Still the same.

It has really been a long time. Never really felt like making any entries. Life just wasn't turning out as well as I would have hoped. Its a Saturday evening and I don't really have anything to do. Well, I have assignments pending, but its this lethargic vibe in me thats preventing me from getting started on anything not vaguely entertaining. I had lunch with one of my older colleagues in a different team recently and there are stuff she said that made sense, however unpleasant they were to hear. Bottom line of the conversation was, if you want to have a change, people have got to see your commitment to it. Talk is cheap. Effort and results speak louder of intentions than mere words can convey. Of course, she wasn't critical of me specifically, but I can feel this is one area that I am lacking. Basically, I'm all talk and no action. I've got to work on that.

Recently, the company heralded the arrival of a new batch of graduate hires. There's a few near me and I can see the excitement and anticipation in their faces, all basking in the glory of a potentially fulfilling career. I remember I was a new bird once. I was optimistic. People seems to label us "high flyers" and "fast-tracked". Well, look at where I am now. My peers aren't faring much better too, unfortunately. Hopefully things will change for my new colleagues. I've heard our firm's graduate programs are a lot more structured now, as compared to my day. I can only hope thats true, for their sakes.

In any case, half the year has come and gone. Not much change to the status quo. Still single, and job's still the same. Not much development either way. Not much change in my social life either, with work taking up more or less the whole bulk of my available time. I did remember talking about getting back into bowling again, although that never materialized, due in part, to a lack of partners, but more importantly, a lack of effort. Well, I guess I might never get started, the way things are going. Time will tell.

Anyway, the new iphone is launching soon. I'll probably be getting it, although not anytime soon, since I'm only interested in the white one and it seems that it'll get delayed.  Well, lets hope it doesn't get delayed too much. That's about the few things in my bleak life that I'm looking forward to these days.

Mars 500

It has been a tough week. Unfortunately, not much different from the last. A few colleagues left the firm this week again. This may seem like a regular occurrence by now and nothing much to be alarmed about anymore, but this time, one of them happened to be in the same team as me. In a way, I'm happy for her. She's been in the same role for more than 4 years now and any fool can see its not going to lead anywhere. Although I do feel a little sad that I've lost some help, on the other hand, I guess she can finally get her career going. Its too bad I can't really say the same for myself. I've got to find some new ground pretty quick. Its getting pretty shaky where I am currently.

In any case, for some reason, I felt the need to splurge last week, so went down to town and got this.

Come to think of it, it has been quite a while since the last time I bought a watch. If I remember correctly, that was about 2 years or so ago, when Damien(also leaving the firm) got me 2 rare watches from Japan. Since then, I've pretty much been lurking in the forums, sniffing out the deals but not pulling the trigger. Initially, I had gotten my eye set on something full of heritage and value. But on second thought, given the nature of my work, I figured a tool watch might be more appropriate. So here I am. Anyway, some more pictures of the piece.

Here's a lume shot. Its actually orange lume but it seems kinda yellow in the pic. In any case, I noticed the lume isn't as impressive as the RXW that I had. I guess the sandwich dial makes a big difference.

 

By the way, its a limited edition watch, "limited" to 2012 pieces. Though to be honest, I'm not sure a watch with a production run in the thousands can truly be called "limited"

Probably the view I'll be seeing a lot in the coming days.

Anyway, went for a midnight car wash again today. I remember when I was in University, I used to enjoy doing this. Now I remember why. In the dead of the night, its just you. There's no one around and its dead quiet. Its hard to describe, but its precisely this solitude that gives me the company I need. That might sound a wee bit contradicting, but that's just the way it is. It's such a serene feeling that I think I do not have the ability to convey it in writing. Anyhow, one more day to the start of another tortuous work week. I really do need all the luck I can get these days.

SSDD?

Today a really interesting thing happened. We had a team meeting today and the content was unusually unusual for a team meeting. Normally the purpose of meetings, especially among teams, is to update and foster better working relations; this one had the boss telling all of us that its about time we start looking for other stuff to do. In all fairness, there wasn't any malice in the discussion, its more of an insightful look into whether its likely that we still find ourselves doing the same thing, say 5 years down the road.

Although I don't agree with some of what he said, one thing did struck a chord. I can't picture myself in my current role forever. Neither can any of my colleagues for that matter. One of my colleague even mentioned to me after the meeting that he now just plain hates his job. Its the same old thing, day in day out. I personally don't "hate" what I do, but I'm far from enjoying it. Although my gripe differs from him significantly. I don't mind a repetitive routine if it adds value to myself, the problem is its hard to see that lining in this cloud. In any case, I can tell this little session has got most of my colleagues pondering over a career change. I won't be surprised from tomorrow onwards to see some behavioral changes as well. I might even exhibit some symptoms myself for all I know.

Anyway, enough of that. My assignment is all submitted and thats another piece off my mind. Although I do feel a little guilty this time, since its a group assignment and I personally feel I did not contribute as much as 2 other members in my group. They are like some little effervescent creature; with long emails back and forth on what to include in the bibliography, what other points to add, some theory that we could use, etc. I am amazed and impressed at the effort they are expending and I'm sort of ashamed to say I can never do that. Oh well, no use thinking about the assignment now, its all said and done. Now, I'm looking forward to the exam!

When is it going to end?

I realized that this has become a recurring theme in my last few entries. I am dead beat. Just as I thought, the last week was not much different from the previous one. There were loads of stuff to do, and they just keep coming. Being shorthanded doesn't really help either.  That's also one reason why I don't understand why one of my colleagues in another office was asked to leave. I do know he had some differences with his superior, but I didn't think that had anything to do with his work performance. This brings to mind something that I recall from one of the last lectures I went to. "People don't quit from jobs, they quit from people". Now here's one prime example right here, this very example has all of us worried if we'll ever go this way too.

Anyway, went for a drink with my team yesterday evening, and we saw tons of colleagues at the nearby pub. What was interesting is that everyone was there to unwind and to celebrate the coming of the weekend. For the three of us, we were basically there to drown our sorrows, whine, and think about the mountain of work that awaits us 2 days later. Our moods were basically the polar opposite of everyone else that night, and we had to toast all the happy people out there whenever they come our way. Needless to say, aside from the occasional miniskirt that comes our way, there wasn't much heartening content in our conversations.

Anyway, I still had not finished my assignment. I'm not too worried this time though, selfish as it may seemed, I always seem to do lesser whenever there's groupwork involved. I don't ask for much, I just hope we get a decent grade. In any case, I have just spent almost the entire Saturday doing NOTHING. Its strangely liberating yet worrying at the same time. On one hand, its been a long while since I don't have some sort of work on a weekend, but on the other hand, I really feel I should be putting all these time to better use; like finding a new job for example.o_O.

Oh well, I still can't bring myself to get started on anything. Maybe I'll go wash the car later around 10pm. Last time I washed the car at such an hour was way back in NTU.

ANOTHER bad week??

It was yet another hellweek for me last week. This was made worse by a mistake I made in the middle of this tortuous period. I was negligent in a certain task, and while there were no direct impact, I still feel pretty rotten deep down, knowing that I've screwed up. I would like to blame it on the workload, but I know that's not why. Come to think of it, ever since I've been back from my incamp training, I've been working 12 hour days. The sad thing is all these are just invisible hours. No one knows I'm working, and no one certainly cares that I am. Sometimes I really wonder whether its worthwhile to care too much. I know some colleagues of mine never seem to have that problem.

Anyway, today being Sunday means that the start of another week is looming. And if the signs are any indication, I can expect the same levels of stress to come right at me from day one. I've been wondering for a long time how long can I put up with this crap. Its just too unfortunate that I haven't found any other ground to venture.

On a totally unrelated topic, a colleague of mine, who I had known for quite a while since I joined is leaving the firm for a rival company near Vivocity. While I was sad to see him go, I guess it should be a better place that he's going to. Another colleague of mine is thinking of leaving as well. She told me that she's still undecided and not to be surprised if I don't see her after 3 months. Its interesting to note that there are lots of people having the same thoughts as me while not having to deal with crap like me. But then again, they most probably have their own crap to contend with, though those are crap that I would most gladly trade with. Oh well, time to go to sleep and brace myself for another excruciating week ahead.

Humdrum

It has been one hectic week after ICT. With the exception of the last two days of the week, where I had to leave early for lessons, it was pretty much 12 hour days everyday. We have a "ticket-count" going on daily as a rough gauge of performance, and lately, I've been "slipping down the charts". That's actually one reason why my latest module, centered on organisational behavior, really strikes a chord with my current predicament, especially when it came to the part about managers and work satisfaction. Words like "indifference", "dissonance" as well as "burnout" were especially relevant, though not entirely accurate.

As for why my "count is slipping", I think I am gradually getting bored with all the daily nuances I have to deal with. One question always seems to linger in my head. "THIS is what I'm getting paid for?" No doubt, I think I'm getting good money, but to be honest, I think I'm overpaid for what I do. I guess this may seem to be a somewhat strange area to be complaining about, but one hidden connotation of that is that I could be doing something that's more meaningful and gives me much more value. I want to feel proud to be paid to do work that generates value, both to me and the people around me. Sadly, this is just not happening where I am now.

I had the chance to talk to another colleague of mine when we were still in the office around 9pm one particular evening last week and he mentioned the exact same thing. If it weren't for the money, he would have left ages ago. Providing for both the family as well as housing doesn't make his decision easier. He was at a point in life where he could not afford any uncertainties that would throw his routine off-whack. That was when I told him that I'll put up with this for another year,at most. That's the limit of my threshold. At some point, I've got to bite the bullet and take the plunge. At least learning something new won't be as painful now when I've got no kids to feed.

Fun's over.

The week at Tekong has ended and I'm missing it already. The week was both tiring and fun at the same time. Before I go more in depth on what we did over the week, here is a picture of our lodgings.

Its not too clear unfortunately, considering I took it with a cellphone cam. Anyway,these are longhouses and every platoon was allocated one. We did not have the luxury of real beds though, and had to make do with safari beds, which was kind of hard to fall asleep on, but not really a problem when you're dead tired.

The schedule on the island was interesting, it was the first time in my life that I did some serious mountain-biking, with rough roads and gear changes and stuff.  Being able to do it with friends and in an environment that is relatively unspoilt by human intervention was an added bonus. Anyway, the bike cycling was just one of a few events organized by the battalion, we had movie screenings, navigation exercises and even a mini sports day, although the latter was just before we left for Tekong. The highlight of the Tekong trip however, was a survival demonstration course where the instructor(an indian ranger) showed us how to live off the land. The part that had some of our more compassionate soldiers grimacing was where he demonstrated how to kill animals with your hands. Almost all his methods involve decapitation and his unfortunate victims range from a quail to a hen. One of my friends even tried his hand at it when the ranger asked for volunteers. Thats one more quail headed for that big forest in the sky.

We did not have much to do at night though, after all the activities of the day had come to an end. There were movie screenings but I did not catch any of them,seeing it was held outdoors and I did not find the idea of being a human mosquito bait very inviting. Instead, all my nights were spent on this:

Its a card game called "Citadels". The good part is up to 8 people can play and we were never short of willing parties. We have another card game called "Saboteur" that we alternate with this one to keep things fresh. I've really got to thank Justin for bring something so quaint into camp. I don't think I'll ever play something like this if not for him. Due to all the fun we're having, the week flew by before we knew it and soon, it was time to hop onto the ferry back to the mainland. We did catch a glimpse of some recruits practicing for their POP parade though.

Seeing them all seated in company formation and their fullpacks all laid out neatly behind them really brings back memories. Although it has been more than 10 years since my POP, some things just stays the same. I can see the look in the eyes of many fresh-faced recruits and I guess mine was pretty much the same back then. It was an added surprise when we learnt that their school CO used to be my unit's CO back when we were still an active unit. Talk about coincidences. I wonder what would be his reaction if he were to see us now.

Booking in.

Well, although the week has been entirely uneventful, it was the most enjoyable time I've had in a long time. No work, no stress and no worries. The past few days incamp has been quite a leisure trip. The only activity I had to do was some gunnery simulation exercise; which wasn't really much of an exercise, considering everything's held indoors in an air-conditioned environment. Over the last few days, I've come to "re-realize" the common reservist ethos present in everyone of us and they can be summarized below.

• We can sleep anywhere. As long as there's nothing going on, auto hibernation comes on.
• We are perpetually hungry.
• Going for meals is a group activity. Always.
• It is perfectly acceptable to wait more than an hour for food at the canteen.
• It is perfectly acceptable for someone to walk out of a toilet buck naked.
• The other companies are always doing lesser.
• The other companies are always having it better.
• There can not be no cards.
• Coins. Can't do without them.
• Tonight got nights off?

In any case, tomorrow the entire unit is going to Tekong island. Apparently this is going to be a R&R trip so we were told to bring stuff to entertain ourselves. Well, its only 4 days. I just hope I can clear as much of my required reading as possible during this period of time. This is about the last period of inactivity I can have before work once again rears its ugly head and absconds with whatever free time I have left available.

Live from base camp

Its rare that I can make an entry in the middle of the day, but then again, time has never been an ally of mine when it comes to free time. I guess time spent in the army changes perspectives quite a bit. Today is the 4th day of my military reservist training and its been literally a holiday camp so far. Unlike the previous one last year, where it was hectic getgo from day one,  I had tons of free time. There were so many periods of inactivity that I'm really struggling to find things to do when we aren't training. In any case, I'm not complaining, its a good break from the hectic busybee life that I am so used to.

Anyway, I'm off to Tekong next week. Apparently, this incamp is sort of like a "reward" for the last one that we had to go through, so the whole battalion is going for some sort of an "offsite" retreat at the island. The schedule seems to suggest that all that's lined up for us over there are recreational activities such as bike riding, paintball, bbq etc. To be honest, I would rather prefer to just stay in the camp and just chill. I'm just not into activities like these so I guess I'll probably need to bring some things to entertain myself. Or I can just sleep all day, which would be a real waste of the copious amount of free time that I have on my hands. Well, I'll see how it goes.

ICT looming

It has been more than a month since my last post. More specifically, I haven't been in the mood for any updates ever since I came back from my Canada and New York trip. Albeit physically exhausting, I found the trip really therapeutic. Why? I'm not too sure myself. Perhaps walking alone by myself for long periods of time gave me the much needed serenity that I have been craving. Its kind of ironic that this happened in one of the busiest cities in the world. Anyway, New York is definitely a place I'll go back to again, only this time, I'll make sure to go back in warmer weather. There are still so many things and places I have yet to explore.

Anyway,part of the reason why there had been no updates is that the last few weeks have been filled with the same mundane humdrum. Going to work early, listening to demanding people, leaving late. I've been so busy with work that I haven't had time for anything else. Things are looking to be pretty much how they were last year, which can't be a good sign. In any case, I've heard that 3 more of my colleagues are leaving. I have not ventured to ask why, but I guess there comes a time when you've just about had all you can take. Its the courage to call it quits that I wholeheartedly applaud. I might do just that one of these days, when push really comes to shove. Now if I only knew where was my boiling point....

In any case, all office-weary activities have now taken a backseat. I'm on leave now and starting next week, will be on my annual two week military pilgrimage. Unlike most of my contemporaries, I eagerly look forward to this time of year. Its a time where thinking is relegated to the lowest echelon possible on the hierarchy of daily affairs. Its a time where I can literally just do nothing constructive all day and still not feel a wee bit unsatisfied with how the day went out. In short, its like a paid-for resort holiday. The only downside is the physical activities that accompany said holiday. I just hope we don't get too much of that.

New York, New York

Took the overnight Greyhound from Montreal to New York City last night. This was another first for me and I was looking forward to the people who I'll be making the journey with. There weren't too many, but they were all from different walks of life. There was a French couple who seemed to be going to NYC for holidays, there were a few black guys going back to NYC, and there was some young Canadian lady making the trip down for business. I did not talk to them much, just idle conversations now and then. It was interesting though. Anyway, same questions for me once the bus reached the US border. Where I live, where I work, what am I doing here, etc. I thought it was just me, seeing I was foreign, but it seems everyone on the bus had to answer the same(mostly) set of questions. I asked the bus driver and he remarked that this was unusual, normally, going across the border is quite a speedy affair. I guess it might be because we were the only bus around at that time(~2am) so I guess Homeland Security decided to make an example out of us.~shrugs~

In any case, the journey was rather uneventful, after about 7 hours or so, we finally sighted New York City. I must admit, upon disembarking, I was immediately engulfed in a whirlwind of activity. Our bus journey ends at the Port Authority Station, but for many New Yorkers, this is the start of theirs, and at around 730am in the morning, it was soon to be the start of rush hour. The fact that it was a massive complex did not help me much at all. Even with a map, it took a while to get out of the building and get my bearings right. Once I did, I realized that New York was a city that's laid out very methodically. Every street, every avenue; its all numbered very orderly and intuitively, which is more than what I can say for many cities,even my own.

For me, it was not too difficult to navigate once I got the hang of it. "Vertically" was the avenues while  "horizontally" was the streets. In other words, they function like a grid pattern to identify any location, For instance, Times Square is at 7th Avenue off 42nd Street. So all I had to do was go "down" the map to "42" once I found "7th". I walked to a few places, the Empire State building, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central,etc. It was quite awe-inspiring to me, with all the humongous buildings and all,  only problem I had was with the wind. For some reason, although the temperature was(only) about -1degrees celsius,  it felt a lot colder than Montreal due to the stronger winds, which was ironic because being in a city, I would have thought the tall buildings would have served as an effective barrier.

In any case, I got quite tired walking around the midtown area, no thanks in part to the sleepless night I had to endure on the Greyhound, so by around 4pm, I found a hostel to rest my feet. Thats where I am typing these now. I guess I won't be going out in the night, but I should be going out bright and early tomorrow. Got to check out the financial district as well as what everyone should see when they come to New York City; the Statue of Liberty. After that, I should just be in time to catch the Greyhound back to Berri-Uqam station in Montreal. For now, my feet are sore and I'm exhausted. I'll probably be turning in soon.

Here's to the last night in New York!

Flying.

The last week has been really hectic, but thank goodness that is now all behind me. I'm on leave starting from yesterday till after the Chinese new year! Work has been piling up and it's probably an apt time for me to take a break. Had an arrangement to go visit my sister in Montreal, and so off I went. I mentioned before that I have never left the continent so this was understandably an exciting prospect for me. I had to take 3 connecting flights just to get to Montreal as a faster flight will cost me about close to 3 times more, a marginal utility that I cannot make sense of, even if I wanted to.

The trip started ok enough, the first leg to Hongkong was uneventful, three hours on the plane, watched one Harry Potter movie and before I knew it, I was already there. The second flight was the killer for me; a 14hour nightmare from Hongkong to Chicago. To top it off, I had a window seat; while that was good for viewing the clouds, it was tough to go to the washroom. I only went to the loo twice during the whole flight. And being in economy, it was tough getting to sleep. The seats were cramped, there were lights from this other guy thats beside me, etc. Suffice to say, I was extremely glad when the plane landed.

Just when I thought I was just an hour away from Montreal, I had to hear that my flight has been cancelled due to a snowstorm in Chicago. So instead of a 5hour odd wait at O'Hare International Airport, I had to wait a whopping 9 hours for the next connecting flight to Montreal-Trudeau. Since it was snowing rather heavily, there wasn't much I can do outside the airport, which was too bad considering there wasn't much I can do in the airport as well. In the end, I just grabbed a bite to eat and tried to find a nice cosy spot to catch some rest before boarding time.

The flight to Montreal was uneventful. I boarded, I snored, and then I was there. Makes me wonder why didn't the airline schedule a flight directly from Hongkong instead. Anyway, it was already close to 2am local time when I landed, and suffice to say, Montreal-Trudeau is a very "sleepy" airport, sort of like the antithesis of Changi. ALL the shops within the airport were closed! There wasn't even a single one that was opened 24 hours. Getting through customs however, was a breeze, quite unlike the US customs, which asked loads of questions and even required me to take off my boots.0_0

Anyway, I was intrigued by the cab meter on taking the cab to my sister's place. You cannot believe the rate these babies move. I had though the meters on Taiwan cabs were ridiculous but Montreal taxis really takes the cake. A 15 minute trip through deserted midtown(it is after all, 2am) costed me 41CAD.O_O. Suffice to say this is probably the first and last time I am hailing one of these off the road. Anyway, now that I've all settled in, the local time here is about 420am. I plan to be up early tomorrow, so I'll probably be turning in soon. Can't wait for tomorrow!

Running out of time.

Today was a busy day for me. The day started at 0830hrs where I took about an hour plus to wash the car. It has been two weeks since the last cleanup so I am feeling a bit guilty about leaving it dirty all the time. Read the paper, had a bite, rested for a bit and then it was off to the office. I wasn't there long, just stayed for about an hour or so to finish up some unfinished business. 


To be honest, I didn't go back just for work, there was this Tangs warehouse sale that starts today so I thought since its on the way, I'll just drop by the office. Anyway, I bought a sort of rattan box and some socks and that was it, which was strange, considering I was there for close to 2 hours. The clothes were so cheap that if I had bought all of what I wanted to buy, it would have ended up costing me quite a bit. I think I'll probably pop by again tomorrow or the day after. I've got this nagging feeling that there are stuff I just have to buy.


Anyway, came back home and found myself in the mood for some nostalgic cinema. And I decided that 暗戰2 was just the ticket to satisfy my craving.

 I've always liked this show although I can't remember when was the last time I watched it. I liked how Ekin portrayed the protagonist. Always so suave and full of debonair. Confidence oozing out of every pore. Good sense of style in the show too. And after 9 years, his getup still doesn't look dated. But then again, I could be biased, seeing that he's in a suit all the time and I do have a thing for bespoke garments. Anyway I like the show for two reasons;  the inspector's tenacity as well as the plot. You see, unlike the first film, the motivation for the thief is not exactly laid clear. All that elaborate hooha and he doesn't benefit one bit from it. Now that's a movie theme you don't see a lot.


Anyway, now that the show is over, I've got to deal with a harsher reality. Back to work tomorrow.

Another one down.

The paper today wasn't too tough. What a load off my mind. I guess our lecturer realized that he didn't go through as much material with us as we would have liked, so he gave us a case study that we had sort of went through before. As a matter of fact, ALL the questions were somewhat familiar. In spite of this, I still took close to the allocated 2 hours to complete the paper. I'm not looking to ace the paper, just hopping I'll pull through.

By the way, I met one of my colleagues at the examination grounds. She was surprised to see me but then again, I guess the feeling is mutual. Talked to her for a bit and she's taking a different course than me, so it was quite a coincidence to bump into her. In any case, I do hope she does well in her paper too. Anyway, now with the books out of the way, its time to focus on the trip! I've still not started any preparations but I have half a mind to finish everything up by tomorrow or latest midweek. I think the most important aspect now isn't actually the packing, but more on the itinerary. Aside from a lunch and a Mt Royal trip my sister has planned, I still have about 5 more days that I have got to decide what to do, where to visit.

The hardest part is New York. I do want to go there, but I'm not sure if I can make the journey worthwhile. Its a 7 hour bus ride down from Montreal and another 7 hours back, so travelling alone takes up half a day. I'm not sure how much ground I can cover if I'm there for only a day or too. But then again ,if I don't go, 9 days seemed like an awfully long time to just spend in Montreal. Argh. Decisions, decisions.

Show me the money!

This week was bonus week. There had been rumors floating around the office as to when was the exact date, and as we got closer to the date, the more apparent it became. Everyone had expectant faces on the actual day, but I guess we all had managed expectations, thanks in no part, to a recent townhall which downplayed the firm's performance in light of an impending lawsuit. In any case, I did receive an increment and a bonus and I was somewhat satisfied with what I got; until I did some CSI work on what some of the colleagues I support are getting. That's when I can't help but feel a bit moody, even indignant, if you can call it that.

Sure, I know the difference, I'm in IT, not exactly a revenue generating area, but its human nature to always compare and want more. Somehow, there is this part of me that wonders would I have fared any better if my area of expertise lies elsewhere. Today amplifies this particular feeling. It was a horrible day at work. Too many things happening at the same time. Too many people breathing down my neck. I didn't even had time to go for lunch. And furthermore, in spite of all my work today, I don't feel good with myself at all. My job in short, is to help people, but today, I really wondered if those people I have helped, really do want my help at all. Its hard to put in writing,but it suffices to say I had negative marginal utility the whole day. 

To top it off, I still have an exam tomorrow, and I must say, I have never been more ill-prepared for a paper in my life. I have NO IDEA what to prepare, and I have NO IDEA what exactly to expect. The lecturer didn't exactly give us a lot to fall back on, but I must admit, that I did not spend as much time with the text as I would have liked. I guess my only consolation is that since its an open book paper, there's nothing to memorize.

Anyway, on to something less depressing. With only about more than a week to go, I'm coming close to my Canada trip, and my packing progress is exactly zero. I was thinking maybe I'll spend the whole of Sunday planning my itinerary, as well as getting started on the packing. I won't have as much time the next week, when my lessons start again. I've really got to manage my time more efficiently. Looks like things are going to get pretty tight, with work getting in the way and all.

Lets Party!

Last Friday was our company's year end party. It does appear strange that the firm always holds its year-end parties at the beginning of the year, but I guess its a technically correct thing to do, seeing our financial year normally ends in February. Anyway, its at this establishment called "WaveHouse" where the highlight is a manmade surfing machine. Its kinda small but I can see why the crowds were all taken with it.

Very apt name.

There were more than a few volunteers among the crowd raring to try out their surfing skills. One of my friends made it all the way to the finals of the "tournament" in a spectacular battle of the hunks. Anyway, this year's event was a bit better organized than last year's, although that meant there weren't any extended dance floor mania like its predecessor. The place was a little bit smaller as well, so almost everyone was just standing around most of the time.

Here's an unintended profile shot of Philip, one of my colleagues. Looking cool as ever among the sea of human bodies.

No lack of standing. We're giving out standing for free. Everyone can stand as much as they want to!

I brought along a camera with the intention of taking as many pictures with friends as possible but the lighting conditions were not as flattering as I would have hoped. Pictures taken with the flash were too bright, and those without, appear too dark. I spy a few enthusiast colleagues lugging around major dslr gear. They probably got more luck with their shots than me. In any case, here are some pics I've taken with various colleagues that I am closer with.

I have no idea what I was trying to do.

I've been told I've got this Bugs Bunny look most of the time.

No idea whatsoever what I am so gleeful about. I guess alcohol does things to me.

We joined together. Still here.

Its probably me they're happy to see.

Notice the goofy eyewear? That was the point.

Another dear colleague who I unfortunately seldom get to see. She was literally spinning the whole night.

Next few pictures are with some of the colleagues I joined with. Around 25 of us joined the firm as part of its graduate recruitment programme. Sadly, quite a few of us have since left the firm, but on the flip side, they've all gone on to better things. These pictures are unfortunately a bit on the dark side, since they were actually the first few pictures I took that evening without utilizing the flash.

No idea why everyone's standing so far apart though.

Still no clue.

Here is about the only picture I took of some of the colleagues in my team. They were very elusive the whole evening. Only time I was with them was when it was time for the buffet and the free drinks. All of them split soon after that. I guess they probably spent more time getting here than staying at the actual event.

Anyway, I left the premises at around 3am or so. I could have stayed later but the alcohol was getting to me and I had Belinda's wedding to attend at noon the next day. In any case, it was an "ok" night out, I didn't get to talk to as much people as I would have hoped, but it wasn't too bad. Only gripe I had was with the standing. Considering the nature of my daily work, thats something I could really do less of. I much rather prefer the staff party we had last month though, which was a more intimate and "stylish" affair.

Here's to more parties in the new year ahead!

Trip!

It has been more than a week since the last post. The monotonous SSDD wore me out tremendously, so much so that I did not even felt like making any entries. The last week has been quite the unfortunate turn of events, the most evident of which is the 3 parking fines I've gotten. For some reason, the parking wardens had the most impeccable timing these days. I got served within a few hours of my coupon expiration. Life on the work front wasn't a bed of roses as well. 3 of my colleagues tendered their resignation on the same week; and those were people that I liked. To be honest, I'm not sure what they were thinking, being so close to the bonus period and all, but I guess they've probably thought it through, they don't look like the type to make capricious decisions on issues such as this. Well, I wish them the best, wherever they're at now.

Anyway, I've been a bit of an ebay nut this past week as well. Ordered a mobilephone, and a bunch of camera stuff for the impending trip. I'll get to that in a bit. Anyway, all these time, I've always been some sort of a phone person, always wanted the newest and the nicest, got all sorts of phones, from the ubiquitous touchscreen, to sliders to candybar. I've decided, after all these experimentation, that I really work better with clamshell phones. The problem with the market now, no thanks to the iPhone, is that there aren't any decent flip phones around that is worthy of mention. Its all touchscreen out there. I'm using the LG Ice Cream, and thats about the only flip out on the market now that I'll spend my money on. Enter the LG Lollipop. 

Its essentially a slimmer 3G version of the Ice Cream. On all counts, I find it better than the Ice Cream, only beef was with the cute themes in-built on the phone. There is a ridiculously cute theme, and a cute theme, and thats it. Suffice to say I have no choice but to go with "just" the cute one, which is not exactly befitting of someone like me. I do wish there could be more customization with the LEDs on the phone though, getting the colours to cascade or change would have been a welcomed touch. Right now you can only stick with one colour. Here's how the phone looks like in the dark.

In any case, the purchase is tending towards more of an impulse one, seeing that this phone will probably get released in Singapore in a few weeks anyway. Seeing as the expected launch price is a bit more than what I paid, I guess its not such a bad buy, since I get to use it way ahead of everyone else.

Oh yeah, about the trip. I'll be going to Canada next month on a leisure trip. My sister is currently on an attachment program there so I guess lodging shouldn't be much of an issue. Now all I need to do is to find out what can I do there. There is still about close to 3 weeks before the trip, so there's plenty of time for me to research. I'm planning to stopover in New York for a few days, but thats still on the cards as of now. I am feeling a bit excited and nervous when I think about it. After all, I've never set foot outside of Asia in my life. This is the first time I'll be on a plane for more than 6 hours. I just hope I'll enjoy this as much as I'm visualizing I am.

In any case, this impending trip has sapped quite a bit out of me financially. The plane ticket is about 2 grand, and there's still the day to day expenses as well. All in all, I estimated I might blow about 4000 or so on this trip.>_<. I hope I can stay below that figure though. I don't make nearly enough to offset that!

Peace and Quiet

The first day of the new year ended without much fanfare. Since the whole family is currently in Canada, this is by far the quietest new year's day I've had in a long while. I've got the whole house to myself. Quite a good feeling, really. I rather enjoy the serenity of having no one around. Anyway, precisely due to this arrangement, I didn't really feel like leaving the house today. There is this realization that once they come back, I'm going to miss this peace and quiet, so I had better soak in as much of it as I can, while I can.

In any case, the first day of the year also happens to be a Friday, and once again, I'm stuck at home on a Friday night, watching some documentary commenting on traditional Suzhou architecture instead of painting the town red, black and blue. Its times like these when I really do wish I have a top notch sound system at home. Turning the volume on high playing some nice jazzy tunes while appreciating some whiskey or cointreau would be divine. Oh well, I guess I've got to make do with PC speakers.

Anyway, its is regrettable that my lull season is coming to an end soon. I foresee at most another week's worth of peace and quiet before the whole office starts coming back from their ski trips and whatnots. I would have thought I've gotten used to this after 3 years, but I guess not. But then again, busy might not always be a bad thing. Sometimes, work can be a good anaesthetic, takes your mind off more troubling stuff. It is just too bad that like any drug, there's no avoiding the side-effects that comes after the effect wears off.