All I ever needed was to eat popcorn with you

[Everything Sucks (When You’re Gone) – MxPx]

And so today marks the 4th month of which I have been dating the truly lovely Amelia. For an awful moment this morning we forgot what  we did to celebrate our 2 months, but a quick flick through my blog – ah trusty friend – reminded us that I nearly died eating at Crazy Wing at Glenny.

But, alas, today we decided to go to Doncaster Westfield Shopping Center. Now, before I write any more, I should note that Mela doesn’t really like going to places she’s not been before for long periods of time, but due to either mis-communication or grievous fault on my behalf, I didn’t know this, so I planned for us to take a 40 minute bus ride to Shoppo, a place I kind of know, and a place she’s never been to. It was a cold day, and she was feeling slightly sick, but determined to make the best of today.

She read stuff on my phone on the bus ride there while I cradled her head, and then when we got there, we immediately headed to eat, being so hungry. We went to the foodcourt, known as The Drum, and she wasn’t feeling hungry so she only got a small salad (which turned out to be massive anyway) while I decided to pig out at Spudbar…which turned out to be a bowl of potatoes at the bottom…and then heaped with loads of Bolognese sauce, sour cream, japalenos, chilli flakes, cos lettuce and something else I forgot. But when I mixed it, it became a bowl of not that appetizing looking goo…that tasted amazing. Albeit I got bad breath. Originally decided to give the tummy a rest and be able to get the $2 Double Cheeseburgers but Mela felt sick, so we just went window shopping instead. Spent a good few hours doing that, until she felt so sick we had to sit down and rest.

Had coffee/mocha at a chocolate lounge, where the girl serving us complimented me on my hair (yey). Stayed there for a bit just chatting about how sweet the chocolate was, though it was great chocolate, then we walked around a bit more. We ended up walking around for hours because we wanted to eat at the sushi train at the food court which opened at 6pm, so we wandered around until my feet got really sore, and she got upset because, like I mentioned before, strange place with nothing to do. We sat in front of the TV display at Myer for a bit watching this HD 3D TV. At 6, the sushi train slowly opened, but it wasn’t really producing anything. We ate 2 plates, and realized they were 5 bucks each for altogether 4 pieces of food. Paid for it (got weird looks from the waiters) and decided to bus back to Glen to eat at a familiar place – Mela was getting really sadface and that made me sadface too, it’s an anniversary after all.

We ended up eating at Star East Cafe, sharing a plate and an entree. She started feeling better halfway through the bus ride back after loads of cuddling, and finally told me what she thought I already knew. We then went to the library where she picked out a picture book for me to read to her to cheer her up, and I put on funny voices until a librarian walked past us.

But yes, 4 months! 5 months will come and go before we realize it, it being around Valentines and…her hating Valentines Day. Then Uni will start, testing us on our bond and ability to not be around each other all the time, seeing as she goes to a different uni, us having different amount of contact hours, and her starting a new course as a 1st year and me in my final. But I have confidence we will hit 1/2 year no worries!

And I like that there are still things to learn about her, like that she hates new places…

Happy 4 months darling!

Alex.

I’d eat a crazy wing for ya

Today was Mela and my 2 month anniversary. For our 1st month I went to her house because she got food poisoning the night before. That time we cuddled up and watched movies under her blankets. Today we went out.

She had work in the afternoon, so I caught up with her in the last hour of her shift. I watched her stand behind the counter, not yet in her uniform, putting through game returns and trades. She was so small next to her two large manly coworkers.

We had a quick (McDonalds) lunch – it was McHappy Day we felt obliged – and took the bus up to Chadstone. We were both in very loving moods – after all, the past 2 months felt like a breezy dream, surely the next few would be just as easy!

We went perfume shopping, as she’d already bought me the entire series of Slam Dunk on DVD, and she really wants to try a new fragrance. We went around Myers spraying many many different bottles to find the perfect one, and after a good half hour or so, it was a toss up between DKNY Pure or DKNY Gold Delicious. We sprayed both on her neck, one on each side, and after letting it soak in for a while, we realized that Mela’s natural scent masked DKNY Pure too much. She seemed very happy with her present, and I was glad that at least this month I don’t have to worry about failing as a good girlfriend.

(Also, I know how our presents reflect the man/woman dichotomy. I did come across this Ralph Lauren one which I REALLY liked but it made her gag and feel nauseous so.)

Afterwards, we were going to eat at this Chinese restaurant, but the center was closing, so we had to go to Glenny. On the bus back, I remembered that Crazy Wing should have opened at Glenny, so instead of going to La Porchetta as we’d originally planned (because she’s never been and, it seems, still hasn’t been), we went to Crazy Wing. She was brave enough to want to eat two Crazy Wings by herself, but it seemed that the Glen Waverley branch uses much spicier mix than the one in the city, because she started tearing up badly, and when I tried to eat some for her, I was knocked over too.

I was so badly affected, in fact, that about 10 minutes after eating that, I started getting serious stomach cramps. I had to sit there and look like I was dying for about 10 more minutes, making Mela very worried about me. In the end we shook on it – we will never have Crazy Wing again, we’d only order their Spicy Honey or maybe a degree or two hotter, but never that. I also vowed to ban my dad from ever trying it – he has high blood pressure, and me eating it tonight made my ears pop with all the increased blood flow. It was bad.

Finally, after settling my stomach, we slowly walked back to the bus stop. On the bus, I sat by the window and saw her still waiting for her bus, so we texted each other from maybe 2 meters away. Ahhh the disgusting that is us.

Happy 2 months baby!

Alex.

We are that car

Yesterday, halfway through my shift, I see two familiar faces walk into my store, flanked by one which I didn’t know, but felt like I did.

It turns out, to the bidding of that third face, the first two faces decided to come into the city and visit me at work. Those faces were Mela, Ser- and their friend Jen, who, armed with a green P, was invincible.

They stood around for a bit watching me work, which was unnerving, but after a while went and sat in the restaurant waiting for to finish, which was even more unnerving. They waited for over an hour and half for me to finish my shift.

Afterwards, we all got into Jen’s car, and she drove us back to Glenny – I didn’t even notice that she was speeding, only that we were at Glenny surprisingly fast. We turned up the music loud, and I had a feeling we were THAT CAR that sped by with obnoxiously loud music. We passed the Springvale IKEA, which looked fantastically huge, and Mela and I decided we should go, even though we’re not quite sure how to get there. On a spontaneous question, Jen led us to the KTV karaoke in Glenny right in between whatever replaced JG dumplings and the other Asian restaurant right next to it, because she knew the owner – who turns out to be the least-uptight Asian venue owner you’d ever meet.

We sang for quite a while, and Ser- had her first proper drink. Which was unfortunate because we forgot to factor in the fact that she’s super thin, had next to nothing to eat, and wasn’t experienced in handling her liquor. Two beers and a tequila sunrise saw Mela and me hoisting her to the bathroom and back, lest she wipe the walls with her clothing.

We talked a lot – as alcohol coaxes people to – and afterwards we went to Petaling Street (this was sometime at 2 in the morning and I figured I was in as much shit as I could be so I stayed longer) and had a bit of food for Ser- to digest and for Jen to soothe her sore throat. Sadly, Jen got some appetite-killing news, and pushed her food away. After Petaling Street closed, we sat/stood outside on the curb letting Jen vent about the news she just received, and in general vent.

It was a good night for proving friendship, that’s for sure.

Finally, at around 4, Jen’s friends (who are, surprisingly, my friends…small world) came to pick us up because Jen was in no shape to drive. I got home as quietly as possible, and went to bed for a 3 hour nap before I got up today to shower and hand in the cursed essays which I’ve spent the last fortnight working on.

But, still, it was an eventful night to say the least.

Alex.

Put The Brakes On!

When I missed my bus this morning, causing me to miss my 10:26 train, I didn’t think much of it except “oh no, I’m going to be late meeting Angie”.

However, that was the least of my worries!

If you missed it on the news today, this is what happened:

Toddler Hit By Train

I was on that train! I was sitting in the 3rd carriage, and felt absolutely nothing – the breaking wasn’t even that hard (so yes, the train really was traveling incredibly slow at that point). We noticed something was odd when a girl tried to get off, but the doors weren’t opened (you can see from the footage it was because the driver got out immediately).

There was a long pause.

Then the announcement came that the train will be delayed for about 10 – 15 minutes while the ambulance arrives.

Some people got out, and we all waited.

A fire truck came, and it was then that I thought, “maybe it wasn’t just someone fainting on the train”

Then the ambos, and even the police came, sirens shrieking away.

I was playing Bejeweled when the announcement came again that the train would be suspended, and we should all find our way to the city, or wait for a replacement bus.

So I walked out of Tooronga station, and I saw the stretcher being pushed into the ambulance. I saw the TV cameras, and I knew that it was actually extremely serious. The grandma was standing by the ambo, pretty much in shock.

I didn’t realize, though, that a kid had fallen onto the tracks until much later when I googled what happened to see if it was on the news yet. I thought someone had just been injured a bit. Seriously, though, despite how slow we were going, it was AMAZING that the child only got away with some minor injuries. Nothing broken, even.

If you didn’t read the link to the story, then it basically says that station platforms have a small slope towards the tracks for drainage reasons. I never really noticed the slope except on those REALLY small slim platforms like North Richmond, but I agree that maybe it should slope AWAY from oncoming trains for drainage reasons. The newer platforms do do that, but a lot of platforms were built before the law came through for it to slope the other way, so that’s why we have this, and the thing that happened last October at Ashburton. The one at Ashburton looked so much scarier though.

So, if any mothers for some reason read this: Just put your baby pram’s brakes on. Even if you’re letting go for a moment to grab something from your handbag, just put the brakes on. Letting go for a moment could lead to having to let go forever. The small moment you save from having to go put the brake on will not justify your lifetime of pain, having lost your child.

Everything else that happened today will be mentioned on my 365.

Alex.

I Can Close My Eyes And Disappear

[Swimming In Miami – Owl City]

I went to Jenny Z’s house today! It was amusing solely on the factor that I wasn’t allowed to say hi to her parents…

I got to the Glen early (saw Carmaine there, who greeted me by poking her tongue out. Hi to you too) and tried to see what I can get Dom but he didn’t help suggesting anything, so I don’t know. Just walked around I suppose.

Took the train up to Mt Waverley a bit earlier than I’d planned, which apparently freaked Jenny out. She specifically told me to not say I’m from MacRob. I didn’t know why.

When I arrived at the bus stop, Jenny called me and asked if I could see her. So I looked down the road, I looked up the road, I peered around the corner and I looked to the other side. Nothing.

Turned out she was standing about 150 meters away, a tiny purple speck in my short sighted eyes, waving.

We went to a park that’s near her house and ate some snacks, and watched a small boy try to play on the playground. She poked me first, therefore it started a whole day of poke-age. I swear she started it! It was not fair and she blamed me on starting it, I mean she’s taller than me with bigger hands so clearly she had the advantage.

That was me building myself up to be the victim – because I was one.

We went back to her place when I felt some hayfever starting to attack my nose.

When I got into the house, Jenny told me to just run into her bedroom, so I only managed to say hi to her dad as I walked in.

Spent most of the time in her bedroom just lazing around. She gave me heaps of anime and manga stuff, including Ouran Host Club and Kuro…something. Something about a butler. I liked a few pages of it so she gave me most of it. Yayers.

Mucked around on Facebook a fair bit, and I made Jenny look a little schizophrenic because I just commented on her behalf, and instead of you know, actually telling what she thought she’d reply to my/her own comment. Nonetheless, it was amusing especially when she decided that entendres that could easily be taken wrongly was something to be shared.

Then we played some Barbie Uno. Okay. What the hell. They have this card called the “Friendship Card” which lets you swap your cards with say, someone who just called out “UNO!”. THAT’S NOT FRIENDSHIP! THAT’S FUCKING EVIL! And there was that time when I put down the Wild Color Choice one, and I didn’t know how to describe the color except: “Um…hot pink?”

I left at round past 5, and we walked to the bus stop. I missed a bus by one light crossing, so Jenny waited with me. When I was on the next bus, she told me that she was actually going to wait with me for half an hour if it took that long. I was all like saying to myself, “awww”. It was a nice touching moment which made me look like an idiot on the bus smiling to myself.

Sorry if this sounded choppy. I’m tired. I had to spend the entire day acting like a ninja and blocking Jenny’s attempts at poking and tickling me.

Alex.

Barista or Game-ah?

Just to catch people (who give a shit) up…

I’m applying for a job at about 5 different EB Games (I REALLY want to work there haha) and one at Gloria Jeans on Kingsway in Glen Waverley. I suppose either would be fine – GJs is ACTUALLY hiring whereas I’m just throwing hopeful hooks into EB Games – but I’m a bit iffed at GJ since I have dodgy balance and boiling water? Uh oh…

Who knows?

This is also for me to read back on much later next year and laugh at. Because by then I’d be hopefully working at one of the two. Or neither. Or somewhere at bloody least.

Alex.

P.S. JEN! SPANNA! I’m barely holding on! It was a close call last night…

Excitement to the Maxxx

The Glen Waverley line was “suspended until further notice” today because there was an accident somewhere at Glen Iris. So we (BRuCE, Fel and Nat) took a much more cooler route.

We took the Blackburn, disembarking at Camberwell to take the Alamein and got off at Ashburton where we took a bus to Glen Waverley.

That meant nothing to anyone, did it.

When we were at Ashburton, we were waiting for a bus to come. I took out my Jila mints from my jacket pocket, only to have 4 of them spill out onto the ground. Needless to say I was traumatized.

Nat picked one up, and after lengthy discussion, decided not to eat it, and threw it out onto the road.

We tracked the little white mint, rolling away.

And then it started rolling back towards us, being on a slant.

At the nearby lights, the traffic started coming closer.

“It’s gonna crush the mint!”

We watched as the cars came even closer.

We watched as the mint rolled steadily towards the gutter.

The car was 10 meters away.

The mint is going to be crushed.

It’s coming.

It’s coming (oh shut up)…!

IT MISSED!

THE MINT ROLLED CLEAR OF THE CAR BY ABOUT 20 CMS! THE CAR MISSED THE MINT!

We all shouted in disappointment.

Carmaine shook her head a little, and told me I can blog about this, it being such an exciting event.

So I did.

Alex.

Squish & Ko cont’d

Sorry about the sudden cut off last night. I was getting rather tired, and beside my parents were telling me to go to sleep.

So, I do believe that I left off at the point where I left the school at the end of Period 5.

Emily needed to get home on time for a certain formal she had to attend, and since she forgot her umbrella she went with me – I’d brought another jacket and an umbrella, feeling ever so smart. It was unfortunate for her that, at the stop lights near Domain Interchange, the ground seemed to love collecting large pools of water, and through which Emily waded in her flats. She was soaked to her ankles and complaining every 3 seconds, which I would’ve found amusing but I was rather worried about my schoolbag getting wet.

We got to Flinders, and realized our train hasn’t left yet. Thundered down the escalator, and I had my finger 3 cms from the button when the light around it blinked off, and the train left the platform. Being the Connex veterans that we are, Emily and I with perhaps 3 utterances of complaints powered back up the escalator to take the Cragieburn reverse loop. Made the Glen Waverley with plenty of time to spare, except there was an old lady in a wheelchair who tried to run Emily over and swore at her when she didn’t manage.

Emily’s dad gave me a ride home, which saved me perhaps half an hour of trudging home in the wet. Dad had taken the day off and he was home – which I had no idea, so it was a surprise to see someone home – and I put my bag down, so glad that school can be out of my mind for at least 2 days.

I had a dinner plan with BRuCE at 6:30, so I went online, tried to beat my previous Tetris time, and at around 5:50 went to dress and do my hair. Yes, I did my hair. Bee said it looked good so I suppose it’s all worth it. I arrived at Coco Lounge early, and took our booth – we’d wanted that booth because we’d originally had 8 people invited. In the end 3 showed up. Eunice joined me, and we had a look at the menu, then Bianca joined us. Both of them looked smashing.

Carmaine, as I had mentioned yesterday, was sick, so she’d said she’d drop in later. At around 7:50 Carmaine came in – just as I was about to say something about her – and we had dessert; Tiramisu.

I think the point of interest was that Eunice and I had ordered Bitters, and at some point, the conversation came to this (paraphrasing may have occured):

Eunice: [imitating Kath and Kim] “It’s noice…it’s un-yooh-shle…Oy loike – IS THERE ALCOHOL IN THIS THING?”

We subsequently had a long laugh at what would happen if Eunice  was to finish the entire Bitters, and what would happen for her 18th. We had a small chat about Staff Politics and Relos, and Bianca had several mini orgasms over her prawns. And over the male waiter. Which promptly led me to mention Matt, and also for me to voice that Bianca had, by technicality, lost the bet from last July, and she owes us all a drink.

So, at 7:50 Carmaine joined us for dessert, and we had a few cheap laughs and whatnot. It felt, on the surface, that BRuCE was back to its original power again. But don’t we know otherwise, Carmaine? But, hey, it’s 11:50 in the morning and I’d had a long breakfast (mustard and salami cold, don’t do it), I don’t want to delve into that.

After taking ages to pay, we went to Strike near Village to play pool. But, and this was much to Carmaine’s distain, we needed IDs to play pool, because it is in the bar section. So we didn’t play pool, and promptly went home.

Now, Squish & Ko.

On Thursday, I’m sure I’ve mentioned about the mini cartoons that I’d done that went along the lines of “My Friends Don’t Give A Shit About Me”. My memory fails me, so I’ll repeat it in case I am wrong.

On Thursday, I had an idea to do small comics (similar to Non Sequitur) that went along the lines of…what I’d say before. They’re just small ditties that have happened to me, or that I’ve noticed. On Thursday night I put down 2, and yesterday while waiting for dinner I put down 2. Scanned them up this morning. Have a look:

I am aware that it’s not straight, and I am very aware that it’s rather small so you’d have to click on it, and it’s simply screaming at me obvious that it’s a bit of a rip-off of Pon and Zi, of which I am a big fan.

It will get better, and hopefully less emo.

Well, I’ve uploaded NCIS and am just waiting to watch it. Have a good holidays, and Happy Easter (I mean, I’m still coming back, I’m just saying this now).

Alex.