Do girls never listen?

A guy friend commented that many girls appear to live in a world of their own and do not seem to listen to people, especially guys, around them. I protested and was all geared up for a debate, until he narrated the following story (he read it from the papers, but I have changed certain details).

And then, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

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Girl asked Boy, “What would you like for Christmas?”

Boy said, “Perhaps the watch we saw the other day…What would you like for Christmas?”

Girl said, “The necklace I told you I liked.”

They then went on their own to buy the presents. Boy went right down to the shop to buy the necklace. Girl went in search of the “perfect” Christmas gift. She went everywhere, but nowhere near the watch shop.

On Christmas Day, Girl and Boy exchanged their presents.

Boy bought Girl the necklace; Girl bought Boy a sports cap. Girl was delighted with her new necklace; Boy cannot help but feel a tinge of disappointment. He smiled and tried hard to conceal his slight displeasure.

Girl said, “I saw this beautiful cap the other day, it’s so cool, isn’t it? You like it, don’t you?”

Boy said, “Eh, yes…thanks, I love it.”

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I laughed when I finished hearing the story.

It sounded so real, so much like what I might have done (I hope I am not guilty of it though!). Like I mentioned before, it seems so “plain” and “normal” to buy a present that someone requested. I would rather sit down and think what one might need or what one might want, and go in search of THAT present.

On hindsight, perhaps I was really living in my own world.

I am sure Boy would like whatever Girl buys, even if it was not what he wanted in the first place. After all, Girl bought it because she felt that it suited him and that he would like it.

Now, that is where the problem arose.

Why did Girl not buy the watch for Boy when he had said he wanted that? Perhaps she wanted to give Boy a surprise. Perhaps she thought she knew better what Boy wanted. Perhaps she thought a cap would make a better Christmas present.

But, Girl was not listening to Boy at all.

The cap is something Girl wanted for Boy, but not what Boy wanted from Girl.

Do not impose your ideas on someone else.

Listen to your loved ones.

Do not just hear your own voice, and naively think that their voices echo with yours.

"Speechless" for the past week

It feels horrible not to be able to say how you think and feel.

Not because you cannot find the right words or because you cannot find the right opportunity.

But when you open your mouth, you struggle with your greatest might, your whole face contorts in redness, but simply no sound comes out.

That was what happened to me last week.

I had a horrible oscillation between sore throat, cough and fever, and in the end, you guessed it, I lost my voice.

I first developed sore throat and fever and took medical leave at home to ease the "heaviness" feel and pain in the head. Feeling better, I returned to work the following day, but I was then struck with cough.

Having to make some important calls to a number of people did not help matters. As my colleagues were busy with their work and there was no one else to lend a hand, I had to struggle with my croaking voice.

"Hel..lo...*Eh-hem* (clears throat)...Can I *Eh-hem* spe...eak...*Eh-hem* to X..YZ?"
"HUH?"
"Sor....r...y...*Eh-hem* to dissssturb...*Eh-hem*...can I speak *Eh-hem* to...XYZ?"
"I cannot hear you, can you please speak louder?"

I was on the verge of screaming in my lungs, but that was the maximum level of decibel that I could manage. I cleared my throat, deepened my voice, and finally managed to struggle through the rest of the phone conversation, in between bits of "Eh-hem"s.

For the rest of the day, I had to repeat my sentence at least twice before anyone could understand what I was saying. It was painful on my throat, and torturous on others' ears.

In the end, I decided to spare them and turned "speechless".

Two days later, while I was outside on an assignment, I started coughing non-stop. At that unfortunate moment, I received an important call. I tried to suppress my cough and talk on the phone at the same time.

If you have ever tried that before, you would have known how horrible the experience can be. It left me coughing worse than before after that. A day later, I was back at the doctor, down with a throat infection, persistent coughing and fever. And another day of medical leave.

I am currently still on anti-biotics but other than that, I feel fine. Whew!

This was my worst experience of falling ill this year. It took me a whole week and two visits to the doctor before I got well.

With the festive season coming, take care my friends, drink lots of water and aviod heaty food!

My First Drive

Two days after I got my license, I had my first drive on the road.

It was exciting, but "scary" at the same time! After driving for five months I am so used to driving around Bukit Batok area, that other roads seemed so foreign. It doesn't help that there is no instructor around who will tell you to turn left or right!

I am left all on my own (Of course, I still do not dare to drive without somebody else with me, what I meant was, I had to make decisions and judgement all by myself.)

It is a weird feeling. Afterall, it is expected that after I have earned the license, I could start driving. However, I cannot help but feel "danger" without an instructor next to me.

It was a nice Sunday afternoon and I happily stuck two triangular "P" plates on the front and back windscreen of the car. I then started the journey with my boyfriend in the east and drove to Tampines Mall.

If you have been to Tampines Mall on a weekend, you would have known how busy and chaotic the traffic can get.

And for a greenhorn like me, I was left shaking behind the wheel, not knowing when to make my move.There was a little bit of swerving here and there, but generally all seemed to be going fine until I reached the carpark.

PARKING time.

No more poles to guide me, it is now SHOW TIME.

As the carpark was very crowded, it took me quite sometime before I found an empty lot.

"Finally!" I heaved a sigh of relief.

I mentally "revised" the steps for vertical parking, turned on the hazard light, took a deep breath and was about to reverse...when a car from behind turned in and "seized" my lot.

"But I was here first!" I grumbled lotly in the car."How could he do that?"

My boyfriend said my mistake was to stop the car too far ahead of the lot.

"But I turned on the hazard light to indicate!"

The man in his 20s alighted from his car and acted as if he had done nothing wrong, and he even had the nerve to glare at me.

The thing I did next, was in a moment of folly, and it made me guilty the rest of the day.

I HORNED at him.

I realised afterwards that it was such a silly, ugly and ungracious thing to do, and I shall never, ever repeat it again.

Anyway, I was so angry that I could not remember how I managed to squeeze my car into another parking lot.

Later on, I drove from Tampines to the expressway (Yippee!) and all to the west. I was horned once when I was hesitant in switching lanes on the expressway. Other than that, I did not run into too much trouble.

Well, that was because half the time I was holding tightly to the steering wheel for dear life, and with my eyes fixed on the road, the rear mirror, the side mirrors and the blind spots.

At the current stage, driving and gaining real life experience on the roads seem like a big adventure. And I am looking forward to the next adventure!

Driving Test

I had my Class 3A driving test (as a private candidate) yesterday at the Bukit Batok Driving Centre (BBDC).

It was my first attempt and I started to get nervous when I was in the waiting room. About 10 others were having the test at the same time as I was. A tester drew lots for our testing routes and testers. We then studied the route on the maps that was pasted on the walls. The atmosphere was tensed!

I might have practised my testing route before during my lessons, but I could recognized nor could not recall when I saw it on the map. I started feeling panicky when one by one, we were called to go down to the circuit route to start on the test.

My tester was a middle-aged man who looks rather strict and stern. After he got into the car, he said plainly, “You may start when you are ready.” I took a deep breath and off I went!

Everything seemed to be going fine until he said, “Turn right and go up the ramp.” My mind must have been a blank, because it only registered the words “go up”, and so I turned right, and went up the……slope!

I realized my mistake only when I was halfway up the slope. “I am sorry, I made a mistake!” I was flustered. He replied straightforwardly, “Okie, if you want to do the slope, go ahead. Had you turned into the other lane (where cars move down the slope), I would have failed you immediately.”

My heart jumped a beat. I could not tell if he was mad or if my mistake was not too disastrous, but I kept my composure, and thank goodness, the rest of the circuit was a bliss.

As we went out to the roads, he said, “Turn right”. I must have been too jumpy, because when he said that, I actually signaled “left”! Not realizing my mistake, I was about to go left when the tester repeated “right”. I then quickly uttered, “Sorry” and changed my signal. Whew!

My test route seemed rather short, because in a while I was back at BBDC. Time to hear my “verdict”!

The tester brought me back to the waiting room. He pointed out my mistake of turning up the slope when he mentioned the ramp. He said I was not decisive when I changed lane and he gave me 4 demerit points for changing lanes too abruptly. I wanted to argue that I did not change lanes “decisively” as I was nearing bends and it was not appropriate to do so, but I kept quiet for fear that I would incur more demerit points for that.

He mentioned some other mistakes: I was too slow in making turns that resulted in certain cars having to slow down. And he gave me 8 demerit points for that.

With my heart thumping, I clasped my hands together and waited.

The moment has come.

My tester signed the assessment form and said plainly, “You passed.”

I made it! It was such a nerve-wrecking experience, and I am so glad I made it through!

After five months learning on “L” plate behind the wheel, I am now a qualified driver (on probation, that is)!