Back to work

The vicious cycle starts again. After a short Christmas break (I don’t have many paid leave days to clear as I just got back to working after quitting a Big 4), it’s back to work again. The reality of going back to work starts to sink in on a Sunday morning. As the day progresses from morning to noon, the dark feeling of doom grows like a storm cell and lingers throughout the rest of the day. As night falls, the bottomless feeling of dread grows and I get all sorts of anxious thoughts as I lie in bed trying to sleep. "What will tomorrow be like? How will the day go by? Will I be busy? Will I be stressed? How will I kill boredom?" The thoughts keep playing in my head until I finally doze off from nonsensical mental overwork at 12.00am.

ZZZzzz.......

Then, after going through an epic battle to get out of bed in the morning (it really is a clash of the titans with Poseidon dragging me back down beneath the sheets and the mighty Zeus pulling me up from beneath the darkness of my bed covers!), I go to work. Here’s a timetable of what typically goes on each day in the office:

9.00am: Wishes “Good morning” to co-workers and boss.

10.00am: It’s only 10am? Gosh! It certainly felt like more than just an hour!

11.00am: Time for brekkie!

12.00am: Hooray! 1 more hour to lunch!

1.00pm: Lunch break

2.00pm: Lunch is over. Belly is filled. Glad that half the day is gone.

3.00pm: Argghhh! 3 more hours to go!

3.30pm: *Yawn! 2.5 hours to go. Hang on!

4.00pm: 2 more hours! What can I do to make time pass even quicker?

5.00pm: 1 more hour to go (keeps on checking the watch)

6.00pm: Sayonara! Balik rumah! Says “See you tomorrow” to co-workers and boss.

Christmas: sacred or secular?

I was in the midst of writing about how ridiculous I feel about there being 12 days of Christmas (in reference to the famous Christmas carol) but I decided to digress for fear of blasphemy. So, instead, I will write about the irrelevance of Santa Claus, reindeer, snow, and Christmas trees to the sacred view of Christmas. Many a time, we hear non-believers preaching about the true spirit of Christmas but what do they know about Christmas? We hear them saying that the true spirit of Christmas is giving, sharing and doing good. And then, with Christmas, comes gifts and presents. It's true. Retailers revel at the thought of Christmas as it brings in an abundance of revenue. Spirits are high. Consumer spending is high. It's good for the economy!

Putting the economics of Christmas aside for now, what has the idealised perception of a white Christmas with snow falling outside, the family huddled around the fireplace and children waiting for presents from Santa got to do with Christmas anyway? On prima facie, this is relevant to the folks living up in the northern hemisphere where Christmas coincides with winter. After all, pine trees are abundant, snow is plentiful in December and there are even reindeer that pull sleighs! But what about those living in the tropics and down south where Christmas comes at a time when the sun shines bright and hot? I watched Carols in the Domain in Australia about a week ago and found it hilarious to see Santa in his full red and white costume on stage. I bet he must have been sweating it out as if in a sauna under all those heavy clothing, beard and boots! And what about the spray-on snow? The only snow you'll find in summer is at the Snowy Mountains! So, you see? We have been sold the commercialised secular view of a Christmas which needs Santa Claus, reindeer and snow to be a complete Christmas. But what about the sacred view of Christmas?

Christmas as celebrated by Christians all over the world is to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ which happened many centuries ago in the town of Bethlehem in Jerusalem. He was born to the virgin Mary in a lowly manger, and His birth was witnessed by several shepherds who were watching their flocks at night. You don't hear of Christmas trees, Santa Claus, reindeer or even snow in the Bible, do you?

Fallen off the face of the earth

I'm back. Well, I didn't go anywhere to be honest. I just stopped blogging because of work commitments. Here's a brief of what has happened since the last blog post:

1. I quit my current job and joined a Big 4 (yeah I know... I gave in to temptation)
2. I quit my job at a Big 4 after working for 3 months (Hooray! Freedom!)
3. I found a job near home that pays well and allows me to leave on time

Yet, I'm still unhappy :(

Random musings at 4.30pm

I'm so pleased with myself for completing my job as scheduled today that I have decided to spend the next 30 mins doing anything but work. The boss has gone home and there's nobody else in the office to assist. Haha! It will be a long 30 mins of being unproductive so why not start off with 5 random things about myself?

1. I started combing my hair from right to left to even out the left parting.
2. I've got 3 moles on my left hand that form an equilateral triangle when connected dot to dot.
3. My fingers are relatively long in relation to my height.
4. The hair on my right arm grows in a circle.
5. My weight hasn't changed in 8 years.

The Zombies Ate Your Brains!

Last weekend I was down with some stomach discomfort after eating some really spicy 'dak bulgogi' (Korean BBQ chicken) for lunch on Friday so I was stuck at home. While playing some facebook game, I stumbled upon an ad for Plants vs Zombies and decided to give it a go since a friend highly recommended the game to me before. And then it was battle time. I spent the whole evening shooting zombies. It is a really fun game where you get to grow all sorts of plants to defend your house from zombies. And there are 50 levels of gaming so you can be assured you won't get bored. What's more - as you complete the levels, you get to unlock mini-games and finally when you have completed all levels, you unlock the 'Survival Mode' game which means endless gaming! Now if you'll excuse me, I have some zombies to slay...

Late Sunday night update

Hello! I feel like it's been ages since I last posted anything even though the last update was last Monday! Well, it's been a pretty normal week with a slow start and work gradually building up towards the end of the week. And no, I haven't been too busy (or even busy at all - LOL!) to post; it's just that I couldn't think of anything to write.

I'm currently listening to the Jamie Cullum Twentysomething CD I just bought today. I've been wanting to get this album since 2006 but I never got to buying it. CD's aren't exactly cheap here - it costs more to buy an original CD than to have a good meal in a fancy restaurant. It's no surprise how many people turn to buying pirated CDs or downloading from the net. Well, as for me I'm not exactly a smart-@$$ when it comes to downloading free stuff from the internet so I'd rather buy the CD. Oh, and I also get that "feel-good" feeling that I'm supporting my favourite artiste. My favourite songs (in no particular order) from this album are as follows:

1. These Are the Days
2. Twentysomething
3. Singin' in the Rain
4. What a Difference a Day Made

Monday Morning Madness

It's back to work today - first Monday of the new year and the roads are back to being congested during rush hour. It's no fun driving in a bumper-to-bumper crawl and you need to keep extra vigilant to avoid an accident from happening. 90% of the scratches and dents on my car happened during the morning madness at the junction where traffic from the housing area enters the main road leading out of the suburb. After being on the road for 4 years, I have noticed the traffic pattern. On Mondays and Tuesdays, traffic is really bad and then it gradually eases as the end of the week approaches. Fridays are the best as it seems that most people are already on "weekend mode" and don't seem to be in a hurry to get to work (or some may even take Friday as the start of the weekend and don't go to work at all!). No complaints, really! The less traffic the better! In fact, I wish I could teleport to work so that I can get up 30mins before work starts and still arrive on time!

The calculative accountant

I finally got a chance to put on my brand new pair of ALDO shoes yesterday as I went out to the mall for some recreational fun with a buddy in the evening. Since all the good seats for Avatar in 3D were sold out, we opted for a different kind of entertainment - a dolphins and sea lions show. There's a performing pair of marine mammals from Indonesia doing a world tour and since the both of us have never seen a real live dolphin up close, we decided that this would be our best chance. After getting our tickets for the 6:30pm show, we decided to have an early dinner. There's a newly opened restaurant named Fullhouse which is a contemporary store & cafe concept. A lot of attention has been paid to the whole scene, from the French maid-like costumes of the waitresses to the interior decor which makes it look like a French cafe with an anime twist. I felt like being part of a cartoon show as I stepped in. Sadly, the food could not even come close to being acceptable even though presentation was fine. My deep fried fish with wasabi sauce had been cooked and then re-cooked making it feel like chewing on rubber. My buddy's smoked salmon sandwich could not even beat mine - it was near impossible to cut through the bread roll with a bread knife as it seems that the bread roll had gone through the same process of double cooking as my fish. What a shame! But the best thing is after I paid the bill, the change was short by 5 cents and that's not even due to rounding! Needless to say, Fullhouse will never again get our patronage. For what my 5 cents are worth, I think the table adjacent to us heard our complaints and immediately left before making any orders :)