Hello, I blog!
I share all my sporadic and toilet thoughts in here, because I am random like that.
Oh hello there, dear relatives!
Was originally considering whether to join the rest of my relatives at an airport send-off. I wasn’t really in a sociable mood and was very, very sleepy. All I wanted was my bed for company.
Eventually, I decided to go. And well, I didn’t regret it. It was only today when I realized how much I missed their company.
Uncle Daniel eyeing the snow ice dessert at Xing Wang Hong Kong Cafe.
Some interesting observations about hanging out with extended family members, or adults in general. (Well, that’s not to say I’m not an adult – but rather, hanging out with people one generation above you.)
1. They can ask you what you want to order at a cafe/restaurant. And then proceed to make a thousand and one remarks about it.
Aunt comes up to me while I was browsing the menu.
“So, what are you having?” she asks.
“Just having a Kaya toast,” says I – not feeling really hungry at that moment.
“Huh?! Are you sure? Is it enough for you or not? It’s dinner time, you should eat something more. I’m afraid it will be too little for you and blah blah blah …”
Well, she asked me what I am having and not what I should be having, right? -.-
2. The younger folks are always made to do the more physically challenging tasks. Several restaurants (including the one we originally wanted to go to) were closed at the airport, so the queues at the remaining ones were snakingly long. While myself and the younger cousin queued – for the entire group of 8 people – for almost 45 minutes, the rest decided to relax in some cozy corner somewhere with cushioned chairs.
Oh, the perks of being part of the older generation. Although I’m in no hurry to get there.
3. You can almost be certain that hanging out with a large group of extended relatives will mean that they will tend to over-order on food. Everything on the menu will suddenly seem more appealing when one is in a group, and especially so when you’re a fifty-something individual who is ravenous after the physically-challenging task of waiting for forty-five minutes seated in a comfortable chair.
Seems like my decision to order a simple Kaya toast for dinner was a good choice because … guess who ended up having all the leftovers?
Should no longer think twice the next time I’m given an opportunity to hang out with them, I suppose. I had fun, for sure.
How to use a computer 101
Teaching a novice about the intricacies of computers can be perplexing. What is one of the easiest tasks to you (or even something you do on a regular basis) can be an uphill struggle for someone else. And what’s frustrating is how to properly articulate how things work and what you should do to someone who barely doesn’t have the faintest of knowledge about how to use a computer.
Not to mention how I have the patience of about ten raging buffaloes.
Here are some snippets of the conversation.
On missing email:
“Eh, why this person keeps sending me the email I asked for but I cannot receive ah? Something is wrong, I need to buy a new computer, you know?”
“Maybe it went into your spam,” says I.
“What is a ‘spam’? How do I see whether the email went into my spam?”
“You see that link called ‘spam’ on the left hand side when you check your inbox? Click it.”
“Oooh.”
Silence for a few seconds.
“How come it’s like that, ah? I think I need to get a new computer already.”
“It’s nothing to do with the computer. That’s how email works.”
(Note: She is using web-based Gmail, by the way. And guess who signed up for the account for her. -.-)
Well, one thing for sure – she doesn’t need to know about how I muttered “it’s something to do with the user” under my breath, well out of her auditory range.
On thumbdrives:
“Eh, Brenda ah. Tonight, I need you to help me install my thumbdrive, okay?”
“You don’t need to install a thumbdrive. Just plug it in and you can use it already,” says I.
“Oooh.”
Silence again, for a few seconds.
“Then how do I know how to plug in the thumb drive ah? Where do I plug it in?”
“Have you done a jigsaw puzzle before?” I asked.
“Yah?”
“It’s the same thing. Just try plugging the thumbdrive into all the holes. If it doesn’t fit, then it doesn’t fit. And if it does, you’ve got the correct one.”
I don’t believe in spoon-feeding. Best is to let the person learn through trial and error, I always say. And I have too little patience to be her teacher, or a teacher to anyone, for that matter.
Hey, stop coughing at the back of my head!
I told off an elderly uncle sitting behind me on the bus en route to work yesterday morning.
The latter had been coughing violently for several minutes, directly aimed at the back of my head. I could feel the force of the wind at my hair, and the latter made no move to block the flow of whatever grisley grimey germs that were flying out like little invisible projectiles from his mouth.
The coughing stopped for a few seconds, and I thought okay, perhaps it’ll come to an end here.
Then, he started again.
Enough was enough.
So I spun around. “If you need to cough, please at least cover your mouth. Thank you,” I told him curtly before spinning back to face the front.
The coughing stopped instantly, and any subsequent coughs became muffled.
Mission accomplished.
I happened to be sharing about my day with my mum later in the evening and the above story was brought up. Upon hearing that I had actually been telling people off on the bus, my mum’s expression changed into a look of pure horror.
“How can you do that? Next time don’t do that! Some people will get violent and will punch you, you know?” My mum exclaimed.
“Well. If they even lay a finger on me, it simply shows their lack of civilized behaviour, aye?” I responded.
“No point getting yourself injured what!” Mum tutted.
“I’ll risk it. Better than having all sorts of germs crawling around in my hair. And if I didn’t bother to tell him off, I wouldn’t know how long more would the coughing have gone on.” I reasoned. Gee, if I hadn’t – I think I’d have gotten a free hair wash during that bus ride.
“Next time, be more tactful lah!” Mum advised after a moment of silence.
“Tactful? TACTFUL?!” I exploded. “Was I not tactful enough? I even thanked him!”
“If I decided to not bother with being tactful, I would have screamed something like ‘CAN YOU STOP FUCKING COUGHING AT THE BACK OF MY HEAD?!’ which I REALLY felt like doing at that moment!”
That was when Mum burst into peals of laughter.
“Okay, okay, you’ve got a point.”
With that, ladies and gentlemen. I shall leave you with a reminder that should you ever leave the house with flu-like symptoms, please please please cover your nose and mouths with a tissue should you need to err … expel anything. Not because of any fear of meeting people like me, but because it’s basic civic-mindedness. Kthxbai!
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