Kore wa ii nioi ga shimasu

"This smells good".

Have you ever been stuck in a small space with a foul smell? Today my friend is unlucky to experience that. Aoki-san, I totally understand how you feel. I had a similar experience.

I was on a flight to the Gold Coast, or was it Adelaide? I was probably flying back from Malaysia. I had the window seat. The guy next to me was sleeping soundly, wearing nightshades. Across from us was an elderly couple. And directly behind us was the toilet.

Don't beat me to the punchline!

Well, as you'd guess, the toilet was used...by the granny! I think she has short intestines or something because the foulest smell on the face of the earth came out! Ya Tuhan! I could tell she had some kind of vegetarian meal just before.

So there I was. Stuck! The stech was so bad that the person next to me actually woke up. I could tell he woke up because he was stirring restlessly. He continued pretending to sleep. The guy next to him was avoiding eye contact with the makcik. She was looking in our direction. Three people who suddenly became restless. The third guy started coughing. He was the closest to the toilet. pity him. NOT! He took a blanket, covered it over his nose and pretended to go to sleep as well.

I couldn't breathe. I didn't want to use my mouth because then the germs and bacteria of the smell would go IN my mouth! I do not want to taste it. I held my breath as long as I could before the occasional breathing through my shirt.

By then, both guys next to me were coughing like crazy. I contributed some coughs of my own in the chorus. The sleeping guy must think that either people next to him let out this demon of a smell. He must also be having nightmares.

Suddenly, the old lady got up. I thought she was offended with all the coughing."I'm old, this problem comes with old age! Wait until you lot get old and face the same treatment!" she said. Or at least, that's what I thought she was thinking or going to say. Instead, she moved aside to let her husband through. He passed her in the aisle and went into the toilet. He shut the door behind him.

I screamed in my head.

Get ready for round 2!

Yes miss Aoki, I really understand.

N

Recollection of past (non)adventures

On my first day of school, I received RM5 from my dad. He told me to buy food during recess. I was pretty hungry that day and I needed to get food. Waiting for recess felt like the longest time, even though I had no idea what recess was. When it finally came, I went to the canteen to look for some FOOD. There were so many kids around pushing and shoving and screaming and laughing. We were supposed to queue up, but being kids, that did not happen.

For the longest time, I was standing at the very front, in front of the mak cik kantin, looking for something worth RM5. I couldn't find anything. Packets of tiny munchies and sweets for 50sen, 20sen, 10sen...and a super delicious mee goreng for RM1.

"Why?! Why is nothing RM5?! I'm so hungry!"

I didn't buy anything that day.

I went home and told my dad. He laughed at me, I didn't understand why.

The next day, he gave RM1 for my pocket money. Finally, I get to buy my mee goreng. Yay!

Note: I got RM1 until the end of form 3.

N

memories

I remember a nursery. I was there most of the time when I was about 3-4 years old. I used to play hide and seek with the other kids there. I was one of the youngest there. (At present, I'm not apart of the younger crowd anymore but things are changing a bit). Also at that time, it was just me and my brother in the family. No younger sisters yet. We used to have to take naps during the day. It was a fun time but I always missed my parents and would wanna go home.

I remember my first music class in primary school. I was scold for swearing, and I didn't even realize it. We were learning how to read notes. You know, the one on paper...F.A.C.E..."Fucker!" I shouted in class. That was how I learnt about swear words. I was 7.

I remember having a blue tricycle. My brother had the exact same one but it was red instead. They had plastic rims and the wheels were full rubber. As we grew older, we adjusted the two 'support' wheels ourselves to turn it into a proper bicycle. We grew too quickly and before I knew it, I was too heavy for it to support. The plastic rims gave in and smashed into pieces.

I remember quite a significant amount of my childhood. Somehow older memories tend to stick better than recent ones. These past 5-10 years just seem to pass in a blur. Before we know it, everything is too fast and blurred that it becomes blinding. Nothing but white light.

I wonder if we have memories of the future.

N

Story 1

I'll try to write as much as i can remember.

When we were sixteen, the first exercise our new english teacher gave us was a short essay. It was her way of gauging our levels, giving her some sort of vague idea of how to teach i guess. I can't remember how she looks like. Before giving out the title of the essay that we had to do, she ripped out a piece of paper from her notebook. She crumpled it into a ball and put it on her table, which was in the centre of the class. "Now write something about this" she said. Everyone didn't understand her words for a second, and then, everyone started writing.

N