birdy quotes

Bud was very smug about her ingenuity when she quoted me her latest on men being cuckoos with varying birdiness. I have to say I did not appreciate its full essence till I pondered over all the trash I have been hearing from the XDDs around me for the past week.

First it was my bro the Iddiott who was blindly (literally) head over heels with the psychotic Bwitch after he was dumped and begged his way back for the second time:
"I don't want to end this relationship on a bad note as she may become my colleague and then make hell for me in the workplace...Let me see after she manages to change her job..."
Only mom has the patience to listen to this crap and then repeat to me. A mother's love is indeed unconditional.

Then it was DY who claimed he could understood Idiott's stupidity:
"Guys can take a lot of shit for the girls they like. Like I used to do for my ex.."
For the record he is still taking a lot of grief, not from his gf but from his parents, uncles and a cancer-stricken auntie whose first concern after puking in front of him was to persuade him to leave his Malay gf:
"I don't understand why they can be so prejudiced. Can't they just leave me to deal with this myself? Even if eventually I have to face problems, suffer heartbreak...if I have to learn like this then let me do it..."
Another siao one...

The most absurb dialogue I heard was from the TVB drama "War and Beauty". Sun Baiyang the imperial physician tried to console his love, the concubine-wannabe Yuying when she failed to sleep with the king(?!?!). I burst out laughing after hearing the following (not exact diaolgue but meaning roughly):
"Your relationship with the emperor is like that of husband and wife, you do not exist just to serve him but to love him with all thoughtfulness. There are many beauties in the palace but it does not mean that he will be too distracted to notice you. As long as you love him with great sincerity and heart, he will eventually realise your love and appreciate you..."
Next Sun brings Yuying to seduce the emperor to consummate the union. Absolute crap. I bet the scriptwriter is a cuckoo too.

Ruppie makes the most sense when he gave the birdiest speech in response to DY's predicament:
"Has your friend ever thought he has to give up kway zhap forever if he continues to date the girl? When I had my first girlfriend who was a Malay, it was painful having to give up kway zhap and eventually I couldn't take it and had to hide at home to eat my kway zhap. Kway zhap is one of the best things in life to give up on. It's such a small thing yet it brings so much joy to life. Pls remind your friend that..."
He said this with so much conviction and passion that I could hear the ghost of a deafening applause from all of us in the room. That persuaded Justin the angmoh to try kway zhap during lunch...

A song for me...

I am being delusional here...somehow this seems to be a song written just for me. Maybe I am just colour-blind...LOL

Yellow - Coldplay
Look at the stars;
look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah, they were all yellow

I came along;
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow

So then I took my turn
Oh what a thing to have done
And it was all yellow

Your skin,
oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know?
You know I love you so
You know I love you so

I swam across;
I jumped across for you
Oh what a thing to do
'Cos you were all yellow

I drew a line;
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow

And your skin,
oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know?
For you I bleed myself dry
For you I bleed myself dry

It's true
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for…

Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And all the things that you do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI8I6qcxWyU#

some things I miss ...

mood...

walking from Chinatown to Tiong Bahru
riding in the train on a gloomy day
reading over breakfast at Pret A Manger before work
enchanting trees lining the sides along the road trip
seeing stars through the car window
strolling along the wet shiny streets of the Old Town



him...
the charming smile that hooked me that fateful morning he strided in
the awkwardness as he struggled to articulate at Olio Dome
the dedication as he guided the granny along the railings

past...
leaping mom with the winning ticket
evening trips to the Econ minimart
kneading dumplings at grandaunt's place
dining at burger joint by the Malaccan beach
listening to one of Jia Por's stories
decorating the sports day banner with the girls
behaving like silly schoolgirls at the back of the Superbus
painting the flat with help from my extended family

Life...is about choices

Life is about choices

I have a classmate who lamented
how his workplace and colleagues are
non-supportive of his studies
and how he feels compelled to put in long hours
and has compromised his studies as a result.
We spent the next few minutes li-li-lor-lor-ing
I tried to think of ways to make his work life easier
till a sudden realisation led me to say:
"Wait a minute... you made a choice
You chose work over school
so...??"

As much as like him
My choice is clear
It's school for me
Almost certain academia is for life.
If such life-turning decision is made
without having to think hard -
it's as natural as my attraction to tiny-floral motifs
then why am I taking days to even
consider between two subjects?

So the question about the self
Are we more the product of choices
or circumstances?
It is so easy to conclude it depends, doesn't it?
Circumstances constrict us to certain routes
but still we make choices based on what we have
whether it's a dead end or cross-road junction
how we can turn back, stay put or proceed
Life's still about choices.

Like I can't really blame Mei for causing me constipation
when I was the one who made the choice
to ignore the urge of nature
when I was rushing one of her many demanding book orders.
Like I made the choice not to visit JiaPor more often
when I could brave the stern look of my boss
to plead for leave to finish the research paper
I couldn't just blame the lack of leave to go Malaysia.

One module is of interest
but I'm unsure what I can get out of it.
The other is useful but I dislike the work.
It's about which is more true to myself
gaining the skills or pursuing the ideal
In fact I know I made the choice already.

the note that almost made me cry...

I read this four months late
(the super blur me :p)
this little treasure within
my precious homesick remedy
Sure I would have felt the same
had I discovered it
right in the midst of cold London
the tears would have warmed
and dried the gloomy weather
Hope I have made you proud.

Important Small Things

As I go through my memory bank, this post will be a work-in-progress documenting all the seemingly minor acts that are extremely important to me. THANK YOU my friends, loved ones and beautiful strangers who are the fireworks that dazzle my (yet) insignificant existence:

- Mom's amusement at my wilful tantrums
- Bro's e-card
- Uncle Pat's sms checking on my indigestion problem
- The surprise appearance of Jade and Bud at the airport before I embarked on my solitary adventure in Europe
- Mayday's songs that kept me less homesick in UK
- BUD dragging a tacky China bag just to give me the 28 surprises
- Bren's "Xiao Xiao, r u ok?" at a time when I had too much going on
- The unexpected msn messages from My "Favoriter" that I was up for Princeton when I didn't feel quite motivated
- The email from Mr Ramani that spurred me on
- Linda checking on me after every exam
- The comforting smses when I was down from rejection by my Favouritest - The pass-it-on day traveller card from the black man when I was digging all my pockets inside out for my own. I will never forget his smile when he went down the elevator. Thank you for reminding me the power of sharing.

more to come...

People lost & found

Bren the Supremest Rattling Queen,
wrote a simple yet touching account
her Year of Lost & Found
inspired by Bud's "Return of Bren".
Hate to admit but the sappy-averse me
felt severely nostalgic -
the times we hanged out
and took turns to embarass one another
with loud, excessive talking and hearty laughter
oblivious of the world around us.
Thanks Bren for finding me
It wasn't my graciousness
your generosity reunited us.

Wanying the old secondary friend,
whom I finally met over lunch
4 years since we last met.
The same old careless manner
and the awkward apology
for not keeping in touch
made me greatly amused
but what was the warm fuzzy feeling
that was swelling within the belly?
Not the meal of cos
it just felt good to catch up.

Wee Leong the evergreen ah beng
puffing as I saw him at the coffeeshop
Aged and fatigued he looked
did I appear the same to him?
Comforted he's come to terms
with his oldest profession
But why the tinge of sadness
I couldn't quite pinpoint
Was it the that lostness I thot
that remained in him
or was it in me who couldn't
quite let go?
Thank you for the old cliched tale
of how we got you back in school
Perhaps I did want that memory
Congrats on finally moving on
May you get it altogether my friend.

Bren, Wanying and Wee Leong -
Friends who were lost & found
They never really departed
as they stay in my cellage
They come, go and re-emerge
Don't we all move on
but they are still there and there
till one makes the move
to rekindle the touch.