yin and yang??

We currently move our office to a new location.

Previously, it was a home office, built at the back garden of a "black and white"; quiet, full of foliage, a pet,timber decking, and 2 hawker centre for lunch option.
Now, we still have foliage (across is a open air parking area), quiet during the day but in addition we are also close to: 10 hawker centre within easy walking distance [that's about 100 plus hawkers], a supermarket, a mall, a wet market, 3 (three!!) 7-eleven (within a 100m in each direction!), and a streetful of KTV lounges and pubs!!

I've got nothing against those lounges, as they only start after 5pm everyday (although there are times I am tempted to throw something hard at a bad voice screeching from one of the establishment) , so we have the street for the day, and they rule it over the night.
Most of the lounges are located on the ground floor of the shophouse while at the 2nd/3rd floor, like us, are occupied by sober and creative offices; from architecture firms, advertising firms, investment firms, something-that-deals-with-marine firms, etc that doesn;t minded a bit of "life".

Interesting ain't it??

shucks!!

Don't you just hate it, when you arrive to work first thing in the morning, the first day of the week, and you found that your superior/manager/boss had arrived with a black dark mood in tow.

It literally darken the air in the office, and you, being the very next person in contact, are helpless in changing the situation but to appear calm and composed and wait for his/her mood to pass, while doing the best you can to avoid adding the tar to the mood, however small the chance of success.

au revoir..

Yesterday, I say goodbye to my most expensive shoes (to date),...

They have been with me for almost 4 months, and during that time, everytime I put them on, they gave me the blisters of my life.
The last straw is yesterday when in the short 30 minutes morning commute to office, they manage to gave me a blister the size of the African Continent at the back of my heel!! which popped before I can do anything about it! plus squashed my toes until everytime I slip out of them I almost cry with relief.
I went barefoot for the whole day in the office.. luckily none of the guys minded much,.. (haha) but unfortunately its really uncomfortable as my office floor is a concrete spread.

They are not always so a pain-in-the-foot, I quite happy when I bought them, they really looked good on and off my feet, although I guess my feet are silently suffering.
Anyway, on the way home, I grab a pair of flip flops from the local super, and chuck the offending pair in the refuse box.

But, my dear friends, that is not the end of the story, from the super, I went to the shoe shop to get a similar concept shoe (working shoe) but with an open heel (what with all those blisters), and guess what, these new pair want to live up to their predecessor's achievement by rubbing the sides of my feet red!,....argh!!

Now,aside from the sterile gauze covering my ankle, there are 2 strips of Mr.Handyplast at my feet!! Not even my suitcase has this many decor!!!...

This is really not a good week to buy shoes,..

morrigan's cross, the trilogy

I've just finished reading the new trilogy fiction by Nora Roberts; Morrigan's Cross, Dance of Gods and Valley of Silence; which this time, have a bit of every genre in them; science fiction, thriller, folk lore, and off course romance.

The three books tells about a fictional fight of good against evil with a dash of hollywood style thrown in, anyway, suffice it to say that I recommend these books (of the trilogy) to anyone who likes a good happy ending ;where the guy get the girl.
I also thinks that the trilogy are not for novice readers; as Ms.Roberts' novels (most of the time) are in-depth in research, very detailed which one needs to read with concentration, and imagination that rivals the author of Harry Potter.
As entertainment goes, its two thumbs up!!

I wonder if any film maker/producer/anybody with a thick pocket, would find them interesting enough to translate them to the silver screen. I will be the first to queue at the box office on the first day of release.

"web"

I never fully understood the complications and the consequences of being an expat before.
Although I am only a stone throw away from home, it made quite a difference.

When I was a foreign student exploring and sociallizing is something that comes more naturally (for me) because that is the stage of life when you kind of spread your wings and have a look around the world, met likeminded people with all the energy and enthusiasm of youth. But as you add more years to your age, it is human nature to start rooting at a particular spot most comfortable for them and start develop a social web (married, have children, take up golf,etc) and have a target in life that most of the time doesn't include a lot of travelling.
To uproot and plant it somewhere else, the web must once again be woven to the local scene, and it will take a certain skill and passion that will in the end effect the speed of the web forms, how wide the web reach out to, and how strong it is.

Now, even though I barely get my feet wet in this new territory, I have planned to try other country for a living. Its sort of work and travel, but since I am not with a company that sends its staff around the world nor I have money to burn, so this is one of the solution that I can think of.

I have a feeling I will develop a soft yet strong "web" ; light; easy to transport yet reliable. :P

What a weekend,..

Winding down after movie night with a buddy, I can say that this 2 weekend night have been splendid,..
Last night went out for dinner with the girls to one rochester, up at Rochester park. Really charming; secluded, live sax, not too shabby food, decent beverages, however it is the surrounding and the setting of the place (lush landscaping, romantic lighting and great weather!) that really made that place currently the top of my list for the ult chill out place.
Its a cluster of 10 "Black and White"s, currently only 5 opened for public, as various restaurants and lounge bar. We only went to one rochester, but we did have a tour about the compound to scout our next rendesvous. Being there feels like being invited to one of the private parties, and actually they were catering to a function on the 2nd level for some association.
Definitely the place to chill out or 2nd date.

And there is today (or technically yesterday), went with one of my mate who's visiting from home, to a movie "scoop" which is suprisingly good.
Mystery-comedy-romantic-ironic of woody allen, this movie doesn;t really strike gold with the critics but its an enjoyable movie, so what the heck,..its entertainment.

But, there are still 21 hours to go before the weekend actually ends and I am an optimist.