On Memory

Yesterday, in an attempt to make my new pad more conducive for living, I went to IKEA with C to get some small stuffs and furniture. I've always loved the feeling of walking around IKEA's 2-storey store/warehouse - the bedrooms looked cozy, the kitchen/dining room so inviting, the study rooms like secret, hiding places. After getting most of the things that I needed and it's almost dinner time, we headed to the cafe - we thought that we were on 2nd floor all along (which was where the cafe was located too) but it turned out that we were on the 1st floor all the while and haven't gone around the 2nd floor at all. The strange thing is that we could remember taking the lift or the stair down to the 1st floor (the entrance to IKEA is located on the 2nd floor). We had a long conversation over Swedish meatballs (the meatballs looked very different from how it used to - flatter, smaller apparently IKEA now used different kind of beef/pork that made the meatballs more authentically Swedish; they still tasted good anyway), chicken wings and 2 desserts (elderflower cupcake and Daim cake). I told her about life in US, she told me about her new job / going-to-be-in-Sept new house. We talked about how we preferred school to working, how these days we worked just for the money. C told me also that she liked it in Singapore because life is better in here than in Jakarta - I couldn't agree more. And she suggested that while I was still looking for job, I could think about some business plan as a way out of being an employee. And we discussed about growing old and memory loss. I've had these feelings for some time now, that I don't remember things like I used to anymore: I need people to trigger some memories (by providing bits and pieces of it) before I could reconstruct them in my mind, for example SK telling me she stayed over with me in H's house after watching the very unmemorable, boring Green Lantern last year - by my old standard, I should have remembered this on my own without she telling me first (even H remembered). I'm going to turn 30 next year and memories already starting to slip away. She suggested we should start taking Gingko Biloba supplement to slow down/prevent the onset of dementia. And we talked about how our parents were getting older and how scary it was as we couldn't do anything about years passing by. On another note, my Mom called me everyday these days because she got certain amount free call times per month. And we still don't have much things to talk about. What can I do?

It's been slightly past one month since I came back to Asia. I still have not gotten a job, but tomorrow I will be moving to my new pad in Singapore. Contrary to my previous places, this one is near to the city and doesn't have many people living in it. I hope it's going to be good. Sometimes I think about life back in US. It was so near yet so far. Only one month, but the memories are slipping away, fast. I really should make it a point to put my life down on papers, so that one day if I could not recall those beautiful days I had, I could flip the pages of this diary and find some comfort in the penned-down memories. I went to see W, my uni friend today in Yan Ting. It's a great dim sum place in a beautiful hotel. And he brought his friends (including his friend who was visiting from LA), SK, Ian and SY. It was a great time. We headed to Chinatown to visit famous Indian temple and a famous Buddhist temple. And we ate Guilinggao and Bak Kut Teh. Yesterday I ate black-pepper crabs and durians with H, V and SK. I feel grateful to have these friends in SG.

Leap Year

February 29th
Comes every 4 years
Nesting on the very last
Of a very short month
On the edge of winter

2012
Unseasonably warm day
Like an early summertime
People in tees and shorts
Drinking in the glorious sunshine

Feb 29th, 2012
Belongs to another time of the year
A very special extra
Day of the year.

Some Warmth in Winter

Yesterday I was talking to a friend and I mentioned about how I haven't seen this guy in school for the past one month. He used to take a few classes with us, but this semester (which have already entered into its second month) he's not in school at all. We suspected maybe he has graduated last semester, although I doubt so. I couldn't explain why, but there is a sense of loss and longing with him not around. It's strange how I could develop a sense of closeness with a stranger (considering that I've never had a one-on-one conversation with him). He has an unforgettable look and his presence has been an inseparable part of this school.

Today, I was checking out my school website (at work!) and I saw a new article with his photo in it. My curiousity finds its answer: Apparently, he is on an exchange program in Hanover, Germany and will be back in March. Reading his article about Germany brings back my own travel memories in that country five years ago. It is as if I could taste the bratwurst, sip the beer, and marvel at the old towns and rivers.

Have fun, stranger - Europe has so much to offer. And see you again.

**



On another note, this is a photo of the landscape as I walked to work this morning at 8.50am.

Winter is so mysterious and intriguing.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea

I went to Los Angeles in the last module break. It's good to see an old friend in a new place.

I love the Pacific Ocean; it's so blue and seems endless. I feel at peace everytime I see the ocean or the blue sky. Wish I could have this view every day. If I ever live in LA, I will go by the ocea every morning. Just to remind myself that it's another good day to be alive.