2009...what will it bring?

5th January 2009, Monday

After a good fortnight of leisure time at the comfort of home, staying up playing Football Manager till the wee hours and slept till noon, it's back to waking up at 6 in the morning, 5 days week at work doing routine stuff, mad rushing for public transport and fought valiant among the dark force of Unruk Hai on the platform...hey that pays for my livelihood, so no qualms...just slowly need to get the groove back...

I knew I had problem falling back to sleep at 12 midnight so to have ample rest the next day, but I didn't anticipate a bout of insomnia which at this point as I am typing this, I'm amazed that my eye lids managed to be kept open.

2009 at work seemed to be very much like the latter quarter of 2008 with projects piling up and datelines to meet as my team trying to appease all the bosses and collaborators.
I still see Shitty Green but not for long as he would be residing in Boston for almost half of his time...It is still sketchy who will take over...But the prospect of anything good looks bleak (appraisal, bonus, promotion et al) but at this climate, I'm just glad to have my job and I'm willing to pledge my allegiance for a long term any day.
The annual dinner and dance will be round the corner as well; great time to interact with our direct colleagues...well surely not as fun without BY's persistant worries about who to sit and what not, but still mandatory to show my presence somehow.

Back to work also means back to working out which I really need as for the past 2 weeks of lack of boisterous physical activities, I'm starting to feel my age...Stepping on the threadmill today, my stamina had decimated to nothing, but I have faith I can build it up again.
IPT is just a week away to...just want to get done with it as well as another daunting trip to Kao Hsiung and I don't want to hear no more from the forces for the rest of the year.

Chinese New Year at the tail end of this month, when we bearly welcome the new year...while mood is not there once again but for the likes of our folks, we just had treat it seriously...
Perhaps another tour of the households of the La Tendo clique is something to look forward to...surely won't be a long weekend (from Saturday to Tuesday) to savor

The new year brings new footballing extravaganza..in the local flavor...
After the despondent loss to Vietnam in the AFF Suzki Cup semi finals, the Lions now have a daunting task to qualify for the Asian Cup with the mighty Iran as well as Jordan and Thailand awaiting to skewer us...but we will hold the believe we can conquor them all.
S League begins in early March, and things are buzzing at Hougang Stadium for our beloved Sengkang recently...sure positive vibes to keep us so excited...

Then there is the Japan trip which is very much conceptualized and waiting to be delivered...
We are hoping for an amazing free fall of yen rate for the next few weeks now...*crossing our fingers*

All in all, 2009 remains uncertain times...I'm not too optimistic neither do I have ground to be pessimistic...Just hope I would stay off any radar of unwanted and tacky affairs and lead my comfy life as I want to....

Japanese word of the day: 好まない(reluctant) Reluctance to come back to work reuslt in insomnia..sure is scary

Way too Lax

15th December 2009, Monday

10 days to X'mas, still no mood....

For the past fortnight, I had barely decent amount of time at work, which is a salaryman's dream comes true but it was had to ge back into groove when it matters.

Kinda big mistake was to space out the off/leave as I did over the past few weeks...After consecutive four days away from work, it was really an ordeal to creep out of bed especially when you have tuned to sleep at past 3 am in the morning for the past few evenings watching senseless deadpan, stereotypical satirical comedy like "Harold and Kumar".

So what I have been up to during the past few days, laxing at home?

Basically laxing...in an utmost unproductive fashion...

I had intended to carry out those things I set out to do, only to indulged myself in FM 2009...like a drug addiction which you need rehabilitation on...
I had also catch up on some of the TV series, movies and even anime series stockpiled in the crypt but the bane of multi-tasking making most of the viewing just in the audible aspect.

The soggy weather of late also made me disdain from any outdoors activities, though the ploy was to conserve my wealth by confining myself indoors as the forthcoming Japan trip would really stretch my budget (damn you excruciating high yen rate!).
I did headed out to town on last Thursday to get my X'mas exchange gift as well as paying Chiaki another visit at the JTB saloon.

I had the missus with me for much portion of time laxing at home and herself had been glued to her own recently-purchased laptop as an avid fan of some China-based video streaming site...

Speaking of streaming, I had also been retrieving music videos from the golden era of English Pop for myself since my aunties exposed me to Tears for Fears with their "Shout" MV or A-Ha's "Take on Me"...with the nice Videora application, I can upload cool mp4 versions of those ageless MVs onto my iPod which I had since watched on MRT journeys...

Then there was the AFF Suzuki Cup...
Our home team despite the tireless tirade from our neighbors for fielding so many foreign talents as compared to the last 2 editions, we managed to fend against the odds to get a clean slate of records in the group stage; majestically beating host nation, Indonesia 2-0 to guarantee our top spot, and earning that ticket to face Vietnam in the semi-finals.
Based on the 2 leg system, our fearless Lions will try to get a positive result in the 1st leg away before gracing the new winnning mantle in front of the home crowd this Sunday at the Grand Lady which never dies..Kallang stadium.
Unfortunately I had already promised for a family X'mas dinner on that day, so I just had to contend with viewing it live at the comfort of my home.
Once again this competition saw unruly, ugly, unsporting scene when the Myanmar team walked out briefly when they felt that the Viet referee had wrongly allowed us to play a quick freekick which saw us grabbed the 3rd goal and killed off the game.
The Burmese goalkeeper pushed the referee and only gotten a match suspension for his deed...surely tell you the level of leniency of this event.
Myanmar was rightly eliminated from the competition as well..hope they would be made to sit off the next one.

So 2 more days at work and I'm off to the long break again...hope I wouldn't in that lax state once again

Japanese word of the day: 緩めなさい (Relax) You guys should check out Frankie Goes to Hollywood's uncensored version of the MV

Couldn't Get Any Worse Than This

13th November 2008, Thursday

Thursday the 13th...so much more ominous than the Friday version....

After woken up from a weird dream featuring my buddies, my wife and some of the most popular young actress in the J-dorama scene right now, I had a rude awakening that I am pretty late to prepare for work...
As I struggled to keep my eyelids open, I noticed the "on" green lighting for my PS3 when i could had swore I had switched it off.
Then the most calamitous event (at least to myself) happened when I discovered the PC had been shut down when it should be left operating for the night as usual...
Immediately I questioned the missus who was still in the midst of waking up herself and she replied she hadn't touch anything and I'm sure of that.

However when I try to restart the computer, the clicking of the button just failed to activate the CPU.
I had encountered this previously and by the prehistoric way of unplugging & plugging the power point should do the magic but not this time...
Something was amiss but I can't seem to isolate the problem... Panic turned into a ball of uncontrollable angst as I tried in vain to resuscitate my ailing computer and it was killing me, so early in the morning.
I had no regard of time...I was baling like a baby while turning violent to eveything along my path...But I just couldn't get it to work again....

I hate when things spoiled on me especially my dear IT gadgets...At the pinnacle of that list, my PC holds the dearest spot... Any sign of non-functioning makes or break a grown man like myself because my life is so much bound to the tool which occupies such majority of my leisure time at home...

Suddenly something died within me and I need to get it back urgently... However in reality it was still Thursday and it was close to 8 am, I need to get to work, regardless of how I wanted to just revive my precious one now...
I did and did so in that benevolent mode...hurling things and slamming doors whenever I want like a kid not getting what he wants...
I knew I shouldn't but it was my channel to vent out that frustration inside... The missus who remained silent the whole time I was acting childish, finally snapped back but by then I had left the apartment..and we both started our day with a bad taste in our mouth...

I couldn't get into anything en route to work and the constantly jerking MRT who went into unexplained halts throwing the entire army of disgruntled passengers cramped within the cabins didn't help much.
The silver-haired uncle with his sunglasses on such a gloomy morning like this were recollecting his old days or whatever to a wife who couldn't care less...while their IT guy son was doing some last minute work before a long day at work...

It was drizzling still when I reached Bouna Vista and I thought I had left the brolly at home and braved the rain to work, oblivious to getting quite drenched.

When I log on the MSN Messenger, I noticed an unread email in my mail box and it was from Mindef...something about manning ops which surely any hope of a good day for sure.. Luckily it was just contact tracing for perhaps an ops in next March...

There was shit stain on the bowl when I went to do my daily bowel movement exercise and surely it was some explosive shit for the guy before...not a sight I want to begin the day with as well...

The remaining of the day I just brace myself to do what ever minimal work we had (gosh I couldn't even douse myself in an insane workload to let me forget my sorrow) till knock off time.
I had wanted to take off this very day but we were down to the skeletal crew plus I also dread going home to look at a CPU which wouldn't work...

When I called my PC doctor, CS, it seemed like the feasible answer to my problem was that the power unit failed on me and hopefully a simple replacement would resolve it.
However I was in fear that all information would be wipe off through the break down which I wasn't even there to witness it...
I'm thinking the crazy amount of ligtning last night might had be the root to all these crazy electrical problem we faced but my power unit had always been cranky (always start itself after I had turned off the PC)
I had contemplated into ungrading the entire PC but I wasn't too looking forward to reinstall everything from scratch and I still want some files inside my current unit...
Of course I wonder CS would be at my beck and call...any period of cold turkey from my PC would be excruciating and I would never be the same jolly guy without it...

Perhaps the missus are still fuming over my behaviour and perhaps she would had thought I treated a computer with higher regards than my own wife...perhaps she was right....*sigh*

On a listless and gloomy Thursday which the global stock markets took any tumbling, I just wished everything could return to status quo....

Japanese word of the day: 惨め(Wretched) This couple of weeks surely had to be the worst I had in years

Worrying Times Ahead

10th October 2008, Friday

While reaching home yesterday, caught abit of news snippets on how local restaurants and car dealers are reeling from the alarming increase in Japanese Yen rate.
I went on a check and it seemed like by the end of today's trading, it ended at around $1.50 for 100 yen which is the highest for about 3 years.
The entire subprime and credit crunch crisis at the US surely is taking its toll on the rest of the world in devastating fashion.
The reason for the hike of the yen rate seems like Aso's government refuse to cut the interest rate of several central banks.

This surely had a rippling effect on my life style especially my figure collecting hobby as almost everything comes straight from my 2nd homeland; I am sure the people at La Tendo would be well fumbled by how they are going to relay the higher cost due to the stronger yen rate to their customers who are used to buying at reasonable rates (though most still regard La Tendo as a retailer who jack their prices unreasonably).
I would surely need to cut back on my extravagance in figurines, manga, games or whatever tools of my hobby indulgence from Japan for a while till the rate drops back to what it supposed to be but it seems highly unlikely to be anytime soon.

Just 5 years back, the rate was at around $1.60 which stifled the spending power in Japan greatly and we found solace a few years on when it dropped to $1.25 at one point!
Seems like it would be back to those times when you have to think twice about changing too much as it would adds up to a few hundreds more.
Now our pending onsen trip to Akita in February seems to be jeopardize as the JR pass and lodging would cost so much more now and I certainly can't change that amount that I want to bring over unless I save up intensively for the next few months.
The missus isn't too please but was hapless to look on the fringe, hoping that the rate will fall back a few decimals over the next few months.

As our nations are coping with the backlash of the financial crisis, the government is advising everyone to tighten their purse string for the imminent future and brace for a period where unemployment will be on the rise when company might freeze their employment and even slash manpower... It would be back to the early 2000s when I first join the workforce again, gleefully take whatever measly bonus package offered to us and generally just glad to be employed.

Rumors were spreading like bonfire at work that Shitty Green would spend 50% of his time next year back in the States, officially transferring authority and power to another PI.
While we have had amicable interaction with him over the years, it seems like he did had a reputation on scringing on rewarding his staff (an exodus since last year was seen and he had yet recovered from the massive loss of manpower) as well as well known to pressure people for results.
The 2nd point was highly doubtful as he used to have one of the girls from the Tea Break clique who had been just sitting around, chatting over the phone and planning for her wedding which drew the indignance of BY and co.
Additionally, when come to pressurizing for results, none could be as blatant and vociferous as Shitty Green himself.

However senior guys like His Beautiness and JO were now worried about the transition, perhaps it certainly is an issue to fret about and not taken lightly.

Another I am expecting the bonus package to be significantly decimated for next year due to the whole financial shenanigans and just glad I had 2 good years in terms of bonus and wage increment.
Although it never can be too greedy when comes to pay, I am just glad to stay put and collect the same amount for the time being on monthly basis.... But nevertheless the future surely looks bleak.

Japanese word of the day: 円 ~en~(Yen) Poor Beautiness, his spending power for the forthcoming Japan trip had been significantly stifled overnight

Escalating Cost of Living!

3rd October 2008, Friday

Back to work after a day break and was surprised to find a couple of familiar new faces.
A former course mate from my University days who had been with my former company for the past 6 years finally jumped ship to one of the group leaders here.
It was a long process when he kept negotiating for an astronomical hike in his current pay which the HR is resistant to pay. I guess in the end, he just back off from his request and took the job just as his former lab was closed down.
Meanwhile there was another lady whom I had seen from my work out session in the office from time to time and supposedly hailed from my previous employers as well who had came for interview with Shitty Green weeks back.
Aftering enquiring from His Beautiness about the boss and environment, she finally joined as the 9th member of our group...what a bulging sum when it was almost half that number before I joined 2 years back.
Suddenly my current workplace had became a refugee camp for those from my old workplace...

Didn't notice the hike in fare during my MRT trip to work and supposedly every trip now had increased by 3-4 cents.
Our nation now surely is feeling the brunt of the oil prices as well as the precarious global economy...
Some financial analysts are fearing a repeat of the 1920s Great Depression after the bankruptcy of big financial houses like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. The domino effect is alrealy in motion with some European banks in major debts and in need of assistance from their governments while the stock market are in an endless bear run.

In Singapore, the government and associated organisation like MAS are trying their best to curb the rot to be spread here but it's inevitable.
Companies may start to tighten their purse-string; I am surely expecting much decimated bonus by next May.
The situation is worsen with the price hike of various common amenities and services we need day in day out.
The price hike in public transport is always prompt with the world trend and unlikely to reduce when the oil situation subside.
Then Singapore Powers staked a claim to increase utilities prices especially the electrical bill by a good 20% or more.
The utilities bill for my household has always been hefty as we had been addicted to sleep in air conditioned rooms every night... It's a habit that is hard to give up on. So as long as we are able to foot the bill, we just will stick to our routine and stare at the alarming sum at the end of each bill.

Newspaper is an important nourishment to the mind, keeping you up to date with what is happening around in the world.
Shunning it will make you trapped in your own world and unable to hold any solid conversation about current affairs.
For me I had my daily dosage of tabloid size paper from SPH which is free (which is the plus point)
However SPH did increased the price of all their papers to keep in line with the high production costs.
What happen to those days when a copy of Straits Times is 50 cents?

So now in this oxymoronic predicament, you have to save on transport fee by cooping yourself at home. But you cannot turn on the light, or PC or TV to save on electrical bill.
You can't watch the news on TV but newspaper had become too hefty to buy...
Perhaps the best solution is to walk to your nearby Mac Donald's, buy a cup of coffee and sit in the air conditioned restaurant the whole day, hogging on to their newspaper. You can even watch TV at those branches with the LCD screens.

Joke aside, surely I have to start going back to that ultra frugal lifestyle (as if I have one).
But no more spending $100 odd on a stand up comedy...no more few hundreds on a high end ear phone...no more buffet dinner at Raffles Hotel (but that's once in a very blue moon, so still fine)
Ultimately might have to cut back on my hobby like figurines, DVDs, manga, games which I am trying to, but resistance to temptations so far had proven futile.
Meanwhile the missus and myself still have the cheek to plan a long vacation to Japan which will cost us thousands of dollars.
I do have money set aside for that while not depleting the bank account which seems possible at this juncture.

It's truly hard to acclimatise to hardship after enjoying such a wild time financially... But as long as we do not incur huge debts by taking loan or unable if pay off my child's education (if I have one), I think things should remain status quo....

Japanese word of the day:増やしなさい(Escalate) What goes up must come down...well not cost of living though

Public Act of Intimacy

19th September 2008, Thursday

Some said marriage kills the romance but then I am never really a romantic guy..Neither am I a touchy partner well at least not within the watchful eyes of other people around.
Sometime I even felt uncomfortable just hugging the missus in front of family or close friend (then again it would look pretty awkward considering the size of us both).

However with the government still adamant to instill abit of romance into our stoic nation, many people actually heeded the notion to a point they readily show their acts of affection to one another in public places.
We are not talking about the "naked wrestling" BY once witness in the open space opposite Woodlands MRT station or the usual fanfare by the peeping toms in places like Labrador Park or maybe Bishan Park or the usual void deck actions some claimed to see.
Places like public transports i.e. MRT, restaurants, library, cinemas (which is quite a norm cos it's dark and if you refrain from a noisy foreplay no one would notice except the guy beside you or behind you) are common areas to see young love birds snuggling it out which ain't a big issue to me.
There had been many complaint letters sent into to local papers with regards to some nubile beings who had over stepped the border of intimacy; but usually such letters were sent by spinster who wretchedly yearn for some touch by men.
I am truly risking violating the act of sedition when I would say a certain racial group of our kaleidoscopic nation would be the main culprits but then again the other races are starting to join the act even a few lesbian couples I had noticed before.

Although as mentioned the younger demographic group tends to be indulging in such public display, one instance just the other day on my way to work deviates from the norm.
Exasperated that I could not grab a seat despite the train trip being a direct one (meaning there's no need for me to transit), I just try to keep balance in a sardine-packed carriage while losing myself in my NDS as usual.
It was until Choa Chu Kang station, that I felt my arm was brushed by the hair of a lady beside me.
Being the anti-social being I am, I tends to try to adjust myself so that I would not be tickled by keratinised filaments of a perfect stranger (even an attractive OL who certainly would regard me as a pervert anyway, so better keep away from unnecesary troubles).
However I then realized that her male partner was actually cuddling her and foddling her back as if he is tending an asthamtic kid or something.
There was even a point when he was helping her to alleviate an itch on her back which was totally uncalled for on a packed train.
While the lady was around 30-ish who can be forgiven as a 20 something in her early blissful relationship, her itch-post looks close to 50 with a head of unkemped grey and dry hair and looks to devour his younger lover there and then!
It was a disturbing sight to start a day with for sure...

There was this rather popular young couple within the vicinity of our workplace who we affectionately label them as "拿(Carry)".
Looking just completed their hatachi (20 years old) ceremony; this loving couple especially the guy surely looks to portray as that caring boyfriend all girls dream to possess...to a point it can be quite overbearing..
I first noticed this couple a year or so ago at the gym...
They were like a usual young couple with the lad gently supporting his lass' back as if she is suffering from some spinal issue all the way to the ladies' changing room.
He then supposedly waited for her to change into her workout rig and chaperone her to the gym as if she would be disorientated when the glass panels of the gym didn't give its location straight away.
He then saw her up the threadmill and both started their concise jogging.
The guy made sure he did it before her, so that he could render her support off the threadmill.
This is when we gave them their nicknames and it carried over several time over the past year.
Even when they were on the street, they were inseperable with the guy's hand always at the ladies' anterior; at times might pet her head like a doting parent would do for their beloved child.
In more recent times during a rainy morning while waiting for the shuttle bus into the myriad of office buildings, I saw the couple with the guy sheltering the girl's precarious forehead from the vicious raindrop pelting down with his bare hand, not it helps much seriously...
So at this juncture, you will presume the lady must be drop dead gorgeous that warrant such undividing care and concern from her beau...er...let's just say she looks slightly better than Ugly Betty...damn I'm bad...
Kudos to the pair...at least they enjoyed each other's presence while resisting the test of time...

For yours truly I reckon the classic hand-to-hand (swinging optional) or an occasional peck on the cheek or lips while bidding good-bye is where my limitations hold...but even so it would draw some unwelcoming cold stares from the same wretched spinsters...

Japanese word of the day: 親密 (Intimacy) I wonder would the guy's hands would sorely miss carrying something in her lass' absence

A Slice of Luxury

21st May 2008, Wednesday

2003 was best remembered as the year Singapore was living in fear of the SARS epidemic which sent our city state in high alert to curb the deadly virus from claiming more lives as it should have.
Of course we do not want to re-enact the entire scene of 5 years ago but for a while in a boisterous city like ours where over-crowding was a way of life; it was quite refreshing to see streets devoid of much human activities or traffic.

Our retailing scene and more importantly tourism sector was badly hit during that 3 months of turmoil.
Local hotelier were trying hard to woo local people to fill up their rooms but one specific case of one patron contracting the virus from a local hotel see our paranoid republic refrained from coming into contact with any hotels housing foreigners which could be the transmitting agent of the flu virus.

However I was undaunted and jumped on the great offer, The Ritz Carlton Singapore, one of the premier 6-star awarded hotel locally which offered a night stay at mere $100+.
I made reservation for 2 rooms, one for the missus and myself and the other for my family.
I extended one more night for mine and the hotel was kind enough to upgrade from the Deluxe Room to the One Bedroom Suite.
We had a ball of the time back then and now whenever we walked past that jaded white building along Millenia Walk, we got that fuzzy feeling to stay there again.

After my recently-concluded ICT, my missus suggestively shown me a newspaper cutting of a package offer by another high-scale hotel, The Fullerton Hotel.
Having stayed in such luxurious accommodation (with great view of the Marina Bay) at Ritz Carlton, we didn't want to settle for anything less and we thought the Fullerton might be the only one comparable in terms of quality and service.

With my bonus, I felt it is ideal to treat the missus for a weekend stay over the long Vesak Day weekend and we had been looking forward to the stay since making the reservation weeks ago.
However our anticipation had been hampered by the persistent coughing she and I both contracted but I was fortunate to recover in time before the weekend.

We proceeded with the check in at around 4 after we got to utilise our off-peak transport after 3pm; and was greeted with hospitality from this Malay receptionist, Samad or something.
He duly brought us to our "Quay Room" at level 7 which had a great view towards the Merlion Park as well as the floating platform and Singapore Flyer across the bay.

You get to see name emblem of the hotel from our balcony

My sister and her beau dropped by while roaming around town came into conclusion that the standard room at Fullerton pales in comparison to that of Ritz Carlton, in terms of size, furnishing and of course the latter has a bathroom with ample space and a nice scenic view...

The box on the study table is the complimentary bath robe that come with the "Time for 2" package. The missus however was more smitten with the woolen flip flops

Didn't really did much except for waiting for our in-room 4 course dinner and we were both famished at that juncture though was mildly alleviated by some tasty pies from Sis...
We had arranged for the dinner to be serve at 6.30pm and it didn't took them long to fulfill that timing as this dining staff pushed in the foldable dining table on wheels and an incubator in built to keep the food warm.
I felt with the hefty weight of the crockeries, it was better for her to set all the dishes on the small table.
There wasn't too much room to maneuver once the table was sandwiched between the study table and the armchair...

Appetizer: Deep-fried Chicken Dumpling with caviar and salad

Soup: Some creamy soup with scallops and go well with bread

My main dish: Bak-kut Teh flavored Lamp with Asparagus

Her main dish: Steamed Sea Bass

Desert: Cranberry pastry or something

Complimentary bottle of red wine (in the package as well) which we saved for the night. I was too absorbed with the preview show of the FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City that evening.

The food was quite satisfactory and filling and we even received a buzz from one of their managers hoping to gather any feedback on the dinner and offered us coffee and tea just as we were leaving for La Tendo in Kallang.

The Fullerton Hotel was just 8 storey-high as they preserved the original Fullerton building. The guest rooms span the entire perimeter of the building with a hollow center where we could access via sky bridges from one side of the building to the other

While we left the key at the counter, we made the enquiry on whether we could be granted a late check out (which was subjected to whether the rooms are in demand) and got a positive reply from this helpful Indian supervisor who also arranged for the bubblebath (another item in the package) to be set up by 1 in the morning which was the time I thought we would reach back after crooning for the karaoke party.

In the end we only made it back by 4 in the morning.. By then we could only enter the building via the front door and there was just a lone soldier at the counter.
We scurried back to our room, hoping the bubblebath wouldn't go to waste and were glad it was still intact and the water still reasonably warm...
So the feature romance moment was the bath with scented tea candles all around and red wine which tasted rather cheap though.

We were knocked out and struggled to wake up by 9.30 in the next morning as we wouldn't want to give the buffet breakfast a miss, not especially me...

The buffet at the Town Restaurant didn't seems to boast a variety to be on par with that from Ritz Carlton but then again it could be we were rather late.
It was a window of opportunity to check out the nationality of our fellow patrons.
As expected a majority were the "ang mohs" who seemingly like to dine along the walkway towards the Cavenagh bridge along the Singapore river.
There were some wealthy Indonesian Chinese and a few Indian expats as well.
What I like about our local hotels is that they rarely discriminate between local and foreigners in terms of service which was evident during my Koh Samui stay.
The missus checked out the final bill (it was included in the package) but we still get to see the actual price which added to around $40 odd per person.
Luckily we need not pay 'cos the missus had poor appetite and nibbled on a bit while I just want to sample whatever there was on offer...

Because of the late check-out we were able to go for a quick swim in the pool which is a miserable stretch with mere 1.5m depth.
But it overlooked the Singapore River and you can check out people heading towards the Asian Civilization Museum as well as the bank buildings on the left.
We also had a look at the gym and spa which despite being rather small in scale, are pretty well equipped.

Another round of dipping in the bubble bath before we packed up and checked out as the staff said with formality to see us again...
Overall the hotel might had lived up to its billing but we spent too little time to maximise the pleasure of the place.
Service is impeccable but other factors like bath amenities, buffet breakfast etc fell short of our expectations.
Time to source another grand hotel to stay in the future then...

Japanese word of the day: 贅沢 (luxury) Conrad Hotel might be the next destination of luxurious living

A Day without a Watch on My Left Wrist

30th October 2007, Tuesday

The horoscope column stated that I should rest assured that what I had anticipated for the worse would not be actually true....have to chuck the paranoia aside...

Of course my mind was with the watch yesterday and today Mom offered to help me change the battery which would be the prime suspect for the digital interface to go AWOL, and let's hope with a new battery, the problem will be resolved and deemed the horoscope spot on for me...

I have 3 watches at my disposal and each has it's own specific function... The Edifice for going out usage and one for aesthetic reasons. It had usurped its predecessor the 25 Hour timepiece which was relegated to mere usage for work as the corrosive nature of the reagents I used at work as well as the sweat from gym will wear down the strap and face but it didn't matter much to me.
Finally I have this Casio G Shock which had gone through weal and woes with me since the army days and still functioning well despite the protective layer and strap took the toll of wear and tear.
I still used it for my RT/IPT sessions and of course ICT when a watch a crucial to tell me how long more the torture will last.

By mere coincidence, I had left all 3 watches under the care of Mom who helps me get the batteries replaced and so for the first time in a while, I actually left home without a watch strapped on my wrist...
It is not that timekeeping becomes an issue since 3 fundamental gadgets which I always lugged around with me tells the time, i.e. my mobile phone, NDS Lite & iPod; but somehow I am more accustomed to leering for time with the habitual twitch of my left arm...
In addition the loss of weight is also not something I am used to, perhaps I am such an insecure person which tells why I need to ornate myself with rings, bracelets and chokers in the past etc...

It also had some effect with my workflow as I found out that I had some waiting time in between steps and since I couldn't that the timer (which we deemed "dirty" from the lab environment), my watch is helps me to keep track of when I need to scurry back to the lab domain before it went way overtime...
For today the unreliable clock feature at the right corner of the taskbar of the Windows XP will fulfill this task...

Tomorrow will be back to normal and with my fingers crossed, I maybe donning a fully-functional Casio Edifice by then...

Japanese word of the day: 計時(Timekeeping) Perhaps I should use a sun-dial to keep time like our ancestors...surely wouldn't fail on me except I will need the sun at all time...