Why I love working here...

Been crazy busy for the past week.

Working on a new biz pitch. Worked both days last weekend and will be working this coming one too. Sigh.

But I love working here.
Not just because I've got great friends / colleagues / bosses here, but also because we're like family.

Like today, about 17 of us went out to eat bak kut teh (pork in herbal and garlic soup) for lunch. It's wonderfully communal, chopsticks digging into 2 huge claypots of boiling broth and pieces of meat, mushrooms and tofu. It's wonderfully delicious, with a bowl of rice and a mini-dish of raw chopped garlic, thick black soy sauce and birds eye chillis on the side. The shop was wonderfully hot, crowded and noisy. And we ate, laughed and poured tea above the din.

On the way back in the car, a few of us were discussing Chinese idioms. I'm illiterate in my own mother tongue, knowing just enough for basic daily conversation with my mom and some relatives. So I was learning quite abit about clever Chinese wordplay. It was interesting to say the least, and it made the short car ride back to the office such fun.

Here are some simpler ones (in Cantonese) I learnt from JH and JC.

Sui lok sek choot (receeding water exposes rocks)
- Truth will reveal itself with time.

Tau ngak gwai pin (steal bluff kidnap cheat)
- Untrustworthy (quite obvious hor?)

For siew kei gon (fire burns flag post)
- Now this one is a little complicated. A well-burnt flag post would give you a long piece of charcoal, which in Cantonese is "cheong tan", which also sounds like a "long holiday". So by saying you're burning a flag post, you're actually going for a long holiday. Uh. Okay...

Gai mou ngap huet (chicken feather duck blood)
- Nothing left but worthless things. Usually used when you're saying someone is in deep trouble (especially when it's about money).

Mou ngok butt chok (not evil not done)
- Do nothing but evil. Used to refer to people who does nothing but... well, evil. Quite self-explanatory this one.

Chat chat bat bat (seven seven eight eight)
- Almost compete, but not 100% yet. I wonder if number 10 is considered a complete number by the Chinese. Hmmm.

There are alot more but I can't remember them all now. And it's time to get back to work. Maybe I'll post another one about this, once I have time to do more research.

* For some strange reason, every time I'm stuck in a meeting with a government ministry client (it's nothing short of painful), I get this huge craving for bak kut teh. Good thing my colleagues agree it is the best comfort food. Eating it, even if out of spite, is a balm to my soul. If you want to know why, ask via email. I don't want a lawsuit. Hahaha.

Phhbbppt again!

It's Saturday afternoon and I'm in the office.

There are some urgent jobs due on Tuesday.

So some colleagues and I have to work through the weekend AND the public holiday on Monday.

Crap.

I hate the (a-local-telecommunications-provider) client.

If it's any consolation to myself, I bought a collection of Tim Burton's figurines from his book, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories. At 25% off too! Happiness!

And oh, this is totally off topic, but I saw a beautiful labrador this morning while on my run. A cream-coloured gentle creature named Tricia, with soft brown eyes. But I think her owner has been feeding her too many doggy biscuits. She's a very, uhm, big dog. And oh-so-huggable!

I want a labrador. I want a labrador.

Sigh.

Did I say I want a labrador?

Phhhbbbbppttt!!!

This is my second late Friday night at work.

Again, not because of some urgent work to complete.
But because I have to wait for materials/proofs to come back from the colour separators *grumble grumble mumble mumble*.

Grrreat.

Sigh.

A chat on MSN with a dear friend made me wonder what my life would be like if I didn't choose advertising as a career.

It all kinda started before I left high school.
A friend's sister studied advertising at a local college funded by the local advertising association. She just completed her internship and it sounded like fun.

It wasn't your typical deskjob. It's creative.
And apparently, it paid well.

At that time, my parents expected me to do my Sixth Form (equivalent to pre-university). But I balked at the idea because I did not want to spend another one and a half to two years in school (compared to a one-year pre-u outside)
- WITHOUT guarantee of a place in a local university (thanks to the racial quota system)
- for a degree I did NOT want (again, the Government chooses for you and it takes 4 years instead of the usual 3 to complete).

This route would have set me back 2 years.
And NO way was I letting someone else decide my future for me!

Dad retired with a small Government pension by then.
I needed a quick and affordable solution. So advertising it was.

The programme was flexible, which meant I could graduate with a diploma in 2 years if I couldn't afford third year (the only way to earn a degree, was to complete the final year abroad). So depending on the situation at home, I could decide as I went along.

Fortunately for me, I had kind benefactors in my cousin and aunt, as well as a part scholarship to complete everything. Many nights at a Chinese Restaurant waitressing and doing dishes made life a little more comfortable.

Then I came back, started working and got pretty lucky with a good start at a good ad agency.

Here I am, 6 years on.
A little jaded, if not tired.

I often wondered where I would be if I did not take that path.

What would I be doing?

Who would be the people I call friends today?

Would I have met the few people who'd made such
a difference in my life?

Who then, would I be?

If God's will or fate had different plans for me,
would I even be here today?