despite the fact that yours truly has less than 12 working days to go, reporting for work has long became a chore, with all the nasty passengers, non-stop phone and email queries and whatnot. but at least i'm counting down!

i really didn't meant for my first post of the decade to be so negative, but on a happier note, hope everyone's 2010 been great thus far! looking ahead, i daresay that this would be one of the most eventful year for myself and i'm set to make it as fulfilling and meaningful as possible. so, no more new year resolutions concerned with weight loss and money earning, but now that i've mentioned it, that doesn't sound too bad at all.... hmm.

happy 2010 all. xoxo

go ahead and call me adventurous (or crazy) but i was hellbent on getting my 30 laps on my long awaited off day, meteorological services be darned.

update: granted, there was a slight drizzle when i made my way out but a chance encounter with ah son and mei at northpoint resulted in a totally random (but rather enjoyable) viewing of a christmas carol by jim carrey. and i STILL succeeded in completing 30 rounds after that. (that's 1 to the crazy guy, 0 to weather forecasts) woots!

but where's the sun when i needed it?

funny how the slightest thing can trigger a flood of memories that just threatens to engulf your entire being. i was watching story of time (光陰的故事) the other day and a scene about childhood friends reuniting for one last time before someone has to fly away had me reminising about my own childhood, and how it had become a thing of the past.

while there was no way that we can go back in time (or at least until someone invents a time travelling machine), taking a minute or five to relish the good old days was rather fufilling for it helped put things in perspective. i've been feeling rather adrift these days for there's been nothing to look forward to nor acheive, but this break from reality provided me with a much needed anchor.

drawing strength from the past to face the challenges of the future.

now that's a thought.

So what if it hurts me?
So what if i break down?
So what if this world just throws me off the edge
My feet run out of ground
I gotta find my place
I wanna hear myself
Don't care about all the pain in front of me

I just wanna be happy.

maybe that's what they meant by having the need to stop and smell the roses (or some other flower) but consecutive work days have left me with barely enough room to breathe, much less spending some quality time with none other than.... myself.

hey world, it's been slightly more than a week since i began my life as a chan brother, and frankly speaking, things have been going smoothly (if you care to disregard the bumps along the way). training has ended and yes manda, i've finally finished covering the tour packages to our many many many destinations.

work has officially commenced and yours truly has been "promoted" (i'm using the term very loosely here), to a counter staff just after 1 day in the call centre. while i've not exactly been thrown to feed the sharks, there's still a need to fend for myself against the endless streams of phone calls and customers (will you all just stop calling and coming so often?!?!).

at this point in time, i think it's only right that the protagonist should sincerely apologise to all the people out there whom he has either given misleading information or tried to hoodwink due to his inexperience over the past few days. sorry!

am slowly getting into the flow of things and how work gets done around here, though i sincerely doubt that i'd ever fit in with the dept.

on a less depressing note, i've managed to get 女人, cpc and their friend down to an interview for some temporary assignments. crossing my fingers that they'd get the job cuz that'd really give me some motivation to get up for work each morning.

the protagonist has once again come to a crossroad in his life, where decisions have to be made and then stuck with. this time though, i have this icky feeling at the back of my mind telling me that i've made the choice too hastily or rather, didn't get a say at all and just went with the flow. this despite my all-questioning and all-pondering personality. hmmm...

first day at work was in short, overwhelming. i'd hate to attribute it to living too sheltered a life in the comforting arms of the saf (hah!), but seriously, it was just a bit too much. perhaps memorising the entire brochures on europe and exotic travel, right down to the intricate details does that to one. and hey, wouldn't you be a little miffed if the girl in your training group earns a dollar an hour more than you do? (for my sanity and her wellbeing, lets all hope that this gets clarified in the very very near future.)

it's gonna be an uphill task, but i'm determined not to write the job off based on my not-so-ideal first day. seeing that i've got australia, new zealand, usa, canada and turkey to go, this is one huge and super steep hill.

wish me luck.

...cuz lasik surgery does that to you sometimes.

be back in a few, or when i'm well enough to withstand the glare of the screen.

500 days of summer

a huge "phew" came outta me as i dotted my last fullstop on the exam script this morning. thankfully the paper wasn't all that tough, but it was still rather challening, so distinctions aren't guranteed. in fact, i sorta screwed up the definition of open skies agreements, so aceing it might be a longer shot than previously thought possible.

having crammed my head with aviation theories and going without sleep all night, i came back home immediately and more than made up for it by crashing for 5hrs straight. while sleep's good, doing so at awkward hours just screws up your body clock, no two ways about it. so while others are fluffing their pillows and doing their pre-bed routines, i'm bout as hyped up as the energizer bunny.

chilling out to michael buble's latest disc and he delivers, as always. imagine my surprise to hear his cover of jason mann's crazy love, which is just about one of my favourite songs of all time. while there's nothing wrong with buble's jazzed up redition, me reckons the original still way better.

back to work for half days from mon to wed and then that's it. am strangely subdued about it though when i should be shouting for joy instead.

with 3 more nights of studying to go, yours truly dare says that he has been making good progress and is determinded to get a distinction for the test come this sat.

the fact that distinctions are awarded with a minimum score of 90% and above is IMO, inconsequential. hah hah.

choo, choo..

you know, when the engine has stopped running for more than 2 years, it takes a hell lotta time to grease the parts and get it functioning again. but guess what, with the exam coming up at the end of this week, time is one thing that i just don't have.

yep, after a such a long hiatus, i'm proud to say that yours truly is mugging again. like mad.

considering that it's about 3 in the morning and that i have to make my way to the airport in slightly more than 6hrs, i really shouldn't be here. but heck that.

while i'm really glad to be actually flying out of the airport instead of heading there to chill, there's a part of me that's not too excited about my first holiday this year (taiwan in apr doesn't count for i was there on ah-gong's orders). for starters, i really really like bangkok (who doesn't?) but frankly speaking, was planning to head elsewhere had it not been for my travel companion.

looking on the bright side, while i don't have any say with regards to the choice of destination, itinerary planning's all mine. hoping to condense what i liked from my previous trips and fuse it with some new activities (thai cooking class, chinatown etc). barring any unforeseen circumstances, i'm hellbent on having me some fun on my 4th trip to the thai capital.

will keep ya posted.

tick-tock.

d-day : 43 days and count i n g . . . . . .

seriously, it's about pretty darn time!