Reading the Memoirs of a Geisha

I've less than 100 pages to go before I finish this novel by Arthur Golden.

Frankly, I am not very impressed with the whole Geisha thing. Yes, it is not a bad book, but if the movie is based on the book, then I think there is no big deal about this story on Sayuri(played by Ziyi Zhang). The 'action' is more between Hatsumomo (Gong Li) and Mameha (Michelle Yeoh). So unless the movie is adapted and made more interesting for movie goers, there is nothing much to see.

Simply put, it's about a girl being sold to become a geisha, who unfortunately was caught between 2 feuding geishas who uses her as a pawn. Just that it is set in the Japan World War II period, amid the geisha community which no one seems to know much about.. Unless one is a Japanese buff and is mad about those geisha trivia, frankly who cares if the color of the collar worn by an apprentice geisha is red, while a geisha wears a white one, and does anyone need to know that the first night of a (virgin) geisha is sold to the highest bidder and it called mizuage? If it aims to fascinate or be mysterios, then sorry, I think it failed to do that, at least to me.


My ratings:-

Language : 3
Too flowery for me, but I think it is necessary considering Geishas are supposed to be artisans, so this being a memoir of a geisha, there is no escaping this sort of language.

Plot: 2
I've read more interesting plot than this. The usual cat fights between jealous women, love that was not reciprocal, bad people suffered in the end, good people triumphed, etc. All the standard soap opera stuff. Nothing new nor fresh.

Effect: 1
No symphathy, no awe, no after thoughts, none what-so-ever for the characters in the novel. It's those novels that I read and felt nothing. No urges to have a second or third read.

VERDICT:
Unless you have some time to kill, or you want to start a conversion by throwing around geisha trivia to show your intelligence, else spend your time on other books.

Out of 5, I will only give it a 2.

Quixotic Manager? You bet!!

You can't imagine how annoyed I was yesterday evening when I was asked to go training for today. I had things planned and schedules made for today, things I wanna complete before next week when I will be going on leave for the Chinese New Year.. But no.. My colleague couldn't make it cos his project is in a mess now and the PM is panicking and wanted things fixed/solved asap.. so he can't attend the scheduled training today and tomorrow..

Bloody hell!! So what am I? a Standby? Backup?? Spare tyre? Why can't he just missed the stupid training and do his project? Why must my plans be disrupted becos that?? And to make things worst, I had a new staff who still need guidance and no one around to give him..

Frankly, I don't know what that manager of mine is doing.. She is really getting on my nerves, and it's getting worst by the day. She wants everything done, and yet won't stop giving us different work scope every time we meet. She promised many things to be accomplish within a timeline, yet could not remember what she agreed to with the other departments..

Well, let's wait and see.. I shall not be affected by her quixotic behaviour. Everything I do will be of my 'best effort' within the working hours. Nothing more. With that amount of money they are paying me, sorry, don't expect any overtime from me.

Punch me now.. and I won't feel a thing...

Yeah, exactly...

Just came back from the dentist. Had 3 fillings, one at my lower right jaw, the other 2 at my upper left jaw. Took 2 injections as I couldn't stand the pain of 'drilling'.. Now it's so numb I can practically swallow my tongue and yet dont feel anything or I can take an upper right hook to the jaw and still remain standing..

For that 2 injections and 3 fillings that took less than 40 mins in total, I am now $200 dollars poorer.. no wonder everyone wants to be a doctor/dentist or at least marry one..

Overated.. those managers...

My last 3 workdays were spend cooped up in a room with my manager and other 'managers' for a training that they obviously do not need. It was a training for the engineers who will be doing the dirty work of installing and maintaining the application....

But again, the company is rich, so they can afford to send those who don't need the training for this 5-day course and they can afford to have so many managers absent from the office. Bottom line is they are micro-managers, ones who scrutinize every action their subordinates made, questions each decision/judgement calls and penalise when their 'underlings' do not report to them their every moves. Well, we are all professionals, we know what we are doing and what we are supposed to do. We do not need someone to breath down our necks and have to think twice about how to 'please' those people at the top. We just want to get the work done, period!

If they are going to attend the training, at least give some respect to the trainer. Some of them came in late, talked among themselves during the class, talked loudly over their handphones, took long breaks and sometimes practically forget that there is someone teaching in front...

Everyone wants to be a manager, but not everyone can be a GOOD manager. There are just too many so-called managers, who do not value-add to the company and can't manage even a dog, walking among us. They are just the oldest or most senior around.

I know myself, I know I won't be a good manager (maybe not yet), thus I will not pursue such positions. It will only make things more stressful for myself and whomever unfortunate enough to be under me.. I shall learn the craft of management by being a good team leader first. One small step at a time..

Now my dentist told me...

Went to the dentist yesterday.. my first dental visit since 2001...

At first I didn't want to go, cos I don't really like dentists, or rather the not-so-pleasant experience of having fillings when I was in promary school. But the food-getting-stuck scenario keep repeating, and it is no fun having something stuck at the far corner of your teeth and you can't get it out no matter what you do. It is sooo irritating... And also I want to confirm something too... I want to confirm that the problem is caused by the long-awaited emergence of my wisdom tooth.

It was a lady dentist who attended to me. She is good in putting people at ease. The dentist chair, the spot light and the dental equipment used did not seem as intimidating as I remembered. It took her a while to clean almost 4 years worth of plaque. Not to mention 3 cavaties that she discovered, 1 in upper left jaw and 2 lower right jaw. The cleaning process was okay, except when she was cleaning my lower left jaw. It seems that the last teeth didn't manage to come out fully, thus creating some sort of 'hole' that traps food. That was painful. I was a picture of calm during the whole cleaning process, except that part when I was grimacing. After that, she went ahead with the polishing. As my gums were swollen, she advised to do a flouride treatment, which I duly agreed.

The whole dental experience was quite pleasant actually, I left the clinic with a cleaner and healthier set of teeth, but it left my wallet thinner ($90 poorer to be exact). And I made another appointment next Monday to have my 3 fillings done. Better do it fast before the cavaties get worst.

Oh yes, my wisdom tooth is out (my upper right). And it is the culprit for my food-getting-stuck scenario. Dr Yee said that since it is not causing me any pain, I could opt to either take it out or brush more frequently to minimise the problem. Well, after waiting so long for my wisdom tooth to come out, I wouldn't want to extract it out immediately.. Let it stay a little longer and see how thing goes..

Mundane Job... Mundane IT Line...

2nd day of work.. My lady boss was supposed to be back from her holiday (in HK), but (un)fortunately she went on mc today.

Frankly, our team do not require her regular attention. We are here to make sure things are working fine. We are professionals. So unless there is any mishap (touch wood, touch wood), we rather her not being around as she is one who micro-manages. However, work is never something all of us meant to enjoy, thus her eyes are constantly on us. Not to mention that there are lots of politicking between the department heads.. If it wasn't for the back-stabbing and/or back office manoeuving, this job is, I must admit, quite interesting with lots to learn. Luckily all of us are shielded by the fact that we are contract staff. People do not want to waste their time on us. They might want us to be on their sides, but never as an equal. We are but pawns in the game of office politics.

But all these dont bother me much. I am here to do work, and I will work. Let the managers have all the fun, trying to out-do, out-manoeuver and out-smart one another. I'm here 8am to 5pm. Nothing more nothing less. It is a real mundane job, cos seriously, as being a contract worker doesnt gives one motivation to strive harder. Whether you over-deliver or under-deliver, unless you really screw-up, it is highly unlikely that you will be asked to leave. Thus the 'bo-chap' attitude of most of my colleagues. I am not trying to defend them or myself. It is the truth, how sad it might seem to outsiders. And very sadly, this is the way the IT industry is heading... unavoidable..

Aiy...

Lazed the day away..

Today is a holiday. No work.. :)

Had a late breakfast. Read newspaper. Played online game, SilkRoad Online. Had late lunch/early dinner. Reading Hary Potter and the The Order of Phoenix. Will sleep around 12mn.

This was how I am spending the 2nd day of the year. I'll worry about work tomorrow when I get back to office. They don't pay me enough to worry about work during weekends/holidays or after office hours...

Keeping My New Year Resolutions....

Ah... A brand new 2006!

Didn't go out to celebrate.. like I said previously, I don't like crowded places, so where else to celebrate the arrival of a new year but at home? Actually, it can't even be called a 'celebration', maybe just a small toast to myself, a pat at the back for surviving yet another year, mind and body intact.. ^-^

The year 2005 was one that was quite uneventful for me, which I am thankful for. No major tragedies nor joyous moments. Smooth is the word. This year, 2006, I hope will be another smooth year too. Sometimes when I look back, in retrospect, things usually are not as dire as it seems when it first happened. At that moment, things might seemed all gloom and doom, as if all things will come crushing down. But looking back after several weeks/months/years, I am suprised that things weren't as bad as it seemed. I too have learnt to take things easy. Sometimes all one need to do is to step back and ask oneself two questions: "What will the worst case scenario be? Can I accept it if it really happens?" These questions will put your thoughts into perspectives.

Not unlike previous years, I too have made several new year resolutions for 2006. One of them is to participate in the year-end Standard Chartered Marathon's 10Km run again, this time to finish it within an hour! With 1 full year to train, I think I should be able to do it.. Another would be to read at least 60 books, which works out to about 5 books a month, something that I think is achievable. This year, I will take up Japanese language, and hopefully by end of 2006 I would have passed my JLPT Level 4 exam. Other than the above (tangible) goals, I have the usual: be more considerate, be more tolerant, less time wasting, go out more often etc etc kind og intangible goals.. which only I will know if I have achieved it or not... :P

So happy writing your new year resolutions and

May everyone have a smooth-sailing year in 2006!!