Goodbye 2009

31st December is a day where many would reflect on the year that has passed while looking forward to the promise of a better year ahead.

Like everyone, I feel a sense change. Human psyche is a weird thing. I really wonder how we would actually feel if we do not time our existence on this world on a particular calendar. I believe that we would be more in tune with the cycles of nature and sense the change in seasons and the bounty, or challenge, that it brings with it.

Being born into the modern world with a fixed way of counting our time, I am very much part of the current system, one which ‘forces’ me to look at the passage of time in terms of 12-month timeframe.

So this brings me to the almostroutine need to review the things that I did, or not do, in the last 12 months.

I guess life has been good to me. Blessed with enough material resources to make life enjoyable, I am not want of more material luxuries, Perhaps what missing in my life for the last 12 months, or more correctly, the last few years, is the spiritual emptiness I feel as I drift further from my religious belief.

This is definitely one aspect of my life which I hope to work on on in 2010.

However, I have given up on making resolutions since I am not particularly good at achieving them. I think setting our life’s goals are more meaningful than setting short term targets which most are likely to fail in meeting anyway.

With that in my, I am looking forward to work on my “bucket list” goals. Basically, these are goals which I hope to achieve before I kick the proverbial bucket.

As the second hand of clocks all over the world moves inexorably towards striking 12 midnight to usher in 2010, I know that the new year will hold the promise for me to take further steps in moving closer to my life’s goals.

Working hard and lovin’ it!

Work is somewhat a mundane and routine chore which I endure each day in order to bring home the bacon. Such an existence may be considered pathetic by many, but pragmatism rules my heart and binds me to this dreary work life. The only good thing about my work is that I do get to go home on time most of the days.

Yesterday was altogether a different cup of tea. Being a member of a team working on a corporate publication, I was “roped” in to finish up some of the work at the production company with another colleague of mine.

The day started early enough with both of us plunging head first into a seemingly insurmountable task from 9am plus. And would you believe it, I worked through lunch! Something which I have not done for year, I think.

The hectic pace of working on the project was relentless. Ploughing through text and images, we put up with the fatigue as our brains slowly became saturated with too many captions, words and images. My colleague had to leave around 4pm plus to be replaced by another. Sad to say, I had no backup to relieve me.

It was all non-stop work till around 9.40pm. By this time I have forgotten what hunger felt like since it was way past my normal dining time. Thankfully, I have a lot of reserves, read fat, to fall back on.

Despite the hunger and an almost blank mind at the end of the day, I actually loved the driven pace of doing the work knowing that my effort made a difference to the completion of the project. It has been a long time since I felt this engaged at work. Looking at the way the fellas work in the production house makes me feel like starting my own business where I can be truly engaged all the days of my life.

Well, that will be something to mull on. I am thankful that I enjoyed last night’s instead of feeling sorry for myself and cursing how stuff turned out. Hmmm… this year’s Christmas is really off to a good start.

I can already sniff the aroma of the roast turkey and other goodies which I will feast on tonight.

I’d like to wish all my friends a Merry & Blessed Christmas wherever you are.

“Gang!” “Gong!”

My fears of staying around older folks seemed to be misplaced. Prior to the move into my in-laws place, I had some reservations about how to deal with the silver generation crowd at their place since my wife’s aunts’ stay in adjacent units.

My concerns centred around the incessant nagging or complaints about daily life stuff which older folks are known universally to indulge in. Thankfully, I have yet to really experience any of these, yet.

Currently, the atmosphere at my in-laws place is more like the old chinese adage “家有一老，如有一宝“. 

Friendly banter over latest health issues, like what’s the best fruit for certain bodily function etc., or makan places tend to permeate my daily interactions with my in-laws and aunts. I am actually quite surprised at the rich knowledge that the older folks have in certain stuff.

Perhaps most enlightening is the talk about traditions or cultural stuff which I am totally clueless about. Actually, it’s pretty sad to know that such knowledge is slowly dying off with my generation. Generation Y will really sound the death knell on our cultural roots and traditions.

Recently, the older folks have been playing more games as my wife is trying to get them to actively their cognitive skills. Games like western chess, Boggle and, as of last night, mahjong have been introduced into the milieu of their daily lives.

I think it is a good thing that the older folks are engaging their mind on these games rather than the one-way interaction with the idiot box.

Last night marked my re-acquaintance with the chinese game of mahjong. Can’t really recall the last time I played the game since it must have been years back. But surprisingly, I was able to recount some of the more quirky rules of picking up certain tiles during the game.

For a short time, the house was filled with the sounds of mahjong tiles clicking against each other as we shuffled them at the end of each game. Remarks such as “pong!”, “gang!” (in teochew), or “gong!” (in hokkien) also reverberated through the house as everyone got excited in the heat of the game.

I still find it hard to believe that I actually indulged in several rounds of mahjong on a non-holiday weekday night. I am starting to like communal living.

TV Mobile to be silenced

The incessant blaring from the TV Movile speakers mounted on our SBS Transit buses will finally be silenced come Jan 2010. Mediacorp’s decision not to renew its agreement with SBS Transit will be a great auditory relief to commuters, including me, who travels frequently on buses equipped with the system.

It’s good riddance for the programmes on TV Mobile are not only boring, the audio emitted via the speakers strategically placed all over the roof of the buses have also shattered the relative peace and quiet of bus rides and turned them into noisy headache inducing trips.

I am sure most people will welcome a return to quieter bus rides. The only thing we have to contend with now are the young/and old blokes (read IDIOTS) blaring music from their handphones and the eardrum splitting sounds emitted from overworked headphones. On the latter, I am glad to know that the EU has placed an order on the manufacturers of MP3 players to restrict the volume on their sets.

Ah…. finally lower decibels in our already way too noisy world.

All for a bus

Legs pumping, lungs out of breath and bag swinging, I ran to board a bus. Not that missing the bus means much to me. Hell, I will only be late for work. But being a high strung time conscious guy, I just don’t like the thought of being too late for work. It’s good being my friend since most of the time I am the one waiting during appointments.

Anyway, it has been a long time since I actually ran for a bus. This morning’s 25m dash must be the longest distance I have covered in sprint for many years. I can only remember running this hard when I trained for my IPPT years back. Since then I have left sprinting to the pros who compete on the track and field. Why sprint when one can walk?

This morning’s exertion brought to my attention the poor level of fitness I am in. The fact that I took a long time to catch my breath more than tells me that my lungs are long overdue for some aerobic workout. Didn’t know that I can gasp so hard for breath.

This episode has only given me more motivation to get back into fitness. Nothing beats a lung bursting sprint to remind one of one’s poor fitness.

Lunch @ Old Hong Kong Kitchen

My wife brought me to the Old Hong Kong Kitchen for lunch on Sunday. Being a foodie, I have to say that the quality and presentation of the food there are quite excellent.

While the price is slightly on the pricey side, the serving size more or less made up for it. Our bill came up to around $30 for a serving of braised vermicelli with crab meat, Shanghai dumplings, prawn dumplings and a pot of chrysanthemum tea. Despite my voracious appetite, the two dishes more than satiated my hunger, which is somewhat a surprise.

Here are some shots of the fabulous lunch.

Aching legs

Living with the in-laws are good for health and I am a living proof of it!

Humans are lazy beings. I know because I am one of them. My old place used to have a swimming pool and gym, I hardly used these facilities in the 4 years that I lived there. In comparison, within twoo weeks of staying at my in-laws’ place, my wife and I have hit the dirt track, literally, twice for long brisk walks around the Pandan Reservoir.

It’s not a bad start considering that I have been resting on my fat arse for the longest time. Having a healthy mind and body is life goal for me and I am glad that I am finally getting down to it.

The aching muscles in my legs are a clear reminder of the hours that I spent sitting on around, be it in front of the TV or the PC. As the maxim goes, ‘no pain, no gain’. Guess I will have to bear with the pain as my body slowly conditions itself to a more active and healthy state.

Till then, get ready to hear more moans and groans about aching muscles here.

Why I don’t miss public transport

Yesterday marked my return to taking a “long-haul” trip on Singapore’s public transport system after having been accustomed to the short 5 mins bus ride to work from my previous place.

The trip home after work last evening was totally forgettable. Packed to the brim with people, with me valiantly forcing my way into one, the MRT carriages brought back the ‘good’ old memories of one being packed tightly in a can of sardines. Taht said, I do believe that sardines do have more space in their cans than us Singaporeans in our trains. Hmmm… a world class transport system that can’t even beat a humble can of sardines. Go figure.

I have accepted that being squeezed body-to-body in a MRT is a norm. Actually I am pretty used to it since this was how I travelled when I travelled from my parents place in Yishun to work some donkey years back. So the packed conditions of our MRT transport system doesn’t bother me that much.

My main gripe with the MRT system its almost miraculous ability to breakdown during peak hours. Yesterday I had the good fortune to experience it firsthand after years of blissful avoidance since I need not take any long MRT trips between my place to any where I wanted to travel to.

Here’s what happened. Like the usual peak hour MRT rides, the train I was on was packed to the brim when it pulled into Clementi station. With Jurong East station being the next stop, I was looking forward get off the train after the 20 odd minutes of being squashed with my fellow commuters. Alas, my dream of a blissful uneventful trip was dashed when the train operater, on the rare occasion, announced over the train’s PA system that “Due to a technical fault, this train will not be of service.”

Everyone seem to heaved a collective sigh of resignation since many, like me, were just one stop from our destination. Like a dam releasing floodwaters, all the communters alighted at Clementi and clogged the westbound platform. Doesn’t help that there were many kiasu Singaporeans who stood beyond the yellow safety line in order to get a ‘better position’ to board the next train.

As for me, I just nonchalantly parked myself someplace less crowded, which only meant I wasn’t destined to board the next train or two since they are likely to be as packed as the one which I just got off. True to my calculations, I only managed to board the third train, by which then some of the commuters nerves were a little frayed.

For me, I was just glad that I did not have to wait 15-20 mins just to board a train to cover the distance of one station. While this scenario might seem like an everyday event to most Singaporeans, I just can’t help but feel sian about it. Guess I got too pampered for my own good.

My adventure with the public transport system does not end here.

What happened next was more hilarious than irritating. After the harrowing MRT ride, I trotted from the MRT station to the bus stop behind the Jurong regional library for a bus ride home. Pleasantly surprised at the continued existance of the dirt path short cut between the library building and the bus-stop, I happily stomped my way along the rather muddy path till I reach the bus-stop.

What greeted me was a “new” barrier encircling the bus-stop. I was like “WHAT THE HELL!!!” As if having my shoes muddied was enough. I had two minds about trotting back up the path and getting my shoes even dirtier. In the end, I decided what all foreign workers would do, I just hope onto the bar and climbed over it. I must have been a weird sight. Imagine an office attired fella trotting down the dirt path, while most people would walk on the concrete walkway, and then carrying out the awkward act of climbing over the barrier.

I have only God to thank for my height, which helped me surmount the barrier easily. From the looks I got from some of the people at the bus stop, they must be thinking I am just one of the ‘foreign’ PRC talent. To hell with that.

Well at least I got home in one piece!

Go West

The song “Go West” by Pet Shop Boys more or less sums up where I am physically located after moving in with my in-laws over the weekend.

Still aching from the demands placed on my more or less atrphied muscles, I am glad that the shift was almost uneventful. Only exception is that the movers broke the base cover of our standing fan. Talking about the movers makes me fume a litte. I shall not waste my energy nor space here to share on my bad experience with them.

Basically, avoid the company 138 Professional Movers when looking for a moving company. The company ain’t professional in the way it handles its business. Just plain unlucky that we decided on this company on the recommendation by a friend. Guess we just had to be the customer that got the raw deal…

On to more positive stuff. After 5 days, including today, of living under the same roof as my in-laws, I am surprised that I am enjoying every moment of it. Not being the boss of the house means that there are awkards moments when looking for stuff or learning the new “dos and don’ts” (read house-rules). In general, things can’t be better.

While meals at my old place were usually of the easy-to-cook genre such as meat porridge, instant noodles (less msg), Canadian pizza or Mcdonald’s delivery now and then. The same cannot be said of the feast which I tuck into nowadays.

Being a health conscious folk, my mum-in-law prepares sumptuous meals consisting of a large variety of food types for all meals. While my diet has improved in terms of the variety of food I consume, I am quite afraid of putting on the extra pounds since I am eating more in terms of quantity compared to the simple fare I used to have. Guess I will have to embark on a more active lifestyle now.

The daily gathering of my in-laws and my wife’s aunties, who stay in nearby units, for breakfast is a new experience to me since my family did not entertain relatives except on Chinese New Year. Chatting with the older folks is enriching to say the least. These daily interactions have given me a better insight into the way older folks think and view stuff. More importantly, I also get to learn something interesting most of the time. Pity that I can only enjoy their company on the weekends now since I have breakfast much earlier than everyone during the weekdays so that I can reach office on time.

I wonder what’s for dinner tonight. Must be something good.