oooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Labels: joke

Halloween weekend @ office

The Lost World - I am back

a.d.
may poetry always be with you
and may you make it sing and laugh.
Madeleine Marie Slavick
6 October 2004

She penned down on the white space. It was not just pen on paper. It was a beckoning in person. He was there. He told me. Through her. AD. Wake up.
She still remembers my first name. How many friends know me by that name?
Sun - it means. To shine brightly. To make everything sunny.
To bring life, happiness, goodness into everybody's life.
And there I stood. Thinking. What do those two initials (A.D.) mean anyways?
After Death. I am not dead already. Or am I?
So what happened? Why did my pen stop flowing?
Why did my ink dry up?Why did I stop writing? Where did all my emotions disappear?
Why? How?
When? Wait, I know the answer to that one. I am over that one now.
Then why not rekindle that old flame within me.
Wake up, AD. He is sending you a message. Wake up. Write.
Did you not read her poems in the Delicate Access? You read them on the MTR.
Though surrounded you felt so lonely...back on that shore again...was that your old self again?
Go back, AD. To those days. The pain is erased now and you have found new happiness.
Let there be free flow again. Try to recreate that magic world. That lost world.
I promise to myself. I shall be back.
Thank you, Madeleine, for the poems, the colours and the pictures...I wish you more success. Remember that everytime you pick up your pen, people like me find true peace.
I did make it sing and laugh before. And it has always been somewhere close - yet hidden.
But I promise to write now. For, who knows, I may wake someone up too.
A smile, a tear. That human side. And like someone has said before...
Try to imagine the number of thirsty days I have spent, now that a drop of dew feels like an ocean...

Labels: life

Funny Out of Office Replies

Here is something funny I found in an email...

1: I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail
to get the position. Be prepared for my mood.

2: I'm not really out of the office. I'm just ignoring you.

3: You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the
office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at
all.

4: Sorry to have missed you but I am at the doctors having my brain
removed so that I may be promoted to management

5: I will be unable to delete all the unread, worthless emails you send
me until I return from vacation on 4/18. Please be patient and your mail
will be deleted in the order it was received.

6: Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for
the first ten words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message.

7: The e-mail server is unable to verify your server connection and is
unable to deliver this message. Please restart your computer and try
sending again.'(The beauty of this is that when you return, you can see
how many in-duh-viduals did this over and over).

8: Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queueing
system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a
reply in approximately 19 weeks.

9: Please reply to this e-mail so I will know that you got this message.
I am on holiday. Your e-mail has been deleted.

10: Hi. I'm thinking about what you've just sent me. Please wait by your
PC for my response.

11: Hi! I'm busy negotiating the salary for my new job. Don't bother to
leave me any messages.

12: I've run away to join a different circus.


AND, FINALLY, THIS ONE TAKES THE CAKE :

13: I will be out of the office for the next 2 weeks for medical
reasons. When I return, please refer to me as 'Loretta' instead of
'Steven'.

Labels: joke

Bangkok - Pattaya Trip

Feeding fish on ocean floor

As I sit back and try to jog my memory, with a can of coke...hmm calories...but what the heck...I am 1 Kg lighter and I just finished a game of basket ball...shooting success rate has gone upto 30% from 3%...hahaha...well actually depends on how much light there is on the court and whether I am wearing specs or not...Thailand trip...
Long weekend...just before we warm up for a go-live month in Taiwan and the SAT before that...right time...only problem is that we waited too long for confirmations and all in vain since all our friends dropped out in the last minute and we were left with the option to join a tour. And we went for it.
Day 1 - Sept 28. Shorter day at work due to mid-Autumn festival. Took a cab to Hong Kong airport express station and then on an AE to the airport...arguably the best in the world...zip...touchdown at Bangkok airport. Chaos! The tour guide had no idea that I would require a visa on arrival...several minutes and 1000baht later I was escorted out of the international area into Thailand. Tour groups...at least 200-300 people I think...we were guided into a bus with the guide issuing instructions in Cantonese...hahaha...thank God I didn't need to think much about what he was saying. We pulled into Bangkok Gold and Spa resort (at least some 50 km out of the city taking into account the time we took to reach the place). The dinner was surprisingly Canto with a hot Thai soup that had my Indian tongue diving into a glass of cold water! The original plan was to go to Pattaya on day 1 but since the place was delayed (according to the guide - in fact we had arrived on dot) we were doing Bangkok first and travelling to Pattaya later.
Day 2 - Sept 29. Morning call at 6:30am! Criminals! Anyways, the view from the hotel room window was cool. Reminded me of my homeland...so green...so lush green...and a big pond in the middle of a golf course...with big ducks swimming around...a hurried breakfast later we were packed in the bus to...hahaha...a herbal medicine factory!! chi sin!! That was the point. My instincts kicked in and we took a cab to Si Phraya ferry pier. Hopped on to a ferry going north (cheap and good view...though the water was too murky) to Tha Chang pier...know what? there is designated space on each ferry for monks! A few dozen yards later we were at the gates of the Grand Palace...learned that it was a special Buddha ceremony day (have not checked which one yet) and so the gates would open around 1pm...so we headed south towards Wat Po temple - for the famous golden reclining Buddha. Walked around the 500m long wall back to Grand Palace on time. Everything is so golden there! So beautiful...I want you to take a look at the snaps for yourself and then decide. Wat Phra Kaew which houses the emerald Buddha is the holiest place in Thailand and really beautiful. There should be special mention of Hindu Ramayan wall paintings. And the bull and other sacred Hindu symbols all over the place. I launched into a discourse on the Ramayana to my friend. Hahaha...The Buddha has 3 dresses made of gold - for summer, rainy and winter seasons!! Did a quick tour of the Royal Jewels and Coins museum and a quick lunch later we were headed for the Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium for some Muay Thai. Got the cheapest tickets for 500baht (they charge foreigners 200baht more! And everywhere we saw separate space and rules for Thai people - even shoe stands!!) and went right in. Thunderstorm outside - Nature's own fireworks to highlight the energy-filled bouts in the ring. Send me requests for the video clippings. 500baht for 10 fights (each with 5 rounds of 2-3 mins) is great! Had dinner at a local restaurant in RCA. The cabbie took us there when we had actually wanted to go to Patphong. Stopped there only after I threatened to call the police!
Day 3 - Sept 30. 6:30am! Ahhh! We were on a bus towards Pattaya. There was a stop at a diamond-gem factory this time! Also stopped at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo. Amazingly fat pig doing additions and subtractions! Piglet races! Scorpion queen (former Guiness World Record holder - see snap) covering me with real scorpions! Piglets in tiger cage! Tigers sleeping with dogs, goat, pigs! Tiger cubs in Pig sty! Snaps with a tiger cub in our laps! Amazing time! Painful lunch - same food as first night dinner! Soon we were on our way again. Stopped for a few minutes to drink coconut and ride elephants. My second time and this time it was a 75 year old - Tung Boi. She was really slow and cute. We started first and finished the trail last...hahaha...Then we hopped on to a horse cart and rode up in front too. One more stop at a honey producing factory! So boring and the honey was so dilute! Pattaya - finally! Disappointingly sleazy! Cher. And it started pouring down again. And wait we had a dinner at the hotel...hahaha...same food! What do these tour guide planners take people for?!! We went for some souvenir shopping to the night market square (just look for Oye and Rang at their corner shop, opposite Palladium Disco - which has closed down, for cheaper deals - nice and friendly). A foot massage - pointed sticks poking at your big toe - followed. Cheap for 200baht.
Day 4 - Oct 01. 7:30am this time. Thank goodness. We hurdled onto a speed boat and headed towards a platform in the middle of sea. Para-sailing! Fun! I just realized that I am really heavy. The straps stung. But the view and the feeling was exhilarating! A few minutes later we were headed for an island. Just dumped our bag into a locker and headed right for the underwater walking event. With a huge helmet being fed with oxygen through a long pipe attached to it, and instructions to keep our chin up we went in right behind our friends S and R (very nice people we met on the trip. So friendly and patient with the loud guide who was literally shouting into the mic all the time - some meaningless stuff from what I guessed and learned later). I cannot describe the feeling. Happy and excited fall short. Your head is dry inside the water with that monster of a helmet threatening to fall off any moment (at least thats what I felt at first). We walked around exploring the sea floor and the corals and fed so many different kinds of fishes! Fantastic. Sad though that our guide broke off spines from the back of a poor little sea urchin just to show us - before we could stop him. Had to pay 600baht for a roll of snaps. The way up had to be slowed down to control the pressure difference on the human body. Back at the beach...discovered that we had left our tee-shirts on the boat and a kind lady helped bring them back. Lunch. Guess what...very bad food...whats wrong with the Wing On Tours? Now you know. At least they did not make us change hotels more than once like SN mentioned to me later. It started pouring down right after lunch...washing away all our plans for some photography. More thunderstorm warning and so we headed back to Pattaya. Went in for a 2 hour Thai body massage - painful on my poor left leg which is still recovering from a hamstring injury. Had to pay 250baht for the 2nd hour...Dinner was a restaurant which had a section separating HK people from others. And the food? You are clever guys ;-(
Some more souvenir shopping and shock later...a quiet, cheap dinner followed and we packed all stuff up for the next day.
Day 5 - Oct 02. 6:30am again! Gimme a break! We were on the bus back towards the airport in Bangkok. Did not quite understand the need to stop a souvenir shop instead of a temple near the airport. S really wanted to visit at least one on this trip. I hope she likes my snaps. On the plane with the tour guide booking us all over the plane...wait wait wait...Air Sri Lankan...is the worst I have seen so far...beat Delta Airlines by miles. I asked them for apple juice. On the first trip, they said the bar was closed! For apple juice! On the return trip, they said that they had just exhausted their stocks! Apple juice! We did not get head phones and the channels did not show any movies except reruns of Charlie Chaplin. And the captain announced that he hoped everybody had enjoyed the entertainment programmes! Hahaha...Btw, my knee was badly bumped into by a food trolley being pushed by an air-hostess. She didn't even react! And I do not want to mention the fat steward...I have some sleeping to catch up with!


Elephant Ride

Labels: bangkok