10 years and counting

Ten years ago, i could not have imagined how things would turn out over the next decade... i hadn't even come out yet! In these past ten years, i've come to terms with myself, met a person whom i want to spend the rest of my life with, discovered lindy hop and a whole new group of friends with it, held 4 different jobs (albeit with two employers - the funny thing is, i recall worrying when i turned 20 about whether i would be able to adjust to a workplace after having enjoyed the relatively unstructured setting/life of college) The list is endless. But i am grateful for all that has happened.

On a less mushy note, Bee tagged me so now i must respond, with my own little twist. Thought i would start off with 5 things that most of my close friends know about me

Ajantis :
1) Hates eggs and leafy vegetables
2) Loves chocolates, green tea, and sambal salted fried rice
3) Is in a long distance relationship
4) Has a hard disk for a brain
5) Is a computer/video game/dungeons and dragons addict

Here's 5 things that you might not know

Ajantis :
1) Is quite insecure about work most of the time (i usually spend at least 10-20 minutes at the end of the day in recrimination mode, involuntarily going over what could have been done better)
2) Favorite movie : Before Sunset
3) Loves getting massages
4) Has 2 half-siblings
5) Nickname in primary school : Pink Elephant (don't ask me why, really)

Ok that's enough. Time to actually get some decent sleep for the night.

Ajantis is out of facts....

I am 30 going on 40....

This is going to sound cliched, but i do feel a little odd, turning 30 (in 2 hours time!)

Guess it feels like a semicolon in my life, a pause in the sentence which involuntarily makes me evaluate where i am, where things stand, where they should preferably be (of course, i do that ALL the time, anyway). And there is particular poignance this time because it comes right as many things have changed in my life. Getting a new job, running a marathon, losing weight....
But some things also stay the same, and I am eternally grateful for that. Being with H (even if we are still 6000 miles aprt), Lindy, Lindy friends, family.

So how do i plan to spend tomorrow? Grabbing a swim. Spending 3 hours talking with a restaurant manager for training, then going through some course materials with another trainer, then hopefully catching Je'Taime Paris (not sure if the spelling is correct), 18 short stories by 18 directors about love in Paris, the City of Love and dinner with a friend.

And reflecting, and reflecting. And also not looking forward to working at 6 am the next day. And looking forward to getting some good leads at a birthday jam on Thursday :)

Ajantis loves his life, and wouldn't trade it.. unless it was for a green tea tiramisu cheesecake...

Weeks to Go : 3

Today was a tiring day at work. Started at 7am and was on my feet running like a mad chicken around the place till about 3, before i knocked off at 4. For the first time, i could literally feel myself flagging. But it was a good experience. If this is what it's like for the team every weekend....

Been reading a fair number of personal finance blogs. In the process, came across an interesting site. Allows you to track your networth from month to month. Gonna try it out and see how it goes. One interesting side effect was that it made me think about my CPF as part of my assets. Guess i had been blanking it out when thinking about assets, because you can't really access it till you retire or become a citizen of another country, but it is part of one's assets after all. I've also decided to actually record down EVERY expenditure item for this March, just to see where the money is going. Am usually quite frugal and good about spending, but it's a good exercise to see where money is going (or leaking). One person who did it exclaimed about spending $30 on her turtle :)

What do you do when you disagree with a friend's actions? Perhaps disappointment would be a better way to put it. Been thinking about that lately. The conclusion, unfortunately, is to keep my mouth shut. It's none of my business, at the end of the day, at this point in time. What i can and should do is to continue being a friend and be supportive. After all, the last time this happened and i kinda made my opinions known, i was proven wrong (kind of). He did leave his girlfriend (temporarily), but things did work out between them because it gave them space to evaluate the relationship, and now they're getting married. So who am i to give relationship advice, right?

Ok, ok, Ajantis, focus on the fact that vacation starts on Mar 29th!

Ajantis is zoning....

My blogger... it is a-going crazy

I am writing this to you while resting on night shift, so excuse the random ramblings. Perhaps this is also the reason that my Blogger account is doing strange things. Logged in to find my home page yelling at me in... Mandarin! Ack!

For those who replied to my previous post, thanks for all the suggestions. The car is hereby christened... Ellington! :)

Got my first burn from work. Now i really feel like an employee. Speaking of work, will be moving to a new restaurant again after tomorrow. Time really flies. Can't believe i'm moving to my third restaurant.

SEAJam was this weekend. It was fun as usual, although i got more out of the socials. Still, it didn't quite have the same magic for me as previous camps. Why? Well, a lot of the old gang that I grew up in lindy with weren't there anymore. Bee, Oats (well you guys were there on Sat, but it's not the same!), Eun, HM (again, only on Sat!), Therese, Ming, Pam.... heck, even Kat will be moving away this year. Makes me kinda nostalgic, but i guess we all have to recognise that things change and people's lives move on. Still, it was nice to go out to supper on Sat night with some of the gang. Felt like old times.

Had two really kick-ass privates with Matthias and Carla. Gave me a lot of new food for thought and new things to try... so follows, please forgive me for the next few months if my lead gets very odd :P. I think i'm at the stage where i'm gonna get a lot more out of privates than classes. And part of that could be because i'm not a professional dancer who can easily internalise and adapt my body to what the teacher throws at me. Privates give me the chance to get more individualised ideas and feedback.

Had some REALLY awesome dances with Carla as well. It always stokes a guy's ego when she says you were her favorite lead at the camp :P. Yeah, i'm definitely going to try and pay a visit to her classes in San Fran if i get the chance. She planted the idea of going to the DC exchange when i go to the US in March....

1 more month to vacation! Get to see H and get to see my acapella group's 10th anniversary! Can't wait!

Ajantis is shifting the night....

Car car car car car

I took my car in for servicing on Friday, and had take a cab back and to the workshop. In the process, i realised i've gotten quite attached to the Jazz, and probably can't go back to taking cabs again. Now that i've gotten over the stress of relearning driving and parking, i quite enjoy the sense of freedom and control that comes with having a car. Now the only thing is to stick the season parking tickets and the vehicle licence properly so that it doesn't slide all over the dash board, and most importantly, to find a name for the car! Any ideas, anyone?

Work has been going really well. Thoroughly enjoying the new experiences, and the sheer amount of learning and observation that i get to do. Friends have been remarking that i seem like i've been in this job for a long time. In an earlier post, I remarked that one of the challenges would be to be as passionate about this job as the rest of the team. Right now, that's not feeling like a challenge. Hope this trend continues....

This CNY is going to be fairly quiet. The usual visits, but not much big family festivities going on. Mom didn't feel up to it. It's kinda strange; cos i'm working on Day 3, which is still a public holiday. Guess that's what happens when you work on shift -- your week/calendar is dictated by your shift, and not by the normal traditional 5 day work week. Kinda interesting :)

Interesting factoid for the week : Yu Sheng was invented in Singapore in the 70s!!!

Ajantis wishes all friends a Prosperous Chinese New Year....

Errands and errands

I have to attend a charity auction tonight at Malayan motors. Doesn't involve me really except i helped set it up in my previous job, and the organiser asked me (with a fair topping of guilt-tripping) to come as a guest.

Then, tomorrow, i am helping to entertain some head honchos from my company at a very swanky club.

Part of me feels a little bemused; these are events i normally wouldn't attend on my own. I'm quite happy "entertaining" friends in a kopitiam, not attending events that feel like they would be reported in Tatler or the Peak. So it makes me feel a little caught between worlds, but perhaps it is a sign of where i am currently heading in my work life.

On a less serious note, i have to wear an oriental outfit for the dinner tomorrow. So will go gallivanting around Chinatown today, on the advice of all my friends who were frantically IMed last night about this emergency fashion matter. Shanghai Tang was also suggested-- the clothes are nice, but who in their right mind would pay USD785 for a jacket! I mean, it's a nice two-tone reversible jacket but over a 1000 bucks!!!???

ok, so maybe i'm still a little miserly when it comes to clothes :)

Ajantis is stretching his back....