More Pics

We absolutely couldnt resist taking these pics of the menu in the airport restaurant..

We laughed so loud we got some stares..

Pictures

Here're some interesting pictures I took in Hainan..

观景区？Look Around Scape Station?



Saw a signboard for a shopping centre in a hotel..




Turned out to be this...



I was looking for a toilet and was glad when i saw this sign..




But then i realised, this was the urinal. :(



I dont know how clear the picture is but the round thing is a huge huge pot of Chongqing hot spot and during a festival in Chong Qing, everyone goes to such places for mass hot-potting.. talk abt communism. My new PRC colleague is from Chong Qing so she knows these shit.



My intern and I were so disgusted.. gosh.. more than 20 people sharing a hot pot??? Then she said everyone has a mini hot pot in front of them on the ledge and the big one is the "source" of the hot soup when your mini pot's level is diminished... And apparently, the giant hot pot is kept there for days, she says. Then i said, what happens when the leaves from the tree drops?

All i got is a shrug.

*Shudder*

I saw this switch beside the toilet bowl. I pressed it and nothing really happened. I was quite puzzled until i went to another hotel and saw it and the person explained it to me. Anyone knows what it does?

Busy

I cant wait to go home.

I miss my bed and my computer and stable internet and my LCD TV and cable. I miss speaking proper english. I miss fresh air and I miss eating fish ball noodles.

I miss my parents a bit.

Im back on Saturday night after a 7 day tour of my hometown..i hope the Euro playoffs arent too early.

And I'll be off to Tokyo on Sunday night till Wednesday.

We're moving office on Friday and possibly Saturday. Dammit another weekend burnt.

Wanted

It's so nice to feel wanted.

Thank you, boss.

A&W

I mentioned in a few entries ago I'm in China with my intern.

She's quite cute and very young.

She gave me an A&W card once when she first came but it gives a 10% discount but only in Indonesia.

I asked her wat's the use of a 10% discount.

She said 10% still a discount.

I said how about if i quoted her name, got more discount or not.

Then she said only if she goes with me.

I said "wah.. your daddy owns all the A&Ws in Indonesia ah?"

She said yes.

.........................

Office

We've taken another positive step in securing that office space.

Which means it's another positive step in securing my room in the office.

Muhahahahha.. i'm already thinking of what I'm going to put inside my room.

Flower bouquets are welcome. I prefer sunflowers to roses.

MS

My company is looking for corporate gifts to give the VIPs and VVIPs who would be attending our conference in Shanghai. Apparently, they looking for high-class gifts, so they've been calling places like Montblanc, Cartier and Tiffany etc.

One day i picked up a call..

"Hi, can I speak to Underling #1?" in a perfectly high-class atas but distinctly singaporean voice.

I said, " Oh she's busy, can I take a message?"

She said, "My name is XXX and I'm calling from MS."

MS? What is MS? Microsoft? Dont tell me we are buying Vista for everyone. Or was it Mohd Sultan? Cannot be also.

Anyway, I related the message to my colleague. She was equally puzzled. What is MS?

Then we realised as we thought of all the people they contacted.

MS = Hermès

Apparently, that's the proper way to pronounce it.

I'd call it "Herms" <~~~Rhyme like "germs"

That's how 99% of Singaporeans would pronounce it. HERMS.

Anarchy

There're some who say I havent been traveling. That's true and I'm lovin' it. (ala Macdonald's ad)

But somehow the music's got to stop. So i'm flying to China on Friday. But then a Tokyo project cropped up which kinda clashed with another project in Shanghai.

So i told one of the n00bz, "I'm in a dilemma. I dont know what project to give you. I have two here. I dont know if i should give you this one or that one or even both"

She said " Can choose or not?"

Then I said " THIS IS NOT A DEMOCRACY!"

I always wanted to say that.

Sian

I had an ultra stiff neck today.. which made me a bit testy. Coupled with a client who had signed a US$140,000 deal with me a month ago for a China project and then said that he didnt want to pay for my team's international flights. I was like... erm.. Me and my boss are working from the Singapore office... then he was like.. "huh? I thought you guys were from the Shanghai or Hong Kong office"

So dumb some people.

So i was quite sian all day...then i saw this on one of the desks..



So i went around the office saying i was "Xi An" . To those who went "huh?", i showed them the map.

I'm so lame.

Meat

I saw this on my desk on Monday when i came in..I have no idea what it is but it came in a Chinese paper bag. So i knew it was from my boss, cos he just got back from China..

After some examination, I deduced that it's some fatty meat.

He told me that my Shanghai colleague gave it to him (mai por la) and his wife duno how to cook it. So he gave me.

My mum was quite excited when i brought it home..

iRis

My friend iRis posted this on her latest blog entry, titled "Loneliness"

"I have a friend, a high flyer who is always working, literally flying around the world rushing for meetings and staying at some of the finest hotels in the world, and yet he feels strange, like something is not complete. He keeps a blog and even though he only pens down his daily life, one can sense a very strong undercurrent of emptiness.

I have a friend who keeps a blog and is rather popular, he always pen his thoughts and feelings in his blog in which he talks about his happiness, his work, his friends. He is rather funny in his blog and sometimes his comments draw laughter. And yet, one can sense that he does not really laugh at his life, in fact one can read a very strong tone of loneliness.

I have a friend, another high flyer who is earning about $4k per month and yet she feels lonely, to the extend of looking around at the wrong places for physical companionship. She ended up feeling empty after each relationships. And worse of all, getting hurt.

I have a friend who likes to keep to himself, does not like to tell anyone his problems, to the point that he will get very enrage if one probes him about his problem. He likes to hang around by himself, not wanting nor liking people to intrude in his life. And yet there is this constant yearning in him to open himself to others, to share his thoughts and feelings with someone.

I have a friend who is always working until late at night, not wanting to go home even though everyone in the office has gone home. On the outside, he is a cheerful joker, always making jokes and making fun of others. Yet, he has a strange look on his face when you ask him about his life.

I have a friend, who looks exactly like me, always smiling and seem happy. She works everyday, pushing herself to fulfill the expectations of the people around her, trying to look ok on the outside. She looks tough outside, rushing around everyday trying to solve her everyday problems. Yet inside she is very fragile, to the point that she cries herself to sleep almost every night. To the point that sometimes she feels like giving everything up, to walk away from everyone around her, to be free and to be off to a place where there is no loneliness.

I believe these friends are inflicted by the one of the strongest diseases of our society. Its called loneliness."

I have absolutely no idea whether I was one of the people mentioned and which one I am if i was even mentioned.

Can you?

Road to Perdition

I received news today that two of my dearest friends are pregnant.. how very sweet...Actually I have nothing much to say..

Just such a coincidence that i heard both news today..

In other new, albeit delayed, shitfong proposed in December and got himself a wife. So now waiting for the proverbial flat before things kick off..

I went to the IT Show with Keeve and it was packed.. very very packed...

In a very pre-emptive move for "my" room in my new office that isnt even confirmed, i decided to get a wireless keyboard for my home PC and use my home PC's wirelss keyboard at work..

Buy keyboard got free speakers some more.. good.. just what i need if i wana plug in my ipod in my new office.. :)

Two Sides

Consider this:

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder"

and

"Out of sight, Out of mind"

Two similar situations but different outcomes.. life's so unpredictable.

Here we go......*ZOOOM*

And here we go, my trip to China's confirmed...Just want to quickly list out the itinerary here so that ....erm.. i duno..

12 March Monday - Guangzhou (Temp 12 - 11 degrees)
13 March Tuesday - Guangzhou
14 March Wednesday - Hainan (Temp 17 - 19 degrees)
15 March Thursday - Hainan
16 March Friday - Hainan
17 March Saturday - Hainan
18 March Sunday - Hainan
19 March Monday- Kunming (Temp 7 - 20 degrees) <~~~~ What the... so huge diurnal range..
20 March Tuesday - Hopefully home....

This time I'll be bringing an intern and meeting a new China colleague there... Phew.. people bring gals out of China and I bring girls INTO China..

10 days in China..hopefully i can have some over the weekend with some mahjong (*wink*) or what, else I'll be bored..

CFA

I've taken a significant step in my quest for that CFA certification.

After browsing through Adina's copy of the material, I think I'm ready. Plus the fact that I've kinda learnt 80% of what's in Level I.

Ok.. so i spent US$760 for one-time enrollment and Level I exam registration.

*GULP*

My next huge capital outlay was to buy Post-Its for the notes... until Gweyn decided to pay it for me..Phew..saved some serious money there..I even brought home some highlighters from the office..muhahahahahaha

Random Fillers

I havent travelled ever since I returned back to work from my holiday on 4 Feb. It's 5 March tomorrow, which means it's actually now full month. I'm actually enjoying it. Staying in town, eating local food, sleeping early..

But soon the travels will start..

I've trips lined up to Jakarta next week.. and maybe China, whichever comes first..Think the China one would be a mega one.. around 10 days..And then i have another one supposed to go to the Maldives but the thought of a sea plane to the various islands puts me off so I'm sending another colleague..

So i guess it's back to work now boys and gers..

In other news, I think my office will be moving..depending on the negotiations, we'd likely be moving to a bigger office. For some reason, I'm trying to be excited over it.. but i cant..

Here're some reasons why i shld be happy:

1. Nearer my house
2. Nearer to some shopping centres
3. Nicer food in the vicinity
4. Larger office
5. I might even get a room by myself.

But duno why not very excited..

Dated

After reading my last few posts, it seems like life has stood still the last few months. Just going through the drudgery of life. The question remains: "Is it drudgery when you dont feel it?" If you're floating around life, can it be considered drudgerious? (<~~~ if there's sucha word)

In any case, it sometimes astonishes me that sometimes, just one simple act can utterly destroy years of effort and yet sometimes tons of effort doesnt yield any results.

I just got news that I'll be going to New Orleans in May for a company conference.. I think it's just an excuse for everyone to relak one korner on company expenses. Dont know what the selection criteria is but not everyone goes. But before I go, must read some books..

Pics - Malacca

We went to Malacca over Chinese New Year.

It's a very small town and yet we managed to get lost for almost two hours before getting to this tiny little hotel. The drive alone from Singapore to Malacca was two hours.

Here're some pics we took..mostly the historic buildings and churches..





We were too cheap to pay to enter this museum thingy.. so we went to the back and take a pic of this.. free!



This is taken on the way to the alleged highest point of Malacca..My dad seemed to say that the nice Admiral (Cheng Ho) probably came through here..Maybe that's when he brought Mee Siam (mai hum) to Melaka, which then came to Singapore.





Highest point in Malacca is a church which was also a tiny lighthouse..





Inside the church is a little spooky..with these stone tablets.. they actually look pretty new.. maybe they were produced in JB, land of many "friendly produce".





We left Malacca after one day and decided to pop by JB to get cheap groceries.. it's been 12 years since my family came to JB to buy groceries so we went to this particular mall we used to frequent.

Turned out that the supermarket was now replaced by the very atas Cold Storage and nothing was cheaper there than in Singapore. :(

Pics - Sri Lanka II

The next day, i took a four hour ride to another hour. I set out at 4pm and arrived at 8pm. On the way I took this pic..



The tsunami of Dec 2004 hit the southern coast of Sri Lanka killed 3,000 over people. The waves came by this coast. Phew, that was scary.. and it was pretty rainy that evening and a shudder ran through my spine. I decided to sleep.

Again, it was late when i arrived. I ordered room service then went to sleep. I woke to the sounds of waves lapping on a beach. I didnt know I was that near the sea..



Here's my room..



There's a balcony tat faces the sea..



Then the pool..



And the restaurant..



Definitely one of the best hotels Ive ever stayed in..However, by now, I've already stayed 10 days in Bali, 2 Days in Cambodia and it was my 2nd night in Sri Lanka. I missed home terribly and was definitely looking forward to going home. That meant a 6-hour car ride to the airport. *Gulp*

Boarding the SQ plane was such a pleasure.. it was like i was already home.

Pics - Sri Lanka I

My trip to Sri Lanka was one of the most gruelling one simply cos where i stayed was sooooo far from the airport..Upon arriving at 2am, I took a 2 hour ride to the first hotel... It was so dark and I was so tired that i didnt really see much of my room, until the next morning, then i realised it was very indian-themed.



Check out the toilet... very big..



Here's the lobby/restaurant area of the hotel.. frankly, not much variety on their menu: Fish curry, chicken curry, vegetable curry and naan..and fish and chips..




Here's the hotel's exterior..



Here's the church beside it..

Pics - Cambodia II

Back to reality, this is where i stayed.. very nice..





The whole city of Siem Reap is still stuck in the 1930s.. here's the car which picked me up..very retro.. very long leg room..

Pics - Cambodia

In the continuing efforts to increase my readership, I've decided to take the plunge and post some pics which i took in my more recent trips..

Cambodia, Siem Reap, Angkor Wat Temples

I went to Siem Reap in December. Was kinda forced by the people I met to visit the Angkor Wat temples. Had to wake up at 4:30am to watch the sunrise..



Here's another pic of the tower..It's actually very high and the steps were very high. It's cos apparently, to their religion, there're 35 steps to heaven.. so they only could use 35 steps, so to make the tower high they had to make the steps high..Plus the depth of each step was very small.. half the length of my sole, it was very scary going up.



This is the Angkor Tom temples.. the lesser known brother..Each tower has four faces and no two faces are the same.. the following pic will show this more..



Here's a close-up of tower... can see the face?



This is said to be the ancient library of the Angkor-lites..It's a standalone building which looked quite cool..



There're actually more pics but got my face in it.. oh well..

Revamp

The fervour to update this blog is weaning...like not many comments nowadays...

Therefore, i decided to change the template..

Quite a breath of fresh air..

Trying to be Funny

I sent out this email the other day.

Hi everyone,

As we are constantly expanding, it’s inevitable we have to add new tables.

The existing meeting room will be converted into a working room where Underling #1, Underling #2, Underling #3 and Underling #4 will be seated.

The new furniture will arrive between 10am and 1pm and the telephones will be set up in the room after the technician is fine.

As such, I’d like the moving to take place after the two events above have happened. Your respective new seats have already been chosen and will be revealed to you on Wednesday.

As for computer allocation, since Underling #3 will now have a permanent desk, could you please take the desktop PC that Underling #2’s using and then Underling #2 will take over the Dell laptop.

Email me if there’re any queries.

Regards,
Me.

I got this reply from one of them...

Cornball,

pls give me an excellent central position facing the side of 's office wall.

it is at this position the qi of the office is the greatest and the energies synergise into a gigantic abyss, ensuring the smoothness and success of my (and indirectly yours) work this year.

Thanks man.

Have a great holiday and win more money.

Underling #1

I chuckled for a moment and then i gave him more work to do.

Another Song

i thought of this song just now when i was washing my hands (how apt).

I think i'm listening to too many chinese songs.. *Gasp* Am I becoming more Chinese? AM i forsaking my elitist english speaking roots?

我是不是该安静的走开

我不知道为甚麽这样
爱情不是我想像
就是找不到往你的方向
更别说怎麽遗忘
站在雨里泪水在眼底
不知道该往那里去
心中千万遍不停呼唤你
不停疯狂找寻你
我是不是该安静的走开
还是该勇敢留下来
我也不知道那麽多无奈
可不可以都重来
我是不是该安静的走开
还是该在这里等待
等你明白我给你的爱
永远都不能走开
站在雨里泪水在眼底
不知道该往那里去
心中千万遍不停呼唤你
不停疯狂找寻你
我是不是该安静的走开
还是该勇敢留下来
我也不知道那麽多无奈
可不可以都重来
我是不是该安静的走开
还是该在这里等待
等你明白我给你的爱
永远都不能走开
我是不是该安静的走开
还是该勇敢留下来
我也不知道那麽多无奈
可不可以都重来
我是不是该安静的走开
还是该在这里等待
等你明白我给你的爱
永远都不能走开

Song of the Moment

This song is the first song in the chinese cd i bought as mentioned in the post mentioned previously..

It's an old song and i probably heard it before but no idea of who sang it and the title.. but now i know.

It was the first song and when i listened to it first in the office, i nearly teared.. so touching.. hahah wat a puss, actually the song has no particular meaning but the lyrics just seem meaningful.. it aint so much as duet cos it's jus the dude singing once thru then the lady, they could very much not even met each other while recording it.. but well..

今生注定

现在你心里想什麽
能不能就写在眼眸 告诉我
在这沉默的片刻
让我们用心灵交流

如果爱情烦恼真的太多
或许心事都交给我
为你耽忧对我来说 也是快乐

*
不管有多少真心多少爱被错过
有了你我已经别无所求
用半生紧紧相守换取承诺
什麽话都不必再说 喔

总以为曾经付出曾被爱伤害过
这世上只有我对爱执着
直到我慢慢感受你的温柔
才了解 今生注定与你相守

CFA

I have this urge to do CFA.. went to the website today to check it out..

Register before 15 Feb (dammit, it was yesterday)
Registration Fee (US$390) + Enrollment fee (US$455) = US$845

Register before 15 March
Registration Fee (US$465) + Enrollment fee (US$690) = US$1,155

Siong man.. still have to buy the study materials.. at US$395... but my colleague say got cheong one at S$60-80.

YAY!!

Productivity

I did many things today..

I went for a meeting in Orchard today..finished at 11am so I thought I'd skive in Orchard for a while to do some admin..

1. Went to send my SE phone for repairs
2. Went to check my eyes cos it was getting quite blurry.

Turns out I had to take out my contacts for 30 mins before she could check me..

3. Went to cancel my M1 multi-SIM car for my old number to keep it to one SIM card for my mama to use
4. Went to buy some cds..



5. Went to buy some bo lo baos from Crystal Jade for my late nite conference call tonght..



6. Had yaki tori lunch in Taka basement

Because i couldnt see very well, I didnt know my Fei Xiong, which sells those wonderful fried wanton thingy is now gone. the lady there said they didnt sell anymore so i squinted around and found something else to do.. Only when i left then i saw the new signboard which replaced "Fei Xiong". It was also at this time that the lady bothered to tell me that the stall right across her sold fried wantons... wat the..

7. Went back to test my eyes..

Back in the office at 2pm.. quite tired now.

Gadgets

In my continuing bad patch with gadgets, I found that my bluetooth headset went bonkers after my trip to Sydney..had to send it for repairs..

Not to mention that my Sony Ericsson went cuckoo before my Sydney trip.. no time to send it for repairs.. bleah...

Malacca

In a weird turn of events, my entire family will be driving up to Malacca from Sunday (chu 1) till Tues noon (chu 3)...

Weird cos we've never really taken a real holiday before.. yes, we have gone to JB to raid their cheap supermarkets in the early 1990s but that was eons ago..

So it's a pretty novel idea.. hopefully the hotel is good.. Ive been pampered at work.

Continuing...

Right after i posted the previous post, my prof jus emailed me to ask if he could feature me in the sch's e-newsletter as part of their whatever alumni series...

Gosh, i'm going to be even more popular than.....Steven Lim..

Presentation Reactions

The presentation went well.

I only prepared for about 5 minutes before leaving the office but i guess it's easy to talk abt myself without much preparation.

I thought i was pretty funny cos I got some laughs. But then one or two ple left halfway, which made me sad... but then again, who cares..

I gave out many namecards after the presentation. Then i realised my namecard had my old hp number.. hahahahah. But still got my email.

My prof said it was the best presentation amongst all his guest speakers.. i think he was talking about his other ex-students and not other visiting professors but i could be wrong.

He bought me Carl's Junior.. first time i ate Carl's Junior.. so nice the onion rings..

Before i even reached home, i got an email from a new female admirer who wants to work as in intern in my office during the hols.

Presentation

my presentation in school is tmr and i havent prepared... think ill jus blabber and talk abt myself.. i do that quite well.

Got back to office yesterday.. didnt do much work really.. just meetings after meetings, wanting to tap on my immense experience and knowledge.. muhahahha

Oh well... life goes on.. I'm actually kinda sick of travelling but im supposed to go Jakarta, Vietnam and Philippines next week.. dont feel like leh.. esp with Jakarta having floods..

In other chirpier news, I've a new number and a blackberry now..