Nothing more satisfying than doing something else when more pressing work matters are at hand, particularly when it's the last month of the year and you start wringing your hands and wonder where did all the time go?

Let me see. I've been spending whatever free time reading books though my IPod Touch - truly the best single gadget created (and electronic purchase) for the past 10 years. At least it was for me. Okay, maybe next to my DSLR camera but I've been spending less and less time shooting pics these days. Hell, even the LC-A+ I bought during my last trip to NYC is still in its pristine, shrink wrap condition.

First I tried the ebooks apps for the IPod. I managed to download a couple of books (to last me a month in Boston) until those guys decided that they won't be selling books to Singapore users anymore. I even have a few dollars worth of credits there but sorry, can't buy there anymore. Then I tried the Barnes and Nobles app - same problem.

Then of course came Kindle for the IPod. Again I managed to buy several books until the geographical restrictions thingie kicked in. I eventually found a way of getting around the restriction and am happily Whisphersyncing book after book. I have accumulated quite an eclectic collection of books actually. Lots of Egypt books in preparation for an upcoming trip. A whole slew of trashy (but vainly entertaining) Sookie Stackhouse books. A couple of Dune sequels, the entire LOTR trilogy, 2 of Michael Cunningham's books (including Land's End - that lovely homage to Provincetown), 2 books by the sublimely funny Josh Kilmer-Purcell and my new favorite (though annoyingly verbose at times) Mark Doty. I have just downloaded Wolf Hall and wondering if it will be any better than the Pillar of the Earth books. Fingers crossed.

Of course I still love the feel of paper but it can be such a pain lugging around books especially when you are travelling (with more books than clothes in your luggage). Besides, how can you beat the cool factor of reading a book through your IPod? Even reading a crappy Dan Brown book looks hip.

I don't wanna be the girl
that has to fill the silence
The quiet scares me
'cause it screams the truth
(Sober/Pink)




(Bayon temple, Cambodia, 2006)

There's a problem, feathers iron
Bargain buildings, weights and pullies

Feathers hit the ground
before the weight can leave the air

Buy the sky and sell the sky
and tell the sky and tell the sky

Fall on me
(Fall on me/REM)




(NYC, 2009)

Whatever happened to good things coming
Coming to those who wait
Whatever happened to this city
It’s not like it used to be
Whatever happened to you
Whatever happened to me
(Open arms/Gary Go)



(Lijiang, China, 2007)

We crash crash crash
With nothing left to burn
We try to turn the tables
We have turned
Covering the cracks
Won't make them disappear
I've lost count of the times that we've been here
(Life gets in the way/Gary Go)

(Shibuya Train Station, Tokyo, Japan 2009)

Anything goes but don't blink you might miss
Cause heaven ain't close in a place like this
I said heaven ain't close in a place like this
Bring it back down, bring it back down tonight
(Somebody told me/The Killers)





(On the road, Yunnan, China 2007)

It's one of those Mondays when you end up doing nothing much even when there is so much that needs to be done.

Must be the cold medication. My brain was like in safe mode, one moment away from the blue screen of death.

I need to jot down here how, at the rate things are happening at work, I'm really intrigued on how things will eventually work out.

It takes a unplanned afternoon nap to bring about an unwanted muddynights moment. Unwanted as tomorrow is a work day and I don't want to be wide awake at 3 am and in a state of panic thinking about the 9 am meeting I may just miss.

It's just as well that a muddynight moment is what it takes to resusitate this blog from a prolonged haitus. Not that I've been spending more time in FB (which I am not), but that I've been freaking busy these past few months. Now that LJ is a bit more quiet that it was before, maybe its a good time to be writting stuff that I wanted to write, and not just what people seem to be talking about.

I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you
(Hanging by a moment/Lighthouse)






(Seoul, Korea, 2008)

Can't read my,
Can't read my
No he can't read my poker face
(Poker Face/Lady Gaga)





(Shibuya Train Station, Tokyo, Japan 2009)