* Dedicated to Mitsuo-san (Mi-chan) Yousuke-san (You-chan), Kazuhiro san and Sayuka san.
What a day. It was quite gay actually, having spent more than 24hrs with Mi-chan! The night before, on the 28th of July, we were in JB with Yayoi-san. She needed to leave Singapore due to some visa issues.
Let's cut a long story short shall we? Before heading back to Singapore the next day, Mi-chan wanted to buy some durians, however, we ended up buying durians and mangosteens, the king and queen of fruits! Now my car reeks of durians, arghh! But nice perfume for the car though.
Anyway, having done that, we crossed the border, and i sent Yayoi san home first. Mi-chan was late for the SSA Student Peace lecture @ SMU, while i decided to tag along at the last minute. We went to his place so that he could have a change of clothes.
Very seldom, at least for me, you see Japanese people enjoying durians! At his place, we had some of the Malaysian durian, and kept the rest for later that night.
"Where're my shoes!" exclaimed Mi-chan, as we stepped out of the apartment after consuming the durians.
"It's most probably stolen," i said.
"Takke san's shoes were stolen here as well," said Mi-chan as he scurried about the house looking for his shoes in disbelief.
"There must be a 'dai-fan' stalking you guys," i concluded once Mi-chan gave up the search and started wearing his posh looking leather shoes instead.
"Do they match my outfit?" He asked.
"Yeah, but they definitely don't match the ankle socks. You'll expose too much of your leg hairs!" I replied.
"Anyway, we're late. Let's hurry up!" And off we went to SMU.
Come to think of it, it was the first time i've seen Mi-chan wearing a long sleeve shirt! Way to go Mi-chan!
@SMU
The lecturer, prof. Radhakrishnan, was a very inspiring person. From the bottom of my heart, i could totally sense his drive and passion for non-violence. However, during the initial part of his lecture, i couldn't help but notice his very interesting accent! I was busy controlling my laughter!
Sitting beside me were Mi-chan and You-chan. Listening very 'intently' to the lecture was You-chan as shown in the picture below snapped by Mi-chan...
Apart from listening, he tried to digest what the prof was saying by 'meditating.'
Guess what, You-chan loves durians too! So later on, during dinner with other Soka University exchange students, Mi-chan and i formed a durian club called 'Durian-kra.' We would hereby like to invite potential members to submit your application!
To become a full-fledged member, you must fulfill the following criteria:
1) Have eaten a durian before. Love it's smell, aroma and taste, and must not say that they smell like 'garbage.'
2) Pick durians at one of the many forests in Singapore, excluding durian plantations in Malaysia, during the durian season.
So, only 2 pre-requisites are needed! If you complete only one of the following, you'll be admitted into the club as a 'half-member.' It's really that simple, so come and join, sign up today! Don't shy leh...
@ Kazuhiro san's apartment
Mi-chan actually rents a room from Kazuhiro san, so the apartment really belongs to Kazuhiro san.
After dinner, You-chan, Mi-chan and i decided to head back to Mi-chan's place to enjoy durians, beer and mangosteens. We heard that eating durians and drinking alcohol at the same time could lead to death. But what the hell, we didn't care, at least we'll die happy!
It was indeed an enjoyable evening. We laughed till, well, the cows almost came home. We had to keep our volume to a minimum though, as the landlord was fast asleep.
While gulping down my favourite Elephant beer, suddenly, there was a creaking sound at the door. I choked on my beer. Was it really the cows? Oh, It was Sayuka-san. She just arrived home from a wonderful karaoke session with her friends.
"Do you smell garbage?" I asked her. Sayuka-san once commented that durians smelt like garbage, and it really broke my heart.
"Nope," she replied, "i don't smell......AHH!!" She screamed, when she realised what i was talking about.
"Shhhhh!!" the 3 of us went.
"No you didn't!" She said as she entered the house while pinching her nose.
We invited her to join us anyway, and while she totally detested durians, we encouraged her to try the mangosteens. She didn't say much about the taste of mangosteens except that it was sweet.
"Whew!" i remarked. "Good thing you could make friends with the queen of fruits!" i said to much fanfare.
Once Sayuka-san retired to her bedroom, the 3 of us continued our ranting, jokes and laughter. We also decided to have a few more beers.
I've never laughed so hard in my entire life before! I even broke into a sweat from all the laughing! Good exercise i must say. Great for building abs.
The jokes were just constantly flowing non-stop. We even found You-chan a friend who looks alot like him, albeit when their eyes are closed.
Ah well, all good things must come to an end. It was already 2am, and i was drenched in sweat. You-chan and I had to go home.
You-chan excused himself and went to the loo, while i was laying on the floor, stoning and at the same time, trying to catch my breath.
Then something on the sofa caught my eye. It looked weird. I thought it was the devil! It looked like it had 2 heads! Upon closer inspection, it was Mi-chan. He was also stoning, and dozing off. Poor thing. Having spent more than 24hrs with me is no mean feat. He must be dead tired, that's why he's falling asleep.
Or is it? Hang on, is he trying to bond with You-chan's friend as well??
"Ok let's go," said You-chan,
"Oyasumi Mi-chan!" I said as You-chan and I exited the apartment.
"See you at Marina Bay tomorrow!" replied Mi-chan.
Yup, Mi-chan and I are also NDP participants. You guys can catch him tonight at Marina Bay and ask for his autograph!
Oh what a night!
To conclude in typical rigid SSA style, here is Sensei's guidance:
"People who come to your aid in a time of personal crisis are people of genuine compassion and courage. More often than not, people will try to act as though nothing is wrong. Others are afraid or refuse to get involved and quietly drift away."
-Courtesy of http://www.ikedaquotes.org
See you guys later!
