Chapter 3:

Ostensibly, I was also ecstatic being praised and I was even more motivated to make more friends after being encouraged to step out of my comfort zone.

I really loved being praised as a kid. The feeling of being in the heart of someone, being loved and cared about by someone dear to you was always a snuggly feeling. It makes you so delighted that you'd turn into a fool without your knowing.

Nevertheless, I was always looking forward to school, so that I could see my "joy". At pre-school, things work slightly differently than now. We would follow a certain curriculum, arranged to fit young kids with short attention span. In the morning when we first arrived, we needed to place our own photos on the attendance board to indicate that we were present that day.

Thereafter, we would proceed on to remove our shoes, sanitise our hands and to do a temperature taking. Afterwards, we'd be freed into the canteen for our breakfast. Being a glutton, I really love anything that spells 'F O O D'! It was almost like heaven just the thought of having food soon. Saliva will be produced at a much faster rate that consistent swallowing was needed to prevent myself from drooling.

Food was served and guess what? The food before me disappeared within less than 5 minutes and I was already queuing up for a second serving! All my classmates and teachers would be shocked beyond belief that they would have their jaws hanging out. I would flash a smile, insinuating that they should continue with what they were doing.

However, only Jason would look at me, unshocked. After I returned to my seat, he would always tell me how good I am at eating. I took it as a praise and even attempted an eating competition with him! We would have seaweed stringed across our chins like beards and soup splashed all over the table. We would just laugh it off and be amused by each of our "eating talents".