Obviously I am getting more excited with this trip that I have been entering entries into here in the last few days. We got 2 vacuum bags from robinsons as ours broke while packing over the weekend. We were quite disappointed to see one of the wheels of our luggage broke out into pieces (probably Caden and Ethan were playing with it while we were away at work) so we hope that can last for the whole trip..
I think I will miss Ethan awfully when I am away.. and yes.. awfully. Cos this sweet cry baby loves to hug me when I am back home and made me feed him mouthfuls of rice when I am having my dinner. He will usually dragged my hand to get titbits for him, usually prawn crackers, honey stars, raisins or coco crunch.. and say goodnight to us before he hops into his sarong and sleep for the night... really sweet boy...
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Tokyo trip - last min surf!
I have assigned the task of setting the itinery for our free and easy days in tokyo to my ah lou long back. To be honest, both him and myself do not know much abt tokyo, ie, where to head out or what to do best to fully utilise the 2 extra days, my ah lou simply selected shinjuku and shibuya to curb my shopping urge.. and he thinks its good enough to occupy us for the 2 days..
this weekend, I have finally started to surf the net and checking out various blogs to read people's experiences in tokyo. Only through this, I realised that there are actually more places to visit in tokyo and definitely I need to visit Harajuku to bring Caden to this mega Kiddy land so that he will be awfully amazed by the range of toys offered in Japan.
am still frantically checking out the various blogs to get better understanding.. anyways, I only have my job to blame for this last min rush.
this weekend, I have finally started to surf the net and checking out various blogs to read people's experiences in tokyo. Only through this, I realised that there are actually more places to visit in tokyo and definitely I need to visit Harajuku to bring Caden to this mega Kiddy land so that he will be awfully amazed by the range of toys offered in Japan.
am still frantically checking out the various blogs to get better understanding.. anyways, I only have my job to blame for this last min rush.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tokyo Trip - Packing time!
We decided to start packing up for our Tokyo trip on Sat in case there are still items amiss and we might have some time to get them before embarking on the trip with Caden.
Mummy has been feeling awfully guilty especially when the trip is drawing near towards Ethan since he will be left at home with my maid and Grandma. We had decided not to bring Ethan along since PaPa knew that Mummy has been shopping-deprived and had wanted to do a "shop till you really drop" in tokyo. Having Ethan around may not allow me to really shop and get my clothes / stuff in tokyo since PaPa may have a hard time juggling 2 boys and that will not be a holiday for him. So the most practical solution is to leave Ethan in the good hands of my mom-in-law as we go on our first proper overseas trip after 5 years! (since I got pregnant with Caden, we have stopped our travelling)
PaPa took out 2 luggage bags this morning and I was in charge of all stuff except for my ah lou's clothings, which is a lot of work for me since I had to make that list of items mentally in my head. I don't like to jot stuff on papers and check them off (yah, I may miss out stuff but I only process activities by working my mind hard!). Ethan and Caden got very excited with the mufflers, gloves, woolen hats that I have took out (in case the 7 deg got too cold for us) and start wearing them for fun. I sorta completed the packing within an hour and got quite satisfied with my efficiency, on the account that I have already started preparing all my toiletries and skincare essentials the week before (which can be time-consuming cos you need to wash all the small bottles and waiting for them to dry and transferring them from the original bottles).
We are now only left with getting 2 vacuum bags, some zip-lock bags and sweets to survive through the 7 hour flight for Caden... Ethan still doesn't know that we will be leaving for Tokyo trip starting Wed and he still happily help me to fold clothes throughout the whole packing period..
Haiz.... Guilty...
Mummy has been feeling awfully guilty especially when the trip is drawing near towards Ethan since he will be left at home with my maid and Grandma. We had decided not to bring Ethan along since PaPa knew that Mummy has been shopping-deprived and had wanted to do a "shop till you really drop" in tokyo. Having Ethan around may not allow me to really shop and get my clothes / stuff in tokyo since PaPa may have a hard time juggling 2 boys and that will not be a holiday for him. So the most practical solution is to leave Ethan in the good hands of my mom-in-law as we go on our first proper overseas trip after 5 years! (since I got pregnant with Caden, we have stopped our travelling)
PaPa took out 2 luggage bags this morning and I was in charge of all stuff except for my ah lou's clothings, which is a lot of work for me since I had to make that list of items mentally in my head. I don't like to jot stuff on papers and check them off (yah, I may miss out stuff but I only process activities by working my mind hard!). Ethan and Caden got very excited with the mufflers, gloves, woolen hats that I have took out (in case the 7 deg got too cold for us) and start wearing them for fun. I sorta completed the packing within an hour and got quite satisfied with my efficiency, on the account that I have already started preparing all my toiletries and skincare essentials the week before (which can be time-consuming cos you need to wash all the small bottles and waiting for them to dry and transferring them from the original bottles).
We are now only left with getting 2 vacuum bags, some zip-lock bags and sweets to survive through the 7 hour flight for Caden... Ethan still doesn't know that we will be leaving for Tokyo trip starting Wed and he still happily help me to fold clothes throughout the whole packing period..
Haiz.... Guilty...
Friday, November 20, 2009
Happy Birthday PaPa
Today is PaPa's birthday (and my mom-in-law too!) but unfortunately PaPa is not able to take leave from work. Mummy has long blocked this day from her annual leave plan and decided to go ahead with it. I have told Caden that I'll bring him to watch the Astro Boy and today I will pick him up from his kindergarten for the first time!
It was heartwarming for me to do this again (picking my son from sch directly) since I last did this when he was in Brightkids on his last day. Astro boy was very heartwarming and I used up a few pieces of tissues but Caden kept asking me why I cried during the movie show.
We had a simple affair back at home as we didn't get to arrange a proper dinner on time. My ah lou is scheduled to get an iphone as his bday present from me, till his phone contract expires this Dec. Caden and myself got PaPa a bday card with lotsa scribbling from Caden's artwork. Anyway, he is still thinking which phone to get at this point (fickle-minded as usual)
Back home in the evening, we had a little cake from Bakerzin for both Mum-in-law and ah lou.. the kids were obviously happy cos they get to blow off the candle.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Dilbert - Management Jokes
I have been introduced to Dilbert comics by one of my colleagues last year and since love the jokes that Scott Adams has come up with because I can relate some of the characters to the people I met at work. I had a roller coaster year this year in work, with 3 changes in my direct line mgrs, an internal transfer which I have a fair bit of difficulty in seeking blessings from my respectable ex-boss and adapting to cultural changes in my current function. Having gone through the worst in this year from last 3 weeks, I am fairly settled in my current new role and had enjoyed the work surrounding it as it turn out to be really strategic and value-adding (rather than operational). And I think I have started to gain some respect within the dept as more and more co-colleagues have sought my opinions in their work, and even the most political powerful FC has become nicer to me these days..
Here are some of the interesting people that exist around in my organisation:
1) Hypo(crites) - As I am involved in a charity committee, anything to do with numbers got automatically dropped onto my lap, eventhough you seriously don't need a finance degree/trained person to carry out these task. So almost any events, any coordination work has got my name jotted down in their list. And the chairman was not ever sympathetic with the kind of workload evolving ard these tasks. Some comm members, who have only seemed to have led in a particular small event totally washed their hands in any other events that followed beyond. And as they get to understand the kind of work demands in my finance role (after getting to know me as a person), they openly and gracefully said," hey May, let N(chairman) know that your tasks are too heavy so you shd voice out during the meeting that you need help" "let us know when you need my help", etc. etc. Then when emails came flying around on questions in relation to fund raising rules, although they are copied in the email, no one replied. It took me 2 days to observe the non-response and I took on the responsibility to send my reply on behalf of the comm.. I call them Hypos
2) BD (Big Deals) - I happened to find out that some ex-mgrs in my ex-dept went around sharing the kind of achievements given to them. It goes something like this - "u know it is not easy to get a 1 rating from this boss but I got one from him" and understanding that this news will spread because it was shared with a whole bunch of team within the dept. As a sensible mgr, one shd not try to cause discomfort for other mgrs who may not be getting that kind of recognition from the same boss. Something which is not healthy for the dept as a whole, as ratings are deemed as judgement to a certain extent. I usually play down stuff that my ex-boss had done for me simply because I do not want to be seen as a threat to others and cause un-necessary unhappiness. That's how I deal with peers to have a peaceful life..
3) AAA (always attract attention) - needless to explain, this group of co-workers like to have everyone's attention focus on them for them to feel "really impt" in the workplace. I concluded that most of them seek to achieve the most out from their career path. And if such attention is not provided to them, you will be in their bad books.
4) ACB (always act bz) - some group of pple actually do not have much to keep them occupied at work (and I have seen many of such cases!) but they make it a point to look busy everyday and always turn up for meetings late each time to create the impression that they are in high demand! In some extreme cases, they gave many pple impressions that they have meetings scheduled back-to-back but I happened to bump into them at the coffee stalls as I shuttered between PBTP and battery road offices on some occasions.
5) Never make decisions - simply afraid to take responsibility and accountability of what is within their area of work - do I need to elaborate more?
The most absurd thing I heard this week is that a lady who has cumulated longer work experience than me is looking for a mentor (formally!) so that she can discuss with this mentor in any single problem that she encounters in work!! I know this lady is super kiasi in sharing her work opinions when needed and had to seek many pple's advice before executing a task. Wouldn't having a mentor made her more reliant? I cannot help but to advise her that what she needs to do to help herself is to start making decisions based on her own judgement and live with those decisions. Even if they do not turn out right (there's actually no right or wrong if you think abt it in the workplace), take it as a lesson learnt and move on with your life.
Many occasions, I have been toying with the idea of being a SAHM, but without meeting different kinds of people in the workplace, I may shortchange my children in future as I would like to be their good advisors when they encounter even more absurd work situations!
Here are some of the interesting people that exist around in my organisation:
1) Hypo(crites) - As I am involved in a charity committee, anything to do with numbers got automatically dropped onto my lap, eventhough you seriously don't need a finance degree/trained person to carry out these task. So almost any events, any coordination work has got my name jotted down in their list. And the chairman was not ever sympathetic with the kind of workload evolving ard these tasks. Some comm members, who have only seemed to have led in a particular small event totally washed their hands in any other events that followed beyond. And as they get to understand the kind of work demands in my finance role (after getting to know me as a person), they openly and gracefully said," hey May, let N(chairman) know that your tasks are too heavy so you shd voice out during the meeting that you need help" "let us know when you need my help", etc. etc. Then when emails came flying around on questions in relation to fund raising rules, although they are copied in the email, no one replied. It took me 2 days to observe the non-response and I took on the responsibility to send my reply on behalf of the comm.. I call them Hypos
2) BD (Big Deals) - I happened to find out that some ex-mgrs in my ex-dept went around sharing the kind of achievements given to them. It goes something like this - "u know it is not easy to get a 1 rating from this boss but I got one from him" and understanding that this news will spread because it was shared with a whole bunch of team within the dept. As a sensible mgr, one shd not try to cause discomfort for other mgrs who may not be getting that kind of recognition from the same boss. Something which is not healthy for the dept as a whole, as ratings are deemed as judgement to a certain extent. I usually play down stuff that my ex-boss had done for me simply because I do not want to be seen as a threat to others and cause un-necessary unhappiness. That's how I deal with peers to have a peaceful life..
3) AAA (always attract attention) - needless to explain, this group of co-workers like to have everyone's attention focus on them for them to feel "really impt" in the workplace. I concluded that most of them seek to achieve the most out from their career path. And if such attention is not provided to them, you will be in their bad books.
4) ACB (always act bz) - some group of pple actually do not have much to keep them occupied at work (and I have seen many of such cases!) but they make it a point to look busy everyday and always turn up for meetings late each time to create the impression that they are in high demand! In some extreme cases, they gave many pple impressions that they have meetings scheduled back-to-back but I happened to bump into them at the coffee stalls as I shuttered between PBTP and battery road offices on some occasions.
5) Never make decisions - simply afraid to take responsibility and accountability of what is within their area of work - do I need to elaborate more?
The most absurd thing I heard this week is that a lady who has cumulated longer work experience than me is looking for a mentor (formally!) so that she can discuss with this mentor in any single problem that she encounters in work!! I know this lady is super kiasi in sharing her work opinions when needed and had to seek many pple's advice before executing a task. Wouldn't having a mentor made her more reliant? I cannot help but to advise her that what she needs to do to help herself is to start making decisions based on her own judgement and live with those decisions. Even if they do not turn out right (there's actually no right or wrong if you think abt it in the workplace), take it as a lesson learnt and move on with your life.
Many occasions, I have been toying with the idea of being a SAHM, but without meeting different kinds of people in the workplace, I may shortchange my children in future as I would like to be their good advisors when they encounter even more absurd work situations!
Monday, November 02, 2009
Work buddy
Normally Mummy doesn't really talk abt her work life in this blog, but today she got to know a co-ex-colleague of hers being discriminated and reprimanded by her boss for getting slower in her work (just because she is pregnant now). Internally I am really disappointed with how this perceived good mgr has treated Mummy's friend, let alone this mgr has gone through tough phase of unsuccessful pregnancy herself.
It is definitely not easy to get preggie, and more so carrying the unborn baby to full term. The first few months of pregnancy is the worse term as the Mummy gets very tired easily and those unfortunate ones (like me) may suffer from morning sickness. To face these physical changes happen at the same time coupled with work demands is definitely not easy and to have a line mgr who is not understanding at all during this critical period is really painful for this friend of mine to face now. I cannot comprehend how the mgr can be so critical to her staff in work when she has contributed so much more prior to her pregnancy. Furthermore, her ex-staff who has since left the bank has suffered a miscarriage before due to work demands and that should be a lesson learnt not to be too harsh and demanding on the team.
This friend of mine has been very upset over the whole incident (of being discriminated by her own boss whom she viewed as her good friend too) and did not even share with her ah lou.. I am glad to get to know this through her and be able to provide her some consoling words since she deemed me as the person who may understand her current situation best. The only way I can help her for now is to keep reminding her to rest more so that her babies can start growing healthy in her tummy - and yes, she is carrying babIES (twins)!!
It is definitely not easy to get preggie, and more so carrying the unborn baby to full term. The first few months of pregnancy is the worse term as the Mummy gets very tired easily and those unfortunate ones (like me) may suffer from morning sickness. To face these physical changes happen at the same time coupled with work demands is definitely not easy and to have a line mgr who is not understanding at all during this critical period is really painful for this friend of mine to face now. I cannot comprehend how the mgr can be so critical to her staff in work when she has contributed so much more prior to her pregnancy. Furthermore, her ex-staff who has since left the bank has suffered a miscarriage before due to work demands and that should be a lesson learnt not to be too harsh and demanding on the team.
This friend of mine has been very upset over the whole incident (of being discriminated by her own boss whom she viewed as her good friend too) and did not even share with her ah lou.. I am glad to get to know this through her and be able to provide her some consoling words since she deemed me as the person who may understand her current situation best. The only way I can help her for now is to keep reminding her to rest more so that her babies can start growing healthy in her tummy - and yes, she is carrying babIES (twins)!!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Halloween night
We went off to Woodlands Ave 1 - at Woodsgrove ave, to soak into the fun of Halloween night. Typically, every year, the houses (landed properties) are opened to the public and the americans are dressed up standing at their car porch, with large basket of sweets waiting to be scared - or probably waiting to be pleased by young children who in turn dressed up in costumes.
Caden was in Batman suit and Ethan dressed up in the Spiderman top. Caden was very excited with the halloween venture and got very disappointed when it started pouring heavily on our way there in the evening.
We decided to have dinner first - luckily SK and Ah gu were there too and Caden and Ethan obediently finished his dinner. Thereafter, it was still drizzling so we decided to make a quick trip down (since we braved through the storm to make our way there).
Caden had Kimi for company and went around the houses collecting sweets from the very nice americans. Ethan finally got the idea and started to participate in the sweets collection together with his brother in their Jack-o-lantern (pumpkin basket). They were very satisfied with their loot after an hour and obediently agreed to call it a night. Mummy and PaPa obviously were very tired from carrying Ethan and taking umbrellas sheltering the kids! Let alone taking out the camera and snapping at the kids in action...
The kids took a pose together before we leave for the day.
next year, Mummy need to buy another basket for Ethan to carry around!
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