Remember how in primary school the teachers always got us to write autobiography of some inanimate object? Heh, the object usually is referred to in the first person and the story usually starts you out brand new in a shop and you catch the eye of some kid who buys you, brings you home, uses you and abuses you, then throws you away and you are left forgotten to live out your days in loneliness. It feels like you’re writing a model essay, but that was actually how this cap led its short life.

Heh, this is the story of the one cap. This is not just any ordinary cap. It is probably the grandfather of all the caps I currently own. It has lived a very good life in service of me. lol:

I think it was back in 1999 when I got this cap. It’s a Nike cap, and the colour is a mud kind of green. (no, don’t believe in the Chinese saying of ‘wearing a green hat’, lol: not that I have anyone to cheat on at the moment.). This is a generic Nike design that comes in an assortment of colours, but I have no idea why I chose this particular colour back then. I think it was $20 back then, and these caps still cost about this price after 6 years, so it hasn’t fallen victim to the annual inflation rate.

This is definitely not the first cap I owned, but it was the first cap I really, really liked. I wore it on a daily basis, and I have even recalled wearing it to sleep before, at times, on a bus while travelling or for some other weird reasons. Which leads me to talk about why this cap is so special. This is the cap that has followed me throughout the world. It has gone to several locations in China, all around Victoria in Australia, a round trip through Malaysia, to Singapore, and is a seasoned traveller, as you will see soon. It has seen mountains and lakes, and at times, have nearly become part of these scenic landscapes when a gust of wind comes and blows it off. Fortunately, at most times I’m quick enough to catch it before it flies off. Sometimes, when it does fly off, it’s usually in the safety of flat ground and I would go after it like a person does chasing seagulls and ducks. While travelling, when the cap isn’t on my head, it’s used as a container to hold my handphone, glasses, wallet and other stuff while I’m sleeping.

So without further ado, I present to you, the cap, which has frayed all round, especially the front, and lost any solid frame or form before.

This cap looks like this now from all the wear and tear I submitted it through on a daily basis, especially when I went travelling and it had to brave the harsh rays of the sun and getting drenched by the rain. It would smell funny at times from all the sweat and smoke from the activities I do and places I visit. lol: I think it wreaked of fish curry once before as well. I can’t recall whether it was a brighter colour before this or it has faded in intensity. The only mishap I’ve had with this was going to the market once and it got blown onto the street. I think a couple of cars ran over it before I could pick it up again.

I love this cap dearly, and unlike my gadgets, this non gadget thingy would still be serving me today if it weren’t for the ordinary course of anything’s life. Alas, it was all worn and torn, and my friends implored me to get a new one. So I retired it about 2 years back, and its replacement is also a Nike cap, albeit a blue one that is nearly identical save for gold emblems on the back strap (a birthday gift from a friend whose birthday preceeds mine by a week). In the end, it has been sitting in my closet ever since, and will continue to do so indefinitely.