The past two weeks

Hello everyone! Finally had time for a quick post on my blog, which I have not forgotten!

I've just been really busy recently, so much so I don't have time to "blog" in my head because everything just happened so fast.

So I am now in a very old and small hotel just opposite the largest train station in Geneva, Switzerland.

I'm here for a series of meetings and finally had some time now for a breather. It is exhausting, this travelling business thing.

I suppose I should start this blog entry by recounting from 2 weeks ago. I was in a meeting when I received an SMS from my brother saying my grandma's been sent to the hospital A&E after fainting in the toilet. Rushed down and sat with the family in the waiting room, but before we know it, the young doctor is out and sadly informing us that grandma has passed away. We did not manage to see her for one last time. To our consolation, she had a relatively quick and painless passing - we found out it was an brain aneurysm after that (thinning of her central brain vassel that suddenly ruptured). She was also going to be 91 this year, which is quite a ripe old age. She had been senile for a while now, and hardly remembers much, but she does recognize us. I am now sad thinking that I should have talked to her more instead of going on in my life. And now the grandma that I had for my entire life is forever gone. RIP, ah ma.

The wake then started from Thurs onwards all the way until Sunday. It rained almost the entire time. I was also rather sleep deprived during the weekend. (It's called the wake for a reason).

Then come the week and it's work and school for 2.5 days before we break for Chinese New Year! even though we cannot celebrate it this year, I am glad for the respite. The rain also finally relented. Went to watch It's A Great Great World on Thursday with the entire family. That is extremely rare, and I think even the first time it has happened. All 4 of us kids with my parents, and the maid. 7! The movie was alright, but my parents were recounting some stories back then, which was interesting to hear.

Also met up with friends and had a nice night out on Saturday at Beer Market @ Clarke Quay. That place is buzzing!

So there goes the weekend. My stomach wasn't feeling that great, i suspect having bak kwa for breakfast and pineapple tarts for supper is not really recommended.

Then its time to wake up for work on Monday at 8.30am. Left office at 8pm and cabbed home. I had 1 hour to repack, shower, eat before going to the airport. Then its off to Zurich!

The plane ride was slightly scary because 15 mins after takeoff there was this huge sound, which apparently after a while was announced by the pilot to be some gear/brake thing, don't worry etc. It subsided after a while, and then he gave more details. Apparently the A380 plane had a brake that overheated so they had to lower the gear to cool it. That's really o.0. OK at least it didn't explode.

But the babies in the flight did! Well not literally but they try to, with their lungs. There were 2 so they take turns. It was disturbing. I had in-ear earphones plugged in but I can't sleep with sound. Watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (the swedish version w subs) and it was excellent. A tad slow, and at times rather extreme but it was a great detective film. Glad i finally had the chance to catch it. Also watched Top Chef finale that was held in Singapore. always interesting to see overseas tv filming singapore. Closed eyes for the rest of the 13hr flight, but no sleep.

So, it was straight from landing at 7am swiss time to meeting destination via tram at 9.30am. Meeting after, it was a 2.5 hour train ride from Zurich to Geneva. We almost missed the train, it was omg trying to buy tickets in 4 mins. It was 1 degrees in Zurich.

And finally back to the hotel at 5.30pm. Had to work on some stuff before leaving to find dinner at 7.30pm. Ate some pasta at the square, headed back and showered. By then it was 9.15pm. Did another 2 hours of work. Bed time at 11.15pm. 6am Wed time in Singapore.

Which means I did not sleep for 45.5 hours.

Today, woke up feeling slightly refreshed at 7am. An entire day of driving and meeting, and then back to the hotel at 6pm. Exhausted. Settled some work stuff and then decided to skip dinner and sleep for an hour till 8pm. Woke up at 9pm. Decided to shower only to find out that the hot water system of the entire hotel is not working and they cannot fix it cos the part that was broken is no longer in production and not existing in Geneva! Wow. That's how old this hotel is. Went out and bought biscuits. Came back and decided to shower using the kettle. There was no bucket or tub so I had to pour the water into a empty bottle and use it sparingly. Now that's what I call making do with what you have.

 And now, sleep time! One more day of meetings tomorrow before leaving on Friday morning to take a 5 hour train down to Frankfurt for my night flight back to Singapore. Will reach on Sat 5pm. Till then!

2 comments
  1. lol... i like how the room and your luggage look freaking retro in the photo...

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  2. I was studying overseas when my grandmother passed away. Before I got the phone call, I kept seeing a black shadow watching over me. I was living alone and somehow I didn't freak out. When my mom called, I wasn't shocked, it's like as if I knew... Grieve and then celebrate her life! Cheers.

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