:: back with the english (although it feels like to the indians) ::

well, after a night out celebrating for a colleague's farewell (which was until 3 am), needless to say that i missed my 9 am flight to london.

i had to wait until 12.30 pm for the next flight and i arrived at the london office late (but just in time for a meeting though).

yes, i'm back in london (again!) but this time i will spend a little bit more time and hopefully less british pound as i'll be staying over the weekend and taking a day's off on monday - i wanted to go to the museums here.

i had been having dinner with my thai colleague and his girlfriend is an excellent cook. i was their first guest to their new apartment in east london, and i'm seriously thinking of relocating to london. work opportunies are many here (i've had many job offers, but never took any yet), and i think i can manage fairly well in terms of living here despite the cost of living.

london gets me everytime, let's just hope that i will not be delayed in flights again - as it has been that way since the past two trips, one way or the other.

ps: let's really have the english spring shall we, please god?

xox

:: of your loft and yourSELF ::

with the easter long weekend finally over, i woke up this morning with the beautiful light snow flakes falling outside - and with that, i decided to work from home today :))

it has been a rather hectic easter weekend for me, apart from a dinner on easter friday, i've had drinks on saturday (at my place) , another dinner invitation on sunday and (finally) an easter lunch on monday.

talk about having a full weekend.

what i like best about all this is to see how my friends here live - a house can tell a lot about the owner personality and character, i think, well, at least the outer self.

one of my friend is a serious piano player, as a hobby. his indulgence to his hobby and the beautiful 'pure sound' of the piano (as he called it) is evident with his grand (ie: read really expensive piano). and it was real treat to hear him playing some classical pieces from chopin, schubert and beethoven as pre-dinner entertainment. i liked his house, the building used to be an old hotel, but the apartments have all been refurbished and renovated. the houses surrounding that building are all about 100 years old, so in the name of keeping the harmony, i have to say that it was a perfect blend of old and new.




another couple friend has a rather fun and lively personality, and it shows (especially with the easter egg hunting decors all over their living room). and with that, their loft is a two bedroom modern and contemporary apartment with pictures of horses and the dutch royal family (one of them works for the queen of netherlands).



i wonder what will my colleagues think of the apartment that i'm staying now when they come for a visit later this evening for a karaoke night with playstation...hehe,

it is that i care, but really how much of this apartment is reflective of my personality since all furnitures and decors are not mine. and i'm not really the best housekeeper in the world, but well, as long as i have warm bed at night and a roof over my head - i have to say that i'm contented.

:: singapore girl gets a makeover?::

when i had to change my flight from london to amsterdam last week, the ticketing guy (who looked at my singapore passport) asked me if i have arrived from singapore via the inaugural A380 flight on 18 march 2008.

sheepishly, i replied that i did not (but a colleague got that chance when he make a return trip to singapore from heathrow next week, well...good for him).

no wonder when i thought i saw this advertisement in the guardian when i was in london, i thought the ad look a big different than usual SIA images.



the ad agency has (finally) changed, and its causing some discomfort to some people....i realised that in my last flight from singapore, the pilot made this last statement upon arrival "thanks for flying singapore airlines, the great way to fly...", was that the last time that i will hear it - now that tagline is no longer in used?

great way or not, i am still a sucker for SIA even though their krisflyer program is one of the suckest in the world....

ps: if you fly with me, i am great-ful to you? get it?....x

:: good friday dinnner ::

i was honoured to be invited for a nice and quiet dinner on easter friday from a new acquaintance at his apartment in riswijk (about 20 minutes by tram from where i lived). like many of my close friends, he works in the creative/fashion industry and i have to stay that his apartment is, well, rather eclectic and full of contrasts - from prints, fabrics, textures and furniture. but it worked somehow, without having too much noise - and i learnt quite a fair bit about interior design, and i miss my own apartment back home in singapore :(

and yeah, did i also mention that his apartment is really huge...for a dutch standard, it occupied half of the floor of a rather high building (it used to be an office building). and he collects chairs too (and i mean chairs that are worth collecting type, the original designers prototype kind).

From Blog

:: more valentina hassan ::

i love this chick....





gee, i think i'm addicted to her..x

:: bulgaria idol rocks! ::

to entertain myself in this crazy easter weather (rain/cloudy/sunny/snow!/hail!) all in one day, see if you agree with me in this one....


:: valentina hassan singing "ken lee" ::

see her in the audition here...


she kicks ass!!!
love it!

x

:: why am i always away on my birthday? ::

it struck to me that since 2004, i am never home for on my birthday, either i'm overseas or in an airplane. perhaps i just like to see my birth date stamped on my passport.

2004 - in bangkok
2005 - in phuket
2006 - in den haag (this is closest to home perhaps)
2007 - in a plane from singapore to amsterdam
2008 - technically speaking, in a train from amsterdam airport too ...

i think i will do it grand once every 10 years...a big party with close friends and family, that will take a long time..haha

ps: thanks to facebook, dozens of friends sent nice birthday greetings...thanks for reminding me the joy of growing old.
x

:: aGentX did London in 24 hours ::

i was in london for just one night on a rather tight schedule, and for the time first, i think that i have finally given in to the idea of traveling for work really sucks!

here was my agenda:
monday (17 march)
0900-1300 hrs - work from home
1430 hrs - amsterdam airport
1530 hrs - depart to london heathrow
1545 hrs (uk time) - arrive london
1645 hrs - check in hotel
1730 hrs - quick shopping at the abercrombie (i know i'm a sucker, more story of that later)
1830 to 2330 hrs - meet up with uk colleagues for drinks and dinner
0030 hrs - back in hotel, sleep

tuesday (18 march)
0830 hrs - check out hotel
0900 hrs - arrived at work
1000 to 1630 hrs - meetings whole day
1735 hrs - heathrow express finally leaves (one trained was delayed)
1755 hrs - arrived at airport, missed the 1810 hrs flight
1920 hrs - flight delayed, stuck at airline lounge
2040 hrs - finally flight leaving to amsterdam
2300 hrs (netherlands time) - arrived at airport
2400 hrs - arrived at home

and back to office here the next day....well, you got my point.
it seems that london love having me around so much that this is my second trip in a row that i have a flight delay

ps: i'll be doing this kind of turnaround trip again next week....wish me luck!

:: learning dutch ::

if anyone wants to practice their dutch with me, i will suggest watching this instructional video



i am dead tired, was in london for just 1 night, but the overall journey/travel time was killing me - another flight delay.

london somehow refused to let me go...more of that later.

:: what have i been up to ::

sorry of lack of updates;
but a first in my personal history....
- 1st time dinner-meeting a blogger/reader of mine in amsterdam this weekend
- we ended up wasted - with lots of puking and other bodily fluids out of the body (not from the food...but from other substances...hihi)
- but it felt like we have known each other for ages
- is that how you feel too? especially if you read someone else's blog but didn't know them personally?

why am i writing in notes?
blame it in my work...i had enough of writing project proposals and agendas.

:: oh, where could he be? ::

this fugitive's circle of influence has certainly travelled far and wide....

... from waking me up in the middle of the night - only to receive an MMS by the singapore police force, right here in the netherlands.....

.... to this terribly funny poster by talkcock.com

i hope this fiasco will end so, especially in the press releases. the more (late) information they are trying to give, the more ridiculous they appear.