what a pig year

i woke up today to the last day in 2008.

hmm.. i'm not sure what my feeling is now. maybe a bit happy to have a new start in every aspect of my life.

but again new year means one more candles on the birthday cake and that's a waste of resources, not to mentioned more polution caused by open burning.

looking backwards in 2008, there is nothing worth remembering. or should i say, nothing that i want to remember. i don't even want to write about it much.

if i have a choice, i would like to wipe year 2008 clean from memory. format the whole brain partition associated with 2008. or brain system restore to 2007 year end.

even tonight's countdown celebration is almost becaming such a no-show event. i think it will be. a no-show with surely rain and thunder. last year was so much fun but i guess, this is a suitable ending for a sub-mediocre year.

it's official. i hate the pigs.

so what am i looking forward to in 2009 the year of the cow?


ed's 10 commandments for 2009

1) to give 110% at work and make the best out of it
2) to save more money in a more organized way
3) to call my mother more often
4) to further study if possible
5) to keep current friends and make new ones
6) to be more friendly
7) to join charity works
8) to work out/exercise weekly
9) to restart learning guitar
10)to gossip less


ok maybe 9.5 commandments because i don't mean item 10 that much. gossip is fun, and it's not like anybody's getting hurt. ok maybe the peson being gossipped but i'm just being friendly (see item 6).

hopefully the economy will improve next year too, although apparently the economists don't think so. hmm.. mabe they should just lie, cause at least people would get false hope and start spending again, and in return, improves the economy.

i don't know. i guess i should start with a smaller scale, like improving my house economy. i really shouldn't leave my kitchen light on when i'm inside my room, or leave the tv on when i'm sleeping. i should stop buying deodorants and use just one hair products.

the point is, let's make the best out of what's given to us in this cow year. hopefully by the end of it, we won't say...

'2009? what a cow...'



...ed

lost in washington dc

this was where i stayed in man@assas, virginia. it's a branch of marriott, called residence inn, conveniently located just at the exit of interstate highway 66.

it looks small, but the area occupied is pretty large, i got lost a couple of time inside. i must say, until you step outside, you'd think that we are somewhere in spain because almost all the workers inside are spaniards. the stay there was pleasant though.

this was the car that i drove around in, a Mazda 5. the first one hour after i got this car, i kept turning on the wipers instead of the left right signals because i was not used to left hand drive. once, i even entered the opposite lane!

then i didn't know how to open the lock of non-driver doors because when i pressed unlock on the car remote, only the driver's door opened, until my brother told me few days after that i must pressed twice consecutively to open the lock for all doors. oh i see...

my brother visited me from new york since he had a function to attend in washington dc just 40 minutes drive from where i was. so we arranged a trip to, where else, washington dc.

i decided not to drive there because i heard it's hard to get parking in DC area. even if there is, it's parallel parking, and i cannot do parallel parking. so i drove to this metro station, parked my car and we took the train to dc. it was $2.35 one way for a 25 minutes ride.

btw, nearby the metro parking, there were traffic signs saying, 'kiss and ride' and 'park and ride'. now i finally know what those mean :)

i could see a lot of writings all around DC area, on the wall, on arches and like this one, is on the walkway. i didn't bother to read what it's about because it's all poetic and complicated. god knows who understood them. for all i know, this could be part of some hidden clues that should lead you to some holy grail or something. on that bone-chilled day, i'm just so not interested to poke my nose around, so i just snapped this photo and then made a pass...

washington dc reminds me a lot of.. ok some may hate me for this.. malaysia's putrajaya! why? because there were all buildings and so less people around. at first you would be mesmerized by all the buildings and structures but after awhile, they just looked the same and started to feel pretty dead. not what you would call a lively bustling city.

this one is the treasury department building. something like minister of finance i supposed. someone in green rides on the horse in front. not hulk, but must be one of the past presidents. not george bush definitely, he would get thrown down by shoes in no time.

there were lots of squirrels by the carpark where there were trees. i thought they should be hibernating by now? squirrels do hibernate right? anyway, caught this one in its cute act, eating chips out of the dumpster. i envy those americans sometimes, even their pests are cute and adorable.

i think this is called washington monument on my background. i wanted to walk all the way to the base but it was so damn cold so i just be content by looking from afar. after all, it's just a piece of plain sharp structure with no colour with at most, probably some writings or quotes on it. big deal. my shoes has more details.

few more buildings which i won't bother to describe. by this time, i thought i have seen this building before a few blocks away. or was i just making a circle? anyway, i'm sure it must be some important ministry building. FBI or CIA headquarters probably? hmm should not be, or else i would see mulder or scully hurrying by carrying some X-files heading to north dakota or something.

one place that got me excited once i arrived in washington DC is the smithsonian's museum of natural history. this is the washington branch, not the new york branch, so it's an elephant at the main hall instead of the T-Rex. better, at least at night when all the displays come alive, it's just an elephant running lose.

i made my way straight to the dinasour section because for me, museum of natural history = museum of dinasours. i like dinos. i guess i'm just a kid at heart. the fact that once these gigantic creatures roaming the earth is pretty cool, don't you think? my favourite is the triceraptops. gosh it was enourmous ok , and i read, this was not even the full-sized one. gosh..

this one is the fossil lab where volunteers help to do the sample preparation. cool right? i don't mind volunteering myself doing this kind of cool stuff in that glass box and have sam neill and laura dern gawping in awe as we demonstrate how we used the dino DNA extracted from preserved jurassic age mosquito to create dino eggs.

one section of the museum displays this 45 carats blue diamond. it looks all shiny and glittering but it could be due to the lightings. actually i was quite surprised we could go near to look at this. shouldn't they be installing infrared beams that go zig-zagging crossing each other around this display box? maybe they thought since tom cruise could descend from the ceiling using rope and steal this anytime he wants, the infrared won't do any good anyway.

ok this is me outside the museum. full stop.

and below are some other buildings blah blah blah..

at last we arrived at the white house. i asked if it's possible to get in the whote house but get this, i was told that apparently even the americans need 7-8 months reservation in advance because they want to check your background and stuff before allowing you in. huh? that's insane right. i felt stupid just asking the question. unless you're the nightcrawler in x-men, don't count on it so soon.

there were works around the white house compound. i guess must be for the inauguration ceremony next month.

i was walking along when i noticed this. ok this is obviously some protest banner. but what's that white lump in the center? we turned around and ok.. it was a tent. the lady inside asked us to come near and take some pamplets but we politely refused in case some FBI or CIA would come out of nowehere and detain us in guantanamo bay. you don't wanna mess with american government.

my brother and me. he's studying in new york at the moment. he paid me a visit in virginia since he just finished his exams and need to be at washington DC few days after.

one last look at washington/virginia region, then i'm gone.



...ed

the second coming

i'm currently at washington dulles airport waiting room for boarding, and just found out i have to pay USD5.99 for 2 hr wifi connection.

huh? it's airport for god's sake, can't they just give us free internet access? after all it's their fault that we had to come early to accommodate their stupid endless security checks anyway. as if mr L would turn up in american airport and bring goodies in his bags.

you see, this is exactly how singapore changi airport has spoiled me. in singaporean life, being cut off from digital data stream exchange is equivalent to living in a cave. so until i return to civilization, i just have to write this entree on a notepad and copy them later into blogger.

so the last time i wrote was when i just arrived in the states after that 3 hrs misery in washington highways. after 5 days (though somehow it felt like ages ago) i could now bloat that i have the roads network all at the back of my hand (in form of scribbles notes jotted off google map though). like just now, i got to the airport from the city in a breeze 40 minutes drive! how bout a round of applause?

and also now, i have decided that i do not want to work in the states anymore.

shocked? well.. me too to be honest. i hit the brake and made that 180' U-turn when my life was about to jump off to a new start in a new land. it's a long story really. which involved phone calls in my wee hours to my bosses in singapore and a few teardrops in the script.

the thing is, i always thought this new place was like a fairy tale ending for me. everything about it sounded superficial. the work has more prospect, and i'll be living in the states! which, you know, is where all dreams come true.

but now after i'm already here in the states, i found out that it was just another massive land with different landscape and culture. working here means i have to stare at white house or capitol building every weekend, or spending time at the smitsonians museums after work on friday nights. that's why when i took the surprise elements of a new environment out of the equation, prospect at work became the sole reason for my migration.

that for the expense of my family and friends back at home.

i didn't know what was i thinking. last time, one of my friend asked me whether i am ready at heart to leave, and i said yes within 2 seconds. now to think about it, she must have some phsycic power, because she totally could see this coming! for me, it was just a classic example of not knowing what we got until it was almost gone.

stupid huh? i know i am but i couldn't help it. i just don't know what i want sometimes. ok many times. even when we go starbucks, i would stare the menu for like 5 minutes thinking what i want, and then still ended up with some prompt random decisions. i'm just like a flip flop, going from north to south and north again all the time when it comes to make decisions.

but thats just who i am. i'm defective, but i guess it's just the way i evolve. what i'd do is to learn along the way to be a more consistent person. i'll make mistakes, but let's just treat it as a lesson. even if i have to spare more than a grand learning fees to cover up the mistakes.

sigh.

well, at least i don't have to dispose any body yet. although, people might have to dispose mine when i show up in the office after new year.



...ed

touching down old dominion

aboard United Airlines flight


i'm currently about 11km high up in the sky aboard united airlines flight heading towards tokyo narita. the cabin is all dark after breakfast just now. i'm sitting beside a lady who did her hair high and hard, like no storm would ever messed it up. we never talked, which mainly because i fell asleep after take off, woke up 10 minutes for breakfast while watching the end of journey to center of the earth movie, before falling asleep again. as a traveller, i'm blessed of having no problem at all sleeping along the journey.

i must say, i'm not at all impressed with united airlines so far. this boeing 777 looked old, thank god we have our personal screens but there are only movies and no game! and we couldn't even chose the timing of the movies. i mean, at the time when people start taking A380 with big screens and all, i ended up in this junk. it's sad really, when you realized that the company is trying very hard to find the cheapest deal when arranging the travel. made you think how much you are worth. this flight should be business class in the first place. to think that i have to spend 20 hours on this flight till it lands in washington dc, and then take the same flight back to singapore after 5 days just gives me shivers. well, serve me right for wanting to take this non-compulsory house-finding trip just because it was included in the transfer package.

at least i know i'm coming back to singapore after 5 days. i cannot imagine taking that final one-way flight after new year. the thought of leaving my current home for at least the next 2 years freaked me out sometimes. gosh, did i make the correct decision? i totally wrote and made peace about this last time, but the doubts keep coming back and i have to find reasons again.

ok this plane is a bit shaky. from the map on my tiny screen that i almost need a magnifying glass to look into, we are now just passing through taiwan, which means 2 more hours before the transit in tokyo. and that's not even half of the trip yet! oh gosh. you'd think with so many inventions in the world, someone could have invented time travel machines, or at least commercial sound-speed jets. but instead, those nobel prize winners got their recognitions for their work on some crap like world peace activities and stuff. i mean come on, we have beauty pageants for that.

somehow my laptop battery is draining fast. i'll write again after recharging at narita.

beautiful top of mt fuji while approaching tokyo



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ok. the transfer in narita was nothing great too. the first thing i did in the terminal was to find public phones since my mobile was unable to connect to any network. at that point, i wasn't sure if it was due to my mobile setting or the japanese network. the point is, i was so lost without connection to the outside world.

i changed 30 singapore dollars to japanese yen, and got only 1600 yen. hmm.. not as many as i had expected, but with some coins, i was able to make a short call to singapore. it was a relief actually, just like finally finding toilet after some frantic search. with the yen remnants in my pockets, i bought a box of sushi by the waiting terminal. was it good? hmm pretty decent, though frankly i think ichiban sushi in singapore tasted better heh heh...and much cheaper too!

apparently there was no free internet offered in the terminal, and i couldn't recharge my laptop because i left my plug adaptor in my checked-in luggage. damn it! good preparation huh? i almost wanted to hit my head on the wall. things like this made me miss changi airport so much. at last, i found my last 100 yen coin after rummaging my pockets, so i used that for a 10 minutes internet. which was freaking expensive but hey, it's japan, everything should be expensive here. and i got to drop mail to starhub complaining about non-connectable roaming network too (which might not be their fault but i got to release some steam).

then.. another flight to catch. oh god.

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my first look of washington DC shortly before landing at washington dulles


finally, i am now in man@ssas residence inn, virginia.

after a 12 hours flight from tokyo-narita to washington dulles, which involved 2 turbulences and a coca-cola-spilled-to-next-passenger incident, and a 3 hours lost on washington highways.

the roads here are so confusing, and me not knowing the area made it worse. it's like when you finally came to a junction, you have X town to the east and Y town to the west. and you wanted to go to Z town, so which way should you go? plus, i was not quite used to the car. it's a 6 seater mazda so it's bigger than sedan that i usually drive, and i somehow couldn't work out the view in the side mirrors, and here being left handed drive didn't help at all.

then while i was busy running down every roads there were in the east coast, the day got dark and it rained! so i was like, o god why? why??? one time, i managed to get into man@ssas, which i think was pure miracle, but then i accidentally went into another highway. when i finally got out off that highway after many miles, it was only to enter another highway and voila! i was lost again. at that time, i seriously considered finding a police station and ask the sheriff to send me home. anyway, after a few phone calls with the hotel personnel, i managed to get into the hotel.

here are the room photos (i better take this before i mess it up).



man@ssas residence inn, for $109/night, which i don't pay

not bad huh? but i can't help feeling lonely here. if only... hmm but i guess, nobody can have everything, so let's try to make the best of what we have currently, shall we?

tomorrow i'm gonna find a way to go to my new company and sign some letters, then maybe have a look around. and i must remember, to NOT enter any highways.

now i'm gonna watch heroes episode 13...



...ed

The Butterfly Effect

just now after work, i stopped by the post box in front of the office and dropped in a few letters.

few minutes later after i drove away, i realized i forgot to put stamps.

could you believe that? i put in mails inside the post box without the stamps! gosh, i'm so screwed up right? this is so up there like going out of the house without wearing pants.

i mean, what kind of person would forget to put stamps on mails? a crazy person. mr bean. and then me.

either that ginkgo biloba i've just started consuming lately had an adverse effect (note: ginkgo biloba is supposed to sharpen brains and improve memory. i must remember to check if this is expected), or a million and one things in my head finally caught up with me.

maybe the latter.

i've made up a list of things i must do before moving to the states. it has things like, to cancel my credit cards, to request change of address to banks, to terminate my starthub accounts etc etc. i saved one copy to my desktop in the office, and sent a copy to my private mails. this is because i figured, i can no longer handle all these stuff in my brain with the verge of emotional outburst that i'm almost having right now.

seriously, it's not easy to suddenly take a 180 degrees turn and change my life like this. it's easy to just look ahead and anticipate all the excitements of a new environment, but that's before i realized all of the things i have to give up and let go.

especially things that are close to the heart. leaving your current life behind is such a big deal apparently. call me stupid and ignorant but the fact is, i just realized that. this is not like setting my automatic fish feeder before leaving house for a week. this is like writing the final will knowing there is no way you could alter the final decision.

last week when i was leaving my grandpa's house for the eid-adha break, my grandpa hugged me, broke down and cried that he's already so old and i'm gonna leave him to be in the galaxy far far away. that was just my grandpa. what about the time later when i have to say goodbye to my parents?

this is so not the situation i had in mind when i decided to click that button applying for the job. the same way that i bet the Heroes writers didn't have in mind when they decided to kill of elle bishop. kind of make you think, what the hell were they thinking? what the hell was i thinking?

but you know, among the things that eid-adha teaches us is that we have to make sacrifices in life. maybe this is the sacrifice i have to make in order to lead a better life. life inside work at least. if i have a choice, i would like to take all the people that matters to the states with me but then, that's not possible.

so for now, i just go through with this mixed feeling. after all, who'd say that i won't return after that? the earth is round, so we could go around and always end up in the same place in the end. i was so engrossed thinking about this the other day till before i knew it, i drove in my condo entrance using the visitor's pathway.

i just have to have a good grip of things.

.. or a larger dose of ginkgo biloba.



...ed