holiday again

i'll be going to shanghai and nanjing on a family trip in a few hours' time.... feels so excited!

thanks for all the encouragements.

monday night rant

felt so tired after returning from a long day the client site. first none of us had internet access. tat was like a definite boring day for me. plus, i didn't have enough sleep the previous night.

things could not have been worse when i made a mistake interpreting one of the requirements. horrendous mistake. worse still, i felt that the project manager was purposely picking on me, crushing our already near rock-bottom morales.  at the end of the day everyone got to work overtime.

haiz. nothing seems to go well since late august.

on interesting colleagues

i do realized that i have interesting colleagues around me.

lately despite being piled with more workload, i ended up having more freedom to do some socializing and networking within the company.  i mended a few neglected ties and came to the realizations that once i was out of my prejudices and dilemma, there is a whole forest out there, filled with plenty of interesting people.

for example, i realized that some colleagues whom once u get closer to them, brought plenty of subtle joys and laughters, and once in a while we had really great dinners and shared a lot about ourselves.  2 of my colleagues, surprisingly, turned out to be great confidantes and had given me great advices every now and then =)

some colleagues didn't really match up to expectations, but it doesn't matter. maybe i have set the bar too high. there are also colleagues whom i would prefer to keep a distance away from, due to conflict of interests and personalities. overall, the office environment is now more tolerable.

once again i can't help but noticed the compatibility of horoscope signs. the rules will never change, and i probably have to play my cards differently as i shift myself around groups, and in the process, learn more about myself and others as well as the latest news within the company.

it's time to explore the forest.  finally, i am back to my original self once again, and will maintain my philosophy - be trusting till it's broken once!

daughtry - september

excitement

i am so looking forward to my upcoming shanghai and nanjing trip. finally i have completed booking all my hotels and stuffs yesterday.  the total cost came up to about $400 per person for accommodation of 8 nights over 3 hotels.

given the recent appreciation of the singapore dollar, the exchange rate is now valued at sgd1 = rmb5.  it seems like a good time to go traveling nowadays given the very strong singapore dollar.

well, i haven't thought of what to prepare for my upcoming trip, the jacket to bring, the itinerary etc =)

i am a happy-go-lucky person.

dilemma

this will probably be the last time i blog about such things. of all people, i was tasked to go down to client's site with this particular colleague whom i thought i lost.  it's always like this.  each time when we grew distant we ended up having common projects.  it's the same 2 years back and it's the same now.

the trip down to the client site was awkward. i kept my silence throughout and in the end he decided to break the ice and made some small talk every now and then.  it continued like this throughout the whole site visit - chatted for a short while followed by long pauses.  the funny thing was my client actually thought i had tendered in my resignation letter and was handing over the project to another colleague.

while i am grateful and appreciative of all the things that this colleague of mine had done for the past week, somehow i am still relatively stoic. one fine morning when i reached the office i found an item on my desk - something which i requested for some time ago, and he simply refused to accept payment for it.  hell, the bloody thing is not cheap! apart from thanks, i really dunno what else to say.  should i then buy him an expensive birthday present in return? i have no idea.

someone once told me to be more gracious towards others, but my stand is that the intangibles once lost takes effort to recover, and i'm a lazy person sometimes. unexpectedly, despite all the shit, it seems like he's still trying to stick around.  most people would simply walk off.

at the way things are going, it is just going to get more and more difficult for me to simply walk away. given that there could be ample opportunities as project partners, the ball is now in my court.  maybe i should just listen to my head for once.

mid-autumn festival celebration

as mid-autumn festival is somewhere around next week, a group of us within the office decided to organize a pre-festival celebration over the weekend, complete with lanterns and sparklers.

venue: chinese garden, jurong

it so happened that this weekend train services between bukit batok and jurong east were disrupted, and so getting to chinese garden took longer than usual for those affected by the disruption.

we were in a group of around 10, and we had a pretty enjoyable night mingling around and talking to each other.  i haven't played with a lantern since like maybe after i turned 12, and here i am, some 10 odd years later, holding one with a bunch of good colleagues, a good reminiscence of my younger days. omg. i sounded so old!

after we exhausted the candles for our lanterns, we focused our attention on the sparklers instead.  i think everyone had a great time, and we discovered that one of our colleagues had pyrophobia! it was fun and i got to practice my amateur video-shooting skills and testing out my camera's video capabilities at the same time.

in summary i would say the outing was good and relaxing - simple group dynamics, nothing complicated, nothing fishy this time round.

at the end of it all, we headed towards orchard for our dinner around 11 plus =p.

my bloody challenge

i took up the challenge to participate in a blood donation drive by hsa with a few friends today despite my innate fear of needles.  the donation was to take place at the newly-opened building scape.

and so i hitched a ride from my neighbor to town and waited for another friend of ours.  the 3 of us were first asked to fill up some questionnaires, and some questions were extremely personal.  i remembered questions like, "have you ever had sex with a member of the same sex?" or "do you have multiple sexual partners?" or "have you ever engage in paid or unpaid sex with someone you do not know personally?"  and so on.

anyway we were put through a series of tests, and i passed all of them.  when it came the time for donation, thanks to a girl beside me, i was distracted from the process of inserting the needle into my arm.  i guessed i pumped out my blood too fast, and very soon, i filled up half a packet of blood.

another short while later, i stopped pumping blood and here comes the giddiness. nurses were very professional and attentive and throughout the whole process i never once felt uncomfortable.  within time i recovered and i was glad i never get to see the needle at all during the whole blood donation process.

after this, i went for a good meal and some shopping and thus concluded my first blood donation experience.

back to the basics

the past week was both mentally and emotionally straining for me. for some reasons i was damn sentimental to the point that i felt like i was drowned by all kinda memories which came flooding into my mind.

as i walked around chinatown the other few days, memories of the place came flooding back.  the people i used to hang out with and all the crazy things we'd ever done. passing by places like timberland, max brenner, soup restaurant etc in vivocity is enough for my mind to be overwhelmed with both happy and sad memories.

i ended up being melancholic for half of the day, and almost got drunk while drinking beer at national geographic. fortunately, i managed to hitch a ride home thanks to a new friend who happened to be my neighbor.

re-assessing everything i think the best solution for this stalemate is for me to return to the basics when we all first get to know each other.  just be my diplomatic self and not being overly-indulgent in anybody's business.  i think that would be in everyone's interest.

a busy week past

the previous week has been really interestingly crazy. it so happened that i had appointments every single day of the week, to the point that i have no time to spend with myself.  not that i am complaining, but i prefer to date myself once in a while.

this week, i learnt to play golf.  the game was more challenging than what i expected, and i had a hard time perfecting my "down swing".  i ended up being the joke of the day, and everyone around me had some good laughs.  maybe i'll do better at the next game.

i finally resumed my japanese lessons after a long hiatus of three consecutive weeks due to personal reasons, only to find out that it was the last lesson and there's exam like next week. crap!

had a brief but momentous gathering on thursday with some friends whom i had not met for over a year, and the next day it was beach day at sentosa. for some reasons i do not enjoy spending time hanging around the beach - it makes me more restless and moody.  i ended up exploring the fringe of rws and taking some photos, though i did not purchase any tickets to enter.  tickets were sold out for the day anyway.

earlier today, i attended a celebration of my friend's baby's full month poolside party (baby shower). i believed it was silly of me to forget to prepare some "ang pao" for the event, luckily a friend came to my rescue.  thank you. later in the evening, i was back in chinatown, enjoying some KOI bubble tea and chill out around the area.

oh gosh. i feel so tired................

all good things - nelly furtado

unknown source of stress

for some unknown reasons i have not been able to catch quality sleep these few days. my ever active brain seems to jolt me awake at weird hours, and the symptoms seem to be indicating that i'm going through a period of high stress level, but wait, what stress is there? i really dunno.

on "缘份"

was reading some hwz forums and decided to post about this.  the chinese word for fate is compounded by 2 words: "缘"(yuan) and "份"(fen). the first word, "缘", essentially holds the same meaning as its english counterpart: fate. however, the second word, "份" introduces a concept of measurement, which in turns controls the fate. a difficult concept to grasp right?

for instance, 2 persons getting to know or even bumping into each other is termed "缘", or fate or serendipity.we all have plenty of "缘" with many people daily. but what helps to determine whether this "缘" will continue? this is controlled by the chinese concept of "份".

the "份" part determines how far the relationship goes.when the "份" part runs out, the "缘" gets terminated in one way or another. hence the chinese phrase "有缘无份" - fate allows the meeting that weren't meant to last.

though i strongly believe people control their own destiny, there's only so much that one can control. there's pretty nothing much one can do when the "缘" ends.  trying to retain someone who is no longer supposed to be there is a tragedy in my opinion.

anyway i think i dun have much "份" with the people around me. i used to have a close friend, but one fine day he had an accident and was declared brain-dead on the spot and was gone. other people came, but try as i might, they never really stay. somehow somewhere along the way there's bound to be some distractions or conflicts or dramas. well, people's priorities do change over time. hardly get to see my family members too as i am currently all alone in singapore.

there's this one great colleague friend i once had. if i am not wrong we always hang-out at similar places (determined from blog posts), but we never bumped into each other. seems like when one is out, the other is at home, or when both are out, we will end up at 2 entirely different locations. it looks as if there's no chance of reconciliation.

to put it scientifically, you might have all the factors but the quantity and quality was insufficient in comparison to something else. perhaps just not enough of something, not good enough of another so despite being together for a long while, it just didn't work in the end. nothing wrong with that, just that somehow the cards we received didn't fall together into the correct places.

and thus, life goes on...

the return to solitude

well, good times in the office have officially concluded.i am glad that for the first time,i actually completed walking down an expected path.the rewards have been pretty satisfying.thank you for pointing out to me.

in summary,the prediction model is right.however,i may have inadvertently became a party-spoiler in some cases. as expected within the prediction model, sometimes simple things or arrangements can have very complex dynamics behind them. i shall try not be so pro-active in organizing events or outings or whatsoever in the future.

as predicted, i ended up being the fringe member of the group. well, i'm probably the thorn within the group. seriously, i dislike sneaky people and people who play boycotting games. i know that a lot has been going on behind my back, and those who put up an act without realizing that i know the full story behind are just plain idiots.

i have truly enjoyed this short journey together.however, i think i have been overly-reliant on this group and may have brought in unnecessary stresses. maybe i should boldly step out and know more friends. i dunno how lucky i may get, but hopefully i can find friends who can double up as activity partners who do sports and so on, rather than simply gourmet partners.

as i was commenting to another colleague, i admired the other group of colleagues. they seemed so united with much simpler dynamics. no unnecessary complications, no mind games and so on.  i wondered why do i always ended up in such groups?  anyway, the timeline i have given myself has expired and i shall depart from this group, most likely never again to return to or maintain contact with any of the other members.  really sorry, i dun like sneaky actors/actresses as friends.

however, i wish the group members all the best in their lives.

i'm so looking forward to the golf session next tuesday....

wrong week to be in

it was a bad start to a new week.everything that could possibly went wrong ACTUALLY went wrong.

i started the week arguing and nit-picking with the new project manager. i seriously think both of us have attitude problems. every meeting was like a confrontation.

apart from that, relationships with people around me actually deteriorated.  though i feel sorry for those who may be at the receiving end of the stick, i really did not know where did all the anger and frustrations manifested from.  it has gotten to a point that i just simply wanted to neglect everything - in short, withdraw and disappear.  i hope i didn't affect anyone.

weekend is equally tired.  the earliest time i managed to reach home and sleep was like 4+ am.  attempted to look for a suitable present for a good friend cum colleague on friday evening but to no avail. initial thought was to get a leather organizer.  i ended up watching a midnight show - grown up.

went out to chill with a group of friends on saturday night.  caught another midnight movie - heartbreaker, an interesting french movie where the main casts break up couples for a living.  had a great time that night.

i gotta go town to meet a friend to continue my hunt for the gift.  this time, based on feedback and some analysis, the list of items included a pair of cuff link, leather belt, laptop bag, wallet.  if my friend is gonna be late, it's gonna be another wasted trip.

i really hope next week will be a much better and enjoyable week. till then, i need to decide on how best to execute my plan to either do a sabotage or salvation.

love the way you lie

A friend sent me this song, and after listening to this song for a few times, find it pretty addictive and decided to share it here.

office survival skills

I was browsing sgforums the other and came across this interesting post.  Just wanna share it here.

Office survival skills

#1 - Gossip about others outside the circle of friends <-- neutral

#2 - Be a busybody to get the latest news to keep yourself in the loop and stay informed <-- been trying to do that

#3 - Don't gossip or confront a person who is the subject in the gossip incase things turns ugly <-- agree wholeheartedly

#4 - Office colleagues as only good for chatting, lunch/dinner buddies else help you to find or recommend new jobs only <-- i think this depends

#5 - Be on good terms with the colleagues to have people watch your back while you return the favor too. <-- definitely agree

#6 - If you don't like gossip, whatever you listen, just take it with a pitch of salt and ignore it <-- trying to master this

#7 - Never get involved with bgr in office else your job performance will be affected <-- may be true

#8 - Don't appear to be overly hardworking in the office posing as a threat to other colleagues which reveals the fact that they are slacking..do it discreetly without them seeing you as a threat giving them reasons to backstab you to safe-keep their own employment. <-- definitely!

#9 - Never be the Mr Nice Guy else you will find yourself with more workload than others. <-- of course.

#10 - Don't join a conflict or get dragged into a conflict..stay clear of such dangerous situations if possible <-- the art of tai-ji

#11 - Don't tell/talk/discuss your personal life experiences with your colleagues if you want to stay gossip free <-- depends on the kind of colleagues la

#12 - If employer/fellow collegues wants you to go for group outing/Clubbing to de-stress, never ever get yourself in a drunk akward situation else you will see yourself losing the respect and be the stared at in the office the new few days and eventually be avoided at any events. <-- neutral

Hope the above tips will help you in a smooth journey in surviving office politics and a happy work experience ahead.

"medical leave"

i took my medical leave today, partly because i need to prepare for my japanese exam this evening, and also partly because i dun wish to return to office and see my colleagues.  as matter of fact, i loath every morning where i have to wake up early to literally drag myself to the office and put on a mask, like everybody else.

i woke up late in the morning to visit the doctor, studied my japanese language, which were pretty easy in my opinion, and felt extremely bored.  decided to finally hit the gym nearby, starting off with the thread mill.  i felt so refreshed after the whole gym session.

attended my make-up japanese lessons. kind of envy this class - active, chatty, united, a big difference from my current class. the exam was a breeze.

while on the mrt, i felt very sianz that i have to return to work the following day. i am absolutely clueless as to what to do next. like i mentioned before, i know the outcomes and do not wish to trod the dreaded path again.  a friend told me that i should learn to trust people, but i simply cannot take the huge leap of faith. either way the friendships will eventually dissolve.

i was scrolling my msn list, and realized that i had let go of a few really good friends. i sort of miss them, but what's done cannot be undone.  it is disheartening that i may have to repeat this process again.

i feel trapped... i need an escape. god, why do YOU always give me something only to take it all back later?

my reluctant np gathering

i'm extremely reluctant to attend a big-scale gathering by alpha center, ngee ann polytechnic yesterday night.  if not for the insistence of a long time friend and classmate, i'd rather give this event a miss.

i went to orchard to accompany my cousin to find her phone.i was almost tempted to change my phone on the spot, and fortunately for me they ran out of stock, and thus i ended up not making any purchases.

unenthusiastically i made my way down to clementi and took the bus to np. wah, i got lost trying to find the bloody block 53.  there were renovations everywhere.it took me 40 minutes to reach the destination.

didn't really mingle around with the people.ended up chatting with my previous lecturer/project supervisor.my ex-roommate came up to me and we chatted for a while and that's about it. the event is a little boring for me, but i guess for most people, it's quite enjoyable.

anyway,the dinner's ok, but many of the attendees, including myself, were hit by food poisoning.a few of my friends even went to a&e like 4am.fortunately for me, i was only inflicted with diarrhea.

thanks to the mass food poisoning, my friend and i couldn't make it to the youth olympic games this morning.

the first farewell

went for a great buffet dinner at himawari, alexandra road after work to bid farewell to one of our beloved project manager.

the dinner was great, the companions were great too! we had a fun time with all the jokes and dramas and so on. ah, how time flies! when we look at our watches it was already 10+.  as with all good times which eventually comes to an end, we parted our ways.  i wish my project manager all the best in her future endeavors.

i was surprised that i was offered a lift back home, since, well, i stayed at the northern part of the island and my friend is like staying at the south and was supposed to be meeting a friend at somewhere central.  anyway, we didn't chat much for the journey, to avoid distraction.

actually, it's a bit unusual as i'm usually find it awkward being enveloped by silence when friends are around, but i'm pretty comfortable this time round. anyway thank you my friend, really appreciate the effort and trouble, as cte is known for its extremely heavy traffic during friday night, and coincidentally it so happened that all my ez-link cards were low in value!

there'll be at least one more farewell soon.  i'm starting to get a little anxious here... sad.

maybe another goodbye

recently i chanced upon something fishy going on with the people around me.  i realized that it is not that hard to spot that someone has something up their sleeves and it takes just a little more effort to uncover the motives.

well, this time there's nothing really special.  it's just history repeating itself.  this story has almost been repeating itself every year since 2004.  same plot, same storyline, just different characters.  it's starting to bore me.

i dare say i can easily predict the outcomes this time.  everything is within predictable parameters.  i do not need to finish this walk to prove my point.  i have decided to walk at my own pace, and slowly drift apart, maybe eventually be phased out just to become another irritating character deeply buried and forgotten in someone else's not so distant past.

well, this eventuality is no stranger to me.  maybe this is the most diplomatic solution i know of, or it could be just  my character flaw that prevents me from "playing dumb" without being awfully honest to the point of being blunt. i gotta learn to let go of some things at ease to prevent disappointment.

anyway, my stand is firm: what is yours will be yours eventually, no matter what you do.  some (in my case, probably most) things are just not meant to be. period.

it's time to move on, once again...

facebook insight

while browsing through my fb profile a while ago, i came across a newly uploaded album on a recent trip to taiwan by my secondary school friends.

what impresses me is that 10 years after graduation, their friendship bonds are still admirably strong.  there were new members included, along with their spouses and so on. i had grown distant with them after graduation.  well, i was never part of the close-knitted group and will never be.

i wish them an enduring friendship =)

"do you have plan for your future?"

recently, i managed to keep in touch with a project manager who has left the company for more than one year.  we used to be pretty close, and both of us pretty much share quite a fair bit of our lives with each other.

catching up with her has set my mind thinking again.  the conversation goes something like this:

pm:	do you have plan for your future?
pm:	halo friend, you have a very valuable cert - NTU graduate.
pm:	won't waste it. it is a waste if you don't fully utilize it, few years later you might find out that you are far behind your friends who graduate together with you
me:	not really much of a plan.i think i am lagging a little behind le.
pm:	you are now only a little behind. just wait another 2 years. you will see more "difference" in it.

the last statement is enough to get my sluggish brain realized that i am lagging far behind my peers in terms of pay and career advancement.  i need to do something about this sticky situation.

everybody is changing

seems like people around me are now changing, be it for good or worse. i had my first counselling session with my cousin earlier on and did some catching up.

apparently my cousin is quite socially-inadequate to deal with the working world, and so in the end i had to do plenty of analysis for her.  i'm amazed by my own profiling capabilities, and accurately pinpointed her on her darn obvious mistakes.

however, she rekindled my hope to generate passive income for the while.  i should stop relying completely on my current pay package, which is insufficient by the way.  however, motivating friends are no longer there in my life. i need to depend on myself!

surprisingly, throughout the whole talk, my cousin didn't once lose her temper.  previously, she will flare up as soon as her ego is attacked and will never acknowledge her shortcomings.  she has changed, for the better.  she is more objective now.

anyway, change is the constant thing in life.  i hope that every one of my friends are changing for the better.

insensitivity.

recently i think i have become rather irritatingly insensitive.  i have been incessantly teasing a few friends of mine.

after re-evaluating the situation, i think it's time to stop all these so as to avoid embarrassment for all parties involved.

the cuff link connection

i had a prearranged rendezvous with 2 friends to do a short shopping spree to hunt for an extra pair of cuff link yesterday afternoon as i had gotten some new french cuff shirts recently.  

it was an interesting meet-up, and after dinner 1 of them left.  we went for a drink and engaged in a "interesting" topic.  we had pretty good laughs about a game we conjured up, where we were tantalizing each other in order to fish out the required information.  i think the 2 of us were pretty boisterous in the cafe.  

later into the night, i suggested chilling out at some drinking pubs. my friend, surprisingly complied, despite the fact that he is used to going to bed early.

over our beer pints, we started candid exchanges of opinions on a variety of matters.  perhaps, due to the  alcohol-induced relaxing mood, we, the 2 introverts, started opening up ourselves to each other and chatted till almost 3am! i think both of us had had a good time, though i'm sorry about the location of the pub as it brought back unpleasant memories for my friend.

i had not done anything crazy like this for a long while.  i'm glad for this meet-up tonight, and from our conversations i believed that we shared more sentiments and perspectives in common, or so it seems. though we knew each other for like over 2 years, we were nothing more than just mere acquaintances until recently.

i wonder if such event will ever happen again.  hopefully our serendipitous friendship can take off from here. 

food for thought

while walking home from the mrt station earlier on, again some thoughts crossed my mind.  i was wondering what should i do over the long weekend to commemorate singapore's 45th independence day.

then, i realized i've changed quite a fair bit. to quickly summarize, i am now leading a much more individualistic lifestyle than before.  i no longer actively seek out the company of my friends, being fearful that i am being overly-intrusive into their personal lives and space.

i have even lesser faith in other people.  past disheartening experiences as recent as the last one to two years are still fresh on my mind.  i have been back-stabbed and shortchanged.  i had been made to feel like i am a persona-non-grata in most social gatherings.  i wondered and still wonder if i had done anything inappropriate.

fearful that history may repeat itself, i contemplated a solution, and began observing and talking to people around me. data from my observations, to my amazement, actually supports my understanding of the ever-complicated horoscope signs.

armed with a new ability to quickly profile a person on-the-fly, i have become extremely fastidious in making friends.  no longer will i relegate myself to the position of being subjected to the whims and fancies of others, i decided to be the chooser, or the player.  i learnt to maintain an appropriate distance for most people and manage them.

at the same time, my interests and priorities in life has changed.  in the process of moving on with my life, the sour grapes started rearing their ugly heads, trying to anchor you so that you cannot move ahead in life, just like them.  you are not supposed to upgrade your fashion sense, cultivate your appreciation on the finer things in life, just like them, but just blow money on food, food and more lousy food, just like a glutton.  to (peasant) friends like these, please go and get yourself a life, you loser!

sometimes i really wonder, would life better for me if i just maintain a distance from everyone else?  the social animal within me complains.

truth about management

sadly, many supervisors think that "management" just means bossing people around. few realized that there an art to management. fewer still work to develop that art.

Source: Click here.

At the end of the day, the management is puzzled on why things turn out the way they are.

pesky insurance agent "friend"

i am extremely irritated with a "friend" of mine recently. he has been ringing me ceaselessly for the past one week or so from many different phone numbers except his hand phone to try to get me to buy some insurance from him at different hours of the day.

honestly, i dislike this kind of people. after not keeping in touch for the longest time, the first thing on their mind is to get you to buy insurance from them.

in the case of my friend, it's even more absurd. i shall neither work around your schedule nor go to you at your preferred (inconvenient) meet-up place. on top of that, just because you switch insurance company doesn't mean that my insurance policies switch with you.

bombarding me with calls and sms-es simply won't work. i shall exercise my right to refuse to answer any calls (especially from unknown numbers) or reply any sms-es from this so-called "friend".

great sunday nite out

i had planned to just stay at home over the weekend. however, i got extremely bored and thus came up with an ad-hoc plan to arrange for a quick meet-up with a friend.

we settled on having a sumptuous japanese buffet at himawari, alexander road, away from the crowds within the city. the buffet was extremely great, mouth-watering sashimi sliced to perfection with a generous serving of sukiyaki.

halfway along the meal, another friend joined us. he came pretty late, and we felt kind of bad for making the staff work overtime to serve us.

after the meal, probably because we had not meet for quite a while, we decided not to head home despite the fact that we had to report for work the next morning. we headed to the prata house at upper thomson.

the service at prata house is still as bad. both of my friends are arguing over the efficiency of how the police force operates as well as the legal system. what an interesting topic in the dead of night!!

we parted ways at 3am. i think i am so gonna take mc the next day.

despite initial resentments against this friend when i first know him, as he never fail to rub me the wrong way then, tonight, i realized that both of us can actually click very well. we do share a couple of similarities, and the funny thing is, we had been backing each other up throughout our conversations for the entire night.

i am glad that within these few weeks, i managed to re-connect with 2 friends whom i thought was lost for good. for now, i am contentedly blessed.

the ignorant teacher

sometimes i really cannot stand my japanese language teacher. for your info, i have been dutifully attending japanese language lessons for the past 8 months at bunka language school at orchard. i'm now at intermediate 3 level.

i have never met such a long-winded and ignorant guy before. although some of his comparisons between singapore and japan were valid, the rest of his arguments or comparisons were weak and reflected his lack of knowledge and inquisition about singapore, or any other general matters.

for instance, he glorified the role of teachers in society and belittled all other professions. so funny! i have never find the teaching profession that respectable, and an ignorant teacher like him spouting nonsense only reinforces my impression that teachers live in seclusion, alienated from mainstream society.

for goodness sake, he cannot even match a tie and shirt properly. all he knows about are burberry ties. how pitiful!

anyway, i still enjoy learning the japanese language despite all these =).

2 addictive songs

recently, 2 addictive songs has been repeatedly playing at the back of my mind. the lyrics are very meaningful and brought back both fond and unpleasant memories from the past.

here goes the 2 songs:

the second exodus.

another employee in my workplace has resigned. haiz, this is the second round of exodus this year. first it was the technical department, and now it's the project managers who are quitting en masse.

yet again, i am having mixed sentiments. i feel glad for those who left, as i believe they can better realize their potential elsewhere, be paid their worth and possibly be happier, yet those who left are colleagues who are closer to me and add interesting temperaments to an already dull office landscape further exacerbated by rock-bottom morales.

it is surprising that a simple status update on facebook related to this resignation generated so much positive, encouraging comments whereby some commenter were actually at the point of applauding the manager for boldly stepping out into the light and away from the dark side.

as i was talking to a colleague on msn, i was saying that the temperaments of the current office environment is not beneficial to me. the office is heavily populated by signs that are not compatible with me, and i'm like the sole fire sign around (i'm sagittarius btw). new colleagues that came in are undoubtedly always capricorn, taurus, cancer, probably virgo or pisces. that sucks!!

fire signs don't seemed to last long here. the next compatible signs are air signs: aquarius (i simply cannot stand them!), gemini (none are around) and libra (some are around but i have generational gaps with all of them!).

haiz. when will it be my turn to join the exodus?

broken links, new bonds.

while returning home from an enjoyable night-out at max brenner last night, some thoughts crossed my mind.

i have just been included into a newly-formed clique that i never imagine i'd be a part of, and we actually did click in some peculiar ways haha. am glad to be included.

one of the members is an ex-colleague whom i never bother to maintain contact with for the longest time, and has rejoined the coy recently. despite initial sentiments when we first knew each other like 2 years back, we have now managed to get along pretty well.

as recently discovered, we do have a fair bit of things in common. most unbelievable of all, this ex-ex-colleague of mine almost fits my profile of an ideal friend. coincidentally, this person is a scorpio. looking back at my 20-odd years of life, i can't help but wonder if i really click very well with scorpios. from secondary school till now, all my close friends are almost always scorpios.

anyway at least this proves my ideals are not out of this world. such people do exist, okay?! probably i gotta thank someone who hijacked my msn some time back and laid down the foundations.

on the other hand, certain relationships turned sour or even nasty. had some tiffs and unpleasant experiences recently. although sometimes my reactions tended to further exacerbate the situations, i did my best to contain it.

existing links are broken, and new bonds are forming. well, that's life!

"which bank are you working in?"

during a recent meet-up with some friends, someone asked me, "so which bank are you working in right now?". i immediately smirked.

i have successfully dissociated myself from the typical guy in the i.t. industry=).

office dress code

not long after my return from japan, the management, aka the bosses, announced a new dress-code - all employees are to dress formally. i almost fainted.

it is annoying that the rule is of immediate effect. immediately i develop some resentment towards the team of vietnamese for spoiling the market with their cheapo and tasteless POLYESTER/PLASTIC shirts. i was thinking, why don't they just wrap plastics around themselves! we are starting to look like some low-class software house located in the developing world!

after i got over the initial resentment phase, i thought, why not learn to dress properly in formal wear? i decided to go for proper formal wear, and i am glad that michael, my immediate superior, was in full support and provided ample assistance.

and so, i learnt the following pointers with regards to proper formal wear:

• proper shirts should not have a shirt pocket.
  shirt pockets are more for worker level, and unless i always use the pocket, a pocketless shirt is preferred. putting a pen or whatever at the shirt pocket is distasteful imo - i am not a clerk!
• shirts without the front placket(the strip of cloth along the buttons all the way from the collar to the hem) is preferred. however, most off-the-shelf shirts have the front placket, and unless i tailor my shirts, they are to stay.
• fabrics of shirts are important.
  i personally like 100% cotton shirts. they go well with the hot weather in singapore, and a proper cotton shirt is easier to maintain than some plastic shirts. furthermore, proper cotton shirts are also not see-through and has a pleasant feel.
• the fit and cut of the shirt shows the wearer's style.
  one can immediately identify a sloppy dresser. a pocketless slim-fitting shirt always goes hand-in-hand with young wearers from my observation as it always helps to exuberate the youthfulness in them. it also looks neater.
• shirt patterns give taste.
  i learnt that white shirts are not as boring as i once thought them to be. the trick is to play with subtle patterns, and these subtleties do surprisingly add a touch of class to the wearer.
• never match a striped shirt and a striped pants of equal width together or you end up becoming a zebra or pedestrian crossing
• belt color must match the shoes.
• when wearing a tie, the tie should be the most outstanding piece of fashion on the shirt. for this, i regretted buying some strongly striped shirts. solid-colored shirts with subtle patterns are way easier to match with ties.
• proper well-maintained leather shoes are equally significant.
  people seems to almost always neglect their shoes. a well-polished shoe will at least give the wearer some decent scores. it is weird to dress well with a pair moldy shoes. i simply adore oxford shoes, and the laces adds a layer of sophistication haha.
• while wearing laced shoes, the laces should NOT be tied in a criss-cross fashion, as with sneakers, but in a parallel manner.
• while in a suit, the jacket and pants should match.

i spent a decent amount of money on formal fashion, and in the end i am hooked! i din realized men's wear is such an art! no wonder they are expensive.

i enjoyed myself so much that every now and then i will make use of my versatile looks to morph into an employee from some other industries. one day, i'll have a lawyer look, the on other days, a banker's look, a manager's look and so on. haha.

however, as there's no fashion reimbursement from the company, i wear whatever i feel like for the day. if i feel down, i may dress down. there's no obligation that i must be formal while representing the company, though i try to put on a tie sometimes. the calculative begets the calculative.

luckily i bought a burberry black label suit from japan, but i had ONLY one set. i must tailor a cheaper one from my tailor in bangkok.

some colleagues complained i am too formal, but over the course of time, some have upgraded their formal wear. i feel that it is good that people take care to make themselves look good, neat and presentable. respect people, respect yourself. of course, guys have the strongest resistance. what can u expect out of most gen-X guys anyway apart from finding excuses? just my two cents worth.

some day i hope to wear shirts with cufflinks and own at least one hermes tie.

day 8 - imperial palace, yasukuni shrine

day 8 (sat): shinjuku(新宿) --> imperial palace --> yasukuni shrine --> ueno (上野)

of all the days in japan, the weather on this day is the best in my opinion. cool and not too windy! headed to the imperial palace - a wide spacious area. there were plenty of sakura trees in full blossom in the park. spent a great deal of time strolling the park.

attempted to look for the nijubashi/megane bridge. the bridge is not as grand as i thought it would be, but still nice nevertheless.

walked over to ginza to collect some stuffs and managed to find a decent curry rice meal for lunch. for your info, ginza doesn't seem to be a place where one can easily locate good food. this curry house is located off the main road.

next up on the scheduled itinerary is the (in)famous yasukuni shrine in kudanshita (九段下). it's a happening and rowdy, as there seemed to be people rallying for all kind of things. didn't pray there as it was meant to honor japanese soldiers during the second world war.

it was a shame that by the time we reach ueno park it has closed for the day. however, ueno is unique in the sense that it is like a huge street market (pasar malam), and very crowded. however, the prices are not as cheap as i thought haha. well, the price gotta match the quality of the items sold.

returned to shinjuku and ate at the sushi place the other day. the staff there actually recognizes us lolx and we were assigned the same table! lol. will be returning to singapore the next day haiz. i gotta return to japan again.

day 7 - mount fuji

day 7 (fri): shinjuku(新宿) --> mount fuji

started the day extremely late today. the view from the window indicates a clear day, but it could probably be an illusion. was actually toying with the idea of postponing the trip to fuji, however reports from the weather forecast seemed to indicate otherwise. and so the trip continues, albeit late!

headed to east shinjuku for lunch. was walking around and saw a poster with this word: 食べ放題　（eat all you can）for around 1400 yen, or sgd20 (tax-inclusive). immediately we decided on lunching there. i simply love their buffet concept: drinks and desserts included!!

the buffet lunch

thereafter we purchased the train tickets to mount fuji. we got lost in the numerous platforms and at the end of the day managed to find it. took the train to otsuki, but along the way, we had to switch another train.

it was during the train switch that i realized tokyo's train efficiency does not extend to the countryside. the next train was a 30 minutes wait in the cold!! once on board the train, it was heaven! cushion seats, leg warmers provided below the seats, and the train doors do not open when no one is alighting or boarding to preserve warmth.

we switched to the fujikyu line and along the way, snow started falling. shit!! by the time we reached the kawaguchiko station, it felt like christmas! tried to claim the ticket for the retro-bus rides, but was told they had stopped operating. part of the reason given was we were too late! crap! what a waste of my money.

sakura tree outside the train


view of the mountains from a stationary train


temperature around -1 deg

another sakura tree in kawaguchiko

snow snow snow... went over to the other side of the station and managed to get some souvenirs for office and some exotic-tasting kit-kats for my friend. explored the area. due to the snow, mount fuji was completely not visible. depressed! felt like a dumbass wasting money for nothing.

snow, snow snow...

left: the curry soba
right: the kit-kat (strawberry cheese cake, wasabi and blueberry flavored)

honestly speaking, i prefer snowing to raining. it was way less messier and the sight of falling snow makes the environment surreal. went to try a small family shop to try some curry soba and sake to preserve warmth.

as night falls, we returned to shinjuku. lo and behold, now the damn beanies are starting to make their appearance again!! nvm... had some krispy kreme for dessert and concluded this depressing day.

day 6 - roppongi

day 6 (thurs): shinjuku(新宿) --> roppongi(六本木)　

due to the very comfortable temperature in the room, we started the day quite late. turned on tv, and crap, the temperature was in single digits. it was reported that hakone had snow piling up. the mount fuji trip was thus postponed and we decided to head to roppongi instead.

the moment we stepped out of the hotel, our breaths literally turned into mist. wow, it's raining. no wonder!

browsed around the area in roppongi. we had a sumptuous lunch there, and yes, it's katsu don again. their katsu don was addictive, and somehow the katsu seemed healthy as it's not oily at all. cabbage and rice free flow :)

personally i did not find anything extremely interesting in roppongi. maybe it was because i visited it during the day - the nightlife is reputed to be somewhat interesting. things were damn expensive. seemed like many things were sold at 20,000 yen ( around sgd300) and above.

anyway, here's some random shots from roppongi.

day 5 - tsukiji fish market, ginza

day ５ (wed): shinjuku(新宿) --> tsukiji(築地市場)　--> ginza(銀座)

took the oedo-subway line and headed to tsukiji-shijo for fresh sushi and sashimi breakfast. it's another windy day. followed some tourists who were also heading in the same direction.

walked around the market and tried an ebi-stick, peppered with wasabi. it was delicious!

left: no smoking sign pasted on the floor
right: the wasabi ebi stick

random view of tsukiji market

went around hunting for sushis. was intending to look for sushi-dai but then didn't seemed to notice it. anyway it didn't matter and we settled for sushi-sei - a deluxe sushi set. the setting reminded me of my game - sushi chef, where patrons are seated on a long bench where the sushi master will prepare your orders right in front of you.

the sushi store we ate in


some sushi i ate


left: note the damn thick tamago
right: snow-crab sushi and i forgot the other sushi

delicious!! went for another round of sushi as my friend wanted to try blue-fin tuna sushi/sashimi before heading over to ginza.

bought some chopsticks along the way (which did not make their way back to singapore, haiz). went straight to mitsukoshi. originally intending to hunt for a jacket, i ended up buying a full black label suit!! i like the suit though haha.

some kabuki theater along the way


left: ginza wako building, symbol of ginza
right: random shot of buildings in ginza

another random shot of ginza


my burberry suit after collection

walked around ginza, nothing too interesting. my friend went into dolce & gabbana store and i gotta practice my translation again. keeping my sentences simple and direct, i managed to minimize the hassle. gosh, i definitely need to further brush up my japanese.

some interesting cars in sony building - 1-seater emission free car

anyway, i felt a sense of accomplishment for today. got praised twice for my usage of japanese for today, yay!

anyway we tried to look for an eating place in ginza, but the place seemed to be void of eateries lol. headed back to shinjuku for dinner then.

taking the marunouchi line back - it had safety doors!


random shots of shinjuku at night

btw just realized we seemed to hear plenty of singlish for the day, so i presume they are from sg. 2 couples at the fish market, a group of hokkien-speaking guys at ginza mitsukoshi, some girls reading a local map at ginza, a handful of both guys and girls right outside the hotel and shinjuku west haha. din realized that tokyo is such a popular holiday destination for singaporeans haha.

had a great but broke day. tomorrow let's head to mount fuji, away from the city.