reminiscence

this week past quite quickly in camp.

went for my medical on monday.
as expected.

the doc says i need another mri.
of my brain. for what?
to check whether i have a brain at all?

she prescribed me panadine again.
i counted. 110 tablets.. nice.

and those tabs.. can cover me for about..
a little more den 2 weeks.

thats how much pills i've been taking.
maybe thats why i feel dead.

anyway.. i was pretty free this week.
so had the chance to go thru some books.

this week i read..

point blank by catherine coulter
she's one of my all time fav author.

tuesdays with morrie by mitch albom.
inspirational. really. esp with my illness.

36 business art of war strategems.
sun tzu's art of war revisited.

and most exciting of all...
i glanced this extreme book called..

armed gunmen, true facts and other
ridiculous nonsense.

lol. i kept laughing through it. its incredible.
let me share some snippets from it..

armed gunmen
- are there unarmed gunmen?

true facts
- can there be false facts?

missing gaps
- gaps that decided to go hiding.

false pretense
- the opposite of true pretense

advanced warning
- the warning before the warning

violent war
- gentle war's evil twin sister.

lol. i dunno la. its just so stupid..
i burst out laughing.

maybe the doc was right about me needing
the brain mri scan. haha.

anyway... lemme share wif u guys..
something about happenings in my camp.

almost every night in camp..
the canteen jie jie will come up to our level..
and set up a mini store selling food and drinks.

burgers, crab claws, fish & chips, fried rice..

and everytime she comes..
the first person to see will yell "jie jie!!".
and there will be a mad rush to buy the food.

eating the food.. actually lifts our spirits.
strangely providing encouragement.
maybe its a relief from army food.. but...

everytime i see this scene...
i can't help but remember my childhood.

staying at my late gma's bungalow
along serangoon garden way...

there would be this uncle...
who would come in a bicycle-pushcart...
he sold noodles...
and the other uncle.. who sold ice cream.

each time me and my cousins heard them coming..
our eyes will inevitably light up.

and we will pick coins from a little plastic cup...
rush out.. shouting at the top of our lungs.
worried the uncle will miss us and cycle off.

noodles were a bare 70 cents.
ice creams went at 30 and 50 cents.

those were the days.
now.. me and my cousins just occasionally..
chat thru msn. even then.. rarely.

noodles now cost $2.
ice creams go for a dollar.
and push cart stalls are no longer seen.

except for commercialized ones..
that sell ice cream at orchard and mrt stations.

so imagine my surprise...
when i moved into geylang 2 years ago.

and there is actually an ice cream uncle..
who rings the traditional bell...
in our housing estate.
catering to the residents here.. and all.

an ice cream here costs 80 cents.

not that it matters.
its just for the memories.

beautiful reminiscence.