had a relatively uneventful sunday. woke up around
then went on the priston tale. got turned on by the sight of my archer character again hehe. quite a waste of time too. didn’t manage to level, cos I had
to go out.
went out with mum to auntie’s new house at the tip of sembawang, around the admiralty area. from
her (yet to be renovated) house window, i could look
across to the straits, and what lay across was a nice sight. nothing
magnificent, but somehow that scene brought to me a strong strong
sense of nostalgia. as if I’ve been there before, and I’m
a stranger on a new land looking upon my homeland (though that definitely isn’t
the case). thought a while. and
of course, since what I was looking at was johor bahru, obviously I was thinking about her. and I don’t know why this came to my mind, but I thought
about her little quirks, like her irrational fear of cockroaches. then I realised, when you love
someone for all they are, you’ll accept all their little quirks and
imperfections. and now I start thinking about when I can
find mine… but hey that’s another question altogether.
couldn’t resist the temptation to message her, so I did,
and we just bitched over the stupid school policy of not allowing international
students to return home during this vacation. just
ironic that I could go to her country whereas she couldn’t. over
4 short messages, so nothing much. but still the
feeling of nostalgia and whimsical sadness threatened to overwhelm. nevertheless, the strong character took over in order to
display a nonchalant façade to my relatives. auntie
was there with cousin and her fiance. could see they’re a happy couple, with her fiance “mother” here, “mother” there when he spoke to
auntie. very nice guy to snag for a husband. happy for her. but hey, she isn’t
bad too. very pleasant demeanour.
acting cute sometimes… and successfully too (not those
in-your-face disgusting kind, heh). then they drove us home, speeding all the way.
oh, just wanna mention that I witnessed
first-hand a traffic booking too. right after this
junction, I saw this traffic policeman stop a cab by the road. taxi driver got out (the cab was hired; poor passenger!),
pled with the policeman, and I could see the tp
waving away all his pleas. cab driver went back to get
his licence. tp
took down number, and for what, the hell
of which I do not know, the tp proceeded to give
a damn loud lecture to the old genteel driver (who’s passenger – poorer by now –
was still waiting), that we could hear even from 50 metres.
as mum was saying, poor old man. and
heh. auntie said the rules
should be followed. we don’t know what actually
happened, so I guess it’s not up to me to pass judgment.
and if you’re not bored and actually thinking of reading on,
the next paragraphs will furnish more mundane details of my life…
heh. first
up – financial crisis exacerbated! no tuition = no
income. no income = can’t go out. and
my past two saturday nights have been spent at home
early (early compared to my usual life). I’m starting to get disgusted with
myself, and if I find myself still spending saturday
nights alone and with nothing to do, I think I’m gonna
suffer from clinical depression. felt tired, so slept
at 1. damn early. nevertheless
I managed to catch that brilliant saxophonist tots talentino
again at the esplanade amphitheatre, this time with more people from my jazz
band. but still the night ended early. and without plans. damn financial
crisis, restricting so much of my life.
anyway there’s plans to go sing karaoke this thursday with some friends, but now I’m entertaining second
thoughts because that means spending money. and I have
a feeling I really can’t afford. I dread the day that when I flash my pass on
the bus, it says “expires on xx xxxx”. it means I have to spend another 52 bucks again soon. and that day comes in another 4 days. luckily
this month I’ve my exam result reward to cover that 52. but
after paying for that, I think I have almost nothing left. working
lunches and meetings have taken their toll on my bank account and i. lesson learnt the hard way – spend money wisely. 5500
might look a lot at the beginning, but that’s whittled away damn fast. before you can say “five-thousand-five-hundred-and-fifty-dollars”.
so basically I might try to survive on bread and water till
august. I’m just too thick-skinned to ask for pocket money.
here are some tips to save money (just to remind myself in case
I forget):
-
take bus everywhere (even if it takes a million years)
-
and to curb any desire to take the mrt,
do not top up ez-link card so that I can’t take the
train
-
don’t put too much cash in the wallet. the less there is, the less spent. (luckily
now I don’t have any to put in my wallet, so this problem’s solved!)
-
cancel all appointments with friends till I get some cash
-
bring a bottle of water along everywhere, so that should I need
to eat out, I don’t have to spend on drinks
-
never never sit in the front when
sharing cab with friends
-
(act of desperation) buy a loaf of
bread, and that should last me at least three lunches. enough spread at home
for me to pack some simple lunch once the money for food runs out
yep to the reader it seems like some desperate situation. but I say to all who read this – don’t pity me. don’t treat me like I’m a beggar. don’t
give me treats. just understand that I don’t have the
financial clout for the time being. understand if I’d
rather go home for meals. and understand if I don’t
give you treats =p.
whoa this materialistic stuff depresses me too. just when I float up after an emotional maelstrom, here
comes yet another to drag me down. I’m confident I’ll survive this, but I’m not
sure how yet. but I’ll ride through this. positive side effect – a slimmer, leaner me!
dejectium out
2301 hrs gmt +8