One of the downsides of going from a hectic daily deadline to a weekly, is that it goes to bed with you. I dream about work and if I don't, I wake up thinking about it, anyway.

There was a story in ST today on a survey of countries and how they ranked on material and life satisfaction. I can't remember the exact details but Singapore ranked very highly on material satisfaction but not on life satisfaction. The survey authors (a think tank??) said the problem was a lack of leisure time to enjoy those material trappings.

Isn't that ever so true? I enjoy my job but I wish 1) I didn't have to do it every day 2) I didn't always have to go to the office. There is not enough flexibility. Sometimes one wants to goof off and take the kids swimming, but it's impossible to abandon the job and do so. Come to think of it, kids don't have much leisure time either. So while it is fulfilling to have kids, time with them is fraught by worries and pressures regarding schoolwork. Half the time I'm telling them to study or practise a musical instrument.

I fantasise often about moving to a place where life is slower and yet fulfilling and materially rewarding! Isn't that a wish to have it all? How do you have a big home, nice things, be able to eat out and have holidays every year? Doesn't that mean you have to bust your ass to have those things, unless you were Paris Hilton? Does material satisfaction have to be at odds with life satisfaction? Do you always have to scale back your expectations if you want to slow down?

I wish I knew! In the meantime, I can't sleep without help.

Theresa and I stuffed our faces at Pu Tien tonight. We had far too much food! (Now, see, you can over order and not worry about the expense if you have a wellpaying job...) The fried eggplant with pork floss was awesome. Everything was good as usual, actually. I will miss this food when we move next year!

Getting a cab back was not so easy, but one has come to expect this in Singapore, where taxis are plentiful but hard to come by, for some weird reason!