It started last Thursday just before Coco Rosie, when Sohi called to ask where we should go for dinner. This it turns out is a rather stupid question when it comes to Sohi and I, cos when we’re in the city we do one of two things: go eat vegetarian fish at Ten Ren or share fried vegetarian dumplings and vegetarain mapo tofu (not too spicy) at Shanghai noodle house (not to be confused with Shanghai Dumpling House- Camy something or whatever). If we’re being really exciting we get noodles instead of rice with our tofu. Or as was the case on Thursday night- noodle house followed by Ten Ren where we got our usual order of bubble tea (incidentally, their tea is much better than most places cos if you order the right thing it isn’t disgusting sweet with the gross artifical sweetner).
Even the process of eating follows a predictable pattern- Sohi goes and gets tea, bowls and cutlery, then she dips a napkin in the tea to clean our spoons, doles out rice and tofu and practically slaps my hand if I even attempt to refill our cups. And so on. Stupidly though, we still go through the pretences of thinking about our choices even though we are so fantastically predictable.
Incidentally Coco Rosie was rather disappointing. Perhaps it was where we were standing- which was on the left towards the back where they have that second mini stage (we were at the corner). Being in that area meant that we could hear the ac running, plus lights etc. which jolt you out of the experience. Even so… yawn. At times I just wanted to sleep.
Friday night: I worked Friday night, but still managed to get home at the relatively early time of 12:30am. I am at this stage pretty tired, but rather than sleeping, proceed to spend the next four hours doing nothing. At one stage I sat with the tv on the av channel, but with no actual dvd in the dvd player- so that I was in essence sitting there staring at a blank tv screen. Such was my exhaustion. Eventually I managed to make myself get up to brush my teeth, but end up putting on abfab instead. The whole time I am thinking “I am so exhausted, but I don’t think I can manage to get up, turn the tv off and crawl into bed. Instead I’ll just lie here in a bizzare half awake state like a vegetable. That’s much better.”
Saturday morning: James calls me at 10am, and having gone to bed only five hours earlier I internally swear at him, but out loud try to sound as if I’ve been up for ages. Mainly because the first thing he said to me was in a very pejorative tone of voice- “are you in still bed?” Well, what if I was James, what if I was?, you equally as lazy fuck. Anyhow, he does the usual thing our family does- which is ask several questions without giving away why we want to know. For instance James wanted to know if I was 1) free 2) had money 3) willing to go eat yum cha. So he starts the conversation with, ”So, oi what are you doing today?” Instead of “Hey, I wanna go to yum cha, you free?” The latter question is very efficient, and yet we insist on doing it the hard way- so the conversation proceeded thusly, with neither of us wanting to give way:
Ja: So, oi, what are you doing today?
me: I dunno, stuff. Why?
Ja: Just tell me, what you doing?
me: I don’t know. Why do you want to know?
Ja: Just tell me!
me: Just tell me why you want to know! Pause. Fine. ummm- I’ll probably do some grocery shopping, clean the bathroom, etc. then I’m going out later. Why?
Ja: D’you have money?
me: Yeah, why?
Ten minutes later we finally get around to the subject of yum cha. I don’t know why we do this, but we do. And we’re exactly the same irrespective of whether we’re the questioner or questionee. We refuse to the let the other person know anything unless we have information first. It’s a little strange.
Saturday Night: I spend the entire night wishing I didn’t have to go out, knowing all the wishing was useless and a waste of time. So I put off making dinner, eating dinner, cleaning up after dinner etc. until it’s too late and Bel has come to pick me up leaving me with about two minutes to get ready. This is another thing that I do that is rather predictable. Every time I have some social gathering, all I can think is how desperately I want to spend the night on the couch. I should clarify that I have not had a proper night in from start to finish in AGES. I’m often working in the evening- so of course I have to schedule everything on my night’s off… which means I rarely have the chance to come home at 5, make myself dinner, potter around the house, read a book. Whatever. It just doesn’t happen. The last couple of night’s in I had were Sunday nights- which is usually when Em has a couple of friends over for dinner and So you think you can dance. Which is no problem because they are lovely, but it’s different from having an ordinary night in.
Anyhow, we eventually get there and B parks the car and we start walking to the place when she links her arm through mine. I give her a sort of dirty look, and say haughtily ”Did I say you could do that?”, and B in response cannot stop laughing. ”Oh Jennifer”, she says “I always know when you’re going to say that. You didn’t even make much of an effort that time”- she copies me in deliberately slow, stilted cadence “did I say. you could. do that?”, and laughs again. The stupid part is, I can hardly remember saying it that much before. So I ask “am I that predictable?”, and she says “yes!”
Also predictably, later in a semi tispy daze I wonder out loud how I could have wanted to spend the night at home. Although nights out are just as predictable, non? Spent a good lot of time taking pics with other people’s cameras, then spending even more time looking over them and giggling. Found ourselves in even more of a hyper-photo state after ?Scottie started the “quick, show me… batman killed your parents/the world has been eradicated of cats”etc. series.
When I eventually do get home, in a wonderful cloud of happiness I eat a couple of left over tim tams and dreamily watch Sixteen Candles, wondering why John Hughes stopped directing movies. How does one go from Uncle Buck to writing Maid in Manhattan?????
Sunday morning: I call James to complain about how much money I’ve spent over the weekend, and we do our usual little phone dance. ”What are you doing today?” “Why do you wanna know?” etc. He comes over for lunch, and predictably he ends up on the couch- surrounded by my pillows, alternatively napping and waking up to watch the soccer. I am predictably, cleaning the kitchen.
Sunday afternoon: James finds it in himself to get off the couch and go to his place, when Bel arrives in a sweaty mess wanting to use the shower. It is Sunday night, Em is away from home, and what am I doing? I am going out.
