Thursday, July 13, 2006
my life has become a cyclic routine. almost everything happens with clockwork precision week in week out. i wouldnt mind it all that much if it had a little more excitement in it (i know i will regret saying this one day), but alas i'm still kind of trapped into this little black hole of too much time with nothing to do at places i have to be.
anyway, here's a photo of the recent class outing. i think the turn out must have been the worst in years. maybe it was the world cup perhaps? but we came in 2 batches. the dinner batch and then the settlers cafe games batch. a small handful stayed for both. i didnt because of my vanity. i wanted to go back at 11 so that i could sleep early to reduce my eye bags because my commencement ceremony was the next morning.
went to get a new mattress yesterday. chose a really firm king koil one. until my mum exclaimed at the price. and then after i had gone about chosing a second choice, she decided that my back and spine was more important than the cost and decided to buy it afterall (i exerted no pressure i swear. haha! i even kept pestering her to buy the cheaper alternative which was almost half the price!). we'll see if i can get dreams of gold by sleeping on that one this coming saturday. haha! offered to help my mom pay a little every month to help her with her installment plan but as usual she refused citing that i'm already gonna be partially paying for the maid and my own stuff and i'm in theory not even drawing any income. oh well i tried.
it's every once in a while i get things like that from my parents. my mum actually. i dont usually get new clothes on chinese new year and stuff like that. but i get new mattresses or more practical stuff that i can actually use. my dad. hmmm he bought me a tie for my commencement. but before that, i cant really remember the last thing he bought me. must have been eons ago. no birthday or christmas presents. not that i'm complaining, haha! i guess without him getting me anything, it has become almost customary for me and my sis not to get him anything either. what a sad state of affairs. the good thing is, we dont buy redundant presents for each other. everything bought has a use and will be put to good use. rather than buying shirts i'll never wear or an mp3 player when i already have one etc. i guess the way my family runs has in some sense developed my own sense of personal identity. i like to get the things i want and i only use the things that i get or that i personally like. that's why i always think its better to give a voucher or an ang bao as a birthday gift. or better still, just a lunch or dinner treat. that way, your thoughts and concern are transmitted without any excessive loss. some people may argue that giving cash or buying lunches is like a cheap fix to the tedious process of finding the perfect gift for someone. sort of a easy way out. and i admit it is easier. but why does our concern always have to be measured by how close the present is to the recipient's liking or the trouble one goes through to obtain it. it makes sense to judge a present like that if it is a sort of momento. something you'd be really surprised in recieving because you could not get it yourself or otheriwse. like maybe a phtograph you dont have nicely framed up, or a t-shirt of someone you've idolised. but i think if the present is something like say a book on concentration camps (which i gave to weiquan last year) or some silly 3d photo (gave to francis last year) which i dont think is of any use and something which they probably could have bought but would never have, then maybe its better to let them find something they like. but then again, the general rule these days is to make an effort and even if the person doesnt really like the gift, at least they know the effort made. but sadly, haha alot of times, i choose presents based on what i would like to recieve. yes concentration camp books and silly 3d photos. 1 or 2 will be fine for me. haha! for me it was not the presents that mattered, but the people, their time and their company that did.
{12:37 AM}
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