2008: My year in review

JANUARY

• Clare came to visit all the way from Australia... after leaving the UK for a year...
• I watched my first football match in the UK after I've been here for more than 5 years!
• Started our biannual shopping trip to Barcelona (although now I'm not sure it's worth going anymore considering that the £/€ exchange rate now is 1-1 already!!)
• I made a promise to myself to walk away... and I'm glad that I did...

FEBRUARY

• One of my cousins from HK came to London for a business trip... I'm quite glad that since my trip to HK last year, we kept in touch and they would always let me know that there are in town...
• Made pineapple tarts for Chinese New Year!! =) hehehe... thanks to Zhi Rui!!

MARCH

• Bade farewell to Chong... things may not be as rosy as one would expect, but I really do hope that everything will work out eventually for you...
• We started our weekly Sports Day and I'm proud to say that it's still going strong... it has been a good year for me in terms of exercising!!!
• Booked a spa weekend with Sook Leen and it was really good... probably should do it more often and pamper myself...
• I'm glad that we both made the decision to try things out... thank you dear, for giving me the opportunity to be part of your life and for being part of my life...

APRIL

• Espana extravaganza... and not Barcelona this time!!
• Went travelling with new faces... Yan Bing, Wally and Shandip... it was good fun at Spain...

MAY

• May Bank holidays road trips!!! Never knew Britain could be that beautiful... Cornwall was amazingly breathtaking... also went to Salisbury and Stonehenge with Sook Leen and Grace...
• Summer BBQs!!!!
• Watched the famous Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain performed

JUNE

• Home sweet home!!! Haven't been home for the past two years... and there's really no place like home...
• Grace's wedding!!! My first experience as a bridesmaid!! =)
• Bon Jovi's Concert - Prior to this, I didn't know a single song from them... but I did my homework and at the concert... surprise surprise... I actually knew more songs than any of my friends... hahaha...

JULY

• My first experience of a live poker tournament event... although I was there to support Bin Bin, Nav and Drakey... and not to play myself!!! It was an interesting night and I now know someone who had won a poker tournament before!! Kudos to Bin Bin!!!
• Yi Hua came to visit with her family and I accommodated all 6 of them in my tiny flat!! hahahah....

AUGUST

• Went to Brussels for the second time... it's a nice little city... but hopefully, I won't be there for the 3rd time... hehehe...
• Olympics, Olympics, Olympics... yes, the craze here in London was unbelievable... my colleagues were counting the number of golds that team GB was raking... sadly, Malaysia didn't take home any gold... but hopefully... one day we will!! I truly believe in the Malaysia Boleh spirit!!
• Home again.... for the 2nd time in the year?!?!?! Hahaha... I don't go home for 2 years and all of a sudden, I'm home twice a year...
• Well, this time... it's for Cheau Yann's wedding... and I was one of her 姐妹!!

SEPTEMBER

• Went to see a fortune teller... and she said some very interesting stuff... but... at the end of the day... I firmly believe that my life is in my own hands, and I'm not about to make this a self-fulfilling prophecy!!!
• Met up with Li Leng, one of my high school friend which I've not seen for about 7-8 years prior to that... and we went for a makan trip to Ipoh together with Grace and hubby...
• Australia!!! Haven't been on a family holiday for so long!!! As we are all grown up now and have our own lives now... I don't know when we'll be able to have another one in the near future... the good old days...
• GIRO - my first overseas conference... made a couple of new friends, did some networking, enjoyed business travelling, visited southern Italy including Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and Positano... felt more like a holiday than a work trip!! =)

OCTOBER

• My birthday!!! Thank you dear, for making it so special for me... I had a wonderful time and it meant a lot to me!!
• Surprise birthday trip to Madeira!!
• Am officially a qualified actuary with my 3-year anniversary of working...
• Made some of the most important and difficult decisions in my life... made the decision to buy a flat... even put down a holding deposit for Maple Quays... but in the end, I also made the decision to walk away from the deal... I don't know whether I will regret it as I walk past it everyday... it was such a painful experience for me!! God knows how many people I consulted!!!

NOVEMBER

• My first business trip... to Bermuda...
• And I even flew by business class... now that is travelling with style...
• Found out that one of my very close friend is planning to leave London for good... felt a bit sad as it will mean that things will be quite different and our friendship may drift away... but I sincerely wish you all the best and I will definitely miss having you around!!!
• Had a not very nice experience at work... but I'm determined not to let it affect me...

DECEMBER

• Yuni's visit!!! I'm really so glad that Yuni came over to spend Christmas with me...
• Went to Nice with Yuni and two of her housemates... it was an interesting experience to travel with them...
• For the first time in many many years, I sat at home to countdown on New Year's eve and watched the fireworks on TV instead of being out...

Well... whether I like it or not, the clock keeps on ticking... so GOODBYE 2008... and WELCOME 2009!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

A not so Christmassy Christmas!!

Yeap... this Christmas is probably one of the most un-Christmassy Christmas that I ever had in London... hehehe... not that I'm complaining... it was still good fun nevertheless...

We started off the night with Szechuan spicy hotpot dinner... hahaha... since there were only a few of us around this Christmas and it was easy to just have hotpot...

The few of us who were around this Christmas... and my younger sis came to spend the Christmas with me too!!! (I had a great time with her... so glad that she came!!! More pictures and posts to come!)

Yummy food cooking in the hotpot... on a cold winter Christmas, it was really good... and I think it was as good as the hotpot that we had in the restaurants!!


Everyone in action...



And after dinner... we actually played Win, Lose or Draw!!! Hahaha... surprisingly our impromptu preparation turned out to be good fun... we managed to entertain ourselves for more than 4 hours with the game!!!

And the conclusion? Bin Bin is not the only one whose animal (dog, dragon, cat etc..) drawings all look the same... Peter Tan's animals were equally bad... and my hammer looked like a dress to everyone?!?!?

Christmas Parties!!!

"Level 5" Group Christmas Party!!

@ The Langley, Covent Garden

Though the food wasn't fantastic... it was quite fun... especially when some people drink a tad too much...

Say cheese!!







********************




Then, there was my department's Christmas dinner...



@ Vinopolis, Southwark


Don't know why but there was this bizarre performance of this woman hanging on a sash throughout the dinner!

Food could have been better, especially the main course... but oh well, it's the Vinopolis, and they are more famous for their wine and not food!

I always end up eating too much during December festive season... feeling very very bloated and fat now... bleh...

Intentions

I don't know what your intentions are... but somehow, I don't think they are good... so please, stay away!

Bin Bin's Birthday

We celebrated Bin Bin's birthday last weekend and went to.......... Bentley Oyster Bar & Grill....... even though Bin Bin doesn't eat oysters!!! Well... Mr Yeo organised it.... and he wanted to have oysters.... so.... that's why we ended there!

I love oysters as well... although I can understand why a lot of people are not a big fan... An Associate Director once even told me that he thinks oysters taste like phlegm!!! What??!!?!!

Anyway... apart from oysters... they had quite a good selection of seafood and meat as well... and the wagyu beef fillet served with stilton garlic butter that I had was quite good...

Mr Yeo was trying to scare Nav with the oysters... hahahah... only Bin Bin and Nav don't eat oysters...

Karen, me and Bin Bin...

And of course... a birthday cake for the birthday girl... although Bin Bin complained that she had to go and choose and collect her own cake... hehehe.... I did offer to get the cake, but Mr Yeo said it was sorted!

Happy Birthday girl! May all your wishes come true!!!!

The big family picture... :)

Splurge...

Was supposed to go out to Oxford Circus to shop for a birthday gift for Nav... But he was undecided what he wanted for his birthday... and with many retailers already offering pre-Christmas offers on top of the Christmas shopping crowd...

I ENDED UP SPLURGING AND BUYING SOMETHING FOR MYSELF INSTEAD!!!

Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh...

I'm such a shopaholic...

Sigh...

This is what I bought...

A Gucci wallet...



Oh... I absolutely love the classy buckle...




And the smooth leather...

Sigh... but... I needed a new wallet... because the one that I'm using currently is torn and I have been using it for the last 3 years... and I had a £50 voucher from Selfridges that everyone gave me for my birthday... and it doesn't help that I have been working late lately as I always tend to shop when I'm stressed... just to pamper myself a bit...

FINE... I know I'm making excuses...

(feeling guilty)

^_^

bleh..

Impossible

It is really proving to be impossible to find a nice flat within 5 minutes walking distance of the Canada Water tube station that is affordable to people who don't earn a 6 figure salary man!

Since I have been having problems with my water boiler and my landlord can't seem to fix it, I thought I'll find a new flat when my lease ends at the end of this month... I have been viewing numerous flats and all there are out there... are flats which are old, tired and without a good kitchen and shower... and the good ones... they get snapped up so quickly and at an exorbitant price...

I saw this ad on the rightmove website which was added a week ago for a flat at Water Gardens... and by the time I called, the agent told me that it was already taken and the asking price was a whopping £310 a week! Hmmmm...

And then, I went and view this flat at Pump House which I really like... I put in an offer for £270 a week, and I have been told by the agent that the landlord received another offer for £280 a week... so obviously the landlord didn't accept my offer...

I mean... everyone tell me that the house prices are falling and rent prices will follow suit... it's a tenant's market now and landlords are desperate to rent out their flats... why am I not seeing this???

Aaaarrrggggghhhhhh...

This is just proving to be impossible... do I need to move out of Canada Water?? Sigh...

Christmas Wish List

Have been eating lunch at my desk these days because it's too cold to go outside... and so while I was surfing the net, I came across this gorgeous bag!

• 100% Napa leather body, trim, handles, and comfortable shoulder strap
• Removable laptop sleeve is generously padded for protection
• Fan-fold section for files and papers
• Lots of internal pockets for organization
• Convenient easy access front pocket for smaller items
• Designed for laptops up to 15” or 14.1" widescreen
• Colorful striped twill lining
• Rear strap for optional attachment to upright rolling luggage
  

Drooling over this bag now... but it's quite expensive... I scoured the web pages and the cheapest that I could find is a whopping $127... and with the GBP so weak against the US Dollar... sigh... belated birthday or Christmas gift anyone?? :P

My 1st Business Trip

This is my first proper business trip since I started working and I was sent to the exotic Bermuda Island!!! :)

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is the oldest and most populous remaining British overseas territory. Bermuda has a highly affluent economy, with a large financial sector and tourism industry giving it the world's highest GDP per capita in 2005.

Since it was my 1st business trip, I was a bit overwhelmed... luckily one of my colleagues in Bermuda sorted out all the work visa and accommodation for me! Phew...

He even came to the airport and drove me all the way to my hotel!! He checked me into the Hamilton Princess Hotel, which is one of the popular hotel for business.

Well... although it's not one of the many beach resorts in Bermuda, I guess it's quite pretty and nice in its own way... and it's closeby to the office so that I could walk to work and to the client's place!

Since I was quite exhausted from the travelling... I had room service for dinner... gosh, the luxury of having your dinner brought to your doorstep... definitely one of the perks while you're on business!! hehehehe....

Bermuda is an offshore financial centre, which results from its low direct taxation on personal or corporate income. As such, there are large numbers of leading international insurance, reinsurance, investment funds and special purpose vehicles companies that are based in Bermuda, making the territory one of the world's largest reinsurance centres.

I mean, on the morning where I walked to the office from my hotel... which is about 10 minutes walk away... I actually passed by 5 different brokers/reinsurers!

Bermuda is probably one island where you can actually find an abundance of actuaries!!

Since I was only there for a short business trip, it was quite an intense day... I was up at the office by 8.30am and didn't end until the client kicked us out of their office at about 6.30pm!!!

After the long day, I decided to go out and explore the restaurants around the city instead of having room service... I did a quick search on the internet and found this supposedly famous pub which is within walking distance of the hotel...

Tried some local dishes... Bermudian fish soup and their famous rockfish marinated in Gosling Black Seal (a type of local rum)...

I was really extremely lucky as I found out 3 days before my trip that Tuesday was a public holiday in Bermuda! (I was supposed to go from Monday to Wednesday)... which meant that I actually had one free day to explore Bermuda on the Company's expense... hehehehe.....

So on Tuesday morning, I set off to do some sightseeing...

Hamilton City Hall and Arts Centre...

Flatt's Village... apparently this is where my colleague stays... I guess the life of an expat here is not too bad!!!

And one thing that I notice... is that all the houses in Bermuda look exactly the same... they have the same architecture and designs... the only thing that differentiate your house from your neighbours is that you paint it in a different colour!! Which is quite cute considering that it made the whole place very colourful!

My colleague suggested that I ride a scooter to St George's town... it is quite common for tourist to rent a scooter to do sightseeing... but I was too afraid of riding on my own.. so I took a bus instead...

St George's town is a scenic UNESCO World Heritage Site and the oldest, continually inhabited British settlement in the New World. It boasts small winding streets with typical British Colonial architecture with fountains, gardens and squares, cobbled streets and plazas.

But unfortunately, since it was a public holiday in Bermuda... everything was closed!!! Boo hoo hoo... oh well, still I walked around and did "window" sightseeing of the Town hall, St George's Harbour, Somer's Garden, King's Square, St Peter's Church etc.

Since there wasn't much left to do... I took the bus to the beach... Horseshoe Bay beach is arguably one of the most beautiful and popular beach in Bermuda...

It's like a picture from the postcard... really awesome...

I really love this beach... the water was so blue... yet, it's clear and sparkling... the sand was really soft and had a pinkish hue to it (it's one of the characteristics of Bermudian beaches... and I think I remember reading somewhere that it's because of the crushed sea shells and corals that the sand is pinkish!)

Then there are the limestone cliffs that rise up on both sides of the beach which present a really picturesque setting... the weather that day was also fantastic... blue skies...

I ended up spending the whole afternoon by the beach... hehehe... the rest of the team for this project was in Hannover (Germany) and since it wasn't a public holiday in Germany they had to work and I was supposed to dial in for a conference call with them... I actually took the call by the beach... :P

Couldn't resist taking a pic of this cute little boy who was trying to build a sandcastle...

The hotel that I was staying in had a sister hotel which is near to the Horseshoe Bay... the hotel that I stayed in was in the Hamilton city... which is a more practical hotel for business while the sister hotel is more of a resort as it has a golf course and access to the beach...

And since I was a guest in the sister hotel, I could enjoy some of the facilities here... which I took advantage of since I need a place to freshen up after my afternoon by the beach...

The hotel also provides a courtesy ferry ride back to the other hotel in Hamilton...

Thought I'll take the ferry instead for a change and enjoy the breeze...

I also managed to have a quick tour of the Hamilton city before the it gets dark... well, on the first day... by the time I got off work it was already dark and so I didn't manage to walk around town at all...

Views from the pier and downtown city...

The Parliament House...

Sun set at the Harbourfront Restaurant where I had my dinner...

And the Barcardi headquarters which is on my way back to the hotel...

All in all, I guess I did quite a lot and made the most of my one day "holiday" in Bermuda!!! Hahahaha... the next day... it was hectic at work again...

And oh... just remembered something... which I found really funny... apparently in Bermuda, the official attire for men is BERMUDAS??!!??!! I found it hilarous to see men in bermudas, shirt, tie, suit jacket and knee high socks... even the guys at the office and at my clients wore this assemble lor... sorry the pic is not very good as I was trying to steal this shot without anyone noticing... hehehe...

And before I end... the highlight of my trip??? BUSINESS CLASS flight back to London... my 1st ever business class flight... and I'm absolutely bawled over the service that you get... my flight was landing at 6.30am in the morning and I had to catch a train down to Chelmsford to work at another client site, hence my manager allowed me to book a business flight...

The BA business class lounge... where you have unlimited free flow of drinks (alcoholic and non alcoholic), fruits, cheese, crisps, sandwiches etc. while you wait for the plane... the lounge also has various type of magazines and newspapers for you if you're bored... there's also free wi-fi for you to connect to if you want to surf the net...

Then on the flight... you get a seat which can be fully extended into a bed, plush cotton quilt, wash bag containing Elemis in-flight skincare and your own reading light.

There's also a kitchen stocked with a selection of hot and cold snacks and beverages... there's even luxurious cakes in the kitchen for you to eat in between meals!! And the in-flight dining is excellent... you get a 3-course meal... mind you, it's a proper meal with proper cutlery... not like those that you meal tray that you get on economy... I had a cous cous smoked salmon salad for starters, medium-rare beef fillet with garlic herb butter for mains and caramel cheesecake for dessert! Even the breakfast was great lor... you get a selection of fruits, yoghurt, bacon roll, muffins, croissant, fresh juices etc.

I think this is the first time I ever finished off all my food on the plane... and with flights like this even my motion sickness was absent!!! :P

And that's not all... when I landed at Gatwick.. there was an arrivals lounge as well... I could take a shower there and have breakfast before I actually get to work!!! And the arrivals lounge is like a hotel... I guess with the price that you're paying for a business class ticket... you get the luxury services....

It was really an eye-opening experience for me, I must say!!! But hehehe... sorry I didn't take any pictures while I was on the flight... didn't want to look like I didn't belong there... heheheeh...