BEAUTIFULLY UNPREDICTABLE
Life is sometimes so unpredictable. The twists in life, and the irony of it all. The way how some things turn out; it's absolutely amazing, totally unexpected, and undeniably beautiful. This is how people self-discover and grow. The path of self-discovery. We learn new things everyday.
Dorothy loves her ikan bilis. I don't. So I always throw themat her to her.
She eats egg yolks. I don't. So I always throw them to her too.
She adores sharks' fin soup. For reason(s) I have yet to fathom, I hate it to the very core since the beginning of my existence, and always end up generously "donating" my bowl of sharks' fin soup to the lucky person sitting beside me during banquet dinners.
She eats hor fun. I loathe it (because the sticky texture never fails to make me feel like I'm eating MUCUS), and would rather stubbornly skip my meal than to force-feed myself a plate of hor fun.
She only eats certain rice dumplings (ba zhang). I eat ALL kinds of variety. As long as it is ba zhang, it will go into my mouth.
She doesn't like carrot, garlic, and onion. I swear by garlic bread, ginger shoots, and onion rings.
She can't handle spicy food. She can't even take a hint of it. Meanwhile, I absolutely adore - and have a rather remarkable tolerance for - spiciness.
She loves sour food. I can't even handle harmless oranges.
She doesn't like kangkong. It's my FAVOURITE veggie. Of course, stir-fried kangkong with SAMBAL CHILLI!
I have a long-standing enmity with cats. She doesn't. I dislike cats a great deal. She's neutral about them.
Her secondary love language is words of affirmation. In contrast, along with receiving gifts, it ranks the lowest in my list.
Our only similarity? We have an odd habit of drinking using 2 straws.
In a way, she reminds me of Xu Bin.
If you're reading, surely you don't need me to remind you that we're as different as night and day. Personality. Mind set. Upbringing. Growing environment. Way of thinking. Manner of organizing things. Way of looking at things.
Through Denise, you came to the cell a couple of months after I did. The first time I saw you, I thought of it as CMI. A gone case of friendship-forging.
You were - and still are - cheery, jovial, buoyant, hyper, gregarious, jaunty, sprightly, mirthful, insouciant, vivacious, free-spirited, spontaneous, happy-go-lucky. Me? I was simply whatever you are NOT.
Even though you have your own quiet moments, you're still very much the sanguine. Me? I am more of a melancholic-phlegmatic at heart.
You smile and put on a sunny proposition, regardless of whether you're truly happy or otherwise. Me? My moods are - more often than not - splashed blatantly all over my face, like an open book, transparent for most - if not, all - to see.
You know my likes and dislikes. To my knowledge, you're the only one who remembers that I get easily pissed off at having my cheeks touched, my hair tugged, or being called "Lin". Me? I would not have noticed that you trimmed your hair or are wearing a recently-purchased blouse if you had not pointed it out blantly.
Complete opposites. Ice and fire. Winter and summer. Land and sea. Water and oil. Day and night. Black and white.
You're the sun, and I'm the moon. You're the fork, and I'm the spoon.
And yes, I was honestly not the least surprised when you shared a year ago that for the initial few months, you were so unsure and afraid of speaking to me, as I was just sooo quiet. You thought that I was such a tough nut to crack, and that it's sooo very rare that the sanguine you finds it so hard to approach someone else. Admittedly, on my part, I felt very much the same way too. If someone were to reveal that 1 year on, you and me would be good friends, I would have snorted and guffawed in sheer disbelief. If someone were to declare that - once given the chance to get together in private - we would click like magic, I would have died of laughter.
Our first breakthrough came about 1 year after you came in. It was 2 years ago. I was working temp at StarHub offices at Cuppage in Orchard, while waiting for my first semester in Uni to commence. One fine day, you took a step of faith. You suggested fellowshipping together, and proposed eating together at the Noodle Hut at Vivocity. As a way of congratulating my acceptance into Uni, you wanted to treat me to a meal. I was apprehensive. Going out with you ALONE? Would we have enough things to talk about? Would it be awkward? In the end, somehow, I decided to go with it nonetheless. The decision surprised even me myself. I'm certain that it was definitely not me. It must have been the H.S., I guess. Either that, or it must have been the free meal.
It was a hot, sunny afternoon. I remember it well, because I was sitting with my back facing the window, and the sun rays were brutally hitting on my back without mercy as I devoured my F.O.C. Crabmeat Noodle. We ate, and man! how we talked! It was magic!
We chatted, we conversed, we communicated, and we connected. Our conversations were nothing silly or crappy, but more of about serious stuffs. We shared, we exchanged, we sparred, we compared, we reviewed, and we learned. Most importantly, it was 50percent of talking, and 50percent of listening - both ways. We learned more about things. We learned more about looking from different perspectives. We learned more about Him. We learned from each other, and of course, we learned about each other. And before we knew it, more than 3 hours had passed. We spent about 4 hours over a simple meal! But we were not satisfied, we even adjourned down to Bugis Street on a futile shopping hunt for boots.
From that day on, our friendship jumpstarted. It skyrocketed and reached a new height - one that has never been attained before.
That day, I was awed.
I could not believe I've found a friend in you. And I did not die laughing.
Even though it's been years since we last spent time together, and even though time has drifted us a little apart, it is always refreshing meeting up with you; even if it's for a short while. It's always a delight. Like me popping by your cell before service for a quick chat. Or you popping by my cell before service for a quick catching-up.
But it's always a tad restricting, impersonal, and superficial; with the time limit to the start of the service, and with all the people buzzing in and out of the background; hence the resultant lack of privacy. And yes, I can't wait to see you again sometime next week! Even though the level of intimacy in our friendship has stagnated over the past few months or 1year, let's work it up again. Like that magical day at Noodle Hut at Vivocity.
Life is sometimes so unpredictable. The twists in life, and the irony of it all. The way how some things turn out; it's absolutely amazing, totally unexpected, and undeniably beautiful. This is how people self-discover and grow. The path of self-discovery. We learn new things everyday.
Dorothy loves her ikan bilis. I don't. So I always throw them
She eats egg yolks. I don't. So I always throw them to her too.
She adores sharks' fin soup. For reason(s) I have yet to fathom, I hate it to the very core since the beginning of my existence, and always end up generously "donating" my bowl of sharks' fin soup to the lucky person sitting beside me during banquet dinners.
She eats hor fun. I loathe it (because the sticky texture never fails to make me feel like I'm eating MUCUS), and would rather stubbornly skip my meal than to force-feed myself a plate of hor fun.
She only eats certain rice dumplings (ba zhang). I eat ALL kinds of variety. As long as it is ba zhang, it will go into my mouth.
She doesn't like carrot, garlic, and onion. I swear by garlic bread, ginger shoots, and onion rings.
She can't handle spicy food. She can't even take a hint of it. Meanwhile, I absolutely adore - and have a rather remarkable tolerance for - spiciness.
She loves sour food. I can't even handle harmless oranges.
She doesn't like kangkong. It's my FAVOURITE veggie. Of course, stir-fried kangkong with SAMBAL CHILLI!
I have a long-standing enmity with cats. She doesn't. I dislike cats a great deal. She's neutral about them.
Her secondary love language is words of affirmation. In contrast, along with receiving gifts, it ranks the lowest in my list.
Our only similarity? We have an odd habit of drinking using 2 straws.
In a way, she reminds me of Xu Bin.
If you're reading, surely you don't need me to remind you that we're as different as night and day. Personality. Mind set. Upbringing. Growing environment. Way of thinking. Manner of organizing things. Way of looking at things.
Through Denise, you came to the cell a couple of months after I did. The first time I saw you, I thought of it as CMI. A gone case of friendship-forging.
You were - and still are - cheery, jovial, buoyant, hyper, gregarious, jaunty, sprightly, mirthful, insouciant, vivacious, free-spirited, spontaneous, happy-go-lucky. Me? I was simply whatever you are NOT.
Even though you have your own quiet moments, you're still very much the sanguine. Me? I am more of a melancholic-phlegmatic at heart.
You smile and put on a sunny proposition, regardless of whether you're truly happy or otherwise. Me? My moods are - more often than not - splashed blatantly all over my face, like an open book, transparent for most - if not, all - to see.
You know my likes and dislikes. To my knowledge, you're the only one who remembers that I get easily pissed off at having my cheeks touched, my hair tugged, or being called "Lin". Me? I would not have noticed that you trimmed your hair or are wearing a recently-purchased blouse if you had not pointed it out blantly.
Complete opposites. Ice and fire. Winter and summer. Land and sea. Water and oil. Day and night. Black and white.
You're the sun, and I'm the moon. You're the fork, and I'm the spoon.
And yes, I was honestly not the least surprised when you shared a year ago that for the initial few months, you were so unsure and afraid of speaking to me, as I was just sooo quiet. You thought that I was such a tough nut to crack, and that it's sooo very rare that the sanguine you finds it so hard to approach someone else. Admittedly, on my part, I felt very much the same way too. If someone were to reveal that 1 year on, you and me would be good friends, I would have snorted and guffawed in sheer disbelief. If someone were to declare that - once given the chance to get together in private - we would click like magic, I would have died of laughter.
Our first breakthrough came about 1 year after you came in. It was 2 years ago. I was working temp at StarHub offices at Cuppage in Orchard, while waiting for my first semester in Uni to commence. One fine day, you took a step of faith. You suggested fellowshipping together, and proposed eating together at the Noodle Hut at Vivocity. As a way of congratulating my acceptance into Uni, you wanted to treat me to a meal. I was apprehensive. Going out with you ALONE? Would we have enough things to talk about? Would it be awkward? In the end, somehow, I decided to go with it nonetheless. The decision surprised even me myself. I'm certain that it was definitely not me. It must have been the H.S., I guess. Either that, or it must have been the free meal.
It was a hot, sunny afternoon. I remember it well, because I was sitting with my back facing the window, and the sun rays were brutally hitting on my back without mercy as I devoured my F.O.C. Crabmeat Noodle. We ate, and man! how we talked! It was magic!
We chatted, we conversed, we communicated, and we connected. Our conversations were nothing silly or crappy, but more of about serious stuffs. We shared, we exchanged, we sparred, we compared, we reviewed, and we learned. Most importantly, it was 50percent of talking, and 50percent of listening - both ways. We learned more about things. We learned more about looking from different perspectives. We learned more about Him. We learned from each other, and of course, we learned about each other. And before we knew it, more than 3 hours had passed. We spent about 4 hours over a simple meal! But we were not satisfied, we even adjourned down to Bugis Street on a futile shopping hunt for boots.
From that day on, our friendship jumpstarted. It skyrocketed and reached a new height - one that has never been attained before.
That day, I was awed.
I could not believe I've found a friend in you. And I did not die laughing.
Even though it's been years since we last spent time together, and even though time has drifted us a little apart, it is always refreshing meeting up with you; even if it's for a short while. It's always a delight. Like me popping by your cell before service for a quick chat. Or you popping by my cell before service for a quick catching-up.
But it's always a tad restricting, impersonal, and superficial; with the time limit to the start of the service, and with all the people buzzing in and out of the background; hence the resultant lack of privacy. And yes, I can't wait to see you again sometime next week! Even though the level of intimacy in our friendship has stagnated over the past few months or 1year, let's work it up again. Like that magical day at Noodle Hut at Vivocity.
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