The lunar new year holidays went by as quickly as it arrived. Didn't really felt all that festive this year, perhaps due to it being too near the end of year holidays of Christmas and New Year.

Nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that I haven't had a single slice of barbequed pork this time round? Heh. The once a year patronising with the relatives, entertaining their easily anticipated questions, almost like a script. Though I did remind myself to make an effort to meet up more with some cousins that I have not seen in a while. Dropped by the flower show @ Sentosa with my aunt and sis too. Had a couple of rounds of yu sheng too, met some friends, pretty much summed up my week.

Spent some quiet time over the weekend, catching up, finishing the book, coffee, walking and stuffing myself with 2 bowls of rice over a late dinner.

I ran a couple of times, and I thought about stuff while at it. And you.

If you are to be stuck in an equivalent of a Groundhog Day, like in that movie, which will be your day?

I think I know mine already.

Time out reading with the oldest friend at the new hideout. What started as a hot and sunny day ended with it being wet and gloomy. The storm arrived just as I was about to leave the house, so the plan was postponed for an hour while we waited the storm out. Came across that rainbow in the sky as I headed out. Now where is that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Or the leprechaun?

The peace that we hoped for was none to be found, for as long as that huge family was there. Their kids even started singing, thankfully their elders were quick to hush them. The outing ended with dinner at Chomp Chomp, a rather late one that is. Always nice catching up with the oldest friend.

Surprisingly all I had thus far since two weeks ago was a small container of pineapple tarts. Okay a few pieces of other snacks here and there, but I touched no barbequed pork this year. Sometimes I surprises even myself. Heh.

There are bits and pieces of everything everywhere that I am finding it hard to place everything together and come up with something logical. Top of my mind now, when one decided that he simply couldn't care less anymore; I am like that, at certain phases of life.

I'll continue later when I wake up.



The trouble is you can never replicate the exact emotions that you were experiencing when thinking about certain issues, on another separate day. What you want to say will most probably end up with a totally different mood to what you had in mind. It will linger, but from the moment I decided to think about it later, the desired effect was lost already.

The thought flow when typing versus writing it physically is entirely different. I am inclined to be ambiguous, patronizing or even politically correct when I type. I beat around the bush a lot, if you don't know what I was referring to. Opening and closing with no real conclusion in sight.

When one blogs, there is this part of us wishing for attention. It doesn't have to be in the form of compliments or criticisms; sometimes serving as an outlet whereby it would be a simple form of sharing, personal or not, with whichever random soul that may chance upon it. 


I guess it is the complete opposite when i write it down. It gets a lot more personal, no doubt, for I know the content will be safe from prying eyes and unintended recipients. Of course it will get emotional as well. After all, it is somewhere where we can finally remove the layers of armour that we piled upon ourselves to protect against this rough journey called life.

-edited.

Okay, this post is a week late. I started this on the night when the moon is full, and now the moon is already disappearing in preparation for the end of the lunar year next week. I finished the book, 1Q84, took a while to do so because I couldn't quite get into a mood to finish it up. But I stepped out of the world of Aomame, Tengo and Fuka-Eri eventually. I thought the book was at its best in the first one third. Things started to get draggy and characters were written off; plots that held so much promises but were not fully developed. It could have been so much more, but perhaps it was this abruptness that made it unique, his style, always leaving you asking the what-ifs and why nots. Opening and closing, that I can do.

If you can't understand it without an explanation, you can't understand it with an explanation.

One week to the new lunar year, the feast on the pineapple tarts has started. It has been a childhood favourite of mine. I can do without the rest of the goodies, just gimme my pineapple tarts. Heh. 

Have you looked at the moon lately? Is it any different? :)

2012

A little recap for the last week of the year. I ate so much that I felt I've put on a good 10kg alone in the past week lmao. Japanese, steak, a little beer, steamboat, ice cream. Yeah, pretty much all of those. In an attempt to negate those calories, I ran a couple of times too, also to clear my head. It is the end of the year after all.

It has been a pretty tame year. I didn’t travel that many times too. Only left the country for our friendly neighbor up north.

To be honest, I cannot recall how my year went by without referring to what I have written down physically. Even so they may not be entirely accurate. By receiving the iPad 2, purchasing the Macbook pro, and contemplating on which iPod to lay my hands on for replacement, I somewhat became a fanboy for the cult that is Apple. Only lacking the phone to complete the collection it seems. However the chance of me getting it is very low. Given that I have fat fingers and it sports a touchscreen keyboard, the two factors don't go too well. 

In 2011 I have seen friends tying the knot, and I will be seeing friends who tie the knot in 2012. I am not anti-marriage but I am against whole timeline thingy that we are seemingly brought up with. We are instilled with the idea that when you arrived at certain age band thresholds there lie upon objectives to be completed, almost like a checklist. We have become a population of somewhat mechanical in nature. No surprises given that the system in place was designed this way, it makes control over the people easier. Oh well and we do what we do best, that is to rant and complain about it, but eventually accepting things the way they are and moving on. Lmao?

I still visit bookshops, but they seemed to be closing down one after another. I wasn’t too affected by Borders’ closing though, never had a liking for that place. I found it messy and lacking the atmosphere that a bookshop should have for browsing. Thankfully Kinokuniya is still standing. There is this certain charm of shopping physically for books? Walking and browsing the shelves, the different people that you encounter along the way. Noisy ones, young ones, serious ones, bored companions; never know what you will encounter. And if not for the constraint of storing them, there is nothing quite like holding a physical book and flipping through the pages. Correction. There is nothing like holding a physical book in your hand.

Some random issues that I can think of the top of my head as I sit here with a hot cup, book and some music. 


Have a blessed year ahead in 2012, wherever you are whatever you will be doing. 


Everything will turn out alright, eventually.