The Cafe

The drought entered its sixth week. Dry air scorched the uncovered skins of Kuchingites as they go about their daily business. Having taken care a previous appointment of mine, I was now waiting in a restaurant in Padungan. Anxiously I scanned the doorway for any sign of the person that I was supposed to meet. Several people filed by in the past minutes, but there is still no sign of her.

At last, the door opened. She was as exactly as I have last seen her three years ago. The length of her hair, the enigmatic smile, the petite size. She spotted the table I was sitting at. I nodded. She returned the nod, approached the table and sat down. Not a word was exchanged between us as the waiter took her order.

"So you will be leaving."

"Yeah."

"Perth ain't that far. Think I should drop by? Got some friends over there."

She laughed. "Sure, why not. I'd love a visitor from home. But make sure you bring something that I crave for, or else," said she, waving her fork threateningly.

Grinning, I said, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

The rest of lunch was filled with conversation, laughter and a few moments of silence. Without knowing it, it is time for her to leave.

"Say hello to Mark for me."

"I will. Goodbye, Matthew." And then she left. I sat there for a moment and leaves with a sad smile on my face.

"...a club for those who have yet to grow up..."

Thankfully for my conscience, I did not vote for you in the election.

The Day Before

I arrived at the campus at 1430, parking in a mostly empty area. I entered the building and pressed the 'Up' button of the lift. Except that I did not realise that the lift is not working due to the fire. Refraining to kick myself in the head for the error, I climbed up the stairs to the fifth floor, where our booth is supposed to be.

I did not find any club members there, although the tables and chairs in the classrooms were already arranged. Visiting their favourite haunt, the computer lab, also failed since there has been a network error due to the fire and the lab itself was closed. So I gave a call.

It turned out that they were hanging around in a classroom at the sixth floor. We waited for some time for the club president to arrive, and when he did we pounced on him for keeping us waiting for quite some time. After that, we did what we came to do: prepare our club's booth. That finished (at 2000), all of us except for one person raced to Tabuan Jaya to pick up some supplies for the club as well as give our collective stomaches a treat.

The stage is set for what could be the best or the worst performance of the club.

Impulsive buying

It is quite rare that I plan my purchases in advance. As evidenced today, in which I saw a book that is famous in the Internet culture. There are only two copies available; bad and worse. I took the former and paid for it, cursing the queue jumper. In case you're wondering, it's the first book on the list to the right.