The weekend

On Sat, I was back at my client's place in afternoon to work. I can't believe myself. I'm turning into a workaholic! Not that they are allowing me to charge overtime hours for it... Ah! Is this the type of emotional struggle that most Singaporean workers are having? That is, not wanting to work yet end up working?

 

After work it was to Bugis area to post-celebrate my sister's birthday. The dinner made me realise how big an influence the people you mix around with can be. My sister has basically turned into the spoilt brat, where she gets the stuff she wants usually, because she's the youngest, and everyone feels they should treat her nicely. She talks in this gangster-like manner, tilting her chin upwards with every negative sentence she speaks (alike gangster asking you 'ai4 pa4 ar?' ie meaning want to fight ar). The fact she has a maths retest in a month's time to determine whether she'll get promoted to sec 4 doesn't seem to cause any anxiety nor induce any hardworking-ness. Mother has turned into a bitter person, with every sentence almost a complaint. We were at this eatery, waiting for the food to arrive. Apparently she noticed that another group of customers who came in later had their order arrive before ours. So she exclaimed 'Not fair!'. Not that I don't do that (sometimes I do), but hers was ultra loud, which I think wasn't very understanding on her part. It may be that the later order happened to coincide with an earlier one, so the chef decided to cook together. I'll do that I'm I'm the cook. Even if that wasn't the case, she can try to assume it is mah... That's not all. When the pineapple rice my sis ordered came, she tasted it and it wasn't nice (not very well cooked). She shouted again on how lousy the food was, whether the cook knows how to cook, etc etc. (Another gangster-like manner), not that you can refund the food or something. I was shocked for she was never like that in the past. She was the well-mannered lady who would scold us if we said what she did when we were kids. It suddenly came to me that the environment we live in everyday is that important. No wonder Meng4 Mu3 have to move house 3 times (read * if you don't know the story).

 

After dinner we went to the arcade at Bugis Junction. I don't usually play such stuff, for I knew it was a waste of money. But the Happy Lifter machines stirred an interest (read next entry). Anyway, it was a dollar spent for some knowledge about arcade machines, how unscrupulous arcade business can be and how kiasee plus kaypoh Singaporeans are.

 

That's all for today. Oh ya, did I mention I worked on Sunday night as well? Ha.. workaholic.

 

* Story of Mencius

It was said that Mencius lived near a cemetery when he was young. Everyday there were people crying as funeral processions go by their house. As Mencius' mother did not want Mencius to be involved in funeral processions when he grow up, she moved to another place. This place, however, was near a pig slaughter house, and they hear pigs crying everyday. Not wanting Mencius to be a butcher, they moved again. This time to a correct place - beside a school. From then, Mencius studied hard everyday and became the scholar he was.