I am ‘writing’ this entry while queuing up at the bank. Having a mobile broadband internet connection makes queuing up a lesser waste of time! I can check the many news sites that I subscribe to, looking up information is a breeze with apps like rednano, plusmo and wapedia (the mobile version of Wikipedia), hooking up with friends via MSN, Yahoo or Google Talk through ebuddy is also not a problem as is religiously checking out FaceBook. Checking out the blogs that I am a fan of is also a breeze. In fact, I don’t queue as often as I did mostly due to the advent of technology. Now one can do virtually everything online whether it’s from the comforts of one’s home or on the move with the many available gadgets around. I remember waiting in queues at the bus stops or even taking long bus or MRT rides and doing most of my readings then. So why am I queuing now? Well, some things you just have to queue at the bank...
I was just talking to another buddy of mine the other day in camp and we shared the same thoughts. Why is it that I tire out easily when going shopping but can last throughout the night going long distances while I am on exercise? Ah, for those who may not know, ‘exercise’ here does not mean exercising one’s body as in going for runs or hitting the gym. Here it means ‘training exercise’...Anyway, this buddy of mine had the same experience as me and I suspect many more of my buddies feel it too! Is it just us men or men in the army in particular?!? I mean, I can walk through the jungle (we don’t usually use the word ‘jungle’ here in Singapore to refer to our training area since they are mostly ex-vegetable plots! But when you talk to ‘civilians’, using the word jungle gives them a better idea! To us, jungle would be like those found in Brunei...now, that’s what I would call a jungle...), anyway, I can walk in the ‘jungle’ throughout the night without sleep and still be fresh in the morning. But once when I hit the concrete jungles of Orchard Road, I like cannot tahan long! Even in the air-con comfort of the malls... Maybe if I put on my jungle hat, carry my tongkat (this is a combination walking and sitting stick that I always carry in the ‘field’. Here again, ‘field’ does not mean the wide open field that people play in. What civilians refer to as the ‘jungle’ here in Singapore, we refer to as the ‘field’. Geddit?) and put on my No.4, I can last longer! Why ah?
There were gatherings galore over the CNY weekend. It started with a BBQ at Nyai Bik As house (now that’s a confusing term for those uninitiated but what to do...In the first place, pangkat si Asiah to me is cousin but since young I’ve been calling her Bik As, then my kids pulak call her Nyai...so...) on Sunday attended by some 35 people! Banyak kan?!?! It was supposed to be something small...just a few trays of food that’s all. But small just don’t dig it with my family. So it became a full blown BBQ with roaring fire, tons of food and games too! Games was requesting by Aqilah for me to organise. A bit last minute for me but I dig last minute! Came up with quite decent games that involved young and old. I hope everyone enjoyed them although I lost my voice a bit. It ended way past mid-night. We even celebrated Cik Lah’s birthday. Cool!
The next gathering happened the next day on Monday. A gathering of cousins and kids at West Coast Park. We participated in the time-honoured camping-at-a-park-during-CNY bit! The plan was to stay overnight but semua macam tak larat gitu. The usual suspects descended upon WCP on a windy, cloudy afternoon sans Boboy and family who wanted to Batam-ised their bundle of bubbly cuteness. As usual, the whole place was full of people since the malls were like ghost towns. Kites dotted the skies, blue tents popped up like mushrooms and the playground was full of kids. We plonked ourselves near the sand pit and the 4 kids plus Dennis the Menace promptly made themselves at home in (and I mean IN!) the sand! There was to be a partial eclipse of the sun but with the cloudy skies, it wasn’t that obvious. Furthermore, the maximum coverage happened at about 1749hrs which was nearly twilight anyway so...not much difference. I think not many people were aware of it anyway! I brought some stuff and we played dodgeball in the sand. It was great fun and everyone got sweaty and sandy. Pak Bonyo and clan came by bearing murtabak! And gamely joined in our next game which was rounders/baseball. You should have seen the Pak Bonyo and Cik Jamilah flying and diving into the sand! Bakat terpendam sey! After that we played Twister, Mentalogy and told ghost stories till about 0100hrs when we wearily trooped back to our cars with sleepy kids in tow!
The last ‘unexpected’ gathering happened the very next day! With the usual suspects. Hai, muka engkau jugak! It was to be a karaoke outing but I suggested karaoke-ing at my place and it was soon flooded with crooning ladies and sleepy babies! The usual tidbits and drinks were prepared and I took out my entire karaoke collection for the guests to sing along to. Ada orang tu mula-mula cakap lagu-lagu untuk orang-orang tua tapi at last nyani those songs jugak! Oh, ada orang Perancis tu dating untuk berenang...tak dengar dia nyanyi pun! Just before going back, sempat jugak si Farah dan Julie main si Wii...berpeluh-peluh di buat nya!
Till the next gathering then guys...
I was just talking to another buddy of mine the other day in camp and we shared the same thoughts. Why is it that I tire out easily when going shopping but can last throughout the night going long distances while I am on exercise? Ah, for those who may not know, ‘exercise’ here does not mean exercising one’s body as in going for runs or hitting the gym. Here it means ‘training exercise’...Anyway, this buddy of mine had the same experience as me and I suspect many more of my buddies feel it too! Is it just us men or men in the army in particular?!? I mean, I can walk through the jungle (we don’t usually use the word ‘jungle’ here in Singapore to refer to our training area since they are mostly ex-vegetable plots! But when you talk to ‘civilians’, using the word jungle gives them a better idea! To us, jungle would be like those found in Brunei...now, that’s what I would call a jungle...), anyway, I can walk in the ‘jungle’ throughout the night without sleep and still be fresh in the morning. But once when I hit the concrete jungles of Orchard Road, I like cannot tahan long! Even in the air-con comfort of the malls... Maybe if I put on my jungle hat, carry my tongkat (this is a combination walking and sitting stick that I always carry in the ‘field’. Here again, ‘field’ does not mean the wide open field that people play in. What civilians refer to as the ‘jungle’ here in Singapore, we refer to as the ‘field’. Geddit?) and put on my No.4, I can last longer! Why ah?
There were gatherings galore over the CNY weekend. It started with a BBQ at Nyai Bik As house (now that’s a confusing term for those uninitiated but what to do...In the first place, pangkat si Asiah to me is cousin but since young I’ve been calling her Bik As, then my kids pulak call her Nyai...so...) on Sunday attended by some 35 people! Banyak kan?!?! It was supposed to be something small...just a few trays of food that’s all. But small just don’t dig it with my family. So it became a full blown BBQ with roaring fire, tons of food and games too! Games was requesting by Aqilah for me to organise. A bit last minute for me but I dig last minute! Came up with quite decent games that involved young and old. I hope everyone enjoyed them although I lost my voice a bit. It ended way past mid-night. We even celebrated Cik Lah’s birthday. Cool!
The next gathering happened the next day on Monday. A gathering of cousins and kids at West Coast Park. We participated in the time-honoured camping-at-a-park-during-CNY bit! The plan was to stay overnight but semua macam tak larat gitu. The usual suspects descended upon WCP on a windy, cloudy afternoon sans Boboy and family who wanted to Batam-ised their bundle of bubbly cuteness. As usual, the whole place was full of people since the malls were like ghost towns. Kites dotted the skies, blue tents popped up like mushrooms and the playground was full of kids. We plonked ourselves near the sand pit and the 4 kids plus Dennis the Menace promptly made themselves at home in (and I mean IN!) the sand! There was to be a partial eclipse of the sun but with the cloudy skies, it wasn’t that obvious. Furthermore, the maximum coverage happened at about 1749hrs which was nearly twilight anyway so...not much difference. I think not many people were aware of it anyway! I brought some stuff and we played dodgeball in the sand. It was great fun and everyone got sweaty and sandy. Pak Bonyo and clan came by bearing murtabak! And gamely joined in our next game which was rounders/baseball. You should have seen the Pak Bonyo and Cik Jamilah flying and diving into the sand! Bakat terpendam sey! After that we played Twister, Mentalogy and told ghost stories till about 0100hrs when we wearily trooped back to our cars with sleepy kids in tow!
The last ‘unexpected’ gathering happened the very next day! With the usual suspects. Hai, muka engkau jugak! It was to be a karaoke outing but I suggested karaoke-ing at my place and it was soon flooded with crooning ladies and sleepy babies! The usual tidbits and drinks were prepared and I took out my entire karaoke collection for the guests to sing along to. Ada orang tu mula-mula cakap lagu-lagu untuk orang-orang tua tapi at last nyani those songs jugak! Oh, ada orang Perancis tu dating untuk berenang...tak dengar dia nyanyi pun! Just before going back, sempat jugak si Farah dan Julie main si Wii...berpeluh-peluh di buat nya!
Till the next gathering then guys...
