I CONFESS...

- When I was 15, because of insufficient funds for GIRO deduction, the parents gave me money to pay for the school fees at the General Office. I used the cash to buy a rabbit instead.

- Sometimes when I look at Tofu, I find myself wondering how tasty and tender his meat would be. Especially when I'm hungry.

- When I was in NUS, I mistakenly entered the gents once. And even washed my hands. With 2 guys inside, 1 of whom was using the urinal when I walked in. And I WAS STILL BLISSFULLY IGNORANT that I'm in the wrong place.

- I overslept last Friday (26th August) and woke up at 7.27am when the national anthem is to be sung at 7.30am and my first lesson starts at 7.40am. Imagine the horror! I quickly changed, petted the dog, ran, and reached the workplace at 7.39am. I didn't brush my teeth that morning.

- I've a bad sense of direction. I get lost in Orchard, Douby Ghaut, Suntec, Clarke Quay, and even Chinatown. There was once I got lost in Chinatown. Entered a shop and asked the assistant which direction leads to the MRT station. The Malaysian shop assistant directed me, and then asked bewilderedly am I a local. Shit!

- I sleeptalk occasionally. Especially when I'm tired / stressed. There was once, in an Overseas CIP trip to Bintan with the kids earlier this March, Angeline and I sleeptalk-ed with each other. Our conclusion? Two sleeptalkers sleeptalking to each other and having a conversation! The irony.

- Earlier this year, I cried and moaned because I had a bad dream in which I dreamt I'm lost (no surprise there). The younger brother heard it and initially thought it's something eerie because it so happened to be Qing Ming Festival that fateful day. The next morning, when I told him that I had a bad dream and cried and woke the dog, he exclaimed, "WAH LEU EH!! SO it's YOU!!! I thought it's a ghost la! I was so scared that I switched off the computer and slept early, you know!!! I switched on the living room light, then to the kitchen light, and then bathroom light, just to brush my teeth, you know!!!".

- One of my silly, inner worries is to, one day, discover that Tofu is able to swim. Because the whole family is not going to let me live it down if the dog knows how to swim, and not the owner.

- As long as I've lived, I have trouble pronouncing the word "permanent". My tongue always automatically pronounce it as 'per-mer-memt".

- I'm horrified of lizards. Even had a nightmare involving them once. Damnit.

- On some mornings, before I head out to work, I get deadly envious of Tofu. Eat, shit, sleep, play, eat, shit, sleep, play only. That stupid dog.

- I sometimes wonder how much does Tofu love me actually. If he is able to speak, would he declare and gush about his undying love for me?

- When I was younger, I had a plethora of ambitions. I wanted to be a singer and be Celine Dion version 2. Then an actress winning awards at the then-glamorous Hong Xing Da Jiang. Then a policewoman who gets rescued by a charmingly suave male colleague who is polite, good in character, doesn't smoke, respectful to elders, good with friends, well-rounded, dominant leader, cheerful, fit, healthy, and we live happily ever after. Then a hairdresser. Then a news anchor. Then a reporter for Lime magazine so that I can get up close and personal with Backstreet Boys. As age sets in, so does reality. My first serious ambition is to be a journalist / reporter. At 15, Biology entered my world. My new-found love for Biology overrode my love for language, and journalist got changed to doctor. Too bad I didn't have the brains for it. I didn't want to do research work either, so I somehow switched from Science to education at the last minute - mainly because I couldn't afford university tuition fees and a certain organisation timely offered to pay for it. The current work I'm doing? I've NEVER thought I'll be doing what I'm doing now.

- I talk / giggle to myself quite frequently.

- I've never believed in Santa Claus. The idea of a fat old man having so much time and money to buy presents for ALL the kids in the WHOLE WORLD and gets them delivered personally sounds ridiculous and far-fetched even to a young me. But I once believed there's toothfairy who'll buy my tooth and exchange it for money. Pui.