The Pearl of the Orient

Saturday, December 29, 2007 @ 5:52 AM

So here I am, at the airport in the wee hours of the morning.

The airport officer, after glancing at my passport photo, then at me, furrowed his brow and began to speak. Before he could finish pronouncing my name, I grinned at him and joked, "I know, that doesn't look like me right?"

He nodded and exclaimed, "Totally!"

Oh well, I suppose that is a compliment... who among us would like to look as dorky as we were in our teens? Haha.

But well, finally, the trip is here! Cheers to dimsum, portugese egg tarts and 15 deg weather!

Seeya folks when I'm back next week! :)

Acrobatic Feat

Thursday, December 27, 2007 @ 12:41 AM

Sometimes the most menial tasks are the most challenging. For a photo story for The Business Times, we had to call in a favour to borrow some much-needed props to stage the show.

Balancing 10 fragile champagne flutes on a tray took two years off my life. From the 60th floor of the plaza, where Sichuan DouHua is, into three different lifts and umpteen flights of stairs, it had me in cold sweat literally. Especially when the champagne flutes trembled most precariously just with the slight motion of the lift vibration.

As my colleague exclaimed, after the champagne flutes and I reached our destination in one piece (phew), "No shit!"

Damn right.

Merry Xmas, all!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007 @ 11:38 PM

And 3 days more to HK! :)

The Dulux Mascot

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 @ 12:33 AM

There's something so endearing about the English Sheepdog. Those long floppy hairs over the eyes, those moist puppy eyes peering out from underneath and that sloppy lick up your cheek.

Now, if only I live somewhere with a huge garden for it to roam, I would get one in a heartbeat.

Supremely Bored @ Work

Monday, December 10, 2007 @ 9:48 PM

So I couldn't do anything at work today, cos the outlook server was permanently down and we could neither receive nor send any emails out at all.

Jumping for joy, shouldn't I be? Well, I was.. initially.

Till I finished reading six sets of ShinMin Daily and LianHe WanBao, three copies of The New Paper plus two days' worth of Today and the day was still far from over.

I was virtually bored to death! Makes me wonder how people ever did work in the 1980's, before the advent of technology. Calling and faxing? Typing documents out laboriously on ancient typewriters and sending them by courier, stamped Confidential?

I bet we were really productive back then!

Vacuumed

Sunday, December 09, 2007 @ 9:49 PM

I like reassuring silence. The kind where you are hearing nothing and everything at once - like swimming underwater, watching people drift past you out of the corner of your eyes, in slow motion. You are alone with your thoughts, thinking nothing and everything.

Recently, I found another such haven - the steam room at the gym! Sitting in the tiny cubicle, clad in a towel, surrounded by warm steam, with random human company but not speaking... comforts me.

And sometimes, in a group of people, you are torn between loyalties. Who is giving the true account of things? Who is the one withholding information? Whose side should you take? I don't know, so I don't. The fence is where I sit, till the truth comes to light.

Been thinking of random stuff, like trying out new things and new experiences. So if opportunity knocks on my door, I'll definitely grab it. No point hanging on to old ideals eh?

Emo-ing

Tuesday, December 04, 2007 @ 12:33 AM

I've been in touch with my emo side lately.

Reading about the Cambodia tragedy, of five of our national dragonboaters brought me close to tears. Thinking about their young lives, what they have yet to achieve, brought a deep ache to my heart.

Then, the story of Irin Gan's grandma passing on due to a freak mishap, before she could bear witness to her granddaughter's impending wedding, also did funny things to my heart strings.

It is at times like this, when I should feel so fortunate, to be living, breathing, feeling. When I give a second glance to the random disadvantaged person hobbling along on the streets, I think, isn't it a blessing that I can take such big steps with my two healthy feet? I might not be able to do cartwheels, wink properly or sing like an angel but hey, ain't I whole?

Thus, my new resolution for the upcoming year (haha, I know it's a month too early for this) will be Carpe Diem! Live life to the fullest, for you never know... what might befall you in the next second.