2006: Sisuahlai at a glance

2006 is a good year for many reasons.

Reason number one: I started this blog. It was partly boredom, and partly because I really missed home, Kuching. Then, I was working in London. Work abroad paid me nicely, but the hours, rituals and the uncertain career direction were slowly sapping my motivation. Friends in the same profession were either jobless or holding down jobs they never wanted, just to pay their student loans and mortgage. (see subscript)

I couldn't hang around and pretend everything was rosy and promising. I needed a fresh start. If there was a reset button in life like on your computer, my thumb would be on it in no time. Reason number two: I have pressed the reset button and now waiting for something to appear on the "monitor". Anything.

Reason number 3, 2006 was a good year: I travelled to places I never could have afforded if it wasn't because of my generous boss, the leave and the pay... Places visited this year: Maldives, Thailand, China, and Hong Kong. The Maldivian island we stayed in was heavenly. I could not recommend it enough.

Reason number 4: Lots of time to think. And travel. Just returned from Australia. I didn't have my digi-cam on me, so no photo-blog on that trip. I was in the Mediterranean-territory of Perth. Perth is one of the world's top ten best places to live, according to a recent holiday poll. Rising house prices, increasing immigrant population, expensive food... all the usual accompaniment of a successful city.

Reason number 5: This blog. I don't think I can call it a Hokkipedia. It teaches Hokkien in quantity sufficient enough to teach a jellyfish fly. But I love it. I want to rename it Hokkien tham-pok tham-pok. But it's too much of a mouthful. This blog started as a challenge to explain certain Hokkien words and phrases, its idiosyncrancies, and its absurdness. It gradually evolves into a holiday blog, food blog, The Star bashing blog.... ya, like rojak. But still, people keep on reading. I am so happy 25,000+ returning visitors think it's not boring and worth a repeat visit. I hope I won't disappoint in 2007. Importantly, I have made many friends through Sisuahlai. You, you and you.

Reason number 6: It's always scary to try something new and untested. I will always remember 2006 as the year I swapped a conventional, secure career for something I am completely unfamiliar with. I might be right, or I might fail miserably. But at least, I am happy and satisfied that I have given myself that CHANCE and CHOICE.

Let's bring on 2007. Ah, and a happy Christmas to you before that.

Subscript: The new system punished the toilers, and if you reached your 4th year post-graduation and didn't have a senior training post, or you are a non-EU passport holder, you automatically become a second-rate worker. There will be winners and losers, sadly there are more losers here, as not everyone gets a senior training job. The bottle-neck in the system are driving the ambitious workers elsewhere to find better fortunes. (Fortunes of my eight close, hardworking course-mates: 1 senior training job, 2 moved abroad, 3 stuck in junior posts, 1 quit the career, 1 went back to study.)

Blogging about a Blog

What do you call a blog about blogging itself? Blog-a-blog? Blog-in-blog?

Well, this idea came to me one evening. No, it wasn't a special momentous evening. And I didn't see any light from the sky, leading me to the path of righteousness. It was just an ordinary evening, when one had too much free time.

Yup, it's possible to be a victim of too much self-reflection. And this blog is a product of it. Like an unwanted child.

I just wanted to see how it would be to blog about Sisuahlai's entries. Why choose this Hokkien word today? Why this topic today?

Ok, let me start with the first Bangkok holiday entry.

Arrived in Bangkok three days ago. There has been so much media coverage on the lead-up to the King's 60th anniversary celebration. Everyone's talking about it. Everybody is wearing that royal yellow colour T-shirt. Aargh. And the shirts are even selling on E-bay. And they are seriously selling like hotcakes. I don't know who set the standards here, but Thais are expected to wear yellow on Mondays. And I look like Thai. Like it or not, I might as well succumb to this "yellow" fever. My yellow shirt is washed and crisp... I am ready to march the streets of Bangkok.

I have been to Bangkok several times, but I've never done the tourist thing. I haven't seen the Emerald Buddha, I remember the Choa Phrya river more from pictures in holiday brochures than memories. I need to catch up on the tourist thing. Desperately.

Yes, I am keen to be a tourist. My digital SD memory card is emptied, the cam battery is charged, and I have loose bahts, just get me to Bangkok Central now!

I am staying in an area which is 3 hours Bangkok-traffic jam away from the city centre. So I am taking the first bus/taxi/anything to Bangkok central tomorrow.

Imagine my head exploding now.