Caz

Man, been so long since I've blogged. Hard to remember some of the things that went down.

Wednesday
Bball was a bit deflating. We played Turkcrock. They only had four, and we started with four (me, Bo, Angelo and white Mike, with Nick watching with a bad back), and Phil came a bit late. They got off to a good start, but after Phil joined we slowly started catching up, and were only down by four at halftime.

Nick tried to give an asswhooping speech at halftime, which was good, but for some reason it didn't work me up. I think it was more me than him. We switched to man to man defense, and things really went down hill from there. It wasn't so much the change, but I found that Angelo would come double team my man for no apparent reason, leaving his guy open, which led to baskets. We got absolutely smashed, and the score certainly seemed like they had five and we had four.

After the game we went to a pub. I thought they were eating so I ordered a pasta but they only ordered drinks, so it was a bit funny, lol. Bo said Angelo had said to white Mike "I'll take the ball up" and white Mike said "what difference does it make" and then Angelo said "ok, you take the ball up" and white Mike said "that's not even the point". Ok, two things:

1. This is a good summary of who white Mike is. He's very fair, doesn't hold anything against anyone, and can demonstrate his point without any bias. He obviously didn't seem to think the problem was me taking the ball up, and he said so, without so much as disrespecting either me or Angelo.

2. Angelo obviously thinks the problem lies with me taking the ball up.

So I told the guys that if he thinks that way, I'd be happy for someone else to take it up or for me to sit down more. Bo said "why give him the satisfaction" which kinda missed my point, and Nick just said not to do it. I just think that if he thinks I'm the problem, then I wanna show how we go without me.

Anyway, Phil and I caught the train back. I had wanted to eat KFC, but I felt so deflated by the loss that I didn't even feel like eating.

Thursday
So I had the big sentence on this day, the one with the real estate agent. We had a 9am start, so I got to the office at about 7:30am to prepare.

When I got to court no one was there, so I just sat outside and flicked through my file. Then the other side came with their whole entourage, and one of them was a guy working there who went to my primary and high school, but was a year older. We shook hands and he came and sat down next to me, and he was like "that's my boss, take care of him".

Ummmm...ok.

So when the doors opened, I quickly got up and said we should go in to get a seat. Phew, that could've turned out pretty bad.

When the judge came in, I read the outline out and handed the papers up. The defence started their spiel, and the judge mainly asked questions of him, but then he turned to me and asked a few questions. I don't know why, maybe because there were so many people in court, but for a few moments while I was on my feet, I suddenly got really nervous. I got so nervous, I felt like crawling into a hole and dying. In fact, part of me just wanted to run out of that courtroom.

I don't think I've ever felt like that, so it was weird to feel like that after so many years of practice. I thought, maybe if I was a bit more of an arrogant person, more prone to showing off, then I wouldn't have felt like that. I wonder if I'm right.

A reporter asked for my name, so I thought maybe I could get myself into the papers again.

Anyway, I had chatted to this girl from Oasis and gotten her number, and just thought maybe I should ask her out. I was in that willy nilly mood with her, so didn't really care if she said no. I texted her and to my surprise, she said she could meet me after she has drinks with her friends on Friday.

Friday
So I had another sentence, just a walkthrough import matter. Having done Thursday's one, I felt more confident about this one. Besides, it was a lot simpler as well.

I got to court early and talked to a cop in Mary's matter, until Mary came and we chatted a bit more. Then I saw people were starting to go into my court so I left. Turns out I was in the same court as Moira, and so we both waited to see who'd get on first or who'd get flicked. While waiting, I was standing at the back and sometimes checked out my cop from behind. She wasn't particularly attractive, but she was blonde and did her hair a particular way, which I found really sexy. Although she was older, she had that 'attractive older' look about her.

We had to wait, so she went back to the office and Moira and I went to get a hot chocolate, which she shouted. We just sat and talked about our matters and the office.

I got a call and we went back to the court. I got flicked so I went upstairs, and we got the chief judge. Before he came in, my cop, the other side and I kinda joked around a bit, lol.

When the judge came in I started an outline of the matter before he just cut me off and asked for the papers. I wrote on a piece of scrap paper "shut up Crown, just give me the papers" and showed it to my cop and she laughed. The judge did it fairly quickly, and when I went back to the office, turns out he just likes to do these matters quickly, so it wasn't anything personal against me. I had initially thought he didn't respect me.

I had gotten two sentences done in two days, and although I have a hearing on Wednesday, I felt like taking a mini-halftime break. I slowed down a bit in terms of work and mainly spent my time doing 'small' things, not really having a chance to prepare for my hearing.

Caz messaged me changing the time from 6:30pm to 7pm, which was fine. I left the office at about 6:30pm, went to take a walk to the restaurant I had planned to take her to but saw there was a huge line. I then went to Town Hall to wait for her. There were so many guys wearing a white shirt and black tie like me so there was no point in sending her a description of me. I walked past a couple of times and didn't see any Asian girls.

For a brief moment, I thought about Naby and kinda wanted not to go through with this. I guess my emotional side misses her.

I waited for a few minutes before she messaged me asking if I was there. I stupidly just said "yea" and then she called me. I suspected the girl holding the phone was her, and confirmed it as I started walking towards her. My initial reaction?

Wow, she's not bad looking.

She didn't look like her profile pic much. I mean, not in a bad way. Her profile pic was her at a lake side or something, so she didn't have make up on, but tonight she seemed to be a bit 'done up'. Just a bit.

I shook her hand and introduced myself, and she told me her name and I was like "oh is that your real name?" and she said Caz is just short for her real name.

I told her about the restaurant being packed and suggested another one, and she was ok with it. We waited to cross the road where there weren't any lights, and she suggested crossing at the lights. I was like "being a rock climber I thought you liked risks?" and she said she had her heels on as we quickly made our way across the road. I took her to the Japanese restaurant and said if she didn't like it we could go somewhere else. She asked me if I'd been there before. I hadn't, but I didn't want to seem dumb, so just said I'd been here for a friend's birthday a long time ago.

She said it was ok, so we went in for a table, and were told it was full but we could sit outside. She was ok with it so we sat outside. I decided to keep my jacket on for some reason. We got a bit of talking done as we chose from the menu. She eats pretty much anything but didn't particularly like eels. I asked if she'd ever been to Centennial Park to feed bread to the eels and she said no. She did say though that she would like some sashimi.

When the food came, she said "bona petite" and at first I didn't know what the hell she had said, lol. Seems a bit sophisticated for me, hehe.

I noticed she would brush her hair back behind her ears quite a few times.

I wasn't really nervous much, and didn't seem to have the time to stop and think "whoa, you're having dinner with a complete stranger". I just found it easy to get along with her. We talked about eachother's jobs, she said she didn't like hers at first but after a few years she started to like it. I noted how far it is between where she lives and where she works, and she said yeah, and said something about it being a long drive.

We had our laughs, but one thing was she told me she would be going to Europe soon for six weeks by herself. I thought maybe it was an 'out-clause' for her not to see me again, but I think she was genuine about it because she was saying how she was going around seeing her friends before she left and how she had a lot of leave accrued anyway.

I found we had a lot of similarities:

- we were both born in HK and came over here at a young age (she came over when she was 3);

- we've both been to Lismore (she was there for 10 weeks for work) - I told her that was why I signed onto the site and she was like "so you've been on it for that long" and I was like "well I don't use it that much";

- we both live at home with our parents, and our parents still treat us like kids, lol.

I did, however, feel a bit of a difference when she was surprised I didn't have an ipod. I felt a bit old and out-dated.

I asked her how she got into rock climbing and she said just through a friend who took her there. She asked about basketball a bit, and said her ex used to play as well.

She said she goes for the Tigers, and I said I go for the Roosters, and she'd been to a Roosters vs Tigers game with her ex.

It felt like we were there talking for ages. But one moment changed for me, and kinda slowed me down in terms of 'momentum'. I realised I had forgotten her real name. "What the hell was Caz short for?" I wondered.

It was a bit cold for me, despite the heater being right next to us. Also, I was busting to go to the toilet. Finally I found a break in our conversation and went to the toilet. You had to go through the kitchen to get to the toilet, and on the way there every staff would say "moshi moshi" and on the way back they'd say "ohayoo gozaimus", lol. When I returned, she said she was going to go and I told her it'd be quite an experience.

As I sat there by myself, I wondered if I had left the toilet in a dirty state? I don't think so. It'd look pretty bad if she saw piss all over it, lol. Lucky I'm a clean person.

I didn't plan it, but just thought that this was a good opportunity to pay the bill, instead of fighting over it at the end. So I went to the counter and paid. It was just under $70. When she came back, she thanked me, and I asked her how she knew I paid but didn't quite catch her answer.

She said she'd buy me dessert in return, which I thought was a good sign. But part of me also wondered if she was just doing it 'to be fair'. We stood around a bit wondering where to go. I was about to take her to the Riviera, but she said it was a bit cold for ice cream, and then suggested a Russian place for dessert, so we walked there.

It was a bit quiet as we walked, I actually kinda enjoyed it, but we talked about movies. She's a Harry Potter fan. On our way there we also talked about my knee a bit. I asked her if it was ever going to be as good as it was before the operation, and she said no. She also said it was likely that I'd get arthritis, which I already knew.

The place was on a street I've walked on many times, but the place is downstairs below street level, so it's not really something you notice unless you're looking for it. It was a bit dark, we went down, and waited briefly for a table. I made fun of the waiter trying to make it seem like we'd struggle to get a table. Finally we were shown a table in a quiet corner.

We ordered our desserts, I wanted to share but obviously it didn't work out that way. We talked more, but to be honest, I was getting kinda tired. I felt like I had had a big week at work, and kinda just wanted to be by myself. She said I was kinda quiet and shy. I said I was introverted. She asked me what I thought about her, and I said she seemed positive, up beat, and a good person. She said she had been described as 'assertive', and I said that wasn't a bad thing.

She asked me if I believed in karma, and I generally said no, citing Malay and Bob as two extreme examples. She asked me a bit about my relationship history, which was a bit hard. I said I went out with a girl briefly (Emily) for about six months but she ended up with another guy. She said her ex was Malaysian Chinese, and they went out for 18 months. She said they just both realised it wasn't working out, and it seemed like a peaceful end.

She asked me what was the most romantic thing I'd ever done, and I really couldn't come up with an answer, so said I didn't know. Great.

She asked me if I had any close female friends. I thought that was a bit of a dig at me, so I said I had one (Ele), which was the truth anyway. Looking back, maybe she doesn't want someone who has a close female friend?

We talked about fobs, and I asked her how she'd define one and she actually gave a pretty good definition. I said my parents expects me to end up with an Australian girl, and she said something like "you so don't suit an Aussie girl". Funny, cause the next day Bo said he could picture me with one.

After we finished our desserts, she left for the bathroom, and when she came back, I did the same. When I came back, she had the bill, and then we took it to the counter. She paid, and asked for a receipt. I half jokingly asked if it was for her tax return, and she said it was, and asked how I knew. It was really just an educated guess (why else would you ask for a receipt?). She said her work gives her some entitlements or something.

As we walked out onto the street, I said "where'd you park? I'll walk you to your car". She said it was alright, and I said I'd walk her to her car, and this time, she more sternly (I thought) said I didn't need to. I was a bit taken aback, and was like ok. So we reached the street corner, and parted. She said we should catch up sometime, and I was like "yeah, maybe after you come back from Europe".

Then we waved and I walked away, hands in my suit pockets. I heard a loud bang on the traffic lights button, and wondered if it was her, but I didn't turn around. I also wondered if my "maybe after you come back from Europe" sounded like a polite 'no'.

Saturday
Drove to the office in the morning to get my things, saw Jacqueline working there to my surprise. Drove back home, then caught a bus to Central to meet Bo.At the bus stop, I decided to text Caz.

Me @ 8:51 - Hey, I enjoyed last night, thanks again for dessert, let us know when you're back from Europe, would like to hear all about it :)

Of course, the anxious constant checking of the phone began there.

On the train, I told him about my date, but the talk about Thursday's case seemed to take more precedence for him.

From our Kainan team, it was just me, Bo, Alex, Jackson, aid I got to meet Gary at the end, although we played against him for a few games. He seems like he's got the intensity our team needs, although he's not as good as he is tall.

I swear, I had one of THE funnest games in recent times. We started off playing with One and Gus, and those guys are really fucking hilarious. When we took a break after winning two games, I sat on the bench with them and just enjoyed listening to them banter on about stuff. I also realised at that moment that I wasn't just quiet with girls, but pretty much with anyone. And I liked it. It allows me to savour the moment.

I resisted from checking my phone during breaks, telling myself not to get too attached. I have bball, and I always need to stick to that.

Back on the court, I had even more laughs, when I heard One say to Gus "you dumbass", lol! Towards the end, the fun never stopped as we ran a lot of fast breaks, and once One and I were on a two on none break, and I bounced it high up for him and he missed the alley-oop, lol. Ah, fucking great!

I had so much fun! Playing with these guys feels completely natural. I don't feel pressured, I actually feel like I'm having fun! And isn't that what basketball is supposed to be about?

At the end of the games, I checked my phone.

Caz @ 11:44 - Yeh... Wouldn't mind catching up again when I get back in nov...

I was so excited I showed Bo the message, lol. We had more messages on Thursday, but it's too long to type it all out.

Afterwards I went to the pub with One and Bo. It was funny to hear One slag off Jimmy, lol, because he reckons Jimmy only replies to his messages when there's something in it for him, haha. It was all too funny.

Bo and I caught the train back, and we talked about Jimmy a bit. I said he didn't seem like he gives 100% effort in games, and he agreed.

My plan was to go into work, but I thought "screw it, I've had such a fun day, I want to enjoy it" so I just went home and bummed around. Although turns out my car over-heated again, so more $$$ coming my way (or going out).

Today
I bummed around in the morning, had a nap till noon then walked out to work. Melissa was there, and I prepared for my hearing on Wednesday. I stayed till just before 5pm, then went to Market City to get a plastic top for my new phone (Samsung) and then went to Paddy's to get a cover for the phone, because I don't like having the top exposed.

I walked back home, sometimes wondering if Caz wanted to see me before she left.