Rain, rain, go away. Little children wana play.
I don't have my sister Amy's elephant's memory. I couldn't remember anything about my baby time like the way she could.
My mum remembered that I was a cry baby for 100 days. It was hell for her for the long 100 days. The nurse got so scare of my "influential leadership and loudness in crying" at the hospital that they left me at the corridor. My mum actually heard my crying and took me to her bedside! ~~touching~~
When I was a toddler, we planted carrots and some vegetables at the garden. There was a cow that always come into our garden and stole the crops. My mum was so worried as I actually took a cane and chased the cow!
Looking back at my childhood, I am very grateful that I have great parents - Mum and Dad that really dote on me and always give me the best regardless of the circumstances. The time and effort in grooming me, teaching me (to read since 1 years old), taking me out to park to feed the fish and exposing me to competition (since 4 years old - jig-saw & drawing).
I remember in one of the competition that I took part; I actually completed my puzzle first. However, there was a "kelong", the judge purposely dropped my piece and I have to re-assemble again. He dropped it again. I did it again. At last, I only got a consolation prize. It was then I learned - not all competitions are on level ground, you still need to face odds and trials. The important thing is never give up a match regardless of the referee or judge. That being said, that was the last competition that I ever took part for the jig-saw puzzle. Today, the prize still sits among my trophies - a sober reminder that the world is not all fair - a lesson learned when I was just 6 years old.
Most kids grow up in the world of fantasy and cartoons - I am no exception. I can still remember many great cartoons and comics, most importantly, toys from my era. It is a pleasure to see a lot of toys or cartoons from our generation are making a comeback. It just makes me feel young again and it certainly brings back tons of good memories.
The top of the list of cartoons includes Transformers, Go-bots, He-Man, Thundercats, Silverhawks, Smuffs, Superman, Batman, Visionaries, Carebears, G.I.Joes, Masks, Gummy Bears, Dungeons & Dragons, Macross, Doeramon and many mores. Some taught about bravery, righteousness, truth and even friendship.
For comics, the ever favourite for kids then were Doeramon, LaoFuZhi, Garfield and Snoopy. I still remember picking it up near to the store and reading it during my visit to the barber shop. I am still an avid fan of comics even till this day. However, now my favorite type of comics are the WuXia or martial art kind of comics such as TianLongBaBu, SheDiaoYingXiongZhuan, ShenDiaoXiaoLu, YuTianTuLongJi, LuDingJi, JueDaiShuangJiao, YingXiongWuLei and BaoQingTian. I also collected Slamdunk, I"s, DNA, DianYingShaoNu among others.
My favorite toys were Lego and robot action figures (Transformers, Gobots, Macross and etc). I strongly believe toys can really fire up one's imagination and creativity. (Excuses, excuses.... ;p) My dad actually made a pact with me when I was young. I need to be in the top three of the class before I can buy a "BIG & EXPENSIVE TOY", that prompted me to study really hard. You see - temptation can be a good thing in this case.. hahaha. Not good for his pocket though. ;p Much later in my teens that I start to understand his rational and appreciate the fact he actually save up the money for the toy just to keep me happy and keen to study hard.
My fat and cute little sis, Amy is another gift from God that I am very thankful for when she came along in 1986. She is mean and always has the sibling rivalry since baby. I can still remember she stole my durian cake that was meant for me when she was a toddler, and she even broke my favorite toy - Macross robot! Nevertheless, she was more important, so she was let off lightly... But it gave me a perspective of how a brother should sayang a sister - just like how God love us unconditionally even we had sinned.
She is now growing up and finding me a nuisance, hahaha, but I hope she will find her meaning in life is more than sleeping, shooting (archery and air pistol) and chatting online (icq and msn). Hopefully, she will not put a "No Howard" sign at her door too.
Cheers Fat Sis!
Howard - That's Me
Growing Up
Playtime
Nerdy Primary Schools
Havoc Secondary School (BMSS)!
Saints Family (SAJC)
Army Daze (NS)
Stressful University Days (NTU)
Memoirs of an Officer (SJAB)
