A Cookie's Life

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Saturday, June 02, 2007

A 45-minute Liquid Paper Hunt And Quirky Discoveries

Just yesterday, I was out of home on a walk to hunt for liquid paper. Somehow, for the past I-can't-exactly-remember-how-many-but-it's-many-enough years, liquid paper would not be found when I needed it the most. And as such, I decided to take a loooong walk (erm, this is also a start in preparation for my IPPT which is coming) out of home just to get it. This was how it roughly started:

Glass Cookie (GC): Do you have liquid paper?

GC's sis: Oh, I brought to the office already.

GC: Huh? OK, I'm going out to get it.

GC's sis (curious, and seemingly knowing something that GC doesn't): Eh kor, where are you going to get it huh?

GC (in a matter-of-factly manner): Anchorpoint la. Evergreen bookshop.

GC's sis (with that looks that portrays, "You've gotta be kidding me"): Huh? That bookshop closed for more than 6 months already leh.

GC (obviously shocked): WHAT???!!!

GC's thoughts: Man, that goes to show how often I've shopped around my area. This is bad bad bad bad bad...

GC's sis: Queensway also don't have. Maybe you want to try alexandra village.

[And not too long later, GC makes his way out of the house]


And so, I did the following trail in my liquid paper hunt:

1) Walked from my home to anchorpoint to find it, but none was found (you see, denial is one particular stage that is quite hard to snap out of, when you're shocked initially. And since it's along the way to where the suggested destination is, why not?).

2) Proceeded next to queensway shopping centre but no stationary shop was found there, sadly (erm, well... since queensway shopping centre is quite near to anchorpoint, and along the way, and the time taken to walk to there from anchorpoint isn't exactly sufficient for one to snap out of denial yet...).

3) Walked from queensway shopping centre to across the road where alexandra village is, with all the HDB shops and all. But the thing was, most of them were closed.

4) Walked around the estate area around alexandra village and got the same results.

5) Walked from there (ie. alexandra village) to dawson place (erm, that's like some 1.25 km based on my estimation) but all the shops that claimed that they sold essential products based on the sign boards they erected on their walls did not sell liquid paper. Hmmm, perhaps light bulbs and well... products from renowned companies like P&G are more essential than liquid paper.

6) Headed back to the minimart just behind my place since I suddenly realised/recalled/whatever-you-call-it its existence. OK, this may sound strange, but I somehow hoped that I wouldn't find it at the minimart just at the back of my home although I've been hunting for it, because... after walking for over 30 minutes all over the place only to find it just beside my home seemed like a joke. And I didn't feel like I wanted to be in that joke. Oh well, the good and bad news is that I didn't find liquid paper there. Come to think about it, even if I found it, it's also good and bad news (ie. I'd achieve my objective and end up looking like I did something silly travelling the whole of my area). Oh well, anyway... off to the next point...

7) Recalling that there is one particular shop around the area behind my estate that sells misc items, I went around that area to hunt for it. And to my delight finally I found my liquid paper there. Erm, actually, the delight was not because I was so yearning to find liquid paper and finally found it. You see, after walking to about 5 to 6 places and not finding anything, I've kind of given up hope in finding it. Rather, it was because I found it a considerable distance from home after all the walking, and that would somehow seem less of a joke as stated in point 6.

Oh well, it's getting late, so I'd better end for now. Well, as for the quirky discoveries, I guess I'll blog about them another day since ending the post now or continuing from here doesn't make much of a difference with regards to those discoveries.

Thought: If anyone's life depended on a bottle of liquid paper in alexandra road, he's/she's probably a goner if he/she didn't have 45 minutes to look for it.

posted by Glass Cookie @ 12:01 AM 



2 Comments:

Blogger arwee said...

7-11

have u forgotten about it..
hmm...

10:44 AM  
Blogger Glass Cookie said...

Haha, it wasn't there. Or perhaps I couldn't find it there. I can't really remember the details =)

12:44 PM  

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List Of My All-Time Big Stunts In M&D

30 Jul 2006 - When Silence Is Golden 2
It's funny how history repeats itself in a different form. This time, I minimised the volume of the keyboard to zero to try out a new song "I believe in miracles". And for yet (again, miraculously, ironically) another bizarre reason that I know not of, I actually turned the volume up WITHOUT knowing - and CONTINUED practising. Somehow the amplifiers were turned off by the sound guys (probably a safety measure against stuntmen like me?) until they could finally silence it no more and suddenly, out of the nowhere (oh, sorry, that would be the keyboard) came a loud note that penetrated the silence. I jerked in shock (very obviously). And yes, once again it's during the announcement time when silence is definitely golden.



04 Jun 2006 - Time and Congregation Waits For No Man
It was another faithful day in church, playing the keyboard for morning service, 9 and 11 a.m. After the 2nd service praise & worship session, it so happened that no one else could make it for the closing song. Well, since I was pretty free, I was asked to play it. So, I went down, charted out the chords, practised the piece in the tabernacle. On my way up the stairs, the first thought in my mind was: "Hey, it's so crowded. I need to get up the stairs. Now, how do I queeeeeze my way through?". The second thought in my mind was: "Hey, why is there a crowd coming down at this time? ... ... ... NOOOOOO!!!!!!" Man, time passes fast when you're practising the piano in church, and painstakingly slowly when it comes to exam pieces.



[No date] When Silence Is Golden
It was during the announcement, when pastor was giving out announcements before the offering song. Silence was observed as the pastor spoke. I retracted my hand from the score folder beyond the keyboard. For some amazing reason, my hand retraction path headed for the keys of the keyboard. And since the word 'fast' to describe the retraction rate was an understatement (for yet another reason I know not of)... you know the rest of the story.



[No Date] When Silence Is... Anything But Golden
Hmmm... once the amplifier on my side was switched off for some reason during praise & worship. And for some other reason that I know not of, I thought that the keyboard sound couldn't be heard. So, I tried pressing some keys. Didn't hear anything - drums were too loud. I proceeded to bang some keys repeatedly until... hmmm... I thought I heard something. Oh oh... ONLY my amplifier was turned off. (Note: Instrument: Brass sect 1, volume - max.)




List Of Other Small Stunts/Experiences In M&D

Fastest Fingers First
As a keyboardist, one usually comes into contact with different instruments within the same piece. It usually varies from strings, brass, violin to organ sounds. The funny thing is that sometimes, it is possible that your mind suddenly goes blank, and when the next instrument is required, I go "Oh no, what's the number combination for brass???!!! Wait wait wait wait...". And as usual, time and tide waits for no man. No. More accurately, a drummer waits for no number-fumbling keyboardist. Yea, that's the description man. Solution (ok, this is not a solution but an undesired consequence): Play a brass part with strings, or an organ part with brass, or none at all.



Cold Fingers
Usually, the atmosphere in the sanctuary is very cold to me. Sometimes, the atmosphere in the sanctuary is deep-freeze cold. Under cold or colder conditions, the fingers may or will harden and lose its dexterity. Then again, stuff could still be played, however stiff the fingers may be (with diminishing quality). Solution? Rub them while resting, or else, take off one playing hand and rub it vigorously without catching too much attention. I mean, what else can i do? I remove both hands when I need them ON they keyboard!!! Oh, I missed out that hand-clapping would be a sure kill to whatever heat you may have desperately tried to generate.



Record Breaker
Well, each week CD-RWs and envelopes used to contain the scores passed to musicians would be recycled. They are returned back to the musician's basket in the metal cabinet so that they can be used again. Of course, each time a person would return his/her envelope and CD used the previous week. Well, just somewhere in the 3rd week of June 2006 I returned a record holding of (prehaps of all-time in Lighthouse Evangelism's 16 years of establishment) of 9 envelopes with 3 missing somewhere at home. Oh well, you can't really blame me cause for the first time in my life, I saw the word "envelope" in the sms reminder about recycling. Or at least I would like to think so, about my first time noticing that word (fingers crossed).



Stubborn Pedal
Do you have any idea what it is like to have a pedal refusing to budge when moved with your feet, only to exceed its ideal position when you decide to set your adjusting strength to "brutal level". At that kind of rate, it just never gets to the position that you want it to be. Last resort: Bend down and move it with your hand just before the drummer starts his 4-beat intro to the next song.



Moving Pedal
Amazingly, although the pedal refuses to budge when you want it to, somehow it also refuses to stay in the spot when you want it to. And the more you pedal, the further it gets away from you no matter how you position your foot. And in extreme cases you may find yourself almost starting to slouch or slip from your seat, not that the keyboardist seat is any immobile than the pedal to begin with. Solution: Try to kick it back (this is the time when the above experience suddenly comes in again). Just what's with the pedal, I wonder?



Confession...
Take a look at the following score:

=)

Well, since strings sound somewhat soft, and somewhat muffled such that demisemiquavers are not to distinct, and considering it does take up time and there are 5 other pieces to go, and considering this is but 2 bars in a 100 bar piece, and considering blah blah blah... sometimes I play just a note. (OK, most of the time, happy?) Hey, I'm not the only keyboardist around guilty right? Someone tell me I'm not the only one... pleeeese....



Lame Invention List + Misc

Inventions
- Metal-coated tea bag to help with the sinking (Edmund Lum)

- Sound-powered telephone (Edmund Lum)

- Sound-powered telephone (Edmund Lum)

- Plug-in phones for plugging into a payphone to call - unable to recieve call. However, 10 cents will still be needed and you pay your monthly phone bills as usual (Edmund Lum)

- A clean dirt-free rubbish chute (Edmund Lum)

- A touchpad keyboard similar to the touchpad on a laptop, with letters on it (Edmund Lum)

- USB-portable touchpad (Edmund Lum)

- A square CD for better storage (Edmund Lum)

- Battery-powered book (Edmund Lum)

- Disposable dustbins (Edmund Lum)

- A "short circuit" switch that help save electricity when there is nobody at home (Edmund Lum)

- A white/black highlighter (Edmund Lum)

- Safety deposit box made of pure diamond for hardness. It is transparent to allow better visual of objects within it (Edmund Lum)

- An optic mouse combined with a decorated ball placed inside like an old-school mouse to allow any surface usage (Edmund Lum)

- DIY handphone to cut cost (Edmund Lum)

- A plastic knife - no rusting and it is lighter (Edmund Lum)

- Quick dry glue, only 0.2 sec of dry time (Edmund Lum)

- Doorless toliet for faster access (Edmund Lum)

- A pen with wider pen hole to prevent that all-time infamous ink jam (Edmund Lum)

- A 5-mm thick paper to prevent paper cut (Edmund Lum)

- Water-proof toilet paper to prevent wetting the entire roll when dropped on a wet floor, or easy breakage (Edmund Lum)

- A thermal panel powered heater (Edmund Lum)

- A faq list for patients who do not want to reply to any visitors (Edmund Lum & Glass Cookie)

- A deodorant that puts people off (Mustard seed)

- An umbrella with a wire connection (to attract lightning) that's earthed (Edmund Lum)

- An earthquake detector that sounds when there's an earthquake (Edmund Lum)

- A water sensor at the shoreline to detect an approaching tsunami (Edmund Lum)

- A energy-saving fridge that switches itself on via a smell senser specially for detecting certain rotting smells (Edmund Lum)

- A fire extinguishing bomb that creates a huge area of vacuum (sounds familiar?) so as to deprive the fire of oxygen (Edmund Lum)

- A solar powered torchlight

- A power-saving exit sign that lights up only when someone is around (Gabriel Goh)

- A self-locking door that locks itself when no one's around and unlocks itself when someone's near (Edmund Lum)

- Pencil lead harder than steel to improve on its fragility (Edmund Lum)

- A water-proof teabag to prevent breakage over long periods of soaking (Edmund Lum)

- A manual powered air conditioner (Glass Cookie)

- A water-sensitive sprinkler (Edmund Lum)

- A auto retractable roof via light and water sensors, hidden in the wall for protection (Edmund Lum)

- An anti-burglary system with the switch and sensor in the same room (Edmund Lum)

- A wooden barbecue pit (Glass Cookie and Edmund Chen)

- An acrylic oil rig and drill bit to save $$$ (Glass Cookie and Edmund Chen)

- A windows based DOS command prompt program (Glass Cookie)

- A wired handphone (Jackson Lum)


Misc
- A birthday breakfast celebration (Glass Cookie and Jackson Lum)

- A domesticated grizzily bear (Glass Cookie, inspired by Amanda Low)