Another Sunday

Let's re-cap as we did last week =D

Monday (14/2/2005, Valentine's Day):

A lonely day for us single buggers.. *Sigh*

Was late as usual for school.. only that this time I was late for a talk, about choosing MicroE as a diploma to pursue for the rest of my polytechnic days. (All ECE students have to rank 1 - 5 diplomas, in the order of preference, to pursue, namely, Avionics (20 positions), Computer (140 positions), Computer - Alpha (40 positions), Telecommuniciation (180 positions), and finally, MicroE (100 positions).)

Kinda weird 'cause.. in the classroom where they held the talk, there were students giving out paper flowers (OK, V.day, i can understand) but along with that flower they handed out mandarin oranges. And they're not even in pairs. (I mean, if following the New Year tradition then everyone should get a pair, right?)

... o.O

Ocom lessons came after, and we had to draw lots, to decide who was going to present their "Formal presentation" first. I drew a placing for myself on the second week, which sits with me just fine. ('cause the others were either the first or the third week. Middle placings are always good.)

Thereafter comes our weekly favourite, Sports and Wellness! (Maybe the athletes would like it, but the lame routine we have to go through weekly would've put anyone off)

Then I realised that I forgot to bring my shorts.

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Had to run around the track in my jeans. On a hot day. Wow.

Thereafter I attended a talk, which introduced the above mentioned diploma courses.

Went home after. I think I stayed up late to play games.. =X


Tuesday (15/2/2005):

Fore-note: From Tuesday till Friday, I was consecutively late for classes for half an hour each. (Reason: Couldn't get myself to get up, despite the annoying alarm clocks blaring away.)

Tuesday was.. fairly quiet.. which is normal for a Tuesday. Therefore I like Tuesdays. (One of the days I get to be released earlier anyways. =P)

Hmm.. oh yeah.. had to stay up late writing up my second draft of my IAC project report. Slept for 4 hours. (No wonder I couldn't get up.)


Wednesday (16/2/2005):

EPS2 lesson came first. Rushed to complete our "way-behind-time" projects. Soldering was damn ugly.. Ack.

ACCA Lecturer didn't turn up for lessons. Instead she asked two separate lecturers to relieve her. What a waste of time.

We couldn't understand the first lecturer's way of speaking, while the second lecturer just wanted to show off his "pen-mouse".

Now I'm beginning to love my ACCA lecturer for her straight-to-the-point and clear lectures.

Last class was at 4 pm. Had to stay in school until 5 pm to meet pu with my IAC project members to finish up on the project. Then stayed for 2 hours, touching up on my IAC report and the power-point presentation that we were supposed to present on the following Monday. (Some friends of mine told me that they were not required to present their projects to the class. I hope it is the same in my case.. *crosses fingers*)

Oh yeah.. was heading home after school when it happened. (REALLY late 'cause I was doing project and all) I had to wait for like half an hour for the bus 157.

Got really, really annoyed, 'cause the sky was still bright when I got to the bus stop.

As expected, the bus was packed. I was entertaining the thought of catching the next bus, but think that since it was peak hours, it wouldn't have made a damn difference anyways.

So I got on, and accquired a 10-by-10 inch space on the steps of the front door.

Really comfy. And yeah, the air-conditioning was like in "tip-top prime condition". (<- If you know what I mean)

Was really fed-up with everything then.. 'Cause the issue of choosing a diploma to pursue was breathing down my neck since Monday. To add insult to the injury, my lecturer told us that job prospect for engineers in the near future was bleak. So it didn't bloody mattered which course we chose, 'cause there was no "better option". Instead he told us to should what we liked so that we can pursue the diploma that much easier.

Heck. I don't even know what I like.

Back to the bus trip. The bus went for like another 2 or 3 bus stops before it stopped to allow a middle-aged man onboard. (and yeah, he took over my 10-by-10 inch space on the door steps ; ) ) Apparently the bus driver was one of those "can't-survive-for-a-day-without-saying-something" persons. He started complaining about the traffic, about the peak hours, about the way the bus was jam-packed, and everything that was worth complaining about, he complaint. (I think he was talking to the middle-aged man who got on)

Felt like rolling my eyes at his whining, but something struck me back then. I was doing the same to Alvin earlier this morning. And so, I decided that, heck, I ain't any better off.

So I kept my peace.

The middle-aged man started chatting up with the driver, and that was when the driver said something I think I'll remember for a long time.

He said (in Mandarin): "Look at what life has become for us un-educated people. We earn $30 dollars a day, and our break time is only in a matter of a few minutes before we get back to driving the bus. Back in the old days, they paid us $10 dollars a day, but then at least, back then, Chicken Rice or Wantoon Noodles only cost us, what? 50 cents? But what about now? A plate of rice or noodles costs at least $3 or more! What do they expect? We still have families to feed you know? No wonder less and less young people wanna drive buses anymore.. Just a moment ago before I left the bus interchange, 2 out of the 10 157's were un-manned, while another didn't set out at its predetermined time. That's why you guys waited about half an hour to get on, right?"

I felt like got slapped. Right in my face. But somehow that slap was.. great.. Like a fog cleared my mind. Went home feeling great.

Went to sleep at 2 am again. Had to wake up at 6 the next day. Yummy. X_x


Thursday (17/2/2005):

Nothing worth mentioning on Thursday (I think). Just another day..


Friday (18/2/2005):

Afternoon classes on Fridays! Attended the first lesson of the day, and got depressed. (lolz!) It was PP2, and I realised that most of my class have already started on their own programs, while I have yet to do anything. And I have to hand in a report on the following week. Yipes!

Drew a skeleton man, changed the background colors. I think that was all I did. X.x

Finished class @ 5 pm (Was Maths after PP2). Met up with tg, bl and alvin for dinner, then we went for astro.

Was a clear sky that night (rare event). Managed to peek at Jupiter.

After which we went home.. but stayed out late 'cause we wanted supper.. and we sat around chatting about "the old times" and getting nostalgic and all..

How I miss the old secondary days.

Which makes me wonder why we humans always takes things for granted, only to regret it the day we lose it. *Sigh*


Saturday (19/2/2005):

Woke up in the afternoon, at around 3 pm. Was supposed to go house-calling today, but since we stayed up so late the day before, forget it.

Instead we went to Alvin's house to play mahjong. (lolz!) The four of us were newbies, so we invited Wei Xiang to teach us.

Learnt a heck of alot about mahjong. And damn. My luck was really bad.

We got addicted to the game and played all the way until Sunday morning, 6 am.

Blehx. X.x


Sunday (20/2/2005):

Oh yeah. My "favourite" day.

Went to sleep at about 7 am in the morning. Woke up at 4 pm in the afternoon.. (Nasty habit of sleeping late and waking late)

Ah.. yes. A classical scenario which explains why I hate Sundays so much.

Was playing a game on the PS2. (A.K.A. Minding my own business) My dad was changing the water of the fish tanks in the house, when he forgot to turn off the water supply which he left in one of the fish tanks.

Results: "Massive" flooding of the house.

The dining room was flooded, along with the kitchen area, especially under the table where we store our "garbage". (Can't classify them, so "garbage" fits nicely)

Helped to clean up the house.

As if it wasn't enough, while I was clearing the water under the dining table, my dad said sh!t like: "Hey you stupid idiot, can't you clean up the area near the carpets first?"

Ahem. Excuse ME! Was it my fault that you friggin' conveniently left the hose running in the tank? Is that the way you talk to your son? Is that the way any parents talk to their child? (And oh, this is like, one of the nicer "names".)

So. Fine. I shut up, out of respect that he's my dad, that he is the sole bread-winner, and that he owns the house.

Then he said thrash like: "Why can't you guys help to look out for the water for me?"

And I retorted: "Which brings up a good question: 'Why do you rear so many fishes?'"

Apparently that pissed him off. (Oh yeah, for your information, In my house we have like, 17 fish tanks, 2 gigantic ones, 6 large ones, 2 medium ones and 7 small ones. Number of fishes? Unknown. Jasmine tried counting once. I think she said 500+. That was back in the year 2003.)

He kept quiet for awhile. I thought he was seriously considering my question. (Given that he once asked me whether I think he should get rid of some fishes. Stupid question. The answer is obvious?)

How stupidly naive I was. Perhaps he was right in calling me an idiot.

He said: "Haizz, Other people, like our neighbour, has their sons rushing to help their fathers clean the fish tanks. While I have 6 children who wouldn't lift a finger to help me. And somemore they must say 'lan-jiao wuay' instead of helping out. Maybe I should try my best to get two more children into the family."

*For your info, "lan-jiao wuay" is dialect for "fucked up words" (<- That's the best I can explain)*

Well. So now I'm the unfilial son. CCCCOOOOLLLL!

Question and Answer Time!

Q: How many fishes does my family have?
A: Erm, currently? Maybe 200+?

Q: How many fish tanks does my family have?
A: 17, if you disregard the sizes.

Q: How many fish tanks does the neighbour have?
A: One? or maybe 2.

Q: How many fishes does the neighbour have?
A: Unknown. But how many fishes can 1 or 2 tanks contain?

End of Q & A Session.

Well. So, you, as the father, like fishes, so the rest of your family has to develop a liking to fishes along with you? I absolutely hate fishes, and there is absoluting no friggin; reason why I should help you change the water.

Do I hear someone say "Filial Piety"? F*** "Filial Piety"! I wouldn't mind helping him change the water, but the are like 17 fish tanks to cover. What? Am I born to be his friggin' slave or servant? Just say so. At least shatter the illusion that I'm your friggin' son. Thanks.

Yet another Sunday. Wonderful life O' mine.


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End of Week's summary.

For those of you whom I have told that I do not like Sundays: This is the reason why. And this probably the only time I'll ever write/say something like this. And oh. It's not just my dad. Everything else goes bad on Sundays.

Does any of you have dads/moms like this? Share your experiences with me, so that at least I can know that I'm better off than someone else. That'll make me feel way better.