2008

Happy new year to everyone! Yesterday was pretty eventful, and enjoyable.

The day started rather depressingly, I must admit. Jeremy asked Shuotian, Wen Chong, Roger and myself to meet in Orchard at 12pm. I left the house a bit late, at 11:45. So, I called Jeremy.

Me: Jeremy, I'll be a bit late, I just left

Jeremy: Don't worry I'm still at home

Me (sms to Shuotian): Apparently Jeremy's still at home

Shuotian: Lol so am I

Well, at least you can still count on our batch in one area, we're always late. So I reached Orchard at 12:20, went to Wheelock. Jeremy came a bit later, about 12:45. Shuotian came at around 1, and we went to the Apple shop.

Lunch at BK, where Wench and Roger showed up. By the time we finished it was 1:30. We decided not to go to the nuclear bunker, as planned, but to Cineleisure. The high prices there put us off, and we decided then to go to the arcade.

When we finished, it was 2:30. I decided to cab to the airport, as I was afraid I'd miss Paul there, since his flight, Cathay 739, arrived at 3:25. Passing Somerset MRT, I called Bertrand to check on the flight.

Bugger. Not only did the plane arrive early, at 3:03, the active runway was 2L, which meant the taxi time would be short. I raced down Orchard Road trying to find a cab, eventually boarding one at 3:01.

Fortunately I managed to contact Paul as we were driving under the South Cross. Even more fortunately, the Aircraft was 747-467 B-HUF, which meant the turnaround would be short.

Eventually I met Paul at about 3:50, fortunately. Man it was nice to see him again. I also met Calvin at the airport, but with nothing to see, we just went to my house.

Paul came around 9, but Calvin left for the airport. The two of us spent some time talking and doing random stuff, then headed for Padang at about 10+

We met Jinjun there, and found a nice spot. Jinjun soon left to find the rest of the batch, and Paul and I spent more time lying there and catching up on things.

The rest of the band showed up, followed, strangely, by Calvin. We spent a bit more time talking and speculating until the fireworks started.

The fireworks were good by Singapore standards, but after experiencing Disney's magic, I was unimpressed.

After the fireworks, Chester managed to get his bag stolen... Lucky him I guess.. We spent some time looking for it, but gave up in the end.

We basically just walked around randomly until the last MRT trains before heading home, myself by MRT and cab since the non-city buses stopped running.


2007 began really badly, and for me, the rest of the year followed suit. A year when our band batch, the closest friends I had, tore apart like a piece of paper. A year of stress and depression. And yet, hope never did fail. I did have some close friends by my side, and toward the end of the year, things began to improve. I think the last day of the year was symbolic of this. It started rather depressingly, and our batch meeting was almost cancelled. Yet, after that meeting with Paul at the airport, and Jinjun's call, things picked up. Let's hope 2008 does the same.

2008 will be eventful, very eventful. Academically, we have the A levels coming up. In the aviation scene, there's Singapore Aerospace 2008, the flight and delivery of the Boeing 787, Changi's Terminal 3 and many more things happening. Musically, Play 08 at the PAC, A Tempo XIX at the Esplanade, a Japan trip and Coda 4 at VCH should make life very interesting. Finally, I hope our batch can become closer, hopefully even with an overseas trip after A levels.

As an aside, I know I've said this a lot, but I really appreciate Paul. Seeing him at the airport made me feel really happy, and I think he felt the same way. Lying down with him on the Padang, just touching base and talking, further reinforced this. Of all my friends, he's really the one who I feel most comfortable with, who I can just be myself around. Even though we've known each other for 5 years, I only really got to know him better in November last year, something which I really regret now. I'd just like to quote the bible.

Proverbs 18:24

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

I really feel as though he's been closer than a brother to me. A Remy to my Emile, someone who can comfort me when I'm down and share my joy with me. If you ever read this, thanks Paul. I owe you a lot, and I love you (heterosexually speaking)