Major milestone..

Finally after so long we found our new home.. today marks the day to remember.. so excited and looking forward to it.. counting down =)

MIA

Oh mind din realize i have MIA for 6 months and din complete my japan trip updates.. time really flies and finally it's 19 days to 2009.. 2008 is filled with sadness and happiness.. uncle passed away.. newborn nephew in icu.. blessed with great boss and teammates.. great japan trip.. usa business trips.. etc etc.. these remind me to treasure wat i have and embrace future with an open mind.. looking forward to nepal trek trip (20 dec to 11 jan) to end 2008 with different experience.. magnificence snow capped mountain range.. trek to high altitude.. no proper toilet facilities.. no bathing coz too cold in winter.. no memory foam pocketed spring mattress and pillows etc etc.. have been running 3 times a week.. hiking at bukit timah and macritchie.. stairs climbing etc.. juz to keep fit and lose weight.. hopefully i wont suffer bad altitude mountain sickness.. able to enjoy the 21-days trek with my hubby to mark the end of 2008 and embrace 2009 with new hopes and joy.. so here i wish all my frens a healthy, happy and blessed xmas and new year =)

Himeji and kinkaku..

Initially we planned to go kyoto to see kinkaku 1st.. we din manage to cover kinkaku as it's far and not on the way yesterday.. but we missed the shinkansen.. so we caught the one to himeji..

Hemeji-jo castle.. we can see it from the shinkansen.. really huge and grand.. it's abt 15-30 min walk to the castle.. we stopped by a mart and bought momo (peach) and roll for brunch.. sat in front of a field and enjoy the castle view.. and ate our brunch.. momo (945 yen) was really juicy and soft.. so yummie.. never had such momo b4.. we are set to get more momo b4 we end our trip here.. we climbed up to the top floor of the main tower.. nice view of the city.. walked around the castle and princess sen's cosmetic tower..

We rushed off quickly to catch the next shinkansen to kyoto.. bought some fishcakes and pancakes.. walked very long to reach kinkaku.. golden pavilion.. very pretty with the reflection on the pond.. i bet it's even more magnificent during autumn/winter.. the walk around is short and there is no view of the kyoto city.. ginkaku is better in terms of view.. walked to ryoan-ji temple and closed by the time we reached.. so we headed back to the train station.. on the way.. we bought more momo (880 yen), apple (498 yen) and water melon slices (398 yen)..

We had hakata ramen at ramen street (10th floor) in the JR building.. mine was nicer (1050 yen) while hubby's was oily (1000 yen).. den we went to isetan's basement to get our favorite cakes.. cream puff (210 yen) and strawberry cake (525 yen) from henri charpentier..

Extremely exhausted and muscles ache after 3 days of walking.. we had early nite to recharge for the hiroshima and miyajima trip.. a nite at a ryokan (jukeiso inn featured in japan hour)..

Kyoto

Another long walking day.. longer den yesterday..

First is the nijo-jo (castle).. just walked pass and took some pics.. den to gosho (kyoto imperial palace).. all guarded and we din make prior arrangement to visit.. so nothing much except the area is huge.. walked pass kyoto university to get to ginkaku-ji.. had soba in fish and bone soup in a small shop.. very rich soup and nice soba.. ginkaku-ji (silver pavilion) is under restoration but the surrounding and view are scenic.. headed south and walked on the path of philosophy to nanzenji.. den to heian shrine (huge torii).. sanmon.. kodaiji (huge guan yin).. passed a long street of shops to get to kiyomizu.. there is a little corner where 2 love stones are place in a line.. if u close ur eyes and walk from one to the other.. u will find love.. saw some gals trying and they actually missed.. den we went down to drink the spring water.. 1 km below ground.. supposed to be very holy water.. it actually taste sweet.. den to gion to spot "geisha".. actually maiko/geiko.. another busy street and we managed to spot 4 before we decided to head back to kyoto station for dinner.. tempura for dinner.. they will fry it and serve u direct away.. yummie but it costs us 3460 yen.. lastly we ended the day with 2 cakes (777 yen) from a shop which starts from 1897..

Osaka and nara..

A long day of walking..

Set off to umeda sky building's floating garden observatory.. to see panoramic view of osaka at 39th floor.. weather not clear enuff to see the mountains range but good enuff to see the city.. next to osaka castle.. not too bad but we din go in.. just took some pic and walked to dotombori.. had takoyaki, okonomiyaki and yakisoba for lunch.. walked around the kurumon (hei-men) market, hep and a mall..

Instead of going kobe.. we decided to go nara.. taidaiji temple.. huge buddha and i went thru a tiny hole which means i gain another 10 years of life.. not too long i hope.. nigatsu-do.. nara park.. five storied pagoda.. very nice color with the sunset.. its amazing tat wild deers are everywhere.. so are their poo.. they are not afraid of human and anxiously waiting to be fed.. we ended with a simple dinner near nara station.. soba and tempura set.. curry katsu.. and also muscles ache.. simply knocked out after a long warm bath..

Shin Osaka..

My flight from sfo to nrt was upgraded to business class.. my 1st time.. on the upper deck.. so private and quiet.. comfy and spacious.. thou i can almost lay flat but i din sleep well.. anyway service and food was great..

I reached abt 30 mins before hubby and lucky we din spend time trying to find each other.. after we changed our rail pass (sgd 371 each).. off we went to catch nrt express to shinagawa and catch shinkansen to shin osaka.. reached around 8 plus and checked in to tokyo inn.. a cheap and nice hotel (7514 yen per nite)..

Houston again...

25 may to 4 jun... my 3rd time since nov.. 2nd time 15 to 23 mar.. hectic and frustrating.. managed to come back to celebrate my 1st yr anniversary with hubby.. nothing special.. just spend time together.. 30mar to 4 apr.. KL.. quite relax and nice.. this time not as hectic as last trip.. shopped at the new premium outlet.. had great steak at perry's twice.. mignon and fillet.. went to galveston and nua by the beach.. had great seafood.. but i had to work on sat.. heng my boss gave me replacement off =).. the best part was my WW counterpart's rented car was upgraded to a convertible and he drove me around.. nice!

Very lucky for me.. my hubby managed to change his miles to nrt and i'm stopping over at nrt.. japan 5 to 11 jun..

A great weather...

to blade at ecp.. sunny and windy.. set off at 1:40pm and reached around 2:30pm.. traffic jam at pie due to accident.. traffic jam again at still road.. lucky to get parking lot.. was a bit scare as i din blade for a long long time.. the pavement is smooth and not crowded with ppl cycling and blading.. started at mac.. after a while got the hang of it and headed down towards fort road and back.. then headed towards national sailing club and back.. all in 2 hours.. still able to drive back home.. no muscle ache yet.. had dinner with mom and now muscle aching a bit..

dear dun ski too long and fast.. take it slow.. it's been a long while too since you last ski.. b careful and missing you.. have fun!

It's been a long while...

since i last jogged.. tot i will b out of breath.. but i managed to jog my usual 2 rounds without resting in 30mins.. felt great after it.. the best part is.. little muscle ache.. so not as bad as i tot..

The cat is away..

until 3 feb.. covering san diego, portland, san francisco, new york and charleston.. most flights are upgraded to business/first class.. enjoy dear and have fun.. be careful when ski.. missing you..

Haircut...

is the shortest in 10 years.. definitely a new look.. younger and refreshed.. hehe i hope..

2008

looking back.. 2007 was exciting.. wedding.. job change.. europe honeymoon, houston biz trip and china tour.. hubby's promotion.. really hope tat 2008 will be even better..

so wat have we done on the first 2 weeks of 2008.. diy a cupboard to keep hubby's gadgets.. packed the room and wardrobe.. shopped for hubby's formal wear.. detox for a week.. work long hours and hard.. yeh.. having 2-3 hours concall every night since last tues.. tired but happy..

hubby will b away for US biz trip next wed for 1.5 weeks.. disappointed tat i cant join as he's gg to new york city *pout*.. so i wish for more biz trips and holidays in 2008.. great health and wealth.. cheers!

End of 2007..

Touched down around 9 pm plus and the heat is killing me.. the weather for past 10 days was so cold and dry.. the trip was smooth and safe.. minus bad experiences with some toilets and some ppl.. it was quite enjoyable and scenery was really magnificent.. clear and emerald lakes.. waterfalls.. mountains range.. icy white trees.. great tour guide and driver services.. great food (ma la hotpot and herbal steamboat were memorable).. lots of shopping.. foot reflexology.. skiing.. hot spring bath.. sauna.. steam bath.. mud bath.. local tribal village/home visit.. pandas.. bian lian show.. etc.. it's an amazing trip.. guess wat we bought.. pure honey from bees in mountains.. jade bracelet.. amethyst bracelet.. 2 eyed and 9 eyed dzi beads.. pi siu.. mushrooms (song rong).. pills from tong ren tang etc.. we skipped the tibetian medicine.. silk blankets and covers.. tong cong cao.. i must say chinese can sell very well *grin*.. again.. need time to sort out the fotos.. so stay tuned :)

Chengdu here i come..

a busy morning.. final check on my emails.. packed all into one luggage.. spent at least an hr to hunt for my dear's beanie.. lunch..

reached airport at 1:30pm and was "finding" ppl on the same tour.. hehe.. a pity tat we cant go to the lounge.. anyways.. 2 mins to logout.. so wish everyone a merry xmas and a wonderful and healthy 2008.. take care!

Last working day of 2007...

it's quite a lazy day at work but managed to sort out the key issues.. hopefully 2008 will be a better year..

my boss bought us lunch at ikea.. it's like a simple xmas lunch.. appreciate her little gestures.. get water and coffee for me.. i tot i shd be the one getting her water and coffee *blush*.. anyways.. i like to lunch with her.. we never talk abt work and there are always something to chit chat and luff abt.. she gave us each a xmas present.. i have been complaining abt my "retarded" mouse.. and she bought me a cute little optical mouse.. such an attentive boss.. she actually thanked me of being so supportive and so ready to go for biz trip.. i'm so happy and touched..

it's late.. gtg zzz.. have to wake up early to pack and get ready.. china here i come.. :))))))

Busy busy..

so many things to follow up after the workshop.. we din have time to cover everything and thus we have to work on it remotely.. 3 different timezones.. sg, emea and usa.. have been working long hours.. tiring but happy.. still feeling sleepy during the day.. maybe jetlag maybe lack of sleep.. same at the workshop.. always feeling sleepy.. oh ya.. my boss bought us lunch on tue to reward our hard work.. otori.. nice place and great food..

finally packed a bit today.. tour guide called and said it's -16 at jiuzhaigou.. wow.. i'm excited.. one more day at work and will be off till 2 jan.. yippie..

I'm back..

managed to get the flight back on sunday instead of monday.. so i'm back a day earlier..

it's quite a tiring but fruitful biz trip as i need to work on 2 timezones.. attending the workshop and following up with the team in sg (well oso to catch up with my dear in india).. met ppl from other teams and regions.. learnt a lot from the detailed sharing and discussions.. hopefully i get to attend the next workshop in vienna..

rented car on the weekends and driving was quite ok minus the missed turns and drive thru the eztag lane and tot tat i might be fined.. hehe.. took a while to rem tat the signal is on my left and wiper on my rite.. hotel is very near to office and it's a 2 bedroom suite.. went to katy mills factory outlet, willowbrook mall and galleria.. shopped quite a bit.. bought 3 shirts (1 from ck and 2 from kenneth cole) for my dear.. 1liz claiborne sling bag for mom.. 1 fleece and columbia jacket from rei.. 2 old navy shirts and 2 tops (forget wat brand).. but regretted not buying the ck down jacket which was 50% off.. polo tee for my dear.. had vietnamese, mexican, italian, japanese, steakhouse and cheesecake factory.. gosh.. now i feel so fat..

5 days to my china trip.. looking forward to a white xmas :)

Currently...

i'm at airport waiting for boarding.. managed to get economy plus seats except for nrt-sfo leg.. guess have to depend on my luck at nrt and see if i can change.. slept for 3.5 hours and i'm actually quite awake.. so excited.. missing u dear dear.. hope to catch u online when i reach.. houston here i come :)

Biz trip 8-18 dec

there will be a workshop at houston with other regions from 10-14 dec.. my team needs to send a rep.. one cant go bcoz of family and the other has to stay for knowledge transfer.. so me "the green horn" has the chance to meet the rest of the global program team.. yeh still green as i'm only 1mth old here.. my boss worried that i will be the "spotlight" and ensure that i have enuff knowledge sharing from these 2 gurus.. all done in this week.. doc preparation and learning as much as possible.. it's kinda last min.. a short discussion on last fri that i will be the backup if no one can make it.. den my boss sms to get ready on sat morning.. booking all done on monday.. flights are full and unable to get flights back on next weekend.. so tentative return on 17 dec.. now i'm having night concalls and information overflow.. a couple of tasks to be completed before i fly and i have not packed and change currency.. oh gosh never feel so unprepared.. hope the workshop goes well and no hiccups.. no "bombs" from other regions.. still undecided if i shd drive.. kl colleague is coming in a day later and leaving on 15 dec.. staying in the same hotel but our flight schedule are not matched.. ah so mafan.. i'm tired.. better hit the bed and worry tomorrow.. sweet dreams jeri.. nitez..

Hero...

watched the special edition of hero on TV last sun.. a promotion for the movie.. watched the whole 11 ep of hero series within these 2 days.. simply love kimura's cool and charm.. interesting storyline and cases..