Tool Day/Lobster Festival (California)/Fall Festival (Colorado)/Seafood Festival (Florida))/Scarecrow Festival (Indiana)/Autumn Leaf Festival/Native American Day/Dairy Days (Illinois)
2003-09-26 @ 9:38 p.m.

A lot of stuff happened today, so this is going to be quite a long read. Thank goodness I didn't stay to play cards with Mr Ong like Hanrong, or I'd have got home damned late! To start off, let me relate a very stupid incident that occurred this afternoon. I was supposed to meet Zheng Yang for lunch, before the rehearsal for the performance items for this evening's gathering. So he called and told me to go down to Takashimaya and look for him in the food court. Being the blur person that I am sometimes, I walked into Wisma Atria and went all the way to the food court at the top. Then I couldn't find him, so I called, and then I realised I was in the wrong shopping centre! So I trudged down to Takashimaya. Then I went to Kinokuniya to bum around with the 4K people. We were at the French section, when this lady came up and kept pestering us. Seems like Allan's to blame, because according to Zheng Yang, Allan's habit of studying at Kinokuniya has affected the sale of French books! Not sure whether I should believe that or not. Finally, after wasting time walking aimlessly around Kinokuniya, I finally dragged everyone out! By the way, I have to tell you this. Did you know, that a piece of rock, with perfect crystal cubes of pyrite, or iron(IV) sulphide, costs about $600? I saw it in this display case of stones at Kinokuniya. It was more expensive than the amethyst! I swear I'm going to buy all three display cabinets someday...

At Orchard MRT, we were accosted by people hunting for donations. I say hunting, because the guy just wouldn't let us off. These people have been asking for donations since a few months ago, and I still haven't made up my mind on whether they are frauds or not. I strongly suspect they are though, so I've since stopped buying their $2 donation coupons. Anyway, he came up to us and went, "Today is our last day of collection, and we're still short of $1.2 million." Well, that's too bad isn't it? While I've nothing against charity, I do think some tact is involved in seeking donations. The act of donation should be a voluntary one, not something you coerce people into doing by making them feel guilty if they don't donate! So I refused to donate. The guy was damn persistent, as all the people from this organisation are. Never mind, I hope that's the last I see of them. The next one I see, is going to get this question, "I thought you were done with your collection for this year?" Then I'll just walk off. Sounds cruel, but I'd feel better donating to a charity that doesn't employ such "bullying" tactics.

Now we come to the somewhat boring part of my day, the rehearsal. Zheng Yang is pathetic, he couldn't even decide on what song to sing after an hour of experimentation. So in the end, he did Can You Feel The Love Tonight? and I did Somewhere Out There. It was fun surprising everyone by hitting the G above middle C on pitch, but I'm jumping too far ahead here. The gathering began with a soccer match between 4K and 4L. Not bad, I predicted 3-2 in favour of 4L. The final score was 3-1 in favour of 4L. I'm good! After that we adjourned to the atrium for dinner. It was nice seeing some of our former teachers who've since left RI, like Mr Leonard Lim and Mr Jee. After dinner, we had the performance items. The best in my opinion was the violin concerto! I wish I'd learnt how to play the violin. That's one dream I'll always have. That, and actually being able to play the piano decently. The teachers sang too, Faith Of The Heart by Diane Warren. Mr Paul Lim sings well, he was from the VJC choir if I remember correctly. That's how he knew Mr Kwei, I think. It's a beautiful song, and not overly familiar unlike some of the songs we've sung over the years. The teachers had this little memento made for us, a bookmark. Our form teachers wrote down the appointment we'd made on Youth Day, meeting back in RI on the ides of March 2013 at 7 pm. I'd almost forgot about that appointment we made with each other on Youth Day. My God, I'll be 25 then, almost 26! I wonder what we'll all be like a decade from now? Somehow I don't believe our futures will ever quite turn out the way we expect them to at this point in time...

We also watched some video presentations capturing moments throughout our years in RI, quite a nostalgic experience. We all started out so innocent, perhaps even naïve? Now, four years older, four years stronger, four years wiser, yet also four years colder, four years harder of heart. Not many people can retain that innocence unique to childhood, always able to see the good in others along with the bad. That's quite a sad thing, and I don't agree that it's all part of growing up. That's just an excuse we make up for ourselves to make ourselves feel better. Why is it that it gets harder to forgive and forget as we grow older? I hope I don't become like that. I suddenly feel like the Captain in The Secret Sharer, my feelings are somewhat mixed. On one hand, I'm happy to be moving on to a new phase in life. On the other hand, it's sad to have to leave everything behind...

This week:

Navratri