the great hike

was decidedly too fed-up (literally) with food and all the festive goodies that comes typically with chinese new year, so i went on a hike with a friend.

the hike of 12KM was pretty interesting: i had almost but all forgotten about how humid and warm the tropical jungle could be. (we ventured off the beaten track and went deep into the uncharted regions. This involved bashing through bushes, jumping over fallen logs, listening for strange sounds -especially hissing ones, getting lost and backtracking several times, trying to guess our bearings without the presence of a compass, etc)

all went well except for the last 2km- while trotting back into civilization, a downpour descended such that we were totally drenched. the fact that we had an umbrella made absolutely no difference: we were dripping. unfortunately, i was wearing hiking shoes (waterproof). normally, it keeps water out. but since water was entering through the top, it kept water IN. bah!

but 12 km was a good distance for trotting. at least i got some exercise despite not having access to any gym!

jetlagged!

am back in singapore for a chinese new year gathering with my parents. all went well except that i am now having the total effects of jetlag AND the insomnia i had all week coming at me at one go.

and when i was looking forward to a restful and peaceful gathering with my family, with lots of home cooked food ->they decided to eat out.. and in addition to my jetlag, i have to put up with non-sensical sproutings that some of they sagely stated, like "when you are so desperate till you are beyond the fear of death, you are afraid of nothing more". that's a big load of bull, of course: its tougher to be alive than to die, and escapism should never be the key.

i should know. i was there too often to count, and if i had used this philosophy, it would have been "good bye, cruel world" all too long ago.

exasperating, isn't it?

bah! humbug!

No serious. i'm not being sour grapes about being alone on valentine's day. I mean, why fall prey into the comercial lure of a day that has been flaunted as "the day for romantiks" and following the crowd like everyone else?

and girls, if anyone proposed marriage on valentine's day, stare him in the eye and wilt him down: why should he get it off cheaply? i mean, shouldn't he be creative enough to propose on a normal day? or is he so unromantic that he has to take advantage of the mood of the day to get himself some courage?

men who are not capable of being romantic on other days are doomed to be lousy life-partners, i'd say. imagine being stuck to one for life!

insomnia

drat. its insomnia season again.

been having trouble getting to sleep - and without the use of medication, i'm fair prey for the "how high you can count" game.

i don't think i am stressed about work (hah!) and i am definitely not *that* upset about being alone on V-day. I might be abit nervous about flying home to my parents, but sleep is sleep. no ifs or buts about it.

I'm trying not to resort to using the 3 bottles of wine + 3 beers squirrelled in my kitchen. For one, I suspect that apart from a splitting headache, i wouldn't really get anywhere.

apart from the irritant factor, the lack of shut-eye does not seem to have any effect on me though - i am slightly more moody than usual, but my productivity does not seem to be affected. hm...

Oh Crabby Day

man! am i crabby today.

Made a major mistake at work and i have to undo my changes AFTER it has been deployed at a client site.

For those of you who are familiar with my industry (software), you might be wondering "what's the big deal?" well. the deal is this - this bug came because of an irritating bug that appears occasionally, and I rushed headlong into it (against my better judgement) during the last remaining days before project end.

I should have stuck to my gut feeling about it: "hands off!"

bah! some experienced engineer/computer scientist i am.

what? yet another blog?

being the proud owner of 3 blogs, one would question the need for yet another blog.

Simple: this blog gets everything else that does not pertain to photos, philosophical insights and religious sacred-cow slaughtering.

It will probably get post about the great pumpkin, to my rants about life, stupidity and things in general. lets see how long it lives.. ;)