I know it has been more than a week since I last posted an entry. I've never gone on a hiatus for more than a week as far as I recall. However, this time it's for a good reason.
Two friends of mine, almost mirror image of each other, have died over last weekend. I've known them for around three years. Started just before I enter university if I remember correctly. Both of them weren't what some will call cheap friends. On the contrary, they were nice to me and trustworthy as well. I went out with them frequently, spending a lot of good times together.
Sadly, my time with them is over. What makes it worse for me is the fact that I've only myself to blame for their demise. I shouldn't have pushed them too hard. It's entirely my fault.
Here's their obituary:
All right, I can just hear all those curses from you now. Just as you are about to dish out your pity (if you're preparing any to start with), you find out that I'm just talking about my trusty Fila.
But hey, everything I've said about spending good times together and me pushing them too hard are all true. Although I would admit I ought to be flog for using this as an excuse for not blogging.
Nevertheless, I'd genuinely wanted to blog in the past week. It's just that I'd been staying out late almost daily with friends (not stinky shoes but people) for one reason or another. With having to report for work early every next morning, I haven't got time to blog. So blame my friends.
Anyway, I'll blog about some happenings in the past week in the next few days. If I can fight off my addiction to laziness.
In meantime, let me recount my adventure yesterday in getting a pair of new shoes.
(Warning: Please grab your popcorn, do some stretching and make yourself comfy before settling down to read. The following may be too long for the wheezing people.)
Like most people living on the west side of the island, I went to THE place situated in the west to find a new pair of shoes i.e. Queensway Shopping Centre.
I chose a pretty bad timing to go. Or rather, the heavens played what they thought were a funny joke on me. When I left my house, the sun was practically turning my area into a desert. However, when I alighted at the bus stop near Queensway S.C., I was looking for my wetsuit and oxygen tank. It was as if the entire Pacific Ocean was pouring over my head, threatening to drown me.
There I was, stranded at the bus stop with my destination some 200 metres away from me across the road, separated by cats and dogs falling from the sky. Since I'd no umbrella, I attempted to get closer to Queensway S.C. by making my way through the maze of covered walkways and blocks of flats. Like a true geographer and trained soldier, I managed to get myself closer. Only thing was that I also managed to get myself onto higher grounds.
The rain was still relentlessly meow meow meowing and bow wow wowing, when I began to feel an irresistible urge from my bladder. Luckily, there was a childcare centre at the void deck I was taking shelter at.
I was wrong. I wasn't that lucky. It seemed the lady was afraid I would steal her diamond studded toilet bowl for I was denied permission to use the toilet. She even told me to 'take a piss outside' while apologising she couldn't help me at the same time. And to think all this while I'd been entertaining her with my hold-the-bladder dance. Well, if not for the sake of saving the children present from a traumatic experience, I would definitely like to wring her neck and flush her down her diamond studded toilet bowl.
Being a good citizen and a grown boy, the choice of 'taking a piss outside' is not an option open to me. That left me with either running down three flights of stairs, crossing four lanes of road and running 100 metres to Queensway S.C. or running down three flights of stairs and running 100 metres to Anchor Point Complex on the same side of the road I was at to release the pressure building in me.
I was gunning for option one, since that would bring me to my destination. Again, things didn't turn out the way I wanted. The rain let up for a while and I grabbed the opportunity to run from my shelter. Down the stairs I went and just as I was about to cross the road, the traffic lights turned green and vehicles started zooming past. Worse, the rain started falling heavier than before at this time.
I didn't want to run up the stairs again, so I ran all the way to Anchor Point. Boy, do I look silly when the door swished open allowing me entrance into the complex. My hair was plastered to my head, my entire front was dripping wet, my back was totally dry (because I was running into the rain) and my shoes were making squeaking sounds.
If the lightings had been darker and I'd on a black trench coat, I would have looked like the killer in I Know What You Did Last Summer or Stephen King's Storm of the Century.
Anyway, I waddled to the toilet like a drenched penguin through the foodcourt, attracting sniggers and Batman (ok, not funny, I know). I was contemplating whether to dry my clothes ala-Mr Bean with the hand dryer but I didn't want to spend time there.
Anchor Point is not a very big place to shop around while drying off and waiting for the rain to stop. Fortunately, it's linked to my favourite furniture store, IKEA, by a covered bridge.
So I spent time wandering in IKEA, taking mental notes of the furniture I would like to purchase in time to come. Of course, I took a short rest on one of the couches (remember my back was dry), though I actually preferred one of the beds.
One change in IKEA saddens me. There're no more free IKEA pencils around anymore. At least, none that I could find during my wandering. Dang. And I was so looking forward to stuffing my pockets with them.
By the time I was done with getting lost in IKEA's maze and wolfing down one of their tasty hotdogs, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. Finally I could move over to Queensway S.C., after almost 2 hours of waiting.
Next time, I'll just take a taxi to Queensway S.C.