It's Good to be Back!

After spending a month hopeless and lost ever since I came back from Hanoi, it's good to be back from the wilderness.

I guess that we all suffers from hopelessness some point in our life. Wondering, are the things that we do, the path that we took was the right one. The "what ifs" keeps appearing in our mind. Sometimes we suffer from burn out from work, the daily mindless trudging in our life makes us ponder "what the hell am I doing?", we tend to lose the big picture - our goals and objectives, if we have any.

I am just a normal guy going thru the phase in my life. I thought going for holidays are able to freshen things up and get back my drive but unfortunately, I got more questions then answers.

Spent a month lost in the wilderness, headless and mindless. I screamed silently in my heart about the life I'm living and asked God "where should I be going?", "what have you plan for me?". I cringed at my own mediocre life and thinking there's so much more to achieve and accomplished.

Well, there's always choices to make. Thou the life differs from individual but all of us are given choices on how to live our live.

The question is - "What's Stopping You?"

Get a rough plan in mind and start walking. See where the road leads you for you cannot predict how it will turn out to be. One thing's for sure, life will not go according to your plan.
So have a rough idea and a goal or objective in mind and let's go! We might make detour but always keep the goal in sight like the light at the end of the tunnel.

After all this feel good crap that I've written, well, one thing's for sure.
I'm back and it's one hell of a good feeling to be back to face the world,

heads up, wind in my face, what the hell, let's go!!!

Songs that perk me up!

Following up on the Sony Ericsson commercial, there are songs that accompany you on your way, thru your journey. Songs that bring reminiscence to the good o' days or periods that you wish to forget. Some songs that really perks you up and there are some which is truly inspirational. Since I've made up my mind to sleep everyday before 12mn, I shall keep this short while leaving the songs that accompany me thru my growing up years some other time.

Heartbreaking / inspirational :
Luna Sea - Up to You

If you read about my previous post on my breakup, you'll know how sad it is. However, other then being a heartbreaking song, it is also truly inspirational. A song that I never fails to listen almost everyweek. A song that brings you down so low that you know the only way to go is up.

Perk me up / running song / inspirational :
Cold Play - Fix You

Another truly inspirational song that never fails to make me go that last mile, especially the guitar rift at the end. It gives me the feeling of everthing doesn't matters anymore, you'll feel that you've broken free from the chains that binds you down. A truly wind in my face song.

okay, time's running up, I'll continue to my top ten list soon. Gonna be cinderella, 12mn coming up, got to go zzz if not I'll be sluggish for a brand new day.

PS: The album covers above belong to the respective bands and recordings studio, hence are copyright.

I luv Sony Ericsson's advertisment !!!

I just luv the advertisment for 880i and the For the love of music advertisment.

For the "Love of Music" advert, it really expresses how I feel with a mp3 player, thou not necessary with a Sony phone, to accompany me thru my daily chores and work. There are times when nothing matters and you just wanted some space and time on your own or times when loneliness overwhelms you, you realised that music is a good company indeed. The advertisment hits spot on in touching the inner feelings and nerves of those who have been thru the period.

For the 880i advert, it shows a couple having a fast food meal at a park bench while the music's lyrics:

"want you to know you make me happy
want you to know you make me sad

want you to know you make me happy

you are the best thing that I ever had"

played in the background. something so simple yet so profound in a relationship.

The music for the 880i advert is by Freelance Hellriser titled " Want You to Know" while for the "Love of Music" advert is by Holiday for strings titled "Jump on Foot".

Once in a while, a advertisement comes and touches your heart and to me, these two sure do.

And by the way, I bought a Sony Ericsson 880i for myself and a 810i for my mom before we left for HongKong :) You can say the adverts do play a little part in swaying me and of course, the design is a big plus too.

keep it up Sony and create advertisment like those to make my day!

What If ???

After drinking tea with my dad at Ya Kun this evening, we went to Popular Bookstore and I happened to chance upon a book "Humoresque" by Catherine Lim. Saw a prose titled or decribes about "What If". It just sets me thinking.

What if I'm given a chance to relive my life again, would I do anything different?

No.

The path that I chose then was "best" option that I could have taken given the situation that I was in. Hindsight is just but a feedback which enables a person to gain experience and perspective. Hopefully makes a person wiser.

However, the more pressing "What If" question is about now, the present. Given the chance to right things that were presumably wrong or to carve out a future. With so many paths to choose, what will you choose? Subconsciously, the "What If" question will pop out asking what if you choose path B instead?

There are times that I felt something is wrong with the world and I felt so out of place. However, with the world functioning smoothly daily, I can only conclude it is me that is wrong to begin with. Maybe it's my job that causes so many questions about what if or maybe it's my life. Something just don't fit and I just can't put my finger on it.

I was chilling out, soaking myself in the bathtub in the middle of the night in the hotel room in Macau. There, I felt so strange. Not with the surroundings but just that I felt I don't fit in with the mainstream. I felt the urge to let everything go and just retreat to a corner of the world. I felt like travelling and walking until I can find a place to fit in.

Should I quit my job?

With the certainty of a stable and well paying paycheck, it's hard to say no but the fact that I'm asking myself time and time again speaks about something, i just don't fit in. I know that if I stayed on, I would have asked myself this question again and again. I would have regretted.

What's holding me back?

I'm hitting 30 and with no valuable experience to contribute to the society, it would be hard to command the same paycheck. Would I be satisfy with a smaller paycheck and most important of all, would I regret leaving my job which leads me again to the previous para. Would I regret leaving my job or will I regret not leaving?

Life is much more simplier if only I don't think too much.

If I choose to be a robot and just heck care. Everyday, go to work and wait for the montly paycheck, life will be so simple and... meaningless. That will be the mediocre life or a normal lifestyle of a Singaporean.

Work - get married - work - raise kids - work - retire and die.

I think I just don't like my job and it's causing so much problems.

If that's the case, what would I want to do?

Resign and face a uncertain future with the wind in my face, heads up to the world.

Stay on, complained and get depressed about my life.

Somehow, the more I write, the clearer the picture becomes. I've written a few post on it, harping about my life and I realised that if I don't do something about it, the "What If" will turn into regrets.

I just got to focus on the Plan A and Plan B.

Remember the date: 30th May 2009.

Back fr yearly hongkong trip 07 - day 1

like i said in my previous post, i've made a mistake of going to hongkong during this week. initially, i thought of saving some of my annual leave by going during this labour day period but little did i know, china's may day is a one weeklong public holiday. the hotel that i stayed in increased their prices by 80sgd per night. so inorder to cut costs, i book a triple bed room and bunk in with my parents. if i booked a room separately, it'll cost an additional 320 for two nights.

usually, i stayed in YMCA salisbury as their family bedroom comes with a bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room. coupled with a seaview makes it one of the most valued for money hotel. last yr, it was fully booked so i stayed in the crappy guangdong hotel. this yr, salisbury's prices is was too much for my budget [400+++] so i stayed in prudential hotel which is just right on top of jordan mtr. not a bad choice i might say as it's quite convenient. anyway, the room is quite spacious by hongkong standard with triple beds.

the thing about travelling is that i've always pack the night before which will take quite a while as i planned what to wear daily etc. this trip is no different despite going for so many holidays. well, i spent the whole friday stoning at home, playing games and others except packing... when i started doing so, it was 1130pm. after a unfocus packing which includes surfing the net etc. i finished at 4am. damn, it took me 4hrs+ to pack my stuff and best of all, 4am is the time that i should be waking up to get myself ready for the airport. needless to say, i'll be stoning the rest of the day with my mom too who didn't sleep. well, what a way to begin the day for a holiday :)


Day 1

the first thing that we never fail to do is to drop by this wanton mee shop in tsim tsa tsui to have our wanton fix once we have settled down. we found it by chance while looking to feed our stomach 3 yrs ago, since then, we've have been going back there whenever we go hongkong.

this yr's intinerary's different from the previous years since we have gone to most of the touristy places of interest, we just go where our fancy took us. we revisited the dessert shop located in the steep slope near the central midlevel escalator in the antique st and had our red and green bean soup. we then happen to walk past the "famous" egg tart shop called Tai Cheong Bakery and surprisingly since there's no queue, we just pop in and grab 3 tarts. still remember in 05 when it reopened, the queue was darn damn long. well, it's the first time we tried the tarts. the crust is soft and the eggs filling tasted watery. it's too much hype and no substance. what the uncle said in 05 while we're eating the red bean soup was true. you can get better tasting tarts then tai cheong's elsewhere and s'pore's red star restuarant's tarts taste much better.

we then proceed to shun tak building to book our accomodating in macau. damn again, the hotel rates went up due to the forecasted flooding of chinese tourist to the chinese sin city. we paid 170sgd a night with extra bed last yr and it cost 310 a night now which is nearly 82% increase.

after paying a heartpained 3080hk to the cashier, we left for wanchai to the tai yuen st. frankly speaking, i dunno why we went there but since it's along the way to causeway bay and there's toy shop, why not. daddy got himself a pair of slippers for 25hkd as his birkenstock is causing him abrasions to the pinkie toe. me? i bought a newly released gundam 0034 for 499hkd, had a hunch that it'll be cheaper than in s'pore. we then walk to causeway bay and i finally found the oriental plaza 188 = more toys!!! couldn't find the place for the last 2 trips as the location giving is off the mark. was so happy as i thought i could get some macross for myself. well ended up, the place mostly sells console games, handphones and japanese adult dvds... only one shop carries macross and the retail price is only slightly cheaper compared to singapore. was abit disappointed but nevertheless unlocked a kint in the knot and satisfied my curiosity.

we then carry on walking to causeway bay and we passby this lane on the way to times plaza. it's called lantern st just off the main wanchai rd while searching for something to fill our hungry stomach after a day of walking. along the way, we saw this super duper long queue in this street filled with restuarants and small makan shops. we then check it out [forgot to take picture] and see what's so goody about this shop but it stretches round the bend and ends at a ... ... ... bus stop. damn so misleading. we finally decided on this shop with a guy cooking claypot rice outside his shop, smells damn nice. however, we ended up ordering dishes instead of clay pot. we had, salad 排骨 [aka 排骨王 with mayonise], 苦瓜排骨 with black bean sauce, kangkong and salted fish with chicken. it comes with free soup and best of all, all tasted damn damn good. the thing about hongkong is that their soup is always heavenly, even soups served by the small shops which you can only get in restuarants here.

after a sumptious meal, we then proceed to times square to jalan jalan. talking about shopping, the clothes are not that cheap compared to singapore thou their variety might be more than ours. we walk around and then to jardine cresent and to sogo before heading back to hotel for a good night sleep. really stoning by now due to the lack of sleep...

Lessons learned fr the yearly Hongkong trip

came back fr my yearly family hong kong trip and this yr, we went to macau again. more on the trip later.

i think for the past hk trips and this too, i've always made the mistakes of going there when there's a mega event or it's the china's wk long public holiday. wat's the mistakes you might asked? well, it's the peak period and hotel rates can really increase by lots, at least 50% or sometimes, 100%. secondly, i've always never change enough cash so i got to make to do with the lousy rates there which is cheaper by 0.3-0.5 off the rates fr singapore. it might mean little but for every sing dollar, you lose 40hk cents = sgd 8 cents for a differential rate of 0.4. so if you changed 500sgd, you'll lose 40sgd. time and time again, i've made the same two mistakes.

so if you're going to hong kong, not only you have to time your schedule not to clash with your work, arrange the date that everybody's free, you still have to check whether china is having public holidays, whether hk have a mega event or convention that will put a squeeze on the hotel rooms. that way, you can save bundles if you're staying longer days. remember to change enough cash and swipe the rest by card. the rates are slightly better than the money changer.