Hello.....

My blog entries since the beginning of 2008 have been all pictures from my travels. It has been a crazy "world tour" and 2008 is probably gonna be remembered as the year where I spent almost the same amount of time in different hotel rooms and @ home. The year is not yet over and I have visited 23 cities in 11 countries so far.

I am not complaining about the travelling; in fact, I am grateful for the opportunities to travel and visit places which I may have not gone on my own. I
· Experienced one of the coldest winters Japan ever had in Sapporo, Hokkaido;
· Walked on the marble of the Taj Mahal;
· Saw the sunrise and sunset at The Grand Canyon;
· Soaked in a real onsen in Hakone, Japan;
· Had a visual replay of Tomb Raider at Angkor Wat;
· Revisited the Sydney Harbour Bridge;
· Shopped at the world’s fashion capital in Milan;
· Admired world famous artefacts at the Uffizi Museum in Florence;
· Eaten the best French toast in a small local café in Hong Kong;
· Took a camel ride in Jaipur…

It was great. I immersed myself in different cultures, tasted varieties of local food and in some instances, tried to live like a local wherever I am (by taking public transport and even eating from the roadside stall in India!). I took many wonderful pictures and I accumulated tons of souvenirs from my trips. New friends were made and beautiful memories were created.

However, after a while, it all gets tiring. I miss home. I miss my family and I miss Coffee. I miss having some stability and predictability (read: boring) in my life. I miss hanging out with close friends over a nice brownie in a nice café on a Saturday afternoon. I miss putting on my jogging shoes and going out for a nice jog whenever I feel like it. I miss going for my regular Sunday morning hot yoga class. I miss going for family dinners with my folks.

I was living out of a suitcase, literally. I reached home, opened my suitcase, took out the dirty clothes and souvenirs/food that I had bought, packed in clean clothes, spent a couple of days in Singapore and I found myself in a taxi headed for Changi Airport again.

Life still goes on at home when one travels. Bills still come in the mail and need to be paid. Coffee still needs to be fed daily and taken for walks. Clothes still need to be washed and dried. The toilet still needs to be scrubbed. And I start getting the feeling that I am missing out on all these regular (and mundane) routines in life.

With the uncertain market conditions, there had been travel restrictions imposed in my company, which means I do not travel anymore (at least until the end of 2008) and I am happie about it.

Now I work 4 days a week at my company (and yes, at 80% of the salary in case you are wondering) and I spend one day each week teaching at NTU where I enjoyed the interactions I have with the undergraduates.

I try to jog at least three times a week and I go for my regular Sunday morning hot yoga class. I arrange for dinner with my folks and I plan for catch-up sessions with my good friends. I have the pleasure of playing the hide-and-seek game weekly with Coffee trying to get him to bathe! I am back to my routine of scrubbing the toilet every two weeks.

Interestingly, these routines, though simple and some may say boring, bring joy and feelings of stability to me and my simple life. Mabbe it’s an age thing – I am just getting oooooold…