Start Up

Sadly, my computer hard disk died on me last week.

Luckily I have back ups done for my client work on a regular basis but 6+ years of personal stuff - sketches, ideas, plans, stories, etc - are all gone.

When I fired up my email application yesterday, my inbox was empty. I’ve lost all my emails too.

A similar event happened to me a few years ago.I used to have backups of all my work on Zip disks then (does anyone remember those blue disks?). When my then PC got corrupted beyond repair, I didn’t really worry because thought I could rely on the backup data on my zip disks. But no - ALL the disk were corrupted and unreadable. 5 years of work gone. ;(

I have to admit there’s a certain amount of liberation, starting on a clean slate. But I’m a little worried about data preservation at the moment. Will my data DVDs last? If they do will there still be DVD readers in future? Do I need to transfer my files onto a new hard disk every few years? Do I need to upload all 89 million terabytes of my digital photos to Flickr? Should I carve my ideas in stone? Or blog every tiny detail of my life online? Hmmm…

Travel Advice

“I’m thinking of going to *insert-country-here* in September/Winter/next year. Any good advice?”

Here are some I received from well-meaning friends as I packed my bags for the trip in May:

“London?! Why? It’s so… dull! Skip London, go Paris instead”

“I didn’t like Paris. Highly overrated! Rude people. Go to Prague, you’ll enjoy it better!”

“No! Don’t. go. anywhere. There this Swine Flu thing going around!”

(Well, okay, the last advice was from my Ma)

London for me was vibrant and full of life; I encountered many helpful and friendly French people (et non, in my eyes, Paris is not overrated at all!) and although I find Prague a beautiful city, I can’t say if I enjoyed it “better” than Paris.

Travel is such a personal thing. Whether or not your experience is a good or not-so-good one depends on so many factors — the weather, the people you happen to meet (or who you’re travelling with), your interests, age and expectations. If I were to take any of the advice seriously, I would end up avoiding most of places I had planned to visit. So my advice is this: if you are keen on a place, do your own research and just go. Don’t let others dictate what your personal experience will be for you.

See You Later

Absent
Hey all. I’ve just crawled out of my week-long semi-comatose state. I was down with a particularly bad cold. Had fever 4 days straight. I was convinced I had the flu but no, just the common cold, insisted the doc. In my drug-induced stupor, I kept trying to console myself that some good will come out of this and whaddaya know! Having spent my days mostly in deep slumber and awake in the wee hours of the night, my body has somewhat adjusted to Central European time! Yup, I will be leaving for my European adventure in a few days’ time. I’m not sure if I’ll be blogging on the road so if there are no updates here next month, do pardon me!

Present
While lying sick in bed the other day, it dawned on me how we tend to really be in the present during extremes in our lives — in mirth or gloom, when we’re experience great pain or pleasure or during moments when we were this close to death. The other parts — those that make the bulk of our lives — we merely go through the motions, only to be referred to when current times are bad: “those were the days”, “I wish things were back to normal”, etc. Over the past few years, I’ve been trying to live my life positively in the present and I have to say that it has helped tremendously in the way I see and live my life. I genuinely believe that living with a positive mindset coupled with affirmative action has helped me achieved a lot of my goals — one of which is this very trip I’m taking. :)

Tomorrow is May Day for many of you folks, so enjoy the long weekend!

Lost and Found

The little break I’ve taken has done wonders. I’ve chilled out, contemplated, rejoiced.

Lost
My husband and I went to Little India, an ethnic enclave a few minutes away from the city centre, last week. We ate chicken biryani and samosas. Walked through rows and rows of colourful shop houses. After awhile, it became evident that we didn’t know the area that well.

We were lost. For hours we were wondering aimlessly, discovering quaint little corners tucked away from the main road. It would have been really fun if not for the 32-degree (90 F) heat. But that’s okay, a day like this makes an icy cold glass of coffee taste just that much better. And I need to maintain this positive mindset because we’re probably gonna get lost quite a bit come May. Why? We’re planning on going for a month-long vacation to Europe and I’m very, very excited about it. It will be our first time and I didn’t know where to begin! It would be nice to get some info from family and friends who’ve been there but the general consensus when we hinted about the trip to them has been negative - “better to save your money”, “it’s a bad time to go”, etc - so no, we didn’t get much help from them.

Found
I’m thankful to have people around me who cared enough for me to dispense well-meaning advice. I’m grateful too for the privilege of being able to make my own decisions. I decided that if I didn’t go now, I would probably regret it later.

Firstly, the exchange rates are very favourable now. Secondly, I have less work now. Yes, you heard that right. Less work. While I couldn’t possibly envision myself taking a month off work last year, there’s a definite dearth of projects in the coming months. Time, once a great luxury to me, has become more affordable now. Still I felt that I need a little reaasurance, and turned to my best friend.

“Just go,” said my best friend.

“But why?” I asked.

“Because,” she laughed.

Embrace the now, be spontaneous, grab the silver lining, get inspired, live without regrets - she summed it up with one word.

Invest in Your Health

Nothing like starting a brand new month in a brand new year all raring to go,  pocket full of ambitious resolutions. And then falling ill. For a good half of the month. Oh well, I’m just glad that’s over. By the way, thanks for the get well wishes guys.

I’ve been thinking about the stress thing my doctor kept talking about. I believe deep down inside, despite the mental preparation and all, I’m really more than a little worried about the current state of the economy. Add to that news of friends being layed off every other week…

Quite a few companies here will closed for a longer-than-usual period for Chinese New Year next week. Workers are being asked to take extended leave due to slow-down in operations. The company we’re doing a project with is also affected, so my husband and I will taking a week-long break next week too.

We don’t have anything planned for the week. I’m just going to basically chill out, eat well, exercise and, if the weather is good, tackle some of the things on our “Things to do on a Fine Day” list. I guess in these uncertain times, the best investment one can make now is in your health.

One for the Superstitious

In a phone conversation I had with a friend last week, I had announced, prematurely, that I may have outgrown my asthma. That very night, I dreamt of someone choking me and then I woke up coughing profusely. A few hours later the coughs became more severe and were accompanied by deep wheezing and by noon, I was getting more and more breathless.

This is the fourth time in as many years that I’ve fallen ill after telling someone that I’ve never felt better. For someone who is superstitious, this is probably a good enough rate to warrant a jinx status, but fortunately I’m not.

I noticed that I tend to fall ill around this time of the year. According to my doctor, he sees more people in the last few months of the year — November-December are the wettest months here and when people tend to be cooped up in their homes and offices, it makes it easier for viruses to spread.

The end of the year is also the time I catch up with old friends so this pattern of calling people up telling them how good I’ve been only to fall sick a few days later is not a just case of bad luck . :)

Don’t Skirt the Issue

I was barely 20 and it was my first “real” job. After receiving the letter of appointment, I had to read a set of company rules I had to adhere to, one of which outlined the acceptable dress code for women.

Me: “I have an issue with one of the rules written here. It says here that all women should wear skirts.”
Mr. Manager: “Well, we’ve always had that rule. Just follow it.”

At that point in time, I really, really needed the job, so i didn’t argue. The problem was, I only had two office-worthy skirts then — a poorly-cut tulip skirt that made my bum look big and a frumpy brown pleated one that will make anyone’s bum look big.

I didn’t have enough money to get a new wardrobe, so I worked out a schedule of sorts — I’d only wear skirts on days where I had to go on a meeting with the big bosses.

This went pretty well and the numerous times I got “caught with my pants on” were non-issues with the heads, all of whom were males (well, except for one lady who was rarely in the office) so after awhile, I stopped my skirt timetable altogether. Some of my longer-serving female colleagues initially questioned my brazen non-skirt-wearing attitude but then went into an “I wish I could wear trousers too” mode.

A few months after I started work there, the company appointed a new HR director. One of his first exercises was to talk to each and every employee.

Mr. HR Director: “… anything else you’d like to clarify?”
Me:”Um, there is this small thing… about wearing skirts. I don’t see why I have to conform to it.”
Mr. HR Director: “And I don’t see why you should!”

That dress code was apparently written when the company was formed in the 60s or 70s. And since no one had raised concern over it, it remained on the list 30 years later. Mr. HR Director said he’d see to the abolishment of the dress code (for both men and women) and though I didn’t really believe him then, I was quite happy to finally be able to talk to someone who wasn’t from the Dark Ages.

Weeks after that, one of my female colleagues was seen in a smart pair of slacks excitedly announcing that “it’s okay for women to wear trousers in the office now.” Well, well.

A President for the World

There was an air of quiet celebration in the house on Wednesday. My husband and I had taken a little time off work to watch the results of US Election on CNN.

When Obama’s name was announced as the president elect, I watched America and the whole world throw their fists in the air and celebrate. Some were crying, in relief, joy and hope (and for some, disappointment). I can’t help but shed a few tears myself. I’m just happy to be granted the privilege of witnessing this momentous occasion in history.

Last week I was chilling out on the couch after a very tiring day when my 11-year old nephew asked, “Why do the skinheads want to assassinate Obama?” referring to a newspaper report last month. In my state of fatigue, I tried explaining about racism and supremacists but find myself at a loss when he asked, “Why is the colour of one’s skin such a big deal?”

Earlier this year my husband and I were pondering on the probability of America having Barack Obama as president. His proposed policies are generally multilateral, his background is global and he’s got this thing called charisma.

To the world, Obama seemed to be the preferred candidate. Parts of Asia sees him as one of our own (”He speaks Bahasa and has lived in Indonesia! He’s more Asian than your uncle Jo”). Africa, or at least Kenya, claims him as a son of their soil. Middle east welcomes “Hussein” along with the olive branch he’s extending. In a sense, he is a president for the world.

But he is black (or grey as I call it, since he is half white). And we’re afraid that though the world was rooting and ready for him, America didn’t share the same sentiments.

We were wrong to assume that Americans were not mature enough to look beyond racial lines and for once I’m glad we were. There is so much hope and expectation placed on this one man. And he has shown us, with his election, that there is some hope in this world.

With the current global economic crisis and the peril of climate change, it is definitely a challenging time to be the leader of a nation so powerful and influential. Let’s hope that he lives up to at least some of the expectations. :)

Different But Still the Same

I met the other half of my sludge worm fellowship a few days ago. So glad to finally see her again! All the anxiety I had about meeting her quickly melted away as we chatted about the old days and how much (or how little) we’ve changed.

On the surface we looked different - we’re no longer giggly schoolgirls in uniforms, we’ve grown a couple of inches taller and our fashion styles have evolved - but essentially we’re still the same persons. She described our reacquaintance succinctly when she said,

“Everything’s different yet nothing’s changed.” :)

Rekindling Old Flames

A girl friend I’ve been out of touch for nearly 14 years sent me a message out of the blue a few days ago.

We’ve had so many, many good memories together. I shared some of my first crushes with her - Christian Slater, and the boy in who lived at 9th floor in my old apartment. I didn’t know how we drifted apart when we used to be so close in school that we called ourselves “sludge worms”, because of the way we tend cling to each other.

We agreed to meet each other soon and to be honest I’m quite nervous. As Anya commented on my previous post, this feeling is indeed natural. I’m probably afraid that I’d be disappointed with the possibility that the “now” is less sweet than the “then”.

Recently I started baking again, an activity I used to enjoy tremendously.  I had reservations on whether it I’d still be in love with it.

The first batch of cookies I baked was complete failure, something I don’t recall ever happening before, which led me to thinking whether I still had “it”. Disappointed, I decided to continue with the next batch with a different oven setting and sure enough, it did the trick.

It wasn’t me — the new oven just needed some getting used to.

There are a couple more activities I used to enjoy that may need revisiting:

Crochet/Knit
My grandma loved to knit and crochet and I picked the skill from her at a young age (about 8).  My interest in it waned when she passed away — I didn’t have access to books on crocheting then and my mother wasn’t into it. Now, there’s a web of online resources on how-to-knit/crochet.

Read Fiction
My reading list is decidedly non-fiction — personal development, psychology, art, science, autobiographies. I love reading and love a good story, I just don’t know why I never thought of picking up a book from the fiction section anymore.

Go to the Theatre
I used to watch, if I could afford it, a stage play every month. I enjoyed watching actors perform in real-time. When I started working in multimedia and video production, my interest shifted to film.

It’s a little harder to renew a friendship because there are two parties involved but if my recent baking adventure were of any indication, the result could be sweet - though we may need to make some adjustments.