Increasingly I get to know of so many people with dysfunctional families. One lives with a sister who suffers from depression and cannot hold down a job and 2 retired parents who need medical care now and then. Another has a husband who had an affair, whose mother also suffers from depression. Another has a parent with cancer. Another's parents both died within a short span of one another - one from cancer and another from an accident.
In the face of all this I sometimes get hit with a sudden realisation of how incredibly lucky I am:
1. all my family members are fine and healthy
2. all of us are gainfully employed and self-supporting
and my minor day to day moans and complaints about the late hours etc etc suddenly seem lame and small in comparision.
Why are some dealt better hands than others?
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
GROAN
Another reason why I do not like Americans. Their documents are simply unreadable.
QUOTE
American legal drafting lags far behind most of the English-speaking world of lawyers, as American-trained lawyers suffer from numerous sins, including:
These criticisms are all true. I don't know why they do this. Maybe it's to make more money for the lawyers.
QUOTE
American legal drafting lags far behind most of the English-speaking world of lawyers, as American-trained lawyers suffer from numerous sins, including:
(a) unduly archaic, complex language that could easily be replaced with plain English that everyone could understand;
(b) an aversion to good formatting, meaning that you get great slabs of user-unfriendly text;
(c) an addiction to capitalising every letter in certain words and entire clauses, notwithstanding that capitalisation doesn’t make a word/clause any more legally effective and unseemly to the eye;
(d) a kitchen-sink approach to drafting, meaning that you end up with a 50 page document containing all manner of boilerplate clauses where a 15 page document would suffice; and
(e) an incredibly US-centric view of the law, even when practising outside the US, which makes them think that references to US statutes and use of NY legal principles are the norm even when there is no US nexus.
All lawyers suffer from the above sins to some extent, but US lawyers far out-sin other lawyers operating in international deals in the international business world. Receiving a US-style document in my in-box inspires nothing but groans.
As for dealing with US trained, NY-accented lawyers – that’s a rant about unnecessarily adversarial approaches, US-centric thinking, lack of empathy and petty point scoring that I’ll save for another day.
UNQUOTEThese criticisms are all true. I don't know why they do this. Maybe it's to make more money for the lawyers.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
I am disappointed in myself
for forgetting time and appointments
for often letting down my family and friends
for being lost in the forest of work, never seeing the broader landscape and the horizon
for not having the courage, tenacity nor perseverance to change the things I would like to change
for losing interest in the one activity to which I have devoted most of my spare time in the last 7 years
for feeling lost and devoid of purpose
for feeling alone at mealtimes when it is my own fault that I didn't bother to reconnect with old friends or to make new ones
for often letting down my family and friends
for being lost in the forest of work, never seeing the broader landscape and the horizon
for not having the courage, tenacity nor perseverance to change the things I would like to change
for losing interest in the one activity to which I have devoted most of my spare time in the last 7 years
for feeling lost and devoid of purpose
for feeling alone at mealtimes when it is my own fault that I didn't bother to reconnect with old friends or to make new ones
More quips
From a contract to build something in rural China:
[Seller undertakes to Buyer that:]
"At least one of the Guarantee Engineers can read and write English properly."
How to find one of these in rural China????? hurhurhur
[Seller undertakes to Buyer that:]
"At least one of the Guarantee Engineers can read and write English properly."
How to find one of these in rural China????? hurhurhur
Money drives the world
I clicked on an article called "Stock Options" thinking it was an article about investment, and was puzzled why the article began with: "How do I make a good broth without using any meat? I have tried using soybeans, carrots and white onions but the broth was not very sweet."
Then I realised it was about food.....
Lately (last few months), I've been very into learning about the investment -- how people make money and stuff. Have been actively reading up on publications like The Edge, and I'm going to subscribe to Financial Times soon. The lack of time prevents me from reading more. My initial foray into the stock market hasn't been entirely successful, I think I am suffering from a net loss. Still, it could be worse.
The interest came about after realising two things:
Realisation no. 1: That one can never be rich relying on a salary -- a salary is payment for the sale of your time and soul, and there is a limit to how much time and soul you can sell. However, you can use money to invest in businesses, and get OTHER people to work for their salary while you reap the profits. So for example, if I invest in Walmart, I am "working" the cashiers at Walmart are working for me, helping me generate money, while I pay them their $5 an hour or whatever it is.
I guess that's where the term "make your money work" came from -- essentially money is just like another tool to help increase your productivity, and you effectively increase the amount of "work" generated from one person, thereby increasing the income generated.
A bunch of apples may be worth nothing more than the ability to feed a few people for a few days. But the apples can be turned to jam or apple pie, transforming it into a higher value product. In the process of transformation, the factory workers get paid, the farmers get paid, the consumers get fed longer etc. Everyone benefits, but the one who benefits most, is the person who came up with the idea.
The thing is, never mind that I am dumb and didn't come up with the idea of turning apples into jam and apple pie -- money gives me access to the idea by providing the capital for the person to implement his ideas. With money I buy his ingenuity and I then "work" through him. Brilliant.
That is why the rich will become richer, and the poor will become poorer, because the poor can never "work" as much as the rich. And this is why capitalism is thought to be evil. But the beauty of it is that, notwithstanding the exploitative nature of capitalism, it still gives a better net positive economic effect to society. it is better for the farmer to be paid a small amount for his apples, than for the apples to turn worthless in a few days after it rots. The factory worker gets paid for canning the jam. With that money, he can buy bread thereby creating a market for bread and generating wealth for the bread manufacturer and making money for the people in the bread industry.
But I digress -- I'm sure this is just basic economic theory anyway.
Realisation no. 2: $1 today, if invested continuously, becomes approximately $17 in 30 years, assuming a 10% p.a. return, and $5.7, taking into account inflation at 4% per year. That is just flabbergasting. It really puts all your purchases in context.
For example -- why do I need to buy a $100,000 Volkswagen Golf when I could achieve the same purpose with a S$40,000 Hyundai Getz? Not only is the car worthless in 10 years, it also means I lost the opportunity of investing the S$60,000 for 30 years, transforming it into S$342,000 in 30 years, after taking into account inflation. Ditto: do I really need a new pair of shoes or a new laptop? A dollar not invested is $4.7 lost. A luxurious holiday today means losing out on the ability to go on 4 other equally luxurious holidays 30 years down the line.
The maths is brutal, and so buying comes down to a choice between whether the present value derived from the purchase (taking into account all other intangibles like I may not be able to travel in 30 years) outweighs the fact that I can buy 4+ other equivalent products in future.
The world of investing is absolutely fascinating. It's amazing how people can make money out of the most mundane of things. For example, one can make money betting on pork bellies (which is a traded commodity) -- you can buy a futures contract saying: "You promise to sell x tons of pork bellies on y date for $z, and in return, I will pay you $a for your promise". If pork bellies subsequently becomes more expensive, I make money. Simple as that.
Then I realised it was about food.....
Lately (last few months), I've been very into learning about the investment -- how people make money and stuff. Have been actively reading up on publications like The Edge, and I'm going to subscribe to Financial Times soon. The lack of time prevents me from reading more. My initial foray into the stock market hasn't been entirely successful, I think I am suffering from a net loss. Still, it could be worse.
The interest came about after realising two things:
Realisation no. 1: That one can never be rich relying on a salary -- a salary is payment for the sale of your time and soul, and there is a limit to how much time and soul you can sell. However, you can use money to invest in businesses, and get OTHER people to work for their salary while you reap the profits. So for example, if I invest in Walmart, I am "working" the cashiers at Walmart are working for me, helping me generate money, while I pay them their $5 an hour or whatever it is.
I guess that's where the term "make your money work" came from -- essentially money is just like another tool to help increase your productivity, and you effectively increase the amount of "work" generated from one person, thereby increasing the income generated.
A bunch of apples may be worth nothing more than the ability to feed a few people for a few days. But the apples can be turned to jam or apple pie, transforming it into a higher value product. In the process of transformation, the factory workers get paid, the farmers get paid, the consumers get fed longer etc. Everyone benefits, but the one who benefits most, is the person who came up with the idea.
The thing is, never mind that I am dumb and didn't come up with the idea of turning apples into jam and apple pie -- money gives me access to the idea by providing the capital for the person to implement his ideas. With money I buy his ingenuity and I then "work" through him. Brilliant.
That is why the rich will become richer, and the poor will become poorer, because the poor can never "work" as much as the rich. And this is why capitalism is thought to be evil. But the beauty of it is that, notwithstanding the exploitative nature of capitalism, it still gives a better net positive economic effect to society. it is better for the farmer to be paid a small amount for his apples, than for the apples to turn worthless in a few days after it rots. The factory worker gets paid for canning the jam. With that money, he can buy bread thereby creating a market for bread and generating wealth for the bread manufacturer and making money for the people in the bread industry.
But I digress -- I'm sure this is just basic economic theory anyway.
Realisation no. 2: $1 today, if invested continuously, becomes approximately $17 in 30 years, assuming a 10% p.a. return, and $5.7, taking into account inflation at 4% per year. That is just flabbergasting. It really puts all your purchases in context.
For example -- why do I need to buy a $100,000 Volkswagen Golf when I could achieve the same purpose with a S$40,000 Hyundai Getz? Not only is the car worthless in 10 years, it also means I lost the opportunity of investing the S$60,000 for 30 years, transforming it into S$342,000 in 30 years, after taking into account inflation. Ditto: do I really need a new pair of shoes or a new laptop? A dollar not invested is $4.7 lost. A luxurious holiday today means losing out on the ability to go on 4 other equally luxurious holidays 30 years down the line.
The maths is brutal, and so buying comes down to a choice between whether the present value derived from the purchase (taking into account all other intangibles like I may not be able to travel in 30 years) outweighs the fact that I can buy 4+ other equivalent products in future.
The world of investing is absolutely fascinating. It's amazing how people can make money out of the most mundane of things. For example, one can make money betting on pork bellies (which is a traded commodity) -- you can buy a futures contract saying: "You promise to sell x tons of pork bellies on y date for $z, and in return, I will pay you $a for your promise". If pork bellies subsequently becomes more expensive, I make money. Simple as that.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Unconditionality
I'm not one to be touched easily... Hmm. That sounds wrong.
Let me start again. I'm not one who is easily touched..... Ok still wrong.
I'm usually perceived (correctly I guess - hazards of the job) to be emotionally detached from what is generally regarded by a significant segment of society to be a touching story or moment. Wow. So wordy. Another job hazard.
But I was touched by the recent news reports revolving around ex Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The reports say that the husband is suffering from Alzheimer's, which causes him to forget most of his past life and his family. It's quite sad really. He can't remember the names of any of his family members, though they seem like a familiar face to him. As the disease advances, they live from day to day not remembering what has happened the day before.
The headlines of the report says it all: "OK that husband has girlfriend". It seems as if he's found a new girlfriend at the nursing home - a fellow Alzheimer's patient, and is as happy as a teenager in love. Sweet. What I thought was remarkable was the fact that the wife is happy for him - to her it's more important that the husband is happy where he is. It is so selfless - to love the husband so unconditionally that the husband's happiness is so important to the extent that it overrides the fact that she is now forgotten by the husband. Unconditional love. Touching.
Let me start again. I'm not one who is easily touched..... Ok still wrong.
I'm usually perceived (correctly I guess - hazards of the job) to be emotionally detached from what is generally regarded by a significant segment of society to be a touching story or moment. Wow. So wordy. Another job hazard.
But I was touched by the recent news reports revolving around ex Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The reports say that the husband is suffering from Alzheimer's, which causes him to forget most of his past life and his family. It's quite sad really. He can't remember the names of any of his family members, though they seem like a familiar face to him. As the disease advances, they live from day to day not remembering what has happened the day before.
The headlines of the report says it all: "OK that husband has girlfriend". It seems as if he's found a new girlfriend at the nursing home - a fellow Alzheimer's patient, and is as happy as a teenager in love. Sweet. What I thought was remarkable was the fact that the wife is happy for him - to her it's more important that the husband is happy where he is. It is so selfless - to love the husband so unconditionally that the husband's happiness is so important to the extent that it overrides the fact that she is now forgotten by the husband. Unconditional love. Touching.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Bimbos come first
At lunch, I met a familiar face from school and said hi. This was a person whom I thought had rather little grey matter and lots of wool between her ears. With her were two other rather young looking women with equally glazed looking eyes. I assumed they were secretaries or something. Young secretaries tend to look rather ah lian or dumb these days. It's that blank glazed look of someone who's either on drugs or wondering if (insert Mediacorp bimbo actress of choice) will reprise on the next episode of some Channel 8 soap opera.
I was absolutely appalled to find out that they were all members of my profession at one of the top global giants of my profession. According to its website, the employer in question "has 27 offices in 20 countries and 3,800 ... advisers."
This was a person I had done a project with in school and promptly concluded was an airhead. I could run circles around her. Yet she is now being paid at least twice my salary, and we do the same work.
What the hell...my day is spoilt.
I was absolutely appalled to find out that they were all members of my profession at one of the top global giants of my profession. According to its website, the employer in question "has 27 offices in 20 countries and 3,800 ... advisers."
This was a person I had done a project with in school and promptly concluded was an airhead. I could run circles around her. Yet she is now being paid at least twice my salary, and we do the same work.
What the hell...my day is spoilt.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Christmas is coming
I can't wait for Christmas!
Not for any altruistic reason like oh spread the joy, celebrate birth of important religious figures and all that bs, but for the simple financial reason of the (hopefully) big... fat. bonus.
Actually, I don't really care about the amount of the money (ok, that's a lie). After all, it just gets stuffed in the bank, converted into a debt by the bank to you.
I suppose it's all about the fact that this is the time when one's (theoretically) hard work, going the extra mile and all that, gets converted into a concrete quantifiable figure. I.e. thank you for your hard work, this is what we think you were worth to us this year.
And bonus is of course relative. For example, bankers may get 5 years' bonus, but we won't so it's no point comparing and feeling sour. It's all about the comparison, what you are worth relative to your peers. The satisfaction (at least, I think) is resting in the smug knowledge (I think the Hokkien phrase is"am chio") that hurhur I got more than X , therefore I am more valuable, therefore I am better, therefore I am superior and therefore hurhurhur I'm better than you nyeh-nyeh-ni-boo-boo.
It's a double edged sword, for if one gets less than X, then by the same line of reasoning, X is better than me boohoohoo.
It's bad for work morale really, to compare. And for that reason I would not ask my colleagues. I just need to know if I'm above average, or below average.
I wonder if this displays an utter lack of self-confidence if one has to rely on this yardstick to determine one's self worth. I think it does.
In my defence, I think it's only human nature to be curious and to wonder what everyone else has got. Adam had to eat the apple. Pandora had to open the box. Likewise I have to know if I'm better.
All men are equal and will stand as equals before God on judgment day, says the bible. Yet some men are more equal than others. Hooray for capitalism.
Not for any altruistic reason like oh spread the joy, celebrate birth of important religious figures and all that bs, but for the simple financial reason of the (hopefully) big... fat. bonus.
Actually, I don't really care about the amount of the money (ok, that's a lie). After all, it just gets stuffed in the bank, converted into a debt by the bank to you.
I suppose it's all about the fact that this is the time when one's (theoretically) hard work, going the extra mile and all that, gets converted into a concrete quantifiable figure. I.e. thank you for your hard work, this is what we think you were worth to us this year.
And bonus is of course relative. For example, bankers may get 5 years' bonus, but we won't so it's no point comparing and feeling sour. It's all about the comparison, what you are worth relative to your peers. The satisfaction (at least, I think) is resting in the smug knowledge (I think the Hokkien phrase is"am chio") that hurhur I got more than X , therefore I am more valuable, therefore I am better, therefore I am superior and therefore hurhurhur I'm better than you nyeh-nyeh-ni-boo-boo.
It's a double edged sword, for if one gets less than X, then by the same line of reasoning, X is better than me boohoohoo.
It's bad for work morale really, to compare. And for that reason I would not ask my colleagues. I just need to know if I'm above average, or below average.
I wonder if this displays an utter lack of self-confidence if one has to rely on this yardstick to determine one's self worth. I think it does.
In my defence, I think it's only human nature to be curious and to wonder what everyone else has got. Adam had to eat the apple. Pandora had to open the box. Likewise I have to know if I'm better.
All men are equal and will stand as equals before God on judgment day, says the bible. Yet some men are more equal than others. Hooray for capitalism.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Nigella Feasts
Having watched Nigella Feasts for the first time yesterday, I wondered what I missed my entire life! I love how she talks about food - the tone of voice, the crisp British accent, the close-frame videography panning in and out of her face - it's all incredibly intimate and sensual -- you never get to see the whole kitchen. It's just parts of Nigella, whether the face, her hands, or upper body.
She speaks to you on screen as if you were a lover (of food?). The camera constantly pans close up to the face and lips as she goes "delicious" "lovely" "marvellous", and the viewer is left to wonder if she's talking about the food or ahem, the viewer. She emphasises slowly all the emotional adjectives she uses to describe the food and the flavours, and they just roll right off her tongue. It's almost erotic really.
Man, I could sit there watching the show the whole day, mesmerised. My Hubstation shall be set to auto record. I can't decide if I should save the space for Justice League, or for Nigella Feasts.
I need a bigger Hubstation.
She speaks to you on screen as if you were a lover (of food?). The camera constantly pans close up to the face and lips as she goes "delicious" "lovely" "marvellous", and the viewer is left to wonder if she's talking about the food or ahem, the viewer. She emphasises slowly all the emotional adjectives she uses to describe the food and the flavours, and they just roll right off her tongue. It's almost erotic really.
Man, I could sit there watching the show the whole day, mesmerised. My Hubstation shall be set to auto record. I can't decide if I should save the space for Justice League, or for Nigella Feasts.
I need a bigger Hubstation.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Predictable routines
Of late I've been wondering what on earth I'm doing with my life. It has come down to a very predictable routine. Between Mondays to Thursdays, I go to work (admittedly late), I eat lunch in the office because (i) it's too hot outside (ii) I can't deal with the crowds and (iii) I have few friends, or rather, I can't be bothered to initiate lunch outings. At about 11 pm I get very grumpy and want to go home. I get home, turn on my computer, surf the same websites (blogs, cnnmoney.com, macrumors, kenrockwell, in that order), and talk to the same bunch of people about the same topics (how's work, what we doing for choir). On Friday, I MIGHT have evening plans, but that's more the exception rather than the norm.
On Saturday, I wake up late, and do housework. At 3 pm, I go for the weekly choir practice. Then I go for dinner. With the same people. And then I come home, and it's Sunday. I do my housework and iron my week's supply of clothes. And then I laze around. And then it's Monday. And the cycle repeats.
Week after week.
Month after month.
For the last 5 years.
Life. Is. One. Boring. Routine.
The career is going well, I can't really complain, except for the hours, but that is more by choice rather than anything else -- I choose to be working for a service provider who wants to be top all the time, leagues ahead of everyone else, and therefore some sacrifices need to be made in pursuit of that quest. It pays reasonably well, enough for me to indulge in my whims now and then without having to bat an eyelid, and the severe shortage of qualified staff and high attrition rate only means salaries will continue going up. The area I'm is also very short of qualified staff, which I guess adds to my value. I can see the pot of gold waiting for me at the end of the rainbow.
Everything is going smoothly, as it should. What's wrong? It's b.o.r.i.n.g. The job bores me. The house bores me. My "hobby" bores me -- choir bores me, increasingly so over the last few years, mainly due to the nagging feeling that it may be a childish phase that I'm outgrowing. It doesn't help that with each passing year, I get older, but the average age of its members remain the same. Conversation revolves around either school or army. The age gap between the people I hang out with is increasing. My taste buds are increasingly finding the food popular with the common masses disagreeable -- mainly because what's new to them is not new to me. I like to drink complex beer and wine, but nobody can appreciate the habit -- it's not their fault, their taste buds just haven't matured.
I can't feeling there should, and must, be more to living. It's like that movie with Jim Carrey who's living in a constructed world. I feel like that Jim Carrey. It's also like that other movie Pleasantville -- I feel like I'm living in a monochromatic world devoid of colour.
Would someone please introduce some colour in my life.
I guess if colour is not coming to me, I should go look for it. Perhaps my motto for 2008 should be to embrace change.
On Saturday, I wake up late, and do housework. At 3 pm, I go for the weekly choir practice. Then I go for dinner. With the same people. And then I come home, and it's Sunday. I do my housework and iron my week's supply of clothes. And then I laze around. And then it's Monday. And the cycle repeats.
Week after week.
Month after month.
For the last 5 years.
Life. Is. One. Boring. Routine.
The career is going well, I can't really complain, except for the hours, but that is more by choice rather than anything else -- I choose to be working for a service provider who wants to be top all the time, leagues ahead of everyone else, and therefore some sacrifices need to be made in pursuit of that quest. It pays reasonably well, enough for me to indulge in my whims now and then without having to bat an eyelid, and the severe shortage of qualified staff and high attrition rate only means salaries will continue going up. The area I'm is also very short of qualified staff, which I guess adds to my value. I can see the pot of gold waiting for me at the end of the rainbow.
Everything is going smoothly, as it should. What's wrong? It's b.o.r.i.n.g. The job bores me. The house bores me. My "hobby" bores me -- choir bores me, increasingly so over the last few years, mainly due to the nagging feeling that it may be a childish phase that I'm outgrowing. It doesn't help that with each passing year, I get older, but the average age of its members remain the same. Conversation revolves around either school or army. The age gap between the people I hang out with is increasing. My taste buds are increasingly finding the food popular with the common masses disagreeable -- mainly because what's new to them is not new to me. I like to drink complex beer and wine, but nobody can appreciate the habit -- it's not their fault, their taste buds just haven't matured.
I can't feeling there should, and must, be more to living. It's like that movie with Jim Carrey who's living in a constructed world. I feel like that Jim Carrey. It's also like that other movie Pleasantville -- I feel like I'm living in a monochromatic world devoid of colour.
Would someone please introduce some colour in my life.
I guess if colour is not coming to me, I should go look for it. Perhaps my motto for 2008 should be to embrace change.
Spanish Adventures Part II
Throughout the trip we had pretty good rental cars, all booked through holiday autos UK. In the UK, we got a manual Skoda Octavia, which is a very reliable Czech make owned by Volkswagen. For a while I considered getting this car, but it was a bit too big for just me. In Spain, we didn't want to deal with the dual challenge of driving on the other side of the road AND having to deal with the stick shift with my right hand, so we opted for the automatic versions. It seems that automatic cars are rather uncommon in Europe, both in England and in a number of European countries I've visited, a result of which we had to pay a considerable premium for the automatic versions.
The shortage of automatic cars turned out to be a blessing of sorts -- it means that it was more likely than not the car company didn't have the class of vehicles i booked for, which meant an upgrade for me. In Madrid, we got an Audi A4, a nice vehicle, if a bit small for a travelling family of 5. In Seville, they allocated a MERCEDES E280 to me!!! Both cars were almost brand new, with mileage (I wonder why it's not called kilometrage in the modern metric age) of between 5 - 8000 km. The Merc was a real pleasure to drive, just that it was a complete bitch to drive in roads of the older towns, which I suspect were built for horse carts...
Driving on the other side of the road is a real bitch. Once or twice I found myself driving on the left side of the road by force of habit. It takes a little getting used to -- the junctions are all reversed, and the roundabouts go counterclockwise instead of clockwise -- it took conscious effort to look to my left for cars at junctions.
The most difficult part was the fact that I kept veering to the right of my road, almost crossing to either the pavement, the emergency lane, or the next lane, because I kept too much space on my left.
Anyhow, I think I've gotten pretty used to it, so next time I might rent a manual car.
The shortage of automatic cars turned out to be a blessing of sorts -- it means that it was more likely than not the car company didn't have the class of vehicles i booked for, which meant an upgrade for me. In Madrid, we got an Audi A4, a nice vehicle, if a bit small for a travelling family of 5. In Seville, they allocated a MERCEDES E280 to me!!! Both cars were almost brand new, with mileage (I wonder why it's not called kilometrage in the modern metric age) of between 5 - 8000 km. The Merc was a real pleasure to drive, just that it was a complete bitch to drive in roads of the older towns, which I suspect were built for horse carts...
Driving on the other side of the road is a real bitch. Once or twice I found myself driving on the left side of the road by force of habit. It takes a little getting used to -- the junctions are all reversed, and the roundabouts go counterclockwise instead of clockwise -- it took conscious effort to look to my left for cars at junctions.
The most difficult part was the fact that I kept veering to the right of my road, almost crossing to either the pavement, the emergency lane, or the next lane, because I kept too much space on my left.
Anyhow, I think I've gotten pretty used to it, so next time I might rent a manual car.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
I'm back from my whirlwind trip of England and Spain. Boy it was tiring but fun. It's 1.50 am, and I have a 9 am meeting tomorrow. How I will wake up in time, nobody knows. Briefly, we visited (i) in the UK: London (to see my friends, though I spent most of time working), the Cotswold countryside, and Oxford, where the sister graduated; and (ii) in Spain (in this order): Segovia, Toledo, Avila, Barcelona, Seville, Arcos de la Frontera, Ronda, Granada, Cordoba and Madrid.
I realised what I like most about holidays, is not really seeing things -- honestly, I can't remember half the things I've seen -- it's all about the food really. If the food was great or the experience was food related, I'll remember it. For example, I don't remember much of my 2004 trip to Bremen for the choir olympics, except this shop which sold ice cream at 60 euro cents per scoop. I don't remember much of my 2006 trip to China either -- I'm sure this was due to the fact that food sucked. I also like my holidays to Thailand where I spend the day essentially in pursuit of Thai food and cheap massages where the masseuses purposefully spend a lot of time kneading the body in places close enough for you to wonder if she's being suggestive. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't enjoy it. Not that I have succumbed. Tsk. Get your minds out of the gutter.
I have therefore concluded that holidays are not entirely about broadening one's horizons. It's about the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures. There. I'm immoral and I'm a pig.
The trip started off quite badly. I was barred from boarding in Changi airport 'cos I bought my ticket with my credit card on Qatar Airways, and forgot to bring the credit card for verification. I had to go home, and go on the flight the next day. The flight was also nothing to shout about, and Doha airport, where I had to transit, was shit. Reminder to self: do not sit Qatar Airways again.
So what did I like about England? Nothing much. It's hell of expensive, and the food absolutely sucks. We went to this supposedly top restaurant in Oxford. The bill came up to £250 for 6 persons, which is fine if the food were good, but the food was absolutely shite. I had roast partridge, which sounds good on the menu, but tasted like rubber.
I promised myself to do as the Romans do, so I went with my friends for "Ahfternoon teah" at Browns. It cost 140 pounds for 4, and the food was so so. To make up for the exhorbitance, I went to Tesco to buy groceries and made sandwiches to eat for most of the remainder of the trip in London. Everything in London is expensive. The cab meters are enough to give you a heart attack. They move every 3 seconds, and you sort of see this vacuum develop in your wallet as the seconds go by. Rent is also expensive. For £1,250 pounds a month, one of my friends lived in what I would describe a dump which you would have to pay me to live in. You're just bleeding money everywhere you go.
Oxford was quite pleasant. The whole town had this air of intellectual superiority which made me wish I were a student there. Whoa, I'm an intellectual snob! The graduation ceremony was conducted in Latin. Nobody understood a word of it, and the English people pronounced Latin like an extension of their upper crust English. It was quite hilarious. All of them are old fogeys, and the whole thing looked like a scene out of Harry Potter. All through the ceremony, there were a group of people outside protesting against animal testing. I say they should all have been arrested and thrown in jail.
We stayed in the youth hostel in Oxford, and I swear I'm never staying in a dorm again. What do I do for the Russia trip next year? HELP!
More to come: adventures in Spain! But before that I wanted to blog about another food related incident.
The best meal I had on the whole trip, was in Barcelona in this place called "El Quim" -- it's a sort of bar located in the middle of a market in a pickpocket infested area. The food is f-ing amazing, and I told a friend over MSN that it was so yummy I orgazzed, obviously being reference to a gastronomic experience. I supposed i should have said gastro-gazzed. He then laughed really hard and sent me a link to www.dictionary.com. It seems in English, El Quim has a rather unsavoury meaning, referring to a certain bodily part. So essentially I said: "wahlau, I orgazzed in the v*****".
I wonder what El Quim means in Spanish. I'm sure it means something else.
I realised what I like most about holidays, is not really seeing things -- honestly, I can't remember half the things I've seen -- it's all about the food really. If the food was great or the experience was food related, I'll remember it. For example, I don't remember much of my 2004 trip to Bremen for the choir olympics, except this shop which sold ice cream at 60 euro cents per scoop. I don't remember much of my 2006 trip to China either -- I'm sure this was due to the fact that food sucked. I also like my holidays to Thailand where I spend the day essentially in pursuit of Thai food and cheap massages where the masseuses purposefully spend a lot of time kneading the body in places close enough for you to wonder if she's being suggestive. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't enjoy it. Not that I have succumbed. Tsk. Get your minds out of the gutter.
I have therefore concluded that holidays are not entirely about broadening one's horizons. It's about the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures. There. I'm immoral and I'm a pig.
The trip started off quite badly. I was barred from boarding in Changi airport 'cos I bought my ticket with my credit card on Qatar Airways, and forgot to bring the credit card for verification. I had to go home, and go on the flight the next day. The flight was also nothing to shout about, and Doha airport, where I had to transit, was shit. Reminder to self: do not sit Qatar Airways again.
So what did I like about England? Nothing much. It's hell of expensive, and the food absolutely sucks. We went to this supposedly top restaurant in Oxford. The bill came up to £250 for 6 persons, which is fine if the food were good, but the food was absolutely shite. I had roast partridge, which sounds good on the menu, but tasted like rubber.
I promised myself to do as the Romans do, so I went with my friends for "Ahfternoon teah" at Browns. It cost 140 pounds for 4, and the food was so so. To make up for the exhorbitance, I went to Tesco to buy groceries and made sandwiches to eat for most of the remainder of the trip in London. Everything in London is expensive. The cab meters are enough to give you a heart attack. They move every 3 seconds, and you sort of see this vacuum develop in your wallet as the seconds go by. Rent is also expensive. For £1,250 pounds a month, one of my friends lived in what I would describe a dump which you would have to pay me to live in. You're just bleeding money everywhere you go.
Oxford was quite pleasant. The whole town had this air of intellectual superiority which made me wish I were a student there. Whoa, I'm an intellectual snob! The graduation ceremony was conducted in Latin. Nobody understood a word of it, and the English people pronounced Latin like an extension of their upper crust English. It was quite hilarious. All of them are old fogeys, and the whole thing looked like a scene out of Harry Potter. All through the ceremony, there were a group of people outside protesting against animal testing. I say they should all have been arrested and thrown in jail.
We stayed in the youth hostel in Oxford, and I swear I'm never staying in a dorm again. What do I do for the Russia trip next year? HELP!
More to come: adventures in Spain! But before that I wanted to blog about another food related incident.
The best meal I had on the whole trip, was in Barcelona in this place called "El Quim" -- it's a sort of bar located in the middle of a market in a pickpocket infested area. The food is f-ing amazing, and I told a friend over MSN that it was so yummy I orgazzed, obviously being reference to a gastronomic experience. I supposed i should have said gastro-gazzed. He then laughed really hard and sent me a link to www.dictionary.com. It seems in English, El Quim has a rather unsavoury meaning, referring to a certain bodily part. So essentially I said: "wahlau, I orgazzed in the v*****".
I wonder what El Quim means in Spanish. I'm sure it means something else.