to export or import?

saturday morning looks like the debate about the importing of foreign talent and the naturing of local talent still rages on. in more ways than one, we as singaporeans are being marginalised in the corporate sector, losing out to those of foreign nationalities.

look at it this way, if multi-national companies set up shop in singapore, there has to be certain pull-factors that attract them. arguably a corrupt-free government and a sound, stable financial backbone are the key factors. but if one thing eludes even the most observant and diligent of people, perhaps it's the local talent we have that attract them.

a recent straits times forum letter about the education system noted that rjc has the most number of students in elite american universities. does that speak much about the singapore system as a whole or just the schools? let's not forget the recent debate turned slamming-retorts about whether straight-A students (for their o levels) should choose the poly route and 'deny less academically-inclined' students a place at their preferred poly. also, we need to ask ourselves, are those students, at where they are because of their natural talents and abilities or because they are simply better than the rest of us in academia? i choose to belief in the latter.

my point here is this: the singapore education to me, is for most part (at least during the economic boom), based on a spoon-feeding mentality. the aim was to equip us with the substantial knowledge and know-how to survive and make good at that time, during the 'old economy'. the 'new economy' requires us to think on our feet, innovate, incubate ideas, cultivate ourselves and to be more 'actively-reactive' to this rapid and ever-changing world. and because of the old model of the education system, most students who are now part of the workforce, lack that little bit extra in order to make good on their own should the need arise.

as far as the importing of foreign talent goes, look at it from an economical and political point of view. the bulk of foreign students are from china, india, vietnam and even cambodia; let's just discount those from malaysia. i don't like to talk about them very much because they are actually very similar to us and partly because the politickings behind everything really makes no sense to most of us. the one thing that all these countries have in common is that their cost of living is relatively cheap, as compared to singapore. so it's natural that companies in singapore turn a blind eye, intentionally or otherwise, towards singaporeans in order to save costs and hire them. politically speaking, our country needs to maintain good working relations and ties; what better way then to hire people from their country and contribute to their economy?

now, on the flip side. for all our complaints about us losing out to foreigners and how we always seem to be of 'lesser quality', i'm sure the westerners feel the same way as we do. for those of us that leave singapore and work in another country, we're only compounding that particular country's unemployment problem. yet from the same point of view as the above paragraph, it's always about economics. i wouldn't want to say much about the political point but you get the idea.

in recent times, we've seen changes in the education system, the government's willingness to help local entrepreneurs and the increasing employment rate of locals. too little too late? perhaps not. there is hope yet for those of us who wish to succeed in singapore. all it takes is a bit of guts. if there's one thing we can learn from the taiwanese, we need the gung-ho attitude to survive - dare to take risks. perhaps once a few of us succeed, it will set a trend and the need to export our talents and import those of the foreign kind will be reduced.

so really, local talent is there to be utilized. whether or not our talents are recognized is not so much an issue. it's more so how we can develop our talents to make ourselves more outstanding. how we can showcase ourselves more to the world. there is no way we can stop companies from employing more foreigners than locals here. it makes no economical sense given that we simply cost more in terms of wages. we just have to lower our heads, row up our sleeves and work our socks off to prove to the world what we are really all about.

day 21. OOA.

thursday OOA. out of action. i've got 2 fingers on the same hand that are exactly that. one's a hairline fracture. the other has a 1cm cut that requires 2 stitches. pretty dumb if i might add. i'm not using two fingers now so yeah. pretty limited with what i can do. in any case. the bandaged up index finger looks like some wrapped up fruit. hah!

was out of taipei again the past 2 days. can't say where and for what purpose. but i didn't sleep well. had surround sound to contend with. and by that i mean surround sound of people snoring. damn it. woke up pretty stoned and listless. not that i haven't been feeling that way the past week but it's worse recently.

as far as being homesick is concerned, i won't deny that i miss home and stuff. but like my parents said, i got to press on and be focused. was a bit of a pain talking to mum on the phone, knowing that we were both holding back tears. so yeah. i guess i never really said it but my mum's love is the most under-rated in the family. so here i'll say it. i love you mum. see you in two months time.

in the meantime, things are starting to wind down for the financial year, just a lot of tidying up of loose ends before i'm all set for the "spring break" where i get a bit more slack. looking forward to april when grace is coming down with her brother. should be fun exploring taipei with them. haha! madness.

weekend's coming at last. should be heading out to watch teenage mutant ninja turtles with the guys after work. so let's see how that turns out. more airport duties to come. yawn.

day 17 - stories.

sunday afternoon was reading a friend's blog. past entries. chanced upon some stuff that my friend told me before over dinner once and i felt somewhat angry and protective while reading it. it all seemed so surreal, like it was out of a film or a tv show, when you want to jump in and shout at the person, to intervene and prevent somethings from happening. but you can't. because it's all in the past and there's nothing you can do anymore. things get a move on.

but interestingly enough, blogs and journals are an insight into a person's life. if they so choose it to be. it's like reading their life-story. one still in the making and knowing that in one way or another, we are part of it, making a difference.

at the same time, it offers us the chance to know a person better. blogs and journals are a history lesson for us. to learn from others' mistakes. to know and understand why a person did what he/she did. how it affected them and all that jazz.

you also realise from the way the person blogs the change in character, the change in style, the language and basically, read how a person changes, from a third-person perspective. it can be interesting yet to some it may be some form of voyeurism. i personally don't mind people delving into mine, not that it's any interesting. but in any case, i think it's good to know someone's history and background before making a judgment on him/her. i hate people who pass judgment on me without them knowing exactly what i'm all about. i'm sure i'm not alone in this respect.

anyways, am having a pretty quiet sunday. slept in till 1230 before going up to the 6th floor for lunch. had home-made popiah and laksa. hah! a taste of home food!

saturday was a long day. woke up at 8am to go for a 10km run. think i pushed myself a little too hard. was feeling pretty tired out after half an hour. came back to the residence after getting lost on the way back and played winning 11 with tim and shi en on the ps2. i think we need to invest in another controller and more games. haha! headed out to vieshow cinema near taipei 101. so for the second time in two weeks i watched 300. i must say that the show's pretty good. the cinematography, the effects and the general storyline itself were all good. but the way they all died in the end, let's just say it doesn't do any justice to the spartans.

the bloody weather in taiwan is erratic. it can be damn hot in the morning, cools down in the afternoon and then rains at night. so jason, shi en and myself made the mistake of assuming the weather would be constant throughout, forgoing our jackets. when we came out of the cinema after the show, it was pouring. managed to make our way to the train station without getting wet. headed to 'gong guan' to pick up a few essentials. we were debating whether we should have gotten an umbrella there and then or just skip it. so we skipped, since it was drizzling. boy were we so wrong. while walking back. the heavens decided to open up on us. made a made sprint home after that. drenched to the skin i tell you. so yeah. should be heading off to ikea in about an hour. need to pick up bedsheets and a blanket. i see my cash vanishing. damn.

day 16 - ten things.

saturday morning ah. a friday. normally fridays would be a relaxed day but today was anything but. apart from all the rush of closing accounts and stuff, had some other personal admin to handle. got my bank account started up and got a few things settled back in singapore. did my first e-transactions just a few hours back. sending stuff and buying loads of others. oh, did a fair bit of shopping just now at the sim-lim square equivalent. headphones, speakers and was even considering a new game for my psp.

anyway, a list of ten things. ten different things in no particular order of importance.

ladies:
1. don't always mean what they say.
2. always need assurances that they're not fat.
3. tend to feel that the flaws they have are always worse when compared to others.
4. need to feel loved at all times.
5. need to be pampered sometimes.
6. need personal space too even in a relationship.
7. always love chocolates, despite the weight and fat issues (if it's consumed at an unacceptable rate. hah!).
8. love shopping; window or otherwise.
9. fall into 5 categories: the classy, the slutty, the nerdy, the cute and the ugly; though they are all up to the individual to define what they all mean. i'm all for class. and that includes being sexy.
10. need guys no matter what they say. somewhere, somehow, sometime they need a guy in their life to make it all special.

men:
1. need gentlemanly characteristics.
2. of the abovementioned sort are a rare breed these days.
3. need to know when to cut vulgarities out of their vocab, especially when conversing with the opposite gender.
4. get emo too but how we show it depends on the individual.
5. don't always go crazy over cars.
6. who do sports often really should learn how to use deodorants; there are plenty who don't and they stink. literally.
7. who don't do sports really should start. at least to keep fit and be able to run decently and do at least 3 chin-ups (even though 6 is the passing. but it beats being a 'zero fighter').
8. who tear during movies are alright; it shows that they are sensitive people. if they continue to do so after the show. something's wrong. like totally.
9. never mean to hurt girls. at least i don't. we just do it unintentionally although there are always the exceptions.
10. need to feel loved too.

parents:
1. always love us no matter what they say or do that may tick us off so bad.
2. always want the best for us. or so i hope.
3. love their kids no matter how old we may be.
4. look at us as little children no matter how old we are.
5. need assurances too that they are being loved; we hardly tell them we appreciate them till it's too late.
6. treasure the little things we do for them even if it's a card we made that they chucked one side. they just don't show it.
7. always seem to think they are right and 'advise' us accordingly based mostly on their own personal experiences or due to them being misguided.
8. who rely on maids to raise their kids up really need to have a more hands-on approach.
9. who take their kids on long holidays are helping their kids experience greater things, exposing them to a wider range of cultures and what-not. helps in the upbringing process.
10. who abandon their kids because he/she was an accident, really should just drop dead and die.

school:
1. can be the best place in the world other than home.
2. can be hell for small kids like me (when i was in primary school) because they constantly get bullied.
3. is a place to learn.
4. is not where you go to just to find a boy/girlfriend.
5. can be fun; it's how we make it out to be.
6. is where we do stupid things and almost always get away with it.
7. designers need to come up with new layouts. what's with many primary and secondary schools having the same 'template'?
8. teachers need to learn how to help cultivate good habits in their students. i made walking without shuffling my feet a habit thanks in no small part to my primary school teacher, the same one who said i'd fail psle and got me canned by the principal.
9. is not as stressful as it seems, especially not primary school. i feel sad for those kids who attempt suicide because they're stressed out over psle. there's so much more in life to experience. like the 'o' levels. hah!
10. rankings have been abolished but the elitist mentality is still around. and i hate people who make a big deal out of it.

national service:
1. is mandatory; there's no running away.
2. should be served with a positive mindset.
3. is considered short. 2 years! or 1 year 10 months for the "fitter" ones.
4. is only as fun as you want it to be.
5. in the police and civil defense may be looked down upon but everyone plays their part.
6. in the air force or navy doesn't mean you're better than those in the army. it's because the army needs 70% of the total manpower.
7. gives you a chance to travel overseas, albeit for training and stuff, but the r&r at the end helps make you feel better about it in the end.
8. is a test of one's mental and physical strength.
9. shouldn't be abolished. i'm a firm supporter of it.
10. is not national slavery. even though i've said it on a few occasions but they were all in jest.

day 15 - appreciation.

thursday he walked into the office with very little sound. not many knew who he was. neither did i. i looked at him from my seat as he came towards me and headed for the office next to mine. his body shape, posture, his size. it said it all. he was sick. in fact, he had stomach cancer, the final stages too. he was my upper-upper-upper study.

xiao qiang. at least that's what they called him. his frail and small frame looked like one out of the pictures you see of the holocaust. a culmination of chemotherapy and his inability to digest much solid food contributed to him looking like he is now. and he's only 22.

yet for all the suffering that he's sure to be going through, he looked pretty lively and chatty. laughing and joking inside the other office with my bosses. but what struck me most was when he was relating to them how he found out about his cancer.

if i remember correctly, he went to the doctor's after experiencing what he thought was stomach flu. no one suspected a thing until the pain intensified and he was asked to take some precautionary tests. it was then that they found the cancerous cells but it was a little too late in the sense that it was already nearing the final stages. all the doctors could do was to slow down the process as best as medical technology allowed.

it gets you thinking about life from another perspective. i've never felt affected the way i did today. you always read in the papers about how terminally ill kids excel in their exams or do something that we normally wouldn't. you feel distanced, away from it. but it hits you when you actually meet them. it hit me hard today. i dared not look at him in the eye when i talked to him for that brief moment.

it makes you look at your life, think about what you have achieved in life thus far, your material assets and what-nots. it helps you appreciate life even more. and this post will be about thanksgiving.

family; always an infinite part of life. always there. always loving. always underrated when we're having the time of our lives. i've grown to appreciate them even more since enlistment and even more so now here in taiwan. i've never said 'i love you' to my mum, dad or sister and i'm ashamed to admit it. but love them i do.

friends; just yesterday i said thanks to (and for) a friend who has always been there for me. through all my ups and downs. a friend for 8 years. never once have i told her how much she means to me. not till last night. one of the best friends ever. as they say, friends come and go. and it's amazing how the past one year or so, i've gotten back in touch with many 'lost' friends. yeni. weiling. nicholas. brian. jolene. can't live with them at times but most definitely can't live without them. can't say how thankful i am for them and for my poly mates. shuren, ben, shaun, ivan and shank, delin, madelyne, wenru, tianci and others. all of them have stood by me through the past 3, coming 4 years. then of course there are childhood friends. julian, joanne and joanna. and i just realised, all of their names start with a j. haha!

i can go on and on about everything else but then this wouldn't be reader-friendly now would it? hah. then again. no one seems to read so who cares. heh. oh well. all in good time. we learn to live and appreciate everything we have lest it disappears before our very eyes.

day 14

thursday morning just did my number crunching for the day. man. eyes are quite tired now. just feel like shutting down and crash on my bed. in any case. i've moved in more or less to my room. am lacking in a few amenities like bedsheets and a few hooks here and there to store and hang stuff.

of all things, i'm using a comforter cover as a bedsheet and my blanket's taken from the guest room till i get one. am looking to get a few stuff over the next one year to. so my shopping list is about done. hah. they include a new laptop, a digi cam (dslr maybe?), a set of speakers for my table. those are the indulgences. the more pressing ones would be a bedsheet, comforter, more hangars, storage containers to make my cupboard more efficient.

so after 2 weeks. i've hit 57.6kg -nudges yeni- heh. thankfully the weight's mostly muscle mass and not fats. the push-up and sit-up regime that i set for myself seems to be working. 10-klick runs every saturday seem to help. so it's all good. getting back into shape; stamina, strength and the whole works. think i'm going to flex my platinum membership with california fitness here. or so i hope. hah.

am in the midst of clearing up stuff for the end of the financial year. workload's piling up and i foresee a fair bit more of overtime work especially with all that is happening around the office. am already planning my holidays. looking to head back to singapore on two occasions this year. the longest of course being over the Christmas and new year period. since it's only march, i'll consider again when i reach may, when we all have to submit our leave forecast for the year. so yeaps. see how things work out. thank God for budget airlines.

day 13 - solitude.

tuesday back from a working trip. another one's round the corner in about a week's time. what a rush. anyhows, the past couple of days was all about waking up at ungodly timings and being cooped up in a 4-star hotel that really feels more like a upmarket 3-star one. hah!

kaoshiung felt a lot like calcutta, india. really it did. the only difference was that perhaps kaoshiung was a fair bit more cleaner. of course it wouldn't be fair to say that the rest of it is similar. each city has it's charms and it's lesser-liked characteristics. all in all it was a fulfilling trip for me. went on a mental exploration. getting my thoughts in order. searching for answers that i never had (most of which i still don't). learning to survive on my own in a foreign land (literally) and well. just being independent in thought and in movement.

it's officially two weeks here in taiwan now since i touched down. i've never missed my family that much before. i've never felt so lonely in my life. to be caught in a place where i'm unfamiliar with the language and have very little friends to turn to for help. i'm on my own.

it's different when i was traveling around europe myself. the people there were more than willing to help and basically make life as easy as possible for a foreigner like me. here. just because i'm chinese i'm treated like "one of us", which in a way is good but it's pretty obvious that i'm not "one of them".

two weeks. i miss her like never before. and the randomness in me prompted me to miss anna as well. sentimental nostalgic me. and all that happened when i was at a river-side cafe with lawrence and james chilling out after a long day of doing nothing. hah. for all the texts and stuff. nothing beats being able to talk to the person over the phone, nothing beats being able to hear the voice. nothing beats being able to see the person. nothing. and that applies not only to her but to family too.

i was watching jackie chan's 'new police story' on cable the other night on tv and something struck me. his character and his girlfriend had the following conversation.

gf: what's the cure for someone if he/she misses someone a lot?
jc: to be able to see them
gf: what if he's unable to see them?
jc: -tears and then starts crying-

if you've watched the movie you'll know what happened in the first part of the show. if not, here's a quick summary. our hero (a senior inspector in the police) leads his men on a raid to arrest a gang of bank robbers who happen to enjoy killing police officers. things take a dramatic turn and he soon finds himself against the gang, with his men all hanging from the ceiling, dying. he then loses 3 different bets and then loses all his men. following that, he's an emotional wreck and in depression, drinking to drown his sorrows and basically on a low. he's unable to forgive himself for what happened and finds it hard to move on.

with that. i'm looking forward to june. if all goes well that is.

day 8 - the longest thus far.

thursday not even 10 days or 2 weeks or however long it is and i'm already working late. came home at around 11pm just now. but i made the decision to work late given the fact that i won't be in office till wednesday morning. so i needed to clear as much work as possible before flying out tomorrow evening. not in the mood to blog about anything or anyone. just know that sometimes when you want that little bit of difference. that something extra. it will never be and it will never come when you really want it. how big a difference the slightest thing can be; words, actions. everything. it means so much more yet it means nothing. what a contradiction. I FUCKING HATE THIS. I FUCKING HATE THE FACT THAT THERE CAN BE SO MUCH MORE YET THERE'S NOTHING. I FUCKING HATE IT.

studying for english?

wednesday it's been a while since i've posted anything of contemplative and/or food-for-thought inducing. i realised it's partially because since i've left secondary school, my standard, level of understanding and usage of english has been on a steady decline. it's gotten even worse since i've enlisted. of course it's convenient to blame the environment that i was in but then it would only be blaming everything and everyone else except myself. but i'd like to believe that i still have a high enough standard of english to hold a debate and have conversations with anyone.

i've stopped reading my Time magazines on a regular basis. the occasional reading of The Economist has stopped. Readers' Digest has all but dropped from my reading list and Newsweek isn't so interesting anymore with all the focus on US politics. i've moved on to more mainstream fiction. travelling novels like Steven Clarke's 'A Year in the Merde' series, inspirational books by Mitch Albion and now Yeni's got me hooked on Cecelia Ahern.

people always asked. how is it i was always so good in english. composition, comprehension, the works, back in secondary school and even in poly when i was taking modules like Exploring Contemporary Issues, World Issues : A Singapore Perspective and Oral Communication. more commonly asked though, is the wrong question: how do i study for english?

well. the answer is i don't. you can't study english. you can't study any language for that matter. learn is the word to use. understanding and appreciation of the language is what most people fail to do. for me it's always been about reading. reading the above-mentioned magazines since i was 14. reading books with a dictionary at my side and occasionally reading the dictionary.

funnily enough, as a kid when i was growing up, i never read books. comics yes but not books. i remember clearly the day i asked my dad to buy me my first book. to his surprise it was a book that kids my age don't read until we're much older. and i still have that book till today. Tom Clancy's Op-Center. it kicked off a reading habit that has since grown. i've read every single Op-Center series book and almost all the books written by Tom Clancy, even the non-fiction ones. Michael Crichton invaded my life next with a books like Airframe, Jurassic Park, Lost World and more recently, Timeline.

but having read all that, the ones that captivated me the most were the military history ones that i read a lot in secondary school. Stephen Ambrose. his research and style of writing captured my imagination with the way he presented historical fact and more so the stories of the people whom he wrote about. his Second World War books were tales of bravery, comradeship, camaraderie, extraordinary people overcoming overwhelming odds and brilliant tactical maneuvers. one may argue that Band of Brothers is his best written book but for me, it stands out as the more famous one because of the tv series made from it. D-Day is the one that remains on my all-time favourite.

it started me on writing poetry also. however childish and lousy it may sound now, i was very proud then of what i had written. i have 3 full books full of poetry that i doodled, sat down to think about or just came to me when i was in the bus or train. another fourth book that i never got to finish because my interest died down soon after.

i'm very sure that it was the military history books that spurred me on to pursue a career in the SAF (which has since faltered because of events i shall not want to mention). anyway, i guess the whole point about this is that reading is one of the most essential of things that must be done in order to learn and have a better understanding of a language, be it english, french or even chinese.

if reading's not your thing and you'd rather watch tv. well. watching programs on Discovery Channel, National Geographic and news channels BBC and CNN will help. oh, i happen to watch these four pretty often, more so Discovery though. they just happen to have more interesting programs than the rest.

in recent times, i've been around people who don't use singlish all too often, if at all. so i guess it helps a lot also. people like bertrand, james, yeni, lini and even my sister. so yeah. i'll probably score an A2 or B3 for english if i retook my O levels now but i'm intending to improve my english as much as my chinese when i'm here in taiwan. So to end off, two of my favourite quotes:

Works of imagination should be written in very plain language; the more purely imaginative they are, the more necessary it is to be plain.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616); Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 3

day 7 - the first week

wednesday evening yup. 7 days. i've been here 7 days on my own and am still alive. hah. not that it's been rough at all apart from the first one or two days. adapting and fitting in. but that's all taken care of now i think. just need to find my way around and it'll be all good.

so yeah. the first week's been ok. spent a fair bit more than i'd anticipated but i guess that's the way it is especially since it's the first month. anyhows. i think i'll slowly draw up a list of stuff about taiwan that i like and dislike. and while i'm on it. let me say something nice about them today to celebrate my first week here.

drivers and riders here are amazing. really. they cut across one another without much thought and (i think) without regard for safety, or at least the littlest thought. they drive at 70kmh during a traffic jam, cutting in and out, tailgating at breakneck speeds on the freeway and well. do all the things you normally wouldn't in singapore (unless you're a road bully or an ah beng with a souped up car or some rich dude with a fast car and just wants to show off). and i must add, they tailgate not only other cars but scooters as well.

and if you think double parking is bad in singapore, try double parking in opposite directions on a 1-lane/1-directional road. adding to the challenge, try doing that along small alleys that lead up to peoples' apartments and houses.

now. the riders are a different breed of vehicular-pilots altogether. they take all sorts of risk when they ride along the streets or along the freeway. they zip in between traffic as if the cars are non-existent and as if pedestrians won't die if they get knocked down. and oh. they don't give a crap if they get knocked down too.

i saw an accident happen outside the newly opened Sogo (when was the last time you saw that in singapore? haha!). a scooter-ist tried to make a diagonal dash when the traffic lights were red. and then from a corner, a jeep came and side-swiped him. wham! he flew off the scooter, got up, dusted off the dirt and whatever. talked a bit to the driver, picked up his scooter and rode off. you get the feeling after a while that they just can't die.

amazing stuff thus far. once i've settled down well enough i'll go out to explore the places that everyone raves about. honestly i don't really see how much shopping i can do but well. i guess in a year a lot of things can change. but i hope not. i want to save the money. hahs. what i do know is this though. it is going to be shopping heaven for grace when she's here in april especially since she's staying smack in the middle of xi men ting. good luck keeping your bank account balanced. heh.

so yeah. that's pretty much it for now. need to go prepare dinner. noodles, peanut tang yuan and pandan cake.

day 6

tuesday first airport duty. almost started off on a bad note when i failed to be down on time for the transport. was still in bed at 4.40am. changed up quickly and was good to go by 4.45 as planned. so yeah. was at the airport at around 6. whatever happened in the airport cannot be said but all went well. so that's always a good thing. had breakfast at burger king after duty before heading back to office.

it was decided i should not head down to kaoshiung today so here i am back in my apartment, occupying the whole penthouse by myself. anyway, was made to see the doctor by james so i went. registered, saw the doctor and collected my medication. no mc. haha! apparently you have to pay for one. so yeah. screw it. i'll just slog through. went to get my hair cut with jason and lawrence at this air force club thing that's like the SAF's chevron's/safra club. for NT$200, a good enough haircut plus washing, mini-facial and a good massage. good deal man.

spent the rest of the afternoon doing work, getting down and dirty, crunching numbers. awesomely boring. hah. went to do a bit of shopping after work. was at taipei 101 for dinner with marcus before walking around for a bit and ending up at 'gong guan' near our place. bought myself a pillow and bolster set. indulged in a bit of chewing gum too. hah! so yeah. today's good.

day 5

monday highlights of the day:
EOT Lunch for my upper-study
Birthday celebration for a colleague
me getting locked out of home for 4 hours plus

will have to be up at 4am to head to airport for work so i really should be sleeping now but after bathing. i can't. it's been nearly a week since i've been here and nothing has changed the way i look upon the people in taiwan. i stated the last time that i was disgusted by their attitude and all that and i still stand by my points.

for all the good and great customer service they have (ie. greeting you and all those), they really have poor personal manners. at least those that i've seen and encountered anyway. for example, when i was at the hypermart with tim and shi en. easily more than 10 times we found ourselves having to barge our way through despite repeated "dui bu qi, qing rang" or "dui bu qi, jie guo".

another example would be them leaving their trolleys in the middle of the aisle and head off to somewhere to pick up other stuff. boy can it get irritating. and it gets better, these guys like to step on your feet, roll trolleys over your foot and just bang you all without being apologetic about it. annoying ignorant fools.

anyway. i'm too tired and too lazy to continue ranting and bitching. today's not a good day for me simply because i'm still trying to get used to the weather and lifestyle. fighting off a fever and a slight sore throat at the same time. bloody hell.

day 4

sunday first taste of what weekends are normally like when there really isn't much to do. woke up feeling a bit feverish and a lousy throat. guess i'm adjusting to the weather. anyhows. slept in late and finally got myself out of bed at 12. the other jason cooked lunch for everyone so it was a mini gathering of sorts at the 6th floor for lunch while we were also watching shaolin soccer. bummed around the rest of the day till i went with shi en and tim to a hypermart to do a bit of shopping. bought cereals and tang yuan. hah! took a cab back after that because of all the stuff we bought. popped two panadol tabs before sleeping in the ktv room till around 7.30 when we headed out for dinner at 8. had korean claypot chilli beef rice. was pretty good though the chilli wasn't all that potent. bought back tau huay with peanuts for dessert. so yeah. here i am sitting in the living room of the 5th floor apartment chilling out a bit before i head back upstairs to prepare breakfast for tomorrow and hit the sack. hate to feel unwell especially when i'm overseas.

day 3

saturday hmm. on duty. although it's more like a semi-confinement of sorts in the apartment. haha. today was pretty slow and draggy. managed to sleep in though. so it was all good. woke up at 8 to send out some reports and that was it.

spent most of the day coming up with a template to monitor my expenses and familiarizing myself with the various tv channels. am still stuck on the english ones though. but i have to admit that some of the chinese variety shows are funny, if not stupid.

shi en and tim cooked lunch. they were nice enough to cook for me too so i shall need to repay the favour soon. once i've settled in my room and gotten myself orientated with the area. and the joke of the day. my 'cover' was blown by the big boss today. damn. hahaha. hillarious.

day 2

friday another day of orientation and getting used to office life. upperstudy's doing a pretty good job at teaching although sometimes it can get a bit confusing. haha. but oh well. got to get the job done all the same. have a pretty boring day to look forward to tomorrow. think i'll read the book yeni gave me and read up on my office stuff. got lots to absorb before a hectic 2 months that starts next week. now it gets really interesting.

was at shi ling night market just now for dinner and to walk around. pretty interesting place. dinner was good. dessert was good too. "shredded" ice cream with different flavours. the taiwanese really are innovative people with good entrepreneur spirit. like how the japanese work. somehow.

day 1

thursday well. nothing much really. just orientation and getting to know the people and the place. had a taste of what to expect in office. anyway. did my first bit of shopping. not that i had a choice. i left my jacket in singapore and the one that i brought proved to be a tad inadequate so yeah. bought one from giordano with the rest of the guys. was at 50% off since three of us bought one each. got myself a spare belt too. am calculating my expenses now. need to make it a habit. hah! well. that's it really for today. dinner with some of the guys and bosses at a thai restaurant. was pretty good but still feeling a bit hungry. oh well. breakfast! i might just survive this after all.

edit:

2337hrs.08032007. earthquake measuring 5.3. whole frigging place was shaking.2nd earthquake i've ever experienced.many more to come.

taiwan here i am.

wednesday night well. here i am in taiwan. staying in some pretty comfy penthouse-like place with others. flight was pretty alright, very boring actually. the madness of the day was the checking in at the airport. basically all the other guys that were going taiwan had overweight luggage (including myself). but what pissed me off was the fact that my 6kg excess was denied while someone else's 17kg was allowed. so much for fairness. hah.

anways. so far so good. internet's up. mp3s are working. only problem is i'm isolated for now. sleeping in the spare room and it seems like i'm back in brigade all over again. living out of my duffel bag (or in this case, my luggage). wireless connection helps but it's pretty unstable so i'll see how often i can come online.

as it is, i'm being thrown into the deep end straight away. not a bad way to learn but not the kind i want either. seems like i've got 1 week to get up to speed on everything. oh well. we all got to do what's needed don't we?

already miss home a fair bit. got to get over it fast. and i mean really fast. welcome to reality. welcome to the real working world.

all my bags are packed i'm ready to go.

wednesday morning eager anticipation. unknown expectations. a heavy heart and a heavy mind. all the things i leave behind in a few hours time. to start all over again. to refocus and find myself again. solitude. that's what i need now. to get away from everything. the pain. the hurt. the what-ifs and the whys. the questions and the answers. everything. so here's a fond farewell to everything and everyone. to those with whom i went out with, thanks so much. to those who made the effort, thank you all too. it all means a lot. to her. well. nothing much else needs to be said so i shan't say anymore. you know what you mean to me and what i would say. and everyone in singapore, have a good time. hah. happy national day and all the yada-yada holidays. can't wait for december to come around now.

---

john denver - leaving on a jet plane

All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
It's early morn
The taxi's waitin
He's blowin his horn
Already I'm so lonesome
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Theres so many times Ive let you down
So many times Ive played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Every place I go, Ill think of you
Every song I sing, Ill sing for you
When I come back, Ill bring your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyes
Ill be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I wont have to leave alone
About the times, I wont have to say

Oh, kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

But, I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

leaving on a jet plane.

tuesday well. done with all the farewells. sort of anyway. end of the prologue and the start of the main story. everything changes and everything is an unknown. i'm probably feeling as low as i did sometime back now but i guess it's a different kind of low. one where i leave everything and everyone behind, searching for some form of inner peace while going on an adventure in taiwan.

so all my bags are packed. left with my laptop and a few other stuff for my hand-carry. everything seems to be in order. for now at least. hope i haven't missed out on anything. the hustle and bustle of singapore will be far from where i'll be but i guess we never really run away from a fast-paced life right?

what's to expect in the future i don't know. who will i meet? what will i do? all the questions and no answers. but answers there will be in due course. i don't know how i'll feel tomorrow at the airport because having be part of so many farewells, i'm the one doing the leaving this time round. sure. i'll be back in december for 2 weeks. but 9 months in itself is a long time and well, the emotional attachment to certain things and people is a hard one to take.

3 songs on my playlist that are very relevant right now:
rick price - heaven knows
embrace - gravity
vertical horizon - grey sky morning (best i ever had)

at this time tomorrow, i'll be in taiwan. hopefully settling in well enough at least for the night. perhaps i'll be able to blog by then. and with that. i end this post, with me feeling all weird inside about what's to come and with me loving a certain someone even more. more than i really should.

saturday. 030307

sunday morning two words: absolutely fantastic. the day couldn't have gone any better. slept in till about 1 before i headed out to meet weiling for cake and a double shot espresso at white dog cafe at vivo. been about 6 years since we last met so it was all good. the best part of the day came next. and i think i'm running out of words to describe it. or rather i'm too lazy to think of any.

headed to town and hung around borders and kino to read mags before heading to starbucks at wisma to wait for yeni. was surprised to see anna too (hello there! been a longggg while!). and to cut a long evening short, it was just great, fantastic and wonderful. to have been able to spend that time with her and all the laughter and stuff we talked about. it's a shame it couldn't last any longer than it did. but oh well. i'm not complaining about the time spent, not with the company i had; definitely not for the money spent. that is never an issue especially if it's with her (biased! but! too bad!).

anyway. met up with chin han on friday. haha. dear old jie. never changed after all this years. oh. bumped into clare, 2LT Justin and a couple of other people. so all in all, a good two days of meeting people. today's not going to be any different, yingzhao at 9.30 for breakfast, monday with serene, shuren and ivan. leaving tuesday a blank to see who i want to meet up with and if there's any last minute stuff i need to do. wednesday can't come any faster than it already is. damn.

Cna yuo raed tihs?

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too.

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55% of plepoe can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

touch me and i'll kill you. almost.

friday morning for the third time this year, some dumbass of a gay/tranny tried to touch me. or in today's case, grab. what the fuck man. ended up in a mini scuffle with me screaming my head off and throwing punches. apart from that. thursday's pretty uneventful.

was up and about early for my finance management course at cmpb. was easier than i'd expected but well, i guess it's only because it was mainly case studies and not the actual ones. hah. met up with bertrand, his girlfriend serene and james in the evening, before THAT happened. so anyway. i think i've calmed down enough. no need for cold water to drink and soak myself in. not that the day/night isn't already cool enough.