Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Blame the Weather X Can’t Get Any Lazier: Bye December

more than 2 weeks have passed

since i last blogged

and i am supposed to write his

during day 1 of 2018

*

anyway

have been lazing around

like nobody’s business

since mid December

*

like other than work

i take no interest in

anything else

good for me

*

but still

there are some happenings

but it’s either i feel that

there’s nothing blog-worthy

or i am too lazy to

*

not even the gifts

i prepared and received

during Christmas

*

so December

5-14 I was away

in Southern China

*

travel and work

of course

and waking up at 1 AM

on a Saturday morning

*

and damn

it was cold outside

so i made myself a warm

Knorr (no Campbell) soup

and turned on the TV

watched some opera

*

before i started work

all the way until

the sun rise

which happened to be

later than user

dreary.. erm that’s a new term

Dreary ><

*

after all the month

turned out to be smooth

there was work

but not too much

*

except a couple of days

after i got home

received a task of moderate volume

during the trip and surprisingly

was given 10 days to complete

*

so i only started doing it

when i got home

since there were another 3 days

until the due date

*

one day after submission

got a shocking news that

the file was actually bigger than

what was being assigned

*

that kind of explained

why such a long deadline

was being given

*

so i actually have only

completed 1/4 of the entire project

and so was given 3 days

(after rounds of negotiation)

to complete the other 3/4

which was closed to 50k

*

well challenge accepted

and accomplished

i considered the thick cheque

an annual bonus for

my hard-working throughout the year

*

but of course

i slept through the week

having worked for

3 days and 3 nights

with minimum sleep

*

and finally there came the time to

total up the sales for the

month / quarter / year

*

bang!!!!

better than expected

partially thanks to

that particularly challenging project

*

well anyway

the happy moment didn’t last that long

the fear and uncertainty of

starting all over again from scratch

that was how my new year started

*

but anyway 20+ days have passed

so far it is not as bad after all

work volume has been stable so far

*

i am ambitious enough to

plan one trip for every month

but at the same time

cut down on shopping by setting

a 6-month no shopping pledge

*

Friday, January 5, 2018

Travel Planning X Can Get Frustrating: Peak Travelling

this has been bugging me for

the past few weeks

since last year, literally

*

have always wanted to get away

from home from people

during Lunar New Year

*

but then there are loads

dilemmas/options involved

with their respective pros/cons

*

(1) travel solo during peak

(2) travel with friend during peak

(3) travel with friend after peak

(4) travel with family during peak

(5) travel with family after peak

*

(1) travel solo during peak

i really wanted to

get away on Day 1

so that i won’t have to

deal with visitors/visiting

during Lunar New Year

*

just choose somewhere and go

somewhere quiet and near

closing one eye to the price hike

*

(2) travel with friend during peak

nobody of my race

including my family

want to get away from home

during Lunar New Year

*

then I actually found a

travel companion of a

different race yet

*

it’s unfair to make her

pay for the price hike

for a stupid dilemma of mine

*

(3) travel with friend after peak

super cheap tickets

pre/post peak, obviously

*

yet it involves leave application

so that wouldn’t do as well

*

and it defeats the purpose of

planning a getaway

i no longer have to escape

from home when

the visits are over

*

(4) travel with family during peak

my family will be worried

it has been years since i did

so that would affect their

festive mood as too

*

so i might as well

travel with my dad

*

but it feels bad to

leave my mom alone

to deal with visitors

chores and more

while me and my dad

are happily away

*

(5) travel with family after peak

life during Lunar New Year

may be less tough

when i at least have

a trip to look forward to

*

utilizing a few advantages like

(a) cheap ticket

600+ MYR for 2 pair of return tickets

utilizing the 2018 New Year sale

*

the saving from travelling off peak

could be utilized to fund

another short distance trip

*

and as a freelancer

it feels dumb to

rush for peak travelling whereas

i have plenty of opportunities

to make good use of off peak

throughout the a year

*

(b) ideal flight timing

plenty to choose from,

unlike peak whereby

some ideal slots have been sold off

*

(c) quick getaway to

somewhere totally fresh

4d3n / 5d4n kind of trip

*

there comes another problem

my dad refused to go anywhere

in my suggestion list

*

and it’s not possible to

head back to mainland China

middle of February

coldness and crowdedness

*

and my 1 remaining visa

is for our Chongqing trip

happening in March

which is like real soon

*

i got damn frustrated

like this has been bugging me

for days and even weeks

*

so finally settled with

back to square one

*

(1) travel solo during peak

yet changed destination

to somewhere my family

will feel okay with

for travelling solo

*

which has been on my

bucket list for years

*

and best of all

which does not suffer

too much price hike

unlike the nearby destinations 

previously planned

*

Bee-I-NGO

Bee-I-NGO

Bee-I-NGO

*

can’t help feeling relieved

at least there’s something to

look forward to and

less anxiety and frustration

as the date is drawing closer to

Lunar New Year

*