'A' treat!

Today was quite a bad shift. Got drenched in the rain for one of the messages, then a super bad headache hit me like a sledgehammer at by evening I felt like I was dying. Iman my partner was really nice and took care of me and got me panadol and water and kept asking me if I was okay throughout the shift. Just when things couldn't get worse, had to chase after this silly "dark skinned man" for the last message of the day. He had a head-start of like 100m so when he dashed across the road into some flats it was basically unlikely that we'd catch him. The funny bit is that, he didn't even commit an offence and even if we got him there wasn't anything we were going to do to him. Oh well, the exercise actually made my headache go away.

Tonight was 'A' treat, which is a fund from our division for our team to go out for some "team-bonding". Didn't think I would make it with my achey head but it was okay by the time shift ended so we headed down to Swensen's Orchard and had a crazy time making a nuisance of ourselves and terrorizing the staff there. It's kinda like a few-in-one meal because we're seeing off our team leader to another branch, and one of our SCs who's going to ORD. But it was still great =)

Bangkok!

Day 1

Caught the 6pm flight from budget terminal on Tiger Airways to Bangkok. The terminal is really its namesake and is an impoverished step-cousin of the other 3 beautiful terminals. Anyhow, that's not the worst bit yet. There's only 1-2 counters open depending on the flight and they're really slow, saw queues forming that really scared me. Fortuantely, got in queue when check-in opened for my flight early so didn't really have to queue much :) Reached BKK and out of there at about 9 since they're an hour behind. Brian and Dean came to pick me up. Dropped my stuff off at Brian's place and ate at a nearby roadside restaurant (something like zi char sort). My first thought that it was going to send me to the toilet for the next few days but fortunately my stomach was okay. We were supposed to go to this club called Hollywood with another friend at 10 but went kind of late and missed quite alot of the performances. Brian knew one of the girls there from before so she got us a red label at her own staff price of 400 baht (~17SGD) which is insanely cheap considering that it costs 620 at the BKK DFS.

After the performances the DJ started work and there were bartop and pole dancers and halfway through the bottle my head already started to spin woozy.

Day 2

It's Chulalongkorn Day and a public holiday for Thais! Woke up really late and we went down to Platinum Mall by the BTS (their MRT line).

Platinum mall is like Far East Plaza, only taller and selling only clothes. Only about 1 in 20 stalls had guys stuff but I quickly realised I was spending quite fast. After controlling my hyperventilation at the sight of all the nice clothes, they dragged me off to MBK which is a mall nearby. They have alot of other different stuff there but alot more clothes too! Grabbed some more (surprise, surprise!) CLOTHES! Stomachs were rumbling so we went to the McDonalds there.

I knew it existed even before I went there but seeing it in the flesh was too much for me. Ended up all 5 of us ordered the same thing and man, they should have this in Singapore too.

THE DOUBLE BIG MAC FOR THE WIN!

Caught Tropic Thunder which was a darn lame movie but the cinemas there are abit different because they don't allow baggage in (which means they kindly took our crazy load of shopping for us while we watched the movie) and they play this song for their with a video where everyone has to rise in between the commercials and the movie.

Day 3

It's a work day today so went down to Brian's office with the other attachee from TP, Sheng Wei. The office is located in the city area.

Only the 2 of them were at work because I guess the other 2 staff wanted to take a nice long weekend break. Waited patiently for lunch and we went to this nearby market beside the office to buy food.

It's quite a surprise, coming from Singapore, to see an area like this in the heart of their CBD but well the food's really good so who's complaining. Apparently, it is rude to eat from the disposable packaging so we controlled our ravenous appetites and put the food on plates.

After lunch, went upstairs to make friends with 2 huge frog cushions and we played in lalaland together. Headed back to the apartment, did some laundry and had a swim at the apartment's swimming pool. Being too lazy to walk out for food, we ate the food shop at the ground floor (they do room service too!) Wish there was such good and cheap food in Singapore.

Day 4

It's the weekend so the place to head to is Chatuchak weekend market which was on the other end of the BTS line (the apartment is like at Pasir Ris, and Chatuchak at Boon Lay) but the trip only took about 30 minutes. Dean told me before that that Chatuchak was like Bugis Village X100 and I didn't believe it until I saw it. It was massive and really crowded!

Walking through the endless roads within the market and into the shops area itself was really tiring and we stopped by one of the food centres to eat. This is like the grandmother of cai peng and zi char stalls.

Even the noodles and prawns are huge!

Not to mention the biggest kickass teh-ping ever.

Passed by the super big park to go back to the BTS station after a super long day of walking and shopping

The end of our Chatuchak experience :(

Day 5 (last day!)

Woke up at lunch time and we went downstairs to this roadside stall just outside the apartment. It's kinda like a fishball noodle stall here. The soup is delicious and the fish balls taste pretty good too. If he opened a stall here he could put up a fight with Bedok's Blk 85 Ba Chor Mee and be really rich. 

We hijacked the unlucky ice cream man who just happened to pass by and managed to accost him of some ice creams.

I'm leaving behind this room that I've slept in for the past 4 days (4 of us sleep here!)

On the way to the airport

A group picture of my 3 proud tour guides and I.

Thanks guys for the wonderful trip!

Tokyo!

I've been waiting for this show for around a month now. If I didn't catch it this weekend, it may not be showing again when I come back from Bangkok when I'll have the time to watch it. So it's nice that Xin Ning wanted to watch it today too! Tokyo! was actually a series of 3 short films. The first was about this unmarried couple that due to circumstances, had to put up with a friend and ended up outstaying their welcome. The girlfriend of the couple struggled with having no purpose, which eventually led her to metamorphize, bizzarely, into a chair. A form which she could switch between and finally find some purpose in. The second story was about this man who lived in the sewers and had his field day coming out and terrorizing people on the streets. It got a bit too much for me when he started to mindlessly scatter grenades about and killed many innocent people. The bit where they had to go back and forth in translation felt really draggy. It was the piece I enjoyed the least. The last was my favourite; a simple piece about a hikikomori and how his 10 years of isolation and solitude came to an abrupt end when he met a pizza girl which he liked, to earth shaking consequences, literally.

DCIs, GROIs and lotsa good food

Went to the UBS talk today with Kev. His dad really has a sense of humour with the excuses he gave not to go. So the 2 of us kiddos went which was really funny with all the investment bankers around wondering what the heck were we doing there but they were still kind enough to explain everything to us like we were some big timers. The food was super nice and wine was freely flowing. So after that they tried to explain the forex instruments which in my semi-high state was impossible to understand, they had some simulated programme where we got to place imaginary investments. The conclusion is, after some trades, that investment skills is not hereditary and we should go study philosophy instead. The place was darn nice to! Took some pics before the talk started. :P

11/10/08

We had dinner with Ade and Ron today. Although I've been working in Little India for more than a month now, I realise I miss indian food alot! As such, dinner today was really satisfying. They're such nice people, if everyone was like them I wouldn't need to go to work tomorrow morning... Oh well, at least I'm nice and full now *pats stomach*

Bitter...Sweet

Today had great potential to be a very very very bad day. To me being wronged probably ranks up there as the worst feeling one can feel. To be brazenly accused of doing something wrong, even as I've treated that person with fairness, and even kindness where it was not required, is indeed hard to swallow. With the seething indignation rising within me, it was just so easy to say the wrong thing, to think wrong thoughts. Which is probably why there is a reminder in the Bible; in your anger, do not sin. Coming away from the initial reactions, perhaps there are some lessons I could take away. Treating people nicely doesn't mean it will be reciprocated, especially when our relationship at work often spawns into one where we are the hunters, and the other party feels like they are the hunted. Secondly, I can't be too careful at work. Being in this line, sloppiness at times could really someday bite me in the ass. When the clock strikes 8, especially after a night shift, all I wanna do is to clear everything dump it all and get home, but I guess when that's the most dangerous and crucial time, to make sure everything's completed properly. Oh well, live and learn.

All hope was not lost as today was Aien's open house for hari raya. Really fun with the guys around. I thank God everyday for giving me police NS, now I thank Him too for my team.

Painted Skin

Went to catch the show with Xin Ning just now after blood donation. The show was crappy at times with their lame jokes but the overall settings and costumes and plot was quite enjoyable. Went to eat fantastic cakes after that which was just aweesomeeee. Now to catch up on some sleep!