#11

The bakery was merely opposite to the residential area where I live, so I'm already accustomed to passing by it everytime I'm out and back home, but I didn't really make an effort to look at it 'cause I'm constantly sleeping/dazing in the car. Day by day, finally people who're slow on the uptake like me inadvertently noticed that the bakery had closed down, and I thought it was just a renovation.

I was taken aback after being notified about it in an unprepared state, with no mental establishment at all. It shouldn't be. Though....it's expectable. I was then dominated by a profound sadness, when all the sweet and sour memories revived. I'd been working there for more than three months, and all those impressive people who I met there was what made this experience unforgettable and impactful, one which I will cherish genuinely for the rest of my life.

It was my very first time working, during the period when I was waiting for SPM result. I can basically sum up 7 significant people who I deem played the leading roles throughout the 'bakery lyfe's plots.' (K I know it sounds a lil bit dramatic but meh~)

The first one will be the boss of the bakery. He's a charming, attractive and matured middle-aged man who joked around a lot, but he came to the bakery only once in a while. I would say he's kind because he increased my salary despite facing financial pressure, perhaps to encourage me to work harder. (I'm ashamed bc I was the type of person who muddled along when working). He knew how to talk, and that's why chatting with him was fun. 

Second one is boss's wife, tbh her characteristic is so kid-like, observable from all her behaviors and habits. According to the worker, she could sob like a small kid in public after being blamed by boss for doing something wrong. (oh my, she's a mummy of two children :') I was astonished by her sheer trust in me too. I was given the key and had the authority to manage the shop alone on the first day I worked. (damn, I was so scared sial TT) And she didn't even interview me. (perhaps I have the trustworthy face :') Overall, she's a kind person too, but we didn't have much communication.

Third one is aunty Ni, who is proud of having a handsome son who's the same age as I'm. I'd listened tons and various kind of stories about his son, (she talked about it on a daily basis) but err, I hadn't seen him in real life yet HAHA. She's an interesting person, we can chatter discursively on a variety of topics and even play around in a silly way. Doubtlessly, she'd influenced and taught me a lot in terms of interpersonal relations and perchance, philosophies of life. She possesses a great deal of life experience, that she could likely look through someone and gain an insight into one's mind. When we gradually became closer, we got along with each other like mother and daugther. She always treated me meals and helped me a lot. There was once a misunderstanding that occurred, and we kinda like, had a transient cold war, it was a torment to me and I blubbered when we reconciled. (And I was complaining about boss wife crying minutes ago lmao) Before that I even resigned on impulse. (haish I always make decisions without careful consideration)

Furthermore, it'd be Qiang. He was a driver who worked to deliver breads from the main bakery to our shop and other places. He's in his mid-thirties but all I can say about him is that he's....innocent. Since I was still in the midst of learning driving, he'd always be the one who fetches me for work.We've hanged out together a few times, just like buddies, despite the fact that we're quite apart in age. Just like aunty Ni, he'd always belanja me makan and insisted on not taking my money when I wanted to return. Okay the debt of gratitude really guilted me out ugh so I bought him a lot of souvenirs when I travelled to Taiwan. (I'm a good kid!)

Fifth person is Athira. She's a malay girl who was pursuing her studies in an university in Kedah, and worked part-time here whenever she had long sem break holidays. We became intimate very quickly when she could accept me being nutty and joined in on my childishness. We have the good chemistry with each other huehueh. Err disgraceful to say that I'd sit on the trolley that was used to carry cargos and pushed myself manually to go around in the shop when there's no customer. (I didn't know there were CCTVs in the shop.) She drove us to buy food too after our working shift ended. Yes it's all about FOOD here (we could bring breads back home) so I got fatter easily enough. I could feel that she really liked us and cherished every single one of us working here by taking the initiative to join in our conversations though she's the only Malay, and we spoke chinese all the time.

Next, it's Qing who is the same age as I'm. We'd seen each other before during tuition classes but remained as strangers, cuz no chance to talk eh. She's the type of girl with the combination of 女神 and 女神经. She's so slim and good looking that made me sooo envious but the way she laughed ruined all her image tsk tsk tsk. When she started working she told me that she admired boss bc of his maturity but scared of him bc he looked stern. However it turned out that they became bros afterwards due to fate that caused them to become neighbours and hmmmmm, they really hit it off. So basically we gossiped about nanshen and fangirled all the time. Yes, cuz we're just ordinary teenage girls :) 

Lastly, it's Choon. He's a guy who stopped his foundation studies halfway due to personal reason and started working here quite late, thus was the last person who I met here. We had some misunderstanding at the beginning, because his attitude was bad when I chatted with him during the time we still didn't know each other yet. Later on I found out that he's a friendly person so we got along very well too, more like partner in crime huehue. He had a crush on Qing so I kinda like help him to chase her but it didn't last long cuz I stopped working there dy, though I would sneak to the bakery from time to time to lim teh with them.

In brief, I did have a great time working with them as we really had a good relationship with one other. I had never, never, never once regretted working there. I believe that it's fate that brought me to them and I'm extremely grateful. My only wish is that....we could meet again someday. 

And.....I feel so melancholy rn after writing this post. So now I think I can understand why people wish they could turn back time, to the good old days. :'(

虛擬你 *2

孑然一身來到陌生的國度,你總是想嘗試著熟悉這裏的氣息。對於嗅覺異常敏感的人來說,氣息的積累才能拼湊出完整的回憶。

第一天住進這棟歐式建築的老房子時,獨居的房東老太太熱情地拉著你到院子去看看。那裏種滿了各種艷麗的花朵,是她細心打造的小花圃。陽光傾灑,萬紫千紅的小花們沐浴在一片燦爛的金黃,綻放得益發妖嬈奪目。她戴上老花眼鏡,蹲下仔細地為你講解每朵花的名字和花語,你亦步亦趨地尾隨在後,有意無意地俯下身子靠近她,對於她身上獨特的氣味很是眷戀。

你分辨出那是體香,聞著很舒服,究竟是為何你也說不出個所以然來。

最後她緊緊地握起你的雙手,她粗糙的掌心長滿了老繭,觸感有些麻癢。湖藍色的眼睛笑得瞇成一條線,她歡迎你住進來,說你就像那些花一樣,都是她的孩子。你皺眉,伸出手覆上她的額頭,想撫平那些看著礙眼的皺紋,她被你逗樂了,哈哈大笑。

隨後,你用一整個閑適的午後陪她聊天消磨時光。都是她在神采奕奕地嘮叨著以往的故事,你盤腿坐著,把下巴擱在茶幾上,佯裝在聽,實則在聞。她養的那只波斯貓慵懶的趴躺在窗前瞇眼小憩,畫面如斯和諧,頗有歲月靜好之意。

人生若只如初相見。

每天早晨的空氣聞起來很清甜,微風習習吹起了涼意,淡淡地沁著馥郁的花香,還有清爽的青草和泥土佐味。你把空氣采集好裝進空瓶子裏,用馬克筆寫下了第一天的日期。初來乍到,記憶中那是個明媚的盛夏。

看似漫長的日子在這瞬息萬變的世界裏總是過得飛快,縱然每天重復著一樣乏味的調子。轉眼間,你也在這裏定居了快大半年。在季節的更叠中,你迎來了冬天,而聖誕的跫音也即將敲響。

你特別喜歡這裏繁華熱鬧的大街,說是那裏地氣重,仿佛去多了沾了點兒便能增添一些踏實的歸屬感。來到這座城市那麽久,一遍遍地探索著它輪廓下的細節,你早已熟悉了很多曾經相對陌生的瑣事。然,你終究還是覺得自己是個格格不入的外來者,縱使你是那麽地喜愛這個地方。

傍晚時分,夜色漸濃。踩著皚皚白雪,你沿著熟悉的小道步行到了臨近的商業大街。霓虹燈閃爍,四處洋溢著聖誕節慶的氛圍,不遠處還有舞臺表演,搖滾音樂震耳欲聾。

細雪紛飛,你穿梭在川流不息的人海中,悄悄地打量一個個與你擦肩而過的陌生人,看他們成群地邊走邊嬉笑打鬧著、興高采烈地談論著什麽有趣的事,如此恣意飛揚。看著他們這麽開心,你莫名地也被感染了,眼裏盈滿笑意。

隨意地走走看看,你拐進了一家售賣擺飾品的小店鋪。面對琳瑯滿目的飾品,你隨手揀了一頂聖誕帽,和一棵小聖誕樹。付款後,你走出店面,看見對面的路邊有支街頭樂隊,幾位中年洋人大叔在深情地演繹著一首耳熟能詳的英文抒情老歌。雖不至於荒腔走調,但實在不入耳,乃至街上雖人來人往,卻無人有意逗留聆聽。

你湊前去,閉上眼睛認真地聽,耳邊的喧鬧聲仿佛被消了音逐漸遙遠,你輕笑揚起唇角,沈浸在那首歌的回憶裏,寧靜平和。曲畢,回憶抽離,你怔怔地站著,想起那是房東老太太最喜歡哼唱的曲子。回過神來,你才發現幾個樂手都有些錯愕地望著你。你從口袋裏掏出幾張紙幣放進空空如也的盒子裏。走得恍惚,你沒聽見他們連聲道謝。

再次走入要比剛才稍微擁擠的人群中,你有些木然,步伐拖得極慢。偶爾停下駐留,便會被幾個匆匆趕路的行人撞到,耳邊傳來咒罵聲,你便下意識地說對不起,卻淹沒在吵雜的空氣裏,只有自己聽得見。猶如在一群暢遊的魚群中的唯一逆行的小蝦米,你顯得格外狼狽,一路跌跌撞撞地隨著空隙前行。

神遊了好一會,你的神智恢復了些,於是避開熙熙攘攘的人群,繞到街道邊的凳子坐著休息。這麽一坐,便是半小時。你托腮,安靜地發呆,任由一個個黢黑的人影在眼皮下來回交錯。

思緒蕩漾著悠轉,你知道自己僅是在逃避著勿要想起房東老太太。

過了許久,你茫然的眼神終於有了聚焦。你從雪地上拾起一小堆雪放在手掌心上,把臉湊近,感受著冷冽的清香。漫不經心地戳著雪塊,你看著它漸漸融化成一灘水,在光線的折射下晶瑩剔透,從你的手中滑落。此時溫度似乎驟降了些,你不自覺地繞緊脖子上那條厚重的鵝毛圍巾。你擡起頭,方才還在細細碎碎地落下的雪已越來越大。把凍著的手指伸進口袋往裏頭縮了縮,你有些懊惱自己忘了帶手套出來。

終於站了起來,如同慣性一般,你徑自走到了那間再熟悉不過的星巴克,一陣濃郁香醇的咖啡香透過門隙飄散四溢,你深深地吸了一口氣,心滿意足。你想了想,記得自己還存放著幾個相同咖啡香味的瓶子。

推開玻璃門,研磨咖啡豆的聲響回蕩在靜謐的空間裏,夾雜著輕細的談話聲,每每都會讓你感到莫名心安。你走到櫃臺前,像以往一樣點了一杯熱卡布其諾。你小心翼翼地從收銀員手中接過紙杯,溫度散布在肌膚上,指尖頓時暖和許多。對方用美式英語愉快地對你說了聲小心燙,謝謝光臨。聲線低沈而魅惑,夾雜著獨特的磁性,聲調卻蘊著生命力般熱情張揚。並未擡頭,你對著手上的卡布其諾發呆,而實際上卻在專心地聆聽著對方和下一個顧客的對話。你發現自己從未聽過如此娓娓動聽的音色。你像一尊雕像般佇立在一旁許久,直到一位老爺爺抱怨你霸占了排隊的位子,你方才恍然醒覺,害臊地直道歉後匆匆離開。

撲面而來的一陣寒風凍得你直打哆嗦。你趕緊啜了一口熱氣氤氳的卡布其諾,溫熱的液體順著食道流進胃裏,頓時有了暖意,微苦微甜的咖啡味在舌頭上擴散,唇齒余香。你呼出一口氣,一縷縷咖啡味的白煙飄了出來。這時你才想起自己並沒有看見那位收銀員的樣貌。你淺淡一笑,也罷,如此撩人的聲線聽過一次足矣,不好沈溺,再聽一次的話說不定便要傾心了。

你突然覺得好像有什麽不太對勁。疑惑地蹲了下來,你努力地想哪裏出問題了。你不經意地舔了舔嘴唇,這是什麽味道?你突然仿佛明白了什麽。接著,你又想起了那把低啞的性感嗓音。你把雜亂的思緒捋清,被從腦海裏冒出來的結論給下了一大跳。

你還是不太確定,又喝了一口卡布其諾。這回你確確實實地感受到了它的味道。那是一種參雜著苦澀和甜膩的微妙滋味,你感覺到自己的味蕾在雀躍地跳舞,意猶未盡。如此驚喜交加,你卻只是站了起來,再次走進星巴克。

你想,你終於對味道和聲音有感了。你不再是一個嗅覺靈敏,但是其他感官無感的怪物了。


To be continued.

后记:老夫真的好久沒有寫中文的文章了啊。這次終於順利催生(看到寶寶的頭了這個做娘親的有點沾沾自喜),我才發現原來我是真的喜歡寫東西呢~只是技不如人,尚須多多學習。原本只是想寫一些隨性的小短文,可是沒想到寫著修著改著竟然成了小說……只是我的小說,一般上的癥狀都是難產,要不然就是胎死腹中。希望這次可以……

算了啦你,後面的情節根本都還沒腦補好就要在這說大話。通常說大話的人的下場就是絕育!!!!(精分彪悍來襲 (嚇得快點手動滾開

#10

TADAAAAA *time flies* It's been roughly 4 months since my form 6 pre-U life started officially. 

Before that, I'd made a quite daring decision to choose an unfamiliar far-off school with a totally new environment. And what it has costed me is that I gotta drive to school everyday for more than 20 mins. (ugh the traffic at downtown is always awfully backed up *roll eyes*) Frankly speaking, this abrupt idea of 'changing school' has kinda like forced me to step out of my comfort zone. 

So far everything that happens here is great and smooth. I've met numerous new friends who're very kindhearted, and also surprisingly quite a number of my old buddies who I thought we're never seeing again, and yet we become so close now. Yes this is fate! *insert song see you again*

I've been allocated to a so-called good class, and my classmates are really interesting and amusing. (more like playfully childish) Classes especially maths T have never been a moment dull and boring due to the lame jokes our humorous class teacher make, *coughs* and they're getting more YELLOWISH. Well but first we'll have to understand the metaphor xD So my classmates really have the liveliness, like what? playing badminton every friday, going for horror movie after exam, and there're more crazy upcoming plannings.

There are also some remarkable interludes( not the good type) that happened, which is...... I broke the school rules. *facepalm* K I always know that I have the concealed personality of being audacious. Firstly, I dyed my hair brown. Ouh and someone called me a blonde. WHAAAAAT? (but i like it yay) k this is not the point. So, the prefects kept kaopeh-ing(sorry) here n there by asking for my signature. (HAHAHA my name) [it lasted for 3 months] *i have too many fans* So many of my friends asked why I didnt wanna dye back my hair in spite of the uncountable warnings, and my thought was: Why didnt they catch the upper sixers?! there r so many of them with fashionable dyed and curled hair. Hence i felt like this is so unfair and I wanna protest. (Ikr so ridiculous)

Lastly I was sent to the discipline teacher. This teacher hor is really irascibly NEUROTIC (is this appropriate?) lah weyh. U know lah, what will an audacious person do upon meeting an unreasonable and irascible teacher? Definitely......confront. So I argue with her, talk back like a boss in front of all the students. (OMFG I  LITERALLY FELT LIKE BANGING THE WALL AFTERWARDS) then i sobbed in front of her, feeling wronged. WTS WHY SO DRAMA I KENNOT TAHAN. ok la so finally my good angelic disposition arose and I apologized to her and she forgave me and i dyed back my hair color and CASE CLOSED. *curtain falls*
Conclusion: I should've used a black color temporary hair dye at the beginning. Its cheap. Stupid!!!!! nola just kidding. It's my fault, my attitude has some problem, I promise to not repeat it anymore. 

And there's another one I skipped the weekly assembly.
^typical bad student authenticated
Okay why? Because I wanted to finish my homework in the classroom. And the assembly is so damn boring, and we've to stand for 40 friggin mins!!!! Hell yeah we CANT SIT. I'd done everything carefully so to ensure the prefects wouldnt find me. But i guess they possess magical power or something, I was caught. At first i thought it aint a severe matter, at most record my name only, but i underestimate them. So on the next day, the discipline head teacher(which is also my PA teacher) announced my fault during the kuad and the punishment was to sit at the kuad until 9am ALONE. SO SIASUI LEH. If there were many of us it wouldnt've been so embarrassing. Fortunately my teacher didn't bear a grudge against me otherwise my future betul betul jialat liao lah. 

So these two incidents have caused my lower sixers life to be much more 'interesting' and I've been labelled as the rebellious student ayeee. Nevermind, by degrees I will work on bleaching(lol) my reputation(err has it even existed?)

But this is not the end yet. Guess what? I applied to become a school prefect and I passed the interview and become a probate prefect, this is so sarcastic leh lmao. Guess what? the discipline head teacher was also one of the interviewee. The senior prefects were the ones who caught me. I'll continue on this another time.

Though, nuh I don't think I will cuz I'm a freaking lazy ass who only writes when I've a good mood. And........I've terrible moods all the while :'(