beautiful routine

a huge change is on the horizon for me, the not too distant horizon actually, like the 2nd of january 2007. i just received news that i will be transfered down to kuala lumpur (the capital city of malaysia) for 18 months or thereabouts (the details being sketchy at the moment).

being me, i am now dealing with trepidation laced with excitement and a pinch of happiness. i am extremely resistant to change and hate it with a passion. i am using the word 'hate' here and that is mighty strong in my books. i love routine and this is definitely going to trample it, drag it through the mud and later subject it to a public beheading in front of a blood-thirsty crowd.

i love the routine of getting up to my alarm clock screaming out its insistent cacophony. i relish stumbling into the bathroom and staring stupidly into the mirror and wondering who that person is looking back at me. where did i go?

with the neat 1 cm of toothpaste smeared on top of my battered tooth brush, i proceed to rid my yellowing enamels of the layer of gunk accumulated from yesterday. the foam that runs down my chin is somehow reassuring. with my tongue and mouth tingling with morning freshness i sit on my throne and scan through the local newspaper. it takes only 5 minutes for me to pick out my shirt and pants for the day before i skip down the stairs and make my morning cup of mocha-flavored coffee. feeling the caffeine suffuse my blood stream i bite into the first of 2 slices of buttered and toasted bread.

picking up my valise i hop into my trusty 8 year old car and drive into morning traffic. pulling into my parking space i am greeted by a few of my colleagues after which we part ways for our various assigned work space. the ebb and flow of work washes over me and i am oblivious to time until i sense a gradual loosening of the atmosphere around me. the smiles become broader and people become more civil to each other. ass parts company with cheap imitation leather and i maneuver into evening traffic. zonking out during those long interminable jams i day dream of a better place to be and before i know it i am at home.

i notice with glee how many things i carry on my body during the working day. i empty my shirt pocket of my pen and thumbdrive. i next struggle to fish out the bunch of keys to my office and to the locker from my pants followed by my car keys. i remove the watch from my wrist and pull off the name-tag-on-a-lanyard from around my neck. there is now a sizable pile of knick-knacks on the table. i then remove my socks, shirt and pants. i shower washing away the grime of the day. dinner beckons and a few hours after being on the internet my head hits the soft pillow and i am gone. bye bye day.

journeyman

finally back from all my traveling. it has been a hectic last few days but at the same time quite enjoyable. when i arrived in kota kinabalu a few nights ago i was pleasantly surprised by the hotel that my sponsors have booked me into. a spacious room decorated sensibly and a queen size bed for my weary head. best of all, free internet!

the meeting venue, university sabah malaysia, was beautiful with a view of mount kinabalu on one side and the wide expanse of the south china sea on the other. the downside was that the air-conditioning in the meeting hall had a mind of its own and kept shutting off leaving us sweltering in the tropical heat. they only got it right on the last day of the conference.

what really bugged me (as it always does) is the waiting in the airports. hours and hours spent sitting around for something to happen. in airports we are always hoping that we are some place else. always on the cusp of leaving the present physical plane and hoping that the next place will be better. and of course it never is. more waiting in the next airport and the cycle continues. please, i beg you! someone invent teleportation!

sunset

the sun setting over the south china sea. taken in kota kinabalu, sabah, malaysia

How NOT to give a keynote address.

Good eva-ning ladies and gentlemen, blah blah blah………..blah…. co-co-dial farm blah blah…….hysterical city.


This actually is an excerpt from a speech I heard given by a prominent member of parliament of a city which I will not name. co-co-dial actually means crocodile and what he was driving at with regards to mass hysteria in the city was historical. Cruel humour I know but I can’t help myself! This man is hysterical!