Resigned

Paid back my work debts after the long leave and ended up leaving the office at 10pm.

 

The highlight of Day 1 back to the office had to be.... my resignation. I was rather sad because I had grown to love this job, including all the tight deadlines which I have gotten used to.

 

And there is still so much to learn. While I'm looking forward to another phase in life and moving to a place where life would be much slower, I'm going to miss walking with a purpose, stretching myself to the max and learning new things every day at work.

 

But who knows? My life thus far has been full of pleasant surprises (thank you Lord) and I await the next challenge God is putting me up for. In the meantime, faith, patience and obedience.

 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

 

Amen!

 



 

Interrupted Mr. Jang's in-flight movie nidway to take pic.
Loved the transition from frown to forced smile. Ha.

Core leave. Last leg.

Two more days till the end of my core leave.

Mr. Jang joined me in Hong Kong yesterday, arriving very early in the morning with a 5am flight. I was still fast asleep when he called me to say he's already downstairs. This is the first time both of us are in Hong Kong without my parents and we took the opportunity to sleep till noon time. Thereafter, it was another day spent at Sham Shui Po, one of my favourite places for cheap bargains in Hong Kong.

The following day I took him on a nostalgic route to my old neighbourhood in Quarry Bay. Nothing changed much since I left more than twenty odd years ago - The kindergarten where I studied and the playgrounds at which Sis, Bob and I spent our childhood were still the same. It's kind of like a trip back to the past especially when I saw little kids playing on the slides. The feeling is almost surreal. I wondered if a 6-year-old me had ever imagined bringing the husband here for a visit more than two decades later.

As an early celebration of Gugu's birthday, Mom treated us, as well as Gugu and Gu Cheung, to a nice dinner at Dragon Seal Restaurant at Sky 101, which boasts a panoramic view of Hong Kong's skyline at night. We had a table by the window and the view is simply breathtaking. The food is also fantastic although the dessert is not value-for-money in my opinion, as it comes in too small a portion for the price.

 

 

We spent the second half of the evening at Sky Lounge bar, which sits on the 18th floor of Sheraton Hotel in Tsim Tsa Tsui. The bar also offers a splendid night view of Hong Kong, but the highlight for me is the wine tasting corner which allows you to try different wines by inserting a pre-paid wine card and choosing the quantity you want to drink (2.5cl to 15cl). I had loads of fun tasting wines from different years and regions!

Tomorrow will be a simple day with the grandparents before we head back to Singapore on Sunday. Hope to find more good buys in Yuen Long, where we plan to go with Grandma and Granny.

All in all it's been a great holiday thus far. I will be looking forward to going back to work on Monday, even if it's only to earn more $$ for my next trip.

My first (and probably last) core leave

The perks of working in a bank is... you HAVE to take 10 days of core leave in a row in accordance with the guidelines set by the government. The fact that you need to be physically away from the office and you can't access emails during this period makes it all the more appealing. No obligations to log in remotely from time to time to check on work emails and answer queries etc. (Did I hear a woohoo?)

My first (and probably last) core leave started out pretty well with an once-in-a-year reunion with the boys. It's almost a tradition to celebrate their birthdays together. This year, I particularly noted how much we have aged. We needed to squint at the screen and sit really close to see what songs to tick for the KTV session. It's just wonderful... seeing each other grow for the past 18 years. Hope to have many, many more birthday celebrations together.

Bert gave Mr. Jang and I tickets to the Harry Potter exhibition. Although the experience was somewhat marred by Art Science Museum staff constantly trying to milk money from us, it was still fantastic seeing all the exhibits from the Harry Potter movies. I am a major HP fan and was rather depressed after the series ended. This exhibition helped to fill the void.

 

 

And then I was off to Hong Kong, just in time for Baby Jovan's "press conference". It certainly felt like one as all the relatives were extremely anxious to meet the boy and the dinner became a major phototaking session for the baby, the parents, and whoever wishes to queue up for a photo. If Baby Jovan could hold a pen, they'd probably ask for an autograph.

 

 

As a detour, I flew to Shanghai from Hong Kong with Mom so that we could spend a few days with Dad and see where he was staying. From Shanghai, we drove around to many other places. One of which is a quaint little town called 周庄 which is essentially a 水乡 in China. It's almost like what you would see in a Chinese 武侠小说 - red lanterns, stone houses, wooden boats, worn and narrow pathways.

 

Also met up with Adel who's been working in Shanghai for the past 3.5 years. She has the best recommendation for food in Shanghai! And entertainment too... she brought us to this new KTV outlet in town which has a mini platform and standing mic. A favourite with Dad who loves to sing to an audience.

 

On my last night in Shanghai, Dad brought us to this place called 老外街 which is an area lined with pubs and eateries with live music. The atmosphere was good and he said it's better than 新天地 - the prices are also more reasonable.

Hence, thus far my core leave has been great. Loads of shopping, eating, and spending time with friends and family. Five more days to go before heading back to work (and before I have the talk with boss)!