hiatus of almost 1.5 years.....things have changed so much since my last entry....my whole team's disbanded with the exception of the sbc actress...that's right. SBC. it does bring back some old cheer. infact, xiang yun jie and huang wen ge have been featured on tv very recently... it would be kind of them to rerun some of the old 80s' serials on prime time tv... kinda of a tribute to pioneering actors/actresses who brought joy,laughter,tears into modern singapore tv in a big way. it really has come such a long way, singapore drama serials. One excellant drama series comes into my mind right now - DO NOT DISTURB. managed to catch the one with mark lee and that georgeous actress whose name i remember not... sigh... age has definitely caught up if i can actually be writting about SBC.
Botak Chin definition Aged - moving along the routine,re-winding the past,thin on the head
Read an interesting article in the The Straits Times today (8th Sept 05)... on page 21 was America's "cyberpunk" genre original Bruce Sterling.. commenting on his observations in our small little nation..
an ego booster for the elite managing our country ? i say "elite" for lack of a better word to describe our countries' best.. actually, i feel a little proud also..just a teeny weeny little... read his testimony....
the part where i suddenly feel glad to be part of the spore nation....
"If Singapore had just been hit by a giant typhoon, the regime wouldn't be snivelling and making excuses about the hunger and looting. Eco-catastrophe and martial law would surely put the Singapore power-elite really on top of their game. They wouldn't spin their "clean-up effort". They would assign resources, put trained people on the job and actually clean up. Because they are not just a spin machine. They possess competence.
Competence doesn't seem like a big deal until you are forced to realize that your own government has none."
Botak Chin definition Competence Good in the presence of fools
It's been a while since i updated this blog...what's it like...hmm.....4 months ??! damn....even forgot my password for blogging... so usual of me... to embark on a fad/trend(start a blog) and lose my interest after a few months..... just so me.....this brings me back to the time (2003) when i was "suddenly" into vinyls again....went out to buy my vinyl cleaner which cost me 450; got my turntable cleaned and all, started searching for records and now... what happend ? hahahaha.....even the shop that sold me the cleaner has folded.... hahaha... and i have got records purchased which have not even had the opportunity for foreplay... what a shame.. how can i find the time to explore them... touch them intimately... seek the pleasure i so deprive...
so what's been happening?....in a nutshell....shitloads and tons have happened in this short 4 months span...
1) experienced mutiny at work 2) engaged in child's play at home 3) read some daVinci codes 4) suffered emotional work duress 5) endured repression of innate characteristics 6) got a well deserved pay increment
it wasn't all that bad but just that i had to deal with an abnormal congregation of idiotic life events that happens to some people at one time or another.. life is somethimes made more interesting and eventful in this way... stronger and wiser i came out of this greyhole... that's just how life is...crappy events will hit you from time to time, you just need to try to learn from the experience and avoid them again in future but of course it is easier said then done... that's where the gods derive their pleasure from i think... seeing how a person acts out the scenes according to their scripts...
"I wish I got my strength from the sun" how aptly crafted by leslie (the obs)..
i live to tell the tale of my recent trip last week....
..another one of those days i guess...what the phuck you expect..afterall i woke up at 5 am...checking in was smooth..btw..did i mention i was there at changi at 6 freaking am !!....I fell asleep on the CX even before the plane started to move; must have been the motion..... as long as the transport mode is moving..i can sleep....hahaha.... the outram institute seniors used to call me Sleeping King [SK]..... nowadays i am known as King of Obscure Music [KOM]....wonder how this came about.....flattered to be conferred..hahaha...hilarious.... on that eventful day of the 13th, SK was taking the flight out of s'pore and heading towards zhu hai (pearl sea) in china for the LAD conference....zzzzzzzzzzz...... was awoken by sound and motion around me... the passengers were standing around, fidgeting, muttering and SK vaguely heard my neighbour cursed.. "knn....si beh sway..take this flight"... KOM realised than that the plane was still on the runway but moving slower than usual....reality eventually hit me...what you expect..KOM am not that young anymore.... the time :926 am.... what the hell...SKOM was suppose to be the early party having taken flight 1/2 an hour ahead of the rest.....to think that SKOM actually sacrificed my SQ flight for this moment...haha... what a irony...
the ang moh captain anounced finally at around 10 that the hydraulics repair was going to last at least 1 1/2 hours and that we would be confined from this aisle to that aisle..the grandiose scheme of fuckup back up plans...the man in the yellow jacket was quite pissed...starting rambling loudly about how Cathay should have allowed us out and and how there should be a spare plane to replace the faulty one..blah blah blah...gosh...then a thought struck me... i was going to take the same plane out...what if the repair job was still not thorough... i mean had the captain not made the call to turn back earlier, i might have been talking to Keeper of Souls already.. and then i was still destined to take the same aircraft to HK... man.... the thought of it frankly did creep me out a little... "any last words before i expire ?"...haha....
after waiting for ages..."last call for mr xxx...blah blah blah.."....we finally took off at about 12.30.. by then i had already informed irene and gang to proceed without me...damn..just hated the thought of having to travel alone to zhu hai... i had to find out about how to get there and all, fortunately i called the csm before take off to get more info...I was hoping to be able to catch the last 530pm ferry at Tsim Tsai Tsui China Ferry terminal but alas...luck was not with me..hahaha..how did i figure that out.... i ended up having to take the 730pm ferry at the HK Island Ferry Terminal where the bigger surprise awaited...i 've been fucking waiting for almost the whole fucking day...man....just trying to catch up...catch the flight ..catch the ms folks...catch the rehersals...catch my sleep...catch the mtr...catch the ferry....catch my last minute preparation...bollocks man !
having purchased my ferry ticket.. i came out of the ticketing office only to catch a glimpse of the MS GM was standing just outside the entrance to the boarding area..he was leaning against the railing and speaking on the mobile phone in...hush tones.. i figured that from him having to put his hand to form a sickle-shaped cover while talking...mistress in zhu hai ? having been caught in many situations where i had to interact with him, i avoided him by fleeting away to the other side of the complex... walked around...bought some bread..walked around again...went to the 1st level...hey the same lady..walked around again... all the while hoping that he would go into the ferry ahead of me... and boy was i caught off guard when i returned to the departure area to see the GM leaning..now against the wall adjacent to the entrance with his full frontal facing me...needless to say, i walked up to him to greet him...and for once i was hopeful that once inside, he would board the ferry and take his No 1 seat and leave me to my No 56 seat..as my luck would have it...we could only board at 715pm..i ended up "chatting" with the GM for almost 20 minutes and here i was trying to engage intelligently....what a horrowshow...this would not be my last meeting..he was to attend the same conference and listen to my incredible pu tong hua presentation..i am pretty sure he was incredulous at the performing "clown" that day...
Botak Chin definition Intelligence Often a comparison of stupidity among the obnoxious clever. For the general normal, it is often a remorseless realisation of the lack of superior mental age. For me..I really don't give a toss..
upon arrival at zhu hai..we made our way to the hotel van that was waiting to pick up its' guests periodically...while just before departing from the ferry, i made the mistake of asking if he already had dinner..to which his response was "I ate some snacks earlier"... ok lor... so i extended the courtesy invite of dinner with the rest of the crew; they had called me earlier to ask where i was and we have made arrangements... surprisingly he agreed to dinner and along the way i quickly text the rest to inform them of the "uninvited" presence...lo and behold.. as soon as i had pressed [send]..the van turned into the hotel...hahaha...i felt cursed...what a way to end a 15 hour journey to the pearl sea....
3 gals and 4 pairs of socks is really about the 4 brightly coloured socks which had to be distributed evenly between 3 female colleagues of mine.
The feat of distribution is beyond me..pardon the pun
today must have been the earliest i left office on the last day of quarter end... infact, most of us left early except for the poor enterprise team... well.. sadly sales people just don't try hard enough to put in the revenue early.. it would be so much easier for everyone but reality bites... we might have been a little insensitive today.. i guess towards the end of the day... as much as we tried, subtle fun was hard to conceal as we cajoled grace to join us for prata at biopolis.. in the end..her soft cell relented.. great pycho tactics Lee and Vonda..*smile*... and thanks to God as well... you know what i mean..grace..
i was throughly disappointed again when the prata shop chose to close early for a friday... another missed day...damn ! next time we gotta leave the office earlier... ok?? grace?!? hehheh :p... we ended up eating food from the chinese store directly opposite the prata stall..... which was not too bad..simple and resonably affordable.. $3.80 for a bowl of steamed rice with a huge piece of minced pork...a bowl of *yummy*soup and a plate of veggies... tasty... though i am a indian food lover.. i can live with this.. besides i had 3 great girls for company...
there is something about this bunch of guys and gals that i manage...as i get to know them better.. i have no doubt that i am the most normal person in the team..*smile*..
after dinner, we ended up at my place.... the kids were a little frightened for sure... gotta ask the girls to put on some make up next time..hahaha... linus was so shy to see the 3 of them that he flocked to my mom.. for a good 10 minutes, he just looked blankly..mildly apprehensive of the 3 zie zie.. erica was no better..she was trying to sleep when she was awaken by my opening of the sliding door... she stared stonely at us..with the pacifier in her month in her typically frowning look... such a cute girl.. man i am falling in love with you... sorry linus.. you are getting older now... and poor jeremy, lee sent him a pic of erica..must have tugged his heart-strings...
grace did a great job for slowly getting linus to open up... lee.. you are trying too hard.. besides.. he is only 3 years old.. its still a long 17 years to go..gotta be patient man.. *laugh* linus started to warmed up as we started playing with his thomas train set.. and erica was so comfortable to sit with vonda... would you girls consider being a part time baby sitter for my kids :)
in the next 30 minutes that followed.. there was so much laughter from the 2 kids... linus was laughing much everytime lee tried to guide the 2nd train from running too close to the 1st train.. it was so hilarious for all to witness a 3 year old boy just being completely himself around the 3 zie zie.....so uninhibited..so pure..so real...such innocence apart from the occasional "wah lau eh".. *lol*... of course erica had also her own share of fun... trying to grab the trains off the track and throwing some of the pieces around... wifey was back from her dinner by then.. she was enjoying the sight as well....
we left the house at 2155 to pick up jeremy from sim.. and headed towards al-ameen this time for the cheese prata.. was fortunate to find a parking lot quickly.. no unpleasant incidents this time round.. the cheese prata was decent..fish curry was thick...better than most i have tasted.. while we were eating, i was trying hard to get grace to invite us over to her place for a birthday celebration for vonda (?!).. don't think she is keen for us to "pop" by.. privacy issue i guess... it is not concluded for sure.. me being so thick in the head and skin will push my luck...
just in case i forget the next person's birthday.. i decided to mark it down here.. no one can accuse me for not letting them take off and all... i can also take note of the next "celebration"..
JY -26th February SL- 3rd March VL - 26th April YW - 8th July [another guess] GY - 8th August ML(M) - 23rd November ML(F) - 7th October [so uncannily close to mine..haha]
when i came home..realised that i had missed 3 calls from prabhu.. olv name change issue must be.. i text him and thankfully he returned my call.. he was having a discussion with len and the aoc folks ...they had better fix that freaking issue !
finally received his good news at 0112 hrs...brillant ! now i can sleep peacefully...
came across this entry in a local blog - http://starsrainwaves.blogspot.com/ about 1/4 down, after the picture of a funeral procession is a brutally honest piece about the misforgivings of a girl on how sometimes a religion can become a pain in the arse.. i could relate to what she felt cos quite a similar thing happened when my grandma passed away 8 years ago... though not with such blantant disregard but it was almost as bad....
'ah poeh'... as i affectionally used to call my grandma was my comfort mum during my childhood days..... while mum and dad were working day and night to pay the pills, 'ah poeh' was the one who took care of my well being in the day till my parents were back... up till today, i am still in awe of how she had managed to do it.. 'ah poeh' was 70 years my senior...!!! borned in 1902, she took care of me when i was a infant child right up to when i was aged 13 i think... it had to be..since my rebellious ways then would have made her give up on me.. besides an old woman at the age of 83 would have been quite relief to just sit back and watch the days go by....
now.... i look back at the past and i feel a tinge of guilt... for sometimes taking 'ah poeh' for granted.. i hanker for the days when she was still around.. where everything was a lot more lively... where throngs of relatives would gather at my house to celebrate the chinese new year...the loud talking (kheks are really really loud people when they congregate).. the bubbly atmosphere....it was a sight to remember..... dad was the 8th or 9th child in a family of 10... imagine the chaos when all of them came together in the mornings of lunar new year 1st.. this is not including the courtesy visits from the children of 'saey poeh' - small wife.... ah kong, you're the man !! 3 wives ?!?! hahaha...so much for monogamy...
'ah poeh' passed away while i was still studying in loughborough.. i remember my younger sis calling me to ask me if i was going back; she was studying in australia then... i told her sternly that we had to go back.. this is the 'ah poeh', the one person who looked after us for so long when we were kids... perhaps my sister did not feel much affinity since grandma stopped looking after her when her bodily systems were not fucntioning too well.. but i felt differently... here was one great woman whom sacrificed much of her time to raise me and it was a non too compelling a thought that i would just stay back in the university to study as my mum had suggested... i booked the next flight out on the following day.... i knew i had to go back home to show my respect..
the non-christian led procession was a happy-sad affair... happy for the fact the my grandma live to a riped old age of 95... she even survived 2 of her children which must have been very painful... but probably not as painful and sad as the refusal of her 2nd eldest son to lead the ceremony as the next eldest male in the family... christian beliefs were cited as the reason for not wanting to partake in the fareware affair... in the end it was left to my catholic dad to restore the continuity in the procedings.. sadly.... piously bounded christian faith with a lack of piety to your parents might just be the most atrocious sin of them all... i remember seeing the family of 4 taking refuge outside the house admist all the tongue wagging and the loud clangs of the procession... up till today, my dad has barely spoken to his elder brother...
Botak Chin definition Sibling A unique human relation between two blood kin which continually invoke potent spells of friend and foe-like behaviour thoughout the life linkage. This human behaviour may sometimes stagnate at an unpleasant state or vice versa even after death of a member.
Will God send my dad to Hell for what he did in respect of his mother ?
hey bro linus...eh...... i think you are a bit too young to be sprouting rubbish...
mummy! daddy! 24.....24 years ! this is the how long I will put up with erica....cos by 21, i'd expect her to get married and be out of this house!...stop touching that car...erica !
my two adorable children.....when you grow up strong and tall and independent....when you start to exhibit signs of wordly adult knowledge that many adult humans seek...please remember to treat each other with respect and be kind to the people around you just as i have always tried to be.... follow these thoughts to stay sane in the brave new world....
"do not do unto others what you dont want others to do unto you" - the bible (?) "everyday i am learning something new" - botak chin
as long as you know that you have done your best.....you will be fine... God will protect you and bless you always...
both of you are always my bao3 bei4....with love always..daddy..
