The Usual Happy Birthday

How apt... the clock strikes 12, and I log on to my Skype account just to look at the conversations that S&S have had for the day. Your name props up... it's super random as you hardly even know little S. I stop whatever I do for just that moment, as I always do at the mention of you, and then, I realise... it's your birthday.

Maybe it's Facebook, but you have been turning up quite a bit... simple act of photos browsing and I see you. And guess what? In some ways, you just have not changed, have not aged. Looks like life has been treating you well. It's been 5 years now? One would think that that's time enough to heal... but has it? I pick up the phone, tempted to text you happy birthday... the phone goes down again, the text unsent, but the well wishes are there.

Night out in Mumbai

This email was a couple of days after... unfortunately this night out also resulted in my getting a bad stomach upset.

Hello All...

Just thought that I'll update on my night out yesterday even though no one is really responding... wonder where is my little sis. (Only my dad seems to be the "free" person who replies with many interesting comments)

Anyways, yesterday the colleagues brought us out to dinner, an Indian Seafood dinner to be exact, and I had my first "taste" of real Mumbai. I finally figured out what is so "special" about the roads here... there are no lane markings! So everyone pretty much drives/walks as though it's a free for all, and you squeeze into every little space. At some amazing traffic junctions, traffic is almost "zig zag", and a short drive can really give you heart palpitations considering the number of times that we manged to break a mere couple of cms from the bumper/legs of the car in front / person in front. However, my local colleague told me that Mumbai is actually considered organsied as opposed to Delhi... can't imagine how it is there. But yes, after two weeks here, don't think I will ever complain about SG traffic.

The other interesting attribute about Mumbai is that the "upmarket" area is side by side with the not so "upmarket" area. So maybe on the right there could be a shopping complex, but on the left are people selling the day's farm produce on the pavement (yup, no carts, just on the pavement). Quite different from most other cities where there is always a clear "posh" area. Apparently, this is unique to Mumbai. And the sheer number of people on the roads. Wow. Think serangoon's little india with 10 times the number of people in the same space. For a city that is much bigger than SG, but with a population that is only slightly more than 3 times bigger (13.5m), I wonder why it just looks that much more crowded.

Dinner was at a place that would have been only 5 minutes drive from the office, but it took us about half an hour. There is construction going on everywhere now and we parked in a still being built multi storey car park. Yeap... you read it right, it was still being built. First time I stepped into a "WIP" building.

Indian seafood is yummy. Tried tandoori crabs yesterday. Spicy but yummy. And instead of chapati, had bharkri, which is another "prata" like thing, except that it's made of rice with coconut milk. People here have dinner really late, like 9.30pm, so when we reached the restaurant at 8.00pm, we were the only ones there. Imagine 10 different people serving just one table... hee... Anyway, thanks to all the curry and carbo filled food that I have been eating, my weighing machine tells me that I have been steadily putting on weight... so don't be surprised if I come back fatter!

If you are wondering why I am writing yet another long email... it's coz we gave the files to the photocopy boy yesterday (yes, they have people here who are just in charge of photocopying)... and of course, he's not done yet (or he's not in office yet)... which leaves me with pretty much nothing to do at the moment!

All ritey, hope this has provided you with an amusing read. Huggies!


And this was the reply I got from my dad. Yes, I do think that he is very hilarious.

Aaahh...I am feeling claustrophobic already. Read alot about bad traffic in Indian cities before. Good thing that it is someone else who is experiencing it and narrating the details (so mean). Hope you have pictures to support your travelogue....will be good that you build upon it during each travel. There is always something new, something interesting, something unique to remember.

Food, glorious food ! Have you spotted any cereals with curry in the breakfast menu yet? Well if you want to try, make sure there is a toilet nearby first. (For the record, yes, there are such options, but I think I will leave it to the very end of my trip before I even consider trying)

Have some more discurries... oops I mean discoveries.

Me 1 (since no one else has replied).

First Impressions of Mumbai

There just doesn't seem to be enough time to udpate my blog, keep in touch with friends/family as I bustle around the world. This time round though, I've shot off a couple of emails to my family... and so I thought, this would be a good way to kill two birds in one stone. This way at least, I have some ways of keeping my first thoughts of India.

Hi Hi,

I promised mummy that I'll send an email about my first impressions of Mumbai...

Hmmm... where do I start:

1) Flight & Arrival
I must admit that I never appreciated "Business Class" travel so much until this flight. On the trip to Aussie, the "sua ku" me did not know how to handle all the controls. This time round though, I could curl up and sleep (a little). More importantly though, it could keep me from the "reality" of going to Mumbai for a little while more, though it was really weird to hear all the plane announcements in Tamil(?)(I learnt after that it was in Hindi)

Upon my arrival at the airport... reality struck. The entire airport is still under construction. Hee Hee. But we actually went through immigration and baggage collection in a record fast time, so I must say I was rather impressed.

2) Trip to Hotel
Again, I was thanking my lucky stars that I am not travelling under Pxx policy as I cannot imagine having to take a local cab to the hotel. Will show you pictures when i get back, but there was no way the local cabs could take S's and my luggage! And this was the more expensive cab already! The cheaper versions are super run down tut tuts... I must say that China roads are much more developed than Indian ones, even the ulu parts of China that I go to... or maybe, it's just that the China roads are more well maintained... the roads and the buildings here are in terrible condition. Was just telling J last night that this has got to be the poorest living conditions that I have ever seen.

3) Everything else
Hotel is brilliant. As in comfy and smell-less. The service here is good and in general even the people on the streets are friendly. We were walking around like lost ducks for a couple of minutes trying to find the office, and everyone we asked tried to help. So yeah, definitely found the people here friendly. Food wise, I think I am going to abstain from Indian food once I get back. Day 2 and I am "scared" already. Ate in the office canteen today... hee... will let you know if I get a stomach upset in a bit. Am so glad I brought all my food supplies over as apart from the hotel, there are no decent shops around for you to buy groceries etc. But thanks to my brilliant forsight, I've got biscuits, coffee, sweets, chocolates and cup noodles and plenty of BOOKS for the days that I need comfort. And judging from the work... I do need plenty of comfort indeed! (I also have with me Jap anime and the discs I took from the BEB)

In conclusion... this place is not as "scary" as the descriptions I've heard. However, in comparison to the other emerging market, China, most visitors would have a greater difficulty adjusting here as everything is just in disrepair, and there are just no amenities available. Whilst China gives you the feeling of wealth right now... there is still a very obvious poverty gap here.

Hee... what a long email. Coz eating in the canteen means that we spend a really short time at lunch! Gonna go attempt to swim later today... yesterday's attempt had me yelping out of the water as it is so cold!

Miss ya all! Huggies!

Birthdays and the thots that come with it

So my yearly August celebrations were all in "fast forward" mode this year as I scrambled to do all my well wishes within my limited period in SG. For a change though, there was no scrambling to get bday presents for everyone as Hong Kong provided me with the perfect opportunity to pick up stuff for all the folks.

Had a mini celebration with T right in the beginning of the month, a whole 20 days before the actual day. It's become pretty much a ritual really... this little get together in August. Really enjoyed that little night out... the quiet beginning at the pizza joint, talking to the really young waiter from Nepal, I think he really thought the two of us were an old married couple or something. Considering that it was my first weekend back home, I was just really glad to be back in familiar territory, hanging out at old joints, enjoying company with whom there was really no need to entertain. Even silences are comfortable... that's the beauty of home I guess. Think I always thought that there are similarities between T and a certain other friend, and so I was somewhat tickled when we ended up at Arab? street... hee, I really don't know where exactly with J and P, listening to jazz. Never been to the area in my entire life, and all of a sudden, I've paid multiple visits to this area in this year. Will definitely come back here again... if only to just chill out on the sofas at the top floor.

Had a "surprise" birthday celebration for Ms ED at Barracks as well... well, kinda "surprise" coz she knew about it in the end... and she gave me a right o scare by declaring that she did not wanna come out. Grrrr... Anyways, it was a tad funny coz there was a new addition to the group this time round, as S has gotten attached yet again! All in all, though it was a rather subdued celebration, thought it was nice that we are all out catching up after so long! Must really meet up again soon.

Ended my week of meeting up with peeps by meeting the ex teammates for drinks and chicken wings, BEB and L for dinner, and having a massive farewell party for the tons of people leaving the ex department (I think the count is close to 10!) Will admit that I enjoyed the "little" gatherings more than the large scale ones as it was just more relaxed and laid back. Listening to the old office gossip without having a real care, or just the BEB and L rib each other (as usual) was just more entertaining than having to answer for the millionth time how I was adjusting to my "new" job. Was very thankful that we did not have to eat prawn noodle again, and I will forever remember the pepper shaker incident. Next up, Broth?

On a semi related note, the SB saw me wrapping up my various pressies and writing cards, and he commented that it was a waste of time. Hmmm... I don't know. For me, a pressie is just that more meaningful when it comes wrapped and with a card. Mayhaps in our modern materialistic society, the value of the present may have overtaken all the personal touches involved (the SB tells me he buys his own bday presents and "claims" the value from his friends)... but I guess I'm still old fashioned. The gifts were not the most expensive (heart was willing, but pocket was empty), but think it took me a longer time to choose my little gifts then for me to purchase stuff for myself... and wrapping them up is just my way of saying I care. :)

Memories of Hong Kong

The usual "on the plane" photo

" Olympic atmosphere"

Egg tarts... not usually my fav, but these were yummy... I miss them already!

Oishii desu!!!

And how can a visit be complete without the famous desserts!

Things I wanna Do

1. Exercise - need to burn out all that dim sum
2. Swim (or rather, work on my tan)
3. Alteration - I need to alter all my jeans/pants before they can be put to use! Need to do this really soon. Can't wait to wear all my new clothes.
4. Meet my sis! Wanna show her all the stuff I bought
5. Celebrate the bdays

Now, I have a total of 12 days in SG before I fly off again. Wonder if I will be able to do all this in time. Hmmm..

All about shopping

Yes, this is a shopping entry. Though I was supposed to stay in and work today, I ended up hitting the shops again. I seriously think I've spent half my pay this month on the shops. Tee Hee.

HK is a land of pretty short skirts and bags. The pretty bags are really driving me slightly insane... there's an Agnes B in almost every shopping centre, and everyone on the streets from the little 14 year old BOY to the 58 year old auntie is carrying something nice and fashionable. Wait, even the Filipino domestic helpers are carrying nike, adidas or puma bags. But then with their considerably higher salary (about SGD 800/mth), I guess they are more able to afford the bags. Surprisingly though, I've only bought 3 bags and two skirts. Guess that's what happens when you are spoilt for choices... no one bag/skirt shines through.

One thing about being here for so many days is that I've been given the opportunity to "explore" hong kong fashion. Whilst past shopping expeditions have been very much centred on familiar brands already available in SG... this time round, most of my purchases have been from brands which I've never looked at before. Upon the cuz's gf's recommendations, I checked out Island Beverely... it's like a cross between Far East Plaza and Siam Centre, full of local designers and where the main consumers are locals rather than the world's fav tourists ("WFT"). It was really interesting to look at the differnt shops... and of course I bought things that I would normally have never considered. Not gonna say that I changed my "style" totally... coz that would require me to have a fashion consultant along, but, I did buy some "weird" stuff. Btw, I realised on this trip that hk gals are all so slim... I seriously think that average BMI is like 16-17.

Started wondering what it was about HK that always had me shopping so much. It's definitely not coz things are cheap here... So, after much consideration, here's my "list":
1) Sale is good... so you get to buy stuff from brands which you would never do normally.
2) Shops are huge... thus, selection is huge. If each brand had 100 items, you are bound to find something that you like
3) Service is good... when you have good service staff that pick up things that suit you, or match that pants or top that you pick... you end up buying way more than that original top/pants.
4) The weather. It's scorching here. The other day it went up to 37 degrees. With that weather, you are "forced" to seek refuge in the shopping centres, and get assualted by the 3 pts above.

So yes, that's my excuse for having spent this much $$. Currently, am pleased as punch with my purchases. Hopefully, will be able to wear them when I am back! Now, it's time to go back home so that I'll stop hitting the shops!

All I want is You

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and greeen
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and greeen
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I'd be the snow
Just as long as you were with me, when the cold winds blow.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a wink, I'd be a nod
If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod.
If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug
And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.
If you were the love, I'd be the desire.
If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

This song randomly came up as I set my iTunes on Shuffle. How apt. Just at the exact moment when I was feeling a tad lonely in my little room, craving a hug and some company. Hee. Brought back memories of watching Juno. Of never ever getting any work done on Fridays as I was looking forward to Friday nights and the Company… the conversation and the walks. Miss the walks. Think that anticipations are really so “teenage”. There’s this one scene where he tentatively cuddles up to her and they just snuggle. I thought it was especially sweet. Perfect really. So different from the complications that settle in later. Need to watch it again. Dreamy now.