I haven't laughed this hard in a while or enjoyed myself this much in a while. I think I needed this.

Went for Chorale. Attendance was dismal as was Hainan. Perhaps I should practice the solo line hurhuruhr. Dinner was mediocre. All these Hong Kong cafes I'm sure are a passing fad. The food is no better than the Zi Char places, but priced at least 2x - 2.5x as much. I was full, but not satisfied. I bought bakkwa next door, which tasted abysmal compared to what I usually get in M'sia. Fricking hell for $4 for two slices it may as well have been made from gold.

DESSERT was another story. Check what my friend successfully flirted us into getting - this is ONE scoop, and we had 4 to share between the 7 of us. Needless to say, we almost passed out in chocolate delight.


After the chocolate delight, we went to Settlers, where I laughed so hard my braces almost fell out. And it's a miracle. I woke up today with the two painful ulcers at the top of my mouth completely cured. It's true - laughter is the best medicine.

We played Cranium (which I completely suck at) and Taboo. I had so much fun playing Taboo that I started playing for both sides just to double my fun.

Weekend's been exhausting. So many things not done. Sigh.

The alarm started blaring at 7.45, but it did not register in my brain. I dreamt in my mind that I was somewhere (in Greece?) and there was this persistent NOISE that I couldn't get rid of. It's not as if I slept late - I went to bed slightly past midnight the night before - this must be the after effects of jet lag. By the time I opened my eyes, it was 9.30. I thought I must have mysteriously changed the time on the clock, but no, my handphone said 9.30 as well. F***, I'm late.

We all know I'm not a morning person, and 9.30 am here is 3.30 am in Greece where my brain must still lie. I crawled out of bed, took a shower, played with the bawling kid who gave me a goodbye hug before I left for work. Awwwwww when I get a hug I forgive all his bawling and screaming sins. Talk about emotional blackmail. Kids. Bah.

By the time I got to work, I was all bleary eyed, as my brain registered uhm, 4.45 am...

The rest of the day went by slowwwwly, except when my boss called to ask whether x, y and z were done, to which I got a wee bit annoyed and said "I only have 2 hands...".

I have a meeting tomorrow at 9.30 am. That's 3.30 am greek time. I am so going to be braindead. I should buy coffee for clients and claim it on the file.

This weekend is gonna be another long and busy weekend. I can't wait for 2007.

Oh, I'm going to Vietnam on 22nd. weeeee

That should be round about the time the bonus (i.e. interest payable to me in return for the mortgage of my youth) is credited into my bank account. Hrm. Wee.

I just received my tax assessment. Gah. It's like an entire month's salary to the taxman. The best part was the little statement at the bottom of the assessment going: "Thank you for your contribution to nation building!", to which the water in my water almost got spurted out through my nose.

Also in the mail: first month statement from BigBank on the mortgage. Of the entire payment, 18% goes towards repaying principal, and the other 72% is just pure interest to the bank. Oh man this is depressing.

Everyone should read anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com. It's completely fictional (has now been published as a book which I fully intend / hope to buy / borrow / sponge). It's hilariously funny, but I don't know whether I should feel alarmed that I should find it funny because I can relate to it.

I can't wait to move. Maybe I'll just forgo the "renovations" and just move in as is and do the "renovations" slowly. Another round of defect inspections this weekend.

12.41 am. Wish me luck, in particular, in waking up.

The last few days have been absolutely amazing - I mean, it'd be wonderful if my job entailed more travelling. What's there not to like about travelling as a young swinging single? Accoms paid for, meals paid for, laundry done by the hotel, grab what you want from the mini bar, fly business class. Being entertained by the clients at very high end restaurants (the Greek food that was served was mouth watering).

I'm going to miss Athens - the Acropolis is simply awesome - as you walk up, a flight of pure marble steps lead you to the Temple of Athena. As you go further, the splendid sight of the Parthenon greets you against the background of a clear blue sky.

The weather was perfect - unusually warm for November - I didn't have to wear that crappy Coldwear jacket even once. Word of advice - Coldwear makes really crappy quality and expensive stuff. I saw a jacket here that looked twice as nice, quality twice as good (fleece interior - not crappy plastic), and which cost the same.

There's loads of shopping to do here, and prices are entirely reasonable by European standards - I had a meal at the cafe with beer, and it cost a grand total of 8 euros. Good coffee goes for between 2 - 3 euros. A bus ride is 50 cents. A metro ride is 1 euro. A one day unlimited ticket for metro, tram and bus is 3 euros. Ice cream - 1.80 euros. Entrance to the Acropolis - 12 euros, Sundays free.

Same story at the shops - there's this pretty good local brand called Sprider, and their stuff is so much better than the shit you get at Robinsons, and at half the price. An EGYPTIAN cotton work shirt with french cuffs only cost 21 euros whereas in Singapore that would easily go for at LEAST S$100. An off the rack suit, 79 euros. Shoes, 39 euros. Nice Tshirts - 10 euros. I didn't buy anything though - wasn't in the mood. I think if Kiat came he'd think he had died and gone to heaven.

It seems the Greeks have very weird eating times - lunch starts at 3 pm, and dinner starts at *10 pm*. Just yesterday I was waiting at the lobby. There was a wedding dinner going on, and guests were streaming in at 10.15. The bride arrived at 10.20 pm...and I'm guessing the wedding dinner started around 10.45 pm or 11 pm...

Greek food is what you'd expect from a meditteranean country - seafood, lots of olive oil, lemon etc. They don't really have much of a sweet tooth - their vanilla ice cream isn't sweet, which is a good thing. A lot of Turkish / middle eastern influence - they were under Turkish rule for some 400 years and there's a lot of influence on their cuisine in terms of the spices and flavours they use for their food. Cinnamon features quite often. Aniseed in the Ouzo (a type of alcohol - quite gross and it seems about 90% alcoholic content).

So I think I've basically everything there is to do in Athens, except maybe visit the sex shops to keep things in perspective - a compulsory activity in all European cities. I wonder what weird shit they show here. I hope it's none of that tie-me-up-please-and-burn-my-chest-hair-while-I-moan crap which I saw in Bremen. What can I say, Germans are slightly eccentric....

I'd probably like to come back again, visiting the islands next time. Europe is a place where you need lots of money to have fun (like be on a business trip). So I guess it'll be when I'm older. Meanwhile, I need to visit all those weird shitty undeveloped places without the comforts of life before I grow out of them.

Next stop - Laos and Vietnam in December.

Life is Good

Arrived this morning at 6+ am in Athens. It was bloody freezing I think 5 degrees. I got conned by the taxi driver but it's fine 'cos I have a receipt and I'm just going to claim it.

Hotel gave me a puny room which sucked, so I asked for a change and now I have a double bed all to myself. There's errr a mirror right in front of the bed...I wonder what it's for....

Lunch was good I er clocked up 30 euros worth of room charges...

I have all day internet, all day on demand movies (which includes er all day porn).

I've been hard at work, haven't stepped out of the hotel AT ALL...

It doesn't help that the hotel is in the middle of NOWHERE....

Nice guys come last

In a scene smack out of Devil Wears Prada (think that scene where that bald speccy guy who expected to be appointed head of some other company), my secondment to London has been deferred without my asking, because I'm much needed here.

Since I don't want to go in the middle of winter, I've asked for a further deferment. Now the deferment becomes "my" idea...

I am really quite disappointed as I was looking forward to the time away and had already planned what I was gonna do for the six months while I was there, but what can I do but nod my head in assent? And then when my team mate quits next year, the cycle repeats. And so I am stuck here forever.

I can't complain 'cos complaining would mean I'm not a team player which means the longer term prospects of partnership, i.e. the bigger carrot, may be jeopardised. I can't approach any other partner either, 'cos that would mean I'm going behind the boss' back, which may have begrudging effects. And if I insist on going this March, it means that I'm not a team player.

I really should not have raised the shortage of manpower issue. I should've just kept my big mouth shut. It's true, nice guys come last.

Outplayed and outmanoeuvred.

Bah. It's not a good week.

On the bright side, I'm looking forward to the trip to Athens next week, however short it may be. And the powers that be have intimated to me that my bonus will be very good. I wonder what that means.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm mortgaging / have mortgaged my youth away. When I'm 60 I'm sure I won't be limping around wishing I had done another transaction at 25.

Unfortunately, not everyone is born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I need a job, and this is as good a job as any.

Stuck in a rut. Plodding along. Plod, plod, plod.

It seems that I am going to Athens after all. My first ever business trip! This should be uhm...fun? I dunno. Scary at the same time. I'd be stuck at the meeting all by myself without supervisory support.

Athens is gonna be cold!

I've always wanted to go to Greece. This should be fun!

ROFL

Here's an admission I never thought I'd ever hear:

"I have recently taken to rubbing his stomach frequently (something that he hates because he feels it’s something you do to a baby) and I like that it feels kind of round, solid and comforting, like potatoes and apple crumble with vanilla ice-cream on a PMS-sy day."

I nearly collapsed on the floor and died laughing...it's so cute! So all the Chorale girls have tubby boyfriends.

Ok i think I misread the sentence - it's not tt the tummy feels ike potatoes and apple crumble with vanilla icecream....which is what made my collapse on the floor...

There's hope for me and the tubbies all over the world!!!!

You know you're ignorant

when the extent of ignorance is so bad that you don't even know what you're ignorant about.

Today was the appointment with the ID guy. Fortunately my colleague went along (the one who bought the unit upstairs), so I let them go first to tell the designer what they wanted.

(Side track: the ID guy smelled like a chimney and I almost passed out during the first five mins. His mouth was like an exhaust pipe emitting nauseous cigarette fumes (smelled worse than actual cigarette smoke) even though he had finished his smoke. No wonder all these smokers always carry mints. He was chewing one, but it just made his breath smell like a menthol chimney. And this is why women shouldn't smoke. How disgusting is it to make out with a chimney????)

As I heard my colleague + boyfriend describe what they wanted, I got increasingly depressed at my level of ignorance.

"Ok, I don't want the American walk-in wardrobe system" - wtf is the American walk-in wardrobe system

"I'd like to make this part here flush with the rest of the wall" - me thinking flush simi flush got water meh

"Here I'd like a feature" - simi feature

"day-bed", "dv(??) box" etc etc

I'm like huh.

Then it came to my turn and i went "er, ok this is my first house and I don't know what I want. I just want it to look decent. Like got mirrors here and there.

"what kind of mirrors?"
"er, what kind of mirrors are there?"
"there's the normal type and the tinted kind which is in fashion now. the tinted one will make your place look bigger in the day but at night it's the same"
"ok, uhm, I'll just have whatever she's having (pointing to colleague)"
"ok and where do you want to put your mirrors?"
"uhm, i dunno, here and there? just sprinkle it around? I also need some storage spaces"
"ok where would you like these storage spaces?"
"uhm, i dunno, anywhere where you can stuff them?"

WAHLAU. it was horrific. my colleague sniggered. bah.

What I need is for someone to tell me what I want.

After the episode I was so embarrassed, I went back to the apartment and took photographs of everything, and took measurements of everything.

It was exhausting. And I'm starved. All I've eaten the whole day is a couple of slices of bread, a cup of milo, a cup of coffee and a char kway teow. No time to eat.

I'm going to be as skinny as those emasculated / emanciated / emancipated (??? can't remember how to spell it) models soon.

Just drove the 1.6 Getz manual from Bedok all the way to Tampines, street and highway driving. It is seriously fucking shiok. The clutch gets a bit of getting used to, but the engine is very responsive and it's fun to drive. I didn't die on the road either phew...

Recording was quite fun but was rather tiring although. It's marvellous how technology can er iron out all the kinks...and get rid of all the horrible parts.

After dinner I took a couple of the youngbies to go check out my new place in er the dark. On second looks it's not as small as what it seemed like the first time I saw it, and it's starting to grow on me. I can see lots of possibilities. It just needs a bit of planning. Going to see the interior designer tomorrow. That bath tub is most probably going to get demolished.

London is probably more than a mere possibility now, I just have to discuss and finalise a few more details before I commit. Too bad I'd have to leave my bachelor pad for 6 months.

So many adult responsibilities!!!!

Decisions

It seems everything is changing so fast. Today I've been offered secondment in London for 6 months beginning March next year, with a 14 month bond thereafter. If I take this up, I'm bonded until Oct 2009, by which time i'll be 30.5 years old. I'm so old I can't even think about it.

I think I'd want to go, which basically puts all my current plans in the spin drier and I'm all confused and disoriented. The car shall have to be put on hold for the moment. What do I do with the house for 6 months? I will need new more formal working clothes. I need to get rid of my braces before I'm known throughout the world financial centre as Metal Mouth.