The Trilogy

Singapore Dreaming

It's a miracle. I'm awake at this hour, the earliest yet eversince i dropped out of the rat-race for a breather. I must have only closed my eyes for some 3 to 4 hours, given the outing last night.

Thanks to the nightmare i was having just before i regained consciousness to the world; it literally panicked me awake.

I dreamt of parting with Wil before the outing ended last night only to realise i had my bag left locked in his bike's box. It was horrifying even in the dreams to imagine leaving all your belongings like wallet & most importantly, handphone, with somebody else.

It is also not good news to know that my handphone has found its way to the category of "Necessities".

In the dream, the first reaction upon such realization was to call him before he leaves the building BUT since i have his number stored in my handphone & in my handphone only, i didn't have his number to call, not to mention any of our mutual friends'.

You know sometimes when you dream of something unpleasant, despite being asleep, you will still be conscious enough to want to will yourself to wake up, only to find yourself paralyzed with the inability to open your eyes?

The feeling was almost like that, except that i did open my eyes, almost immediately no less. It was as if somebody had jolted me out of sleep & miraculously no matter how long i was in denial to get out of bed, i couldn't fall asleep anymore.

In the sleepless mode, i have decided i will keep a separate record of all the contacts in my mobile from now on, just in case the situation really takes place one fine day.

I was still telling the girls the other day that even when i was working, i couldn't wake up without setting the alarm even though i have to wake up at the same time everyday. With my irregular sleeping pattern now, i am a little worried of readjusting back when the need arises.

Is there such a thing as "no bio-clock", i wonder?

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Her Wedding

Some 1 month ago, i was informed by one of my primary school girlfriends that she is getting hitched & was cordially invited to her R.O.M party.

We are talking about someone i have not seen for about a decade or so. It was only in recent years she somehow found my contacts again & added me on MSN.

Even though we are residing in close proximity, we hardly bump into one another or make the effort to meet up.

The bride was once in my B.F.F category & probably the only one who had made it there. Well, even though she did not stay in the category, she was still somebody significant once.

We hung out in a larger group & there were days we could visit her house almost every other day, just to slug around or watch teletext. Yes, teletext. It was the in-thing before IRC came. Of course, when we were out or in school, we did tonnes of crazy stuff together too.

However, she has always been a rather problematic kid. She reads & kept to herself alot & was the kind to go to the Ladies during class just to comb & wet her hair. She was forever entangled in BGR troubles & at later stage, whenever she was depressed she would mutilate her wrist with a pen-knife. The wounds were not deep enough to kill but enough to make the sight disturbing. Due to multiple & repeated mutilation, there was a period of time she would only appear in long-sleeved blouses.

As a kid who knows no better, it was alot for me to take in. As much as i would like to remain as a supportive friend even when we parted for different secondary schools, it was difficult since we made new friends & basically moved on. It was unfortunate that the clique she hung out with in secondary school was seemingly girls like her or perhaps worse. When she was with us, even though we were playful & rebellious, we had her in check but with friends who condone her behaviour, it was no surprise she went wayward shortly after. After Sec 2, she dropped out.

In the whole of my secondary school life, perhaps i saw her once or twice. On & off, i hear mutual friends talking about how she was getting on. Distinctively there was once i recalled, when i was mugging for a Physics test on the eve, i got a call from her telling me she was preggie. She was my first girlfriend to get pregnant at our age so I was only short of blacking out in shock. I still remember what my first words to her were; helplessly, i told her "At least you know you are fertile." And she laughed.

As she was still a minor back then, the chap responsible for it went to Boys' Home after her parents refused to hear of the marriage proposal from the chap's family, so she had it aborted despite loving kids. I can't quite remember but vaguely, i think she had another one after that.

When i saw her last night, there were plenty of mixed feelings. There she stood, in a simple, pink gown, looking radiant & happy. She was pretty much the same, except that she put on a few more pounds & a tattoo. She must have repeated "Thank you for coming" and "I'm really happy you all are here" for 6 or 7 times for the night.

I was glad to be there for her but even more elated i went with Wil & Mel. There were only 3 of us from Primary School, and 2 from her secondary school. Since she had lost contact with most of her schooling friends, the remaining guests were all her colleagues. We felt a little out of place but her parents who still remember me (afterall how could they not since i used to hang out at their place so much), helped in making us feel at ease with their hospitality.

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Primary School Pals

Anyway, we only managed to catch up a little as she was busy fleeting around attending to guests. The 3 of us left after an hour or 2 since the guys wanted to grab dinner. They said the buffet portion were appetizers. -_-'''

In the end, we wento an eatery at Kovan, stayed to chat till 2am & we talked alot into the past.

I got acquainted with them when i was a prefect back in P4 & had to monitor the P7s and i'm glad i had to, otherwise i would never have known nice folks like them. We hung out so much we practically saw each other more than we saw our family at that time, it was ridiculous.

Of course, BGRs were a big hit back then & there were the A-likes-B-but-B-likes-C situations. But everything just seems amusing in retrospect.

Education, social circle aside, they are very earnest people to be with and that's why times with them are simple yet pleasurable. They are very real and free people, free not as in they have nothing else better to do but free, as in soul & spiritually. No matter how much they have been through in life, i don't think they will ever morph into empty-shelled hypocrites who blow air kisses at acquaintances.

I think the both of them, together with another guy pal, TM, subconsciously, have benchmarked the criteria for men. Conservative to a certain extent, they are MEN-men, the kinds with spines, if you know what i'm talking about. They are opinionated, straight-forward in their likes & dislikes and can be as stubborn as a mule but they are protective of girls, and not just to their girlfriends, which is what i really appreciate about them. You just feel safe with them because you know they will always watch your back.

These are not people borned with silver spoons in their mouths nor did they do their "air-levels" but they are rugged & down to earth people who sometimes struggle to make ends meet.

It's not necessarily something tangible they do which you could put a finger to it to derive this conclusion about them. It's more like trivialities, like the way they talk & walk with you. Body language you might say but it just shows, and this kinda thing is simply not taught in schools.

I sincerely dunno if you can find anymore guys like them out there but i do believe they are a rare breed and i think i have been lucky enough to keep them as my friends.

So ladies, i hope you find yours too.  ¶ J poppycocked at 8:47:00 AM