Moving on

When you hit valley bottom, there is no other way than to go up. Any longer, you know you will be going under. There was a time when I had kept slipping down that slippery slope, when finally within a split second, I know it wouldn't matter anymore and it was time to cut it off. That moment of liberation was so clear and precise, I wonder if I had deliberately let myself crash this time round , so that I can go on the rebound faster.

Whatever it was - rotten thoughts, people - just like rotten flesh, cut them away before they corrode the rest of a possible good and healthy life.

Thanks friends, for the kind words and concerns.

(Yes, I am so glad that I am out of the rainclouds)

溃坝了

近日心情真的快乐不起来。

本不想告知太多人。没想到第一天就计划就泡汤，心情更是扰乱得七上八下。第二天，和友人发电邮，以为可以找一点寄托，但被好像不当一会事，让我的心情落到谷底。

一星期下来， 迷迷糊糊的过。 星期天和球队的人聚餐被问时才提起。

本来想就报销巴厘岛潜水配套，因为没精神去打理。多亏友人们帮忙找人顶替配套和安排退房，昨天终于定了把潜水假期超便宜转让给出去。

早上球友发简讯问候，回说复诊改期。 整天魂不守舍。 老板讲了一些耐人寻味的东西 ，听了很不是滋味。

回家的时候， 终于溃坝了。 捏紧驾驶盘，双眼泪直流。到了家楼下，在车坐里整整一个小时，就等象个人样的时候才下车。晚上另一球友来电问候，得知在她们都在关心，咽哽着。

好累。

Parody of The Parrot

Father and son walked hand in hand past a pet shop. At the entrance of the shop, a parrot was perched on a stand.

"Squawk!" went the parrot when the pair walked past.

"Daddy! A parrot!" The boy, fascinated by the bird's gay colours, backed up and stood in front of the bird still holding to his father's hand.

"Can you say hello?" said the boy.

"He-lo" the parrot replied in its high pitch voice that only a parrot can do.

He tried another line. "Can you say - how are you?"

"Haw a you"

The boy squealed in delight. "Ooooh! What other things can you say? "

The parrot, who must have thought it found an appreciative audience, started rattling off "Haw du you du? Ding Dong! Hap-py nu yar!"

"Ooohhh! Daddy Daddy! Isn't the parrot such a smart animal? I want to be as smart as a parrot!"

The father, who had been watching the exchange with amusement, said, "No son, you don't want to be like a parrot. It is only repeating what its owner had taught him and really doesn't have a mind of its own."

Says a lot about someone in the office..

Float away

(credit: Float by Girlhula)

The desolate ballons caught the breeze

and tug against the restraining finger.

I crane my head skyward

to catch them in their glory

What colours! Each true to its essence,

the blue, the white, and

yellow and red.

But caught up in my own musing,

the eyes blinded by the sun momentarily.

The finger flinches, and

both fought to reach the skies first,

bouncing light gaily

off their luminescent skins,

leaving me with

fleeting happiness lingering on the fingertips,

imagining what adventure

the blue skies offer.

Oh what short lived joy!

又病了...

自拜一， 伤风的症状一直没退。

更糟的是，身体还没调回时差， 每天不到凌晨五点，双眼就自然睁得大大的， 搞得我还没上班就已经头昏脑胀。 鼻子不停造反，眼眶直泛泪。老板又时不时丢“烟雾弹”，答非所问， 让人丈二金刚摸不着头脑。一天下来， 我差不多已经行尸走肉 － 驾车是眼睛睁不开，昨天吃完晚饭，竟然累得头一靠在沙发上就睡着去。

恼。

Symptomatic sniffle

(i) from a messed up circadian rhythm?

(ii) from baking in the scorching sun watching adrenalin loaded dragonboaters?

(iii) from playing with the pooch after he rolled around in the grass? (dirty little fella)

(iv) adverse reaction to a Monday??

Whatever it is, it is making my head feel damn heavy and groggy. Damn it.

I'm home!

Halfway through the gruelling 19 hours flight I was really quite ready to go berserk. Sitting down there with nothing much to do, only to be constantly fed. Always remind me of the part in Fight Club - single serving meal, single serving coffee.

Only life-saver was the Krisworld entertainment (albeit I would have preferred if the fat kid sitting in front of me wouldn't fidget in his seat so much). An odd choice, but this was one of the best film I watched. A simple story line - a simple natured Czech peasant who was offered to become an Aryan Controller to take over a old, deaf and widowed Jewess' button shop; tragedy ensued when he accidentally killed her in the end in a bid to save his own conscience.

A really moving film that you won't be able to forget once you've seen it.

"Shop on Main Street"

Ida Kaminska as the Jewess proprietress of the button shop, at the scene when she was cranking up the gramophone playing her late husband's favorite record.

By the time we touched down Singapore, I was SOOOoooooooo relieved to be able to walk. Came home, passed the presents (even the pooch got one), showered and slept..and slept..and slept..missed one wedding lunch, didn't hear the thunderstorm and woke up feeling really contented.

Now just waiting to see if I will suffer from jet lag..oh yeah..and the unpacking. argh.

It's 37 Deg C!

For a few days now, the temperature had been hovering around 100 deg F. I didn;t realise that that translated to 37 deg c until my colleague pointed it out. The pavement radiates heat, and whatever breeze makes you feel like you are being cooked in a crock pot. And they say Singapore is hot.

Apparently, its one of the rare year that the temperature hit such a high, going by what a lot of other people say. Quite an experience I say, but I wonder how those people who had to work outdoors feel.

Happy Birthday USA!!

I would have thought that there will be a lot more stars and spangles peripherals flying around, but then up to this morning, I haven't seen much of those.

The sun was already up at 5am (havent been able to sleep beyond that for the past few days) and became seemingly blazing hot by 6am. The weather headlines (yes! They have weather headlines on the news!) says it's going to be hot up to 90something Ferenheit and turning muggy, so everybody should stay covered, slap on more sunscreen, and drink more water (non-alcoholic of course, accordingo to the news weatherman).

Going to try catch the 4th July Macy's fireworks tonight. I wonder if we will ever have NTUC sponsoring our fireworks on National Day.

Stuffy nose

At first I put it down to lack of sleep / jet lag / unaccustom to new environment..

but then the effects are so familiar to the time when I was in Darwin during the dryest period for that region that I think I know pretty much what caused it. The damn pollens that are floating the air causing the constant sniffing, congested nose that is giving me a headache.

Argh. Feeling damn groggy.

A Piece of the Big Apple

It has been 4 days since I reached this metropolitan city. When the plane was swopping over to turn to JFK airport, it was an eye opener looking for 2 things:

(i) I have never seen an area more dissected by grids and grids of built up area, and
(ii) when nearing the suburb areas, the rows of houses look so toy-like, like those lego houses, that one would think that it's possible to just pluck one up.

It was easy to navigate the NYC streets, so long as you can count the numbers of streets. Just dont too foolhardy like me, to try to walk anything more than 10 streets. After a while you realise why the ladies in NYC only wear flats and slippers.

Another thing I realise after getting slightly lost on the first night trying to walk back to my friend's apartment. First time walking back to Grand Central Terminal, I took a look at the name - "MetLife" perching on top of the builidng, one of the landmark recognisable from the apartment's windows, and started to walk towards the general direction. 5 minutes later, I tried to take my bearing again by looking up, and realised that I was surrounded by tall, unrecognisable blocks. Can't see Metlife building anymore. Thereafter it was hitting every corner by trial and error until I found the familiar landmark of the corner store near my friend's place.

Talk about an urban concrete jungle.

Haven't been taking photos..just felt so caught up in the pace of this city. And one thing I am very sure, my feet and legs hurt from so much walking.