Author: Wilfrid

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Diary From the Attic

Back in Paris

OK, I am back in Paris.  A different hotel, Renaissance, definitely a lot better.  Officially, each night cost FF1,850.  Bedroom, Study Room, Small Living Room, Toilet and Bathroom.  I am very satisfied with what I have.

I am really glad that I can connect to Lotus Notes via the digital phone line.  As I have always said, actively pursue what I want, I managed to get the cable from the Hotel.

Something called a King Pie (or something like that), one feet in diameter.  Inside each pie, there is a “charm” (feve in French).  Whoever get it will have to wear a crown on their head.  A very interesting culture.  Today, there was a gathering on pie eating.  With all the French, it was also boring as they never even put an effort in speaking English to me.

Went down to Virgin Store and everything seemed the same.  Gala’s “Freed from Desire” is still number one.  Kind of a very funny experience.  Not much difference as compare to 3 weeks ago.  Even the songs in M6 are the same.

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Diary From the Attic

Yet Another Day of Triviality

Human being never learn from their past mistakes. Every morning I promise myself I will sleep early. But it has never been done.

Actually it is very late right now, therefore I have to keep it very short.

Basically, there are 4 items for today.

  • Jenny fetched me to work in her husband’s car because her husband was out of town.
  • I spent most of my time finding and setting up a digital modem. Whether it will work or not, have to test it in Paris.
  • HIV Game. Only three of us. In the end, we decided to have a Virtual Head Hunter.
  • I can now reach the uncensored version of Internet!

Edit: May 10, 2008 – I cracked my brain and can’t recall what “HIV Game” is.  Huh?!  And that uncensored Internet, I think, was referring to CompuServe.

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Diary From the Attic

Woke Up Late

What a horrible day.  This morning I woke up, looked at the clock and found that I was 45 minutes late as compared to my usual wake up time.  Total panic.  Quickly showered and dressed up, got into a non air-conditioned bus and only got a place to sit half way through my trip.  Fell asleep and nearly missed the bus stop.  Arrived at the office 15 minutes late.  Well, the conclusion is I can actually wake up half an hour later.  Wonder what I spent half an hour on.

I was so tired the whole day.  Achievement of today: I have found out that my HDB flat waiting period is roughly 3 years from now.  That means I can only move into my new place 5 years later.  By then I will be near to my 30.  I think the only consolation is that I should be relatively financially sound as compare to an early marriage.

Went with Francis and Zen Pin to a Japanese Restaurant at somewhere near AIA building.  Very good food and probably ordered more than we could eat.

I always promise myself that I will sleep early but I never do. By the way, Sophie from Paris managed to get me the hotel I wanted.  What a great news !

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Diary From the Attic

Prepare for Departure

Ever since I have the notebook, I have lost a seat in the office.  Last time, I was used to occupy one place (3 computers) claiming that they were for VTF Support.  Now that I have a notebook, I suddenly became homeless.

Today, in terms of personal administration, I was quite successful.  Have extended my temporary increased in credit limit.  Got my visa.  Sorted out my flights (SIN-PAR, PAR-US, SIN-HK).  Meet up with Edwin Lee but forgot to pass him the Eiffel Tower miniature.  Met up with my girlfriend and had a dinner in Planet Hollywood.  One thing not perfect was that I could not find the digital to analog phone line converter.  I have tried my best and if in the end I cannot dial to Lotus Notes, I resign to fate.

Another example of “Actively pursue what I want”.  I wanted upstairs (Planet Hollywood) and if I did not ask for it, most probably I would not get it.

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Diary From the Attic

Of Bus Trip and Lunch Break

Today was a very interesting day.  As usual, walked out of my place at 07:20.  Saw the bus 82 and ran for it.  Got it and it was not air-conditioned.  Did not get my favorite seat (the one facing backwards) but managed to get a seat at the beginning of the trip.  Got a little bit of sleep until the one sat next to me needed to get out.  Began to read the novel “The Runaway Jury”.

Arrived at the office area at 08:20 and had a nice breakfast (2 buns and a soya bean drink).  Walked into office at 08:30.  Wanted to go to see doctor (my running nose) but ended up chatting with Ginger, who just came back from her 2 weeks Hawaii holiday (with her sister, I think).  Morning just passed by.

Now is the fun begins.  Had a lunch appointment with Francis.  Because he needed to send his brand new notebook for repair at Concord Hotel Shopping Center.  So I accompanied him.  Had a very nice lunch, returned at the office at 3:00 pm.  BCM was waiting for me so we went to Sim Lim Center for an hour, shopping for Fireball 3.2G Hard Disk and my 2 Jaz Cartridge.

I have never felt so relax. Derek joined the firm today and had a few chat with him.

At night, just when I was about to go home, I met up with Shawn and Daphne.  Had a very long conversation at Bugis Junction (supper, of course).  Our topic was mainly on love relationship.  Daphne never had love before.  Shawn broke up with his girlfriend last year.  So we are a good mix.  Shawn thought he was the coolest guy in the whole world.  Ha Ha Ha.  We did talk about a lot of things.  Ranging from “Harry Met Sally” to outdoor activity.  It was a great fun.

I think I have improved on the skill of dentist floss.  I can now “floss“ 3 quarters of my teeth.  Hooray!

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Diary From the Attic Uncategorized

A Day of Triviality

Planned to wake up at 9 this morning, ended up waking up at midday.  Rushed all the way to JP’s place, found that the car was out.  So we had our lunch, slept for a while, and waited for the car.  By the time we hit Yaohan, it was about 4 pm.  The first thing I found was the Polo Luggage bag.  A very cool looking one and definitely my loving.  Come to think of it, I have been quite lucky during this period of time.  I got a lovely CD player and a lovely luggage bag.

I have got to write this down in my diary.  Do not attempt to park the car in AMK during a Sunday night.  We tried parking the car for half an hour and we just gave up in the end.

Now that all the CDs, photo albums and important documents is in JP’s place (plus throwing away all my rubbish), my place seem to become very empty.  Ready to move.

Tonight will be the first night for me to use a dental floss.  I will tell you the feeling later on.

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Diary From the Attic

Renewing My Driving License

Once in a while, people will automatically wake up in the morning, look at the clock, and get shocked.  Just about to leave the bed and realized that today was Saturday.  Feel greatly relieved and went back to sleep again.

Well, as for today, I did get up twice.  But the difference is that I did not feel relieved at all.  Last night I slept at 3am and this morning I had to get up at 9am and headed to town in order to have my driving license renewed.

To actively pursue what I want is this year’s motto.  Today I put it into practice.  I walked into the Traffic Police Department asking whether I could renew my license before it was expired.  And the stupid guy told me that I needed some form of proof saying that I will be away.  So I was quite angry and disappointed and walked away.  Just when I stepped out of the Department, I realized that I should ask him whether I need to bring the passport as well as it would be in the French Embassy.

He was not there anymore.  So I said to myself, what the hell.  I meant, why didn’t I queue up and saw what happen.  So I did.  So I got my license renewed.

The rest of the day was quite standard.  Sleep the whole afternoon at JP’s place.

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Diary From the Attic

Feeling the Blahs

Not a very exciting day.  Work was, as usual, boring.  Trying to do some green books, but there are always a lot of disturbance in the office.  People would just ask you some stupid questions or ask you to do some stupid things or ask you to join him or her for a cup of coffee.  I really wish I could be left alone and quietly do the green books.

Funny that I do not wish to do any VISION related jobs later on in my life.  I have this deep feeling that (although I do not want to admit) too many people has gone ahead of me.  At the end of the day, maybe I have been doing VISION for one and a half years and more, I know nothing about Version 5.  And I have to learn all from start.  I just want to get out.  What I scared of is that I will be asked to maintain all the new systems all over the world.

Wanted to join BCM for a show “The Thing You Do” in the new cinema at Shaw Tower.  Sad to say JP was very tired.  So I ended up spending my Friday night with Sam and his wife.  Somehow the bedroom set that Sam ordered was damaged and has to be manufactured again.  Of course, they will not accept a bedroom set after their marriage day hence they have to choose another set.  In the end, they have found one but Sam did not like the handles and his wife did not like the size of the wardrobe.  She said it was too small.  Anyway, we had a dinner somewhere and I accompanied them to buy a wok in NTUC.

Came home for the show, “A Few Good Man”.  And that is it.  Write some mails and go to sleep.

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Diary From the Attic

Of Daylight and Shopping

Yet another show.  This time was with Annie as well.  Bugis Junction.  The show was “Daylight”.  Although BCM has already set a high expectation, I still found it very good.  It was definitely better than the preview clips.

And I have done quite a fair bit of shopping.  JP bought me an expensive tie and I bought myself another one.  And being very bored with the belt that I have been wearing for more than 6 years, I need a new one.  So I bought a Valentino.  I know, I know.  It was quite painfully expensive.

Then I was wandering in Tower Record and could not find any CD that was appetizing.

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From the Attic Reflection

Looking Back on 1996

As I have promised myself on the last day of 1996, I will review what I have done in the last year. And hopefully, I live a better life in the year 1997.

As I was playing my guitar tonight, singing the song “Nobody Knows”, I remembered my days back in the US.  Indeed, that was one of the happiest moment of year 96, or perhaps my life.  Being influenced by US culture (movies, music, and jeans) for so long, it was the first time I have ever stepped into the land of liberty.  I still remember the excitement in me when I first landed at the San Francisco Airport. The limousines. Everything seemed so different – the roads, the buildings and even the air.

I drove into Chicago so many times and I could not remember how often.  I was with Collin all the time. Great friend to be with.  I still remember we got lost initially all the time and eventually, he directed and I drove.

Three weeks in St. Charles.  I hang out with Collin, Yoshito (Japanese man), Mitzi (Korean lady) and another Australian lady.  Great friends to be with. The drinking parties in my room and the lovely conversation with Collin and the beautiful Mitzi.  Life was good.

Vividly I remembered a pub with a large dance floor, country style.  Collin and I left the party without telling Mitzi, who was too busy dancing with all the guys on the dance floor.  And she was not happy when she knew that.  The next day, before she and her friend flew back to wherever they came from (Australia), we had a conversation by the fireplace.  Some random topics and Collin and I saw them into the bus.

And then, I felt a sense of emptiness.  Suddenly all the friends were gone.  And I was back in Singapore, facing the hot sun.  The whole period in US was like a fairy tale.

Yet, there was another fairy tale – my two trips to Paris.  The first one lasted for 5 days and the second one lasted for 60 days.  The BNP promotion with Francis was fun.  We had great food and since we are not the fuzzy type, we can get along very well.  I showed him Paris whenever we had time.  The other trip was for Societe Generale.  During the first 3 weeks, I had Damien with me.  I miss those days with Francis.

Life in Societe Generale was pretty peaceful.  Work started at 9 in the morning and usually ended at 6 in the evening.  The people there were very nice.  Sad to say, Sophie, Claude and Lionel left for Sydney in the middle of my stay.  But my days with Aurore, Noubi and Mohammed was great.  Especially Mohammed, we called each other brothers.

Weekdays after work, I usually went downtown to have my dinner.  As for weekends, I always started from La Defense and ended up in Paris center at night.  One movie and one meal and back home.  During nighttime, I composed electronic messages that captured my feeling and observations during the day.

The food was good.  The MTV in the morning was good.  The French music was good. By the way, I felt in love with Mylene Farmer.  Her music is just fantastic.

During those days back in Paris, someone thought that I was lonely.  But I was not, I was in another state of mind. If I had my guitar with me, I would have composed a lot of great songs.

Back in Singapore, I am glad that I know Sam as a friend.  He has introduced me into his circle of friends (which is big).  Through him, I know a lot of people.  Although they are all men, I don’t really mind.  All the Wednesday night out, cheap dinner, and Karaoke.

Enough of stating what happened in year 96, but that was not the main topic in here.  What could I have done better, hopefully in year 97 ?

The New Motto: To actively pursue what I want.  I have been too passive.  Not determined enough. Always avoid the reality.  Must face it and direct the future into whatever I dream of.

Action: To plan and stick to it.  I must treat my personal life as yet another project.  To self improve or to exercise?  It must be planned and followed.

Beware : Spend within budget.  I have been spending too much money on things that may not be necessary.  This is no good and must change.  I must keep track on how money is spent and plan for future saving.

Goal: Must list out all the goals I want to fulfill this year.  Thought goals, I will have motivation.