Desolance

The week passed by finally! Felt really lethargic this week and the fact that I was doing drinks daily since Wednesday this week took it’s toll on my constitution for sure! Came down with a stuffy nose and it’s pretty irritating. Went out with Roy and Shin yesterday for drinks at Lux and stuck to just one pint of Tetley’s and we headed out to the local chinese cafe nearby for some braised goose and porridge. Ally joined us over there and we split up after dinner as Shin and Ally was feeling tired and Roy had to get dinner back to his wife.Came home and finished the entire season one of The Unit – which is this great drama series I picked up in Shenzhen last week. Totally addicted to the storyline for sure.Well , it’s Saturday and I slept half the day away already. Went to the pharmacy downstairs to get a pack of Clarinase to cure my stuffy nose! 

After almost half a year of working together, Ludo and I finally for the chance to head out to the pub for a drink and to meet the guys over at Goldman. We were at LKF early so we had a beer and started chatting away. I guess whatever misgivings he’s felt or I have had over the last few months quickly evaporated as we opened up with each other.  I have always knew ludo to be a great friend and a great guy with a heart of gold – the drinks today between us really cemented that fact in my mind and I guess he felt the same way too. I do not know what the future would bring in our current team. But I guess the sense of belonging and the team spirit is something that keeps me going back to work everyday hardcore as it may be.Between us, we still clash and conflict at work but I guess it’s less of a concern as days go by. Well, we finished up at about 11pm and I came back to shower and change. Signing out as my bed now beckons… 

Finished work on Friday night at 6pm and headed to HKIA to catch a CX flight back to Singapore to spend the new year back home. It feels like a long time since I have been back despite the fact that I have only been away less than 6 months. Yes my CNY break has begun and for the next 10 days, I am going to enjoy the cool waters of my pool every morning, the familiar smell of coffee at Simei Ah Mei cafe, the tasty and aromatic nasi lemak and laksa from katong… So many things I do miss about Singapore but never really knew! 

Well, Jenny and I decided that we would stick to countdown in Causeway Bay to experience how it would be like. We stayed home and watched TV, went out shopping till like 8pm – had dinner came home and felt sleepy! Imagine that!  Anyway we headed out at 11.30pm from my apartment and realised that all the streets were clogged with people. There were barricades all over the area and traffic was uni-directional. There were practically no place along the vicinity that you can stop and chat or watch the crowd. So Times Square is like the central stage area and barricades segment the road and open spaces into animal-like pens where people have been sitting since like 4pm I would guess. The countdown came, both of us were along the street parallel to the mall. We could not see anything much and we did hear the countdown. And after that everybody started going home! It’s such an anti-climax almost as if people came for that sole purpose. There were no drunk people jumping around, no drinks sessions. Almost as if people came for a uni-purpose. Almost task-like… So there you go, that was our countdown to 08 here in Hong Kong. Jenny and I tried to get some soy bean drinks in a small shop and I was like totally pissed off with that grumpy old waiter whom refused to take our order because it did not meet minimum spending! Can you beat that?!  

Well, after 2 months of emotional roller-coaster rides and much apprehension and lethargy, I have finally reached my final day of service last friday. Ironically, my final function officially was to attend a farewell party (not mine) of one of the long serving MD’s that recently retired.

And as I walked out of the dinner venue, my boss hugged me and wished me well with much sadness. And the few friends and allies I have in the department shook my hands and gave me encouraging pats. And that was that… everybody filtered away and I was alone once again.

It seemed like only a few hours ago, I was still pretty much managing the desk and as I write, I cannot help but feel a certain sense of loss. Waking up to a brand new Monday but the only difference would be that there will be no calls, no demands on me as I prepare for my next chapter in 2 weeks.

A well deserved break I hope and a brand new chapter is unfolding as I write…

So it’s been a while since I last blogged here. How time flies!
And once again I am faced with a new challenge all too soon. As much as I love the job here, and the culture, people and my team – this new opportnity is too good to pass up. And the past one month was filled with much worries, on finding a suitable replacement for myself. Not to mention the many counteroffers from my managers and the constant talks I’ve since had.

I guess my mind is made up and I am happy that at the end of it all – my bosses were supportive of this move knowing it’s good for me. And I did not burn any bridges in the process…

Okay I am 50% done with my business plan part of this dumb module called New Enterprise Management and frankly, it feels really draggy doing this as I am not enjoying it one least bit. This is perhaps the first module since starting this MBA that I am feeling burnt out…

It’s Saturday night and time check – 2246hrs.

Funny, I woke up at 7am this morning but went back to bed again and managed to crawl out only at 11am… so I thought to myself that it’s a half day ahead and I have to work on my NEM project.

My dad called and took me and Jen out for lunch with Eric and Erica and finished at about 2pm. And so we drive home and were about to grab a starbucks and back to home to start on the project. Well, we reached the starbucks and my cell rang – it was my travel agent telling me my flight tickets were confirmed. So we drive back down to Peral Centre to pick it up and then bought some dinner determined to use the remaining hours to work on that blasted project.

Well, we got home at 6pm and I fell asleep! Woke up at 9pm and got meself a glass of water. My wife put the TV on and the movie “Croughing Tiger” started perfectly. I sat there and finished the show and well, it’s 2250hrs now…

Funny how my day went by and there’s that blasted proejct that I need to start on now…

peace…

Weekend is over all too soon as usual. . .

Jen had to work on Saturday back in the office and I met up with Ivan to check out the new Golf GT 1.4 T over at Leng Kee and I must say that it was impressive indeed. 0 – 100KM/H in 7 Secs for a 1.4 litre is a feat of it’s own.  Ivan took me to Mark’s workshop for a look and we ended up thereafter in Sim Lim Square to meet Edwin thereafter. And so the day passed by quite rapidly – we picked Jen up at about 8.15pm and drove over to Pahang Street to have dinner together over at Just Wine. Mark arrived at about 10pm and we all came over to my place where we drank another bottle of wine and I ended up chatting with Ivan and Edwin till wee hours of the morning.

Sunday (Today)

• Went to Simei East Point for brunch and ended up spending 300 bucks on a package at this new foot spa where Jen and I had a 40 min session each and I did ear candling for the first time.
• Stayed home to played WOW till 4pm and headed out to Central to get a few new pairs of work trousers. Ivan came along and we ended up doing a quick dinner over there and had coffee before coming home.
• So much for a lazy Sunday… played more WOW and well it’s midnight already so I guess it’s bed time…