1st week back from Vietnam passed quickly since I was still in holiday mood and couldn't really pick up where I left off so quickly.
2nd week after returning has seen my stress rise back to pre-holiday levels.
3rd week after returning has seen my stress levels shooting through the roof when I realise that there are so many things yet to be done + more n more work load coming down from the top.
4th week?
Scary... ...
Just visited a customer that I have not seen for a few months, and was told that I have a lot more white hair than a few months back... signs of stress and aging...
Judgement day has been brought forward, or looking from another angle, brought backwards.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Back Home!
Oh my, 12 days in Vietnam really flew by very quickly.
Pretty good holiday on the overall.
I really love the northern part, Hanoi and Sapa, where the people are really very friendly and the landscape/buildings have much more flavour and character.
Halong Bay disappointed me a little, after reading so much hype about it before I went there. Perhaps the misty conditions did no justice to the place, but the tour guide was really atrocious.
Had my longest ever bus ride covering around 2000km on land over this holiday. I must say that their long journey open tour bus is wayyyyy much better than what we have running to KL and Trengganu from Golden Mile.
HCMC gave me a very bad first impression when dear and I arrived at 5.30am after an overnight bus trip. Touts were waiting outside our bus, trying to take us to the hotel of THEIR choice, so that they can earn the taxi fare plus commission from the hotel.
小插曲：
We managed to move out of the crowd quickly since our hotel was just 100m down the street.
However, the hotel door was closed when we reached as it was still very early, and we were trying to figure out how to get in, when a motorbike taxi uncle called out to us and pointed to our hotel (which I booked b4 hand). I pointed at the hotel door and he quickly went over to press the bell to signal to the hotel staff to open the doors.
As the rooms were not ready yet, we just left our backpacks with the hotel staff and proceeded to have a early walk about in the town. In the mean time, dear noticed that the uncle could not get a commission from the hotel as we had booked the rooms beforehand, then he turned his target to us.
Dear and I were trying to walk to the market, and this uncle kept following us on his bike on the pavement and shouting at us to give him 1 USD. We simply ignored him and kept walking, but he was persistent, and kept demanding that I give him 1 USD or 20000 Dong for his service of "pressing the bell". He even tried to block our way with his bike, but we then moved off in the other direction. After harassing us for 2 streets I was pretty pissed and started to talk back to him in English (obviously he don't understand a thing) as we walked on. He then lowered his demands to 10000VND, but I was still insistent that he should not receive anything from me since I did not take his taxi, and its not my problem that the hotel does not want to give him the commission. I later stared angrily at him and he finally gave up and left after following us for quite some distance.
That was akin to extortion, but I managed to win the moral battle, since the body language of that uncle was showing me that he did not dare to do anything to us, and it was at most a 1 to 1 situation, which I believe I can easily overpower him. Dear was scared stiff though. Maybe I should have gave him the money to close the issue, which we can easily afford, but I was too stubborn with my principles...
Well, the holiday is over, and I will be back to work tomorrow.
Time to start planning for judgement day...
Photos will come later after dear uploaded them all
Pretty good holiday on the overall.
I really love the northern part, Hanoi and Sapa, where the people are really very friendly and the landscape/buildings have much more flavour and character.
Halong Bay disappointed me a little, after reading so much hype about it before I went there. Perhaps the misty conditions did no justice to the place, but the tour guide was really atrocious.
Had my longest ever bus ride covering around 2000km on land over this holiday. I must say that their long journey open tour bus is wayyyyy much better than what we have running to KL and Trengganu from Golden Mile.
HCMC gave me a very bad first impression when dear and I arrived at 5.30am after an overnight bus trip. Touts were waiting outside our bus, trying to take us to the hotel of THEIR choice, so that they can earn the taxi fare plus commission from the hotel.
小插曲：
We managed to move out of the crowd quickly since our hotel was just 100m down the street.
However, the hotel door was closed when we reached as it was still very early, and we were trying to figure out how to get in, when a motorbike taxi uncle called out to us and pointed to our hotel (which I booked b4 hand). I pointed at the hotel door and he quickly went over to press the bell to signal to the hotel staff to open the doors.
As the rooms were not ready yet, we just left our backpacks with the hotel staff and proceeded to have a early walk about in the town. In the mean time, dear noticed that the uncle could not get a commission from the hotel as we had booked the rooms beforehand, then he turned his target to us.
Dear and I were trying to walk to the market, and this uncle kept following us on his bike on the pavement and shouting at us to give him 1 USD. We simply ignored him and kept walking, but he was persistent, and kept demanding that I give him 1 USD or 20000 Dong for his service of "pressing the bell". He even tried to block our way with his bike, but we then moved off in the other direction. After harassing us for 2 streets I was pretty pissed and started to talk back to him in English (obviously he don't understand a thing) as we walked on. He then lowered his demands to 10000VND, but I was still insistent that he should not receive anything from me since I did not take his taxi, and its not my problem that the hotel does not want to give him the commission. I later stared angrily at him and he finally gave up and left after following us for quite some distance.
That was akin to extortion, but I managed to win the moral battle, since the body language of that uncle was showing me that he did not dare to do anything to us, and it was at most a 1 to 1 situation, which I believe I can easily overpower him. Dear was scared stiff though. Maybe I should have gave him the money to close the issue, which we can easily afford, but I was too stubborn with my principles...
Well, the holiday is over, and I will be back to work tomorrow.
Time to start planning for judgement day...
Photos will come later after dear uploaded them all
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Finally managed to reach the pitstop
Finally my long awaited holiday is here...
I'm gonna go crazy with my work here if I don't take a break soon.
Too many issues, fire fighting, planning, reports to do.
Will take a good 2 weeks break, dump everything to the rest, and let them carry my load!
especially after I have been carrying so many things for the past 1 year!
Judgement day is near, but I have already written my verdict on standby for presentation...
I'm gonna go crazy with my work here if I don't take a break soon.
Too many issues, fire fighting, planning, reports to do.
Will take a good 2 weeks break, dump everything to the rest, and let them carry my load!
especially after I have been carrying so many things for the past 1 year!
Judgement day is near, but I have already written my verdict on standby for presentation...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Depressed
How did I manage to tahan for so long... ...
Is this a show of determination (on the wane) or failure to plan in advance?
Haiz.. time to slow things down, observe, plan and really execute.
Shouldn't make anymore drastic executions like what I used to do in the past.
Fires irregardless of how big and extensive it is, will still eventually stop burning by intervention or by dying out.
Is this a show of determination (on the wane) or failure to plan in advance?
Haiz.. time to slow things down, observe, plan and really execute.
Shouldn't make anymore drastic executions like what I used to do in the past.
Fires irregardless of how big and extensive it is, will still eventually stop burning by intervention or by dying out.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
20th Century Boys
Caught this show at Marina Square with dear today.
Pretty neat show with great story telling skills by the director.
I totally love the way how the scene goes back to the past frequently to show some really retro stuff when the lead actor tries to recall some old memories.
This is part 1 of a Triology. I'm hooked!
===
Civilization Revolution
Got to play this on dear's DS, being a sucker for Sid Meier's civilization series games, I blew a good part of my weekend completing the game 2 times, with my current game saved at a late winning stage on the deity level. It's a pretty fast and watered down version of the full civ game, good for a short and fast game (complete within 5hrs) to relieve some pent-up craving for this game. But I have returned the DS to dear, just in case I spend too much time playing instead of catching up with the much needed sleep.
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It has been 9 months. I have already got used to life without Ah Di, but it will never be the same again. I still won't consider keeping another dog in the near future, since there is no way he can be replaced, and the other factor being I'm too busy and it won't be good or fair if I keep a dog at home but don't have enough time for it.
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2 more weeks to Vietnam trip!
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Focus Focus
Been unable to focus at work these 2 days. Probably (and hopefully) its only because of my mood swings. Must focus... time is near...
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Missed my morning run again on Saturday but made it up on Sunday with a new power run with the help of dear. Running after her while she cycles definitely helps to bring up the motivation to run faster and further, but this will be more effective for building up my speed and strength rather than a topical training for marathon itself.
Good anyway since the annual $400 will soon be up for grabs again.
I'll need to fine tune this training methodology with dear to convert it to specific marathon training sessions.
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Is the weather getting colder these days? Or am I falling sick?
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Missed my morning run again on Saturday but made it up on Sunday with a new power run with the help of dear. Running after her while she cycles definitely helps to bring up the motivation to run faster and further, but this will be more effective for building up my speed and strength rather than a topical training for marathon itself.
Good anyway since the annual $400 will soon be up for grabs again.
I'll need to fine tune this training methodology with dear to convert it to specific marathon training sessions.
===
Is the weather getting colder these days? Or am I falling sick?
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Is it a good month?
Apparently so, going by the internal mail.
Got the recognition as the saviour for the month, but there is no actual rewards since my starting point was pulled wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back.
All the tilling and plowing only served to cover up the hole, with no mounds built.
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I haven even went for a single reservist, but gastric pain is already here for 2nd high key. Must watch the stress levels and sleep more... Just the perfect timing to make some changes in conjunction with the 10 weeks mark from marathon. Live healthy and exercise like no tomorrow.
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I'm turning into an emo kid... though I'm not physically alone, somehow I feel more lonely mentally these days. Perhaps its the stress and many lonely late working nights getting to me. Or I guess its more because of Ah Di not being with me physically, to bug me for walks. Reading lolcat and loldog does provide some relief though. Here is one of my favourite:
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