Thoughts Unlimited

To quote Tom Hank's character in Forrest Gump,

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

I had a box of chocolates.

I opened it. I ate some. It tasted alright. I was going to continue eating it when.. someone decided to give me another box.

I looked at the new box of chocolates.

It was pretty on the outside. It looked promising. I asked some people what they thought about the chocolates inside, and they gave mostly positive reviews. However, I was also aware that there were some bitter ones inside.

So I closed the old box of chocolates and opened the new one.

It's been a month since I've opened the new box of chocolates. At first, the chocolates tasted bitter. I missed the sweetness of the previous box. After eating something really sweet, something relatively less sweet tastes a lot less sweeter than it really is. I thought that I would be able to wash down the old taste with water and start to enjoy the new one.

But I was wrong.

The old taste lingers. Every time I eat from the new box, I am reminded of what I left behind.

I really am tempted to go open the old box again. But that's just not logical.

Had I known what the new box really tasted like, I would never have opened it.

But I didn't know.

And now I'm not sure I can open the old one again.

With the imminent prospect of turning seventeen looming, I got bored and searched Wikipedia for "sweet sixteen" since I'm apparently going to be leaving that behind in just about 5 days' time.

According to Wikipedia,

A sweet sixteen is a traditional birthday party for girls to have when they turn sixteen years old. In parts of the United States and Canada, sixteen is the age at which one may obtain a driver's license. It is also the age of consent in many states, hence it is viewed by many adolescents as an important milestone. The term can also be derived to mean turning 16 without having been kissed.

Oh. I didn't know that.

A party? Haven't had one for ages (pun not intended).
Kissed? Er.. by who?
And I also think that it isn't fair that I'm not allowed to drive.

But all in all, I think that my sixteenth year has been eventful (to me anyway) and although it wasn't really all that sweet, sometimes it was really bitter actually, I still think that it was a year worth it (other than being able to legally watch NC16 movies).

Sixteen for me was the second half of sec 4 and the first half of Jc1. In that span of time, I've been to 3 other countries, been in 3 different classes, been in 2 schools, and had some of the best times yet. I made some important decisions regarding my future, and I haven't lived long enough to regret them yet. But I don't think I will.

Although Sixteen Going On Seventeen from The Sound of Music doesn't really apply to me in terms of what is said between Lisel and Rolf, as well as the stereotypes, but the title suits, and the sentiments of wondering about the future are relevant too. So I'll leave it as that.

[Rolf:]
You wait, little girl, on an empty stage
For fate to turn the light on
Your life, little girl, is an empty page
That men will want to write on

[Liesl:]
To write on

[Rolf:]
You are sixteen going on seventeen
Baby, it's time to think
Better beware, be canny and careful
Baby, you're on the brink
You are sixteen going on seventeen
Fellows will fall in line
Eager young lads and rogues and cads
Will offer you food and wine
Totally unprepared are you
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared are you
Of things beyond your ken
You need someone older an wiser
Telling you what to do
I am seventeen going on eighteen
I'll take care of you

[Liesl:]
I am sixteen going on seventeen know that I'm naive
Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet
And willingly I believe
I am sixteen going on seventeen
Innocent as a rose
Bachelor dandies, drinkers of brandies
What do I know of those
Totally unprepared am I
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared am I
Of things beyond my ken
I need someone older and wiser
Telling me what to do
You are seventeen going on eighteen
I'll depend on you

When remedies are past, the griefs are ended
By seeing the worst, which late on hopes depended.
To mourn a mischief that is past and gone
Is the next way to draw new mischief on.
What cannot be preserved when fortune takes,
Patience her injury a mockery makes.
The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief;
He robs himself that spends a bootless grief.

- Othello, Act 1, Scene 3

I was walking past the Toys R Us at United Square just now, when a strangely familiar tune came wafting past my ears. It sounded really familiar. But I couldn't place my finger on it.

Later, it came to my realisation that that tune was the Pokemon theme song. You know, the one that goes,

Pokemon
Oh you're my best friend
In this world we must defend

Or something similar.

Well I always thought that song didn't make sense anyway. What does Pokemon being your best friend have to do with defending the world?

Anyway, before I continue, I need to stress that I did not watch Pokemon. I do not and never did like Pokemon. I only know a lot about it because my primary school bus uncle had a TV in the bus and he always played Pokemon VCDs during the bus journeys.

So that song brought back memories of primary school, which seems to be a really long time ago, although it's 5 years. I remember that in lower primary, I was calculating my school's age, (my school was founded in 1906), and I discovered that I would be JC1 when my school turned 100.

Now, that was a harmless thought at that time.. except that now, I'm really in JC1, and my school really is going to turn 100, and that means I'm really getting on in years (comparatively, because with my life so far, 5 years is a rather high percentage).

Then I wondered whether I'd go back to my primary school and look randomly around at that place which really isn't my primary school anymore. The school I came from had a big gigantic field, and when the teacher made us run around it during PE, it took forever to run one round.

The canteen had a red tiled floor, which was grimy (duh, all canteen floors are grimy), and the lousy school made us squat on the canteen floor after recess (well, actually you could sit, but it was so disgusting), while they lectured us about taking too long, making too much noise.. etc. This made us exceptionally good squatters, and I think the effects of that prolonged squatting can still be seen today.

There was a shed behind the school, and I never actually found out what it was used for, but the walkway leading there must have been built specifically for playing What's the Time, Mr Wolf? It was perfect.

Then sometime in P2 I think, they built another pond. That pond had tadpoles in it. And it also had many children falling in. It wasn't deep though. After recess, some students would go back to the classrooms with shirts turned a muddy brown colour, and you knew that they had fallen in.

Of course there was the food in the canteen. We'll use Wanton Noodles for price comparison purposes here.

Pri 2 (1998): 50 cents
Pri 5 (2000): 70 cents
Sec 1 (2002): $1.20
Sec 3: (2004): $1.50
JC1: (2006): $1.80

So the prices can speak for themselves.

The entire purpose of this entry is for me to ruminate about 'when I was young', and then realise that I'm getting older, and that the world has changed a whole lot too.

I don't quite get why certain completely insignificant incidents are so vivid in my memory. Like the time I was eating ice cream with my classmate just outside the canteen. And I remember that the ice cream dripped to the floor. I can still see it dripping. And the time I remember putting on my blue jacket in class and then going to sit on the floor to listen to some PETS reader story thing.

The one common thread running through it all would be that I was totally and blissfully unaware of what was going on in the world. My world consisted of the classroom, the field, the canteen, the bookshop, the bus with the Pokemon, and I think that was it. No computers. No internet. No game boy. Actually, some think of it, there was so little. But I'm sure I was happy.

Unfortunately, you're only ever young once. Maybe the world should have worked in reverse.