In Continuum.

Nothing, has happened so far. That is not to say that I am particularly surprised by that observation. It's not like it has been a tradition of mine to throw a party every Chinese New Year in the first place, and this year is no different from the last. Two red packets have been mailed to me from overseas, not to the surprise of myself but to the jealousy of those who heard about it. Traditionally, it is a very difficult task to earn those red packets from relatives, the fact that you have to spend the whole day visiting different relatives at their houses, bringing along with your a truckload of oranges and a pretentious smile on your face just to earn those miserable few dollars. Especially with the current inflation problem in Singapore, I don't see anybody being very generous about their red packet distribution, some might even shut their front doors to visitors, because things are just that difficult to get by these days. You spend a whole day just sitting in the living room and watching television, and when the long-awaited moment comes for the red packets, you open to find ten dollars tucked neatly inside, or twenty if you are lucky enough. 

Not to boast or anything, but I guess the fact that I have them mailed to me quite a joy. I sit at home and I am able to enjoy those brilliant mandarin oranges for myself, which by the way tastes better than all the other oranges in the world. I have been gorging myself with oranges, various snacks with chocolate contents and many other food. Like everybody else, I am probably going to gain a kilogram or two by the end of it all, with zero guilt and a whole lot of satisfaction. Still, having nothing else to do but to gorge myself with food at home isn't such a great thing, especially when all my friends are out visiting their own relatives. It is not possible to call somebody out simply because we are having our holidays right now, because they're probably trapped at their relative's, unable to stay and unable to leave. It's not like we can go over to anybody else's home either, since most of them, like April's, are going to be turned into gambling dens. So much for the one week holiday, especially since we can't do anything about it whatsoever. The money is a bonus, but it's still boring as hell. 

With all the shopping malls and all the food joints closed for today, and possibly tomorrow as well, I am stuck at home. I am literally, stuck at home as if I have fallen into this crack of Chinese New Year. I remember visiting Orchard Road a few years ago on the second day of the Chinese New Year though, but only because I was with Krishna and he doesn't celebrate it at all. Anyway, it was quite an eerie sight even at the center of entertainment in Singapore. On normal days, you'd be wishing for the crowd to just disappear, to imagine a giant vacuum cleaner to descent upon the crowd and then suck them all away. That is just the human traffic, and we are not even talking about the vehicular traffic just yet. I remember being stuck in a traffic jam in Taiwan once, and my cousin was sitting in the backseat, hoping for a giant tub of toilet clearing plunger to take all the cars away. I bet Orchard Road looks somewhat like a ghost town right now, with all the shutters pulled down and the all the lights dimmed in the shops. It'd be quite a sight though, and it was probably what gave me the wild idea this afternoon before I fell asleep for my nap.

I've never been a very sporty person, I don't really like to sweat very much. A lot of people would go "You've been through the army, and you are still afraid to sweat?". I think those are two very distinct things altogether, I have been through two years of military training, but that doesn't make me a lover of the great outdoors either. I am still a man of comfort, and I really do prefer to stay indoors for the majority of the time, catching a film on my computer or just doing nothing at all. But with the empty streets beckoning, there is a sudden urge to go out running. Strangely enough, I was a fan of running back in the old army days, though I was never a very fast runner, a particularly good one at that. Still, I liked the monotonous job of running, the constant step by step by step idea of it, even if I am doing it alone. Besides, running down a long stretch of road with a moving music in your ears is probably the most uplifting thing a person can experience at the cheapest price. The old pair of running shoes in the storeroom is luring me out of the house to run to the stadium down Boundary Road, then run a couple of rounds at the stadium before heading back home. Yeah, I think I need to be baptized by my perspiration again, like the good old days. 

So yeah, those keen on a good run around my neighborhood, particularly those leaving close to me - that's you, MJ - please do ask me out for a run, that'd be fun. In the meantime, I am contemplating on what I should do with the money that I have already received. I am probably not going to reveal how much I have gotten so far, but then let's just say that the idea of getting an iPod Touch is very probable. Nonetheless, I don't like the idea of busting more than half of that money, while saving less than half of those. I am not the kind of person that consciously saves up, but it usually kicks in naturally when I have spent about half or so. That has been the case ever since my army days, even with the limited amount of funds that I had back then. Always half, despite splurging my money on all those DVDs and books, always half without me trying to make it that way. Perhaps I should save up for the overseas holidays with April that we talked about, though they are merely just talks at this point in time. Oh, not to mention the idea of going to Buffalo to study has been rolling about in my head. All I need now is for somebody to talk me into it, or talk me out of it. I hate to be on the fence all the time, it hurts my crotch.

Right now, I don't need an iPod Touch, or more red packets, or a good jog in the neighborhood. What I really need right now is to have my friends invite me to their houses for a visit, or for my non-Chinese friends to ask me out to their homes to hang out. Non-Chinese friends, I have no relatives in Singapore, I am so free that I am going to grow molds on my skin very soon, I swear that I'd behave if you invite me to your homes, or to just sit in some random void deck for a nice chat. Please, just ask me out, because I am going to die from my very real and very threatening boredom, I might start to do something harmful to myself if nothing drastic is being done anytime soon. Anyway, that was my call out for help. I don't think I can remain in this home prison very much longer, so do heed my call out for help and do as told, thank you.