of noodle-uncle

as i walked towards my residence tonight, i saw the yih-noodle-stall uncle riding his bike, probably back to his home. i smiled and he waved at me. this is the first time i saw him not in his noodle-uncle attribute: the white apron and the strainer. it was almost 9pm.

i was really tired as i have been in the lab for the past 12 hours. i didn't do much physical work in there but i feel tired, sleepy, and all i want to do when i go home is to check my email and sleep. i don't even want to watch heroes or grey's anatomy before that. i don't want to go online on msn or talk to anyone. i want to grumble about my life, or the lack of it. but tonight, i got that "flick in the head"...

this man, worked for at least 10 hours every day; standing beside the heat of the boiling water, selling possibly the best noodles in NUS. he always greets his customer with his sincere smile and he always says thank you. he remembers me and what i always get from his stall. sometimes i will overhear him speaking in his native chinese dialect and it reminds me of my chinese class. i always remember him as the noodle-uncle, but today, as i saw him cycling back home, i saw him as a person, and my mind created an image of his life. and i know, i have a lot to learn from him.

i'm reminded that instead of grumbling, i could give myself a pat on the back and be glad that i have finished my grueling very-long-experiment day. instead of frowning, i could smile to familiar strangers as a smile goes a long way.

and i looked up to the night sky, and to my surprise, i saw the sky studded with stars, about 70-80 of them (yes, i actually counted them); a really pleasant surprise for a singapore sky. and i thought about my physics teacher who told the class some years back one of the most amazing fact that i've learnt in life... that when we're looking at the stars, we're actually looking into the past because it's a heavenly long journey, even light takes years to reach us.

good night, world. see you tomorrow.