Free Wifi!

What do you know - KLIA has free wifi! As many of you know, I am an IT-idiot so probably free wifi to you is something very common but the fact that I brought my laptop out to do some work while idling some time prior to boarding and the computer detected Wifi AND I had managed to connect to it (ok, so it only involves a click of a button), it is an amazing feat for this sua-ku mummy!

So once I was connected, I forgot about doing my work and just HAD to put up a post. I'm going to Jakarta for work - very short trip, just overnight. I have not been to Jakarta before so it's a bit of an adventure for me. Best bit of the trip? I'm looking forward to ONE night of uninterrupted sleep yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!

I just hope that I don't come across anything unpleasant (like, a bomb!) during my stay there. Wish me luck - think I really need it this time!

Something's Gotta Give

I have been with my current employer (and current department) for the past 10 years. Yes, it was my first job out of uni and I've never looked back. I really enjoy my work because I find it a new and revolutionary area, and I take pride in my work. There's not one day where I don't leave the office feeling that I have accomplished something.

Of late, this feeling has been more muted. I realised that after all these years, I'm ready to move on to something bigger. I have only been looking at Malaysia and Vietnam, and it's no longer challenging. I spoke to my regional head last year and he promised me to move me into a bigger role. I have already identified and started grooming my successor.

Just last month during our my annual appraisal, he told me that he would like me to move out to Singapore in the second half of this year to take on a regional role. This is a fanstastic opportunity for me and it will open many other doors since most of the Group-level functions operate out from the Lion City.

Having many discussions with VT, I have decided that I will give this opportunity a miss, for the following reasons:

1) It's difficult for VT to find a job in SG in this line of work where contacts are vital. It would be like starting all over again for him. That's unfair to him.
2) With baby #2 on the way in July, that makes moving country even more difficult
3) Rental of apartment and hiring of maid & babysitter would leave us financially-drained

And the main reason is:

I don't want to move and find out that everyone ends up being miserable just because I wanted career advancement. Family is and has always been my primary priority. This is the moment when I need to prove it. And there would be no regrets because at the end my life, work is nothing but a means of putting food on the table (and Astro on TV!) but family, now that's EVERYTHING!

The Good, They Bad & The Ugly

So much is going on right now that I'm really starting to lose grips of things! Sorry I haven't been hopping over to your blog and I've been slack about updating my own as well. Here's the story........

The Good
After weeks of feeling tired all the time, a little home kit proved what I suspected - I'm expecting #2!!! It's still very early days - only 8 weeks now and I'm very cautious as I had a miscarriage prior to Bryan. So no celebrations yet, people! Never theless, VT and I are both overjoyed by the thought of having another child. EDD is July next year, just a month short of Bryan turning 2. I've been put on hormone pills (same as when I was preggers with Bryan) and they make me nauseous and tired the whole day. But the pills are supposed to boost up the embryo's life support hence I'm gladly taking them.

The Bad
Bryan is down with diarrhoea again. This is only 2 weeks after recovering from the previous bout. This time, his bum-bum is all sore that when he poo-ed last night, he cried in such pain that we rushed him to the A&E at Damansara Specialist Hospital (my paed's clinic was closed due to the public holiday). The doc prescribed some cream, Smecta and also pain-killer, which I'm weary about. Anyway, this was right after I'd returned from work so didn't get to sit down for dinner till past 9pm. This morning, he poo-ed twice in a span of half hour so I made sure I changed him and kept his bottom dry and comfy. Poor boy! I am considering giving him the Rotavirus jab since he seemed to catch the diarhoea bug fairly often.

The Ugly
The internal auditors have been auditing my department for the past 2 weeks. I have been under a lot of strain and stress as a result. Not like I have been proliferating money from the bank but because this particular auditor has "bad blood" with me hence is out to "kena" me. I supposed all this really took a beating on me because during the scan this morning, the ob-gyn saw some bleeding near the sac and I've been sentenced to more rest and no stress.

As a result, I'd stayed home today and rested very well.

My Work Week Summary #3

This week at work seemed very short to me.

Firstly, Monday was a holiday. Then I went to Singapore on my usual business trip for 2 days and came back only 11:30pm last night. Then today I'm off so effectively, only 1 day spent in the KL office so it felt very short.

I've been and will be traveling to Singapore very frequently (at least once every 2-3 weeks) as I'm on a project till at least May 2008. So I'd rather make short trips so that Bryan doesn't forget me! All these 2D/1N trips are extremely tiring and tiresome because all I see is the airport, office & hotel. So far, I've been to Spore 5 times but not once have I stepped into a shopping mall or Orchard Road. How sad is that??! And to think that I can get a full night's sleep away from Bryan, but no........I still wake up 1-2 times in the middle of the night, sometimes wondering where Bryan is and getting a tad dis-orientated! It must be habitual.....just like habitual wakings for babies ha ha.

I have 2 more work weeks before I start on my 2 weeks of compulsory leave. The company has a policy whereby all staff needs to be on a 2-week stretch of leave in a year to allow other people to do your work. You know, in case you're embezzling money or something LOL. That's why we are given 30 days annual leav entitlement a year. I carried forward 16 days from last year since I didn't go away much as I was trying to do as much as possible before delivering. So quite shiok lah this year, been taking days off here and there :) Need them to keep sanity in check!

My Work Week Summary #2

So here I am again - the end of yet another hectic working week. Actually this week, I was barely in the office. I was away for 2 days at Shangri-La attending the Risk Conference. Although it was a great opportunity to network, it does get quite taxing listening and talking for hours to no end. Then at night, I had to play host and take my colleagues around. Most of them have never been to Malaysia so have to play tour guide lah. As a result, I didn't get to see Bryan for the past 4 nights as by the time I come home, he would be asleep already. I'm looking forward to this long weekend to catch up on lost time with him. I don't know whether it is my imagination but Bryan actually looked like he has put on a couple of cms!

I was feeling tired and lazy today so cabut-ed from work at 5pm sharp and here I am, back at home for an hour or so before heading over to my PILs. I know I have banyak homework to do that's why I decided to come home first.

So will blog more later, after I get the tags done since I'd promised a few people already. See lah, first complain never get tags now got them from left, right, centre he he

My Work Week Summary #1

Thought I start giving everyone a quick summary of how my work week goes as I really cannot find time to blog on weekdays. So Saturdays & Sundays are my only blogging days....and even then, only when Bryan is taking his naps.

This work week has been tiresome and tiring. Lots of people asking for this and that....sometimes, it's so simple but because they are so darn lazy, everything ask me to do. Anyway, no real complains lah since I really enjoy my job.

I had a couple of good lunches - took the regulators out and then yesterday went out with colleagues to Marco Polo to eat dim sum. Nowadays I eat whatever I want to eat lar...not too bothered with my weight although I still maintain a good appearance. Who says fat people cannot look and feel good, right? Actually, I'd made an appointment to get a makeover at Laura Mercier next Monday during lunchtime. WHY? I've got a dinner with colleagues from around the world and some I haven't met before so must make good impression lah kekeke. Some more some of them haven't seen me since the pregnancy so better look better so as not to shock them hahaha. Will try to take a "Before" and "After" photo - should be funny!

Then of course, traffic was sh*t as usual in the morning. Pay RM2 for Smart Tunnel also got jam GOING into the tunnel itself. That's because the Jln Tun Razak exit on the right is always jammed (I take the Jln Sultan Ismail exit) so many cars take the left lane and cut in at the last minute. Haiyah...what to do? Nobody is a saint right?

Do you find yourself more patient after becoming a mother? I sure do. I used to get easily agitated and irritated with small things, like forgetting to wear a watch to work. I suppose having a child gave me a larger perspective of life. Don't sweat the small stuff! I used to worry alot as well - actually, I still do but I'm more conscious of it now so I try not to. My mentor once told me this -

"Worrying is like sitting on a rocking chair; it gives you something to do, but doesn't take you anywhere!"

How true is that???!

Of Aching Thighs & Sun-burned Arms

Swell that I get to blog on a Sunday evening. Typically this will not be a blogging time for me since the little prince dropped his PM nap during weekends. I'd just returned from a 2D/1N company offsite trip to Melaka. It was 0% work and 100% fun. Went there on early morning Saturday and just back. It was tiring but enjoyable as I haven't had any physical activity in a longgggggggggg time. Which brings me to the title of this posting. Over the course of 1.5 days, we had to participate in these activities -

(1) Paintball
(2) Bowling
(3) Obstacle course, which involve (a) swinging on a pendulum-like rope over water, (b) crawl commando style, monkey bars (over water of course!), (c) climb over a 6ft concrete wall, (d) run across shaky planks (you guessed right - over water!)
(4) Team builing games, which involve (a) forming a human pyramid to reach a whistle tied up high from a tree & blowing it without using your hands, (b) playing volleyball using pillow cases!
(5) Fancy dress party at night

How not to feel tired right? Friday night was a pretty rough night for me with the boy so I had only 3-4 hours of sleep. Somemore have to do all those stuff - wahhh...really Supermum !! I am going to suggest going for spa for the next offsite LOL!

Observations of Hanoi

I had always wanted to pen down my thoughts about Hanoi, Vietnam as it is such a quaint and lovely city.

My first visit to Hanoi was probably 5 years ago before I was married. I'm responsible for the operations in Vietnam so I try to make one trip there annually. And I had been, save for the year that I was preggers.

Hanoi steeps in culture & history, and natural beauty (if you ever visit Hanoi, you MUST go to Halong Bay - a UNESCO Heritage site). But I'll leave those with travel guides and instead, focus on my own observations of the city.

(1) Hanoi-ans LOVE their horns. In fact, I think they are a bit obsessive about its use. From the moment you wake up, you would be able to hear honking from the street about 20 stories below. However, they use the horns as warning, rather than as a sign of anger. I was told this joke recently of how if the brakes and horn were broken, Hanoi-ans rather get the horn fixed first!

(2) There is "free preaching" every Sunday. Yup, as a capitalist state with heavy influences of Communism, the public PA system disseminates doctrines every Sunday morning.

(3) Food in Hanoi goes so much more than spring rolls (Nem) and beef noodles (Pho Bo). Northern Vietnamese cuisine is simply superb, though you must like fish sauce as it is often used in replacement for soya sauce. I would recommend this restaurant called "Wild Rice" - I never fail to pay a visit each time I'm there. The best thing is that food is relatively cheap in Hanoi. Other must try are fried fish with dill (cha ga) and grilled pork with noodles (bun cha).

(4) Commas are used, replacing full stops in numbers. So if it's 16.5, it would be written as 16,5. I don't know the reason.

(5) People are genuinely nice and keen to find out more about you & your own culture. So don't be offended if they ask you what we view as personal questions, like the forbidden "How old are you?". That's their way of simply getting to know you.

(6) There's a huge population of motorcycles on the roads in Hanoi. So to cross the street safely, just close your eyes and walk forward. The cyclists will know how to avoid you!

Champion in Stupidity

I just had to blog this down because I found it sooooooooo funny!

Background: The office replaced our photocopy machines with a colour machine cum printer. I didn't find the time to apply for access to it till this morning. In the meantime, I was content with printing B&W. Upon application, the Canon chap came over to my desk to perform the necessary setup, and to show me how to print in colour.

Here's a snippet of our conversation:

Canon: This is how to print colour.....change this to colour......blah blah blah
Me: Ok, seems easy enough
Canon: Then if you wish to photocopy in colour, you need to use this password
Me: Oh, ok can photocopy colour also!
(Me thinking a bit)
Me: So I can photocopy a B&W document and it comes out in colour???


DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enough said!

Favourite Times of the Day

On a normal working day, I have certain favourite times of the day that I particularly look forward to...

1) Getting in to work early, reading my emails over a steaming cup of coffee
2) Planning on where to go for lunch with Bridget
3) Lunch itself
4) My 4Pm can of diet Coke
5) Entering my MIL's house and Bryan greeting me with a super-huge smile :)

On the flip side, there are the not-so-hot times of the day...

1) Meetings - I find anything over half an hour a waste of time
2) Demanding customers acting as if they are the only ones I'm servicing
3) Sitting in traffic jams to and fro work
4) Having dinner without VT :(

As the saying goes, "Some days you're the pigeon, some days the statue".

Audit in process...

If anyone of you works or have worked in a bank, you would be familiar with that knot in your stomach when the internal auditors arrive. Now these guys are not your regular auditors from the Big 5 because they ACTUALLY know how the business works and what to look at for. So obviously the questions that they ask are what I term as "leading questions"....yah, those that "lead" you to your career suicide.

This morning, I was cornered by one of them and this was the essence of the conversation. Let's call the auditor, N -

N: So what do you do with this report
Me: We send them to the traders(confident)
N: What happens if there are new bonds?
Me: We will pick them up from the main system (still pretty confident)
N: Can you miss any of these out?
Me: We have a trigger to highlight new bonds (somewhat uncomfortable)
N: Are the underwriting positions included?
Me: Errr.....dunno lah (OOPS!)

I swear these guys are trained to ask questions. They should be working for the police!!

Surprises at Work

(1) Surprise fixed income internal audit (I want to ask them, "who audit YOU guys??")
(2) So busy despite boss being on holiday
(3) One staff on MC since Monday
(4) PC very sluggish when it's usually super-fast
(5) Three unscheduled meetings on Monday alone

NOT GOOD! Somemore I thought that this week can shake legs a bit and blog my heart out since boss is away............wishful thinking!

Late(r) for Work

VT and I have been late for work this past 2 weeks. Well, actually, VT is really "late" late as his work officially starts at 8am while I am actually later than usual to work because I'll get in by around 8:10am as opposed to my usual time of 7:30am. My work officially starts at 8:45am but traders start asking questions at 8am. No thanks also to the massive traffic jams on the LDP (the whole world lives in Kepong/Sri D'sara/Mutiara D'sara/Sunday D'sara/D'sara Perdana) and Jalan Duta.

The reason for our lateness is this :
Up to a couple of weeks back, Bryan would wake up at latest 6:30am. This gives me ample time to take a shower, "pan lang" (beautify myself) and take him to my MIL's place which is a 15mins drive away. But of late, he has been sleeping with us (see Bryan's website) hence he is able to sleep longer and usually doesn't awake till 7am. By the time I leave my house, it is past 7:15am and it would take me more than 20mins to get to my in-laws.

VT has been grumbling every morning that we should set an alarm. Same thing every morning;

VT: (shaking head) cannot lah like this dear, you must set alarm clock or something already....everyday I'm late for work.....cannot "pang sai" at home (ok, this part I added in ha ha)
Me: Ok dear........(but at night, forget again hee hee....too tired from work, playing with Bryan after work, cleaning up upon returning from in-laws)