#32 Thumbdrives

I have terrible luck with thumbdrives. So far, I've broken some, lost some, dumped some in the washing machine, dropped some when riding my bike, and some just stopped working without apparent reason. I need a reasonable capacity (4GB for documents alone), so this is quite expensive luck to have.

My last thumbdrive, an Imation, just stopped working after I dropped it one too many times. Contemplating another $40 spent on another, my dad stepped in and saved the day with his nifty Porsche thumbdrive that was a gift from a friend. Had a fun time fooling colleagues that I'd bought a new car.

I like what Hayati said: "Aaron, if you'd bought a car, you wouldn't be showing off. That's not you." Awww, bless!

#31 Confinement grannies

Honestly, I don't know where we'd be this last month if not for Jasmine's and my mum staying over with us and taking care of Sarah and the housework. As of today, we're on our own. Now, the load falls squarely on our shoulders. We should be alright, but we know that quality help is always a call away. We left some money that we instructed to be used for household expenses, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were still untouched. Sigh. 世上只有妈妈好。

#30 Foreign workers

If you want to know the real reason why Singapore is lauded for being clean and green, it has a lot to do with a group of people a lot of Singaporeans complain about - foreign workers. For all their quirks and idiosyncrasies, many of them do work Singaporeans wouldn't think of doing, working hours that begin before sunrise and end long after sundown, while earning wages that are only a fortune when compared with what they have back home. 

Yes, they are here to earn money and must make an effort to assimilate, but as these photos demonstrate, Singaporeans should not expect them to pick up after us. Whatever happened to no one owes Singapore a living?

So thank you, guys, for making Singapore clean and green. Thanks for contributing to our economy, and we hope you like our home and respect it. We hope we've shown you the same respect in return.

So when burning your joss paper and enjoying a few drinks at a Malay wedding, please spare a thought for the guy that has to clean up after you on Chinese New Year. After all, if others have to clean up after us, how are we better than incontinent infants?

#29 Good eyesight

I have an illogical fear of contact lenses. When Jasmine puts hers on in the morning, I just can't look. How someone can put their finger on their eye is just something that I'll never understand.

It's just as well then that I have 6/6 eyesight, though I do have red/green colour deficiency (no, it's not called colour blindness; that would be only seeing in black and white). I pride myself in being able to see what bus is coming before anyone else, being able to see posters' fine print from far away, and not spending a small fortune on spectacles and the aforementioned and suitably-named contact lenses.

Yes, despite my inordinate number of green T-shirts I bought because I thought they were brown, I am proud of the two brown eyes God has given to me. Now that's something I want Sarah to inherit from me that's hereditary.

#28 Comics

I love comics, especially Calvin & Hobbes, Foxtrot, Dilbert and Baby Blues. They represent phases in my life.

Calvin & Hobbes represents my inner child. I totally empathise with his struggles with his manic impulses, and then being unable to explain his actions. I also probably had an imaginary friend or two, given my inability to make real ones.

Foxtrot expressed my teenage years. Adams is normally quite lighthearted and doesn't deal with the more serious issues Watterson does, but it still does make a good read. One criticism would be that his puns and jokes can be seen from a mile away, but I guess it was good for my limited sense of humour when I was younger.

Dilbert became funny to me when I started working. I totally empathised with Wally, whose motto is 'Minimal Effort, Maximum Reward'. The irony is that I'm now teaching my pupils that attitude, character and effort are the only things that matter. I'm thankful not to have had inept bosses like the pointy-haired one, but had my fair share of them in NS. And haven't we all had an Asok in the office that we liked to pick on?

Baby Blues now demonstrates my new-found love of my life - Sarah. This is so gonna help me empathise with Darryl and Wanda, though I'm probably not gonna have three kids like them. Now that I have my Zoe, I look forward to a Hammie that will make tractor sounds, and watch them grow up while hoping not to scar them for life.

And finally, to come full circle, Calvin & Hobbes will help me gain an insight into the machinations of Sarah's marvellous mind, and her potential propensity to invent infinite ways of getting into trouble. OK, I'm gonna go childproof my home now.

#27 Paul Scholes

All along, I've always modelled my play on Paul Scholes. An eye for a pass that no one else sees, a fearsomely accurate shot, and a dreadfully slow tackler. I think that's why I like him so much. I've never been a dribbler like Giggs, or as fast as Kanchelskis. I have been largely accurate though, and I can't tackle for nuts.

I was as surprised as anyone to see him back against City, 'cos I did think he looked vulnerable last season with his lack of mobility. However, I think it's an astute move by Ferguson for a stop-gap measure to shore up the midfield numbers and inject creativity. Like Giggs, Scholes has also reinvented his play. He is no longer the fox in the box, but with an energetic destroyer beside him (not Carrick), he can still dictate play like the best of them.

Here's to a glorious swansong.

#26 Ikea

If you're like me, then you want a fuss-free design solution that's affordable, yet has enough chic to set you aside from the cheap. You don't mind other people having the same furniture as you, 'cos it just compliments/complements your good taste. You prefer to get all your furniture in one location, just so it's easier, where they've been placed in display mockups, so you can better envision what you want your living space to look like. You like products that make you go, "Why didn't I think of that?" Finally, you don't mind paying a reasonable amount (say, 6% of the cost) for someone to assemble your furniture for you.

If all this is true, then Ikea's your answer. Best of all, you can polish off your pleasant shopping experience with a hotdog bun and ice cream. Meatballs and Daim cake could follow.

#25 Oldies

It is obvious to me why oldies are the best: They have the most frequent airplay, if you count back over the years. When it's played that many times, it just melds into your subconsciousness, a soothing tune that you may not recognise, but you're sure you've heard before. All those days spent riding in my dad's car, listening to those timeless tunes that today make me reach for SoundCloud to find out what it is. Those sweet R&B grooves, the catchy funk hooks, the anthemic quality of those classic rock ballads - memories are made of these.

I mean, when you compare it all the prefabricated, AutoTuned, manufactured pop there is out there (don't hide, Bieber; it's not that impressive that you can play instruments), as well as the profanity-laced, fake-angsty, bling-bling hip-hop there is out there by artists with punctuation marks in their name$, there really is no contest - oldies, by 500 country miles.

#24 Playgrounds

I miss those days of playgrounds with sand, not today's safety-obsessed rubber-padded everything.

We would play Blind Cat, where we would (pretend to) close our eyes and miraculously find our classmates on the labyrinthe climbing frame. The runners were not allowed to touch the ground, hence the minor acrobatics to swing under, over and through (insert your own preposition) the metal bars.

We also got electric shocks when we rubbed the fibreglass slides and touched the metal handrails, a sudden spark and crackle eliciting yelps of pain.

We also ran the risk of having bird poo smeared on our hands when we navigated swiftly away from the catcher. Not to mention urine bombs thrown from the HDB flats above.

Best of all, we had some creative types who would just wait silently and patiently at the springy animal thingies at the side, the lazy way to avoid any stealthy movement whatsoever. I made it the first place I would check.

#23 Words With Friends

This keeps my mind sharp. Yes, sometimes I check for words before I play them, but I've gotta do that or I'm not gonna improve! I really appreciate all the stiff competition I get from the friends play with, like Pastor Koo, Faizah, Winston, Geoffrey etc. I've learnt so many new words!

#22 Teaching

Despite many gripes, being a teacher is the best thing I can ask for. There is nothing like being responsible for the learning of children when they are still at the malleable age, when they're still shorter than you. Being with children is one of the few times I can be silly and not so self-conscious. Children really do bring out extremes in you. In any case, I can see it as training for fatherhood. At least with fatherhood, no one's gonna ask you how you've value-added to your child, and whether you can complete the milk-drinking syllabus on time. Now excuse me while I collect some forms...

#21 Inane workshops

After long days in class where it feels like you are the only human in class doing any thinking, it sometimes does a world of good to just be a passive recipient of information where you can switch off a bit. Others call them workshops.

It sometimes scares me that the very people who teach teachers how to teach are themselves some of the world's worst, most unreflective, self-indulgent people. They prattle on without caring about your engagement, content to talk from slides that contain enough words to flood an orthographic Orchard Road. Perhaps this is some big, self-conscious joke they're playing on us, a satire of us as teachers, if you will. After all, sometimes we, too, prattle on absorbedly, without a care in the world.

Anyway, this is the cue to mentally wind down and switch off, absorbing information through cognitive osmosis, a time to give those worn-out synapses a chance to regenerate. How interesting: our students can't wait to be teachers, but us teachers can't wait to be students. The grass, as they say, is decidedly greener either side of the teacher's table.

Note: PE workshops are totally different though.

#20 Getting my hair washed

For me, there is nothing like a luxurious hair wash. With my eczema, it's sometimes difficult to wash my hair, so I always look forward to getting it washed when I get my hair cut. I especially love the establishments that use a menthol-based shampoo and conditioner. I also respect the hairdressers that put extra effort in washing your hair; you just know who's just going through the motions and who really wants to make you feel good. The gentle, rhythmic kneading of the scalp, the careful depressions on the cranium, and the strangely therapeutic snip-snip of the thinning scissors as it pulls gently on the hair roots. Ah, bliss.

#19 Photography

People take photographs for a lot of different reasons.

For me, it’s my way of making sure I remember what happens in my life. And so, I take all things, everything, always something but never nothing. I worry that, one day, I will forget that I had ever lived a life and that I cannot remember anything that has ever happened to me. When that happens, my photographs will save me. They will serve as a reminder of my life, so that I may look at them and smile.

And so I take pictures of my food before I eat, interesting shadows on the ground, beautiful puffy white clouds dancing across the sky, my newborn daughter burping, crying, laughing, sleeping.

I don’t like taking photos with people posing in them. I feel it’s fake and doesn’t represent the moment. I’d rather capture a hidden smile, a stifled cry, a stubbed toe or a bleeding heart.

Then I place them all in albums for the world to see. Some people like them, some people don’t. But I’m grateful that my work inspires others to photography, so that others may see the world in the way that they do.

After you read this, I hope you snap away too.

#18 Football

As far as I can remember, football has been my favourite sport. And I don't mean the armchair variety. One of the greatest influences on my participation in the sport was our team in Agape where we played at Amara. Despite a swamp for a field, limited ability, half-time sushi, jerseys for goalposts and walkout protests, those were the best years. It was probably the singular reason why I wanted to be rid of my eczema. And when I could play, what joy it brought me. A few memories stand out:

• Playing a proper game at Hwa Chong with Faith United; hit the bar with a halfway-line lob
• Getting thrashed 8-1 at Teen Challenge; Edwin got 'megged
• Wading through the swamp with Matthew
• Changing at the Amara toilets
• Walking off with Ben to protest an illegal substitution
• Pulling off a Zidane pirouette
• Pulling off a rainbow on Edgar
• A left-foot trap-and-volley against Amos
• Injuring Kenneth with an ankle-crunching tackle
• Ill-fated attempts by Theophane to teach us long-range passing
• Never being able to get pass Matthew
• Actually winning a game at Temasek Poly
• Nicholas bringing us a Nike EPL football sponsored by the Saudi Arabia Football Association
• Jianliang's kungfu stances
• Darrell's ill-advised dribbles
• Ben's nauseating stepovers (especially if he was on your team)
• Quickfire one-twos with Duncan

Those were the days, and they can't come back soon enough.

#17 Agape Youth

I may have taken it for granted then, but my days in Agape Youth were instructive and formative. I may have displayed worrying signs of autism, my face being buried in a newspaper half the time, but I guess I did learn quite a bit there. In fact, I dare say I learnt more from godly examples set my my older brothers and sisters than any explicit teaching. This was truly relational discipleship at its most effective. So, many thanks to Job, Gaby, Anthea, Theophane, Kelvin, Edgar, Wilson, Matthew, Shimin and Edwin, without whom I'd be half the man I am today.

#16 An Intelligent Husband (by guest writer Jasmine Tang)

One of the things that attracted me about Aaron is his intelligence. Those who know him well enough know that he's kind of a nerd who likes to go into the details of why and how things work. A recent Newsweek article suggested 31 ways to get smarter and after reading the article, I now know why he is so smart: he fulfils 15 of the 31 ways. If you have not gotten to know his fabulous man I love, here is a list of 15 things that make him so intelligent and special to me:

1. He plays Words With Friends.
   Some (like me) may have gotten bored with it. He, however, is still so competitive and puts a lot of thought into the game (but I believe he'll not do an Alec Baldwin).
2. He does an activity that raises his heart rate.
   He cycles to school - every day.
3. He downloaded the TED App.
   We have learnt a lot from this website.
4. He builds a 'memory palace'.
   He tends to link facts to pictures and this is why he can study just the day before the exam and still score an A or B.
5. He eats dark chocolate.
   He absolutely loves it! 
6. He plays video games.
   This, according to Newsweek, helps him to improve reaction time and multitasking.
7. He watches/reads Shakespeare.
   Forced by his course in UniSIM to do so, but he actually enjoys them. Sometimes.
8. He hydrates himself well.
   Ever since he got the app to trace how much water he drinks, he has been downing at least 2 litres of water a day!
9. He plays an instrument (three actually).
   He plays the drums, bass and guitar. Mind you, all self-taught.
10. He writes by hand.
    He writes in his journal daily. 
11. Zone Out
    Though I sometimes cannot stand it when he doesn't  answer my questions on cue because it looks like he has 'zoned out', Newsweek suggests that this helps him to work on the important 'big picture' thinking.
12. He drinks coffee.
    He NEEDS his daily cup of coffee. Or two.
13. He is an expert.
    He's an expert when it comes to analytical thinking. And many other things.
14. He writes reviews online.
    He loves to write food and movie reviews.
15. He reads a lot.
    He is very good with his general knowledge and when I ask him how he knows about certain things, his answer is a simple phrase : "I read a lot."

So there you have it. Why Aaron Wong is such an intelligent guy. Maybe I should start playing Words with Friends again.  : )

#15 Riding a bike

Learning to ride a bike when I was at the grand old age of 24 was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Since then, it's been a form of exercise for me, and it saves me time and money travelling to school. For years, I was tormented by dreams where I thought I had learnt to ride, only to awake and realise otherwise. Since then, I've tried to make up for lost time, riding every day to work or anywhere in Punggol, Sengkang and Hougang. Since getting my bike in 2007, I've more than covered the cost, despite splurging on headlights, panniers, seats etc. The 3373km I've cycled so far could have taken me to Bangalore. Yes - Bangalore. Next stop - Beijing. I owe an eternal debt to Jon Tay, my cycling 师父.

#14 Water

Recently, I've started using this app called Waterlogged. It's a simple premise: it records how much water you drink a day. I've always had a problem with drinking 2 litres of water, especially at work. Whether it's a mug of warm water when I'm feeling queasy, or a refreshing ice-cold treat on a sweltering day, there is little better than water.

#13 Supportive colleagues

I was so touched to receive a hamper for Sarah containing all manner of useful knick-knacks. Not only that, but my colleagues also inundated my table with the 'garbage bag treatment', the most affectionate form of vandalism possible. From the bottom of my heart, never in my four years in Seng Kang have I ever been so moved. Sniff. Thanks, Ain, Huey Sian, Serene, Angie, Jiawei, Charis, Zatty and Hayati. =]

#12 Confinement food

For sure, there's nothing quite like homecooked food, but there's homecooked food, and then there's confinement food. We are truly blessed to have two master chefs (our mothers) staying with us to whip up delicious, healthy and nutritious food. Not only that, but they even take it upon themselves to buy and prepare all the ingredients, as well as wash up after that. This is food that is truly laced with love.