Weekend Getaway 2

Despite what everyone said, leng n me went ahead with our bintan trip booked almost 2 months ago. It clashes with my nephew's 1-year old birthday celebration, n the tsunami just hit indonesia like a week+ ago. I woke up super early since we had to book the super-early ferry. Typical kiasu singaporeans. So after the rocky sea journey to bintan, we checked in at 10am n fell asleep almost instantly.

The next moment when we woke up, the bright n sunny weather has transformed into a thunderstorm! Damn!! It was time for lunch anyway so we went to eat. The food was lousy yet expensive. While waiting for the rain to stop, we decided to walk around the resort, wherever was sheltered. N the rain still didn't stop. So we went back to the room n i continued my scramble while leng watched 爱. I dunno which was worse. Anyway, it was not until 4pm when the rain slowed to a drizzle. Not wanting to wait anymore, we decided we're just going to swim at the pool since we'll be wet anyway. After the mild swimming exercise, it was time for dinner. I decided dinner can't be a screw-up again, so we made reservation at their most posh restaurant. Things just refuse to go smoothly though. They only had tables available al-fresco style, but it was drizzling! Sighz.

The second day was bright n sunny. I happily went out to the beach n looked for jet ski. Guess what? They said the water was too choppy n all sea sports are cancelled. I'm like !@##$%@#^$#!@#$%#. So i grumpily went back to the pool. More swimming.

On hindsight, i should have just stayed in good ol' singapore. Seriously, the sea water was not any better than pasir ris. The one n only sea activity i looked forward to was jet ski, n it wasn't available. Before i know it, it was time for the ferry back to SG in the rough waters. Double sighz!

Weekend Getaway 1

My first weekend getaway since i came back to singapore is HK. Crashed into peiqi's house after giving her 2 days notice since this is really an impromptu decision (due to elinn's advice). Anyway, what are friends for, if not to provide lodging after relocation? :)

Anyway, peiqi's house, or should i say matchbox house, is really tiny! Fortunately i had lost a fair bit of weight before going to squeeze in there. But it was then i realise how small the homes of HKers are. Did they build those houses for people to stay or rent out? N to think the rental is more expensive than my BJ home which has 3 bedrooms n 3 toilets.

The getaway was good to get out of SG. I really need that once in a while, which is why this weekend i'm going bintan. Initially i was excited by the idea of going HK when the typhoon hits. Unfortunately, the typhoon went to taiwan instead.. :( I did what i love best in HK - eat. I must say, despite having so many great eating experiences in HK previously n knowing all the good food places, this trip had one of my worst food experiences. N of all eating moments (although i didn't have that many to begin with), my final night was a terrible japanese dinner with CMI desserts at another dessert cove. Well, at least i now know where NOT to go around peiqi's house.

I think the most fruitful part of the entire getaway was probably going to BB office n take the mirror. I stuck it to my cubicle today n it's perfect! I should have taken another one so my cubicle can look like some vehicle with wing mirrors n capture more angles of people sneaking behind me.

The other significant event was probably watching 公主驾到 till like 4am when i had to wake up at 5am to catch my flight. This explains the delay of my blog update cos i was totally zombie-fied the entire yesterday n konked off by 11.30pm. Amazingly, i still managed to get up at 8.45am for work today, though i attribute that to the sun glaring into my room. Need to change curtains soon...

Most expensive dinner

I probably just had one of the most expensive dinners in my life. Went to fullerton boat house and had the classic french food. It was a set meal, costing almost 200 SGD per person. Without alcohol. But we did have a small cup of complimentary champagne each cos leng had the standard chartered credit card. The only other time when i recall such an expensive dinner was at the top of hyatt in shanghai. Still, that was on company expense... n this one isn't. Oh well, once in a while u just need to splurge when u need to splurge.

I'm a tourist in my country

Somehow, weekends are always more eventful than weekdays, especially since my enthusiasm for gym has declined almost vertically. On Friday night, i met up with cheng n rowena for fish steamboat. I probably ate the least since i dun eat veg nor cooked fish. That basically left me with only the chicken. After that, we went to a rooftop bar at wangz hotel (which i never knew existed) for drinks. Felt like i was in the hot seat being interrogated half the night. The final outcome was depression, which i wasn't sure if it was the result of alcohol or the interrogation.

So on saturday, it was getting out to look for activities to de-depress. I did the standard FOC pasttime of singaporeans - showhouse viewing. So the prices are now hovering in the $2xxx psf. Not sure if that got me undepressed, but i sure was very tired after 8 showhouses. Then met up with elinn finally to talk things through. It was then i realised that there were so many misunderstandings. Not sure if we're going to pull this through, but we went lan gaming for a couple of hours till past midnight.

Sunday, it was treetop walking at upper thomson. I never knew this place existed once more (i seriously feel like a tourist in my own country!) n it's really pretty cool for trekking. We took one of the easiest hikes, yet i felt like i was semi-dying. Says a lot about my lack of stamina n need for gym. Still, it was pretty fun n a good workout. After that, had to rush for this matchmaking session in a karaoke place arranged by my younger sis. Do NOT comment, but that guy didn't show up in the end. So it was just the few of us singing, which is just as well. Good for learning a few emo songs for me to sink deeper into depression.

Another week gone

It's been a week of different activities. First, we had an all-singles girls night out. Dinner @ Brewerz before heading to Pump room for our common objective. A fruitful night with people buying us drinks n subsequently a potential.

The next day, it was spent counselling alvin. Both kat n al just can't get along, n it's becoming worse. Thing is, kat is al's boss. I'm a 3rd party cum aunt agony. So after driving some (useful) thoughts into al, i had to meet kat give her perspectives from alvin's point of view. Although i dun do this free service with an agenda, i'm probably secretly wishing that they'll employ me. After all, that company simply overpays everyone (e.g. 150k per annum for an accountant) n i love that kind of culture!

Now, i have a problem. I'm stuck with a job offer. I told the prospective employer that the amount they're offering is too low, n gave them a figure which i tot they couldn't match. But after seeking approval from their CEO, they gave it to me. How do i turn them down now? :( I'm stuck. For the first time, i've run out of ideas n excuses. N i dun have pq (queen of such stuffs) to give me advice. Sighz.

Black Saturday

After rejecting my partner's "kind" offer at least 5 times, i finally relented and succumbed to the fact that i need a blackberry after all. I dun like it cos expectations are going to be different (that i'm working 24 x 7 instead of 5 x 8). And if u know me, i probably do 5 x 5.

I realised that it's been too long since i last did tkd because.. i don't recall how i should be wearing my gi! I mean, i knew i could no longer stretch ever since i went for bodybalance classes. But to the extent that i can't recall what i wore previously? Hmm...

Work Hard and Harder

I completed another jap anime (yet again...) called maid sama after my colleague intro-ed it to me on sunday. Completed all 26 episodes in 3 working days. Shows how hard i've been working, not to mention the fact that i was in gym 2 days out of those 3 days too...

Anywayz, it's decision making time again for me. To stay or to go. The headhunter told me to do up that decision-making grid which i thought only existed in Economics classes. Each path is going to lead me into a different future, so what exactly do i want? I've only worked for a decade. Given that in SG, we work till we die, i still have many decades more to go (assuming i dun kena freak accidents or that 2012 isn't true). It's always so difficult for me to make decisions for myself, yet it's so easy to help other people make their decisions. Why is that so?? Sighz.

Pilates

After talking about it for at least a year, i finally did it. Since the days in BJ, i have intended to join my gang for pilates. But as usual (just like skiing n gym), it never happened. Today, i finally found the chance to do it at fitness first. Maybe cos my first month's bill came n i got all inspired to go back to gym again. Damn, they really know where it hurts most.

Anyway, it went pretty alright despite having zero knowledge. I guess such exercises should be done consistently. I'm doing different classes as n when i want, on an ad-hoc basis. Using work as an excuse, with partying as reality. So the monthly reminders from the gym bills work.

Giem Siap

During the conference today, the partner was speaking of branding. He said: When u think of Microsoft, what do u think of? .... When u think of Apple, what do u think of? ... When u think of Ernst & Young, what do u think of? The first answer that came was "giem siep" or miser.

YES! That's precisely what is in EVERYONE's mind. For example, they hired a coach to bring us to KL for the conference. Of course no one took the coach n everyone took the plane instead. Then they made us share room in the hotel. Guess what? It's king sized bed lor!! Share with my colleague... N the hotel said EY booked females on king sized bed n reserved twin beds for males cos males cannot sleep together. Is that sexist or what??? N the internet is like 5 ringgits per day. Seriously, what's 5 ringgits compared to the hotel room charge? Yet, they cannot just absorb that money but made us pay for it instead. Shows a lot about the company.......

If u say u're market leader, then please START acting like one! Otherwise, stop bluffing yourself n the people that EY is market leader!!!