:: Salacity ::

8.49 a.m. Shenton Way was already teeming with people―white-collared types with their mechanical walk, suits in their shiny new cars, professionals with their blue-tooth technologies clipped to their ears, sprouting business wisdom as they marched with resolve to their corporate kingdoms.

I felt lost amongst them.

Did I look the part? Maybe. A little less polished, a little less Gucci, a little less wireless―but no one would have thought I was out of place in playground of capitalistic pursuits, because I was carrying my double-espresso along with my document bag (faux leather, but can you really tell these days), striding down Robinson Road in my sharp-looking heels.

Did I sound the part? Maybe. In between SIA building and Robinson Tower I got an early morning call from a German colleague who just touched down from Taipei. Yes Kai, our meeting for tomorrow is confirmed. Yes, we're talking budgets '05―a litte late now don't you think! No, I'm not involved with the Q7 workshop. Yes, let's have a chat about the qDE. Yes, I've arranged for you to meet with our new media agency at 4, and no, I will not join you for that breakfast meeting tomorrow―I've got another one with my PR agency.

Did I―do I―feel the part? In a small, remote way―maybe. I've been doing this for a while now. I'm used to it all―the little nuances in the business, the drip-and-bursts nature of my regional work, the coordination between different companies, agencies, people, agendas―and if practice makes perfect, I'm well on my way.

But do I like the part? Does my feet pound the tarmac with purpose―or lethargy? Do I sound passionate―or just business-like? Do I feel the buzz of real meaning as I walk into a meeting room―or is that buzz merely courtesy of Starbucks' wonderful pick-me-up?

10.14 a.m. I'm in the plush, cosy conference room of my media agency. Some guy―tailored shirt, quirky tie, Armani glasses―is telling us about the Next Big Wave in communications. Ambient marketing, he says. Very effective, very impactful, and extremely economical.

'See this quote here―' he gestured to a nifty slide in a slick powerpoint presentation, '―Ambient marketing is going to be the gem of marketing for the next few years. It will cut through to your consumers because it's the middle ground between choice media and intrusive media. This is quoted by a Jones Harlvet―a mood segmentation specialist,' he beams.

Mood segmentation specialist? I grinned inwardly―wryly, in fact, with a strange sort of disdain at the infinite, but sometimes inane, possibilities of my profession.

10.35 a.m. I want to run. I want to write. I'm thinking of blue eyes, red wine, conversations at Caprice, my book, our book, my mother's graduation.

The day is fled. And I still saw no sun.