Treading water in the sea of uncertainty...

Why Are Lawyers miserable- Want a list?

2007-10-11T19:22:00.001-07:00

Interesting article. Click here.

Ethnic Diversity

2007-10-11T00:23:00.000-07:00

In the midst of clearing all issues related to the remaining matters. However, I failed to meet yesterday’s deadline. Stayed back late in training to do the requisite workouts. Still, that didn’t appease Avram, as he set about sending me angry e-mails, pointing out my perceived failures. To make matters worse, the other players, kitmen, technical director, and Peter Kenyon know about it. Funny that it seems to happen even if the e-mail was addressed only to me. Peter Kenyon has however been surprisingly supportive and understanding, although I’m not entirely certain of his intentions.

It has been a demoralizing week. I’m just putting my head down, and working as hard as I can, and trying to remain positive. If Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips can make it after spending time on the bench or playing in the reserves, then there’s a chance for me. Assuming of course Avram is duly impressed and pleased with my contribution. But, I’ll have to assess the situation. There’s of course the January transfer window and summer months to keep the options open.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you can't turn back the clock

2007-10-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

So I did not receive the hairdryer treatment (yet). An attempted reconciliation on my part last week was met with a swift, brusque “I’m not free” reply. Instead, Peter Kenyon called me to his office and informed me about my change of role. I am to be transferred to a different department. From next week, I shall cease to have a room and will instead occupy a desk on the floor below. The role will be more specific (at least what I was told), but the workload will more or less be the same. I am unsure what to think. What springs to my mind immediately is the purported move “upstairs” by certain clubs towards their perceived under-performing managers, ala Kenny Dalglish being “promoted” to be "Director of Football" when he was in charge of Newcastle, if I recall correctly. Except that in my case, I can’t really view that as such, since it is definitely not a move “upstairs” by any stretch of the imagination. Sigh...

Folks visited us for about 3 days. Had some home-cooked food that I didn’t realize I missed, until I ate it.

I had a pretty good weekend, spending most of it with the wife and hanging out with some of her friends.

Looking forward to this weekend (who isn’t?). Jeanne’s friends will be bunking over at our place and we’ll be a doing something very touristy- a visit to the Zoo.

Cheerio…

Certification of Compliance and Good Order

2007-10-01T01:51:00.000-07:00

Returning from the high of a 4-day trip to Bangkok and coupled with the fact that complications arose with one of my files while I was away, it suffices to say that I am suffering from some major Monday blues. The boss is upset with me and I’m feeling like a lamb waiting to be led to the slaughter. Apparently I will be at the receiving end of a “hairdryer” treatment but so far it has been the silent treatment. I don’t know which is worse. In any event, just get it over and done with!

Work has been extremely hectic. It never seems to end. Everything is urgent or due yesterday. Because I seem to be getting all the urgent matters which require my immediate attention, it is a matter of prioritizing, which resulted in certain files being neglected. Apparently they’ve discovered that I have the “gift” to “complete” the urgent matters (despite the apparent odds), ala Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who comes on for Man U in the last 20 minutes or so of the match and scores. Fine by me, but if I’m expected to play that role and focus on “scoring” alone (all the time), I can’t be expected to stay around after the match, have a glass of wine with the gaffer, collect all the players’ kits, wash their boots, clean up the dressing room, go for the press conference and drive the bus out of the stadium right? I am feeling overwhelmed.

I’ve been coming in to work early- before 8pm, having a quick lunch (10-15 mins, tops), before working all the way to 830pm-ish, so its not like I’m slacking. I had an hour-long chat with the boss, explaining my situation, and in the last week and a half, I was not given any urgent matters so that gave me some time to catch up on the matters I have neglected. Before I could to attend to this particular file, some complications arose because admittedly, I haven’t had the time to look into it. In the grand scheme of things it is not something that is un-salvage-able (is there such a word?), and it is not exactly a major f**k-up either. All the same, the boss is unhappy and I’m (still) waiting to face the music.

I’m looking forward to the end of today.

I had an excellent 4-day trip to Bangkok. The Thailand Open was on but our excitement for event was dampened by the late withdrawals of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick. Jeanne in particular is a big fan of the Muscles from Majorca. Our trip to Bangkok coincided with the grand sale (with items up to 60% off), so we did some shopping too. I decided to go to a tailor and ended up making 4 shirts and trousers for smart-casual wear. All that at an extremely affordable price, around RM640. Massages are cheap too, ranging between RM30-60 per hour. Touched down in Changi Airport around 1130pm.

Pictures will be posted in a bit.

Apartment

2007-08-09T02:36:00.000-07:00

So we're now staying at Chancery Court, on Chancery Lane. Here are some photos:-

Entrance

The block were staying in. Its on the 9th floor. Cold Storage as you can see, is conveniently located below.

The hall

Another angle of the hall.

Kitchen

Kitchen and 2 bedrooms

Master bedroom

View of the city

Long time

2007-08-09T01:40:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since my last entry. Work has piled up significantly. I arrive at the office, start by 9am sharp, have a quick 15 minutes lunch, before resuming work all the way to 8pm-ish. No internet breaks, no on-line messaging. Anyway here are some overdue photos of moi. I was back in KL last month to get a suit done. After the initial measurements were made, I returned some 4 weeks later for my fitting. I only ever had one tailor, and I met him by chance when my parents rented a shop lot in Atria shopping centre in Damansara Jaya for the purposes of their corporate gifts/premium business. We clicked instantly, and I have since had a few shirts and trousers done by him.

Casual wear...

Taillours

Attempted self-portrait

Smart, no?

Smile...

2007-07-11T02:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow’s the big day when we finally move into the apartment. The apartment is known as Chancery Court, and is located at Chancery Lane, about 8 minutes walk from the nearest MRT station, which is Newton. It is a very central location. Although I didn’t know this beforehand, it is by sheer coincidence that Chancery Lane apparently is some upper class, hoity-toity street. The long and windy street comprises mainly bungalows and high-end apartments, not unlike what we see at Bukit Tunku / Damansara Heights / Sri Perdana in KL.

We originally wanted an apartment located by the East Coast because of the lifestyle there- outdoors, beach, roller-blading, tennis, running, cycling, etc. After viewing a particular apartment (which had a sea-view and numerous tennis courts, including 2 practice walls, swimming pool, squash courts and other facilities), we were suitably impressed and made an offer to rent, but the landlord decided against renting to us. Dammit! All the strip tease with no action…

We persisted and instructed our agent to locate another (similar sized) unit within the same area, and found one, but in the space of a mere 3 days, the asking rent was 15% more. Property prices in Singapore are already expensive as it is, but apparently the last 7 months saw a further escalation of prices, partly due to a number of factors, including the en-bloc “craze”, the integrated resorts (“I.Rs”), Singapore hosting the upcoming Formula 1, etc. Click this link to get an idea of the property boom in Singapore.

Because the asking rent was 1) not within our budget and 2) there is no way we’ll pay the additional 15% for an apartment (facilities and the beach notwithstanding), that is located far away from the city (half an hour's drive at least), when, voila at the same time our agent informed us that she has managed to locate another property- the one at Chancery Lane, for the price that was within our budget. Pros- very central, cosy, breezy, excellent view of the city, and similar “feel” to our apartment back in Damansara Heights. Cons- Zero facilties (i.e. no pool, courts, gyms etc), although having Cold Storage downstairs means that we can buy our groceries anytime before 10pm. Weary of having to view more apartments and fearful of being unable to find a decent one within our budget, we promptly accepted it and signed a one year lease.

Jeanne has hired professional movers to pack, unpack and transport the items and belongings to the apartment. They will arrive tomorrow.

The weekend will be busy. We’ll hire a car and drive to Jeanne’s friends’ houses, in the East Coast and Yio Chu Kang to transport our items we have left there, back to the apartment.

What's Your Domain Worth?

2007-07-09T01:15:00.000-07:00

Click here. Mine's worth a measly $9.00.

Gigs

2007-07-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

Gosh, upcoming gigs in Singapore are rather interesting, at least for me. For those of us who live in the Far East, decent gigs are hard to come by. I was fortunate enough to have watched Muse, We Are Scientists, INXS and Kanye West in the last year because they decided to stop by in KL. But the fact that the following acts will be in Singapore in the coming months is proof positive that Singapore is generally a more attractive proposition.

I went online in search Gwen Stefani tickets. The wife wanted to go, ma! Tiu…

She’s due to perform in Singapore on August 14th. More importantly though, I found information on other gigs in Singapore, consisting the following:-

1) The Cure- (yes, Robert Smith) on 1st August. Time to borrow my wife’s eyeliner. My hair’s too short though.
http://www.sistic.com.sg/cms/events/index.html?content=1036

2) Brett Anderson- (lead singer of Suede) on 16th August. I will need a pair of tight hipsters.
http://www.sistic.com.sg/cms/events/index.html?content=1024

3) BLACK SABBATH! The gig is titled “HEAVEN AND HELL- The Reunion of Black Sabbath and Ronnie James Dio” on 27th October.
http://www.sistic.com.sg/cms/events/index.html?content=1065

Bring it on. I’ll definitely be going for all of ‘em.

Watching Death Proof tonight, Billy No Mates style because wife ain't around, and there's no one else anyway. Sad...

The elusive hunt for a silk knit necktie

2007-07-03T23:21:00.000-07:00

I’m faced with a sartorial conundrum- locating a silk knitted necktie within the confines of Boleh Land or The Lion City. Preferred colour- black or navy blue. I fell in love with the silk knitted necktie when I saw the same displayed in the pages of GQ magazine some time last year, and I have since been trying (in vain) to locate it in any stores in KL or Singapore. So far, no success.

I’ve done some on-line research and managed to upload some photos:-

As you can see, the tip of the tie is square, as opposed to the usual pointed tip in most other ties (silk, etc). My online research of the ties only showed pictures of square-tipped, knitted ties, leaving me to wonder now whether there are any silk- knitted, pointed-tipped ties. If my memory serves me well, the tie that I saw in GQ was a black colour, Ralph Lauren silk knit, pointed-tip tie. I’m not entirely sure how I will look in a square-tipped tie. If all else fails, I will have to request some of my UK-based mates to purchase it for me. Nonetheless, the search for the elusive silk knit, pointed-tip necktie continues…

Insouciant One

2007-06-28T01:18:00.000-07:00

Insouciant One- is how I describe myself on MSN Messenger. Alas, I don’t quite live up to that moniker, for I were so, I would be “…marked by blithe unconcern, worry, or anxiety”. My life is anything but that. After leading a fairly humdrum, comfortable and mediocre existence in the capital of BolehLand, I’ve decided to uproot myself and take up a job south of the border in The Lion City. In my 3rd week now, I’m still settling in. I am due to move into an apartment (centrally located) only in mid-July, so I’m living out of a suitcase, spending one half of the week in a hotel and the other half in an apartment located up north. This month alone, I’ve travelled back to KL twice. I’ll be going back to KL again this weekend, partly to celebrate my birthday with the family; partly to finish up any remaining packing, and to move certain items from my apartment to my parent’s home.

Then there’s the logistical aspect of the moving process, and the subsequent un-packing in the apartment.

I’m knackered…