(New) Rhythm & (Monday) blues

This month has been superb. We have long weekend almost every week. It feels like working for a few days and then rest for a few days and then so on. I like this new rhythm. How I wish it lasts forever. The only possiblity to make this a reality is when I have school-going kids and when I decide to take a pay cut in order to have a permanent Wednesday off (for the kids). This is one thing I like about living in France. Never mind about the pay cut, time is gold!

I'm so looking forward to our weekend getaway in Lisbon end of this month. Yeah, that's another long weekend in France. We've been reasonable and not disposing our bonus on entertainment and holidays. We're saving up for something.....BIG. I don't know about you, but I'm a strong believer in savings. Never mind about not going to the fancy Mauritius or Maldives for a beach holiday, having hard cash in hand is king!

Here's what our big project is about. Buying a house. House...as in rooted on the ground. The idea seems overwhelming at first when we first discovered the price tags in the Parisian suburbs. Again, we're reasonable people, we're not buying a chateau. The range of options in the Parisian region is wide enough for us to make an optimum selection of size, location, amenities, authenticity, etc......vs. price.

Lets see...what will we be doing to fully enjoy this weekend. Oh, did I mention that this upcoming weekend is also 3 days long? We have taken tickets to see the Andy Warhol exhibition at the Grand Palais. We would also need to do some household chores. A major re-organisation in our study room is needed as I will start my master's degree programme in June. I'm looking forward to studying again but I feel anxious at the same time. It has been a long time since I have done my bachelor's. My maths might be a bit rusty, I think I should be able to recall the concepts quickly once I'm shown some examples.

We shall do some sports too. Golf. Sounds like a plan. Yoga, swimming, walking.....anything but working.

Life goes on

Having lived in Asia during the SARS period, I learned that life must go on with the swine flu. The key, though, is with caution. And I don’t mean being paranoid every time we step out of our house. My colleague is having this fear that he might die the next day by catching this new string of flu. I thought he was being paranoid. But then again, I don’t blame him. Recalling back the days in Singapore, I was really scared. We didn’t know what and how this came about. It could strike anyone anytime.

Thank God, I survived that phase.

At every crisis, we learn. We learned first of all, to put hygiene at top priority. We re-commit to simple habits such as washing hands with soap regularly especially after using the toilet and before eating and sneezing and coughing into a tissue paper. We watch our health by exercising and eating well. We need to stay en forme so that our immune system is ready to fight off that prowling virus.

I remember avoiding crowded places and travelling during that period. It’s a simple rule of probability that you have a higher risk of exposure by having more contact with other people. I’m not only talking about direct contact. Apparently, close proximity poses a similar risk.

Finally, stay positive and have courage.

Mon Chat

Meet Mon Chat. We don't know her name. So that's how we call her.

This is the cat that has appeared in several entries in our blog. We don't know if she belongs to anyone in our neighbourhood. She used to go from house to house for food and lodging. We suspect that she ran away from a nasty master. Her history remains a mystery to us and she never talked about it.....

Since she got to know us better, she has been coming to our place regularly. And now, she's practically living with us. At first, we thought she comes for the food. Then we realised that she's not that mercenary after all. On some days, even salmon skin doesn't interest her. She comes to see us.

I think that she's pretty happy to get daily "bonjour" and caress from us, sleeping in her box on rainy days and lying on the balcony on sunny days. Her life is worry-free. She makes us realise that many simple joys bring great happiness.

Do you know your job?

Is bankers’ reputation tarnished? I am seeing headlines on banking scandals on the front page every other day. No doubt some reports have simply been played up by the media; the current financial crisis is real. The chain of events in 2008 made me start thinking about some issues. Job security is obviously on everyone’s mind. But here is a very fundamental question I ask myself: do we really know what we do?

 

When the door is closed, it means OCCUPIED!

This is probably my first complaint on my blog. I’ve been trying to be politically-correct in my blog after all this while. So finally, I have to b*tch on my blog about something that I’ve been holding on.  I just came out from the ladies, actually. I’ve been keeping this for a long time and I have to let it out and unfortunately, my blog seems to be the most convenient outlet at the moment.

 

There are 3 toilets in the ladies’ room. When a toilet is occupied, it’s closed and locked and you can normally tell (unless your eyesight is challenged) by looking at the colour code of the toilets “status”. Red means it’s occupied and in this ladies’ room, the individual toilet doors are normally left open if it’s not occupied.

 

There is someone who consistently tries to storm into an occupied toilet when there are 2 others available with its doors wide open. What is she thinking about??!!!!! I just want my 2 minutes’ privacy doing my business at peace and I can’t even have that! So it happened again this morning, and I was furious! I have to confront this person the next time when I’m done with my business fast enough. She gotta stop this rudeness and stupidity.

 

Extreme Paperwork

It’s an ordeal this time. I’m sure everyone has experienced the hassle of paperwork at any government departments. I know that and I detest it so much that I’m beginning to be frightened by it. The long queues in the wee hours of the morning, the rigid guidelines, the unfriendly staff and everything you name it, I have been there and done that.

 

Well, my point is not emphasising the weaknesses of the public services. It’s about my situation. I’m currently dealing with the renewal of my French carte de séjour and soon, the renewal of my Malaysian passport and in about a month’s time, my Singapore PR Re-Entry Permit. All is happening at the same time but with different governments.

 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear….it’s stressful just thinking about them!

 

 

Weather and boots

It was snowing in Paris today and I was a little surprised. I haven’t seen snow in a big city until today. Luckily the snow didn’t stick around for too long. The melted away as soon as it hits the ground, which might be a good thing after all. Though I didn’t have my boots on, my feet remained dry throughout the walks. I learned that boots do not necessarily keep my feet warm and dry unless it has good thick soles. You could wear any shoes with a good sole, with a pair of leg warmers, and it would just make your day in a gloomy weather.