I had finished reading David Copperfield, rushing through the novel, which was due on 30th March, to finish it on time. It was a novel that touched my heart, as Dickens put the plot in a marvellous way, making a rags to riches adventure; witnessing the scheming Uriah Heep, dashing yet deceitful Steerforth, and not forgetting both beatufiful Dora, and kind Agnes.

The novel started, on the day of his very birth, with David's husband death. Single-handedly, Copperfield's mother brought him up--Pegotty was there, being a loyal devoted servant--to the age of around 5 when she was re-married to another man, known as Mr Murdstone.

Mrs. Copperfield, not being firm enough led Mr Murdstone and his sister, turned into tyrants in the house, and abused Copperfield. Copperfield was sent for school, which he met unreasonable teachers and schoolmasters, but ultmately, he made a few good friends there.

Maybe, i should touch a little on his best friend, Steerfourth, for he as older than him and charming. Everyone held high regards for him, till one day when he met Little Em'ly, who was attached to Ham (someone who known her since young, and loved her deeply), changed Little Em'ly heart, and made her estranged, and ran away from home. Copperfield love for his best friend died, bonds broken, felt miserably betrayed and sorry for Ham and her uncle.

With a sorrowful heart, her uncle, brought her up from young, for Little Em'ly was an orphan, decided to seek for her. I will extract a tiny portion of the novel:

"Anywhere! I'd would go ten thousand mile,' he said, 'I'd go till i dropped dead, to lay that money down afore him. If i do that, and find my Emily, I'm content. If i doesn't find her, maybe she'll come to hear, sometime, as her loving uncle only ended his search for her when he ended his life; and if i know her, even that wil turn her home at last!"

Maybe, i forgot to mention, that Copperfield was brought to the workhouse to work at the age of 10. When he learnt of his mom death (Dead after being unhappy for so long), he decided not to suffer the privitisation and brutilities of Mr Murdstone, and left alone (with only 22genuines) in search of her Aunt for help.

Then, with his aunt, everything changes, the plot changes for the happier. He was readmitted to school, stayed temporarily with Mr Wickfied and Agnes; for he witnessed the happiness of the family; for he witnessed the gentle and pleasant kindless of her sister ( he called Agnes sister) upon confiding in her everything, included his love for Dora.

Then, after 3years of schooling, he returned back to the workforce as a lawyer. He fell in love with Dora; albeit the strong rejection from Dora's father, who was his employer, their love was ever-growing. Then, suddenly, Mr Wickfied died, and Dora ( a very unindependent girl) was taken in by her aunts, who granted to Dora and Copperfield marriage.

I thought, this story would end peacefully, slowly coming down from the climax, but Dora died from an illness...Ham died...after an attempt to save fellowmates in a shipwreck...an act of bravery, cost his life...

Emily was found, and Mr Pegotty, her uncle, wanted to restart the life journey for her, decided, to migrate to Australia. Friends gone, wife dead, and so much of mishaps wore him down, that, he felt, its time to escape and get over with it.

HE went for a long vacation, 3years, in search of peace and tranquility in his heart. He went ot New York, Switz, London, France, etc. And it was after this long period of self reflection, he realised Agnes, his sister, who ahd been through thick and thins with him, was his true love.

Agnes, was the sole comfort of Copperfield's worries since young. She never complain about anything; for her father, Mr Wickfied, business was taken over by his clerk, Uriah Heep, through detestable means, turning Wickfied into one of the pawn he could use; and was pestered everyday by Uriah Heep who wanted to take her as wife.

I don't know what to say. For the past two days, i was in Catholic Junior College, joining the orientation Encore. I had come, indeed, after two days of agony, to a decision to leave the college for good. Though i had already appealed into Nanyang JC, the day the results was known, realising that i had been banished into a piece-of-shit school. Much upon exaggeration (not really that bad to be a piece of shit, but not very far from it), for you wil be doubtlessly surprised, by what i'm going to write later...Still more so, by its contents...


Of course, you might be aware (though i didn't), that Catholic JC is a damned Christian school. Picture this, the principal is called brother, and he wore a white robe. Indeed, i expect to see a formerly dressed long sleeved, seasoned, weather-beaten, man / woman to take the stage, but to my horror, was a bloated tummy, not-at-all charismatic, look-like-a-mummy-in-white, Brother. What the poignancy of my feelings must be, when i told you that he's a principal of a kind.

He scolded 'stupid' to a few pupils, using god's name for a mordant sarcasm, or make humiliation of the victims. Unfriendly people around, with student council jokers, not being to control themselves, to make funny and lame jokes which insult the dignity of themselves and us.

I mean what the fuck! I don't like beatty, and i seriously do. But staying in CJC, is much worst than beatty, in account of every aspects. They don't seem serious at all. The principal already made such a bad impression, among the JC1s, that no matter how he try to undo his misdeeds, i believed those victims and other students who think like me are unable to alter the bad impression we had on the school and him. If he ever had a wife, i believed his wife would be estranged from him long ago.

For those who want to enter the school, unless you are a joker or loves sarcasm to be put on you or a devout christian, wish you good luck to adapt to the school. The only good thing, i guessed, is that the school have loads of Chio Bus.

It was hard to bear. This is heart-breaking. I asked for advise, knowing my alreaady drained, feeble powers such as they are--i seek help from Ms Hon and parents-- how they think it will be best to exert in a dilemma so unwonted. We came to a consensus, to appeal, apart from Nanyang, but to other JCs like Anderson and MJC, though acceptance chances are to the minimal. Nevertheless, it was a chance against all odds; in order to let my heart to be in peace and rest.

Then, the second day in CJ, i received a call from Nanyang JC, confirming my appeal success. In my happiness, i made a great folly; i told people about it, leading to more and more people who knew, leading to more and more people to be despair, leading to more and more thinknig their fate is sealed, leading to more and more people thinking it's unfair that i got in instead of them.

People called me, said unkind words, lamented pieces of shits. Frankly, i was happy at first, then the happiness dwindled to a tinge of joyfulness, then no more. I felt sad for the rest. I felt that such unkind words ain't meant for me. Yes, i know i'm a proud guy, but the way some jokers talked to me, as if i'm terribly inferior to them, and why they don't get in. I couldn't stand them. (Wanted to tell them, i hope you don't get in, but it isn't a nice thing to say)

I did not feel justified in giving them any consolation, than tha they should try to wait with patience for the good news; but it set me thinking about it very much...

Never mind, introspective mood now...guess my mood, happy or sad?

I thought the simple confidence reposed in me by my specialist and by myself, was, in itself, affecting. There is always something in his modest voice that seemed to touch a chord within me, answering to that sounds alone. It was always earneset, as it was now, there was a something in it that quite subdued me. I sat looking at him as he cast her eyes down on her work, still talking to me; i sat seeming still to listen to him.

Yes, he brought the news that i had an relapse and comforted me, giving me advice so confidently, or even with the strong opinion that it wasn't the end of the world. I, at that time, did not know what i'm feeling. So much confusion, sometimes even by a shapeless thought, did i feel within me, that the truth itself was hurting.

I walked by the streets of Orchard, alone; did i ask my heart how i felt, amidst my own chaotic thoughts and confusion; smiling countenances i seen stung me. There i was, pondering, for the uncertainty how to approach the subject to my parents with no risk of doing so, it would have reached them before i tucked in to bed, i realised. I had the leisure to think, at this point in time, while walking to the cinema complex to catch a movie with my AJC classmates. And, i went to the opposite way, got to Lido instead of Cineleisure. Then, i decided to go home...

My heart suddenly just hurts--as if this smll incident added much oil to the fire-- and i wanted so much to wander in the streets; carefree as i could, stablising my confused state of mind; and not to think about it after all. I was quite passive now in my replies to calls and SMS'es; and when i almost heard myself breaking down, but i controlled, yielded a better feeling...

I mean imagine, once a relapse was bad enough. And now i just caught it again...
Specialist claimed i'm too 'sensitive' to drugs...
which was a good case but for this, it was a bad case...
I really had to be dependent on it for quite sometime...

Finding no one to accompany me till night before i got home, i broke the news to my mom when we were going to my grandma's house to have dinner...
Sometimes, they just don't understand the sciences behind these things...
But then, i don't blame them..but it hurts big time when they started blaming my food, wadeva, wadeva...

Okie, i'm sad...

Then, yea, guess what, i got into Catholic Junior College...wtf??!!
I never know i will luo dao zhe zhong di bu...
But then, im resigned to the facts...

But i'm still v sad...

Your Seduction Style: Ideal Lover

You seduce people by tapping into their dreams and desires. And because of this sensitivity, you can be the ideal lover for anyone you seek. You are a shapeshifter - bringing romance, adventure, spirituality to relationships. It all depends on who your with, and what their vision of a perfect relationship is.

What Is Your Seduction Style?

Lots of happenings for this week...
But nothing sounds interesting enough for me to blog...
Okay, let's talk about yesterday, went to East Coast for my JC class gathering BBQ...
It was enjoyable, telling ghost stories and jokes...
One of my classmates very the jiao, keep adding oil and margarine onto wings and whatever-is-on-the-grill...
Okay, she's fat, rather plump...And what the hell with the oil..
Argh...it's quite sick...
Then, after that, she started getting bored, that she started adding oil/margarine to the fire...
Sounds fun right! Then, all the food became burnt...

Such a friend is so valuable...So crazy as me, coz' i'm the one who stood at the side and saw her doing these trash and not stopping her...
So whatever, as the grill is long, each 'griller' tended to around 15 chicken wings, cool eh?
Then, being a great cook myself, i tended to 20 satays and 15 hotdogs...
3 dropped into the charcoal (coz' the hole of the grill is big enough for the hotdog to drop inside), 7 burnt and luckily the rest edible...

I paid more attention to the satay though, coz' i'm cooking for myself! =)
But in the end, Alex Zhang took 10 of mine away...sobx

After the BBQ, we went home...
Found out one of my clssmates, sheryl, stayed so close to me...
So being hao ren, thought of sending her home...(Not chio no talk! jk)
But i don't know whether to my delight or dismay, her father came to the bus-stop to bring her home...
So there goes my chance...
Never mind, i enjoyed my day...
Cooking food to increase my classmates risk of getting cancer, and telling ghost stories that freaked the girls out that they don't even dare to walk in odd numbers...
So fun...i enjoyed myself!

You Are 25 Years Old

25 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

AM I THAT OLD???!!

Why it is hard to share the wealth
09:15 12 March 2005
Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition
Jenny Hogan

The rich are getting richer while the poor remain poor. If you doubt it, ponder these numbers from the US, a country widely considered meritocratic, where talent and hard work are thought to be enough to propel anyone through the ranks of the rich. In 1979, the top 1% of the US population earned, on average, 33.1 times as much as the lowest 20%. In 2000, this multiplier had grown to 88.5. If inequality is growing in the US, what does this mean for other countries?

Almost certainly more of the same, if you believe physicists who are using new models based on simple physical laws to understand the distribution of wealth. Their studies indicate that inequality in market economies may be very hard to get rid of.

Economists will join physicists to discuss these issues next week in Kolkata, India, at the first ever conference on the "econophysics" of wealth distribution. "We are interested in understanding whether there is some kind of social injustice behind this skewed distribution," says Sudhakar Yarlagadda of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) in Kolkata.

It is well known that wealth is shared out unfairly. "People on the whole have normally distributed attributes, talents and motivations, yet we finish up with wealth distributions that are much more unequal than that," says Robin Marris, emeritus professor of economics at Birkbeck, University of London.

Pareto's law
In 1897, a Paris-born engineer named Vilfredo Pareto showed that the distribution of wealth in Europe followed a simple power-law pattern, which essentially meant that the extremely rich hogged most of a nation's wealth (New Scientist print edition, 19 August 2000). Economists later realised that this law applied to just the very rich, and not necessarily to how wealth was distributed among the rest.

Now it seems that while the rich have Pareto's law to thank, the vast majority of people are governed by a completely different law. Physicist Victor Yakovenko of the University of Maryland in College Park, US, and his colleagues analysed income data from the US Internal Revenue Service from 1983 to 2001.

They found that while the income distribution among the super-wealthy - about 3% of the population - does follow Pareto's law, incomes for the remaining 97% fitted a different curve - one that also describes the spread of energies of atoms in a gas (see graphic).

Gas analogy
In the gas model, people exchange money in random interactions, much as atoms exchange energy when they collide. While economists' models traditionally regard humans as rational beings who always make intelligent decisions, econophysicists argue that in large systems the behaviour of each individual is influenced by so many factors that the net result is random, so it makes sense to treat people like atoms in a gas.

The analogy also holds because money is like energy, in that it has to be conserved. "It's like a fluid that flows in interactions, it's not created or destroyed, only redistributed," says Yakovenko.

Yakovenko also found that the total income of those in the poorer part of the distribution did not change significantly with time after accounting for inflation. But incomes for those in the Pareto curve shot up nearly five times from 1983 to 2000, before declining with the US stock market crash of 2001.

Class jumping
This, along with research data from other countries, suggests that there are two economic classes. In one, the rich grow richer while in the other the poor stay poor. Yakovenko explains this by going back to the analogy of atoms in a gas.

The atoms assume an exponential distribution of energy when they are in thermal equilibrium, and pushing the gas away from this state takes a lot of energy and it could prove similarly difficult to shift an economy to a different state. Randomness in the model does, however, mean that individuals can jump from one class to another.

"It suggests that any kind of policy will be very inefficient," says Yakovenko. It would be very difficult to impose a policy to redistribute wealth "short of getting Stalin", says Yakovenko, who will talk in Kolkata next week.

Saving plans
A more sophisticated model developed by Bikas Chakrabarti of the SINP and his colleagues paints a slightly less bleak picture for the poor. His team adjusted the gas model to allow people to save various proportions of their money.

This model predicts both the wealth classes that Yakovenko found. It also suggests that if you save more you are more likely to end up rich, although there are no guarantees. Changing people's saving habits could be an effective way of making the wealth distribution fairer, rather than enforcing taxes, says Chakrabarti, who is one of the Kolkata conference organisers.

Macroeconomist Makoto Nirei at Utah State University in Logan, US, whose own work will be presented at the conference, is supportive of the physicists' work but he has reservations about how they model the exchange of money. "The model seems to me not like an economic exchange process, but more like a burglar process. People randomly meet and one just beats up the other and takes their money."

Other economists warn it is too early to use such models to inform policies. "The models are too abstract," says Thomas Lux, an economist at the University of Kiel in Germany. But J. Doyne Farmer, a physicist from the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, US, points out that these models have their place: "Many economic theories don't even come close to producing the wealth distribution we see, and if you can't produce that you're dead in the water."

Went back to Beatty to witness the so-called glorious event of the annual investiture ceremony...
Interestingly, sec2s are promoted to Patrol Leaders, while sec3s remained as Assistant Patrol Leaders...
Well, not that i don't like it, but it made no cow sense...
The sec3 had at least put in lots of effort to work towards the leadership post for i think 1 1/2 yrs...
While the sec2s, who failed my relatively easy test consecutively, and had no/little chance to prove their worth, clinched the high posts...
What would the sec3s think...It would just make them be less /no longer interested in Scouts, and their commitment level will drop...
What the fuck right?
I trained both the sec2s and the sec3s for a year, of course i can see the difference in maturity and commitment...

Then, there was this Teacher In Charge, who did not interact with the parents, leaving them unaccompanied throughout the whole event...
I mean, even as a student / young man, i know what the respective roles and the do's and don'ts...
That shows how inexpereinced he is...

The Sec4 were kicked off to ventures, to them is promotion...
They were very happy...
They did not know that they were KICKED OFF instead, coz' they will be a liability to the scout group...
They were kept in the dark...

Anyway, all these were the doings of my dear senior Kumanan...
Well done...
Sometimes, these people think they are very great...

Never mind, i was laughing all the way till i left Beatty Secondary rolling on the floor...
Not only me, i reckon, even Willie also could understand the stupidity of the whole matter...
Went to eat with Koh, he promised he would treat me...
And yes indeed, at hawker centre...
He paid the lady $8.80 with coins, the lady scolded him...

Then, i went off, met Jacqueline at bus stop...
Chatted, of course...I sent her home...
Okie lah, i normally got down from another bus stop, but it made no difference...
Sommore i got a companion to pei me talk cock...
Hmmm, she don't talk cock, i talk cock! =)
So i jiang gu shi to her loh...

My second time walking her home, first was 1year ago, after 12 midnight...
You see, from bus stop to our house is relatively a 10minutes walk away...
See streets dark dark ma, so wo shi hao ren, pei ta loh..
Okie, i brought her the long way --by the road...
Not that i want to zhan pian yi hoh, coz' i don't know the shortcut to her house...
So instead of 10walk, i believe we walked for 20minutes...
So fun...
She was damn shy lsat time, now still alright ba...
Maybe coz' i tell her gd stories...=)

So, i'm a good story teller!

3days ago, my GP tutor 'argued' (literally) with me...
The class were discussing about is breaking schlorship bond a right thing to do..
I was day-dreaming of chio bu, and out of confusion, i muttered 'yes'..
Then came bombardment of questions why i agreed and stuffs..
In the end, she said such people have no integrity and low moral values...
Sob Sob..making me feel i'm one of such people..
But well, even if i'm in a clear state of mind when she asked me the question, i would still say yes...
As long as i know i'm still contributing to the society in a better way, and you don't owe the company anymore...
Damn...make me feel so bad...
No one in my class agreed with me...

Then, 2days ago, i had my prepared speech...
i told them about unpredictability of life...
Giving 3stories on how people DIE during accident...
People claim i'm sadist...
But i got 9/10 for evaluation...
I'm an eloquent speaker...

I borrowed David Copperfield from the library, going for a mad rush to finish it before 30th March...
Okie, not really a mad rush...but it got over a 1000pages complete and unabridged...
And it's from Charles Dickens...
Can haolian with Lit people...

Pon school today...
Went to NYJC...wanna see the environment and attend leture to observe the teaching style and pace...
It sucks..Maths lecture sux...
They started stigma notation, before teaching series and summation...
Then, try to confuse student by integrating AP and GP formula into stigma...
Making everyone blurr...
And pace is quite slow, i guess...
Can't conclude so much by one lecture though...haha
Later ny people come hatam me...

童话....Our Fairytale (Guang Liang)

忘了有多久 再没听到你 对我说你最爱的故事
我想了很久 我开始慌了 是不是我又做错了什么

你哭着对我说 童话里都是骗人的 我不可能是你的王子
也许你不会懂 从你说爱我以后
我的天空 星星都亮了

我愿变成童话里 你爱的那个天使
张开双手 变成翅膀守护你
你要相信 相信我们会像童话故事里
幸福和快乐是结局

我要变成童话里 你爱的那个天使
张开双手 变成翅膀守护你
你要相信 相信我们会像童话故事里
幸福和快乐是结局

我会变成童话里 你爱的那个天使
张开双手 变成翅膀守护你
你要相信 相信我们会像童话故事里
幸福和快乐是结局
一起写我们的结局....

It's hard to find chinese lyrics in search engine...There are jokers who wrote in hanyu pinyin...And there are other jokers who translate the entire song into English...So in the end, with the english wordings, there is no song that could be sung..And no chords so far...Think i got to trail and error for the chords myself...Then maybe i will do a favour by posting my chords up in search engine for those who are not so musically talented to trail and error to match their chords...

I'm a good man! =)

Okay, now i'm feeling a little sad...
I got a friend, she's clever from young...
We known each other for a long long time...
And she got bad results...
I mean results that wasn't to her expectation...
She was extremely sad...

You see she's from a good school and though we were both disappointed in our results, she would take it harder than me...
She was sad sad sad till now...
And i was sad, neutral, shitified, neutral again..
(neutral in a sense of got over it)

I did not know how to comfort her...
Well, i think i'm not in a postion to comfort her, you see...
She will look in the perspective that she's among the last in her school, while i'm not the worst in my school...
So i won't feel the pain...
But then, i do, i dare not tell her...
I dare not even tell her about my distinctions...
I could only try to make her happy with my english C6...

But it didn't help...
She wouldn't look at me as a comforter...
It's just like, a child trying to meddle into an adult's business...
okay, i'm not saying she 'look down' on me...
But...i don't know how to explain...

I'm such a person before; i never like empathy from people who had not been in the same situation as me before...
And i never like those cliched terms said by them too...
It's just irritates the ear...
However, if that person is someone i respected or someone i deemed as my comforter, those cliched terms doesn't matter at all..
It will instead ring a bell in my ear, suddenly seeing the light...

So, i just tried to keep the converastion going, hoping my lame jokes would help a little...
But unfortunately, i guessed i can't...
I refraint from cliche and empathising technique...
I don't seem to be able to help her...
And so i smiled and left the conversation idle...

Then, i asked myself...
Why am i so nice to her? Why must i try so hard to comfort her when she don't need mine?
Then, i realised, it was because

I'm a nice person

Yesterday was a blurr...
went to NYJC, checked out whether i could take 4As subjects and probability of entering the college..(i'm short of one pt)
Then, went to AJC, checked on the same stuffs...
I was shitified..
Both college claimed slim chances of me entering the college...
But they just don't put it that way:

"What do you think of the chances i would enter the college?"
"We won't know, we will only know the cut off point when the registeration is done."
"So, roughly what's the probability?"
"According to trend, you might or might not get a chance to enter the college. You can try"
"So...."

I trailed off, knowing i wouldn't get an answer..But both college seemed to agree that i can take 4As...

And YJC diploma cum A level course is just a sham...
It is ultimate bullshit...
You would need to fly to Aust. to complete the course...
And credits not interchangable, meaning only the particular University of Aust. and you can't enter NUS...

Then, i went to career fair with Angeline...
Being in a shitified mood, i talked crap to lots of people there...
But in the end, i learnt alot..
Stuffs like education loan and overseas education, schlorship, diploma, degrees..
A few of the booth don't entertain us..mainly coz' we looked young..
The best part was, i claimed i'm a student studying in Hwa Chong JC, getting Stragiht As...

It's so fun...i don't feel shitified anymore...
I bluffed lots of people...

Tea Nazi
http://waiterrant.blogspot.com/2005/02/tea-nazi-two-scruffy-bespectacled.html

Two scruffy bespectacled bohemian guys come through the door. Pausing at the hostess stand they look around, exchange a few words, shrug, and deign to grace us with their presence. They look like pains in the asses.

Of course they’re seated in my section.

“Good evening gentleman. May I get you something from the bar? A glass of wine or a cocktail?” I ask in greeting.

“We’ll have tea,” the thinner of the two sniffs.

Oh great. Tea for an aperitif. I’ve got the last of the big time spenders.

“Do you have lapsang souchong?” the fat one inquires, his lower lip trembling.

“I’m afraid we don’t but we have a nice selection of other teas. I’ll bring the tea box.”

“Mmmmm, no lapsang,” Fatty murmurs sadly.

“Sorry sir.”

“Just fetch the tea box,” Thin orders.

Fetch? I think about emitting a little bark but think the better of it.

Now, any waiter will tell you that serving tea is a monumental pain in the ass. Unlike coffee, tea requires about a dozen accoutrements for its preparation and presentation. First you have to lug out a tea box the size of a cigar humidor, stand around while the patron agonizes over the selection, run back to the kitchen, steep the cup in hot water, assemble saucer, spoon, biscotti, lemon, milk /cream, lemon wedge, sugar bowl (which better have every cancer causing brain cell killing artificial sweetener ever cooked up in a lab), a miniature teapot of scalding water, and, finally, honey. God forbid you forget a single thing.

Imagine doing that for five different tables at the same time and you get a taste of my pain.

I deliver the tea humidor to the Bohemians. There are about a hundred tea packets in the box. They flip through every single one. After what seems like an eternity Fatty pulls out four herbal teas and a bag of Lipton. Thin draws out five herbals and a decaf Lipton. I stand there in confusion. How much tea are they going to drink?

“Well aren’t you going to get us some hot water?” Thin huffs impatiently.

“Sorry sir,” I say, beating a retreat to the kitchen.

When I return, tray laden with supplies, I notice there are only two bags of Lipton tea on the table. The other nine tea bags have vanished.

Steeping their tea they place their order. Two house salads and the cheapest bowl of pasta we have – split for two.

“Can I have more bread?” Fatty asks hopefully.

“Of course sir.”

I go to the computer and place the order.

“Hey Maria,” I ask the busgirl, “Did you take any tea bags off of table twenty-six?”

“No,” she replies, “Why?”

“Forget it,” I murmur, “Just bring them some more bread please.”

Two hours elapse. The men eat their salads and entrees while polishing off four baskets of bread. Plates cleared I go to the table.

“Would you gentleman care for some dessert?” I ask warily.

“More hot water,” Thin says without looking up.

“Very good sir.”

I bring two fresh pots of hot water. The men recycle their cold Lipton bags. The other teas are nowhere to be seen.

I’m steaming. “Ok motherfuckers,” I think to myself, ‘You wanna play? Let’s play.”

After another half hour the Bohemians signal for the check. I happily ring it up.

2 House Salads $ 0.00
1 Penne Pomodoro $ 11.95
Split Charge $ 1.00
2 Regular Teas $ 3.00
9 Herbal Teas $ 22.50

Total (Pre tax) $ 38.45

I drop off the bill with a friendly, “Thank you very much gentleman.”

Thin examines the bill. He looks like he discovered someone put sand in his Vaseline.

“Waiter, come here.” he yelps.

“Yes sir?”

“Why are you charging us $25 for tea? We only had two!”

“But you gentleman took nine herbal teas and they’re $2.50 each.”

“We gave them back,” Thin argues. Liar

“No sir, you didn’t,” I reply, putting some steel in my voice.

“Well, we’re not paying for it.”

I look away from Thin and fix my gaze at a point on some imaginary horizon. After a long pause I say softly,

“I would hate to involve the police in this conversation.”

I look back down. Fatty’s lip is trembling in overdrive.

Thin looks at me venomously. He’s probably pulled this shit a million times and gotten away with it. Not tonight. He’s come face to face with the Tea Nazi.

The men pull the tea packets out of their pockets and place them on the table.

“Happy now?” Thin snorts.

“Thank you sir.”

I readjust the check, process the credit card, and hand the check back to Thin. He writes a prominent zero in the tip section.

“Very generous sir,” I deadpan.

“We are never coming back here,” Thin sputters looking at Fatty, “Are we?”

Fatty just nods.

“Good.” I reply simply.

Thin looks positively livid.

“And we are telling all our friends not to come here either,”

“If they’re anything like you we don’t want them here either,” I reply in a dead even voice.

“Fuck you,” Thin hisses. He jumps from his seat and barrels out the door.

Fatty, who can’t move as fast, is still in his seat.

“I’m sorry,” he says in a small voice. He looks terrified.

I look at Fatty. I feel sorry for him. Something tells me Thin is the only friend he has.

Fatty pulls out $5 and hands it to me.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats.

I purse my lips and think for a moment. I put my hand on Fatty’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry too.”

Fatty gets up and shuffles out the door.

Walking back to the kitchen I hand the busgirl the $5 bill.

“What’s that for?” she asks.

“Don’t worry about it.”

I don’t feel victorious. Just sad. All this over tea.

Fatty’s trembling face will haunt me for the rest of the night

Was rather sad and disappointed...i got 14 points...blame it on the english..

English -- C6
E Maths -- A1
A maths -- A1
Chinese -- A1
Biology -- A2
Chemistry A2
Physics -- A2
Humans -- B3

If only i had one point less, i can remain in AJ!! And now that i had one point less, i can't even enter Nanyang...
I'm left with CJC and SRJC, the playgrounds...
So i started seeking alternative road, like SMU intake for business student...
Or go overseas and study, but too bad no money...
But, i will still try my luck with Anderson, if cannot, then i go threaten Principal to burn down AJC to allow me to appeal in...

After knowing my 14 points, i had to make two interviews, joking infront of the radio speakers...
Zek ak man...
Imagine, the reporter came from RGS, interviewed 20 'gods' with 11 A1s..Then came to me, a mere 14 points, talking about how i cope with my illness...
Ta ma de...in the end, the radio didn't broadcast my interview...

Never mind that, i was rather sad for the day, with interesting friends suaning me, saying bad things to rub it in...
I love such friends...
They are great company...
Their suanings make you laugh at yourself...
I love sadists!

I bet with two sadists that i will treat them if i got 5 distinctions and above...
And i did not know A2 also known as distinctions...
So...i owe people more treats...

Got to get over it..never mind, at least i got six distinctions...=)