And the crowd goes wild....

Once every 4 years, you either embrace it or loathe it.

Most women loathe it. The punters in that demographic however love it.

Orchard Road gets remarkably quieter during the evening, and now even on rainy days (well, if you haven't heard the news, it flooded like at least a foot high along the main stretch lately). Men skip family plans, using up whatever concessions or bag bribes they have offered to their wives, girlfriendss or family, all in pursuit of their passion. The restaurants, bars and coffeeshops reports a higher income.

All for that one month.

What are we talking about?

22 men running after one ball.

In some matches, there can be 22 multi-millionaires. It's the world cup.

And i'm not loving it. Maybe because i'm part of the deployment. I see the uglier side to things, and the demands by other humankind get real fugly. So much so that it makes me respect the customer service reps a whole lot more. So now that deployment is well on its way, i'm planning for the days ahead.

With bated breath, i sit planning my road, as i wait for the rush for the EPL, and a whole brand new slew of complaints.

Be nice, people!

All things vintage and beautiful

My mom managed to find my late dad's watch. And it's still a gorgeous timepiece: Omega Seamaster DeVille, circa late 1960s. Even till now, i still think it looks good. 

But now at least i hold a piece of my father with me...

random musings

I've been running a fair bit. Pretty happy running couple of 5k, waddling a lil. And loving the girls i train with. They make me laugh out crazily, and adding much joy to training. O wait, i'm just keeping my fitness.

Random musings & sightings:
1) Friendship is when a friend pushes you along, to make sure you complete the damn run. Gently putting his hand behind your back and accompanying you each step of the way.
--- Seen today while driving to work, along a path that school kids run during PE lessons.

2) It's better to say too much than never say what you need to say
--- John Mayer's Say from The Bucket List. To which i have say "Hell yeah! Say what you need to say..."

a 11 year old's birthday

It's Erik's nephew's birthday. We got him a game, and the boy's mother decided to get him a Wii as a surprise birthday gift. Kids, regardless of how smart they are, are still kids. I made a call to the birthday boy, trying to outsmart him.

An excerpt from our conversation :
me : eh what do u buy for someone your age... like a game from wii?
boy : o... eh you wanna buy me a gift, just say so?
me : you can wait long long... so what game? hurry up.. and tell me. and i'll get you a book for your birthday, not games.
boy : can i have comic book then? ...* at this point, he goes way off topic to stocks*

Don't ask me why he asked about stocks or stock market. Apparently, his grandmother got him a stock as birthday gift. What does a 11 year old do with a stock? Beats me.

I got to his place, to pick him up for birthday and got talking to him... this time, face to face.

Our conversation :
boy : you know, i like this. the world revolves around me today. everything is about me
me : and why?
boy : it's special. It's my birthday.
me : o... so how old are you?
boy : 11.
me : ok.

At this point, i think the boy is at a loss. I haven't responded much to his birthday. His brother kept teasing him with a "i got a secret but i can't share with you...", adding much to our laughter.
Whatever the case is, he was jumping in joy by the end of the night.
Cos he got Wii ... and SPORE for PC.

Kids... sigh... kids

All the way to my first 42km

Monday morning would tell you how you feel through the week. With a scenery as such, with low lying dark clouds and light rain, my thoughts were "this is going to be one hell of a week". True enough, i was almost right. I felt sick, from some "cooling" herbal tea my mom fed me, when i complained of "pu juah" (body suffering from heatyness from last week's total mileage of 42k). So i was down mostly, on Monday & Tuesday. I am not going to deny this... yes i overate on tuesday.. thanks to Angie's birthday dinner.

On wednesday i woke up bright and early, to grab badminton courts. And then went on a 8.6km run. Every metre counts, at this time. I wasn't feeling my best yet, and yes i am still feeling full. But i did play badminton on that day too. On thursday evening, i went with Julian for a quick run around the neighborhood for about 7km, before heading off for dinner. Dinner is, as always, super. We probably eat more calories than we burn during those 7km. But what the heck?

Saturday morning... i had trouble rolling awake... and dragged myself to East Coast Park F2 carpark to meet with Uncle KC, Matsuoka-san, Kelvyn and Gary. And we embarked on the run. I was surprised i did 21.4km, and felt incredibly awesome. Slow and steady, the way i like it. I got home for lunch, and got into my compression tights, stretched myself a whole lot more and slept. I was groggy and having tummy issues, wondering how am i going to run the day after.

Sunday morning was the Nike Lunar Trainers trial. I decided to give them a shot. They promised cushioning, and seems to me a few of my friends are fan. O they felt good, but i suffered a slight blister, as i am a fan of low socks. But they felt good! I went on a 14k run. And they surprisingly held up quite well. And they look gorgeous.

Am i ready for those 42k? After the weekend of pooom-powwweerrr run, i don't see why not. Whether i'll live through it, i wouldn't know. I am just going to keep on trying.

HR Policies

"EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 17, 2008
NEW OFFICE POLICY

Dress Code:

1) You are advised to come to work dressed according to your salary.

2) If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we will assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise.

3) If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise.

4) If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.

Sick Days:

We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Personal Days:

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturdays & Sundays.

Bereavement Leave:

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend the funeral arrangements in your place. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Bathroom Breaks:

Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall
door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the 'Chronic Offenders' category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy.

Lunch Break:

* Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy.

* Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.

* Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

The Management
Pass this on to all who are still employed!"

I got the above off the Trifam forum. It's such a hoot.
That being said, this is my view on the current market, and my everyday political situation in my office. I am a blessed boss, i would like to think. Low turnover, great projects, very few problems on site, my employees are efficient in clearing my problem. You would think life's going great. Except one thing : they like to talk.

We're very hands-off boss. We give you job, you finish your job, we don't talk. We don't really give instructions, we hand you the project, you finish your job, we don't talk. Yet, they like to talk. Unhappy with the work conditions, unhappy with their pay, unhappy with the prospects. But here the company stands, it's been a good 10 years. We're still standing. There was this saying : "Starting a business hard, keeping it going is harder".

I often told my mom "if they are unhappy, just tell them to resign. If there're really better prospects outside, just tell them to resign". I like to think i'm very new-age in terms of management skills. I believe that as employee, unhappy just leave.

Of cos, you would always think that the grass is greener on the other side.
But is it really?

keeping myself sane...

In my daily life, whether at work or at play, i often meet people who are highly strung-out. There's always a fine line between obsession and treating it as something else. I find myself wondering if i will ever tip the line. For triathlon, I guess i keep telling myself it's a hobby, it's to occupy my time. And Mr. E truly thinks it's helping me stay sane, controls my emotions and how i feel. Sometimes, i wonder what keeps driving me to finish a triathlon. Is it the adrenaline? or is there an unseen force? Reeves once said to me "there's always something pushing you...". I thought about it... and i think the person is myself. What drives these people? What drives these triathletes? What drives you?

As the season is winding down, with just the Singapore Ironman70.3 which i have decided to bail out on, i find myself with fewer reasons to wake up on weekend mornings. I have sat out two weekends (one on my own accord, cos there's nothing to train on; the next weekend was i have to entertain my cousins, so if i head out, it means bad news the entire day). Oh, the joys of sleeping in :). And you can't deny the bed being extremely tempting, along with fluffy pillows, and blacked-out rooms.

Oh yes... but i do miss being marked down. The post-Osim tan....
Btw, the boys pooled money together to buy the number, but it didn't come out. bummer....