Temple: Gunung Kawi Sebatu

This was the most interesting temple. Its backdrop of moss covered walls, huge ferns and statues exudes an ancient feeling. It feels as if you have entered a lost civilization. Ritual bathing takes place occasionally in the pools with water flowing out from sprouts. Notice that I was made to wear an orange sarong as I was inappropriately dressed. Heh!

Temple: Taman Ayun

Temple: Tanah Lot

Jane Doe and I were fortunate to view this temple during sunset. This temple is one of the most photographed icons of the island. It makes a perfect picture postcard. When sun sets, the hues of pink and orange offer a dramatic natural phenomenon. There is hearsay that any unmarried couple who enters the temple will not be together in their future.

Bali Bombings

There were two Bali bombings at Kuta area: one happened on October 12, 2002 and the other 1st October 2005. The first bombing occurred in a Sari Dance Club and it killed 202 people. The majority of the dead were foreign tourists, especially Australians. A memorial was built to commemorate the people who died. The two pictures above are the two bomb sites respectively.

Bali Shopping and Accommodation

Yes, I just returned from my trip and it was pure relaxation.

For shopping, you'll find plenty of surfer wear, surf boards, accessories, Balinese wood carvings, and furniture (my dear jane doe bought bed lamps). You get reasonable deals as long as you know how to bargain. Street vendors can be irritating and the fact that we were gals attracted more unwanted attention (we had many love declarations made to us in one day. Oh man! you should hear when they utter "wo ai ni"! You'll cringe.)

Jane Doe and I stayed at the Mercure Kuta. The hotel is fantastic as our location is just directly opposite the Kuta Beach. There are plenty of sun-worshippers, bronzed surfer fiends, water sport fanatics. If you are game for beatiful sunsets, KUTA is the place! At night, it comes alive with restarants serving everything from western cuisine to Indonesian nasi padang. However, traffic is heavy, with an endless stream of cars and motorcycles, shops, cafes, street traders, money changers, bike rental compnies..but I guess all these add to the colour and bustle of my stay!

Good Friday!

What an interesting day for me. Had to conduct two discussions ALONE at the new client's office (another GLC). One discussion on mergers & acquistions and the other, tendering process. There I was in my twenties, facing men in their thirties to forties. I was embarassed in presenting my namecard to them as I was just a mere consultant. Fortunately, there were no tough queries and all went well. Phew. They were a funny bunch as well, occasionally cracking me up. I love this job. It makes you think and learn everything about various businesses. I'm gonna be a guru one day! Haha...

Anyway, one more day to BALI!!! Happy good friday! I love public holidays. In the month of May, there will be more.....

Got a reference for my Happiness Paper..Hah.

Lame as can be, I googled my happiness paper and found that a Finnish university had conducted a similar study and made references to my paper. Haha...cheap thrill.

http://www.vatt.fi/seminaarit/esitykset/hirvonen_9.2.06.pdf

Happy Birthday Pearlene!!!

My best friend whom I knew since seven, celebrates her birthday today! Give it up for the person who lights up the lives of many!!! Anyhow, we had a sumptuous meal at a Japanese restaurant at cuppage with good ole friends, followed after by coffee at TCC. Pearlene, keep your friday night free. Gotta hot date with me to watch westside story! Hah!

You know it when you're flying over Africa

Travelling Plans

Plans for the holidays are more or less settled. Jane Doe and I have booked our accommodation for Bali! My boss has given me the green light for my trip. My flights to Zurich have been settled and I'll head to Spain to meet up with Monty after the conference. Waha...from the cold of Zurich to the sun, sand, and beaches of southern spain!

Sweet sweet victory

When the going gets tough, it gets bloody tough. There are many times I contemplated of giving it all up: thinking to myself, what the hell am I doing slogging my ass off. For the past two weeks, it was just pure work. I sleep during unearthly hours, giving myself undue stress and trying to meet tight deadlines. My worried mum, as usual, said You can opt for an easier life. There is no need for you to work so hard as you can do the business if you want.

You see, it's not about having the so called "easier life". Who doesn't want to travel round the world, read plenty of books, indulge in frequent socialising? Who doesn't want to follow a success formula that your parents have created for you? It's tempting but the point is, if I start doing this now and when I turn grey, I'll know I'll have a void when there was no purpose in my life. Seriously, at this moment, there are four things I wanna concentrate: a) helping people b) work c) love d) education to myself. Hah...all seem ambiguous, but hopefully I know what i'm doing.

Anyhow, the hard work has paid off. My two projects will soon be coming to a close. My clients have been satisfied with our work. This sense of gratification is rewarding and somewhat addictive. In a way, it can be frightening, coz it pushes you to do better. I guess at the end, it's important to know what your priorities are and work towards it. Definitely, being a cow means sacrificing much of many other things. This pertains to love as well.

"Alberto Giacometti said that sometimes just to paint a head, you have to give up the whole figure. To paint a leaf, you have to sacrifice the whole landscape. It might seem like you're limiting yourself at first, but after a while you realise that having a quarter-of-an-inch of something you have a better chance of holding on to a certain feeling of the universe than if you pretended to be doing the whole sky. My mother did not choose a leaf or a head. She chose my father and to hold on to a certain feeling, she sacrificed the world."

- The History Of Love by Nicole Krauss

Very sweet.

Dream a little dream...

Gonna treat myself with a nice long sleep....been sleeping 4-5 hours each night the past week. =)

Yeah Baby!

Won myself a trip to Switzerland! I'm sooo looking forward to it. And the good news is, I can take this opportunity to spend time with Monty again! Haha.. And Michael, a good o'le friend whom I knew from Switzerland too, will be at this conference. One and a half more months to go.....But first, Bali with Jane Doe.

The picture above is taken in the conference two years ago. I look so serious and bored.

Life's Basic Building Block: FREEDOM

White saw Little One at the children's home today. White returned home, feeling troubled. Tried taking a nap and White couldn't. In some ways, White reprimmanded herself for neglecting them. She should have seen it coming when the Big One asked her for money the last time.

Little one was glad to see White. The smile on his face was priceless.

"So how are you?"
"I'm okay."
"Heard from Rati that you cried the first night. Have you adapted well?"
"Yes. The kids and I talk every night before we sleep. It's only the breakfast that I am not used to. They serve oats and we have to wake up at 5 am every morning."
"So you should have plenty of friends here?"
"Nopes. They are not my good friends."
"But don't create trouble. Are you hungry? I brought you some biscuits and sweets."
"You better not let all the other kids see this. They will want a piece of it."
"You can share with them."
"No. One of them keeps asking me for money. Luckily, I kept my money in the locked drawers."
"You have enough money with you?"
"Two dollars. But they give me a dollar everyday."

White shoved ten dollars to Little One.
"Use it slowly. You never know when you need it."
Little One folded the note and kept it between his trousers and abdomen. He looked around, afraid that someone might steal it.

"Why didn't you call me? I kept calling your home for the past week."
"I didn't have your number with me. Can you write it behind this?"
Little One showed White a passpart size photo which he had taken recently.
"Don't I look good in there? See how my hair falls into place."

White scribbled her number.

"What happened to your mum?"
"She's in Woodbridge hospital because of depression. She'll be there for two months. She visited me the other day when I was in the hospital. She wrote a letter to get permission to see me."
"What happened to you?"
"It all started with a sore throat and I didn't want to see a doctor. Then it escalated and I became feverish. I couldn't withstand the pain and I called one of the church members to bring me to the hospital."

"Hold on a second. I wanna keep the biscuits somewhere safe."

When Little One left, White felt ashamed of herself. It was apparent that White's problems were minute. They seemed insignificant. There White was, preoccupied with work and fumed about the inadequateness and monotony of corporate life. There stood a young boy stripped away from life's basic building block: FREEDOM. No control over his direction, no resources to achieve his dream, and an ailing body.

If only there was a hole for White to bury in ignominy.....

Picture from adamsillustration.

Next Trip to Bali

La la la...yeps. Jane Doe and I have booked tickets to Bali next month.=) Can't wait to relax!! Haha....finally.

Anybody interested in going to Cambodia with me in May?

Future Developments in Marina Bay

I had lunch at Maxwell Road today and had some spare time to check out a little exhibition called "Singapore City Gallery" in the URA building. Well, the most interesting part of the exhibition was its showcase on the future developments of Marina Bay. It's gonna be a mesh of unique features of world cities...

1. The World's First Helix Structure bridge (pictures above). You see famous bridges in major cities, Toyko has one, New York has one...we never fail to be competitive. Heh.
2. The Sail (one of the tallest residential building in the world with city and bay views). Just gotta compete with Dubai.
3. Extension of the Financial Hub.
4. Gardens by the bay (90 hectare of greenary). I smell Central Park.
5. Marina Barrage (An area for water sports activities). Canary Wharf...
6. Integrated Resort. Let's roll in Vegas.
7. Waterfront Promenade. California Dreamin...
8. Singapore's Flyer. Eye see London.

Picture source: URA Website

Welcome to the Corporate World!

My dad has a fascination for ants. His purpose of buying a telescope was not to look at stars, but to examine ant behaviour on street lamps. I know. Pretty queer. Occasionally, he hovers in the garden and feeds pieces of chicken to his little friends.

In some ways, our society mimics the bureaucratic structure of the ant world: governed by rules and hierarchy, characterized by standard procedures and all serving the "queen". In my short span of time working, this is what I experienced and observed.

• Similar Terms, One Size Fits All. In the past, I was more familiar with terms such as sample size, independent variable, dependent variable, literature review, heteroscedasticity, correlation, causation etc. Now I'm bombarded with terms such as terms of reference, board minutes, memorandum of association, reconciliations, standard of procedures, whistle-blowing, round tripping, window-dressing, SAP, Basel II, circulars, annual reports...Oh man.
• Hierarachical. Currently, there are four levels to the "queen", me being at the bottom. I have no control and everything is dictated at the top. It's really interesting to see how these four levels interact. Everyone behaves quite similarly when one reports to another at a higher level (Yes..the typical "saka-ism"). If there are tight datelines, all work loads and stress trickle down to the bottom (Hah..that's me!).
• Certifications still count. Be it CFA, or CPA, or FRM....there is still much emphasis on these certifications.
• Employ good looking people. As horrible as it may sound, this is the bare fact, or rather, what I observe. (This may not apply to all industries).
• Typical Conversational Topics (yawn...). All the "ants" seem to be interested in common material subjects such as: CARS, PROPERTIES, GOLF, EX-COLLEAGUES, BOSSES, STOCKS, BONUS, MONEY etc. What happened to engaging topics such as ART, MUSIC, HISTORY, CULTURE, PHILOSOPHY, GEOGRAPHY, NATURE, REAL WORLD ISSUES? Have they been forgotten? Are they are too engrossed in accummulating food or in serving the "queen"?

Perhaps I should buy the book "Sophie's World" and recommend them to all "ants".

Painting above: The Average Bureaucrat By Salvador Dali.

B.O.R.E.D.

Just when your workload becomes lesser and you wanna go out and chill, all your friends are BUSY....aahhhh...So here I am on a Friday night, sitting here and wondering what I can do.

Well, I am definitely not touching my work after slogging for the past week. I could pop in my DVD collection and sulk in front of the TV. SNOOZE (which is so lame on a friday night). DAYDREAM of where to go for my next holiday. READ. I just wanna hang out with some GALFRIENDS and most of them are either BUSY with work or in the company of their BOYFRIENDS. Yes I am B.O.R.E.D. and I am B.I.T.C.H.I.N.G.....Hah

Anyway, I received two boxes of namecards today. It freaked me out. My name card reads:

Consultant
(The first line is okay.)
IT Consulting
( oh man, look at this second line!!! I am going to have so much explaining to do! Information technology? Since when? The thing is, yes, I am in that department, but I do not handle anything IT.)

I have not been visiting my tuition kid. Just gotten the news that he is still in the hospital............

A Walk with Mum

Dragged my mum out for a walk at the botanical gardens. Good to have a breather amidst heaps of work.=)

Is there such thing as THE PERFECT ENGLISH?

Last night, Martin messaged me. "You should fix the sidebar on your site." He claimed that I was using incorrect english. Well, let's look at this statement:

I never really believed in blogging but I guess this is a good mean to pen down my daily travels, especially one that is quite exciting.

"This sounds 1000% asian. Change it to 'I guess it is a good way..' (Hey Martin, what is asian english? BIASED....).

"Everytime I go to your site, LEARN ENGLISH PLEASE. Haha."

Okay, I made amendments to appease Martin (to make his life better) and not cause an eyesore to his delicate AUSSIE eyes. I have to emphasize: I can be a garbler when it comes to writing. Most of the time, I write with much haste. In my opinion, I think English is like art. It's hard to satisfy the tastebuds of everyone. As long as the written prose is lucid and expository, I think it's fine (I'm not referring to the obvious grammatical errors here).

Let's take for instance, the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit: "Thirty years ago, Marseilles lay burning in the sun, one day. A blazing sun upon a fierce August day was no greater rarity in southern France then, than at any other time, before or since."

To me, I think this opening paragraph is odd because it lacks cadence. But I guess many would beg to differ. You see what I mean? English is beauty to the eye of the beholder (Shit...I'm garbling again).

My Valentine's Day

Never would I imagine my Valentine's Day to be fruitful this year! Initially, I planned to stay at home, away from this commercialised, hyped up event where couples filtrated the streets. It can be quite an irksome sight. But I was pleasantly surprised when my mum smsed me in the morning, informing me that I received red roses from a "loved one in Germany". I was having a meeting with my client at that time and I was grinning from ear to ear when I received the news (My boss and my client must be thinking that I was nuts!). Oh well, it's always nice to receive flowers, especially from one whom you have fondness for. Thank you, Christoph.=)

Later in the evening, I received a rose from my cousin, Clement (So sweet of you!) and another one from an "unknown" in my office (I still do not know who this mysterious "unknown" is). My evening ended well. I had a buffet dinner with my cousins and some friends at Marriot. Went for karaoke after that....

Whistler's Mum (James Whistler, 1871, Musee D'Orsay)

I hope this ain't me one day. Nevertheless, it's a nice painting.

Where is the rainbow?

Having two projects ain't easy! The first project requires me to sieve through law files and identify risks. Let alone give recommendations. It was seriously daunting at first hand, trying to comprehend all the legal terms. Just few days ago, I was given another project. This time to do internal control review in a company that got itself into trouble due to its trading activities. Both projects have tight deadlines and juggling both of them has been an uptask (mind you, this is my third week of work)! I feel sooo guity for complaining, especially to Monty. But I am going to pull through...Fark!...Let there be a rainbow for me yah!

My tuition kid recently got admitted to the hospital due to fever and I felt shit for not being able to be there. I visited them two weeks back when the BIG one asked me for money. It was not a big sum, so I gave them. Just wished I had more time for them.

And I'm supposed to write an article on Swedish Banks for this website...which I have not embarked on it at all.

I'm beginning to detest the way I neglect my friends. There is not much time for socialising and I have been rejecting appointments and going home early after dinner appointments. Yah...friends, if you are reading this, do understand and bear with me a little while.

Sometimes, I think I'm giving myself high expectations to fulfill. Just endeavoring to be the person who can try, do and handle everything. That has always been my philosophy.. I hope nothing falls back on me at the end.

Valentine's day updates in later posts....

Got my frigging boat license finally!!!!

I started off excellently, making thorough checks of the whole boat. But my nerves got a hold on me when I unberthed the boat..my control was bad and I had to make a "three-point turn" within the miserly small area. Utterly embarassing. Hah...and you know what's worse! I couldn't even tie the proper knot to secure the boat! Fortunately, I did well in berthing, carrying out the man-over board exercise (the standard procedures to rescue a man at sea) and finally the oral.


The examiner reprimanded me for my poor skills in unberthing and I blamed it on my nerves, donning on my pitiable look (trying to gain extra points here). He started showing cards with symbols of beacons, buoys, cardinal marks...and I had to name them one by one. He gave me different scenarios and I had to give solutions to all of them. Anyhow, I passed!!! It's like soccer...a win is a win.. a pass is a pass. No matter how hard you try, the result dictates everything and in this case, to my favor!!! WAHAH!!!! CAPTAIN GRACE!

Splendid Phuket

You gotta love Phuket. The sun, the beach, cheap food, shopping and alcohol, interesting "people watch" (look at the 70s folks above..groovy baby!)..what more can you ask? I'll definitely return...hopefully to indulge in more sea activities and visiting the nearby islands.

Some Photographs from Penang

I wanted to add more photos the last time, but I couldn't squeeze any time. Been freaking busy with piling work...hah! And currently, I have to handle two projects. My job has been pretty challenging with an exponential learning curve, but I'm gonna make it! Forgone are the days of leisure where I can read and write all day, go to the gym, learn french, travel, friends and family..Hah..now it's just me, bed, work, tuition and still a little writing.

Anyhow, back to Penang. I went to a tropical fruit farm for a BBQ lunch under the sweltering hot sun. We had the opportunity to savor a fruit buffet with at least ten different types of fruits basking in green lush nature. But the heat was a killer. Throughout the farm tour, Clement (my cousin) and I were frantically looking for shady spots to cool ourselves.

Followed after, we went to this thai buddhist temple ( Wat Chayamagkalram) that sits a beautiful gold plated reclining Buddha (yes...all the touristy areas!).

Accordingly, this temple promotes itself by claiming that it houses the 3rd largest reclining buddha in the world. Ah hem! But a little curiosty of mine has revealed something totally different . Here's the record - 1st (Myanmar) Tiloka UShaung 76.8m, 2nd (Myanmar) Shin Tha Lyaung 74.8m, 3rd (Myanmar) Chauk Htat Kyi 65.8m, 4th (Myanmar,Myeik), ShweThaLyaung 58.8m and how does our dear buddha in Penang stand in the rankings? 14th! Hah....Oh well, it still looks majestic. But take note, apparently, there are two more reclining Buddha statues that are not ranked; one believed to be 350m, buried in the sands in certain part of Afghannistan and the other in Kulen , Vietnam.

Cruise to Penang and Phuket for the New Year

Just returned from a 4 day 3 night cruise to Penang and Phuket. The photos above are snippets taken from the cruise ship.