autumn, winter rain....

December period is always somewhat depressing. I hate that year-end feeling, with the rains, the cold, the dampness. Perhaps that is why I chose to use parquet flooring for my bedrooms. It's more bearable, at least without having to squirm when contact with the floor is first made in the morning.

It rained again this morning. Missed my Saturday morning jog along the park connector. Must make the effort tomorrow then.

The cold and dampness reminds me of that cold winter morning in Japan, years ago. The ship had berthed alongside the terminal in Kobe and being the engineering cadet, the bunkering duties fell on me. The role is to watch the fuel tank levels and notify the shore pumps to stop once the required quantity is filled. Simple enough task since taking tank soundings is one of our routine duties. The difficult part is that I have to station on deck at temperatures well below 10 deg C, and I was not prepared for it. The overcoat does little to keep the warmth in. And there was even a light drizzle that fateful afternoon.

The again, I remembered that cold night I spent at Oslo's airport waiting for the morning flight out to Canada. Although it was still summer, but the nights were cold. The airport was closed after 11pm, and we slept at a corner of the waiting lounge. It was still bearable but how I wished for a cup of hot chocolate then. Autumn in Canada was also not any more enjoyable. Even in early autumn when the maple trees were not all dyed red yet, the temperature can drop very drastically at night. It frosted during one of the night and it was a struggle getting out of bed the morning. But the romantic feeling in the evening made it more bearable for those few months in Canada.

Well, that was years ago and I survived that. But now, I think I really hate the cold. And, this is December 2006, Singapore.