my best days...

Blowing out the candles on another birthday cake,
Old enough to look back and laugh at my mistakes,
Young enough to look at the future and like what I see,
My best days are ahead of me.

Nobody could have sung it better than David Gokey.

The days I've been waiting for are here. The beginning of the end of the year.

It all started in Tokyo. Ahhh, Tokyo. From stealing the cute Mandarin Oriental packaged tiny sugar cubes wherever I went (and that included while having tea with the CEO), to stepping front and backing off from the toilet seat in Nobu Tokyo just to see the sensor-automated toilet lid flip up and down, to downing sake in an irreverent atmosphere at a Tokyo National museum gallery that was specially booked by our company for a client event (at night too, no less!), to partying like it was 2012 with newly-made friends at two Roppongi Hills clubs til 5am, it almost made the year worth it.

The Japanese sure know how to party, and they're really good at lip-synching to the most popular American tunes today. Imagine swirling your whiskey glass in the underground basement of a totally non-descript building which resembles a warehouse, with tons of Japanese guys and girls smiling at you, while all of you are singing together to the song "Empire State of Mind". Nooo York..... concrete jungle where dreams are made, oh....

Price-freaking-less.


Sitting on a park bench watching the world go by, and a couple at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Roppongi Hills.

So Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore are down. Tonight I fly to the land of Swiss cheese and ski resorts.

See you in Zurich.

sex with someone else at 27

Friend: I did something unimaginable yesterday. *groans*

Me: What did you do? *while huffing and panting in the heat to the nearest and cheapest lunch place around the office*

Friend: You know that girl I told you about right...

Me: Yeah... *distracted - thinking about eating chicken rice with chicken breast.. or should I go for the curry mee?*

Friend: I don't know how it happened, but I slept with her.

Me: WHAAAATTTT?!?!?!? *all thoughts of chicken rice fly out of the mind*

We're not talking about some long-time savvy Casanova who breaks girl's hearts. We're talking about a very dear boy, somebody who couldn't cheat, prided himself on NOT cheating, someone whom I thought of over the years as the world's most loyal man.

Well at least during the period when we used to date each other.

You must be wondering what sort of nut still chats with her ex on stuff like sleeping with other people, but we're still really close friends. Nothing else.

Me: Oh god. where was it?

Friend: In my new house.

Me: Isn't your new house not ready yet, still renovating?

Friend: Yeah. Still got on-going works.

Me: You... you... *speechless* in a unit which is being renovated?!? You mean no bed!!?!?

Friend: *groans again* yessssssss..... don't ask.

Me: No I don't want to know. *yes i really DON'T want to know*

Friend: So I don't know if I should tell my girlfriend.

Me: Well, very simple - if you still love her, stop seeing the other girl and work hard to MAKE IT WORK. Telling her might ease your guilt, but may cause her worse pain. On the other hand, if you don't love her enough, then you might have to consider breaking her heart sooner rather than later.

Friend: I'm not this kind of person! I don't sleep with anyone!

Me: *raises eyebrows* *took him this long to realize people are human after all, and have temptations*

Friend: Oh noooooo.... *almost wails*

Me: Just don't do anything these few days. I can't talk much, heading to the airport. Meet up next week to discuss, okay? Meantime don't do anything stupid, like sleep with her again.

Friend: Haihhhh.....

Me: By the way, was it good?

Friend: Yes.. she was good.

Me: OH-KAY. I don't want to know. *wish I didn't ask*
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In Singapore for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. Travelling alone is lonely. Eating dinner alone is lonely. 11pm and I haven't done any prep for my presentations tomorrow, but I'm bone dead tired.

Would give anything to be boarding that flight to nowhere right now.

travel ain't as cracked up

Sitting here at Kota Kinabalu International Airport grabbing the free airport wi-fi, waiting for the person holding my boarding pass to arrive so I can get back to the gates for the flight back to KL.

Been in KK for - 5 hours. And all I've seen is the airport. This is getting to be a trend. At least last week's jaunt to SQ's analyst briefing involved a 5 minute cab ride out of the airport.

So unless its an overnight trip, travelling for work on a corporate card ain't as cracked up as I used to think it would be. 11 months and I'm jaded. That's just great.

Anyway, back to why I'm in KK. Was invited for the maiden flight of MAS B737-800 to KK and naturally I was excited, given I like being the first to try anything out. Had a great time fiddling with the touchscreen in-flight panels throughout the 2 and a half hour flight. It wasn't til I landed in KK that I realized that the new 737 was going on to Haneda and I would be boarding one of MAS' old planes back for the return trip.

And you know how it is with their old planes, no inflight anything. Sitting for 2 plus hours staring at the old plane seat in front of me?

And instead of going on the organized city tour (which I heard went to Karambunai), I had to stay back in the business lounge reviewing reports and replying emails, otherwise it would mean a late night in the office, something which I'd forgo 10 Karambunai trips for.

PS - The book store at the airport is a rip-off! RM37.50 for Glamour? East Malaysians must be freaking loaded.

On another note the new Firefly ad is quite endearing - the one of the Orang Asli dude grinning saying "Kamek nait belon Firefly".

So cute.

theres a fine line..

... between a wild time, and a flat line.

We had the major of all major bust-ups yesterday. I'd been feeling really exhausted and stressed and powerless about all the work that's piling up, the family issues, etc. It got to the point where being his girlfriend topped off the whole trapeze of perfection that I was trying to balance on.

I wasn't being bitter, nor do I think it a *shudder* duty, but there really seems to be a whole lot going on in my life right now. So cue Saturday lunch when we were supposedly having a stress-free meal after I'd gotten a piece written and out of the way, when I brought up the subject of that piece of work again inadvertently, feeling quite nervous about Monday, because I have to make a presentation on it and I really felt like I hadn't covered all my bases.

He gave a terribly exasperated sigh and said something along the lines of forget it or will you drop it or something. I just lost it.

Felt like if he, of all people, didn't realize how hard I had to work to get by, then really, what was the point of it all?

I used to think I'd be fine with a relationship where the couple could discuss work or strategize over lunch or in between hugs and go out and conquer the freaking world together. Not to be bigheaded, but could you imagine two "me's" in a couple?

We'd be running billion-dollar companies, backing each other in the boardroom, travelling the world for meetings but running off in the middle of it to ride a camel in Egypt or hunt for antiques in Istanbul.

I still wouldn't mind that - but he does mind, I guess.
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Somebody I know started a blog - not to rant about their toenails or the color of the moss on their walls (though it seems like I am guilty as charged here too).. but to write about her breastfeeding and what not experience from her giving birth to bringing up the child.

Harh????

I wish I had that much free time to natter on about how eating cabbage is not good for Junior cos it gives him tummy tum tum problems. It is amazing the different paths we took - she probably will never understand why I kill myself over this job, nor will I understand her obsession with NOT eating cabbage. The kid won't die, come on. Right?

I don't know.

I can tell you which option looks better in the UEM-Sunrise deal, though. But I think it wouldn't matter when the kid screams at 3am from too much cabbage.

the story of how I got bought

I think I am destined to be in this job forever. Typing this post on my brand new spankingly silver and shiny Vaio netbook which represents a very successful attempt to buy me over.

It all started when I marched into the boss's room with my exhaustion for all the world to see and frankly detailed out why I am pretty sure I will not be able to make it past these 3 weeks, with all the work that's piling up before Tokyo.

He calmed me down and sent me out of the room, but that very night he bought the netbook and asked if I wanted it - like hello? I'm using a 5 year old Dell, of course I want it! Anyway that very night, I worked til midnight. Ha ha.

So that's the story of how I got bought. Damn evil boss I have.

Plus the next morning I got assigned a temp assistant.

Lest I got accused of favouritism, the other two team members got a GPS and a Mont Blanc pen. Yeah, they're guys.

If this goes on, I'll end up 3 years down the line with a fancy Audi TT and all the best gadgets in the world, but with zero soul.

Lol.

normal, i love normal

I divide my life into pre-report launch and post-report launch. No points for guessing which is my favourite time, but this weekend has seen my life return to some semblance of normalcy, one which I hope to extend through for the next week or so.

Had brekkie at a nice French-inspired place called Levain near Noble House (gulp! my 1st time moving out of my foodie comfort zone in months!), watched a movie (lordy, that's been long due!), had drinks with old friends in Ecoba (oh my god, nightlife!) had a leisurely dinner with my mum in Akari (favourite Jap haunt near my house in Solaris Mont Kiara)... Well I had to drive to freaking Puchong to attend a pre-launch of a set of semi-d's by IJM Land for work but still quite nice poking around show units than groaning at home over an Excel model or a blank Word document.

11pm before Monday, and I refuse to check my work email. I might have to pay for it tomorrow, but at least there's the gym session to get all the issues and any arising frustrations out.

9 more weeks to the end of 2010, and there's been alot to show for this. So much so I think I can afford to slow down the gears a little - mayhaps I will be working only 4 weeks more in November to put all the plans in place for what appears to be a one-month long sojourn starting from the conference in Tokyo end of Nov.

Konichiwa all types of sake and Tsukiji market - great start to the end of the year!
Then its a whirlwind marketing trip to HKG and SIN where I can try to locate the nice porridge shop down Hong Kong's Stanley Street and head back for a nice dinner at Nobu, soak in my favourite bathtub (yes i have a favourite bathtub) at my love you long time Ritz Carlton in Singapore, and then its off to hunting down a Goyard store in Paris, strolling along the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, queuing up for the Boxing Day sale outside Harrods and watching Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to the Phantom of the Opera called "Love Never Dies" in London's Adelphi theatre.

My winter coats and scarves are all raring to go, and so is my exhausted little butt.
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On a quieter note, I thought of somebody this weekend, and I really really miss this person. I wish we could have had more time together, but I guess it is what it is.

TKY-HKG-SIN-ZRH-LHR-CDG

If I ever want to quit my current job and join a property development company, it would be SP Setia.

Visionary conception and masterful execution. They win hands down and in my opinion I don't see anything wrong with them trading at a premium to the rest of the players in the property sector.

Two grade-10 strength Ristretto Nespressos, 5 consecutive days of working (weekends included), plus an all-nighter where I wandered bleary eyed out of the office at 3am, thought the better of going home for only 3 hours sleep, and just walked over to the hotel next door and charged a night to the corporate card.

The pain is almost done, and I've got only about another million client calls to wade through, and then its the weekend.

The boss really knows how to pull the puppet strings. After I pulled yet another all-nighter, (a different one this time where I stayed out drinking whisky on the rocks with a bunch of clients til midnight and then was up presenting the next morning on the conference call with a hangover the size of the African continent) he came up to me and told me they decided to send me to Tokyo for a conference.

Tokyo. Conference. It's only the last word I'm happy about. It means I get to eat hotel food 5 times a day and spend the rest of the time lurking around the buffet table waiting for the next meal.

Well, I probably have to do an hour worth of moderating discussions, but hey. Beats ole Malaysia any time.

So now I am officially away the entire month of December. Will be going to all the major financial cities of the world - Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Zurich, London and Paris.

If you're thinking "wah so lucky", don't.

I killed myself these 11 months for this, and half the time I still think it's not worth it.