“They celebrated because the most famous odometer mankind has ever created was displaying 3 zeroes in a row.”

That’s from TIME magazine, on the euphoria over entering Year 2000. When the crystal ball drops at Times Square tonight, in reality, it doesn’t mean anything. Jesus Christ was born 2010 years ago; Earth’s orbit takes 365.25 days to complete, and all we are rejoicing at midnight is the jump in that last digit of the 4-digit figure.

Nevertheless, the drop of that ball gives us all a chance to look at what has passed, and what is to come. 6 years on, this is my 7th entry to conclude the year. Ironically, it marks the beginning of this diary.

2006 has been rather uneventful. The fireworks that ushered in the year at Taipei 101 quickly faded into darkness as I returned to the mind-numbing, pain-inducing routine of National Service, which ended on 051106.

Receiving the Pink IC wasn’t such a big deal after all. It’s not as if after walking into the blinding light at the tunnel’s end, I was greeted by cherubic angels who handed me the card, while the triumphant hymns played on. After 5 November, I still work, I still meet unreasonable people, I still fear SMS or calls from my boss, and I still greet people. Yes, Sir. No, Sir. Thank you, Sir.

Thank you so very much.

There were a few high points in the year though – meeting the Queen (among other VIPs), SAF Day, Coldplay, Singapore Biennale, Corrinne May, and of course, NDP, for which I appeared on the papers.

But that cannot be compared to the dreams some friends/acquaintances are now realizing. Reality TV can’t get more surreal than this, when people whom I’ve worked with not long ago appear on television and become famous overnight.

It seemed like yesterday that they wore the same uniform, and looked like any other student. Today, they’re touted as the Next Big Thing, with glamour shots, interviews, makeup on screen and sunshades off screen. And I go: Gee, I never saw that coming.

I said in my 2005 entry, “Perhaps a moment of epiphany will dawn on me that causes me to change and accept all the changes.” It was a prescient remark. Do I hold on tightly to a vision of the past in light of new circumstances? Do I live in the past for the sake of maintaining the status quo?

Finally, I’ve convinced myself that the answer is no. Because you have changed, and I have changed too. I need not be stuck in the image of the past to retain the familiarity we once had, as the friendship will have to adapt to the times as well. To live in illusion will only create more tension with reality.

In the blink of an eye, 2007 is approaching. I’ve not seriously thought about entering university, and have always assumed the current monotony – wake up, work, home, computer, sleep – will drone on.

Once, though, I had a dream about it: I woke up in my dorm to see the industrial skyline out of the window, where chimneys bellow smoke from afar. Oddly enough, the hostel resembles a Singaporean secondary school – a U-shaped building with windows facing the corridor. The strange dream ended with a trek across the snow to visit a friend who lives in a hut.

Similarly, entering adulthood is not something I’ve anticipated. When we were young, say 7 to 8 years old, we couldn’t wait to grow up. Yet when the time comes that you turn 21, you would be caught in shock, and would prefer to escape from all this, to be the child hidden in your inner self. Well, at least, I am.

I was at a cousin's wedding dinner on the 30th, and it dawned on me: they were the ones holding their 21st birthday parties just a few years ago. This led me thinking about my friends: after the series of turning-21 celebrations I’ll be at next year, in just under a decade, I would most probably be attending their weddings. Some of you may even come with toddlers in tow.

Hard to imagine this, eh, my friend?

Time seems to have frozen for the past 2 years. As I step out of the cold, and to enjoy life proper, it will only get more interesting. 2007 will be a watershed – a teaching stint and, of course, university. It’s going to be more challenging, studying and communicating in Chinese. But I’m determined to make it work.

So let this be Episode One of a new adventure that will only get more exciting.

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