How the day moved on:
Port Royale:
The morning started a simple breakfast of instant mee goreng and a glass of grape juice, followed by a gaming session on a computer game known as Port Royale. The game is about developing towns' economies, trading commodities, moving settlers, fighting famous pirates, fulfilling governors' quests, retrieving a long-lost sister and just when I thought that was already a long list, the game threw a surprisingly difficult quest again - rescuing my in-game wife from a pirate abduction.
This new quest is considerably more difficult because the pirate captain requested for a ransom of $900,000 from me. That is a huge sum of in-game money because I usually only make around $100,000 a week, which means a horrific surrender of nine in-game weeks of gameplay (translated approximately into 4 days of real-time game-play). The other option is to spend $90,000 on an in-game intelligence agent and pinpoint the location of the pirate's hideout and rescue my in-game wife in the less diplomatic way - cannons and rifles blazing. However, there is another problem, the pirate captain is no pushover small-time bucanneer - he has at least nine galleons and nearly a thousand pirates in his fleet. Galleons are easily one of the most powerful ships in the game and it takes a lot of time to recruit one thousand sailors (considering that each port only provides around fifty sailors for hire per week) and even more money to upkeep the salaries of the sailors.
I have decided the course of action, the guns blazing one. Why? Because paying the ransom will only make that pirate captain richer & more powerful and it does not guarantee that he will not try the same trick again anytime in the future. Though it will take me a long time to prepare the ships and sailors for the naval firefight ahead, I am determined to save my in-game wife because she looks quite alike to a real-life person who gave me the computer game as a gift in the first place. Call me bloodthirsty if you want to, but regardless of the costs (probably a number of ships and hundreds of sailor casualties), I am bent on sending that nasty pirate into Davy Jones locker and rescuing my in-game wife. I simply enjoy the challenge provided by a good game.
Pastamania Treat:
Lunch was at Pastamania because I wanted to give my parents a lunch treat. I usually work late and thus I make use of this period of rest days to be nice to them. Both of them are already so old but they were nevertheless very happy to know of the treat this morning and took time to dress up for the occasion. We had three plates of spaghetti (all different flavors) and my dad ordered a huge glass of Italian soda and my mom happily tucked into her chocolate mousse. It was not the best lunch treat in the neighbourhood but I suppose they looked happy enough. I wanted to order more for them but they simply refused, patting their stomachs contentedly.
What is a simple pleasure? Perhaps a lunch treat will do. The thought of my parents' mortality crossed my mind again. With age catching up, there may be fewer and fewer time left to make them contented or happy. I can only do what I am able to and hope that can at least repay a tiny fraction of my eternal debt to them - for bringing me up. It was a good lunch with my parents.
Same Gym, Different Feel:
Today's gym session was more unusual because I usually go to the gym in the mornings and even though it was the same old gym, the atmosphere exuded this afternoon was one of calmness and quietude because the radio was not blaring with the usual morning FM 98.7 music but was gently playing retro songs from FM 90.8. The gym crowd this afternoon was considerably different and much quieter than the morning one - almost nobody spoke and everyone was merely soaking the music and quietly doing whatever training they were at. Even the usual morning jokes, laughter and grunts of effort at heaving the weights were missing in the afternoon gym crowd. I was not uncomfortable but more amazed at how the same familiar place could have such a different feel altogether in a different time of the day. To make sure I can happily harmonize with the afternoon group of gym-goers, I kept my silence throughout and finished my weight-lifting session in an hour's time.
Translation For Teresa Tseng Fanclub:
Today, I did a translation of an I-weekly magazine article on Teresa Tseng and the Idol Drama for the fanclub because I realized that some of her supporters may not be that conversant in Mandarin to understand the article's content. Why am I doing this? Aren't I over-aged for joining a fanclub and supporting a young singer who is at least two generations younger than I am? The reason - she makes a lot of genuine effort to better her singing and she has the potential to become a great iconic singer if she wants to be. For me, Teresa is indeed a true gem in singing. Don't take my word for it - go watch her performances and decide for yourself.
Most of the supporters of Teresa are actually very nice people, spanning several age groups and I think doing them a little favour is not that difficult for me. I hope Teresa can truly understand how deep the support goes behind her and realizes the power within her hands (and voice) to change many things for the better. The supporters I got to know over the few months may not be the most vocal or visible, but they know their reasons for supporting the girl and they truly believe in her. That is a rarity amongst the local music and entertainment scene.
In a nutshell at the end:
Ah....a simple day. Sometimes, it is such a luxury.
Happiness is when what you think, what you
say, and what you do are in harmony.
By:Mahatma Gandhi Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)
(Picture source: ycon108, 16 Jun 2006, Flickr)
(Quote source: http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/31095.html)
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