A Singaporean In Australia

The song was blasted from the workshop's sound system as I strolled in for my second day of work. It was a special song. Once upon a time, I performed on stage with my life long buddy. We were only 16, we played the guitar, sang out hearts out and that was the song.

The story behind the song was about a failed relationship. Back then, I was too young to understand. We sang soullessly but our guitars gave the performance the life the was required. Since then, this song remained special. The title of the song holds the impact on me. The lyrics were meaningless to me, though it brought back memories of a failed relationship relevant to the story in the song. Like a prayer, I sang that song to myself whenever I thought I could do with a little patience.

From the time that instant noodles was invented, you knew that the world had very little patience. So much as that we expect noodles on the table in not more than 3 minutes. The rice wine we made is continuously bubbling from its corner, audible from this bar table where I am sitting, penning.

Some things can not be rushed. No one expects instant wine. No one expects instant babies. No one (should) expects instant returns from investments. No one expects plant cuttings to root instantly. All the more I should give myself more time to settle down. I need patience.

I should be wise enough to know. I broke two pencil grinders in my first day of work. The weld was hard and thick and it was not going the rate I wanted it to be. I wanted to finish that part of my work faster because my lower back was aching from the continuous bending. The pencil grinder rebounded upon the extra strength I exerted, I lost control of the machine and broke the tip. It happened twice. That would probably be a feat that was last achieved a long time ago in this company.

Pencil grinder came to its solemn end

I want to break even on the costs incurred since we arrived. I want to recover the opportunity losses. I want to start saving and move on with our plans. I'm in the eye of the hurricane. Everything is moving so quickly around me but I feel stationary...