Non-Carbonated Pepsi

24th January 2006, Tuesday

Before we begin,...*sniff*...I would very much like the total number of readers of my blog (around 3-4, I'm not sure whether that texas ranger is still reading) that if you had seen this fellow below:



Please dial this following toll free number which will charge you $38 to the "T T Dulan-Reap-People's-Off-Foundation", 1800-4-6333-7825489-8463 (1800-I-NEED-QUALITY-TIME) to keep me in tab of his whereabouts as I could not get hold of him on his handphone last evening, and is worried sick for this buddy of mine...
So what's in for you, you might ask...
I would gladly pass your handphone/contact no. to all my financial planner (insurance agents) friends from all major and minor insuranc..er..financial companies as well as to the good people from various time-share/ survey groups so that your lives would be made more interesting with people keep bugging you 24-7.
Your precious e-mail address would be sent to spammers for people selling aphrodisiac and other medications as well as our good friends in Nigeria who claim to have contacts or even heir of some deceased royalties and you have a chance to bank on some of their inheritance..hooray...
Last but not least, a limited exclusive stuffed beany monkey with most of beans now in its legs....

Anyway I wonder if my good friend, CS who held on to the persona of "Pepsiman", the blue and silver spandex wearinig mascot of the inferior cola beverage, since our faithful trip to Japan back in 2000..the Japanese love that bumbling character but than again it's 5 years back anyway; had ever thought of me as a buddy of his...

He almost never call me to catch up on how am I or ask to go "lim teh" (drink tea) at the nearby S-11 and whining about work, girlfriend, money and family.
It seems I am always the only one looking for him, though I must confess he is perhaps my only reliable source to solve any IT problems 'cos once more he has all the lobang!!

However I'm aware of his work schedule which he has to work till very late in the evening and even on Saturdays and major public holidays... On the limited amount of free time he possesses, he is required to spend it with substance or should I emphasize, QUALITY with his lass as well as his gaming addiction.
There are absolutely no time to waste on trivial issues like hanging out with his good friend of 11 years or so... unless it's QUALITY time, playing "WWE: Smackdown" or "Winning Elevan" on the Playstation (hey seriously you gotta have time for that!)

Yes it's true, I had known the lad for a good 11 years since my late secondary school days through my buddy as CS was a classmate or his and they are able to "click" on a certain spiritual level and thought it would be good to introduce to some close friends of his.
It's a double edge knife for CS as he got to know someone who is a much bigger loser than him as well as the "Big O (for Omen)" who couldn't stop bugging him to buy useless magnetic pillows (which he actually bought !?).

But over the years of playing soccer together, "dawning" over at each other's place to play plenty of console games (some not meant to disclose), attending Japanese classes and making absurd sentences to drive teachers to the wall (Gomene Atsumi-sensei!), got all emoted after watching "Beach Boys" and headed to the really filthy beach at East Coast for our own version of "Beach Bum" and the pinnacle of it all, our Japan trip in 2000 which really build that bond between me, him, my buddy as well as Foo (another story to tell in another era).
I thought our friendship was only to be galvanized with time however as many friendships built before, it always got further apart ....

It was not helped that he left for Glasgow to further his studies (and spending QUALITY time, slogging our with rivals with win the affection of his girl). I was even there to send him off...
Things were still rosy when he came back once or twice during vacations and with my buddy been transfixed between Canada and Japan (anyway if you are reading this, I really need the phone number of your family's new residence before the New Year) and Foo very much preoccupied with a career change and constant visit to some oral specialist to remove that "bad taste in his mouth" (and apparently it is working!), I thought CS' return would be my only catalyst for constant companionship....

However it was not meant to be as he took up a slavery job at the same company as my lass and had to satisfy his lass with much QUALITY time, so we got to meet up sporadically since then. But I always try my best to check on him every few months and to confess when I am in dire need of expertise with PCs and stuffs...

He did promised to be my substitue best man (in case my buddy couldn't make it, and there's a high probability) for my wedding in October unless he has to fulfill more QUALITY time elsewhere.

Recently with the untimely death of my portable HDD, he actually promised to hook me up with some specialist to retrieve those data stuck within. It was like 3 Thursdays ago, he said that he would check it out and get back to me the following day. ow 3 weeks later, I had yet heard from him.
Sure is busy spending QUALITY time at work, at home and with his lass....

Last evening I just wanted to call him to invite him over to my place on the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year (unless he needs to spend QUALITY time visiting someone else) as I had done so for Foo as my lass has requested to gather the "brothers and sisters".
But after a call which led directly to a voice mailbox and another which was left unpicked, I thought he might be caught up into some QUALITY activities, so I gave up, thinking he would call back..he never did...

Well would try again this evening and really hope for once he would be willing to spend some QUALITY time with me during the New Year and of course I could then ask him about my HDD...

Japanese word of the day: 良質(Quality) Wonder does all his time had gone through ISO 9001 for verification.