Entry: ??.12.1997
Well, this all-in-one mail signals the laziness of the writer again to lump everything together. Unfortunately, my modem is being repaired by the manufacturer - lord knows when I'll be able to get online from home. If not, hey, I might be putting up my stories on my "coming-up" humble homepage. So that I don't bug you with my stories!
The night before Christmas.....
It has been an interesting week, the last week of 1997. Had a Christmas eve party with my 41 ex-housemates. Ya lah.... beats staying around at home! Was already late by an hour when I reached Kota Raya to meet Ching Ching. Thanks to the heavy rain in Seremban and I had to fetch a colleague back as she wanted to go KL too, I was very, very late. Didn't managed to contact Ching Ching but luckily already informed her to phone my house should I be late.
It was an hour ride to Subang Jaya. And so an evil scheme crept into mind. We decided to make a bluff - that I couldn't make it coz my bus tyre punctured! Reached SJ at 10.35pm. Ching Ching called them up to inform I was going to be MIA. 5 minutes later, something not right. What if they think that I'm fooling 'em and decided to call my house? Yikes, I called home immediately. Another yikes! Found out that my dad just phoned them up a while ago and asking me what's all this tyre punctured thing about. Underestimated my parent's overprotectiveness.
Had our scheme been exposed? We were not sure but still decided to carry it out for the sake of having fun. Then we thought, yikes! What if because only Ching Ching is coming, they decided to send a motorbike to fetch us? Aacck, should have spent more time in scheming.
The humming of a car's engine provided some relief moments later. Meng Heng's Wira was out waiting. I decided to hide behind the door. Murmurs outside. Wonder what Ching Ching is telling him. The sound of footsteps back. Ching Ching came back to take some plates, forks and spoons. Footsteps were heard again. I waited breathlessly trying to peek at the door's edge to see who was the one standing outside. Another thought, yikes! I realized that my shoes were out there. Aiya.... nanti pecah rahsia!
Meng Heng decided to help Ching Ching. He came in... and I burst out laughing! Alright, I was going to rope in another accomplice for my evil scheme. Although I doubt I could count on him to lie for me. Anyway, what the heck... Reached Poh Aun's apartment and yikes! I forgot to take the snacks I had brought along. Left it at Ching Ching's place. Aiya kena patah balik! Ironicly, Ching Ching had mentioned that the ride between her house and Poh Aun's was too short for us to enjoy the luxury of Meng Heng's new babe. And so, we had to patah balik again. Before that, we had been talking quite loudly and now we fear again the scheme was exposed. Was I spotted coming down from the car??
And so... arriving for real at the apartment, I decided to call it off. I was too exhausted from laughing. Felt guilty too coz the scheme might cause some worries among my housemates. I mean, one side - my dad saying that he didn't know about the punctured tyre and one side - my housemates hearing from Ching Ching about this incident.
We were the last ones to arrive. Hey, like VIPs huh? Nothing special on seeing my ex-housemates really. To be honest, I see them more often than I see my own hometown friends! So, they were spared from my urge to hug them!
We had cocktails and a special brew of "Coke" courtesy of the host. No fear, didn't drink too much to make myself act funny of course. Oh yeah, my birthday was celebrated along too. And it was really nice of them. The cake.... forgive me, looks like "shit" but it actually would taste very nice if cold enough.
The next day was spent on watching the movie "Titanic". Mmm... would have been a more enjoyable movie if it hadn't been for the praises that was rained on it from my colleagues and friends. Everybody was like saying - wah... so nice show, you must watched it lah... So much better than "Tomorrow Never Dies". How could they compare "Titanic" and the new Bond movie. They run on different lines. Anyway, it was definitely a movie for the romantics at heart. Cannot be compared to movies like While You Were Sleeping, The Truth About Cats and Dogs and My Best Friend's Wedding. This one's like the Bryan Adam's song - everything I do, I do it for you style! A lot of details on this movie which is why it stretched up to 3 hours. I wasn't sure of going to see it as I thought I would be hell bored in a 3 hour romance story on a tragic ship. Stay away, if you can't stand mushy stuff.
The journey back home to Seremban was really messy. I was all drenched from rain after being fetched on a motorbike. And the bus ride was real freezing - it reminded me of the Titanic movie, the ending part. I got home nearing 8pm and decided to "fong fei kei" my consultant's Christmas party. I regret coz I found out the next day, they were still partying until late at night - the last one left at 3 am!
Next stop - the day before my birthday... hey, I got my first car accident!
The day before my birthday....
Okay, that got your attention right?! Well, I'm not bluffing. I was hit from behind coming back from work on Saturday near my factory. Bang! And that was it. Not to worry, it was a case of a line of cars in a jam and suddenly we stopped. Unfortunately, the car behind me really had bad luck that day. Firstly, the poor fella was just been hit from behind. It was nothing and the both the cars were okay. The poor fella, a young Indian guy was thinking about it and he wanted to get the car number of the car which hit him. He looked behind and so had his second accident!
Okay, the question is - how bad was it, right? Let's just say, my car is still "presentable" but needs a new bumper, a new car plate, a new reflector and need some "knocking". Of course the guy had to pay for the damage and so we went to check out the bengkel kereta which his friends recommended. And wow, quite a hefty sum involved. RM 1450. I wasn't sure whether we should repair the car here. For the other guy, his car was badly damaged in front but he was real worried - his father's gonna kill him! He did not want to make decisions yet. He needs to ask his dad regarding insurance claims and asked whether I could go home first, assuring me that he would contact me later. I already got the guy's address, telephone number and car number. He's working at Samsung Corning, brother company. For me, no problemlah but on second thought better double-check with my parents. Scared they'll scold me for trusting people so easily.
Phoned my parents. After my dad passed the phone over to my mom, I told her calmly that the car had been hit from behind. She yelled "how was the car?!!" Now that really hurts! Of course, can't blame her coz the way I was explaining to her, it's as if I was joking all along. Apa nak buat, I've never seemed to be too worried too much.
Anyway, I followed the Indian guy's car back to his house to pick up his big brother before coming over to my house to discuss the matter. Cut the story short a bit, later in the evening, his dad also came along and together we went to another bengkel kereta near my auntie's shop. Wah... sini lagi bagus. For the same kind of repair, the sum involved is only RM 800. And so settled there loh... We were paid RM800 on the spot for the repair. The Indian family for fear that we might charge them later, decided to write up some sort of letter where both parties confirmed that the case is settled and no charges will be made. All in all, both families looked like friends only. Settled in a very civilized manner lah... From us, we mentioned 'nobody wanted it to happen anyway' and 'accidents happen'. For them, this whole accident may just be some sort of way to bury away all the bad luck before the new year (which is somewhat like Chinese thinking too).
What a birthday gift huh? I've always wondered what I'll do if an accident happened to me. So, I got what I wanted??? Ha ha. My auntie asked me whether I was shocked when the car hit me. Thinking back - none at all. I might as well be born a robot with no feelings at all. I don't feel lousy that my car's not going to be that "new" anymore. I'm just happy that it's not a major accident. I'm extremely happy that I'm not the one who hit - my parents will kill me then!
My car has been sent for repair and I've yet to see the results - similar like my modem case. For my birthday today, I've spent half the afternoon with one of my hometown friend. We went to "kacau" another friend who had just came back from Australia. I paid a surprise visit. Nearly kena another "birthday gift" coz I parked illegally somewhere. Then I decided to park "nicely" and the next thing I know, I saw a policeman next to me! Yikes!!!! Luckily, nothing happened as he had just arrived. So I just drove off with my friend and parked elsewhere!
A nice quiet weekend, I'd say. Got wonderful cards and real gifts. I've yet to know who gave me that box of pen left in my bag. Thank you very much whoever you are. Got two letters which really made my day. One from my ex-primary school classmate, one of my best friends of whom I've kept in touch once in a while through the snail mail. I was actually planning to make a surprise visit to her house which I'm not quite sure where it is but was confident enough to find it. But alas, kereta rosak pulak.
The other letter is from the Europe tourmate. A wonderful old man and the way he writes really makes your heart melt. Hey, Doreen - Del wrote from Florida saying that he acquired a motor coach and he's planning to travel to Mexico in it with his friend! Isn't it wonderful?!!
And as you can see, I spent about two hours writing up my stories! Cheers to everybody on the coming new year! I hope you had good memories of 1997 and that 1998 will bring you more!
Regards,
Li Li