Little updates

08 Feb 2009, Sunday

Hmmm~ i guess i should update starting from last Thursday? Ho ho :)

Last Thursday (29th Jan), Kuang smsed me to get a confirmation from me that our originally planned steamboat dinner was cancelled, then jio-ed me for mahjong. Ha ha ha~ he couldn't get the necessary ka, so i asked him whether wanna jio Zhaorong and XiaoheiJac out for dinner and movie. In between i asked Kuang to ask Liting, Dejun and co. whether they wanted to meet us, cos XiaoheiJac told me she had already agreed to meet a friend and couldn't join us. In the end XiaoheiJac's friend zhun zhun fall sick so instead it was still the 4 of us, Kuang, Zhaorong, XiaoheiJac, and yours monkeyly, although Zhaorong only met us after the movie at 9+ due to his work. We watched "Love matters", which was quite a funny show, i enjoyed it. XiaoheiJac was really quite pretty on that day with her newly dyed hair, and one piece dress. She told us that it was her company's new policy that they had to dress formal but not in uniform on Thurs and Fri, and added cheekily that her company didn't have enough $$ in their coffers to replace their uniforms and so wanted them to wear it less often, ha ha ha. Then we chit chatted at MOS burger where as usual, our conversations were so funny that i commented "wah lau laugh until stomach very pain... if tmr i got IPPT, i think i can do 60 situps lor, very well trained today liao". I also related to them my recent thoughts and opinions about relationships when looking at what's happening to my friends around me, which had me kind-of disillusioned and convinced that i'm right to stay single for now. Abit tired of bgr even just looking at it and not getting involved...

On friday (30th Jan), i attended my very first marketing lesson for this semester. The lecturer was WOW, excellent!! Very san ba, very talkative, speaks very fast, but very passionate and engaging. It was really fun to attend her lecture, which was punctuated with laughter, and cheeky answers/remarks in response to her questions, of which yours monkeyly most willingly and actively participated in contributing, Hur hur hurr... :p Her enthusiasm really really rubs off on all of us! Hmmmmmm..... For those of my friends who know Cherie, yupz, that's almost exactly how my lecturer is like in terms of Behaviour, talking style, and san-ba-ness!! And her name is Sheryl, so similar!!! Hahaha :p Really really enjoyed the lessons! After reaching home from the lesson, i then jio-ed a few friends to see if anybody wanted to meet up to go Qimei's home together on the next day for our gathering, before turning in for the night.

Saturday (31 Jan, Chu6), woke up at about 11+, then washed up and started for Qimei's home at the other end of the country. While on the train, i decided to confirm with XiaoheiJac that i wouldn't be going to EngWah's home later on in the day after all. Not really enough time for me to be at Tampines, Sengkang, and Admiralty all in 1 day!!! And with NPS fellas, i wouldn't want to just drop by say hi and then disappear... Really felt like spending more time with them la. Well anyway, reached Tampines and decided to have my lunch at Mac while waiting to see if Sheena, Poh and co. were coming to meet me to go Qimei's home together. I cabbed there alone in the end and reached at about... 2.40pm i think? They were already playing mahjong when i reached, so didn't get to play much (But Big Thanks to GuanTyng who let me play for him for about 2 winds!!) Was supposed to leave at about 5pm+ for my colleagues' farewell dinner, which i discovered to my horror was at Admiralty area instead of Aljunied!!! WOWWW!!!! Huge huge difference between the locations lor, really really idiotic of me not to realise after more than 1 whole week of talking about the dinner with my colleagues! Hahahaha :p

(On a certain weekday)

Soh: Ay the dinner on Saturday is around Admiralty area huh
Heng: (Thinking Aljunied) Orh ok ok. Wah~ Heng is not Ang Mo Kio or what ah, if not i travel till siao on that day sia. I'm going Tampines/Changi area and maybe Sengkang before the dinner lor~ Admiralty still not too bad la
Soh: (??? but doesn't comment on Heng's reply cos not sure) u jiak ba liao!! Travel so much on that day. Maybe from Sengkang can take Ah Wu's car lor
Heng: (Still thinking Aljunied) Aiya~~~ No need la Admiralty ok mah, all on about the same side of Singapore
Soh: (???? again)
(Heng already left the scene and conversation liao)


Imagine if i'd decided to go to Eng Wah's home at Sengkang too!!! Would've travelled thru whole of Singapore in one day lor... =_=''' Yupz, anyway back to what i was saying, in the end stayed till about 6pm cos was hoping to see the rest who hadn't arrived. Alas, It was not to be... though i still held on to the hope that there would be a 2nd round at some ktv or something so i could join them again after the dinner. When i'd reached Sakura, (near RP), was already close to 8pm. Ate and chatted abit with everyone happily even though the food wasn't really to my liking. Some of us then continued for the 2nd round where we went to Robertson Walk (ard Mohd Sultan there) to drink and watch soccer. There was only Soh, Jianming, Alvin and his gf Yunjie, but we still had fun chitchatting away, drinking, and watching soccer. Whoa watched Arsenal vs West Ham, Boltan vs Tottenham and Aston Villa vs Hull (i think) all at the same time! When the matches were coming to an end, i checked with Qimei whether NPS fellas would be having 2nd round somewhere... Unfortunately the ans was no, so for the first time in many years, i didn't get to see as many NPS fellas over CNY as i'd hoped...... Anyway, so i stayed and watched the Man U match too. Reached home about 4am+


01 Feb (Sunday) Woke up at about 12+. Mahjong at Alvin's home was supposed to start at 2pm, so i washed up and gobbled up my food while surfing the net. That's when i read the post which made me very sad. While on my way to Alvin's home, i kept pondering and wondering what went wrong, why things unrelated to the incident were mentioned, and all the time worrying with a heavy heart about how and whether our friendship would weather thru this storm... I also discovered that i'd forgotten to bring oranges (ok, this is anti-climax, i know), so when i reached Chinatown i had to ask a very kind uncle who gave me directions on where i could buy some. Took me 10mins to reach the store and whole of 20mins to select nice looking oranges. Ironically, on this day my luck on the mahjong table turned for the better and i won $70. We were playing 3/6, so that's ok. When i reached home at about 10pm+, i continued pondering about the matter with sadness while i washed up and started writing my previous post. All the time i kept thinking about the quote from Cao Zhi (from Romance of the 3 Kingdoms), "相煎何太急". Was really very sad about it. Dropped an sms to dear friend, saying i wrote on my blog again, and also offered to meet up to clear our misunderstandings, if any.

Monday, (02 Feb), pity, total of 3 or 4 requests to meet were met with a final "not free for this whole mth". Only then did i realise how shallow our friendship was, that it was not even worth 1 or 2 hrs of her time to restore to normal. While eventually it might still be there, it'll nvr be the same again. Besides sadness, nothing more to describe how i felt. Luckily managed to clear up another misunderstanding which i didn't even realise was in the air with another person, that lifted my spirits for a while. Wanted to skip evening class because of the little sleep i had on Saturday night and also the night before, but forced myself to attend as i had yet to form my assignment grp. Slept like a stone for the night...

The other weekdays passed by uneventfully, though sadness and the feeling of loss continued to badger me throughout. Remembered things like "Sometimes, people find it more difficult to forgive others for being right than being wrong" from the Harry Potter series. How very true. Reflecting back on that very sentence which i commented on facebook very early on - "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, not my problem, Heng ah!!", i really smacked my forehead and wondered why i was so foolish as to poke my nose in, and turn it into my problem. Undoubtedly the gesture was fine, but Nosy and Silly. Anyway, i've decided this is not worth my time and thoughts, i guess i'll just put my attention on other things and people from now on. Anyway, dear friend seems to be getting along well with her life now so that's really great.


Friday (06 Feb), i received an invitation from Edward to play mahjong!! Goodness me, it's been quite a while since i last met him. Was really quite happy about it. We decided we'd play 2 rounds, but not through the night as he had to teach in the morning and i had classes on fri night itself and also saturday morning. We played from about 11pm till close to 4am and It was fun, i'd also won another $70. I then stayed in Ed's home for the night where we lay in bed and chatted till 5am+ before falling asleep. Almost like the poly days when Kuang stayed in my home for awhile during holidays! It felt really great, especially after the misery of the past few days.

Saturday (07 Feb), 7.30am, left Ed's home along with him and his family, and met XiaoheiJac for breakfast and to go for our lessons together, since her home was just about next to Ed's. It was nice having company travelling to school, cos we can chitchat, haha :) Lesson was boring and i was tired from having just 1 and half hrs sleep the night before, but then i received another invitation from Kuang for mahjong. Said i'm ok with it as long as he manages to find ka and place to play, cos my bro was working night shift that day so couldn't play at my home. At first i thought i could get on with my original plans to go home and sleep like a log after lunch with XiaoheiJac, Joey, and Doreen, cos i doubted we could get enough ka. But the outcome was great. Not only did i enjoy a nice lunch where we talked abit of rubbish here and there with some laughs here and there, including textbooks and stuff, but kuang actually managed to find ka for mahjong which was at....... Ed's home again!! So i told XiaoheiJac we can travel back together again ha ha ha and then we were on our way. At causeway point, met kuang for his lunch and accompanied XiaoheiJac to Singtel shop to change her new but defective phone, then went to Ed's home. Ed said "Welcome home!" and i, "我回來了!" So fun hahaha. So i bathed while we waited for kuang's ex-colleague to arrive. Macham my own home sia. We managed to finish one round and kuang's colleague had to leave for her dinner, so the 3 of us continued playing 3person mahjong. WAH SEH really very different, but quite fun to play once in a while, i guess. We had Char kway Teow dinner which Ed's mum bought for us and ended our last round at 9pm+, i had won another $45 from the normal mahjong and $40 from our 3person mahjong. Cabbed to Jurong with Ed cos he was meeting Jolene. Haiya, earlier on i wanted to pay for our Char Kway Teow dinner but Ed insisted it was ok, so i offered to pay the cab fare in full but i got off first and all my notes were $50 ones except for a $10 note, so although it was majority of the fare, Ed still had to top up a few dollars from his coffers. Making myself a mental note to give Ed a treat next time we meet ;)

Sunday (08 Feb), slept like a log from 11pm last night till close to 12noon today. Was lazy to get up so i played Sudoku with my Nokia phone for awhile, before getting up to wash up, have lunch and go shopping. Kuang, Qimei, and Wanling are visiting me today!! I jio-ed them for a small reunion dinner at my home today la, originally should have already done so on Chu4, but it was postponed to Chu11 and then again to today due to circumstances. Pity Jimmy couldn't come today though. I enjoy seeing them at my home again because Kuang and Wanling are in mum's good books, hehehe :) If and when i have my own home one day, i'm definitely gonna jio my friends to visit me all the time, hahaha, i pity my future wife, if ever i get married. Hmm, i think that's all for now, Jialat la Arsenal drew their game again today... Tsk :(

Sad.. but.. Peace

01 Feb 2009, Sunday

Whoaa~ Peace.

Wasn't expecting one of my previous posts to somehow possibly escalate into a war of words. Only just noticed and read a blog entry dated last friday which seriously, deeply, deeply saddens me...... I guess it's natural for ppl to defend themselves... but the things and accusations written seriously breaks my heart. Anyway, while i'm going to explain myself here again, the words are not meant to hurt. I feel inclined to explain myself after all the things we've wrote in our previous posts.

Dear friend assumed i was furious with her for spoiling MY mahjong game - that's a wrong assumption. (My? Goodness me...) My anger on that day stemmed from the fact that people were taken for granted. Here's how...

1. The choices given to the other party... "Quit the mahjong game now and meet me or breakup and i'll go up and make a din". Going to someone else's home make a din? And somehow that was at a point where everybody thought the issue had come to a temporary standstill, because dear friend had told us blah blah blah never mind this and never mind that... And yet... things had to turn out the way it had. If your guy had half the temper or dignity as mine or many others, what would've been the consequences for the owner? I think it's pretty apparent that if it had happened, the owner would never ever be able to jio any of her friends to her home anymore... and from what we were told, that wouldn't be limited to the few of us, but the rest of her many friends whom we don't even know.

2. Dear friend thinks things like "at most the mahjong session gets cancelled and postponed to another day". HOWEVER, by thinking in that way, were we not, as friends, being taken for granted...? (By the way FYI we DID continue with the mahjong game by getting another ka, it's not about the game... It's about you.) *sigh* Again, this is not meant to attack dear friend...

3. Based on dear friend's assumption that i was angry due to the "cancellation" of the mahjong game, she further implied that i valued mahjong above friendships. If that were so, (1) on Chu3, there was another last min cancellation because (edited) a friend couldn't come owing to circumstances, what did i reply? "Haha ok ok nvm ;)" i wasn't upset at all, because they didn't wait till we had gathered to do so. (2) if i am really like that, i wouldn't even have left Qimei's home on our gathering day for my colleague friends dinner. If i was like that, why the hell should i even forsake the mahjong games to travel from Tampines to Admiralty for a simple dinner.

Dear friend... As a teenager in my younger days, i'd read the Bible about 3 times over, and attend some services myself, even though as a personal choice i chose not to convert. If you would bother to read that previous post again, i said nothing to imply what Christians would or would not do, that is not what the faith is about. I merely tried to explain things to you with what little knowledge i have because i felt you needed reminding, and i definitely did not say that you're not a good enough Christian or whatsoever... Attack me if you will when i do or say something wrong, i am man enough to hold my hands up and admit my faults honorably, i will even apologise and change my behaviour if that was so, but these are unfounded accusations, whether written in spite i do not nor want to know... because if it was for the purpose of turning others against me, i would feel even more hurt with the way things are between us. I sincerely hope that is not the case...

Remember i wrote the following statement in my last post? I guess i'll have to put certain words in bold to clarify and emphasize what i was saying...
"I'm writing this to both of you because as a friend, i care for you, and it bugs me to see you on the verge of displaying inappropriate behaviour without any regard for the consequences and consideration for other people."

Dear friend... You were displaying inappropriate behaviour. If i do not care for you, i would not even bother attempting to tell you what is right or wrong. If i do not care for you, it's just a simple matter of shutting up and letting you continue with that kind of behaviour, and for that i wouldn't even cross you or need to explain myself here. To simplify my example, i shall explain in layman terms in exaggeration. Let's say one day a friend of mine tells me he wishes to rob a bank. As a friend, i could (1) advise, scold, try everything in my means to stop him because of the implications of this action for the rest of his life, or (2) i could just smile and bochup, do my own stuff, cos it doesn't implicate me and that's not really my problem.

You feel that i was inconsiderate to you for writing those things. If that was the case, I'm sorry and i sincerely apologise... But i still stand by what i've said. All i can say is... 忠言逆耳. i can do nothing to make it sound nicer.

Next thing i need to defend myself against... On whether mahjong is a hobby... It's funny because i dun really see what's the issue here. Firstly, when we jio ppl to play mahjong with us, naturally we assume that each of us are mature enough to manage our own finances, no? "Should i play today? How much can i afford to lose if this was a bad day?"

Again, i don't really know why the issue was brought up, because we have played 2/4 for so long, each time everyone of us were keen and eager to play, yourself inclusive, right until about 1 - 2 hrs before you declared that you're quitting mahjong because you've lost. From the day you did so, i respected your decision and stopped jioing you. Even when we were desperately 3 que 1, i did not, even for a single time, attempt to coax you to join us. I have never held any persons at gun or knife point and said "Come play mahjong 3/6 with me!!!"

The higher kang, bite, and zi mo rates were implemented more frequently because having tried them with ppl like kuang, hz, sheena, we felt the special rules made it more fun. Everyone has the same kang, bite chances, no?

I must admit, i'm more of a 3/6 or 1/5 ka, the rate which i sometimes and preferably play with my colleagues and other friends. That said, if i play only for the $, not for the fun, i wouldn't even bother playing 2/4 with you all. Go see if you can find any other 3/6, 1/5 ka who's willing to play 2/4? I don't write cheques, nor am i rich enough to throw in gold bars or houses. But I am sensible enough to manage my finances and decide with the other players what rates we're comfortable playing with. Mahjong to me IS a hobby, not OT, my friend. I have, for your info, lost $70+ to $130+ on occasions during my higher stake games. Hz knows, kuang knows, my colleagues know. But the wins and losses even out pretty ok, though a little more on the losing end in recent times and i'm not even the least bitter on occasions where i lose that kind of money, because i had fun.

Lastly... I still treasure our friendship alot, i have explained myself, wherever i have offended or upsetted you, i beg for your forgiveness, as i hope you would for others. I wish we could meet to talk sometime too, if you would have it...... Peace, my friend