Are we there yet?

So during the party, someone suggested driving down to Sebana the next day (since SF was already going to be there at her dad's weekend place) to chill out.

It turned out to be an interesting weekend, which would have been spent at home and catching up on sleep otherwise.

The trip down (in heavy rain, no less) was kinda awkward. You know how men would never ask for directions? So there the 2 guys seated in front were, bickering on and off; while the one beside me resolutely kept his face glued to his study notes for an upcoming exam (which was a good idea, coz I don't think I would have survived if all 3 started to bicker!); and I was engrossed in the charming countryside scenery AND praying that the increasingly stronger menstrual cramps wouldn't give way to the flow in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, definitely some major hormonal fluxes going on in that car.

When we eventually checked in at the hotel, I found out that I would be sharing a room with one of the guys. Okaaay...the thrills just keep coming, don't they? It wasn't like my room-mate was a total stranger or a creep (was told over supper just a few hours ago that other girls would kill to be in my place) -- but having him see me pottering around the room in glasses, sans make-up, didn't sound like my idea of a stress-free weekend.

After dinner, we picked up SF, hung out at the bar, and then did some night fishing. Caught a wriggly eel with evil-looking teeth, that nobody would touch, but decided should be returned to the water...somehow. Well, the architect (who brought the fishing rods) was too squeamish to go anywhere near the eel and just stood by quietly, while the U.S. Navy lieutenant did what officers do best, and issued "commands" from the comfort of his seat on the breakwater. SF and I? Why, girls aren't expected to deal with disgusting, wriggly things :-P We just did what women do best: we shriek and let the men do the macho thing, right? Heh.

So we watched the baby-faced lawyer with the angelic dimples, drop a huge rock on the eel's head (while the women gave voice to the dying eel), hoping to knock it unconscious. Nope...the lawyer found out, as he poked at the tail and then jumped a few feet away, that the eel was still wriggly. So he dropped the rock on the eel a second time, and then stepped on the rock for good measure, hoping to ground the eel's brains into pulp. Nope, bottom of rock ain't flat, eel still wriggly. Lawyer drops rock on the eel a third time. This time, we heard a wet splaaat. Yep, one dead eel coming up...right back into the water. Heh. We packed up and called it a night, amidst jokes of avenging baby eels coming through the filter pipes of the pool to look for a certain lawyer's ass.

And oh, you definitely don't ever want to owe this lawyer any money. Heh.

Started the next day with more laughs, swimming, and joined SF's dad for a good lunch of fried beehoon and wild boar stew (the latter from a neighbour who used to be the executive chef at Shangri-la, ahem). After that, we started on the drive back, caught dinner in JB just before we hit Customs, and then it was home sweet home :-)

Definitely an interesting weekend.

And yes, the officer was a perfect gentleman :-) Guess it also helped that I fell asleep with the reassurance that I wasn't sharing a room with the "murderer"! Laugh!

- - - - - - - - - -

Just reflecting on my reactions to people and what R said about me being judgemental.

Maybe that's why I just don't count many people as my friends (much less GOOD friends), and I find it increasingly difficult to let people into the inner sphere of my life. It also has to do with my self-consciousness, which has always been a problem, but less so in recent years. In fact, it did take me a while to get used to the idea of letting the bear in -- I tried to run, just as I did with a few guys where the attraction was mutual.

And just as I make judgements about people, while watching them and snippets of their intimate selves, and obsess about what I perceive as flaws, so it is that I hold parts of myself back from people, expecting that they judge me as I judge them.