<![CDATA[KS Parents' Love Story]]>Hi, to tell you the truth, this is the first ever forum I’ve visited almost daily. And after exchanging views with caring and kiasu parents here, it is very interesting to notice some ‘die-hard’ fans here too.


In order to get to know each other better, how about sharing your romance story about your spouse? It’ll be fun to know how you guys met and finally forming your very own family.

I’ve noticed jedamum keeps saying how she makes her husband ‘notice’ her in order to grow her ‘clan’, and how sashimi and schellen can even ‘flirt’ on public forum. And the all-famous buds, what’s your love story? It’ll be interesting too to hear about chiefKS’ love story. Let’s not forget our very helpful mincy and all the nice nice forummers here. It’s funny but very precious to know such wonderful people around.

DH and I have always wondered if our love encounter is one of the most boring and 老掉牙type. But after marrying each other for 8 years, we still talk about our romance and how we first met. Still funny when we talk about it. Guess that’s how we keep the love alive - talking about the sweet things that mattered most.

Care to share?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/topic/2561/ks-parents-love-storyRSS for NodeSat, 18 Apr 2026 11:02:10 GMTFri, 03 Apr 2009 02:14:44 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Sat, 02 Mar 2013 15:00:06 GMT]]>I just read this thread from the beginning but could not find Buds's ending (I only saw Buds Hubs ending version). Can anybody tell me where to find the ending? It looks like the story stopped abruptly :sad:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/964415https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/964415Sat, 02 Mar 2013 15:00:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:15:58 GMT]]>Hi winth,

I just realized that I may have hijacked this thread, my sincere apologies. I didn’t mean to, just wanted to break our daily monotony with a little story.
Please let me know if you want your thread back,

Sunlight7

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/957423https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/957423Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:15:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:00:50 GMT]]>Ep 7. An inauspicious beginning.


My first date with Vivien was with her dad - the Dean of the Medical School.

There we were, alone in his office, two grown men with nothing to say and nothing in common except for Vivien. Professor John Lai would look up occasionally at me from his pile of papers through his horn-rimmed glasses, not in a hostile way but still rather too intense for my liking. I was looking everywhere else but at him, squirming self-consciously in my seat. The silence was deafening and very, very awkward. We seemed to be frozen across the thick mahogany table for I don’t know how long. It could have been five or ten longest minutes of my life. I twiddled my thumb under the desk and tapped my toes lightly as Bob Marley’s rhythmic "Buffalo Soldier" played in my head. I made a very strong effort not to sway from side to side or bop my head up and down.

Vivien Lai the barracuda queen had called me the day after the accident :
"Hello." I drawled in my couch.

"Hey, its Vivien from the car accident yesterday. Remember me?" I shot up like a rocket from my slouched position in front of the TV as my heartbeat immediately began to pound and my speech began to stammer.

"Oh…he…he…hello…ye…yes…I remember."

"Oh good, hee hee. You promised to help me, remember that too ?"

"Did…did…did…I ?" I did not mean to refute my help but in my nervousness, my usual eloquence escaped me and all I could do was let words tumbled out of my mouth like a babling idiot. I could imagine her pouting at the other end, it brought a smile to my face and a warmth to my heart.

"Of course you did !"

"Ok…so…so…were-were-were-when do we want to-to-to go-go to the po-po-po-police station ?"

"What ?! Are you insane ? Why would I want to go to the police station ???"

"To report that lunatic who side-swiped your car !!" My speech lucidity was immediately restored just thinking about that scumbag Alvin Soh.

"I’m not reporting to any police, are you mad ? My daddy is already pissed enough already. To involve the police…I will never get my car back …are you mad ? Anyway, our family lawyer is handling the insurance and what-not. Are you mad ?".

"No, you’ve asked me three times and I am not mad and what help do you need from me?" I have since regained my composure although I could still feel the sweat dripping off my palms.

"I need you to come with me to talk to my daddy…to tell him what you saw, tell him that its not my fault, tell him its that idiot Alvin Soh." She proceeded to tell me about her dad and what to say to him.

"You’re kidding…no…no way…you want me to talk to your dad ? Are you mad ? I don’t do very well with Deans" The image of the killer whale floated across my forehead.

"Yes you will"
"No I won’t"
"Yes yoooooouuuu wiiiill !"
"No !"
"Yes, yes, yes, a promise is a promise. Alright, my white knight in shining armour, I’ll make it worth your while with McDonald’s and a movie, my treat. And you get to kick Alvin Soh’s ass"

"Oh. Like a date?"

"Call it whatever you want." She gave me an address in the campus, a date and a time. She then hung up with a "ta ta, don’t be late".

After calming down for five minutes with a can of beer, all I could really think of was what a situation have I gotten myself into…maybe I could get Turtle and Octopus to come with me. You know, courage in numbers.

"What the f***, man !!" They chourused in perfect unison. "No, no way"
"Oh, c’mmon…surely you dont expect me to face the dean alone, right ?"
"We can’t help you, we didnt see anything, remember ? Only you with your miracle eyes saw what happened. This is your karma, you f***ing liar, ha ha ha"
"Yeah, you deserve this for being such a rat…ha ha ha. Good luck with the Dean"
"And your Vivien, hee heee" Octupus teased as he air-kissed me.

So there I was, all alone.

I was supposed to meet Vivien in her dad’s office in the medical faculty but she did not turn up and for which she would later confessed to have over-slept…in the afternoon of a school day ! We were supposed to meet there, blame Alvin Soh for the damage to her car, me testifying as such, she apologises to her father and then we scoot out of there for a burger and a movie. That was the simple plan. That was our date. But for now, the silence continued in what was increasingly becoming a contest of will to see who would speak first. Prof Lai continued to read and look, I continued to listen to the hypnotic beat of the phantom reggae music in my head.

After an excruciating long while, just when my head was about to explode to the loud thumping of the reggae beat, the Dean spoke.
"Well, I guess she’s not going to show up, as usual"
"Oh, maybe something important cropped up"
"Nope, if I know my daughter well enough, she either over-shopped or overslept." Prof John Lai gave out a long resigned sigh."Well, its lunchtime and I’m hungry. Why dont we head on to the cafetaria and grab a bite. You can tell me whatever that Vivien has put you up to lie to me."
So I ended up having lunch with the Dean of the Medical faculty and spent the next arduous 90 minutes defending Vivien and blaming Alvin Soh. The Professor did not seemed convinced but was finally too tired to resist and had reluctantly agreed to let the matter rest, on account of my sincere chilvary.

His parting words, however, were both frighteningly ominous and prophetic :"Stay away from my daughter…for your own good."

Vivien and I had our first big fight that night on the phone, even before we were a couple. I was fuming mad by the fact that she left me all alone with her father while she accused me of over-reacting and that it all turned out well. She rumbled on about how her father was a really nice man who was only strict with her but to me, it was a question of integrity and facing up to your actions. But to her, it was just a tiny episode amongst the many that she has gotten herself into and managed to get out of, either through her charm or sometimes through sheer dumb luck. There would be many more fights and squabbles in our time together.

It was not an auspicious start…made worse by my first sighting of the angelfish since that moment outside the library.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/955755https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/955755Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:00:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:47:18 GMT]]>

Busymom:
Busymom:

[quote=\"sunlight7\"]Ep.4 Ecounter with The Killer Whale


I needed help. I needed Vivien - the Queen Barracuda.

Are you writing your true love story, or are you just making this up? :scratchhead:

I asked because I have my reasons. Anyway not important.[/quote]You find it too unbelievable to believe? Frankly, in my uni days, was not aware that any Dean would stalk people and talk in this way? Or have things changed after I graduated? :scratchhead:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/951660https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/951660Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:47:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:20:24 GMT]]>

ChiefKiasu:
sunlight7:

...

(PS: this episode specially dedicated to Chief Kiasu)

Wah... :oops: ... I may not be a mills and boons fan, but your stories stirs those long forgotten memories of youth and hope.

Thank you!

Haha....we called that \" Maths and Biology bks\" at that time..... 😉 😂

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950357https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950357Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:20:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:17:46 GMT]]>

Busymom:
Augmum:

[quote=\"Busymom\"]
Are you writing your true love story, or are you just making this up? :scratchhead:

Err....according to what he had written at the beginning....is his true love story.....

Indeed, brought back youth luv memories which happened in the campus.....

I asked because I have my reasons. Anyway not important.[/quote]Oh....u find something familiar ?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950355https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950355Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:17:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:14:08 GMT]]>

Augmum:
Busymom:

[quote=\"sunlight7\"]Ep.4 Ecounter with The Killer Whale


I needed help. I needed Vivien - the Queen Barracuda.

Are you writing your true love story, or are you just making this up? :scratchhead:

Err....according to what he had written at the beginning....is his true love story.....

Indeed, brought back youth luv memories which happened in the campus.....[/quote]I asked because I have my reasons. Anyway not important.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950248https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950248Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:14:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:38:59 GMT]]>

sunlight7:

After some years, they even began to look like each other.
I observed that too....some couples after some yrs, they really look alike. 😉
sunlight7:
Their pet dog also started looking more and more like them, or vice versa.Their toddler then looks like the dog.
This is a bit too exaggerating bah..... 😓

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950204https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950204Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:38:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:26:04 GMT]]>

Busymom:
sunlight7:

Ep.4 Ecounter with The Killer Whale


I needed help. I needed Vivien - the Queen Barracuda.

Are you writing your true love story, or are you just making this up? :scratchhead:

Err....according to what he had written at the beginning....is his true love story.....

Indeed, brought back youth luv memories which happened in the campus.....

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950195https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950195Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:26:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:34:24 GMT]]>

sunlight7:
Ep.4 Ecounter with The Killer Whale


If you are a fan of National Geographic, like me, you would know that a whale is generally a very gentle giant, gliding across the vast oceans with its mouth open wide to ingest little planktons as food. They move gracefully and slowly, never loud or intrusive. But most of all, they can be elusive and tend to leave others alone. However, contrary to that notion is the killer whale, who is is far from gentle. It is a bloodthirsty, cruel and cunning meat-eater, a carnivorous killer that stalks, toys and tosses its prey, usually a dolphin or a seal, in the air again and again before subsequently eating the poor creature.

I was, unfortunately, similarly stalked by a killer whale a.k.a. the Dean of the Business School during my dark days. A Dean of an academic instituition is, by and large, an isolated job. He or she does not actually teach and interact with the student body but rather to set policies, rules and generally lord over everybody, especially the lecturers and other teaching and administrative personnel. They function as his eyes and ears, so he pretty much would know what goes on in the faculty. He is like an emperor ruling over his little kingdom and behaves as such. Suffice to say, the Dean is a most hated figure in the world of academia. We also hated our Dean.

The Killer Whale looks nothing like its namesake of the ocean. Our Dean was small in stature but big in ego. In fact, he was big in everything else.....including...well. you know what they say about bald men, right ? He was about 1.65m from sole to scalp, but rather rotund in girth. He actually looked a bit like an angry garden gnome with his red puffy cheeks, hooked nose and a balding head, speaking of which is very impressive in shape and size. His head seemed to be proportionately too big for his body and gave the optical illusion that he was wobbling as he walked. But the shape was perfectly curved like an egg. It was smoother than a baby's bottom. That was indeed one heck of a dome ! You would know he was appraoching simply by having the sunlight bounced off his forehead
into your eyes. His ego, on the other hand, was huge. As far as he was concerned, his word was law and his faculty, a monumental reflection of his success. His gold plated watch, his thick gold necklace peeking out from his hairy chest and his gawdy colorful suspenders are symbolic representation of that success. Needless to say, the faculty's academic performance was further evidence of
his success and any blight on that platform of success was considered a direct challenge to him and everything he stood for.

So, you can imagine what we meant to him - a trio of fun-loving, easy going and truant losers, not goose-stepping in line with his definition of succeess. Being average , to him, is being a failure. We were like a cancer eating at insides, rotting bacteria corrupting his pristine world. Of the 3 of us, I was considered exceptionally abhorrent because my grades had been falling consistently and alarmingly at a reverse 45 degree towards zero. Towards failure. Towards an insult to his kingdom. Towards an encounter with the Killer Whale........

The rumuors have been making the rounds in the grapevine for weeks that I had made it to the Dean's list. No, not the one for the brainy yet all rounder high achievers. This was the \"alternate\" Dean's list that came with warning letters and verbal reprimands. The rumours finally came true one fine day when I was summoned to the Killer court to have an audience with the Dean.

\"Congratulations, you made the Dean's list\"
\"Yeah, right\"
\"So, when are you seeing his royal highness?\"
\"Thursday\"
\"What are you gonna say\"
\"I dont know. What can I say ?\"
\"Just say you are naturally intelligent and this is just a very temporary blip in your long academic career and that you will bounce back with a vengence when your brain has had its sufficient rest\". With friends like that, I was doomed to a life of irreverence and dark comedy.

The meeting with the Killer Whale was actually rather uneventful, given the build-up hype to the event. I knew his personality, his pompous nature and his inflated sense of self-importance but what I was not mentally prepared for was the emotional intimidation:

\"What we have here and what I have built is a very fine instituition, my dear young man. By all acccount, we are one of the top universities in this region, if not the world. Do you know what that means ?\"
\"Uh huh.\"
\"No, you dont ! Because if you do, then your pea-brain would be able to grasp the significance of the situation. Here are your performance in chro....no....lo....gi..cal....or...der.....\" His fat, pudgy index and middle fingers tapped at a stack of A4 sized papers. *I fantasized of McDonald's oversized french fries*. They were my assessment and examination scripts.
\"Chronology is only important in a controlled series, sir. For changeable situations, chronology is actually quite irrelevant. The past is only a reference, its not a predictor.\"
\"Shut up ! Oh, you think you're smart, arent you ?! Well. this is the situation, listen carefully....either you buck up in the coming semester or you ship out of the faculty....MY faculty ! Consider yourself warned.\"
\"What?\"
\"You heard me, shape up or ship out.\"
\"You can't do this. I passed\"
\"Passing is the new failing, my boy. You and your two moronic friends are a disgrace to the reputation of this instituition.\"
\"But, but.....\"
\"Dismissed !\"

What an asshole, I thought to myself as I walked out of his court. Therein now lied the dilemma - if i devote more time to my academics, I would not have time to search for angelfish but if I don't, I may never see her again if I somehow successfully got myself kicked out of university.

I needed help. I needed Vivien - the Queen Barracuda.
Are you writing your true love story, or are you just making this up? :scratchhead:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950166https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/950166Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:34:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:51:22 GMT]]>

sunlight7:
...

(PS: this episode specially dedicated to Chief Kiasu)
Wah... :oops: ... I may not be a mills and boons fan, but your stories stirs those long forgotten memories of youth and hope.

Thank you!

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/948984https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/948984Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:51:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:13:55 GMT]]>More... More... :please:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/948957https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/948957Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:13:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:32:46 GMT]]>Ep 6. Chalk and Cheese


Some couples are made for each other.

You just know it by looking at them that they will someday get married, buy a condo, settle down, have kids (and a dog) and live happily(?) ever after. A picture perfect family straight out of a propagandic TV commercial for family planning. They are like ham and egg, bread and butter, fish and chips, Batman and Robin…ok, maybe not the last one as it seems a bit "queer"…

After some years, they even began to look like each other. Their pet dog also started looking more and more like them, or vice versa. Their toddler then looks like the dog. The entire family all look spookily alike, dog and human. Freakish but true.
Turtle, Octopus and I swore we will never ever end up like this and that we are to slap each other tightly if any one of us began to transform into one of those. Little did we know that we would be eating our words a decade later.

Anyway, those are what we call a match made in heaven.

Me and Vivien ? We were a match made in hell.

We were so different we might as well had lived in different planets, we were like chalk and cheese. Our relationship was intense and stormy, sweet and sour but most of all, it was destined to fail. Everybody knew, so did we, to be honest.

I met Vivien way before angelfish, during the first year of the university term in fact. We remembered it well. Yes, "we" because Turtle and Octopus were there as well. Vivien was driving her family’s second car, a flaming red Toyota Starlet. It was a big deal for an undergraduate to drive to school as most of us took the public bus. It was a particularly hot day and she was in a black tank top and a pair of hipster jeans, heavy studded belt and topped by a pair of elegant Ray-Ban sunglasses perched on her high nose. She was way too cool and we shamelessly stopped our card game by the roadside and stared as she drove by. And then her car had a flat tyre, I changed it for her and we became a couple…wake up ! this is not a Korean drama script. Besides, I would not have done that as I hate getting my hands dirty. Octopus would have been a more likely candidate, he’d do anything to get to know a girl, especially one as pretty as Vivien.

It did involve a car though but not hers, someone else had knocked into her car from the side. We were so busy gawking at her that we did not even notice the two cars had crashed until we heard the sickening screech of what sounded like two thin cans scrapping against each other. I suppose that is what you would expect from Japanese cars - scrape a little of the paint off the surface and you may just spot the Pepsi-Cola logo underneath.

What followed was a piercing high-pitched primal scream, almost sub-human in nature…followed by a tirade of eloquent abuse. Vivien was screaming at a male Barracuda (it was that obvious, he was in a too-tight T shirt, black tight jeans and pointed leather shoes. No male undergraduate wore leather shoes except barracudas. The rest of us wore sensible Nike, Adidas or Puma sneakers) that we would later find out to be one notorious Alvin Soh - self-absorbed, pompous and generally obnoxious but very rich son of so-and-so. More about this scumbag later.

"Oh…@#$…daddy…%^&…what…abcdef…see me…ghijk…your eyes…piece of shit…lmnopqr…" We could not really make out what Vivien was screaming but it was torrential, like a heavy rainfall of abuse.

"I…@#$%…you…drive…%^&…pass…licence…bitch…my shoes…" Alvin Soh was shouting in return.
It was quite a spectacle, two barracudas snapping at each other in the middle of the roundabout. Turtle, Octopus and I stood and watched, smiling at each other. We love barracuda fights, they are vicious, colorful and theatrical. It went on for a couple of minutes and then Vivien came storming toward us, as we were the nearest and in fact, the only spectators to the wreckage.

"Did you guys see what happened ?!" She literally screamed at her trio of potential witnesses.

"Erm…no." Turtle was almost trembling at the sight of this very angry yet beautiful girl, her sunglasses now stylishly pushed on top of her head like a hairband.

"Nope." Octopus was still staring at her chest as he answered nonchalantly.

"Yes I did," I lied. Turtle and Octopus turned and looked at me, eyebrows raised in incredible disbelief, stunned by the deception. I knew instinctively what they were thinking - No you didnt, you bastard. The truth is I could not have seen the accident either as we were all busy staring at her in the car but who cares, right ?

"Oh good, oh thank God. What a relief. Did you see what he did to my car ?!"

"Yeah, I don’t know what is wrong with him, driving like a madman." Turtle and Octopus couldnt contained it any longer and burst out laughing.

"Would you be my witness, pleeeease…" I assume it was for some kind of police file or insurance purpose but it was not. It was much worse. I did not know it then but she actually meant for me to be the witness to help her deal with her dad’s impending inquisition.

"Of course." Nothing felt better when you are an undergraduate than to have the future Barracuda Queen in a sweaty tank top pleading with you. I felt powerful and virile, like the alpha male of a lion pride. My buddies were openly stabbing me with dagger eyes.

"Here’s my phone number. Can I have yours please, I’ll call you once I figured out how to tell my dad about this" She scribbled some numbers on a piece of scrap paper and handed it to me. I wrote my phone number down on another and gave it to her as my two friends looked on with increasing disdain, like watching someone getting a Gold medal by bending the rules.

And then she went back to argue with Alvin Soh. I could see him smirking in my direction and pointing his angry index finger at me several times. I just shrugged my shoulder and smiled. I’m a clownfish, remember ? You think I could be fazed by a few angry stares and gesticulating, especially from a male barracuda. Alvin Soh would turn out to be my nemesis for the rest of my university days.
Then suddenly and as abruptly as the accident started, Vivien just drove off without so much as a word or a look. Alvin Soh pointed his index finger at us as a final warning, followed by an icy stare and he too drove off. We went back to our gin rummy card game.

So I now have in my possession the most sought after item in the entire campus - Vivien’s phone number - which she voluntarily gave to me. What do you do with a girl’s phone number ? You call her, right ? Wrong. I decided to wait for her to call me instead.

The call soon came the next day, the call that opened a floodgate of turmoil in my life, a good one year before my encounter with angelfish outside the library.

(PS: this episode specially dedicated to Chief Kiasu)

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/948909https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/948909Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:32:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:38:19 GMT]]>Awww...sunlight7, your story really reminds me of my uni days, where I met my now hubby... :love: Can't wait for next episode... :please:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/943062https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/943062Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:38:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:10:03 GMT]]>OMG... I'm hooked... :oops:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/939662https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/939662Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:10:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:54:56 GMT]]>Ep 5. Vivien, the Barracuda Queen

There are fundamentally two methods of survival in the animal kingdom - stick with your own kind to ensure safety in numbers or devise some kind of defence mechanism against predators. The first method is employed by creatures like sardines, salmons, dolphins, seals and penguins and the second by things like pufferfish, sea urchin, electric eel and so on. But once in a while, there are tribes that employ both methods to gain maximum advantage. Barracudas is one such species.
As explained in earlier episodes, barracudas are a bunch of curious things in the university campus , especially the female type. They are usually very pretty, academically bright, well groomed, has terrific fashion sense and seem to be gainfully employed in part-time vocations like modeling or public relations outside of studying hours. Most , if not all, come from wealthy families that is manifested in their branded apparel, accessories and bags. Heck, even their nose pick is branded. Their parents were usually doctors, lawyers, bankers or other such professions and were as snooty or even more so than their unfortunate offsrpings. Barracudas do not need help from anyone and helped no one, not even another barracuda.

And because of these and many more, they tend to be snooty and looked upon the general student body as \"the masses\" or \"those people\". They were also very selective in whom they mix with and hence, they tended to clique within their circle. One look and a barracuda could recognise its own kind from afar. All the campus boys tend to drool over a female barracuda while the girls aspired to be one. A barrcuda girl generally despised the boys, even their own kind. They deemed them to be rough, uncoth and lacking in taste and finesse. This was basically true with a few exceptions. So, the barracudas moved in their own troupe and live in their own world, seldom crossing the path of the working class unless its a class or group assignments and projects. Even so, they tended to do their part efficiently to minimize interaction with the rest of us. The barracudas were indeed a unique and special breed.

Amongst them, the queen barracuda was popularly worshipped by one and all. She was Vivien, the Barracuda Queen. Vivien had all the qualities of a barracuda and more, much more. She had an aura about her and a confidence that came naturally in the knowledge that she alone reigned as royalty. And because of this, she was always surrounded by groupies, wannabes and guppies that hanged around her every word and action. They were like bees attracted to honey. It was veryn hard to get near or to her and even the killer whale (The Dean) had to give her respect because her father was the Dean of the prestigious medical school and her mother (the Queen Mother) was a renowned cardiologist, doubling up as the personal physician of the Prime Minister. Her word could make or break anybody in the faculty. She was also stylish in every way, not gawdy or showy, but elegantly stylish. Her top were always streamlined and elegant , with little details either in the collar, the sleeves or the wrist and were always without any brand logo. While we all know it must be something expensive, you would never know the brand because it was not conspicuous. She was also always either in pants or long flowing skirts, never jeans. And never sneakers, always strappy heels or low platforms.

Vivien was widely acknowledged as one of the top three beauties not only in our faculty but in the entire campus. She too had long , straight flowing hair, rebonded. Always let down and flowing, never in a bun or *horrors* in pigtails or ponytail. Her eyes were deep set, double-lid with brownish pupils. Some said she was of mixed parentage but nobody ever dared ask. Together with high cheekbones and a sharp nose, she looked very much at home in a magazine cover or a movie poster. She was indeed very beautiful. She also possessed a physique that can be said to be \"devilish\" - squarish shoulders, straight back, slender arms and legs that reached to the sky while her bosom was perkily proportionate, neither too big nor small. They were perfect, like her.

She was every boy's dream, both day and wet. Many have tried to approach her but none came close. Many others, especially the rich spoilt barracuda boys attempted but all were ruthlessly rebuffed.
Some said she was a lesbian but she was so cool she couldnt care less. That added further awe to her persona.

The only boys that she had ever started a conversation with were.....you guess it....Turtle, Octopus and me. Actually, she talked to me but since the other two morons were with me, they insisted that they too were included in the encounter.

Thus began the first of my two barracuda romances. The one with Vivien began one day......

Next episode...... 😉

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/939361https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/939361Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:54:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Sun, 06 Jan 2013 17:19:32 GMT]]>I am hooked… Waiting for next episode…

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/931696https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/931696Sun, 06 Jan 2013 17:19:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Sun, 06 Jan 2013 15:37:27 GMT]]>nice! waiting for e next epi!!!

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/931646https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/931646Sun, 06 Jan 2013 15:37:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Sat, 05 Jan 2013 15:39:51 GMT]]>Ep.4 Ecounter with The Killer Whale


If you are a fan of National Geographic, like me, you would know that a whale is generally a very gentle giant, gliding across the vast oceans with its mouth open wide to ingest little planktons as food. They move gracefully and slowly, never loud or intrusive. But most of all, they can be elusive and tend to leave others alone. However, contrary to that notion is the killer whale, who is is far from gentle. It is a bloodthirsty, cruel and cunning meat-eater, a carnivorous killer that stalks, toys and tosses its prey, usually a dolphin or a seal, in the air again and again before subsequently eating the poor creature.

I was, unfortunately, similarly stalked by a killer whale a.k.a. the Dean of the Business School during my dark days. A Dean of an academic instituition is, by and large, an isolated job. He or she does not actually teach and interact with the student body but rather to set policies, rules and generally lord over everybody, especially the lecturers and other teaching and administrative personnel. They function as his eyes and ears, so he pretty much would know what goes on in the faculty. He is like an emperor ruling over his little kingdom and behaves as such. Suffice to say, the Dean is a most hated figure in the world of academia. We also hated our Dean.

The Killer Whale looks nothing like its namesake of the ocean. Our Dean was small in stature but big in ego. In fact, he was big in everything else…including…well. you know what they say about bald men, right ? He was about 1.65m from sole to scalp, but rather rotund in girth. He actually looked a bit like an angry garden gnome with his red puffy cheeks, hooked nose and a balding head, speaking of which is very impressive in shape and size. His head seemed to be proportionately too big for his body and gave the optical illusion that he was wobbling as he walked. But the shape was perfectly curved like an egg. It was smoother than a baby’s bottom. That was indeed one heck of a dome ! You would know he was appraoching simply by having the sunlight bounced off his forehead
into your eyes. His ego, on the other hand, was huge. As far as he was concerned, his word was law and his faculty, a monumental reflection of his success. His gold plated watch, his thick gold necklace peeking out from his hairy chest and his gawdy colorful suspenders are symbolic representation of that success. Needless to say, the faculty’s academic performance was further evidence of
his success and any blight on that platform of success was considered a direct challenge to him and everything he stood for.

So, you can imagine what we meant to him - a trio of fun-loving, easy going and truant losers, not goose-stepping in line with his definition of succeess. Being average , to him, is being a failure. We were like a cancer eating at insides, rotting bacteria corrupting his pristine world. Of the 3 of us, I was considered exceptionally abhorrent because my grades had been falling consistently and alarmingly at a reverse 45 degree towards zero. Towards failure. Towards an insult to his kingdom. Towards an encounter with the Killer Whale…

The rumuors have been making the rounds in the grapevine for weeks that I had made it to the Dean’s list. No, not the one for the brainy yet all rounder high achievers. This was the "alternate" Dean’s list that came with warning letters and verbal reprimands. The rumours finally came true one fine day when I was summoned to the Killer court to have an audience with the Dean.

"Congratulations, you made the Dean’s list"
"Yeah, right"
"So, when are you seeing his royal highness?"
"Thursday"
"What are you gonna say"
"I dont know. What can I say ?"
"Just say you are naturally intelligent and this is just a very temporary blip in your long academic career and that you will bounce back with a vengence when your brain has had its sufficient rest". With friends like that, I was doomed to a life of irreverence and dark comedy.

The meeting with the Killer Whale was actually rather uneventful, given the build-up hype to the event. I knew his personality, his pompous nature and his inflated sense of self-importance but what I was not mentally prepared for was the emotional intimidation:

"What we have here and what I have built is a very fine instituition, my dear young man. By all acccount, we are one of the top universities in this region, if not the world. Do you know what that means ?"
"Uh huh."
"No, you dont ! Because if you do, then your pea-brain would be able to grasp the significance of the situation. Here are your performance in chro…no…lo…gi…cal…or…der…" His fat, pudgy index and middle fingers tapped at a stack of A4 sized papers. I fantasized of McDonald’s oversized french fries. They were my assessment and examination scripts.
"Chronology is only important in a controlled series, sir. For changeable situations, chronology is actually quite irrelevant. The past is only a reference, its not a predictor."
"Shut up ! Oh, you think you’re smart, arent you ?! Well. this is the situation, listen carefully…either you buck up in the coming semester or you ship out of the faculty…MY faculty ! Consider yourself warned."
"What?"
"You heard me, shape up or ship out."
"You can’t do this. I passed"
"Passing is the new failing, my boy. You and your two moronic friends are a disgrace to the reputation of this instituition."
"But, but…"
"Dismissed !"

What an asshole, I thought to myself as I walked out of his court. Therein now lied the dilemma - if i devote more time to my academics, I would not have time to search for angelfish but if I don’t, I may never see her again if I somehow successfully got myself kicked out of university.

I needed help. I needed Vivien - the Queen Barracuda.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/931061https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/931061Sat, 05 Jan 2013 15:39:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Sat, 15 Dec 2012 15:09:02 GMT]]>Ep 3 Finding angelfish

An index finger lightly touched my chin and gently pushed the lower jaw upwards back in place. It was Turtle and beside him, grinning like the village idiot, Octopuss.

"You look like you’ve seen a ghost?"
"Sort of"
"Pretty ghost ? Your jaw was about to touch the floor" Thats all Octopuss ever think of.
"Lets go for lunch." I was not really in the mood for inanities.

I told them about my surreal encounter peeking out of that window pane, like a schoolboy meeting Santa Claus for the first time. I was shoving food down my throat but barely tasting what I was eating. Turtle was calm and attentive, perhaps hoping that my romance would not mirror his sad relationship. Octopuss kept chortling in a mocking manner and making these idiotic kissing sound. Both were fascinated by my getting so animated and increasingly high-pitched tone. My words would tumble out of my nostrils in some kind of high pitch staccato when I get excited and my buddie knew that well enough.

"I have to find her."
"What, your angelfish ? Why dont you just swim with the sharks and go with the barracuda flow?" I shot Turtle a dirty look.
"How about you, Octopuss, you in ?"
"How about I introduce you to one of my girlfriends instead? I’m sure one of them would suit you"
"F*** you ! Will you guys help me or not?"
"Do we have a choice? You must have saved my lived in my previous life, I’m like your slave bitch now"
"Ha ha ha…"

Thus begin our long quest to find angelfish…

A university campus is actually not a very big place…until you try to find somebody. Then you begin to realise the enormity of the task, given all the stairs, rooms, corners and sprawling open ground. Not to mention the thousands of sardines swarming everywhere. For the next 2 months, I would rush to the library early in the morning, stand first in line for the door to open, sit in
that same cubicle on the same day of the week at the same time slot and looking out at the same spot. But no angelfish. My buddies offered to stake out in my place but it was not possible because all they had was a visual description and I could not risk them missing her. And then the horrible thought came to me suddenly - the mother of all "what ifs" - what if she is in her final year and
graduating soon. Oh no ! To find her is already hard enough in this litttle university coral reef but if she swims out into the vast ocean call the working world, I might never ever see her again. I was getting desperate, anxious and insomniac just entertaining that thought. And for the first time in a long while, I had a pimple on the tip of my nose and it hurts like hell. I was now desperate,
anxious, insomniac and pimply. Just in time for Christmas, great!

"This is not working, we need a plan" Octopuss, despite his flaws, usually had a plan, even though 90% of them either do not work or was over-ruled by us. But he was creative and persuasive and tampered by Turtle’s practical approach to life, the final plan was usually at least looked fairly workeable on paper. "We look at the geographic layout of the campus and we comb through it like looking for a runaway fugitive." Well, that was the crude plan but what else could we do.

We looked in the library, in all the canteens, in the administration buildings and we looked in the swimming pool and the laboratories and the track and field. We searched in the lecture theatres and the rooms, we searched the bookstores and the hostels. We staked out the bus stops and the restrooms and we staked out the clubs and the societies. But no angelfish.

At least I had the sweet distraction of watching my team, Man U, taking a strong hold in the English footy league and playing rather sensational football. A certain 18 year old by the name of David Beckham, was beginning to make a name for himself and so were the other Fergie fledglings (so called because they were young footballers graduating from the youth academy under the watchful eye of the manager , Alex Ferguson) like Gary Neville, his brother Phil, Nicky Butt and the precocious Paul Scholes. My life then essentially revolved around two things - watching Man U on TV and looking for angelfish.

As the days passed into weeks and the weeks turned into months, I was also physically transformed. I became more and more haggard with dark rings below my eyes, as much from the physical exhaustion of the search as from the lack of sleep. The thought of not seeing her again kept me awake almost every night. There would howver be one or two nights when I would fall asleep due to sheer fatigue. My hair became unkempt, I had a perpetual stubble as I was unshaven and also listless. The energy sapped from my body and my soul.

My heart began to sink, and so did my grades. From an above average student, I was gradually slipping into the red zone - failing my tests and my assignments. They were not beyond me, I actually could do them with a little bit of reading but I just did not have the mood nor the inclination. My buddies too were falling behind in their assignement and project datelines but their grades were still marginally better than mine.

And that was when the I had my first encounter with the Killer Whale a.k.a. the Dean of the Business School…

(Nest Ep - Encounter with the Killer whale).

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/918870https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/918870Sat, 15 Dec 2012 15:09:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:00:56 GMT]]>Wow, sunlight7....I'm hook on your story. Episode 3 please 🙏

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/918161https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/918161Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:00:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Sat, 08 Dec 2012 10:03:04 GMT]]>Ep 2 The octopuss, the turtle and the angelfish

My love story would not be complete without at least the honorary mention of my two guy buddies then - the octopuss and the turtle. Octopuses , both male and female, cannot help using their many tentacles to clutch at other creatures. They love to be the centre of attention and this octopuss buddy of mine just cannot settle to one girl, he loves women and spend his entire life juggling among multiple girlfriends all the time. The turtle buddy knows only one girl and she basically runs his life. His concept of women is defined by this one girl. Both octopuss and I hated his domineering, overbearing and obnoxious girlfriend. She, in turn, hated us even more.

We were also very average students and used to compete to see who would score nearest to 50% in our exam papers. Whoever scores nearest win, meaning failing at 47% is better than passing at 80% because 47 is nearer to 50 than 80. We were happy to be average in anything and everything. We were a trio of happy idiots because we were average outliers. We belong to no cliques and not acceptable anywhere except with each other.The octopuss and the turtle would knowingly or unwittingly play a big part in my roller coaster romance with the angelfish…

Ahhhh…the angelfish. Where shall I begin ?

It was August 1994. Man U has just won the first league title after years of mediocrity and near misses. Alex Ferguson was into his 7 year managing the club. I was ecstatic and drunk with euphoria and made the resolve to be average no more. With that in mind, I decided to hit the books early and made the library a constant in my life, not the swimming pool. In a way, my first love led me to my second.
The octopus and the turtle were aghast but reluctantly joined me in the library but spent most of their time looking at share prices on the TV teletext. We were business school students, loosely speaking.

I was looking out from the library cubicle when I saw her or rather she hit me like a bolt of lightning. Even from behind the thick window pane, I see her. She wasn’t walking as floating across the atrium, her light walnut-brown hair cascading down her shoulder in unruly tresses as the wind gently blows. Her face was half illuminated in the sunlight but it was crystal clear to me, even now. Her face was round with big bright eyes , a small button-nose but most of all, I could see the eye lashes. They were long and slender, and flutters with every blink of the eye. It was mesmerizing and my pulse began to race while my heart started to palpitate. I was 22 years old then. That condition now would be call a heart attack needing immediate medical condition.

She floated across the atrium towards the library door as I felt my jaw dropping lower and lower. Actually she looked like a fairyfish but since there is no such thing, an angelfish would be apt because of it’s graceful movement and svelte shape.

It would be the best of times and the worst of times for me, as I spent the next 2 years looking, staking searching and hoping for the angelfish.

My angelfish.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/915850https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/915850Sat, 08 Dec 2012 10:03:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:04:48 GMT]]>

buds:
I love episodes. Especially those that i have time to catch. 😉


You sure write to bait, bro. :celebrate:

Anticipating next episode. :please:

Psst.. 7 is my favourite number. 😄
No no no.. i don't have 7 kids. 😛
Agree agree. 😉

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/915610https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/915610Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:04:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to KS Parents' Love Story on Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:40:14 GMT]]>I love episodes. Especially those that i have time to catch. 😉


You sure write to bait, bro. :celebrate:

Anticipating next episode. :please:

Psst.. 7 is my favourite number. 😄
No no no.. i don't have 7 kids. 😛

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/915606https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/915606Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:40:14 GMT