The Arts And The Sciences

I feel so incompetent right now. My Secondary 1 cousin was asking me the difference between protons, neutrons, electrons and isotopes, but I cannot remember a single thing! I have to rely on my knowledgeable friends and my brother. I hope my mum does not know about this, otherwise she will start another tirade on how useless I am.

I believe my mum dotes on my youngest brother probably because he is like her. She graduated with honours in Chemistry and Mathematics from the then-University of Singapore, and my brother seems set in following her footsteps - by taking Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Economics for 'A' levels, subjects which I can never do. Come to think of it, I have no idea where I got my genes from since I am neither like my mum or my dad who holds an honours in Economics. Maybe I am a mutant.

The irony thing is that I can still remember all my Geography and History facts from Secondary One, yet I cannot remember a single thing from 'O' level Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. At least I can still remember a bit of Biology. Well, I am never a science person, yet ironically I took triple Sciences, double Mathematics and double Humanities (Geography and Literature - History was not allowed for Science classes) for 'O' levels. I believe I would have done much better if I have gone into the pure Arts combination of Geography, History and Literature, with no Physics, Chemistry or Additional Mathematics.

My mum used to be very angry whenever she tried to revise Chemistry or Physics concepts with me. I can never remember the difference between Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, or how to balance equations, or why E=MC2. I always got my facts mixed up and had a big lecture from her as a result as she always took it that I did not study for it. I could read the entire textbook from cover and cover and still could not make any head or tail out of it. Yet the moment I finished my Literature text, I could state out the entire story in sequence. I used to get scoldings for not being focused enough. My mum could never understand why I could remember the definitions and formations of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks or formations of volcanoes just after reading through once, or quote an entire Shakespearean paragraph, or the chronological events of world history, yet she almost died trying to get me to remember how to balance Chemistry equations, or how fast light can travel, or to remember the Periodic Table. I also wish to know why I am so weird. Sometimes I wonder if she was trying to groom a rocket scientist.

I think I am pretty useless actually. One of my ex-boyfriends ever told me before that nobody is interested in what I know about world history or natural geographical land forms or Shakespeare's life story. People are interested in the latest economy and financial news, and engineering concepts, or scientific facts. So is my knowledge redundant then?

Come to think of it, I am really a rather shallow person. When I go for holidays, I do not like going shopping or bargaining at shops. I want to visit land forms, real-life sceneries, historical landmarks, beautiful architecture, countryside, and eat local fare. But which sane person will follow me on a tour like this? Chances are people will deem it too boring and will just prefer shopping or sun-tanning. I do shop and sun-tan or go to the beach too when I go for a holiday, but I will only set aside one day for it. I am more interested visiting other tourist attractions. Maybe that is why most of the time I travel with my parents, but then I have to follow their schedule and cannot go wherever I like to go too.

My number one tourist destination is Europe. A place my parents have been to thrice, yet I have never been there even once. :-( I want to go England to see the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace), Anne Hathaway's cottage (where Shakepeare and his wife used to stay in), walk along the Thames river, Big Ben, London Bridge, English Channel (where William of Normandy first sailed from France in 1066 to conquer England) and have authentic fish and chips!

I want to go France to see the Effel Tower, gargoyles at Notre Dame cathedral, Arc de Triomphe and the statue of Joan of Arc at Lyon. I want to go Italy for the Roman Coliseum (or whatever remained of it), the Leaning Tower of Pisa and of course the Prada headquarters in Milan! I want to go Germany to see the site of the fallen Berlin Wall. I want to go Holland to see the Anne Frank Museum. Mostly, I want to go Switzerland to see the Alps and Aushwitz, the birthplace of Mozart. I want to go Egypt to see the great pyramid, India to see the Taj Mahal in Agra, China to see the Great Wall, South Africa to see the Cape of Good Hope (and the diamond factories), Table Mountain and the safari, Tanzania for Mount Kilimanjaro, Denmark where the "Little Mermaid" statue is at Copenhagen and the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson, New York for the Statue of Liberty (and Tiffany & Co) and Philadelphia for the Liberty Museum where the big Bell is situated, and of course, South Korea (again) for the "Winter Sonata" trail!

So many places I want to go, so little time and resources! Arrrrgh!!! How I wish I can have a sudden influx of cash flow, coupled with a long entitlement of leave, then I can finally go on a long desired holiday at last!