The day...

my man returns :)

New toy

Yippie my dear bought me a panasonic lumix dmc fx07.. so excited.. 2 days to see my dear.. this new toy and gifts from coach *grin*.. i can start snapping pictures esp my dear..

Bali and lombok

It's set on 19-31 dec and my folks are following.. geeessss our first trip together.. crossing my fingers..

What a joke..

I'm invited to a wedding at kluang (johor).. supposed to go in on friday.. but i din feel very well when i woke up.. i decided to go in on sat by bus with some colleagues instead.. then someone told me that someone will be driving in to sin ming which is near my house.. so i changed my mind to follow his car as i was worried i will fall sick even more by the hectic travelling on buses.. when i was on my way to sin ming.. it started pouring cats and dogs.. then my friend got delayed and we had terrible jam at causeway.. finally when we can start our journey.. he couldn't engage gear and we were stuck in the first lane of a highway.. hehehe.. after he called the toll truck.. he tried to "pump" his clutch many times and the gear can be engaged.. but it was "unstable".. so since he was worried if the car can make it kluang we decided to give the wedding a miss.. called the groom and he sounded so disappointed.. so after a big round.. i'm back home.. i was quite lucky.. his friend dropped me at jb checkpoint.. i manged to take buses to kranji and took the last train back to ang mo kio and a short cab ride home (S$5.8)..

When it's not meant for me.. no matter how hard i tried i will never get there.. when i expect least.. i actually get home fast.. what a joke!!!..

Presenting baby iain

Corporate Award

Finally i got this award.. so what gift should i pick.. swatch watch, tiffany crystal carafe or porcelain world box?..

Xmas plan

Finally we have a destination in mind.. BALI and lombok.. yeah.. very different from what i have been thinking.. well what to do.. we missed the attractive deals for london/paris from natas.. japan, nz and oz are fully booked.. we just couldn't convince ourselves to pay so much more for package tours.. so i have to look at asia instead.. after striking out india, nepal, vietnam, korea, malaysia, taiwan, china and hong kong.. i left with bali and thailand.. after discussion.. thailand is out as well.. it's not the end yet.. my dear cannot confirm his return date.. hai~~.. so it's either 17-31 dec or 20-31 dec.. hmm.. wonder if 10 full days enuff to cover what i wana do.. aaaahhh.. hao fan ah.........

Brief plan:
1. diving for me (yeah.. my dear allows max 2 days..)
2. rinjani trek at lombok (can dive there too.. hmm... hmm.. visit komodo too?!?..)
3. SPA
4. surfing

Baby Iain

Went to ah lian's place to see how much baby iain has grown (2.5 mths old) and how my 2 frens are coping with this new member.. keke.. well i must say they are coping well.. baby is so chubby and kawaii.. just abit slim.. at least that's what i think.. hopefully he will gain more weight when i see him again.. he is really a easy-to-take-care baby.. just stay quietly and comfortably in your arms.. looking and "talking" to you.. but i guess most babies are like that.. kawaii when they are smiling and monster when they are crying out loud..

Blessing...

A lady driver almost hit me while she turned right at a T junction.. i have crossed half of the road.. lucky she was driving very slowly.. my knee was just 1 palm away from the bumper.. my hand was already on the bonnet.. hehe.. the best part is that i was pretty cool and calm.. maybe she was "showing" "i'm sorry" when i stared at her.. *grin*.. anyways no worries.. me still in 1 piece =)

I need a break...

Somehow i lost most of my zest within 2 months.. that 1 week break recharge in sept has dropped to low batt.. beeping hard.. i really need a long break to recharge.. away from work and bad air.. to experience different cultures and sights.. to ski.. to climb.. anything but work.. 6 weeks to holiday.. just 6 weeks.. but it seems like so near yet so far.. everyday is a busy and long and tiring day.. aahhh.. i shall forget abt work.. it's weekend.. i must start planning where to go.. london/paris/scotland.. hokkaido.. russia.. aahhh.. this is also a big headache.. hack i will hit the bed now and let my dear decide.. fan fan fan.. zhen de heng fan..

Fed up

My replacement is a simpleton.. i have handed over everything.. walked through processes and applications.. guided closely during hands-on.. emailed detailed steps (on top of documentations) and repeatedly explained many times (i lost count liao).. yet still blur.. still can make mistakes.. dunno real stupid or act blur.. wat else can i do.. now my bosses are asking me to go back to where i was.. really pissed and fed up.. bloody hell!!!!!

ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......................................................................

simpleton
n : a person lacking intelligence or common sense [syn: simple]

I feel like..

Quitting my job, fly to US and stay with my dear..

Sooooo tempting.. but i can't.. i must endure.. I HAVE TO.. thou $ is not everything but it's something that i need for my travel craze.. sooooo many places that i wana leave our footprints.. so many things to do.. endure ENDURE ENDURE!!!!!

Counting down again...

28 days to dear's return..
33 days to holiday.. destination tbd.. still headache where to go.. F&E or package tour.. aaaahhhh~~~~~
50 days to aws and 81 days to bonus..

hmm.. think it's better to use months.. seems shorter.. so..

less than 1 month to dear's return..
1.5 months to holiday..
2 months to aws and 3 months to bonus..

hehe.. zhi qi qi ren.. hiak hiak..

Accomplishment

The slides that i did was presented to the senior VPs by my hod last friday.. feedback was good and positive..1 of them actually requested for a copy.. really happy and "proud" *grin*.. but the aftermath is i have more work to do *pout*..

Transfer

I have moved.. still trying to get used to it.. totally a different culture..

I'm standing on yokohama pier

Yokohama

Bollywood bollywood

This yr AD&D's theme.. something i really dislike.. yuuucccckkkkkzzzz.. but anyways still like the idea where all in the same table dress up to the theme.. i had fun last yr.. so i hope i will enjoy as much this time.. but still clueless on how to dress up.. well.. tot of having a red dot on our forehead.. but it's so norm.. throw me ideas leh.. help me out here.. nothing too fanciful and mafan hor *grin*..

Statue of liberty @ odaiba

Rainbow bridge @ odaiba

Fuji TV building @ odaiba

The imperial palace

Ginza

Yummie sushi @ tsukiji market

Tsukiji market

Bye dear

We will meet again in 2 months time..
Missing you already :(((((

Japan trip expenses

We spent total S$ 2560 excluding air tickets..these includes accommodations, meals, bus and train expenses.. little on shopping since we din have time to browse.. probably spent on some gifts and my hard rock shot glasses from ueno and yokohama.. i used my sq miles and paid S$ 228 for airport taxes.. my dear's stopover was around S$120.. we set each meal budget at 1000 yen per pax.. of coz we splurged on some meals.. 1 on shabu shabu (S$ 88.54).. 1 on sushi at tsukiji (S$ 78.5).. forgot how much at sushi belt and tonkatsu.. definitely more than 1000 yen (S$ 13.6) each.. other details as follows.. well for 8.5 days the places we went and things we did and ate.. think it was well spent.. keke quite on budget oso *grin*.. still trying to blog the pictures on where we covered..

ueno - new izu hotel (7 nights)- S$ 766.38
hakone ryokan - ichinoyu honkan (1 night)- S$ 383.57
fuji - 8th stage hostel (1 night) - S$ 180
bus tickets to fuji 5th stage and hakone pass - S$ 225

Presentation

Waited super long for my turn to present to my mgrs and dept head.. supposed to be 11am.. end up i was called in at 2:30pm.. spent a lot of effort doing up my slides and it was all worth while.. thou i need to make changes and improve.. the comments were still great esp from dept head and i was really pleased.. but someone said to me that i have spoilt the mkt and set too high a standard for others to follow.. well sorry lor.. but too bad.. if i wana do.. i will only do my best *wink*..

Farewell and welcome

Bye daniel.. all the best in your new endeavour and thanks for all the help you rendered..

Welcome jaserine.. my replacement.. hope you can pass probation and survive well.. looking forward to my transfer back to country office.. had a discussion with my boss.. will be focusing on project management and business processes.. yeah!!.. counting down..

Mezza9

My dear brought me to mezza9 at grand hyatt for dinner.. expensive dinner (around S$180).. belated anniversary celebration..

We had ginseng chicken soup, yakitori, char-grilled lobster (my fav), seafood fried rice, black forest (my fav too) and strawberry cheese cakes.. really yummie and filling.. the "ang mo" couple beside saw our food and ordered the same yakitori, lobster and fried rice with other veggies.. the place and ambiance are really nice and glam.. lucky i din wear my slippers.. ppl with bermudas and sandals/slippers are not allowed to dine in..

Welcome baby Iain

Received a sms on 7 Sept when i was at hakone.. ah lian gave birth to a baby boy!!!.. so happy for her.. met her before i leave for my trip.. keke she was dying to "get" her baby out.. i can imagine how desperate she is.. being grounded for 9 mths.. 9 mths to her was really really long..

Visited her at the rite time.. feeding time *grin*.. baby so adorable with long hands and limbs.. daddy so fat *bleh*.. keke mom still doing well.. skinner than daddy.. not as bad as what i tot.. brought her 2 bottles of rice wine and 1 baby clothe.. got it from yokohama.. kimono-like.. really cute.. glad that ah lian loves it..

Counting down to full mth celebration.. kawaiiiiiii..

I'm spoilt..

Madness at work before i left for my trip and also after i'm back.. soooo sian leh..

Anyways.. had sashimi (most ex) and ramen at my fav restaurant last night.. but i din enjoy it so much.. not as tasty as before.. really missed the food in japan.. my dear said i'm spoilt.. but i must say the quality is really far from those in japan.. in case you wonder what i had in japan.. sushi @tsukiji mkt and from sushi belt.. shabu shabu.. tan tan mien.. ramen.. soba.. tonkatsu.. bento from supermkt.. cakes.. etc.. soooooo yummie..

Guess what.. my lips were swollen after dinner.. tummy felt weird.. so unwell.. think i'm 80% set on hokkaido for xmas.. looking forward..

Shabu shabu

This was found by the hotel recep when we asked her for help.. something good and cheap.. coz those we found were around 5000-6000 yen per pax.. this one was near our hotel.. we were lucky to have a chinese gal to translate the menu.. they offer 75mins of buffet style serving a few types of meat and veggies unlimited.. the 1 in the bamboo-like thingy was chicken meat and became chicken balls when cooked.. very juicy and yummie.. the beef was soft and melt in mouth.. i liked the spicy base more than soya bean milk.. in the end we had 18 serving of meat and 4 serving of veggies and mushrooms.. around 6000plus yen in total.. really worthwhile..

Private hotspring bath ryokan @ hakone

Ichinoyu.. highly recommended.. the cheapest ryokan with outdoor private hot spring bath and dinner/breakfast.. like those from japan hour.. well those outdoor bath rooms were fully booked.. so we took the indoor kind.. peaceful environment with river flowing sound all day night.. i had total of 3 bath.. 1 before dinner, 1 after dinner at the reserved family style and 1 next morning before breakfast.. super hot but shiok.. keke despite that i needed 10 mins to get myself into the hot "boiling" water *hee3*.. it was really relaxing and soothing to hear the river flow by..

View out from our room

View out from the private hot spring bath

Room and dinner