It’s not exactly my favourite topic to revisit. But I am appalled when I visit toilet cubicles which look like the aftermath of nuclear shitbomb explosion. It’s a rude shock for me because:

1. This often occurs at ‘posh’ corporate toilets which are adorn with golden taps and gaudy paintings, and frequented by the most senior management executives of organisations. And the smell emanating from the toilets are often fetid enough to leave you gagging at the toilet sink, praying for the next dose of air freshener to be triggered immediately. This has led me to draw the simple conclusion that the richer and more powerful you get, the smellier the shit you leave.

2. That is some serious concrete (or maybe semi-liquid, depending on the byproduct) evidence that the human race have not evolved, at least in the aspect of learning how to defecate in a decent manner so the next in line can have the simple luxury to.

To draw parallels - life is like encountering a row of smelly cubicles. You have to pick the least unpleasant one and make the best out of it. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it, and honestly, it depends on the situation. There are 2 main methods that I know of.

The inverted A-frame
This is only feasible if you have lots of toilet paper resource at your disposal. Basically, you layer 3 strips of toilet paper on your toilet seat, so that you can do your business comfortably without the urine stains or shit patches from irritating your butt. Some people do the mummy version, ie wrapping tons of paper around the toilet seat which is not very ecofriendly.

The 2nd method is the Standing squat position. This is handy when the toilet paper resource is limited or the shit left on your seat is so thick that no amount of paper is possible to protect you. You will have to position yourself in a squatting stance, while flexing your absl muscles to drive your dump to the hole. Other versions include the squatting on the toilet seat, which is not really recommended because there is the possibility you might just slip through or leaving the next occupant no choice but to adopt the 2nd method.

JJ's song 她說 has been accompanying me to work these days.
Pretty well written song by Sun Yanzi, but JJ trumped it with his vocals.
Making it an awfully challenging song for ktv sessions.

Some micro analysis over the lyrics:
....
"等不到天黑 煙火不會太完美  (Beautiful line...)
回憶燒成灰 還是等不到結尾" (What does this mean??? Doesn't quite make sense to me)

I will probably gain some enlightment, after another 100x on repeat mode.

Its the time of the year again.
The time of the year to start clearing the house.
And chase away spiders, cockroach, lizards and whatever uninvited guests from the drawers and cabinets.

Its the one of the rare times of the year, when you revisit the mementos and stash of junkets that you have accumulated over the year, perhaps even over the years. Movie ticket stubs, too-cute-to-throw keychain souvenirs from family vacations and AAA rating Chinese essays to show off to someone one day.

When you start doing the packing, you notice that you have gradually changed over the years. And realize that things you thought were important to retain, weren't really that important after all. You just need to be rational, heartless and throw, in order for the packing/cleaning to be fruitful.

That's easier said than done.  More often, it ends up in a reshuffling and rearranging exercise. From one drawer to another, or to another section of the house.

You can literally hear the voices of the items pleading not to be thrown. It is quite amazing how some items are able to constantly avoid the fate of being discarded by me.

One of them being this fake wooden katana that I have, buried deep in my cabinet. Like an annual ritual, I will pull the katana out, wield it, swing it a couple of times to hear the swishing sound and sheath it back.

It feels strangely empowering, to pretend to be a samurai for that few minutes.

Okay, so much for being a samurai, time to slash the trash.

New Year - Goodbye 2010
 

Personally, I am not all that into the New Year and countdown thing. Being more of the traditional superstitious Chinese,  I tend to regard the Chinese New Year as the official one. But its still good, I can always do with the extra holidays and holidays make good corporate banter.

I must say 2010 was a good year for me.

I made my 1st career switch. For the better, at least for now.  And I have people to thank for. My girlfriend for pushing me to realise how much I have missed in life and how much more I will miss in the future. Jw for sending me the career links. My brother for helping out with my applications.

I did my first ICT, which was a refreshing good break after my exams. I paid back most of my sleep debt during the period and chalked up pretty good sleep mileage to last some late nighters.

I made my first investments in 2010 and hopefully they will pay off in the next couple of years.

Regretfully, I lost my waistline before the year end. 
I attribute it to a couple of factors: a severe decline in work and exam stress, Bundaberg Rootbeer & berlinjau chips, undisturbed sleep and sloth. My immediate agenda on my New Year resolution would be to get the waistline back before CNY.

Great year, nonetheless.
Let's hope 2011 will be better. Cheers.