A week has passed since I last wrote. Such a pity. I have much to write about and yet there's no time. It's been a rather crazy week at work, and I expect more of such to come.. Sigh. And it doesn't help that there's this growing suspicion that my computer at home is slowly reaching the end of its life. It seems to be huffing and puffing to load even simple pages... Bad bad sign.... Come to think of it, it has served me ... relatively well. It's almost as old as the time that I've spent here in this part of the world. Some of the components, at least.

Received a package today that put smiles on my face. A fellow cheeregoer has been kind enough to get me a copy of Cheer's latest single "After 17" in HK. Was pleasantly surprised to find that she's put some journal entries from when she was 17. Rather unique.



Someone has translated the lyrics:

After 17 (English Translation) – released on 31/12/2004

Step by step I walked past my yesterday’s childishness
My childishness gave me courage
Everyday and everyday new toys are being sold via the tv
My toy is my secret
From that day onwards
I have made a decision
Not to accept anyone’s invitation easily
From that day onwards
Listen to my reasoning
When I am after 17

Step by step I walked past my yesterday’s childishness
Childishness protect my body
Everyday and everyday new toys are being sold via the tv
My toy is myself
From that day onwards
I have made a decision
From that day onwards
Not to be mindful of other’s denials
From that day onwards
Listen to my reasoning
When I am after 17
When I am after 17

Taken from Yahoo! Groups: cheeregoers

Sometimes it feels like I don't have memory of yesterday. Had some problems trying to remember bits and pieces of My 17. What did happen when I was 17? Hmm.... Jan 5, 1992 - the night when I first set foot in that beautiful land called Canada. I remember wearing my thick white jacket for the first time, breathing in the cold air that seemed to cut right down to my lung. Later on I found out that Vancouver is considered to have very mild winter compared to the rest of Canada, and I started to doubt if I could survive the many winters to come. I remember it took what I felt like eternity to get out of the custom and out of the airport. Exhausted from the more-than-24 hrs flight, I almost died when our relatives took us to Uncle Willy's for a late dinner/supper. Food was the last thing on my mind really, but luckily I was distracted by meeting some of my cousins/nieces/nephews/uncles/aunties that I have either never met before or I have met them briefly during my almost-forgotten-childhood. The fact that I've travelled so many hundreds/thousands of kilometers and still able to meet an interesting group of people called "family" was, strangely heartwarming.

First subzero winter,
First day in high school, when I realised I didn't have to wear uniforms,
First locker partner, who seemed so aloof initially that it took a while for her to warm up to me, but a really cool friend and I just love her chinese name,
First time I felt maybe there's too much freedom,
First experience with skytrain and buses that didn't run on gas,
First stroll at Stanley Park and going oohs and aahs at the view (Ok, that probably didn't happen at 17),
First touch of snow and the shocking feeling of how weightless snow was,
First trip to Canaan Church where it was a lot smaller than I thought,
First encounter with a denomination that I had never heard of - FDA,
First family car, a 2nd hand Toyota Corolla
First visit to the largest shopping centre I've ever been to (it has expanded even more now) and found out why they called superstore Superstore,
First Physics class and thereafter I started to worry about whether I'd get into university,
First visit to Chinatown,
First savings account,
First time I realised why Vancouverites love the sun and summer time - it's the only time they get to play in the sun since there's this nagging drizzles and gloomy sky that fills the city throughout the most part of the year except during summer,
First time I realised I was such a baby in my spiritual life, and that there is a lot more to living a Christian life than just going to church and reading the bible,
First time it dawned on me that I was no longer a child and adulthood awaited me.

My 17..... I'm glad my memory is still intact for this part of my life. No guarantee for anything after that.

What was your 17 about?