Spring-Cleaning in Winter
As I expected yesterday, this morning, my mother went into a spring-cleaning frenzy although it’s the middle of winter. As a direct result of the ensuing flurry of activity, the floor is gleaming, the windows and furniture wiped, and the piles of assorted stuff on the floor put in relative order. It took all morning to get them that way. I also went to the local market whit my mother—or, rather, what’s left of the local market. Most of the streets where it used to be have been torn down, and so the market disbanded. The sellers are still around, though, just not so apparent to the eye. Anyhow, we found it and I got a chance to see a chicken slaughtered before my very eyes. The sight is gory, so I’m not going to describe it here in the interests of better taste.
I played some ping-pong for part of the afternoon. I’d rather play badminton, of course, but the weather being inclement (too windy), I had to make do and pick up a new sport as best I could, which was not very well. My brother says my serves are good, for a beginner; but if only I could return his serves! Oh well, I suppose one shouldn’t complain when on holiday. Well, not much, anyway.
I went out at 6:15 pm, by which time the sky was pitch black, to (watch Canal, Ice and my brother) play basketball. No, don’t go into shock just yet; I don’t like SPORTS, but I do enjoy a good talk, and the gweilos aren’t quite that dumb as the Pig. Unfortunately, I forgot that I couldn’t talk to them during play, and so found it horribly boring as usual. Thank God Canal’s sister and a Singaporean friend turned up, so I had a nice time bashing gweilos in Manglish with the Singaporean girl. It’s a long time since I last spoke Manglish! All in all, it wasn’t too bad, except for the 45-minute walk to the courts in freezing weather. At least Canal did sponsor drinks for everybody. It was quite generous of him considering that there were about 8 people to cater for, but somehow the cold drinks he bought appear incongruous with the climate.
And they inadvertently gave us their rugby ball. Not really gave, of course, but lent. My kid brother was playing with it, and when they left, they omitted to get it back. So it is now with my family. I’ll have to return it sometime soon, since they’ll leave for the US on the 17th. Maybe I can get them to buy me stuff like the LOTR trilogy, which they already have and read. I’m so jealous. Plus they’re loaded with cash!
I plan to go over to practice tomorrow, around 2 to 4. Of course, I’ll need an accompaniment, since I don’t know the way that well and have a tendency to get lost. It’s all irrelevant, though, since the point is that I shall get to my music at long last and, unsurprisingly, my beloved food. My intake has doubled in recent days—not surprising, since statistics show that food consumption increases greatly in cold climes. So that’s why gweilos are so big. Even here in the big S, most people are big, if not in stature, then in paunch. Like my father. He used to be quite slim when he was in KK…
I played some ping-pong for part of the afternoon. I’d rather play badminton, of course, but the weather being inclement (too windy), I had to make do and pick up a new sport as best I could, which was not very well. My brother says my serves are good, for a beginner; but if only I could return his serves! Oh well, I suppose one shouldn’t complain when on holiday. Well, not much, anyway.
I went out at 6:15 pm, by which time the sky was pitch black, to (watch Canal, Ice and my brother) play basketball. No, don’t go into shock just yet; I don’t like SPORTS, but I do enjoy a good talk, and the gweilos aren’t quite that dumb as the Pig. Unfortunately, I forgot that I couldn’t talk to them during play, and so found it horribly boring as usual. Thank God Canal’s sister and a Singaporean friend turned up, so I had a nice time bashing gweilos in Manglish with the Singaporean girl. It’s a long time since I last spoke Manglish! All in all, it wasn’t too bad, except for the 45-minute walk to the courts in freezing weather. At least Canal did sponsor drinks for everybody. It was quite generous of him considering that there were about 8 people to cater for, but somehow the cold drinks he bought appear incongruous with the climate.
And they inadvertently gave us their rugby ball. Not really gave, of course, but lent. My kid brother was playing with it, and when they left, they omitted to get it back. So it is now with my family. I’ll have to return it sometime soon, since they’ll leave for the US on the 17th. Maybe I can get them to buy me stuff like the LOTR trilogy, which they already have and read. I’m so jealous. Plus they’re loaded with cash!
I plan to go over to practice tomorrow, around 2 to 4. Of course, I’ll need an accompaniment, since I don’t know the way that well and have a tendency to get lost. It’s all irrelevant, though, since the point is that I shall get to my music at long last and, unsurprisingly, my beloved food. My intake has doubled in recent days—not surprising, since statistics show that food consumption increases greatly in cold climes. So that’s why gweilos are so big. Even here in the big S, most people are big, if not in stature, then in paunch. Like my father. He used to be quite slim when he was in KK…
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