once in a while... i need to rethink my life... and ramble about it.

what's going on around here anyway?

work... work... and more work. i want to feel zen about life, but all this shit is just messing up my focus. i have not had any peace of mind for like... years. 

i can still recall what it was like, to look at the one i love when she was asleep and yet felt absolutely blissed-out.

not anymore.

f**k.

oh well... 

anyway, this dude in the clip looked happy. at least i think he was happy, when i looked at the clip. no story line... no words. just music and some silly dance moves.

and yet... he looked happy. 

i suppose sometimes it's the little things in life that matter.

or maybe someone.

i dunno.

i'm still waiting.

i'll still be waiting. 

ps: i almost went to Mumbai last week! 

and almost stayed in Taj Palace! 

round the exact time when the terrorists attacked!

 

sheesh.

Shanghai... my version of it

spent the last few days walking through the older parts of Shanghai. 

you know, it's kinda weird. people talk about the new shopping complexes there. the new financial district's office buildings. the Bund. the night lights. 

link to google's search on Shanghai photos.

and yet, the old scenes are so much more interesting. so much more potent when it comes to telling stories of the place. 

residents hanging their clothes on the power and telephone lines.

old residential areas.

man busking along the underground tunnel. his face is, apparently, an after-effect from a fire burn.

old lady picking rubbish along the streets... on a 10-degree day. with no gloves. 

i know it's security... but why the nail cutter?

strange how airport security works these days.



"Sir, you can't bring your swiss card along. you'll have to check it in or we'll have to confiscate it."


"ok."


"and your shampoo too.... it's classified as chemicals, see."


"Grrr.... ok."


"and your nail cutter too."


"what?"


"that's right, sir. your nail cutter."


"but why?"


"coz of security. it's in the list, sir."


"list of items that classified as dangerous?"


"yes sir."


"you're telling me that my nail cutter is now a weapon of mass destruction?"


"no sir, just a precaution."


"precaution of what? that i might kill the pilot by cutting his toe nails too deep and let him bleed to death?"


this is not a matter of temporary-inconvenience thing. it's a this-is-getting-out-of-hand thing.


what am i suppose to bring if i am to travel for more than 2 weeks? sand paper?



i know i can bring the nail cutter along if i am to check it in, but that's not the point.


point is, that it doesn't have to go to this extreme.






this is not just nuisance. . .


this is freaking ridiculous!

New words to be included in our primary school syllabus

i dunno about you all, but i seem to see some interesting terms being used more often over the past few weeks than the whole of the last decade. 

"cash-hemorrhaging", is one.  

"too big to fail" is another. 

ditto "market disruption" too. 

cash strapped, i see a lot. but cash-hemorrhaging?

pretty soon, it's gonna be as commonly used as "Burger King" or "Nokia".

maybe these terms will appear in some PSLE exam papers pretty soon... i dunno. it's possible.

a disturbing thought, but possible. 

while you are in shanghai, can you reserve for me a birkin please?

"since you are going to shanghai, can you help me to reserve a paprika* birkin please?" asked my consultant.

for people who has no idea what's a birkin, let's just say it's one of the most expensive handbags a woman can ever get their hands on... that is, IF, they can get their hands on one.








apparently, my consultant has been in the waiting list for 4 years for this elusive bag and she is apparently still waiting for it!


4 years leh.


i think the cow has came home, ganna milked dunno how many tons of milk oledi and still she is waiting for the bag.


all the waiting... all checking... and more waiting.... and more checking...


i must give her credit. she's really on-the-ball about getting what she wants.
maybe after 4 years, she might be on the wrong ball, but nonetheless, damn on the ball.


hope shanghai does not have a 4-year waiting list.

*: oops, my mistake. it should be Wine-red.

Some things have changed... some things stay the same

Sori... been away for almost a month. 

i've been busy... but (yes, i know) that's no excuse. 

thing is, some not so nice stuff had happened to a few of my friends and they made me ponder stuff a bit.

so, things that happened over the last one month (in brief, of course): 

- one dumped her fiance not long before the wedding;

- one walked out of her husband (for being abusive) ; and

- one dumped her girlfriend for being too possessive.

initially, the bombardment of questions and cold stares they got...

... it was hell.

"how come like that?"

"can things work out somehow?"

"how to tell parents?"

"how to tell friends?"

"how to tell relatives?"

"can it be that bad?" 

but you know something? 

"so what."

no one wakes up one day and decide, "let's go screw someone's life."

but shit happens.

if someone's not treating you well? walk. so what.

if someone's abusive? walk. so what.

life's still fully of nice stuff.

i still have friends who decide to getting hitched;

i still have friends who decide that the world is decent enough to have kids;

.

.

.

as for me,

i still have hope that worth hoping for.

i still have affections that's worth lusting for.

Neil Gaiman once wrote in Sandman, "What power would Hell have, if those here imprisoned are not able to dream of heaven?"

see, hope can deepen the pain, but it can also brings optimism.

it all depends on how one sees and uses it.

it's the mentality that counts.

and if that's the case, then perhaps nothing is ever that bad afterall. 

now that's a thought.

Woo... what have we here?

a new Volvo model?

nice. 

My new beau...

this, is my new beau.

what can i say, she's chio, and 

wears lots of eye shadow.  *grin*

oh, and her names Asajj.

as for the bond rating or CDS of my new beau, rest assured.

as of today, the MTM gain is oledi 28%...

which is quite decent for a 4-month holding period these days.  :) 

so, to anyone who has any bright ideas as to who i might be referring to yesterday, 

please re-align your idea.

you know who you are. hahahaha

Houston (or London... or Singapore... or wherever), we have a problem

(charts from Bloomberg)

STII lost 7.3% in a day. 

Tokyo lost 9.6%; 

Sydney, 8.3%; and 

FTSE plunged 8.85%. 

all in one single bloody day!

this is ridiculous. 

but this is not the main problem.

fact is, no one knows when it's ever gonna end. 

that, is the main problem.

anyway, anyone who wants to read more about this mess, please read this week's Economist. or better still, go read Martin Wolf's weekly articles published in F.T..

as for me, i'll just go and laze around and recuperate, since i vomited too much blood over the past week. 

---------

oh, and by the way, there's a new girl in my life.

she's tall... 

exotic looking... 

uses lots of eye shadows...

and she has this interesting dress sense. 

oh, and her name begins with an "A".  *ahem*

maybe i'll post one of her photos tmr. i dunno. 

maybe.

Jane Austen. . . Vanity. . . Me

Jane Austen once wrote, that, "Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief."

and what mischief indeed. 

over last few weeks, i went 败家 again. well, i should say i almost went 败家.

i said "almost", coz i didn't get the ones that did the most damage. it's more like half-败.

but still, some considerable damage is done.

Mental note: Paragon is wicked. Grrrr. . .