Random thoughts from Taipei

The puppies in Taipei are dirt cheap.

A maltese costs NT$7,000 (approx S$325) and a brown toy poodle, NT$10,200 (S$474).

I can easily buy back 3-4 pups. Yeah, if only I live here.

This is not relevant to pups but I realise the texture of my hair feels better here too. I was too stressed/miserable in NZ to notice if there's any difference in hair texture. More reason to want to make a permanent move to my second home. ;)

Lastly I pride myself for spending only 50% of the money I changed and with only one full day left in Taipei. Lest you think I changed alot and 50% may be material, nope I changed less than a grand. :) I practically had zero savings in the last couple of months due to Lasik, new phone and I duno wat else...the credit card bills spell 'em all. So I really have to curb my spendings.

Maybe I should start saving up for a puppy.

黑武士

I remember blogging before that bad things come in triplets but I'm too lazy to go hunt down that particular entry.

Anyway my triple bad luck has struck again, this time with my electronic gadgets.

#1 External hard disk (barely a few months old and still fresh from comex)
#2 Ipod remote control
#3 Handphone

Yes, they have all failed me in one way or another or totally died. #1 is totally dead. #2 is insensitive to song skipping and #3 ..... let's say I can only punch in numbers and nothing else. Please don't be surprised if I can't return your sms-es.

Arghhh..

Anyway, plugging another new song...黑武士 by JJ Lin.

有了天空 為何世界 還有 地心引力有了希望
為何絕望 還是 如影隨形
有了勇氣 就讓哭泣 埋葬過去
去寫一種歷史 名字叫奇蹟
如果恐懼就像火炬 那就讓它沸騰我血液帶到我絕地 喔
我才能完全 覺醒
在黑暗 的對面 是光明
光明 後面 是陰影
正義 邪惡 是誰 有權定義
在命運 的前面 我懷疑
在面具後面 鐵一般決心
光榮的犧牲 也是種榮譽不

怕人說 不要人懂 我要證明
明天我的姓名 將會是傳奇如果恐懼就像火炬 那就讓它沸騰我血液
帶到我絕地 喔
我才能完全 覺醒

Oh and 醉赤壁 is nice too...very jay-ish and well the lyricist's 方文山. Figures.

落葉堆積了好幾層 而我踩過青春
聽見 前世誰在淚語紛紛
一次緣份結一次繩 我今生還在等
一世 就只能有一次的 認真
確認過眼神 我遇上對的人
我揮劍轉身 而鮮血如紅唇 前朝記憶渡紅塵
傷人的不是刀刃 是妳轉世而來的魂

sniffy

My eyes are blurry and tearing. My nose is running. I can't stop sneezing.

SO much for wanting to enjoy my so-called last peaceful weekend before all the shit comes in and the evil manager starts reviewing the NZ assignment. And I have to fall sick and ended up having to lie in bed for most of the afternoon and I can't even sleep! I was awake and in a delirious state. Couldn't sleep well last nght too cos throat was hurting so much. :(

Sigh.

Usually the week before I go on leave would be the most unbearable and now I'm kick starting the week with a runny nose. Brilliant, isn't it.

And jaychouwillbeinchinahavingconcerttheweeki'mintw.....

Coming home

I feel like going to bed now and waking up in the middle of the night to do my packing.

It's not so much about stuffing the clothes into the suit case...it's sorting those CYAs that might just exceed my baggage allowance for having to carry them back.

I have been waking up in the middle of the night consecutively to work. It'll be like I return to my apartment, work an hour and a half before my brain goes into standby mode and I have to go to bed for a couple of hours before I force myself up again to continue.

And that totally sucks.

Oh well I'm coming home now. And the thing I'll miss most is the climate. As much as I look forward to going home, I sure as hell don't miss the shitty weather back home.

NZ is a good place to fulfill my farmer dream.

只剩下鋼琴陪我站在這裡

I typed an entry earlier but I'm not going to publish it cos it's too depressing.

Anyway I kinda like the jay-chou infused new track by SHE - 安靜了 where it made use of Jay's lyrics from 安靜 as well as the starting tune of 安靜 to create a brand new track. And well, 作曲：周杰倫 (naturally).

只剩下鋼琴陪我站在這裡
夢想中屬於我們的婚禮
卻成了 單人結婚進行曲
在這場愛情角力的拔河裡
愛我還是愛你 你選擇了自己

撒嬌的 可愛的 黏人的 愛哭的 照片裡 曾經的都是你喜歡的
如今我還在原地 你卻走回你的記憶

你說我愛你太多 就快要把你淹沒
你害怕幸福短暫一秒就崩落
分開是一種解脫 讓你好好的想過
我想要的那片天空 你是不是能夠給我

你說我給你太多 卻不能給我什麼
分不清激情 承諾 永恆或迷惑
愛情是一道傷口 我們各自苦痛
沉默是我最後溫柔 是因為我太愛你



只剩下鋼琴陪我站在這裡
夢想中屬於我們的婚禮 安靜了 在我枕邊的夢裡
我知道相愛原本就不容易
愛不是1加1 努力就有結局

撒嬌的 可愛的 黏人的 愛哭的 照片裡 曾經的都是愛著你的
臉頰的淚還溫熱 卻沒有人握我的手

你說我愛你太多 就快要把你淹沒
你害怕幸福短暫一秒就崩落
分開是一種解脫 讓你好好的想過
我想要的那片天空 你是不是能夠給我

你說我給你太多 卻不能給我什麼
分不清激情 承諾 永恆或迷惑
愛情是一道傷口 我們各自苦痛
沉默是我最後溫柔 是因為我太愛你

Can't wait for his new album in October.

sick in auckland

I could be at New Zealand under better circumstances.

I'm freezing my ass now in my suite and nursing a sore throat. This sore throat could evolve into a full-blown cough and the chilly wind here is only going to make it worse.

Sigh.

I doubt I'll get out of this alive (the work bit).

I had planned on blogging more but I'm too cold and sick at the moment.

And because I couldn't care less about this trip, I FORGOT to bring my camera usb cable...great, can't even do anything with those pics I took.

Growing up

You know there are neighbours you practically grew up with but never exchanged a single word nor the slightest form of acknowledgement?

There was this girl who stayed in the same block as me. She stayed on the 9th floor, me on the 13th. I suspected we were from the same primary school but my poor memory can't confirm that. I think she was a year older than me.

Secondary School
We were often in the same lift during our secondary school days in the mornings. Lift stopping on the 9th floor, she getting on and me pressing the lift door shut.

Junior College
Same scenario as above.

University
Same scenario as above. Despite the more flexi uni hours, we still saw each other in the lift in the mornings. Note: We were never in the same school from Sec - Uni.

Working
I saw her often in the lift, nicely made up in her nicely pressed blouse, pencil thin skirt, LV bag and stilettos. While I stood clumsily beside her with my laptop bag.

I was still running into her in the lift last year but stopped seeing her around this year. And just this morning, I ran into her while I was out getting groceries with my parents. I almost couldn't recognise her till my mom pointed out. My mother knew her mother although we were never friends (not even hi-bye/nod-head lift aquaintances). We were just random people in the lift.

She must be 7 or 8 months along in her pregnancy, waddling slowly in Guardian, her hair down, bespectacled and sans make-up. I didn't even know she got married (well naturally, since we didn't know each other) and here she is, about to embark on the next stage of her life - motherhood.

At the end of the day, it's all about growing up. Stages of life that one had to go through although I'm still at stage 2 (stage 1: school, stage 2: work....) and probably gonna remain at this stage forever. Cliche it may seem but lately, from facebook, I have seen so many people of my age getting engaged, married and having kids even (i.e the neighbour in my entry). All these seemed pretty far off to me, yeah as I embrace my impending spinsterhood. lol.

Overheating baby

Sony recalls Vaio laptops for possible overheating

And yeah, suey enough, my laptop model is the overheating TZ series.

The stupid site addy that Straits Times provided is inaccessible. Looks like I have to bring lappy down to the service centre to have a look.

Edit: And so my lappy is hospitalised and probably won't be back after I'm gone. Thanks Sony.

HELLO PRESBYOPIA!

Blogger ate my entry and now I have to re-type the whole thing. Okay in point form then.

1)I'm LASIKED.

2) Surprisingly, I had not much of the stinging sensation and neither did I tear. I just couldn't open my eye wide after that.

3) So I popped the pill and went straight to bed and slept for four hours.

4) Now I'm awake, and feeling abit painful cos the suction tingy left a blood clot on left eye which the doctor assured will go away soon.

5) My vision is slightly sharper now. Was misty immediately after the op. But close-up ocjects are kinda blurry to me. Faroff objects are fine. Oh shit, did I just kena Presbyopia?! Goodbye shortsightedness/astig, HELLO LAOHUAYAN!

Managed to get a day off on Monday as well.... :D but i still have to get my ass down to complete some work on Sun night as I don't really have many days left before jetting off to NZ --> nightmare.

Edit: On an irrelevant note and because I like remembering stupid dates, this is the official one year after someone called me by my name and made me realise that yeah, he does know my name. Sniff.

Freaking out

There are better things to worry about than being Ugly Betty.

I decided to go re-read Joyce's account of her lasik op back in May 2007 and I can feel myself freaking out this very moment, even though the op is still some 4 days away.

1) Suction. What suction??!! okay I haven't watched no video..and have no idea what this is supposed to be, other than it being really uncomfortable.

2) You mean you're actually aware when the flap is being cut open?! oh my, can someone just knock me unconscious please and then pry my eyes open for the op.

3) Flipping flap open. This sounds gross.

4) Eyes stinging like hell after that.

I'm scared.

ugly betty and serious inferiority complex

I do feel alot like Ugly Betty now, minus the braces.

Due to my upcoming Lasik, I have been dutifully wearing glasses for the past 2 weeks. And when I went out during weekends, I have been praying hard not to meet friends on the streets due to my frumpy bespectacled look. But y'know, Sg is small and I have already met a couple of people that I know, one of whom passed an insensitive remark saying I look weird, yeah like I know full well, thank you very much. And just yesterday, I ran into a uni friend with his girlfriend and his girlfriend was positively glowing with her newly dyed red hair. There was an awkward silence between me and her after I have made the usual small chat with my friend. Then she opened her mouth and asked, "You cut your hair?" I just happened to go for a trim the day before and had gotten bangs. Personally bangs are all right when I'm not wearing glasses but I believe I can look really retarded - bangs + glasses. I know her question was being polite and all but I also know I looked retarded and that added a deeper dent to my inferiority complex. I had very light make-up on yesterday and it was as good as none.....so...sans-makeup, frumpy spectacles and retarded hairstyle...I really should just stay off the streets and lock myself at home.

But I have arranged with a friend to head down to Comex later, arghhh let's just hope I don't run into people I know, again.

edit: I didn't!!! yay. :D but comex was disgustingly crowded as usual and I actually got LOST and didn't know where my nearest exit was. The 320g hard disk was a good buy though. Anyway I spent loads this weekend, totally lost track of the amount of things I bought. Great. I better cure myself of this senseless shopaholic disease.

shit happens

Suey is indeed my middle name. I have never thought of myself as particularly lucky before, in fact good things never happen to me, only bad things do. Even if things seem smooth sailing initially, it's only a fucking illusion.

Stay-in Saturday in Shenzhen!

I'm currently bumming around in the hotel room. Procrastinating at the sight of the shitload worth of work but I'll still have to drag my ass to worn on it somehow. Else the reason for staying in today will be totally defeated.

My colleagues are going shopping at the Luo Hu place later and I have decided to give that a miss. To rest (and work). Besides Luo Hu is famous for rip-offs of designer brands, well I rather go brand-less than get a rip-off. Yeah, so no need for that and I really dread the crowd+sweat, so staying in would be a better option. However, one of the SZ staff here is gonna bring us to Hua Qiang Bei tomorrow so it won't be nice to reject his hospitality so my stay-in 2 day plan has been reduced to a day.

I know people say SZ is a nice place to shop but it really doesn't appeal to me and current expenditure to date is still a cup of Mac Cuppuccino. Lol. Whatever happened to the Shopping Queen?

Shall catch the first episode of the newest jap drama Seigi No Mikata starring one of my favourites Mukai Osamu, (Honey & Clover's Mayama..ooooooh..that's where I fell in love). Haha, then work later. BLEAH.

Work stinks!

long entry, finally

So this is my maiden trip to China, well Shenzhen to be specific and I must say I'm not liking it very much. And reaffirms my decision (before and now) to never consider China as part of my holiday plans and so I will only come here for work.

Reasons in point form:

1) The CROWD at the subway, be it queueing for single trip tickets/topping up of their EZlink equivalent or getting into the train. It is complete madness. And this is only like one station and 0.000000001% of the SZ population. The subway situation at Taipei or HK is waay better. I mean, it's complete heaven over there.

2) Summer. Meaning the weather is hot, stuffy, sticky...and everywhere I go, I had to take note not to take in deep breath or rather holding my breath would be better....as I'm smelling sweaty bodies everywhere. And that sweat stench is totally nauseating. I need sour plums to prevent myself from throwing up. Serious.

3) Supposedly cheap and good shopping but with Points 1 & 2 above, my shopping was pretty much affected. It was so crowded everywhere and every other stall pretty much sells the same stuff. Basically nothing appealing although the prices are friendly. The clothes are mostly teeny bopper type of stuff and the shoes although colourful are just well, normal and nothing caught my fancy. Besides I have too many pairs of shoes (some brand new and in boxes) at home and I really shouldn't add anymore to the collection unless any particular pair calls out "Buy Me" which I haven't seen any.

I would probably have more reasons to add on to the above once I commence field work proper. I don't even know my accounting terms in Chinese, brilliant. And 2 weeks to complete a shitload of work. This job is my true test to see if I'm really cut out for this, in terms of time management and ability to identify issues/documentations etc. I can't say I'm not enjoying what I'm doing, I like it but sigh, I wish there is more time allocated. Same problem as external audit.

Maybe I'll be entertaining you (my very few readers) with more entries from SZ if I haven't died from the job.

And the reason why I haven't blogged much in Singapore after the HK trip is cos half the time I was too caught up with Cabal-ing. *Sheepish look* But the game is really interesting, way better than maplestory which I have stopped ever since a long time ago. I can't play in China though cos the server only recognises connections from Sg/M'sia. Yeah great, but I probably don't need this distraction here. Heh.

Lastly, I'm just glad there is complimentary internet access in the hotel room unlike in HK, bleah.

It's July..

I seem to be more enthusiastic about blogging when I was in Hong Kong. Oh well, I actually had the urge to blog during the past week but that urge always came about DURING working hours and by the time I reached home, that urge has fizzled and died. Read: Plain lazy. I need to first gather my thoughts, sit down with the book diary, pen a proper entry before getting back to you.

Anyway, I cried like shit today after watching 10 Promises to My Dog. Tears just started flowing on its own accord. I didn't know what came over me. I seldom cry during movies. No matter how sad, how heartwrenching, I can somehow still keep a straight face and tear ducts in control. Maybe I'm getting old and vulnerable.

愛在遺憾裡 更清晰

閉上眼睛 還能看見 你離去的痕跡
在月光下 一直找尋 那想念的身影

如果說分手 是苦痛的起點
那在終點之前 我願意再愛一遍
想要對你說的 不敢說的愛 會不會有人 可以明白

我會發著呆 然後忘記你 接著緊緊閉上眼
想著哪一天 會有人代替 讓我不再想念你

我會發著呆 然後微微笑 接著緊緊閉上眼
又想了一遍 你溫柔的臉 在我忘記之前

心裡的眼淚 模糊了視線 我已快 看不見

lalala

Blogging from the hotel lobby again at 2-ish in the morning. There was some filming going on at the counter earlier and being the typical kpo Singaporean, I had to take a closer look, you know, just in case it's some big
shot...or Alex Fong..(my last remaining favourite in HK after Edison fell into disgrace).

Anyway, it's a girl. I thought maybe some random model since they looked as if they were filming an ad for the hotel as the girl was dressed in the counter uniform. But she looks like Shirley Yeung although a tad on the short side, I thought she was taller from TV. *Shrugs* And she has a PA tagging along...

So HK is having amber rain storm now as per the Hong Kong Observatory. It was RED rainstorm earlier I think. Supposed to be bad with floodings...and I was still wandering around TST and getting myself totally wet in the heavy rain. Umbrella didn't help.

Alright it's now officially 3am and I'm the only insane person left in the lobby with the guy who's vacuuming the floor. Bahahah.

Night!

dead dead dead!!

I'm so dead.

It's almost Thursday, almost the end of the week...and I haven't done anything much! Primarily due to the HK staff having no time to entertain me, don't all these sound so familiar?

Arghhh...

And I'm so proud of myself that 3 days 2 nights later in Hong Kong, and I have only spent a grand total of S$33. Out of which S$26 relates to the octopus card meant for taking the local subway. Muahahaha.

Edit: It's starting to pour outside. Time for bed. Nites!

greetings from HK

*Waves from Hong Kong*

As expected, I have no FREE internet access back in the hotel, cept for the hotel lobby...but I'm too lazy to bring laptop down to surf/check my nonsense. Besides I doubt my chunky brick of a laptop can detect any form of wireless.

One thing about working overseas, I'm perpetually tired even though work hasn't exactly commenced proper. Maybe I'm not in tune with things yet. And being no in tune physically actually puts me at a higher risk of falling sick. Hahaha, yeah so plenty of water and fruits and try to sleep earlier at night. Besides work, there really isn't anything to stay up for (read: no internet = early nights).

The HK peeps just handed us the lift access card for use during weekends. NOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo........not surprising, the land of workaholics. Them coming back during weekends are simply the norm.

Edit @ 9.12pm: Yeah I'm blogging now from the hotel lobby. How pathetic..my colleague helped me figure out how to get the freaking wireless to work. But my battery is dropping like 30% every 5 minutes....so.....and I've got work to do. !@# Sigh. And my back hurts...(sprained back, thanks to my luggage)...

black storm in HK

Hong Kong hit by severe flooding, two feared trapped

Landslide kills two in Hong Kong

And one of the worst hit spots in the territory is at Hong Kong's International Airport at Lantau Island. The main road to the airpot was closed because of flooding. :\

The flood pictures in the Sunday Times today are not encouraging at all. :\ :\

I hope it doesn't rain too much in the next two weeks. :(

I don't foresee I'll be able to blog due to nil internet access back in hotel room, yeah..so we'll meet again 2 weeks' later (if I feel up to it to blog). Wish me luck for my first trip overseas to work.