Today after dinner I managed a productive session of Econs IA touch ups. This might normally have taken me the entire night as I usually get distracted by 10,000 things calling out to me on the internet and thus don't do the work as I should. But not tonight! I finished my work within 20 minutes. So hooray, go me.

Then I set off for a brisk walk to Greenleaf to join Cheam for a run. However as I walked along the tree shaded-burnt yellow lit streets (empty too I might add), I noticed a man walking in the opposite direction. Most oddly he crossed the road to my side even though there was still pavement to walk on and no cars were about (this was in the middle of a straight road), plus this was the darkest part of the road. Immediately I felt fear coursing through my body and eyed him warily as he approached. As he walked with a cursory glance to the road, he turned to stare at me deliberately, sending chills up my spine.

My pulse started racing as I quickly mentally calculated how I'd react if he tried anything funny, there were quite a few houses nearby, but there was also a large construction site nearby... My hair was also tied up in a ponytail, making it easier to pull and most obviously this man was larger than I was. As my mind started exploding into a multitude of rapid disjointed thoughts, two feelings were clear: fear and regret. Fear is obvious, something I nary need to explain, but regret! The feeling was regret because I didn't know how to defend myself, because I hadn't been bothered enough to learn how to defend myself.

Of course as most of you know I'm here typing this post right now, not lying in some ditch in some darkened area somewhere bleeding to death, so obviously nothing happened to me. The guy stared intently, passed by as I steeled myself for any hard blow, and I quickly scampered off to the well-lit meeting area to wait for Cheam to appear.

In order to end this post on a better note, I must add that Cheam very nicely provided me with Cha Ye Dan (literally: Tea Leaf Egg) from Queensway Shopping Centre. He bought them for me when he was there buying stuff earlier in the day, even though he hates the smell. When I got home (escorted, thank goodness :x) I peeled the eggs and heated them in the microwave oven. Yum yum yum! He's not the only one who hates the smell though, my dad hates it too.

Every time I eat Cha Ye Dan or even smell the scene of the herbs, I always think back to my PSLE days. This is because right before the PSLE exams when my Lao Shi (Huang, of the many many Huang Lao Shis out there) called us back for extra revision classes in the afternoons or on Saturdays, she always boiled Cha Ye Dan for us. For those not in the know, the process of boiling takes at least 6 hours, not to mention one had to shell out (HAHAHA PUN!) money to buy the herbs and eggs. It was really a labour of love. Even though I turned out to be one of her worst students (C for PSLE!), I will always remember fondly how she treated all of us equally and even bothered to make Cha Ye Dan for us. Xie Xie Lao Shi, teachers like you are the only reason why I didn't completely give up on Chinese.