December have been a whole lot of fun for me!

While taking the back seat on guiding, and working on another project, 

I get to spend more time to reconnect with my friends. 

Had a gathering with TG04 once again. 

Full of laughter as always! 

Full of educational as well as nonsensical dialogues.

We started talking about Briyani and the different styles, 

and then moving on to Pork Chop and all,

then north south indians,  

then for some reasons into Punjab culture,

and wedding rites, 

then chinese ink painting, 

and PDCs, etc etc, 

never ending topics and fun! 

So heartwarming to see everyone excelling in their fields, 

in their pace, yet coming together once again to gather.

Then 2 occasions I went to JB,
One with SS and her friends, a simple cafe hop, ktv and massage kind of day,
then one with SY just a day trip of shopping, bak kut teh kind of day.

Then would be Wilson's 27th. 

Booked a staycation at Oasia for that.  

Thankful for Colin to help open up a table 

for Xi Yan, a popular dining place. 

Great food, great cocktails and top notched service. 

He brought a giant rubber duckie over, 

spent 1h getting to pump it up manually, 

using breathed balloons as a medium.

Then the entire group came at night, 

was really fun. A moment to chill. 

Then it's BDS gathering. 

We played Off Track for the first time. 

James was a great host and gamemaster. 

A simple gathering, leading on to a major one next year, 

wanted to do a BDS 10 anniversary if possible. 

Again reconnecting and updating. 

Met up with some wushu peeps too, 

and also connecting with a kid and his family, 

kids are adorable la! but I can imagine the toughness, 

to raise 3 kids of different personality....... woah........ 

Met up with CH too for a quick shabu shabu, 

a man with little words, 

but very grateful he always took the effort to catch up. 

despite my busy schedule. 

Yesterday was a super impromtu Christmas gathering, 

because DQ commented feels weird 

that we have always been celebrating christmas at my place annually, 

so then they did a party last min, 

bring different food items, drinks, wine, logcakes, 

I didnt need to do a thing! amazing.  

Very very touched that this group of people, 

after so many years, 

now have a unspoken culture with me, 

knows what i want, knows what i need, 

always there when i needed them most. 

and I watched many many movies too! 

Ip Man 4

The final installation of the series. I thought it kindda deviate away from Chinese Martial Arts but into more discursive topic and cliche plot. They touched on the topic of suppressed minority and the mindless competition to be number 1, or to be superior. About suppression, it's funny at certain parts they mentioned about who are the native people. The entire movie look into the concept of "winning", is it really that important? Ip Man has to tackle his parent-child relations, is it important to dictate your ideals rather than understanding your kids? The industry tackles on having Bruce Lee as a representative of Chinese Martial Arts, is it that important to have equal representation or is 1 style good enough to get people curious to find out more? The marines tackles on acceptance. Is it that important to have 1 superior style or is better to look into shortcomings of every style by cross referencing? It's a good closure however, for everything. I thought it was a good time to spin off to the different masters of different styles and go back to the promotion of Chinese Martial Arts again. As the series, I thought 2 was by far the best, as it does highlight lesser known styles of Chinese Martial Arts, and had good character development, a good build up, and side stories are completed. It brings out emotions and juggled well with pace. 

Cats 

was weird, but to me, it's not that bad that was slammed int he internet and reviews.

Appearance: there are in musical costumes, meaning it's not a full "cats" rendering but still humans in costumes. I am totally chilled in this because I dont actually expect full cats in the movie that it may take away the facial expression of the actors. by not having full cat, they retain the essence of musical actually. 

Format : to me, the point of movie is to be able to do what musicals cant? Like greatest showman or les miserables, to blend the environment, to switch scenes seamlessly, to create impossible props. But the CGI rendering supposed to create a more realistic environment or to do the impossible, became amateur, very haphazard work, like the cast set into a template background of a video arcade game. 

Cinematography: certain parts I thought was out of focus. Camera angles seems to unnecessarily move around too.

Acting: amazing! the cast team is just too solid, the reason probably they cast them in the first place and loose all budget for a proper production team 

Songs: Objectively its great. The nostalgic viewers wouldnt like it if you are anchored to the original music. The modern teen wouldnt enjoy it, as it is a rather weird blend of genre from classic musicals to pop. But I appreciate the effort actually, to reinvent. 

Jumanji 

Hmm, a guess it's the same format as the first movie (referring to the same cast). Enjoy is as a family movie, it's not meant to be a sophisticated movie. Every now and then I enjoy this kind of adventure action movie with slapstick comedy here and there. It's entertaining! Life is hard enough that we dont need too much realistic movies but occasional guffaw-inducing entertainment. 

Knives Out 

Truly amazing piece! Didnt expect a crime thriller to be so entertaining, full of twists and turns, and red herrings here and there too. I always thought the twist was that the movie tried to convince us murder is fine but turns out to be part of her sinister plan all along, but the plot didnt go that way, but instead turned into something I never thought of. Must watch! Hard to put the piece in words.

These days working real hard, though I always felt lots of redundancy. The feeling of helplessness, and that nothing is productive.... that sucks.

Anyways, so went to a Philosophy Discussion group.

Glad to be there again, but as usual there is always some kind of dominant figure.

Had a 2nd round after the event and I thought it was so so much better with proper discussion.

The topic was "Free Will".

What I thought, was that we have 0 to maybe a little bit of Free Will, as most of us are influenced in our decision making with external factors such as culture, marketing, environment and induced emotions. Strip away the idea of influence then yet we always have a "Choice", but that's not Free Will.  But there's this lady for every perspective she would jump in a bite on the speaker's flaw to say that whatever points does not affect Free Will.  IRRITATING!

Actually, through the discussions, I saw many interesting views on Free Will. Some argued that there's a matrix of "Consciousness vs Unconsciousness". We think we are exercising Free Will but at the bigger picture we see just how little it is. Supporting cases included AI who could predict choices, and Business Marketing practices.

Some argued that everyone has a Free Will but it ties with the responsibilities or consequences that comes with it. So therefore none of us could do whatever we want lawlessly.

Some argued that the notion of "Free Will" is an act of "Egoistic Nature", because we start to associate with "I". Humans love to be in control, to feel that they are in control, to try to attach meanings to things. This is reinforced by the point that do we FIRST make choices, THEN justify why do we do it? So the intrinsic nature causes us to act, then we rationalize it?

So then on the wine table for 2nd round we went further. We went into Personality. There is actually a C.S Joseph type Grid based on Myers Briggs. It's interesting though about the order in which we make sense of things. I am a ENTP, so it was said that I listen and absorb everything, then sieve out only what is necessary based on my own world view.

Then we discussed about entity. How whatever we perceive, the tables, chairs, etc, are made out of atoms, but our mind uses senses to form images. That the idea of consciousness is like a brain trapped in the skull, using signals and organs to function and make sense of things.

We moved on to Hedonism and Narcissism, and eventually to meaning of life and happiness. The idea that Perfection is a goal for a process, and that it leads to boredom, and on one point we should have Existential Peace. About the idea of knowledge. Knowledge can be scary. Do we still pursue knowledge despite knowing Ignorant is Bliss, so we instead gets Anxiety of Knowledge? Then Escapism.

Woah, after a loooooong day of tours, meetings and philosophy, went to just chill and unwind with the kampong at Punggol Container Park. Got home at 4am, up by 9am due to work. Sigh.

On a movie spree....

Felt long since i went to the cinema.

Had a no show tour, so decided to catch "Wet Season", a local production.

The director of the movie directed Ilo-Ilo the last time, where it explores rare topics about Domestic Helpers. This time round, the movie theme is rain, intergenerational ties, and teacher-student relationship.

After all it was still a arts film genre so do not expect to have exciting pace or heart thumping climax. The movie spotlights on the protagonist, a Malaysian Teacher, who faces humiliation of many levels - child bearing, desperate wife, unsupportive family, foreigner, trivial subject, and a less-dignified job. While the intergenerational ties between her and the grandpa is strong, I like how it kindda contrast a dependent elderly to an infant, both of which have similar caretaking needs. As they always say, circle of life.

What was not very accurate was how close the teacher-student relation goes. While this would be impossible at today standard, lets give the scriptwriter a break to assume that this takes place in the olden times when the age gap is not too drastic and there are less strict laws on civil servant behaviors. I thought that their relationship should be developed further as I felt there is a fluctuation of being childish and mature in the personality of the student. But overall, I guess in the end what the teacher taught was not chinese but rather his first heartbreak in the forbidden love affair.

Other than that I thought the cinemagraphy was rather well done. Mundane shots were reiterated to portray the relationships between the characters such as teacher getting closer, roads getting longer, eating sessions, and also the degree of rain. So much so that I loved the ending where the grandma washes her "blanket of hundred blessings" (personal identity) as if cleansing and then the sun ray shines on her face as if liberation from all the torment. Subtly, I guess there is also a shed of light on the "burden" of societies such as caretaking and strained relationship that people tend to refuse to let go. 

Then, the next movie is "Frozen 2".

This is where my opinion is gonna be unpopular. While retaining the good o disney feels of musical numbers and heartwarming family friendly moments, the movie did push through typical cliches into some thought provoking topics. This movie relooked at "history" and ask what is the "right thing" to do. The sisters are forced to search deeper into the past, to find out truths of governance, and to venture into the unknown, face your fears. Their personalities are reflected again and again, the roles and responsibilities, sense of inferiority, purpose, and ultimately is still friends and kinship.

On a light note, the movie uses Olaf alot, to look at "deep inspirational quotes" or just being plain annoying. But as I always believed, we need people like that sometimes, someone that is full of nonsense, that you just cant get angry no matter how annoying he/she is, but because the intention is just so pure and innocent and selfless.

But then, this movie, unlike the previous one, felt like there's no punch line, there's no easy-to-singalong-and-catchy melodies, there's no emotional roller coaster. Perhaps the lyrics to "Next Right Thing" was probably the coolest song there but I would not forsee kids running about saying next right thing take first small step and step by step kindda thing.

The movie was not satisfying that I decided to jump straight to the next movie, "Last Christmas".

This movie attracted me as I thought it would be a light hearted holiday season home along kindda of comedy movie. Yet it wasnt. I guess this is a less popualr movie but Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh is in so woohooo support local! Call me biased but I think Michelle Yeoh is the best actor there, with her infatuated face, her motherly love, her typical asian behaviors, and her stares.

Last Christmas is basically a romance drama of some girl that seems constantly on her bad luck, failure to see all the good friends around her, and indulge in a false sense of hope that she will one day find someone that discover her talents and make her big but blame on her illness; who say a too perfect to be true guy who is very obvious the plot twist as it was given away too fast at so many scenes.

But then again I thought a few quotes are rather nice in the movie. "Look Up" is what the guy keeps asking Kate to do, is to notice the beauty of the moment, the subtle details of the environment, constantly. SO comforting though, when the guy spoke : "There's no such thing as normal. It's just being human is hard."

As a holiday movie, they also focus on the theme of forgiveness, handling mothers, friends, relationships and work. To the sense Michelle Yeoh commented "you were great, but you stopped caring", see most people lost the joy they had at work and that's where the spirit will die.

However, this move got a feel good ending. Last christmas, I gave you my heert, but the very next day, he gave it away....... this line is soooo literal!

The Sorrows of Work:

Work disappoints us, not by coincidence but by necessity, for at least eight central reasons:

1. The demand for specialisation limits our potential.

2. The needs for standardisation kills the need for autonomy by personal initiative.

3. The extent of consumer choice forces us to commercialise our work beyond what feels tolerable.

4. The scale of industry robs us of a sense of meaning when we are distant to the end user.

5. Competition generates a state of perpetual anxiety.

6. The requirement for collaboration maddens us.

7. Our high aspirations embitter us.

8. The notion that the world is meritocratic imposes a crushing burden of responsibility on us for our defeats.

https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/sorrows-of-work/

So a friend of mine officially joined my company.

Well, I was exhilarated about the news. This is probably the first step towards a mindset change of Tourist Guides. As I always mentioned, if you step into a secondary school and asked "Who would like to be a Tourist Guide" and no one raise up their hand, there is something extremely wrong about the mindset about the industry being a retirement job. Even the definition of it is often mis represented as a Tour Leader (Tour Leader leads locals to overseas and incharge of logistics).

Then again on another hand, Im opening up my vulnerability and persona in front of him. From young I have always portrayed a strong front around my friends, many people see me as a fighter, as a successful man. But behind that, lies so much burden, so much expectations, so much emotional roller coaster. I warned him not to be alarmed if you see a very different me in work, against outside. I'm someone who takes work more objectively regardless of friendship and whatever. But ultimately, I also told him to watch for my psychological wellbeing. He just entered the Adulting World, I really hope I can groom him more like me, or better, surpassing me. I think people around me had so much potential that can be harnessed and molded into a greater being. All they need is a little confidence, a little resources, and a little opportunity. I hope to be the one providing that.

Then I remembered "3 Idiots", when a quote goes like "Your friend fails, you feel bad. Your friend tops, you feel worst.". But it doesnt really seem to affect me that much. I actually love to see people around me succeed in life. It's that touching moment, that heartwarming moment, where you see their talents utilized. But to be honest, it's always that one aspect of life that I cant help but to envy, where most people around me seem to always have that charm, that magnet, that attractiveness, that I probably gotta change my face, my shape, my voice to attain. But bright side is, if fate throws me a girl, thats probably "The One".

Well, gonna be a busy year ahead, cant be too distracted. Another friend of mine seem to step into my world a little more. Have been meeting up since last Saturday. I feel young around him, though being sleep deprived of 2-3h a night, but the kind of madness, the youth, the energy, havent really felt that for a long time. Got to know him more ofcoz, and thought that he had such an interesting life. Then along the way, another friend was being very very very kind to make the effort to come over and tried bonding. Really grateful for people like that. I always considered myself very lucky, to get a group of friends like these. Many criticism ofcoz, people claiming that I'm often used, or buying friends, but the kind of effort they showed me is definitely more than just a motive-filled friendship. I am rather sure, this is the bunch that will stay by my side 50 years from now.

They probably seen my worst, and probably seen my best, someone that has flexibility to be impromtu, someone that I can be comfortable with even in silence. Though some of them expressed their lost of friendships before, I really really really hope I would not be that kind of person to them.

So I went to watched "About Time (2013)" for the Pop Up Cinema, this time, hoping to get some more people around me than the usual solo screening, I got 5 tickets. Of course, the ones that came only 2, but I am very much grateful already. 

So here is the summary of the movie: 

- Tim Lake was told by his dad that he can travel in time, but can only change what's around his life. 

- So Time decided to redo some of the "regrets" in his life, starting from trying to get a girl he loved. He failed, thus “All the Time Travelling in the World can't make someone Love you.".

- Whenever he tried to solve a problem such as his sister, his dad, his wife, etc, some things are actually changed due to butterfly effect, especially his kids. 

- Death is inevitable, cherish relationships

- His dad told him his Two-Part Secret. First is to live ordinarily, feel the stresses and emotions. Second is reliving the day again noticing the smallest detail and the joy of existence.

- His "power" can solve small bumps, but inevitably the bigger problems in life cannot be skipped. 

- Living in the past wont move you forward

- There are life decisions that cannot be undone

- Tim decided in the end to not travel anymore, but to enjoy as if it was the last day. Thus "We're all travelling through time together every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride". 

So since on the topic, I casually asked about my friend's "Regrets", and realised his regrets usually revolves around friends. Means he holds on to Friendship very very dearly. Kindda feel very honoured to be one of his. I really really hope I would not turn to be a "regret" eventually. 

Friends around me are really really great. I will never dream that one day I actually had friends who water my plants while I'm away, who helped take care of me in events, bothered coming down for a tea no matter how tired, and even to the point to travel 1h back 1h forth for a couple of hours talk cock sing song only. At this point, I kindda question myself if I could even "match up" to the "intensity" of friendship I am receiving. Did I actually do that many awesome things for my friends? 

Maybe my heart is semi hardened? Or too liberal? Cuz I remembered I did teared for lost of friends before, and had a few sigh that some friends I couldnt help and eventually drift; but eventually, some decisions that I thought would lose people, was not too bad in the end. I had always believed  

I used to say in the past, that I have no regrets. I am who I am today, due to the product of all the trivial decisions and events that happened in my life. But ofcoz, at times I would look back and think about "If Only". Literally my funeral song would be, "Regrets, I have a few, but then again, too few to mention". It's however, extremely hard to embrace some regrets. Yet these, are the things that would push you out of your comfort zone, to instill a weird sense of fear that you may end up regretting, and thus you learn to make better decisions, you learn to sacrifise for the sustainability of a relation. That's why the famous "20 years down the down yoou will regret the things you never did rather than the things you did." comes from. 

No 2 person is the same, even the same person in different timeline is different, we are all but Beings being Constructed from the different Fragments of Experience, World Views and Emotions. But I guess, nothig is lose that is born of the heart - the sincere affection.  

People who says "we have the same 24h" obviously had no idea of the money and opportunity cost disparity that causes much time constrain in most people. And yet, in this 24h, we gotta juggle so many aspect of our lives, I really appreciate when I get friends who calls me before bed or between chores just to update, chat, laugh, be nonsensical, cuz seriously, how precious those little moments are! 

Or sometimes, just doing nothing, makes me relaxed too, though more often than not I would strike a conversation, but I guess I have this concept that “True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.”. In this era of ever stimulating and ever flooding information though, how many people learn to just appreciate each others presence without the need to look at your phones, or to guffaw away?

Well, though in every relationship, kinship, friendship, all feast comes of an end, but I hope I can cling on to whatever remaining I have. To some, I did not care enough, I did not help enough, or I gave up before solving issues between, or Im simply selfish to only make effort for those who cares. I am though, very thankful of the small talks that eventually ignites our friendships. I noticed in the end, it's these randomness that creates my stronger group of friends. 

Every social group has its own dynamics though. I can only hope that the intergroup relations gets better and expand the Social Support system of each and every one of us. 

 

One of these days you probably grow up, and then it's time for you to manage your own finance, and it would mean you gonna start worrying about dollars and sense, how to cushion bad situation and all.

Im gonna list down whatever I know so far. So basically there are a few types of Insurances:

Health, Life, Wealth Accumulation, Income Protection

Some terms are :
Premium - Your monthly/yearly fee to incept the policy
Premium Term - How long you wanna pay for
Maturity - When the policy reached its maximum purpose/potential
Annuity - Yearly payout

HEALTH 

This basically means Shield. Due to the expensive Healthcare cost, most of us are automatically enrolled into a state insurance Medishield through Medisave allocations. This money is a form of Forced Savings only to be utilize for Healthcare so why not make sure we get the best coverage in times of need. This is personal comfort with Hospital Ward you would like to be covered for.

LIFE

Life Insurances mainly focuses on the sum assured on TPD (Total Permanent Damage) or Death, it's about how much money to leave behind for who, and how much you think is enough. (number of years to support through grievance period x cost of monthly living). Then, there's a choice between Term Life Insurance (Just have insurance for whole life, high sum assured but no cash returns) or Whole Life Insurance (After certain years will have cash returns though most of time no profit).

I would choose Whole Life Insurance, because the premium I paid the cheapest is Aviva Whole Life Plan, the most comprehensive coverage value of money is Manulife Life Protect Plus.

Some people have multiple Life Insurances, it's called Laddering. This is a way to cover a larger sum of money in case of death while keeping the premium lower, or to "upgrade" sum assured by purchasing additional Life Insurance at different stages of life. Some policies have multipliers or Stages of Life bonus options. Whole Life could act also like a Savings Plan since you receive lump sum upon maturity.

WEALTH ACCUMULATION 

Then depending on your priority, whether you wanna accumulate wealth first or is income protection is more important,

For Wealth Accumulation, you have Endowments (savings plans) and Investment Link. There will be a lot of people to tell you do not mix Insurance with Investments. If you know other platforms, then do not go for ILP (Investment Linked Policies).

Endowments on other hand, is like a "Savings" plan, at the end, you probably cant combat inflation but you start having the savings habit. There are many kinds of savings be it for yourself, or for your younger generation. Usually you will need to pay for certain term and then when the policy matures there would be a lump sum given back to you. For this I have PruWealth and AIA Smart Flexi Rewards for this.

ILP would be like ProAchiever, where half of premium is for insurance half is for investment but they do it for you. This is for people like me who know nuts about Investment so a famous firm will do it for you. Usually the first few years your money is more for upkeep than to invest, and thus you will see results only in long run. There are however fixed premium term, but in a way no limit as to how long you want your money to roll, even after maturity. AIA Pro Achiever is an example for this. Of course, I have now been educated to alternative options such as Stashaway.

INCOME PROTECTION 

For Income Protection, then you gotta think lets say some bad luck falls upon you, how to get through it. So you think about disability income, hospitalization income, hospitalization payouts, accident payout and daily cash. Some policy only covers upon employment, some have waivers for unemployment, some are to cover freelancers, etc etc. For myself, I got the AIA Solitaire for Accident coverage to cover daily payouts upon hospitalization as that would be basically my income line. In case of an accident, my income is directly affected, so at least I can claim money for every hospitalization day, and also every week also have compensation. Post and Pre care is claimable too.

RETIREMENT 

For Retirement, there are also several ways you can go about it depending on what stage of life you are in. Payouts would be either Lump Sum or Annuity. Some would like to stretch the Premium Term while still in the workforce. Some would do a Single Premium so that they can right away get Annuity until certain age. Some people plan for retirement step by step like having Wealth Accumulation first until retirement then take up Single Premium.

OTHER INSURANCES

Then lastly is every other insurance for your assetss (car, house, travel, etc etc).

USEFUL LINKS to understand more, or just find your Insurance Agent friend :

Ultimate Insurance Guide
https://blog.seedly.sg/working-adults-key-insurance-policies-singapore/

For Whole Life Insurance
https://www.moneyline.sg/4-best-whole-life-insurance-plans-singapore/

For Hospitalization (Shield)
https://blog.moneysmart.sg/health-insurance/integrated-shield-comparison/

For Endowment
No perfect guide due to too many complicated variables

For Accident
https://blog.moneysmart.sg/personal-accident-insurance/best-personal-accident-insurance-singapore/

For Retirement
https://www.interestguru.sg/2019-in-depth-comparison-3-best-retirement-plans-in-singapore-with-high-income/

I did about 6 tours now in Vietnam. Most by students, they dont have structure and they dont have the opportunity to mingle with other prof guides. They were simply given a chance to show tourist around to improve their english. Most of them are very passionate but content wise are so so. Several historical points, food etymology, or which cultural influences were not explained. Very personal touch though, sharing what they do on everyday basis.

The food tour yst was about exploring Famous Local Eateries which many chefs and culinary experts have visited before.

"Summer" is a head chef of a fine dining and turned tour guide to introduce her favourite local eateries. She have since took few "Masterchefs" all over the world on her tour.

Very structured, well researched and well planned.

Each stop was introduced with :

1) Passion Story - History of the Eatery (how long, by who, why)
2) Etymology - Origin of food item (if applicable) and what it means
3) Essence - Comparison with variations of it at diff states or why this stands out
4) Technicality - How to eat it and whats the ingredients inside.
5) Etiquette - When to eat, usually paired with what food or drinks, what superstitions or beliefs

5 stops, 12 dishes of food,
Value for money, and quality commentary

A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON FOOD

Food is a staple of life, but also a collective compilation of culture. From the Hunting and Gathering days, we have evolved into a complex series of sub-cultures when we look into Methodology, Taste Blends, Etiquette, Festivity, and more. We will be looking into a specific topic of Food in terms of Culinary Experience.

Culinary Experience, refers to when the chef intentionally take the patron into a wholesome journey to present a certain message through medium of Food.

Functionalist

Culture is shaped from Culinary Experiences.

While most of the time, there are some universal standards and taste to food items, it is also an opportunity of Dysfunction, whereby a Chef creates seemingly contrasting flavours, or savouring a certain dish at unusual timings.

Conflict

Eventually, Food creates Power Play too. Inevitably, yardsticks, competitions, ratings and reviews emerge as means of giving uniformity and structure to food. Some Culinary Experiences takes you to the best form of Food Handling or Preparation Skill; eg de-toxic-fying Pufferfish, Sea Urchin, or preserving the beating heart of an Eel, or the Michelin Ratings. Conflict perspectives also looks at how Humans exerts dominance for Culinary Experiences such as eating worms, dogs or monkey.

Symbolic Interactionist

Food presented in a certain personal way is a form of self expression. It may be an act to document a certain event or a certain someone. With this, some form of Culinary Experience evolves taking nostalgic taste, forgotten recipe, or a chronological evolution of a certain cuisine.

Culinary Experiences

Casual Dining
Fine Dining
Royal Cuisines
Competitive Cooking
Speed Preparation
Theatrical Dining
Traditional Dining
A Journey through Time (one dish diff styles)
Contemporary - Fusion Culture
Contemporary - Plating and Presentation
Contemporary - Senses (dark, smell, taste, touch)
Molecular Innovation - Elemental
Futuristic - using chemicals to recreate dishes
Health Conscious

Day 1 Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh, checked in hotel and went for a massage, then boarded a Cruise Dining of Asian Food, and a fusion of Traditional and Modern music entertainment. 


Day 2 saw me on a Walking Tour on District 1 mainly the must-see places and the French influence on Saigon; and a Motorcycle Tour to District 3, 5 and 10 for off the beaten track hidden gem such as a no name pho place of over 40 years heritage and their 8h slow boiled rich beef broth; ofcoz I gotta end it off with a Rooftop Bar with Live Band!


Day 3 - Arrived at the mesmerising city of Hoi An, loving the food, the lanterns, the ambience, pretty much everything around!


Day 4 Vietnam - My Son, Hoi An. Truly an amazing city if lanterns! Falling in love with this city and what a great way to spend Mid Autumn Night!


Day 5 - Vietnam, Ba Na Hills, Danang. Time flies, especially at Ba Na Hills, experiencing the Sun, the Rain and the Wind all in the short 5h span. Very well built Tourism Attraction with Insta Worthy shots all over and a very very very comfortable weather. Will be back!


Day 6 - Vietnam, Da Nang. The last day before the family vacation end. Today is a full day foodie experience. 2 food tours, one in the morning, exploring local eateries and a few historical sites, while the night focuses on popular food places which have been visited by chefs and culinary experts. Very interesting culture at some of the food places where they sell by per pax, no ordering needed because they only sell that particular food / set meal. Ended the day with a Han River Cruise with performance.


Day 7 - Great dining experience at Ancient Hue, where they plate food items for the Royalty in the past. Tasty food, more than wonderful service, and truly amazing skilful food art carving! Each decorative piece takes 40 - 70 mins to carve and thus its limited in quantity! Lucky me!


Day 8 - Vietnam - Hue. .

Today was a full day city tour with a Private Guide. Very informative rundown of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam from 1st to 13th Kings. In midst, there are sites and mausoleums of several kings to visit and to trace the Kings life or thinking. .

The citadel greeted us with massive walls surrounding the 520 Hectares fortress. This is indeed a witness to the power of the reign; and the confucianism beliefs presented on concretes and carvings. Detailed info found at: https://en.vietnamitasenmadrid.com/2011/07/hue-citadel-imperial-city.html .

Then we head to the tombs after a brief stop at Thien Mu Pagoda where Reverent Thích Quảng Đức burnt himself as an act of peaceful retaliation via a Dragonhead Boat along Perfume River.

So the tombs:

Gia Long was the first Nguyen king and one of Vietnam’s most significant historical figures. He reinforced Confucian values, moved the capital to Hue from Hanoi, began construction of Hue Citadel, and coined the country’s name: “Việt Nam”. .

Emperor Minh Mạng continued his father’s legacy, ruling a large empire, crushing rebellions, upholding Confucianism Values and Resisting Foreign Influences. He is reported to have 500 wives though no concrete evidence possible except that he fathered 142 children. .

Emperor Tự Đức had a strong affinity for art and poetry, a passion he channeled to craft his romantic, illustrious tomb. Tu Duc wanted his final resting place to blend harmoniously with nature. Sadly, out of 104 wives, he had no sons at all, thus left him no choice but to hand to his nephew as his successor. He is known to be the Filial King that we spend half of every month to take care of his ill mother.

Duc Duc’s dominion lasted for a mere three days before he was deposed and sentenced to death under suspicious circumstances. His small, humble tomb reflects his brief reign.

The tomb of Emperor Khải Định splits general opinion with its blend of Eastern and Western styles and thus we may admire the most elaborative and elegant tomb. He embraces French colonialism to the point that he raised 30% tax for the construction of his tomb.

Credit info also from https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/inside-guide-hue-tombs

Other than that, Ive learnt about Buu Tan (a mythical representation of emperor), Kieu - Palanquin - Royal Carriage, the Unicorn (Chinese Qi Lin lookalike, only the King's unicorn have 5 instead of 4 toes) and the 4 seasons of vietnam - Apricot, Lotus, Chrysanthemum, Willow. .

WHAT A DAY! I am also introduced to Tom Doling for his detailed archive of Vietnam History.


Day 9 - Vietnam, Hue. Today spent the first half of the day Cafe Hopping and the next half going on a Walk of Revolution of Hue.

Hue was under the Champa kingdom, and the 3rd king of 84yo decided to marry a 25yo princess, Huyen Tran of Tran Dynasty. Unfortunately, the king died and thus the princess was supposed to be cremated with the king. Being saved by his father Tran Anh Tong, Champa led a huge invasion against South Vietnam as a form of anger in 1308, and stayed in power until 1801 when Gia Long took over and named "Vietnam". 1832 Vietnam drove away and abolished the Champa Kingdom. .

Soon in 1858, Europeans came, ended Feudalism. The Portuguese created Vietnamese Language, while the French came for missionary to spread catholic. Then there are several other civil wars in between between North and South which caused the DMZ in 1955, until the Sacrificial Monk in 1963 saw the end of the conflict by assasinations. .

But the peace didnt last long until US officially attacked in 1965. In between, there is also the Tet Offensive incident 1978 and finally Reunification by Ho Chi Minh that ended the US-Viet war in 1975. The victory wasnt purely the efforts of Vietnamese but also internal conflicts, AWOL and Morality Struggles of the US within themselves. Many do not fully understand who are they fighting for. When it all seems finished, there are also 1979 Frontier war, where Cambodia and China attacked the North Vietnam. .

Through the 2 days of Hue, we kindda learnt that Vietnam from the start, was not as "powerful" as it seems for all the "won" battles, but rather because of their perseverance which eventually received generous help from external parties which eventually led Vietnam to be exhausted of all resources from all the conflicts. History is history, there are no rights and wrongs in war, just matter or perspectives; as we learn history, let us also think about our everyday battles. Who are we fighting for?

Day 10 - Vietnam, Danang. A very relaxed day, woke up with a shower so slept in, went to the Iconic "Lady Buddha" which is in our context Goddess of Mercy for the town used to be typhoon-riden until the construction of the statue. Then Cafe Hopping, before heading to Fivitel Hotel Afternoon Tea Break buffet. Went for Leg Bath, Facial and Head massage before the Nen Fine Dining Experience. Nen Restaurant - Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Dining - 8 Course Excursion Set with Palate Cleansers, Cocktail and Sparkling Water. Truly Extraordinary! A great way to end my Central Vietnam Journey, from Food Tours to Street Food to Fine Dining, having to taste a wide array of flavours from something staple to something special. Well done Summer Le, head chef of Nen! Came back to continue the massage with Full Body, Scrub, Cold & Hot Stone, and Leg Massage. 

So, started reading a book, that seems to coincide with the problems I am facing. 

Basically, the newest problem we have is that we started to have reviews from guests who had the date of our tours mixed up and wrote a 1 star that caused me to fumed up as in the industry, such a review would mean like 50 full stars down the drain. But what was more disappointing was when I team didnt felt we were maligned but took on their defense, further reinforcing the anchoring resolution that I am after all alone in this.

Well........ anyways, as Linkin Park said.....
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end, it doesn't even matter

Guess I am always too passionate, always working too hard, always taking everything too personally. I guess in the end, why should I let myself be affected so much, I should go with the flow, I should learn to let it go. Let it be... Let it be... probably the wisest words ever yet most neglected by me.

At the end of the day, it is all just as what was written in the book :

THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH 

One day, you and everyone you love will die. And beyond a small group of people for an extremely brief period of time, little of what you say or do will ever matter. This is the Uncomfortable Truth of life. And everything you think or do is but an elaborate avoidance of it. We are inconsequential cosmic dust, bumping and milling about on a tiny blue speck. We imagine our own importance. We invent our purpose — we are nothing. 

Understand this, understanding the root of hopelessness, and then you will start to find hope. Accepting Nihilism of "Vanity of Vanity, All is Vanity", then you start to fill the gaps with hope and reasons. I guess, I am now in the state of going into Nihilism, where to opposite of Passion is Indifferent. I guess I should prioritize impacting my immediate guests, my way. Whatever the result is, is no longer my problem. 

“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.” — Mother Theresa

Well, after all, humans, me included, would start to make sense of the meaningless life, and split into our thinking brain and feeling brain. Among these, are our concept of "Emotion" molded similar to what Newton's Law of Motion states:

1) Your Identity will stay until a new Experience acts against it
2) Our Self Worth is the sum of our emotions over time 
3) For every Action, there is an Equal and Opposite Emotional Reaction

The book then explores how people measures self worth. Mark Manson used the ideology of Nietzsche classification of society to "Masters" and "slaves". Some people have a head start in life, having ascribed status in them that eventually cause a class divide. While these "Elites" would start to develop a "Master Morality" where they feel they end up a certain way because they deserve it because they earned it through hard work or ingenuity, (in short, they are righteous and virtuous because they were strong); conversely, the "Slaves" would also develop a "Slave Morality" where they believe they have suffered the most, most disadvantaged, most exploited, thus thus they should deserve the most respect and empathy, (in short, they are righteous and virtuous because of their weakness).   

We should work towards "Amor Fati" which means “love one’s fate.” It is a resolution about your Unconditional Acceptance of our Fate and learn beyond the realm of Good and Evil.

Moving on, the book continues to paint the picture of how the world is fucked up. And yes I feel it too all the time! With everyone being selfish, putting self interest above all else, lack of empathy and understanding, sense of self entitlement, false sense of superiority, and lots of these revolves around the subject of MONEY. By Immanuel Kant’s Theory of Humanity, we should act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in any other person, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means. Basically, Ulterior Motives. Behind every actions, it's a step you MUST do in order to achieve what you are purposed to do to achieve a certain end goal. 

I like to think that way though, it really cast aside all the distractions of emotions and social debts, and all the trivial things of life. I should learn to be a little more selfish!

But then the book transits into breaking away from such "Social Exchange Theory" or "Transactional Mindset" where we always perform an action just to achieve a desired goal. But thats how society has always been. Thus it's nice at times to catch up with friends such as Tai who shares the same frequency as me. He is able to point out certain overlooked things and challenge my thinking instead of bluntly forcing opinions, yet at the same time supports me and share the sighs. Well, if the theory applies, he may be just carefully constructing his words to utter what I selectively wants to hear and reaffirm my words because he wants to maintain our friendship. Then again, on the times we had spent and the kind of non existence conversations when we "discuss" only the keywords to our own arguments, these kind of chemistry is hard to fake! 

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” — Stephen Covey

Then again, times and again I do meet outside people who do allow me to think too.

A person once commented, "The world's greatest problems are not caused by a single person but by a collective systematic flaw in society.". Wow! liked it so much! I guess, as what the book says, EVERYTHING IS FUCKED! Call me escapist if you want, I'm not gonna care, at least not anymore, from now on, it's me, myself, and I, being at the centre of the universe!

It's now a week to my 25th. 

It's a few more days to my big party.

What am I feeling?

Well, first thing first, ever since my last post....

I've squeezed into the Finalist of Singapore Tourism Award,
Truly a wonderful night.....

A testimony of persistence,
Affirmation of competence,
Display of effulgence,
Journey of excellence
Assessment of omnicompetence....
on this very day of significance.

Very humbled to be among the stars of customer service in various fields.
Made a few connections, and inspired by many stories from these amazing people.

Then I went for Diving in Bali.
I went for my Open Water Course and Advanced Open Water Course altogether.
And extended a few days for leisure.

At the pool sessions we did a few of the drills, which I thought we would never use,
eg Tired Diver Tow, Change Mask, Manual BCD Inflation.

Then first dive my mask too small every 5 mins full mask clearing.

Second dive my friend fins lost, so we Tired Diver Tow.

Third dive my mask snaps, Underwater Change Mask.

Fifth dive our friend air consumption abnormal so we did CESA.

Sixth dive my BCD auto inflate so I gotta do Manual Inflation.

By the end, I'm truly blessed that I have a very good Dive Instructor,
very earnest guy who takes care of us a lot yet after dive we are like long lost bros.
We extended our gratitude by offering to take him around nearby areas for a quick tour of scenery, and then throw a big feast.

Following that I checked off my list for a few more Michelin places,
then went to Indonesia Best Chef at Jakarta Nusa Gastronomy, Cheft Ragil.
Had a good fine dining experience with parents with detailed explanation on each course,
having the origin source, the process, the inspiration and the innovations.
We even had a kitchen tour at the end when everyone leaves! Back of house!

Then back to reality.

I guess every company will sooner or later face HR issues here and there,
And as I explained in earlier post, I'm still alone on this journey.
But I guess it's time for us to come together one more time,
To update everyone to be on a same page,
and to solve issues there and then,
an to delegate some ownerships here and there,
or to clear off weeds if there is.

At the end, its :

Price of Stability vs Price of Freedom

When the bigger things in life, housing, safety, healthcare, retirement, is taken care of, thats national stability; albeit may be loss of individuality, but compensated with niche subculture; like animals in zoo, in captivity, but with basic survival taken care of, there's allowance for appreciation of sub talents, and leisure activities..... May be delusional, l call that organised freedom ....

Sometimes, its better the abnegation for the best of national interest rather than to abrogate the need for progress and staying relevant and competitive in the world.

Same as life actually, was talking to a few students and concluded : choose the suffering you are willing to take. (reference to blog post October 15, 2018)

What every you choose, there is never an absolute smooth pathway,
It's just matter of perspective, choices, sacrifices.
There is always a way, as long as you dare to sacrifice.
(reference to blog post April 24, 2019)

Gone are the days where academic excellence its the only way to climb the ladder.
There are multiple ways in today's world.
And we moved on from labour intensive world
to a capital intensive one, to a skilled based,
to a knowledge and innovation based,
it's all about connections, opportunities, and time.

What do we really want to achieve?

In my 25 years,

I have achieved a position that provided me with
Comfortable Salary, Flexible Schedule, and Job Satisfaction

What more can I ask?

I wake up everyday to say "yes let's kick start the day",
I end everyday with "oh right today I learnt something new again",

What more can I ask?

Speaking of which,
I read into a greater deeper world of Beers,
and it's so fascinating about the origins, process and innovations of Beer,
and will be looking into getting a Certification.
The same with the realm of Tea,
It's just so amazing that all Tea comes from the same plant Camellia Sinesis,
only differs in Cultivation, Climate, and Process.
The history, the links, the catalyst, the influence, that shape the various culture.
 and thus planning on a Certification too.

Today I just did a One North : Silicon Valley of Singapore tour,
Stepped into the future of Singapore, of innovations and ideas,
From Bottom-Up Ideas Materialization and Fueling the Flames of the Future,
it's just simply amazing!

Life, is so much to learn, so much to discover,
and made colourful by each stories, each perspectives, each every-improving day.

I conclude.............

With Family, Friends, Career and Purpose..........

I have the greatest life anyone could ask for. 

It's 2 days to the day.

Well, 1 year in the guiding, 2 years in tourism, Truly humbled and delighted to be able to share such a high prestige platform. Thank you for recognizing my contribution to the Tourism Industry.

Amongst the titans of the industry I'm but a mere soul, nothing too great, nothing too significant. In the grand scheme of Tourism Receipts I am only a grain in the sands. But for my personal journey I guess this is a validation of my pursuit, and affirmation of my resilience.

Part of growing up is also to eventually understand that everything comes and go, everything is ephemeral. Had some discussions around and kinda surprised how easy some people were to let go.

The truth is, no one in the world is as crazy, no one in the world as as devoted. I guess I gotta start going with the flow too. At the end of the day, most people just want to get past their days, not bothered by having a foresight, at least not if they do not have ownership. And so there I am, grit my teeth, towards an utopian scenario, which on hindsight can be quite naive.

Famous companies all over the world, did their original team of employees stood by the founder till the end, most likely no. It's a matter of timing. Some people have the purpose of building it, but may not be fortunate enough to reap what they have sown. Some people are lucky enough to be that catalyst that drove that one last mile and then harvest the fruits of labour.

I kindda think back to the time I went to the Tarot, my purpose is done, the cards shown me, though the second half asked me to persist on to benefit from the shade of the tree I planted for now.

So then, I started to think what would my next step be, and I guess I have a rough plan.

1) To build a new team to take over
2) To be freelance Guide
3) To enter into Centre of Strategic Futures

I guess ultimately it will be the greatest challenge I will every face if I do step into CSF. We are not the end-user, nor we are the enabler, we are a suggestion. And for every idea, there will be people who support, people who are aggressively against; we might probably get praises, and appreciation at times, but most of the time we probably get backlashed, get mocked, get attacked, etc. But then again, I guess the only way one can make a real difference, is with a team of Forward-Thinking individuals of different skillset, and a mixture of talents and ideas, that have a common goal to make the nation a better place. "If I failed, if I succeed, at least I lived as I believed"

About Foresight

The twentieth-century philosopher and mathematician, Bertrand Russell, told a story about a turkey who was fed on its first day at the farm. Intrigued by whether this would continue, the turkey collected data across a wide range of circumstances—rainy days and sunny days, whether it was the farmer or her husband who did the feeding, and so on. Finally, having amassed a robust dataset, the turkey felt confident that it would be fed every morning. Come Christmas Eve, however, it was killed and roasted.

We are much like that turkey. And that is not a bad thing. Inductive reasoning of the sort the turkey used, where we work on the assumption that the future will be like the past, is a pillar of science. But it is good to be prepared for futures which are not like the past. Sometimes, projections fail. Sometimes, trends bend.

https://thesystemsthinker.com/the-art-of-foresight-preparing-for-a-changing-world/

Cats loves Fish,
Yet couldnt enter the Waters
Fish loves Worms,
Yet couldnt go Ashore,
Life is about one hand receiving and one hand losing,
Life is about one hand choosing and one hand letting go,
There is never an absolute smooth paveway,
It's just matter of perspective, choices, sacrifices.
There is always a way, as long as you dare to sacrifise.

So 2019 seems like a good year for me..........
but only me........

You see, during the first year of this,
I've put in all my blood sweat tears,
To come this far,
and to assemble the best of the best around me....
or so I thought.

Until today,
I realize,
Money talks,
Money rules,
Money overwrites everything...

And its so easy for employees to shun the ownership,
who thinks everyone is dispensable,
and half of the battle is lost,
and people dont like to be stagnant, even to help team members
dont like to take charge, or to think through things.....
how?

I have to say though, thank you for the opportunity,
Thank you for the times,
Thank you for the momentary blissful few months of my life,
and now everything gonna crumble down,
The rock I thought I have built, is crumbling down,
Everything is meaningless, everything is futile,
Let us all be selfish and that actually fills our stomach.

Passion dont feed, and this is not the first time I say this,
Im naive to think it could.
It's really really not easy to be in the modern world,
People needs are insatiable,
There is just so little one person can do,
There is just so little one person can endure,
Times and again im so sick of living, so sick of adulting, so sick of being here,
There's just so limited resource, so much greed,
So much deep pockets and short hands,
So little understanding,
So little heart........

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"

Maybe we're worst than fowls....... we're worthless useless human beings..... 
Just perish....... 

Then again, im still young, long way for me, screw the adults!
Screw the negativity!
It's my life ! I fail all I want, I got another 50 years ahead!
More opportunities ahead!
Nothing last forever, screw everything!

Nowadays it's really a "Me" world,
Hardwork dont pay off,
Hard to succeed in life,
Utopia dont exist,
Too many people to please,
Boss, Client, Colleagues....

Those who thinks achieving where we are is easy..... it's not.....

- Free Walking Tours (FWT) are our bread and butter in terms of Guides, but company dont earn
- Private Tours are how company earn but means Guides will receive less and its not competitive with Industry Practice
- Back Office will need to earn through company profits through Private Tours
- Price point is the max we can go if not no bookings then it will be worst
- There are no ownership from the staffs because when asked "How can be find a solution?", staffs replied thats not for them to think but the owner. And to them everyone is dispensable.
- There's always the Diminishing Returns, more job = more guides = more mouths to feed, to what end? How can we actually increase value?
- To what extend we need to keep the integrity of things? Before falling back to the mass marketing easy cash flow?
- Venturing into different Target Groups takes manpower resources out of company and thus replacing FWT with freelance which is not why our Guides join us
- Getting freelance to do Private Tours are weird as Private Tours should be represented by our best Guides

Firstly, its already a sad news,

Im sure the entire org is panicking now,

But it disgusts me that everything is blamed onto gahmen,

If there's anything,

Its the people to be checked.

From exp in the army,

Theres many safety measures around,

And many rules, procedures, SOP, etc,

Its almost impossible to have repeated accidents,

So what now?

Ever wondered who checks who?

Every wondered who plays by left?

Ever wondered who neglects? 

I always believed the system is there, 
the laws and regulations are there, 
is whether or not ppl follow.... 
Having served the 2 years I think the protocols are so insanely safe
 its impossible to have accidents. 
However ofcoz we all know that it's inevitable that ppl in the unit will have "by left" practices. 

Not everything also political. 
Im sure no one likes to hear about death. 
Im sure no one wants to serve either. 
I'm sure there are more undisclosed cases. 
But NS is vital for our survival. How? 

When these rules became too "troublesome" for people to follow, 
then they dont, 
then things happen. 
But if rules are too strict, 
ppl no heart to serve, 
then how to trust a nation under hands of the unwilling? 

Not easy be gahmen.

Pointless blaming solves nothing

By blaming everything on the top lvl is myopic,

If everything can be micromanaged

Perhaps u will live in a safe yet zero freedom world. 


Must every freaking news must involve politics?
Come on, grow up...... 
Target only to news, and respond sensibly.
Should be then abolish NS? So we dont lose out to FT and Women?

Hilarious! Stupid comparison.

So many tourists come forth and say:
"wow everything seems so well planned"
"wow your people have your life planned out"
"wow your systems are great", 
Savings, planned,
Housing, planned,
Health, top quality, subsidized, but responsibility on self,
Retirement, likewise,
So taxpayers wont have to bear extra burdens,
Infrastructures, towards sophistication and biophilic city,
Sustainability, on our way........

What is there to complain?
Seriously got so much to complain migrate la,
Debunk citizenship go fly elsewhere,
Let the nation be only filled with people who loves the country,
with people who appreciates, with people who works to improve not empty talks,
not happy with progress, suggest la,
not happy with inconvenience, think in bigger picture la,
not happy with strict rules, scram elsewhere with all the freedom you want,
not happy with cost of living, leave and find somewhere you're comfortable.

I may be ignorant, I may be brainwashed, but from the look of it,
Passion is made possible, at least for me, and im now comfortable........

2019..........

Year started with endless jobs flowing in,
Ofcoz, I'm happy, but also at the same time tired.
But perhaps, it's brought upon myself,
Cuz I spent alot of time socializing and catching up too.

So 2019 Started with Bedok 4 friendship back on track,
I had also brought "The Cast" group to a next level too,
And introduced Tai to some of my other close cliques,
And he enjoyed, feeling young again, all the talk cock sing song,
Something that Bedok 4 no longer capable.

But well things gotta move on,
Ive said my peace too,
To whoever who thinks we are just
"A bunch of people that over promise and under deliver"

Like TQC i did fulfill my 2 lessons I promised
And i even had worksheets and lessons plans,
When approached me for training IC we did came up with year plan too,
I said im bringing all 4 of us back to talk about impressions I did too,
So as much as I had put in effort if you still dont think I put in enough,
So be it........... This reunion dinner, gonna be my last involvement.

The Cast however, had just started,
But I forsee its gonna be better,
At least they all have each other in the near future,
And Im truly grateful that they found a clique,
And no longer pointlessly meeting every saturday night
without knowing each other's stories,
and in midst, at least one of them is pushing for growth,
mentally, spiritually, and belly-ly.

So when a group like this is established,
I can safely say Im retreating from the main group.
I dont have any growth,
I am no longer faithful,
I am always seems like "Smoking my way through answers"
I am too idealistic and my words are to deaf ears
When asked what can I contribute,
let's be realistic, I think I contributed enough,
and obviously it's no longer a suitable place for me.

I think I clung on long enough,
to not disappoint LL, to not disappoint KG,
to not disappoint YJ, to not disappoint WL,
He casually told me, "My best friend had backslided and no longer in contact",
And I just couldnt let myself be another one of that,
But now Im rather confident I would not.

So yes, 2019, I need to clean up all my commitments,
all my social groups, all my involvements,
It's the quarter life, and I guess I'm comfortable,
and perhaps the last half of the year is for me to full steam ahead again.
Time for me to take on new projects,
to take on new challenges,
to learn new things,
to pave myself my own future............

Meanwhile at work,
I'm extremely comfortable,
And I really don't wish to think too much,
let me enjoy this peace a longer while.......
before we propel to greater heights,
taking on more challenges,
taking on more responsibilities,
yet maintaining standards.....

So.......
New year, finally some breather,
Started the new year with a simple gathering at my house,
and we waited for sunrise... mistake,
moments after I got ready the tilam and wanted to sleep,
I was summoned for tour.........
Full day tour too,
and the week didnt stop, the hectic didnt paused,
I had to occasionally seek rest at Ancient Therapy massage,
to take an hour or two nap between tours,
I am very very very tired,
But looking at how hard my team is working,
I cannot give up.

It is also time for the Tourism Award,
I browsed through, and was not confident at all,
Looks like I am not well received with guests after all......
But it's okay, there's always a lower mountain.

Recently a few movies talked about friendship,
From Wreck It Ralph, Spiderverse, to Make It Big,
which then allowed me to think about friendship.

I felt that I am very fortunate to have many great friends around me.
At the end of the day, it's effort,
how much effort do you want to maintain a friendship,
how much support, how much you enjoy companion,
how much shit you do not mind to go through.
Just simply jio-ing, and following-ups, and occasional whazzup, makes a difference.

Maybe I'm more of the Task-Specific, but then times again I do enjoy a certain degree of Hierarchical-Compensatory, and very much honored to be in one.

How would you define "friend"?