Week of Much And Many

The week began with Aker Solutions' second wave of mass terminations. It has been that sort of year in the oil and gas industry where such things have become somewhat commonplace. Some of them looked nonchalant, happy to receive compensation as they departed for greener pastures. Some though.. weren't expecting it and it wasn't easy to watch them. It was perhaps the most unproductive Monday I've seen during my work life so far. I also occupied myself at times with GCHQ's Christmas puzzles.

Dinner though was a nice departure from the sombre tones at the office, as I met up with Xin Yi, Chyrene, Jing Yi and Chee How at Ben's@Pavilion. As always, it was nice to reminisce on the good ol' times, and delve a little into the exciting prospects that lie ahead for some of us.

Come Tuesday and things appeared back to normal at work... but the many empty seats around me told me it just wasn't. I kept getting bogged down by this feeling of helplessness and a lack of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Julian's arrival in Malaysia for the holidays that night was perhaps a cue for better things ahead during the week. Perhaps it is becoming a bit of a habit now, as I once again drove over to Julian's place immediately upon his arrival as we talked and laughed through the night (his mom though was so sweet to keep bringing us food and drinks).

Wednesday morning began with aplomb, courtesy of Google's Lightsaber Escape plug-and-play game. Nothing like wielding a lightsaber and slashing past stormtroopers to start the day. Oh.. and of course it was a fitting prelude to the movie itself opening at the cinemas the next day. Getting past my work hours led me to Petaling Jaya, where I was invited for dinner with Alvin, Kwong Hann, Julian and his parents. Here we also managed to squeeze in a little birthday celebration for Kwong Hann and Alvin.

Thursday was a day I was looking forward to for some time. I took the latter half of the day off, so I could catch Star Wars Episode VII on opening day. It was a shame Jon couldn't snake his way out of work commitments, but I'm glad Julian was on hand to take his place and share the experience. It was 10 years ago that I watched Revenge of the Sith with Ben at Times Square's IMAX cinema; this time we decided to return to the same cinema which has since lost its IMAX partnership (although it still is Malaysia's biggest cinema). Oh and what an experience it was! From the moment I heard about Disney's plans to further the saga, I was skeptical at first but I vested my faith in J.J. Abrams. From the excellent X-wing/Tie-fighter battles to the witty lines delivered by an incredible cast (I immediately became a fan of Daisy Ridley and John Boyega), there was very little in the movie that could disappoint. At the end of the movie (and the entire credits sequence), Julian asked me the question to sum it all up - I answered with an '8.9.' Author's note: I figured it's only fitting that I dedicated more words to the Star Wars experience.

The movie was followed by a brief rendezvous with Alvin at KL Sentral, before I went on my way to PJ - specifically MyBurgerLab - where Kwong Hann, Harry, Li Ching, Sarah and I caught up with each other's lives over gourmet burgers. Seeing Sarah after more than 5 years was especially heartening (the last time I saw her, we hugged near the Armour Building at IIT a few hours before I left Chicago), and it was nice to catch up on the years in between that simply flew by.

My Friday at work (a half-day.. heh) was spent in a presentation with the Technical Safety department who were kind to invite me for their knowledge sharing session. Apart from the additional knowledge I gained on the things our Safety Department works on, I found one of the things Zaid (Safety department's HOD) said quite poignant - "We are facing a difficult market scenario. To those who are left with the company in this 'low-project conditions,' this is our best chance to broaden our knowledge and sharpen our skills; after all we never know when it'll be our turn to go and at that time this additional knowledge acquired would come in handy." Zaid plans on hosting these sessions on a regular basis, and I for one am glad that I can look forward to an incline in my learning curve.

Such was the week, which perhaps anti-climatically was followed by one of the most uneventful weekends in recent times. On a sidenote, grandma was admitted to IJN (National Heart Institute) for a few days, and I'm glad she's now discharged and back home with us.

In retrospect, this year has seen more than what is implied in this blog so far. For starters, there was a good dose of travel - a trip to South India with Ben & Gang, a trip to Lombok with colleagues and a return trip to Japan's Kansai region for fall. Perhaps I could get to filling this blog with tales from these trips soon... perhaps.