:: and the update::

the week of Feb 14 was a big one...in Basel, that Monday is the start of Fasnacht, Basel's biggest festival - think Carnivale without the beads and more beer than spirit...

crazy suisse dressed with huge masks, parading thru the town for 3 days bashing drums... this seemed really cool at 4am Monday morning when it started after a weekend of party but after 3 days, drums being beaten outside your apartment gets a bit tedious...

first the drums would be louder than the tv - this was especially irritating as we had just only a week ago discovered the german mtv channel (we found extra channels on the tv that could not be found without tuning the tv each time you want the extra channel again)- at least 30% of which was in english - including Pimp My Ride - after 2 years of no television or bad german programming, you may begin to understand why I loved this simplton show....

then the tv blew up - smoke coming out the back of the set and everything - it was found on teh road at one point, i was suprised it made it this far, but that did not stop me from being pissed off! now when the drums went past it was this thud, thud, thud of patronising.....

so no tv and loud drums....another part of Fasnacht happens the night before in a town called Liestal - where they drag these huge bonfires through the middle of the old town - this was an incredible sight to see, and i know the baselers would prob. be pissed to hear me say this but, i thought this was even more impressive than the fasnacht parade (sorry basel)

celebrated valentines day on the saturday before the 14th as the 14th was a public holiday here and after partying all night and watching a parade at 4am in the morning, you sleep all day monday...mykey and auralia his girl came up from geneva and was awesome to catch up again - mykey sporting full face beard, i nearly walked past him in the street having not recognised him!

for a better account of fasnacht can check Laura's blog here

Laûra leaves back for Ausl tomorrow - going to be so depressing...she will be back in 4 months for vacation...i received my work permit extension yesterday so I am here until end Sept for now. after that we will see...

and Jen, Aug/Sept in India is very doable...only if Latif wears that tie...

:: air - the next big industry? ::

a lot has happened in the last two weeks, worthy of an update but I've been ill this week - back at work today - will post the update soon, but first check out this mail I received today:

Dear Sir/Mdm,

We are a Singapore-based company with global operations. Currently we are opening up a new industry worldwide - The AIR industry. It is a new industry,just like the water market 30 years ago. Now the water market has matured and it's a billion dollar industry. The next BIG thing will be the air market. The potential of the air market will be much higher than the water market when people see Air as a tradeable commodity in the near future.

Our company is expanding fast in India, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Now we are starting this new industry in the Philippines and other parts of the world. I am looking for serious business partners to develop this new industry in the Philippines.

It will be difficult for me to explain the whole big picture to you through email, that is why I am flying into the various provinces of the Philippines, in particular Manila, Batangas and Davao, conducting business meetings on our Global Business Strategy in Philippines.

Kindly reply ONLY if you are a businessman or if you are looking for business opportunity to embark on a Global Business Platform. We will invite you for a non-obligational business meeting or our International Business Preview in Makati, Manila. (Preferably if you have overseas contacts.)

Please provide me with the following information.

1) Name :
2) Contact No. : Landline and Cellphone
3) Email :
4) Profession/Business :
5) Province :

:: dilbert does it again ::

so me right now, it's just not funny...

:: and so the pics ::

this one is for the aussies...i miss twisties so much, and then, across the border, i found these:



random funky guys from the zurich street parade, around july last year



my apartment



christmas dinner - the best chicken i have ever had!



i love europe - the realisation that words are not enough - graphics are universal...

:: happy mondays? ::

how can a band call themselves the happy mondays, there is nothing happy about the office on a monday morning...

more snowboarding attempts on the weekend, must say, was so much better than the first attempt out - i have been told that there is a very quick, steep learning curve snowboarding compared to learning how to ski, and after you quickly pick it up, your skill level will plateau. i am waiting for the plateau, bring it on...

finally got onto laura's laptop and grabbed all the pics from the last 6 months. will start putting a few up - quite boring to just read without any visual stimulation i can imagine...

:: delete ::

of all the mails that I have prepared, written and sent this morning, i just deleted the 3rd that i decided i would not send...am i the only one that does this? surely not...i wonder just how much written in email is better off not said (or sent)...can you imagine what life would be like if there was only compose and send...all the mails to colleagues, bosses and friends that you have drafted and changed your mind - imagine if these were actually sent - the same vain of everyone saying what they think when they think it, no screening of conversation...guess having watched the deleted scenes from love actually dvd last nite (where bad bernie, emma thompson's son in the movie, has written an essay on his christmas wish - to be able to actually see people's farts for a day, a bit vulgar and bad taste, but you can't help but snicker)...and its got me really thinking about just how much happens in our daily lives around us (our immediate circle of work, family etc) that we don't know about, that people don't tell us about...hell a phone call to jen and i hear about scandals that happened months ago and i had no idea...man this has turned into a bit of a ramble hasn't it...and all because i hit delete a few times...

i finally received the studio mx package that i ordered in october -i.s. dept here moves extremely slowly...first i find that they do not offer this as a basic downloadable software within the company - which is amazing for a company that should be communicating as much as possible, that it does not make it easy to get the tools needed to do this...anyways, next step was to make a business case for why i need the software...hmm, ok, well i need to use it to build some intranet sites, that's kind of part of my job...if i don't have ths software, i can't do my job...i am paid for looking beautiful (well i can humour myself ok) and my witty watercooler banter..give me the freaking software ok!!!!!

so, to reinforce my business case i need my boss to sign off on the purchase...his response? well, something along the lines of, "why do you need this?...ok, fair enough...why do i need to sign this? isn't this a waste of your time as well as mine, scheduling a meeting with me to confirm you need software - a decision you are better equipped to make, given that this is part of your job? etc etc..." why yes, it is a waste of time, but that seems to happen a lot here i have noticed...

so business case made...signed off...that was late October...they came and installed it yesterday...of course i needed to be using it at the time i applied so i have been using a colleagues studio set up in the mean time...i guess at least i have had 3-4 months to learn how to use it (with someone elses) before they finally install it on my machine...

: : flash in the pan, contract : :

well I have an extension to my work contract in front of me: This is to inform you that your relationship (because it does feel like I am in a bad love affair with this company)
of temporary employment with our company will not end per April 30, 2005 but only on Dec 31 2005. Blah blah blah...This contract is subject to a valid work permit issued by the local authorities.

And that is the clincher - need to see if the permit comes thru...

spent the entire day yesterday and again today using Flash. i always wanted to learn how to use it, i just wish they would send me to a class instead of trial and error..most things i like to believe i can learn by doing - this is really pushing the boundaries of that statement...spend an hour or so trying to figure something out, make something work, only to end up finding another way to do it that takes two minutes, less frames etc etc...

what an interesting blog this is - detailing my Flash education...

there is a siren test happening right now - sounds like an elephant love song...the swiss do make me laugh with their emergency tests and underground bunkers and so on...you haven't been to a real swiss aiesec reception event unless you have spent some time underground in bunkbeds that are three beds high and five across....