‘So that day.. the thing you told me, so what’s your plan?’ I was munching the durian he brought back as he asked casually on Tuesday night. With a smile, alright.I sheepishly smiled and said being financially stable now is my main priority. I intend to stick to my job for a while, because of the accountability I have towards my clients too.

‘Uh by the way.. how old is your friend huh?’ Hmm, for the first time, Dad asked me something about SBB.

Another sheepish answer, and that was about as much as he asked.

***

I finally had some ample sleep today when training session was cancelled by my manager.

But work still haunted me in my dreams. Just like how SBB haunted me in my dreams too. I had been walking so much these days that I actually felt the stiffness in my calves.

To illustrate how bad it was, I stretched my legs out when I was sleeping, and my muscle tensed up and cramped.

Bugger.

I was so tired from the past 3 days, that I just nonchalantly used my left foot to apply pressure on the pain. I actually concussed out before the pain subsided, hardly stirred from my sleep.

I was that tired.

9 hours of sleep was pure heaven.

I made some calls from home, drafted out some stuff, before making my way down to office(reluctantly peeling myself away from the monitor and my cosy bed) to get some documents.

I thought I would have to head back in the morning, so had left some stuff in my locker.

Damn.

I printed some stuff in the office, work some calculations, before heading back to Jurong East to meet up with Finicky Feline for dinner.

There was a very nice JC girl on the train.

Finicky Feline and I had dinner at KFC when I saw 2 familiar faces walking past.

Wenhong and Guobang, whom I last saw at the NPCC chalet last week, and Rosemary’s engagement.

Jurong East was a place where we hung out so much during our secondary school days, and I don’t remember heading back there much after I graduated out of there.

Yet, I met the 2 of them there.

After I had met up with FF, I dropped by where they were to sit down for a chat. We suggested sitting down elsewhere, perhaps a cafe to do some catching up, but realised there wasn’t any place.

I am not sure who joked about Kbox on the 3rd floor, and the impromptu suggestion was snapped up.

We took a lift to the 3rd floor, and we emerged to the Fuji Ice Skating palace that the 3 of us spent most of our weekends at during secondary school days. What thickened the deja vu was also the fact that the jukebox was playing this Faye Wong song that was aired quite often in the rink back in our school days, a decade ago.

I commented how it was Connie’s(our fellow NPCC mate) favourite song for a while back then.

I stared at the rink for the longest time and then giggled at the memories how we used to fall together in that rink as we picked up ice skating.

How…. nostalgic.

Kbox used to be the bowling alley we spent our afterschool hours at. I recounted the days when we used to pass papers around in class to write song lyrics to pretend as if we were jotting down notes, and once I had this piece of paper full of song lyrics and my mum had mistaken it to be some love letter written to me.

I remember Wenhong was the one who wrote those lyrics, cos Guobang’s Chinese not-so-good. Muahahaha.

I remember the 2 of them to be the off-key kings, and I brought up the names of their favourite songs back then.

I think they stared at me as if I was some sort of freak because I could remember what they could vaguely do.

Eventually that dug out lotsa old songs we had fond memories of, and they sang the songs I remember them singing off-key, and boy, a decade does make lots of difference.

We laughed, we talked, and I felt like a 15 year-old all over again.

The only hit of reality came when we spoke of our new happenings in life.. and that we realised how life, has changed drastically for each of us. A reassuring grab of the arm from Guobang offered some kind of sensitivity that I didn’t see in these guys back in those days. Wenhong bought me Tutu-kueh as if to pacify a little girl.

Man! These boys did grow up! They are no longer the insensitive little geeks boys I hung out with back then.

I used to hang out the most with the 2 of them back then, doing projects together, and I had even been to their places back in those days to rush projects, where their off-key singing made a lasting impression.

Wenhong’s brother who used to run around with his baby bolster when he was a mere 5 year-old is now a teenager in secondary school.

Changes. Amazing.

We even would have forfeits for those who score higher marks during exams and tests. 1 mark = 5 push ups. Wenhong would always be the one doing for Mathematics. I would always be the one doing for Chinese/Chinese Literature.

Alas, Guobang didn’t advance together with us onto secondary 4, and I remember bawling back then.

Guobang has joined a bank and be in the same trade as I am, and Wenhong has just stepped into the workforce with his job in DSTA.

We finally finished terrorising each other with our horrid singing at 12, and the coincidental meetup wrapped up with Guobang dropping me off by cab.

The next meetup….. I wonder when will it be.

It was nice. Very nice.

***

I was at work early yesterday(Tuesday), and mornings really kill me.

A few pleasant surprises here and there on a Tuesday brought smiles to my face.

I met my dentist Dr Ng about 4 or 5 years ago, and though she only saw me once or twice before she referred me to Prof Ho, she had messaged me out of the blue yesterday morning.

I replied her and told her I was well and sent my regards to both her and Prof Ho.

Prof Ho was the doctor who did my dental surgery 4 years ago, and the 2 of them are now running a dental training centre at Paragon.

She asked me how I was doing, and perhaps I could drop by when I am in town.

Since I was in town, I decided to drop by and say hi.

Amazingly, they still remember me, and Prof Ho even remembers meeting me once at the prawn mee shop at Lavendar.

He is the darling professor from NUS whom everyone used to tell me how he was popular with ladies from young to old because he is so charming whenever I lamented about the long-waiting time at the dental clinic.

Apparently tai-tais and aunties loved to take their time to tell him their sob stories, and perhaps that was why my waiting time back then was always excruciatingly long.

The one-stop dental centre is brilliantly impressive with the top dentists for all services under one roof, and a world-famous orthodontist would soon be joining them on board.

It is also a training centre with programs for post-graduates, and they were approached by Warwick University to spearhead this project.

And being their patient, I can tell you they are definitely not only good at what they are doing, but also brilliant people to be around with.

I left the clinic to meet up with a very nice friend whom I got acquainted through blogging.

It was our first meet up and we went for a nice, fulfilling dinner at Spagheddies(bleah, however way you spell it).

He passed me a handwritten note, which are some stuff he had drawn up for me. I was… touched. It was such a sweet gesture.

As we chatted, I was just talking about this Dutch friend of mine to him, and how one of my client’s son shares the same name as this Dutch friend of mine, and I thought the name is really nice.

We shopped around Takashimaya post dinner and I saw something really nice and I really liked.

But when the salesperson came up to us and said, ‘Oh, the good thing is it comes with a vibrator and it is very soothing cos it gives the effects like petting patting…….’

I had to bite my lip and look elsewhere, and walked away to snigger hard.

We walked around a bit more, and it was really fun.

But I didn’t buy anything though.

I mean, buying a ‘vibrator’ in front of a new friend… is a bit what right? Muahaha.

We sat in the open, in the midst of Orchard, and chatted on the bench, with drinks purchased from 7-11.

It was a long talk, before we walked to Heeren to get a cab.

Suddenly my phone rang, and yet, it was another pleasant, pleasant surprise.

The Dutch friend I brought up during dinner, called.

Alas the overseas connection was pretty bad, and it was muffled most of the time. But nonetheless, it really did add to the feel-good factor I have about the tiring day.

I haven’t heard from him for the longest time, and hearing him updating me about his life was a joy.

My new friend then sent me home by cab.

It was a nice, relaxing evening.

***

After my previous post, things did pick up a lot.

I think it was just one of those days when I needed to let it out.

Right after my post was posted, the one thing that somehow…. brought me some unexplanable comfort, was just a simple sentence said in the call we had.

I was told I won’t be the only one working hard.

Yet, I dismissed it with a change of topic almost immediately, because the topic is still too tender for me to handle. I had to fight back emotions, which I was simply too tired to do.

I appreciate it though. Very much.

It was the thoughts that count, though I am not banking on the words said taking the form of reality.

Thank you.

And many other people who had been worried. I know.

Another morning tomorrow. My morales have been going up and down these days, and my self-doubt has officially taken over.