I love this version
After nearly 4 hours of flight from Singapore to Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, and 2 hours of waiting for transit and another 1 hour of flight from Guangzhou to Hunan, I reached Changsha. The first thing I noted was the freeze. It was really cold. Much colder than I expected. I was constantly breathing out smoke. It was fun, but at a price.
Xiao Xu fetched us from the airport and brought us to Gold Source Hotel (金源大酒店). The hotel is the second nicest one that I have stayed. The room is big enough for a couch and a coffee table AND a king-sized bed (well almost but definitely bigger than a queen-sized).
The dinner was as usual, full of people. The food is really spicy but its really good. i heart the soup too. Then the usual drinking. Can we drink Wang Lao Ji instead?
After the dinner, Xiao Xu brought us to Carrefour, where we stocked up on some necessities of life.....Cup noodles and other junkies.
By now the temperature is fast approaching zero and its raining. FYI, we had to walk in the awful razor cold wind, piercing rain and the zeroing temperature. It was more than cold. Luckily I brought my fats and some of the Singapore heat with me.
We settled down and went to fourth floor of the Hotel, in search of the Gym. There was a gym alright and it is appropriately equipped. There are also 2 billiard tables, 3 ping-pong tables AND around 7 lanes of bowling alley.
Every room is entitled to 2 free games. As such, the four of us played. In the end, the focus was not on the score but on how LOUD we can slam the bowling ball onto the alley lane. Cold sweat.....
Probably this is the only post on my Hunan trip because I can foresee the remaining days would be monotonously boring.
The heralding of the new year is just less than a month away. It would also mean a new decade, as we wearily waded away from the first decade of this millenium.
1 Jan 2010 will mean a new year and a new decade. As traditions would hold, we make resolutions, hoping that the air of freshness will lift our spirit and will and hence to accomplish what we set out to do. Yet many a time, it doesn't work out just like that. We missed our targets, frustrations set in and we pray that the next year quickly comes around, just so we can redeem ourselves from our guilt by making more resolutions.
I have a lot of resolutions. First of which is to overcome my laziness and my lack of concentration. Secondly, to better my relationships with my family and close friends and to form new frendships. Thirdly, to pass my CFA.
I could go on. But all these will then be meaningless except to assusage my guilt. I am scared of resolutions, or for that matter, making resolutions. I know I will disappoint myself.
Resolutions scare me......
Labels: kenThoughts
I dread to pick up the task that I am embarking on. The thought of starting anything overwhelms me. I learnt that I have not accomplish anything for the past 26 years. I squandered the time away and life has a way to get back at me for the wastage.
I need to know the result or deliverables of the task that I am going to do.
I need to know what is required and how are requirements going to be achieved.
My mind seemed to be in a blank state whether I force myself to look at the tasks. I know I have a very bad concentration span and my mind will scream for pleasure whenever I am stuck in an unpleasant situation. It's too pain and frustrating for me to face down a task and to focus my energy.
I am have ONE option now.......
Labels: kenThoughts
The whole family has shifted to a place at Outram. The first thought that screamed in my mind was.."Have I stepped into the 1970s?" It was a lone housing, built around the same time as those in Queenstown or Tao Payoh, which stood atop a small hill. It also meant that I had to climb up the hill after a long day at work.
Everything was so different from the usual HDB stuff that I had envisioned. There were 2 rooms with really poor sound-proofing, doors with opening at the top, the electric box with wooden casing, one toilet that the whole family shared and a small living room that housed everything else. There is no SCV line. There is no internet (which could be remedied as I am typing this). I just went back to 1970.
Such experiences are meant to be lived and not complained about. I soon learnt to appreciate the place. I loved my room as it was relatively spacious and allowed me to furnish it to my own liking. The strategic location of the housing meant that I could take either the NEL or the east-west line. The office is within walking distance. There are tons of food just at the foot of the place. In short, short of a Starbucks, I HEART the place.
The irony is that I will not be spending too much time in it. I am currently on a one-week break in Hong Kong. Next week, I will be away in Hunan for a month. Following which, I will be in Xiamen for 2 weeks. I do hope that I can take some time off and explore the place a bit. I think that there are a few places that reminded enigmatic to me like the Ann Siang Hill area, the Chinatown market area.
As the Chinese saying goes, "Ri Jiu Sheng Qing."
Labels:
kenThoughts
I am back from a short trip from Xiamen and one of the highlights was the 10 books that I have bought. They cost about 50 sing dollar and that is about the cost of one book in Singapore. I am so inspired to write as I read through the books. Nothing beats having your thoughts articulated and transformed into words.
I think that is what blogging is about. Or for that matter, what keeping a journal is about. Coincidentally, I have bought a book on how to write daily journal.
As the year draws down to an end in another 1.5 months time, there is much to reflect, especially since this year is like the kind of year that one would say, "I have been through much." Yes, I will always remember the July Disappointment and September Depression.
In short, I have to start exploring for new paths. I can feel the inner tectonic shifting, as the magma and lava within me starts to destabilize. New lands are forming, while other sinks to the ocean bottom. Mountains becoming valleys and plains becoming the next Himalayas. 2010. The new movie.
The one week I have spent serving the nation was not really wasted. I have found new perspectives through the exchange of experiences with my fellow buddies. It was a rather invigorating break from the normalcy of my working life. And the camp was as if another dimension where everyone became another person. Vulgarities, obscene jokes and pranks were just part and parcel of the "new" life in this dimension. I could never have imagined anyone of us doing what we have done in ORQ or at Orchard.
I have never laughed so hard and slept so much. In a way, in spite of all the inefficiencies, the heat, the loss of civilian comfort, the ICT was in fact a much needed therapy that I needed. And I have found much more. Talking to my buddies, I realised that I have lost track of what I was looking for all these while.
Knowing that the bond with them was still there was a comforting thought. And I appreciate them for who they are.
And on my part, I will need to reach out to them and not get lost again.
On a whole, the chain of unfortunate events starting from late June and escalated in September, is a reminder of how much more I need to put in my best in my work. And how I need not envy others' lifestyle but to develop my own.
Certainly, the best thing that came out of the ICT is that there are much more options thrown out to me. Just like 5 years back, when I had switched course to Accountancy, this is another defining period.
I realised that I am too easily distracted. No good. Have to work harder on that aspect.
Labels:
kenThoughts,
kenWork
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