will this summer be as comforting as the last?

the last was quite something. went out of my comfort zone and did things i had always wanted to. like catch up with old friends. and of course immersing in the prospects of my final year.

this time is, well, significantly different. it's a much more surreal summer, me having graduated, without the stability of school to progress towards.

plans are good. at least they're socially appropriate. but i like free time and how fluid they are. my supposed "grad trip" to europe or US capitulated, yet im not too bothered. i feel upbeat, especially with how in its place a still-uncertain love story is playing out.

so yes a lot of time post-exams has been spent with her. which i wholly am in favour of.

checked

trying to cook again is therapeutic, although also taxing and chaotic. hmm, how paradoxical. grocery shopping though, is becoming addictive.

immediately after exams ended my dramatic streak took over and i auditioned for an okto role for fun. really simple stuff, but i enjoyed performing again. unfortunately my friend's production house eventually had enough actors. next time, hopefully!

japanese buffet at yuzuya.

met the hall clique after months, to celebrate the May babies' birthdays. especially nice to see lingling, johnson and angeline after so long!

jarrod and hsien organised a farewell bbq in hall. a really nice touch. though most of my closer friends are gone, this bbq gave our hall life a good closure.

dropped by WKWSCI seniors' camp. "dropped by", not participate. since i was in hall. sat in for their HC/FN briefings. boy, every batch is getting more and more kilat. the attention and professionalism they accord to FOC these days is as top-notch as any industry conference or campaign.

made time for a bookswop event at Orchard Central. gave them 17 old books in exchange for 16 really cool books i cant wait to read!

packed my room after, yes, six years. cos i haven't been living at home for that long. and to be frank, im in the process of creating a proper living space for myself first time in my life, since im not sure how long i'd be staying here. my hall room has always been super, it's time to transfer that home.

finally caught up again with 'the six' (the subset of the hall clique) after a semester of FYPs for some of us. back at chomp chomp, our old haunt. hokkien mee, wings, oyster egg, stingray, la-la, sotong, sugar cane ftw!

a spontaneous date at Bird Park! "the world's largest" hahaha. it's been so many years since seeing especially those penguins. but more importantly i loved the time spent with her. :) ugly pigeons, tea shake, amigo, mynahs, bongo, dumbhead owls and ducks, man on horse, lory nectar, colourful iguana and fruit juice we forgot to buy!

johor twice and malacca once. hahaha. so 联邦.

what's next

boost my long-inadequate itunes, after my mac's demise two years ago.

watch all the films and read all the books i haven't.

settle that headache of a Reuters sports journalism internship.

---

anyhow, im going to taiwan! finally, after toying with the idea since army days. very last-minute but okay lah. guess this is my grad trip after all (although my dad offered to pay for me to go US, as minder to my little sis going for a year-long exchange).

right side of wrong

what a sad song.

A friend of a friend needs a favor

No questions asked, there's not much more to say

Me and the wife, we need the money

We've got four kids all hungry, one on the way

Slip these sweat socks in your shirt and pray they think your packin'

Be sure to keep your head down, don't look 'em in the eye

And don't get fancy, Ricky, we ain't Jimmy Cagney

Look at me, let's do the job and let's get home tonight

I got a half tank of gas and if we run all the lights

We'll slip across the border on the wrong side of right

And just like Butch and Sundance we'll ride until the dawn

Sipping whiskey, singing cowboy songs

On the right side of wrong

We picked a helluva of a night, from the shore I see the skyline

In a couple of hours from now Rick, we're gonna get out of this life

We'll stop for smokes, I brought a six pack, we'll stop at lookers on the way back

Hell, we'll laugh this off, keep your fingers crossed that all goes well tonight

We'll make the grade, they'll know our names, I need a friend to drive here

Wear my necklace of St. Christopher and talk to him while I go inside

I'll take that suitcase, get the cash and we'll be gone before you know

Wait until we tell the girls we're moving down to the Gulf of Mexico...

A friend of a friend needed a favor

Life was just what happened while we were busy making plans

We never saw nothing, there was a run-in

.9 millimeter steel was coming for the windshield of that Oldsmobile

As the cop said, "Show your hands!"

five months versus five years

"my epic ktm love story"

"you overwhelm me. especially today.

i really love today.

it's crazy lovely."

i guess that says it. it's really enough.

the plan: you have your difficulties, i know, so since i cant be your anything in singapore, i decided we could be husband-and-wife in malaysia. so since we're going on a rail trip northwards, i would propose to you in tanjong pagar railway station (which technically still belongs to malaysia and thus malaysian land), and we could be married for the day. to highlight the quirkiness and fable of it all, who cares about silver rings, i prepared silver tie bands for our fingers. and i designed and printed a 'certificate of marriage' for us to formalise our love and union "in malaysia" haha.

epic, isnt it? :)

if you would like the fine print, here you go: i started researching and designing the 'certificate of marriage' after my exams ended, oftentimes right in front of you. because for the last week we've been together almost 24/7, i couldn't settle anything, until when you went out on tuesday night, i ran off to prepare the stuff. i got up very early on wednesday to print the 'certificate of marriage' before my medical appointment, but there were problems, and later in the day i walked around novena looking for a printer, finally finding one at goldhill centre. they refused to use my paper though, i had to buy a full stack from them (!).

*well because of the eventual rush to catch our train, proposing in the station didnt materialise, so the new location was on the train itself. we had many witnesses, our fellow passengers. :)

i loved that you had the courage. for so many things, in so many ways.

i loved how you drove over to save me when i was caught in the rain going home.

i loved that you said yes. 

i loved how you laughed freely today.

i loved how your hands always reciprocated when i reached out.

i loved how you held my arm sometimes. makes me feel you really submit yourself to me.

i loved how you were truly concerned my walk home would be too long.

i loved how you tried to really be my wife for the day.

i loved how i could feel, faintly, that you do like me.

staple

her: do you have penknife or scissors?

me: yes! anything else?

her: you!