Hello & Goodbye

Happy New Year, all! Let’s see what 2009 had in store for me (other than being a year older)..

2009..

1. A change in my department’s team dynamics – saw the departure of 2 colleagues – I shed tears at each of their departure but I learnt to move on

2. A change in my job specifications to become a HR Business Partner, possibly the greatest move in my career so far

3. A major change in my company with the news of the acquisition – being involved in the initial stages of the process and dealing with the deputy CEO directly on various occasions

4. Met a F1 driver – Romain Grosjean – for the first (and possibly, the only) time

5. More firsts – climbing on top trees for a Forest Adventure

6. Caught a prawn for the first time 

7. Stepped foot on an “ang-moh” country (a first for me) – Australia and spent a good 20 days spanning 3 cities – Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. I have to say the main highlight of 2009 is truly this trip to the DownUnder with one of the best travelling companions.

8. Awesome yet tiresome road trip to Great Ocean Road to see the spectacular Twelve Apostles

9. Experienced my first “winter” experience (Genting not counted) – and looking rather crap, may I add

10. And nearly dying from it…

11. Took a courageous plunge with 5 others – on our 7th year anniversary, no less

12. Rode a horse for the first time

13. Honed my driving skills - in Australia and in Singapore

14. Got my our first parking summon

15. Watched a few plays – “The Extraordinary V Conference”, “Beauty and the Beast” and “Defending the Caveman”

16. Stayed and enjoyed my stays at Mandarin Oriental and New Majestic Hotel

17. Took my virgin ride on SQ

18. Learnt to cook Thai Food and celebrated with the Thais in Thailand for their beloved King’s birthday

19. Experienced quite a scare on the family-health side and remembers and begins to treasure the fragility of life when a family crisis ensued at the end of the year. I am however very grateful that this happened when it was still minor so that we can curb and control the problem right at the start.

20. Spent so much time with “The Peeps” that they can be considered my second family. In fact, as I recollect on the year and browse through the archives and pictures, memories of most major holidays and events were with this group of fun-loving and considerate people. They showed my family kindness when we needed care the most and showed concern where few had done. Even though WAGs are eventually still WAGs to them, I do want to say that I am truly grateful for this group of friends =P

 The year of 2009, a year with its fair share of joy and laughter, with new challenges and perspectives but most importantly, a year where I feel I’m truly grown-up.

How did 2009 treat you? Oh well, as we reflect on the year past, here’s to embracing the new year and the new challenges ahead. Onwards to 2010!!

TheEverydayGroupPic

The first thing we did was to head to the post office so that we couldsend a postcard over to CaptainBu. We then randomly picked on cafe to have breakfast as it started to pour. I remember tucking into steaming hot lasagne and it was one the most shiok feeling as the rain pelts down.

We shopped around a little before deciding to head over to National Maritime Museum (if you ask me now, why? I have no idea?) I think we were just rather random and bored? It was raining rather heavily and while it was walking distance (Sydney town center is pretty walkable), we had no choice but to try the tram. It was a really expensive experience. We paid AUD4.20 for two bloody stops! I think we were pretty shocked when the bus conductor informed us of the price and we reluctantly paid for the fare.

We spent a good hour or so in the National Maritime Museum. It got pretty boring towards the end but we did take some mandatory group shots. Once again we were being cheapos, we didn’t pay to enter the submarine and big marine ship so we just took shots with it. Hehe.

We later met up with Jinyu as he took us to have some good-food, from a Sydney-dweller’s point of view! He brought us for German food and we took the bus for the first time (something we will never do without a “local” around!). It was most of us “Singaporeans” first time eating German food and it was a nice meal as we drank beer and make merry.

A Pint of Beer?!

The food was good albeit a little jialat but we were introduced to Lemon Bitters – it was sooooo good.

German Food, anyone?

We took a little stroll back and it was here that we realised the BF (the ever careful one) did not do something important. It was quite a scar and while the rest of them headed off for some icecream (with a hot mama waitress) the BF and I went scouting for a internet cafe of some sorts. We ended up in a Indian-mamak store with some run-down computer. Relief, finally.

We all turned in for an early night as we are on a road trip to Blue Mountains to next day!! Stay tuned.

Day two of our Aussie trip in Sydney and we started the day relatively early as we were heading off for breakfast, Aussie style – pancakes! With the wee bit of research we did, there were quite a few recommendations and good reviews for “Pancakes on the Rocks” over at the Rocks and so that was where we headed to for our first breakfast in Aussieland. Of course, not before we took a mandatory group photo with the huge mirror just right outside our rooms.

1 of many group shots

We took the train and found ourselves welcomed by the magnificent view of the Sydney Darling Harbour and the Sydney Opera House as the train rolled into the station. There were the usual “woo-ings and aah-ings” from the seasoned tourists as we took in the sights. The weather was extremely cooling and while the sun was glaring, it was a good feeling not perspiring after taking a few steps. It took us quite a while and lotsa asking around for directions (mainly by our resident “questionnaire” (a term we coined) – Theresa) before we found the restaurant. It was hidden in an inconspicuous building in one of the many lanes.

Pancake on the Rocks

4 Hickson Rd, The Rocks, Sydney
Trading Hours: 24 HOURS, 7 DAYS A WEEK
Phone: 02 9247 6371 | Fax: 02 9252 2900
Email: therocks@pancakesontherocks.com.au

Website: http://pancakesontherocks.com.au

To Breakfast, to Breakfast we go

We were quite hungry by the time we found the place, took a seat in the relatively empty restaurant and proceeded to order ourselves some huge pancakes. Each of us ordered the different combo types – sweet pancakes with savoury items. We tucked into the food almost immediately after it was served but alas, it wasn’t as I expected. Maybe it was the portion; it was so big it was impossible to finish by my lone self, which meant the meal became  very jialat towards the end of the meal. I suppose after walking for so long, we were expecting a really good meal only to be slightly disappointed. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t fantastic.

Pancakes on rock

Maybe it was jet-lag, maybe it was just the early morning call but we all felt rather lethargic after the meal. We explored The Rocks a little, went to random buildings and found one that had an unobstructed view of the Sydney Opera House. Feeling quite the tourist, we went into one of the museums we walked past earlier on. Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Arts was unfortunately quite the bore for us. There was a photos exhibition and while I feign interest was interested for a good 10 minutes of the tour, it started to get boring with the recurring theme of human exhibits. Soon, we were attracted to a roadmap of the aborigines in Australia in a tiny corner of the museum. To me, the main attraction was really the chairs available. Propped myself on one, tried to watch some videos but promptly dozed off (I am sure I saw TheBF nodding off too).

Museum of Contemporary Arts

140 George Street
The Rocks
Sydney, Australia

I guess we are not quite the kind of artsy tourists. As we contemplated our next move, we decided that we should all perk ourselves up with some exercise – in an attempt to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge. While others pay exorbitant amounts of money to climb to the highest point, up and down tiny steps, we decided to take the easy free way of simply crossing the bridge. The one problem was actually locating the entrance to the bridge. It took us quite a while, walking through back lanes, climbing up random steps (woo.. I love those steps), took some wrong turns before we finally found the entrance. It was here that we found out that the Aussies are quite a healthy bunch of people as there were many, many of them running – and it was during their lunch break! Geez, wheez and there I was huffing and puffing during the 15-20 minutes of the walk.

Crossing the harbour Bridge and across

It was a scenic walk across the bridge and it did us some good to have exercised. It was a short walk to Luna Park – Milsons Point and since the admission was free, we decided to check it out. The 70 year old theme park was like a forsaken toy, a wooden toy that has not progressed with times and has been replaced by the spanky, new PS3. It reminded me of the old-skool fun-fairs in Singapore and very much like the Genting I last stepped foot on. Luna Park was more like a photo-whoring stop and a toilet break for us. As we wondered around in the theme park, we played around with the free attractions, stopped and rested at the bumper cars with only two kids having fun. (Believe me, they could keep going. If their dad hadn’t stepped in to stop the cheeky lil’ boy). Thinking back, without the jadedness of age and the cynicism that comes along, the school children can be entertained with even the most basic and oldest rides and entertain themselves with collecting as many “coupons” as possible and indulge themselves all afternoon in all sorts of junk food.

After Luna Park, we took the ferry back to Darling Harbour. It was a short ride (maybe not for nei though, with his sea-sickness and all) but it was refreshing – with the breeze in your face and the thrill of crossing the river. We made our slow way to Sydney’s Opera House (the other side of the harbour) – not before nei got ka-ed when he bought a pair of sunglasses. http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/

We jumped and we jumped at the Sydney Opera House, we took so many multiple tries before we got it right – well, almost. It was way fun jumping ourselves silly. We went to check out the show timings but alas, by the time we wanted to book, the seats to the stand-up comedy we have chosen have all ran out. It was such a bummer and a slight dampener to our mood.

Sydney Opera House

After roaming around, it was almost dinner time and we went searching for food. Too bad, we didn’t do much research and didn’t have a local guide with us so we settled for a little Thai restaurant down at one of the office buildings and helped ourselves to free flow of rice (someone was really happy about this). Oh yes, we witness an accident happening at a cross junction too. So anyway, we went for a lil’ shopping at DarlingHarbourside Shopping Center, where we were introduced to theresa’s shopping prowess.

We also checked out Star City – the one casino in Sydney but was stopped at the gates escalator by the burly security guards since we didn’t have our passports (they refused to accept our random passes – 11B, driving license etc) and well, obviously, shortfart being shortfart, definitely wouldn’t be allowed through.

I think we walked back to the hotel, took a stroll through one of the parks. I still vividly remember nei talking a whole lot of bull and cock story about how an earthquake shook the place and rolled this wheel to the park or something. Wahahaha.. Damn cock.

1st night roaming the streets of Sydney

Oh man, I miss those carefree days in Aussieland with the peeps

Preface

It is now or never. Two months on, here I am trying to blog about that wonderous trip. Baby steps, I am going to take it slow and if I take months to finish blogging about it, so be it. Whatever it is, the memories stay on with me and the photos will always be a constant reminder of the silly things we did, the encounters we experienced, the friendships forged, the understanding of myself and of others.

The travelling group: ylong, nei, theresa, the BF and shortfart

Date Travelled: 14^th June to 3^rd July

Country: Australia – Sydney, Brisbane/Gold Coast and Melbourne

Cost of Tickets: Taxes inclusive – SGD1000+ — cheap, cheap – from Qantas fair, but tickets were pre-swine-flu

Aussie Trip I – Sydney

#1 Mandatory group picture at Singapore Changi Airport before we depart

#2 The man-slaves,as Ylong puts it. I call them Mr Musclesto carry my luggage(s)

#3 The female travellers – Theresa and Me

#4 The BF and I – hopefully, when we are 70 and just the two of us, we can still be travelling around the world, together

 #5 Our virgin train ride to downtown Sydney

#6 Finally, a street I call my own.

To Sydney, to Sydney… we went on a A380 jetplane. It came as quite a surprise to us as none of us knew that Qantas flies the A380. Truth be told, it was actually my second time sitting on a more atas (the last was some China airlines for my secondary 3 school trip to Yunnan) and non-budget airline. I was really excited with the in-flight entertainments and kept my 7 hours rather occupied with movies, tetris and sudoko and peppered that with bouts of sleep in between. I skipped the meals but took all the little snacks and drinks given, I especially love the ice cream they served, Crunch? – yumms!

When we finally reached Sydney, the sky was already dark – given that they are 2 hours ahead of us and the sun sets earlier in winter. We were the lost tourists walking up and down the airport trying to figure out the best way to the city. After much consideration, we decided that we should take the cheapest alternative to downtown – by the Airport Link train.

We were recommended by the control station personnel that it will be quite worthwhile for us to purchase the 7-day pass since we will be in Sydney for quite a number of days and that marked our first big-ticket purchase in Australia. It was also here that we got ka-ed when we purchased the postcard for CaptainBu’s birthday (a surprise that ylong suggested even before the trip).

It took us all in all less than a half hour train ride before we reached our station and then it was more dragging and heaving of luggages (actually more so for the guys than me) up flights of stairs, up and down slopes, stopping and asking for directions before we finally found our home for the next 5 days – Travelodge.

We booked two connecting rooms – one for the boys and one for the girls and quickly deposited our luggage before proceeding for a late dinner. Before we left though, we sorted out and set aside money for “Team Fund – Australia”, the money we will use to pay for the team expenses. Hehe. We headed to “Hungry Jacks”. It was a quick but unfulfilling meal. At that moment in time, I was reeling from the experience of seeing angmohs everywhere – drunk, holding hands, serving me, clearing tables, in their chic winter wear – and the feeling was rather surreal. I have never seen as many angmohs in one place before Australia – hehe. Damn suaku lar!

It was an early night for us since we were all rather tired but of course not before we grabbed some tidbits and a few litres of water for the ever thirsty BF and ylong. After we all freshened up, we all promptly snuggled into bed.

If I recall correctly, it was also the night that we opened up and spilled the beans on a lot of things, some of which (or rather most of which) MUST stay in Sydney.

I found out alot about myself and while the truth was a lil’ hurtful to hear, I’m glad in the abyss of the dark room, there were friends who opened up and allowed me to learn more about myself. It was revealingly truthful and on hindsight, I do appreciate it.

Everytime I hear that song by Lily Allen, it will always remind me of the joys and laughters and the memories of Australia, followed by pangs of guilt that I haven’t taken time to actually sit down and recollect the memories into a proper post.  My bad.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

To my Melbourne travel contingent-peeps, WE have been caught speeding in the state of Victoria on 25th June.

We have paid up all we had to pay for the Australia trip in my last two months credit payments - or so I thought. The story goes that as I was checking my credit card bill this month, I was puzzled to see an administrative charge from Thrifty (our rental company) for AUD50.  Then I remembered that I received a letter from Thrifty previously but I’ve never really bothered about  it since I assumed that  it was just a detailed invoice. But boy oh boy was I wrong, it was actually a notification from them to inform that I have been charged an administrative fee of AUD50 from Thrifty as they had to transfer the infringement to me and that I would hear from the relevant authority. (I guess knowing how they are, it may be a while till we hear from them )

So I suppose…. that’s not all that is. First thing I did when I came into the office – check out what the penalties are for speeding in Australia and with the help of Google (what will we do without it?!), this is what I found.

So potentially, we may be slapped with a traffic fine of AUD149 to AUD502 on top of that AUD50 charge.

I got quite a lecture from the SeowDad though, when I stupidly made a comment about getting the fine this morning. He was so worried and concerned, “Girl, why you so innocent go and put your name down. Now, you will have a record.”  

How do I explain that I was the only legal 25 years old with a valid license even though the other two drivers have a combined driving experience of nearly 10 years.

Alas, the detriments of being a lao-char-bo.

Hello everybody! I’m home!! Back since Friday actually. It was a great holiday, one where I busted the wallet, one where I spent 20+ days with the BF and some of the peeps. The break away from reality was good, the travelling companions were great and the sights and memories unforgettable.

Now, it’s back to reality (back to work). I may attempt to do a travelogue on the trip soon otherwise the good-ole-fellow ylong can do the honours.

Away from 14 June to 3 July 09 – sometimes I still marvel at how I managed to get approval to go away for 15 days from the office (what’s more during the school holidays!) and yet I still have about 10 days of annual leave to clear. Of course, some warned this isn’t exactly the best time to be away for so long when the banking economy is slowing down with many retrenchments and the issue of job security. On the flipside, isn’t this also the best time to go when you do not have to burden your colleagues with back logs and 1001 things to do? How do you see it? I have had to reassure my dad that my boss approved my leave and that this is my entitlement, if we don’t use it, it would be forfeited anyway.

So anyhow, I have scheduled blog posts on various days about some of the more “happening” things that had happened in the past months. So stay tuned. I can’t believe I am so nice to actually type these posts (some in a rush) so that you guys don’t miss me too much or get too bored since you only have one or two blogs to read. Heh, I wish.