Dreary Day

It's one thing to have a great weekend and another to have it so short.
Normally the thing is, I'm too tired to socialise on a Friday night so Saturday nights are better. But then Sunday comes.
Sundays, since I was young, provided too thin a buffer for the coming Monday and all the horrors of the week it entails.
Sunday. The harbinger of death.

Things got progressively worse through kindergarten to primary school. It was only in secondary school that it got a wee bit better. So please keep it single-sex. Ok, I digress.

JC wasn't too bad as well. But certain periods of the 2 year at JC were terrible. Mondays were shrouded in a veil because common tests were on Saturdays. That never affected my adult life thankfully because I have no strong aversions towards Saturdays. As yet.

Uni was good. Weekdays and weekends melted into one long week that was spent waking up for morning lectures or tutorials if there were any. I did so much during uni and at the same time if you ask me what I have done, I cannot for the life of me, give you a decent answer. I probably grew up if anything. But that's such a cliched answer. I grew old. That I admit. But I am ageing faster than I would like right now in my job/career/calling. So I like to tell people that I did normal things, you know, stuff.

"Stuff". What a great invention. As can be seen from the article by Janadas Devan on Sunday Times today.
Q: So what did you do when you were there?
A: Well, you know, stuff.

Two people in Sunday Times made me think of my uni time today.
Sandra Leong and Cheong Suk-Wai.

Sandra Leong was introducing the fried mars bar that was sold at British Chippy found in Far East Plaza. There was this chippy shop that I frequently patronised when I was studying in angmoh land. I frequented the place because it was on the way to town and the prices were very affordable. It was like a pound fifty for his basic fish and chips. It was a huge serving that he would dump (that's what he did) into a cone made out of grease-proof paper. Condiments were available at extra cost but you could have all the salt and vinegar you wanted. Throughout my 3 years in ang moh land, salt and vinegar with my fish and chips was something I never grew to like. I never put ketchup or chilli sauce (I brought a bottle of maggi chilli) on it either. Just liked it with salt. During my first year, on my way to town with Yugin and Jammie (who recently married uni sweetheart, Eric), Jammie asked us if we have tried fried mars bar. What? How to? Yugin heard of it but have yet to tried it. Or at least that was how I remembered it. So we went in an I got my first tasting of the fried mars bar.

It beats Bakerzin's warm chocolate cake amongst the many chocolatey delights anytime.

The slightly bewildered chippy owner wondered why we like it so much. To him, it was way too sweet and frankly, he just sold them, not that he liked them. We went on to tell him about goreng pisang and how the bananas in angmoh land was not suited for deep frying because they aren't sweet and soft enough...

Cheong Suk-Wai went to Covent Garden's The Ivy and had the good fortune of having a meal at The Fat Duck down at Bray. But I wasn't jealous of the chance to eat at such esteemed restaurants. I am more content with the local hawker. I think my taste is cheap.

It was how the english language was used by the people in that damp, grey and tiny island they call old blighty. It was superficial and always with great timing. But it was re-assuring when you are in a foreign land. I always try not to break into a laugh when I hear them ending their sentences with love/luv. I could never have brought myself to say it because I could never sound convincing. It has to be spoken by one who carries an Irish, Scottish or any of the many British accents to sound anywhere nice. I cannot imagine a german saying it. It will only sound like an episode from 'allo 'allo. French? That would sound flirtatious. Singapore-beng accent? It will warrant a "lee seow ah?".

So what a dreary day it has been. Lots of pre-monday blues.....lots of thinking about the carefree uni days.....well...the weather looks imported from london but not the temperature. Beggars can't be choosers. My ankle still hurts and I have to work tomorrow cause my MC expires. I have a medical review next Wednesday...but till then, maybe I should seek solace in a fried mars bar.

........waiting.......