Detours

Oh no it's back again. The waking-up-insanely-early-in-the-morning thing. I remember this occurring before, usually when I'm anxious, sometimes when I just sleep too early, sometimes when people and places and events just like to annoy me in my dreams. But the fact that the dreams exist at all -- and that I remember them -- at least tells me it was quite a restful sleep. Can't remember tonight's dream, though hopefully it didn't involve you (enough already, thanks).

In any case, I think the real reason I'm up early is that I'm apprehensive about the big (toe) surgery later. Finally some good news to Ma, to one of my favorite people Huixian, and to my Thai colleague Lulita especially, who all like to scold me about the ingrown nail I've been sustaining and nurturing(!) for the past three months now(?). I thought it was legitimately healing, seriously, and it stopped hurting and bleeding for a good few weeks, until it came back with a vengeance -- apparently it just buried itself deeper and has returned to give me a lingering aching painful surprise.:)

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No surprise there, actually. Knowing me for a good twenty-odd years now, I think the Joseph is one who'll go for the long route, enduring whatever discomfort or pain, and which is the cheaper, less embarrassing way out.

I've been watching two sets of The Amazing Race, the original US version (Toni and Dallas why why?) and The Amazing Race Asia (Ida and Tania, "Actress and Heiress" from Malaysia were my favorites, and, surprisingly, I didn't feel much for the Filipino team Geoff and Tish) and my favorite part would invariably be the Detour, which is "a choice between two tasks, each with its pros and cons". Aside from the incredibly cool tasks, it's the way the detour is phrased that's interesting. Recent Detours saw the contestants choose between Ride the Lines or Ride the Rails in Moscow, Play like Mad or Act like Fools in Kazakhstan, and Bleary Eyed or Teary Eyed in India. Haha well done you writers you.

Before I ramble on completely off-track (if I haven't already), lemme say that if I were a contestant on my own Joe's Amazing Race, I'd know which tasks I would choose in the Detours. Shows how self-absorbed I am too. Haha. Or how much I've figured myself out.

Short and Sweet or Linger and Fester: Linger and Fester. That's why I've been putting off this ingrown thing for the longest time, went clubbing with it at least four times, thus having it squashed by too many random people. Applies in general terms too (long lazy chitchats, long goodbyes, memories that linger on past their expiry date).

Walk or Wait: Walk. Not a fan of waiting. I rather take the long walk to the office rather than wait for lights in the pedestrian lanes to green up.

Suck it up or F*ck it Up: Suck it up. Haha explains why I have such a high tolerance for pain and discomfort. Not that I particularly enjoy it, but I can live with it anytime. No need to screw up a good thing.

User-friendly or Friendly User: User-friendly. Haha got this one from an old conversation I had with an old classmate, some chitchat with friends at some gathering. Which would you rather be, one who's taken advantage of, or one who takes advantage of others? Ever the selfless doormat -- OK lah, that's a gross exaggeration -- I'm pretty much a sucker for people I consider friends, never mind if the feeling isn't quite mutual. I gave up on 'mutual' sometime back.

Planned and Organised or Surprise Surprise: Surprise surprise. For the most part I'm the impromptu kind of guy, I don't like things to be too structured. I'm pretty much open to anything. But don't mistake this for sloppiness though, as you'll be surprised at the meticulousness I can be with formatting and font sizes and margins and text whenever I do any written report or essay etc.

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This one's a real task they gave to the contestants in Indian leg of this season's Race: Launder Money or Launder Clothes. The former involved stapling rupee notes to the newlyweds at a traditional Indian wedding, while the latter involved using a traditional charcoal iron to press 20 pieces of clothing.

This one cracked me up because anyone who knows me well enough about my current attitude to wearing and necessarily ironing shirts every day to work, knows that I hate ironing with a passion. That, or I'm a total idiot at it. (I forgot which came first) I think it takes me an hour to iron three shirts, and they'd sometimes all look crumpled anyway in the end (my boss likes to rib me about it sometimes even -- but that's another story). I'd take Launder money without a second thought.

All right, that's a whole lot for my biographers. You guys should have figured me out by now. Did you guess what I'd be choosing? 50% chance anyway.:) Sometimes I'm paranoid about the stuff and the junk that people know about me. My housemate and senior Ferron, for example, has been reading my blog for the longest time, and has a surprisingly good memory, and so he can correct me and quote me whenever I forget things, or well, sugarcoat things of the past which I so happen to forget.:) Especially about those first few years in Singapore and NUS.

Ahhh... people who know me. What can I say. Keep the juicy stuff you know to yourselves. Hehe not that there's much to tell anyway. Help me figure myself out before I forget to do so.

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Ahh December. Can't quite feel the Christmas spirit if the weather's like this. I wake up with a sweat, that's how stuffy it is at night. But yey, the calendar can't be lying, and it tells me that I'll be home in less than three weeks. Mmmm Singapore, you know I love you, but you know as well as I do that I need a break.:)

I'm pretty sad that my class reunion (Great Gashong Get-together, or GGG) might not materialize after all, due to poor response. Many of my classmates in High School were regional scholars who were from all over Mindanao, not only Davao. Oh well, there's gonna be a drinking session of some sort for those who are there, and heyyyy of course the whole batch reunion must still be on OK. *crosses fingers*

If you know me well enough, I'm all about family and friends. I love my friends who still ask about me, when I'll be back, how I'm doing in general, and who just like to message me for "nothing really" catch-up chitchats. I wish I could return the favor more obviously. Haha sometimes I'm not so demonstrative. As for family, haha it's a given I miss you loads.

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OK, this wasn't meant to be a last blog entry/ last hurrah/ last jab thingy before I die. It's a toe surgery, Jose. Get over it. Hopefully I'll be back to blog again tonight and tomorrow, with all my appendages and digits still happily intact.

Have a nice day, friends.