Goodbye Presents
Is my blog starting to sound like a major sob-story?
Hell YEAH!
It must the time of the day that I choose to blog. How jubilant can one get in the wee hours of the night with the sound of the pelting rain for company? So, I have decided to blog in the morning... wait for it...
HOLLA! And a very GOOD MORNING PEOPLE!!!
Wow... notice the difference?
Today marks the beginning of goodbyes. I have almost completed running my errands and will devote the next 5 days meeting up with family and friends, with the sole intention of reminding them that I am still very much alive... albeit being miles away. Promises to keep in touch must be kept... Updates will be much appreciated and hugs coupled with the 'take cares' will the order of the day.
Mal was the first to give me a goodbye present. A rather curious looking contraption that looks like a mini
flipchart calendar at first glance... upon closer inspection... the words on the first chart read 'Survival Kit for Indonesia'. Oh boy... this is going to be fun!
The 'Survival Kit for Indonesia'. Mal, probably the only one in the world that genuinely enjoys my crappy sense of humour (vice
versa) and who can positively predict what will definitely crack me up. She very
conscientiously went through the photo albums in the house with the precision of a keen marksman. She was out to get photos of me looking my most ridiculous, silliest and most hysterical. She did not have to look too hard and the survival kit is a pure gem. Littered with 'quotable quotes' only we can understand, the survival kit contained our (yup, Mal included her own disasters which induced side-splitting contortions from me) fashion disasters over the years and our all-time-favourite jokes and jibes. Survival kit... Mal, I am wondering if the laughter is supposed to perk me up and help me survive, or are you trying to tell me that I need to sort out my style in order to survive? Thanks
beebs. gees...
Titled 'Lydia`s CD' is compilation of hits and no misses from
SIAO!.
Siao! might not want to be publicly commended for her artful arrangement of songs in this compilation due to her humble nature. So
Siao!, the misspelling and
mis-punctuation of your name is intentional.
Siao!, you make me go crazy!
Siao! is a nutcracker who enjoys breaking out in song and dance when work threatens to overwhelm.
Siao! has been a loyal companion during the school terms and a chill-out buddy during the school holidays. I will miss
Siao! for her wacky sense of humour and I think
Siao! will miss me.. because honestly,
Siao!, you will have a hard time finding a fellow off-key
balladeer, someone who can move with you to a groove and
hopeless at catching balls. No-ball-games, shuttlecock included.
Siao!
So in tribute to
Siao! and our glowing
glamorous moments at work... I have decided to list my favourite tracks from
Siao!'s copyright infringement goodbye present of a CD.
1) Promiscuous Girl
2) London Bridge
3)
Loosen Up My Buttons
4) Hips Don`t Lie
Another present with hidden innuendos?
Siao!
See... I told you, it is the time of the day.
WOO!
I packed.
I am feeling the same way all over again -Norah Jones
I packed today. Again.
Cleared my workstation, threw a pair of old shoes standing alone at the corner, packed my belongings into
paperbags because two years of residence in a tiny space really does not warrant boxes.
I thought about Japan today. I felt as if I was retracing the same motions and the same myriad of the same feelings. It was not too long ago when I said goodbye to my grey table and a little apartment I called home for a year. The memories are vivid, I remembered calling my mother just before I made my way to the school on my last day. I told her between sobs that 'Mummy, i just can't.' How do I say goodbye?
I did not. I had to make a speech in Japanese to the entire school during their morning assembly. I practiced in front of the mirror and I was almost sure I could finish the speech, dry. I was a mess. I choked, I mumbled and then i cried. Japan was difficult for me. It was my first time away from home and adjusting was difficult. Living in a prefecture with sub-zero temperatures during the winter months did nothing to help halt my acceleration to the Land of the Living Dead. I wanted to go home.
Today, I packed and or 'but' it was different. No tears were shed, it was a calm and very collected departure. I carried my
paperbags and walked, and walked. I was not walking away from a series of bad experiences, instead, I walked away with a strange sense of ease and peace. (Did I just
ryhme?) The building was but a symbol of my professional attachment. Today, the building was quiet, it was not abuzz with activities, it was devoid of students or teachers or noise. So, how do I say goodbye?
I did not. I did not have to say goodbye.
The memories of teaching, of laughing, of frustration and of being with individuals whose company I genuinely enjoyed.... The friendships, the timeless corny jokes and the
camaraderie when the going got tough...
Unpackable memories and experiences.
Twenty five individuals hit the bull's eye on Teacher's Day. They 'packed' my memories into a
photo album with some empty pages left at the
tailend of the album. They said it was for me to fill up with more photos and I have updated the
album with photos from their farewell assembly... chalet... But, little do they know that I am deliberately leaving the remaining pages empty... as there are still memories waiting to be made.
I packed today, it was easy...
As there were no goodbyes...
It is going to be a matter of days before I step up to the starting line for the Amazing Adventure of 2007.
WOO!
Mal
Mal`s 18th Birthday celebrations
Mal. That is the theme for today`s blog (psst.. I am trying to be succinct. Refer to Rule 1 ONE.).
As 3rd of January approaches, I have been plagued with the nagging fear that the hardest thing to do, is to hug and say goodbye to Mal. Mal, my sister, eight years younger and the dearest person in my heart. Funny how I was devastated when my mother casually informed me that she is going to have a baby. Funny how I burst into tears, sobbed in my room and thought how much I would detest this new addition. Funny how when I was all of eight years old, I thought that love is finite, limited in quantity and whose quality would depreciate if shared between increasing numbers. Mal, also known as Mei, B B and Beebs to me. (Full name: Malvina. She still thanks her lucky stars nightly ever since she found out that 'Lucillia' was the name I picked for her. My mother obviously has better taste in names than me.)
Growing up with Mal. Changing her diapers, singing her to sleep with my self-composed bedtime hit-songs and best of all, I had my own little doll to dress, cuddle and play with. Mal was a cute little button of a baby with a hairstyle that resembles a mushroom, a toothy grin that melts hearts and with a sensitive little soul, Mal was hard to not love.
The eight year age difference between us meant that I protected her and let her get away with loads of stuff. Payback time! Let me now announce that the 1cm scar on my thigh was a result of Mal BITING me when she was toothing. I suppose my thigh looked so yummy to her that she did not let go despite my WAILS (WAILS!!!!) and left the imprint of her 2 front teeth on my thigh forever. Let me also announce that the 2 cm burn-mark on my right hand was because I tried to fry an egg for her, the hot oil splashed and the rest is history. Okay, that scar is partly my fault... I really did not know that the oil was that hot and I fried it out of goodwill.
There are things I would do only with Mal. Dancing fantically to mambo hits in the privacy of either of our rooms... Pretending to be a diva at a concert and belting out ballads and waving to an imaginary audience... Going shopping (I usually shop alone) because Mal gives uncensored opinions and fashion advice... sharing my obsessive-compulsive habits and corny jokes, letting her into my private world of hopes, fears, doubts, dreams and deepest secrets. Funny how Mal has taken care of me. She probably does not know this, but Mal has kept me sane, hugged me when words had no meaning, laughed with me (and AT me) when life got too serious, prayed for me when things felt out of control and she saved me, literally, when I was in living Japan.
Mal just turned 18 and we commemorated it by having a wild night at Zouk. Mal thinks that she is now all grown up. Not too long ago, I promised her when she was just that little girl that I will bring her to Disneyland when I saved enough money. Our Disneyland dream came true in the summer of 2004 in Tokyo and I would never forget that magical day. Memories that feel strangely new.
Funny how things are now. Funny how I realised only recently that Mal taught me how to love unconditionally. Funny how Mal showed me how to not look at a person with my eyes but with my heart. Funny how Mal will always be so precious. Funny how I failed to see that 18 years ago, God gave me a Christmas present that was delivered 9 days early. And funny how that present is really my little guardian angel, Mal.
I love you Beebs. I will miss you most.
Purple dino.
At my happiest.
A friend once told me that the easiest promise to break is the one that you make to yourself. My fellow joggerthoner, cheers to your 'original quote', it is in my long-term memory cache.
Ahem, I kept rules 1,2,3,4,6,8,9.
Broke rules 5,7. The photo broke the 'aesthetic check' rule. While 'Joggerthoner' broke spellecheck! Check Check!
Aww.
Hello J-land in 11 days! Woo.
Seduced and Deflowered.
I give up. While the rest of the world is consumed with Christmas gifts buying, evicting the horrors of 2006 and making plans to welcome 2007 with style and panache, I am here, a virgin blogger. Figuring out HTML (hey! that`s
*not* my language!), selecting a blogskin and being moderately oblivious to the surge in water levels during Singapore`s winter wetwonderland.
So, I guess I am trying very hard to sound witty, making a concerted effort to impress and convince all and dandy that
yes I can write.
Write. I can go on and on. In fact, this is MY BLOG. Despite previous reservations and indiscriminate rants about the act of blogging (refer to the theory of the 22nd century "Me, myself and I and I"), I have been seduced. Here I am.
To prevent myself from joining the deluge of bloggers who just blog, I have a set of rules and if you have read thus far, I trust you will be a regular visitor and this set of rules will set the stage for our impending relationship. Blogger and visitor.
1) I will refrain from writing essays. Blog entries will be entertaining, succinct and blog-worthy.
2) I will post silly pictures and photos.
3) I will not indulge in gossip.
4) I will not rant or rave or gush or turn my blogspace into mush.
5) I will spellcheck, grammar check, info check and aesthetic check my entries.
6) I will indulge in myself by posting lists of my favourite fruits, my favourite books, my favourite songs, my favourite places etc.
7) I will not use pseudonyms. Real people, real names.
8) I will update my blog.
9) I will use English, Singlish, Malay, Han Yu Pin Yin, Japanese, Teochew, Bahasa Indonesia *soon* (wonder why?) to write.
It is time for goodbye. Bye Singapore. Hello J-land in 12 days! Woo.
Disclaimer: Pollyana Cowgirl bears no responsibility for boredom and any negative consequence as a result of this blog. This blog is not meant for educational purposes. This blog serves as a source of updates to aid the blogger and her family & friends to keep in touch while she is in her new home for the next 2 years.
