dreams

i've been feeling under the weather..and it's kept me away from the office for quite a bit. it's terrible being away from the office and from work. i keep thinking about everything that is piling up and feeling horrible that my colleagues have to carry a heavier load because of me.

the other day, i was flipping through my sister's CLEO magazine and it was about having a life outside of work. and based on the article, i clearly didn't...have a life outside of work. All my close friends are colleagues, I talk about work, I bring work on vacations, etc. And guess what? I also dream about work.
The other night, my husband told me that I was talking in my sleep and it was about work. And i was laughing and giggling and so happy about it.

Tsk. Right?

Well, last night was different. I had what was definitly NOT a work dream.

I dreamt that i was in love with a drag queen. Yeah-huh! In the dream, I had a best friend who was a drag queen. And while in bed, just talking to this best friend of mine, who was in full drag, with a wig of long straight soooo fake hair, neon coloured eye-shadow and 3-inch long eye-lashes, I confessed to him that I was in love with him.

The funny thing was that the guy in the dream, was an old friend i haven't met in YEARS. He was a guy we thought was gay but really wasn't.

strange huh?

soooo difficult

it's day 4. just 1 last day to go for the training programme.

i feel so so very drained. i forget how difficult it is to conduct training programmes for an international audience who does not have a very good command of the English language. it feels like my brain is working double hard.

we take what we say on a daily basis and  how we say it so easily for granted. that put in situations which i find myself in, i find that i struggle so hard to find easy substitutes that people can understand.

i have to speak slower. they take time to understand what i'm trying to say. and i take time to understand what they are trying to say. both our accents throwing each other off.

sometimes when i'm listening hard to someone trying to share with me their opinion, i can literally feel some of my brain cells short-circuiting, because it's just overheated by working way too hard. =(

sighz...

the workmate

i forgot how much fun i had with the workmate during our last trip overseas. i'm not particularly close to her at work. she's quiet, and keeps to herself (and her team) most of the time. i've always found her pleasant, and when we were in yangon together, i did find myself very comfortable and easy with her.

it's even better during this trip. the conversations and banter has been easy and not forced. i don't think she's sick of me just yet, and i'm definitely not sick of having to spend mealtimes with her. it's been fun.

in fact, we're talking about deeper issues that are relevant to both of us and to the workplace. she's always been the kind to not bitch about work or complain, while you know i'm the total opposite. and she still doesn't, but the conversation just feels richer, more honest and more real. you know?

i'm glad we're on this trip again. i need to remind myself that its really important to get to know people you don't already know better, rather than, keep hanging with the same crowd. you know?

the food

(i don't have my camera with me on this trip. which sucks! though it wouldn't be so bad if i were travelling with my macbook as most of the places i've been to during this trip, i've been and i've snapped a million pics of. ALL of which are on my macbook but i obviously don't have my macbook. i have the work laptop instead.)

it's the work-mate's first time in Vientiane, so i'm happy to show her around and plan our evening itineraries (although we always need to be back before 9pm, so that i can do some prep work for the next day's prog).
we decided early on, since the food options in Vientiane were 1,000,000 times better than that of Yangon (during our last trip together) that we should strive never to eat at the same place twice.

we've done a pretty good job. we had traditional lao food on day 1.

we had a simple dish of rice and chicken and basil leaves on day 2.

yesterday (day 3), we walked to china town and had some nice korean food ( i had a vege bean stew which was just nice-level of saltyness). in fact the korean chef was so amused when i exclaimed 'Dobokkgi!' when i saw him hand over a plate of the rice cakes in a sauce of chilli to his daughter, that he gave us a plate complimentary, and also fried us an ommellette roll on the house. he was a little disappointed when i failed to give him the korean name for the ommelette roll, but i couldn't care less cos my chopsticks had jumped right in, and i was too busy devouring the omellette which was really very good!

and today, we walked over to the mekong river to finally sample the french food at Cote'd Azure. I've been wanting to try the restaurant, which came higly recommended, for awhile now, but it just never happened.

i have no pics. BUT the tomato and basil soup was fresh and refreshing, while the thin-crust Quattro Formaggio Pizza was light without being too cheesy, with a subtle not overpowering hint of blue-cheese.

(i was also wondering how come a french restaurant served pizza which seems very italian, but who cares, it was good!)

Now...i'll go to bed dreaming about what's on the menu tom night!