remnants of tai chi

every once in a while, the town council fogs the rubbish chute. so basically they pump (i assume) insecticide and detergent and whatever-that-kills-or-cleans-or-both fumes down the entire stretch of the common rubbish chute.

the first thing i saw when i got back were 2 dead cockroaches bellies up in the balcony. situated a few cool feets apart, i think they were having a dispute and so decided to die some distance from the other. and the thing is, they are not run of the mill cockroaches, the kind that my friendly neighbours deign to sweep extremely graciously to my part of the corridor. and yes, i returned the favour, i wuv yoo twos.

so after deliberating for all of two nanoseconds, i decided i had zero guts to approach either dead cockroach, and went to do the dishes. and home alone, the only light being the one in the kitchen, voila, enter chinese instrumental music.

of course i was frightened for like a few moments, but strangely i began to just enjoy the music. firstly, it was not the funeral one, and i really have only ever heard one version, and secondly, i think the sight of the lizards. eh. cockroach. eh. cockroaches. threw me off balance a little (point proven). so i continued doing the dishes, la di la, went out and into the living room (where we do our living. the kitchen is where we keep the kitsch. clara's screaming is love) and opened the curtains.

there, across at eye level on the top level of the multi-storey carpark, was the source of the chinese instrumental music. a group of elderly, some practising tai chi, some doing the fan dance, calmly continued their activites while i just Stood. And. Gawked.

the sight was just bewildering. and my memory kind of blacked out for a few minutes.

being alone in places has never really been easy for me, nor pouring out my heart (though verbal diarrhea inadvertently results in over-exposure of the self, i realise), but tonight was...different. the chinese music was calming, a refreshing change from what i usually listen to. that being said, i still remember how much i wanted to learn the gu zheng at changkat cc near my home, and my father refused. so i took to peeking through the window after my tuition classes, which were held just beside the gu zheng classroom. and they were on the uppermost level of the community centre too. ah, reminiscence.

but please, no uncles who trail mucus onto the mrt floor and stamp on it. gosh. talk about trauma.

america's next top model. the dreams in dreaming, but the beauty of joy. ah..