Captain Lu returns

Captain Lu (Guang Zhong) returns, after I first watched him last year at the Esplanade. Like last time, I totally enjoyed his honest, brilliant and funny performance. I hope he remains an indie singer forever. It's that whole I-totally-love-my-music-and-I-don't-care-about-the-money vibe that I love about singers like that. They love their craft, they totally enjoy themselves on stage, and most importantly, they love their audience. Looking forward to his third album... Here's a vid captured with my steady hands (haha) at Dragonfly, St James Power Station, on 16 Jan 2010. 盧廣仲, 你最棒！！！

Visit

I was very happy yesterday. One of the boys I used to counsel more than two years back paid me a surprise visit, after he was discharged from the Boys' Home the day before. He had been sent there for a period of two years for multiple thefts and sniffing glue. And oh my, has he changed...

Turning 18 in a month, he is now at least a head taller than me and he speaks to me like a mature young man. Back then when I was handling his case, he was presenting so many challenges - suicidal risk, manifesting distractions, "seeing things" etc... But yesterday, he was so much more grounded and congruent with himself.

I had always known he had this ultra-sensitive side to him, and I'm glad I tried my best to enter his reality and connect with his sensitivity. I really feel a lot for him. I know his road ahead will not be easy, especially with a stigmatising history behind him. But I know he is resilient enough to journey with himself. You go tall guy!!!

*Perks of staying long in my job? The reward of return visitors like him.

T.G.I.Friday's

Back when we were just 17 or 18, we used to hang out at T.G.I.Friday's in the glasshouse just next to Park Mall. We loved the iconic LOVE sculpture (see below) that fronted the restaurant. 

Here're more of us (see below).

Then, T.G.I.Friday's closed down.

Fast forward about 13 years later (from when the above pix were taken), and it reopens at The Heeren. And, four of us are back - with a new little member in tow. I don't think we've changed very much... ;)

31.12.09

As 2009 drew to an end, there was only one thing on my heart - keeping connections alive. And maybe that was why I was looking forward so much to seeing everybody at my house party. Whether we had only kept in touch at most twice a year, or met at least once a fortnight, I didn't really care much about that. It was simply reconnecting, and enjoying the minutes and seconds that the contact brought. I have changed much, and therefore the things that I cherish are not the same anymore. May 2010 bring much meaning to you and I. Happy New Year.