life's beginning to feel more real for me now. a bit like how i was back in JC. running around tiredly from place to place. while it was tuition, physiotherapy, gym outings and training back then, it's now training, gym outings, sch meetings and the attempts to meet deadlines for my articles. i really need to send them out tmr. stupid pictures. and oh, ending the day off by slumming in front of the tv, thinking of walking 20-25 min to the 7-11 for chips when i shld really be walking <1 min to the kitchen to pop a panadol or two.

ok. tonight's not so bad. i finally took the panadol after procrastinating for 2 hours instead of the usual 3+. I really need to stop trying to find my way downstairs to the damn kitchen just 'cos i'm so lazy to take the pill when i'm in the living room. my bedroom's too far from the kitchen at night. (which really explains the almonds and walnuts in my room.) yes. i'm rambling. results of a giddy painful head.

my left foot's gone too. it's the covered-toe heels i have to wear to work everyday, i swear. when i moved my toes, my entire foot would crack in reponse. just as a knuckle would. i can feel the bone shift. on friday, i got a bit worried. after the run during training, the pain has gotten worse. i was limping home for the remaining half of my walk. and all i could think of was Gene scaring me abt banglahs jumping out from houses under renovation and lifting their sarong up. i gripped onto my paddle really tightly then. don't think i'd have my wits around to laugh very loudly while pointing as yw suggested. see what helpful friends i have...

ok, my house is a mere 10 min from the bus stop.. bobbs and i measured it the other day. it's close to 1 km. but still, i don't think i would want to leave my neighborhood behind. far too many memories (oh hear, i just cracked my foot again..)

i'm got a nice neighborhood. greenwood is nearby. i drop by swiss butchery when i'm craving cajun chicken or call the fish bistro for take-away fish and chips at $9.90. thanks to the expats, i get gelato, thai restaurant and seafood restuarant. Coq and Bull is too expensive for me. but when i start working, i'm going back there for the $20 steak and $8 sauteed mushrooms. and i want another visit to L' Estaminent for a nice stella artois and 42'inch pizza. yes. 42'inch. we bought it for take-out once and the box cldn't fit into the car. so we walked home, holding the damn 42'inch pizza. and it was worthed it all.

i have yet to try the warm chocolate cake at sebastians though i'll give the foie gras a miss.. or dine fancy at 8 on greenwood.. or eat the hainanese-styled steak and have Singapore's Coldest Beer at Wagon Wheel.. or visit the two japanese restaurants there... but at shiro, the upperity one, u would need a reservation one month in advance to try the most delectable pufferfish around. Jap Haute Cuisine at it's best, apparantly.

yea, i'm in a snotty neighborhood. but it's only become "snotty" recently. we used to be more down-to-earth. Econ Minimart was the first big thing where i wld waste money on Kenshin cards from the card machine. there used to be a smaller minimart- Wu Jiang. i would have weekly visits to buy Super Rings for 20c. then i'd spurge 90c on the gorgeous chocolate eclair in the bakery next to the doctor's and go to the park to enjoy it on the swing. now the only bakery left is Lana's and their fudge cake still leaves me weak in the knees. it was only in the past few years where Les Amis became a neighbor. their gourmet place at Watten Hill sells amazing soup and sandwiches.. though terribly pricey.

other memories of my neighborhold would be running circles around my area. Greenmead Avenue is a loop that ran twice would be slightly over 1.6 k. and my house is dreadfully on top of the slope (which pisses me off when i'm lugging the damn laptop home). the fastest time i've clocked is when i was chased by a polar bear of a dog (kids are small!). playing badminton with jane and katie.. walking home with sharon, liz, nadia and jane.. going to liz's place for lunch, a swim, a basketball game or just to watch Take That concerts. my cousin, older sister and i running to get the swing of our choice at the park even.

the neighborhood is not one place where you would want to be lost in. carol and serah once paid close to $10 to get to my place. sure, it was past midnight. but on normal days, it costs less than $4 to get my place ('cos of the silly U-turn..). i came across my first lost person in the neighborhood. it was a German man. in his thick German accent, he spoke to me.. in German. i stared dumbly at him.

"I'm sorry, i don't understand you."

then he continues, likely repeating himself... in German... slowly. i was ready to headbutt his head. i don't think speaking slowly is going to make me understand German. but then a younger guy comes running up and speaks German to him before turning to me.

"Sorry. My father."

with a smile, the two man walk away talking in German. hope the older man understood how ridiculous he was. haiz. do i look German???

and one of my first crush along the shophouses. it was this cauasian kid whom i bumped into while running along the aisle of Econ once. i saw him a couple of times after that in Econ and the park. and we always smiled at each other. but i never spoke to him.

yes jeri, i'm still doing that up to today. i'm miserable. i'm going to die without ever knowing what bgr really is about. no first kiss.. no first love.. no nothing. happy?

but nevertheless, my neighborhood. a quaint little place, almost a world on its own with restuarants, grocery and gourmet stores, pet shop, vet, art shop.. sure. it may come across as snotty and upperity. but what do you expect from a district 10 neighborhood where Les Amis is so prominent? and it's still my own neighborhood.

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jeri just commented that my blog is a source of entertainment for him at work. that's it.. no more updates on my status. if not, how will i be able to hide the fact that i'm attached if i do ever get attached? ahahahaha