11 Mar 2015
This relationship is so tough. Life is full of problems, but she is one heck of a sea urchin. All spiky on the outside but totally delicious once I get pass the spines.
Her issue is her major insecurity. Nothing else. Her quick temper is not an issue without her insecurity.
She's so insecure, she would push me away just because there's a risk of losing me, even when I am completely fine with the problem that would lead to that risk.
Right now, she likes someone else too because I had let her dump me for a week while I was overseas for almost three weeks. She wanted my attention for hours everyday and that was impossible because I was overseas. I couldn't possibly chat with her all day; that would beat the point of being in another country.
But try I did, and after 3 straight nights of 4 hours of sleep, I decided to call for a break, believing I would make up for it when I return. But her messages got more and more uncaring as she got increasingly upset, till she said she was dumping me. So I said ok.
That was a week before I returned.
During this week, while trying to get over me, she went out with several guys and developed feelings for one.
Yet when I asked her to return to me the day I flew back, she did without hesitation.
Now, however, she feels it is unfair to me that she still has feelings for him, and wants to push me away because I love her so much but I'm not the only man in her heart.
But I don't care! She returned to me before she even asked why I came back to her, and that was enough proof of her feelings. She didn't ask why, she didn't play hard to get; she simply said she was going to be free the day I arrived.
Why would I feel that it's unfair? Clearly the other man didn't stand a chance!
And just now, while trying to push me away with her words, she always stayed in my arms and in my hand, with minimal pulling away.
I just wish she wouldn't do that. We could have spend the time and brain power on solving the actual issues. I wish she would hold on to me as hard as I am holding on to her.
Ok fine, she just agreed to hold on to me. Glad my coaxing worked.
The last 3 weeks, I went to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nanjing and Sapporo.
Hong Kong was uneventful. Went for dinner with a few relatives but we didn't really have much to talk about. My cousins with my youngest aunt were cute and the elder brother really liked me somehow.
In Shanghai, the cousin of the wife of one of my cousin brought me around for the entire stay because she was also clearing her 2014 leave and extending her Chinese New Year holiday with them. Brought me around in Shanghai but quickly ran out of things to do, so we went to Wu Xi for a day, then Nanjing. The high-speed rail was awesome because I can go to any major city in China within hours, and I don't even have to check in early the way flights do.
Anyway it was nice and her mum even let us in to the top floor of the Bank of China building in Shanghai for the view.
In Japan, however, I learnt to ski. Frickin awesome, having a private instructor.
I arrived on the 28th of Feb and spent a day in Sapporo with a friend, where I had the best roe right in the airport. Seriously, no fishy taste at all! Never tasted such fresh roe in Singapore before! No wonder the Japanese can just have them with rice. Without the fishy taste, roe is just epic.
For dinner, we went to a random place because the nicest looking restaurant was full. This random place turned out to specialise in grilled ox tongue, and they turned out to be delicious! On a related note, one ski instructor informed us later that ox tongue was the specialty of Sendai. My friend praised the chef who was grilling it in front of us (we were at the counter seats) and despite the difficulty in communication (we relied on pictures in the menu and the few English words in the waitress's vocabulary), we ended up taking a photo together and they gave us two handful of sweets before we left. Oh, and the chef and his brother (I think the other chef in charge of all dishes other than ox tongue was his bro) even sent us out all the way to the lift, partly since we were their last customers.
After that, we stayed in a hotel in Pole Street, a rather touristy place that had everything. Nice, but too... un-local.
The next day, we returned to the hotel after failing to find breakfast, and went to the airport for it instead. There, we went to a restaurant that I later realized specialised in sushi, and had another bowl of sashimi and roe on rice for breakfast, before meeting the rest of the ski group.
The van they booked brought us to the house in Niseko that was called a hotel, but I felt it was more of a serviced apartment. Miyuki 1 was a semi-detached house and had the amenities of a hotel, and the housekeeping came every alternate day. After we were settled in, we went to Rhythm nearby to rent our gear, and I had to buy a few more as well.
Rental was about the skis and poles, the helmet and the ski boots; and on top of that I had to buy ski goggles, a neck warmer with a patch designed for the nose and mouth, and this rubber sole to fit under my jogging shoes to improve traction in the snow.
Skiing was not easy, and although we had hired the instructors for two hours on the first day, I called it a day after 90 minutes. Skiing uses muscles that we normal don't use a lot in the legs, and I was not in a particularly good shape in the first place.
The good thing was that I started out with a good stance for balance, probably from my experience in both rugby and basketball a long time ago, so I only started falling on the second day when we tried the tougher slopes. The first day, despite the short time we spent, was actually pretty good, according to the instructors, because I was ready for the slopes within 15 minutes, and we tried the slopes twice within the 90 minutes. I think the powder snow in Niseko really helped a lot because it was easier to ski on than ice, and the privacy of the rather empty ski resort we went to was awesome for us beginners. Seriously, it was so empty, everyone who went said it felt like a private ski resort, while the gentle slopes there were great for beginners.
Oh btw, dry snow is so awesome to ski on. Dry snow, as far as I can tell, refers to snow in dry air that simply falls apart when you try to make snowballs. Wet snow can easily form snowballs and even ice when you press it hard.
Second day, another two hours, but I decided the ski boots were not comfortable at all. The toe area was too tight and it actually gave me an abrasion on my right ankle and a bruise on the left. We changed it on the third day, but Rhythm didn't have any regular boots that were any better so they gave me a premium pair instead. That was the final option and although it didn't solve the ankle discomfort, my toes felt really comfortable in them. In the end, I got that for no extra charge.
As for the skiing, we actually used up all 3 single trip ski passes on that day.
Then we started having crepes at this house called Odin near our house for tea, since we usually skip lunch. That place had the most amazing crepes and soups!
The fourth day was the last day we spent at the empty ski resort. I had initially wanted to ski alone by myself to try to get the hang of relaxing while skiing, like trying to cycle without supervision for the first time, but the night before, the group decided to go to Risutsu together on the fifth day, so I needed as much training as I could, and my friend lent me her instructor while she skiied alone. She had learnt to ski last year so I needed the training more.
The day didn't go so well, probably because we didn't have the synergy that I had developed with the first instructor, but it was better than nothing.
Risutsu turned out to be fantastic. It had a wide range of slopes for everyone and the mountains had a great view that day. My friend had a problem with her elbow so she didn't go, but I went my instructor anyway together with another newbie in the group who had been sticking to her snowboarding boyfriend during the last several days. He decided to finally have some fun with the rest of the group who were mainly expert snowboarders and they were planning to try the unsupervised slopes that was beyond the highest double black rating.
So the three of us started at the east mountain where there was a beginner slope and a beginner slope for jumps. Of course we didn't jump; I could barely lift my legs while skiing. Then we tried the west mountain where there was a green (ie beginner) slope with a little bit of red (intermediate) between the start and the gondola exit, and we got passed it without falling.
Now I guess I'm intermediate, but that was a very short and easy red, so I still see myself as a beginner. Moreover, I was still going down the slopes by zigzagging through stopping with each leg alternately instead of smoothly straight down like the other people were.
Returning to Singapore gave me two major issues though. First, the flight reservation done with Edreams for flights on Air China was changed while I was out of Singapore. The new flights turned out to have absolutely no transit time - the arrival time of the first flight coincided perfectly with the departure time of the connecting flight. What the heck?
So I tried calling Edreams Japan from Niseko, and there was an automated message that probably meant it was not working or something. Email didn't work because they just told me to call, meaning roaming was necessary.
It's not funny calling on roaming and get put on hold, but the call lasted for an hour and it wasn't solved. Yes, an hour of roaming call, my phone bill is going to be insane.
In the end, I gave up and booked a new one-way flight to HKG instead since I could still use the flight from HKG to SIN. But this is absolutely the last time I'm booking a flight through a third-party website. I'll gladly pay the difference, thank you very much.
Second, the plan was to pack light, ie one backpack, and in order to avoid checking in any luggage, and I'll stay overnight in HKIA as I'd arrive in HKG at night and the following flight to SIN would be in the morning with another airline. I'd go sleep in one of the lounges using my Priority Pass and then go through immigration only in the morning and check in for my final flight home.
It was only when I reached HKIA that I realized there was one obstacle - entry to the departure area is only allowed with a boarding pass. Unlike Changi, they're separate in HKIA, so I had no choice but to get out to the public area and sleep on the benches. After walking around for a few hours while chatting on Whatsapp using the airport's free wifi, the only alternative I found was the pay-per-use lounge that my Priority Pass doesn't give me free access to.
So I found some nicer seats and slept for three hours at around 3am, and woke up at around 6am as it got busier. Walked around and found some breakfast at 7 and chilled there till it was time to check in.
There, I discovered something important - Monday morning flights are empty. That's a very useful piece of information given my flexible hours.
13 March 2015
So we quarrelled again yesterday just before my phone died.
Leaving my phone off, I decided I needed a day of peace. So I've done absolutely nothing today.
We need to talk. She's just like another girl, saying that I question everything. Well, what's wrong with clarifying things I don't understand? And I don't understand a lot of things.
And I wonder what she has been lying about. See, I have this impression that she's honest about the things she say when she's angry, except they're phrased to maximise the pain they inflict. She claims she doesn't mean any of it, but I don't believe it; I have done that before because I have been angry before.
So when she said she's "been lying about countless things", I know for a fact she has been lying in regards to at least a few issues. And as for jokes, seriously, be careful what you joke about.
I still love her, but now I don't know if she really loves me or the security I provide. When a person does something for a person he/she loves, is he/she supposed to expect a reward? I don't, but she seems to. Can it be due to her lack of maturity?
Tomorrow maybe I'll turn on my phone.
Still loving these
The best part starts at 1:47
Friday, 13 March 2015
Monday, 16 February 2015
Rant 1210 / Recession Incoming.
So a well-connected friend gave us a friendly warning that there's a global recession on the horizon.
Sucks that I've already booked all those trips, so the next best thing is to minimize the impact of the possibility of a weakening SGD - I'll be buying half my expected budget for the trips in the respective currencies this week.
16 Feb 2015
It probably says something about me that I can click with a 20-year-old girl. Went out with her for the first time yesterday and wow, we can really chat. Or maybe she's just friendly. First time a girl would feed me popcorn on the first day we meet. Yeah, she's either really awesome or too good to be true.
Then we hung out at a cafe till her mum called at 2am and I sent her home before going home myself. We chatted till 4.30am when I decided I had to sleep. Work to do today!
But I'm already proven to be absent-minded at 10.20am. I just called my transporter to bring some goods to a client that were meant to be sent next month. Had to call him again to correct myself.
How will I survive the rest of the day??
Oh, and I'm already sipping coffee now; it clearly isn't enough.
Sucks that I've already booked all those trips, so the next best thing is to minimize the impact of the possibility of a weakening SGD - I'll be buying half my expected budget for the trips in the respective currencies this week.
16 Feb 2015
It probably says something about me that I can click with a 20-year-old girl. Went out with her for the first time yesterday and wow, we can really chat. Or maybe she's just friendly. First time a girl would feed me popcorn on the first day we meet. Yeah, she's either really awesome or too good to be true.
Then we hung out at a cafe till her mum called at 2am and I sent her home before going home myself. We chatted till 4.30am when I decided I had to sleep. Work to do today!
But I'm already proven to be absent-minded at 10.20am. I just called my transporter to bring some goods to a client that were meant to be sent next month. Had to call him again to correct myself.
How will I survive the rest of the day??
Oh, and I'm already sipping coffee now; it clearly isn't enough.
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Rant 1209 / Insane Holiday Plans
So maybe I'm just very pragmatic and not completely lacking in empathy. I don't know.
This year is going to be crazy. I have travel plans throughout the year already.
After the work trip to Seoul, I was looking at Amsterdam this week plus a really cheap ski trip in Bulgaria immediately afterwards since I would already have been in Europe. That got postponed indefinitely.
But I'm still looking at 3 days in HK and a week in Shanghai, flying from SG on the first day of CNY.
A friend just asked me to go for a ski trip in Japan immediately after I return, so I've just adjusted my flights to fly directly from SHA to Japan instead, and then to HKG where I originally had a flight to SG on the 28th of Feb. That flight has been postponed to the 9th of March.
This is kinda sucky but a necessary sacrifice if I don't want to book a new flight. The airline only has that flight after I reach HKG, and the flight from Japan to HKG is the cheapest I can find.
Another option was to take my flights as planned and then fly to Japan, which was time-consuming, didn't make sense and cost a lot because it's not a short flight between Singapore and Japan.
Third, I could have flown from Shanghai to Japan and back, and adjusted my return SHA-HK and HK-SG flights, but the SHA-HK was non-refundable, unchangeable and, again, the flight direction didn't make sense.
Fourth, I could have flown to HK as planned, then got a return flight to Japan, and postponed the HKG-SIN flight, but that was only slightly cheaper than booking a flight from Singapore to Japan.
Fifth, I could have flown from Shanghai to Japan, then back to Singapore directly, but that would have wasted two budget fares in addition to the fact that a flight from Japan to Singapore was not cheap.
In addition, most of these other options would have prevented me from reaching Japan on the same day as the rest of them since the SHA-HKG flight cannot be changed and arrives in Hong Kong only in the afternoon, too late for most cheap flights to reach the right airport in Japan before the next day.
And no, I'm not talking about Narita Airport.
After these three countries, it will be Taipei in May, where I'm looking at trying the relatively unknown bungy jump around Tainan, and paragliding if possible. And catching up with that tour guide I met last year, maybe asking her to bring me around in her home city, Tainan.
July will be Canada, and I'm considering a Contiki tour for this but there is some hesitation because I also want to spend more time in the cities where my relatives are. Maybe I'll fly between them just before the tour but that's a lot of extra money. In any case, I still have to wait for more discounts; right now I can only get a total of 15% off.
September will be Sydney but may want to adjust to August so that a friend can join me to try night skydiving there.
Dec will be a long European tour with Contiki again, going from London to Belgium to Czech to Italy to France to the Netherlands and back to London again. For this trip, I'll take it easy and not book too many things... maybe.
This year is going to be crazy. I have travel plans throughout the year already.
After the work trip to Seoul, I was looking at Amsterdam this week plus a really cheap ski trip in Bulgaria immediately afterwards since I would already have been in Europe. That got postponed indefinitely.
But I'm still looking at 3 days in HK and a week in Shanghai, flying from SG on the first day of CNY.
A friend just asked me to go for a ski trip in Japan immediately after I return, so I've just adjusted my flights to fly directly from SHA to Japan instead, and then to HKG where I originally had a flight to SG on the 28th of Feb. That flight has been postponed to the 9th of March.
This is kinda sucky but a necessary sacrifice if I don't want to book a new flight. The airline only has that flight after I reach HKG, and the flight from Japan to HKG is the cheapest I can find.
Another option was to take my flights as planned and then fly to Japan, which was time-consuming, didn't make sense and cost a lot because it's not a short flight between Singapore and Japan.
Third, I could have flown from Shanghai to Japan and back, and adjusted my return SHA-HK and HK-SG flights, but the SHA-HK was non-refundable, unchangeable and, again, the flight direction didn't make sense.
Fourth, I could have flown to HK as planned, then got a return flight to Japan, and postponed the HKG-SIN flight, but that was only slightly cheaper than booking a flight from Singapore to Japan.
Fifth, I could have flown from Shanghai to Japan, then back to Singapore directly, but that would have wasted two budget fares in addition to the fact that a flight from Japan to Singapore was not cheap.
In addition, most of these other options would have prevented me from reaching Japan on the same day as the rest of them since the SHA-HKG flight cannot be changed and arrives in Hong Kong only in the afternoon, too late for most cheap flights to reach the right airport in Japan before the next day.
And no, I'm not talking about Narita Airport.
After these three countries, it will be Taipei in May, where I'm looking at trying the relatively unknown bungy jump around Tainan, and paragliding if possible. And catching up with that tour guide I met last year, maybe asking her to bring me around in her home city, Tainan.
July will be Canada, and I'm considering a Contiki tour for this but there is some hesitation because I also want to spend more time in the cities where my relatives are. Maybe I'll fly between them just before the tour but that's a lot of extra money. In any case, I still have to wait for more discounts; right now I can only get a total of 15% off.
September will be Sydney but may want to adjust to August so that a friend can join me to try night skydiving there.
Dec will be a long European tour with Contiki again, going from London to Belgium to Czech to Italy to France to the Netherlands and back to London again. For this trip, I'll take it easy and not book too many things... maybe.
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Rant 1208 / NPD?
This may be the longest time I've ever taken in between posts. I haven't checked but I'm pretty sure it is.
And you know what I get when I google "lack of empathy"? Narcisstic personality disorder.
Many things have happened since the last post, but they are insignificant in comparison to what is on my mind now.
Some friends just told me that I seem to have no empathy. I'm not sure if that's what they really meant because their explanation is that I'm never down, that I'm always happy.
Is that a lack of empathy?
Yet when I made a bad joke after one said that her throat was still sore after a week, she cited that as another example.
This reminds me of my old suspicion that I really do lack empathy - I simply cannot feel sorry for others, despite all the proper things I say when I encounter such situations that call for them.
It's not that I consciously, deliberately don't feel sorry for them; I just can't feel anything when someone tells me his grandma just passed away, nor happy when someone gets married. So there, the truth is out.
I know that makes me a terrible friend and one of those aforementioned friends did say that it makes me hard to connect with, but I can't help it! I'm not trying to not give a fuck; I just have no fucks to give!
And you know what I get when I google "lack of empathy"? Narcisstic personality disorder.
It's impossible, IMHO, that I'm as abrasive as the examples frequently cited in those articles, but the fact is that I'm hitting 30 and my social circles are small enough to be symptoms of an underlying problem. Something is probably wrong somewhere and that needs to be solved ASAP.
Sunday, 23 November 2014
Rant 1207 / Now I Can Art
13 Nov 2014
Bought a bouquet of statice from Far East Flora at Thomson at $13.60
After a day of pressing in a thick book under two other thick books.
After 3 days of pressing.
Lending her a book and decided to give her a surprise.
Her reaction was kinda mild though. Maybe she's just as shy as I am. It's been 4 dates and I still haven't got the guts to hold her hands - the furthest I went was to put my arm around her shoulders.
Next date I'll do it.
23 Nov 2014
The stuff above didn't work. She abruptly stopped talking after the evening of the date. It was weird because the last thing we talked about was an exhibit and she had promised to go. I have a rough idea what happened, on hindsight, and surprisingly, I am not that upset about it.
Got another target now. Haven't seen her before so wondering if she's overweight. We can chat though, mostly because she seems chatty. Will see her on the coming Sunday.
My 桃花运 (luck in romance?) has been pretty good recently. First the 4 dates with that girl, now this.
How it started is pretty unbelievable, except it actually happened.
So I went to an online forum I frequent and said," Ok I've just returned to 'single without target' from being 'single with target'. I bet some ladies are probably happy now because they have a chance."
Yea, I don't know why I got so egotistic there but somehow I just typed that.
Half an hour later, a girl asked if she could have "a queue ticket". Whether it was a joke or not, I didn't know, but I did tell her to PM me if she was serious.
Then someone reminded me that "all the cards are on the table" and I should make the first move.
So I did. Next Sunday, date promised.
The 3-part documentary series "The High Art of the Low Countries" is awesome if you're want a better understanding of Dutch art, including those of Van Gogh and Rembrandt.
The narration was just so clear and informative that even I can understand something of the appeal of Rembrandt's works now. When I go to Amsterdam next year, it will be easier for me to appreciate the works displayed in the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.
Before this, I had no idea what Rembrandt was about. Heard of the name but that was it. Now I know that his works tend to be more than meets the eye, like in the case of The Night Watch.
At first glance it appears to be a painting of a group of militia about to set out to do something, maybe to a battle. Their weapons are ready and they stand proudly, their leader is making the signal to march.
But if we take a closer look, there is quite a different picture in the details.
First, the man in orange on the left is loading his musket as if he barely knows what he's doing, holding the tube gently, and is afraid that his fingers may get blown off. Second, the shorter man in the centre left behind the main character in black has accidentally misfired, almost hitting another man. Third, the man in dark red on the centre right, behind the man in yellow, is studying his gun as if he doesn't know much about it.
Finally, why on earth are they wearing such finery if they're soldiers about to march?
This showed me one thing about art - in order to appreciate art, you have to be able to take in and process a lot of details that we may normally unconsciously filter away.
Anyway, the group paid Rembrandt handsomely for this piece of work without knowing he was really mocking them in it.
After a day of pressing in a thick book under two other thick books.
Lending her a book and decided to give her a surprise.
Her reaction was kinda mild though. Maybe she's just as shy as I am. It's been 4 dates and I still haven't got the guts to hold her hands - the furthest I went was to put my arm around her shoulders.
Next date I'll do it.
23 Nov 2014
The stuff above didn't work. She abruptly stopped talking after the evening of the date. It was weird because the last thing we talked about was an exhibit and she had promised to go. I have a rough idea what happened, on hindsight, and surprisingly, I am not that upset about it.
Got another target now. Haven't seen her before so wondering if she's overweight. We can chat though, mostly because she seems chatty. Will see her on the coming Sunday.
My 桃花运 (luck in romance?) has been pretty good recently. First the 4 dates with that girl, now this.
How it started is pretty unbelievable, except it actually happened.
So I went to an online forum I frequent and said," Ok I've just returned to 'single without target' from being 'single with target'. I bet some ladies are probably happy now because they have a chance."
Yea, I don't know why I got so egotistic there but somehow I just typed that.
Half an hour later, a girl asked if she could have "a queue ticket". Whether it was a joke or not, I didn't know, but I did tell her to PM me if she was serious.
Then someone reminded me that "all the cards are on the table" and I should make the first move.
So I did. Next Sunday, date promised.
The 3-part documentary series "The High Art of the Low Countries" is awesome if you're want a better understanding of Dutch art, including those of Van Gogh and Rembrandt.
The narration was just so clear and informative that even I can understand something of the appeal of Rembrandt's works now. When I go to Amsterdam next year, it will be easier for me to appreciate the works displayed in the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.
Before this, I had no idea what Rembrandt was about. Heard of the name but that was it. Now I know that his works tend to be more than meets the eye, like in the case of The Night Watch.
At first glance it appears to be a painting of a group of militia about to set out to do something, maybe to a battle. Their weapons are ready and they stand proudly, their leader is making the signal to march.
But if we take a closer look, there is quite a different picture in the details.
First, the man in orange on the left is loading his musket as if he barely knows what he's doing, holding the tube gently, and is afraid that his fingers may get blown off. Second, the shorter man in the centre left behind the main character in black has accidentally misfired, almost hitting another man. Third, the man in dark red on the centre right, behind the man in yellow, is studying his gun as if he doesn't know much about it.
Finally, why on earth are they wearing such finery if they're soldiers about to march?
This showed me one thing about art - in order to appreciate art, you have to be able to take in and process a lot of details that we may normally unconsciously filter away.
Anyway, the group paid Rembrandt handsomely for this piece of work without knowing he was really mocking them in it.
Thursday, 13 November 2014
Rant 1206 / Just Wow.
10 Nov
So my bro just got a computer from Googoo Custom Computers. Pretty cool. It's probably the first custom PC website in SG, so now we don't have to go to that terrible place known as Sim Lim Square anymore.
But my PC has no issue at the moment so I don't need their service. Looks good though.
Just agreed to go to Amsterdam on the first week of Feb 2015. Just one week. There is only a rough plan of visiting the city for 4 days and then probably Berlin for another 3.
Initially wanted a stopover at Berlin or Doha but realized the air fare won't be worth it. Instead, we'll take a train to Berlin, but we won't be booking it in advance. While looking for train tickets, we checked the various websites and got some low prices from some third party website, but the cheapest was not available when we tried to search on the website of the carrier itself.
At that point, a friend who was present last night but won't be going with us suggested that we should just buy the tickets there since it won't be peak season and it can be cheaper since we aren't booking early enough to get early bird discounts.
Later she told me that's partly to see if everyone was as easygoing as they claimed to be.
We decided that that was ok, and at worst we could just go somewhere else. Amsterdam is close to so many other interesting cities anyway.
And we'll be renting an apartment. Woot!
Looks like I'll be flying A LOT in the next several months.
12 Dec to 5 Jan: NZ
21 Jan to 27 Jan: Seoul
31 Jan to 9 Feb: Amsterdam + Berlin
18 Feb to 1 Mar: HK + ??? (Unconfirmed)
I really wish the ABTC will get approved soon so that I can use it for three of these trips.
Since the application date was in the middle of September, hopefully it will arrive in time for my NZ trip.
Also bought an annual travel insurance policy from Liberty. Totally worth it now.
11 Nov
Nothing on my shopping list despite the sales online.
12 Nov
Bought nothing from the sales.
Made some mistakes but it was fine later. I feel stupid though. Wrote a cheque to my corporate bank account and wrote the account of my personal account in the same bank on the back.
Don't think I'll make it into my cousin's firm.
So my bro just got a computer from Googoo Custom Computers. Pretty cool. It's probably the first custom PC website in SG, so now we don't have to go to that terrible place known as Sim Lim Square anymore.
But my PC has no issue at the moment so I don't need their service. Looks good though.
Just agreed to go to Amsterdam on the first week of Feb 2015. Just one week. There is only a rough plan of visiting the city for 4 days and then probably Berlin for another 3.
Initially wanted a stopover at Berlin or Doha but realized the air fare won't be worth it. Instead, we'll take a train to Berlin, but we won't be booking it in advance. While looking for train tickets, we checked the various websites and got some low prices from some third party website, but the cheapest was not available when we tried to search on the website of the carrier itself.
At that point, a friend who was present last night but won't be going with us suggested that we should just buy the tickets there since it won't be peak season and it can be cheaper since we aren't booking early enough to get early bird discounts.
Later she told me that's partly to see if everyone was as easygoing as they claimed to be.
We decided that that was ok, and at worst we could just go somewhere else. Amsterdam is close to so many other interesting cities anyway.
And we'll be renting an apartment. Woot!
Looks like I'll be flying A LOT in the next several months.
12 Dec to 5 Jan: NZ
21 Jan to 27 Jan: Seoul
31 Jan to 9 Feb: Amsterdam + Berlin
18 Feb to 1 Mar: HK + ??? (Unconfirmed)
I really wish the ABTC will get approved soon so that I can use it for three of these trips.
Since the application date was in the middle of September, hopefully it will arrive in time for my NZ trip.
Also bought an annual travel insurance policy from Liberty. Totally worth it now.
11 Nov
Nothing on my shopping list despite the sales online.
12 Nov
Bought nothing from the sales.
Made some mistakes but it was fine later. I feel stupid though. Wrote a cheque to my corporate bank account and wrote the account of my personal account in the same bank on the back.
Don't think I'll make it into my cousin's firm.
Monday, 27 October 2014
Rant 1205 / So Many Firsts Again
So my Applecare has expired over half a year ago. Though this is one reason why I'm tempted to upgrade to a new iPad, it doesn't seem necessary right now. In fact, the only real issue with it is the updates - they are so big these days that I have to delete a lot of stuff to make space in my 16GB of memory.
Lesson learnt: spend a bit more next time and get at least 64GB.
At this rate, I'll have to wipe out everything to install updates in 2016.
Everything else is fine though. Absolutely no need to get a new iPad yet.
Went to Diamond Walker to take a look. Kinda interested in getting a pair of chelsea boots but not worth it to me yet. S$600+ minimum so I'd rather spend that kind of money on a pair of working shoes first. Still considering if I should buy a pair in Korea, although I probably won't. If I really wanted to, I could have visited the John Lobb in Taipei.
$600+ was just for a pair of shoes with the cheapest leather and soles. If I wanted better stuff, it would have exceeded $1000. At that range, I might as well fork out a little more and get a pair of John Lobb's City II.
The main thing about Diamond Walker is that they offer different colours and leather types for each part of the shoe, so you can have really funky styles without paying a lot more. But I'm only interested in getting better shoes for work right now, so John Lobb would be a better option.
Went out with a girl on Saturday. I think this will be my first real success. Hopefully it's the only one I will ever need in this part of my life. The first date wasn't even over when we discussed our second date lol
She's a high-flyer though, travels a lot and stays in hotels more often than I thought anyone her age could. Heck, she had enough points in her card to get a free week-long stay in some resort in Bali because she charges her expenses to her own card before requesting for the money from her company.
Seems to like me well enough even before the date to want to chat everyday, so things are looking up again!
We went to the potted plant shops/nurseries at Thomson Road because she liked flowers. Learnt quite a bit about her during the walk, such as her favourite colours and some things about her family. Ate at Junction 8, relatively cheap fare compared to what she eats at her company's expense every night when she's overseas, and right now, she's overseas every weekday. Just flew off just now (Sunday night).
Such an adorable girl, but I don't think I will say more about her here.
Went to what we call a "hang flower joint" for the first time on Friday night. It was unplanned because I was only going to a concert where a friend was performing. Apparently she had a good impression of me during our trip to the shotgun range and a guy friend decided to give us an opportunity to really interact.
But I already got a date with someone more interesting so I just went to make friends with her, no more than that.
After the supper, I decided to follow that guy who helped us to join his friends to drink. After some discussion, they decided to go to a hang flower joint.
It was certainly educational.
The basic idea is that while some pubs have ladies who accompany you to try to make you drink more, in this sort of place, you are given the opportunity to bid for the girl you want.
At first, they just walk around or sit around till you try to make conversation with them.
Some time later, they will go to the stage where guys can pay real money to bid for girls. The girls will go to the winning table while the rest will return to the table they were at before.
We managed to get a group of Korean girls and they were friendly enough, but TBH quite average looking although their typically Korean thick makeup made them looked good. One of them was with me most of the night and really tried to make me drink even though I was quite stiff throughout the night.
Despite my friend's weak attempt at persuading me to bid for her, I refused to pay for her. Somehow she got a bid though, and everyone thought it was from me. She even came over to thank me but I told her the truth. The winner turned out to be a group of Indian guys who were at a table near us, and the funny thing was that after a while, she came back to me even though I was clearly far less fun and unwilling to tip.
The reason was that they kept trying to feel her. I guess that's a valid enough reason, even though I had the impression that that's the norm in her job. In contrast, I barely wanted to touch her. At most, I just pat her on the back or held her shoulder whenever she won for me at dice.
Initially we played "scissors paper stone", aka "rock paper scissors", and I kept winning (because we kept picking the same at first but she always rotated among the three, never repeating the previous), so she gave up after several glasses. Then we played dice with a few others, and since I was already all red from the few glasses I had, we teamed up and she played while I drank if she lost. She never did. That was why I patted her back and held her shoulder.
Near the end, after we finished our tower and she failed to persuade us to get another, she walked over to an empty table and watched the stage. It was then that the friend told me I should tip her, and at the same time I felt that she had tried so hard on a guy like me, so I did. Took out a $50 note, walked to her, put my right arm around her shoulders while holding the bill in my other palm, and held her hand. For some reason, she gripped my hand (and the money) really hard. Still don't get why. Then she returned to the table even though there was no reason for her to do so since I neither danced nor chatted with her. She tried to make me dance before. Didn't work.
Since it was late, we left soon after, and coincidentally, the place closed about 3, so by the time we were done with the washroom, the girls were leaving too, and we left with them.
I was not in their car, but I've never seen a girl get so enthusiastic at waving to me at 3am. Maybe it helped that I remembered her name when I said goodbye to her. The biggest possibility, however, was that I had given her a rather large tip for nothing (from her perspective). Another possible reason was that she usually didn't get any tip this big.
On a somewhat unrelated note, it's possible to bring them home for sex for free if they like you well enough. Some will want payment though, but all these are negotiated privately.
The next time my cousin comes over, I now have friends who can recommend me such places, and if that fails, I now know one place to bring him and his friends to, and explain how the system works.
Also, that place was rather cheap. $50 isn't a big tip for such ladies in Singapore, hence the ladies there weren't that good-looking.
TBH I just pity them, hence I'd rather if I never have to use their services at all. Blaming them for taking this path is like blaming MCD for obesity - if there's no demand, they wouldn't be there in the first place, yes?
I just wonder what kind of issues made them turn to this trade.
Lesson learnt: spend a bit more next time and get at least 64GB.
At this rate, I'll have to wipe out everything to install updates in 2016.
Everything else is fine though. Absolutely no need to get a new iPad yet.
Went to Diamond Walker to take a look. Kinda interested in getting a pair of chelsea boots but not worth it to me yet. S$600+ minimum so I'd rather spend that kind of money on a pair of working shoes first. Still considering if I should buy a pair in Korea, although I probably won't. If I really wanted to, I could have visited the John Lobb in Taipei.
$600+ was just for a pair of shoes with the cheapest leather and soles. If I wanted better stuff, it would have exceeded $1000. At that range, I might as well fork out a little more and get a pair of John Lobb's City II.
The main thing about Diamond Walker is that they offer different colours and leather types for each part of the shoe, so you can have really funky styles without paying a lot more. But I'm only interested in getting better shoes for work right now, so John Lobb would be a better option.
Went out with a girl on Saturday. I think this will be my first real success. Hopefully it's the only one I will ever need in this part of my life. The first date wasn't even over when we discussed our second date lol
She's a high-flyer though, travels a lot and stays in hotels more often than I thought anyone her age could. Heck, she had enough points in her card to get a free week-long stay in some resort in Bali because she charges her expenses to her own card before requesting for the money from her company.
Seems to like me well enough even before the date to want to chat everyday, so things are looking up again!
We went to the potted plant shops/nurseries at Thomson Road because she liked flowers. Learnt quite a bit about her during the walk, such as her favourite colours and some things about her family. Ate at Junction 8, relatively cheap fare compared to what she eats at her company's expense every night when she's overseas, and right now, she's overseas every weekday. Just flew off just now (Sunday night).
Such an adorable girl, but I don't think I will say more about her here.
Went to what we call a "hang flower joint" for the first time on Friday night. It was unplanned because I was only going to a concert where a friend was performing. Apparently she had a good impression of me during our trip to the shotgun range and a guy friend decided to give us an opportunity to really interact.
But I already got a date with someone more interesting so I just went to make friends with her, no more than that.
After the supper, I decided to follow that guy who helped us to join his friends to drink. After some discussion, they decided to go to a hang flower joint.
It was certainly educational.
The basic idea is that while some pubs have ladies who accompany you to try to make you drink more, in this sort of place, you are given the opportunity to bid for the girl you want.
At first, they just walk around or sit around till you try to make conversation with them.
Some time later, they will go to the stage where guys can pay real money to bid for girls. The girls will go to the winning table while the rest will return to the table they were at before.
We managed to get a group of Korean girls and they were friendly enough, but TBH quite average looking although their typically Korean thick makeup made them looked good. One of them was with me most of the night and really tried to make me drink even though I was quite stiff throughout the night.
Despite my friend's weak attempt at persuading me to bid for her, I refused to pay for her. Somehow she got a bid though, and everyone thought it was from me. She even came over to thank me but I told her the truth. The winner turned out to be a group of Indian guys who were at a table near us, and the funny thing was that after a while, she came back to me even though I was clearly far less fun and unwilling to tip.
The reason was that they kept trying to feel her. I guess that's a valid enough reason, even though I had the impression that that's the norm in her job. In contrast, I barely wanted to touch her. At most, I just pat her on the back or held her shoulder whenever she won for me at dice.
Initially we played "scissors paper stone", aka "rock paper scissors", and I kept winning (because we kept picking the same at first but she always rotated among the three, never repeating the previous), so she gave up after several glasses. Then we played dice with a few others, and since I was already all red from the few glasses I had, we teamed up and she played while I drank if she lost. She never did. That was why I patted her back and held her shoulder.
Near the end, after we finished our tower and she failed to persuade us to get another, she walked over to an empty table and watched the stage. It was then that the friend told me I should tip her, and at the same time I felt that she had tried so hard on a guy like me, so I did. Took out a $50 note, walked to her, put my right arm around her shoulders while holding the bill in my other palm, and held her hand. For some reason, she gripped my hand (and the money) really hard. Still don't get why. Then she returned to the table even though there was no reason for her to do so since I neither danced nor chatted with her. She tried to make me dance before. Didn't work.
Since it was late, we left soon after, and coincidentally, the place closed about 3, so by the time we were done with the washroom, the girls were leaving too, and we left with them.
I was not in their car, but I've never seen a girl get so enthusiastic at waving to me at 3am. Maybe it helped that I remembered her name when I said goodbye to her. The biggest possibility, however, was that I had given her a rather large tip for nothing (from her perspective). Another possible reason was that she usually didn't get any tip this big.
On a somewhat unrelated note, it's possible to bring them home for sex for free if they like you well enough. Some will want payment though, but all these are negotiated privately.
The next time my cousin comes over, I now have friends who can recommend me such places, and if that fails, I now know one place to bring him and his friends to, and explain how the system works.
Also, that place was rather cheap. $50 isn't a big tip for such ladies in Singapore, hence the ladies there weren't that good-looking.
TBH I just pity them, hence I'd rather if I never have to use their services at all. Blaming them for taking this path is like blaming MCD for obesity - if there's no demand, they wouldn't be there in the first place, yes?
I just wonder what kind of issues made them turn to this trade.
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