Foodie trips

Had a quick getaway this past weekend to Ipoh and Penang with the Ethos bunch before the workload starts for the next 3 months. I foresee no holidays until Rinjani, but at least the dry-spell of no public holidays gets broken next Thursday, woot!

Went to Ipoh, ate brekkie stuff, waited eons for the chicken hor fun at Thean Chun before wondering around the Kong Heng/Plan B around the corner. Left for Penang, stopped by Jalan Penang for Cendol and Assam Laksa, then got into the hotel and promptly ended up by the poolside sipping cocktails. Seafood dinner finally arrived at 9:30pm and was gone in 10 mins flat before we went for a foot massage and realised that some of us are super sensitive to pain.

Woke up at 8 to play tennis with the boys before walloping a huge breakfast and floated dugong like in the pool...sat around for awhile more since checkout got extended to 2pm. Drove into town and past Karpal Singh's house, found Ayer Itam Assam Laksa, Mua Chee and amazing sugarcane juice which I promptly spilled all over myself. Also the cleanest public toilets in Malaysia.

Passed out on the way back to KL, before ending up eating dinner in TTDI-yet again, hungry.

Was a good trip! Off to Sg for more project work in the upcoming weeks, ah the travelling life of a consultant, airports need to be closer to home!!!

Mad Men Finale

I cannot believe it's the start of the final season. But before I start lamenting the end of one of the greatest shows I've watched, there's still a full 7 episodes to predict, dissect and figure out for this year and 7 more for next. Shows and books often show you why it's better to leave things to the imagination rather than being too literal, after all, the moment it lingers for too long then it plunges into being quite a bit boring and more like real life than anything else.

It was painful to watch the opening. Don don don, like Harvey Spector but 40 years previously, confident, mysterious, old school charm and looks-left broken on a lonely apartment balcony on a wintry January night. Eeps, how far you have come.

"Mad men is a show about how we never really get over our own shit, instead, the best any of us can do is learn to accept our shit and work within the boundaries of our own paradigms."~tomandlorenzo

Home

We were running through the questions at Ben's the other day and one of them caused quite a bit of thought and discussion. The question was something like, if given RM 5 million would you leave this country and never come back? After much pondering some of us felt that no amount of money would ever make it worthwhile to leave while others were ok with higher amounts (RM 100 million or billions) as justified by the opportunity cost of leaving - ambitious friends I have-.

The thought struck me as I was whizzing down Singapore in a cab, wondering how just across the border, Sg manages to showcase an impressive masterclass on how to become a developed nation in just 2 generations, yet given that, I would never trade the chaos of Malaysia for anything. Weird as it is, even though our wages are lower, QoL that much more impacted, politics and faith in chaos, Malaysia really has become home. It becomes the imprinted bed with a pile of bolsters, it becomes the familiar worn out t-shirt or pair of jeans that fit you just so. Not flashy, not outstanding, but comfortable.

At the same time a home that has changed, become a little bit more uncomfortable to experience, become a bit more conflicted, become a bit more, real.

Obviously my interaction with this country is done with a barrier of privilege in place, what do I know of suffering or poverty? I do not. But why do we often feel apologetic for this? That someone not the average, makes them automatically disqualified from participating in the rhetoric and discussion surrounding the happenings within a country? That isn't fair either is it?

It's been a few years since I've left AA, and even now as I ponder what next, I've realised that complacency has settled in big time. What next indeed.

Stock check on the first quarter of 2014, travel times, diving galore, breakthrough in Tango, performances, writing articles, new phase of work life. All's good.

The Secret-Keeper

"We all have the unique ability to narrate our experiences-to ourselves. We are constantly processing and shaping the information that comes to our brains from our bodies and our senses. We organise all that input into narratives, which form the backbone of our identity. Some of them are about the past, others about the present, and we use that same technique to imagine the future.

In this way we can massage the chaos of our lives and transform it into our stories. This continuous conversation, much of which is unconscious, allows us to elimiate dangerous options. It helps us imagine survival strategies and even make good risk-taking decision. These narratives are not immutable-they change as our experiences change-but they are fundamental. You have to reassemble your identity in a way that accounts for the new information."

~http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201312/the-secret-became-my-life

This was so powerful and reminds me that I've been like a rubix cube for most of my life, still trying to find the right combinations. I have a bad feeling this is going to continue for quite a while more though...

Strangers

There are these moments in life where you find yourself sitting with an acquaintance, and for some reason or another you end the day knowing just about everything in their life.

For some people I find this process takes a long time and constant contact to occur, but for others, it really is that simple, honest, open conversation that dips into memories past to retrieve events and construct dates and emotions- where stories are weaved through time so you see the tiniest glimpse of the threads of their life tapestry.

It's kind of nice because in this cynical jaded world of ours, you find someone who trusts you with their information, who trusts you to listen and who feels comfortable around you, and in return you sometimes reciprocate with the same degree of openness and honesty. It's rare, but when it happens, it's memorable.

In other news, performed my first Tango Solo and it was a blast. Also conducted my first tango class and boy was it exhausting, but so rewarding. I understand why maestros are so tired after a full day now and barely want to dance at milongas!

Pauses

There's always a necessity to just take a step back and breathe. The world likes to interfere with your state of mind, what with running around day in a day out with a hamster wheel of tasks to do, pay bills, do work, shower, workout, meet friends, dance and repeat for the rest of your life.

Sometimes all it takes is a quiet moment to reconnect with yourself and your own expectations, hopes, dreams, disappointments, fears, and with each breath just...release.

I've always been someone who cannot pause. Illustrated by my busy first quarter schedule of 2014 thus far. This has always manifested itself in the way I express myself through music and dance, always rushing, taking a step too quick, instead of savouring and languishing in the pull of a ritardando, a pause or silence. Forever off-tempo and off-kilter just ever so slightly. Always, breathe before you make the move and don't ever just fall into it.

In other news, finally got a breakthrough in Pole. I've realised I cannot go into it when I am exhausted from bootcamp or gym because I cannot hold my own weight as a result and end up more bruised than ever since I'm reliant on body parts pressed against poles to hold me up. Was contemplating not continuing but since I finally can climb the damn thing I'll keep it up and see where it goes.

Wrapping up January

Diving in Sipadan, Diving in Phuket, +50 on 1 gambling session, 1 CNY celebration, Couple of Yee Sang times and plenty more gym and bootcamp and pole dancing. Good start to the year.