marathon man plus

nanny · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 351 Status: Offline

the caribean at the marina bay looked not so elegant from the road. but when marathon man took the first jog along its side fence, his opinion on it changed. the low-rise apartment blocks all had views todwards the sea. the dry-docks separated the blocks were filled with very clear sea water. what a delightful feeling to see the emarald liquid lapping against the barnacles of the dry-dock sides. he had a pleasant surprise finding the keppel bay bridge linking the mainland to the small keppel island, its name had been hitherto unbeknownst to marathon man. the keppel bay had become a marina. that's what's so attractive to marathon man. imgaine if he were to own a unit in the caribean, and if he could somehow own a boat, then life would be yoyoyo... he hopped onto keppel island, being made-over extensively to have a cafe and a big stretch of cemented walkway surrounding it, with a rock-assembled bank, he took 10 minutes to go around it. a couple of groups of people spent their afternoon enjoying the view of sentosa and the stretch of water in between. there's a couple, male being an ang moh, and his partner, a local, kissing passionately, with the gal leaning against the seaside rail... stopped kissing when marathon man was approaching them.

then an image flashed across marathon man's mind... his gal fren, in the driver's seat. and he was sitting beside her, some years ago...looking into her face sideway, marathon man saw a wooden figure without a caring soul. without a figment of love, for marathon man. the eyes fixated deadly on the road infront. the mouth held with the lips; corners pointing downwards, the face emotionless...... it's somekind of machine, zombie, or what? why did he choose her?

there's definitely a mistake somewhere, committed by both of them. it has to be corrected, even how late it may be.

when one's feelings have already drifted away from the other, there's no need to point fingers to asign blames. the best thing to do is to separate. there's no point for the other person to act cute, to act compromisingly, to be condescending, to please him/her to gain back his/her love.

so they drifted away, like glen ong and jammie yeoh. it took one year for glen and yeoh to realize that they were not meant for each other. but it took many years for marathon man to come to that understanding. along the way, they went for counsilling, they made up after many arguemments and quarells and tiffs..... but when the heart has died, there's no feelings left for the other person, then arguements become daily event, quarells over anything. then, just leave the other person alone.

time has almost erased away the painful memories, except it came back to haunt him in rare moments like this. he perked up his spirit and sped up his strides towards bukit chermin road. the three residential bungalows were still there. he went into keppel club, a boutique golf club formed in 1904. the current selling price of membership was 24k. good value, especially with the swimming pool along the seaside enjoying a very good view of the sentosa straits, very good indoor tennis courts, exquisite chinese and japanese restaurants, and located in a very unique part of singapore, facing the sea and just a stone's throw to mount faber. marathon man was totally captured by the charm of this little jewel at keppel bay. he made his way back to harbor front.

marathon man was in harbor front looking for something cheap to buy in a golf sale. his sight was suddenly attracted by a salesgal. she was young, pettite. he approached her, holding up a driver....

"how much?"

"299."

"what? i thot it's 99?"

"it was, last nite, we had midnite sale. but today, the price is 299."

marathon man came last nite also, but the crowd was so large, he did not manage to get into the enclosure where the goods were sold.

the customer said, "tonite also got midnite sale?"

"no. today's the last day. we will close at 10."

"you care to have a drink after that?"

"my boy fren will send me home."

"ha... boy fren... may i know what he is doing?"

"there he is." pointing to a yound man, standing near the cashier counter.

"oh.... so you r your boss gal fren? then you can decide to sell me this at 99?"

"yes. only last nite. just like, if you came last nite, i could also go out with you."

- goods has crazy sale, love also comes cheap sometimes.

nanny · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 351 Status: Offline

telok blangah heights is a nice place to jog. with alot of hdb flats and alot of trees, next to telok blangah hill, and also near the sea. marathon man took a lift and got himself up to the 20th floor of the point block - blk 72, and boy oh boy, the view was fantastic - the seaview toward sentosa, the hill view toward the tree-top walk. he got down from the 20th floor, and was feeling very thirsty, looking for some cold dessert. but the food centre nearby was virtually empty of people, almost all,except a couple of stalls were closed.

he found his way to bukit merah centre, but could not find a stall that sold desserts, like the other food centre, most of the stalls already closed up for the day. bukit merah centre without the hdb hub sure saw the downturn of its businesses. marathon man found her gal there. she was his old flame. but now got married, with kids. he saw her shopping in the ntuc.

"hai....."

"hai, what r u doing here?"

"jogging."

"wow, at this time, and here?"

"well.... why not?"

"i thot you liked to jog in the jungles, the deserts, the marshes, the grasslands....?"

"that was once upon a time."

"and now?"

"i jog everywhere, as long as there's no dogs."

"so, what happened to your gal fren?"

"which one?"

"how many you had?"

"you."

"me only?"

"you r the one i cherish the most."

"then, why you dumped me?"

"no. i did not."

"wowowo..... what r you talking about?"

"i chickened out then."

"you coward!"

"i did not deserve you. then and now."

"sure. you did not. ok.... no point talking all these.... "

"but before you leave, can you show me where i can get some ice kachang around here?"

"that's you - very good at finding ways to satisfy your physical needs yet...... at a lost in pursuing your internal bliss..... sad..."

nanny · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 351 Status: Offline

its only when you know know why you don't know, that's the time you know the truth of the matter is not that formidable.

in the beggining it was simple, just a point, everything was one thing... then separted into a couple of forces, then more forces.... as time went by forces reacted among themselves.... we observe the resultants. time compounded the complications. human knowledge can reach as far as to what happened a split second after the point, but human beings still struggle to get to the point.

like an equation, a fractal equation, with feedback. as the equation loops on(time goes ahead), the result feedbacks to the input.... and all sorts of patterns form along the way.

complication is just the product of time. if we can wind back the clock, the beginning should be a very simple story. like what marathon has always encountered in his joggings.

he would start off from a certain place, any place, no particular plan of where he would start..... say from changi village. the usual way, he would just go for the beach board-walk or to changi beach and heading towards the airport and east coast. but this time he headed into sealand road, where the government chalets were, then out from halton road, where old colonial houses occupied mostly by angmohs clusttered. thru loyang ave, into the industrial estate, then out to jalan loyang besar, somehow ended up in costa sand resort(formerly known as downtown east - ntuc resorts). many people gathered in the resorts; it was family day for the health care group of singapore. but the sky was overcast and thunders were clapping above, so most of the outdoor activities stopped. people patronized the food outlets..... marathon man felt hungry, so he went in the ntuc shop to buy a pack of sobe sugarless soya bean drink, and finished it before he headed home.

everything would have been just another jog if not for him throwing the empty pack into one of the rubbish bins, at the same time being witnessed by a little gal. she said to him, "you should throw the empty pack into this bin. see it's written "for paper" , not into the "other rubbish" bin."

marathon man looked at her, "oh ya. i was too quick."

then an older gal beside the little gal said, "ming, don't talk to stranger."

marathon man said, "this little gal was right, i should have done so. is she your sister?"

"ya. she's sometimes very kaypoh."

"it's alright. she is very green-conscious. are u from the health care group?"

"no. we came to take a walk in the park."

"i also just finished my jogging. you know where i can get a nice ice kachang?"

"here. inside the resorts. i also wanted to have one. come, let me show you."

so they went to have ice kachang.

marathon man ended up with an appoinment with the gal(the big one) to jog in the pasir ris park, the coming week. if things go as what they should, in time to come, it may get complicated.......

nanny · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 351 Status: Offline

big boss' hands are not big, but slender and soft, and the fingers are not long but exquisitely shaped. when he shakes your hand, it gives you a warm and comfy feeling.

they said, such small and soft hands are the hands of big bosses, big people.

marathon man shook his boss' hand, and it felt like cotton wool, like mush-mellow. he was not a big man, and looked studious, half-bald, in his late 40's. and when he spoke, he spoke like a lecturer, girly sometimes when he stumped his foot trying to emphasize a point.

the group had lunch cum presentation in equinox. the view from the 70th floor impressed him. before they tucked in the food, the group took turn to patronize him, identifying buildings in the esplanade, the bay area, shenton way..... the land reclamation projects.... the lightning-struck merlion.....

over the lunch table, each tried their best to impress the boss with the power-point file they brought along. and the boss said, "ok... you must tell me what you and your groups are so proud of what you are doing."

adrian, the purchaing director presented his and emphasized that his groups had many functions and working on a lot of projects.... the boss asked him, "do you have any formal contractual agreement with our subcontractors?"

"no, only nda's and price quotations."

"that's no good. our customers asked us to sign agreements that if our products screw up in the field, we are liable not only to pay up or replace our products but the whole assembly that our product is part of. we should get our vendors to do that also."

"ok. we'll look into it."

desmond, the store and shipping manager presented his group and told him how proud his group was with the amount of work they handled. the boss said, "can we drop ship from our subcons after they finish processing the products, instead of ship them back to our store before we do shipments to our customers?"

"yes. but no, because we have to track the orders into our inventory system. without that, we cannot recognize the revenues."

"ah, just red-tapes. go look into it and see how we can overcome this red-tape."

"oks."

now the last to present was marathon man.

he went thru the printed slides..... but the boss obviously was running out of time, before marathon man could elaborate on points that's hes proud of, he already said, "ok... good...."

but marathon man did not want to take his good as good, he insisted on telling him how good his team was, "my team members work 24, 7, 365 days a year....."

he said, "good."

"though their jobs are not glamourous, but they take pride in what they are doing...."

"good."

"they are the front-line and also the back-line of the company, making sure that products are shipped within leadtime..."

"good."

"......." apparently marathon man lost himself in trying so hard to impress him that he rattled into a nagging mode, which many people no matter how honest and straight they are, are liable to commit when they fall under the aura of a person in high rank, status or power.

now the boss really getting iritated at him, "ok....good.... "

"and.." before marathon man could utter another word, his boss said, "good. enough."

"but boss... i still have not...."

"ok, good. and enough!"

"but..."

"i said, enough!"

so the presentation ended, and the boss left for another engagement. marathon man reflected on his action, and wondered why he had to act like what he did in such a demeaning manner to himself that the boss had to stop him from doing so.

- that's the whorely syndrome..... no matter how unreluctant she may be, when a whore meets up her customer, she has to act like a whore.

nanny · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 351 Status: Offline

for some people, youth is the time for them to be extreme in the way they look at things. they complain about the reality, and some even act to change it. for some, the older they get the more complains they have. like tang liang hong, he acted on his belief and had to endure many sacrifices because of the actions he took to show what he believed in.

marathon man has mellowed down a lot in some of his thinkings, like the way he thot the world needed to be remade. but at the same time, he becomes more obstinate in other aspects.

his present character is the result of all the trials and tribulations he has gone thru in life. when he was younger, he thot he had the power to change the world. but when he got older, he realised the world had changed him, instead. but then he realised being in his poistion he DOES have some power to make something happen. and that's his rights. and when his rights are denied, he gets very upset. and if the one who denies his right is less powerful than him, he would vent his anger on him or her without much reservations.

that's why he is still single, a lonely bachelor...... though he had a few love affairs along the way. eevry time just before he thot that he could get it all sew up with a ring in her finger, her rights came stronger than his, and the thing got blown away.

when two rights clash, something is wrong.

tonite, he's supposed to propose to her.

he got prepared. a diamond ring. a candle light dinner, a bottle of wine.......

then he popped the question, on his knees, "will you marrrrrry me?" still having some kind of funny feelings that he was the one to say that.

she looked perplexed, then she answered him with a question, "r u sure you want to do that?"

"why not?" he could say nothing else, unexpecting her one-kind of question-answer.

"isn't it better to stay the way like what we are now?"

"well, don't you think things should always move forward?"

"no point in chasing something we do not have any inkling where that will lead us to. don't you think so?"

"without trying, how do you know it would fail?"

"why go for the bird in the bush instead the one you have in your hand?"

......

when there's many questions but no answer, you know both parties are trying hard to stand on his/her ground..... and there's only one answer - f u c k it!

nanny · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 351 Status: Offline

fok ying tung aka henry fok, was ever a reticent guy. humble and generous, courageous and determined. but in other aspects he's the richard branson of the east.... he joined the football team at his 50's to actually play professional football in hongkong. at his 70's he dipped himself into a bucket full of ice and water to train his body's resistance. he swang a golf stick to exercise...

he was alleged to make his money in exporting weapons to china during the korean war period, which he denied. he was very much sympathetic to china, since many years ago, and consistently doing so without fail.

marathon man has a fren who goes to hong kong and china to do biz, and he called him up one day.

"you know, people now not mind so much of the mainland china. not like last time.... during fok's times... it really hard when you said you do biz with china."

"got any lubang for me or not?"

"what you want to do?"

"me.... everyday run here run there.... i think i can represent some china shoe company to advertise their shoes, by running across china.... since singapore already run so much already... time to be an expat runner."

"good idea. i have this shoe company who needs a runner like you. but china don't have park connectors, only political connectors.... people like fok, and now his son is a good runner of the politcal connectors."

"sure or not, you say like that?"

"we in this biz so long, know everything. singapore got park connectors, china, political connectors, america, the bail-out connectors, malaysia, bumi connectors, thailand got royal connectors, ...."

"i only know how to run in park connectors."

"that's why singaporeans are losers when they compete in other places."

nanny · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 351 Status: Offline

changi village food centre's water-chestnut drink is the best in singapore. home-made with real stuff. the young man manning the stall was still a student, but would help out his parents after school. he told marathon man to get the hot one.

"but i like the cold one with ice."

"ok, simple, i give you hot one in a cup, then give you ice in another cup. i don't want to dilute the goodness of my drink, afterwartd, you think i'm selling you the cheap stuff. you want to drink cold one, mix it yourself."

"good idea. how much?"

"$1.50."

it was a big cup. marathon man poured it it to the other beer-bug-size cup, with ice..... he did it 4 times before he could finish the whole cup.

"uncle, you want some more ice?"

"enough. don't call me uncle leh. not that old lah."

"i know. but i respect you mah. you don't like respect?"

"ok. call me brother lah."

"no lah.... we chinese respect people by calling him uncle."

"hmmm, since you said that, ok lah."

"only angmoh don't like people call them uncle, auntie...."

"ok.... you are right. many locals like me already kena poisoned by angmoh pie.... also don't like....."

"ya lor. but uncle, you still can accept, some aunties tell me to learn some more england..... think i'm too poor in england. my england got ohhh level one.... no sian one."

"what did you get in your english in ohhh level?"

"i got a2."

"wow, i thot from the way you speak, your english grade, the most is c6."

"don't think i so stupid..... i only talk and sms and chat like ah beng, but i write and oral exam like angmoh, ok?"

"you can change so fast?"

"no problemo.... we young people nowadays, no need to learn dialects, we can have our own style of england, like you have dialects.... who said we are are not using dialects?"