Memory

Memory.

It is such a funny thing. One can be as forgetful as forgetting where he left his socks in a matter of a few minutes after taking it out from the socks drawer (like I always do in the morning), while at the same time very able to reminisce some moments from a very long time ago.

Have you ever placed some emotional attachment to certain songs, smell, music, places or any experience that you've had in the past. For instance, without fail I will always be reminded of my father's soothing voice in the early hours of dusk when I hear someone reciting the surah Ad-Dhuha from the Quran, and almost instantly I will be brought back to the memories of those time.

Or whenever I look at pictures of Blackfriars Bridge in London, coupled with the evergreen song from Wham, Last Christmas, I will be reminded by the lonely feeling of just being betrayed by a friend, to the extent that I could almost feel the cold icy feeling of December winter in London. Oh yeah, I remember those lonely quiet walks I used to have crossing the bridge from school back to my halls of residence as vividly as though it happened only yesterday.

Try listening to the evergreen Hari Raya song from Saloma, and immediately I am transported back to the time when I was 8, celebrating Raya at my late Grandma's house in Serkat, Johor looking forward to show my new raya outfit to my cousins and getting the green packets from my aunts and uncles. And not to mention the recurring episodes of being infected by 'tungau'.

Memories. It's a gift from God to remind us of what we've learnt and how we can improve ourselves from our past experiences. It is for us to appreciate the people whom have touched our lives, for better or for worse.

In memory, love lives forever.

Here's to all the memories and to those who have enriched my life by being part of them.

Memory
(from the musical CATS)

Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight
The withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Every streetlamp
Seems to beat a fatalistic warning
Someone mutters
And the streetlamp gutters
And soon it will be morning

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I musn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning

Touch me
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You'll understand what happiness is

Look
A new day has begun

Thank God For Handphones...

I've had to send my HTC handphone back to the dealer for another round of repair after my most recent discovery of another problem with the phone. And mind you, i had just got back the phone from the dealer for a couple days for a different problem when that happened. They had detained the phone for 2 weeks then, and i was told it would take another 2 weeks for them to sort this recent problem now. Ridiculous! Until that time, i would just have to be content with my dad's old nokia phone. For all it's bulky and less than stylish appearance, it has at least survived the years and now serving me, albeit temporarily, very well so far.

After i was told that my phone had to be detained again yesterday, i had unwittingly forgot to bring an extra phone as cover. And to make matters more exciting, i was supposed to meet up with my mum and wifey at the shopping mall at a yet to be determined place. They had gone to get the groceries, and we had planned to go for lunch together. And for the first time in many years, i found myself in a now increasingly unfamiliar situation of having to find a pay phone to make a phone call.

I remember the days when hand phones were not yet such a common feature in our lives and pay phone was pretty much your mode of getting in contact whenever you're outside and need to call someone. Even then, you had to make sure the person you're calling is within reach of a fixed phone line. Those days seems like aeons ago now and you can't really imagine the restless feeling of not being able to reach someone just because someone is out of their house or out of the office. Heck, these days you can even get someone on his handphone when he's doing his most intimate business in the toilet, if he chooses to answer your call that is. My point is, the evolution of the phone (and technology in general) has now made it easier for people to get in touch with each other, wherever we may be.

So, here i was in distress looking for a way to get in contact with wifey in this big shopping mall. For a moment i felt a great sense of helplessness, a common anxiety that you get nowadays when you get separated from your handphone. I browsed around the 2 storey shopping mall looking for a pay phone, with little success for over 15 minutes. I even checked the building directory - there were indications of where the toilets and baby changing room were - but there were no signs of any pay phones in the building. I even asked around the patrons of the mall if they had seen and pay phones around, and all i got were stares like i had been Michael J. Fox from the year 1985 in the movie Back To The Future; no one seemed to know what or where the pay phones were. I was about to give up, and approach the mall's information counter to lodge a missing husband / father report when with great relief, i spotted ONE pay phone on the wall near the info counter.

An extinct thing indeed.

I approached the phone with some trepidation - how many pay phones do you usually have to try out before you find one that actually works? - lifted the speaker up, and listened. There was a dialing tone. As luck would have it, i had only 10 cents in coin to have an only chance of contact with wifey. It was either make or break. Never had i felt that 10 cents could have so much value.

I dialed my wife's number and she picked up.

Wifey: Hello?
Me: hi dear. It's me, abang. Where are you now?
Wifey: (with exasperation) where have you been? I've been trying to call you all day!

The pay phone beeped alarmingly, indicating more change is needed for the conversation to continue. Time was running out fast for me. I had to act fast.

Me: sayang, quick tell me where you are..
Wifey: we are at the food court just about to... *beep*... And the line got cut off.

I then made my way to the mall's only food court with such great relief.

Thank god for handphones...

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Hmmm... Donuts!

I've not been feeling so great of late. My mind has been racing with millions of thoughts since Thursday morning, that whenever i close my eyes, some of those thoughts are so clear i can see them so vividly like in a dream. I wonder whether it's because of what i ate that Wednesday night: an original glazed and a half each of strawberry and hershey sprinkled Krispy Kreme donuts. It was my first ever visit to the donut outlet after hearing much hype about it. The donuts there tasted great, although a bit too sweet though even by my usual high sweet-tooth standard. It probably caused a high sugar rush in my system hence explaining this hyperactive state of mind i'm going through now.

I have been having an inexplicable craving for donuts these last couple of months you can be forgiven for thinking that i'm the one who is pregnant instead of wifey. I have been patronising all the major donut outlets in KL as a result of my craving and from my experience so far i have concluded that the best donuts can be found in the following places, ranked accordingly in terms of of my personal taste:

1. Big Apple
2. J-Co
3. Krispy Kreme
4. Dunkin Donut

Hmmmm...

I think it's time to hit my exercise bicycle...