Had coffee with Brard while he drooled over my latest mobile phone. It's weird we didn't bond much as siblings till we got older but I'm glad we did. :) Thanks for keeping an eye out for mum.

Met Glow again for tea at the same cafe we went to previously, and this time it was also before my meeting with the girls. At the other end of the cafe was a table of women, and Glow recognised one of them. I told him to go over and say hi but he didn't cos he didn't know her well. This set me thinking cos I would probably have gone over if I were him. How can I explain? Meeting new people is a connect-the-dot situation for me, and I'm often curious as to how long a connected line can get.

Later on I recounted this to Tweewo when we met for tea the next day, and he told me that recently when he was thinking of someone whose thoughts on religion would be closest to his, he actually thought of me. Well, that was before I sprung my karma theory of connecting the dots on him but anyway.. :)

Dinner with the girls (chilli crab! fried bee hoon! apple salad! ice cream! and I realise I left before we tackled the beer, lol) while my UK travelmate's dog kept circling us for scraps of food. I really hope the girls all make it to Hong Kong to visit me as planned!

Had drinks with ex-colleagues and coincidentally Chuan was nearby attending a wedding dinner. I asked him to drop by so we could meet, and by some bizarre coincidence, another one of his friends was holding his wedding dinner at the hotel I was at too. So, I ended up gatecrashing the wedding dinner after the event, drinking with the groom and his buddies at a poolside table while chatting idly. The most surreal moments were when the groom put his newly-wed wife on speakerphone every time she phoned (she was with their parents) cos he was avoiding mobile phone radiation. Lol. But I had fun!

Fate also intervened to let me bump into friends I hadn't thought I could have met (K & M, Jedixus & Shazz..) and I'm really glad. Every wonderful memory with friends and family this weekend will be treasured and revisited when I return to Hong Kong tomorrow morning. Take care folks!

My weekend visits back to Singapore so far have been marathon sessions to run errands and meet as many people as possible. Today I've actually met 6-7 groups of people and tomorrow it's time to pack, change money and meet some more folks. For those people I've not been able to meet, sorry cos it's too rushed..

Yes I should sleep. But.

Regret #342: When people let you down and don't realise it.

When she reappeared at the end of another disappearing act, the magician looked at his assistant and frowned.
"You look paler," he said. "Is anything wrong?"
"I don't know," she replied. "I don't seem to fit in the same space I did before."

The official site for My Computer, which latest album is entitled "No CV".

For those who may know, My Computer's debut album Vulnerabilia was the most expensive single-disc album I've ever bought at $40 (and worth every cent).

Just got a copy of Stars' "Elevator Love Song" from lainey which ties in with my previous post, lol. Thanks sweetie! :)

Her: I'm so hard for a rich girl. My heels are high, my eyes cast low. And I don't know how to love. I get to tired after midday lately. I take it out on my good friends, but the worst stays in or where would I begin? My office glows all night long. It's a nuclear show and the stars are gone. Elevator, elevator, take me home.

Him: I'm so hot for the rich girl, her heels are high and my hopes so low, 'cause I don't know how to love. I'll take her home after midnight and if she likes, I'll tell her lies of how we'll be in love by the morning. I don't think she'll know that I'm saying goodbye.

Her: My office glows all night long it's a nuclear show and the stars are gone. Elevator, elevator, take me home. My office glows all night long it's a nuclear show and the stars are gone. Elevator, elevator, take me home. Don't go. Say you'll stay. Spend a lazy Sunday in my arms. I won't take anything away. Don't go. Say you'll stay. Spend a lazy Sunday in my arms, don't take anything away...
- Stars, Elevator Love Song

Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I shake the dirt from my sandals as I run
- title of the last song from Sufjan Stevens' Illinois album

I like Sufjan Stevens' mad idea of recording an album for each state in America and hope he'll make it, especially with whimsical titles like the one above.

This is precisely what I want to do.
To shake the dirt from my sandals as I run.

One minute elevator interlude in someone else's love story.

3 of us in the hotel lift going to our rooms: a honeymooning couple and I.
Wife said, "Please remind me to put my body scrub in the fridge" and realised immediately how weird that sounded.
Hubby raised an eyebrow as he teasily stubbed his last finger into the side of his cheek at her. She tried to hide her smile.
They exited the lift first. Immediately upon stepping out, hubby was already chiming: "Honey, please put your body scrub in the fridge". They laughed as they ran all the way back to their room.

I could have been invisible as far as that couple was concerned, but I didn't mind.
That was a sweet moment, that one minute in time.

Read that Caribou (formerly Manitoba, classified under Canadian electronica) will be performing at Macau this weekend when I'm back in Singapore for the weekend. Sigh. Timing. My timing is always off.

Anyway, today is Dave's birthday so have a good one you! :)
You've come a long way!

Woke at 3am and didn't sleep properly again after that. Had weird dreams I couldn't recall. Maybe I'm getting all keyed up from work, woohoo.

Fatigue is the best pillow.
- Benjamin Franklin

Yes. But enough pillows already.

Baking analogy at work (it's been a while since I've had one of these).

I've inherited a recipe and been tasked to make sure a cake gets baked. The cake mixture is already done but now people are asking strange questions about it ("Are we getting a cheesecake? Why do we want a cheesecake?") which I can't answer since I didn't prepare it. Bakers are shirking around ("Am I supposed to beat the mixture? Isn't there an electric eggbeater to do that?") and there isn't enough time in the world.

Oh. And I can't figure out how to ask for eggs done sunny side up in cantonese. Help.

Oh. You know what they say about Hong Kong folks who overwork everyday? It's all true.

Last night I went with 2 co-workers to sign for the service apartment and got a slightly bigger apartment than the previous big one I've viewed at the same price too. This bigger one has fewer windows and a worse view, and there's no partition between the sleeping area and living/ dining area, but there are 2 gas stoves instead of an electric heating pad in the kitchen so I can really cook. If I want to learn that is. And it seems like I have to buy everything from cooking utensils to cutlery etc. Gosh. The first week I move in will be chaotic.

But I'm strangely giddy already. The last time I had a service apartment for this length of time was 9 years back on a work stint in Milan. It's been too long.

Over the weekend, I watched the film adaptation of my favourite Japanese author Haruki Murakami's short story Tony Takitani, which is directed by one of my favourite Japanese directors Jun Ichikawa. Each shot often starts with the camera hiding behind a wall and panning hesitantly into each scene, awkwardly aware of being intrusive. The movie is very much in the style of Murakami's writing. What's there not to like? :D

Also caught a compilation of classic Japanese animation at a local indie film festival. It was interesting but marred by the lack of subtitles, which left me perplexed half the time. Spoke to one of the festival organisers though, and he offered to arrange a meetup after the festival with other indie film folks. :) Will be nice to talk shop, hahaha!

Sometimes I think I can assimilate into this country and then some things give me away. My inability to read the Chinese local news and preference for the English South China Morning Post instead. How some service personnel will switch to speaking English after hearing my garbled Cantonese. How I can't dress as flashy as the locals.

Last evening I went to view service apartments within walking distance of my office and felt almost grownup doing so. The smallest apartment I saw was scary. The door opened right into the bed which filled nearly the entire room. When the curtains were drawn, you could see everybody down on the streets below (well, meaning they could see you too). When the agent saw my astonished look, he told me I could elevate the bed to the ceiling to make room when I wasn't sleeping. Riight.

Basically it boiled down to a choice between a small (200+ sq feet) service apartment which felt like an impersonal hotel bedroom (without gym but including a mini-bar), or a bigger (500+ sq feet) service apartment in a noisier district which had a bedroom adjoining a living/ dining room area which allowed for cooking and had a tiny gym. The catch is the bigger place is 1.5 times the rent of the smaller one. This probably means I should budget for fewer trips back home.

Anyway, I've slept over it and the bigger place is still the winner. Will call the agent and arrange to move in on my next trip here. Wish me luck. :)

Last night on my way to the Causeway Bay MTR station, I chanced upon the outdoor performance of a local band called Soler. They sounded pretty good so I changed course and headed for HMV instead, where I bought 5 DVDs, 2 CDs (including Soler) and a magazine. So yeah, I'm happy. :)

I like wandering round the streets and feeding off the energy of the crowd. I've found the local version of our IS magazine and am bookmarking places to visit. Will probably check out films at the Hong Kong Film Archive soon (yes they have an archive!).

One day at a time, girl. One day at a time.

What's keeping me going today:
Last Town Chorus' pared down cover of Culture Club's "Do You Really Wanna Hurt Me?" (Right click to download)

"So you're in Hong Kong now?"
"Yes."
"What do you do there?"
"I have teleconferences everyday."
"You mean they move you to Hong Kong so you can make phone calls from there instead of from where you were?"
"Yes."

Is there a good way to disappear? Some go in fanfare and a puff of smoke. Some simply vanish. And some crave to get one last sentence in.

The magician's assistant must remember this:
wherever she is is exactly where she is supposed to be.

This is getting to be a habit, this blogging before flights.

Today has been a blur: getting my phone charger replaced, rushing to my customer's, rushing home, lunch, rushing to the airport. In fact, the emergency alarm is ringing now as I'm typing at the airport terminal and no one gives a hoot. Oh, and they made me check in my luggage cos it's 1 kg overweight (yes, it's a miserable 8kg). I can't lose my luggage again, can I? I'm back on 29th July. I think.

Happy birthday to Quest who messaged on my last trip: "Bye bye, you must be in the sky".

And soon I shall.

My new Sony Ericsson K750i cannot charge and I need to fly tomorrow! Urgh. Need to go down to the earliest store tomorrow to check it. Damn upset now. :( Still have so much to do too.

The magician's assistant didn't choose to perform the disappearing act. She would rather walk through walls but somehow she was competent at disappearing. And as she approached the time for her next disappearing act, she felt more and more displaced. She knew everytime she stepped into the box and disappeared, people would assume that she had turned invisible or become suspended in the same space in millions of tiny particles, rather than accept that she just wasn't there anymore. And the longer she stayed in the other place, the more real it became.

"Give us your most useful tip on disappearing," someone asked her before.
She pondered a while and spoke.
"Travel light. Whatever you carry in your heart is yours to keep."

Today due to yet another National Day Parade rehearsal, I spent an extra hour commuting from Raffles Place to Esplanade. It all started when an ex-colleague gave me a lift to the Esplanade from an ex-colleagues' gathering, but the roads were all blocked. He had to drop me near Clifford Pier so I thought it'd be relatively easy to walk over to the Esplanade. Theoretically yes, if the pedestrian walkways weren't blocked as well. The army personnel I questioned told me to walk back to Raffles Place MRT to take a train to City Hall MRT station, so I walked all the way back and did exactly that. Except that I walked above ground from City Hall MRT station and the roads were blocked too, and I had to retrieve my steps to go via Citilink to the Esplanade.

Along the way, I felt so upset I nearly wanted to stop in my tracks and sit there by the curb and not do anything. I just couldn't believe there could be so many obstacles in my path, but somehow I didn't give up. I couldn't.

If only I can be like this in other aspects of my life.

On my trips to and from airports, I've been asking cab drivers about their preferred vehicle fuel provider and so far everyone has a differing view and plenty to say. One cab driver actually took out his wallet (while driving!) to extract his fuel loyalty card to show me. Amazing.

[Singapore] Just landed 2 hours ago. There are no sordid tales about my Hong Kong trip. In fact it's been so hectic that I've not bought anything except for chewing gum *horrified look*. But the Hong Kong folks are a young energetic bunch who kept me well fed (dim sum? check. That monstrous touristy Jumbo floating seafood restaurant? check.) And though there's a lot to learn and more to do, I'm enjoying myself.

Will be flying down to Hong Kong again next week but I've not made travel plans yet. Seems like this Hong Kong stint may be able to wrap by this December. Will keep fingers crossed. :)

Was introduced to a Singaporean working in Hong Kong whose dialect group is Hokkien. He had to pick up Cantonese and did it really well in his stint there. The strange thing is that though the 2 of us were not fluent in Cantonese, when we were left to talk to each other, we still carried on conversing in Cantonese obliviously. lol.

Well actually, it's not that my Cantonese is bad but rather that I don't understand Cantonese idioms. Today I was taught one about chickens, sentries and grains of rice (don't ask me to repeat it, I can't recall). In the event that I get into an argument with my Hong Kong users, I've already warned them that my response rate to their machine gun rattle will be deathdefyingly slow.

Time to sleep. Tomorrow is another long administrative workday.

For those who made time for me but whom I didn't get to meet the past weekend, thank you. Please don't be upset with me.

Over late night tea with pumpkin, I learnt a new word ameliorate, or "to make a situation better or more tolerable".
Pumpkin: somehow this wasn't the meaning I understood from you is it?

Oh, and I also learnt a new term for breaking in audio cables called "cooking the cables". lol.

You who skipped gym to accompany me luggage hunting.
You who sms me despite knowing I'm out of the country.
You who offer to bring me to eat blueberry cheesecake.
You who will meet me anywhere I ask.
You who buy me coffee and call everyone tweetie.
You my favourite girls.
You who meow too.
You who give me music.
You who indulge me.

God I miss you all already.

I'll miss those lazy weekend breakfasts at Holland Village, flipping idly through newspapers as we lounge around and shoot the breeze.

Aftermath of the pyjamas party.

I woke up this morning before any of the girls, and slipped silently out of bed. Is it too sentimental to say I smiled at the sight of my girlfriends lying peacefully, as the two cats padded around the bed like sentinels guarding sleeping princesses? I had no idea how long it was that I sat down to stroke the cats while they circled me and purred, but no one else stirred. When a cat rubs itself against you, it does so thoroughly. It butts its head gently against your leg and trails a path all along its spine to the tip of its tail. And then it does this again and again.

I was content this morning, a ghost in the company of sleeping girls and loving cats.

This is my story about what I thought was the worst breakup ever (well, not mine).

A girl broke up with her DJ boyfriend, and decided to pamper herself by buying 10 of her favourite CDs. She walked up and down the aisle of the CD store and was mortified to find that she didn't know what music she liked. She only knew what music he liked, and then she broke down and cried.

If you know me, you'll understand why this particular loss of identity will so upset me.

This is your story about the SIA girl in a remote village in Vietnam.

You were travelling round Vietnam off the beaten track when you came to this remote traditional village still not exposed to foreign visitors. You knew you looked out of place, and the locals were inspecting you curiously. The custom was for the village head to approach newcomers and invite them to his hut, and this was what happened. So you went with the interpeter into the hut where old newspapers lined the walls, and that was when to your surprise, you looked up to see an old newspaper cutting of a SIA girl.

And the wife of the village head turned out to be the same age as you, and that got you wondering about the different paths life could lead.

You told this story much better than I've written it, but I guess everyone would get the idea.

I met Glow for tea before the pyjamas party with the girls. It's odd that despite being acquainted all this while, I only knew him better during my jobless days. It was relaxing to chill out at the near deserted cafe where Glow related the story of how he had a surreal vision of a SIA girl in a remote village in Vietnam, and I told him what to me could be the worst breakup story ever. I remember telling him how relationships for me often began with moments, and he replied that moments do not make a relationship. And that was when I wondered if I should tell him I blog. It turned out to be easy. We were waiting in line for me to pay for beer for the party, and I just turned around and told him.

If you're reading now, hi! Welcome to my world.

I finally read Neil Gaiman's Dreamhunters, which is a favourite amongst fans seeking his autograph. It's a beautiful story, which to put simply, is about a white fox which fell in love with a monk keeping guard over a desolate mountainside temple. The fox did her best to save the monk's life at the expense of her own, but in the end, he chose to die to save her. Nothing was for naught cos lessons were learnt.

Strangely I can understand how the fox felt.

[Singapore] Blogging at the pyjamas party at my US travelmate's home. The girls are watching TV while munching on snacks. After 2 beers, I fell asleep on the sofa and was woken by licks from Li Bai, one of my US travelmate's dogs. I wonder how long it is before I have another girls' night like this again.

Nothing really happens but somehow it's enough.

[Singapore] Last night I ordered room service for the first time ever and stayed in my hotel room working while waiting for dinner. I always made it a point to eat normally (if you can call eating in a room filled with strangers normal), but when you're staying in a hotel the size of a few football fields, somehow this wish subsides.

Time is running out. So many people to meet, so little time.

[Cyberjaya, Malaysia] This place feels like Jurong Island. Information overload but everyone has been nice. Will really need to catch up on work though. Living in a remote area cos it's too far to travel to work from KL. Well, at least I'm back this weekend, and I've just gotten my laptop!

Will be departing for Hong Kong next Mon night but coming back to Singapore again next Thu night. Woohoo.

First day at work. 3 hours spent at pre-employment checkup. Had my favourite Ah Kun Kaya Toast for lunch. Changed currency. Went for minimal briefing on trip. Found out I didn't change enough, so changed more money. Dinner with rabid Gaiman fanboy (beaming in fan T-shirt and all). Attended Neil Gaiman event where biscotti spotted me (cos I was standing near her and talking about being outstationed to Hong Kong!).. it's nice meeting you dear, though the circumstances were weird! :)

Now I need to pack, shower and sleep less than 4 hours before I dash to the airport. Not sure I'm getting internet access there so will keep in tocuh when I can.

Thanks for all the well wishes! :D

This is it folks. Here I go down the rabbit hole.

Today was lovely.

Had brunch and beer today with an ex-colleague and his girlfriend. The ex-colleague is more like a younger brother I was mentoring at the production company where I did that short one-month stint. He gave me a farewell present but what touched me more was that he bothered to write a letter to me. I guess I had the warm fuzzy feeling pumpkin had when his ex-student went up to greet him. :) This boy has a lot of potential and I really hope he can go far.

Then I met Anarchy to watch the documentary film Gate of Heavenly Peace, which was on the Tiananmen incident. An interviewee compared the Tiananmen incident to the devouring of an unripe fruit. Though the fruit wasn't ripe, people were too hungry and decided to eat it anyway. What resulted was a feeling of unease and a bad taste in the mouth.

Over dinner, the girls tried to impart cooking tips to me for my stay in Hong Kong. Needless to say, I was quite traumatised. Anyone who knows me will know that domesticating me will be a major project in itself. But maybe, just maybe, this is the year I learn cooking.

Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho (temple) fortune #44 (from 2 months back):
Two people having a fight, a draw ensures. But before any of them slips no progress for the other. One must be careful not to make mistake and concentrate.

Interpretation: Medium
To perform any task involve risk. To overcome the next person, or to lose, one must possess some skill over him, or him over you.

The last day of my hiatus. How fast time flies. Monday is my first day of work and also the 10 year anniversary since dad has passed on.

Hi dad, there is so much to tell you. Perhaps if I were lucky, I could whisper to you in my dreams.

During her last disappearing act, the magician's assistant disappeared for 3 whole months. The magician had nearly given up hope on her. "I taught her everything she knew to perfect her disappearing act!" he exclaimed. "But instead of concentrating on the tried and proven, she started experimenting impulsively with new vanishing techniques! Disappearing is not impulsive! Disappearing is a calculated act of precision!"

But she finally reappeared one day on stage: curiously subdued, strangely tanned and glassy-eyed. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief to have her back, because her disappearance had left a gap in the magic act which no one else could fill.

"Where did you go?" the magician asked crossly.

"I don't know" was her slow quizzical reply. "I visited a strange land where huge colourful flowers bloomed and exotic animals sang and roamed. Everywhere was lit with warm sun and my spirit knew no bounds. I wandered far and wide and as much as I learnt about this wonderful place, I know there is much more yet to uncover."

The magician saw her face and softened. "You didn't want to come back," he stated.

"No I didn't," she said sadly. "I know I won't be able to find a way to go back once I've returned here. But I also know that sooner or later I had to give it up.

In the end we all do what is necessary."

I've met my new colleagues and they seem a young fun dynamic bunch. I miss working. All things considered, I have been lucky in my jobs. I'm not ambitious but I do think I'm good at what I do and more importantly, I like people. I don't think of my job as jetsetting. To me, it's just plain simple baking.

A long time ago, an ex misread me and got relatively competitive in an attempt to beat me at career advancement. I couldn't understand why I wasn't enough. I couldn't understand why I lost to his ego.

If you don't know me by now.