Peace

Total bliss

tei o

DH says there are 2 types of holiday.

The first type is where you go to a place and ‘see’ it. So if you are going to Egypt, then of course you have to see the pyramids or if you are in Paris, then you must visit the Eiffel Tower or if you visit Beijing, then the Great Wall of China should be on the must see list.

Most Singaporeans are very likely to have this type of holiday. I guess with our fast pace living, and the government constantly drumming into us that we must be productive and learn as long as we live…we all feel the need to tick off those ‘must see/ must do’ places/things when we go on holiday. No doubt, our ‘kiasu’ nature reinforces this urge as well, otherwise we would feel that we haven’t spend the money well.

There is a second type of holiday when you do absolutely nothing. And I mean really nothing…except maybe read or listen to you music on your ipod.

Many people can do this for a day or two but most would think you’re mad if you ‘do’ this continously for 4 to 5 days.

Indeed, if you are on this type of holiday for the first time, it can be rather hard on your system. You may actually have to fight the urge to go into town, visit that famous restaurant, check out that theme park etc.

But believe me, once you have conquered that and tell yourself that chilling out is just as rewarding and refreshing….you will be surprised how quickly time passes.

Eat…sleep…read…eat…chat….sleep….

We don’t have to behave like a frenzied rat when we are on holiday.

I’ll have a beer please

Peace & Quiet

tei o 2 Comments

I’ve been driven up the wall for the last 2 days…..

I can’t hold a decent conversation on the phone. I’ve had to turn up the volume on my radio. I can’t even hear myself think. I’m seriously thinking of digging out my mufflers to use tomorrow.

My place is having a major upgrading. Part of the major upgrading exercise announced by the government last year…. which was of course a prelude to the election soon. Yeah, every Singaporean knows that such bonuses normally mean that election is round the corner. Of course not that I’m complaining… I mean upgrading is good right? It will increase the value of my place.

But what I don’t understand are some of the things that they upgrade/ maintain.

What’s been driving me up the wall the last few days is the Rat-a-tat-a-tat that’s going directly below my place. They’re demolishing the footpath…to make it ‘nicer’ with new cement.

Huh? I know my eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be….but I looked left and I looked right and I looked all around but I still failed to see what is the difference between the ‘new’ footpath and the ‘old’ footpath. Better cement perhaps? Now what would have been really good and useful would have been a ramp to link the carpark to our block. It would have been useful for the handicapped, the elderly and generally when we need to use a trolley. Of course that’s not in the upgrading plan.

I know, I know. I sound like another ‘whining’, ‘complain queen’ Singaporean. But seriously, the town council people make some strange things. I’ve often wondered if they stay in HDB flats like the majority of the Singaporeans and know what we need.

You know, I was stumped momentarily the other day when I was asked who my MPs are… Truth is, I’ve never had a chance to vote ever since I’ve been able to. It’s always a walk-over in my estate. And because there’s no fight, the MPs don’t need to do the usual stuff like visit the wet market and shake the vegetable seller’s hand, or go to the coffee shop and have a cup of kopi with the uncles. They also don’t go round the blocks and visit the residents and hug the babies. You get my drift? Sigh…. And people wonder why Singaporeans are so ‘bo chap’ about politics.

Now please don’t get me wrong, I think the government has done alot of rights. At least we do have a stable country and my estate is clean.

I guess the Rat-a-tat-a-tat noise for the last few days is making a monster out of me. Hey, don’t blame me. I work from home and when I have to tell my client to “please speak louder because I can’t hear you”, it gets really frustrating. At one point I almost wanted to take a big hammer and knock out the machine. Arggghhhh!

Enough of this ranting. I guess I better savour my peace and quiet for now as it will start again in 14 hours’ time. Think I’ll go have an ice-cream to cool down.

Oh yes, I found out and remembered who my MPs are. Information courtesy of this very nice, free calendar that was given out beginning of the year.

PEACE