Flat is Good

First it was Rico. Now comes Tony!!! Wahhh Why are they all leaving?!!! 10 Downing Street will never be the same without his charisma and flair for words.

It has been a hectic three weeks. After a hurried trip back home (Had to fight again with that airline!) to see my family and friends and ship important stuff (costly but I had no choice...to compound things I had excess baggage of 7 kilos which amounted to US$49!), I had a good friend from Taiwan who came over for a week. So I felt like a real tourist, going around the city with her and scouring for the best food (Mandarin rice at Chatterbox, Chili crab at Jumbo Seafood, Bak Kut Teh, the Laksa in Chinatown, Mochi balls, etc etc) and deals this side of the planet. I finally had the time to visit Sentosa and do the walking tours of Orchard Road, Clarke Quay, Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam. We also got to drink the original Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel.

So after being stuck in the ranks of the unemployed for so long (around 21 months), I finally re-joined the "worker bees" in their hives and discovered that my "sleeping sickness" also returned with a vengeance (much to my horror!!). It is such a strain to keep my eyes wide open especially after they have been accustomed to being shut most of the day. Good thing there are 3 malls just beside my office. More places to window shop during office hours!...NOT!! (used to do that when I was working in the government...I daresay I was one of the worst civil servants around.) The people in the department are quite the productive lot. But they also know how to have fun. So I'm thinking I'm gonna enjoy my stint there.

My home is finally growing on me. I actually like the convenience of just being 15 minutes away from the office. Plus with all the food courts and shops around, I can never go hungry or bored. With cable and DSL already set up, I can now watch and surf to my heart's content! (Yey for MTV Mandarin and Heroes). And I have my own den! (Others may call it a meditation/yoga room with all the aromatherapy around).

I just finished reading Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat: The Globalized World in the Twenty-First Century." A follow-up to his previous masterpiece on globalization, The Lexus and Olive Tree, it proved to be an easy and engrossing read.

Friedman has this to say:

"I cannot tell any other society or culture what to say to its own children, but I can tell you what to say to my own: The world is being flattened. I didn't start it and you can't stop it, except at a great cost to human development and your own future. But we can manage it, for better or for worse. If it is to be for better, not for worse, then you and your generation must not live in fear of either the terrorists or of tomorrow, of either al-Qaeda or of Infosys. You can flourish in this flat world, but it does take the right imagination and the right motivation. While your lives have been powerfully shaped by 9/11, the world needs you to be forever the generation of 11/9 - the generation of strategic optimists, the generation with more dreams than memories, the generation that wakes up each morning and not only imagines that things can be better but also acts on that imagination every day."

Upgrading 2.7

If you were made to choose between the comforts of a scenic home far from civilization and a not so picturesque one very near amenities and the city center which would you choose? I opted to listen to the complaint of my legs that were already saying "Don't you dare get a house nearer to the border country!" Such would have enlisted a very long commute through the MRT. So it made better sense for me to live just beside it then. hahaha One can actually here the screech of the brakes so it's really that close. Well, I have no problem getting accustomed to noise anyway as I am 'apparently deaf' (according to an EENT doctor who examined me eons ago).

So I have a new job, several new friends and a new house in a new home country - a whole new lifestyle that will take quite a while to getting used to! Current state of mind: excited. apprehensive. happy. sometimes lonely (you know why). but a whole lot grateful. Although I had tried my very best to be in a different profession and/or a different country (I miss SH), I guess this is the path that has been thrown my way. They say destiny is predetermined. But I do believe it is still the individual who makes the predetermination. The destinations may have already been set for us but we choose how we undertake our journeys. Ah, the Coelho perspective is getting the better of me.

In the meantime, the designer in me is screaming IKEA! Now if only I had tons of money...

Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!

Look to this Day!

For it is Life, the very Life of Life.

In its brief course lie all the

Verities and Realities of your Existence.

The Bliss of Growth,

The Glory of Action,

The Splendor of Beauty;

For Yesterday is but a Dream,

And To-morrow is only a Vision;

But To-day well lived makes

Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness,

And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.

Look well therefore to this Day!

Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!

Kalidasa

June 4, 2007 is another Eiffel

Apparently, workplace jerks are not mere figments of imagination that fill the grapevine with horrid stories and make coffee breaks more interesting. They do exist in real life. "Research shows that they not only hinder recruiting and retention but also raise levels of client churn, damage reputations, and diminish the confidence of investors. Companies that harbor jerks may also suffer from reduced levels of creativity and innovation, as well as impaired or dysfunctional cooperation, within and outside the organization. That is no small matter in an increasingly networked world." The McKinsey Quarterly article provides valuable insight into this realm of older bullies and how those affected can stand up and fight.

As for a vicarious experience, a good friend just had a recent brush with one on his very first day in a new workplace. The company suddenly made a big turn around and decided to allegedly dump him in favor of another person (a vital information which they conveniently forgot to tell him when he took the house key a few days ago). They were then forcing him to sign another contract which definitely contained more disadvantageous provisions and less benefits. When my friend refused to sign it and asked for a copy of the previously signed contract as there might be ticklish questions with respect to bond forfeit, lo and behold the "jerk" tore his contract to pieces. Who wouldn't be shocked right? Was such action normal for company directors? (no matter how powerful they may be!) I can just imagine that "*&^%$# doing it repeatedly. Talk about worker's rights and contract law being fed straight to the compactor.

Lesson to be learned: "When you get a job offer or an invitation to join a team, take a close look at the people you will work with, successful or not. If your potential colleagues are self-centered, nasty, narrow minded, or unethical, he warned, you have little chance of turning them into better human beings or of transforming the workplace into a healthy one, even in a tiny company. In fact, the odds are that you will turn into a jerk as well."

It was indeed a traumatic experience for my friend who fortunately had other better options. (mukhang ginuhit ng tadhana hahaha) Sometimes it does pay to stop, listen and heed the Moirae's call.

Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.

Christopher Robin as written by A.A. Milne

Laying my cards

Spartacus: And maybe there's no peace in this world, for us or for anyone else, I don't know. But I do know that, as long as we live, we must remain true to ourselves.

Talk about having too much time to kill...I was able to run through all my emails in my Gmail account and managed to reduce the 3000+ unopened emails to 19. It was a tedious but fun task to leaf through all those old messages, some of which were really important and unfortunately remained untouched in the dust bins of my inbox. But I cannot understand why I still have 19 unread emails when I have gone through everything!?

My first solo attempt to find housing here in the Lion City turned out to be quite a learning experience. One, never do trust the descriptions that they place in the ads which are too general anyway. Second, to see is really to believe. I had wanted a place here in the East Coast (was able to stay in Bayshore Park and Marine Terrace) so that I could enjoy long walks on the sand and frolic with the numerous stray cats around hahaha. Well, Joo Chiat was quite near the beach and as a bonus, the area was a virtual foodie haven! My expectations weren't that high since I knew the district was old. I could very much accept that there would be no elevator since it was what they called a 'walk-up apartment.' What I could not comprehend was their concept of a 1+1 unit. All the while, I thought I would be looking at something similar to a studio. The unit presented to me was indeed 1 bedroom plus a small space that you could call the living room. It had an airconditioner, a bed, a cabinet, a TV, chairs, a table, lamp and wifi connection. It also had a shower room. Yes, I call it a shower room because the other important part of a bathroom was missing. As it turns out, there were 3 other doors within that one large unit. And all the 7 tenants were to share in the use of the oven, the washing machine and the TOILET BOWL! Now, can you fault me for not being willing to part with my Php36k and live in decrepit conditions? Call me maarte...

I think I have also perfected the art of ignoring people. I am really annoyed at those who pick on me just because of my height, my gender and my race. (You get the drift!). Of course, I would have wanted to use numerous expletives in different languages just to put a stop to what they are doing. But that is actually giving them the satisfaction that they crave. So the better thing to do is to act deaf. Too bad I couldn't summon my Beatrix Kiddo powers and give them a proper whacking.

My days as a B.U.M. are numbered. The past 2 years can be broken down as follows: 13 months as a student mastering tourism (hahaha), 2 months as a full time traveler, 4 months as an unemployed graduate who returned home and realized that she no longer relished staying there and 1 month as a job seeker in Singapore.

It has been one year since I left Hamburg; 6 months to the day that I left another cherished place; 1 month to the day I arrived in Singapore. I guess my gamble did pay off! Now if only I can have that same result in another aspect of my life...

Isang pagwawakas

ISA MUNANG PATALASTAS...Dear friends, i am no longer with the band and management of rivermaya. I have been with the group from the start, and after 14 great years, I am now quite excited about the chance to finally do other things with my life, pursue endeavors outside of the entertainment spotlight. This is a desire I have made known to my group as early as 2005 and have already postponed several times. I will surely miss the music and the fans and will always cherish the experience. I hope you will continue supporting the group and the whole of opm. My work is done. Thank you for all your incredible love and support.

Rico Blanco
http://amillionflames.multiply.com/

So I say
Thank you for the music,
the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it,
I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me