Had a dinner party at me place last night. Chicken curry, sambal belachan spinach (they were out of kang kong), mapo egg tofu, and sweet potato soup.

It was a good dinner. Ee lin, beatrice, david, jane, amanda, karl, marty and me. And even though I was feeling quite listless and dazed yesterday (God know's what was wrong with me), I perked up in the kitchen and whipped up all the dishes in 5 hours, including the time it took me to drive out, buy grocceries, drive back home, clean up a bit of mess and shower, which is a mean feat if you ask me.

In a bid to be more authentic, I resisted the urge last night to chuck in everything I could find in the fridge. My curries here are usually a mish mash of stuff like mushrooms, pumpkin, broccoli, sweet potato, chicken and even capsicums but I really wanted to have a dinner which reminded the Singaporeans/Malaysians of home. So i only had chicken and potatoes. Mom would have been proud I think.

Now, the next homey dish I'm gonna whip up will be beef rendang.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In case anyone was wondering why I haven't been writing of late and if i'm still alive, which obviously and maybe unfortunately to some, Yes I Am, I've just been a little uninspired and also working a little harder.

One thing I've noticed about work and me is that my work and my creative side are negatively correlated. When I focus more on work, writing and reading gets more frustrating. So lately, I've been kinda standing at the mini crossroads of my life.

Being an auditor here is not a bed of roses as some would have you believe. Yes. It's true that I get off work on time mostly. Yes it's true that I "work" from home on the rare occasions when I'm not needed in the office.

But in order to be good at what you do, not only do you have to keep abreast with changes in the accounting and auditing standards, you also have to be widely read about the industry that you specialise in. And that for me, ladies and gentlemen, would be the (drumroll)... Insurance industry. All the journals about the industry changes, market outlook, etc... as also being contantly updated about the client that you audit by reading journals in factiva, market announcements etc... Phew!

And then for insurance, the industry is impacted by the other industries, catastrophes, interest rates, economy (does it ever end?), you also have to know what's going on in every where else.

That makes me wonder. Is this what I want to be doing for the rest of my life? Face buried in a copy of the financial times? Poring over analysts' reports, walking the walk and talking the talk?

And if I stop being an accountant, then there goes my chance to live and work all round the world. I'd be extradited out of here immediately, maybe even with a cannon. =(

It's frustrating because I don't know what I should do.

And that makes me entertain thoughts of winning millions in the lottery.