The reason to be awake early in the morning...

... is to enjoy a good breakfast. I took this shot at Plaza Singapura's Toast Box. Had their Set A menu with Peanut Butter thick toast. Quite interesting, never had 'thick toast' before. The peanut butter abit too sticky on dry bread - I was having a hard time trying to eat it.

One of my housemate has just realised today that I 'travel' around for breakfast. LOL. But I think most of my housemates assume I start work at abt 830am or maybe earlier - which ..... to their surprise, isn't (Officially at 9am). Although I wake up at about the same time as they do and leave sometimes earlier - I go around hunting for food at Novena, Pek Kio or Dhoby Ghaut (haven't gone any further though , maybe I should try it out some time). A hungry man is an angry man after all - GRRROWL!! =P

Anyway, this is one of the things that I enjoy in life. =)

My Weekend Post

This weekend is relatively uneventful for me. Did my laundry on both Saturday and today. Yesterday afternoon went out to Vivocity - donut hunting. Recently there seems to be a donut fever going on in Singapore. Franchise donuts stores are sprouting all over the city-state rapidly. It started with the donut shop at Raffles City Shopping Center at City Hall MRT.

It is weird that being in Singapore for 5 years now, I have NOT seen a donut store (other than the neighbourhood bakeries or 7-11) before now. In addition, each of these newly opened donut stores attracts long queues - either because their oven is too slow or number of people deprived of donuts is overwhelming. This is especially evident at Raffles City SC where the queue extends across several shops and 'breaks' in between walk-paths - it's scary I tell you. Will try it out one day, either during this Donut Craze period...... or after the craze has died off (like how bubble tea and roti-boy/mama/papa craze has died - till now I don't even know which roti was the original coffee bread... the worst thing is that ..... they are nowhere to be found now.)

On a side note, recently my friends have been receiving these scam phonecalls supposedly from a HK company announcing that they have won a lucky draw. The people involved in this scam is especially organized and unbelievably convincing as what Kenny Sia blogged in this post. So do take care when receiving these suspicious calls.

Happy 42nd Birthday S'pore!

It was a good holiday today. Am feeling very tired after the exhausting queueing at JB customs today. There were so many "Malaysia aliens" were trying to visit the country from Singapore. Being an alien to Malaysia myself, I was also forced into the queue. Crawled with the crowd for more than 1 hour. I could feel my lower back extremely strained - been standing 'straight' for too long. It was a great relieve as I exit the Malaysian customs. I hope the Malaysian authorities can do something about this bottleneck. Passing through Singapore customs is a breeze but on entry into JB, the whole situation changes - I think us non-Malaysians have to avoid entering Malaysia through JB during S'pore public holidays.

Had a GREAT meal at Secret Recipe - Irish Lamb Stew (somehow the mash potato sucks but overall, it's still the award winning stew from Secret Recipe - highly recommended), Frosty Lemon Tea and the all-popular SR Marble Cheese Cake for desert. Ah.... life is good. After lunch, it was already 4pm or so... and everything just went downhill for me. I could feel my energy level drop all the way after walking awhile (less than an hour?). By the time it was 530pm, I beh tahan liaw - feel like sleeping. If there's a comfy bed, I could easily drop and sleep on the spot - so came back to S'pore. Coming back to Singapore was a smoother journey - there was no queue at the JB customs - only queue at the bus stop. However, since I was taking the Singapore-Johor Express (SJE) bus, the queue was "acceptable" as compared with the SBS/SMRT buses which are always packed to the brim such that the interior is so dark (due to people squeezing in body-to-body), you can't see anything inside. Am so glad to be back in 'orderly' Singapore. I think that after being here for 5years now, I feel very spoilt by Singapore's "orderliness".

Anyway - reached Bugis Queen's St bus station at 730pm - took a cab back home to Farrer Park and went to an adjacent block (which has a good view of the city) to catch the NDP fireworks. This year's fireworks is amazing - there were 2 sets! Here some pictures of the fireworks I took:

View of the city from an adjacent block

(29th floor balcony)

Fireworks 1 (smoke formed)

Fireworks 2 (smoke covered most of the fireworks... sad) :(

Amazing weekend at JB

Yesterday went to JB with most of the PGP gang (former PGP? or somewhat PGP outing... hahaha.. maybe should change the group naming to something like - NEL gang or Serangoon-kias) for karaoke session at Neway, City Square. It was a great session with food, friends and of course, lots of FUN! It's unbelievable what RM50 can get you in Neway. The staff were friendly and the level of service they provide is also amazing. It was great value for money. They didn't have additional charges for some of the requests we made especially for the birthday cake. We had planned to celebrate Chai^2's b'day during the session.

It was to be a surprise for him but I think he did suspect something since from experience, it is somewhat expected. Anyway, back to about the service - JH and I went out to the counter to ask if we could buy a cake from outside and leave it with them. The staffs were more than happy to oblige. So, we quickly went down to Basement 1 where SECRET RECIPE is located and took our time to choose the cake. We chose the classic cheesecake and requested the SR staff to write a message - "Happy B'day to chai^2". Well, the message was very 'cincai-ly' written but I suppose we can ask for too much since it was like an impromptu request. The packing of this cake hor.... I wish I had taken a photo of it. I super suaku leh - it was a very nice red box with the knife attached with a ribbon. The box is then placed inside a high quality red bag? Anyway, I'd give it 100% for packing. It feels exclusive - unfortunately the rest of the gang only get to see & eat the cake. Oh well, I wondered if anyone knew it was SR cheesecake? hmmm.... the cheesecream was super thick - sinful sia...

Going back to the story - we brought the cake to the counter at Neway and gave instructions to bring in the cake at 830pm - which none of us knew how they are going to do it. At 830pm, we were shocked when the music selected on screen stopped and changed to a Birthday song. Although I knew it was 830pm I thought someone had spoilt our plan for the celebration - as in selected the b'day song before the cake came.... and it was then .. the door opened with one of the Neway staff holding the cake with a candle lighted. It even caught me by surprise... after that, they brought in a bottle of sparkling juice complimentary for b'day boy. Amazing...

After the whole event was over, I felt satisfied... somewhat made me feeling good today - I didn't have my PMBS today. It has been quite awhile since the last time we had such a large group outing and where everyone gets to interact rather than stare at computer screens shouting "Go back - Go back - You N00bcakes!"

Happy B'day Chai^2 SL.

Weekend almost here...

.... and I am still alive. Surprisingly my prediction of a 70hour week last Sunday never came true. Something just doesn't feel right although I DON'T ENJOY working looong hours but it just seems weird. Anyway, it is good that my working hour remains as it is. I like the freedom and minimal supervision that I am having at the moment due to my "merits" gained in the previous phase... and some other issues which I am not allowed to discuss here.

Testing out lights at Marina bay (very nice blue setting)

This week has been quite interesting for me so far. On Monday, I went out for dinner with my former TCS-SG-India gang (only 2 of us left... sad...) and a former colleague who is leaving for India on Tuesday. We went to have crabs at the famous Mellben Seafood stall at Ang Mo Kio (Think this was the one that chai^2 was introducing to the rest of us previously). I'm not a big fan of crabs (as my family members would know) but the crabs here were quite good tasting. We ordered 2 types - the usual chilli crab? and the creamy butter crab. Both the crabs were humungous and ... the creamy butter crab was delicious. Even my that Indian friend who supposedly only likes spicy food is amazed by its taste. It was a very filling dinner and I had to clear the final HUGE pincer that was left on the plate. I'll post that photo once I get it. It's huge I tell you... scarily huge....

ps. Although I posted about this good crab meal, I'm still not that big fan of crabs (and prawns). Hahaha.. I don't hate it, it's just that I don't have a special craving for it. I crave for sushi more.. hahaha.. (As my parents or most of my friends might comment - hai~ CY don't know how to appreciate good seafood -> coz "too si1 wen2?" =P)

Another week has passed

People usually mention about Monday blues. Over the past 2years that I have been working, I don't think I have ever truly experienced a "Monday Blues". What I have experienced is an irritating PMBS (Pre-Monday Blues Syndrome). Sunday is unbelievably irritating when I don't have things to do. I don't really remember having this feeling last year - but then, it might've been due to my Sunday evenings were always filled with Salsa lessons. Aih~ Once Monday comes, I'll feel a lot better because I get back into the "groove". I enjoy weekdays because I seem to be most energetic ..... well, at least in the mornings. After work, I feel totally burnt out. The more I "need" to use my brain concentrate at work, the more burned out I would feel after work. I feel I need a change of environment.

Newspapers have been reporting good rewards and compensations for work in the finance industry. I am quite tempted to join this industry... But then hor, the other day I went to a leading bank to open an account, I notice something that is not right. This particular bank has quite a number of beautiful front-desk ladies. (Another good reason to join them no? :P) Although they were beautiful, one look at their face, you would be so turned off - unhappy, stressed. Where's the "smile" that people can expect from them? =/ Looking around, I found more "unhappy" faces. From this I can tell that I should avoid working for this bank as far as possible. I have heard rumours about them before but rarely paid any attention. Oh well, but then I do also believe that wherever you work, there is bound to be some "blocks" or unsatisfaction. It's just that I'm feeling very much unsatisfied with my scope of work. Ah... my project is ending next month. I foresee 70hrs work week coming up as what happened to me back in Mar/Apr this year.

Interesting quote of the day:
The amount of sleep required by the average person is about 5 minutes more.

Some pics I took with my handphone over the past year

S'pore Primary School Kids with a High-tech Fujitsu Tablet (*envious*)

There was a guy with a shotgun hunting crows at Tanjong Pagar

Thiruvanmiyur?? No - Queenstown mrt station due to someone committing suicide by jumping on train tracks a few stops away

Haze in Oct 2006 (Jurong East Interchange facing IBP)

Stole a shot of Esplanade Theatre (The usher saw me and warned me not to take any pictures... so... shhhh.... :P)

CY Chai, "Minister for the Slacking" giving his speech (this one wasn't taken using Handphone... but ... uploaded here anyway.. haha)

Longest Break from blogging so far

I have not posted anything for more than 3months. Shocking... Time to clear all the backlogs. There are quite a number of events that happened over the past 3 months that I have no idea where to start blogging from.

Maybe I shall start with my review of most "catchy" movie of the year so far - Transformers the Movie. This movie is cool! The way how the Transformers are animated is just awsome. Though I have plenty of praise for this show, I also have a lot to complain about. What happened to BUMBLEBEE?? They've upgraded a volkswagon beetle into a sports Camaro. He was my least favourite autobot when I was watching G1. In this movie, he's like the coolest thing - outshining my G1 favourite - Jazz.... speaking of which... how dare the author kill off Jazz in just 1 Scene?!?! *SOB* Heartbreak leh... he was the coolest Transformer in G1 - a Porche...  then in this movie kena downgraded and torn to bits by Megatron. Hai~ I would've like to see more of Optimus Prime in his "prime" role where he does planning & leading instead of just playing background character. But overall, it's still a good movie to watch - "More than meets the eye" eh?

On  a side note, today I was reading a newspaper article about the new Citibank Clear Credit Card which does not have any minimum income requirement. The spending limit on this card is at $500 and minimum age to apply is 18years old! What shocks me is not the age but a comment by "a local businessman". This man mentioned that it's ok for his children to have the card because it's a "SMALL SUM". His 2 kids get $700 allowance monthly ... so letting them have a $500 spending card is (I rephrase) - peanuts! zzzz.. $700 allowance... I wonder how they spend that money. It's more than what I spend on my monthly expenditures excluding rental/utilities. Interesting to think what I would do as an 18yr old with $700. Hmmm... When I was 18, I had only $10/week which I still have savings - but then again... that's Brunei - Food for thought.

Also another thing has been running through my mind - the recent news of the Goldman Sach exec who was "banned" from being appointed CEO of the China Operations due to "language barrier". He failed the language proficiency test that was required of high ranking officers of companies operating in China. Sheesh.... It came somewhat as  a "wakeup call" for me. Now 我天天得好好学我的汉语。 At the same time, ore no nihon go, boku ga benkyo shimasu. Boku ga zen zen wakaranai boku no nihongo. Aih~ Walaubagaimanapun, ko-kan capai impianku.

Back to myself - recently been listening to a lot of classical music - thanks to Nodame Cantabile anime. It has introduced me some very nice symphonies and sonatas such as Beethoven's piano sonata 8 - Pathétique (2nd Movement - Adagio Cantabile), Symphony No. 7 1st & 4th Movement. Really amazed by Symphony 7 1st movement that I found a nice version to listen to online at www.charleslatshaw.com. As for the anime itself, I think it's a very fresh anime with a girl who is just so out of the ordinary - unlike most anime, here u get a "normal" and yet "abnormal" girl because of her messiness and inability to act "anime-girly" yet so talented with the piano. I enjoyed the Gyabos & Mukyas.

It's getting late. I shall end my post here and go sleep. I bet I had written a rojak post again. Have a great weekend people.

Finally found a new place!

我觉得我最近很市场在我blog写了很多我的reflections。我今天写这个post用汉字因为很久没用了。有时候如果我很早出门我会拿新加坡的“我报”看。报上有很多个汉字我因该会读的。。可是我看不明白。我觉得。。。过了几天后，我这个post我也看不懂了。咳～　我打这个post我也觉得很累。我得常常用我的汉字。

Anyway, I should stop with my Chinese writing. It's very tiring and tedious to type it out. In addition, I have a limited character library of 600 or so (maybe lesser..).

Finally I have found a new place to stay. This time, am moving nearer to the city - staying at Farrer Park. Taxi drivers have been telling me how strategic the location is. Mainly because I'm just a short distance away from Orchard, Bugis, City Hall, Toa Payoh and plenty other major locations. This new place is about 5minutes walk away from Little India. According to taxi drivers, during weekdays, the area is relatively quiet and not many people. However, come Sunday, the entire street will be crowded with Indians on a Sunday.

Maybe after moving there, I can return to my Chennai days. Daily morning (*bobs head left and right*), I will eat Masala Dosa (Dosa = Thosai in Singapore. Thosai = original Tamil pronunciation. Dosa = modern Tamil - kinda like Taminglish) and South Indian coffee. Every night can go Anjappar (Chettinad restaurant from Chennai that opened its branch in Singapore last year) for dinner! Oh.. I missed Anjappar - though I WON'T want to have it everyday (like when in Chennai) but it would be nostalgic to go Anjappar again. If only there is a Zara restaurant here that charges the same price as in Chennai.... how wonderful life would be...

I'm quite excited to be moving soon. Staying nearer to the city means that I'll have time to explore the city? Or will I continue to be a hermit? hmmmm.... I need a change, this move will provide a good platform for change.

Ps. The famous BKT stall that rejected HK Chief Minister Donald Tsang is nearby here. Gotta try it out one day to see what's the hooha about.

Another post after a long time.....

I am blogging less and less these days. Either I can't seem to find the time for it or when I have time, I don't have to mood for it. Basically.. Work is crazy when deadlines are sometimes unreasonable or set such that the customer's interests are placed first ahead of personal health/welfare. I don't mind working long hours if my efforts are recognised and I am rewarded significantly. I'm sure that most of you, my readers are wondering if I have been recognised or rewarded accordingly. Basically ... I am happy with what I'm doing for the moment. Engaging clients, understanding their needs, implementing stuff which they are able to appreciate fully. For me, the joy in IT work is not technology - it is the excitement of managing people and negotiating feasibility of their requirements. If I'm left to focus on being a core-techie (receiving instructions only), I would've rot (read first paragraph) BUT I am able to live with it somehow too (maybe because of my piggy nature).

I've been reflecting on certain issues recently such as where I am headed. Interestingly few days ago was my 1yr anniversary of returning to Singapore. Time seem to fly when I look back. However, looking at myself, I also wonder what have I gained over this past year. When in India, I was so keen to come back to Singapore to start a new life. I was empowered in India with experience and awareness of the changing world. As I spend hours reading up on current affairs and financial news, I realised that I was quite limited with what I could do in India (unable to apply what I learnt). I was frustrated at the situation so I kept looking ahead to my return. I read plenty of self-help books preparing for my return to Singapore to claim my place.

However, after my return, I've changed... Situations changed, I adapted to the situation conveniently - laziness, procrastination, sloth.... the evil deadly sin. It doesn't help that I had too much freedom for 3 months. Why did I succumb to these? How did it happen? I think one main reason was because I was a dreamer.... and am still a dreamer. CY continues to dream of a better life without making an effort to achieve. Dreaming how life would be IF etc etc etc happens. I have always been a dreamer since I started to think about my own future in secondary school. I visualised myself coming to Singapore. I visualised myself achieving the impossible in A levels. Over-dreaming has led to complacency in believing success without putting in effort. Time to set my foot down and make a stand where I want to position myself for the future.

On a site note, you would've noticed the strikethrough "basically"s in the first paragraph. I did it on purpose as I would like to erase the word from my conversation (I gave up in 2nd para as it was too tiring to fit in an "unnatural" word). Ironically when I wrote this post, I had to force myself to use the word "basically". At first I thought that "basically" comes natural to my way of conversing. I suppose that it isn't. Hence, I shall try to avoid using basically or any other similar words before I start a sentence.

What a busy week

So much work that never seems to end. I went back to work on Monday and was choking reading emails that accumulated over 1 week of holiday. Daily I am working 12-14hours. My Singlish has been Indglish-nized. I tried to recall what happened the past week but I can't remember what I did from Monday to Thursday. Everything was just blurred... All I could remember was that I was working and working. I don't even remember what I worked on. . Only stuff on Friday and Saturday was clear. Today I took rest at home although I'm suppose to be at work....

Another long week ahead.... Hopefully this week can clear all the pending stuff.

Long Sabbatical or..... so I would've liked it to be

I know I have not blogged for quite a long time now. This time, for almost 2 months. I did plan to take a short break from blogging when 2007 started. However, the short break turned into an evil curse of procrastination/laziness.

Anyway, some quick updates. I went home last week and boy~ was it refreshing. At the same time because I went home, I have work piled up waiting for me to complete. I forsee myself disappearing for the next couple of days..... Hopefully things will turn out well.

Will update more another time.

Welcome to 2007!

2006 has been quite an eventful year for me. Plenty of ups and downs. Plenty of happenings and idleness (unbelievably idle - imagine from morning till night not leaving the house sitting in front of the pc). However, I felt that I have been drained of a lot of my "youthful energy" (maybe because of the idleness - even going Salsa was a struggle. But once I get there, my energy level goes up). Everyday I wake up struggling to get to work. In the afternoon, I have a hard time staying awake after lunch. During the weekends, I'd rather stay at home do nothing than go out. This is sooo NOT myself.

For 2007, I shall make it a point to keep my energy level high at all times through:
1. Sufficient Sleep (which at times is hard to get in Singapore - either work or play)
2. Healthy Eating (this is also a goal I set last year but somehow I failed in following)
3. Keeping the mind active (need to read more - Singapore is an amazing place where all sorts of information is easily available printed or online)

Happy New Year Everyone! May everyone be well and happy; healthy and strong always. 2007 is gonna be a GREAT YEAR!

X'mas party

Last Friday went to a Christmas Salsa party organized by one of my salsa classmate - Jade. She's a jewel designer :O .. You can visit her company's website to learn more - Club Jewel . She was kind enough to invite us to her home at Holland Village to have the Christmas party. We danced all night till we were all tired out.

On a side note, from the party, I found 3 factors that might sweep most ladies off their feet
1. Jewels and clothes (that Jade designed)
Most of the girls were just "stuck" in her office trying out the various precious stones, clothes and accessories. Since it's Christmas and most have their end-of-year bonus, shopping was also on the agenda.

2. Chocolate cake
NOT JUST ANY chocolate cake. IT WAS AWFULLY CHOCOLATE! Why hasn't anyone introduced this to me before?!?!? A bite into the cake, I so shocked by the smooth "chocolaty texture" and the creaminess. Some of the guys who were like me (see Awfully Chocolate for the first time) quickly asked for the store's location. AC has an interesting business concept - NO display, ALL white shop, 3 items on menu -> Chocolate cake, Banana Chocolate cake and Rum & Raisin Chocolate cake. Awfullyyyy chocolate.... I awfully want more...

3. An intimate dance
Not really salsa though. Although salsa can be very intimate but most people don't go into a deep level of intimacy during the dance. The dance that I'm refering to is Bachata. I find that Bachata is a very mesmerizing dance to watch. I've been recommending this dance to a few of my friends who are already attached. Singles... well, unless sufficiently open-minded. Hahaha.. I myself feel that I am not ready to dance Bachata very intimately with any girl from the dance floor.....yet. =P Anyway, salsa is good enough for now.

Rainy Singapore

Tonight is a very wonderful night. It's raining heavily outside but being here in the comfort of my room is just... heavenly. Recently, it has been raining quite often in Singapore. I don't like going to work in this kind of weather but I suppose I have no choice. I realised that this year will be my FIRST year that I don't have a long Christmas/New Year break. Previously, school holidays would've been covered through this festive season. Although I have been working since last year, I did fly back to Singapore on Christmas day and had a good two week break until January. So, what's in-store for Christmas this year? .... Another realisation -> Christmas = New Year is coming -> Current Year ending -> OMG!! How time flies!

Anyway back to this rainy topic. Rain, more rain, I've lost my blogging mood again.. Hmm.. Don't know what to blog about. Had this amount of rain poured on Chennai, the city would have been left paralysed. I'm sure I'd have to swim to work.

Many people today have complain of the bad weather - heavy rains = stay indoors. Most of my salsa classmates today were all unhappy with the rain. As for myself, I had already planned to go home from work early today. I've been coughing quite a lot recently. It is very irritating. I've tried the usual "pi pa gao" but doesn't seem to help much. Today trying out another supposedly more effective "pi pa gao" with additional herbs which are better for the lungs, etc. Hopefully this will help.

The Most Happening Wedding Ceremony of 2006!!

2 weeks ago, the whole bunch of us left from PGP to attend the wedding ceremony of our good friend, Ah Loon. 26th November this year is supposedly the most auspicious day for the current lunar year of the Dog. Next year's most auspicious day would be sometime in March according to Ker Ying whose sister is working in the hotel industry. One would have to book the restaurant or hotel many months before to hold the event on the auspicious day.

This is actually the first time for most of us to attend a friend's wedding. The experience is very different and more personal. The restaurant's ballroom exterior looked very factory-like and not "grand" as its name suggests. However, when we got inside, we had a pleasant surprise. Ah Loon was dressed up in white (白马王子?) and all smiles greeting us at the main entrance. We arrived relatively early for the event at 630pm. Somehow, as a tradition for most Chinese wedding ceremonies, invitation is for 630pm but dinner will only start at 8pm. (Singapore although most still have this issue but there are some families who have tried to changed the system by putting a note to thank people for attending the ceremony on time in their invitation cards - it worked most of the time as reported by Straits Times a few years ago.) So, we sat and waited patiently for the event to start; enjoy the free flow of red wine while chit-chatting.

When the event started at 8pm. The lights were dimmed and the couple had a grand entrance with confetti and smoke from dry-ice.

For the couple, we gave them a LOUD and loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong yam seng. 3 GREAT Cheers! Our voices took the beating the next day but it was worth the happy event.

Ah Loon was flushed red after so many drinks with people in the room.

Near the end of the event, someone suddenly suggested that we do a group song for the couple. I'm not sure whether they were daring me to go up to make the request or drunk. Hahaha.. I know I was abit drunk and I agreed to go up to the stage without any hesitation. So,...

Loon! LiJuan! Look here! 朋友我永远祝福你。。。

We took photos with the couple - guys group and girls group. Unfortunately I do not have the girls group photo with the couple so I'm not able to post here. It was a grand event. After the dinner we had a mini fun session outside the hall while waiting for our transport to come. It was definitely a lot of fun attending the dinner. Of course, CONGRATULATIONS to the couple!

Blogcrastinator

I wanted to update my blog as often as possible but I rarely find free time.... or should I say... I spend my free time lazing around or DoTA. Other than that also partially I'm rarely home... starting to be more of a "chiongster" but a healthier one -> go to salsa club which has less cigarette smoke and less ear-damaging-music-volume.

Looking back, I realise I've been dancing everyday since Friday. Friday night, went out to Union Square -> Danced a lot and came back quite late because I missed the last train heading West so I took the last train heading East then changed to the North without reading the sign (which said that the last stop is Kranji)... Blur blur I slept until Kranji when suddenly the MRT driver blew his whistle; a guy sitting next to me tap me to wake me up and got off at Kranji. Unhappy I had to find a way back from Kranji at about 1245am. No bus except 160. Took that until it passes near enough to my place then had a long walk back.

Saturday, had my make-up lesson as I had missed last Sunday's lesson for attending Loon's wedding ceremony (that reminds me... I need to blog about this too... hehehe... I'm really lagging). During Saturday lesson, I surprised the girls from the class as I smoothly guided them through the moves taught that day. Due to the extensive club trainings I have learnt to break free from my instructors voice and feel the music myself thus making learning salsa alot easier. I can see the amazement on the face of one girl who suddenly felt enlightened learning the new moves as I led her well... Hahaha *proud*

Then Sunday class.. dance some more, yesterday went to Union Square again, practise dance some more.. today went to Union again.. dance some more... tomorrow I have invitation to some salsa dance session with a group "fresh meat"... am considering whether I should go or not. blah.... I think my blog post is very random today, whatever I think of I just poured out everything. I'm in a super sleepy mode too. I need sleep~ 1,2,3, ,5,6,7 *zzzz*

Some reflections

November 2006 is ending, soon it will be December and then another new year will be here. Time seem to fly so fast when I think about what happened over the past year. Last year at this time, I was struggling with the rainstorms of Chennai. I would post weekly updates on things that happen in India . I am glad that I have done so too. Since I don't have a personal diary or logbook, this is my only account of events that happened previously. Reading them brought back plenty of memories which are quite interesting and that shaped my change.

2006 has been quite an eventful year. Before I wait until December 31st to make a check on whether I have achieved my goals or not, I will do a quick reflection and plan for 2007. Some time ago, it was quite funny when I think about my current situation. As in few weeks ago, I suddenly woke up to a realisation that I'm no longer a student. I realised that I no longer enjoy December holidays nor do I have long semester breaks. My "work calendar " starts in April and end in March (based on financial year and when I am given more paid-leaves =P. But not long ago, I am still looking at life as if I'm still following the NUS academic calendar. I am sad that I no longer have long holidays.

Previously I wrote down 3 "simple" new year resolutions. Of the 3 changes I set, only 1 - Exercise regularly is being followed till end of year. Eat healthily? Well, I tried but failed. Not easy when too busy with work and food from hawker center is so unhealthy. Once in awhile I would do my own cooking - steam everything =P but that was before I moved into this new project. I only did cooking between July to early September. After that, got too busy and too lazy to cook. Continue learning? If it was on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is least achieved to 10 as satisfactory, I would say I have only done a 3 or 4. I haven't been reading as much as I would have back in India. But learning other skills, maybe..... which brings me to Salsa again. Hahaha...

For the past few blog posts, I have been talking about Salsa. But it's because there's so much to say about it as I'm currently very into it. It is quite funny that my friend has been asking me to take up salsa since June or July but I hesistate. In August or September, another friend has shown keen interest and asked me to go take up lessons together with him as well. I hesistate another few months until finally agreeing that I need a kick-in-the-butt and be dragged to lessons. I told him to just force me along and ignore all my reasons for not wanting to join. I am glad that I made that resolve. Although a few days before lessons begin, I was again feeling against joining. However, I went anyway and now my feet can't stop moving.... kinda. Hahaha... Lessons are fun. Going to salsa club is even more fun but takes lots of courage to dance with girls who are better than me. I'm not implying that I have the courage because so far, all the dances in the clubs that I had were with friends who asked their friends to volunteer to be my training partner. It is super embarassing on the first few occassions that I keep making mistakes. But as I progressed further, I can feel extra padding on my face making it feel thicker especially after Friday's session. Hopefully I can gather more courage to just dance with any girls in the club. Don't care what they think, ignore their plea for rollercoaster-turns, ignore their pleas to lock arms and focus on basics. They'll have no choice but to follow.... and I might lose another dance partner but what the heck, I need to practise to reach their level. =P

(p.s. hey ppl, I recommend joining salsa too!)

I'm back!

I bought myself a new pc last Saturday. This time a desktop. Hopefully the burglar won't think of coming back for this. (Touch wood. *cha-go-ba-hao*chapzhu*). Anyway, it feels quite different to be having a desktop again after being so used to having a laptop around. I can't bring my pc anywhere I like anymore. Oh well, I've traded off convenience and portability for power and performance. =P

After I set up my desktop, it blocked my usual walking path in the bedroom. Because of this, I accidentally kicked the bed support twice on the same foot! The toe was still fine after the first kick.. the 2nd kick, just made it turn red and immediately swollen. It was darn painful. A little unbearable too. I think the bone might've cracked. Abuthen ha.... despite of the injured toe, I don't know whether I'm crazy or just so enthu, I went for my Salsa lessons yesterday.

Initially, I thought that it would be fine for the toe since I'm wearing a shoe, everything is covered. However, my leather shoe was not comfortable at all. Exepcting it, I brought sandals to change just in case. I tried to walk out abit but I could not walk far without feeling pain. I limped from my HDB unit to the next then gave up. I changed to sandals and travelled to the studio. I changed back into my shoe and ... danced. This proves that dancing with pretty girls can take the pain away. LOL ... but after that I can feel my toe hurting again. I couldn't walk far so I changed to my sandals after limping all the way to the bus-stop. My sandals never felt more comfortable.

Hmmm.. speaking of salsa - After this 3rd lesson, I realise that my basic turns from lesson 2 suddenly become so rusty or my partner's turning is rusty. I can't feel that smooth palm turning but more of her grabbing my hands then I get stuck or I grab her hands, she gets stuck. Not only that, when the instructor lets us to "free-style" at the end of the lesson, I have to spend more than 10s thinking of my next move. Execute 1 then think another 10sec for the next move. The girl I was practising with "free-style" yesterday quite bu-shuang me. 90% of the time we were just basic-stepping. She voiced her dissatisfaction at my "fan-shu-ness" (potato-ness). Oh well.....

Another update after soooo long

Well, this time I have an excuse. It's not easy to write blog posts without a computer and internet connection. Although previously I said I wanted to post about changes in my work and lifestyles, after more than 2-3weeks, I can't seem to "pen"/type out what I had in mind back then. I suppose I should've kept a diary or something so I could recollect my thoughts and reflect on those issues later. Hmmmm....

Updates from me - The IT guy without a computer is like fish without water? Well, I did have initial withdrawal syndromes. It's like restless nights, nausea, occassional vomitting and not forgetting uncontrollable spasms...... Kidding! Of course, by now most of you should already know to read my posts with a pinch of salt. Just in case, I'll clarify that I did not experience those symptoms :). Let's maintain the status quo (whatever that means. I think I abused the term.... will check out dictionary later. Been hearing the term 'status quo' very often these days from the news, at work, tv shows...). Anyway, not having a computer ain't that bad. All that happened is that I no longer can spend my nights defending the Frozen Throne or the Tree of Life owning my opponents while they sleep. I don't get to chat online very often and I've been deprived of all my animes in this "Golden Anime Season". But then again, I've not been disconnected that much. I'm still able to access news from the office and read my emails.

Life really isn't that bad without a computer. Over the past 2 weeks, so much has happened. I've started my Salsa lessons. In fact, I have just finished my 2nd beginner class today. It is a lot of fun to lead my partner front, back, side and then turn her, then turn some more, if not enough, turn her again till she can't take it =P. Everyone in the class is enjoying themselves as we all laugh at our mistakes as we learn. I'm sure it will be even more fun as the lessons progressed because I'll learn more variations. Before I think too far, I need to work on my basics and following the rhythm. Quick-quick....slow. Quick-quick....slow. Quick-quick....slow.