210805

[060805] wushu performance for some Radin Mas National Day dinner cum upgraded market & hawker centre official opening. dry runs in e afternoon were smooth, except for e stage that sounded highly unstable (but in e end it could take Moses Lim's weight =P), & that we forgot all about e lighting....!

somehow managed to perform when evening came even though we couldn't see a thing - kena blinded by e big fat spotlights lining e perimeter of e stage. & nobody chopped anyone else (happened during training), hit e roof with their weapons (happened during dry runs), crash into any tables (organisers removed it after watching us go through our dry runs =P) or microphones, or flew off e stage.

with makeshift altars on foldable tables, burning red candles, joss sticks & incense paper, ash & smoke in e air, wooden stage, loud blaring music & old men in e ah peh uniform of white singlet & slippers standing around armed with copies of e night's wan3 bao4, atmosphere was more like that of e getai ;) maybe e zhong1 yuan2 hui4 (7th month festival organising committee) in that area & national day dinner organising committee decided to celebrate national day for both e living & our ho1 hia1 tee4 *grin*

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[080805] view from e upper deck of e SBS 14: state flags & National Day banners, buntings & other decorations, flapping in e darkness of e night amid a snowstorm of hell notes & smoke rising from piles of ashes. wonder why e oranges, red candles & joss sticks were placed directly beneath e big fat board plastered with National Day greetings & e faces of all e MPs of that constituency.... ;)

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[120805] 10th anniversary of maternal grandma's passing according to e Lunar calendar. which made me realise that you (not referring to ah ma) would have been 24 this year. when I see our primary school mates' profiles on Friendster, with photos of JC outings, NS days, uni life, holidays abroad etc, am amazed by how far we've all come & how we've all grown =) 10 years on, you are still remembered.

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[can't recall dates]
one of e most super 'teh' primary 2 girls at Ai Tong training:
" 如果我做（腾空飞腿）对的话，老师要给我 french fry"

& by 老师 she is referring not just to Xue laoshi, but all e senior students - that would be enough to form a pack of small fries from McDonald's =P

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remember e outdoor playground that used to be on e rooftop of e parkway parade carpark? all e cat can recall is this hollow white (but yellowed by UV from e sun) plastic (fibreglass?) structure that kids could climb through, an inclined plane with 'rollers' where kids could sit on a rubber mat & slide down, e green flooring that reminded me of artificial turf, & accessing e place via a staircase leading from e carpark. seems that this place has been deeply imprinted in e hearts of many Marine Parade/Katong (& some Bedok) kids who grew up with Parkway Parade?

once upon a time, there was great excitement among a bunch of VJC buddies hanging out in Parkway after class when someone mentioned this playground, & they went around e building & carpark pieceing together dusty childhood memories & hunting for e access to e rooftop, & finally ended up staring in silence through e grilles of a locked metal gate that sealed off e now-empty concrete space.

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after so much waiting for buses & trains, long journeys, traffic jams, ERP gantries & tapping of EZlink cards, all e cat wants is:

doko demo do-a どこでもドア

aka. Doraemon's 'everywhere door', which allows you to go anywhere you wish by just stepping through that magic door. can't believe that Doraemon was my introduction to quantum teleportation ;)

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Medishield reform: kena stunned when asked to explain e gamma knife item in one of e tables in e Medishield booklet. how to explain a knife that is not a knife (literally) to older relatives (with less than primary education) in Teochew? but then again, they were satisfied enough to know that it is something that involves a piece of equipment that cost more than $6 million, which could be e reason why it is listed separately from e surgical tables. money seems to be e language that everyone finds easier to comprehend.

makes me wonder how many more of e elderly are having trouble making sense of all e schemes, policies, plans, changes, reforms, revamps etc that are confusing even those of my parents' age?

[ filed under: 9_lives_2005 + thewonderingstraycat ]