Today is the second time I’ve gotten behind the steering wheel since that fateful day on 16 Nov 2005, where the yellow box proved to be the bane in my quest for a Class 3 license at the first attempt. That would be slightly more than 3 weeks. The rush of going at 50km/h is already quite thrilling. I wonder what it is like to go up to 140km/h as baby’s god brother did. Needless to say, other than the rush that he got from the high speed, the summon that came along just as quickly, him having been caught on camera, was nowhere near as exciting. I got to know a person from armour better, Wayne. He was from 42 SAR, together with Wen Kai and Alvan, all of whom are colleagues at my workplace. He’s suggesting a night cycling trip with other armour and artillery friends. And I’m all for it! He’s been together with his girlfriend for over 3 years too, which makes him, Daniel and me. Idealistic idiots unite!
Anyways, resuming driving lessons with this rather comical instructor of mine, I must comment on his jokes which he puts on shuffle and repeat on a regular basis:
“Eh, she’s looking at you leh, too bad you got girlfriend already.” This happens randomly whenever we pass by female learner drivers or pedestrians.
Followed by,
“Girlfriend I don’t have… But wife got one.” Then he bursts into guffaws reeking of self amusement.
But the most original “joke” would have to go to something that happened during one of the lessons prior to my practical test:
“ Eh-eh-eh – 不要 ‘ng’!! ”
This was said in response to my sudden disconnection of the clutch while still accelerating to change the gear. I found this line highly amusing because it is his own rendition of onomatopoeia which only happens when you are at a loss for words when something dire happens to your beloved car ie your student wastes your precious fuel by accelerating when there is no gear chosen. Getting a driving instructor who’s a seasoned crap talker who draws shamelessly from his repertoire of scripted small talk and jokes to say something not rehearsed or repeated: priceless.
I found myself shaking from suppressed laughter for 2 traffic lights.
At work today, I am totally at the mercy of the good Philippines people who speak Tagalog when I try to speak to them in English. There is the classic case of the chicken and duck talk.
“Pok kay, Pok pok pok-kay?”
“Quack quack…”
“Pok pok pok?”
“Quack quack.”
“Cockadoodle…” The other end hangs up before chicken could finish crowing.
It would seem from Wikipedia that Tagalog contains MANY MANY MANY languages that make it as rojak as the English language, with adaptations from French, German etc words.
“Being an Austronesian language, it is related to Indonesian, Malay, Fijian, Maori (of New Zealand), Hawaiian, Malagasy (of Madagascar), Samoan, Tahitian, Chamorro (of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands), Tetum (of East Timor), and Paiwan (of Taiwan).”
(taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagalog)
Instead of saying “please hold the line” or “wait a moment”, they say “in a while”, where initially I had mistaken that to be an instruction from them that the person I’m looking for is not available and that I should call back “in a while”. As I went on to clarify with them, I heard a blunt ‘thud’ that could mean they’ve hung up or they’ve put down the receiver to get the person I'm asking for.
It really is true that languages contain culture. Even the males in Philippines address us as "sir" and "madam" like maids do in Singapore. Somehow that is associated with the subservient stereotype of Philipino people. Shrug. Just the thought of only completing 4 calls per hour when calling Philippines (more of invalid numbers and being put on hold than actual conversation) irks me. When calling Singapore or Australia I could finish a survey in 5 minutes or less.
Nearing bedtime, so shall briefly round up the weekend’s happenings. Sunday we held our second flea mart, this time at Clarke Quay. And this time this isn’t at the godforsaken corner of SAFRA. No tsunamis this time. Other than the other 2 or 3 new stall owners, the others are regulars who pay more for their stalls ($60 compared to our $55, and it’s because of the festive season) to keep a constant place to put their ware for sale. We managed to dump many of the items Aunt Javia gave us at super low prices and actually had a nett gain this time! Although less than what employees in the rat race would get for a Sunday where they are paid double, we enjoyed the experience. It helped that a dispenser was right in front selling Coke. And the friendly elderly couple beside us who helped us buy lunch from a sinfully delicious roast duck rice stall that regular sellers have a way of sniffing out. Goodness, the crispy brown skin of the duck melting upon contact with the tongue, the oil between the skin and the meat that lubricates the grinding molars carrying with it the characteristic fragrance of duck roasted in its own juice.
The stall owners themselves were seen patronizing each other: alliances will be formed, friendships will be built. A lady tried to swallow our excess books for free but we paid her no heed. Well actually we forgot to approach her as we were busy shopping during the closing moments. I got Malkee a recording mike for $12 and some T shirts myself for the next semester. Good job.
Saturday was the day I underwent serious retail therapy. Swee Lee had another 50% display item clearance sale at Sims Drive. I dragged baby down with me and grabbed the target item: an Acoustic Simulator pedal from BOSS. My mum of course almost fainted when she saw the price tag on it: S$288.75 before discount. I got a guitar stand so that I can sleep in peace knowing that Strat won’t shatter into pieces like the poor classical guitar I once had. Also some guitar picks made in Singapore which offer pretty good grip with a rough surface where the index finger clamps to the thumb. Of course I needed the short cable to connect another pedal, and that went at half price as well. The other item I will need will now be a daisy chain to connect power to the third pedal that should complete my basic set up as the rhythm guitarist of Frostbled / FrostBled (which looks better?). I can imagine the sounds that will come out: melancholy acoustic chords melded into liquid smoothness backed first by echoic thick distorted soft riffs then full blown mayhem with humbuckled hammering. My expenses on Saturday: S$167. That should eat up the proceeds from my psychology research where I sold my ass to the NUS Psych department for 3 days AND the 2 days which I really enjoyed working with Shing Kit and Ming for a computer project. Both paid $130 incidentally. Oops, yet to send my resume to this company for further projects. I really love getting paid such handsome amounts for doing things where my passion lies.
Want to get back to watching my Sex and the City, finishing season 1 soon. Looking to rent season 3 on.
Song in my head: Eason Chan – Dui Bu Qi Xie Xie
Riff from Avenged Sevenfold – Chapter Four
