I took today off, it wasn’t practical to get home so late and go straight to work the next day. Supermarket, vacuum, make lunch for the rest of the week, the day went by really quickly.

Links to pics for the trip: shunde | hong kong general | eating out start here

Long day today, because of the flight. Parents booked the taxi to take us to the airport, I was at the lounge for about 1 hour. Now that I’m “only” at gold level I don’t get upgraded, but I absolutely cannot complain. Food was good, watched The Blindside and lots of Deadliest Catch. Up in the Air was also on, and I guess we could have not gone to see it, cos mm is also on a plane today, to London. Nah, it was worth it to go with her.

Layover at LAX was 2 hours. I was worried. You never know what’s gonna happen at US airports, they’re the epitome of what airports should not be — unpredictable, crowded, disorganised, bad. I was one of the first off the plane, immigration was fast, but my luggage got mixed in with the regular luggage. X-ray check was painless, so I got lucky. Was able to check my suitcases right outside the exit, and then something surprised me — 2 staff members were on hand to ask where I was going and to help direct me to my next terminal. Wow. Well impressed.

The American terminal is just around the corner from the international, 2mins walk, no big deal. Security was decent, and I got into the first class lounge for some odd reason. Much needed 45mins rest, and to have some food.

Flight to ORD was full. Long walk to taxi stand. Home at 10.30pm. Door to door, over 21hrs. The snow that I had to drive through 3 weeks ago is still here, looks like they kept it cold for me.

 

Lunch at city hall with ubs people. Then an afternoon of errands. Long overdue haircut, massage, last minute shopping.

Dinner with SC and AK. Jap food, naturally. Highlight was fresh sashimi from the fish, then the bones were made into soup. Nice.

 

Went to the office after lunch. Talked for a bit with my colleagues but mainly it was spending time with mm. She was busy but was able to get away early so we can go to dinner. I had a couple of hours to spare, it was perfect to photograph the wan chai area. There are still old buildings and temples there, not sure how much longer they will be around. I’ve always always wanted to photograph the blue building, it’s kind of a mecca for photographers.

 

For dinner, mm took me to a Japanese grill place. We had warm sake and the usual grilled food — ox tongue, fish, chicken wings. Our favourite turned out to be riceball skewers, the rice was grilled to perfection. Yum.

I had a legitimate excuse to stay with her tonight — I need to use her wifi to upload pictures. There’s no wireless at home, I couldn’t connect via ethernet, and Sis’ network was so screwed up by her network engineer friend that I couldn’t find a single connection. So, it’s over to mm’s place. One click and the airport was on. Of course that’s because she has my airport express and I set it all up myself. Heehee.

Another bbmm day. We had lunch at a “modern” chachantang (although they’ve been in business for decades) then aimlessly walked around. Eventually ended up where the marathon expo was happening and I picked up my kit a day early. Went for foot massage at the usual place then went back to our respective homes.

Times Square CNY decoration is a giant vase and ball, very red but pretty nice. We took advantage of mm still on holiday to meet up there to check out glasses. I had my eyes tested. Sigh, slight presbyopia (old age eyes) has begun to set in, but not serious enough yet. The optometrist says I can survive as is for another year or so.

When we have no plans, we tend to want to go on a bus ride, so we took the #968 and ended up in yuen long. Had dessert, bought some snacks, walked the length of the main street and took the bus back out. No plan is a great plan.

Lunch with mm’s family at the usual restaurant, with the usual food. Always so predictable. I didn’t have a lot of time last week to shop for the kids (I knew about the lunch late) so I made do with Jewel chicago shopping bags. heehee.

Met up with Mum to go shopping for one of the main items on my shopping list, the drool-worthy canon s90. It’s not that much cheaper, I bought it anyway. I’m bummed that the mbp doesn’t have connectivity, so I wasn’t in a hurry to try it out by going crazy with taking pictures. First impressions:

• sharp looking, fast shutter, clear screen
• familiar P, TV, AV settings
• low light, f2
• good zoom
• lots more function than the common point-and-shoot
• I keep missing the zoom, hitting the notch underneath the wheel instead
• didn’t come with a case

Yeah, I’m still obsessed with the driving through snow thing. Overnight there was enough snow that I had to spend a good 10-15mins getting the car ready, and boy am I glad I shovelled the bit of the road around my car so I could get out. The drive took a little less time than yesterday, it was sunny so visibility was better.

When I got to the vendor site, I deliberately parked out in the open so I’d get the sun for as long as possible. When I left after 5, the snow on top had gone. There were huge chunks of ice where mud flaps would be and I kicked them off.

My parking space was completely covered. I had to totally dig a space big enough for the little car. The problem was that there was nowhere to put the snow, so I ended up piling it all in our backyard. It was kinda hairy, reversing back in, but I managed at the end.

I woke up to a brilliant sunny morning. Perfect for skiing. It was so nice out that I didn’t go to four lakes, instead I ventured a little further to wilmot mountain in wisconsin. I figured it’d be a nice drive, and I can go to four lakes next time I want to ski and the weather (and therefore drive) isn’t as nice.

The weather report there actually showed fog when I left. It’s under 1.5hrs drive, and I got there at around 1pm just as the sun came out. It turned out to be a glorious afternoon and I got in plenty of skiing.

Yes, yes, I know. Compared with everywhere I’d skied, this is a tiny hill with artificial snow. But it was still fun. To get back to pre-accident proficiency I’d have to go back to live in Switzerland, or move to a place with real mountains, and that isn’t going to happen soon. Anyway, back to wilmot. It’s very well organised, with something like 10 chairlifts going up various slopes. The runs are mostly greens and blues, with some blacks — well, the blacks are easy reds IMO. I tried almost all of them, except the baby slopes, the ones at the far side and the mogul run.

Of course I picked one of the busiest weekends of the year to go, so there was a queue for rental and everything else. The queues for the lifts were manageable — there are so many, and they are pretty close together that it’s less than 5 mins to slide to the next one if the queue is too long.

I pretty much skied non-stop for 2-2.5hrs, taking a small break to get a drink from the car. Another thing — the carpark is right next to the mountain, well convenient. By 4pm I was getting tired, the sun had gone and the fog started to roll back in. The place opens till 11pm for night skiing, but I was done for the day. Left at 5pm and was home, showered and eating dinner by 7pm.

It’s a long weekend this week, Monday is Martin Luther King Day. Plans, plans, plans.

I want to go skiing. Yes, there is skiing around Chicago. The nearest is four lakes at Lisle, only 35mins drive away. Okay, it’s not Flumserberg, more like a man-made hill, but it’s so near that it’s worth checking out.

I want to make braised turkey legs, another winter stew that sounds tasty and is economical. I also want to do some baking. Either a repeat of the chocolate quinoa cake I made a couple of weeks ago, or blueberry muffins.

I want to go get some quinoa to bring back to my parents and sis. Coincidentally I read that cb2 at lincoln will be closing, although they are keeping their North Ave shop. It’s decided then, gonna hit Trader Joe’s.

I shovelled the back and the front of the house before I left this morning. And all around my car, it was all surrounded by snow and ice. Driving was okay, visibility wasn’t too good and other drivers were driving way too fast for the conditions. When I got home I had to shovel the snow out of my parking space. Then for good measure I shovelled and salted the back so there’s a path from the back door to my car; and then i did the same for the front so I won’t slip tomorrow. No wonder I don’t feel like playing on the wii fit or doing strength training tonight.

I’d planned to go running on the treadmill at work today, my colleague and I were hosting a 3pm meeting and I thought I’d go afterwards. Needless to say the meeting overran, and then we were debriefing, and then I had to take care of some emails. I had planned on cooking tonight so there wasn’t time to go on the treadmill. At least I have the stuff in my office now, may be I’ll try tomorrow. It looks like snow over the weekend so the prospect of going outside is slim. Sigh.

I so wanted to go running today, but I chickened out. it was too cold, and too windy. yeah, yeah, excuses. I did do something instead!! continued with nrolw stage 2, and did 30mins on the wii fit.

It’s just a tiny smattering of flakes, but it’s a sign.

Winter is here.

My car was full coming home. In the boot were: the printer, wii fit, bags of grocery including carrots, celery, onion, potato, mushroom, spinach, cherry tomatoes, apples, lemons, quince, chicken thigh, oxtail, ham, liver sausage, canned tomato, wine, guinness, container upon container of leftover thanksgiving food, turkey bones, my puma bag and backpack. I don’t have a large boot, so the puma bag had to go in the backseat. I feel so privileged, every time I visit, I come home and I need to make 3-4 trips upstairs.

I went to the sappho’s salon event at women and children first bookstore to support Anne Laughlin, who read from her new book Veritas. I have the book in my ereader, it’s high on the list of books to be read. And especially after I heard her read a lengthy excerpt. She also read the prologue from her newest, untitled, book. Oh wow. That one is already fantastic and I can’t wait for it to come out.

The second half of the event was singer-songwriter julie loyd, who sang a few very pleasant songs.

The good thing about living only 5 mins away is that I was probably home and showered before a lot of the people even left the store.

I’m taking tomorrow off. First because my kitchen table and chairs are being delivered. And secondly because I have too many days’ annual leave left over. I’m pretty certain I won’t lose them, because we’re good at enforcing rules for every department except our own, but still. So it’s nice to have a long weekend to look forward to. No plans beyond: assembling said kitchen table, watching dvds, running, going to the supermarket and making chicken stock.

video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGGVMWsAZ8E

Friday was mm’s sis’ anniversary and I said the rosary for her. There’s been too many passings this year, and the prayer was also for everyone.

It was a glorious day when I woke up, so I went running by the lake. All the way up to where the bike trail ends, then back down along the lakefront all the way to Montrose Beach.

After showering drove to Ikea. The route on google maps is bogus, there’s been roadworks at the Lawrence junction to the Kennedy for ages, so I just took Foster.

I was really hungry by the time I got to Ikea, so I headed to the restaurant immediately and had a large meatball, lingonberries and mashed potato lunch. The aim was to look at kitchen tables, to make sure that I wasn’t missing out on anything. There was one, table and 4 chairs for $129, good price but not what I was looking for. I ended up buying a bedside table to use in the living room by the fireplace, 4 glass bowls at 99c each and a bottle of chopping block oil. I never thought of oiling my chopping blocks, let’s see if it works.

The main shopping was done at home. I finally ordered the bar table and stools I saw at cb2. Delivery on Friday.

Also bought 6 ebooks, catching up on recent releases. And 6 mp3 cds:

• oracular spectacular — mgmt
• breakthrough — colbie caillat
• rattlin’ bones —kasey chambers & shane nicholson
• b.r.m.c. — black rebel motorcycle club
• baby 81 — black rebel motorcycle club
• the e.n.d. — black eyed peas

Oh yes, my musical taste doesn’t make sense, here’s acid, pop, country, alt rock and hip hop.

We came home to some sombre and devastating news, but it’s not my place to post about it. I don’t quite know how to deal with it myself, yet.

I finally got home home mid-afternoon. Unpacked, did laundry, sorted photos, went outside to buy milk, made lunch for tomorrow, that’s really been the rest of my Sunday. I’m fighting off the cough that I must have picked up in Ptown — between Chef, DK, Jo all being sick, the wind, and not much sleep last night, it’s not a surprise.

My pics are all sorted and uploaded, but I will need to mooch some off other people to complete the set. Here’s the flickr set.

Not looking forward to work tomorrow. It’s gonna be a tough week.

I left work early today to drive down to the dealership to get my radio installed. Finally. When I bought the car they couldn’t find the faceplate but for some silly reason they could only order the whole unit and that had to be replaced. Ah well, whatever, as long as I get some form of radio.

Then Car and I went to Walmart to buy sweets and stuff for our trip. While I was at it, I bought laundry stuff and shampoo and heavy stuff.

On the way home it started pissing with rain. Some people were still driving like maniacs, sigh. There’s recent talk about banning texting while driving, oh man these laws can’t come soon enough for me.

My second Landshark event today was the oyster festival at Roscoe Village. According to the original blurb in Time Out it’s supposed to be a Guinness and oyster event; but somehow Guinness disappeared.

The entrance fee was $5, and of all the events I’ve been to this year, this $5 was a waste. First off, I expected oysters — as in raw bar oysters. Was very disappointed that there was only one stand, selling baked stuffed oysters at $20 for the half dozen. I guess Americans have this paranoia about serving raw seafood, but if that’s the case why have the festival in the first place. Tasted okay, and nice with beer, but nothing like fresh raw oysters, right? Sigh.

Still hungry, so I had a lamb kebab and another beer. Took the bus and was home by 5pm.

Spent the day running around in one place. Very excited but very tired. More news tomorrow.

It took me 2 hours to get home. Then I had to dump my stuff immediately and trek to the supermarket to get stuff I couldn’t get a Costco — milk, juice, fruit & veg.

I know I say it doesn’t matter, but I really would like a car soon.

The Air & Water Show took place over this weekend. I found a spot at the lakeside between Oak Street Beach and Ohio Beach, it wasn’t as crowded as the main area at North Beach. Weather-wise it would have been better to come yesterday, cos today it was overcast and rained a bit. I had my hat on so I wasn’t bothered, I was more annoyed at the lack of blue skies and good light. I got there just before 2pm. Seemed like I just missed whatever was on the program before cos it was a good 30-40mins before the display started again.

I must confess I have no idea what models the planes were, just that they were very impressive — both the planes and the pilots’ flying skills. I was a bit too far south to be in the middle of the action, even though I could see pretty well. First there was a series of single plane displays. The biplane was especially crazy.



The main attraction was of course the US Airforce Thunderbirds and even I knew they were flying F-16s. The cloud cover gave them an advantage to sneak up on us, I was looking around trying to spot them approaching. All in all it was a magnificent display of precision flying. And the noise!! Especially when they flew over my head.

I had both my camcorder and my camera. The photos needed to be photoshopped, and somehow the audio went missing when I converted the mpg to mov. Need to fix that sometime.

video of thunderbirds (no audio): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PM7HgiddXM
photos full set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/invisiblecompany/sets/72157621936484447/

One more progress. I got my driver’s licence today. I actually went to a driving school, got a package deal where I had a couple of refresher lessons and could borrow their car for the test. I know, I could have just borrowed someone’s car and gone for the test, but as mm said, I should get the refresher to make sure I don’t slip into my bad habits (and of course we all have ours) during the test.

The most stressful time of the day was actually all the waiting. On top of the queuing I did when I got the provisional licence, I had to queue up again: get a number, wait for half an hour, go to the counter where they looked at the docs again, go to the cashier to get the application stamped (no payment, that was a time wasting step), get in the car, queue up for the tester. By then I was pretty tired from the queuing.

The test was dreadfully easy. So easy that now I understand why there are so many bad drivers on the road. Just driving along a fairly non-congested road, a couple of traffic lights, stop signs. And then back to the facility to do a straight reverse, and parking at an angle at a space big enough for a truck. Apparently there’s also a parking test and question about uphill/downhill parking, but I didn’t get tested on those. My instructor said that sometimes they don’t do that if the testee is driving well.

This brings my total driver’s licence collection to 5. Yes, FIVE. You never know where you need to drive, right? These are all souvenirs from the places I’ve lived. I can buy a car now. And I don’t need to carry my passport around all the time. Nice.

I spent 9 hours (1-10pm) on Sunday at lollapalooza, which is one of America’s prime music festival events. It’s a 3-day event, but as I looked at the lineup, I decided I could only do one day, especially since I had to go to work friday. I was a bit bummed that I missed Depeche Mode on Friday and Gomez, TV on the Radio and Tool on Saturday. Ah well, next year.

 

It was a HOT, HOT, HOT day. We were allowed sealed bottle water, and throughout the day I made sure I was hydrated. Okay, I had 3 Bud Lights in addition to the water, watermelon and smoothies I enjoyed. I also diligently bought and used sunblock; and a cute fedora I bought at one of the stalls. The first pic here shows a fire department “mobile ventilation unit” which they used to fan water for a cooling shower for the participants. The second pic shows what seems to be all 225,000 attendees.

 

There were 8 stages, and with Grant Park 1 mile long, it was essential to plan. There were only a couple of overlaps where I had to decide, most of the time it was obvious who I wanted to see. I caught the end of Bat for Lashes, who I’ve never heard of but will likely buy their album now. Then mid-afternoon it was Airborne Toxic Event, who were more subdued than I expected. I wondered if I should have gone to see Kaiser Chiefs instead. I was fairly close to the stage, although being short it was difficult to see over the shoulders of people in front of me.

A short break afterwards, during which I chomped down a portion of Jack Daniels bbq wings washed down with a watermelon wedge. Then it was back to the same stage to see Vampire Weekend, which got us jumping and doing screams. I only know their most well-known songs, and I sang along like the other audience members.

It was then time to explore the other side of the festival, more food, looking around the stalls, bypassing the autograph area. Found myself in the dance pit section, where DJ Boyz Noise was spinning. Then caught the end of Dan Auerbach before heading to Lou Reed. Unfortunately Lou was disappointing, so I walked the whole mile back to the south end, got a tamale/taco combo, a smoothie and a frozen kefir (like frozen yogurt), my last Bud Light and found a seat on the lawn to wait for The Killers.



Brandon Flowers and gang did not disappoint, opening with Human, rocking hard through their repetoire and finishing with a flourish with Read My Mind, Mr Brightside and All These Things that I’ve Done. We sang “I got soul but I’m not a soldier” over and over and over again, it was brilliant. Two encores later, I joined the thousands on my way home, very satisfied, very buzzed and feeling a little like I was 21 again.

True to plan, I went to market days today. Not sure what I expected, but there wasn’t a market there, heehee. Instead, it’s a bit like midsommarfest only more crowded and more boisterous. Suffice it to say that market days are held at N Halsted, the same stretch where Pride takes place, to give an idea of the participants. Lots of stalls lining both sides of the street, from organisations soliciting for members, marketing by major companies (T-mobile, Comcast etc) to food and drink, craft, jewelry, clothing stalls.



I had a Polish Plate at one of the stalls — stuffed cabbage, polish sausage, sauerkraut, potato pancake, 3 perogis — at $10 not cheap, but nice tasting and filling. Better than the burgers, pizzas and fried noodles at other stalls. I also tried a Bud Light Lime, which tasted really bland, but what did I expect?

  There were several stages set up along the route, and I stayed to enjoy a couple of the bands. There was a rock band, Hag (“it’s a good word,” said the keyboardist) made up of middle-aged women who belted out 80s classics like Vacation and Gold Dust Woman. The lead guitarist was good, even though she looked like someone’s really nice mom. I also watched an Abba tribute band, and they attracted a HUGE crowd. Old and young were all bouncing up and down with the well-known tunes.

 

Again, it being boystown, and a hot day, there were plenty of, well, skin as well as more outrageously dressed individuals. Everyone was plenty willing to let me take their pictures, even posing. A woman asked if I was Press, which gave me warm fuzzy memories of GCLS.

Take a look at the full set, there are some fairly “oooh la la” pics there. The set turned out really nice. Sunny day helped, but I did buy a new MRC circular polariser, which I’m sure vastly improved the pics.

I haven’t had a whole weekend at home since I moved in, and I’m still waiting for that full weekend. Nevertheless, i had a full day at home, which is a small blessing. Went to church in the morning, cos I promised I would. Supermarket on the way back, then it was reading, cooking, watching tv, laundry, ironing, messing with the iphone, websurfing. Still languishing in a weird combination of loneliness, solitude, uncertainty and irritability. Difficult to shake off.

Even though it wasn’t exactly under my authority, I let the C&B team out this afternoon. There doesn’t seem to be any official rules (that i know of), but in practice people can leave when the market closed. So some of them left at 2.30pm, some left around 3pm. I had a conference call at 1pm, then I had to work on a document as a result of that call. But I was able to leave around 3pm too.

It’s the start of the long weekend. Yippee.

I ordered a chairmat and in/out trays from staples. On the website I could print and sign a “driver release form” so the driver can leave the goods on the porch. But they decided to use ups instead, and the driver left a card instead of the stuff! Anyway, I signed the release at the back of the ups card, and they were delivered today.

In other news, I had bought a new 26” tv over the weekend. I briefly thought about the $299 Dynex (Best Buy own brand) but finally went for the sony, which was $479. When I plugged it into the cable box, there was no signal. Argh. So I had to make an appointment with the RCN guy to come in. He said there’s something wrong with the HDMI port, but got me hooked up using component cables. I still get the hi-def channels, so i’m not bothered. I have 4 yr extended warranty, so I can take it back for repairs whenever I feel like it.

So today I went to City Hall to get the equivalent of a provisional driver’s licence, I think it’s called the instructional licence here. Passport, SSN, address proof and $10. The clerk asked if I have an existing licence from another state, to which I answered no, but I have from overseas (I actually have 4 licences). To which she asked “can you drive?” What was I supposed to say?

Anyway, there was a simple eye test, then the written test. I’d studied the Rules of the Road earlier, and did some practice online tests. I got all the questions and signs right, yay!

For all my other licences I just had to present my UK licence to convert. Of course Americans don’t trust UK, or Swiss, or HK, or International, so the next step is I have to go for a driving test. Good grief.

My flight was at 4.35pm, and I gave myself 2 options: a) check out, leave the luggage at the hotel, go to Oxford Street and come back; b) check out, leave the luggage at Paddington, go to Oxford Street then get on the Heathrow Express. I opted for (b) cos I didn’t fancy trekking back to Liverpool Street, there wasn’t a lot of time anyway. What I didn’t account for, was that it costs £8 for left luggage. That’s too expensive!



So I ended up hanging around the station. Had a very nice plum tart and tea at paul. Took my time, didn’t do anything to hurry up.

Had plenty of time at the lounge. Even though I was flying AA, I went to the CX lounge instead. Ate some food, drank lots, watched the cricket, talked to mm. It’s funny, Mum couldn’t decide on the colours for the flooring and tiles, and couldn’t find me cos I was in London so she called mm! Very wifely. Hehe.

Flight wasn’t full but someone sat next to me. I had the first seat in business class. Watched He’s just not that into you, napped for a bit, listened to the radio, watched the flight path. It was a long fly-in, overshot Chicago, almost to Iowa before turning back! Must have been a long queue. Immigration and customs were quick, I got a talkative taxi driver, was home by 9pm. Went to the supermarket, initially to get milk and ended up getting loads of other stuff. I’m glad to be home.

The big meeting was finished by lunchtime, then I had other meetings in the afternoon. Those were done by 4pm, so I was able to get back to the hotel. Called mm, then went running, then went to get dinner — salt beef bagels from Brick Lane, of course. The rest of the evening was watching tv, nothing special.

The last Day in the Life was during 2008 thing-a-day. This year it’s even more flexible, we can pick any day during May. And today was a good day for it.

Summary of each hour, even though I was up after 8pm, there wasn’t anything interesting, so it’s only 10 pics:

• 1100 — it’s a saturday, i’m allowed to lie in. first things first, tea and get online
• 1200 — take stuff to new home. what i like about the area are the trees, and the cute roundabouts
• 1300 — walking around Clark, this woman walking in front of me
• 1400 — maifest at lincoln square — may version of oktoberfest, my first summer festival this year
• 1500 — late lunch of german meatloaf sandwich with potato salad and sauerkraut, washed down with 1 litre of beer
• 1600 — more food! almond custard cake
• 1700 — waiting for the train at ravenswood station
• 1800 — after 2l of beer, i need water and something for the headache
• 1900 — yummy cherries
• 2000 — back to where i started in the morning — water and mbp online

It was a crappy, crappy day at work. It’s been a while since I entertained thoughts of resigning.

And then in the afternoon I got an email

Dear Mrs [redacted], Your shipment has now arrived and has already cleared customs.

Yeah, I know, “Mrs” — reminds me of Switzerland.

It’s been a beautiful weekend, just the right temperature and the sun coming out both days. But I have a cough, and it’s been one of those weekends when I stayed indoors all the time. Went running twice on the treadmill, that’s about it. Reading, facebooking, just doing nothing much.

It’s been one of those weekends.

i fell asleep the second the lights went out last night, and slept all the way through to almost 8am. We checked out of the b&b, returned to the breakfast place from yesterday, and headed out to Rockefeller Plaza. I didn’t know about the top of the rock observation deck, it was great! Panoramic view of central park and a closeup the empire state building.



Outside at the plaza I spied a Teuscher store. Sigh. Memories. I had to get their champagne truffles even though they’re like almost $5 apiece.

then it was time to return to the b&b and head out to the airport. we called Ali again, and he in his imitable way brought us to LGA quickly and humorously. I took Car into the AA lounge until it was time for her flight. we were on different airlines for the return to chicago. the weather in NYC had been great all weekend, which didn’t prepare us for the delays — the weather in Chicago was grotty, and air traffic control at ORD was controlling flights coming in. This means my flight originally at 5.30pm was delayed until 7.30pm. I was lucky that I was in the lounge in a comfortable sofa and free drinks. Once we boarded the plane, they pushed us out quickly but we had to sit on the tarmac for 20mins waiting for our takeoff slot.

In the end I got back to PT after 10pm. I’d originally planned to go grocery shopping, but that was no good. Shopping and laundry will have to wait till tomorrow.

i’m in nyc this weekend, to meet up with car and bobbi and to attend a launch event. got in last night after an uneventful flight to LGA. We’re staying at chelsea pines inn at w14th and 8th — the meatpacking district. it’s a great little b&b, with rooms named after hollywood stars. we were in the George Nader room, except I have no clue who George Nader was.

woke up early, after a restless night. the b&b has a nice kitchen with a simple continential breakfast. We wanted a real breakfast instead so we walked over to this very nice place. i had waffle with ham, which i scarfed down at record speed. i was pretty hungry, having only had snacks at the ORD lounge, and the remains of a beef sandwich when I arrived at the b&b.

After breakfast we taxied down to Battery Park to catch the ferry. The queue was long cos of the nice day, lots of tourists, and security check. This meant we had time to check out the sights and sounds — street vendors, buskers, the Korean war memorial.



We didn’t alight at the statue of liberty, the view from the boat was nice enough. I’ve never been to Ellis Island, and was impressed with the museum. Unlike some other visitors, i don’t have the emotional connection of “my great-grandparents came through here when they immigrated from the old country” though i can understand how it can be moving. The small exhibit on the ground floor was the most impressive, with visual exhibits showing immigration trends.



Back on shore, we walked the 10mins or so to Ground Zero. It’d been fenced over, even more so than my last nyc visit, and there wasn’t much to see. The memorial wall seemed a little sad and temporary, perhaps the idea is that it goes on the new buildings when and if they are completed. With the amount of interest in the site, i’m surprised there isn’t an observation platform or something like that. Yes, it’s tacky to treat this place like any other tourist destination, but it can be done with dignity and for visitors to have a more substantial experience. It’s important.



We were tired after that, so we taxied it back to the b&b to relax for a bit. There’s snacks and hot drinks available at all time in the kitchen as well as free wifi, a change from business hotels i tend to find myself staying. Originally we were going to take a bus to NJ, but wisely decided to call a car instead. it wouldn’t have cost that much more than a taxi and a bus, and miles more convenient. We were attending the launch party for yuri monogatari 6, a graphic novel series. The party was at rareflix.com store at the Secaucus outlet NJ. Very hard to find place, and to add to the confusion, it’d moved. Credit to our driver who stuck with us and was determined to find it. A lesser driver would have just abandoned us somewhere in the general vicinity.



I’m not a big consumer of comics and graphic novels. I feel like I should get into them more, but haven’t been able to. That’s one of the reasons I was looking forward to this trip. The party was low-keyed and casual. We looked around the store, including in the back where there was a horror set. Pretty soon the contributors arrived and started signing. For sone reason they all had to wear purple and white feather boas, i guess to distinguish them from non-authors? i dunno, it was fun anyway. We were there primarily to support JD, who also writes books, is in a band, is super smart and all round cool person. The evening ended far too early at 10-ish (and that’s saying something). we called Ali, our driver, and he took us back to the b&b.

We hadn’t had dinner, so we ran across the road and got pizza. I had a slice of bbq chicken, it was perfect for the time and place.

First the factual bit. We woke up early, the alarm went off at 6.15am. Was out of the door at 7am to go to the airport express. Check-in took only a few minutes, then we went to McDonalds for tea before I had to get on the train for the airport.

There was just enough time to go to the lounge to get a bottle of water before I had to sprint to the gate. Both flights (to Tokyo and from Tokyo) were virtually empty and I had 2 seats to myself throughout. Watched some films, ate the food served to me, and was able to sleep for about 4 hours. Immigration at Chicago was atrocious, it took 1.5 hours from landing to getting on the taxi. Did laundry, went to the supermarket and cooked dinner. Tried to stay awake till normal time.

Sounds clinical and boring. But what i didn’t add were the feelings. From the beginning of the day we tried to spend as much time as possible together. I lingered as long as possible at the airport express, until just before the train was due to leave. But eventually time catches up on us and we had to hold each other close and say our good-byes. Both of us were crying by then.

I spent most of the comfortable flight over wondering what the hell I’m doing, leaving mm behind like this. Good career prospect, opportunity for writing and perhaps being published, welcoming friends — are they enough? I know we have our share of problems in our relationship, and that we’ve done the long distance thing before, but this feels different. I’m not sure how long this assignment is, I know for sure I have no job back because I’ve outgrown the region, I know I don’t want to be moving around so much anymore.

So where does it leave us? We’ve not talked about it, like we never talk about us. There’s an understanding and expectation that we will stay together. There are issues I’d like resolved before we embark on the rest of our lives, this is my point of view. so many unknowns.

We are both at high points in our careers, coming up to real responsibility and with it, earning power. From a purely practical and materialistic pov, the next few years we can make enough to be really comfortable and not have to worry about the future. May be that’s the medium term goal?

Sigh. I don’t know. I miss her like hell. I don’t miss her as much as I thought. I’m in a confused place that is entirely of my own making. And so how am I supposed to do now?

 

no spa today, but equally great. mm and i took the common ferry to the small fishing village on the other side. It’s quite a touristy area and famous for its seafood. You buy the seafood from a specialised shop then bring it to a restaurant to cook. mm treated me to a real treat — geoduck sashimi, a great steamed fish, steamed clams and cockles. The restaurant’s name was Happiness, and it was a happy meal.

We walked around the village a little, hitting a local temple and life buoys on fences that were marked decoration only. Stopped for a tea, then our walk was cut short when it started raining.

Resting back home, then went out to the wet market to get frog. Yes, frog. mm is so good at cooking that. Simply cooked with mushroom, and we both love frog. I even took a video of the legs and portions twitching when salt was added. A bit surreal and not for the squeamish, so I’ve put it behind the cut.

I couldn’t sleep last night. My throat was burning like hell and I was feeling miserable. We have a massage booked at 11am, but I decided I really needed to see the doctor. So mm, bless her, got ready quickly and took me there. Throat infection, 4 types of medicine and 1 bottle of cough syrup. 3 days’ worth of drugs, let’s see.

The massage was at L’Occitane spa, i had a deep tissue massage, a complimentary relaxing back massage and a facial. Niiiice.

Lunch at our Japanese “canteen” cos we were in the same area as work.

Still feeling miserable so we went home for a much needed nap. Heh, I headed straight for bed as soon as we got home and didn’t wake up till the alarm.

I had dinner plans with my parents. If it were anyone else I would have cancelled but I did not want to stand my parents up. I enjoyed the meal, glad I made the effort. Back early, so plenty of time to rest. I thought about going running, but decided against it cos of sickliness. There’s a tinge of guilt but it’s probably for the best.

  

I woke up early, and was playing around in fb when mm woke up. Discussed a little where we’d go for lunch, and decided at a nice Jap place. I had a fantastic chirashi, she had a sashimi set, we also ordered a mixed tempura to share.

Took one of the long distance buses into the countryside. Walked around the markets and shops. Had some skewers at a street food place and dessert at the famous B’s dessert place.

The bus back stopped at the bus terminal near our foot massage place, so we took advantage of the location. 2 parts later, our feet are much better. And after a late meal of steamed crab and roast goose, we were truly satisfied.

The last work day before I leave. Called the phone company first thing. It’s stupid, for a phone company, it doesn’t accept cancellations by phone. I handed in a form in person last week, but had to call to confirm the cancellation is okay. Archaic.

Then called the Rates Dept to change correspondence address. That’s all the address changes I can do now.

Lunch with my ex-boss, I haven’t seen her for so long. Had chirashi at a nice Japanese restaurant.

Haircut took only 30mins or so, Sam is quick today.

Went for 3 parts of massage (half foot half body). A new person cos my regular person wasn’t available. Man, he was tough. My calves were rock solid, and he isolated the sore spots immediately. It’s one of those massages that hurt like hell but is good for you. He’s also the only one at that place who cracked my spine and my neck.

Have a bad sore throat, so bought some plain vegetables for dinner. mm has her own food in the fridge.

It’s been an…unusual birthday. Everything is out of routine. I feel a little weird, happy, sad, thoughtful. Breakfast with mm, then spent 2 hrs at home waiting for the gas and internet people to show up. Lunch with family, but not altogether a harmonised experience. Back home again to go over with parents. Early back to mm’s home, and it was only spending a few hours by myself that I was able to calm down and gather myself for late dinner with mm. Solitude rules.

Early start, to finish off getting everything ready. The shipment crew came at 9am, 6 guys, worked very efficiently and professionally. I tried to get out of the way, spending most of the day standing in the bathroom watching the proceedings. The packing was fascinating, especially how they wrapped large items like the table and cabinets. I was tweeting most of it on my mobile, kept me occupied. Lunch was 3 McDonalds sandwiches, I think I went a little crazy — sausage & egg mcmuffin, filet-o-fish, teriyaki chicken. Plus a taro pie. Oh my.

The crew finished at 4pm, then I followed one of the vans while it brought a small consignment to my parents’. I have to give them most of my electronics and food/wine cos I can’t take any with me.

Parents treated me for dinner — lobster, steamed fish, ostrich, mushroom & mixed veg. I took the bus home, picked up my 2 suitcases and taxied to mm’s. I’ll be here for a week, it’ll be interesting cos we haven’t lived together since London and that was a long time ago.

Some of the boxes got delivered today, while I was out running. This is for the local move of food and stuff to my parents’. It’s hard to know where to start packing. Should I clear out the kitchen now? Or wait till later in the week? Should I pack my suitcase already? What about throwing things away?

Went back to the office late afternoon and sat in mm’s office reading for an hour or so waiting for her. We went for Japanese dinner cos I was missing Japanese food in a major way. It was nice.

I can’t keep my eyes open though, just nodded off for 20mins totally unconscious. Taking a shower then to bed.

 

My colleague J invited me and another colleague to her house for dinner. Her husband cooked a fabulous dinner of simple succulent roast chicken, spouts and strawberries. We had fabulous wine — started with a Chablis, moved to a Morgon and finished with a slightly portly Gary Farrell to finish. I had an absolutely fabulous time.

so much to do, only one day.

laundry 2 loads.

grocery shopping.

gym — 20mins weight training + 45mins running.

lunch preparation — chicken, chickpeas, tomatoes, mushrooms.

upload pictures.

catch up on posts.

Woke up at 3am-ish and took a melatonin, still woke up at 7am. When I’m this jetlagged I give up trying to sleep. Crawled out of bed, played on the computer, had some tea, and went running for 5 miles, just cos I was really really really cold.

Tired enough that by lunchtime I was fading, so I crawled back into bed and slept.

Till 4pm.

Dinner with my family at a nearby Japanese place, got some carrots for soup, then took the bus home.

I won’t have trouble sleeping.

mm and I celebrated chinese new year at a, um, sushi restaurant. one of those conveyor belt places that is usually very crowded but today at 1pm, we didn’t even have to wait. We ordered a mixed tuna plate, with 3 different kinds of tuna ranging from normal to fatty. Also had a bottle of sake.

  Then we were pottering around the stores, and were at burberry when there was a huge racket which got louder and louder. It was the lion dance, coming to the store to “fetch the green” — I’m sure there’s some lucky meaning but it escapes me right now. We were at the right place at the right time.

Flight was at 11am, an hour earlier than usual, or they revised the schedule. Had to get up at 6.30am to shower and get ready to leave by 7.30am. Saturday morning = light traffic and I was all done and at the admiral’s club by 9am.

Flight was half-full, and I’m glad I took the chance to select an aisle seat at the side. No one sat at the window and I ended up having both seats. The other good thing about it being so empty was I managed to snag one of the Japanese bento meals for dinner.

Other than that, boring flight. Slept for 3 hrs. Watched 4 films:

• Burn After Reading — very Coen Bros, a big tangle of inter-related coincidences, funny stuff
• City of Embers — despite the steampunkedness, it got clichéd and boring and I couldn’t wait for it to end
• Road to Rodenthe — lovely leads in Richard Gere and Diane Lane but far too sentimental and again, couldn’t wait for it to end
• Bottle Shock — meh, quirky in places, pretty good choice to spend 1.5hrs

My first day in the office as an official Chicago branch employee. A different feeling than other new hires cos I already have an access card and laptop. There was a problem with the network cable, which got fixed. But email didn’t work all day. So I gave up after lunch and came back to the apartment. Went shopping then running. Tired.

I took the afternoon off, it wasn’t that busy and I had lots of errands to run. It was at the back of my mind, but it hit me today that I was flying on Sunday, and not too much time left before I have to move proper. Had lunch with mm, then went to:

• the bookstore to exchange a book — Sis gave me LP Chicago for Christmas which, well, i don’t need
• the computer place to get a memory stick for the PSP
• the snack place to get pistachios
• the bank to get USD
• the electronics store to unsuccessfully look for a travel hairdryer
• the supermarket for chocolate for the office

Was going to get a taxi, but found myself walking nearer and nearer home, so at the end i walked, albeit carrying several large plastic bags and a very heavy backpack.

First I went crazy at amazon and bought three earbuds. Then I met up with my parents for lunch, and went crazy with more gadget shopping. Here’s what I ended up buying today.

  

from left to right: sennheiser mx75 sport $27.68, sennheiser cx300-b $19.99, skullcandy ink’d silver $9.63. Also bought a ton of replacement earphone sponges and buds.

Bought the my taxi game for the PSP. This is quite an old game that I’ve played on the PS2, and mm’s brother let me play on his PSP at christmas, so I had to get it.

Another gadget was a spare card reader, 55-in-1, it’s the same one I have now. It doesn’t need a power supply, just plugs in straightaway.

Mum and I went to look at apartments cos I suddenly decided I can afford to buy a small investment property. Saw something quite promising, will explore further.

Early dinner at the casual restaurant at the wet market. Then had to go back across town to get the wooden car beads that I forgot to get. Those were heavy, man. And no, I don’t have a car. But I will in Chicago, so I wanted to get these now.

We didn’t go to midnight mass last year, probably because of tiredness or something. This year I’m on my own on Christmas Eve — went with family to the yacht club mulled wine and carols event that finished by 7pm — and the thought of going to midnight mass was strong.

The main cathedral is only 15-20mins walk, it’s on one of my running routes. So I headed out at 11.20pm, and when I got there it was crowded already. No seats left inside, and only a few left at the seating areas they’d set out outside, with big screen tv view.

Before the service the choir sang carols. At one point a soloist sang O Holy Night, my absolute favourite. She was good. Not as good as these ladies but very touching.

I opted to stand during the mass, and it was a nice service conducted by our Cardinal. There were announcers, telling people when to stand and when to sit — there’s usually a lot of people who a) don’t go to church often or b) aren’t Catholic but wanted to experience midnight mass. Before the communion, they announced twice that communion was for baptised Catholics only. The communion inside had holy wine, but not for us outside.

Yes, I don’t go to church often, but I love the belonging feeling everytime I go.

The rules are simple:

We are not allowed to spend any money on anything, no matter what. In other words, we can’t make a run to the store to buy food, we can’t spend money on any sort of entertainment, and so on.

No additional expense on utilities (eg no premium movies on cable). They even updated recently with a list of 100 things to do over a money-free weekend.

It’s very straightforward for me. All I did was stay home. I didn’t do grocery shopping — I have enough food for the weekend and even through Monday and Tuesday so I can do shopping during the week. I wasn’t tempted to buy anything from amazon, I didn’t pay any bills, in fact I didn’t even speak to anyone between talking to Mum on the phone friday night and going to bed sunday night.

I read, napped, played computer games, did a couple of food memes, enjoyed several foot massages on my uSqueeze, made fruit salad, made lunch for Monday.

This type of weekend, I never want to end.

Woke up at 1am, 5am and then finally 8am. Bummer. But it meant I could go get my hair cut earlier, before the place gets busy. My hairdresser always gels my hair and styles it. He says my hair looks good when gelled cos it’s short and thick. The problem is as soon as I’m out of the door I run my fingers through it and flattens whatever style he put in. Hee.

Had to go to the supermarket. The delivery yesterday missed all the fruit and veg items. Just as well cos I bought more than I wanted, including my favourite rocket.

Slept all afternoon again. Crawled onto the sofa at 1-ish and woke up just before 5pm. Had rocket, yellow pepper, tomato and pear salad. Sprinkled a few dried tart cherries I got in Chicago last time, they’re not that tart, fit the salad perfectly.

I’m sitting here alternating between playing Jewel Quest and reading a book with the aircon on. I’m still hot and need to rub the sweat off periodically. Sigh.

Even with melatonin I woke up at 6am. Didn’t even struggle to get back to sleep, I got up, made tea and turned the mbp on.

Luggage was promptly delivered by 10am. I started getting tired again but had to wait for the supermarket delivery. I got the 9am-1pm time slot and by 1pm when they hadn’t arrived I was annoyed and tired. Checked outside the front door and there were packages! I wonder why they didn’t ring the bell.

After quickly unpacking I flopped to the sofa, sleep chasing me urgently. It was hot so I put a beach towel on the sofa seeing how sweaty I get. I’ve always been easy to sweat and I can’t believe how many towels I’ve been using lately.

Slept until 4pm. Reheated the cacciatore sauce in the freezer and had that with penne and chicken. More melatonin tonight.

I think I should take a break from all these posts about food, heehee. May be something techie, but it’s all been iPhone this iPhone that all month. I’m still in the watching tv mood as opposed to reading mood, which is just fine. The travel channel is having a China week cos of the Olympics and I’ve been watching bizarre foods.

I was supposed to leave on Sunday, but there’s a big important meeting on Wednesday that we’d been waiting for, so I decided to stick around for a few more days. This means a whole weekend down at the house. I got a taxi to Car’s office, and was late cos the driver didn’t know the address! I was like “no, turn left here!” when I saw that he was driving us further away. Geez. If I didn’t know the area, I would have been screwed.

We drove up to where Cam works and met up for a quick bite at the bourgeois pig café. I had a Midsummer’s Night Dream salad which was spinach, cranberries, goat’s cheese and pears. At $7.45 and a small (for US) bowl it wasn’t value for money. It was great to catch up with friends though.

I had many meeting scheduled for today, so it was busy. Was still able to get away at a decent hour. Left to my own devices for dinner, my natural inclination is to get something and eat it in the hotel room. No fancy restaurants, no restaurants actually. Plus, with so many heavy meals lately it was nice just to get a salad and watch tv. Which was exactly what I did.

Door to door, from PT back home, was almost 24 hours. It really is very tiring.

Watched a few films on the plane — 21, Fool’s Gold, part of Batman. Read the 2 DoC books I saved specifically for the flight and thoroughly enjoyed them.

Too tired to do laundry. I know it’ll take over an hour, I’m not sure I can stay up that long.

I went to the taste of chicago today. I avoided going at the weekend because of the crowds, and today i got there at 10.50am, just before the 11am opening. The place was practically empty and I had time to walk around looking at the stalls deciding what to try. Tickets were available for $8 for a strip of 12. Most stalls had 3-4 menu items costing around 6-10 tickets, although they have one “taste of” item for 3-4 tickets obviously for tasting.

There were the expected sandwiches, pizza and the like but I focused on trying food I hadn’t tried before. First was a chorizo arepa, because I was watching a program on the Food Network over the weekend on arepas. This arepa wasn’t anything like the ones on TV, the sausage was okay but the pastry was dry. The second thing I tried was a mustard fried catfish. Now this one was good. The breading wasn’t thick, the fish was fresh and the mustard gave it a nice gentle kick.

 
On the theme of fish the next stall offered shark. I’ve eaten all sorts of unusual food so i wasn’t fazed by the shark. It was actually quite nice. Like tune in taste although it’s white not red. Better than crocodile definitely. Not to fishy either. I was kinda full by then but one dish from my earlier inspection stood out — goat with fried plantain. I didn’t care for the goat, it was very tough, even tougher than mutton. The plantain was good — sweet and filling.

Dessert time. The New Orleans style restaurant offered up a tasting portion of beignet and a large piece of watermelon was the perfect thirst quencher.

The best till last. A combo of lemon and watermelon ice. Yep, a great day out.

This is the first time I visited a Pride event. I’m not very well versed in the history and reasoning, but I thought it was an enjoyable day. There were people who were over the top but you get that at every event with a large crowd.

The crowds were already busy when we got off the train at around 11am. We found our place under the shade of a tree and behind some people who had seats. Some people were throwing freebies from a pub and I got myself a Miller Lite visor.

The parade started at noon, with a line of police horses escorting the starting banner. Then it was a non-stop selection of colourful floats, cars, music, dancing, random politicians and the like. I had a ground level position right at the barrier but I couldn’t crouch for long and had to stand up.

Sometime after 1pm everything ground to a halt and was like that for a good 45 mins. It also started to rain so my group, as well as half the crowd, decided to leave. After later we found out one of the dancers had fallen off and broke her leg.

mm avidly follows the horoscopes while I generally give them a cursory glance if I come across them. This was on my igoogle today:

Just as you were getting accustomed to the hectic pace, everything changes. You wake up in a quieter and gentler world today — and it’s not just because it’s the weekend. Instead of charging ahead, think about taking some time off and doing absolutely nothing at all. It might sound boring, but it might be just what you need.

Oh my. That’s a tough case to build for not believing.

It was totally unintended. Met mm at the hairdresser’s … there were too many people so I was the only one who got the haircut.

During tea we talked about how to remodel my apartment, so it was only natural that we ended up at the “home decoration” street looking at tiles, taps, showerheads and show kitchens. I said I’d give her the right to renovate however she likes it.

Dinner at a sushi place we’d never noticed before. This one advertises itself as a tuna specialist. We thought about getting the most expensive, the blue fin tuna, but decided to go for the next one down. The fatty tuna chirashi was good. I ordered a large beer and we shared it.

With some time to kill, we went to the big department store and discovered a big sale was on. It’s been a long time since we were tempted in a big way. I bought a couple of new pillows and we both bought a foot massager for the times when we can’t go to the reflexology place.

So yes, our pockets were much lighter after today.

I had a long lunch with my friend CC today. We’ve known each other for almost 12 years, have followed each other all over the world, worked in almost the same companies. Now she and her husband live in Singapore but she comes back to visit occasionally. We’re neither of us very sociable people, often not bothering to look up friends. But we always try to meet and catch up. It was nice, we had salad buffet at the Marriott.

Dinner was with other ex-colleagues, SC and SS. Originally a couple other people were due to join but they couldn’t make it. Had Vietnamese, also very nice.

Then I caught up with CC again at another restaurant where she was having dinner with other friends. I joined them for dessert.

Altogether a very sociable day. Probably completes my quarterly social quota.

Got up at 6.15am, was all checked out before 7am. Waited for the limousine bus for the airport, which was pretty full. By the time I got to the lounge, I was so early that the passengers from the earlier flight were still at the lounge! Then again, I had no choice because the bus ran every hour and I’d be cutting it too fine.

The flight was nothing spectacular. I got home around an hour after landing. I called mm to tell her that I’d brought dinner — the salmon roe she asked me to buy — but she was asleep and barely able to talk to me. Kinda disappointed, but what can I do?

The rest of the day was spent watching TV, sorting the pics and obviously catching up on posts. That’s how my life is nowadays, just on my own and finding my own way to occupy my time. There’s no good or bad about it, it just is.

Here’s an interesting collection of KitKats I got from vending machines and convenience stores in Tokyo. Why is it relevant to anything I just wrote? Nothing. It’s not.

I opened my eyes this morning and it was 11.30 already; by the time I finally got up it was closer to 12.30. I was really tired. Really really tired.

I took the day off. I could have gone out to lunch or dinner with mm, parents or sis but I asked them all for a raincheck. I just want a quiet day. I had noodles for lunch, read, played a new computer game, and made mediterranean chicken with double potato mash for dinner. I’m gonna alternate between reading and gaming till bedtime, and it would have been exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday.

I’ve caught up on Paris posts. Here’s a cute picture of miniature Eiffel Towers I took through a shop window. Most nights I got back to the hotel late — restaurant service didn’t start till 7.30pm and with 3 courses for a large group it took a long time. So I didn’t fancy paying €15 each time to get online.

I was home, unpacked and showered by 8.30am. Most of the morning was trying to stay awake and finally I went to bed at 1pm. A nap was good. There’s a lot of catching up on greader and books in general. I’m not too tired yet but I might pop a melatonin and go to bed early.

The more I check out how Easter sunday is determined, the more confused I get. So I’m not even going to try. All I care is that I get 4 days off, and I left work at 4.30pm today.

It’s also a little bit colder than the last few days. Easter is always the last cool weather, then it starts getting hot and humid and awful. I hate summer.

Long weekend, did I mention that? Heehee.

I was tired from jetlag; mm was tired from being ill and overworking. But we still dragged ourselves out and met up for a bit today. Since it was still cool and the sun was out, I suggested that we went for a walk at the islands today. Well, not the islands, just one. The ferry ride was just over half an hour, and there were quite a few people, but once we got to our destination people seemed to scatter.

It really was just aimlessly walking around the old-fashioned village, window shopping and eating a little. We had orange juice with lemon and shared a club sandwich at the small coffee shop place. Dinner would be usually seafood at one of the restaurants but we decided to return to the mainland for an early dinner instead. We were finished by 7.30pm. I walked her to her bus-stop, went to the supermarket to get eggs and butter (I forgot with the big online order) and got a taxi home.

It was a restful day. We’re both glad we made the effort to go out.

It only took an hour to get home from the time the plane landed. Unpacked, sorted through mail and showered in another hour. Chatted with Car a bit. Waited for the grocery to be delivered — I’d made the purchase on Monday while still in Chicago, oh joys of online shopping.

Thought about taking a nap in the afternoon but decided against it. I’m making myself get really tired, then may be I’ll take a melatonin pill and hopefully I don’t wake up before sunrise tomorrow.

Man, I’m fading.

The thing today was we went shopping. I hate shopping, but today was productive. Car wanted some bookshelves and I wanted socks, so we have target places to go. So here’s what we bought:

1. car wash — no, not the car wash itself (though that would have been profitable) but one cycle at the car wash place. It’s different from what I’m used to. We had to get out of the car, the workers cleaned inside, stuck it inside the tunnel where the belt took the car through, and we picked it up the other side
2. wii games — Harry Potter and Transformers. For me of course
3. a 24-pen pack of colourful sharpies — so I can attempt more doodles
4. blank dvds — $20 for 100, a good bargain
5. Age of Empires games — not for me cos they were PC only, grr
6. bookshelves for the basement — actually a double storage cabinet with shelves and doors
7. 6 pairs of socks — with discount coupons they came to under $5
8. 2 pairs of work trousers for Car
9. Chicago Bears crocs for me, I’m such a tourist

And then we got chocolate milkshake from oberweis. I didn’t get a picture because: we took drive-thru and were moving in the car; I was too busy eating the shake. Oh yes, so thick that I needed a spoon. Very yummy.

It’s one of those indulgence days.

Met mm for lunch. We were talking about it on Thursday and agreed on the Korean restaurant. Now looking back, we never actually talked about which Korean restaurant (out of many in the area) but we both knew where to go. We had cold noodles and oxtail soup. The noodles were very nice, and we’d order it again definitely.

After lunch we took the bus to the acupuncturist’s place. I hadn’t been since November, and got a small disapproving look from the nurse. My original reason — a terrible unending migraine — hadn’t returned. But I’m sure the reason behind the headache — stress — is still there.

We could have gone shopping but we decided to go for foot massage instead. Ah, so nice. I fell asleep, as usual.

Dinner at a wood-smoke oven place. The starters, Waldorf salad and cream of pumpkin soup, were good. But the wood-smoked steak was horrible. Not tough, the other way round and that’s because it’s been treated with baking soda to make it tender. Problem is, it takes the flavour and texture completely away. Disappointing. Even a free tiramisu won’t persuade us to return.

So, simple day full of eating and pampering. Nice.

really.

not. a. thing.

I spent most of the day dealing with emails and reading. My colleague was off sick so I had a rare day when I can focus on doing my own stuff.

Left early and did a big shop at the supermarket, getting necessities such as shower gel, toilet roll for delivery tomorrow.

Fresh chicken was at 30% off, so I got one and roasted it. Another trick I learned, when resting the chicken after cooking, turn it over so the juices flow to the breast.

Boy I’m boring.

Woke up at 11am. Could have slept more, but conditioning meant I got up, made tea, had lunch and the usual “awake” stuff. But I was still sleepy.

Played on the wii for a bit but all I wanted was to sleep. So I had a nap at just after 4pm. When I opened my eyes it was almost 7pm. Boy, napping in bed is different from napping on the sofa.

I don’t think I’ll have problems sleeping tonight despite all the hours of sleep. I’m tired and it’s cold. I took out the extra duvet last night so I’m on three duvets. It makes me feel like I’m hibernating in a very warm cave.

Wouldn’t it great if humans can hibernate? Just curl up in a warm place and slow down whenever we want, no need to bother about work or stress or the outside world.

First explored by NASA as a potential means to send astronauts far into space, the research had been abandoned for over 20 years as it was too ambitious, and difficult. Recently, the race to hibernate humans is on again, according to the Times. This time, the purpose is medical.

to equip ambulances with a clear saline solution called plasma expander that would be injected into seriously injured victims at the scene of a car accident. The plasma would rapidly send body temperature from 37°C to 10°C, slowing the metabolism, delaying the onset of shock and limiting damage from wounds.

Woke up at almost 1pm, a rare occurrence. But welcome, I’ve been tired lately. Besides, I had no plans for the day. Watched tv, read, did laundry, played on the wii, watched more tv, finished the printed book I was reading.

Made a salad with bacon, runny egg, croutons, romaine lettuce, tomato, yellow pepper, apple and avocado. The croutons were made from an olive ciabatta from a couple of days ago. I diced them, lay the bacon over the cubes then baked the whole lot in the oven for about 20 mins.

I think I deserve to be lazy for a day.

Twice a year I willingly go to a place where there is a huge crowd, and work my way through the throngs of people. Today is one of those days. mm and I went to the home products exhibition — the annual Ideal Homes-like exhibition except on a smaller scale. Usually we’d buy a lot of the specials — drinks, gadgets, noodles, snacks, but this year we had perfect restraint. Apart from food at the food court area, we didn’t buy anything. It was nice to walk around though.

Afterwards we went for foot massage. A great idea since it’s been several weeks for both of us. For dinner we tried the sushi place but there were too many people so we ended up at the excelsior pub. Had a drink with chicken wings, then dinner of steak and baked potatoes. A little walk after dinner and I was home before 9pm.

My flight from Singapore was at 10am, and I got there ridiculously early at 7.30am, intending to hang around at the lounge and have breakfast. At the check-in counter they asked if I wanted to get on the 8.05am and I was like, okay. A bit dubious that there was only half an hour but they said it was fine. The queue at immigration was longer than usual and I berated myself for not having a thick enough skin to ask people if I could cut in. Ran like hell to the gate and got there at 7.50am. Luckily people were still boarding.

It’s good to be early, cos this means I get home earlier. Did online grocery shopping and 3 loads of laundry. Oh yes, I had no intention of going into the office at all.

Downloaded the few pics I took in Sydney, I edited the posts to include a couple of them. Not looking forward to work tomorrow.

I was pretty stressed out over the weekend cos there seemed to be so much work to be done for the integration yet not enough time. We had 3 conference calls / meetings today. Sigh. Luckily I also managed to finish writing both Singapore and Australia proposals and sent them off to the respective people. Not bad for a day’s work.

I did 3 loads of laundry over the weekend, and right now I’m doing a 4th load. There’s still one more to do sometime this week. And I don’t even want to start thinking about cleaning and ironing.

I sorted the pictures but I’m so behind on feed reading. google reader gave up after 1,000, now it just says 1,000+ unread. It’s all the diggs, giz and engadget posts, they’re crazy.

All I want to do is sit around and read.

Met mm for lunch at Japanese place, then went for foot massage. Bought some crabs, came home, cooked them. Watched tv while having the crabs, and mm went home at 8pm.

Usual weekend fare.

Is my life boring? On paper may be. But I like the mindless aspect.

The day went by really quickly. I woke up briefly at 8-ish, fell back asleep immediately. Eventually woke up at 11am. No food in the fridge but there was enough in the freezer.

Most of the afternoon was sorting out pictures, catching up on TAR and Survivor, and reading. All of a sudden it was time to get dressed. Parents are treating Sis’ parents-in-law for vegetarian dinner. I was very tempted to plead fatigue, but decided to go anyway. I had to give the beef and souvenirs to parents, the swimsuits to sis, and of course there’s my niece’s late birthday present.

Being out meant I could do some grocery shopping. God I’m boring — milk, juice, fruit, veg. LOL.

Sorting out rest of pictures. All of a sudden it’s late. Where did time go?

What do you do when you have no office to base yourself and you have meetings at 9am and then 4.30pm? Hours and hours in between.

Go back to the hotel room of course. Watch tv, read.

Oh, and meet up with old friends. Yep, met sherlock for lunch near where she works. Man, it’s been years since I saw her — either 2003 or 2004. And we’ve known each other almost 10 years. Time has just flown by. I’m so glad we keep in touch and we chat non-stop as usual. It is unusual because neither of us are big talkers.

I’m still nervous about the work meetings, I’m afraid I’m missing stuff but can’t be helped.

I met with a couple of vendors and have a different impression of both — one is very sales pitch and the other is more practical, we talked more about implementation. Guess which one I like up to now? I know that evaluating vendors should be logical and systematic … but needless to say emotions come into it.

This has also been a productive trip in terms of meeting with friends. I had lunch on Monday with ex-ex-colleagues, reminiscing how we’ve known each other for almost 12 years. My ex-ex-colleague is now the head of the Singapore department, and it’s good to see her where she is now. Last night dinner was with SC friends, I’ve known them for 4 years. Today I had lunch with more-recent-ex-colleague who couldn’t make dinner. It was very touching to see all the friends. One of the SC friends is pregnant and I got the news that she went into hospital in the morning. Hopefully her labour is short and she’s given birth by now.

Most of the socialising is done now. Dinner was a takeaway of chicken teriyaki on rice. Tomorrow it’ll be meals on my own, which I’m looking forward to actually.

We went to a home and household show today. We expected it to have home decoration designs, ideas, gadgets and innovations. We saw a couple of common designers, the type of gadgets hawked at street markets (vacuum bags, window cleaners) and an exhibition on toilets.

Not impressed.

Had early dinner at the sushi place, we got there about 4.30pm and had to queue up for about 20 mins even then.

mm was feeling headache-y and wanted therapy — retail therapy. So we went to a small shopping mall that was holding a “big” sale. She bought some clothes and a pair of shoes. I bought nothing, I don’t like shopping, but it wasn’t as bad an experience as it could have been.

Quick dessert then home.

The days are beginning to bleed together; I have to stop and think each morning what day of the week it is. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s a luxury and I’m not complaining. The problem is I’ve been home 3 weeks and I haven’t been sleeping as well as someone who has no job/obligations/worries should be. Some days I toss and turn and can’t sleep till 2am; some days I wake up before 8am for no good reason (though, mostly it’s the stupid allergy). This morning I slept till 10.30am, and I was mildly pleased.

I got an email from my friend CL asking about me. I haven’t talked to her for ages, we’re used to talking to each other at least 3-4 times a week in the office. I realised I’ve not been doing much — staying at home, getting unhappy if I have to go out, watching TV, reading, playing computer games. That’s it. Very slackerish.

I suppose I have to start slowly getting back into a working frame of mind. If all goes well I only have 2 weeks of this luxury left.

So it was timely to read, via lifehacker, Tim Ferriss’ not-to-do list for effective working. I really like his reason for having this list: “what you don’t do determines what you can do” — especially in today’s hectic constantly-available culture. Which is interesting, because I “don’t do” a few of these already. The full list, and my comments.

1. Do not answer unrecognized phone calls
   I definitely don’t answer if it’s a number I don’t know. Sometimes I don’t answer the phone at all. I usually don’t reply to voicemails either.
2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
   I am guilty of this sometimes. But I never give unreasonable deadlines for replies. Usually if I email last thing at night I’m expecting it to be read the next morning.
3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
   I’d never chair a meeting or conference call without sufficient preparation for the attendees; but I’ve attended my fair share of calls that were called for no good reason. Sometimes people get 12 people on the phone because one person asked one question that could have been answered by one person. Sigh.
4. Do not let people ramble—forget “how’s it going?” and embrace “what’s up?”
   Oh yeah, get straight to the point.
5. Do not check e-mail constantly—“batch” and check at set times only
   I hate having unread emails. At work on Outlook there’s this pesky envelope at the bottom of the screen that I simply must get rid of. At home, I want to keep track of emails immediately, so I check gmail all the time. All my various gmails are forwarded to one gmail, so I’m up to date. I don’t obsess about email, but I do tend to respond to them quickly.
6. Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers
   Not relevant cos I don’t have customers. I dislike over-communication anyway. Bullet points and clear next steps, that’s what I try to do.
7. Do not work more to fix overwhelm—prioritize
   That’s never really been a problem, I work quick and usually don’t get backed up. If it’s something I’m not interested in doing, I won’t do it in the first place.
8. Do not carry a cellphone or Crackberry 24/7, seven days a week—make evenings and/or Saturdays digital leash-free
   I’ve steadfastedly refused to get a Blackberry. I didn’t have a company laptop till my last month project and I hardly answer my cellphone. I make it pretty clear that work and home don’t mix.
9. Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should
   I can understand that sentiment and how people can become too attached to work. I have many friends from work, but that’s not using work to fill non-work relationships. I’ve always maintained that I go to the office for work — that’s it, it’s not a Life for me.

Tim Ferriss is the author of The Four Hour Workweek. Looks like a fad-type book but perhaps there are merits. May take a look at it if I come across it at a bookstore.

Turns out, my cool yellow raincoat isn’t as waterproof as I thought. It was pissing down with rain and it was almost 4pm, I was watching TV and contemplating taking a nap. In other words I was enjoying being at home out of the rain.

Then mm called about some documents that I had to sign and it was blah blah blah urgent-cakes. I had to go out. I don’t want to talk about it but I was severely annoyed. Yes it couldn’t be helped but it didn’t take away the severity of my annoyance. I dislike leaving home on a good day, and on a day when I had no reason to go out? Blah. Because of the urgency I took a taxi; then watched as the bus I would have normally taken pass merrily in front of the taxi that had gotten stuck in a traffic jam.

And on top of it, I got soaked coming home. At first I thought I’d take the bus home then I missed the bus, and the rain got heavier so I walked back to the taxi stand at my old office. Part of it involved walking up a long hill while a waterfall of rain water poured its way down past me. My trousers got soaked almost to my knees and my raincoat started getting wet all over and sticking to my arms and shirt.

Annoyed.

I spent two days playing jewel quest[/small voice], which *gasp* I’ve never really played before. I’m not very good at it but I can totally understand the addiction factor.

Oh, and in between, this morning I did something serious. I went to meet the regional chairman at PL’s company. Very nice guy, we had a good discussion. Afterwards PL called me and said he likes me. I’m hopeful. I have a call with her global head in 2 weeks’ time, probably a formality but a necessary evil.

Alright, I’ll stop complaining about it being so hot after this.

I took 3 showers today. One in the afternoon cos I was tired and wanting a nap but not wanting to get my bed all sticky.

My normal shower after dinner.

I’m off to bed but I’ve gone completely sticky again so I’ll need to re-shower. Now one might ask why I don’t skip the normal shower till just before bedtime. Good question. Except I wash my hair at night and I don’t blow dry it completely and I don’t want to sleep with partially wet hair. I know, I’m lame and anal.

I thought it might feel strang that I don’t need to go to work today but no, I don’t miss it at all. Still waking up early and getting tired easily. Plus it’s so damn HOT. I move an inch and I’m dripping.

Went to the supermarket, which was disappointing because they were renovating and it generally felt cramped. I had to be careful I didn’t buy too much stuff cos I couldn’t carry all of it. The large stuff was delivered but I had to stock up on fresh food.

Played the wii, read, napped.

That was a day.

Hot.

Hot.

Hot.

How can the weather be so hot?

And add to my tiredness and jetlag, we spent all afternoon and early evening looking at property. It was interesting but by the end I had zero energy left.

Jetlagged of course, so I woke up before sunrise, sigh. To be expected and I hope it doesn’t take me too long to recover.

Met mm for early lunch at our new favourite sushi place — the one with the yummy seared salmon. It opens at 11.30am and by the time I got there at 11.40am the first round of people were already inside and the usual waiting crowds were milling about. At the end we waiting for something like half an hour. Well, we had time. And we ate much more than usual. I was hungry and I needed the familiar food.

Top on my agenda was a haircut. I didn’t have time to get it trimmed before I went on my trip so it’s like a month too long. Even my hairdresser commented on how long it’d gotten. It was like a weight lifted when I exited.

We had an early dinner and then it was relaxing foot massage time. I fell asleep pretty much as soon as the therapist started. That was much needed.

Another much needed task is grocery shopping but since we ate out all day I can wait till tomorrow.

I was so busy for the last few weeks, today seemed surreal. A couple of calls, finished off a benefits analysis then spent most of the rest of the day reading an online story I’d printed. There were hardly any emails either.

Lazy.

mm and I went bowling today. We hadn’t been for years and years and years … last time was at Heathrow, I’m not sure if there is a bowling place there anymore. Our scores were dismal — I scored 97 and 75 while mm scored 64 and 74. Time was, I never went below 100. We need more practice.

After bowling we went for body massage. Boy was I stiff, this time when the therapist pushed my pressure points it really hurt. Much better now.

Early dinner at the Thai place — tom yum kung, chilli crab, mixed veg, chicken hor fun (enough leftover for my lunch tomorrow) and dessert. Buy one get one free Singha beer too.

Did my grocery shopping and took the minibus home. Showered and done by 9.30pm — that’s the sort of early night I like.

We went biking today at one of the islands. Took the fast ferry (around 30 minutes), had a late lunch and walked around before deciding we’d rent the bikes and explore more. We went to lost of places we wouldn’t have on foot, like the retreat, the back hills and the large cemetery. Quite tiring, and our bums hurt from sitting on the hard saddle.

We discovered this café place that serves this very refreshing drink — orange juice and slices of lemon in a large pint glass. Many people were drinking it so we went in to try. We had it for lunch and after returning the bikes. Yum

Seafood dinner and ferry back home. Tired, I’m sure my feet will hurt tomorrow. I just took a much needed shower because I was stick everywhere. And our bums hurt!

Today is the last of the six days vacation over Easter. Most people go back to work today, but we thought we’d take an extra day because mm was out of town for most of Easter / our birthdays and we wanted a day to celebrate.

Unfortunately she had to deal with something urgent so I spent most of today, yes like the previous 5 days, cooped up at home needing to find my own amusement. I read a little, wrote a tiny bit, backed up my backup hard disk, caught up with TAR, did long overdue ironing and a couple of loads of laundry. mm did come over in the afternoon and we watched a dvd and I made dinner. If we were in the habit of saying “if only” I wouldn’t have taken today off, but it was circumstances beyond our control. C’est la vie, n’est-ce que pas? It was a kind of a waste of six consecutive days of vacation, but again what could I have done? Sigh.

I was home all day today.

I finished off food that has been in the fridge and freezer for a while.

The only words I spoke were “thank you” for the grocery delivery person.

I spent most of the afternoon and evening watching dvds.

iTunes is off.

I’m a year older tomorrow.

It’s the start of a 5-day weekend. Plus I took Tuesday off so I have 6 days off in total. Not going anywhere unfortunately, mm has church duties over Easter and now she’s out of town with her family. Sigh.

So today was errands day. I went for a long overdue haircut and to pick up my new glasses. They didn’t have the sunglasses clip-on so I left still with my old glasses. Had loads of time before dinner so I went for a body massage. Then I bought an external hard disk and went to the supermarket.

Dinner with parents and sis’ family in lieu of my birthday. An old favourite Italian restaurant. The place was half full but the service was so slooooow. They did put a candle on the tiramisu and the staff sang happy birthday at the table. How embarrassing. The standard of food was also down. Either this is a permanent downgrade or the regular chefs are out. I used to love their food, today it was meh at best.

There are definitely fewer people around. I guess I’ll have to cheer myself and say it’s good that I’m staying around.

Met mm after lunch (she was at church, then had lunch with parents). Didn’t have particular plans, just wandered around — looked at CDs, fun stuff, bought some sour candy and stuff. Had tea of iced red bean and I had a peanut butter toast.

We talked about going for foot massage but decided to go karaoke instead. mm has been k-ing a lot lately, and she wanted me to “catch up” with the current songs. I suck at k-ing, not a keen singer, so while mm chose the “this week’s hits” I went for the 80s and 90s selection. I did try with the new stuff, like these songs called lightbulb and traffic lights.

Dinner was at the corner sushi place. It was the first time we went upstairs, and it’s more comfortable. We had a selection of sushi, a mackerel with roe sashimi, some whelks, pumpkin tempura, salmon head and ox tongue teriyaki. A small bottle of plum wine too. Heehee, there was enough sushi left over for me to doggie bag home — my dinner tomorrow.

Sigh. Nice day.

Went out around lunch time and ran a few errands.

Got my 10km run stuff — t-shirt, number, timer chip and souvenirs. Very efficient operation, long queue but the line moved quickly because there were many boy/girl scouts at the counters.

Then I went to HMV to browse around and listen to new releases. Finally found a copy of Ivy’s Guestroom. After HMV I went to Ikea to get a large serving dish and grater. Wanted to get a white single duvet cover & pillowcase set but didn’t see any that I liked.

Travel agent to get the airport train tickets.

Market to buy some veg.

Ended up having lunch at the vegetarian place at the market. It’s the family style place run by Sister Beauty. A plate piled with 4 types of vegetables and tofu plus organic rice. As much soup as we can drink (I had 3 bowls). And in age-old tradition, customers clear up themselves. There is a bin outside, and a large bucket for dirty plates. Just like home.

Whole day off today, yippee! But what did I do? I cleaned my dusty shoeboxes, threw out empty ones, vacuumed thoroughly under my bed (and the rest of the apt), made fruit salad, did 2 loads of laundry and tons and tons of ironing.

Boring.

Oh, on the upside, I watched the rest of season 2, took a little nap and read a little. Unfortunately I also ate lots of junk food.

Still boring.

Why is housework never ending? Sigh.

Heh, I spent most of today in the office, in the airport lounge and on the plane. I was very tired when I got home, but yeah I’m glad to be home. I missed the cold.

Bonuses were announced today. Mine is unchanged from last year. I didn’t react, I never do. It is what it is. Compared with many people in the company, it’s not very exciting. But it’s equivalent to some people’s annual salary, so I’m already grateful. It’s more than enough for me to live on, and I can go on holiday, buy nice toys and treat mm to something good (noooo, not a car, heehee).

*shrug*

I had a nice Christmas, but have been either too lazy or with lousy internet access to update.

Friday 22nd was an early day, headed home at 4pm. Met mm to do some last minute shopping for her, then went back to her place. Made rack of lamb — seasoned a 8-piece rack and put it in her small oven. Also made a (rather overcooked :( ) courgette and tomato mix. That lamb was good.

Saturday 23rd she had church and family events, so I went home. Didn’t do much, apart from internet, reading and watching TV. It was a good day, to have some peace and quiet.

Sunday 24th morning I chatted with my international friends. Then mid afternoon went over to my sis’ and helped out with the evening meal. A family friend (couple and their baby) also joined. Sis and Mum ordered 2 turkeys and 1 leg of ham, which was way too much for 6 people, but we enjoyed it all. I took lots of leftovers home.

I asked for money to contribute towards my new lens this year, so that’s what I got, yay!

After dinner, I went over to one of mm’s churches for midnight mass. The main church was crowded so she told me to go to the hall where there was a live video feed. She was on duty in the hall so that was good. Sang lots of carols, and the mass went on till 1.30am. Helped the legion people tidy stuff away, which I think surprised them. Like, who is this person stacking chairs and taking hymn books back to the church? We called a taxi home, and it cost about the same as the journey from her place to mine, not bad.

Monday 25th. Christmas Day!! She had church in the morning, and went to visit her parents afterwards. We’d ordered takeaway party food before, so she came home with chicken wings, ribs, shrimp balls and calamari. We watched The Devil wears Prada which was a nice holiday film. Shifted locations at night — went to her place. We didn’t have any dinner since we were both full.

Tuedsay 26th first thing we went to see her sis. Her Mom had bought poinsiettas but was detained with her Dad, so we bought a nice bouquet at a nearby flower shop. Met her younger brother up there. Then met up with the rest of her family for dimsum lunch. In the afternoon we went to foot massage.

Wednesday 27th we both took as a day off. We went to the expo and bought lots of stuff.

It was a good 5 days.

I have 3 driver’s licences and 2 travelling documents — different countries and purposes. Today was the day to renew one of them. Met up with mm, queued up at one counter to get the form, filled in form, queued up at another counter to hand over form, photo and other docs. Took almost an hour in total, for something I have no intention of using, sigh.

Lunch with mm was nice though. But she had to go to pastoral care training afterwards so it’s another weekend alone for bb. Went to the supermarket, bought a bunch of fruits, orange juice and milk. For a change I was tempted to get some ice cream. It was not to be though, because the cashier couldn’t get the item to ring up and I stood there waiting impatiently till at last she said she had to go get another box to see if the barcode worked. Too much hassle, so I left the ice cream behind, sigh.

Got home around 3pm, got caught up with online stuff (nothing new) and took a nap. When I got up, made fruit salad and watched TV. Reality TV night, both The Apprentice and Survivor was on. I’d been recording the former, so need to catch up soon. It’s only the second episode of Survivor — I missed the opener last week, while recovering from my trip. Looks like an interesting season, I just hope I remember to watch it, sigh.

Now it’s almost 10.30pm and I realise I haven’t had a proper dinner. Fruit salad and vodka chocolate that Car’s mom gave me do not dinner make, sigh.

mm got a raise, yay! so she treated me to dinner tonight. We had lobster nachos, rack of lamb and a jug of Sangria. Originally we wanted to have a 3-course meal, but were far too full to have dessert. We were looking forward to either chocolate pudding or apple & blueberry crumble, but that’s for another day.

Walked around a little after, then I got a bus home and she took a taxi. She’s been working very hard these few days; between that and church stuff it’s like we don’t have any time to hang out. Sigh. That’s priorities for you.

No need for aircon, wheeee!

It’s a sunny day but my mood is dark. It’s a bank holiday but my mood is dark.

I went out to get the rip in my cargos repaired. But either they were too busy, can’t get it back to me by tomorrow or the shop’s closed because of the holiday. I was very frustrated.

Then the software place shut before I could collect my disks. Frustration #2.

Went to the supermarket and bought stuff that was running out. They can’t guarantee delivery after 7pm tomorrow. Hello? People need to work?

When I got home I tried my hand at mending the pants. It’s held in place now but the stitches look terrible. Sewing is hard.

We went to visit her sis today. It was hot and I was sweating lots when we got up there, but then there was a breeze and it got better.

Had afternoon tea, walked around the shopping centre, went for foot massage, dinner at seafood restaurant. It’s late and I’m full.

I had writing group chat this morning, but it was quick, not many people attended.

Met mm for a late lunch at the steak place. Something about having steak at 3pm amuses me, but I was hungry.

After lunch we walked around the market, it was very crowded. It was basically to kill time till we could go to the church that mm got baptised in last week. I took her round the back way. Did I mention that I grew up in that area, my school is opposite the church so I know the area quite well?

Long time since I was at saturday anticipatory mass, it wasn’t as crowded as the main sunday mass but the turnout was impressive. For me, it was just another ordinary mass, but mm was clearly affected by it. When she came back from having taken the holy communion she was filled with emotions. I wish I could empathetise but it’s different for me.

She had meetings, the ones for newly baptised people. Originally I was going to hang around that area to wait for her, but she said I should go back to her place and wait. I took the bus and got off to change to another one. Then it occurred to me to pop by the computer centre near the bus stop to get a card reader and a USB hub. Ended up getting tons of software, which meant waiting for more than half an hour for the delivery.

Still had a little time to rest before mm called. We met at the restaurant nearby to her apartment and had a late dinner. We haven’t spent time together like this for a while, it was nice.

I was gonna stay home and rest. Then got distracted by the silly idiots from yesterday coming back into chat. Between the two of them they logged in using 5 usernames and started talking between themselves. It was disruptive. Then they started saying rude racist things, and that’s when one of the ops in the room kicked that person out. Got the forum moderators into the room and explained the situation.

They were stupid kids. Apparently on some of the junior boards being rude is rebellious and the accepted means of communication. And as soon as they showed up I logged in via snak, which gave me a log of the convo. Plus their IP addresses were showing, so who were they trying to kid? They’re banned from the chat now.

After the excitement I was gonna stay home and rest but I needed a haircut and realised I can’t go tomorrow as the shop closes on a Monday.

So I trudged off to get my haircut at the usual place. Then went to the supermarket. Bought a “five types of salmon sushi” for dinner.

I have one day before I have to fly again, it’s a big rush.

Repack my luggage.

Catch up on posts.

Do loads and loads of laundry and hope they dry before tomorrow.

Find food.

Go for massage because my back hurts so much. I don’t really have the time cos of all this stuff that needs to get done, but I need to sort it out.

I’m all stressed out.

Had a file that needed to be submitted for uploading by tonight, since there is a systems freeze and if we don’t make it to this window we have to wait a whole week. It’s annoying, but c’est la vie. I’ve been working on this for weeks and weeks — this was one of the reasons for going to India. I finished around 8pm. That’s pretty late for me.

When I went downstairs, it was cold, windy and raining heavily. Very unpleasant. The taxi queue was lonnnnnnng, I think I must have waited at least 20 minutes, may have been better to get the bus or walk. The wind was biting.

Because of the upset stomach, which is still bugging me a little; and the constant eating out for the last 2 weeks, I made myself steamed vegetables tonight — carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas and baby corn. No salt, no oil, no flavouring. Actually I’m not hungry at all. It’s cool.

For once I woke up later than mm. It was almost 11am when I turned over and found an empty side of bed, then gradually the sounds of the tv in the living room filtered through. We had taro cake for lunch, and dismissed the idea to go see the film, we’ll do that this weekend.

She decided to assemble the home entertainment system that has been sitting in its box the the longest time. There were wires everywhere! It took a while, cos we had to dismantle the vcr and dvd first, then connect everything. It’s complicated. And stopping all the time to test and make sure we have the connections right. Finally after 2 hrs we did it. Yay! Now mm has surround sound.

She went downstairs to the market to buy dinner — crabs and mini-whelks. A small portion of sashimi for the salad. We shared half a bottle of sake too. It was great.

I’m home finally. After 4 days away. It was really great to be at mm’s, though I did miss being home a little, I have to admit. I had left the dell on so I could keep grouper and bt going, but it’s gone a bit kablooey so I had to reboot. Stupid PCs. I’ve decided to buy the macbook for my birthday anyway.

Originally we had tentative plans to see the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but she wasn’t feeling well so we stayed in all day. It was bloody hot — the sun was out full force and I had to move from my perch on the couch to the shade. I was almost tempted to turn the aircon on! It’s supposed to be January, grrrrr.

Late afternoon I ran over to the supermarket to get the ingredients for our dinner. Last night we opened a bottle of Côtes du Rhône and it was so plonkish we couldn’t drink it — so we had to find a way to use it up. I wanted a whole chicken but it wasn’t available so I bought whole legs. Garlic, carrots, potatoes and a tin of chopped tomatoes completed my purchase. I cut the chicken up into pieces, marinated slightly with salt, pepper & olive oil and browned them with garlic. Added diced carrots, tomatoes and the red wine. Simmered on low heat till reduced to at least 1/3. The potatoes I did my usual par-boiled cubes then roasted till crispy. Pretty okay, though the chicken fell apart and it was more like minced chicken.

Felt like ice cream, so I checked out the tubs in the freezer. Hmm. Still taste okay, but they’d been in the freezer for too long and it was more like vanilla ice. Not too bad.

Early lunch for us, almost brunch. Then again, steak and beans is a large brunch.

Went to the flower market, which was very crowded, even though we went fairly early. Bought some flowers, but not so many. I got quite hungry, so we stopped for pork chop roll. Afterwards I picked up the duvet covers and bedsheets I had on order.

Bus back to her place to take a rest and dump the stuff we bought. She had dinner with her folks and I had dinner with a couple of friends — we had hotpot at a posh hotel restaurant. Quite expensive actually. Originally wanted to go to dessert at this chocolate place but it was full. Instead we ended up with a bar/deli place where they had an evening special of cake and glass of wine or liqueur coffee. I had a banoffe pie and house red — heavy but yummy.

It was past midnight when I met mm at the park to go to the fair. I hate crowds and it was late, but she wanted to go, so it was fine by me. man, that crowd! We weren’t moving by our own accord, it was like a sardine tin and people behind us would push us forward. The stuff on sale were the usual tacky worthless toys — balloons, inflatable toys, cheap decoration. Why people want to go get jostled by people and wet from the rain I have no idea.

I went to church with mm this morning. Got out of bed at 8.20am on a sunday morning. I wanted to make the effort, since it means so much to her.

The chapel at the Catholic Centre was small, and almost full when we got there. She’s in the choir so I had to sit on my own. Luckily the lady directing traffic found me a seat near the choir, actually it was just behind them, I was settled.

Good service. The Irish father talked about the story of the reluctant prophet Jonah and how he was supposed to have survived 3 days in the belly of a whale. Sometimes I gotta laugh at how people who wrote the Bible treated these stories as if they’re real. It’s a metaphorical whale, people. But still, a good story.

I like this church. They sing everything that is singable. The atmosphere isn’t pretentious, everything is efficient. But I’m not sure if I’ll go as often as I should. She has choir practice afterwards and that meant hanging around for 1.5 hours when I’d much rather be at home and online. I’m pretty sure my temper will get bad if I have to hang around every week.

We had a nice lunch then went clothes shopping. Honest honest, this must rate as one of my least favorite activities. My shopping M.O. is know exactly what I want, target the shop(s), zoom in and get out as soon as possible. I couldn’t manage spending 50 minutes in every shop, trying clothes over and over again, and asking the sales people all sorts of questions. I can barely talk to the sales assistants, let alone ask them anything.

Fruitful shopping trip though, she bought a really fantastic blue striped sweater and a few other tops. All were on sale, that was good. I didn’t have any energy to find anything for myself.

When we finally reached the foot massage place I was so tired, I almost fell asleep straightaway. I was asleep for most of the 1.5 hours though. After the foot massage we tried the ear candle massage. It’s our second time and it was pretty comfortable afterwards. When the therapist held the burning candle in my ear, I heard gentle crackles and pops, she was giving me a face and neck massage at the same time. Yeah, I fell asleep again.

Dinner was Indian food. I’m still tired.

I watched 5 eps of TLW s2 today, 3 of them in the afternoon while waiting for mm to call so we could meet for dinner. I wish we had a group of supportive friends like that, of course without all the drama and over-drama of a tv series.

We did food shopping and walked around a furniture store. Then simple dinner before going home again. I mentioned that I could go over tonight, but we decided not to, cos tomorrow’s a work day. Perhaps one day this week I’ll go over to try the Mon-Thurs special buffet at “our” Japanese restaurant.

Been listening to my iTunes on shuffle. I think I’ll rip the rest of my CDs. Previously I picked out songs I liked, but I think now I’ll get the whole CD.

Writing group chat this morning was … interesting and different. I guess with a growing group of people, the usual people dynamics interactions will happn.

She was out with friends, we didn’t meet till 6pm. We went to a food/product expo. Bought lots of noodles, biscuits and new bedding sets. There were bargains to be had.

Part of the area was food court too, we tried snake soup, stewed venison, pumpkin pudding. Nice stuff. By the time we got home it was almost 11pm. I’m going to bed, a little headachey.

I did NO work today. Yeah, lots to do, to catch up. But I couldn’t get into anything. I even came home for lunch.

Received an email from imation that they’d take a look at my flash drive. I finally found the receipt, I would’ve kept it.

Did backup for the website, it’s been a while. One of the files kept giving me type 2 errors, and since it’s a category archive, I skipped it. No clue why it’s bugging the memory.

Otherwise, a lazy day.

We had an incredibly quiet New Year’s Day. She went to church in the morning and bought chicken wings back for lunch. Yes, incredibly boring, but it’s what we like.

I tried writing a short story in the afternoon while she napped on my couch. We both realise we should be going out but we didn’t want to move. Eventually we had to, since we were decamping to her place tonight.

Had dinner at our usual Japanese restaurant, not set menu like usual, we ordered à la carte — crab in fish soup hot pot, unagi hand roll, sashimi, deep fried chicken [I don’t know what it’s called, cartilege?]. I had a glass of choya.

Walked to the cinema, bought tickets for Goblet of Fire for tomorrow. Walked back. It was really nice.

Spent the morning in chat, many people, some are actually friends. It’s amazing.

Met for lunch at a new Vietnamese place, we had beef noodles and a small steamed rice roll. I had a lemon 7-up. Was going to visit the big NY festival at the park but she found a smaller food exhibition at the convention centre, so we took the bus there.

Quite crowded but I could manage my claustrophobia. We decided it was a good idea to visit after lunch, cos we only tried very few items and bought even fewer, compared to what we normally did. Just some honeycomb, tea leaves and noodles. Oh, and a case each of blueberry vinegar drink. That woman at the stall was so rude it was hysterical.

There was also a gift expo downstairs, included in the nominal admissions fee. What did we buy? A pair of crocs each. Mine is in boring chocolate and hers in butter.

Talking of foot, we had our usual foot massage afterwards. Dinner of lamb hotpot and steamed fish; and we bought dessert home.

20 minutes to go. I’m in the study and she’s just fallen asleep on my couch. It’s just us this New Year’s Eve. It’s good.

All things considered, sitting in my office all day pretending to be busy but in fact bored out of my mind surfing the net isn’t a bad way of spending the friday before a long weekend. I sent myself a couple of faxes, got the dept secretary to give me efax access and wrote an email to imation about my flash drive. That’s about the only productive things I did. I’d much prefer to be a little busier. Ha! Famous last words!

We left work at 6.20pm, met up at the tram stop, but the trams were way too crowded. So we walked about 20mins to the restaurant we were planning to go to. All I remember about this restaurant is that it’s pretty old and I last went there with her and her sis. I think. Anyway we had roast chicken, fried dumplings and a vegetable / tofu soup.

Afterwards we walked around for a while before coming home. Love walking around in this weather, after dinner.

Had the rest of the hokey pokey ice cream.

Now this is the life.

Not thinking about the end of the holidays. No. No. No.

Still trying to sort out our photos and catching up on reading.

Family Christmas celebration today, later than expected, cos of timing. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, Swedish meatballs, Christmas pud, mulled wine. Everything very nice. I took one drumstick and the carcass home, parents took the rest. Lots to eat, my fridge is totally full.

This jetlag business is strange. I don’t feel that tired, but we woke up at 6.40am again. Couldn’t get back to sleep.

Today we decided to go out for morning tea, which ended up being brunch. Had the hokey pokey ice cream that we bought yesterday at home, then I made vegetable soup.

Sorting pictures is taking a long time, which is why NZ posts are taking some time too.

woke up at 6.45am and couldn’t go back to sleep, must be the jetlag. She cooked us breakfast and went to church. I really should go but I was lazy. I’m also afraid that I’d get roped into the choir and group activities, same as her.

So I caught up a little with my reading and had the most unlikely Christmas lunch of vegetables. I have no fresh food in my fridge.

Mid afternoon we met up and had foot massage. On the way, my bus broke down but no delay as everyone just hopped onto the next one that came along. The streets were full of people and I felt my bad mood rising with each person in my path. Why can’t they all go away?

Bought hairy crabs and went to the market near her place to buy vegetables for my fridge. Got some hot wings from McDonalds too. Okay, that sounds like a weird Christmas dinner, but well, it’s what we like.

Tired from our travels. She was asleep by 10.30pm. I stayed online to chat a little, but had to go to bed just after midnight too.

What did I do today? I can’t remember.

It’s the last day of work before we go on vacation.

I answered some emails, I sent some emails. I wrote a two-page discussion paper on implementation of my latest project. But I can’t remember the details.

It’s the last day of work before we go on vacation.

I met mm for lunch (heh! our lunch date was at … McDonalds!!!) and I was momentarily irritated at her cos as soon as we sat down her cellphone rang and I’d finished my grilled flatbread sandwich when she returned. But I can’t be irritated at her for long.

It’s the last day of work before we go on vacation.

I bought my boss a flash drive, ate some chocolate from an expensive gift hamper that came from a vendor. I tidied my office, cleared my desk, set the out-of-office in my email, forwarded my phone to voicemail. I left the office at 6.30pm.

It’s the last day of work before we go on vacation.

I have some more food to finish in my fridge. I have final packing to do. I have a chat conference with my writing group tomorrow morning.

It’s the last day of work before we go on vacation.

Heh.

I’ve been needing a haircut for about 2 weeks, last week there were too many errands to run, so I didnt’ get a chance. So today after the chat conference I made my way over to my hairdresser’s. And boy was he busy! I got there at 3pm and he told me to come back at 5pm. I remember a couple of years ago when the place was empty, now they’re buzzing.

So I went to a local fast food place and had a chicken drumstick and a pork chop roll. Then to the travel agent to buy train ticket for the airport. Then a little Christmas-y shopping. Lingered at HMV for a while, then went to the supermarket. Got back to the hairdresser’s at almost 5.30pm. Place was still full. Sat down, read food & drink magazines and he finally got to me at 6.30pm. He felt really bad, but I could see that he was working non-stop.

I left at 7.45pm, a good 3 hours after my original plan. I wanted to go home and either nap or edit my Holiday story. Now it’s, like the Swiss say, kaput. Sigh. Not his fault, he didn’t know all his customers were going to show up en masse like that.

I used to go to London for haircuts, when I was living in NY or Zurich, I’d time my visits so I could cut my hair during those visits. Can’t do that now cos it’s too expensive. This particular guy is pretty good, almost as good as the London guy, so I’m happy to stick with him. My hair is way too thick, he takes out the thickness but keeps the shortness, I always feel lighter when I cut my hair.

I was supposed to go to church with mm this morning, but I was too sleepy. And she let me sleep, bless her. She had choir practice afterwards and she said she’d be done by 11.15 / 11.30, so instead of waiting for her call, I took the bus down to that area. Called her on my cellphone when I arrived. Called 3 times. Argh! Spent a good 40 minutes walking around a boring supermarket, clutching my cellphone, getting annoyed.

Can’t be mad at her for long. :P I took her to the Singaporean noodle place and we shared a laksa, a mee siam and a rojak. Very authentic lah. Afterwards we walked towards the German bread shop, on the way we discovered a small street market which was very nice. She bought a set of 3 cuddly dogs for her brother’s family and I bought a Christmas decoration for my niece. At the bread shop she bought a loaf of wholewheat bread and I bought 2 half loaves for Mum.

Then it was bus time to get to the other side of town. First, we looked for sports sandals for her, but not easy in the winter. Then she did some clothes shopping, which I must admit was my least favourite part of the day (sorry, mm *smack*). Oh, before that, we checked out the price of the new camera I want to buy. It’s considerably more expensive than I thought. Like, um, twice as expensive. Ordinarily I’m not a very price sensitive person, but this, I need to think about. Problem is, if I’m going to go digital SLR, I have no choice, because of the existing lens set that I have. I’ll check the price at the duty free tomorrow.

Mid afternoon we had bubble tea and peanut butter thick toast at the Taiwanese tea house chain that I haven’t been to for years.

Rested and rejuvenated, we went to look for my Christmas present. :D A waterproof, windproof jacket with down interior. Tried a few combinations of inner colours and outer styles. I have an old old old jacket that is full of holes that I’ve had since first year at college. And my ski jacket. But this one has warmth, and it’s bought by mm, what more do I want? Oh, and it’s 10% of the price of the camera!

Back on the bus, then went to the computer mall. Bought a spare flash drive and the Tunebase FM for our trip. Our original plan of getting an iTrip was forgotten when we came across this one, cos it can recharge via the car cigarette lighter.

I had dinner with my family. My sis’ parents-in-law are in town and we went to the favourite vegetarian restaurant. Poor mm had to go home on her own, no bb for dinner tonight, sorry honey.

Right now, I’m doing laundry and feeling icky about the trip. I’m all packed for the India trip tomorrow. Did I mention I don’t want to go?

Woke up before lunch, both of us, that’s pretty unusual. I was online and watching Discovery Travel & Living, she was watching her Korean drama. She made toast which made us kinda full, so we decided to stay home till later. Went for tea buffet at the excelsior — salad, sushi, canapes, plenty of hot dishes, dim sum, fruit, waffles, ice cream, muffins, bead pudding, red bean soup, sweet tofu. My credit card had 20% off too, we were stuffed.

Walked around the nearby malls. Went to the computer place to look for an iPod FM transmitter, so we can take one iPod to NZ and not have to worry about what’s on their radio, or spend time burning CDs. There are ways to link iPods to car radios, but for rentals the best options are the FM transmitter or the cassette adaptor.

We’ve narrowed it down to the Belkin Tunecast II or Griffin iTrip. Since our trip isn’t till December, we’re waiting a few weeks in case something new comes on the market for Christmas. Same for my new camera purchase too, I’m waiting till I come back from India.

Strolled around HMV, saw some new dvd sets I want to buy, but didn’t want to carry around. I’ll go back later.

The main activity tonight was going to see Corpse Bride. She saw the poster last week, and thought it’d be interesting. It was surprisingly good. It was definitely better than I expected — the story, the animation and the songs! I didn’t know they’d break into occasion songs and it was wonderful. I told her the rating is PG and at first she thought it can’t be, but it is. None of the dead people are remotely scary, heehee. I didn’t notice though, too busy having fun with the music.

We met for lunch, then walked aimlessly around in the middle of the crowds. I’m less anxious today and have less of a desire to magic all the people on the street into an alternate dimension, some of them I still consider space wasters.

I’ve been looking for a new pair of sneakers, after the pair I’d been wearing since 1999 developed a hole in the right sole. I lurve that old pair, but it’s time to get a new pair. Been looking and looking. Don’t want one that’s too sporty, don’t want white or black or weird colours. Been seriously considering an Adidas Gazelle but I’ve never been an Adidas fan. Imagine how happy I was to find a pair I like today. And she bought it for me. SWOON!

We got a bit hot walking around, so we went for foot massage again. At our old place. The therapist says my feet and legs were very stiff, she’s great, though she’s the most painful.

Dinner at a Korean bbq restaurant, it’s one of those ones that has been at its location forever. It was past 9pm and it was crowded. People kept coming in after us too. We had a set dinner for two: assorted small dishes, chicken, pork, beef, fish, squid, rice, soup, orange and a stick of chewing gum. I was dehydrated so I had a diet coke. We shared a small bottle of Korean wine. Good meal, excellent food.

Problem with korean bbq is, the minute I got home I headed straight for the shower. Everything about me smelled of the food — hair, skin, nails, teeth. All the clothes I was wearing today are right now in the washing machine as well as some of hers. She normally washes her hair in the morning but tonight, she washed herself from top to toe too.

All in all, a nice lovely day.

Another slow day. Lunch at home. Short nap. Foot massage in the evening. Dinner at home. Of course the thought on our minds — the end of a weekend, have to go back to separate homes. Sigh.

It’s getting harder and harder to leave each other on a sunday.

Chat conference for the g13 writing project this morning, it’s becoming an exercise in management, to coordinate with two groups, and quite large too. We did the random draw to see who was writing what, and I got #11 out of 12. Many nationalities in the group, the dynamics built up from the current group (everybody returning to the second project) carried over to the next group, which is great.

Mid-morning, and my new fridge arrived! Yay!

Instead of the usual foot massage, I had body massage, cos my back and arms were hurting. And did the massage hurt! There were times when all I could do was tense up and grit my teeth, even though the therapist tells me to relax. She’s good, I’m sure it’ll be better in a few days.

Dinner with my family, I asked her to join too, it’s great. My niece is so cute, she talks a lot now, and was running up to me with her dinosaur cards. Awww.

Afterwards we went for a drink, the place is only so-so in terms of service and quality. Location can’t be beat unfortunately. I didn’t behave too well, she was on the phone / sms about important work stuff and I was bored, I should be more interested.

I had a writing group conference in the morning that ran for about 3 hours. We planned to go to karaoke but decided against it cos: 1) not cheap and 2) I don’t sing anyway. Stayed at (respective) home till 5pm when we met up for foot massage. Thai dinner then home. See? Same old routine, but 110% what we wanted.

We went to see our financial advisor today, to catch up with our savings. Doing quite well in general. We were talking about how much we need in order to retire, it’s a long way, sigh.

Went to get tickets for our short break, explored a few options at the ferry terminal and at travel agents. Ended up finding a spa package at the Mandarin Oriental, on the internet. Could have booked online but she called a toll-free number and got it sorted out.

Enough walking around, later we went for foot massage. The therapist is one I like, but haven’t been able to time my visits so she’s free, I’m so pleased I got her today. She says my feet seem to be better, not as stiff. I’m glad.

Was supposed to meet family for tea buffet, so I only had a light lunch. Made her eat most of it heehee. Then mum called to say she isn’t feeling well, so let’s not go. I was secretly glad — not cos she’s feeling poorly, but cos I don’t need to go out. Then she called again and said she couldn’t find sis so it’s still on. Sigh, okay. About 5 minutes later, she called again … found sis and it’s off. Okay. 5 minutes later, called again to confirm, yes it’s off. Sigh, alright. Poor mum, not feeling well.

In the middle of all that, I was backing up my PB1 to the external hard disk. PB1 can no longer connect to the internet, I have no idea why. The mp3 backup took 5 hours, but now I can play my music on any machine, it’s worth it.

I’m glad it was a lazy day though, I don’t like going out anymore. Oh, the upside was, we had a nap in the afternoon, we were both tired, it was nice.

Another day of staying home, with my laptops. I have the dell open, writing on it. And PB1 playing iTunes. It’s comforting to be surrounded by them.

The technician was supposed to come today to install the broadband TV and to change my modem, but he came on Thursday (even though the appointment was today, huh?) and didn’t come back today. I called the company up and they’re sending someone tomorrow. They’d better, cos I want my cheaper broadband plan right now.

We went to Ocean Park today. It’d been raining the past … month and for once the sun came out occasionally albeit interspaced with heavy showers. When it was sunny it was hot as hell and we felt like we were melting. I didn’t want to go at first for the same reason — I don’t go outdoors when it’s this hot. But she had these complementary tickets that runs out 30 June, and she really wanted to go. Sigh, the things I do.

Turned out to be a good outing. Heaps and heaps of people, and rude and loud too. I tried very hard to pretend they didn’t exist. Watched a bit of the show from way up on the pathway, walked along a nice sea lion enclave, fought against thousands of people for much needed but way overpriced fried chicken, vsited the panda house, dinosaur house, goldfish house. All in all it was worth the visit.

Bus queue was long, so we made a great decision to take the taxi out. Stopped by the computer store and bought her a new Powerbook, currently sitting pretty at my place. Nice dinner and here I am. Every single piece of clothing I wore today is soggy and sticks to my skin, my hair is full of grease and whatnot, I stink of … just stink. Freshly showered, I’m okay.

Originally I harboured the idea of visiting the Food Expo, but I went to bed very