The three little monsters

My 4 y/o niece and 2 y/0 twins nephew were with us last weekend and that means i have to suffer from high pitch noise and a messy environment. They are always full of tonnes of energy and high pitch squeaky noise in their tiny bodies at their Dan Tian ( that's how the tenors practise their singing). Of course for a day or two, we still can tolerate the bombarding from the army troop, but not longer than that - say 1 week. My mum made a wise decision to raise the white flag and kicked them back to their home after the weekend.

We were watching the 8pm news not knowing what the reporters said, due to the screams and shouts from the troop, and none of us can do anything about these crazy fellas running jumping shouting in our living room that can last for at least 1 hr. For someone like me, i definitely do not want to go through this phase as it is fine with my life to have no children. I would rather keep a pet dog or a cat, it is more manageable, although a dog or a cat is similar to a baby sometimes. i have to salute the parents who are responsible and patient enough to tolerate their kids.

Darby

Took up the offer in Shanghai

After clarifiying the letter of offer for the past few days , i finally replied to the Shanghai company that i accept their offer. it is not a high increase at all in my basic salary, and i am not too excited about it. The company has refused to increase my salary further as working in China , tax (which is factored into the salary) is a large portion of the company expenses. I will just take it up as i am still jobless now.

It is full of uncertainty now, although i truly want to settle down in my career . I do not know if i will last for another 2 years like the previous one in Shenzhen, and i want to do my investment in properties now as i am already 34 yo and still homeless. I like to go back to home for mummy's cooking but other than that, the home itself caters no space or quiet corner for me to read/rest / practise my yoga. i know i am eager and need to have my own space/privacy and i am ready to purchase one.

Darby

Mee Hun Kuay

I left my Shenzhen company for good and returned to my home 5 days ago, and i am trying to regulate my life style back to normal. I try to sleep at 10 or 11 pm , wake up at 7 am , go market with mum , carrying the groceries, help out with household chores such as laundry ( with hands ) and cooking. And today our assignment is mee hun kuay, i kneaded the mee hun ( flour dough) myself, it is quite easy , and mum did all the cooking. We were busy in the kitchen since morning till 11 am, she showed me her Yi Tian Jian ( Heaven Sword) that she has been hiding for her own use ( I said she is Mie Jue Shi Tai ) for me to chop the red onions . To be frank , i feel really blessed that i can walk with her on the way to and from market, it is a blessing from God above that my parents are healthy.

I discussed with my best friend on the new job in Shanghai last night, he said it is how much in dollars and cents that will make you leave your family for a job. I truly agree that no money can buy the family ties and my quality time with mum and siblings. It is truly a Maslow hierachy, if you have fulfilled the first need , you will go to the second need ... And it has come to a stage where at my age , i truly value my time with mum as i know she is ageing every day, and i should take my time to pamper her. However, i may not stay by her side for good as the global economy is changing such that i cannot now get a job easily in Singapore to provide for her. I have been coaxing her to go for a trip with me and her sisters, but i think she is truly a house wife now who only wants to stay in our house. I find that to be a pity as i may be going overseas for my next job if there is no other offer in Spore, but i think i cannot change her mind overnight as she has been living like a nun for years ( no meat no killing no fun ) .. haha...

Mum said that she used to eat this dish with her mum and family when she was young , i think she misses granny too. And I know why.


Darby

Easter in BKK

Piggy and i went to Bangkok (our fondest city among all) during Easter holiday this year. We went to Patpong, Divana Spa, MBK, Siam Square, ZEN, Central and did a fair amount of eating , shopping and massage.

Our first destination was Patpong of course cause we have almost forgotten the faces of those strip dancers after we watched them 4 years ago. It is for the pig to recap its memory and saved it in his harddisk for another 4 years. But this time, between the first show and the second show, piggy actually slept with its mouth wide open (it has this habit of sleeping at places with open mouth and i wonder how many flies it has eaten). I could see the boxers passing by were really unhappy due to the pig's response to their strippers who were working hard on the stage, and I got worried that it might get punched in the face altho it can swallow a fist easily.

The next day we went to Divana Spa near Glass Haus at Sukumvit and enjoyed our exotic spa package that lasted for about 3 hrs and cost us 150 SGD per person. I felt rejuvenated this time compared to 4 years ago, may be because i am really tired due to the exhausting workload after years. I had the sesame scrub and a rose essence oil massage, and asked for 2 glasses of their famous pandan honey drink after the massage. We left the spa happily with glowing body and lifted spirit. It is a great pamper for the two of us for all the hardwork in the past 4 years.

In the following days , we went to pray at the 4 face buddha site and shopped and ate at Siam Square, Central and a little eating house near piggy's firm's Bangkok office. It was a relaxing trip again this time with no fighting and no arguing. Then came the last day and i have to send the pig off first, which i hate to do whether it is the pig sending me off or I send the pig off. But luckily, we will meet again soon in the following week cause i took about 1 week plus no pay leave to get my body check up done in my hometown.

Overall i love BKK, and it's too bad I cannot eat much this time because I have not recovered from my stomach ulcers yet. But i know for sure this time that I will never like China cos it is only the tropical food, pple and weather that i like.

Darby

Two weeks' no pay leave

After many conference calls with American and European customers at night for months, i am finally diagnosed with stomach ulcers in early March. And after taking the medicine which is very expensive for 2 weeks, i cannot see much improvement. Although i do not feel nauseous anymore, i can still feel the pain every day at 11 am and between 4 to 7 pm punctually. And it so happens that i am always engaged in conference calls with those customers from 6 to 10 pm. Till yesterday, the gastric pain is still killing me sometimes while my customers were blabbering over the phone, and i cannot stop them from going on and on about the issues they were unhappy about.

This has been the case for months, and finally i decided to give up and force the management to give me 2 weeks of no pay leave. I am not prepared to negotiate as i know it is what i should do at all costs to take good care of my health, even if it means I have to tender my resignation on the spot. The management certainly will not pamper me and tell me to rest more and that I do not have to do anymore concall after 5 pm. I have to press the emergency button myself. I was quite upset that i have to convince the management that I need this recuperating period when i raised my request. I certainly do not owe the company my life, and neither do they have the right to stop me from taking emergency leave after i have damaged my health because of work. I am quite happy that i finally woke up and have stopped doing harm to myself.

After getting approval for the leave which i fought for firmly, I immediately arranged for an interview in Shanghai next week. I am quite disappointed with my current department and decide to resign for good, although there is another job offer from the manager of my ex department (who is quite close to me) after she heard about my case through "tabloids". I know i should recover first and i rejected her offer, and was grateful. It is not that bad, for this company and for my past performance.

Darby

Mr Wong Kar Wai

I went to Hongkong during the weekend last week to do a medical check up on my stomach and was diagnosed to be suffering from stomach ulcers. After the check up, i have some spare time to move about in HK island itself to explore more from Central to Shang Huan.

I went to H+M at East Queensway to see if there's any ongoing sale and was disappointed to find there's nothing I fancy this time. Actually i did not spend much time in this boutique before either , but I just find that it is rare to have a medium range boutique this large in Hongkong.

I then went to TaiCheong Bakery, the famous egg tart house on the Island for a bite and passed by the Din Tai Gai (Elevator Street ), where Wong Kar Wai shot Chungking Express featuring Faye Wong sneaking into Tony Leung's house.

As a passer by, I find that Hongkong Island is always full of exciting moments. There are plenty of good food from the ever popular dim sum in teahouses to more exquisite food in restaurants, good shopping from local to international brands, and uniquely Hongkong building and public transport such as Din Chey (tram ), night life at Lan Kwai Fung. People in general live in a small match box like apartment but they are full of creativity and emits lots of energy to give this city a buzz and keep the excitement going on everyday for the city. The pace in Hong Kong may be stressful and hectic, just like Singapore, but Singapore is lacking in excitement. There is only 1 director who is able to capture the real Hongkong people successfully with an artistic touch and he is Wong Kar Wai. I will think of Faye Wong everytime i pass by the Elevator street, and God knows I might stop buying CD once she ends her singing career for good.

I got a call to attend an interview for the Shanghai job tomorrow, and when piggy learned about it, HE COVERED HIS FACE WITH HANDS. I know he is in a dilemma. With my presence in Singapore, he will not be able to play mahjong , but without my presence he is lonely in Singapore. Let's see how things go from here.

Darby

My first 10km Std Chartered Marathon

Today is saturday and i have been working from 2 pm till 9 pm. After the stupid paper work were all done , i decided to spend some time to update the blog. While i am typing this, the pig is having fun on the mahjong table. He has probably forgotten his lover is working late and feeling stressful, altho not too long ago he just called and said that he is worried about my gastric problem.

In between work , i managed to check my first marathon result from internet. As expected it is 1 hour 27 minutes. I think it is not a good result as i had a few trainings before that, well not too many, may be just 6 or 7 times in the 3 months after I have registered for the run. I am not happy with the result but i can only blame myself for I did not go down to HK earlier the day before the run. The run was on 17 Feb, to and fro btwn North Point and Causeway Bay. My colleague and i reached the HK apartment on 16 Feb at 7.30 pm. I went to bed at 11 pm after dinner but only slept at 1 am due to my gastric problem ( i ate curry beef rice from Fairwood) . I have been having stomach upset recently due to poor digestive system and it was the same for that night. In the end, i slept for 2 hrs before i woke up at 3 am to wash up and took a bus to go to Causeway Bay, the 10Km run starting point.

At 6.10 am , the run started, and we were all like sardine fish in a tin can, running slowly towards the starting point. Not having enough sleep the night before caused me to have back ache as usual. Despite the awful feeling for the first 2 km , i managed to run non stop for the first 4 km. The view along the way was good as we were running on an expressway by the sea side and the cold winter air was soothing. By the time i reached the U turn point, i was both hungry and thirsty as i did not eat and drink much since i woke up at 3 am. Luckily, the organisers began to supply water in paper cups and I managed to drag myself further for a few more kms. When I reached the 6 km mark, i had lost my stamina and started to walk. The funniest thing is i can see handicapped/visually impaired/fat/old runners all ahead of me, so paiseh. I started to run on and off along the remaining distance. When i finally reached the last km, many ppl cheered for the runners. I imagined i am Liu Xiang ( China's #1 sprinter ) and pushed myself to run non stop for this last km and that was it.

After the event, my colleague and I went back to the apartment to catch up the sleep , we went to bed at 11 am and woke up at 3 pm, without bathing. hehe...

Despite the fatigue and aches after the run, the 10km run was quite an easy and comfortable distance to cover, and i will do it again whether i am in HK or Singapore next year. For the next 2 days, i was walking like a crippled man. Everyone who saw me asks : " Eh, what happened to your legs?" :-)


Darby