It's Not So Quiet, Shh Shh

So the year's winding down, and everyone seems to be having a havoc time, holidaying (for those clearing their leaves) or working (or making a show of it, anyway). Over here in drownedglass land, all hell seems bent on breaking loose at my job site. No rest for the wicked? Mayhaps, but all I can do over here is pester those responsible to get the problems solved pronto, year-end holidays and annual leaves be damned.

In between placating clients, pushing colleagues and pummeling contractors, there's still time enough for me to patter away on my keyboard, perhaps reminisce about the year that's just about to pass on... but you know, the end-of-December miasma is not just making me slack on work, my brain's kinda on auto-pilot mode which means I can't really write this post either. Hence, the meandering (even more than usual). Ah heck, I'll just be lazy and recap the highlights of my 2008 that managed to get blogged about :P

January: The month of firsts... My first and (I swear) last experience of letting fish eat me. Also my first (and hopefully not last) taste of Delish cupcakes. And the first of what would turn to be a semi-regular gathering with a bunch of real titties!

February: What else, but Chinese New Year (it's a short month) and that never-to-be-fulfilled non-resolution.

March: I turned 32 *yawn*. More significantly, there was plenty of food, especially meat. And Cook said hello to me... ME!

April: Stork delivered a boy (like, finally)! Began mulling over migration about this time, though I'm lingering on still.

May: Went to heaven, then to hell, and found a little hope. It helped that I had a new toy to play with.

June: A lousy time, and not just because of the exorbitant fuel price hike.

July: Compensated by throwing myself into SYTYCD Season 4, and, inspired by the choreography and songs, made up not one, not two, but three stories. I guess dream therapy helps.

August: Had started my exile at the end of June and barely had time for anything - be it friends, family or blogging. All work + no play = dull boy.

September: Seems like the exile was cutting off my social life to the point where I got all maudlin over meat.

October: Things picked up with the return of a certain prodigal, and gay ol' times were had with the ex- (and the practically-ex) bloggers - including the rather terrifying introduction of jiu hu char into my potluck repertoire and the uttering of what is most certainly the quote of the year.

Novemeber: A very good month indeed - completed my dream collection, a wish finally came true, and I rediscovered my roots... "di sebalik batu", so to speak.

December: With things to look forward to, I take a wistful look backwards. But the year is drawing to a close, and with that comes high spirits and the inevitable family drama (or perhaps it was just me storming in a teacup... as usual).

All in all, I had a very good year indeed. The job's so much better than my previous one; my circle of friends has grown wider, yet no less cosy; there's stuff to look forward to (at least for a little while); and generally things are looking kinda up, despite the downturn. Who knows what tomorrow would bring, but it doesn't really matter. I've learnt that I have grown enough to face all sorts of shit now, and what with such wonderful people surrounding me, everything will be quite alright, as long as we hold on together.

Happy New Year, everybelly!

My Own Sweet Time

Getting posted to a place that's like almost a half-hour's drive to not very much, and working practically from sunup till sundown, day in and day out, I haven't had much time to stay connected (other than the occasional sneaks into cyberspace while I'm still in the office and the higher-ups have all left). Thankfully, I've got my weekends back so at least I can still make the trip back to the valley and say hi to my laptop, and my couch, and my bed, and yes, my downloads.

Oh, and my friends as well. Of course. *cough cough*

Which is why I'm really appreciating my weekends now. Like, clean up my place? Whatever for? I've done enough work for the week, thank you. And it'll only be dirty again the next time I come home.

All I wanna do is kick back, relax, eat, drink hit the gym for that one time in the week, catch up with my friends (preferably over a drink, snack or meal), gossip, watch a movie, eat some more, download stuff, and be generally very merry (which normally involves eating as well).

I didn't pencil "spilling a large Coke onto my feet" or "losing my driver's license" into my itinerary but they happened anyway. Thankfully, I was wearing slippers and not my new shoes, and also, the good people of Cathay found my license and kept it for me, keeping my off-work drama to a minimum. Lord knows I have enough drama at work to deal with.

But it's back to the hinterlands tomorrow and I gotta get up at an ungodly hour so I'm not gonna think anymore about what to write and just throw some pics at you. Pics of FOOD.

Of course.

*cough cough*

Beef Soba in soup at Okuchi, Kota Damansara

Pasembor (Indian rojak) from stall in Section 17, PJ

Aforementioned stall in Section 17, PJ (as recommended by a lil' fat monkey)

Recovery

Ughhh... Ahhh.... Ouchhh...

Surely early thirties is a little too early to be feeling aches and pains all over the body. Perhaps I may have become a tad too accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle. Probably also due to the extra baggage I carry around (not-so-lovingly referred to by an ex as my 'lifesaver').

Still, I guess I have an excuse. After all, I did spend the whole week out at site. No, I did not have to do physical labour. But I did have to wake up extra early to go clock in a day's worth of standing under the sun or in the rain or whatever else our recent inclement weather dictated by the quarter-hour.

Yes, stand. The whole day. Looking at other people do menial labour.Telling other people to do menial labour. And kowtowing to the client every two to three hours.

Yes, very rough and tough work it was.

All that, and still I faithfully dragged my ass over to the gym. Apparently standing around at site does not burn fat.

What could burn fat would be a preview class for the upcoming BodyJam 45. As expected, the studio was indecently packed, which meant it was hotter than usual (in terms of temperature, not, most unfortunately, in terms of the crowd).

There was a whole lot less oxygen to go round as well. Halfway through, I couldn't decide if I was going to faint or puke, but a minute's breather cured me of that (early thirties is not that old after all!). At the end of it, there wasn't a stitch of my clothing that wasn't saturated with sweat (all of it mine... I hope).

As for the jamming itself, can't say much. I get the feeling this will be one of those sessions where you've had enough of it by the third class. True, there are some pretty fun and wicked moves here and there, but mostly it's just a bit blah.

Well, with all that activity packed into six days, the only thing I wanted to do on Sunday was this:


Stay in. Sleep. Laze. Sit in the massage chair. Vegetate.

I love this plan.

Say goodnight, Boris. We're going to bed.

Pavement Cracks

It's wierd.

I was expecting the work pressure to take a sharp rise this week, and it definitely did. Thing is, I kinda welcome it as a chance to push my productivity up. And so it was I spent the day being busy, busy, busy - barely could keep myself on top of things what with the sudden craziness going on, but soldier on, I did.

So why was it when I knocked off and sat down for dinner, I found myself without an ounce of appetite? In case you don't know, not having an appetite is a sure sign of something wrong with me.

Yeah, I'm a little stressed. But stressed out? I didn't think I've reached that point yet, surely.

Maybe I'm just tired.

Maybe with the rut that was my previous job I was in, I had forgotten what it was like to actually care about getting the job done well.

Oh well, breath. And wipe that furrow off my brow. It's nothing I can't handle.

But for once, in a long, long time, I find myself thinking just how nice it would be to have someone to hold tonight.

The city streets are wet again with rain
But I'm walking just the same

Annie Lennox

Life In The Wastelands

Don't you fret, M'sieur Marius, I don't feel any pain
A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now
You're here, that's all I need to know
And you will keep me safe, and you will keep me close
And rain will make the flowers...
A Little Fall Of Rain (from Les Miserables)

It's just not funny. Project's dragging way past the due date and I've pretty much been stuck in this provincial town for almost half a year now. Sigh.


Alright, so it could be worse. At least this provincial town's got malls and wired coffee. And it's only a bridge away from a reasonably sized city. And oh, time does go by a little more quickly when you're cracking your pretty head over a game of Scrabulous. Or two. Or three. Or... a dozen.

In any case there's been time enough in my hands to get blogging a little more than usual, not to mention opportunities to get snaphappy. If you're wondering just what there is to shoot in the desolation of a wastewater treatment plant, well, not much. But, as they more or less said in Jurassic Park, life finds a way.


Wastewater treatment plants aren't just about getting the water clean enough to discharge out into the rivers and seas. Large enough plants actually form ecosystems of their own. I remember once, as a student, I visited Melbourne's Western Treatment Plant. Sure, there were places that stunk of rotting eggs. It's part of the process. What really impressed me was that, by the time the treatment reached the final stages, you'd find a wetland environment serving as haven for local and migratory birds.


In a nutshell, treating wastewater produces microbes, which go on to become a rich food source for higher organisms. Worms thrive, plants propagate, insects flourish. With enough of these around, even fish and birds will come along for the feast. And there we have it, a living habitat, generated from waste.


Indeed, rain will make the flowers grow.

Better Be Home Soon

Stripping back the coats of lies and deception
Back to nothingness, like a week in the desert
*
I know I'm right for the first time in my life
That's why I tell you, you'd better be home soon
Crowded House : Better Be Home Soon

Can't believe how the project just drags on and on and on. At this rate, I'll be staying in this cowboy town on the wrong end of the bridge for half a year. This is truly sad.

True, there are perks. Allowances plus lower cost of living means I actually have more money then I normally do. Of course, increased liquidity also means I don't hesitate splurging on stuff like books, clothes and wireless coffee. Especially wireless coffee. I need my wifi fix more badly than I need caffeine. And that's saying a lot.

But I just feel cut off.

Cut off from my office, like I don't even work there.

Cut off from my friends, who give me a semblance of a social life (with Scrabulous becoming more addictive than blogging as a rather weak but offbeat way of waving hi to a few of 'em).

Cut off from my personal epicenter, my home.

Sigh. Just as well I have no one waiting for me back in the valley. I'd probably be dumped by now.

Release From Bondage (One More Time)

Saying goodbye is never an easy thing
But I never said I'd stay forever

Every now and then, there comes a point in our lives when we have to pack up our things and head on off to whatever comes next. It can be a sad, sentimental thing. And sometimes, we are forced to let go of things we don't want to lose.

Not today.

It felt great to clear my desk. To hand everything back. To walk out that door, and leave those shackles behind. For good.

Haven't felt this light for a long, long time. Feels terrific, being free and unfettered.

Well, bigger shackles await but there's the promise of better rewards too. In any case, I have a little bit of time to myself for the moment and I am so gonna bask in it while I can.

I. Am. Emancipated.

The Emancipation of Me. ME!

As the old Nokia ad went, "Ah... it's lovely". And such a lovely day it turned out to be.

Never mind the lack of sleep (it was actually worth it).

Never mind having to carry dusty boxes, drag grimy equipment, and stain my nails black (I've fallen behind on my weight training and this is more butch than gym).

Never mind the heat wave that has transformed the valley into a perversely gigantic oven (notice our tourism officials have avoided the popular 'melting pot' term lately).

Never mind even all the pestering I will face over the next two months.

I've expressed my intentions - short, sweet and succinct. Notice has been given.

I'm officially on my way out and I am happy about that. Very happy indeed.

;-)