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The MRT is a fucking sardine can.
written: 6:03 p.m. on Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2009

I just experienced one of the worst MRT rides of my life, if not the worst. For some reason the train towards Boon Lay (sorry I don't know what the fuck a "Joo Koon" is) is always packed, no matter what time of the day I board it; but at 5-plus, it's especially crowded. I'm no stranger to the rush hour train considering I take the MRT to and from work, and I really ought to be used to the crowd, the jostling, the inevitable brushing of the arm between a random stranger and myself.

Today, though, I felt like I was dying. From Commonwealth onwards the stupid journey seemed to drag on and on and on and on. At Buona Vista my personal space had already been severely diminished; at Clementi, when I saw the crowd of people waiting on the platform, the only thing I could think of was how badly I wanted to get off the fucking train.

The train positively took forever to get to Jurong East. I swear, that single trip lasted a lifetime. At Jurong East I leaned over the metal barricades at the end of the platform, my head bowed, just trying to breathe normally again. When the stupid train finally reached Bukit Batok, the train doors took another eternity to open, and once it did I had to restrain myself from running out of the fucking sardine can.

It was so hot, it was so claustrophobic, my jeans felt like they stuck too close to me, the top I was wearing didn't do anything to help matters, and those people, those faceless people, all closing in on me one by one. Even now, when I'm safely home and in my room, my breathing hasn't completely gone back to normal.

This is kind of weird. I think today's bad experience can be chalked up to my fatigue. I was 100% falling asleep - and fell asleep - during Civil Procedure in the morning. It was also really cold which helped matters 0%. When watching Harry Potter I similarly almost fell asleep at some parts, and for once in a long time, I genuinely don't feel like I have much energy to play tennis.

BUT I will go anyway, because I've been looking forward to tennis since Monday. And I'm sure once I step onto the Sacred Grounds of a Tennis Court, I will feel much better.

Well, here's hoping, anyway.

***

Harry Pots was pretty bad. I'm generally not a fan of the franchise because all the movies so far, save two (Prisoner and Phoenix), have been incoherent and choppy, with poor direction and bad story-telling. Phoenix was an exception, and for once, I thought a Harry Potter movie was actually more than fairly decent. It was actually quite good.

The latest one was just...bleah. Too much time wasted on peripheral storylines involving Harry and Ron's love lives (not interested; and Harry and that Ginny chick, who can't act to save her life, has zero chemistry) and not enough time dedicated to developing the main storyline, which was also the only interesting storyline. The whole movie didn't flow at all, and the emotional resonance at the end was sorely lacking.

It also doesn't help that only people in the movies that can act are the older generation British actors, like Alan Rickman (omg, he is SO SO SO hot), Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman who died in the previous one, and the guy who plays Dumbledore. The young cast cannot act, and Daniel Radcliffe is still utterly tragic. Whoever plays Ginny also should be fired, because she's actually worse than Radcliffe - a feat I previously thought was impossible.

Bleah. Oh well.

***

Okay. TENNIS TIME.

before sunrise // before sunset

Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010