28 Oct 2006

There are some moments in life we never forget. And there were a few such moments in mine. They were not necessarily memorable to all characters involved but they were definitely inoubliable for me.

I remember spending my 20th birthday having xia mian with Jeffry at the food court in Toa Payoh Hub before talking till late at the playground beside my block. I remember NCC outside the EP3 block, giap doing pushups, me sitting on giap, then yaohui walking over giap then giap getting angry with Jiahao and then the 2 of them not talking for a year. I remember the trek through rain in Nepal, where some good photos were taken and few years later, cut up by me to decorate my office in MHA. I remember how loo's leg got blistered when he was roasting chicken in Huang Ban Ping, how hot I felt at my 'crouch' area even with my jeans on when I took over him to roast the chicken which thus, did not make me that surprise that he got burnt because he had rolled up his jeans, how Yixian had suggested that we applied colgate on the blister and how Tristan intervened and told us that colgate would only make the blister worse. I remember the council EGM and the first sworn in to Maf brothers. I remember the sparkle getting stucked in the fishing line and how jiamin tried to force it down. I remember the announcement weijie and I made for carrom competition and the laughter that rang through the central plaza that morning. I remember the stench we created after O1, which probably put us in front of the Indonesians in terms of the ability to generate bad air. I remember s22 gathering in a classroom one day and discussing abt ruiling's supposed brain tumour. I remember the lion for sheares hall opening.

I remember crossing the road one day in toa payoh and a man told me that 'zhuo4 ren2 ying1 kai1 gan4 ai4 gan4 hen4', the more you hate someone, the more you'll love somebody else. That made me realise why I had never ever really fell in love before because I never ever really hate somebody. That man planted the seed of wild streak in me, which I believed is the main reason why I dyed my hair after NS, why my left earlobe is punctured, and why I am looking to get tattoos from the Polynesia islands and have a body like Scofield.

That man has a character almost totally opposite of mine. We are like plus and minus, N and S. And even though he is treating me like a Rachel now, I would still like to wish him a happy birthday today and raise a toast 'To Friendship, to Brotherhood'.

The favourite photo I've taken this year has him as the model. I present to you...

The Birthday Watermelon Boy - Tat.