Next stage...

Done with stage 1 from 9-22 Aug.. now day 1 of stage 2.. blood test.. actually quite painful.. then learned how to calculate dosage and jab.. guess i worried too much.. the needle is very thin and not painful.. my dear looked like he's having fun "poking" me.. hehe anyway... blood test again on 31 Aug.. hope my body will react well..

SG50...

Additional holiday just for SG50.. also a day to remember.. 4 days break to rest and do house chores..

Finally decision made...

After so long.. i decided to take the first step on 8 Jul. everything started on 16 Jul and a decision made after 3 weeks.. hope this journey is smooth and ends well.. finger crossed.. excited but also nervous... 

Separation...

nah.. not that we are separated.. just that we will work for different company.. hope both companies will do well.. 

Office move..

The day has come where many fellow colleagues are moving to the opposite block.. for me.. same role reporting to same manager at the same seat.. mixed feeling..

Bucharest Biz Trip 6-13 June

5 Jun
Crazy start.. supposed to fly out on 11pm but flight was cancelled.. got rebook at 3pm to sin-nrt-fra-otp tomorrow night.. went dinner and flight changed again at 7pm.. sin-lhr-otp at 1am.. rushed home to pack.. undo hotel and taxi arrangements.. finally on my way to airport.. managed to secure business class from sin-lhr.. nice!

6 Jun
Hotel and the views

7 Jun
14hrs day trip using public transport.. started early to Peles Castle at Sinaia.. 1hr 35mins train ride.. 30mins walk from train station.. lost initially but managed to find the shortcut.. visited ground floor (general exhibit) with free guide.. did not pay photography fee so snapped some fotos secretly.. missed the best part of a mirror reflection on the ceiling painting..

Bran castle.. packed lunch and took 1hr 8mins train from Sinaia to Brasov.. walked 30 mins to bus terminal 2.. took 50 mins bus to Bran.. spent 1.5hrs in the castle and nearby market.. on way back.. took bus 23 instead of walking.. met friendly lady who told us where to take the bus and alight.. so managed to catch the 654pm train back to Bucharest and caught the sunset at 9pm..

Views from Bran castle

Well it was tiring to walk and travel by train, intercity bus and local bus.. but i felt accomplished and also saved quite a bit comparing to join a tour.. my colleague (based locally) was worried about me.. luckily i have 2 other colleagues from China and Malaysia to accompany and GPS app (without data) to guide me around..

These 2 castles are different.. Peles castle looks more grand, interior is pretty and easy to find it.. Bran castle has very nice views, i like the staircase but the journey is long and troublesome.. so my recommendation is this:

• if you have the time, visit both via public transport
• if you do not have time, join tour to visit both
• else pick 1 based on your preference

8-12 Jun
At work doing testing.. flew out 12 Jun evening flight so that i can come home on time for family day at USS 7pm.. it's the last family day as 1 company..

Will wrap this up with my favorite food pics

Anchorage 17 Jan PST

Checked out super early to catch 544am flight from sfo-den-anc with 2hrs 14mins layover.. reached around 3+pm and saw very nice sunset.. poor dear waited for 3hrs at the airport.. took free hotel shuttle.. dropped our stuffs and had dinner at HRC... it was cold.. the locals said it's the warmest winter they ever had..

Palo Alto Biz Trip 11-16 Jan and Alaska 17-27 Jan

We managed to align our biz trips on the same week and decided to go Alaska for ski and northern lights viewing.. so excited and looking forward.. 

Role changed..

Decided to take on a different role under my previous boss.. exciting and lots of opportunities to travel.. guess it's very important who is your boss and if both can work well together..

Promotion...

After all the hard work.. finally got what i wanted.. happy despite bigger responsibility and higher expectations..

Another day to remember...

It's painful but i'll be fine.. coz i have my hubby with me no matter wat happen..

30032011

A day to remember..

Star gazing..

at our terrace with our new telescope.. the moon was bright, sky was clear and many stars were visible.. Orion.. Sirius.. Jupiter.. etc.. so we zoomed in to see Jupiter and Sirius.. managed to see but unable to focus.. it moved and the tripod was shaky.. so we gave up after some time..

anyways.. Sirius is the brightest star and really sparked in blue in the telescope.. Jupiter, Uranus and surrounding stars look great in the telescope but unable to see Jupiter's Great Red Spot..

hopefully the other tripod works better.. so excited and hope to see more planets and stars..

Kyushu 21 Dec to 6 Jan..

5 weeks to vacation.. desperately needed a break.. 2mths in new role but feel like 2yrs.. crazy and hectic.. anyways 2 yrs since we had our last trip to Nepal.. was busy with our new home last yr.. so looking forward.. whole Kyushu.. in Fukuoka and out Kagoshima.. drive and hike.. onsen.. all types of ramen.. Yakushima (UNESCO).. still counting and counting down..

Great wall hike..

Jinshanling to simatai with no shopping.. the weather was great.. sunny and cooling.. 6km hike to cross 22 towers in 2 hrs.. not crowded but far from city..

Start


Mid of hike


End

pistia stratiotes as of 11 aug..

aren't they cute?!?!?!.. i'm checking them out daily to see if there are new buds.. a lot more leaves and roots.. now have to place each at one corner.. so worried they will outgrow the pond..

pistia stratiotes..

are placed in our water feature on 31 jul.. so amazed by the growth rate.. very cute white flower but it only lasted for 1-2 days..

foto taken on 3 aug


foto taken on 5 aug


foto taken on 8 aug

another interesting day...

guess every weekend is going to be groceries shopping day.. we fully utilized 3hr IMM free parking (2hr 55mins).. daiso and giant.. still dun have enough time to cover most of giant.. there are promotions on things i have already bought last week.. grrrrrhhh.. must start to track them..

after short rest.. decided to jog.. along pasir panjang road or to kent ridge park.. too lazy to do steep slope.. so i turned right to head to ISS.. initially there were quite a lot of cars/buses.. later on it got better.. saw many nice houses and apt/condo.. NUS business school building looks like mini "nest".. remembered the slope i always have to walk up 5+ yrs back.. how much effort i have to put in to grad with the minimal CAP of 3.. not sure how long i ran but it was relaxing.. cooled down at the first floor of my apt.. the views of PSA.. cable car.. universal studio hotel.. are really nice.. hopefully i can see fireworks tomorrow..

hubby prepared quick dinner.. korean instant noodles and frozen crispy chicken.. we had it at our terrace since i was feeling hot and sweaty.. the breeze was nice and the ambiance was romantic.. just that it did not go well with the noodles.. anyways who cares.. i'm contented with a loving hubby who cooks.. so should not complain too much..

settling down...

for the first few days.. we keep forgetting to switch off the lights and aircon.. keep reminding ourselves to close the windows.. keep forgetting things and have to climb the stairs few times a day.. din sleep well bcoz of heavy rain/wind where the heavy rain drops pelted so hard on the windows.. finally we are out of these..

we have been relying on our i-robot to vacuum the place.. it always "die" in the first run as it does not know how to go back to charge.. hopefully hubby can fix this soon.. so finally we swept and mopped the house yesterday.. washed the terrace and toilets.. wiped part of the glasses.. did laundry.. we stopped the house chores after lunch.. hubby made pork porridge.. not too bad but too "thick" for me..

my mom came over in the afternoon.. both of us went swimming and the water was so cold.. i realized i have not swam with her for ages.. we let her relax.. hubby made dinner and i did the washing.. dad came over to pick her home and went back after looking at our night views..

the busy day completes with the ironing.. it's amazing how much work we have done.. now i'm having muscles ache.. not sure if it's from the house chores or swimming.. anyways.. feel really great.. we love our new home.. hope we can keep up with these..

the day...

we moved in.. the "ceremony" started at 5:15pm where we walked over fire stove and completed some other stuffs..

the mover (2 skinny man) came late and managed to uninstall and install our bed by 5pm.. they have to climb one stair up.. the old man was panting for breath where the young one rushed him.. i must say they are professional with all the wrapping and fast..

our folks came 1 hr later for a little house warming.. they love our views and the reno.. just that we have big furniture in a not-so-big living room.. anyways who cares.. as long as we like it..

guess i will need some time to get used to the new home..