Do you dare to dream? Or more specifically put, do you have your own aspirations?

A few days ago, I was watching 'Qualifications of Men' (남자의 자격), an entertainment programme on the  KBS World channel. For those who are not familiar with the show, it's about a group of seven men, mostly in their prime, completing missions given each episode (such as learning how to tap dance or host a new year party). The episode I watched had this mission for the men: to give a lecture to students who aspire to be like them. 

(Image from here)

Each of them decided to take on a topic since they are from different backgrounds. One decided to give interview tips for aspiring TV announcers (he is an announcer himself), a comedian gave a speech about the difficulties he faced when he was still a newbie in the industry, so on and so forth. They might be talking about different jobs - one is even an ex-baseball player - but all spoke about having their own goals and the lessons they have learnt from their experience. 

One of the speeches I really liked was Kyungkyu-shi's. I must say here that the rest of the stuff in this post is what I think of Kyungkyu-shi's way of thinking and not what he said exactly. He sounded pretty ludicrous at the start.  Well, I'm not sure if I interpreted his words correctly, but Kyungkyu-shi's main points were pretty unique. One which he mentioned was that most of our dreams would never come true. It's a reality we have to face up to. Sure, I could dream of being a company president. It is achievable. It is probable. But somewhere in my mind, I know that it's not my only dream. I have other more possible dreams. Like being a writer. I'm studying to be one anyway.

But (yes, there's always the but), Kyungkyu-shi never said we should not dream too. I think everyone needs a dream to live, as opposed to just simply existing. Dreams are what makes us happy. Some might call it a false sense of purpose, but at least it pushes us forward in our lives all the same. Instead of just going forward blindly towards your dream, understand that it might not come true all the same. Maybe I should phrase it in another way instead of making it seem like we need to prepare for failure.... I guess we should take a realistic approach in reaching our goals. Work slowly towards it. Understand that our goals would change over time. 

And so what if we don't achieve our dreams? When you see your parents complaining about their horrible day cooped up in their cramped cubicles, they might actually be thinking of their dreams in their head. There is a difference between what you can do and what you enjoy. Everyone wants to do something they can enjoy. It's just that your parents need to bring the dough to the table and their jobs gives them just that. They'd rather do what they can do rather than to have the family starve. They need their jobs. Reality makes it so. I don't know if everyone agrees with me on this, but dreams are sort of like nourishment for the soul. 'I dislike my job at this bistro - it's boring me to tears! If only I can have my own chain of sandwich shops someday.' By thinking the latter, the individual gets fired up. He might not get to own a sandwich shop in the end, but he would work hard in his current job to earn enough capital for that goal. Or he might even decide that he'd rather direct his own film one day, but he would still work hard. 

I feel so much better after typing all that out. Hopefully, all that might make some sense to you all. If it doesn't just take it as an incoherent person rambling her thoughts. 

Well, don't I sound older than my age now?

I can understand why almost everyone squeeze into Suntec each time at IT fair comes on. The deals are pretty good! Cong Han and I went there on the first day to look around. It was just as well since I was looking for a new digital camera. My white Sony camera (I've forgotten the model name) is starting to spoil after its loyal five years with me.

After taking all the brochures I could find for the different brands of cameras, I went to Suntec with Cong Han on the last day of the IT fair again to get one. I initially wanted something pretty like the Olympus Pen series. But mummy and Cong Han both recommended the Olympus Tough-6020, which is supposedly shockproof and waterproof. Given my luck with my electronic devices, I usually drop them after a month or so. The horrifying dents on my Macbook, iPhone case, and even my dead laptop from Crescent are proof of my special jinx. So it isn't that strange for them to recommend the hardy Tough-6020 which makes up for its really basic design with its durability. I got it at less than half the original price.

After getting my camera, we went to look at the televisions. Cong Han wanted to take a look at them and there were hourly specials where prices get slashed coupled with free gifts thrown in too. After about an hour of consideration, he got a television with a free sound system. It was quite a hassle pulling the purchase around. Cong Han managed to carry it down the stairs since the elevators were too slow and the escalators were chocked with people. I have no idea where he got the strength from.

We then ate at Marina Square while waiting for his dad to pick us up to get the new television. Unfortunately we had to get back to Tampines for dinner with mummy and we took a taxi eventually. It was quite amusing. The television was too long to get into the car boot and we had to slot it in the passenger seat instead. I sat behind the television and squeezed my legs at the extreme side while Cong Han sat in front with the driver. I guess it's pretty good that my legs are short after all!

Yesterday didn't start off very well. I came to know about certain unhappiness between a few of my classmates but could not do anything since I gave my word that I wouldn't interfere. I wish I didn't do that since said person wouldn't learn his/her mistakes. Why does everyone keep spoon-feeding him/her? 

But I'm not in the position to say anything since I made a big blunder afterwards. I was supposed to meet my classmates and take the shuttle bus together to the chalet since Matin had already checked in. Unfortunately, a few were late and the bus was too small to contain all of us. Coupled with the fact that some were complaining about how hot it was, we decided not to walk but to take a bus to Downtown East and then walk from there. 

I was so sure that we had to take bus 403 from the interchange. We ended up going all the way to Pasir Ris Park, which was in the opposite direction, and then making a loop which brought us back to the interchange once more. I felt really bad. Pascal later remarked that I shouldn't ever be a tour guide. I agree. 

Last Friday was my second time to Nex, the gigantic shopping mall in Serangoon. I met up with Stefanie, Avelin, CX, Ziwei and Joey for lunch there. I got lost as usual, but I found my way eventually. It took another forty minutes to decide on where we should eat. I was starving by then. Our group eventually chose Swensen's. 

The previous week has been really fun. Cong Han and I went on a picnic at East Coast Park last week. The weather was perfect (although it got a bit too hot afterwards). I woke up at 6am to prepare the food and went back to sleep afterwards. It wasn't a wise move since I overslept and was late meeting Cong Han at the station. We then proceeded to wait for 401 at Bedok bus interchange. It was a good fifteen minutes before I realised that the bus doesn't operate on weekdays. We ended up taking a cab to the place.