Solomon's Mind

Out With The Old, In With The New (Part 2)

If you feel inclined to read up the first part of this tale, simply scroll down.

So having made the switch, I was stuck on the left side of the hall talking to Hadi every few minutes. Meanwhile I was surreptitiously checking out the organics who made up OG 9. A few kids caught me eye. There was a tall VS Eurasian named Josh (incidentally his first words to me were: Where's the toilet? To which I pointed wordlessly to the left). A Chung Cheng guy called Leonard. Another VSer, Edwin. And various girls, some cute, some not. For purposes of security I will not be referring to them by name. Or I will suffer at school. Trust me, I will.

The initial talk was nothing spectacular (three cheers for TP mediocrity!) but at least it was short. Then Simon Reynolds took the stage, and I began to pay attention. Reynolds, as always, was dapper and concise. The 06ers had to be taken back, many of whom were seeing their first ang moh teacher. Then as he was leaving, he called to me to talk to him.

I could feel the stares on my back as I left the hall with Reynolds. Haha, or am I being too bloody melodramatic for my own good? I'm just telling it as I remember it.

Reynolds asked me what I was doing in the Orientation. (He hadn't heard of my decision yet) After setting him straight, he looked somewhat pleased.

"I really think this is the right choice for you, etc. etc."

Whoa, an endorsement from the big S.R himself. I agreed, and asked him if he would be teaching the J1s for Lit. He said no, and I was genuinely disappointed. Reynolds is an excellent teacher and lecturer, and the noobs won't know what they're missing.

Well the rest of the day went by without much comment. I had some fun following Hadi on his tour of tpjc, chipping in with little nuggets of information whenever one crossed me mind. (The track's not where you want to do your push-ups, the canteen is always filled to the brim around 9.40, the library is 3rd floor at E block. Good place for sleeping and surfing the web.) I slipped out from the college at 12.50 sharp, of course. Orientation games? Not for me, thank you.

The next two or three days were pretty similar. Talked to Jeff in the morning, Josh, Deborah and Leonard in the afternoons, flee the school at 12.50. Class 98.7 visited and Umar the lucky bastard managed to score a hug from Carrie Chong herself. Not until the last day of orientation with its traditional concert did things begin to perk up.

Retro theme. I mean, retro? Well, okay, but what would you like me to do about it? Oh, go home and get retro clothes. I don't have any. I'll be wearing my big sports shirt my dad got from the Phillipines for me and my tp pants as always.

Which is why I ended up on stage later that night as the only guy wearing uniform. Well okay, half-uniform, but still uniform.

The concert was good though. ABBA's was definitely the best. My memory's a bit shot, but now I realise it was Radhika on stage acting as Ryan Seacrest for their American Idol skit. Was Amalina and Alfie part of the imitation ABBA band? No wait, Alfie definitely did sing Final Countdown. Ah, who cares. ABBA was the best. Ariff and Zaini got to play guitars, and Syafiq got to act like, well, basic Syafiq, pretending to worship Zaini as he played that particularly difficult chord.

We the Beatles came up with that Grease-like act. Josh was of course typecast as the hero, while the OGLs blatantly ignored my SYF bronze award and awarded me the part of hero's friend. Hmph. Well, can't complain. It's more fun when you don't have lines.

Earlier in the day Mandhip had nearly killed me through laughter with his pelvic-thrusting endeavours (yeah Cheryl. That was the one) . Unluckily though, he was kicked out of the scene. The entire hall would be collapsing with mirth if he had taken his act onstage.

(AND NOW, BROADWAY PREEEESENTS....MANDHIP! AND HIS PELVIC THRUSTS!)

What? Stranger things have happened (Though I would be hard-pressed to name one).

After a long rendition of "Beatles Boleh" (incidentally I invented that), we finished our act. And it was good. I met Paul Yeo around this time, and he suggested a bunch of us invading the stage during the Eagles act. Too bad there were too many people onstage at the time.

Orientation was over and done with. But what would lie in store next week? What kind of class would I get? I turned my back on Science because of a bad class. I would not be able to bear it if I was stuck in a similar class for Round 2 of The JC Career Of Sulaiman Bin Daud. All I had was hope.

You know how sometimes it seems like God never gives you a break? Well in that week he gave me one I've been hoping for the whole of last year. He cut me some slack. He had decided to go easy on me, and show me some mercy.

In short, He gave me 06A05.

Finn Solomon 5:54 PM

PROFILE

Sulaiman Daud a.k.a. Finn Solomon a.k.a. Dark Solomon, emo boy.

Liverpool FC die-hard. Rafael Benitez is my master.

Arts Student of Tampines College

Fortunate member of the best academic class in Singapore- 06A05

Reporter for the TODAY Newspaper

Fairly liberal Muslim

Technophobe

Quite possibly the biggest Stephen King/Terry Pratchett fanatic in the world

Lover of classic rock- The Beatles, Guns N' Roses, The Who, Led Zeppelin and AC/DCtag

Gemini- This might explain the days when I am insufferably moody. And also the days when I am wildly optimistic.

Dragon- The Chinese Zodiac is intriguingly accurate in its assessment of my character.

Shares a special bond with a special girl from Texas, an amazing woman in Madrid, the erudite psycho of Tampines, an amusing Egyptian and the classy rock lady in Canada, a great friend from the Phillipines, a lovely lass from Venezuela, another one in Sheffield, and the coolest of dudes from Miami, Minnesota and London.

If for some reason any of you are reading this, you know who you are. Thanks.