This is a series of trick questions. My colleague heard it from 933. *grin*
Q: What is Happy’s surname?
A: Lee (think happily)
Q: What is Happy’s occupation?
A: Nurse (think happiness)
Q: What is Happy’s gender?
A: Male (think happy meal)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
I am going back Ipoh this Christmas to spend time with parents, and most probably do some shoppings!
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! (I’ll be back!)
This mixture of photos are taken at various places - Raffles City, Marina Square, Vivocity, Cameron Highlands, Centrepoint, Citylink and Tampines Mall.
It’s good to feel so occupied (other than work) for once!
The crazy December started with an outing to watch movie with close friends. We were fortunate to see rainbow when we stepped out of the cinema, on our way to board bus to Orchard at Marina Square. I think either devil or periwinkle or segnick who spotted it. Then we turned around and took photos.
Having scooped out my camera, I wanted to make full use of it. But sadly the rest weren’t in the mood of being photographed. Lots of ghostly shots because they kept swaying and darting and hiding! It was funny capturing their expressions! Teehee… The outing actually was just a simple one, but somehow I felt good!
Then the crazy month continued with a CRAZILY short trip to Cameron with my extended families. Sucker and I reached Ipoh in the morning, and went up to Cameron on the same day, stayed overnight, and came down at about 2pm. Sometimes I really wonder how my dad did it - getting enough rest and concentrating on the roads. I really need to get him to holiday more soon…
The trip albeit a short one, I enjoyed every bit of it! The weather was cooling (about 18 degrees), we ate steamboat, we ate prata and drank teh tarik, we plucked strawberries, we ate scones and curry puffs, basically just breathed in the fresh Cameron air. I love catching up with my little cousins. They are forever so cute, although sometimes the way they speak can be a little matured for kiddos (the extensive exposure to computers and TVs I guess)… And we have new additions to the family! 2 cute kids from my second eldest cousin - one baby one toddler. Hehe. I wish I can spend more time with them so that they will remember me in future.
Then my agency has a super early Christmas party. It was themed “Nightmare before Christmas” and we were supposed to dress up! This was really my first time having to dress up. My AD suggested for me to dress up as a dark angel. And he even roped in Deb to help me create the wings! How could I resist such help? Haha. So we spent about 1 hour making my wings! Too pity that I didn’t take much photos with it (I am still keeping it in office though). I didn’t do any make up, just changed my outfit and strapped on the wings (so I’m not really that dark after all). Everyone said it was very creative to make a wing out of scrap presentation board and garbage bag. Haha. I attributed this creativeness all to Deb! And also my first time to step into LB’s studio! It was fun to see everyone loosing up and played together. The management especially was “bullied” to the max! And they didn’t mind a bit! Haha.
At the end of it all, everyone has a lucky draw prize (I got a $200 Robinson voucher!), some small prize for being sporty in all those “sabo” games (I got a shining snowman!) and a not-bad prize for the treasure hunt (my team came in second and each of us got a $25 Spinelli card!).
Crazy December huh? It was fun and tiring and crazy and indescribable at the same time! It makes me appreciate my friends and family more, treasure Sucker more, enjoy my work more!
I had a bit of discussion with Sucker last night, after he watched “Money Not Enough 2“.
He told me the synopsis of the story, and voiced his worries at the same time. As usual, I shrugged it off with comments like “We should think of the bright side of life instead of dwelling into future worries. Just strive to live our best with a good heart now.” (or something to that effect, of course now my sentence is constructed properly.)
Then he retorted by saying that I am unwilling to face the hard truth of life, and that I need to be as prepared as I can be for the bad things to happen. He threw me two questions that I have no answer for.
“What will you do if you give birth to a deformed kid?”
“Who will you save first if your mother and your daughter both need the same pint of blood?”
I couldn’t fathom the consequences of having these situations played out in my life (if touch wood it really happens). There’s no right or wrong answers. Morally and logically speaking, I would choose to take care of my deformed kid and save both by finding another pint of blood. But what will I do if situations don’t permit? Like maybe I don’t have that much of patience or financial support or time.
I had no answers…I refused to think about it…I drifted off to sleep…
But I am still holding to that belief that we should look at the bright side of life, and stride through the days with a good heart, as far as our conscience can carry us.
The air was cold, the night had long since dawned upon the streets. I walked out of the office and straight to the Mercedes taxi that was waiting at the taxi stand. I told the driver my destination, and my detoured destination so that I could get my meal. And then the conversation began when I was munching my fries…
(Conversation was in Mandarin)
“Are you the girl who stay behind the Sikh temple and stop at the porch?”
“Yup!” *munch munch* (wondering how he knows…)
“You remember me? I fetched you last week.”
“Uh huh….” (trying to figure which trip was that, because I have been taking taxi rides for quite a number of nights…)
“The uncle who asked you whether you have enough guts to walk back alone?”
“Oh ya…Hehe…” *munch munch* (and then I remembered that he’s also the uncle who waited for me to walk back to my block before he reversed his car.)
How coincidental! I have never rode on a taxi which has fetched me twice!
We chatted during the trip. He told me about his encounter with a tortoise in the middle of the road, his working habits, the taxi rental and the difficulties of surviving as a taxi driver now. I guess the uncle ages about 50+. He said Singapore is a relatively safe place, but sometimes there are still weird people around. Everyone wants to get home safely, so he will make sure his passengers get home safely too.
Suddenly, I have this profound respect for him because he respects his job. I have taken a lot of taxi rides throughout my 2 years of working life, and have met countless of rude and unethical drivers - those who grunted when you paid in NETS or credit card, those who stopped right in front of you and went “ON CALL” instead, those who got pissed off when you asked them to fetch you to different places at one go, those who wanted to change shift soon but took you in then started to sound angry when you wanted to pick up someone along the way - simply countless!
At the end of my journey, I bid the uncle goodbye. He said “Take good care and hope to see you again.”
I stepped out of his cab feeling rejuvenated and warm. And again, he waited for me to walk in before he left.
I am amused by this brief encounter with this cab driver - so simple that it could make me feel so happy and blessed tonight.