Morning Run... #2

Another morning run. It was 7am or so, maybe before 8am.

Walking back home, there was an old man with a stack of cardboard boxes. On top of that was a trash bag full of empty aluminium cans. The cans fell over from the stack of cardboards, both of which added up to his height. I thought of going over to help him out, but he picked the trash bag up while holding onto the stack of cardboard all by himself.

Walked a bit further down, and there was this handicapped middle-aged man on the road. He wasn't in a car but was in a wheelchair. He only had one arm and one leg, and he was kicking himself forward, rolling forward in his wheelchair alongside the double yellow lines. I thought of going over to help him out, but he seemed to be managing well.

Walking yet a bit further down, I saw this old man on a old 70's bicycle. He was cycling along a jogging path, and the path was slightly upslope, maybe 5' or so. He was clenching his teeth gums, and trying very hard to cycle up the gentle slope. I thought of going over to help him out, but he seemed to be managing well.

I watched him reach the top of the slope, tired and breathless, as he started to use his legs to push himself on his bicycle forward.

All of this happened within a span of 30 minutes.

On The Bus #28... or The Sleeping Ah Beng

So there was this non-Chinese guy who looked to be in his late 20s who boarded the bus. He held a plastic bag in one hand, and both his arms were tattooed all the way up to the sleeves of his shirt.

So he sat two seats away from me on the bus.

He took out two sandwiches from his plastic bag (now empty), and began munching away at one on the bus. He held the other one in his other hand with the plastic bag. Halfway into chewing on his sandwich, his eyelids drooped and he fell asleep.

I watched him fall into a slumber, nodding away with the rhythm of the bumpy bus ride. His half-eaten sandwich was still in his hands.

Then he dropped his half-eaten sandwich onto the bus floor.

He jumped wide awake, and picked up the sandwich to put in his plastic bag. He resumed chewing the remainder of the first sandwich, and took another bite off the second sandwich.

While chewing halfway, his eyelids closed on him and he fell asleep again, holding the second half-eaten sandwich.

A bump somewhere along the road made him drop his second and last sandwich onto the bus floor.

He jumped wide awake again, and picked the sandwich off the floor and put it in his plastic bag.

He chewed up the rest of his sandwich and went to sleep again.

The Lil' Poor Soul

Walking along the streets, there was this little mynah standing by the side of the drain. It was alone; it's partner nowhere in sight.

It looked sad; it kept looking down, but not down into the drain for food.

So I approached it to get a better look. The lil' bird hopped away in a funny manner, then stopped and looked down again in a sad and depressed manner.

It was looking at its feet.

One of its feet was mangled up with some sort of white stuff, rendering that foot useless. The injury looked fresh.

Of course I couldn't help it as it was hopping away whenever I approached.

I had to walk away and leave it staring at its foot.

Beatboxing Madness! (Pathetic-ness?)... or The Truth Uncovered #1

So there's this beatboxing competition recently on Channel U that's showing. And here's a clip from one of the TV footages:



Note to Self: To be a beatbox wannabe, you MUST wave your hands and move it around like you're a punk rapper, even if it adds nothing to your "coolness" factor.

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If you think that was COOL and L33T and all, watch this next video:

The Real McCoy



The good part begins from 3"20" onwards, so watch out for the "special sounds" there!

The moral of the story? Be something you're good at. Don't be a half-baked ass.

Come to think of it, this lil' birdie really puts the local beatboxers to shame:

On The Bus #27... or The Righteous Cheat

So there were these 3 folks that I'm single-ing out for this story:

1) The Old Woman in her 50s, because she's still using a blue ez-link card (OW)
2) The Woman with the Baby (WwBB)
3) The Bangla Foreign Worker (BFW)

So I board Bus 57 at Sim Lim Square. OW is behind me, BFW is seated at the seat right behind the exit (Yes, the one just under the TV, so it's a single seat). WwBB, I don't know. She was either behind me or already on the bus.

So the bus is packed, and I'm standing right behind the BFW who is seated in that single seat.

OW comes up to the exit beside BFW and tells him, "You should give up your seat to the woman with the baby in front OK."

BFW is shocked at the OW speaking to him and nearly jumps out of his seat, guilt-ridden at being told off by the OW. OW tells BFW, "Wait." And she walks in front to ask WwBB to come to take the seat the BFW is willing to give up.

But WwBB tells OW she's getting off soon, and doesn't need the seat.

So OW comes back to tell BFW, "It's OK. She says she's getting off." BFW is very disturbed and guilt-ridden. He sits upright and uptight now.

Comes the next stop at Little India MRT Station. Coincidentally, BFW gets off. OW plonks into the empty seat. WwBB is still standing in the standing gallery holding the baby.

***No, this is not what I'm nitpicking about. Read on...***

So after Little India bus stop, comes KK Hospital. WwBB gets off here, leaving OW still in the seat.

Now before the bus pulled into the stop, there was this loud "DI" from somebody tapping a card. Out of the corner of my eye, I see nobody moving towards the exit. (Who was the one who tapped the card if nobody was moving towards the door?) So I turn to look.

A kid in a CHIJ uniform was leaning against the pole. It wasn't her who tapped that adult card, surely she's got a student pass!

I look at OW, and she's fumbling to keep her blue EZ-link card. (Mind you, I'm not jumping to conclusions here. I admit that I didn't see her tap her card at the card-reader. I only heard the sound yet saw nobody else near the exit).

So the CHIJ kid gets off. WwBB gets off too. I watch OW to see when she will get off, and if she'll tap her card when she gets off.

Next stop, Tanglin Police Division HQ.
Next stop, United Square.
Next stop, Novena Church.
Next stop, Novena Lodge.
Next stop, Thomson Medical Centre.
Next stop, Tan Tong Meng Towers.
Next stop, Trellis Towers at Jalan Toa Payoh.

"DING DONG!" OW pressed the bell. I was watching for her to tap her blue ez-link card.

Bus pulls in, doors open. She gets off without tapping her card.

PS: I've told 3 people this story and they didn't get what my point was. If you are lost too and didn't get what I was ranting about, let me know OK?

Braggarts or Adepts?

Sometimes when you walk around "the" canteen for lunch, you see Medicine undergraduates having lunch with their stethoscopes. They would wear it around their necks, and have lunch just like that.

What the f*** is wrong with them? Do they really have no lockers or a place to put their stuffs? Hell, they weren't even carrying their school bags with them (which means their bags are left/locked up somewhere).

• You do not see Chemistry students walking around with their Pyrex Laboratory Glassware or wearing their laboratory coats.
  
• You do not see Computing students walking around with their keyboards and mouse (Everybody carries laptops sometimes, even non-Computing students).
  
• You do not see Law students walking around with their wigs and black coats.
  
• You do not see Mathematics students walking around holding calculators.
  
• You do not see English Literature students carrying volumes of literature works with them.
  
• You do not see Theatre Studies students carrying their theatre costumes and masks with them.
  

In short, of all the students milling around the canteen during lunchtime, the god-damned stethoscope is a dead-giveaway to identifying a Medicine student (short of writing the words "I AM A MEDICINE STUDENT" on their forehead).

Why, of all faculties of students, must Medicine students want to be so special?

For goodness' sake, keep the bloody stethoscope away with your bags and belongings before heading out for lunch. There is no reason to carry it around unless you practise elitism.

In a war, the first thing soldiers look for as a target of opportunity would be the medical staff (short of following the Geneva Convention). No (trainee) doctors, no help for the enemy troops.

You simply like wearing that stethoscope huh?

Life Goes On

You know your life starts to stink when you have to have your meals while walking around getting to places.