Wazzup?

My blood pressure, what else?

Crazy week, almost died from stress-induced hyperventilation. Big guy up there thinks I've not passed the Test yet, I guess. Was already unwell early this week, but couldn't see a doctor cos had real important stuff on my hands. So many pending things, and yet new things kept coming up. i'm not complaining, just wondering if there's a more efficient way of doing things.

The collaborated presentation with HP took most of my attention this week. We're really gunning for it; clinchin the deal is a testament of our capabilities. Plus our relationship with HP has gone a level deeper with them marketing some of our RFID products for us in the Asia Pacific region! It is chaotic now, but in time to come, it's for the good of our company. Some of them complained about the increase in workload, feeling disgruntled and all. I feel the crunch too, but in front of them I'd say, "positive thinking, people!" Cos my whining ain't gonna help things at all. Have to adapt and challenge yourself in order to grow.

Finished the presentation on Thursday.. I can breathe again! But my body couldn't take it anymore. Yesterday felt nauseous and had the runs (again).. took halfday to visit my doc.

OF COURSE... there are the little simple joys in life that kept my sanity alive. Like having dinner at my fave Jap eatery, Tamako. It's this family-operated quaint little nook on Casuarina Road. Was there on Tues after work and as usual, the food didn't disappoint. Don't know why, little cozy outlets like Tamako are my kind of thing - no spanking cutlery, no whitewashed walls, no classical music, no waiting staff in perfectly-ironed and bleached uniforms, no artistically presented mounds of suspicious-sounding food like Pommes de Terre purée à l'ail et l'oignon (which means Mashed Potatoes with Onions and Garlic by the way). Just simple and down-to-earth things - cutlery that resemble those in my kitchen, walls that show slight signs of age, haphazardly-hunged wood-framed pictures, waiting staff in comfy, unsynchronized get ups (one wore jeans, the other wore apron over a dress), familiar voice of Channel 5's newscaster, and simply arranged food with flavours your tastebuds'd get addicted to. All nestled in a hidden corner of Singapore.

That is the allure and charm of Tamako. It's their unpretentiousness and people that makes each of my dining experience an unforgettable pleasure. Know what they say about food? You can taste the mood of the person who prepared your food. I've wined and dined at real chi-chi places. Some foods are real good shit, but somehow it just lacks a certain human touch and oommph to it. As though the chef's just goin through the motions and executing his trainings at culinary school. Or just cooking to impress his restaurant's patrons. Most of my memorable gastronomic delights are at dingy places: braised beef brisket noodles on a narrow lane off the main road of Tsim Sha Tsui (rats even scurried past our feet as we ate), Penang laksa at a grimy sidewalk just beside the dusty road (any nearer and there'll be 'extra toppings' on our food), grilled chicken thigh by a grandpa on a narrow lane off Phuket's bustling market (thigh's skewered and kept in a glass box on his bicycle cart), satay and Ramly burger on a back alley behind KL's YMCA (the rotund lady boss gave us extra sticks, knowing we're not local), kolo mee and dimsum and iced chinese tea at Brunei's Cafe de Pariss (the waitresses are always smiling, always obliging.. like the Thai people!).

So when I do eventually get to BKK next year (19-23 Jan), I'll make sure zero visiting to expensive places like restaurants. C'mon.... don't you have enough of that in plasticky, advanced, 1st world Singapore already?? I wanna rough it out, eat from roadside stalls (especially phad thai and fried crickets/grasshoppers). Gotta try everything at least once.. so I won't lug regrets along when it's time to hand in my IC.