Blogging my heart out

Went on a car rally last thursday. Got a terrible henna tattoo, ran all over a coloseum (is that how it's spelt?), went to Singapore Discovery Centre for the first time. All in good fun.

That was followed by a late-night session at G's, full of mahjong and beer, with a group of good friends. Oats and G and L found out probably far too much about sex from me (which is perhaps why L was hiding in the corner), but another night of good fun. We'll make it through more than one round of Mahjong next time!

Hung out with E on Sat, which was fun, even if i couldn't contribute any worthwhile opinions about bathroom fixtures :P

So all in all, a good week where i caught up with friends.

H said something interesting the other day when i was lamenting about not really having any work friends - "that's cos u have work friends, not friends at work. close friends are hard to come by". And that's so true.

Last long run this coming Wednesday. Gotta do it! 35km baby! then it's off to see H, and spend some time with Trimalchio, who gives new meaning to the term, the O in Ohio ;)

All right, that's enough crap out of me today.

Ajantis is crapping away....

Tomorrow is yet another day

More random thoughts.

Going to tell my team tomorrow that i'm leaving. Not sure what the reaction will be. Yet another step in the process of handing over and tossing aside the mental baggage.

Had some good chats recently with some classmates, as well as some good conversations with overseas friends. Helps me feel a lot better about the whole social situation. Thanks gals!

Did i mention that H and I will be going to Vietnam? I've always wanted to visit, but since we'll only have a week, it's a choice between Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. What would you recommend? I am also definitely getting some suits tailored...

On the car front, we have it narrowed down to the following choices. Suzuki Swift, Honda Jazz, Nissan March and Kia Rio. Now i just have to test drive all four of them.

Finally, i realised that one of the things i treasure about our relationship is that H also has an immense curiosity about stuff going on in the world. So we might end up talking about Zingermans' business model, or about Starbucks, or about how Walmart really is the evil empire, or about Chinese automakers. Now if we could only just arrange to be on the same side of the world at the same time ....

Ajantis is wandering....

My brain is a potpourri

Run log this week :
- Mon : 10km
- Wed : 19.2km (due to aborted long run)
- Sun : 34.3km

I finally feel ready for the marathon.

Today's run was particularly interesting. When you're running such long distances, any change in scenery is a good thing. So you end up people-watching. The couples who canoodle on the benches (and probably think that i'm crazy as they see me run past them for the umpteenth time), the lady who appears to be picking up cans or trash from the grass and has two full bags of cans/trash by the time i finish running, the other late-night runners.

And you also realise that your body begins to fall into a routine. Around the 12th kilometre, my stomach ALWAYS begins to growl, no matter how much i've carbo-loaded (and yes, this is despite the 5 mango puddings for those were at dim sum yesterday). Around the 15th to 16th kilometer, my knees and ankles begin to complain. Today had a new variation though. Bloated stomach around the 25th kilometre. Once again, i blame it on those mango puddings (my bane!). Or maybe the oodles of evaporated milk that i poured on them...

I also realised why i liked running so much. To me, running is a matter of mental willpower. And everything in running, to me, is within your control. It's a simple step of putting one foot in front of the other. As Fish said, i'm a planner!

So anyway, long story short, it looks like everything will be in place for the marathon in December. And dear friends, i was wondering if some of you might be cool with coming in to see me at the finish line, and to go for brunch/lunch after that :) I will be dropping some of you messages in the coming days.

Ajantis sends his love and hugs while icing sore knees....

Ideas ideas ideas

E made an interesting comment over MSN last night.

"You like to talk about ideas"

And that's quite true. I like learning new stuff. Why Venture Capital companies require new start-ups to be within 20 minutes of their office, why Starbucks was promoting Akeelah and the Bee, what the Democrats are thinking as they prepare for the 7 Nov elections in the US, why Chinese car manufacturers can't quite export their cars to the world market yet, how Steve Wynn ripped a hole in his 100 mil plus Picasso, how the CEO of the Disney Channel is managing to score all these big successes, like the High School Musical, how parents cope with children who have mental disorders, the tribulations of homeless people in the US, how Dr. Yunus set up Grameen Bank and pioneered micro-financing.

All of these are interesting and endlessly fascinating to me, these broader vistas of the human condition representing facets of the world around us.

Reminds me of what my JC teacher wrote on my testimonial : "A is so intent on self-improvement". Haha. I need to take myself less seriously sometimes, i guess.

Ajantis is still learning...

Twinkle twinkle little star

Wonderful night with friends and good music. Dancing the blues away. Finding out more about what was going on in the lives of people that i care about.

I wish i could talk more about stuff going on in the world today. But i have to recognise that not everyone in the world is into Frank Gehry and his latest proposed design for the Sentosa Integrated Resort. And that's ok. People have different interests, different views, different takes on life. That's what makes them so fun to hang out with.

Ajantis needs to hide his buttons so that they do not get pushed...

Temples, trains and other assorted things...

Been feeling kinda morose lately about my social life lately. Guess it's because a lot of the lindy crowd is busier nowadays, or out of the country. So it's become clearer to me that a lot of my non-work friends are also fellow lindy hoppers.

Maybe it's also that i don't have anyone to talk to as much about work, or about being in a long distance relationship. And maybe it's also that this whole new job thing now makes it tough for us to figure out when we can be together again.

Or maybe it's because i've kinda been so caught up with running that i haven't had time to really be social outside of lindy. Or maybe that i would like to talk to non-work people about work, or maybe that a lot of my classmates are all married with kids and have their own lives now. And maybe it's because i can't find anyone to go to Bangkok with me (but quite short notice also lah)

Whatever it is, it's bleh (if that is a word). I need to get out there, expand my social circle beyond lindy, find another interest group, and be better about catching up with old friends.

And maybe, this will all resolve itself when i get too darn busy with my new job!

On a separate note, 2 weeks till the US! Can't wait... even if it's gonna be quite cold (i hope i don't break out in hives again!). And after that, perhaps a trip to Vietnam!

Ajantis is gonna give himself a good right kick in the behind...

Vague recollections in obscuris memoris

Ran 32km this past week. Feel a lot more assured now about running the marathon even if i waddled like a duck for a few days.

3 more weeks to vacationing in the US with H! Although it is apparently unseasonably cold over there..

People have been finding out about my impending resignation. The reactions have generally been very positive, with a dash of surprise. I guess people/friends have always seen me as someone passionate about public sector work and someone who is unlikely to leave the government. There's a first time for everything i guess. The tough part now is forcing myself to handover the projects in the next 3 months and not succumbing to the temptation to move into cruise control mode.

Become addicted to Dilbert books recently. Managed to read every single comic collection in the past month while ignoring the other "cheem" books that i borrowed :P

And yes, i despise the haze as much as the rest of you.

Ajantis is hating the haze...

Feelings of resignation

I didn't know what to feel as i typed out my resignation letter today.

Relief that this entire episode was playing out to its conclusion
Excitement at the opportunities ahead of me
Some worry/doubt over whether i could take on this new challenge
Guilt at leaving the current team and the team i was going to work with behind

And possibly, some awkwardness as i realised that i had never written a resignation letter before. Bizarre.

Part of me is looking forward to people congratulating me, and the other part recoils over the fact that i'm looking forward to it.

Life is full of surprises sometimes.

Ajantis has now made his choice, and is sticking to it....