Four Public Holidays

It was the last working day of the year 2006 and I spent a good part of it trying to relax and to get to know what the heck I'll be aiming for in the year 2007. The year is supposed to be the Year of the Pig, another good year for me and somehow I have to make the most of what's in it for me.

The year will unfortunately end with me not making my savings target. In fact I ended up having to dip into savings yet again. Unfortunately for me, I did not have cheques comming in this week and somehow I'll have to make it to the next one, which if as expected won't come in until late next week. And thanks to Tuesday being a make up holiday for Eid Al Adha or Hari Raya, it's going to be four days of no cash comming in until next Thursday - a case of - oh heck. I guess that's part and parcel of being self-employed, when the cash is not flowing in the way you like it to, public holidays become something of a pain in the butt.

However, projects are in the pipeline and somehow or other, I think its possible that this year won't be like the last one when I came home from Germany, worried that it would be bankrupted with each impending day. There are things to do and I can do them and somehow, in the early months of the next year, I'll be able to sort out the rougher parts of this year that I did not and cannot do within the next couple of days.

Today was Han Li's birthday. Spent about half an hour with her over a cup of coffee. I'm seroiusly thinking of spending a few days with her in Hanoi before I try and go to Hamburg. At the very least, it will be a new experience, and I'm told that I would be delighted with the array of beauties . I'm reminded of PJ O'Rouke who described Vietnamese beauties as making Cindy Crawford look like Ross Perot (You'd think that with all that money, Ross could have made himself look a bit more like Cindy )  Anyway, the crazy one tells me that hotels in Hanoi are decent and I should not worry as long as she's with me - which is probably a sign that I should be publically wetting myself with worry

Still trying to make New Year's resolutions. Not sure why one bothers, most of them are broken at the very first opportunity. For some reason, I decided that I would try and make the effort to get fit - I went running for a grand total of two occasions and that idea died along with the dinosaurs . Running, its supposed to be ultimate cardiovascular work-out, a time good enough for the body to convince the natural storage system that it's time to let go of things and reduce one to a hardened washbord of someone elses fantasy. Really, I don't know why I've been so bad at keeping up the running, I live in the East and near the beach where things are good and glorious for outdoor pursuits

Geetha will be having a small gathering at her place on New Year's Eve and I've been invited to join her. I think that's something I'd like to do very much. This is a special year for the lady , she reached the big Four-Zero  but for once, since I've known her, I was late in sending the good birthday greetings . Hopefully, New Year's Eve with her will be well spent. Geetha is just one of those people whom I can spend alot of time with. I've said to her on many occasions that she's the first person that I've met since I moved back here who provided me with anything resembling a WOW  feeling and even though we've somehow never got round to do anything, she's someone who remains special  - each and every meeting with her is something that I look forward to.

Wei, a former business partner once made the remark that I had a way with Indians and Arabs. He said that he didn't mind as long as my affinity with these two groups helped to pay the bills. Capitalism, as they say, is colour blind . I have been blessed this year by old relationships between these two communities. The Saudi Embassy, Aramco and Polaris were clients that made me feel that I had achieved something. I also enjoyed writing for Arab News this year. It felt good to write about issues that I felt I needed to comment on. I hope that I'll be blessed with the good fortune but more importantly the common sense to build on my relationship with these organisations and communities in 2007.