Geographically undecided

A frequent debate n question that keeps coming up is that of which country is best to settle down in. I'm not just talking about myself here. People I meet all have their own opinions about this which I guess is what it comes down to.

I'm really just batting generally here. But the thing that got me thinking was a conversation I had with a fellow traveller a month back. He had moved from Amsterdam to the place I was travelling to. He asked my feelings on the place and I did like wise. Basically he adored the place. Citing things like weather, how great the nightlife is and the city, things like that. I did ask what about the city exactly. N things like the modern buildings, cool bars n restaurants, etc came up. He was an expat so he basically hung with his other expat work buddies at the country club. Which I find ironic as the nation is so small it has no "country" to speak of. Thing that struck me is it seemed more that he was liking the expat lifestyle n not the country. His surroundings r pretty much all money made. What I mean by that is that by having enough cash you can make your surroundings as great as you want. And even his personal interactions were just with guys who were familiar, as in not really of the nation he was in.

This got me thinking that when you look at it, most things a country uses to sell itself is actually money made. Bars, clubs, theme parks, malls, hotels and for countries rich enough even beaches. Things that aren't consist of things like the weather, the lay of the land, the people and the history of their lands. The last 2 are the hardest to experience, but the most important. As like it or not sooner or later you have to deal with the indigenous population. In the simplest form, the law n officials. All the way thru to local shop keepers or people on the street. The history of the place also leaves a mark on those who live there and the land itself in cases.

Having been to a good deal of places now, when I look closely at it pretty much nowhere has all I want of it. whether the weather sux or the infrastructure sux or the people/government leave alot to be desired or its hella expensive or there r too many natural disasters or regional instability. Its tough when you look at it in that detail. As such I can't really find a place I can say "yeah, I wanna live there because its better than where I am now". And that in the end is what puzzles me when someone says they are migrating to such n such country. To me they are basically saying the aforementioned statement. And seeing as I have not spoken to anyone coming from a war torn nation or oppressive regime, it bugs me that they rate 1 place over another so whole heartedly they are willing to uproot their lives there. I guess the answer is simple. Its personal. People like stuff that others might deem crappy. I'm the perfect example. I like crappy weather you get in the northern hemisphere. The dark cold winters, the grey skies etc, I like it and many see me as mad because of it. Probably the say way I see the same madness in others when they say how much better 1 place is over the other.

 No real point to this rant at all other than the affirmation that I have no clue where I would realistically want to settle down.

Return

Been a long time. Alot happened since then. And majority of the "alot" was what put me off writing. And like most things in my life once I get put off it, it takes me forever to get back into it again. So what has brought me back here, shouting into the void yet again? Typing words no one will probably ever read? I dunno, I really don't. I could go into probable reasons but that's all they are, probabilities.

Just feeling life is starting to take on a very 2D feeling. Its either work or home. I do try to break it up with a vacation but that's about it. Don't get me wrong I appreciate my time at home alot. I actually prefer time at home, opposed to actually venturing to my current outside world. Not that it's dangerous or anything. But the whole country I'm in now is just pretty "meh".

Getting tired of the same old cycles really. Wishing to do more, be more productive but never really being. I guess its something that sparked during my time in Japan. I miss those days of seeing something new, experiencing something new, achieving something, going somewhere, doing stuff. From Morning to night. OK it was a lil intensive after a while and not something I would want to pull off for weeks on end but just some of that intensity spread evenly over a week would be good.

Trouble is right now there is a torrent in my head wanting to spill out onto my post but that would just make one long incoherent raving post. I guess its best tackled an issue at a time. And that would be a task for another day.

As to what happened to the missing 2 years that too is a story for another time.

Forrest

I used to run. I used to run ALOT. At its peak I would cover over 100KM a week. And it was only that far because to run more it meant using time up I simply didn't have. So to make it more challenging some times I would make life harder as I ran. Like carry a backpack with bottles of water in em, or hold stuff in my hands, even sing songs that were in the charts out loud for the whole distance. Also made a point to run in the afternoons and never to drink anything during the run.

Reason I got into running ironically was because to get out of doing work. I loved life in the army. The whole covered in crap, running, jumping, climbing trees, shooting n blowing shit up part. But the attending meetings, planing unit family events, pushing papers bit, not so much. Sadly the latter is very much the mainstay for an officer in a modern army. Then one day I realised that if I went out for a run, a really insane run, like 20KM or more people would just let me go. And I could avoid all the shitty boring stuff I hated for half the day. Lunch hits at 12, chill out n digest till 2, hit the gym till 3 then zip out for a run n be back in time for the end of the day at 5.

It was great. It was like, "you going for the CO's weekly meeting this afternoon?"
"Nah, I'm doing a 25km run, you wanna come?"
"Umm ahh, nah, its fine you go ahead"

Plus to run that distance it meant I could get out of camp and the route I ran took me past 3 junior colleges and a very trendy part of town. Somewhere along the lines I got hooked. Even after I left the army I kept it up. Though the distance was never anywhere near as much due to time constraints I made up for it by carrying up to 10KG of weight as I ran. Also at the time I was training for my rescue diver and divemaster license, so this definitely helped with the physical tests involved.

Then one day I just stopped. I dunno why. Suppose I just found I no longer had the time to go running, or when I did have the time I sure as hell didn't have the energy.Guess its apt then that in light of my recent history, time is something I have alot of. As such I've started running again. only been going a month. Sure as hell wasn't easy or enjoyable, sure as hell isn't a very long run either. Just crossed a bridge today during my run. For the past few weeks it was a case of "OMG I am going to die. My heart is gonna explode, my lungs are on fire, STOPPPPP"
To " w-o-w, this is boring... "

I know many suggest listening to music to kill the boredom but I just hate the feeling of wires flapping about, n some rubbery bung stuffed in my ears n the incessant pounding of my feet amplified in my ears thanks to the earphones. Its just nice to think that maybe some time soon I might be half as fit as I used to be. The words of Bruce Lee push me on, it was somewhere along the lines of "if your can't afford 10minutes a day for a run then be prepaired to spend alot more time in hospital during your later years"

P.S. Still don't feel up to writing down the full events on that fatefully January day.

Prodigal Son

4 Months ago was when I was last on here. 4 months and alot has changed. For the better or the worse, who can say, at least till its conclusion is played out, that is. So for a recap, what happened in that time? For starters, at work I was placed up to take a fall and in doing so get fired. To be honest placed up for a fall makes it sound like some effort and planning was made to take me down. I wouldn't even think so much thought was put into it all.

What basically happened was managers at work fucked up an aircraft check, heads needed to roll, sure as hell wasn't gonna be theirs, so as the least liked member of the team (in the managers eyes) I was put up for it. Some shockingly poorly thought out excuses were given and with the scales heavily biased to the local managerial opinion, I was given the shove. Maybe one day when I feel like getting into it I'll put out a recap a-la Lost opening stylee.

Just prior to it all (and part of the firing excuse) I took some Christmas leave. Christmas in Taiwan. It was lovely. Stupidly, I didn't drag the stay out over the new year, which ironically would have seen me actually keeping my job! LOL. Strangely there was one evening in Taipei I had a strong feeling I was gonna lose my job come the new year. I was very undecided if it would be a good or a bad thing. I still am.

Post firing I've been to Brisbane for a few weeks, a mixture of business and pleasure. And a pleasure it was. The place is in some ways still very much caught up in the past, but in a very nice charming way. After that was a trip back home to the UK. 3 weeks, sounds a good while, sadly it was anything but. Now I'm back here, sweating it out in the S.E. Asian sun. Sitting about waiting for things to happen. How long will I be here? How long is a piece of string? Well to be honest I have been given the time line of 6-8 months. So if nothing happens by the end of this year I'll have to get a move on to plan B.

If it all sounds a bit vague what exactly I am supposed to be doing right now, its supposed to be, vague that is. But sure enough a plan is in place, just not a very quick one. But one that if it works, should be a very long term one. The reason for not really going into it is purely one due to superstition. So while I wait around, jobless, I have time, time to plan, time to take stock, time for blogging, XBOX, Dollhouse, Caprica, Hitchhikers Guide, BBQs, Android and all of the other things that make up my geeky and unstable life.

Slowly

Past day or so been feeling pretty down. The reason why is pretty clear to me. Its here. I'm sick of this place. Sick of being at work all the time, sick of dealing with some of the people at work, sick of the country I am in. But looking at things compared to a year ago, I do admit things were much worse then. Work for a start has actually become more bearable and at times not too bad. So why the long face so to speak?

Best analogy I can think of is smoking. 1 stick wont kill ya, hell, suckin on a lite cig would do even less, but keep it going day after day after day and slowly but surely it'll catch up with you.

The fact of being here for over a year. And no clear signal as to when I will be able to take some time out away from this place. Not talking days or weeks here. Months. It will take at least a month if not 2 for me to get over all this. Home sickness I guess some call it. Only thing I really miss about "home" is my car. I miss driving it, I miss being in it, listening to it, I just miss it. Vast majority of my tiredness is just work. simply can't stand jobs in which you do few hours but many days. Personally I'd go all out to make the effort to spend a straight 48hrs at work if it meant I got 5 full days off. Mainly I simply need time away from here. By here I don't necessarily mean this country. Just maybe this state. See more of this planet before I pass on. Rather than wasting all these precious hours of my life at work.

12herue du Sepang

A lil late in the posting or rather blogging but sorting thru the 6 gig of pics is something I really had trouble facing. But now tis done.

Went to a 12hr endurance race at Sepang circuit in early August. Wasn't really expecting to do much other than snap a few pics as the lame ass website never detailed what teams or drivers would be racing... Really gripes me when websites don't put essential/useful info on their pages but instead stack it with a ton of FLASH and useless filler. Anyway turned up a treat as some of my fave drivers would be racing as well as some well known Jap teams. Namely "Spoon" and "J's Racing"

Watching the Z4s of the Petronas team (M. Orido & N.Taniguchi) was excellent. Mainly due to the demonstration of real team play. 2 of them always staying together thru most of the race. Drafting thru the straights and on the turns whoever was trailing blocked for the lead so he could concentrate on the fastest line. Amazing they managed to stay relatively together thru the whole 12hours, claiming a 1,2 spot at the end of it all. Orido getting the top spot. Props go to the 3rd placers thou. The 911 GT3 from the Singapore Porsche owners club! Just amazed an owners club can get a podium finish in an international event.

In the 3rd class leader board, sadly the Spoon S2K suffered a DNF. They died half way thru the race. Thou "J's Racing" S2K fared better with K. Tsuchiya behind the wheel. Placing 2nd. Not bad for the JGTC retired drift king.

Only regret was not being able to stick around till the end. At about the half way mark the wife was getting a lil bored/cheezed off. Can't blame her really. Would have been cool to get some night shots as well as watch the checkerd flag come down. Well enough of the blabbing here are the pics.

Use it or lose it

I should have blogged a helluva long time ago but didn't, laziness probably a prime factor. Well in that time my boss at work has changed and he's actually a nice easy going kinda guy. So life has been good. But as with karma, you can't have life too comfortable. Was told few days back that someone i don't really like working around will be on my shift. So back to putting on a front...

Just swapped ISP as the previous ISP started enforcing their 3gb (pathetic I know) per mth limit. So they throttle it back from the previous 256K-ish speed to something single digits... like maybe 5K or such. Even the Google landing page had problems loading!!! Big thanks to "L" for helping us make the switch.

On another note, thinking of taking up a perm contract here. I mean hey if I'm gonna be out here for about a year more I might as well go perm, seeing as the pay is a bit less than contract, but then factor in free/ discount flights plus leave and it probably ain't too different. Main factor for the consideration is the currency of my license. Having 3 types and 1 more on the way plus another in the near future. At the mo this lot have only decided to give me currency on 1/2 of 1 type. So if I don't get all the rest of em made current in the next year I will stand to lose em... That if anything will be the main consideration when it comes to signing.