by the time i get to the pool at Safra Mt. Faber, i may not get a deck chair, so i improvised by going to Delta Swimming Pool which was just 5 mins walk across the carpark. It must have been years since i last went to a public pool, i didn't know that they no longer limit the time you spend at the pool. (i remember the ticket used to let you be in there for 2 hours?). so anyway, there are like half a dozen of gays or gay looking men sun bathing there while i was the only woman in bikini. one chinese man (most likely singaporean) with his chinese national woman learning to swim. more like a date. and one caucasian reading the newspapers in the shade.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching korean vcd- coffee prince, which i felt was pretty lame. lame, lame.