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The 14 lost hours

14 friggin hours on the plane. It's been a long time since i sat in one place for that long.

As i half laid on my barely reclining seat, i looked longingly at the business class drawn curtain and wished i would soon be in a horizontal position.

It was painful. I hardly slept more than 4 hours and wasn't too impressed with the available in-flight movies.

12 hours later, we were Milan. The jet lag was setting in but we didn't leave the plane as we got bribed with more airline food (yay they served Ferraro Rocher!).

It was another 2 hours before we would get to Barcelona.

But we did arrive eventually. Imagine my delight on finding my knees again....and finally my luggage as well.

SQ378

I am a self confessed control freak. It's little wonder that I get extra paranoid when packing for a long trip. I do need to ensure that I have ample matching underwear and not-quite-enough no. of shirts that are versatile enough for a stroll in the park and a night out. And packing for toiletries are a nightmare, 'do i need a day cream AND a night cream?'.

Yes, but such is the excitement of travelling.

It's been more than 4 years since I last took a holiday that lasted more than 10 days and a 7hr flight. Spain has been on our calenders for more than 6 months, it all started when Adrian sent me a link to PRIMAVERA SOUND and excitedly exclaiming (with the number of exclamation marks) on MSN, 'I wanna go!!!!!'
I began planning - from painstakingly picking out our accommodation, to planning the rail route, to finding out how much does bottled water cost.

And now, with our bags are packed, and holiday cash stashed in 3 different compartments. (we did find highly creative avenues of keeping cash that would put a bank to shame).
I have since decided to trace our journey through my under-utilised blog, with the hope that Spanish WIFI does not disappoint.

And so, I leave family and friends, emails and iphone behind, to follow the falling Euro, volcanic ash and La Liga.

I can almost hear the boarding call.
Ready, Jet Set, Go!

The Death of a Bunny

Little Lindt Bunny has been sitting on my table since Apr. It was the very first gift that Adrian gave me. I remembered she was exchanged at the balcony of The Ogilvy Centre with a Cola flavoured lip balm. I had just returned from Hong Kong and a chocolate Easter bunny was a pleasant surprise. It all seemed so long ago.

I decided today that her time was up. Her death certificate at the bottom read 'Expiry: Aug 2009'.

I know that she would rather make an impact on my tastebuds and waistline then die a moldy existence on my table.

As part of the mourning, I documented her slow delicious demise....

This is her in all her gold foil glory

In her Birthday Suit.....

First to go....her ears.....

She's got no brains!!!

Since she doesn't have a brain...why does she need a head?

At this point there were exclaimations of "You ate your rabbit!??!"

YES I DID. AND SHE WAS GOOOOOOOD.

R.I.P little bunny. You did good with your existence. Maybe i'll see you again next year.

All that's left of my Lindt Bunny....

I feel strangely melancholic now that she's gone and I do miss her a bit

My Lemonade List

Adrian showed me the trailer of the new movie, Lemonade this morning. It seems like a socio-documentary of the amazing lives some individuals lead after their unlucky lay-offs. I was envious.

I've been thinking for the last few weeks, months...actually years on the things i want to do when i have the TIME. I've been devising my plan for early retirement since my days in college, whether through a marraige of finanical convenience (I've dropped this idea...) or developing the next Google (maybe still possible?!). But it scares me to think that the older i grow, the more I get caught up in the rat race, which goes against everything i've ever preached about while growing up.

While i realise i would never become a Melvin, trekking to Nepal without a plan or traveller's cheques, it is nice to not be the one planning, to live one day at a time, without a care in the world, without the sensibilities of adulthood.
My split personalities are surfacing, the Lin that has everything under control and the Lin that wants to be Peter Pan. I'm not sure how far each one would go.

But i hate feeling vulnerable and confused.

So to indulge myself in the office, I decided to re-visit my list of "What I want to do if I had all the time in the world".

Here are the top 15
1) MASTER the violin
2) Pick up the Piano again
3) Pick up my Jap again
4) Learn French
5) Learn to bake, cook, sew without killing anyone in the process (including myself)
6) Learn to fly a plane
7) Make a short film inspired by 'Travelling'
8) Write a book about both my grandfathers for our 4th generation
9) Learn to drum
10) Paint a wall mural
11) Start a band
12) Be a jazz singer
13) Get a law and art history degree
14) Learn sign language
15) Become a hustler at the pool table

I realised that I did manage to start on many of these but never managed to follow through with any. Perhaps soon in the near future, I would make the time to finally hit professional recognition with one of these, even if it means doing it after 7pm.

Otherwise, it might not be too late to start after 55.

From the winter of 2007

November 07

Annual Contemplation

It's that time of the year again....towards end, when you sit and think over the events and chapters that unfolded over the last 12 months (well almost...) I know it's an over-used line but time really flies....it's scary...At the beginning of 2006 I was still in Shanghai trudging through the cold Chinese winter working my ass off till the wee hours of the morning in a pounding electronica club filled with booze-tranquilized individuals. Today, I’m working in the middle of Singapore’s Shenton Way, running up and down a swanky mega ad agency (A mere figment of my imagination back in Feb). How the tide has turned and time changes everything. 2006 is indeed a symbolic year for me, with enough activities and memories for me to spin stories in the coming years ahead.

Amidst the speed of action and tumultuous events of 2006, I seem to have lost some time and memories which I should have stopped to savor. And now, when the dust has settled, I find that time to breathe, to ponder, to think about events, people and lessons that are dear to me. It’s all slowly coming back to me…in flashes of sights, sounds, smells…I can sometimes almost feel myself back in Shanghai and how real it feels standing at the Bund, walking along Huai Hai Road, the walls of BonBon, the street of my old house, the smell of the bbq mutton sticks, the people that I left behind. And yet women are capricious creatures, whilst I remain reminiscent of my Shanghai adventure, I carry the hope and excitement of a new adventure in Singapore, a taste of another side of life I have yet experienced. Maybe the grass is always greener on the other side.

Who knows where I’ll be the same time next year, writing another annual blog entry. For now, I’m waiting to celebrate Christmas again in Singapore but also romanticizing the thought of autumn leaves falling on the boulevards of Shanghai. I think I just need the peace and stability back in my life as I leave the action of youth behind….

China Diaries Part 2 (Sept 2006)

Another one....

September 11

China Diaries Part 2

Friday afternoon....it was IMpossible to get a cab in this city....goodness....why are there so many people??? what happens when your country faces a population of such gastronomic numbers? the result....they needed to be herded like sheeps, herded with whistles to cross the road, get on and off the train, to get into queues...and yet....they STILL never learn.

I had my queue cut thrice today by some smart suitted, briefcase carrying chinamen. can't they just wait for their turn?

It made me wonder....perhaps this is really survival of the fittest...from youth it has been imbued in them that if they do not fight for what they need, they would never get it....it would never be THEIR turn...because there are just too many people to fight with. Back home...it was always, get in queue for your turn. Thought it irritates the shit out of me when someone cuts in front of me at macdonalds and shoves their money at the cashier for their next hamburger....it taught me that 'when in china, do as the chinese do'....haha i've mastered the art of fighting for cabs that friday afternoon. I had to fight with old people, women with crying babies, couples.....but oblivious to all, i did it the china style - open the door and sit in before the previous passenger pays and gets off.....otherwise i would never have gotten to my destination.

When will the people really learn and change....i thought...perhaps never becase they are always faced with the defacto problem of people, more people and more people. The masses would need to be herded like cows, propogated from young....no wonder communism prospered in this country.

We all have ugly sides to our society, china non-withstanding....i guess i'll just have to learn to accept that and stop rolling my eyes whenever the people rush into the trains and try to wriggle their butts for a place in the already-very-full roll of seats.

Looking at the bright side: more people = bigger market = more biz opportunities.......i'm still staying