Thursday, August 19, 2004
Isn't It A Wonder?

Strange things happen the least you expect them.For instance,I have a long-time Japanese friend whom I do not contact on a regular basis.Her name is Naoko(Nao for short).We have known each other since our early university days and have remained good friends ever since.Anyway,maybe I will talk about our friendship some other time.Nao,out of the blue,sent me a postcard which reached me a few days ago.She said that she just wanted to write me because she missed the good old days when we would write each other regularly and send each other stuff.And since we are good friends,she feels it's a pity not to maintain contact.It's weird,I do miss those days too.Nao has always been around the peripherals of my mind,just never in the centre of it.The postcard came as a surprise...but a pleasant one nonetheless. Nao and I knew each other since my year 1 university days.She was a first year student in Kyoto University and studied German then.We used to write each other very regularly and also send each other birthday presents when our birthdays approached.I think he birthday is March 22 if I am not mistaken.Anyway,she was an extremely cheerful girl and made good company.Later upon her graduation,she went to Germany for her attachment and has been there ever since.Of course,this also began her "jetsetting" lifestyle where she would jet around the globe,going to Australia,Japan and other places for her assignments and so on.It was then that I didn't see her too often online or otherwise because I never even knew where she was.So her contact certainly came as a pleasant surprise.

I find it weird that for a couple of nights the past week,I've been looking out the windows from my kitchen out into the housing estate and finding myself marvelling at the sights,as if I am in a foreign land.It is the same sense of wonder I've experienced in times away from home.Whether I am away in KL,Shanghai and Mississippi.That sense of being out there in a different part of the world and looking out at an unfamiliar sight and thinking about home/someone...and somehow knowing that someone else living in another part of the world could be doing the same thing and thinking/remembering about you.The world is a big place.And knowing that you are under the same piece of sky as someone far away,who just happens to think about you is amazing...for some reason.

Anyway,this week,I have been feeling horrible because of my health and some other matters(what's new?!).I've got a bad case of flu...from my dad and have been rather sick these past few days.But besides an MC on Monday,I haven't been able to excuse myself from the workplace.Damn.So anyway,that means I've had to go to the toilet every 1 hour or so,to blow my nose and clear the mucus in my nose and also spit out any loogie(that's phlegm for you)that's stuck in my pipes and causing me to cough.Nice experience.Besides this,my mum and dad have been having some kind of cold war since Sunday.So much so that they refuse to talk to each other.I hate it when they behave like kids.I'd thought that being the youngest in the family,I'd reserve the right to be the most childish but these two outdo me so frequently that I don't really feel like talking to them when that happens.Of course the fact that I'm ill means I don't want to talk - period.Well,my mum just spent the last two days away from home in Ubin(no,she didn't run away,we have an uncle who still lives in Ubin)so when she comes back today,or if,I'm sure they'd start talking...because I sure won't be talking as I'd be having dinner with my friends tonight.

Another thing,I got the same bit of surprise/wonder coming from my little American cousin,J,as well,who seems to be able to second-guess when I am not happy.I have to give her that bit of praise when it's due.I also wonder how she catches things so fast.Anyway,it's good that she back online again because for the past few weeks or so,she's being offline and I kind of miss talking to her.Well,I didn't really have time to tell her what's wrong with me when I was online because I was going to work but I'm sure we'd have time to talk over the weekend.It kind of makes me glad that someone so far away knows and cares that I feel bad although I don't quite know why.

Good things come with the bad so although I'd had a few pleasant surprises,there have also been a number of instances when bad/unlukcy things seems to have occurred.This is especially so this past week when I seem to have caught on a bout of bad luck as well.Things I'd rather not talk about.Just roll with the punches anyhow.Life is like that.Shit happens.