One billion Chinese people, 2 degrees of separation

I bumped into a colleague at SITEX just the other day. Expo was bursting with people, and I took a shortcut with less people, and *bam! there he is...

One billion Chinese people, 2 degrees of separation.

I wonder why is it that we never seem to bump into the right people, i.e. people we want to bump into, and instead we keep bumping into people whom we are not so keen on meeting.

That aside, I managed to get my new DRU-810A. It is touted as the best and latest. Little did I realise that it's only the start of the deprivation of my sleep...with the physical drive in, I could not make a copy of any DVDs at all. Then I realised it is the writing software that has been causing the problem. Now the 4GB files are just lying in my harddisk waiting to be burnt. I will have to look at it again tonight *Arggghhhh.

Good friends backstab

I have not laughed so hard in a loooooong while. Maybe it's because I have always been the one making ppl laugh while I grin. Tonight's dinner literally turned the tables on me.

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Some classic *farts:

TN: ...you mean you are walking again?? You cannot make it lah, you can't even teleport here with a blink of your eye...call yourself an engineer!
Fish: Hey, engineers do not teleport, only mad scientists do *roll eyes
TN: What's the difference between these two???
Fish: *roll more eyes

SL: ...she's her good friend, and will always "bao to" her...
Fish & TN: "Bao to" is not to cover up!!! It's to backstab!
Fish: TN! You take her front, I take her back!

TN: ..she's the kind to act blur and will pretend she did not receive your email...
Fish: ..you mean she doesn't know a thing called Read receipt that you got already and she still denies??
SL: *wahahaha

When Mr Ah Bui Ah Neh sings terribly off-key, off note and swallows his lyrics..

TN: Stops mid track in her sentence
SL: *bursts into laughter again
Fish: Raise eyebrow and frown, heh heh heh

Fish: ...she mentioned you have nice features...in spite of what you wore..
TN: I duno if you sld take that as a compliment or insult..
SL: *giggles
Fish: You really have nice features...you just need to dress up and make up *with hands flagging up gesture...
SL: Fish!!! Don't do that!! I'm already "big" enuf...no need to maximise or push up!!
Fish: Don't you know that to maximise simply means to push up and squeeze tog?? Not increase in mass!
TN: Laughing uncontrollably...
SL: really?? TN, really? I didn't know that...
Fish: slaps forehead...yeah, you should dress up...*with hands moving vertically gesture...
TN: *as she's laughing hard..you know, now sld be a good time to do that flagging up thing...

TN: I give up on this engineer..gong lah you
Fish: ...what's wrong with engineers? You gers seem to have something to say about every profession...what's there to say about marketing SL?
SL: ipod
Fish: ???? Why ipod?
SL: coz it's for posing!!!
TN: *fumes

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That should be it for now..I think SL's sides have already splitted, and TN's burning smell should have followed her to bed.

Side note: Raku's isn't raving-good, Mohd Sultan stretch is better. Fosters resident singer is really incorrigible. Never ever go there when he's around >:) I have also realised that I should not be sitting beside SL while I make fun of her, I will get whack. *Oooouch...

Damn Golden Horse

Damn the Sg 42nd Golden Horse awards!! They have snipped away ALL Michelle Krusiec's appearances!! Now I really wonder if the Sg editor AND/OR Taiwan cameraman is homophobic or simply rude. She is at least a Best Actress nominee...and they didn't even give her a decent headshot before the annoucement. The only scene I caught of her during the awards was a dark headshot (does that spell dark horse?) during the "drumroll". That's it. I saw a bit more of her when the credits rolled - which included all other highlights of the evening. And since they are highlights in the first place...why did they snip her?? *Fuming..

PS: I like her hair, even if it's said to spoil her look. I like her gown, even if it's said to be ugly. :p

Taking a break

I have had it up to my neck this week, I worked at 4 h* consecutively, and on top of that I had to support impromptu breakdowns, work on countless reports, and prepare for more V*. I'm elated when I finally get to knock off :D

My lifeless week aside, my first break came in the form of a movie sub-starring a Chinese girl. Well, not just any Chinese girl (sadly, not Michelle K either), but Cho Chang, the current muse of Harry Porter.

When I first saw Cho Chang's picture on the Internet, I thought she was pretty cool. At least I would like her if I were Harry Porter's age. But after watching the movie today, I decided that I prefer Hermione. That's coz I will want a gf who thinks of me first when she's in need, and appears first by my side when I'm in need. I will not want someone who looks at me and think of someone else, worse, someone who has died.

I find that even though the critics (since when are they accurate??!) commented that this installment of Harry Porter is the worst amongst it all, I liked it the best. Maybe because it's starting to tilt towards the darker side, and with more twists and turns in the plot, I find that the details no longer bore me, but rather draw me further into the film.

Harry Porter is a very very unlucky chap, who always meet the right people at the wrong place - at the right time. He is terribly misunderstood, and is destined to lead a lonely life as a dark hero. Sometimes, it's really tiring being him. As part of the audience, I feel tired for him. I feel his anguish, his frustration.

On a lighter note, I'm seriously wondering why he isn't choosing Hermione as his gf, when they are obviously soulmates of one another. She can read his mind, give him a piece of sound advice when he's down, while he can be there for her, and protect her. When the reel-life chemistry between Harry and Hermione is so in-your-face, it really tickles me to see Hermione getting jealous and upset over the not-so-glam Ron...*yawn...

My aching butt

I sat on treacherous seats today. No, I did not attempt to sit on a fire bed in Little India after a fire walking stunt. I sat on a bike's seat - through Ubin's bumpy terrains, and the Esplanade's Waterfront stone benches. It was worth the ache though, coz not only did I managed to get some sun on my soon-to-be pale skin; I found a short cut to Chek Jawa (where I once got trapped on a large boulder in between tides) and I heard a song that touched me :'(

Window is a song written by Shirlyn in Jan 2005 (courtesy of our friendly cyberhood search engine). It depicts lost love. Normally, a sad song isn't sad unless the singer is able to bring the sadness and longing out. Singing live, Shirlyn was able bring the longing out, but not the sadness. I browsed her CD sleeve after the gig but I couldn't find the song, I guess it's not released yet :p

Saving Face!!!

Woo Weeee Yeeeee Haaaaaa! I have not seen a movie I ABSOLUTELY LOVE so much...now I really want it for keeps =p~

It's on the top on my Christmas wishlist..oh..wait a minute, I don't think I can wait that long :(

Living

Life has been kinda good for me of late.

-Work-

Though I have been slogging my life away at work, I thoroughly enjoy what I do. I used to be very involved in D* services, which totally put me off. I was so pissed at my boss's sudden switch of decision to put me in D* when in the first place she hired me for S* services. Nevertheless, I suffered in silence and abide by her wishes. Recently, new hires have been made, and they are being integrated into our D* services team. Slowly but surely, my boss has taken me outta D* (though not totally, since I developed a Sun comparable I* for their use) and put me on so much S* services, I hardly have time for a breather. This change is good. Stay.

I have also come to realised that being experienced in D* services is good. In the past couple of interviews I went for, interviewers are generally interested in my S* capabilities, and also very interested in my expertise in D*. One even went as far to tell me that I had an edge over other candidates coz I was experienced in D*. Alas, as fate wld always make fun of ppl, I became the point of contact of my co. to handle their POC - and this, killed any sorta interest they had in me :p

To date, I have a whole year's worth of leave to push forward.

-Play-

One wld wonder how I can squeeze out time for play in my hectic schedule. I guess a person like me will just have to adapt quickly and promptly. Most fun nowadays come in the form of being a Singapore traveller. I gather info on the tourisy spots in Sg and I venture out, taking pictures, and discovering parts of Sg through a tourist's eyes. This is kinda fun in a way - it can sorta satisfy my greed for travelling outside Sg at this moment. I go to the Zoo to see Ah Meng, the Birdpark to see the Tallest man-made waterfall, Sentosa for picnic, Arab St for kebabs, Pulau Ubin to cycle and see the flora and fauna, Botanical Gardens for bfast, the airport for ice-cream and soon Geylang Serai to see the Hari Raya lightings.

I play tennis to stretch my body, and to laugh (when my balls fly outta the court). Recently, I go to Wala on Sats to wind down - which, is pretty enjoyable, other than the times when I got a $50 summon for parking at the pool carpark and smelling like stale cigs when I leave for home :p

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I took leave on the coming Monday - not sure for what though, since my mind is still on the pending BBT next week - *Haha..snap out of it, you workaholic :p

Procrastination

Most people would procrastinate work to play. I - am the exact opposite.

I work hard. So hard that the services I charged for the last month can last me for the next half a year (in man months of coz, I would be in the Caribbeans sipping umbrella cocktails if they were in cash). I need a break. Somewhere serene, scenic and away from the buzzing sounds of servers and pushy clients.

Aside from Mondays to Fridays, I have been whiling my time away at somewhere old(new) for the last month (apart from the Saturday when my throat was so infected I wanted to take it out and disinfect it before stuffing it back in again). Kimono and I have been watching Shirlyn at Wala Wala. What was first a determination to have her requests played, developed into interest for Kimono. She annonunced to me that she will be going to Wala Wala for the many weeks to come - till further notice. I have no objections to that, since I need an outlet to unwind as well.

With this, I think I should hit the sack. I do have a lot to write about, esp after Kimono urged me strongly to start on my biography (I'm really tempted to buy her the whole of Young and Dangerous series instead :p). I need to organise my train of thoughts before I can start on it. Also, I need to settle on what I want to do next - further studies or my own outfit. I need time - to rest, to recharge, to holiday, to plan, to think, to roam, to get in touch. Time - wait, for me.

A present from a year ago

It isn't till lately, that I have began reading a present from a year ago. I can't remember why I didn't start on it; maybe I was too preoccupied with more important stuff, or maybe I wasn't attracted to it yet. So there it laid, in my cabinet for more than a year.

I'm only at the 5th chapter, and it has already pointed out several important philosophies in life which I chew on even while I'm in the toilet (*kidding).

"If you don't think you can afford loneliness, you shouldn't remain status quo, do something constructive about it"

"Love and passion are not identical. Love is directed toward another person, if neccessary we will sacriface our own comfort to make that other person happier. Passion, meanwhile, can be simply selfish gratification."

"Don't let hope be the best thing to happen to you. The closest thing to success is NOT a failure of lesser magnitude."

These 3 philosophies are the more apparent ones which I'm living right now; or ones that I try to acheive whenever I can ;)

3 courtesies

Being brought up as a well mannered Chinese, I'm taught to return "li", which is also known as courtesy. Since Jer has "arrowed" me in her blog, I shall abide by the rules of her game, and reveal 3 things about myself which, well, I guess not many ppl know about.

1) I'm a closet Mummy's kid
2) I'm a closet lovesick fool
3) I play the guitar, the jazz set and the piano - well, technically speaking all of which I have not touched in the last 4-5 years.


There you go...it ain't too difficult right? :D

At the turn of a quarter century

As I draw nearer to my turn of a quarter century, I have less time for myself. I have been so involved in my work that I neglected time for reflection and self. I wish there could be more.

Marbles

Tom woke up and looked at the digital clock by his bedside. It was 7am on a Sunday morning. He climbed out of bed to get ready to go to his office to finish up on his work. His wife stirred, but did not wake. Afterall, she was used to him going to work on Sunday mornings.

On his way out to the main road, he bumped into an old family friend - David. They exchanged greetings and pleasantries and David went on to ask where Tom was going so early on a Sunday morning. Tom replied to say that he was going to his office. David contemplated for a while before saying: "Tom, I'm sure you have a good job, which pays you very well, and that you are very committed to and passionate about your job. However, have you thought if it was worth it to give up your Sunday mornings to your work? Do you remember when was the last time you had breakfast with your wife?"

David went on to say, "I have done some simple math, and on the average, most of us live up to 75 years of age. That is approximately 3900 Sundays. 3900, it's not a very large number. Unfortunately, I did this math when I was 55, so then I had only about 1040 Sundays left. So I made a decision that day. I went to a toy store, and asked the salesman if he had 1040 marbles for sale. The first one I went to did not have that many, so I went to 3 toy stores and eventually got myself all 1040 marbles. I went home and put all of them in a plastic container. From that day on, every Sunday, the first thing I did when I woke, was to take one marble from that plastic container, and put it into a box. Then, I will bring my wife for breakfast and we will go to church together. It's pretty scary to see my life dwindle away with the marbles I take out to put in the box every Sunday."

David paused to take a deep breath. And then he said, "This morning when I woke, I took out my last marble." With that, he patted Tom on his shoulder, and went on his way with a smile. By this time, Tom was rooted to the ground. He was deeply affected by what he just heard from David. It was the most profound thing he had heard in his life. He turned and sprinted back to his house, and roused his wife and said to her: "Honey, let's go have breakfast together! And on our way back, can we drop by the toy store?"

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I do not know how many marbles you have left in your life. I have approximately 2600 Sundays left in my life. But I have loved ones whose marbles are dwindling just like David's are. I will make it a point to count my marbles, and spend quality time with them, so that someday, when our marbles are finally gone, I will not look back with regret.

A positive disposition

"With life comes hope, with hope, you will live on. Live a life with dreams, work towards them and they will come true"

This sentence sounds cliche. Maybe that's because most people have not experienced or seen it's true form. For someone who has, I have been a failure.

For the longest years, I have maintain a negative outlook on life. As much as I hate to admit it, it is true. I put on a happy front, but when faced with a crisis, I will think of the worst scenarios. I complain bitterly for what I think is the lousiest job for me, when it's not so bad if I had foresight - with all the expensive trainings. For the longest time, I lost my capability to laugh at my mistakes, to dream of the impossible. For the longest period, I hankered and regretted, without really treasuring what I had in front of me - when I thought I moved on, I simply moved my empty shell and left my soul behind. I realised finally, I need to be a better person - in love, life, and work. I should walk slower, and muse more.

There are many times where I wonder, if I were to contract a terminal disease, how would I be like? My answer has always been: I will lose the will to live on. I was not able to see that there are more unfortunate people, who have to struggle twice as hard, just to get by. I should treasure my life.

Many years ago, I thought I lost the capability to love. I did not. Instead, I stopped loving myself - almost totally. Even a dog became more important than I was to myself. I neglected time for reflection, I was afraid to face myself alone. It was different from being selfless, I simply gave up on myself. I did not know what I was working for, or fighting for. But maybe because I failed so badly in one area, the perfectionist in me wanted to find something else to succeed in to fill up the hole. With cognitive intellegence, came too strong a will to make my talent known. With emotional intellegence, I became more gloomy and cynical.

Sometimes I wonder, how different would it be, if I had walked a different route, and continued being unaffected and carefree. I may not be where I am today, or maybe because of my happy go lucky disposition, I will be a much more blessed person than I am now. I would have missed many chances, but the missed stops could lead me to the best deal at the end of the road.

I will not change into a different person overnight. But I definitely will work towards appreciating what I have (even the bad stuff), loving myself more, and living life once more with a carefree mentality.

To finish off what Spiderman's uncle said: With great power, comes great responsibilities. With great responsibilies, comes great losses. Live life to your fullest, with the least effort and maximum happiness ;)

Naruwan!

After 4 days of tiring self-planned travel, i'm back to reality ;) and "Boy, am I glad to be back :D" Everything went alright along the trip, and we managed to go to most of the places that we planned to go.

Upfront, Taipei's culture is very similar to that of Sg's. Deep down, their culture and urban landscape are highly influenced by the Japanese (who CKS had insisted on returning good for evil and maintained a good r/s with despite the horror they had done to the Chinese).

Everywhere I went, I'm surrounded by the latest Hari fashion, or the smell of Stinky Tofu. It's a rare sound when you hear sprouts of English, and rare sight when you see Caucasians. That brings us to my fav spot - Tien Mu. Maybe after being overwhelmed by a large number of Chinese and Mandarin speaking folks for such a long time, I welcomed a westernised landscape and environment. It is in Tien Mu where I found food and urban landscape and brands to my liking. Sad to say, brands in Taipei are exorbitantly priced. Everytime I'm attracted by a piece of branded item, I will do a subconscious comparison to something similar in Sg and find it ridiculously priced - even after a 30% discount :-S

Taiwan is a developing country at large. You can find many timber factories and industrial buildings spewing smoke in the suburbs. Banks, commercial buildings, large shopping malls peppered only the Taipei City Hall and Main Station region. Shin Kong, the much hyped about integrated mall in Taipei (you can find them in almost every district), is not as great as they seemed on picture. The fashion you find in them are as lowly and "exciting" as what you can find in our neighbouring country across the Causeway, and the price 4 times higher. I found Taipei 101 to be my fav shopping mall - it's stream-line interior design stands out from the elaborate Shin Kong that fails to impress.

As for the people and culture, they are definitely not as "westernised" as they seemed on the infamous Taiwanese variety shows - unless of course you are talking about the occasional "Don't phunk with my heart" blasting from their shops' stereo. 80% of them can't speak English for nuts, while the remaining 20% try to understand what you are saying, before telling you "Sorry, I don't know what's a "supermarket" :p". Anyhow, we managed to get by - by tweaking our Mandarin accent and style to suit theirs. Yet, out of 10 peeps who meet us, 9 will try to speak to us in Cantonese (which really baffled us both). Even the Birkies shop owner thought we were from HK 8- - Kimono said it must have been my fair skin that led them to think that way :p while I think it could be the way I speak Mandarin ;) - or it could be both...hehe.

To wrap it up on a short note, Taiwanese are no cosmopolites. And they are the only Chinese in the world at this moment who have been, can and will embrace the Japanese and their culture - with warmth and grace ;)

The S word..

In a short span of one week, Kimono and I managed to complete what should have been a full month's work. It was simply, "wake up, work, home, work, sleep late", "wake up, work, home, work, sleep late"...well, you get the drift ;)

In between these nights of toiling, I managed to draw up our Taipei itinery. It isn't much, but at least we have something to look forward to after such a long period of stress. Meanwhile, I have a few action items on my list:

1) Get my arse down to T * and get my server up so that it can connect to the I* in the lab
2) Buy an international adapter
3) Call M1 to check if there's a cheaper alternative to their exorbitant auto-roam/per month subscription rates
4) Cut my hair
5) Pack
6) Personal accounting for the month
7) Audit funds for IR*
8) Print maps
9) Change currency
10) Change the battery for my travel clock
11) Get my Kinetic (?)
12) Get the Armanis (?)
13) Get the pj shirt OR the guess shirt (?)
14) more shopping...(?) nah...

:p

The volatility of life

I caught up with an old friend. Someone from very long ago - when my other half still lived. There was not much change in her outlook - still as pretty, but her personality took a 180 degrees change. During the last year that I have not seen her, she got married, got divorced and developed a really strong relationship with God. Apparently, religion is all she trusts and find comfort in now. While I think it's good that she has a strong relationship with God, I feel that she has lost hope in humankind. I guess her failed marriage became sorta a booster in her spiritual path.

I still am pretty disturbed by the time we parted ways. The last time I met her, she was religiously preaching about her MLM product to me. This time round we met, she's religiously preaching about her life testimonials to me. While I'm happy for the fact that God has showered much blessings upon her, I can't help but feel skeptical about her enthusiasm towards religion. She reminds me of an exceptionally bright candle that burns at a rate far more than it can afford to. I guess my take to this is - easy does it, take things slow, and you will go far. She just gave me a feeling that she's someone who falls into things fast - and snap out of them doubly fast.

I believe that still waters run deep, be it in relationship, or other aspects of life. Of course there should be excitement and passion, but wouldn't you prefer a long lasting relationship peppered with excitement and surprises, compared to one that's filled with excitement everyday yet fizzles out the next moment you blink your eyes?

Breathing life

Over the Vesak break, I met up with a couple of friends. Amongst them, are 3 friends who have recently engaged themselves in a spat - where one of them voiced out her displeasures with the other two. Two of them shared the same sentiments (let's call them A & B), while one (let's call her C) thought otherwise. I sorta became neutral ground for them.

A & B arrived early and met me first, whilst C was coming from another direction. When we crossed paths in the underground pass, the awkwardness that ensued was pretty uncomfortable. Nevertheless, our crappy nature got the better of us, and our mood livened up once everyone started jibing at me x( (*sigh..the perils of being neutral ground)

This incident sorta reminded me of a similar situation I was in earlier this year. Within a group of friends, I miscommunicated with one of them, but did not voice out. Through the things we said, we offended one another and when we went out as a group, we hardly talked to each other. Neverthless, I kept it to myself, stubbornly believing that things will work out if she had the sincerity to be my friend. And surprise surprise, after a few months, just as I was contemplating to tell our mutual close friend about how I felt, she went through a change of attitude and was very nice to me at one gathering. From then on, her attitude towards me stayed well (*let's all cross our fingers :p)

These incidents stirred something in me. Is it always good to voice out our displeasures? Are some things meant to be implicit? When you become explicit with certain things, will the situation take a turn for the worse?

From a bigger picture perspective, should I voice out too when such misunderstandings happen between my loved ones and me? (I hear a lot of "Of course!!" in the background) But by doing so, you may incur the wrath of your loved one or upset her/him. If that's the case, are you willing to risk telling them?

These are questions which are debatable. And even I do not have the answers to all of them for myself.

Collide

Current Wishlist: Song from Howie Day - Collide
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The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you
Yeah

I'm open, you're closed
Where I follow, you'll go
I worry I won't see your face
Light up again

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find
You and I collide

I'm quiet you know
You make a first impression
I've found I'm scared to know
I'm always on your mind

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
I somehow find
You and I collide

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to ryhme
Out of the doubt that fills your mind
You finally find
You and I collide

You finally find
You and I collide
You finally find
You and I collide

Gia

Life and death, energy and peace. If I stop today it was still worth it. Even the terrible mistakes that I made and would have unmade if I could. The pains that have burned me and scarred my soul, it was worth it, for having been allowed to walk where I've walked, which was to hell on earth, heaven on earth, back again, into, under, far in between, through it, and above.

Voila!!

After two weeks of tiresome planning, comparison of prices and tour packages, we have come to a decision. We are going to Taipei :D. Our effort paid off and we got quite a good deal to fly with SQ (though I can't say the same for the hotel, but Kimono says it's good enuf since we will be on our feet most of the time ;) ) *Sobz...there goes my fullerton...

It will be a short 4D3N trip and hence we have to plan our itinery carefully. But well, it's a trip, and we are supposed to enjoy ourselves and R&R (with R :p), so why restrict ourselves to a tight schedule? It's coz there's simply too much to see and visit. I guess what we can do is to shortlist, strike out and focus.

Many thanks to a fren of mine who came back from Taipei recently and gave us many valuable tips. I'm sure that these tips will save us much mindless wandering and wasted trips to generally undesirable places. :D We will continue to search for info on clubbing/chilling out nightspots and fine/unique dining experiences. Ahhhh...the fun of self planned trips. Free from complusory tips and the boring ol' monuments and temple visits, we will have more time on our hands to explore the more interesting places within the city. However, there's no free lunch in this world..for every fun moment that we enjoy we encountered frustrating incidents with impatient land stewards/stewardess and blur-like-sotong hotel management who do not understand the meaning of "is-your-hotel-within-walking-distance-from-the-MTR?" - they seem to think that long distance calls from Sg to Taiwan is free and we can chat with them for as long as our grannies can nag :p

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the trip. Though it will be a short trip, the process of planning and preparing for it will be equally enjoyable ;)