Musings over soya bean milk, noodles and Yakult
I woke at around 3.30AM, Japan Standard Time, this morning after about eight hours’ worth of sleep after returning from a long class gathering. I think I’ll just talk a little about it. And the reason for the title’s because that’s what I just consumed.
I started writing this at about 4+ in the morning, but it seems like I can’t finish writing it in one sitting. I’ll try to get this done by today, though.
On the first day (which was two days ago, on the 16th), I had to get several things done (including getting some new passport photographs taken; they are used for almost everything and I look like a perfect moron on every single set I’ve taken. I also collected my JLPT1 cert [AND I AM SO GOING TO FRAME IT AND HANG IT ON THE WALL MUAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH]), so I headed off to the class gathering a little late. Perhaps quite late. In any case I met up with the folks at Soup Spoon at the Paragon and I tried the ‘Meatless Minestrone’. If truth be told it tasted like marcaroni in tomato soup (and I bet I wasn’t far off the mark). After dinner we gallivanted around Orchard for quite a bit before we returned to Xuewei’s lofty 31st-floor apartment (almost) in the heart of the city. Those who were present then we Xuewei (of course), me (of course), DM, Esther, Chin Yang, Joshua, Xiaoxue, and Huimin (the prettiest in the group). After returning I proceeded to be antisocial by using my computer as well as borrowing Xuewei’s to blog (that’s how the previous post came to be), and basically staying clear of the group activities till much later.
What would later become one of the two ‘highlights’ of the whole extended class gathering event took place after they got tired of playing with Uno Stacko bricks the right way. Basically it was a rather sensitive discussion about love, marriage and family. Due to the sensitive nature of the discussion I won’t quote anyone on anything, but do allow me to say that some of the attitudes reflected by the things said there did surprise me somewhat, and it was really an eye opener for me. I didn’t participate terribly actively because my own views are convoluted at best, and hazy at worst. But really, I had fun.
I went to sleep pretty early due to exhaustion, while some of the others continued talking. Apparently about really really secret and interesting stuff. I’m not thrilled that I missed out on those parts but I sense (most probably rightly) that if I were awake and around they wouldn’t be talking about those things anyway. So technically, I missed nothing. After waking and washing up we had breakfast. Of eggs. WO0T. And of course being the hopeless egg addict I am I was happier than a lark after I had finished my slightly strange-tasting but unmistakably authentic two-egg omelette complete with mushroom stuffing. Oh and I had milk. MILK. I don’t usually drink milk but I am glad I did, since I didn’t get any stomach upsets from it.
We departed late (at 11 JST) for Paya Lebar station, by which time some others (like Sec-chan, Mila and Benedict, etc) were already there and waiting for as much as 40 minutes. Wasting no time, we headed off to Parkway Parade (by bus), where we got a cake for Heidi-chan’s birthday celebration later, and I grabbed the chance to get coffee. The mixture of cinnamon and vanilla powder was good for the taste buds but I added too much in the way of molasses. In the end I had to discard the last 10% or so of the coffee because I couldn’t drink it without feeling as if I was going to belch any moment. But that’s irrelevant. We headed off to the beach, and with minimal effort found a little pavilion to dump our belongings, and the rest set off to rent rollerblades (and use them), while I guarded the things.
I didn’t really mind being left out, so to speak, since I never liked rollerblading, and I couldn’t leave my notebook computer there with a peace of mind. So I just made do with reading Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (borrowed from Xuewei) for a long while. Occasionally people popped in, and I did what I could by gathering valuables and helping people across the grass back to the track on their rollerblades. Fazzie fell quite suddenly at one point, but I checked her knees and found them to be okay. That was like scary. Later Mila dropped by and stayed for a long time at the pavillion. She was ill then, but still came for the (what was for her the first) class gathering. We talked a little, and I lent her Sputnik Sweetheart (by Murakami Haruki), as I had finished the book in just two long sittings. (I need to go to the library more often - it could potentially save me lots of money…) After several hours of rollerblading/chitchatting (depending on who you’re referring to), during which other folks came along (Ben-chan complete with Chem notes and Huixiang in tow and perhaps one or two others), we headed off for lunch, which turned out to be at Subway.
The meal at Subway was to be a concurrent celebration of Heidi-chan’s birthday, and also a rather sad farewell for He Xuan and Benedict (the others didn’t turn up). I won’t go into details, but to be honest I felt pretty emotional myself too. Benedict and Jonathan and Xinyi will show up around in school sometime, but for He Xuan she’ll be gone, literally to the other side of the country, and we’ll hardly see her again. When she was presented the souvenir board (complete with a long message I wrote mostly in badly-phrased Chinese), she burst into tears. I swear I won’t forget that moment. I’ll keep it with me, as I will keep the memories of brief times spent with those who would be gone, through high school and beyond.
I’m not sure if I’m entirely comfortable with the idea of expressing such feelings online and for the world to see (if they happen to be interested), but I’ll just say it anyway.
I love my class. Not just each and every person in it, but the class as an entity greater than the sum of its parts (us) as well. I will confess that often when I think about the inevitable parting to come in less than two years tears always fill my eyes. And overflow. As they do now.
“めぐり逢うのは偶然と言えるの
別れる時が必ず来るのに”
“Was it a coincidence that we met?
When we know the time to part will definitely come?”
(From Final Fantasy IX theme song, “Melodies of Life”)
It was no coincidence that 6R came to being. It was no coincidence that we met. And it is no coincidence that we will part.
I don’t know how many of you will be reading this, but I’ll say it. I love you all, and no matter what happens, or what I may do, that will never change. And I will never forget you. I promise.
And please, don’t forget me either.