A day in the Life of Carlo
Author: Carlo@hoGc // Category:
Beep!
The familiar - almost mundane - beeping sound met me as I went up the Bus. I look around and see some really interesting people. Sitting right across me is this who was wearing a shoe, red as it can ever be. This was not any other red shoe. It somehow resembled a fur, as though he was wearing some red furry monster for a shoe.
On my left, an old man with feet up on the chair. I cringe at the sight of such an uncivilized act. Behind me was this 2 girls speaking at the top of their voices about a certain guy in their class. In between giggles, they'll add how handsome and cute the guy is. It was almost unbearable!
Fortunately, I only have to bear their high pitched giggles for 3 more bus stops. As soon as I got off the bus, the humidity of sunny Singapore met me and I heaved a sigh of relief! Suddenly the irritating giggles are gone! Wheew!
With a heavy bag in tow, I started walking to Nicholas' house. why is it always so hot in Singapore? It seems that as long you stand still, you will start sweating like a pig - and I definitely do not like sweating. It's definitely a bad choice wearing black today.
reaching Nicholas' house we quickly set up our macbooks and started on a game of dota. I can't believe I'm playing dota again. It has been ages since I last played the irritating game that is dota. Although the game is irritating, it never fails to bring an exhilarating atmosphere in the air. Maybe that's why guys and girls alike enjoy playing dota: to break away from their mundane lifestyle.
Groaning from a 40 minute game, I got up to start packing my bag to head on to Victoria School together with Nicholas. Walking out of his house, I suddenly felt the warmth of the sun glaring down at us. Black was certainly a choice that I started to regret.
as we reached bedok, I saw 196 about to go to its stop. Nicholas and I bolted as fast as we can to the bus stop, maneuvering through the hundreds of people going through their own busy lives. Bumping a few people here and there, we reached the bus stop in the Nick of time. Trying to catch our breath we went up the bus, heard that overly familiar beep and collapsed in our seats panting with sweat trickling down our necks.
I focused the direction of the air-con to my direction and immediately a surge of relief flooded me. But it was short lived. As we went down the bus the wrath of singapore's weather faced us again.
Walking further on, it was no longer so hot. Thank God! The cool sea breeze battered our hair out of place, unblocked by high rise buildings of Singapore. As we walked we reminisced about the times when we have not invited Jesus into our lives. We feared what we would have become without Heart Of God Church.
A little further we walked until we were faced By such a majestic structure. Emblazoned with yellow, white and grey, it towered above us. right smack in the midst of the buildings was 2 words I've grown to be accustomed to: Victoria School.
Entering the white and red gate, we were met by a familiar wizened old security guard. "What are you here for?" asked the security guard.
"Hi uncle! We're here to go to the general office" I replied.
He pointed us to the direction of the general office and so off we went nearer and nearer into the depths of this majestic building. Nicholas went ahead to check out the koi pond while I proceeded into the general office to give them a few of my documents. After a few seconds, "we'll call you when it's ready," the woman at the counter said.
With a nod, I opened the door and caught up with Nicholas. We went to one of the notice boards to look for some interesting names and we found quite a few. After exhausting our eyesight looking at all the names pasted on the notice board, we decided to go up.
Up the stairs we went, all 7 floors worth of stairs, and we saw a view that left our mouths open in awe. Another strong sea breeze blew our hairs to one side as our clothes flutter against the wind. it was a magnificent view overlooking thousands of houses and into the horizon beyond. Green roof, brown roof, red roof, a myriad of colors seemed to emerge from the ground. With the sea breeze beating against our back, it was truly a magnificent experience of peace and tranquility.
We walked to the other side of the link way and saw, down below in the field, a group of students holding a pair of dangerous weapons. Water bombs!
Watching from above, it kept us in a safe distance. A very safe distance. A distance where the notion of getting even a tiny bit wet did not even occur in our minds.We watched in silence, talking among ourselves, while the students got ready to bombard each other with the weapons they have clutched in their hand, as though their life depended on it.
All it took was one of those harbinger of wetness to fly through the air and collide with a person's face to start a full blown assault of water bombs on each other. One by one, they started running away from each other, dodging an otherwise direct hit to the face. More and more rallied to throw water bombs at each other and once they were out of ammunition, they walked out of the field to take another pair of water bombs. Soon the whole field was full of wet people trying to bombard each other with water bombs.
Nicholas and I watched in constant chatter and pin pointing some nice picture perfect moments where out of nowhere, a guy will come from behind to engage his opponent in a water bomb duel. Out of a sudden, a long red snake like thing started to move. It was a dragon! No, it was a snake! No! It was a fire hose! Oh no!
The mother of all wetness started to spray everyone with strong gushes of water guided by a guy in yellow t-shirt. People directed their attention on him. But to no avail. As soon as they got near him they'll be sprayed by water and be drenched all the way to their bones. Nope it was not enough. It can only be taken down if they work as a team. They rallied each other and from all sides, this yellow guy was bombarded by flying water bombs.
It was an enjoyable sight. The little kid in me jumped up and down wanting to join the fun. But how could I? Especially with a laptop in tow. So I settled with watching them get all soaked and wet from their fun.
The fun was broken by a vigorous vibrating coming from my pocket. I took it out and pressed the green button only to be met by a nice voice of a lady, "hi! you've still forgotten another piece of document. We just need that and we are done. We'll see you tomorrow?"
"Ok. Thank you!" Oh no! how could I have been so stupid! I thought everything should have been finished by now! Oh my goodness! Out we walked through the red and white gate. Looking back, I see this tall structure looming in front of us. Somehow, it brings me great joy as I looked at it with the sun bathing it with its light.
bus rides have always been mundane but once in a while you will meet interesting people. However, this bus ride is not one of those interesting rides. The loud hum of the engine coupled by the musty smell of the bus, it was certainly not enjoyable. So I dug into my bag and took out Cell by Stephen King. This was enough to entertain me throughout the journey towards our holy sanctum, our second home: Heart Of God Church.
We had to maneuver ourselves through the crowd of people waiting to cross the road and with only 5 minutes to spare, we needed to be a tiny bit violent. Really tiny bit.
Through the glass door we went and immediately I knew I was home. Walking through a hallway with mirrors at the side, I checked the mirror for any hair out of place. With a quick sweep here and another quick sweep there and I was satisfied. Beaming wide, we went up the stairs to meet other people attending the meeting. I see some familiar faces and some not so familiar. We waited for the doors to open and as we went in, I can feel the excitement in the air. Everybody wanted to start praying. Everybody can't wait to leave all their problems behind to enter the peace and love of God.
The room was small; able to fit only about a 100 people. There was around 50 people in the room. But as we started to pray, with voices in unison, the room started to shake. It was an awesome and awe inspiring moment. The time seemed to fly past ever so fast. In what we thought as only 15 minutes have passed, already 50 minutes have gone by just like that.
In unison, signifying the end of the prayers, we exclaimed "Amen!" It was time for dinner. Where are we going to eat today? I hope somewhere interesting. I suggested 18 chefs but most of the guys just replied with a half-hearted don't know. So in the end, it was kopitiam for us yet again. The same old mundane kopitiam. Actually it doesn't matter to me because I have my friends to eat together with. To have some laughs with and of course to get to know them even more. It's moments like this that I will treasure. I don't care whether we eat in some dingy old hut, just as long as they are with me. This is after all, the last few days I'll be spending time with them. Oh how I'll miss them. The crazy antics of Choong Kai. The exuberant laughter of Hong Rui. The stifled laughter of Nicholas. It's times like this that I hope to capture the moment with some camera that will allow me to experience it again and again, just like the time spent on the linkway atop Victoria School.
Laughter filled the bus as we headed on home. Jokes after jokes bombarded the 4 walls of the top deck of the bus. With smiles in our faces we told jokes and laughed for the whole journey from paya lebar to tampines. We didn't care whether heads were turning towards us. We didn't mind the eyes looking directly at us. We just had fun! Although we did try to control our volume a bit but with Hong Rui's infectious laughter, this was a task even more difficult than climbing to the summit of Mount Everest.
So here I am now, lying on my bed typing this story, reminiscing about my day out today. Certainly, it was lots of fun. But most of all, it was a time that I will treasure before my regretful journey to the so called "chosen land (lupang hinirang)".
This is my life. It doesn't have all the exciting factors like me jumping off a cliff or me surviving an arduous journey through the Sahara Desert, it just have my comfy house in the middle of Tampines, my journey everyday, my friends and especially my God.
Welcome to my life!
The End
The familiar - almost mundane - beeping sound met me as I went up the Bus. I look around and see some really interesting people. Sitting right across me is this who was wearing a shoe, red as it can ever be. This was not any other red shoe. It somehow resembled a fur, as though he was wearing some red furry monster for a shoe.
On my left, an old man with feet up on the chair. I cringe at the sight of such an uncivilized act. Behind me was this 2 girls speaking at the top of their voices about a certain guy in their class. In between giggles, they'll add how handsome and cute the guy is. It was almost unbearable!
Fortunately, I only have to bear their high pitched giggles for 3 more bus stops. As soon as I got off the bus, the humidity of sunny Singapore met me and I heaved a sigh of relief! Suddenly the irritating giggles are gone! Wheew!
With a heavy bag in tow, I started walking to Nicholas' house. why is it always so hot in Singapore? It seems that as long you stand still, you will start sweating like a pig - and I definitely do not like sweating. It's definitely a bad choice wearing black today.
reaching Nicholas' house we quickly set up our macbooks and started on a game of dota. I can't believe I'm playing dota again. It has been ages since I last played the irritating game that is dota. Although the game is irritating, it never fails to bring an exhilarating atmosphere in the air. Maybe that's why guys and girls alike enjoy playing dota: to break away from their mundane lifestyle.
Groaning from a 40 minute game, I got up to start packing my bag to head on to Victoria School together with Nicholas. Walking out of his house, I suddenly felt the warmth of the sun glaring down at us. Black was certainly a choice that I started to regret.
as we reached bedok, I saw 196 about to go to its stop. Nicholas and I bolted as fast as we can to the bus stop, maneuvering through the hundreds of people going through their own busy lives. Bumping a few people here and there, we reached the bus stop in the Nick of time. Trying to catch our breath we went up the bus, heard that overly familiar beep and collapsed in our seats panting with sweat trickling down our necks.
I focused the direction of the air-con to my direction and immediately a surge of relief flooded me. But it was short lived. As we went down the bus the wrath of singapore's weather faced us again.
Walking further on, it was no longer so hot. Thank God! The cool sea breeze battered our hair out of place, unblocked by high rise buildings of Singapore. As we walked we reminisced about the times when we have not invited Jesus into our lives. We feared what we would have become without Heart Of God Church.
A little further we walked until we were faced By such a majestic structure. Emblazoned with yellow, white and grey, it towered above us. right smack in the midst of the buildings was 2 words I've grown to be accustomed to: Victoria School.
Entering the white and red gate, we were met by a familiar wizened old security guard. "What are you here for?" asked the security guard.
"Hi uncle! We're here to go to the general office" I replied.
He pointed us to the direction of the general office and so off we went nearer and nearer into the depths of this majestic building. Nicholas went ahead to check out the koi pond while I proceeded into the general office to give them a few of my documents. After a few seconds, "we'll call you when it's ready," the woman at the counter said.
With a nod, I opened the door and caught up with Nicholas. We went to one of the notice boards to look for some interesting names and we found quite a few. After exhausting our eyesight looking at all the names pasted on the notice board, we decided to go up.
Up the stairs we went, all 7 floors worth of stairs, and we saw a view that left our mouths open in awe. Another strong sea breeze blew our hairs to one side as our clothes flutter against the wind. it was a magnificent view overlooking thousands of houses and into the horizon beyond. Green roof, brown roof, red roof, a myriad of colors seemed to emerge from the ground. With the sea breeze beating against our back, it was truly a magnificent experience of peace and tranquility.
We walked to the other side of the link way and saw, down below in the field, a group of students holding a pair of dangerous weapons. Water bombs!
Watching from above, it kept us in a safe distance. A very safe distance. A distance where the notion of getting even a tiny bit wet did not even occur in our minds.We watched in silence, talking among ourselves, while the students got ready to bombard each other with the weapons they have clutched in their hand, as though their life depended on it.
All it took was one of those harbinger of wetness to fly through the air and collide with a person's face to start a full blown assault of water bombs on each other. One by one, they started running away from each other, dodging an otherwise direct hit to the face. More and more rallied to throw water bombs at each other and once they were out of ammunition, they walked out of the field to take another pair of water bombs. Soon the whole field was full of wet people trying to bombard each other with water bombs.
Nicholas and I watched in constant chatter and pin pointing some nice picture perfect moments where out of nowhere, a guy will come from behind to engage his opponent in a water bomb duel. Out of a sudden, a long red snake like thing started to move. It was a dragon! No, it was a snake! No! It was a fire hose! Oh no!
The mother of all wetness started to spray everyone with strong gushes of water guided by a guy in yellow t-shirt. People directed their attention on him. But to no avail. As soon as they got near him they'll be sprayed by water and be drenched all the way to their bones. Nope it was not enough. It can only be taken down if they work as a team. They rallied each other and from all sides, this yellow guy was bombarded by flying water bombs.
It was an enjoyable sight. The little kid in me jumped up and down wanting to join the fun. But how could I? Especially with a laptop in tow. So I settled with watching them get all soaked and wet from their fun.
The fun was broken by a vigorous vibrating coming from my pocket. I took it out and pressed the green button only to be met by a nice voice of a lady, "hi! you've still forgotten another piece of document. We just need that and we are done. We'll see you tomorrow?"
"Ok. Thank you!" Oh no! how could I have been so stupid! I thought everything should have been finished by now! Oh my goodness! Out we walked through the red and white gate. Looking back, I see this tall structure looming in front of us. Somehow, it brings me great joy as I looked at it with the sun bathing it with its light.
bus rides have always been mundane but once in a while you will meet interesting people. However, this bus ride is not one of those interesting rides. The loud hum of the engine coupled by the musty smell of the bus, it was certainly not enjoyable. So I dug into my bag and took out Cell by Stephen King. This was enough to entertain me throughout the journey towards our holy sanctum, our second home: Heart Of God Church.
We had to maneuver ourselves through the crowd of people waiting to cross the road and with only 5 minutes to spare, we needed to be a tiny bit violent. Really tiny bit.
Through the glass door we went and immediately I knew I was home. Walking through a hallway with mirrors at the side, I checked the mirror for any hair out of place. With a quick sweep here and another quick sweep there and I was satisfied. Beaming wide, we went up the stairs to meet other people attending the meeting. I see some familiar faces and some not so familiar. We waited for the doors to open and as we went in, I can feel the excitement in the air. Everybody wanted to start praying. Everybody can't wait to leave all their problems behind to enter the peace and love of God.
The room was small; able to fit only about a 100 people. There was around 50 people in the room. But as we started to pray, with voices in unison, the room started to shake. It was an awesome and awe inspiring moment. The time seemed to fly past ever so fast. In what we thought as only 15 minutes have passed, already 50 minutes have gone by just like that.
In unison, signifying the end of the prayers, we exclaimed "Amen!" It was time for dinner. Where are we going to eat today? I hope somewhere interesting. I suggested 18 chefs but most of the guys just replied with a half-hearted don't know. So in the end, it was kopitiam for us yet again. The same old mundane kopitiam. Actually it doesn't matter to me because I have my friends to eat together with. To have some laughs with and of course to get to know them even more. It's moments like this that I will treasure. I don't care whether we eat in some dingy old hut, just as long as they are with me. This is after all, the last few days I'll be spending time with them. Oh how I'll miss them. The crazy antics of Choong Kai. The exuberant laughter of Hong Rui. The stifled laughter of Nicholas. It's times like this that I hope to capture the moment with some camera that will allow me to experience it again and again, just like the time spent on the linkway atop Victoria School.
Laughter filled the bus as we headed on home. Jokes after jokes bombarded the 4 walls of the top deck of the bus. With smiles in our faces we told jokes and laughed for the whole journey from paya lebar to tampines. We didn't care whether heads were turning towards us. We didn't mind the eyes looking directly at us. We just had fun! Although we did try to control our volume a bit but with Hong Rui's infectious laughter, this was a task even more difficult than climbing to the summit of Mount Everest.
So here I am now, lying on my bed typing this story, reminiscing about my day out today. Certainly, it was lots of fun. But most of all, it was a time that I will treasure before my regretful journey to the so called "chosen land (lupang hinirang)".
This is my life. It doesn't have all the exciting factors like me jumping off a cliff or me surviving an arduous journey through the Sahara Desert, it just have my comfy house in the middle of Tampines, my journey everyday, my friends and especially my God.
Welcome to my life!
The End
