Just got back from late night drinks with JN, Gumballs, my cousin, and Des. We were slumming it in a hotel bar, all of us incongrously wearing khakis and polo shirts (one of the weirder instances of spontaneous coincidence - talk about yuppie aspirations). Thankfully none of us wore golf caps.

Gumballs is doing his thesis - which has been overdue for a year. Apparently this extension is like his fourth extension, and his uni is still letting him drag it out. Talk about slack scholastic standards - he's come back to apply for a PR in Australia from offshore, but he can't start until he graduates, and he hasn't graduated until he gets his degree. He was supposed to spend the whole of last year doing his degree - but I guess when you're living overseas, it just.. drags itself out.

I wish I had the balls (and the slack lecturers) who would let me spend a *year* doing nothing but working on one assignment.

Although he was kind enough to buy me a bottle '99 De Bortoli Noble One - a full 750ml size! Was totally touched by the sudden gesture, and the nicety of awareness that I really like dessert wines. It's not a Sauternes, but what the hell, I figure. Either way, this is the first non-family, non-birthday present I've received in... a year. Yeah, since - well. Since. Little victories; often the best are the ones you don't plan for.

Good to get together with my fellow geeks. Spent the whole night raving about Exalted, MTG, various computer games and George R.R Martin books. Just what I need, a social revert to my ethnic type.

Absent thought of the day: Traffic dictates culture. When Gilbert visited last week, he noted that no one seems to honk or care if you ride the shoulder on the highway. The traffic - and the way people drive/park/bribe the police here tells you everything you need to know about Malaysian culture - that going on the straight, prescribed, rule-driven approach gets you nowhere. The only way to get anywhere is to cut corners, bend rules, make illegal U-turns, bribe traffic police.

Off down to Singapore tomorrow morning for reunion party at ym's place - a bunch of the old crowd are gathering from ye parts distant. Pot luck - damn it, what am I going to bring during the bus ride? And I don't think the sheer radiance of my presence is going to make up for appearing empty handed.

On top of that, I'm down to my last 100 dollars for the next two weeks until payday, which I'm going to use up faster than a Jalan Petaling transvestite uses mascara. Funny how that I'm earning more money than ever, I seem to have less to spend at any given time.