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Today is 25 Aug 2009. You will be 33 tomorrow. You have to be at work, early because of work. You have 3 to 4 deadlines to meet by Friday. You know beforehand that all these work schedules will degenerate to an even more impossible state come September. You know that talking to your bosses won't help much cause they are swamped too. You will be in class every weekday nights from Wednesday till Friday. Lastly, you will be dead tired and depressed.
Happy 33rd birthday Zenon, you've come a long way but you got a longer way to go so stop wasting time blogging and get to work.
This is a very busy period for me. The type of busy that is made up of many small things that loves to come at the same time. Kinda like the classic bees attack you see in cartoons where they group together to form a hammer and chase after their target.
Work aside, recent happenings and observance has got me thinking and self-evaluating. I seem to have hit my plateau in terms of abilities. I’m asking myself,” Is this, the best that I can do or am I just tired? Should I try or just accept that I am not as good as I make myself out to be?”
Dunno the answer to that yet. Right now, work beckons and I better get to it. Maybe once this busy period is over, I can rest and work it out. Fending off bees is very tiring.
I don’t usually blog about current affairs or political issues as they are generally not my cup of tea. However, there are certain subjects that are well…my pet peeves I suppose. Public transport is one of them. When I came across this article on Asiaone.com, I felt the same way as the writer after reading it. Only 17 bus services are deemed overcrowded in Singapore. 17 out of some 250 services!? I mean, come on! How self-delusional can one be? Are the PTC people so caught up in the world class transport system garbage that all common senses have left them? What an insult to the intelligence of the general commuter this is. I can think of 1 possible cause for this and it is that some, if not all, of the management in charge have been using private transport for so long that they are out of touch. Try ditching the family car and have the whole family switch to BMW for 6 months. No, not BMW the car! BMW as in Bus, Mrt & Walk. See and feel for yourself what the majority of Singaporeans go through daily. (Heck, come take service 195 for 4 weeks and you will be begging to go back to private transport.) Get feedback from your family members as well then let’s see if that survey result is accurate.
On a separate article, also on Asiaone.com, comments were given regarding the mediocre fines lashed out to the SMRT and SBS Transit recently. Generally, it is said that the fines shouldn’t be, nor was it meant to be, in large amounts as it would financially cripple the company. Instead, it serves as more of a bad publicity for the 2 companies and through that, pushes them to improve. Well, I agree with the part on lashing a huge fine on them. It shouldn’t be so large that it shuts them down. But it should be large enough to make them feel the punch. What’s $9300 to the both of them? The part on the bad publicly is what I disagree with most. In other situations, say a shop selling cakes, what happens if it runs into bad press? Its business goes down and if nothing is done soon, it folds up. Why? Because there are plenty of other cake shops that consumers can go to. Do you have another bus company in Singapore that I can go to? SBS’s and SMRT’s services are lousy so let’s all take other buses! Wait, hang on! There aren’t any other buses! For Singaporeans, it’s only SBS or SMRT and both companies know that. In their minds, it would be “Bad press? So what!? No matter how much you complain, grumble, scold today, when you wake up tomorrow to go to work, you still have to take my buses. Fine me? Haiya! $9300 only what! Big deal!” There is also a mention of PTC yanking away the licence from whichever company that is under-performing. I’m sorry but that’s quite laughable. Seriously, can you really see PTC revoking SBS’s or SMRT’s license and shutting anyone of them down?
We went to the newly opened Marina Barrage last Saturday to
see what the hoo-haa is about. At 3pm, the place was like an oven though the
many kids playing at the fountain area didn’t seem to mind. Basically, we didn’t
think it to be that big a deal, just ok. Personally think it would be much
nicer if there are more trees planted to make the place cooler and more like a
park. Seems rather odd to have a picnic on hot concrete. Reminds me of teppanyaki actually! =P
Anyways, the short visit yielded these shots.
Another day starts. It's midweek and I'm feeling a sore throat coming on. Oh well, at least the sky looks pretty today. *cough* =)
I am back! Most unfortunately that is! As with all vacations, it is always too short! Sigh! But the good thing is the missus and I survived a -24 degree Hokkaido trip while still in good health. No flu or fever or an upset stomach. Just a little nose bleed due to the dry air. A most excellent trip and a dream fulfilled for me coz I always wanted to go Hokkaido. Will post some photos but that will take a while coz we took a whole bunch of them. So for now, some teaser pics here!
I probably should have posted this much earlier but then I was quite busy at work and too tired when I got home. Yup, the usual bunch of excuses used by a typical lazy blogger. Anyways, to all friends who know me, I have gone fishing in Hokkaido starting tomorrow, 17 Feb for 7 days. Yay! I have always wanted to go there and almost did 3 years ago if not for the fact that the tour group didn't materialize. But now, 3 years down the road, I am all set for a cold and wintery Hokkaido. Cool ya!?
And so my friends, see ya in 7! =D
Talk about an action packed January. The new year has just started and the traditional Chinese New Year is already "bulldozing" it's way to our doorstep! Well folks, time to bring out the brooms and mops and start spring cleaning! I've started mine with a fresh installation of curtains for the living room. And if you are out in Chinatown hunting for nice decorations and trinkets, here's something to watch out for. A pop-up ox angpow! =D
Saw one of our friendly neighborhood kitty sitting at the car park recently. *Meow* Yes, it's "No Parking" but you didn't specify cats! *Meow*
