Keane

Only a few singers' new album that I am looking forward to listen to. Keane is one of them.

It was Megan who introduced Keane to me over a year ago. Since then, I have been listening to them. Dreamy-me just entered into the no man zone when i listen to their songs.

Keane's first album "Hopes and Fears" was released May 2004. Simply looking at the song titles, I can assure you, these are the songs besides James Blunt and Damian Rice that I play over and over again and have the melody and lyrics embraced me; Somewhere only we know, We might as well be strangers, Everybody is changing.

I was so excited to see the new released album and bought it without second thought. Come on, buying original CD is a big consideration these days.

The power of Softhard

返工手軟軟, 叫你OT 梗哎fankyou.
Wah, 我d活力都返口西來

My dear softhard... I support you forever. you are my source of energy!

No subject

just came back from a business dinner. it was tiring. I met upto 20 of my clients there. I am not very good at socialising in such function. Or on the surface I can handled it well, but not enjoyable at all. I felt a sense of insecurity in me. May be I felt like having someone for me to hide behind.

my buddy has left for his new assignment overseas today. bidding farewell to him on the phone briefly. Feeling empty. my best wishes to him!

A number of my cancerian friends are going to have their birthdays. I am not sure if I am going to greet each one of them. For some of them, I flet the friendship has just fallen apart. may be its out of sight out of mind. it is surely a test for real friendships. And with some of them, mistakes were made before my last visit. Sigh... may be I just have to learn the fact that I am living in this cruel reality.

Mumbai

I just can't wait to share with you the pictures taken from the capital of India.





















Before I went to Mumbai, I bought a bottle of 1.5 litre mineral water. I have heard enough stories about "food poisoning". Arriving at mid night, the street was surprisingly busy. There were people wandering on the street and homeless sleeping at the pedestrian path. We were brought to the Inter Continental by the sea which we spent the next two days for training.

Out of expectation, we got half day off. The three girls exchanged some rupee and headed out to "Gateway of India" for shopping. A little history on "Gateway of India"; it was built by George V to remember the port which the British first entered into the country. Further down the road, there are stalls lining up, selling clothes (those white indian style shirts selling at one tenth of Zara's price); bags with excellent embroideries and beads; shoes; accessories; shawes; antique and stationaries.

On the street, there were a lot of children beggers. Here is the story of my entercounter with one, a single eyed boy. He kept padding on my arm and said "Hello, I don't want your money. Just buy me milk. I want milk." I went on without looking at him as I knew I am softhearted. He kept on asking from one block to the next. At the third block, I started speaking Cantonese to him and hoped that he would give up. But he didn't. Finally, until the fifth block, I took out some chewing gum and placed it on his little palm. Then he disappeared. In the bottom of my heart, I hope he didn't swallow...

Late afternoon, we were walking along the seaside, I dropped my jaw when looking at the sunset. It could be as beautiful no matter how developed the country is. That's the power of nature.

Transit

Lucky that I am now in Changi Airport but not Mumbai Airport. I have to spend the next 2 hours, wandering around before the next flight. Extremely tired. Thanks to iboss, I am not entitled to use the business class lounge.

My impression of Mumbai is generally alright. May be I had expected worse. Lacking of sufficient preparation and not being able to collect myself from holiday mood, I was not doing extremely well in the training. No one to blame but myself. I was just over-confidence. Well, it is good to give myself a good bash and to realisation that there is a distance away from true success. Isn't it just make life more challenging and interesting?

I have to admit that shopping in Mumbai was good. Things are just cheap and nicely done.

Well, the "free internet" access is prompting me that the session will be ended in 3 mins. Let me close this by saying, "I feel much better to air out my frustration of not flying business class".

Sleepless nights

I thought I could survive the jetlag without a problem as I was able to sleep well on the first night returning from Europe. However, I was wild awake last night and the night before til sun rise.

A lot of things were in my mind.

I had a reflection on the friendship with my best male friend (yeah, a platonic relationship). I met him for dinner last night as he is going away for new work assignment soon. I don't know when would be the next time we meet.

Well, it might be the right time for me to step back and give ourselves sufficient space.

Fountainbleau

On the way to Insead, Ming asked "Are you nervous?". I said no. Instead, I felt hopeful and excited. It was a hot afternoon.

It seems to be the right place for me. A place filled with people from all sorts of background who are smart and fun. The way I see it is a "club med" cum business school. The cost is EUR70K and 10 months (including the opportunity cost of the time). And the benefit? A "stamp" of Insead on the forehead, big corporates "fighting" to hire you, plenty of new friends (from different locations), lots of partying, great deal of inspiration from peers, 10 months to live to France ("oh la la...") and chances for touring Europe. "What else to consider?", said the Insead students I met on the boat trip on River Seine.

Now, I am motivated to work on the application with full force. Study for GMAT, write application essays and save money.

Nothing is better than knowing a meaningful next step for myself. I am energised!

back to reality

Yeah, holiday is finished.

I have spent 2 days in St. Sebestian, 5 days in Barcelona, 2 days in Fountainbleau and 5 days in Paris. The trip was fulfilling, yet expensive. I was reminded once again why am I working so unwillingly in the current office. I am bartering my time and brain-cell for money.

Write more about each location in the next entries.

Out of office

Water will be out of office from 1/6 and returning on 23/6. Should you have any urgent matter, please do not even try to contact her.

For more update, please check Adventure of King Ming blog

I was having this complicated conversation yesterday evening. It involved both business and personal. After the brief business talk, I annouced the change of my identity from a bank officer back to a friend. The change didn't happen only on me, but him as well. From a serious businessman, he turned into a whining baby. He was complaining about the nitty gritty that he has to clear on his table before he flew for his hometown in few hours time.

Without eleboration, both Pisceans fell into a romantic illusion for a minute or so. One of us woke up and cut short the conversation.

Well, both Pisceans know it won't work. A distance should be kept between us to avoid any causalty.

Getting old...

I realised, when I get older, I am less insistence in certain aspects of life, e.g. going out with guys. I used to rely a lot on my gut feeling about guys, especially with whom are interested in me (well, could be platonic...!?). In the past, I would shy away if I don't have a strong feeling. I thought, why waste time anyways. But now, I learn to give myself a chance to find out more, hoping there could be pleasant surprise. (up til here, monolisa must be nodding her head while reading)

Well, so far, the result is within expectation, yet life is more "interesting" than being alone always. Life moves on if there is no chemistry and continues with the search in the "people sea".

Mystery solved

Spontaneous Steph once mentioned to get more Ziga Zaga homemade 地瓜片 on Satuaday night. Well, we all know this is not the real purpose.

Tonight, we went to the opening of Tcing Tcing (some bar opened by local celebs). Guest who I ran into at the bar - the real purpose of Ziga Zaga. Oh my god! Again, "Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me."

This was the first time to meet him outside his work place and out of his black fitted suit. He gave me this gentle stroke on my arm made me wonder if he is straight... or he is simply trying hard to be seductive... :p

Curiosity kills. But once the mysterious of a person is gone, it feels sour.

Mid Summer Night's Dream

Love me, love me not

The heavy base of the same old song was banging along my heart beat. I activated my build-in infrared detector and was searching for him. When our eyes met, I smiled. Yeah, it was one of those betrayal smiles.
Chats, laughters, smoke and free flow of champagne were brought along into my dream.
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I stepped into the dimly lighted apartment. The table was set for dinner with candle lights. He was busy preparing our dinner. Simple pasta served with chilled white wine. The conversation was delightful.

A few thoughts to share before bed

- I had a nice talk with another pisceian over a brief lunch today. It was nice because through the conversation, I realised there is actually someone on this planet as dreamy and as sensitive as me. Interesting still, a male version of me

- Among friends, there are roles to play. Listener, head nodder, care taker, counselor and simply a talker (just talk don't listen). I am lucky to have one very good listener. May be its my turn to listen to someone who love to talk but have no patience to listen. Its all about give and take

- The bad thing about me (which I believe is inherited from Mom) is that if you have no patience to listen, then I would rather keep things to myself, period

- A long waited MSN conversation was taken place tonight. It was brief yet lightened my heart a lot. Well, sometimes, all we need is just to know the one over the other side is doing fine

- Da Vinci Code movie is okay. I will rate it 3.5 stars out of 5

- "Rainbow Connection" was playing in my ipod. The voice of Kermit reminds me of my dear listener

- Good night

Math

Today I took out the newly bought GMAT official guide and started working on the quantitative part of the "diagnostic test". It has been 8 years since I last solved a math question.

I felt like an idiot as I scratched my head and couldn't figure out the answer.

I hope "practice makes perfect" is true.

Left work at six sharp

I felt uneasy since I got the phone call from monolisa at noon. She ended by saying "you better be prepared for its coming". The message she brought was haunting me for the whole afternoon. Time passed slowly and finally it was six. I couldn't wait to pack my bag and leave the office.
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Last night, I was offered two alternatives. He would decide his next stop according to my choice, Macau or Malaysia. Well, this is just a joke. Am I that influential to make such important decision? Okay, let's say if I could really make the call, where would I chose? I would chose the third place, by my side.

iboss II

Yes, it is a waste of time to talk about her. So, please just ignore this entry if you agree.

She is trying hard to pick on me and so she found the chance when approving my expenses. Here are her comments: -

Phone Bill (less than TWD3000 each month) -> Please make sure to identify each phone call (on the phone bill) next time; Try to use "fixed line", it is cheaper.

Cab fare (less than TWD2500 each month) -> Please try to best utilized our department car. Try to use the time slot when the car is free to visit clients.

Lunch bill -> Make sure the money is well spent on client with good business potential and deals monitization.

Okay, in another words, I should sit there and do minimal marketing for cost control sake. Minimal entertainments, minimal meetings and minimal phone calls. Well, sounds familar. Isn't that just exactly described the person sitting next to me, i.e. iboss?

This kind of bullshit comes once every month (u know why) and the underlying reason is very simple - She hates me, period.

Mosquito

i killed a mosquito with my pointing finger and thumb while it was sucking my blood. Would the "needle" be broken and stuck in my skin, or would it flow along with my blood circulation in my body?

Posing or roller coasting

Thought we were living "Sex & the City".

Thursday night, Steph and I met up at Joyce East after work for a drink and shoes posing. It ended up to be a light dinner with dessert and coffee. It was my fault.

I was starving upon arrival, so I asked for some finger food to bite on along with our champagne. Unexpectedly, a delightful antipasto platter was presented. There were smoke salmon with fish roe on egg cake; olives; pate de foie gras on crispy toast; beef cappaccio wrapped around roman lettuce and parma ham on figs. Of course, dessert followed ~ a crispy apple pie with ginger ice cream.

Over the delicious antipasto and peach almond champagne, the two girls were bitching about work, life and relationship. Both long for a roller coaster ride but keep holding back. We are up for the thrill, yet acknowledging the fact that we are unable to take the foreseeable consequences.

Just as we got hurt when putting our fingers to the fire, we learn from experiences and stop ourselves from repeating mistakes. Isn't it painful to hold yourself from chasing after your desire? Okay, again, it is a philosophical discussion.