愚公移山

My boulder has officially grew into a mountain now.... Seems that even as I try to inch it sideways, more sediments have built up incessantly. Greater level of intensity is now required to remove my obstacle, but then again... my surname is 余。 So I shall do a '余' 公移山, bit by bit, try not to be waivered by the avalanche of pressures building atop this mountain, and eventually reduce this inner demon. Yeah!!

Euro Euro

My first business trip in more than 18 months... actually not that long ago I flew to Delhi and Nepal for my last business trip... And now just 4 months into my new job, I'll be flying again!  This time, it's to another continent, Europe!!  And this will mark my 2nd, 3rd and 4th European cities, the 1st being Istanbul.

First stop: Finland... Staying at the Capital city of Helsinki, wtih trips to neighbouring Espoo for conference training.  Gonna stay there for 7 nights in the freezing end winter place... hope it's not raining..

Next up will be London!!  But only for 2 niights.. Wish I can extend more, but this trip being so unexpected, I dont have the budget to spend more, especially everything is in pounds, which is almost 3 times SGD!!

a boulder in my path

Sometimes in life, you feel like giving up. But sometimes, you just push on. Strangely, some of those times you don't even have any reason what keeps you going. But you just keep pushing.

I guess for me, I'm jus pushing and pushing, hoping that someday, that boulder will be pushed away to reveal a lighted pathway. Life will be easier then. I've seen people who gave up after some tries, some even gave up with minimal effort. I know I'm not some one who gives up so easily, unless it really something not in my arena. But most of these times, I am clueless as to why I pushed on.

Right now, I'm pushing on on several aspects of life. I think now, I'm experiencing one of my most difficult pushes so far in my life journey. Injuries, pain, agonies, shocks, self-pity, inferior.. all these I've experienced. But I guess I will still continue to push on... cos I know in the end, I'll be able to move that boulder out of my way for a smoother walk path.

coming of spring

the 5th day of CNY 2008. not a great cny this year, have been sick since the last week of january 2008 until now, with my throat currently feeling like there is a gash or knife wound rotting for attention. well, 10 more days to the end of the CNY celebration, and this coming weekend will be packed with visitations... Ren Ri or People's Day this wednesday will be a double whammy, with company lunch and my own family reunion steamboat dinner. coupled with my inability to exercise and all those eatings, i do feel weak nowadays. hopefully my illness will go away soon and i can finally hit the irons. think i'm really addicted to exercising even though i have been forcing myself to the gym. :P

one look back to december 2007 when i made my 2008 resolutions. i had intended to make at least 4 trips this year. so far, it seems things are going well for trips for 2008. Melaka in january 2008 was my 1st trip, and it will hopefully be continued with more places i've never been before, potentially to Helsinki in Finland coming april for a conference, potentially my 1st Hong Kong trip in june/ july, and a yet-to-be ascertained city for my company's annual conference (hope it's Bali and not bangkok). with all these potentials fuifiled, it will mean i would have completed my target of 4 trips by mid-year! haha.. ok, i shall revise it to at least 4 trips to places i've never been to for 2008. Hahaha.. greedy greedy. now i just have to recover from my illness asap and start building a healthy body for 2008 (horoscope say this year my health not good... so accurate cos i sick thru-out the new year.. sian)

wow

First, the goosebumps.. Then the chills... Finally you want to shed a tear of emotions.  Try watching this VIDEO.

gula melaka

My 1st overseas trip of 2008: The historical township of Melaka. The great journey began early in the morning as I woke up at 6am and made my way to Golden Mile Complex for the coach to my destination. My ex-colleagues (now good friends and all 15 of them inclusive of spouse and baby) gathered and awaited with thin patience as the bus delayed our set-out timing. Finally, the 2 by 2 seater came to ferry us to the Malaysian customs. We boarded our SVIP 26 seater to Melaka enroute a 3.5hr journey where I slided into immediate slumberland....but only for 2 hours. I woke up to the sound of joy from baby Gerald (vivian and amoz's baby boy). Who would have thought his stamina could be so good to shout almost non-stop throughout the entire trip!

We checked into our fabulous Holiday Inn at level 12. My room offered an expansive seaview whilst some rooms ( we had 7 rooms in total) enjoyed the sleepy Melaka township view. Our 1st objective of arrival was to Makan!! We went to nearby Newton Food Centre where there were a huge variety of tasty nimbles and main courses available. Thereafter, we took the free hotel shuttle bus to the old Melaka town. The Stubhuys was our 1st tourisy stop, basically the famous red buildings of Melaka that used to house the Dutch a few hundred years ago. We proceeded to walk along Jonker Street but the sudden downpour dimmed our hopes to explore any further. We ended up chit-chatting in a local cafe with great ambiance.

The rain finally reduced to a mere drizzle as we made our way out into the street, scouring for some local delicacies. We entered a Noya restaurant with traditional Peranakan Interiors, and began slurping down hot and spicy Noya delights such as Noya Assam Laksa and Curry Noodles. And a very befitting dinner it was with the cool weather. The main attraction was the Durian Chendol for dessert. So cool and nice, but the durain taste was very mild. Instead, the Gula Melaka's taste was more intense! A great way to wash down the heaty dinner!

After dinner plans qucikly became a woman's desire destination. We went the shopping district of Melaka and the girls just went wild with their purchases, again. Haiz.. I really wonder what is there to buy. For the sake of things, I bought a burner at one of the smaller shops.

Shop Shop Shop, and then, Drink Drink Drink!.. ok, we didnt really drink a lot. We gather at the hotel's lounge for a drinking session, and celebrated Ada's last day with CKS. She was the 17th person to tender, but as of tat nite, 21 ppl have already tendered since last week of August 2007! Anyhow, I did get a little high from drinking 2 portions of redwine that night..

The next morning saw me having 4 helpings for breakfast... it's almost like lunch! :P We explored the hotel's pool and did some relaxing chit-chat sessions before we headed out to Bukit St Paul.

Bukit St Paul basically was named after St Pauls Church that was situated atop. Built by the Portugese in 1521, it was taken over by the Dutch and re-named St Pauls Church.The ruins of the church immediately reminded me of one of several structures I saw in Hobart when i visited the ghost town several years ago. It was a simple building with no roof but very solid walls.

The final 2 hours were spent at Makodta Shopping Centre where i basically walked rather aimlessly. Lunch was Chicken Rice balls, though not from the most famous store. It tasted so-so. And then we gather at the lobby of Holiday Inn were we enroute to Singapore.

The whole trip was nothing but pure fun, and with so many activities, it certainly stretched my weekend much longer. I cant wait for the next one soon!

happy new year

the celebration for 2008 new year was almost a continuation from the earlier xmas eve gathering. after my 1/2 day's work, i went for a gym/massage/facial session to seriously purge myself and relax for the new year. it was followed intensely by a dinner gathering at my ex-colleague's wonderfully furnished detached house's roof terrace.

lotsa food and chats with reasonably strong breeze passing thru us. a belated birthday celebration for Jermain and a session of anyhow-pooling, we headed off to Party World along orchard road for a wild session of countdown plus vocal challenges. A wild night of sparkling grape juice popping, loud cheers and screaming, balloon hitting and whistle blowings. this session will definitely go down as my craziest and loudest countdown party ever.... for now.