Oceanshaft

Ok, I've been tagged by Takchek. Actually, I don't usually bother to do memes and such, but I was quite interested in the idea brought up by Mr Brown. Furthermore, Takchek has already told us some random facts about his past, so why not.

Here goes:

• I am a Christian.
• I am Cantonese in almost all respects but technically (ie. paternal lineage) am not. As I am a stickler for details, this results in an overly long answer for people who ask. I have learned to get by with "mostly Cantonese".
• As a result of certain government policies back then, my parents could not use their CPF to pay for a HDB flat. My family has never stayed in a HDB flat ever since.
• We proceeded to live in a HUDC flat, a smaller HUDC flat, a terrace house, a rented bungalow and a condominium - in that order.
• I still feel slightly upset when people think my family is rich because we never stayed in a HDB flat.
• I have only stayed in the west side, and almost entirely in Bukit Timah. I refer to the area around Bukit Timah Plaza and Beauty World as Seven Miles.
• I feel left out when people talk about Bedok, Katong and Serangoon and expect me to know those areas inside-out, then look at me strangely when I refer to "Seven Miles".
• I remember seeing old Chinese graves along Bukit Timah Road. They disappeared over the years. I also watched as Yeo Hiap Seng and other factories became condominiums.
• I am a bus person. I remember the old bus tickets - green, purple, pink, with columns of numbers on them. I prefer TIBS to SBS. I was upset when the number of services plying the bus stop I use dropped from 9 and continued to drop. I like to stand in the open space on the left side of TIBS buses, right under the air-conditioning vents. Sometimes I do this even when the bus is empty.
• I did not feel particularly nostalgic for the old National Library because my favourite is Queenstown, with the old carpark and birdshops opposite. Bus number 5 used to go there.
• I was in the GEP but never say so in conversation unless asked directly. The same applies for being a PSC scholar.
• I went to Ghim Moh JC. It was old and rundown and you reached the back gate from a HDB void deck. I remember the barley water and lemon tea sold in the canteen, as well as the laksa sold only once a week.
• I was a private during NS but was promoted to lance-corporal just after I disrupted. I don't feel like a lance-corporal even though letters from Mindef are addressed as such.
• I never really liked Old Chiang Kee, my favourite curry puffs were from Queen's Confectionary in Hillview, next to the aquarium shop. Hillview HDB estate is a ghost town now - everyone has moved out because it is slated for destruction.
• I like the carrot cake at Seven Miles. I also remember the hawker that ran around serving customers barefoot. Also like the mutton soup at Beauty World. I feel like a minority because I don't know the good stalls at Bedok, Serangoon Gardens or Tiong Bahru.
• I live near an electoral boundary, which changes often. I have never gotten the chance to vote.
• When back in Singapore on holiday, I once bumped into three people I knew from school at Takashimaya on the same day, all by chance.
• Compared to when I was a child, I think the proportion of common mynahs (brown and black colouration) to the ones that are fully black (crested mynahs) has dropped in Singapore. It bothers me.

I have lots more to say, but sometimes old people ramble too much.

I await Takchek's full posting, but I won't hold my breath. :)