recovery | pics

I am slowly recovering from the disappointment of my shopping non-event. Life has to go on eh? :)

Some work photos…….

Many would be forgiven for thinking that the whole of bangkok is devoted to the tourism dollar. But there are pockets of industrialisation in the outskirts of the city, and throughout the country. Employment in the big MNCs there are coveted for, so you'll find that turnover in these companies tend to be very very low, if not zero.

Random shots…

That last shot was taken at night from the 83rd floor of the hotel I was staying in btw. It reminded me of the ox-bow lakes from geography classes eh.

shopping non-event

Was in bangkok the last couple of days for work. And I’m upset. Not with the work, cos we got some great work done out of the trip. I’m upset cos I didn’t manage to get much shopping done.

I’m not a shopping person. I can make do with my backpack when I travel cos I rarely shop. My family and friends have come to know that of me, so they don’t expect to get any souvenirs from me when I get back from my travels.

But I was planning to do a lot of shopping this time round. So much so that I actually brought a luggage bag for the trip…a luggage bag! Hahha. Thought I might need it to keep my purchases. Was planning to get loads of shoes…cos my working shoes are in a sorry state now. was planning to get clothes…lots of tops and perhaps a few dresses to inject life into my oh-so-boring wardrobe. Was planning to get some things for my wedding…maybe a hantaran gift or two…or some stuffs to spruce up my bedroom.

Got myself 1 work top, 2 casual tops, 4 pairs of slippers, 1 ipod nano softcover, 1 photoframe. That’s it.

I really am not a shopping person. I like to look around first before buying anything. I’m not an impulse buyer. I cant just look at a thing, and immediately decide to buy it. I’m just not like that. I prefer to take my time. And bangkok is just not a place to take your time in. there are so many shopping places to cover. And so little time. and it doesn’t help that I have company on my shopping trips, cos this means that I have to wait for the person while she browse around and BUYS her stuffs.

And so I’m upset. I came to work today wearing the very pair of shoes that I thought I’d have trashed for my newly-bought ones from Bangkok. But, there’s no new pair of shoes. Upset!

On a positive note, my trip reminded me of why I love Thailand so much. Great food. Nice people. There’s beauty in all that chaos. And i blend in cos people thought I’m local. Nice!

show me the money!

Came across something interesting from a book I was reading this morning…

“Business executives can more easily fire people and – equally important – they can use money to buy talent. Most social sector leaders, on the other hand, must rely on people underpaid relative to the private sector or, in the case of volunteers, paid not at all. Yet a finding from our research is instructive: the key variable is not how (or how much) you pay, but who you have on the bus. The comparison companies on our research – those that failed to become great – placed greater emphasis on using incentives to ‘motivate’ otherwise unmotivated or undisciplined people. The great companies, in contrast, focused on getting and hanging on to the right people in the first place – those who are productively neurotic, those who are self-motivated and self-disciplined, those who wake up every day, compulsively driven to do the best they can because it is a part of their DNA."

Which runs contrary to the way our nation’s leaders are compensated, don’t you think? The powers that be believe, rather fervently I must say, that we must pay top dollar to attract great leaders to lead this little country of ours. So we end up paying an obscene amount of money to these people, because if not, they’d not be motivated enough to leave their cushy jobs to join the public sector (our MP’s allowance is $13,500 a month, and this is apart from the salary he’s getting from his full-time job! Imagine how much our ministers are earning!).

But when you think of it, doesn’t that mean then that we’re attracting the wrong kind of leaders? Who do we want to attract? The kind who pauses a while, weighing the amount of money he’s likely to lose/gain from making that leap? Or the kind who’ll take on the challenge when called upon regardless the compensation because, hey, he strongly believes in making a difference?

being a friend | MY guy

I’ve not been a good friend.

I’d thought, wrongly, that a friend tells it as it is, warts and all.

So if i think that my friend is making a mistake by jumping into her marriage without really knowing the guy and without even being in love with him, I’ll tell my friend so because, hey, it’s my duty to wake her up from the dream even if she refuses to see the harsh reality for herself.

And if, after the wedding, my friend comes running to me with her problems and wonders if she should leave the marriage, my instant reaction would be to encourage her to leave it cos she’s miserable enough as it is and hey, wouldn’t one want one’s friends to be happy in their lives?

I’ve realized that I’ve been wrong. I should have just listened to her whines and woes, cos that’s what friends do – be the listening ear. What I should NOT do is to offer my 5cents worth (cant give 2cents cos no more 1cent coins liao). Cos decisions such as that can only be made by the person herself, and friends and families have no right to impose their thoughts and opinions on the matter. And if she chooses to make the marriage work, then as a friend I should stand by her. Support her. Give positive comments instead of making snide remarks on the state of affairs or make barbed comments on the husband.

To my friend who might be reading this if she’s not too busy with her latest distraction (hehhe): I’m sorry. Will promise to just be your listening ear from now on. And hey, all the best in yet another new chapter in yr life!

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I saw the folly of my ways after reading this book.

I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic in getting the book, the cover looks too chick-lit for my liking. But the prologue got me hooked, and although I was there with the primary aim of only buying the books that were on discount, I ended up adding this (no discounts!) to my buys instead. And it’s been worth it. This is not the normal kind of chick-lit where you lap it up immediately and forget about the story the next day. But this is different. This is the kind that makes you think thoughts which still lingers days after you’ve read it.

"They say there is no such thing as a perfect marriage, but there is. A perfect marriage is one where two people live together for most of their lives until death separates them. What there is no such thing as is an easy marriage. And when it comes to love, we sometimes believe it should happen with ease"

This is for all of us out there who keeps wondering if our partner is THE one.

The most important take from the book for me:
Spider is not the right guy. He is not the wrong guy either. He is just MY guy. The one I have chosen to be with for the rest of my life. The one who WILL be spending the rest of my life with me, insyaAllah.

I’m looking forward to it.

i just wanna sit

giving up one's seat in the train to pregnant ladies and the elderly is a given. i'd do that in an instant the moment i set eyes on any one of them. but what about those who's older than you? like say you're 15...shd you give up your seat for someone who looks 20...25? that's a bit tricky.

i was really really tired when i took the train home from work yesterday. so i welcomed the sight of the guy in front of me vacating his seat to alight from the train. i plonked myself onto the seat. and proceeded immediately to feel guilty for not giving the seat to the 'auntie' who was standing beside me.

now the 'auntie' cannot be classified as an 'elderly' cos she looked to be in her late 30s or maybe early 40s. (granted she shouldnt even be called an 'auntie', but she was dressed so auntie-like that i just have to call her that! :P) and she's definitely not pregnant. but i suppose we've always been taught to respect our elders, even if they're a few hours older than us, so i couldnt help but feel guilty for not giving the seat to her.

but hey, i was really really tired. so forgive me for indulging in that little bit of selfishness. i promise not to do that to pregnant ladies and the elderly though. you can count on that.

fireworks galore from the humble camfone

these were taken from the office....

and these were from that gem of a place...

i've been taking pics wif my fone of late. too lazy to use the digicam. shd hv invested money buying a fone wif better camera. but ah well....better something than nothing.

spider bought this over the weekend. super jealous!! at least i have 23mb of internal memory compared to 6mb of his. but then ah..mine has no external memory while he has a whopping 64mb worth of that. hmph!

mis(sed)-adventure

was supposed to be on a rough-it-out mini trip trekking a mountain in neighbourly malaysia, but spider's health took a turn for the worse early in the week. ended up using my applied-well-in-advance leave nursing him back to health instead. n i'm not complaining. true i've pushed myself to my limits training for the trip, but all the training's not for nought as i'm now fitter and fitted wif nicer leg muscles..hehhe. plus i'd do anything to see him up and about again!

n there were the fireworks. braved through the esplanade crowds last sat for the fireworks fesival opener. realised that the crowd was more stifling than stimulating. opted to watch from the comforts of the office on tuesday and friday with the spider n the folks respectively. and caught the ndp fireworks from the banks of the kallang river too! being on a bike is a huge plus on occassions such as these..hahha!

am not looking forward to work after 6 days of waking up late...

tired | kulai wedding

I’m tired. Physically tired. Just came back, from a whole lot of standing around. I think I’m getting old, cos I tire easily from wearing the heels. I need comfortable cushioned shoes.

Going on a mini trekking adventure next week, and I needed the practice. Been trampling around bukit timah hill and macritchie lugging this humungous backpack on my back. I wonder if I can keep up with the young ones next week. Don’t want to be a disgrace, so I’d better work harder! But I’m tired. Bleah.

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Me n my folks attended a wedding in kulai last weekend, and it was…weird. Call me a jakun but I’ve never attended a wedding in msia before, so this was the first. There was this riuh mc who was making so much noise I wish he would just shut up. And the whole thing felt like some family day carnival. There were even lucky draw gifts and game prizes given away! Is this something usually done at msian weddings?

The groom was damm delicious though. Hehhe

I’m hoping that there’ll be enough seats for the guests at my wedding. Am getting worried at the number of people my folks are inviting. Hopefully the guests wont be hurried through their meals like we were…