Me and My Chinese Proverbs

I was home all alone one rare Saturday morning. Gabe was at his grandma's. Derod was out on a mission. I was homebound due to a bout of flu. I sat in front of the tube surfing channels, something I'd not done in a long long long time.

One program was a game show where some primary school students were competing over their knowledge of Chinese proverbs. After that half hour, my ego was badly bruised and to be honest, I remained pretty much horrified for some time after.

For a certain category, the students were flashed a picture and they were supposed to decipher which four-word proverb it was describing, and upon giving the correct answer, extra points would be credited if they were able to explain the meaning of the proverb. More than half the time, I was either not as fast as the kids or I'd completely no idea what the picture was about. Then, of the answers given, I would not have heard of half of them.

I'd always taken some pride in coming from a primary school that gave as much emphasis to English as to my mother tongue. Our school song was in Mandarin - that will give you some idea of the climate and culture of the school. What's more, both my parents were Chinese educated. It would be highly embarrassing to be caught in a situation where kids but a decade old can challenge and overtake the years of conscious and unconscious training I've received.

Perhaps it's time I took a look at some of those learn-Chinese VCDs they're selling at Popular... ;p

Pleasant Surprises at the Train Station

At the particular train door I was standing at, everyone stood to the right or the left, according to the yellow markings on the floor. All the people came out of the train before anyone attempted to enter.

Everyone standing on the left side of the escalator leaving a clear passage on the right.

A man about to enter the gantry switched to a narrower gate when he saw me approaching with gabe in stroller. I gave my thanks.

There's hope for a gracious society!

Bad Posture!

Is this enough emphasis?

I figure I'm going turn into something like this soon, and when we watched Happy Feet recently, the character of elder Noah simply called out to me. Or maybe it's just how he looks all hunch over. If I've always held myself in bad posture, it only got worse after I became a mother. I've reached a stage that I'd catch myself (once in a blue moon) and notice that the slouch is as low as it can get. So if you are a friend, and you hope not to see me turn into the hunchback of sg, please remind me to straighten up. Chances are every time you see me, you'll have an opportunity to do so :(

Thanks in advance!

Have You Met the Robinsons?

This is Goob. In my opinion, he's the cutest character in Disney's Meet the Robinsons. The little fella has a room-mate (lead character Lewis) who has an extreme amount of perseverance in scientific inventions, so much so that he often stays up through the night to complete projects with welding, drilling, hammering, etc. So you can imagine poor Goob being the assistant to hand out tools, guinea-pig model to wear certain creations while Lewis was working on them, and of course, being kept up through the night and not being able to sleep well. This picture shows him after he got beaten up for falling sleeping at a baseball game, cos he was kept up all night. Steak's for the black eye.

So poor thing but so cute right?!

My Work Environment

It's changed considerably from social and working relations at the meeting room, lunch table, pantry, cubicles and desks, photocopying machine, bosses' offices, secretary's table... you get the drift.

Now, I have to establish new working relations with those in my new circle, and I'm fast (ok not so fast after all) getting a hang of their capabilities, sifting out those I don't like to work with and buttering up to those with whom I do. May I introduce you to:

The Fresh Food People *sung in signature jingle melody*
Not for the budget conscious. But we sort of have not much of a choice since it's the most convenient store available for us in terms of distance, variety and it's high on the baby friendly index. They don't really live up to their reputation though, or perhaps it's just this outlet, since I almost always have difficulty picking out fresh produce from the fruits and vegetables section. Queues are far too long. Would love for the local competitor to replace them but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Cheap & Good Tapao Food
Not quite readily available. It's either cheap or good in most cases. The ones that fit the complete bill are not too healthy in the long run e.g. hokkien mee doesn't exactly contain the vitamins and fibre one requires. Otherwise, it's a 40 min journey to the nearest shopping centre's food court and back. That's a lot of work for a packet lunch. That's for clear-weathered days. Then again, the alternative would be picking up the telephone and dialing a certain hotline, which means more toil on the health and wallet.

Karang Guni Man
I have found my favourite karang guni man!!! Took a number of years but I'm elated with this find. He accepts magazines! It's rare because the others don't. Either that or they pay you less than peanuts for them. This skinny uncle takes them all at the same rate. I've never sold paper at such high prices before and boy, am I happy. One day I was disloyal and sold a much-needed-to-get-rid-of pile to someone else. A someone who bears my skin color but comes from a distant land. I got riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipped off big time. Probably got only 20-25% of the usual price. Lesson learnt. Doesn't help that the stereotypical impression got reinforced. So, for anyone interested in my favourite man, I've got a card and contact numbers. Yes, he takes calls too.

Crazy Things I'd Done

Tell the Story as it is
That I couldn't do. My parents entered me into a chinese story telling competition at the Community Centre when I was but in primary school. Apparently I did a pretty good job with the cat and its fishing tale. Good enough for my father to think I could succeed on the screen, tv screen. He entered me into a similar competition held at the then SBC (now known as MediaCorp) where I told the story at the speed of a bullet train. Obviously I wasn't offered any roles thereafter. But a boy who was in the same competition appeared in drama serials shortly after.

Appeased by Food
I "graduated" from absolutely no going out in my secondary days, to sudden freedom in my junior college days. This was also the time when I spent much time in church, arriving home at nearly 10pm, which in my opinion, was very late for someone granted sudden freedom. So what did I do? Race home/ speed walked from the bus stop to the nearest pay phone at the coffee shop (that'll be about 15 mins), hold the panting and ask whether my parents would like any hor fun for supper. It worked. I never got more than some complaints.

Learn Er Hu at the Community Centre
I still don't know how it happened but the cheap banner flapping on the grills of the CC just looked mighty attractive and I signed up. Obviously I didn't own an er hu and getting one just to practise basics is plain silly, and since the teacher offered to lend me his, why not?! I diligently practised the scales at home, much to the entire family's horror, and passed my basics class on a pretty good note.

Crab-walk to the Bathroom
Everyone knows that a pregnant woman needs the toilet all the time, including times when everyone's supposed to be fast asleep. You see, gabe-in-utero tended to wake up at the same time as me, so I figured that the movements I made would wake him. So what do you do to ensure you'll still have a good night's sleep after your toilet trip? Tip-toe crab-walk style, in attempt to minimise "movement", to the toilet, do your deed and creep back in the same manner to bed. It worked ok!

Addicted to Twisties
Thanks to a half-eaten packet of bbq/curry flavoured corn chips on livingjoyfully's table, I have been addicted to the junk for nearly three months. By addicted I mean consumption of at least two packets per week. Three months it took before I'm finally down with some cold/ sore throat illness.


More trips down memory lane next time.

What Happens When...

You have an overdose of Heros, X-Men, Jumper and the like?

You start dreaming that you have a genetic anomaly and hence special powers. And there's the good guys and the bad guys and the bad guys are out to get you. And some war has just begun.