Run fun bun hun

Couple of random rants.

Why is it that it costs 400 more bucks to go from Singapore-Tokyo-Detroit, instead of Singapore-Tokyo-Detroit-New York!? It seems so ridiculous to fly to New York and back to Detroit for 400 bucks less!

Argh. The vagaries of flight pricing really bug me. And of course, this is all taking place on Northwest (or Northworst) as they call it. Which is descending rapidly into bankruptcy as we speak, taking all my frequent flier miles with it. Ok, I exaggerate, but my anguish stems from the fact that despite having flown to Detroit on Northworst umpteenth times, stupid me has yet to convert ANY of those miles into free flights. So i feel the urgent need to, like some idiotic squirrel, quickly save up and use the miles before they disappear completely.

Just got back from workplan retreat for my department. It was an interesting experience being the most senior person there, that everyone kinda instinctively defers to. Made me feel a deep sense of responsibility for leading the team, but that should sound familiar to anyone who knows me or who has read this blog. The more interesting tidbit is that i think my colleagues all probably think of me as some spasmodic person who likes to make an idiot out of himself. Ok that's pushing it a little bit much, although I have to admit that laughing hysterically while chasing cats into a bunch of my female colleagues in order to make them shriek in panic was a little cruel of me :P No wonder one of my colleagues has told me that I must have been one of those boys who liked to pull the girl's pigtails in class (which is kinda true)

B's wedding was nice, and thankfully un-traditionally Chinese. No tacky ice swans with pink backlighting, no wedding slideshow showing how both partners were destined for each other, no tearful thanking of the parents-in-law for bringing such a wonderful wife/groom/partner(insert) into this world. While it is completely appropriate to thank one's parents-in-law, it seems a bit much to make it seem like they should be thanked for giving birth to someone!

It was sweet to see B and K getting married, and equally sweet to see them sharing their joy with us, especially when they had that first dance. Made me think a bit about what I want at my ceremony (even though we're already married). And H knows what i want. I figured one dance, and one song by H (Billy Joel's And So It Goes). H thinks i'm evil, but i don't think so.... muhahahha.

Ajantis is rubbing his hands with glee.

And the new year arrives

Sounds so cliched, but it's never easy saying goodbye. And you somehow get wiser and sadder as you get older. H and I talked, and we decided that it would be best to start making the move in end 06 for various reasons, but that means not moving till end 09. It was sad that what we agreed to made so much sense.

Seeing H off at the airport is never easy. Well it gets easier when you wake up from 1.5 hours of sleep and work non-stop from 630am till 8pm. Heh.

Bangkok was fun. Walked around a bunch, checked out the malls and shopped my butt off at Chatuchak, which is the one place i enjoy window shopping. Only sucky thing? Didn't get as many thai massages as I wanted, and my digital camera was stolen from H's pocket. Oh well. At least i got a whole new set of outfits :) Gotta go back again sometime

Here's the travel itinerary for this year (tentatively)
- Late Mar - Michigan and New York for 2 weeks
- Mid Jul - Herrang! and Europe for 2.5 weeks
- Late Dec - Singapore with H and either Thailand or Vietnam for 2 weeks

Resolutions for 2006 :
1. Run a marathon
2. Lose 3-4 kg
3. Do more nice things for H

:)

ajantis is zoning

Old young new fast slow

Let's start with some random links.

Lazy Sunday - funny SNL clip
Zingermans Bakehouse - possibly the best bakeshop ever

Random thought. The problem with liking chocolates so much is that everyone thinks it's a great Xmas gift to give, especially at the office. I have 10 boxes of chocolates on my desk at the moment (2 of which are already finished!). AHHHH!
Besides the chocolates, i also got 2 bottles of cologne. I wonder if that's a hint of any sort.....

Hung out with L and Arie today till quite late. We watched Narnia, had expensive Kopitiam food (fish balls fish balls!) and then some decent chocolate desserts with a helping of bad service at Cineleisure.

Narnia was ok, but not great. It was emotionally engaging, and it hit all the right spots, but it didn't soar like Lord of the Rings did. To put it in a different context, it was like a good bowl of large fish ball kway teow soup. Filling, and decent, but not the best food by far.

It was cool hanging out with L and Arie, even though, in L's words, I looked like an uncle trying to be a kid taking his kids out to the beach (thanks soooo much L). It was the first time I had hung out with Arie, and I think the wilder twists and turns that the conversation took might have been an eye-opener ( especially the strange part about peeing like a dog at the right urinal... heh). But she asked to meet H, and her wish is my command ;)

One of the interesting questions that popped up was the qualities I looked for in a partner. While i've blogged about it before, this was the answer i gave :
"someone who is goofy in a certain way, who intellectually and emotionally challenges and engages me so that I grow as a person together with that partner in a mutual relationship"

Thought about it today. Why is important that that someone should be goofy in a certain way? I guess it's because i know i'm too serious, too black and white in my own views sometimes. Being goofy myself is a kind of balance to that more serious side of my personality. And so that significant other of mine needs to also be comfortable being goofy or at least be comfortable dealing with my goofiness :) And the good thing is, H can definitely be quite goofy. One of the things i treasure most about our relationship is the fact that i can completely let down my guard when with H. Even if we are arguing about cookies and biscuits, sal-mon and sell-mon, lifts and elevators (inside joke. if you wanna know why we argue, ask me or H sometime).

And i get to see him in 3 days!

Ajantis can't wait....

T'was dark and all through the night

It's Christmas. Joy reflection merriment laughter presents cheer.

Spent the night at Timbre and then at Harry's with swing pals.

Many emotions.

Sadness at not being able to spend it with H.
Wonder that yet another year has passed.
But most of all, gratitude for having a group of swing friends who give me perspective and keep me going.

Bee, Oats, Trich, HM, M, we started swing together... can't believe it's been 4 years!
E, Selena, Fish, C and of course L ... we might not have started it together, but I do feel grateful to have met (and danced with) each and everyone of you ... (and yes, that includes the guys on this list :P)

And to anyone else I should have put in, but left out (due to being groggy at 4:22am in the morning), thank you as well.

Have a merry christmas, and may peace be with you always.

Ajantis is fond of using brackets at 4:24 am on Christmas morning.

What is the world coming to?

Read a sobering post about child pornography in the US on the New York Times. How one 13 year old kid can be so easily seduced by a group of pedophiles online in the safety of his own home. These pedophiles conspired to get him to believe that it was normal to take his clothes off and do sexual favours online for free gifts and money. And the way they did it, one small step at a time.. and how the internet community that they formed only encouraged them to think that what they were doing was justifiable, and that the real culprits were the young boys and girls who tempted them with their flesh....

All of it, and more, is quite disturbing. This is what they mean by the dark side of the internet.

Ok, time to move on to a lighter-hearted topic.

Places I want to visit before settling down :
1) Herrang!
2) Bhutan (mountains and sheeps and goats and weekly archery contests oh my!)
3) The Appalachian mountain trails (I wanna hike this for all 4 months that is needed to walk the trail)
4) Europe - anywhere (see 1)
5) Kilimanjaro
6) Vietnam

If you could choose one place to go to tomorrow with your significant someone, who would it be?

Been having strange dreams lately (or rather, been remembering them) :P
- Running a marathon, and realising that my Timberland shoes had split. Thinking "damn, but well at least Timberland shoes are lifetime guaranteed". Running home to changem y shoes and missing the rest point for the marathon. Stopping by the National Library (which had conveniently located itself by my apartment). Realising that I had forgotten to put my playstation portable back while running to the relay point. Stopping by a tutition student's house to drop off the playstation. And then getting into an argument with the mom cos I had assigned the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to my student as a reading assignment, which the mom deemed too "christian".
- another weird dream : driving a bus from somewhere in the city down little alleys back home. careening the bus from side to side while narrowly missing some drains. realising i was falling asleep while driving and forcing myself to wake up. then actually waking up.

As L says, I am weird.

Ajantis is weird.

Lightness of being

It's amazing what a good chat with a close friend will do for you. That's one of the things i've missed most since coming back to the US. A good chat with a friend who actively listens and contributes to the conversation really helps put things in perspective.

I ended up walking home feeling much lighter than i have in months. The Haagen-Daaz ice cream, the vegetable fritters and fish paste you tiao all helped of course. Yum :)

Everything works out in the end. Work isn't everything. And it's little moments like these, these times when you connect and share with your friends, that get me through the days till I can be with H.

Thanks E ;)