I've got you and you've got me, so reach for the stars

When the tough gets going,

when the going gets tough,

I still have Jia Wen, Audrey, Carmen, Eunice and Rachel =]

Today's lunch was like discovering a hidden pocket of air in a cave submerged in murky waters, in which we are drowning. It was exactly what I needed. Heck, it was what ALL of us needed. Desperately. To say the past few weeks have been maniacal would be an understatement. Let me put it this way. If every single band practice is marked to its time slot by a thread, then we would be hopping around on one leg to avoid tripping over the multi-crisscrossing of woolly strings that map out our daily schedules. I'm sleep-deprived, more than a little insomniac, on the verge of schizophrenia and physically worn out. I'm in no position to complain though. My only worries are not failing my own band from MBE and handling the trio I'd put together for my Jury. Audrey and Carmen have to juggle sometimes up to 3 or 4 practices a day, half of them are not theirs but bands they are playing for as guests. I salute them.

Anyway, we didn't travel far, just a couple of minutes' walk down the row of shops to Tai Zhi, but God, it felt damn good to escape the confinements of campus for a while. I suspect I'm developing a form of claustrophobia towards the tiny area that is the first floor of Block C, where we are boxed in around the clock. Honest.

Sigh. 1 and a half more week. 10 days. 240 hours.

I'm counting.

Jazz Fusion. Or more like, Just Confusion.

“Jazz Fusion, guys, was founded by Miles Davis, in an attempt to increase Jazz music’s popularity during the Rock ‘n Roll Era.”

Pencil tips scratched the surface of notepads. Burrows puckered in concentration in an attempt to extract and jot down facts as Elliot sped through the chapter of music history of the day.

“Oh yes. I’ve something very important to tell you guys. And you MUST take note of this. It’s regarding Zoo World (at least that was what it sounded like).”

Eyes glanced towards him in acute attentiveness.

“You see, the guy who created this game, I know him. And he told me, this coming April, there will be a special feature on Zoo World. I don’t know what exactly is it, but I know it’s going to be very cool and I need you guys to do me a favour. Install this feature, whatever it is. It’s free and it won’t take up a lot of time. Please, guys.”

Bewildered silence.

“What?! Must support him, okay? And I need Easter Eggs! I’ve only collected two!”

“Sir, are you really talking about Zoo World?”

“YES, OF COURSE! What do you think I’m talking about? Your lousy childish cooking game?”

Some banged their heads against the table. Some laughed with incredulity. Some stared in perplexity. Some simply tsk-ed in annoyance.

At this point, I think someone, as if unaffected by the bizarre topic being imposed, raised his hand and spoke to Elliott in low tones.

“Ah yes. Jazz was indeed going through a hard time. It was during the British Rock Invasion and the mainstream music period. Jazz was dying.”

Huh?

I supposed it was because the class was perpetually speechless that drove him back to his virtual zoo mania.

“So guys, please! I need Easter Eggs! You over there! The one with the laptop! Are you on Facebook? Go and send me Easter Eggs now!”

My mind was filled with a firework explosion of question marks.

I swear, the closer we’re inching towards the end of the semester, the more outlandish his lectures become.

I get by with a little help from my friends

SEVEN Buy 1 Free 1 Subway coupons. Expiring within 24 hours.

+

A bunch of maniacs overwhelmed with a sense of panic and determination to put the vouchers to good use.

=

Subway fiesta!

Pity we didn't get enough Subway enthusiasts to meet the offer in full force. Plus, Carmen had to donate one of them to a lady and her daughter in exchange for her help in buying a pair of our friends' share (one bloody discount ticket per visit). But with the heap of 6-inch bread we hauled back to the nest of ravenous musicians, we could have convinced anyone we were starting a delivery business. I think.

And it was a relatively good day. The kind I like best. In the way of having a stretch of class-and-band-practice-free afternoon, sitting on the bench, half exposed to the elements, and just lazing through the hours by tossing around random, often nonsensical, topics, and laughing at virtually anything.Sort of.

Me loves you people =]

The Climb

Hiking is physics, you know.

You judge the angle of the slope. You estimate the force and energy that you need to exert in order to attain the right momentum to launch you forward and upward. Plus, you need to take into account external factors like the condition of the ground beneath, whether the soggy soil would reduce the friction enough to slip through the grip of your shoes. In other words, watch your steps. Because every ounce of calculated strength and stress you weigh upon your body would pound out the consequence almost immediately.

Which was probably how I ended up puking. Twice.  

And it was so sudden. I mean, there wasn’t much warning, just slight dizziness, flashes of neon-colored spots and frantic deep inhalations of air even when I didn’t feel lack of oxygen, moments before I had to squat and vomit.

Hmmm. No wonder I had a sense of foreboding when I drank that cup of white coffee this morning (at 6am, God forbid).

YESIKNOWISHOULDHAVETAKENCEREALINSTEAD.

But I was so damn exhausted, being sleep deprived, and I didn’t want to be a sandbag that everyone had to haul up the hill, should lethargy overpower me. I needed the rush of adrenaline. And the intoxicating aroma snapped my eyelids wide open.

I still ended up being one, anyway. A sandbag, that is. Though it was after I spent the first 15 minutes pouncing from rock to rock, desperately stretching my limits to keep up. Aha.

Speaking of which, my million apologies for holding you guys up. Sowee, Fui Peng, Stephen! And a gazillion thank you and XOXO to Derene for patiently waiting as I retched and struggled to get my bearings (:

It says 6.30am.

 Derene and Stephen

Me and Fui Peng

Stairway to heaven or hell, I wonder

The steepness doesn't seem obvious here.

The somewhat peak with make shift tents and recreational tools

Band 11 (but Ashley couldn't make it coz she had Major class)

We are healthy, y'all!

It's officially breakfast time!

I can almost see it
That peak I am scaling
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Weak and out of breath
My legs are shaking

But I gotta keep hiking 

Gotta keep pushing forward 

There's always gonna be another person 

I'm always gonna wanna take him over 

Always gonna be an uphill struggle 

Sometimes I'm gonna have to fall 

Ain't about how fast I get there 

Ain't about what's waiting at the top 

It's who I'm with (:

Strawberry Fields Forever

"Wanna join us for supper tomorrow night?"
Whoa. People actually PLAN suppers? I thought they were impromptu, adrenaline-driven rendezvous? Apparently not.
"Ehh.Wow. Sure! Who's going?"
"Egg. Kok Kian. Wai Kit. Fui Peng."
Senior. A friend of senior. Senior. Senior.
"Okay...cool. Where?"
There was a burst of fizzing static as Derene told me the name of the place. Sounded like San G. Whatever. Wherever it was, it provided food and that worked for me. My depressed dark mood had a voluptuous appetite.

Monday, 23rd March

Ah. Which explained the need to plan.
And the fact that I'd been blinded twice.
Once by the price. Second time by the voluminous array of food.
Talk about an expensive and expansive supper/late dinner.

Sinful indulgences:

DIY steamboat

Tako balls

The future fatties:

Kok Kian

Hui Chian, aka Egg

Derene

Wai Kit

Fui Peng

Yours truly

Me, Kok Kian, Fui Peng, Derene, Hui Chian, Wai Kit, Wei Keat

zzzZZZzZZzz...

Talked to guard into letting Fui Peng drop me at the hostel despite the fact that it was way past midnight and rules had it that late-dwellers or nocturnals were not welcomed after that time. Well, it wasn't that bad. It was only 12.20am.

Yes. As far as hostel curfew is concerned, I am Cinderella.

Everybody Needs a Song

Call us paranoid, but Eu Chern and I would bet on anything that the radio station or the album being played was conspiring against us. I swear, the whole hour and a half we were in Manhattan Fish Market, every single bloody song blared was like a dart aimed solely at us, in the uncannily coordinated way a swarm of hornets would attack an intruder for disrupting their hive. And God forbid they should score bull’s eye unfailingly time after time.

Ugh. All we did is seeking console from each other on our condemned love lives (nosy people will be entertained privately). But apparently, the walls had ears. And after Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind faded off, so began the merciless string of songs that scorned our wrecked situations. It only took the devil-at-work 3 songs to reel us away from feeling sorry for ourselves and start shielding against the pelting of mockery.

Hell, we even analyzed the lyrics to decipher the hidden message delivered to us.

*Note: Song list is not in chronological order.

Single Ladies, Beyonce

‘All the single ladies

Now put your hands up’

What we decoded: Trying to tell us to rejoice in being single?

I Gotta Feelin’, Black Eyed Peas

‘I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night

That tonight’s gonna be a good night

That tonight’s gonna be a good, good night’

What we decoded: It was just there to taunt us. We mentally showed the invisible speakers our middle fingers and plead it to shut the eff up.

Party in the USA, Miley Cyrus

‘And the Jay-Z was on’

What we decoded: Obviously. Unless it was a cover version of Empire State of Mind that was being played just now, which I doubt it.

‘And now I’m gonna be okay’

What we decoded: Speak for yourself.

Just Dance, Lady Gaga

‘Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm

Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm’

What we decoded: It wanted us to dance to our favourite song to relief our depression. Either that or it simply thought it was a suitable song to accompany Eu Chern’s ramblings about his Law Ball.

Waking up in Vegas, Katy Perry

‘You gotta help me out

It’s all a blur last night’

What we decoded: Probably referring to my bizarre unrealistic situation for the past 24 hours.

Face Drop, Sean Kingston

‘You touch my heart, disappear

I never knew how much it hurt here’

What we decoded: Well, you go figure yourself.

Please Don’t Leave Me, Pink

‘Please don’t leave me

Please don’t leave me’

What we decoded: It was trying way too hard. Puh-lease, did we look desperate?

Down, Jay Sean

‘Tonight is the night to let it go

Put on a show

I wanna see how you lose control’

What we decoded: Yes, we got the hint to ‘let go’.

Love Drunk, Boys Like Girls

‘I used to be love drunk, but now I’m hung over

I love you forever, forever is over’

What we decoded: Self-defined.

Smile, Uncle Kracker

‘You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe

Shine like gold, buzz like a bee

Just the thought of you can drive me wild

Oh, you make me smile’

What we decoded: It was haunting us with memories. Change the ‘make’ to ‘made’. There, that’s more like it.

I Hate This Part, Pussycat Dolls

‘I know this is the part

Where the end starts

I hate this part right here’

What we decoded: Congratulations. You drove home your point.

The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, The Script

‘I’m not broke, I’m just a broken hearted man’

What we decoded: Whoa, Eu Chern. It WAS damn good.

‘Thinking maybe you’ll come back here to the place that we’d meet

And you’d see me waiting for you on the corner of the street’

What we decoded: Nice try. I doubt I would do that. Like I mentioned, I'm not desperate.

Stop and Stare, One Republic

‘Stop and stare

I think I’m moving but I go nowhere

Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared

But I’ve become what I can’t be, oh’

What we decoded: It was scoffing at our struggle in moving on.

She Wolf, Shakira

‘S.O.S. she’s in disguise

There’s a she wolf in disguise’

What we decoded: Aha.

Fireflies, Owl City

‘Cause everything is never as it seems’

What we decoded: It needed no further deciphering.

Pity the other customers. They probably hadn’t seen a pair of people shrieking and laughing so hard in the manner of which appeared to be on the verge of lunacy. I salute them for tolerating us for the excruciatingly long span of time.

**********************************************************

To un-depress myself, I did a heck of a shopping. Exhilarating. Bought 3 shirts from the Brand’s Outlet Shop. 2 for me, 1 for sis, so that I could ask for favours in the future. Nah just joking. It was because the shirt was pink and she’s obsessed with pink. And because she’s my sis =]  

Wheeeeee so adorable! And it's BLUE!

Cupcakes!

For sis

Oh. My sudden shopping spree didn't end there. Both of us got ourselves a 'leather-bound' book each! And one was only RM19.90! 

Wrapped up the day with Cupcake Chic. 

Perfecto.