... bicycles in Beijing.
So the song goes. But no. I think there are now nine gazillion cars in Beijing. Trust me. Nine million bicycles was so last millennium.
Anyway, I'll be in Beijing from 29 Nov to 3 Dec. Hopefully the last work trip for 2010.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
One sign of being swamped
When you are planning an official work trip, you dread the trip to high heavens; when you are finally on that official trip, you dread the return to high heavens.
Common idea: High heavens.
Psychoanalytical equivalent: Too much work to handle, all stacked up.
At least that is what I think.
Common idea: High heavens.
Psychoanalytical equivalent: Too much work to handle, all stacked up.
At least that is what I think.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Walking on thin ice
Feels that way five days a week.
The incessant screaming and scolding, even if not meant for you, are unnerving.
And that's only the top molecule of the ice berg.
There are times when the heart decides it is best to turn into a hard little hailstone and attempt to destroy everything in its path until the sun rises to melt it.
Yet there are times when even as a hard little hailstone, the heart is no less fragile as a snowflake. Each little hailstone takes a unique shape, just like the snowflake, but each uglier than the one before.
All around, there is laughter, care and concern. Even if there is no (platonic) love, there is empathy and resonance. Yet there is one corner that such tenderness does not reach.
I am not feeling particularly happy and my body is telling me it is not particularly happy. I can cut through my stress with a knife but at no time is the stress from me. It is from around me.
And yet there is scant I can do...
The incessant screaming and scolding, even if not meant for you, are unnerving.
And that's only the top molecule of the ice berg.
There are times when the heart decides it is best to turn into a hard little hailstone and attempt to destroy everything in its path until the sun rises to melt it.
Yet there are times when even as a hard little hailstone, the heart is no less fragile as a snowflake. Each little hailstone takes a unique shape, just like the snowflake, but each uglier than the one before.
All around, there is laughter, care and concern. Even if there is no (platonic) love, there is empathy and resonance. Yet there is one corner that such tenderness does not reach.
I am not feeling particularly happy and my body is telling me it is not particularly happy. I can cut through my stress with a knife but at no time is the stress from me. It is from around me.
And yet there is scant I can do...
Friday, November 19, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Gang Fights
Why ban gang fights?
Why not turn *Scape (or whatever its name) into a gang fighting ground from between 2 am and 5 am every morning?
Make it simple and accessible, like the Speakers' Corner. Register and fight, as long as religion and race are not involved.
Why not turn *Scape (or whatever its name) into a gang fighting ground from between 2 am and 5 am every morning?
Make it simple and accessible, like the Speakers' Corner. Register and fight, as long as religion and race are not involved.
Truth and Reality
Reality can some times be so different from the truth though no lying is involved.
How many people actually note the intense lobbying behind the scenes? People just think if they achieve the outcome of what they desire and, if they get what they want, accept that as the truth. However, what about the unsung heroes who spent countless hours trying to persuade the undecided or the hell-bent against to move over to this side of the fence?
The truth often looks paltry compared to the reality on the ground. But how many people actually appreciate that the road to the truth is lined with worst-case realities?
How many people actually note the intense lobbying behind the scenes? People just think if they achieve the outcome of what they desire and, if they get what they want, accept that as the truth. However, what about the unsung heroes who spent countless hours trying to persuade the undecided or the hell-bent against to move over to this side of the fence?
The truth often looks paltry compared to the reality on the ground. But how many people actually appreciate that the road to the truth is lined with worst-case realities?
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
In the malnourished lap of luxury
Ok, call me a bitch but I'm still getting these off my chest.
1. What use is a 60 square meter big room with a 21" old Sony TV, so old that the numbers on the remote have been thumbed off by the long list of occupants before me?
2. What use is having the South China Sea as your wet playground when you have not a single day where the water is clear enough for you to see two inches deep?
3. What use is having multiple buildings in a sprawling 180 hectare compound when the buildings are not properly linked to each other and the forbidding heat and humidity make all effort to travel from point to point nothing less than a sweaty one?
4. What use is a huge central block when your breakfast area is totally cut out from all the rooms? One had to first get to the lobby on Level 5, before descending to Level 3 FROM the lobby area to get to breakfast.
5. What use is having rooms on one side of the building to capitalise on and thereby sell the feature of ocean facing room when the rooms are located at a leg breaking distance from the lobby?
6. What use is having broadband and wireless connection when one has to pay an exorbitant price to use these in an already exorbitantly priced room?
7. What use is a bath tub without shower gel/bath foam?
8. What use is a mini bar fridge that is not cold enough to freeze ice?
9. What use is an elaborate partition to separate the room from the wardrobe other than to make me walk even more in the room and not provide any useful space for me to hang my clothes?
10. What use is laundry service at B$7.70 to wash each long sleeved shirt? Wouldn't that mean that most, if not all, people wouldn't send anything for laundering, thereby negating the raison d'etre of laundry service at the onset?
11. What use is bitching when one does not have any way of getting out of the quagmire because of work?
What use indeed?
1. What use is a 60 square meter big room with a 21" old Sony TV, so old that the numbers on the remote have been thumbed off by the long list of occupants before me?
2. What use is having the South China Sea as your wet playground when you have not a single day where the water is clear enough for you to see two inches deep?
3. What use is having multiple buildings in a sprawling 180 hectare compound when the buildings are not properly linked to each other and the forbidding heat and humidity make all effort to travel from point to point nothing less than a sweaty one?
4. What use is a huge central block when your breakfast area is totally cut out from all the rooms? One had to first get to the lobby on Level 5, before descending to Level 3 FROM the lobby area to get to breakfast.
5. What use is having rooms on one side of the building to capitalise on and thereby sell the feature of ocean facing room when the rooms are located at a leg breaking distance from the lobby?
6. What use is having broadband and wireless connection when one has to pay an exorbitant price to use these in an already exorbitantly priced room?
7. What use is a bath tub without shower gel/bath foam?
8. What use is a mini bar fridge that is not cold enough to freeze ice?
9. What use is an elaborate partition to separate the room from the wardrobe other than to make me walk even more in the room and not provide any useful space for me to hang my clothes?
10. What use is laundry service at B$7.70 to wash each long sleeved shirt? Wouldn't that mean that most, if not all, people wouldn't send anything for laundering, thereby negating the raison d'etre of laundry service at the onset?
11. What use is bitching when one does not have any way of getting out of the quagmire because of work?
What use indeed?
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Brunei Trip
Will be attending a week's worth of meetings in Brunei this coming week.
Though I've not been active here - I wish I could be, but work is a bitch - it is still courteous to let my visitors know I'm off for a while.
I might just blog when I'm there, since the meeting venue/hotel is an isolated resort by the sea. How exciting.
Though I've not been active here - I wish I could be, but work is a bitch - it is still courteous to let my visitors know I'm off for a while.
I might just blog when I'm there, since the meeting venue/hotel is an isolated resort by the sea. How exciting.
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