Too Fast
Time: 11.34am
I am still reading Time Traveler's Wife, and I'm getting to the heart-wrenching bit. Like all romance novels, there has to be a part whereby something drastic has to happen to one of the characters. Either he/she is going to have to leave the other (Sam's Letters to Jennifer) , or contract some kind of illness that'll force them to be apart (PS. I love you), or be separated due to family objections (The Notebook)...the list goes on.
It's a sappy thing. Authors love tugging at readers heartstrings and make us all gloomy and sad for the characters. But I guess a love story without all the above won't really be quite memorable now, would it? That's why it's love, the most complex word and thing to ever exist in this universe. Not even the most established scientist has a cure for it. Think Einstein with his string of extra-marital affairs. Even the world's most renowned scientist is intrigued by love... Some people love wealth, so they go around tormenting other people's life by making themselves richer. Some people love power, so they invade other's property to gain that sense of greatness...so there you go, love, one of the most over-rated word in the world is the one that's wrecking havoc around us.
I was walking to the busstop this morning and I turned to look at the all-too familiar coffeeshop, with its shutters down, waiting for the workers to give it a fresh look after all these years. Momma's stall has officially closed as of 4th May. Her stall was the only one still opened while everyone has already moved out. The coffeeshop is bought over by some foodcourt mogul and he's converting it into one of those air-conditioned, mosaiac tiles, China workers kinda place.
With the drastic increase in rent (almost another one grand), Momma has little choice but to let go of something so familiar to her. She has had the stall for over 16 years. I remembered helping her while I was a little girl...and honestly, I didnt' quite look forward to it. I hated waking up at 8am on weekends and going to the hot and sticky coffeeshop and having to endure the senseless comments made by those old ah-peks and drunken uncles. I hated having to 'entertain' the aunties who'll just make patronising remarks just to get ten cents off. I have always been defensive of my loved ones so I hated seeing Momma having to patronise back these aunties when they keep bargaining and asking for 'more of this, more of that'.
But it's these aunties, uncles, ah-peks and ah-mas that've sponsored me through secondary school and my first 2 years of Biotechnology. I have taken for granted the regular morning breakfast of beehoon and chwee kway. Somedays I crinch at the thought of the same'o yam cake. Suddenly, it's all gone. All gone a little too fast. And I miss it now, I miss it a lot.
Too fast.
Things are moving too fast, and I hated not having control of it all.
Slow down now... there's so much more to see to life.
I am still reading Time Traveler's Wife, and I'm getting to the heart-wrenching bit. Like all romance novels, there has to be a part whereby something drastic has to happen to one of the characters. Either he/she is going to have to leave the other (Sam's Letters to Jennifer) , or contract some kind of illness that'll force them to be apart (PS. I love you), or be separated due to family objections (The Notebook)...the list goes on.
It's a sappy thing. Authors love tugging at readers heartstrings and make us all gloomy and sad for the characters. But I guess a love story without all the above won't really be quite memorable now, would it? That's why it's love, the most complex word and thing to ever exist in this universe. Not even the most established scientist has a cure for it. Think Einstein with his string of extra-marital affairs. Even the world's most renowned scientist is intrigued by love... Some people love wealth, so they go around tormenting other people's life by making themselves richer. Some people love power, so they invade other's property to gain that sense of greatness...so there you go, love, one of the most over-rated word in the world is the one that's wrecking havoc around us.
I was walking to the busstop this morning and I turned to look at the all-too familiar coffeeshop, with its shutters down, waiting for the workers to give it a fresh look after all these years. Momma's stall has officially closed as of 4th May. Her stall was the only one still opened while everyone has already moved out. The coffeeshop is bought over by some foodcourt mogul and he's converting it into one of those air-conditioned, mosaiac tiles, China workers kinda place.
With the drastic increase in rent (almost another one grand), Momma has little choice but to let go of something so familiar to her. She has had the stall for over 16 years. I remembered helping her while I was a little girl...and honestly, I didnt' quite look forward to it. I hated waking up at 8am on weekends and going to the hot and sticky coffeeshop and having to endure the senseless comments made by those old ah-peks and drunken uncles. I hated having to 'entertain' the aunties who'll just make patronising remarks just to get ten cents off. I have always been defensive of my loved ones so I hated seeing Momma having to patronise back these aunties when they keep bargaining and asking for 'more of this, more of that'.
But it's these aunties, uncles, ah-peks and ah-mas that've sponsored me through secondary school and my first 2 years of Biotechnology. I have taken for granted the regular morning breakfast of beehoon and chwee kway. Somedays I crinch at the thought of the same'o yam cake. Suddenly, it's all gone. All gone a little too fast. And I miss it now, I miss it a lot.
Too fast.
Things are moving too fast, and I hated not having control of it all.
Slow down now... there's so much more to see to life.
posted by Ying at
Thursday, May 08, 2008
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