Siao Ah...

Standing on the sidelines of Chingay, I spy Derrick and Min Zheng, two of my favourite boys from their year. Min Zheng says I've an accent now, which is a very frightening thing to be told, especially for me. Dharma, you reading this? I have an Accent.

The car's parked in Central, so I had to walk back to station after the parade ended. (On the way back is the Fort Canning Tunnel where the National Library used to be. They tore down a grand old red-brick treasure trove of memories to build a hole in the ground just so they could name it.) As I was about to leave, Eddy pulls up in the ambulance, arriving in base after a call. We end up talking 'till 2am, and I'm persuaded to join CDAU so we can ride around on ambulance calls.

Now, this is a tempting thought. Barely half of my life as a fireman was spent turning out for calls and if I can continue to do so, it doesnt matter even if I'm an officer riding around on an ambulance getting 2.80SGD an hour. All I want is the heady rush that comes with the coding from control room, the sliding pole, jumping in in various stages of dress, the sirens, beacon lights, beating traffic, helping people, finishing a call and returning to base with an unrivalled satisfaction. I want that, I want to be in a fire station again.