He started off by calling me "friend" and asking me what the time was (in mandarin). Feeling too lazy to be bothered, I told him flatly that I did not have a watch with me. At that point of time, I believed that he was a perfectly sane person wanting to know the time, guessing that he was probably a Chinese national who does not own a handphone and did not put on his watch. Then he started to ask me if I knew which bus went to Jurong. This time, I truly did not know which bus went there from the bus stop I was at, and told him that. A series of questions followed before he finally left me alone. Then he started singing using the syllable "la" to a Chinese song by Ocean. After a while of humming, I suppose he got bored. He took out his phone (which probably has a clock) and played an mp3. At this point of time, I realised that he clearly has some problem up there. Then, he suddenly started repeating something like "Sorry, no more already. Sell finish already." in quite a few languages to passers by and also to the air. I was beginning to get afraid. To my horror and disgust, he had to board the same bus as me and shout to the driver that the air conditioning is too cold. After a few stops, I could no longer tolerate it and alighted the bus. I was supposed to switch to another bus but it had probably just left, meaning that I would be late for practice and would have to fast till probably the next morning. After a long while of consideration, I decided to head back home.

On the way back, I happened to run into a kind soul. I was really glad to meet this total stranger. I was at Bedok interchange waiting to cross the road to the hawker centre and the rain has already subsided into a light drizzle. She had an umbrella and asked me if I wanted to get across the road. I declined as I had an umbrella in my hand, just that I did not want to open it as I had quite a lot of things to carry in my hand already. I regret not thanking that kind stranger who readily offered to shelter another stranger across the road. How nice it would be if there are more of such people in Singapore.

I shall stop here for today.

I am fully aware that I have become much less patient and persistent. I can no longer be bothered whether I fail or do not meet any preconceived expectations. There is no more fighting spirit in me, so whatever it is that you want from me, just take it. Of late, I have not been of much use other than being used to do the tasks that others do not wish to do. I do not even get a chance to do the things I wish to but I will not fight for the chance to do so because I would rather save that energy and avoid any arguments. Nothing I do seem to please anyone any more but it does not matter.

I must thank Wai Yip for sending me home. It's really nice and thoughtful of him to go all the way back to NUS after supper to give us a lift home. Thanks a lot Wai Yip! I would have gotten much less sleep if I were to rely on SBS Transit to get back home, especially after such a bad experience with service 151 earlier that evening.

That was about it for Thursday. I had to get up early on Friday to go for work. There was quite a lot I had to do but it was still manageable. After working (and falling asleep) till lunchtime, I went to have the lunch that most people would not look forward to. I finished the food anyhow, and even though I was not hungry before lunch, I bought a bowl of noodles after finishing the no so pleasant plate of rice and tasteless curry chicken. After lunch, I was hurried by at least three people to get changed because I had to hike at Bukit Timah hill.

I got to ride in a two-day old car. When we arrived at the car park, the entrance was filled with not cars but monkeys. The monkeys were rather tiny in size and when they crawl on all fours, they look like a small (and not fat) cat walking. There were at least 20 of them by the roadside. Next was the hike. I suppose the last (and only other time) I was when I was either secondary one or two where we took the tarmac route all the way to the top and back. This time, we took the supposedly more exciting route, which was not really that exciting at the pace we were moving. Most of the slopes were paved with concrete slabs and it was rather straightforward to get to the top. Thankfully, there weren't many mosquitoes. A few of us thought that it was too boring after reaching the peak, so we decided to jog down to the foot of the hill. Upon reaching, we felt that it wasn't much of an exercise or workout, hence we sort of sprinted up the foot till we met the rest of the pack and then walked back down to cool down. Nothing really interesting over there, unless you brought a camera to take pictures. Easy as it was, my legs ached a little the next day due to the lousy condition my body is in and probably the lack of sleep.

I don't think I can really get any sleep now even after a night of almost no sleep. I barely have around 90 minutes before I have to wake up and prepare for practice later on and I'm going to watch the Philharmonic winds and Boston brass concert tonight. I hope it is going to be good. I haven't heard a really good band in a long time.

So much for now. I don't think I can get any decent sleep unless there are more considerate people around whom would make a point to let the tired rest with as little disturbance as possible.

It starts off with me waking up at 10:30 am on Wednesday, which was rather early considering the fact that I slept till 1 pm before most of my recent duties. After a full night without sleep, I was then expected to report back at work by 2 pm the day following my night duty after being let of at 8:30 am. Squeezing in about two hours of sleep, I somehow managed to get a bath and pack a simple meal and prepare myself for a long day ahead.

It was then back to (not really) work. There was this change of command ceremony which I thought would take up to a few hours, but to my pleasant surprise, it only took twenty minutes at most. However, the post ceremony portion dragged on till way past the time I would normally stay in office. It was only about a quarter of an hour later we were allowed to sneak out. And the drama started to unfold.

Upon approaching Comfort Driving Centre at airport road, I spotted the bus I wanted to take. In fact, there were two of them queueing up to turn right just a few cars apart. I was rather relieved to see those buses because I was beginning to worry if I would be able to get to NUS in time for the rehearsal. The first bus made it to the bus stop before the lights turned red. As the bus approached, there was the usual crowd gathering at the spots they expect the bus to stop but the bus stopped way before that, as if there was already an invisible bus at the bus stop and refused to open its doors. The driver then stepped out of his seat and opened up what used to be the farecard machine and did some things. Seeing that it may take quite some time before the driver would allow anyone aboard, I decided to flag down the bus that was coming when the lights turned green again. To my disgust, and the disgust of another man who also tried flagging the bus down, it simply went past. Not only did it go past without stopping, the driver glared at us. I wonder if this is what SBS Transit Bus Captains are trained to do. I think that it is totally unprofessional that the driver did not stop even after having at least two people flag it, even without the glare. As for the driver of the first bus, he finally allowed us on board. The ez link machine was displaying an error message. I thought that the driver would have the brains to catch up with the bus in front and allow us to all transfer to that bus instead but the driver was so caught up in his own world that he drove at a snail's pace. The first thing he did right was to contact the support stuff using the control for the ez link card readers. And did someone previously tell me that the moment you praise someone, that person will disappoint? Well, it has been proven true in this case. He stopped at the next stop, refusing to open the doors again. After trying for a while, he opened both the front and back doors and paced to the rear exit then back to the front, still on the line with the support staff. He then got off the bus without saying a word. Did that amazed you? The bus driver getting off the bus at a bus stop without saying a word to any of the passengers? He did not even attempt to explain to the passengers about the situation nor instruct the passengers to alight and wait for the next bus and whether or not the next bus would arrive soon. These are the minimum he should do if the card readers refuse to work. No form of apology was made to the already agitated passengers who were obviously rushing to get to their destinations, having seen the next bus overtake it and not being able to do a thing about it. Of course the angry passengers got off in the end, but that is not the point I am trying to bring across. SBS Transit is probably the largest bus operator (or service provider) in Singapore. It is really a disappointment that some of its bus captains are only trained in driving. To think that they are set for yet another fare hike next month, it is truly unbelievable. SBS Transit should give their bus captains proper and thorough training so that they are fit to be referred to as bus captains and to provide service to the people. Probably the can justify the fare increase to send such drivers for training. Those drivers should switch companies and work for a delivery company where only goods are transported from one place to another. At least the goods will not mind if the driver explains to them that he is experiencing a technical problem. By the way the above mentioned drivers were driving bus service 151 in the direction of Kent Ridge at approximately 5:50pm on 20 September.

My fingers are tired. I shall continue about the long day later on.

Lunch was the best I have had in weeks! Great company despite the fact that it was only for two hours. Thanks very much! Sometimes I wish that there is more variation in the way time passes, rather than the constant second that we are all used to. If only there were rubato, dragging a little, pushing a little, life would be so much more interesting and meaningful.

Since it is quite late already, I shall end off with the next most significant thing. I am glad I decided to go for sectionals in the end. Didn't really learn any new things, but I got to listen to the pro play, and strangely enough, by listening to the pro, everything suddenly seems much easier. It makes me want to learn from the pro. It isn't that difficult. I want more sectionals (and lessons)!

Never switch buses for a shorting walking distance at night. The frequency of buses is very low.

It has been an upside down week for me. Probably the first time I experience what people commonly refer to as "jet lag", even though I did not even lay a toe on a plane. Back to back duties together with other activities are a deadly combination. First time in a long time I had trouble going to sleep. Coming to think of it, I started to have some slight sleeping disorder even before Wednesday. A few days before that, I already had disrupted sleep, waking up from time to time just to realise that it was only an hour just after I had gone to sleep or a few hours before I had to wake up. I need some remedy that would help me to sleep soundly and wake up exactly when I have to (inclusive of in the middle of the night to pee if I have to because I would not exchange an undisturbed sleep for a soiled bed).

I had probably eaten the most expensive Chicken Mcnuggets in my whole life this week. You would not have guessed the cost of each nugget. They cost 95 cents each! I can't believe that I could actually bring myself to swallow those six miserable pieces of nuggets. With the same amount of money, I could have had the nuggets as well as a drink and some fries to go with it and even have some shillings to spare. Even in Brussels, nuggets weren't that expensive. After all that talk about nuggets, I am beginning to feel hungry. My apologies if you too are starting to crave for those golden brown nuggets dipped in barbecue or curry sauce.

First time I tried whipping up some food for dinner. It obviously excludes all those times I fried an egg or cooked instant noodles. This was slightly more challenging than just grabbing and a few minutes later, it's done kind of cooking. Shopping for groceries and preparation of the ingredients had to be done. I prepared mushroom fried with carrots and celery with thick tasty gravy (minus the gravy). Somehow it ended up rather dry, not with the thick tasty gravy I had in mind while preparing the dish. I can probably consult my grandma for a solution to that. My mum knows nuts about cooking. That would mean that I probably only know bolts about cooking. Nuts and bolts. Oh well. Anyway, the apart from the lack of the thick tasty gravy, everything else was perfect (minus the fact that there was not enough). All thanks to my natural skill at cooking.

Someone teach me how to cook and bake and prepare food. I don't want to go hungry in future nor search for a rat to pull my hair so that I can have food to eat. And when I can finally find someone to teach me how to cook, I will also need people to eat what I have cooked. When will the search end?

A brand new feature, if you can notice. I have been sufficiently irritated by it all over the place that I have decided to add it in here as well. Here's Grieg for you. I feel that one of the main themes seem to have come from the New World Symphony. Tell me if I'm wrong.

I think I am really lagging behind all the new technology, and even the not-so-new technologies. After having played and used a PlayStation Portable (PSP) in 2005 a few times, today is the first time I realised that it is Wifi enabled. And to add on to that, I made a total fool out of myself when I did not believe my friend when he told me that PSP has Wifi. Up till now, I still cannot quite bring myself to accept that fact (or is it not a fact?). I guess I will need to see it with my own eyes to believe it. To say the truth, I cannot imagine how such a small device like the PSP slim, or the new iPod touch (8mm thick) can actually be used to surf the web without the need for any add-ons to the main console.

I feel sleepy already. I will probably be back on Thursday afternoon if I have something interesting to say. All the best to all having preliminary examinations, heaps of tutorials and tests! How long more is it to 22 November?

Day offs are becoming more and more unappealing, other than the fact that I do not need to wake up early in the morning and work for a whole day with not even a delicious lunch to look forward to. Idling is really a torture unless one is sleeping with the sky still dark, the rain falling gently and the wind blowing gently. Otherwise, it would be much better to have something enjoyable to do so that one is kept busy, ensuring that both the brain and the body does not rot.

Some weird people have been calling me on my handphone lately. Just yesterday, there was this person looking for some "ah xiang", a few days ago, there was another person who called while I was still sleeping and asked for my e mail address. Up till now, I have not received any e mail and I am still wonder how that person got my handphone number and where on earth that caller was from. Then there was also someone looking for another person a few days ago, and a stranger calling from +44 (wherever that is) waking me up at 4 am in the morning but of course I did not bother to answer and be responsible for an expensive handphone bill.

I am feeling lazy. I shall save the rest I have to say for some other time.

I wouldn't say that time has flown because it some hours really seem to have passed real slowly. Probably, it is because I had missed out some of the crucial elements that would make me grow up, or that I had been over-protected. I still cannot believe that I am already so old, not until I look back at secondary school life and realise that it has been close to three years since I graduated from it. Three years don't mean much in words, but if you translate it to the things you are entitled to do, it is a whole world of difference. Some of the most significant ones that most teenagers would yearn for while 15 year old would be the driving licence, the passport to go into M18 screenings and the green light to buy alcoholic drinks and cigarattes. Is it that only when one experiences all the things that cannot be experienced legally by a 17 year-old that one starts to feel older?

Forgive the long paragraph. I'm probably not thinking right right now, having not stayed up till so early in the morning for a long time, less the night duties. Today (or you might want to call it yesterday), has been quite a good day. Sleeping in till noon after a late night and having a rather rare brunch, followed by a dinner, which although wasn't really good, was better than leftovers from the week and supper. Despite all the food that I had (which were the only thing I have mentioned other than sleep), and a hot dog from Ikea, I am still craving for some prata with miced beef in pasta sauce. Weird combination, but I think it will taste real delicious. Imagine an egg prata with minced beef oozing out from the sides. My stomach is beginning to rumble. It must be the jumbo dog with beef sauce I had at the botanic gardens last Sunday that made me crave for all the beef with pasta sauce. It didn't come cheap by the way.

I cannot imagine that the whole of my Sunday will be spent in somewhere where there is no fun at all. Hopefully I can get a ride out at night. My last experience walking out was not really pleasant, not to mention that of trying to get out of that place with the lightning striking every minute or so, with no place to run for shelter but the exposed bus stop in the middle of the barren land. So much for Sunday duties.

Sometimes, I wonder if I should even bother to be so bothered about the things going around me. It does not really make me feel happy unless I get the desired results. At times, some things go wrong during the process, and I as usual, get uptight about it, and the result may not be the desired one. It is quite a waste of energy and emotion getting upset over something that would not really matter after it had passed. Somehow, I will always feel so involved in those stuff. Would it be better then to be a person who does not give a damn about everything? Life would be so much more carefree, and the job and burden of caring for all those stuff would be passed on to someone else.

I've spent nearly an hour working on this post (excluding the time I spent talking) and it's already five to three. Amazing. I never thought I would be one of those who are awake and active at such an hour.

I hope for good food for lunch and dinner tomorrow.