In Reflection

22 September: I arrived in Cantoland a year ago to this day. I didn't know what to expect, what I would see, who I would meet, heck, if I will ever be able to order food... One year on, I believe that I have conquered my fears. This year was a trying time to learn if I could ever live independently and not go bankrupt at the end of it. I am proud to say I still have money in the bank though my closets are wayyy too full. =)

The past year has also been a opportunity to develop my skills in my profession and I believe I now know more than I did a year ago. The friends I have made have been brilliant, but it also draws to the fact that no one stays with you forever. Life is transient. There is nothing you can do to keep things as you wish them to be, to remain as it is. One could sit and wallow in self-pity, in love lost, in opportunities missed, in things that might have been. But then again, looking at life whizz by while sulking in a corner is not my style. So I spend my days thinking of ways to annoy my assistant and pretend to make him work harder hehe... And the guy had the nerve to message me that we forgot to bring stuff from one clinic to the other and get me flustered and running back to the clinic when in fact he had already picked it up... Grrr... I really should work him harder...

HR are being their usual bullying self, but they now realise they cannot push me about. I may have made them sit and and take notice that there are some brains behind the bimbo and I will not sign a contract I am not happy with. I am glad I am young, free and single with no major responsibilities over my head bar what I will eat for dinner. This leaves me the chance to make a stand for my profession and myself, and should things go pear-shaped, I can still pick up the pieces after. Let's hope they don't go that way, because, as much as I say I am sick and tired of this country, I do enjoy being here.

On Saturday I will just go to China for dumplings all by myself. My lousy friends refuse to come with me and the American can't get an on-the-spot visa (while all other passports can). I was looking forward to a week of unemployment but I seems I won't be getting it. On Monday, I will go to the Immigration Department to process the emergency extension HR has persuaded me to sign then am off to the cinema for a good movie with the Lawyer. Tuesday will be another public holiday and I will head back to work on Wednesday unless a typhoon blows up on Monday and the whole plan is screwed. Life is good when you don't have to work... Even better when you know you have people on their toes...

Butterfly Effect

The week saw Lehman go down, with Merrill Lynch and AIG narrowly surviving this round. It has left a lot of people in limbo over their future. While some may say I am in no way affected by this turn of events I beg to differ. I now have friends who are unemployed and thus not in the mood to play with me, overworked due to the increase in workload and therefore unable to play with me, friends who have no peer pressure to come out since everyone else is not out and thus refuse to come out to play with me... This is serious shit.

The week also saw HR finally showing me my new contract. Those sly people were trying to push me into signing a three year deal on the same terms as last year citing 'my visa will expire soon and I need to get a new one really quickly, so I should sign this now'. I don't take well to bullshit so I told them that I was not signing this contract and they looked kinda shocked. I will hold out and talk to the big boss. It seems that historically, we are paid less while new graduate physios etc are all getting paid more than I am and will continue to get paid more unless I kick up a fuss and demand to be paid the same. I am not even talking about any experience I have gained over the past year! I hate bureaucracy!

I am going to one of the islands with the glaswegian-hong-kee tomorrow. It shall be one of those parents-trying-to-fob-of-their-only-son-to-seemingly-unsuspecting-podiatrist senarios. I shall try to escape without having to swear my devotion/love to other people haha... It shall be an interesting trip; The American was right, I am a sucker for self-torture.

Mooncake MIA

I was told by a little bird that the Koreans have claimed the Dumpling Festival for their own, saying that the dude who jumped into the sea was a Korean dude. So I wondered who was going to claim the Mooncake Festival also more correctly known as Mid-Autumn Festival?

If the Mooncake Festival was Japanese:
Lanterns will be made of impossibly difficult to replicate origami.

If the Dutch claimed it to be their festival:

Everything would be orange, not just the egg yolk inside the mooncake.

If the Malaysians decided that heck, we wanted a piece of the fun:

There would be sambal ikan bilis and coconut rice filling complete with the banana leaf skin.

If Singapore decided to be kiasu:

We would have the Hainanese Chicken Rice filling and the mooncake will be bigger and better than Malaysian mooncakes.

Thank goodness no one has decided to go to UNESCO to claim this festival for their own yet *I think*. I am an advocate of cultural exchange and sincerely believe that those little things we do in our home countries are also done similarly in our neighbouring countries for the same reason. People move to new places and bring along their beliefs and practices and are later incorporated into the local practice. Likewise, Malaysian podiatrists who are currently living in Cantoland will bring along the stomach to try different mooncakes especially the Sambal Ikan Bilis one and play with Hello Kitty lanterns. I am all prepared for my first Mid-Autumn festival in Hong Kong! I have two mooncakes ready and a cute inflatable Hello Kitty lantern in a pink dress holding a yellow flower and purple wings that has flashing lights and annoying music. I will out-kitty even the most hardcore little girl with pink bows ahahaha...

My one peeve is that someone has stolen my mooncake from the fridge. I was looking forward to having the yogurt flavoured snowy mooncake for breakfast! Grrr... I will hunt the person down and pluck out their eyebrows then paint over with Silver Nitrate! Grrrr...

HR = Evil

Ask any working person who doesn't work in Human Resources (and are thereby not biased) and they will tell you all kinds of horror stories about their experience with this particular department. It seems there is some kind of "training camp" they send them to, that teaches them how to make every other person's life hell. They will pull you up one day for a 'soft inspection' where they check your dress and tell you your ironing is not straight enough because you have a crease at the sleave. They will change rules without informing you. Then they can also conviniently forget to tell you that you are supposed to justify why you are here serving their countrymen five months ago and will only start looking for the form five months later and only after you have probed them and sent them a zillion emails. Arghh! Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself!

PS: I will start writing more substantial stuff soon. I promise!!:)

PPS: The 2008 Hong Kong Rat Race is set for October 19th this year. Unfortunately, I don't work in a bank. And I am in no way fit enough to run up and down escalators. If it was a HK Shopping Race then maybe I would be fit enough to run up and down escalators! :)

Bankers are a Girls' Best Friend

The banker woke me up on Sunday morning asking me if I wanted to go to Macau. As I was so rudely woken up, I was in no mood to entertain anyone and said no then I went back to sleep. Half and hour later, he called again and this time, got it into my thick head that I was being bribed with front row tickets to watch Cirque du Soleil all expenses paid. So I perked up and prettied up for a trip to the circus courtesy of the robust HK financial industry. :)

Cirque du Soleil first opened in the custom built theatre at the Venetian, Macau on 28th August this year. It is expected to be a permanent show on the Cotai Strip. The company who was forking out for the event had invited its employees and clients and their tager-alongers to watch the show. It was interesting to talk to the other bankers who have moved here from all over the world. Likewise, I hope they found me interesting too as I was in no way connected to any of their work and had just tagged along because I wanted to watch the circus, just like the five year old kid called Daisy who sat behind me in the ferry! Meanwhile, the bankers were busy networking and making new friends. All in the name of drumming up more business.

I think I spent Malaysian National Day well... There is never a better way to celebrate anything than to something exciting. Likewise, buying new shoes can also give a similar feeling of euphoria.