Post Christmas

I had received 3 other gifts for christmas this year, apart from the 2 that were mentioned in the earlier post.

So, I had a pack of Famous Amos Cookies from dear ZX,

3D stitch iphone casing from Kk's Sister.. (and it's enormous after I fixed it. Haha)

And last but not least, a tissue box cover from my sister. :)

So far, that concludes my 2011 christmas! :)

Christmas is near!

Christmas week! I'm already in holiday mood. Who isn't! Haha.

My first Xmas gift is from Ju. Handmade with lotsa love. (I had finished it up! So Yummy!)

The other Xmas gift I've got was TWG Moroccan mint tea from my company + $50 bucks resort world voucher!

Hm.. will I be having more gifts? haha~!

Feverish

Not feeling exactly well right now. Fever came back and I didnt have my panadol with me. Had been on MC for the past 2 days. Virus infection (again) causing the on and off rise of body temperature. Just that this time round, accompanying the fever was not sore throat nor runny nose, but is giddiness - low Bp and headache.

I have always had this low Bp issues.. and only recently (past 2 years) it became more frequent. i'm not anemic by the way. I didnt see it as a huge issue, only just a few months ago, when i made the decision to start a family. The doctor say there's no medication to bring up blood pressure, and the only thing that I can do is to rest more whenever those giddy episodes hit. Plus, try not to have sudden movement (how is that possible??)

Anyway, I will try to have more light and healthy food. (Notice I didnt mention to start exercising. Haha!) I think pple with low bp cant exercise much. So the little effort that I made was to stop taking the shuttle bus up every morning. Every steps i made counts.

The last party

Time for another entry!

Last Friday we had an ex-colleagues gathering with our Jap bosses. Dinner was at Brozeit in vivocity and it was nice. After that, was a party in St James. Our main objective was to expose Dr M (a middle age man) to clubbing experience in Singapore. He had heard about this place many times and had always wanted to experience it himself. Thus, the nice ladies like us decided to fulfill his wish and organised it. :)

They had too much of a drink-I think. We had 2 hard liquors, and a few shots. Before that, they were already having beers during the dinner! In the end, Dr M couldnt walk straight. Koby was already crazy, hugging Wilson, dancing and shouting and talking non-stop, talking nonsense etc etc. 真是失态! Haha~!

Overall, it was a nice experience. Too bad Nat and Shir couldnt join us this time round. But rest assure that there will be another round, probably just a dinner gathering, a more quiet place so that we can chat and talk with ease.

Work issues

I have a little time today and instead of doing paperwork, I decided to blog. :)

The new young girl in the company has issues with the seniors... a.k.a ZX and I. She made a lot of small mistakes and she even tried to perform tasks she had never done before.. and, without asking and consulting the other first. Though the mistakes are negligible or some were prevented, I still had to feedback to ZX, her mentor. Urm, so, I don't exactly know how to put it.. but is it 自做聪明？ Or just simply because she felt that it was an easy task and thus go ahead and did it. She is always full of excuses and reasoning.. and even if she really did make mistake and when we pointed out, she simply nodded and acknowledge "ok" without feeling a tad of apologetic. Is this the work attitude of a new age kid?

With issues piling up, we encouraged ZX to talk to her in meeting room. I think she took it personally and wanted koby to be in during the talk. Ok fine. They did the talk last friday evening. Right now, situation has turn ugly. Since yesterday she's basically not talking to either ZX or me, except work. she's hiding her feelings. She's detaching from the team. She wants to go solo. ZX and I don't like this feeling. We are a team and we interact. Irregardless of personal or work problems. Other new colleagues in the team are perfectly fine. She's the only one that we have difficulty. Her attitude towards us changed drastically and she claimed that she didnt change. Even Koby noticed her change in attitude and he doesnt know how to handle the new girl too.

I don't like this. I feel like shouting at her to wake her up.

The long awaited weekend!

- Dear's coming home tmr
- Nieces coming over to stayover
- Visiting ex-colleague's few months old baby
- Switching my mobile telco

:)

享用晚餐后的感想。。。

今天的晚餐我吃的很开心。我当初决定回来PLR是正确的。和 ZX, Dr M, Nat-san 的对话当中没有约束， 没有礼节， 轻松自在。大家都开开心心的，感觉真好！:)

Free and Easy weekend

My pictures taken in Japan is now up in FB! Finally! Actually I had uploaded it 2 days ago. Uploading the pictures in high resolution was a painful process! I tried several times and it hang on me at the last few pictures.. thus I had to upload them batches by batches til it's done. Anyway, I will like to share 2 pictures today.

Cutie pie Yiting

And handsome prince Yi Ze.

When I have time...

Still remember the transition time when the lab had only me and ZX, BSCs were more than enough to use. Right now, with the increase in number of staff, we have to "chope" the BSCs like choping seats during lunch. Since my primary focus is not on cell culturing, I can't complain much but to wait for my turn.

So with the free time now, I shall do some blogging!

First thing first, the lazy me still have not upload the pictures I took in Japan trip. Haha. Briefly scanned through the pictures and seems like the quality of the pictures are not too good... hm.. is it my skills getting lousier? It can't be coz I'm using auto mode! So maybe is the LX-3. hahaha~!

Oh ya! I have to mention that my little nephew is born on the 6th November! The cutesy little boy! I'm so so happy to hear the good news on that day.. but as I were helping out my friend's wedding as a Jie Mei, I couldnt be there to see him. But I'm glad that 7th Nov was a holiday and we had the whole day to visit my sister-in-law. :)

Kk and I bought a 2nd hand PS3 game - Dynasty Warrior 7 on monday and since then we were hooked on the game everynight. Haha~! I just enjoyed this hack and slash game! Just that playing this game made me feel exhausted everyday when I come to work... haha.. 

It's friday! Will be having a nice dinner later with dear before heading home and continue with the gaming. ;)

Back from holiday

Hello~~ I'm back from Holiday~~!! How I miss my dear right now. His flying schedule is jam packed til end of this year! He's in Australia right now and will be heading off to NZ next, coming back on Sat... So for readers who are waiting for my pictures on FB, I have to wait for him to come back for the compilation.

Til then~!

Heading off to Tokyo

I'm flying tmr to Tokyo! Yup, I'm tagging along with my hubby for biz trip. A total of 7 days including the two days of work for him. Planned a lot of places to go and visit. I'm so proud of myself, finishing the itinerary in 2 days, just one week plus ahead of the flight date. :) I realised that the places to visit covers mostly shopping area! Haha. Now yen is stronger than 2 years ago.. Guess things will be much more expensive! I'm so excited!! I'm meeting Shirly up for dinner too!

My Random Sunday

We were attracted to this 2 cars after we had our breakfast on yesterday morning. A bride and groom bridal car. They were not really that fanciful, but then it's creative.

Then we did house work together for a while before heading to mum's home and bring all the little children to Toyrus at vivocity to choose their birthday gift. :)

Sorry~ only took 1 picture with the upcoming birthday girl - Felicia. :) (Yixin got her belated birthday present and she was sooo busy playing with the hair care set) (I got a strawberry shortcake figurine for Melissa since she is a very good girl with mostly full marks for all her spelling tests)

That's all for a tiring sunday with the kids!

15th Oct 2011

A few days before, we got ourselves a vacuum cleaner as our first year anniversary gift for our home and for each other. Used it already and we both like it. Rowenta silent force! Powerful and really quiet!

Then came the important day. 15th Oct. Yesterday's expenses was on me, since I didnt have any surprise for my dear on his birthday. I'm so bad and guilty!

We went to catch a movie "The Thing" at Lido after breakfast, walked around orchard til it was time for dinner. We settled our dinner at a jap restaurant named Watami in Ion and then off we went home for a heart to heart talk.

 

 

Overall, it was not a fantastic day. However, the fact that I am able to be with my love one is more than I can ask for. We were worried for a second that, when we look back next time and could not recall on what we did on our first year anniversary. But with logical thinking set in, we don't really need to spend money to make it so memorable. As long as we are always together, always so loving and sweet,  putting in effort in every single thing we do, having a normal anniversary does not matter at all.

I am so glad that I'm married to this man.

Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to my dearest~!

This saturday will be my first year wedding anniversary, as well as my hubby's birthday. How time flies. It's been a year! Of course there is still a looonngggg way to go! This post is dedicated to my dear husband, who has been doting on me and giving his 100% to me, and to our marriage.

My hub is a home based worker, and with his parent company n distributors in different timezones, he is actually able to wake up a little later, coz there's no rush for him to take public transport and to rush to work. However, my hub chose to adjust the alarm clock just 15 mins later then me, getting up and preparing Milo (or some other drinks) for me every weekday morning - minus off some lazy days, days he is on biz trip and days he is sick. How sweet is that? He even washes the cup for me when I'm in a hurry, or simply when I'm lazy. After i leave the house, he will fold the blankets if he remembers, and he did it most of time. :)

This guy of mine shares my household work with me too. He will iron all clothes including mine every fortnightly. He will mop or sweep the floor almost every alternate week(when i ask him to). He will clean the bathroom's shower screen when I demanded him, and he will always be the one to bring out the rubbish to the main rubbish chute. :)

He gives me house fund every month without fail and pays for all the expenses regardless of meals and home bills. He packs food back for me when I'm lazy to get changed. He took care of me when I am on MCs. He even notices what my likes and wants are, and then "pop" me a surprise gift on special occasions. He is very good at managing finances and I always feel safe with him to be in charge of finances.

He listens to my complains and whines, he encourages me and gives me support whenever I needed him. He even came all the way to meet me near office areas in days where I have menses and I forgot to bring pads. He helps me to rub my belly with Ru Yi Oil on days I had got colic.

Last but not least, he respects me and loves me for who I am. Thank you dear for being with me. Happy anniversary and happy birthday!

Adapting to the old, yet new environment...

Started work again yesterday.. I had overviews on the projects that were assigned to members of my team. I was of course, been assigned to a few tasks too. I was immediately sent to action, as though I never had left.

With the "high" turnover this year, a lot of things are different. No more khakis to joke around and even work allocation is different, style of management is different. I'm so not use to this.

2 more days

I met up with my ex boss last Tues to express my interest in returning to the company. He agreed straight away and he text me the next morning to tell me that i can return anytime. Immediately in the afternoon, the HR called me and talked to me. Shortly after, my supervisor sent an email to me saying that he was really happy to be able to work with me once again. I feel so blessed to have my bosses being so appreciative. I'm so loving them!

The next day, my HR called me again and told me to start work next Monday. It's really fast eh~!!! Haha. I negotiated a bit and I am able to start working on Wed. During my lazing-around-days... i procrastinated on doing the housework.. now with the deadline given, I need to complete my housework asap. haha~!

For my return, everything will remain as status quo... I also heard that I will be sitting next to my supervisor... hm.. though i don't have the luxury of big space compared to where i was seated previously, I do quite like sitting away from KNS.. not to forget, I will be sitting beside ZX! wahaha~! Also, due to the the increase in number of new staff, all the new lappies (including the one I used before) were all distributed... that means I have to use the dinosaur desktop! haha~! It should be fine lah. I'm gonna use ex-ju's pc, and the IT guy told me he had uninstalled all unnecessary programs to make it respond faster. I like to type on traditional keyboard~!

Okie dokie, time to pen off. Til then~!

Into my 3rd week of rest.

I went Penang last week to visit my PIL and also ate the must-haves delicacy of Penang, namely duck egg char kuey teow （鸭蛋炒果条）, Rojak and Penang Laksa. =)

Returned on Friday afternoon just in time to rest a bit and then head for Gina's wedding dinner at goodwood park hotel. It was a nice dinner except that I had indigestion after that and kept puking for the rest of the night as well as the following day. Probably I ate too much! Haha, such a waste! Right now, I'm back to the healthy me and I'm planning on the meals to cook for the rest this week.

Yesterday I visited Bro's new DBSS flat at Ang Mo Kio Park Central. The environment and location are very nice, just that the flat is a tad too small. Can you actually believe that the toilet is bigger than the kitchen? To see is to believe, and yes, it is true! I think I wont have the mood to cook if my kitchen is that small. The bay windows and 2 balconies are a waste of space... BUT if everything is a little bigger, it would have be a perfect home, a condo-design flat. 

Anyway, to sum up this post, this week will be the start of me being a full time housewife. Going marketing later. Aiyo, so embarrassing! hahaaha! Cheerios!

Lazy week

The fourth day of laziness. I became a part time assistant caretaker for little yiting. I had the chance to clear her shit n bath her, when my mum went marketing. It was tough! It was smelly! But it was a great and fun experience. :)

I'm counting down to the day when dear returns, to discuss about my/our future plans, to fix the date of going Penang and clear some of the checklist of "things to do together" since I'm not working at the moment. Really looking forward to that!

Also, I'm in saving mode, a bit stingy to myself now.. Everything that i buy, i will have to consider for a long time. Like, i was whatsapping my dear about having the cuppacino craving for days coz its expensive coffee... Til I finally succumb to it and drank it with mum today at macdonalds. :)

Liberated

I resigned today. I heaved a sigh of relief when my manager walked me out of the office.

Early in the morning I talked to my manager and she sort of expected it. She was not disappointed but just felt a bit wasted coz she felt I didn't try hard enough. My boss also said about the same thing and he ask me to maintain contact with him, drop him a line when I get a new job.

I didnt have to serve any notice. I cleared my desk n email and i was free to go. Not to forget, I still got my pro rated pay. Not bad eh.

Right now, I'm out of job. Though I still have my reserves, I do need to spend a little lesser. That means dear will have a heavier burden now. Once again, I appreciate what he did for me and how he supported me on the past few days. He should be landing in London in a few hours time. I'm missing him already!

Of course, right now without a job, I can meet up my friends for lunch!

7th day of work

The working week seems draggy. As days passed, I realized I was mentally drained every single day. I was no longer happy and chirpy. I stopped cooking since i knocked off slightly later due to unfinished emails n quotations.

Dear was very supportive every single day. He gave me advices, shared with me his experiences etc, but I always ended up sobbing in tears. I was in intense stress. I dont like this. I realized that this may not work out for me. It's only been a week of work. I havent been eating much during lunch. I skipped meals and felt like puking. Maybe partly was due to my menses. But in only a week I became a completely different person.

I broke down on Thursday night. I couldn't take the stress anymore. I teared everytime I touch on my jobs problem. I told my dear ex colleagues my feelings. They encouraged me.

The next day, I went to office to give the job another try. I talked to my manager and my boss, but I dun have any outcome. I guess it was because back in my mind, I've decided. I gave up. I want to resign. I want myself to be happy. I admit mistake that I made the wrong move. I assumed I could do it, but I realize I couldn't.

Today I typed out my resignation letter. I initially minded what others feel and think about me. But dear said, as long as I'm happy and back to my normal self, my dear friends will understand. Dear supported me too. He just wanted me to be happy. I was so glad that he is with me right now, but he is flying again on Monday.

I will tender my resignation on Monday morning. Under probation period, it will be one day notice. I discussed with my hubby, I will take a break to recover my mental mind before deciding what step to take next. So, I will be a temporary tai tai! Haha!

4th day at new job

I had sent out dozens of emails today to inform my customers I will be taking care of their accounts. My manager wants me to meet them and go outfield as soon as possible. Some of them replied almost immediately, which I'm glad they did. I had arranged the meet ups to be from next week onwards. I wonder if I will be going to meet them alone or with my manager.. but i guess i will be alone.

I had scheduled 2 meet ups tmr and my manager is going with me. I hope my first meet up will be enjoyable!

Adjusting to new environment

A fresh start tmr. I hope that I will not have any monday blues. It was a right decision to start my first working day on a Thurs (as it falls on the 1st). I just had to work 2 days and I have time to digest the information i gained over the weekend.

The first day was scary. I had a talk with my boss and it seems like there are a lot of things that I need to learn. He seems like a nice man who has high hopes for me (or maybe simply for the benefit to his own company). He wanted me to get use to the new work, especially getting myself prepared emotionally, as he knew that the transition from doing lab work all these years to a sales job is not an easy task. He had been through it and he knew. Despite saying that, he still stressed me up by saying that he wants to me be involved in product training, and probably some contract stuff with CROs in future. Too early to say that to me. I was overwhelmed.

I then discovered that I am the only sales person who has a strong science background. My manager herself was a business grad. That was part of the reason they chose me (the other reason was a feeling - they sensed my sincerity. haha!). Up till now, all experiments were run by my boss himself and the workload seems to be increasing. So I need to run experiments next time, when there's a need. Great! That means I wont have to forget my lab skills entirely! On the other hand, with the strong science background, training was done in a fast and furious mode. They already expect me to know quite a lot of things. Crash course.

I got a tortoise lappy which seems like taking forever to start up and shut down.. that will be mine throughout my stay and I can bring that back home anytime I want to (which I don't feel like it coz its a heavy tortoise)! I was also given a workphone, an iphone 3GS. -_- with that phone on hand, I knew how to treasure my iphone 4. hahaa~!! oh ya! I was also being told that I need to be in focus for the full 8 hours at work... not to be distracted by chats and smses unless its something life and death. I did for the first 2 days and I can assure you, I was having mobile withdrawal at the end of the day and I was spamming my group whatsapp after that.

First day was over fast and after all those training and big talks, I was mentally drained. I was having fear that I couldnt catch up. I feared a lot of things and kept having my thoughts strayed. Dear was not with me for the first 2 days of work and I had no one to turned to. I felt like crying. Too stressed up I think.Luckily, 2nd day felt better. Probably it was a friday. Took home 2 impt catalogs and wanted to study them over the weekend. But as I am typing this post, the catalogues had been left untouched ever since I placed them on my study table. opps!!

Alright! Time to get ready for tmr! Jia you bluesky~!!

1st day of work - 1st Sept

I shall start my new journey tmr. I wish myself all the best. Huat ar!

Last day, last time.

Today was my last day at work. Walking towards Biopolis felt very different this morning. Upon reaching office, everything's pretty much the same except that there's a Mr Bean pearly soya milk from beloved ZX as breakfast, as well as a box of merci chocolates from Winnie as a form of appreciation for being her "mentor" for the past 10 days.

There was still work to do, just that it's very minimal. I did cell culturing for the last time in the morning and qPCR for the last time in the afternoon. Koby was very kind to give me the rest of the day free to take pictures with everyone else. We had one last small talk in the meeting room around 3.30pm, coz he said that he would be in a long meeting after that. I was surprised that he gave me a small token of appreciation.

When the clock struck 5.30pm, everyone started to leave. I went around to have the last handshake with the people in PLR. At around 5.40pm, only Chen-san and ZX were still in the office. I gave ZX a very big hug and a handshake before I left.. and I could see that she's trying to control her tears from starting.

I placed my work pass on HR's desk and exited PLR with a heavy heart. I will definitely miss this special place and the people who formed an important part of my life. You know who you are. ;p Love you!

My private affair

I had my farewell dinner with Dr M, Koby, Natori-san and ZX at a restaurant named nanjya monjya in Grand corpthone. It is a typical japanese teppan style restaurant full of japanese. The restaurant is run by 3 jap sisters and thus serves very authentic japanese food.

I am very happy and honored to have the private dinner with the bosses. I have the honor of being "served" by 3 men. They cooked the teppan dishes for ZX and I. We dun have to do anything, except to eat. Very nice food I must say. If I have the chance, I will return to the restaurant. :)

Also, as Takizawa-san will not be around on my last working day due to a biz trip to India, I caught him to take a picture with me yesterday. He only comes in once a week.. so I was lucky I had my camera with me (actually for the dinner that night). Before he left, he gave me a handshake and I was happy! Haha! He's like an idol to me. Beach boys style! haha. Anyway, I am not very satisfied with the only picture I took with him because his hair was a bit too long, he didnt have his spectacles on (which I preferred) and he wore his pants too high! haha.

Oh in addition, my farewell treat with the company organised by the recreation committe was initially a lunch at some restaurant in biopolis, but the kind, fatherly Dr M stepped in and told the guy responsible to change it to dinner and Dr M will be bringing us to a Japanese restaurant again. Yeah! I am really honored once again!

Last but not least, I am counting down to my last working day. 7 days exactly. Emotionally, I am still not able to let go this very nice working place... but my logical side tells me to move on and aim higher. Sigh.... One thing for sure........

I love the bosses in PLR!

Backdated post

I had my 28th bday celebration about a week ago. Time flies and I'm hitting the big 3 in 2 years time. I managed to get the pictures off the camera and here I am, with a backdated post.

I bought an ice cream cake with winnie the pooh picture from swenson.. because I was celebrating with all my cute nieces and they love cartoon cake. It was funny when we asked for the number of candles to be 28 and probably the waitress was thinking.. so childish! We had the cake for tea break and all my nieces enjoyed the cake. Which kid doesn't like ice-cream? Even adults love ice-cream!

In the evening, dear and I went to a restaurant in resort world, the one that we went for our wedding anniversary in feb. Again, the food was really nice and we enjoyed ourselves. Foe grias, lobster, alantic cod, duck breast and hot chocolate soup were what we had. Thinking of those makes me extremely hungry! Here're the pictures!

That's it for now. I will upload the rest of the photos in FB!

Dull moments

I wanted to blog about my bday celebrations and the countdown of the number of days left in my current company. However, I need the pictures to be loaded first before I can have a more interesting post. My bday pics were all in dear's DSLR and right now he is on biz trip and thus I am staying over at my mum's place. So bear with me for a while before an interesting post comes up!

Bday celebrations

We had a gathering at ZX's house yesterday to drink coffee (from their newly bought nespresso machine) and updating each other about personal/work life. How time flies, baby Ruixin started crawling, baby Rye is now a cute little boy learning how to form sentences and little Eunice has grown to become a pretty girl.

I was talking to VH about clothes and work when I saw ZX coming out from the kitchen holding a cake. I was asking, "whose cake was that?" And they replied, "it's yours"! I was so touched at that moment and upon going up to see what cake was that and... tadahh~~~! Stitch birthday cake! So sweet! They knew that I love stitch and that was what they got for me. :) *touched* This can be consider my 2nd bday celebrations with my dear colleague, ex-colleagues and soon-to-be ex colleagues. I still remember the first time was at ZX's house as well! We were making chocolate pound cake that time... awww.. once again, how time flies! Here's a photo of the girls, minus SP who is right now studying hard in Japan. :)

Too bad I got to rush off around 5.30pm to head for Little Yiting's bday celebration! She was wearing the dress I got for her as a present. So sweet looking! She seemed to know it was her special day and acted like a host. :) We went Swenson for dinner and she got herself a mini firehouse free :) After dinner we headed home and have the cake cutting ceremony. :) Will post pictures of the bday girl on FB! :)

Plans

It's a new week ahead.

I have to admit, I feel a little sad about not being involved in work after breaking the news that I'm leaving. This is too fast. Dear and ZX told me that I am too sensitive. I think I might have, but womens' instinct are usually accurate! Too bad, this is reality, they have to move on without me.

Just heard about some new plans made by koby from ZX. The new plans that's going to be implemented are definitely better... making work more challenging, getting involved in projects by holding meetings, senior acting as in-charge apart from supervisor etc. I can't help but to wonder, why didn't he think of that before I made the decision? Why only implement this change when everyone's left? Anyway, even if he did implement these earlier, my decision won't change when opportunity comes knocking. It's just a matter of time.

Probably the changes are to make ZX feel more impt in the company, so that she won't drop a sudden bomb like me. So all the best to ZX~!

2 consecutive sad days..

I told koby about resigning yesterday. I took the whole day to find a good timing. ZX n Ju wasnt around. I had plenty of time and opportunity to be alone with him in the afternoon. I didnt know how to break the news.. time passed and it was near to 5pm. He happily told me that we had finally succeeded in cloning.. and that was the time we entered the dark room to view the gel, I told him. The happy atmosphere stopped suddenly. I could see that he was shocked, even in the dark room. He looked at me with 3 sec silence, then asked " are you serious?". I nodded. He replied with an "ok" and went out. I was supposed to continue with gel extraction. 5 mins later, he came to me and said he wanted to talk to me.

We were inside the room. Awkward silences, heart to heart talk, advices and understanding each other. We talked with heavy hearted. We laughed to disguise our true feelings. Somehow I knew how he felt.. and he understood where I was coming from. Like Ju describe, it felt like breaking up with your other half, having to let go. He told me I was the special one and he planned to train me to be a key person. I felt happy, and sad at the same time. I knew all along. We had the special supervisor-employee relationship. But I had made the decision. I had to go. Not even increment could make me stay. He understood the limitations of the current company. It was near 5.30pm that we ended the talk. I was nearly in tears when he said, "thank you for talking to me"

I returned home with an extreme weight on my heart. Afterall, Koby was the one, the motivation of joining the company after my first interview nearly 3 years back - I can imagine myself having a cool Jap supervisor. It was like "bingo" on first sight.. I knew I will join this company, which I did.

********

Today, I waited for 5.30pm, waited for all staff to leave the company, before standing up, passing the letter to Dr M. We headed to the room to talk. The same position. He sighed. We started talking. Dear mentioned that I should be able to handle the situation, since I got the "emo" experience the day before and talking to Dr M wouldnt be that bad. But no. It was worse.

Dr M told me a lot of things. Plans for the current company. He even asked me to stay on, give him some time to let him get all those ppl who had left to be back. After the persuasion, he knew that I wanna give sales a try. He understood me. I want to try new job before I get old. We talked for about 45 mins. He gave in and said. "Ok, you go ahead and try. 3 months later I will contact you again to see how you are doing. If it's not ok, please come back. We can wait for you." I replied with a "Thank you" and tears welled up. I think he knew I was going to cry. We stood up and left the room. Upon carrying my bag and stepped out of the office, I cried. All the way back home. Even as I am typing this post.

I felt guilty. It felt like a betrayal that I left for someone else. Dr M is too nice and fatherly.

I'm sorry Dr M. I never had such a wonderful boss and supervisor. Thank you for everything.

A new start on a monday

The weekend trip to Genting and KL was not that enjoyable. I wont say anything in details over here as it's all over. I got over it and dear "compensated" by queuing for 1 hr to buy my favorite bar chor mee in Crawford center upon reaching SG. :) He's really sweet and nice to me. haha.

Right now he's at the airport, going on a biz trip again til Friday. Have a safe journey dear~!

Silly dream that spoils my mood.

I woke up from my bed today with a heavy heart. I had a bad dream. I was crying hard in my dream. I'm lazy to describe my weird dream last night. But here's a few sentences to sum up : my love one left me for 3 times, and the 3rd time lasted 8 years. I found out later that he was living with another woman and a kid, in Thailand. -_- I told KK about the dream and he laughed at me. He said that he wont leave and and looking at him (in sloppy sleepwear) who would want him?? I replied "Thats why I found you in Thailand." Haha~!!

I guess it was PMS. Heavy hearted, I got ready and went to work. Bus took forever to come. I board the bus and heard a song on my mp3, with some flash backs, i nearly teared but I hold back. What makes it worse, a headache was developing.

I reached the biopolis shuttle bus stop, I received an sms from dear saying:

"Dear. We will always be together. =)"

Thinking

Seriously, I'm getting tired of working. It's getting so routine that I wished to take a break just like SY. Maybe a month of no pay leave, and then going for many short trips, since dear has to clear his accumulated leaves by Sept. Dear was tempting me about taking a month's leave from right now - in July, since my birthday falls in this month. Can I be so cruel to leave ZX? I dunno. I can't decide.

I wish I wish I wish...

Had a very nice lunch with colleagues at Soup spoon, fusionopolis. It's very nice to drink hot soup during rainy days. How I wish that I am back at home, back on my bed with the comfy blanket, lazing around, wasting my day off.

Just for today. Just for a day.

:)

Short note

We had a fun farewell dinner yesterday. Chatting, drinking, joking, teasing and sharing feelings. I guess its because we had our private room and we were seated on tatami, feeling so relaxed. All the best to Ju, VH and SY~~~ We shall all keep in contact via group whatsapp. :)

At mum's place

Dear went over to Jarkata this time round, and here I am, at my mum's place. It's been a while since I last came over and stay, and I'm enjoying it. There's cute little Yiting to play with and there's the drama Yixin acting and entertaining me. Of course, not forgetting there's mum to chat with and the house work I don't need to do when I'm here. haha!

My Wednesday

I am so glad that Yixin is better from HFMD. She's able to talk and she's not sobbing anymore, though she still hasn't got her appetite back. My heart warms when she smile at me and told me that she likes me a lot, giving me big hugs and asked me not to go home.

Tonight dear will return home from HK, and I will be meeting him at the airport. :) 2 more days to returning Penang for Fathers' day celebration.

Reassurance is not enough.

I was called in to the meeting room around 5pm by my supervisor. He had a chat with me for quite a while and asked me about the details my boss communicated to me during the appraisal. I told him briefly and he started explaining to me on why I was not promoted this year.

My supervisor (Koby) said that he fought for a promotion for me, but didnt manage to persuade my boss for the green light. The reason my boss gave was, I was promoted only last year. However from koby, he mentioned another reason that boss didnt tell me. He said that Boss felt I am only 2.5 years into the job compared to ZX, who works for a longer period of time. If I am promoted together with ZX this year, I will be in the same rank with her and it is not fair to her. Koby told me he felt that promotion is not supposed to be measured by the length of service, but the performance. But he just couldnt persuade Boss. Back then I was thinking, so is it fair to me then?

Koby was also surprised that my percentage of increment was only X% (which in actual fact is slightly less that X%). He felt it was a bit low coz he believed that I deserved more. So I asked him if he could make the percentage go higher, but he say he couldnt. -_- (so what's the point? No money no talk! haha)

Koby told me that he had nothing much to teach me anymore. I am at the maximum level in terms of techniques, and I have the best set of skills in the team. He gave me choices to pick in order to work for my confirmed promotion next year. This also means more work for me.

I am happy that Koby actually recognises my hard work. I am very happy for the encouragement and praises. This recognition makes me feel worthy working for him. However, more work for "greater" promotion? Koby can't call the shots in salary decision so in the end if it's still the normal promo+increment, there's nothing he can do right? When that particular time comes, will it be fair to me then?

Get well soon!

I can't help but to feel a bit sad and helpless seeing Yixin crying and sobbing due to HFMD. She has very bad ulcers, can't eat or drink much. All I could do was to hug and comfort her, encouraged her to be a brave little princess. Get well soon my dear girl! I miss your laughter.

Mini Cotton Candy Machine

Saw this cute cotton candy machine at robinsons yesterday selling at 99 bucks. I like cotton candy since I was a kid... It seems like a fun machine, but I guess it's a hassle to clean up the mess after using, as well as the potential of luring ants to your house and to the machine.

I'm on leave today!

Dear didnt go for his 4 days biz trip today. It was like a last min cancellation. Somehow, I wished for that ;p. At least, he will be with me for the next few days, to share the excitement that I'm going to unveil - tmr.

Heard from my colleagues that they got the promotion/ increment letter. They released it one month earlier. I guess the HR and management fear that there will be more ppl leaving. So they hope that by releasing earlier will make pple have 2nd thoughts about leaving. Indeed, from my previous post, I mentioned that our lunch kakis will be down to 2. Seriously 2. Even SY who joined another team, had tendered her resignation and decided to be a stay home wife. So it will be me and ZX left.

This is a very critical period. First they mentioned that our company will be having the risk of closing, then a lot of pple left and no replacements so far. Right now they say that they will extend the projects for 3 to 4 more years but they cannot have a 100% confirmation until the board meeting near june end. So, with the increase workload, I wonder how much increment am I entitled, how much I am worth in their eyes. haha. Let's see how, tmr. Goodnight peeps!

Pple moving on in my life

Time flies, the month of May is over soon. My lunch time kakis are getting lesser and lesser each month. How sad. From a time where we had 7 pax, dropping down to 3, soon or maybe 2.

First SY went off to another team and right now we were having difficult times to have same lunch hours and she since joined another clique. Then Nat went off for a greener pasture, followed by SP left for Japan to further her studies. Finally, our dear Ju will also be leaving - for a better future. We were a group of happy colleagues - no, not colleagues anymore. We are friends. Good friends. We talked about anything under the sun. There were no secrets (i think). We helped each other during work, and even after work. All the girls provided good listening ears and they are able to give advices when needed.

My company is not able to give promises right now. So they prefer to play it safe and not to hire any pple. Which means, our work load will increase! July is the month of promotion and increment. I hope that they are able to do something to retain staff.

For me, I'm in the lookout too.

Day 9 to12 in Birmingham

I didnt mentioned that I did blogging each day when I was in Europe. So from Day 1 to Day 12 were my dedicated blogging on my iphone notes - just without publishing them. I wanted to wait for the photos to be ready and post together with them.. But never did I realised, upon reaching London, I was getting lazy and stopped. So my blog posts stored in my iphone just stopped at early day 12.

Right now I am lazy to try to recall what i did for the after that. ;) so pardon me. Photos on FB will tell!


Day 9:

Gave hotel breakfast a missed as I wanted to sleep in. Dear went to work at 9am n I lazed around, had my mini instant noodle for breakfast.

Went out around noon to bull ring shopping centre to get jersey for yt. Had my lunch - a yummy big chicken n mushroom pie and finished up with a cone of mango ice cream! Walked around to see if there's anything worth buying... Found some clothes for the girls at home but just couldnt decide which color's for who. Thus I was thinking to return with KK after his work on thurs.

Kk came back and told me that we were meeting his colleague for dinner, with boss the next day and with a group of distributors on thurs. So no dinner dates for the both of us... and I couldnt do the shopping on Thurs night. Only more me time. Anyway, shall visit the cadbury world tmr

Day 10: cadbury world

For the first time, I ventured out myself. Bought train return tickets n went bournville... The cadbury world. Dropped off the station n got a bit lost, luckily I overheard someone asking and followed them. It was quite a walk there, and not forgetting, the wind was strong and a bit cold. Upon reaching, I quickly went to buy a ticket. There's a lot of pple! Entrance fee was 14.30£ and I got free chocolates before entering the exhibition hall. After exiting, I bought a lot of chocolates for 5.83£ only! Cheap!

I got around to the back of the mail building and purchased a chicken burger for lunch, before goin to the last stop stated on the world map. Free chocolate tasting again! After the choco tour, I understand a bit of history of cadbury chocolate n left the place, back to the warm cozy hotel room.

Dinner was with his boss n colleague, to a buffet which I think mainly consists of Indian food.


Day 11 and 12

Went out to pallasade and got the delicious pie for lunch. Then I bought a shawl for 2£ just in case London's too cold for me esp during the river cruise. Then I got to H&M n bought 5pcs of clothings for nieces n nephew, walked around, tried 3 dresses but none to my liking. In the end I got tired n got myself a drink and my early dinner pizza, coz dear mentioned that he will probably have to go for dinner with all the distributors. He then came back n told me his boss invited me to the dinner as well, hence the pizza was wasted. We had half n discarded the rest.

It was an awkward dinner for me, but it tasted good. Haha

Day 12:

Woke up n went to the breakfast in hotel. Didn't have much appetite coz it's really getting sick of English breakfast. Board a cab n went to take the train to London. Bye Birmingham!

Day 7 in Barcelona, Day 8 in Birmingham

Day 7:

Got up and got prepared to go Casa mila. Upon reaching, there was a long queue for the tickets to enter. We then decided to give it a miss, since the tickets were quite costly, plus trip advisor mentioned that it was not really that good on the inside - only the roof top's beautiful.

We continued our journey and walked to Casa batllo.

The queue was shorter n we decided to go for it. The tour was fantastic! Audio guides were provided too! The house was really nicely built. A place for the rich!

Bottom view of a chandelier

After the tour, we bought a nice photo frame of the casa batllo in the souvenior shop. ;)

Palau de la Musica Catalana was next but too bad English guided tour was sold out for the rest of the day! Thus we went to get some postcards and then went to a place recommended by tripadvisor for brunch. :)

We went to La ramblas next and the shops there were all closed on Sunday! Wat a waste! No shopping for us. We walked the whole stretch of road n watch peddlers n performers along the street.

We got back to hotel after that, rested for a while and went to a shopping mall named maremagnum.

Outside the mall there's a display of a really cool car. We took some pictures of it and then went into the mall and do some shopping. I only manage to buy a cardigan. ;( We then had our dinner at a random restaurant and ordered 2 paellas. The servings were huge! (and they didnt taste good actually).

Here's a picture we took while walking back to the train station. It was really cold that night!

That was our last night.

Day 8 : Barcelona to Birmingham

Had breakfast with our stash collected over the past few days before taking the train to the airport.

Reached Manchester at 2.40pm n we immediately went to a cafe and have our lunch. We were so so hungry! Nice BBQ chicken wings and beef pie! For the nex three days, expenses in Birmingham will be reimbursable from his company - more or less. Woo hoo!

Took the train to Birmingham. We took an early train and luckily the conductor closed one eye n let us be on that train. Checked in at Marriott hotel - a little old n classic n situated right opp kk's new office building. Very nice office I must say!

That night, dear brought me to the center's shopping mall to have our nice dinner at Naados. I would be alone for the rest of the days in Birmingham while he's working.

Day 6: Barca! Barca! Barca!

Day 6

Woke up at 10am, got ready n went to buy tickets for Barcelona match for a whopping of €138 for 2 pax!! Dear was so so happy about it coz he didn't managed to watch the Milan match the other day.

On the way to train station, we just went in to a cafe n have light snacks as breakfast for €6.20. Then we went to visit the sagrada familia n the crowd is too long to tempt us. We took pictures outside the building got some souveniors and then off we went to our next destination.

It was a long walk n steep slope to park guell by the train.

A pretty place. I bought 4 necklaces for from street vendor n coz we have no small change, we have to run around with them coz the police were reaching. Went to souvenior shop and got a magnet to have small change! After a walk, we went down and bought some snacks as gifts and went lunch at bar-rte la cartuja. A random shop but they had nice paella n fretuccini! Went back to hotel for a short break before heading towards the stadium for Barcelona match!

The train was really crowded with ppl going to the match. We just followed the crowd and walked towards the stadium.

It was exciting to see so many loyal supporters and I was happy to see dear dear being so happy. haha! It was a full house! We got there slightly early and hence bought hot dog for sharing, which last till the whole match. Bacarlona won, 3-1!! Yeah!! First half was boring and it got exciting after that. It was a nice match I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the stadium.

Day 5: Milan to Barcelona.

Day 5: Milan to Barcelona.

Arrived at malpensa airport and had our lunch at spizzico. Yummy!!

Upon reaching hotel and they suggested an upgrade from standard room to executive room for additional of €12 per night. It will include bedroom slippers n bathrobe n complimentary coffee n tea. Hm.. Makes me wonder how the standard room looks like! Anyway, since it's our honeymoon, dear decided to go ahead. Upon entering the room, we were like "wow-ed!" It's huge and nice with unblock view, plus a nice huge bathroom for us to use. Nice!

We went to magic fountain (that's near our hotel) n watched the fountain lightings.

We had to wait for the sun to go down before the lightings start. Thus we find a good spot and rested. While seated down, we spotted a really good looking guy walking past us and dear snap a pic of him secretly. He looked a bit like Zac Efron!

Anyway, the musical fountain started quite late (as the sun sets late). The fountain was pretty and huge but somehow it gets boring after a while.

We left and headed to a restaurant recommended by tripadvisor, however the whole stretch of road was in renovation n dear left with a heavy heart. Got back to hotel lobby for the wifi n quickly find another place to eat. It was 10 pm when we found the second venue tripadvisor recommend... But we didnt go in coz the menu is not in English n there's a strong spice smell in the restaurant. Which i didnt quite like it.

We walked around n ended up in a cafe and had light snacks n calamari platter. It was 11pm. Ppl here was used to having late dinner. Very late. What surprises us was when we got back to our room, there's a bottle of champagne on our bed!

We were still guessing n joking if the champagne will be charged n then came a buzz in our door. A steward came to pass us the happy honeymoon card!! Kk was so so happy n touched. We opened the bottle, drank a bit and off we went to sleep.

Day 4 in Milan

Day 4:

Took the subway n transfer bus to a cemetery. Yes, a cemetery. This particular cemetery is slowly becoming one of the tourist spots.

Wonderful and beautiful statues and sculptures were above almost every grave we walked past. I think those buried there were either famous or rich! It was a huge cemetery n we were both lazy n tired to explore it all. We headed back to a little cafe by the subway and had a drink to rest our tired feet.

After that, we went to Leonardo science n tech museum. It was an interesting, large museum and I particularly like the communication section. =) (Of course there were other sections to explore and discover in the museum)

After having covered most of the floors, we had our late lunch (again) at a cafe just outside the museum - and it sucked.

We hanged around for a moment coz we didn't really know where to go next. We had almost covered the tourist spots that were printed on our map. So what we did was to go to another shopping district n did some window shopping. From there we were able to walk back to duomo area and then we bought a set of pajamas n blouse for me, and a long sleeve top for kk inside some random shop. After shopping, it was still early so we went mc cafe to have a drink before we heading out to our last destination for dinner :)

We nearly gave up looking for the restaurant, coz we didn't have the exact address, just estimation from trip advisor. Luckily in the end, we managed to find it and I'm glad to have dinner at that restaurant! We had calzone n bolognese and I personally feel that it was the best meal we ever had in Milan. It's of a reasonable price too!