Post-Boxing Day

Went into town today for the usual sales that spring up post-Xmas. This time, there weren't as many people as previous years. Probably due to the fact that a certain number of retailers had sales going on prior to Xmas (sales on Xmas Eve itself reach 1.3 billion pounds apparently), and most customers will wait 'till January, when there'll be even more slashes in prices.

I wasn't that excited about the sales, probably 'cause I didn't have anything in mind. Back in first year, my friends somehow convinced me to join them at Next, and to go there early in the morning when the store opens. Which was around 5am I think. I followed, but to be honest, I never quite understood the attraction of Next, and I suppose I never will do. Now, if it was Zara, it'll be a whole different matter...

At the end, I didn't actually get anything. I stepped into Waterstone's for a few minutes, before getting myself out again ASAP 'cause everything looked good (I'm got a weakness for bookstores). And the stuff elsewhere that I wanted were either too expensive (like this lovely pair of Ted Baker loafers that were on sale for 150 quid) or too expensive. Nothing really caught my eye, but that could be 'cause I'm being a little stingy with my money prior to the arrival of my phone bill. But then again, I can't think of anything that really stood out. The only thing that I remember was this Levi's t shirt that was going on sale for the price of 29 quid, with the original price being 30. And I only remember it 'cause of the 'great' bargain it represented. I'd like to check out the Harrod's sale one day, when I can actually afford to spend in there. The cut in prices are is quite impressive, and Harrod's being the temple of consumerism that it is, there are loads of fascinating items on sale as well. Apparently, you can buy anything you want in the world from there (next time, I'm gonna check if they have belacan). They once gave Ronald Reagen an elephant. Or something silly like that. Then again, I'll probably start off by joining the queue to get some Krispy Kremes...

Actually, I lied. I did buy something - The DC Comics Encyclopaedia and a cup of mocha, which I had at Starbucks with Yus. It was nice just lazing and sipping some warmth (we were seated outdoors) and having a conversation about seemingly random topics.

At the moment, I'm in the 'miss-her-so-much-that-all-I-wanna-do-is-stare-at-her-pic-and-be-self-pitiful' kinda phase. Which isn't exactly good. 'Cause I've got this rather annoying habit of being all 'mengada' when I'm feeling emotionally churned up. I'm usually all stiff-upper-lip or cool or smiley, but not at times like this. Unfortunately, being mengada has the side-effect of being rather irritating, especially to the recipient of said mengadaness. Leads to misinterpretations and other such nonsense. For that, I'm truly sorry. I need to slap myself and stop whining about the world being unfair, 'cause there isn't exactly anything that I can do about it, is there?

Others have it worse. Like the approx. 25 000 folks who've been officially declared dead so far as a result of the earthquake-induced tsunami. It'll take a while before the true extent of the tragedy will be made known. I read the story about a couple in Penang who had 4 children washed away, and that was just so saddening. Just imagine - one moment you're having a terrific holiday on the beach with your family, and one minute later, your loved ones are snatched away from you. Forever. And multiply that by 25 000. Sigh...the frailty of life.

Some folks are blaming the governments involved for the lack of an early-warning system or for the lack protective barriers, but I think these comments are misplaced. To cut it short, Firstly, it is extremely difficult to predict earthquakes or volcanic eruptions in great detail. Secondly, even if an earthquake is predicted to happen, you'll have no idea the true magnitude of it. Even if you know it's gonna be a big one, life still has to go on. One can expect a huge quake in San Francisco or a huge eruption over at Vesuvius within the next 50 years, but that doesn't mean we've got to evacuate the immediate vicinity. Despite the fact that it could happen tomorrow. We live in a world full of probabilities, and it's a matter of how much you're willing to risk. And thirdly, while you can assume that there's gonna be a tsunami in the aftermath of a huge underwater earthquake, where and when it'll strike, along with its intensity, is anyone's guess e.g. an earthquake in Japan once caused tsunamis over at Peru. Hindsight is always 20-20 but even if we can get all the Cray supercomputers in the world to chug out myriad calculations, unfortunately, our technology is limited defense against the might of Mother Nature.