It has really been awhile since my last update. Can't help it, getting busy lately due to the coming festive season and rounds of mad payment chasing going.
 
Well, enough talk bout work. Recently, I got a short stint in Singapore...thanks to a 1 day workshop. Went back to Singaore on Thursday, Friday workshop...and have to return to Laos on Monday. So I only had 2 days for myself.
 
However, 2 days were enough...I haven't been 'that' happy for awhile. I spent my entire Saturday with you even though I was down with a fever. Wanted to watch Jennifer's Body...but it'll be only in theatres on 29th Oct. Well, we made do with 'Love Happens', at least we had Jennifer Aniston's body in the movie. Hence, from a teary romantic comedy movie to a frenzy shopping duration till my legs wobble. Simple dinner at this chicken rice stall opposite Novena Church.
 
And the finale, you invited me to the playground just behind your house. Just that 30mins of quality time, I was mesmerized by you, behaving like a sweet little child, swinging back and fro. However, like they always said, all good things must come to an end. It was getting late and you need to rest. I enjoyed the full day of conversation; being your personal fashion designer and also the smses before & after.
 
I was so tempted to express my feelings yet I know its probably best to leave it as it is and not ask for more. I guess it would be fair for both of us that we are enjoying each other's company without obligations. I do not have the luxury of time for you due to my work commitments but somehow this little trips back every few months really makes every second spent with you into priceless memories. However, I don't know how long I can sustain my feelings though I know career means alot in life too.  
 
Alrighty, enough of the hair-standing talks...so..Saturday was well spent. Sunday was another day for my pig & dogs buddies. Sunday was a bonus as i was supposed to be flying off on that day but due to a turn of events...I left on Monday. So Sunday was pretty straight forward with a gathering with you guys, crap, I needed the updates of everyone as well as to hear those nolstagic jokes. Never fail to make me laugh. Dudes, you guys are the worms in my stomach man.
 
Oh, bout the double celebrations thingy. 1 more month and I will be out of debts and I will finally have to plan for my own future without those headaches that have plaundered my brain cells for close to 5years. And when that 1 month arrives, it happens to be your birthday...what a coincidence once more. Too bad, I won't be there to celebrate your special day...but I always have tricks up my sleeves, heh.

One more thing to add, if anyone out there is reading this and I did not manage to meet up with you...I apologize due to the short time I have in Singapore. Ahh..tick tock tick tock. Its getting late and its time to get my sleep, so looking forward to the coming month. AWESOMENESS! 2611.
 
 
This is a good time to re-kick start my 'blocked' blog after a series of humorous yet life threatening events that have once again added colors to my slow but gradually vivid life.

First off, my first birthday as an expatriate. Went drinking with my client, colleague and owner of the club. Then came along a gal-friend whom I known quite sometime. she got drunk that night along with my colleague's gal-friends. We sent them back to our place. Being a Saint, I carried my gal-friend to my bed while I slept on the sofa in the living room.

The next morning, I thought i was Sane to do the right thing...then the first sentence encountered by my face from my colleague's gal-friend was "Ah Vince, you Gay?" WTF...in fact, this was the second time I've carried a gal to my room without doing anything and that gal was there on both occasions.

Its amazing that Laos girls are so 'open' and the gal who put me to Shame was a typical good gal unlike what you might be imaging her to be, someone loose etc. I actually have some gal saying this to me "Even if I push myself to Vinc, I can rape him yet he won't do anything to me one.." I'm a Shame to the male society. I always thought Singaporeans are in an open-minded society...then again, I guess in terms of this aspect, Laos are one step ahead hahaha.

I called that a Genuine Slumber party where gals come to your place, drink, get touchy, kissy in front of you, then when the party is over, touchy couples would get to their rooms and finished off what they wanted to begin in the first place. These parties are so common in my place. Though I always made the Sane decision by being a Saint...yet I always felt being Shame for missing these opportunities. What a bum.

Now for the Serious part, I survived a car crash on Wednesday night 9pm+ (5th Aug). I was supposed to be in my province trip for a week, but it was shortened by the abrupt car accident.

All I could remember was..it was rainy night, the car was reaching a right bend but it skidded and spinned twice before going down a short slope, eventually crashing into a tree. I closed my eyes during the spin either by my body reaction or perhaps I was already injured during that spin.

Luckily, all 4 of us survived. When the crashed stopped, I opened my eyes immediately to see a bloody face in front of me, my staff suffered 3 stitches above his left eye ad 2 stitches on his right lip. My Singaporean colleague injured his chest & could hardly breathe.

Me? I was sitting at the right back seat but ended up leaning over to the left driver side. My head knocked against the roof, my right head swollen, sharp pain in my back and a strained neck. The driver was the luckiest one who suffered only a swollen lip.

My customer sent us to the nearest hospital..Sepon Hospital...it seemed more like a 'bunk' rather. We did an immediate X-ray and was informed that nothing was broken on our fragile human body. We slept on that hard bed from 1am till 6am in the morning before our customer sent us to their office for resting.

Why not back to a better hospital you might think...From the accident location,its an 8hr drive from the capital where my office is. So we had to wait at our customer's office for our driver to pick us up. The worst part of this accident was the 8hr drive back with your injuries. And we actually drove past the accident area to see our damaged car still lingering at that tree. Wonderful sight.

To add spice to this drama, one of our customers' car actually had an accident at the same location but unfortunately one of them died from that accident. After hearing that, I told myself I am a lucky fuck.

We reached back capital at about 12midnight Thursday, went for a hospital checkup to reassure our battled bodies. Still nothing broken as adviced from the doctor.

I'm glad my office staff and Lao friends have been taking very good care of me, cooking, serving us medicine and water, massaging, carrying me up and down, staying overnight in case we encoutered any problems. Both Jon and I actually couldn't carry ourselves up from the bed for the first two nights. Now I'm slowly recovering though I am still not as flexible as before but simple sitting, standing and walking can still be accomplished. Injections, massage and medication are my dearest friends for this week, sadly but miraclly effective.

Your voice was angelic and comforting to my recovery. Though I know its just psychological effects..afterall, I'm a mere mortal with emotions. Just chatting with you makes me feel lighter and away from this near-death experience. Nightmare to Dream. I thought I lost the opportunity to visit my homeland but it looks like I'm given a 2nd chance.

I still have not regret coming to Laos, so many twists and turns in this journey yet I'm still a Survivor. A hard fought life-threatening yet enriching journey...I'm still walking like what Johnnie Walker always preach about...Keep Walking.  


 
 

Its been slightly more than a month in Vientiane, Laos PDR - Please Don't Rush.. As true as the accroym is, the working life here compared to Singapore is what I call..."Heaven and Hell". Its a slow pace country where alcohol exists amidst working hours...

Upon coming here, my view of Laos has changed, its much much better than what I expected. Other than the lack of shopping malls,fastfood chains and lack of public transportation, there ain't much to complain about. People are as friendly as what rumors say and gals are prettier than what some would imagine them to be. ....The weather is just freaking hot...38-40degree at peak... But now, its the raining seasons...just nice to fill up the Mekong River.

Like what Jon said, many misunderstood the depth of our job. We show the perception of merely drinking and laughing but many more goes beyond that...Our coverage includes Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Beyond drinking and laugher are valuable information and forging of ties. Chasing of orders and payment that goes from 6 digits to 7 digits USD. Market share, the  investigation of parallel stocks and counerfeits. Frequent outlet visits to expose ourselves and grasp the consumption volume. Wee hours have become my common friend.

Now that Jon is on 2wks vacation, it would be a short independence of handling everything. It would be a small test to see how I perform...

Oh hell, enough with seriousness. I've been drunk many times and many things happened...Indeed good memories that would worth recalling when I'm old. I feel happy when Chin Guan came to Laos for vacation, its so nice to see a familiar face around.

I like this place, this culture, these people, this language. I'm lucky to be here, experiencing lives of another country.

It has been a month...You are a catalyst to my happiness in Vientane. I'm always there despite many years and the unfortunate distance apart. Your sudden affection brightened my day yet frightened my thoughts. I know where I want to be but I'm unclear of where you want me to be. I'm excited of the possibility in receiving you here in the near future and surprised by your invitation to Canada/HongKong.

But who am I? I don't know...I'll let time and fate decide. I don't want to fall where I've fallen before, if I do, it would hurt even more. Nonetheless, I'm happy perhaps because I'm foolish.

 
 

Already 6days into Jakarta, 'celebrated' my Christmas there..well Christmas ain't a big thingy there...

Its really quite an independent trip, lots of hands on approach. During free times, I'm 'left' alone to go shopping, have my own meals etc... But I really learn alot from Nick, my m'sian colleague stationed in Jakarta, he's the man. Kudos to him.

I've been walking the path of white when I was young...which is a boring color. Everyone likes to put colors in white because white gets dissolved easily.

Then I put myself in the color Black about 4 years ago, I reduced my temper threshold, I retaliate, I rebuked and I begin to hate. I learnt alot from books and histories, how great people fall to their demise, how unknown people rise to power and success and how good people become evil and vice versa. 

Good comments say I'm a person who can forge relationship easily and earn trust. Bad comments say I'm a sly person who read into people. Neutral comments say I'm standing on the fence, avoiding events happening around me.

Black & White is of extreme ends which I realise how bad it could be if you can't handle situations well. I began to step back and let myself into the color Grey. I began to enjoy this color for almost a year now...how and what grey color is? Perhaps a person who has been from extreme ends know what it is...

                -Riddle me this, Riddle me that-

                         - Happy New Year to All!! -

 
 

*Stretch* Finally, I got details for my next trip...22th Dec 08 to Jakarta. This is gonna be a tough market in terms of 'working' hours, 1 month stay and 'things' I've heard prior to the market. If I can go through this then it would be a big grats to myself. 

Good thing is, I'll be focusing on purely marketing stuffs in this trip since sales is done solely through a big local distributor there. 26reports, 1 each day, NICE. Christmas in Jakarta, now thats a first one...New Year there as well but who gives a damn about New Year, the stupidEST event in history.

After Indo...i'll have a short stint in S'pore for my CNY(still need to wake up early for visits, NB) Then probably another 1-2wks, fly to Vietnam again for my final training before embarking to my 'territory', Laos PDR(please don't rush).

Sighz, schedules aside, its been awhile since I finished a drawing. But TA DA, my latest work, took a long long time to finish everything from drawing to coloring and then the background. Really satisfied with this work cos' its my first time designing a background and I love how it brings out the character. Posted it on my character design's page too. Good Job Vincent!

Looks like it would be another month or so before I'll post here...dammit. Ciao for now, Bon Voyage me!

                                       - Time -

 
 

A total different picture of what I've painted for this trip. I realised the on-trades in Bangkok belongs to another company under Diageo. Damn, had no one to bring me to the 'action' zone hehe.

BUT I still managed to party at State Tower, 64th open air pub, staring down at Bangkok, its the sweetest moment where how I wish I could bring someone close to me there next time. Then follow by Gazebo live bands...then the DISCO DISCO zone at ICA...dancing myself to the Thai live band..somehow...Thai songs are catchy.

However, before the start of partying...i set foot across the Mekong River onto Laos (my hometown soon). Then Myanmar, ooo the Golden Triangle. While ending with Cambodia, the casino and hooootel zone. And vrooom back to Bangkok Dangerous.

Guess what, I spent less than S$100 during my 10days trip there, amazing eh...That however is my only regret for not being able to visit the flea market (Damn report and Loreal, PUI!) Bought 2 Puma bags at ...you know the price, 199TB each, 1 for DOG and 1 for myself. And 300TB for a 2hrs traditional Thai massage with no *ahem* extra service, Freakiin' relaxing though at some time pain lol. I wanna go again!

And the last night in Bangkok? Birthday celebration for Jang's friend and of course my farewell party at Spring. Cool place, I can sleep there...damn. But good times don't last forever, just a split moment and it was Good Bye Thailand...and Welcome Bangkok protesters...Lucky me....Damn lucky.

-Happy Birthday to Someone Special-

 
 

Blog Blocked!? Its not...now that I'm back...well..for awhile at least, I'm gonna say my heart out!

Close to 2 weeks in Vietnam...Learnt so much valuable lessons in life and in career. Comparing different culture (that includes drinking culture LOL) between 2 countries, I realised how materialistic Singaporeans can be. Oh, I'm one too..

Just 2 weeks and I couldn't understand why we strive so hard for 5Cs and all...Right, the standard of living is higher, the way we're brought up..right, we blame all the surroundings around us that affect us. But we also have a higher education level... If only we can use that 'higher' knowledge to enlighten ourselves to take life as it is...If only we can all play guitar by the beach, sometimes scene like this in the movies really make me drool at the simplicity of life.

And yep, thats about it...next destination, Bangkok Dangerous, Thailand. 12days, my butts gonna hurt on those long hours of bumpy rides to the borders...Dammit. *Put more tissue packs in rear pockets & make myself a DIY Ricky Martin bon bon*

                                Distance


 
 

Oooo, its been awhile...Time to put a new post before I fly to you-know-where.

To start off preparation V. I took 3 bloody vaccines...flu, Hep. A and typhoid(think its spelt this way lol). Left arm, right arm...and then August 15th. I finally realised what they meant by a pain in the arsle... 

My thoughts now? I'm excited...I can finally see some 'action' in ma' work...Also wondering how I would fare as an observer in each outlet, especially with a language barrier. I have to write daily reports & email back each day...I hope the internet connection in the hotel sux hahaha. 

And on Saturday, went dinner at Changing Appetite, then chillin' with my wacky friends at Paulaner, some German pub, till 2am. Beer and red wine...I thought I was dying hahaha, bloated tummy. I want PICS when I get back to S'pore! 

I spoke to her online, she's got a new job. Well, it was pretty obvious for someone who doesn't comes online to be online for most part of the day. I feel betta this time...I wonder... 'Always at the wrong time'

Oh, who's Vicky? My colleague who'll be mentoring me in Vietnam....o^^o

 
 

Brand new day of a new month, and its a holiday! Now, I get to update my 'blocked' blog heh. Hmm, here's what I've been doing for my happening last week of Sept, it has never been that great...

My co. got spare vip passes and tickets to Amber Lounge and F1! So Friday night was pure partying, too bad, I didn't bring my camera along, only had to rely on my 'pui' handphone to take videos inside the party...

Amber lounge pass $500 Euros, F1 tickets, S$1388, damn, its my 1mth's pay, but its F-O-C. Swee...And I'm part of the history. *Anyone don't mind giving me their Saturday F1 pass? I short of it as the entire collection!*

Videos were pretty much on the dance girls HAHAHA, & the dance floor, afterall, there ain't much to capture since everywhere else was pretty dark. Free booze & tidbits...I partied from 930pm till 330am...Its been awhile since I partied like this...very nice although I slept through 1/2 of Sat o.o!.

Then, it was Sunday! Went down for the final F1 event with my colleagues, I've to say it was so smooth, the chartered buses, not much of a queue, the ppl guiding us in, everything was splendid. I ain't a hardcore F1 junkie, and like many others, I too thought that there ain't much to see there since the cars move like flying tofus...

I was wrong, the crowd, the friendly tourists (helped took a picture for me, heh) (Mok time) Its not about the cars, its not about the racegirls (niceeee)...its about the whole ambience, exhilarating crowd and dramas that were happening in the race that pumps my heart...and of course, the VVvvrrrroommm taught me a lesson to get ear plugs if I've the chance to go again...

But all good things come to an end, the race ended at 10pm, so its time for bye bye F1, going home was surprisingly as smooth as going there, kudos to the organisers! 

I realised how similar such races are to life, you have crashes and ups & downs in life...and the last racer ended up being the winner proves that life is full of surprises. Its not just about hardwork and effort; its also about luck and unforeseen opportunities that brings success...

But despite how you performed, there will always be cheers and encouragement just like how those crashed out drivers received theirs from us. I just loved every bit of it.

 
Keep Walking... 09/23/2008
 

New aim, new phase of my life, i took this choice and will be holding onto it entirely on my own. If everything is as what was planned for me, then I would really be happy. However, if it happens, then I know there would be a potential regret which I had considered before putting my pen onto the paper. If that regret comes, how will I go about it...

Just a week of learning...and I strongly adhere to Johnnie Walker's tagline...'Keep Walking'. With that, I want to achieve big things...'There is no challenger greater than oneself, you see him in the mirror every morning'...damn, I just made that up...i wonder if anyone has written that before...