On things to do in the next 2 weeks (not in any particular order):

1) Watch Lord of the Rings
2) Watch Spirted Away
3) Write about trip
4) Meet up with friends
5) Give aunt the bag of goodies *courtesy from mom*
6) Prepare for new school term

Okie back from China. Glad to see that people i missed during my trip, missed me too. *Grins*
And no, my cat had not wreaked my room despite earlier premonition. Good kitty.
Infact, the cat has grown more affectionate since i came back. Probably missing me as well.

Seems like alot had happened since in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Must make time to catch up.
Must also make time to write about trip. With photos attached and all. Kept a travel diary of sorts.
Distribute some gifts. Belated xmas and all that.
Sort of nice to be home but must gear oneself up for work soon.
Sort of missing my folks too but they seemed to be doing okie.
SO fell sick on the trip. But i didn't.

Met some of my old JC classmates today. Realized that how much had change and yet so many things remained the same. Don't want to go through here what is different and what stay the same. But felt good to see old friends again. Half the time catching up on what so and so is doing at this moment. Who is married and who have kids already. And how they love to remind me how much i got them into trouble when we were younger, how i would fall asleep in class and of course, how i am allergic to PE. Somehow those incidents always managed to escape my memories. And i can't seem to remember what everyone else did that was funny and they reminded me that somehow i would be the spark that set everyone else off on a series of "notorious" episodes. At least everyone had a good time. And i also realize how often i speak without thinking. But they know me well and will laugh at my caustic one-liners. Words often tumble out when i am with them. More so than other people. I wonder why. Perhaps you will always be less careful with people you know better. Even though we have not met in a while, these are the people i spend some of my most formative years with so i guess the bond is there.

Realization no. 31:

Sometimes i talk before i think.

Geez. Why are the rest of my blogs in bold?

Now... this is sort of true... not exactly flattering but hey, i can live with being a tomato.
Heck, in fact i love tomatoes!

Strawberry: 10/100 Pear: 20/100 Banana: 30/100 Tomato: 40/100 Lemon: 20/100

Take the What Fruit Are You? test by webkin and aaronr!

I am going to leave my cat for 16 days.
Wonder how badly my room will be wrecked when i return.

Done the what kind of cat i am test thing. Not sure if that is altogether accurate but heck, that cat on the picture actually looks amazingly like my cat ruski aka rascal, 'cept skinnier. Hmmm eerie. :D

Take the What Cat Are You? test by webkin!

On plans for holiday:

16 days in China as follows -

Singapore - GuangZhou (plane) - Chengdu (plane) - Leshan (train via Ermeishan) - Lijiang (train via Jinjiang) - Dali (bus) - Kunming (night sleeper bus) - GuangZhou (plane).

Probably throw in hongkong for a day or two before i come back to spore.
Heard transport can be a real riot especially if you are not in a tour group. Guidebooks promoted the virtues of getting lost. Not that i mind getting lost. As long as i manage to make in back to Singapore on the 26th since I "die die" also must go back to work on the 27th. I rather enjoy planning for this holiday. Lonely planet is a wonderful guide book and the pictures made me eager to start. Whatmore i will get to visit my parents in GZ finally. I know even the best laid plans can go awry. But heck, my motto is to be prepared but enjoy the unexpected.

Anyway, these are tentative plans. I think i will probably deviate from the plans whenever it strucks me or as circumstances demand it. I wish i have a whole month to travel because there seem to be so much possibilities! And i really hate adhering to a time-table so rigidly but i know i am a little pressed for time. School policy means i have to be back in school 3 days before school starts (no exceptions) to prepare for next term. I would have left on the 6th instead of the 10th but then, some things cropped up. Ah well.. 16 days is better than nothing i guess. And i do get some free time from the 6th to the 10th to do some shopping for stuff i need. Have to keep reminding myself to pack light since we will be walking fairly often (up and down stairs predominantly).

I hope to visit other parts of China (it is so vast) perhaps next year. If i had time, i would have love to travel up to Dali and onwards to the tiger leaping gorge and Deqin on the tibetan border. Or even try to try to go from Vietnam to China onland (well... SO has been clamouring to go to Vietnam so this is killing two birds with one stone *chuckles*).

In any case, a tentative itinerary is done and i have found out about the trains and planes and buses. I want to try all the different transport available (bikes too!) from minibuses to sleeper train (wow train with beds) and sleeper buses which are so notorious (accidents and what not, i heard that drivers can be quite menacing when driving at night). From big cities to little villages, comfy hotels to places when it might be difficult getting a place to sleep. This should be fun and i would have a chance to fulfil my objective of achieving a varied experience.

Been busy planning a trip to China. I suspect that the planning would probably be more fun that the actual holiday.
Or perhaps i feel that guide books are building an almost unrealistic expectation of the country. Or perhaps i am too harsh.
Somehow the impression i have from other people about china always seem to be rather erm not that great (amenities-wise).
Quite contrary from what i got from the lonely planet (i.e. sheets, hotwater, satellite tv, phone, attached bathroom) in far flung (at least to me) places such as Lijiang.

What an array of subjective impressions!
In any case, if i keep lowering my expectations, i should be okie... (hmm wonder if that should be applied to life on the whole).
HmmMm.

My cat sleeps
with his head on my pillow.

Been only logging on once a week these days just to clear my emails and surfing the web.
If only my fat-diet has been successful as my net-diet *chuckles*

Overheard in an Autism conference:

Cats are autistic dogs.

I don't know about you. But this really cracks me up.
If you really think about it. Cats really do show some classic symptoms of autism.

For example,
aloof
solidary
do things on own agenda
doesn't like to maintain eye contact
affectionate in their own terms
special interest/fascination (for my cat it would be his pet esso tiger)
probably sensory issues (need to bite especially when aroused)

so on and so forth...

I know it is not too nice to make fun of a disorder. After all being "socially challenged" in our "neurotypical" (aka normal) society is not easy (and that is an understatement). But then... what would life be if we can't even laugh a little?

Realization no 30:

Sometimes it is like trying not to think of the pink elephant.

A bite.
A happy cat.

School holidays now. Been sick for a while... and time seem to pass by doubly quick.
Quick recap on what did i do for the past two weeks...

1) graduation day for the students moving to other external agencies. will miss my kids that are leaving.
2) screening for new students. meeting new parents can be a learning experience all by itself. ranging from bo chup to those in denial to over protective.
3) sibling camp. wonderful experience. everyone had fun but yet the kids definitely learnt a lesson somewhere. only wished that i wasn't so weak and sick... kids can really sap up your energy but my group were a bunch of decent sensible kids. Go tweeties go.
4) sick sick sick
5) cleaning toys, room, desk, materials, house-keeping matters... i do get a certain satisfaction of doing mundane things like this in preparation for a new year.
6) WeCAN conference on Autism. good speakers (esp dr tony attwood) and interesting topics though most of the time information was not new. More suited for parents but as professionals, i wish that there were more depth to the topics covered but that would have alienated the parents/mainstream teachers/others non-direct personels in the conference.

Things seemed to have changed in the last two weeks.
I wonder what.

My cat sits still.
Staring at the door.

I spent the day lazing around at home, reading and watching tamil movies on central. I admit i have this thing for watching foreign movies with subtitles. I enjoy listening to languages that i do not understand while trying to concentrate both on the moving subtitles and the movie.

The only pity when watching tamil movies is that they usually do not have any subtitles for the tamil songs during the movies. I would love to find out what they are singing about wearing skimpy outfits while gyrating to pounding music in the midst of rapidly changing backdrops.

My brother flew home to wish me happy deepavali.
What a pleasant surprise to end the day.

I can feel myself slowly vegetating.
My brain shutting down
as i go through the routine of life
and more
life.

I cease to wonder
least it causes ripples in my
stagnant pond of living
and propels me
nowhere.