Happy Birthday! To me!

You know you're getting closer to the Big Three O (i.e: getting OLD) when:

- you end up at home completely sober, without a drop of alcohol in yr bloodstream
- turning in before 11pm, just because you're so damn tired
- you're beginning to notice patches of scalp showing (sign of thinning hair? *gasp*!!!)

Spent 28 years of age relatively quiet today. Should have taken the day off, but sadly... too much stuff to finish to even think of taking leave!

Had lunch with my usual lunch gang @ Sakae Sushi, then dinner with me mates. Called it a day at 9pm and headed home. Sad, I know.

So anyway, here's to me. And what's hopefully turning out to be a good career streak. And to better luck in matters of the heart... a couple o'potential leads... we'll just have to see how those turn out now, won't we ;)

Thanks for the SMSes and calls, peeps! (and if you forgot, I'm going to hunt you down.. somebody gonna get hurt real bad...)

:)
J

Alzheimer's coming early. Damn early

They say forgetfulness starts to rear it's ugly head around 50-ish to 60. From forgetting things like where you put the newspaper... it gradually becomes worse until you forget your kid's own name.

I think I'm on the fast-track to forgetfulness nowadays... and it's getting worse! At first it was forgetting people's names (yes, even those of hot chicks - so it's NOT selective memory OK!).... now I even forget what I'm supposed to do at work!

I'm the kind of numbskull who can walk into someone's cube 2m away, stop dead and smile at the person inside who's wondering WTF this joker is doing standing outside, scratching his head.

In the kind of job I'm in.. forgetting your customer's names isn't something you wanna be doing on a regular basis. Especially when the bloke is shaking your hand going "Hey J! How are you la? Long time no see!"

Sigh. I'm getting old and I know it. Very soon I'll be forgetting your name.

Remind me who you are again?

:)
J

Shanghai-ed

Exhausted.

Utterly tired.

Sleep deprived.

With a nagging sore throat.

All after 3D and 2N of a frantic biz trip to Shanghai, for a biz conference. And man.. what a rushed trip it's been! Got barely enuff time to plunk my ass down in the hotel room and enjoy the sights/sounds before I'm off to work.

Hmm... now that I recall back... I think I've spent less than 12 hrs over the course of 3D2N in my hotel room! And that's after paying more than RM1k for 2 nights' stay. But then again, it was $$ worth spending... seeing as how the hotel is spanking new (1 yr old), 5-star and in a accessible place downtown. Oh, and let's not forget the fact it's all on my company's tab :P

Enough talk, more pics!





The view from my hotel room.... I've got two.. yes, you read that right.. TWO LCD TVs in my room! One 32" fella just across my bed, and another smaller one you see here, just above the long bath.

More mischievous guests of this room would probably have enjoyed the transparent glass separating the bed and the shower. Imagine getting home after a hard day's conference-ing, and lying on the bed with a glass o'wine, enjoying the view of your partner getting lathered up.

I smell a storyline for an adult video flick already.



On Day 2, I met up with some colleagues from Shanghai who brought me to this utterly fab bar in downtown Pu'xi... right across the Bund. The place is called Bar Rouge, located in a building called 18 on the Bund... pretty swanky, with over 90% gweilos.

Cover charge was surprisingly reasonable, given it's fantastic location - only RMB100 (approx RM50). But no free 1st drink though. The bar makes a mean mojito.

The bar is right at the top of a building, and it opens up to the rooftop, where you can sip on your pretentious alco, enjoying the Shanghai skyline and 15 deg C weather. Awesomeness.





My party decided to drink the night away - given I don't drink (well, socially anyway)... so, busied myself with my DSLR on the rooftop :)

Got to make a mental note to return to this bar when I'm next in Shanghai... good music, nice crowd, good ambience and fantab view.



Back to Singapore en-route to PG via the island, on Day 3... managed to snap this of the new Terminal 3 building in Changi airport. The place is goddamn huge! Almost endless, walking from one end to another. I much prefer Singapore's Terminal 2.

3 days in Shanghai breathing in the smoky air and I'm paying the price for it already - coming down with a sore throat which I have the nagging suspicion - will develop into the mother of all sore throats.

Sigh.

J

Banana heads back to the Motherland

Yep, you read that right.. this Banana who doesn't speak a smatter of Canto/Mandarin (cuss words don't count) is on a biz trip to China next week. Shanghai, to be precise.

That means writing down directions to/from hotel in Chinese, and preparing to put up with weird stares from cab drivers who automatically assume I'm one of them and start firing away in mainland Mandarin.

Oh the joy.

At least in Taiwan, I could impress the cabbies with my powderful command of PG Hokkien.

Tiong Kok.. wa lai liauuu!

:)
J