2006?

2006 is coming to a close and perhaps now, it is a good time to look back at all the stuff that had happened this year. This year was in particularly peculiar because it was the first time in my life that I have ever felt so old. Throughout the most part of the year all I felt was boredom. No, I didn't lock myself inside my room and it is definitely not because I am anti-social. I did a lot of things this year and it would have been the most exciting and best year ever...that is if I were still 15.


You see, nobody can stop time. When I was a small boy I used to feel that a day was like a week. I couldn't wait until the weekends where I'll be following mom and dad to shopping or whatever. I hated school like fuck and each time I would celebrate big time when there were holidays. But now at 21, a day feels like, well, a day. Study days fly by too fast. There is always insufficient time for reports, assignments and studying for exams. And as much as I still look forward to the holidays, sometimes I do feel that a 3 week holiday is like a 2 month one.


For 2006, I begged and begged before my parents finally allowed me to drive down to KL and together with a couple of friends, we explored KL and visited lots and lots of places. I mean, we were doing crazy stuff like driving for an hour plus to Kepong on a 5am morning for bak kut teh, driving up to Genting at 4am to take a piss at the First World hotel, visiting every shopping mall, pasar malams, PC fairs, motor shows, hanging out at clubbing street and even looking and making fun of "ah kuas" at Chow Kit. As interesting as all those activities were, it soon became old and repeated. There was nothing else to do. Nothing which could give me a kick in the balls. Nothing unforgettable.


Recently went to celebrate Christmas at Gurney. I felt totally out of place. Because no matter how many people there were, how loud the scene was and how annoying those fake snow sprayers can be, I still couldn't get into the Christmasy mood. While everyone was standing and counting down from 10 seconds to Christmas, I was sitting in my chair, smoking. While everyone was jumping about, hugging each other, screaming and everything at the stroke of midnight, I was still in my chair, smoking. I couldn't feel the excitement. Guess I'm too old for countdowns and parties.


Yes...2006 was also the year where I made the transition from smoking Mild Seven Lights to Mild Seven and finally to Dunhill. This was also the year where I found that I am, as predicted and proved by many, addicted to tobacco. I did quit for a short while, but it wasn't long before I was back on cigarettes again. Everyone says I'm doing it for the cool factor but what part of cool am I trying to project when I'm smoking on my balcony all alone on a 3am morning?? You see, it takes me roughly 5 minutes to finish a stick and since there are usually 20 in a pack, it would take me 100 minutes or 1 hour and 40 minutes to finish. Here comes the interesting part!! I would rather sit and spend 1 hour and 40 minutes of my life smoking and killing myself than sitting around thinking about what to do to keep me excited.


The World Cup came and went. The build up to the event was superb. I had literally forgotten and flung aside my studies just for the World Cup. Watched nearly all of the first week matches. And then...it happened. I lost the thrill. I was losing sleep because of the noise from the mamak downstairs. Reports and assignments were due soon. Even the final match of the event didn't bring any thrill to me...partly because I don't fancy the teams that were in the final. Am I too old for the World Cup? Couldn't be. Even when the 3 clubs that I have supported since childhood from the English, Spanish and Italian Leagues won their titles, I wasn't excited.


Yum cha sessions have changed dramatically. Where before, yum cha sessions were mostly on weekends, as there was school on the weekdays, now, yum cha sessions are on just about any other day. When I was 15-17, coming out to yum cha and returning back home at 12am plus was already quite an achievement on its own, considering how strict my parents were and also the fact that I didn't have any transport. But now, every other 16 year old comes out for yum cha. Every other young fuck has a motorcycle as transport. And every other young fuck stays on till 2-3am before returning. And as for me, coming out to yum cha after 12am has become such a normality that I don't even feel excited like I was when I was 15-17. More signs of old age?


Even the novelty of driving fast is wearing thin. Where before, I would get all excited, with heart beating fast and sweaty palms after going at 160kph(the fastest my car can do..sien), now, I do not have that thrill anymore. Heck I could even drive at 160kph with my left hand alternating between the steering wheel and gear stick with my right hand on my handphone taking down a video of how fast I was going which I am going to upload somewhere soon. Nope, no fast beating heart, no sweaty palms, no excitement. It's either I'm getting bored of speed or I need a faster car!!


Even cuci mata sessions at the malls are not as interesting as it used to be. No, it's not because I've turned gay. It's because every other girl I see in the shopping mall these days is a small kid. Probably 14-18? Even my 14 year old sis is hanging out in malls. As pretty as these girls dress up, I just couldn't get all excited like I would when I was 14-18 myself. As much as I cuci mata together with friends, deep inside, I wasn't really entertained.


There were of course exceptionally fantastic moments in 2006. Like the recent trip to Ipoh. What excited me more than anything else was that we were exploring the whole of Ipoh, trying out different and nice food and also visiting famous old buildings and landmarks. I felt happy looking at the old buildings, the 100 year old train station for example. Whereas most people of my age would have immediately headed to a disco or something, I found myself crazily happy riding the antique elevator at the train station again and again.



Damn ancient looking buttons...






Birthdays were probably among the more unforgettable stuff that happened in 2006. From getting whacked with a dustbin lid by a few frens of mine on my birthday, to celebrating friends' birthdays in Cheras, and occasionally Redbox, to having fantastic RM18 lamb chops at PJ while celebrating the birthday of a good friend , to spending RM25 on a cup of tea at TGI Fridays while also celebrating the birthday of another good friend. All these were unforgettable to me. It was not that we did many funny and interesting stuff. It was the company. The company of friends and brothers and sisters which are all still etched in the back of my mind.


I wasn't in Penang for much in 2006. I only went back during the festive seasons and holidays. Which in total was less than 3 months. Days in Penang are busy as usual. Catching up with frens from all over, spending time with my family, going for seafood(which is a must everytime we meet up for the holidays), yum cha, PC games at the cyber cafes, hanging out at malls, and more recently, hunting for car accesories in Bukit Mertajam. For the whole month of December that I have been in Penang, I have been so busy that I hardly had time for myself. Of course I appreciate the time spent with my friends. I love you guys...god bless. And that is why I've decided to come out with this post early. BecauseI doubt there will be anything else interesting enough to include in this post from today till the 31st as I've decided to spend the rest of 2006 alone. And that is just roughly 6 days.


What will I be doing? Well recently I've found solace in fixing things up. Starting with my scale model cars which were unfortunately thrashed a few years ago. It was heartbreaking to see something which I have spent so much time, energy and money on, just break into a million gazillion pieces. I had 2 models. A Toyota Supra and a Peugeot 206. I started work on them about a week ago, fixing up parts which I am capable of and touching up here and there. So from this:-





We have this :-





My pride and joy. The first scale model car which I seriously put in effort on. I had a few models before this one but I would just simply fix them up and let them rot. For this one, I actually spent a lot in getting the paint and brushes to paint it up and make it look as realistic as I could.





And that's when I realised, I was actually having fun. Some may see this as unhappening and unhip or uncool, but fuck what the others think. I want to feel that same sense of achievement that I felt when I finished my first model. And since nearly nothing now can thrill me as much as completing a scale model, I've decided to start working on another one. A birthday present from my family 2 years ago, which I didn't get to start because I misplaced the instruction manual and I was too busy with uni. Have found the manual through the internet, have enough funds for the paint and now hopefully, I will have enough time off from study stuff to do it.






So there you have it. A very normal 2006 with a couple of fantastic moments which I will never forget. So what's up for 2007? Would hope to travel around more to see new places. Would love to meet more people and would love to get the next 2 sems over with quick so that I can sit here again at this same time next year, writing about the events of 2007. And also, no, I will not quit smoking in 2007.


Lastly, I hope some things would remain the same for 2007 and the many years ahead. That we would still go for our seafood every holidays. That we would still go for bak kut teh at ungodly hours. That we would still go all out to search for new and tasty food. That we would still go yum cha no matter how old or bored we are. That we would still go to malls and ogle at chicks no matter how young...or old they can be.


That's all for 2006. Cheerio. Would add more if I can remember more interesting stuff that happened in 2006 or if there is anything exciting that might happen in the next 6 days.