From Suspension and Back

It's been a spell since I bothered to update Drake's Ragbag; Seems to me it's been eons already. OK... I'm just exaggerating. Frankly, I've been sporadically present in the blogosphere in the past weeks. No blog hopping and no blog updates. To tell you the truth, I do not miss it much...

Apparently, I do not qualify myself as someone would call a "certified blogger" or a blogophile. For one, writing does not come close to my "i like to do" list. Err.... Is this a paradoxical statement? So would it mean that I'm doing something I do not like right now? Well, not really.

To continue... I only get the itch to write, or in this case, to blog, in occasions when I feel cathartic enough to expel some internal tension, or when I'd want to tell some personal anecdotes. In some superficial cases, I blog to share some stuff that seem to interest or catch my attention, whether intellectual, trivial or ridiculous. The bottom line is, I blog whenever I feel like blogging. When blogging becomes a hobby of mine, that I'd have to wait and see. So please, bear with me... (^_^)

OK... so what's been with me lately?

Actually, nothing much. I've been partially occupied with intermittent office work from some same old project that I do not really like dealing with. I just despise how the project schedule goes and how many requirement change cycles have passed despite prior sign-off of the design document. Sometimes, it beats the hell out of me when the customer I have to deal with is my own employer, 'cause it could easily change the project schedule. OK... enough said about office task.

What's been keeping me up right now is capoeira. Oh yeah, it's getting addictive alright. It's been more than a month since I joined the class and I must say, every capoeira class gives me that feeling of vigor (despite the grueling exercises) to pursue on my daily tasks. This is quite silly to say, but my capoeira class motivates me to do my office work better, especially now that I don't feel anything fulfilling from my office chores. I guess capoeira covers up to that missing factor in my workplace. Haha! Absurd!

In the coming days, I'll be very busy with a different project. If management goes final and the role presumably assigned to me is fixed, I'd be on the run to total mania. This project that I'm talking about is the "Israeli" project that died more than three months ago and now had come to life to whack me to the bones. I could foresee the prolonged office hours in the next months. My Christmas break is in danger. Err... OK... I'm getting paranoid. You might be wondering why do I react as such. Well, it's hard to explain. I'll just leave it at that. Hopefully, this project would be my last best effort for this company, and hopefully, I'll do very well.

Before I go back to my indefinite suspension, let me share you this video from HappySlip.com. I've seen HappySlip videos before to prevent me from falling to slumber, and from what I've watched so far, this HappySlip video is the best for me. Enjoy the questions game. (^_^)

At the pool, the Internet, and Hong Kong

Today's one of those boring days when I get do nothing significant on my desk, and I just fiddled on my laptop's keys trying to suffice my drying wetware's insatiable need for input (LOLz!). Surfing aimlessly and whimsically the web was a common reflex of my antsy psyche, trying to focus itself into something worthwhile and somewhat productive task.

Browsing the multifarious dimensions of the Internet, I bumped into quite a number of web sites that merely tempted my mercurial appetite. For a while, everything just seemed to be futile. So, I thought of doing something a little less non-productive then. Since my Hong Kong trip is fast approaching, I decided to check out some travel guides and travelogues regarding this Chinese territory.

Below is a rundown of the sites I bumped into (Some of these I have already browsed months ago). You might also find them helpful if you are planning to sojourn to HK. :)

1. Discover Hong Kong - The Hong Kong Tourism Guide
   
2. Hong Kong Food Guide - It has a good collection of food shops and restaurants ranging from the budget type to the high-ends.
3. MTR Customer Website - Everything you would want to know regarding the MTR's operation through the HK Islands. This offers some helpful maps, travel tips for tourists, and other relevant and useful infos. I myself prefer to use the MTR extensively during my stay there. It's seemingly practical and cost-efficient, pretty like how the MRT is.
4. Octopus Card Website - Anything you want to know about the Octopus Card, the ubiquitous monetary transaction medium of most services in Hong Kong, is found here.
5. Hong Kong Disney - Hong Kong Disney's English Website. You may reserve tickets here.
6. Ocean Park - This is the English portal to the largest aquarium in the world. A lot of tourist information is available here e.g. how to get here?, rates.
7. Lonely Planet Hong Kong - It has a number of tourist tips concisely written for a common traveler. You might find the hotel/hostels review here reputable

Aside from these websites, I knocked into a couple other interesting ones, though not HK-related.

1. Hug Nation - This is an advocacy about the significance of hugging and what it can do to other people's lives. People needs hug, and so do I (It's just too bad my parents are not very touchy. Hence, I do not receive hugs. Huhuhu... Can someone hug me? [LOLz!])
2. Logue It! - It's BootsnAll's network of online travel guides. If you travel a lot and loves to write about your sojourns, you might be interested to apply to this website as an author. Yes, they accept writers who has the passion to transcribe their travelogues on the web. And yes again, you get paid for writing.
   

Apparently, that's what had transpired in my 9-hour stay in this cold office....
I get paid to do my own stuff here, who gets the luxury of that? (LOLz!) Kidding aside, it doesn't feel good and it's not always nice to be like this. Next time, I'll do something more productive. Hehe. (By the way, I actually did some "work", if I'd say, just an hour ago. Hehe.)

---<<--- Before the start of my day in the office, I went swimming again! Woohoo! It was a fine morning at the pool, with cloudy, shady skies and intermittent rain fall. There were pleasantly few people, with no kids around. In the dressing room, there was this weird guy who seemed to be looking at me for most of the time. I don't know why but he seemed to assimilate the gestures the voyeur had when I encountered the latter.

I was pretty much successful refining my freestyle this morning. The body twisting and balance problems I had last Saturday were gone, and I had determined the causes of my difficulties then. Also, it was my first time to do a 30-meter fly without ever panting. It seemed that my body undulation was improving.

I just can't wait for my next swim! :)
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