Happy endings anyone?

Don't you just go fuzzy in the stomach when you just seen a romantic movie with a happy ending? Well, I just finished watching Just Like Heaven and I was thinking, why can't a happy ending just happen to me huh? I don't want a very happily ever after type of ending, just a ending good enough for me to have a good beginning? Sounds chim right? Well, not really lah.

To me, there is no such thing as a happily ever after. Every ending just means a new beginning, every new beginning means a new struggle, every new struggle means putting in effort again to secure a happy ending. Once we reach the 'happy ending', the cycle starts again. This is my circle of life, a never ending cycle of constant striving for happiness. Pretty zen hor? Of cos lah! Its Mr Yap talking leh~

Anyway, I have experienced several endings liao, but how come no happy ones for me huh? Where is my happy ending??? Is it waiting for the right moment? Well, I do hope so...

Kena complained... ;P

Wah seh, so fast friday liao ah? Aiyah not I dun wana blog lah, but been abit busy this week lah. Then got drinking session with the korean engineers somemore mah, so have been returning back to room late every night.

Throughout the drinking session, they went on and on, on how 'korean' i am. One of them even say i'm behaving more korean than him. I seriously don't know if that's a compliment or a sarcastic remark. But anyway, i got a korean name liao. Its.... Yeop Gyeong Pong! Direct translated from my chinese name. So feel free to call me Gyeong Pong! muahahaha..

Still on the drinking session. Man, they really know how to drink ah! 1 drinking session have to change 3 places one loh.. I really dun understand the mentality behind it but its quite interesting lah. The custom for drinking is to hold up ur cup while the other party tops it up and you do the same for the guy/gal topping up ur cup. I get topped up liao den keep forgetting to help the guy back.. abit paiseh. muahaha! anyway, i tink another tradition is not to let the cup be empty cos whenever i empty my cup, it will get topped up. Then i go for "one shot" (korean version of bottoms up) with one of the engrs den it gets topped up again. So basically i was drinking, refilling, drinking, refilling the whole night. I think this is one of the reason why they say i might have korean blood in me oso lah.

So now i look korean and behave like korean and speaks a little korean. What's next huh? eat kimchi ah? Muahaha

I no cheerful meh?

After getting (ok, more of pestering) my friends to do the johari window thingy to evaluate my so called strengths, I realised something very interesting. Nobody out of my 10 friends felt that I'm a cheerful guy. I mean, come on lah, you see 10 times hor, got 11 times I will grin like an idiot one loh, still not cheerful enough ah? So how the heck do you define cheerful??

Okay, that aside ah, I also saw that most of them see me as trustworthy, which is quite normal lah. I'm too ah gong to betray their trust in me lah. Anyway, I will not betray my friends...... until it is really beneficial for me.. Muahahaha I'm a scorpio mah~ No lah, just joking lah.

Anyway, I gona persuade(pester) more friends to help me do the thing.. I wana see myself in a third person view mah, then can improve more. Muahahaha

Planes and pigeons are the same, they both fly!

Was very excited about what would be my first ski trip this morning. Couldn't wake up in time but luckily my colleague woke me up in time to go wait for the bus which was supposed to be at 6 outside Lotteria, a fast food place.

We reached the place at 545 and waited one hour in the freezing cold. No bus... What the hell?!? Woke up at 5am and no bus? Haiz.. Actually I'm not really angry or disappointed or what lah. Got ski no ski also same lah. If wana ski right, I rather go with my frens. So any frens interested in skiing pls take note hor!

Sometimes you just need to take things as they come lah.. Maybe I'm not fated to go skiing now, but I will definitely go next time with either my friends or my family. Muahaha.. this is my version of chance and choice. I may miss the chance to go this time, but I will choose to go next time at my own time! ;P

My first time~

Yes! I finally did it for the first time! After so long, I finally lost 'IT'!

If you are thinking on the more *ahem* adult side hor, then shame on you~ Today I went for my haircut in another country for the first time lah~ And I finally lost my long hair which bugged me for some time already.

Actually, having a haircut outside Singapore is not such a big deal, but having haircut in a place where you cannot communicate with the hairdresser is quite scary. After psyching myself of the worst case scenario (going bald), I thought it wasn't so scary after all.

When I first entered the salon, the first thing I said was...." Han gul sa lam ani-e-yo!" Better declare I'm not a korean first before they start firing away at me with korean. Next step, show cutting motions with my fingers while saying "cut short, cut short" as if they will understand. As I have expected, they caught no ball of what I'm trying to convey except that I wanted to cut hair. Finally, I had to bring out my secret weapon liao..... I began to indicate a book with my 2 hands, hoping they had any magazines or what so that I can just point at any guy with a decent short hair. As my luck would have it, they understood!!

With the magazine in hand, its all " What you point is what you cut" liao. Saw the hairstyle that I wanted and just pointed at it while looking at the hairdresser. Pointing is still the most effective communication tool I used here. So the hairdresser started to attack my head with a shaver and a comb. 20 mins later, I was covered with hair but I can see my forehead and ears again~ So refreshing~

She lead me to wash my head, and I was thinking, "That's it lah, wash head somemore ah, confirm expensive liao... haiz.." But the total bill came out to be 8000 wons nia, not over 10 k that I had expected to be and the haircut was done quite well too~ Too bad she cant perform miracles, so my looks are not improved at all..

Okay, that's all for my first time of the day. For those who even suspected that I went to prostitutes (do I even look like that kind of person), better luck next time hor~ Tomorrow another first time for me~ Hope I will have enough energy to write when I'm finished~ hahaha...

Some things are just not meant to be.

There are some things in the world that are meant to be, and there are some that just ain't. After careful consideration, I have decided that we should not be seen together again. This is not an easy decision for me too, but it just feels so not right for me. Please understand that I really no choice but to take the action that I'm about to right now. It was fun with you, but you are really not suited for me...

Goodbye...

What u think of me huh?

Yo guys and gals, help me do this TEST here leh.. Tell me what you think of me leh... Please be brutally honest hor. I dun mind even if u say me until worthless one.. but i MIGHT have a way of tracking u wor~ muahahahaha

At a more negative thought, do this TEST to see what you think badly of me~ muahahaha... time to be brutal~ muahaha

Do you believe in karma?

Do you believe in the term what goes around comes around? Do you believe in whatever bad things you do coming back to haunt you later in life? Do you believe in retribution?

I believe fear of karma is like your conscience, making you thing twice about doing things that are wrong. However, there are still some people out there who have totally no fear of karma at all, hence all the terrorists and criminals out there. Then there are the people who have some fear of karma but not completely, like me. Hence I go spewing sarcastic remarks all over while fearing that this will come back to me someday in ways like being alone for the rest of my natural life ah, or being under some really mean boss ah, etc etc.

So my somewhat fear of karma will control the "viciousness" of my sarcastic remarks to a minimal factor and to a more limited crowd. It will not, however, completely stop it, hence a privileged few still will witness my talented mouth at full power at times.

If at this point, you start to wonder what is the point of this entry, please take note: if every entry is an interesting and meaningful entry, then I will have to charge you money for reading already. It's entries like this that makes this blog free for reading, now remember that! Cheers~

Its that day again~

Oh... 14th Feb again... The day where everything is much more expensive than other days. The day where the "special value Valentine's Day meal" costs extra just because of the name. The day where florist all around the world can jack up their price 5 times and can still sell their merchandise out. The day where naive guys and gals think they will live happily ever after with the person after they spend this day together. (I was one of them 10 odd yrs back :P) The day where everywhere in the streets, you can see couples cuddling like there is no tomorrow. The day where some guys or gals get really really hurt emotionally. Or just the day that is like any other day...

Basically, the significance of this day for me is dwindling over the years. I believe that this day is just another gimmick where the business people try to earn extra bucks and the guys to have a chance to get lucky with the gals of their dreams. Me? I'm not really a business and luck has never been on my side so why be so fascinated by this particular day? If you are truely in love with someone else, any day can be a Valentine's day. No need to wait one whole year just to celebrate love~ Just my 100 won's worth~ ;P

Maybe I'm not that strong after all....

Being sick and all, I began to think about my situation in a pessimistic sort of way. As I've said, being sick overseas is not a very good experience at all. Nobody to fuss over you, no one to take care of you, basically nobody gives a damn. Not that I require somebody to fuss over me but I feels good to have someone giving a damn about you sometimes.

Today, my colleagues went off early as they needed to use internet access in the room while I needed to stay alone to finish my stuff. I was singing and humming and whistling away in the room. Anybody in the same room with me would have thought that I'm either very happy or very siao liao. (Of cos I'm alone lah!) Then halfway through, I found myself digging at old memories to keep myself happy. Of cos not all memories are good, but they are all I have for company at this point of time.

Sounds miserable? Well, abit lah. While some people out there might envy me, think about this. It is not really fun to walk 30 mins in sub zero temperature every morning and night for work, although I must admit that it was refreshing in the 1st 2 weeks. No friends here except for those online and my colleagues are not exactly fun loving types. So you can imagine how my weekends are spent. As for family, its more impossible. Just a short phone call 1~2 times a week. 10~ 12 hours of work a day followed by a 4x4m room to stay at night, fully equipped with a unheated bathroom, which is at an average of 5 degrees everyday. Hmmm... how come sounds abit like prison huh? Muahahaha..

Then as I was walking back alone just now, I noticed how big and round the moon was. It was 元宵 last night and I did not even know it until now. Just as I was looking at the moon, four phrases came naturally into my mind.

床前明月光，

疑是地上霜，

举头望明月，

低头思故乡.

Suddenly, the meaning of these phrases had never seemed so clear....

Why drink water?

Today I tried to drown myself using a 500ml mineral water due to my sore throat and suddenly an old army chant I learnt during my BMT suddently came into mind. It goes like something like this:

Drink water good,

Drink water good.

Don't drink water get heat stroke.

Get heat stroke,

you will die.

Then the whole platoon will cry.

YAAAAAAMM SEEEENNNNG!!

Then I thought about my plight here and this came out:

Drink water good,
Drink water good.
Don't drink water get sore throat.
Get sore throat,
I will cry.
Cos the fried food cannot try.
YAAAAAAMM SEEEENNNNG!!

Abit bo liao lah, but who cares?

Yah lah yah lah, I'm sick lah

Falling sick in a foreign land can be quite a b*tch! Cannot see the doctor cos I can't speak korean. Hell, I don't even know where is the clinic here in Gumi. Taking sick leave to rest is also a no-no for me due to the tight schedule of the current project. All I can do is hang in there and hope for the best.

Also, I've bought a 1 litre bottle of Pocari, supposedly the Korean nation drink (?), specifically to drown the bug! Muahahaha... At times like this, I will need to depend on my body's immune system to fight the bug rather than depending on some medication.

So for the mean time, I guess fried chicken, pizzas and chips are out for my diet. Maybe can get something good out of this also, maybe can lose some weight? Muahahaha

My sinful lifestyle in Korea

Dear Readers, please forgive me for I have sinned.. I confess... I lead a sinful lifestyle in Korea with all sorts of vices... And here they are:

Smoking:
I smoke everyday, especially when I am outdoors. I smoke sometimes indoors but that is only restricted to the my residential corridor. Can't blame me for smoking cos everybody smokes here~

Going to motel:
In addition to smoking, I also go to motels every night. The owner got so used to me that he gives me the same room every night. I do whatever I go there to do and leave early in the morning. This nocternal activity goes on every night without fail.

Drinking:
I drink alot daily. Bottles and bottles without fail. Sometime my body cannot take it and I have to go to the toilet to expel the liquid from my body.

Gambling:
I frequent pool bars and always bet points over pool games played. The pool room I always go to is the "There She Goes"" room. Plenty of different mix of people there.

So this is my sinful lifestyle here in Korea. So please deliver me from evil and send me home~

The morning that I do not wana work

Yawn.. Good morning guys... Just another morning that I dun wana go to work.. but no choice lah.. Hahahaha... Doesn't anybody~

Just another day~

Let it snow~ Let it snow~ Let it snow~

I was just saying on how sick I am of being here in Korea this morning. Then just as when I stepped out of the building to go to work, guess what I saw. Snowfall!

Snowfall never fails to give me a smile on the face and lift my spirits. My colleagues were complaining about the cold and wanted to take a cab to work but I soooo wanted to walk to work in the snow~ Sooo sua ku~ but i happy leh~ muahahaha

I was grinning like idiot the whole time we were walking. Almost slipped twice but never dampened my spirits. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face with a wet cloth~ That's how silly I looked today. Its been a month plus since it snowed liao so I was more excited than before.

Weather station predicts that its gonna snow for another few days in this region so I'm waiting~~ Muahahaha! Great start to a week!

It's Monday again

Weekend has sneaked by again and I have spent another meaningless weekend here in Gumi. The only meaningful(?) thing I've done over the weekend is to chat with my friends online.

That's it. Nothing else liao. What an exciting lifestyle eh? I'll never thought I'll say this but... I think I prefer weekdays to weekends here. I think working life here has really screwed my mentality liao cos I no longer have Monday blues... Now I have weekend blues liao~ At least I dun have the blues on Sundays anymore~ Muahahaha!

To climb or to fall

While chatting with my good friend today, he brought up a dilemma that he is facing and asked me what would I have done. The situation is as follows:

His job requires him to be outstationed in a more or less third world country for a relatively long period of time (meaning 1 year or longer) and his job scope includes entertaining clients. While entertaining clients, he will, undoubtably, be exposed to all sorts of vices. Drinking, smoking and possibly drugs and going to prostitutes. And being outstation for such a long time, chances are that he will fall into a very bad lifestyle. However, if he stays on in this job, his prospects will be quite good and could make manager is a relatively short period of time. So question is: Will you carry on to climb this corporate ladder even though you will fall into a bad way of life, or to seek employment in another firm hoping that things MIGHT turn out better there?

I'm quite sure at one point or another, most of us have faced similar dilemma, to a more or less extent. For me, I have not faced this kind of problem yet for I have been only working less than a year and there is no occupational hazards for me in this field, except that my colleagues warned me that it's traditional for the first child of the employee to be a girl. So far its 100% accurate. No problems for me, I like girls anyway. Muahahaha

Anyway, back to the dilemma. My answer to him is that:

If changing of my lifestyle into such a sinful one is must, then I will not do it. However, I WILL give it a shot first to see if I can resist such a change and if I can't, then I shall quit.

That's my answer to him but I do not know the full extent of his situation so it's easy for me to just use my mouth (in this case my hands) to make the decision. So I truely wonder, if the day that I have to make a similar decision, what would it be? Maybe I would have tried and liked going into a sinful lifestyle?

Who knows~ What about you?

Frigging cold~

Temperature today dropped more than 10 degrees to a whopping -10. Faces are red, hands are shaking, and my mucus froze on my lips. What a life.

Chance or Choice

Something my friend emailed to me:

When we meet the right person to love when we're at the right place at the right time, that's chance.

When you meet someone you're attracted to, that's not a choice. That's chance.

Being caught up in a moment (and there's a lot of couples who get together because of this) is not a choice. That's also a chance.

The difference is what happens afterwards.

When will you take that infatuation, that crush, that mind-blowing attraction to the next level? That's when all sanity goes back, you sit down and contemplate whether you want to make this into a concrete relationship or just a fling.

If you decide to love a person, even with his/her faults, that's not a chance. That's choice.

When you choose to be with a person, no matter what, that's choice.

Even if you know there are many people out there who are more attractive, smarter, and richer than your mate, and yet, you decide to love your mate just the same, that's choice.

Infatuation, crushes, attraction comes to us by chance. But true love that lasts is truly a choice. A choice that we make.

Regarding soul mates, there's a beautiful movie quote that I believe is so true about this: "Fate brings you together, but it's still up to you to make it happen."

I do believe that soul mates do exist. That there is truly someone made for you. But it's still up to you to make the choice if you're going to do something about it or not. We may meet our soul mates by chance, but loving and staying with our soul mate is still a choice we have to make.

We came to the world not by finding someone perfect to love ...BUT to learn how to love an imperfect person perfectly!

How is it? Philosophical eh? Muahahaha~

Back from hols

Hey guys, after 5 days of break in Singapore, I'm back here in Gumi again.. 12 hours journey back isn't really that bad, when you sleep throughout the journey. Hahahaha.. Speaking of the journey, I was almost late for my flight as I was busy chatting on the MSN at the airport lounge until i hear the boarding call for my flight. Then I run all the way to the boarding gate, which is on the other end of the airport. Quite as close call but at least no need to wait for so long.

On the plane, I concussed like a log, waking up only for breakfast then concuss again. The 6 hours flight just flew past like that. Then when I reach the Incheon Airport, I caught the next available bus to Gumi which is just 15 mins wait and there was no additional waiting time for me. On the bus, same thing happened and I concussed again. Until my neck cannot take the strain of my head hanging sideways then I had no choice but to keep my head straight liao...

Go into the office liao still wana concuss sleeping all over the desk and chair. Basically drooling all over the place.. muahahaha~ Anyway this is the story of my journey back to the land of the kimchi. Still very much jetlagged even now.. hahahaha time to go to work~