On Thursday I met up with Keon for dinner, and before we parted he was telling me of this hypothesis he came up with.
That guys who reached NSF age without having been attached (sabishii ne~) are all weird in some sense or another.
Hmm... OK...
I'm sure weird, I know, and he claimed to be weird himself as well.
Well, in any case, "weirdness" is very subjective and it depends on who is judging the person.
Anyway, on the same day I bought this figurine of this female Lieutenant In Fullmetal Alchemist (which I started reading recently), as I found her pretty cute.
Don't know lah, but I tend to find broad-faced girls cute
The figurine I bought!
Blood
Friday, sunny (except for some stupid fluctuation of the weather at the Depot area which occured at a very wrong time).
On that day, there was a blood donation drive organised by Bloodbank and our camp.
So a few of us went to donate blood. Chiang Wee was originally uncertain if he's above 45 kg (below which the donor, however willing to give, will be rejected).
Thank God all of us could donate eventually.
Over the years I think my phobia of the finger prick (to obtain a small amount of donor's blood for some test) has lifted. On my very first donation during JC days, I got chosen by this pricking device with a particularly strong spring... which gave my poor finger a sensation I would never forget.
Nowadays the pricking devices have become more gentle... Is it unique to my case, I wonder...
During every donation, there will be a stress ball given to each donor (in case he needs to squeeze something to pump out blood), who will then keep the stress ball as souvenieur. In conjunction with Deepavali celebrations, we got a Deepavali-themed stress ball!
Happy Deepavali!
Toil
The search begins.
After the Blood drive, I went off to City Hall to look for an item.
I've heard from some source that the item is available at Funan Cold Storage, but I decided to take a tour at Suntec (since I haven't been there for ages).
Lots of surprises await at Suntec.
Hmm... of course my first stop will be the VCD shops! There were 2 I went to, but none of them had the item. One of them was damn funny. When I asked them if they had Japanese drama VCDs in stock, they showed me the Sekai No Chuushin De Ai Wo Sakebu (Crying out love in the centre of the world), which I already have.
And that's the only Jap Drama set available in that shop!
-___-
I then proceeded to a toy shop at the Family link (which I will visit every time I go to Suntec). Just in case there're new types of collectibles which came out without my knowing it.
Well, what I found wasn't exactly new, as I saw it on display (sold in sets. The whole set was more than $20!) in some Comics Connection outlets before. In this toy shop, however, it was sold in twos. It's this Keroro roly-poly with members of the platoon standing on a tiny globe. And I had the good fortune of getting Giroro (!) along with Dororo!
The Earth is ours!
OK... then I proceeded to the topmost level where the Arcade and Cinema was. Instead of finding a VCD shop I remembered to be there, I found a collectibles shop instead! The collectibles sold here are more Western than Japanese.
For me, Western collectibles leads me to... Star Wars!
And I really saw Star Wars merchandise there. Including those Lego SW constructions sold at hundreds of dollars!
Skip those.
And I arrived at a spot where Lego figurines of various types are being sold! Of course, SW characters were there, along with others like Harry Potter.
Wasn't that what I've been hoping to be able to buy?
Haha... Darth Vader... wait, I have Vader's figurine already, from a Lego set I bought.
In the end I bought a figurine of Boba Fett, the legendary bounty hunter of the galaxy.
Cute right?
Boba Fett, Legendary bounty hunter.
Along with a Chara Kids figurine of Murkrow.
Murkrow
I then went to a capsule machine (the Family link has tons of it) of this series of Evangelion characters (Asuka and Rei) and tried getting a figurine of Rei (I think she's damn pretty). I really got one where she's in school uniform. I may go next time to try for the Rei in Spacesuit figurine.
Kawaii, right?
Ayanami Rei from Evangelion.
Another capsule machine gave me a Keroro Softbie!
Kero?
Finally, giving up hope of finding the item in Suntec, I proceeded to Marina Square.
There at Giant I found the VCD of Evangelion (which I think are hardly sold anywhere else) so I bought it.
But, still no sign of the item I was looking for.
Final stop: Cold Storage!
As I entered Funan, my hopes began to raise for no reason. I tried looking for cold storage (it sure was hard to find!) and when I finally found the supermarket, I went straight to the VCD section and there it was...
The "One Litre of Tears" VCD!
P.S. On the next day (which was yesterday) I went back to TJC (only to find the school compound closed) and found the VCD at a shop opposite the college. -___- ! Nevertheless I didn't regret going off to town to look for it, as I bought many other items there as well!
Oh yes, one of my prayer requests for Cell group yesterday was "not to overspend anymore".
Tears
I bought the VCD, in fact, to watch the second half of the drama, as I have already watched the first half prior to buying it.
I was considered slow already. This serial (and the lead actress, Erika Sawajiri) had been the hot topic of my office at the time I came (which was around April), but I only began watching it recently.
This drama is about a girl named Aya (played by Sawajiri, of course) who contracted a disease called "Spinocerrebular Degeneration". Basically it's a disease which directly affects the nerve cells controlling muscular movements.
In the drama, Aya was who one would quickly call an all-rounder -- she excelled in studies and basketball, and hence caught the attention of a senior she had been admiring.
The discovery of the disease changed her life forever.
In the subsequent parts of the drama, she had to give up many things she had in life, including basketball, her blooming relationship with her senior, and eventually her studies.
Giving up that much, she still had a very supportive family. Also, her friendship with one of her ex-high school classmates later blossomed into love as well.
Still, the fact remained that she couldn't live long.
I finished watching the drama and was reminded of the cruel reality in this fast-paced world, which could hardly spare time for those in need.
There was, of course, a period of time when Aya was struggling to stay in her high school as travelling and writing became increasingly difficult for her. Her close friends have been helping her out, and generally the whole class had to slow down their pace for her. Naturally everyone started to worry about their results in the coming exams.
Even though many would quickly come to the conclusion that the classmates lacked compassion on their part, reality is, after all, reality. Your future is your own, and it depends on the mundane things you do in classrooms, and no one can afford being held back by any other.
To what extent can we look out for those in need? Who can do so even to the expense of self? Hardly anyone.
A scene that struck me the hardest would be the part where Aya (already in a very bad condition) was trying to dial her house number on a public phone, which kept ejecting her card as she had to take a very long time to dial a number. The phone is just like the reality, cruel as it is dead. Pre-programmed. Having no time for those who are slower than others.
She found her meaning in life by writing her diary (sounds like someone you know huh?). She said more than once that she wanted to quickly write down what she feels lest she forgets it.
Her diary was later published in a regular compilation series, and encouraged many of the fellow patients due to her optimism.
And hence, she was remembered by many after she passed away.
Moral of the story No.2: You'll never know who you're affecting by what you write. Someone somewhere may be greatly changed because of the little things you do.
P.S. This drama was actually based on the diary of a SCD patient (who's really called Aya) which was published in a book which gave the drama its title.
