Today I Killed a Singaporean Mosquito

The poor Singaporean mosquito made a mistake of flying inside my room. That’s how it met its tragic death.



I have strong defensive reflexes against mosquitoes. I kill them in a clap. And then it sinks in and I shriek. I can’t stand seeing mosquito blood (or is it its victim’s blood?) on my hands. Often times I freak out. Then rubbing alcohol takes it all away. Part of my obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

Following the kill, I moved on to a more creepy activity: watching Barney.



There’s something about that purple dinosaur that creeps me out. And the children around Barney, singing and dancing, and who couldn’t be perkier, do not help. I worry that my niece enjoys his show too much. Although it has come to my attention that it was through Barney that Yzee learned how to clap her hands, stomp her feet and shout “hurray!” if and when she is happy. So I’ll let Barney be.

Still I continue to wonder how he is related to Grimace.

The day passed by mostly spent sending away my resume to who-knows-who. My identity may soon be compromised now that strangers know my particulars, from my birthday down to my employment history. If I want a strong wave of paranoia to take over me, remind me of my resumes and the number of times I clicked SEND.

I needed a break within my break, so I went with Yzee and her caretaker. We strolled around the block, and another, and maybe another, until we reached a playground filled with Singaporean kids. As soon as Yzee saw her friend, a Chinese-looking baby one month older than her, Yzee flashed her warmest smile coupled by her signature demure wave.

The kid’s name is Marissa May. As it turns out, the kid’s a girl. Out of curiosity I waited for the foreign baby to make a sound. I haven’t seen a pure-bread Chinese baby before. I wasn’t sure what sort of sounds they are capable of. Unlike the eyes of children in our family which are most often characterized by the words “round” and “bright”, Marissa May’s eyes were tiny slits with black dots inside. It is, in a weird Chinese way, cute.

A lot of things out here are like Marissa May to me. They are foreign yet refreshing. And in some weird kind of way—be that Chinese, Singaporean, or Pinoy—they do have their fair share of cuteness.

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Something interesting: I got the image of Grimace from this site: http://www.macstoys.nl/history%20characters.html

You may want to check it out for some Ronald MacDonald Trivia.