Memory

I had Friday morning to myself. After arranging all the music scores I headed off to the beach and walked along from one stretch to the other, and it just struck me just how many memories I've got strung along this stretch of beach.

I started further down from school and just walked and walked. Memories hung up from one year, two years, three.

It started with the stretch of beach near KFC, IGCSE days where our newfound freedom knew no bounds. KFC was never too far to walk to, cars were never an option. I was still photo-phobic at the time. The palm of Buddha, they called it, Janice was my number one fan. We made the words exam on the beach, Apple Lin had her sexy A-figure, Geeby was the shortest X ever and Wen Lu and Janice were the E. We saw tadpoles in a pond. I took my emo shot courtesy of Ms. Lin Fang Yung. I remember discussing legs with Shaeny and Wen lu.

Then the beginning of IB. The mentos experiment and dead jellyfish who were violated by Naima and I. Peter and Yi tong and Rebecca and Naima and I. When Naima as new, and I didn't quite know her. And there's still a lot more to her than I could imagine, I was rash in saying I got her down pat.

Boom's party. May 22nd. It was a good night of cake smearing and chasing. Cheryl fretting over which dress to wear. Navin and Jack and their pizza. I remember the blaze of the bonfire and the IB books being lit. I remember the dilemmas, the drunkenness, the games and daring. I remember Vince being drunk, Adam's 2%. I remember the long drive home.

Mudballs. The state of my mind, my shortened hair, Kyu saying I looked like my mother. I smeared mud all over Nai nai ma ma. And I believe I fed Maiki a curry puff.

I passed the ship and remembered the treat I owe rebecca. This one I truly must fulfill, hold me to my word.

My first ever date. It makes me laugh. Silence and wind, my immaturity and fears. There was a heart in the sand.

Then further, further. A bent knee. My first proposal, which still makes me laugh out loud to this day. I probably snickered when I walked past, there was this malay man looking at me strangely after that.

Park Royal brings Naima starkloff and the few one-to-one talks I've had with her over the years. Park Royal brings to mind graduation in 2008 and 2009. It was the first time I danced with two people, and the times I re-danced with my two best men. And it was the time where I first saw Jeffrey fat and I'm telling you, it blew my mind away.

And then further still. Sunset, and the assortment of cafes. Jack carrying me and threatening to chuck me in the sea, I pinched his ear so hard it nearly came off. I discovered night-life, though yes, it wasn't a very exciting night. That night was Ivan carrying me and threatening to chuck me in the sea. Then I remember walking back from Sunset to CCC, monkeys crabs and phobias of all sorts revealed from the man that Mitchell Kam is.

I remember Naima's birthday and screaming behind her because of her wicked jet-ski driving. I remember Cheryl, Bindiya, Wei Ling and Rebecca. Us. I remember measuring 10meters and throwing metal on the ground to count cigarettes and other obnoxious pieces of pollution.

Then Hardrock. Previously the first hotel in which I ever stayed, and laughed over the bedsheets, their hilarity acknowledged only by me and my months-old mind. The first time I went was the beginning of October. Then Gen and I Yune and Mitchell and sprinting before sports day, the cramps that ailed me the next. The lala pose that serves as concrete proof of, again, Kam's masculinity.

And yet further still. Bay view hotel. I went to the gazebo three separate times. Once with Christine, then Kyu, then Gen. With Christine, she introduced the place to me. It was a day from long long ago. I forgot what it says on one of the walls, but it was a profanity that is best forgotten. I remember Shaeny asking me. It drizzled. By the last time I went there, the planks were gone and you couldn't walk to the railings without risking your life. It was the first time I talked to Gen at that length.

And then now. My latest memory. Me sitting on my shoes before the tower; alone and with my bible. I saw a man with his dog and a yellow stick. I saw a man jogging, and a woman catching up. I saw a couple; she wore a dress that billowed while he wore his board shorts, the disparities in life. I saw a team of joggers, the leader was bald, and they were all puffing and bouncing.

A human camcorder, a journal, a breath.

And thats what I remember.