I know a specific someone will disagree with me but it's getting slightly hotter outside. It's ok still if wearing casual clothes but already at this point, wearing a full suit is starting to be a real pain in the arse.
But the outside doesn't really yet concern me. It's completely doable because I can always control the time I'm out. If things get too hot - enter the first door you find and it's probably a nice shopping mall with a nice aircon.
Dog, unlike the common belief, is not man's best friend. Aircon is.
While surviving the days is completely possible, one thing is starting to really bug me, and that's the nights. Not having the aircon turned on means sweating like a pig all night. Having it on means that there's the chance at some point of the night it'll get so cold you wake up shivering.
So, you wake up at 03:00am and it's damned cold. You turn off the aircon and within next 5 mins the room will be hot again. Blessed be single layer windows.
The main AC at my apartment is broken too. Need to have that fixed soon. Bedroom is a haven of fresh and cool air while the rest of the apartment helps me understand why sauna wasn't invented here.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Friday, 25 May 2007
30 Hours
At this very moment, I have stayed up for 30 hours.
I still have one hour and a half to go of my normal office day, and after that I will have the ever-glorious joy of attending a meeting.
I gather I will get back home at around 21:00, which means by then I have stayed up for 35 hours. Then I will sleep. Finally.
Last night was fun enough, it was maybe just a little bit too long. From home to Mongkok, to Tsim Sha Tsui, to Wanchai, and then home. From 18:00 to 21:00, to 03:00, to 06:00, to 7:30 respectively.
I got back home, I changed clothes, and left for work. No sleep.
"Sleep deprivation is considered by some to be torture. It has been used as a way of interrogating suspected political opponents (for example, in Pinochet-era Chile).[23] First, interrogation victims are kept awake for several days... when they are finally allowed to fall asleep, they are suddenly awakened and questioned. In 2006, Australian Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock argued that sleep deprivation does not constitute torture. Sleep deprivation has been found able to cause death in animals, however." - Wikipedia
Today has been a fight to stay awake and alert. This is, perhaps, one of the busiest days this month - and being dead-tired doesn't really increase effectiveness.
"Not being able to sleep is terrible. You have the misery of having partied all night... without the satisfaction." - Lynn Johnston
Well, could be worse I suppose. At least I had a lot of fun.
I still have one hour and a half to go of my normal office day, and after that I will have the ever-glorious joy of attending a meeting.
I gather I will get back home at around 21:00, which means by then I have stayed up for 35 hours. Then I will sleep. Finally.
Last night was fun enough, it was maybe just a little bit too long. From home to Mongkok, to Tsim Sha Tsui, to Wanchai, and then home. From 18:00 to 21:00, to 03:00, to 06:00, to 7:30 respectively.
I got back home, I changed clothes, and left for work. No sleep.
"Sleep deprivation is considered by some to be torture. It has been used as a way of interrogating suspected political opponents (for example, in Pinochet-era Chile).[23] First, interrogation victims are kept awake for several days... when they are finally allowed to fall asleep, they are suddenly awakened and questioned. In 2006, Australian Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock argued that sleep deprivation does not constitute torture. Sleep deprivation has been found able to cause death in animals, however." - Wikipedia
Today has been a fight to stay awake and alert. This is, perhaps, one of the busiest days this month - and being dead-tired doesn't really increase effectiveness.
"Not being able to sleep is terrible. You have the misery of having partied all night... without the satisfaction." - Lynn Johnston
Well, could be worse I suppose. At least I had a lot of fun.
Monday, 21 May 2007
Nothing new on the Eastern front
All is well now. Peace restored and peasants flock happily accross the meadows.
It's funny how time flies really fast when you don't pay attention, and when you do it almost stops. Over one weeks since my last post! It is also funny how one's mind changes way of thinking all the time - a phenomenon maybe best observed with diaries (or blogs), when you can actually read back and see how things were.
Well yeah, so the previous weekend doesn't matter anymore. My sights are elsewhere again and finally I was awake enough to see what was going on. Maybe this time I won't be totally clueless of the world around me. Hah, maybe I need a new lesson in being screwed up by life before I get too cocky.
Anyway, week's gone by fast. This week we'll be celebrating the world's most famous jolly fat bloke's (not Santa Claus) birthday so we'll have Thursday off. Which is nice.
As the topic suggests, there isn't much happening here. So, I won't go blabbering on.
Some things have turned for the better during last week and I need to follow things up to see the real potential. As for the nature of this I will have to post once I know more. Don't want to make false assumptions in any direction. To be continued...
... I just realized this post makes absolutely no sense. Well, maybe the next one will.
It's funny how time flies really fast when you don't pay attention, and when you do it almost stops. Over one weeks since my last post! It is also funny how one's mind changes way of thinking all the time - a phenomenon maybe best observed with diaries (or blogs), when you can actually read back and see how things were.
Well yeah, so the previous weekend doesn't matter anymore. My sights are elsewhere again and finally I was awake enough to see what was going on. Maybe this time I won't be totally clueless of the world around me. Hah, maybe I need a new lesson in being screwed up by life before I get too cocky.
Anyway, week's gone by fast. This week we'll be celebrating the world's most famous jolly fat bloke's (not Santa Claus) birthday so we'll have Thursday off. Which is nice.
As the topic suggests, there isn't much happening here. So, I won't go blabbering on.
Some things have turned for the better during last week and I need to follow things up to see the real potential. As for the nature of this I will have to post once I know more. Don't want to make false assumptions in any direction. To be continued...
... I just realized this post makes absolutely no sense. Well, maybe the next one will.
Sunday, 13 May 2007
The tale of Green Skirt and Sol-Gal
Oh, a tale of woe - a tale of loss!
Oh, woe the whistle in the wind that is all but lost.
This is a tale of last night. Not last as in the final, but last, as in the night prior to this day. It might as well be the last, however, with all those things that came down in the few hours that a night has.
Me and my merry party of minstrels (just me and Markus de Sade) were out to find amusement from the bottom of a glass. We found it. The night was full of laughter and teasing scenery so generously offered to us by the local maidens. This would truly be a night to remember.
One maiden especially caught my attention. She was a sight to behold! Balm to my weary mind with a gracefull posture and a green skirt. Her way of moving about the bar was as delightfull to watch as the first snow flakes of the winter... The point is: she was hot!
Anyway, I spent a few good hours watching her go about and then suddenly she left! I was mid-way to a pint of ale and she was walking away! "Be it ale or be it the maiden in green skirt", I thought to myself. And woe the weak mind of men, I chose the ale.
Is there no end to this tradegy performed by mortal men on this stage of life?
She was gone and I was stuck with my ale and my merry party. I could not belief this twist in fate life had in store for me. It all seemed so unfair! She was gone from my life and I would never meet her again. Green Skirt wasn't there anymore.
Our merry party decided to change location; clearly the place had lost its charm. There were no minstrels there aside from us and we longed to hear the merryment of music played live, to a live audience.
We found ourselves at one of our regular places. Performers from the lands to the South were there, as they usually are, and sung tales of distant places and love. The joyous mood returned and we sank to seek truth from the bottom of a cup.
But then I saw her: Sol-Gal.
Sol-Gal made me forget the Green Skirt immediately! She was there going about, not as gracefully as the Skirt had done, but with more of a conventional way - not like a goddess among mortals, but like a woman among men. She was less than Green Skirt in every way and so doing, she was much more!
I talked with her, I bantered with her, and I asked her out; she talked back, laughed at my jokes and agreed to take my offer. Intoxicated by this surprising and pleasant supply I decided to take a few more cups of mead and wait.
The evening continued with dialogue with my party as well as viewing the performance of the minstrels from the lands to the South. The mood was happy. I couldn't believe my luck!
Time passed on, and I decided to talk with her again. Oh, woe at the surprise fate had installed for me! She received my words with elation and gladness but to the end she said she already has her knight in the shining armor! Woe, woe, woe this cruel world for posing this fate upon me!
With the mead in my body my thinking was slow and I took her words without question; feeling pity on myself. I payed for my drinks and left. With the time passing I came to realize that she might have been insincere with her words of her knight: maybe she just wanted to let me down easy. Or, then it is the fault of the Southlandish minstrels for playing so loud that dear Sol-Gal did not hear well my proposal for a night out and mistook me for just a lad having a normal conversation.
The night still continued but the feeling was gone. First I had missed my chance to run after the Green Skirt, and then I was turned down by the even fairer Sol-Gal. It was a night to remember, yet a night I would forget with pleasure.
No matter the reasons, I was left without a damsel at my side. This needs to change soon.
Woe the fate of the simple-hearted.
Oh, woe the whistle in the wind that is all but lost.
This is a tale of last night. Not last as in the final, but last, as in the night prior to this day. It might as well be the last, however, with all those things that came down in the few hours that a night has.
Me and my merry party of minstrels (just me and Markus de Sade) were out to find amusement from the bottom of a glass. We found it. The night was full of laughter and teasing scenery so generously offered to us by the local maidens. This would truly be a night to remember.
One maiden especially caught my attention. She was a sight to behold! Balm to my weary mind with a gracefull posture and a green skirt. Her way of moving about the bar was as delightfull to watch as the first snow flakes of the winter... The point is: she was hot!
Anyway, I spent a few good hours watching her go about and then suddenly she left! I was mid-way to a pint of ale and she was walking away! "Be it ale or be it the maiden in green skirt", I thought to myself. And woe the weak mind of men, I chose the ale.
Is there no end to this tradegy performed by mortal men on this stage of life?
She was gone and I was stuck with my ale and my merry party. I could not belief this twist in fate life had in store for me. It all seemed so unfair! She was gone from my life and I would never meet her again. Green Skirt wasn't there anymore.
Our merry party decided to change location; clearly the place had lost its charm. There were no minstrels there aside from us and we longed to hear the merryment of music played live, to a live audience.
We found ourselves at one of our regular places. Performers from the lands to the South were there, as they usually are, and sung tales of distant places and love. The joyous mood returned and we sank to seek truth from the bottom of a cup.
But then I saw her: Sol-Gal.
Sol-Gal made me forget the Green Skirt immediately! She was there going about, not as gracefully as the Skirt had done, but with more of a conventional way - not like a goddess among mortals, but like a woman among men. She was less than Green Skirt in every way and so doing, she was much more!
I talked with her, I bantered with her, and I asked her out; she talked back, laughed at my jokes and agreed to take my offer. Intoxicated by this surprising and pleasant supply I decided to take a few more cups of mead and wait.
The evening continued with dialogue with my party as well as viewing the performance of the minstrels from the lands to the South. The mood was happy. I couldn't believe my luck!
Time passed on, and I decided to talk with her again. Oh, woe at the surprise fate had installed for me! She received my words with elation and gladness but to the end she said she already has her knight in the shining armor! Woe, woe, woe this cruel world for posing this fate upon me!
With the mead in my body my thinking was slow and I took her words without question; feeling pity on myself. I payed for my drinks and left. With the time passing I came to realize that she might have been insincere with her words of her knight: maybe she just wanted to let me down easy. Or, then it is the fault of the Southlandish minstrels for playing so loud that dear Sol-Gal did not hear well my proposal for a night out and mistook me for just a lad having a normal conversation.
The night still continued but the feeling was gone. First I had missed my chance to run after the Green Skirt, and then I was turned down by the even fairer Sol-Gal. It was a night to remember, yet a night I would forget with pleasure.
No matter the reasons, I was left without a damsel at my side. This needs to change soon.
Woe the fate of the simple-hearted.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Chinaman Rally 2007
Want thrill?
Want adventure?
Want to have a feeling like every day is your last?
Want to have close-to-death experiences?
Want to try the most extreme of all extreme professions/sports?
Try driving a car (or even ride as a passenger) in Southern China!
It's been a long while since I last posted. By all means I have been trying to motivate myself to write but I've been either too busy at work to write, or too lazy/tired at home to do so. In any case, I mean to write about the Chinese driving habit already last week but well, here it is now.
Sitting in a car in South China is an extreme adventure every time! I had already forgotten how it's like since I hadn't been doing that in a long while. That changed a few weeks back when I was taken to a factory near Guangzhou by the factory's driver. Quickly reminded of the thrill of fearing for your life non-stop for a few hour span is something that doesn't vanish quickly.
... and of course you take the trip both ways, so the great experience is enjoyed twice!
The thing with Chinese driving way is it's non-stop-intensive-"out-of-my-way"-"I-can-fit-that-small-space-at-120km/h-easily"-attitude. Seriously, they drive like cracy. Speeds are off the chart, there are four cars driving side-by-side on a two-lane road and everyone is changing lanes all the time to get past the others. And this seriously continues all-through the journey. Honking at everyone, flashing the lights, waving angry hands, breaking suddenly to not hit a truck carrying live animals because someone else got next to it first, etc. It's just non-stop adrenaline-shot. Anyone complaining about Finnish driving habits should have one day in a car in China.
I wonder whether the traffic would actually move faster if everyone just followed the traffic rules, or whether this system is actually better... go figure.
Some 300 people die in traffic every day in China. I'm not surprised. Not with the way they drive.
Want adventure?
Want to have a feeling like every day is your last?
Want to have close-to-death experiences?
Want to try the most extreme of all extreme professions/sports?
Try driving a car (or even ride as a passenger) in Southern China!
It's been a long while since I last posted. By all means I have been trying to motivate myself to write but I've been either too busy at work to write, or too lazy/tired at home to do so. In any case, I mean to write about the Chinese driving habit already last week but well, here it is now.
Sitting in a car in South China is an extreme adventure every time! I had already forgotten how it's like since I hadn't been doing that in a long while. That changed a few weeks back when I was taken to a factory near Guangzhou by the factory's driver. Quickly reminded of the thrill of fearing for your life non-stop for a few hour span is something that doesn't vanish quickly.
... and of course you take the trip both ways, so the great experience is enjoyed twice!
The thing with Chinese driving way is it's non-stop-intensive-"out-of-my-way"-"I-can-fit-that-small-space-at-120km/h-easily"-attitude. Seriously, they drive like cracy. Speeds are off the chart, there are four cars driving side-by-side on a two-lane road and everyone is changing lanes all the time to get past the others. And this seriously continues all-through the journey. Honking at everyone, flashing the lights, waving angry hands, breaking suddenly to not hit a truck carrying live animals because someone else got next to it first, etc. It's just non-stop adrenaline-shot. Anyone complaining about Finnish driving habits should have one day in a car in China.
I wonder whether the traffic would actually move faster if everyone just followed the traffic rules, or whether this system is actually better... go figure.
Some 300 people die in traffic every day in China. I'm not surprised. Not with the way they drive.
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