Hong Kong Again

So I was in Hong Kong for the second time in a year. This time for work. It was also because one afternoon my boss was leaning against my cube wall and said "So you've been quite involved in this thing.." and he scooted of to the department secretary to book my flight and hotel. Funny thing is that I was to attend a 4 hour afternoon meeting followed by a dinner but the flight times made it such that I ended spending two nights in the Conrad. Not a bad deal some might say. Ahem.

The cosmic twist of fate is that when you're not at your desk at work, suddenly the whole world needs something from you. Apart from trying to get to sleep between some TV and showers, I had 2-3 hours to myself. That was it. My mum told me to try to get a toy double decker bus for my nephew but seriously, I had no time to even have a slow paced breakfast.

More pertinently, the hotel was in this posh area called Pacific Place that full of high-end boutiques up to the wazoo. So high end that I never saw a crowd anywhere. But in my roamings to find a cha chaan teng for a spot of nai cha and bo lo yao (which doesn't exist in this posh area) I ended up Starbucking (with a tinge of disgust and disappointment. HK nai cha is way better than anything Starbucks can offer me there) and finding a CD shop. It was with glee I spent 30 plus minutes looking through discs from eccentric dance artists I would hardly come across in Singapore. Reasonably priced stuff too. I ended buying 7 discs for HK600. The only thing I really spend money on is music.

Anyway, the drama goes on. I was booked on a 8am flight back home. I had to struggle with the two alarms I set for 520am, finally leave the soft soft bed at 535am, and ready myself to checkout at 6am. I managed 30ml of coffee so kindly provided by the hotel at a discreet corner for early departing guests such as moi before scooting off into a taxi to the Airport Express stop at Hong Kong station in Central. I missed the first train by 1 min. Sigh.

You can buy a round trip Airport Express ticket for HK$171, a HK$9 discount, online at the MTR website >>

All goes well though. My fear of having to run to the departure gate were unfounded as thankfully, immigration counters for visitors suddenly tripled as I was queueing up (so thoughtful the HK airport immigration is) and the gate was in the Terminal 1 building (unlike past situations where we were running after the plane having had to take the connecting subway between the main terminal and gates for budget carriers). Phew. I actually had time to buy pineapple cakes for colleagues and family.

What I learnt on this trip:
- there's still something magical about Hong Kong, on the island, not Kowloon. The density, the high rises, the even higher hills, the crazy weather (rain, sun then rain all in 4 hours), the low clouds between the peaks and all the greenery still around, the super taxis, how early the sun rises and the nai cha.
- take a taxi when the transport is covered. I braved the MTR to the hotel. Big mistake. I got lost at Pacific Place and kept a colleague waiting for dinner and beer. Taxis and receipts, taxis and receipts.
- work follows you everywhere. So get it done.
- office politics follows the job everywhere. Look out, stay sharp and shut up. Done.
- be friendly whenever, whatever. You never who you'll meet in the hotel lobby.

What A Painful Week

So last weekend I went on an excursion to Jurong and it was precisely because it was far and away I agreed to accompany my sister and nephew on a long journey to the west - an adventure. Any trip outside the flat is fantastic for my nephew. Being cooped up at home with the same adults and same toys and same TV is torturous boredom for the 2 year old. For us, the greater number of adults that join in the trip, the greater the spread of responsibility over the little one. I had to pay my dues. But lo and behold at Outram Park station, I decided to swing my nephew. He loves it, cutting through the air, legs flung helplessly and at the mercy of centrifugal forces and gravity. At swing three, I felt a sharp jab in my lower back. That's it. Instantly I recalled my earlier debilitating experiences with lower back rigidity around the spine. This one was going to be epic. By the time we were in the industrial boondocks, walking was difficult. At my sister's tailor's flat I was bent over my thighs trying to stretch my spine out. To no avail my desperate efforts were. We took a taxi home which I made stop in Ang Mo Kio for me to visit Uncle Tong. Usually a performer of miracles and redeemer of orthopedic sins, his deft hands somehow failed to relieve my of pain. Usually the effects of his bone realignment regime are instantaneous but not this time. Sigh and ow.

The next day, I was hobbling about. Getting up from a seated position was agony. Try putting pants on. Ay caramba. I was popping leftover Anarex from my last doctor's visit for the similar ailment. My sis called the 7-days-a-week clinic to confirm they were open and under much pain and constant nagging, I made my way to Compass Point to said clinic. Surprisingly, many people are sick on the weekend and the one attending doctor seemed determined to try our patience. My number flashed after an hour and a half of consternation. It was worse for my mum who accompanied this stubborn mule, she has little tolerance for waiting. I walked into the doctor's office and did not sit because it would have been too hard to get up. Less than sympathetic, the doc clinically addressed the painkiller options I had. My allergy to aspirin and NSAIDs made it easy for him - Tramadol. He told me the next best thing would be morphine. Bring it on doc! He wasn't allowed to have any. Shame. He gave me a Tramadol injection above my left butt cheek and I got more capsules of the same plus Anarex pills on payment and checkout. Bloody $61 for a Sunday night visit.

Guess what, the combination didn't quite completely relieve me of pain. I was like 'what's going on?'. Has my body become, God forbid, immune to medication? Twinges and twangs of pain accompanied my National Day and the next day of MC. I was high just sometimes.

(Speaking of National Day, what was with our esteemed MPs playing with their phones on live TV, our president once again not singing the anthem, and the umbrellas some contingents were marching with? The colours on TV seemed overly saturated too.)

Going to yoga for the past two years (goodness it's been that long) I was compelled to sort mt body out naturally. I tried bending backwards standing on my knees. Ow ow ow. I kept reminding myself to breathe into it. Then bending forwards (rabbit pose). Ow ow ow. Lastly, spinal twists in both directions. Less ow here.

I went to work feeling bad. Half groggy and half aching, I dragged myself to the office, dreading the prospect of doing any kind of work. I survived day one. Today was day two. Also another bleh day. More interestingly, I decided not to take any painkillers, a test of endurance and a measure if how far i was coming along. Not very, and a colleague thought it was mad of me to forgo medicine and relief. She perhaps was right as I groaned like an old man getting up from my ergonomic office chair. I came home and repeated the yoga stunts and guess what, I got a pop during the last spinal twists. Yay! I was gonna heal quicker now. Now as I lie on bed I don't feel much agony. Hopefully it's status quo come morning.

Water, Sign Of The Times

There's been a lot of rain lately here in Singapore. Lots and lots of water coming down from the heavens. So much water that in the span of a month we've had 3 times as much rain as the weathermen had normally expected to come down and bless us this time of year. And it was duly unexpected.

The first big mess happened at Orchard Rd where famously now, Liat Towers' basement floor collected a massive pool of brown water over a few hours, drowning out Starbucks, Wendy's, Massimo Dutti and, gasp, the Hermes store. Alerts went out all over the island via all forms of communication that the bags and scarves and other whatnots at Hermes were possibly in ruin or very quickly, going to be wet and on sale. Collectively, fashionistas across the drenched country sighed in relief and some in dismay to learn all was well and good among the $10,000 per item merchandise. Of course, the gahmen had to step in and find the cause of this travesty. A blocked canal was blamed for the backlog of water.

The second incident took place in other parts of the island, though a large pool did form at the Scotts-Orchard-Paterson junction. Roads were knee deep in torrential rain. Cars and produce were lost. Many were wondering why a second flood was happening merely a week after the splish splash along our shopping streets. Even some kindergarten kids had to be rescued from the deluge at their Telok Kurau school by firemen. Awww, so cute.

The third wet affair happened a few days ago when the gods unleashed a tremendous amount of rain over about 4-5 hours in the early hours of the morning. This time it was really bad. Mostly because rich people were affected. There was a stupendous shot in the papers of a car almost completely inundated in a flood of water in a condominium basement carpark in Bukit Timah. So the famous Bukit Timah-Rochor canal failed to deliver the water to its end in the sea and essentially flowed over into the premises of the rich and now furious. Awesome show of force from the Mother to all those who think their Mercedes and BMWs are safe. Insurance companies are probably seething too, along with the folks at the PUB who've been taken to task once too often this month to explain what they can't. The meteorologists said the heavy downpour was the aftermath of a hurricane that was then cutting towards Vietnam. Really? And they couldn't warn us?

We can't explain anything. It's an act of God. In that light, some have likened this to punishment for taking some famous church pastor to task over his organisation's financial habits. Silly but funny no less. Many have put the blame on the Marina Barrage. This mechanical dam was the brainchild of Mr Lee no less with the aim of creating a freshwater reserve in the city for fun and enjoyment, and to prevent low-lying areas from flooding. Well, the past month has really been a true test for the concept and failure is now easily thrust upon that which seems to be holding it all that floodwater in. Well, someone smart alec will be asked to do the math and evaluate the sums of why and what went right and wrong. So far, the public is merely preparing to swim in the next rainstorm if they fail to avoid the rising waters.

I have a odd theory to put forward about the Marina Barrage's role in our floods. Could it be holding back all our negative qi? It is at the end of the Singapore river, and we could holding all the wealth in but also we might not be siphoning out the bad flow. Hmmm.

The World Cup Is Empty, Finally

So the World Cup is over. We can return to our normal lives and recall how crappy the economy is, how bad the BP oil spill is and remember that there are still people with bombs who want to wipe us off the planet so that they can get their cheese.

The final game was a little lacklustre for many. Nothing really happened in the regulation 90 minutes except for the immense number of yellow cards. The ref seems to keep all the action for himself. Someone commented that it was like an S-League game. Personally and many also will agree, the ref made some not so good decisions and seems to show a little bias. Well, it's over and the Dutch cry loser's tears.

The 3rd place playoffs between Germany and Uruguay was scintillating compared to the finals with both teams making great goals and awesome plays. Even the final shot of the match was a cracker Forlan attempt that rattled the crossbar and almost, almost sent the whole game into extra time. What a moment that would have been. And who knew he could play after his poor showing in Man U colours. Maybe it's age. His piece de resistance didn't happen, thank God, and Germany took 3rd spot.

Next, we await Euro 2012 which promises to exciting if Spain, Holland and Germany have anything to do about it.

The next World Cup is in Brazil and promises to be a mess for those in this timezone. Matches at 5am, goodness.