res ipsa loquitur

the weekend began innocently enough with the four of us checking in (although only one of us was paying, haha) and then heading for a frolic in the pool. there, we observed examples of a most disturbing beast - the LAG (i.e. what we are afraid of becoming). the copious amounts of alcohol stashed in our hand-carry did, however, portend of things to come.

the diverse groups which constituted the party arrived in drips and draps (as they are wont to do). a little bit of something for everyone, really. then commenced general laughter, merry-making and, of course (and probably, as a result of), drinking.

the night did not last long for me. the effort of being the decibel police coupled with the alcohol imbibed led to a throbbing head which lulled me gradually (and gracefully, i understand), to sleep. that was when i started snoring.

the latter led to an unceremonious examination of me by the attendant doctor. (i, at least, am of the view that the examination was unceremonious because i was comatose and isn't there something or the other about getting a patient's consent before examining him??) thankfully, i was pronounced to be of good health.

i am given to understand that for the entire duration of the examination, the ungracious hovered protectively around, an accusatory glint in her eye and the following thought in her mind:

"wah! free medical check-up!!"

those were not the only beasts to rear their heads that night, however. i am also given to understand that a certain ursine creature, (not so) recently emerged from its cave, tussled successfully with a beast of legend. an awesome battle, to be sure, but even that did not take the cake. there was another, deceptively sedate in appearance, but many, many times more ferocious when provoked...

the rage gua.

i most definitely do not recommend attempting to wake this beast by placing your foot into its tailbone - it can snap its head around at an alarming speed. the rage gua also has an unusually large bladder which, quite honestly, led to many muffled gales of laughter. take hope, however, for the beast can be placated by allowing it to deep its fit into the sea.

all in all, a very good evening. :)

twenty-something - we won't be able to say that for much longer. i guess we had better make the most of it while we still can!

tendered, abridged (to 5 june), and an invitation to come back if and whenever i want. all in all, a rather good way to bring this chapter of my life to a close. now i just have to make it till 5 june. or, rather, 30 april since i am on leave and reservist for most of may. yay!

i'm rather looking forward to my new job. maybe i should celebrate by buying myself an iphone... :)

ktv always seems to get louder towards the end...

and all the pictures and videos are gone!! lucky for bear, is all i'll say. i suspect he may have paid vanuda off... :P

so it happened again. i got drunk last friday night and made it home with only the shirt on my back. and i was doing reasonably well up till then as well. sigh. i really have to get a hold of this problem.

did i ever mention that i hate my job?

it will be an extremely busy (read crappy) year end, with one deadline tomorrow, full-day meetings the whole of next week (for which i will have to prepare countless documents), a trip to london the week after (for which i will have to prepare countless documents, which i do not have time to because of the full-day meetings the whole of next week), a deadline on christmas eve (for a completely separate matter - i do not know how i'm going to churn that one out), and another deadline on 2 january (involving the submission of, yet again, countless documents). and technically, i was on leave from yesterday till the end of the year.

now i know why i drink so frequently and copiously. i always suspected as much, to be honest.

so, as i was saying, did i ever mention that i hate my job?

although i am still of the view that the transaction is at a fair price (not a great price, but not a bad one either), i cannot help but fret about the multitudes of what ifs which could arise. maybe i will learn to focus more on the what ifs on the other end of the spectrum, but in the meantime...

deep breaths... deep breaths...


oh btw, work's a total bitch.

i turn another year older tomorrow. don't worry, this post is not intended to be a record of my experiences over the past year; the majority of those are firmly locked away in the recesses of my mind, hopefully forever! haha. just some random thoughts since i am on leave and at home with absolutely nothing to do till pool later tonight...

i got a scare a few minutes ago when my lovely harmon kardon soundsticks gave a loud "ZZZZZ" sound and went dead. thankfully, it was just the power cable which had come loose.

finally decided to sell my (faulty for too bloody long) iphone. i recall my excitement when i first bought it in november last year. and how my heart sank after it got damaged, miraculously repaired (i don't know how) a few weeks later, and then damaged again, permanently this time. well, time to offload it. it is a thing of beauty, i have to admit, but i think i will be staying off apple/mac for a while - it doesn't hurt as bad when something ugly dies.

seems like i won't be able to clear my leave this year. too much bloody work in the november-december period. i'm trying to avoid doing work these few days, what with it being my birthday and all, but already, my colleague is calling to remind me that things are due, and suggest (in no uncertain terms) that i start getting them done. i said i would start on wednesday (the day after my birthday), an answer which clearly irritated my colleague. screw that, no one can (or should be able to) dictate how i live my life, especially on my birthday. do the work yourself, or wait. working together is starting to become (more of) a pain. and if you are reading this and know of whom i speak, please exercise discretion and keep this to yourself - let's not have a recurrence of what happened the last time.

still looking for a place to call my own. unfortunately, the bloody sellers are refusing to budge (much). rationally, i know i can wait them out, but i'm impulsive by nature and am very tempted to finalise the deal NOW. as should be apparent, the waiting game has never agreed with me, or vice versa. i definitely need to be more patient... and thank goodness my earlier offer fell through! i bet they're kicking themselves now! haha.

on the plus side, because of my current fascination with getting a place, and the fact that i have yet to buy one, i am consciously cutting down on my expenditure! i'm living like the proverbial heartlander now - eating cheap, taking public transport etc. but hopefully not for long! haha. is there even such a thing as a proverbial heartlander?? hmmm... it's intended to be tongue in cheek so don't anyone get offended!

many of my friends (and me by default, i suppose) have reached the marrying age. sigh. everyone i know is growing old and (worse!) growing up. i'm clinging to what final vestiges of youth still exist. thankfully, there seems to be quite a fair amount. and it does not only show in my child-LIKE-ness! haha. i guess it was inevitable that time would catch up with us.

ok, i've written long enough. to round it off, besides the fact that i have yet to find the perfect home and my #$@!%@ job, things are actually going rather swimmingly! not really excited about the next year although the metal monkey (that's me) is supposed to have a fantastic year ahead. everything (work especially, but also partying, going out etc) has become routine and, sadly, somewhat stagnant. the solution, however, is simple - i have to get me my own bloody place!! haha. everything always comes back to me (immediately) satisfying my wants. i'm very simple like that, actually. :)

today is the day of giving!

my secretary just walked in and passed me something from polar puffs & cakes, completely unasked for and without even saying anything! i wonder if she is trying to fatten me up, though for what purpose, i have no idea.

earlier, my colleague who i had been covering for (while she was on holiday) asked if i could pop by her office when it was convenient. i thought she wanted to discuss work (in particular, to update her on what had been going on as well as to discuss a very irritating email which we had just received from clients). surprise surprise, she presented me with a bottle of bombay sapphire with a "karim rashid handmade crystal martini glass"! like wow!! and all for covering for her on a case which i am on as well!!

something is not quite right with the universe today. i wonder what else is in store for me...

probably nothing lah. and hopefully nothing bad! haha.

so i finally committed yesterday afternoon, amidst an extremely hectic morning at work. now it's time to wait and see what the result is...

and my mum sures knows how to pull a fast one on me. thankfully, the situation seems salvageable. *fingers crossed*

i must be getting more clumsy; i've broken two items in the last 4 days! one of which was the very nice glass i had bought for my dad, which i had warned everyone to be very careful with.