A time of firsts

Well this month has been a month of "firsts"!

1. Something very personal which only one other person in the world knows about. In any case, an experience to learn from, and move forward from! :)
2. Conducting my first training session in Cantonese. Yep, I know it's old news, but it's a massive milestone in my life. Let's just hope that the feedback won't be too bad....
3. Meeting my ex-big-boss in HK + actually having an awesome time catching up with her about non-work stuff over dinner. Ahhh, sometimes it's just nice to see a familiar face ain't it.
4. Getting to meet the other colleagues in both the local and regional teams, during the farewell/retirement party of our Regional boss. Got to chat with a few other faces and a new colleague...and I have to say I manage to make an impression (I do hope it's a good one and not the reputation of my drinking tolerance...but then again, that's a plus point? haaa)on quite a few of the Regional + Country heads. And with good wine and laughter, what's there not to enjoy!
5. First time having cocktails that literally blew my mind. My friends and I were actually hanging out at The Lab where they had special concoctions with Ginseng, Luo Han Guo etc. And that was already pretty good...but when we were brought to Isono @ PMQ, where we were met by Nic (who's apparently the grandmasters of the mixologists back at The Lab) and got to savour his mixes......phew! Mind-blowing, and like my friend said, "He really takes cocktails to a whole other level". I couldn't agree more - he mixed up two rounds of cocktails for us after learning about our preferences.
• Round 1: Took a sip and we were like 0.o. Goes down so smooth but doesn't taste like it has alcohol (there is alcohol in there if you were wondering). None of the overpowering alcohol content or unbalanced sugary aftertaste.
• Round 2: This round of cocktails were stronger and more advanced. Friend 1 had a drink that smelled like whiskey but contained none of it. Nic challenged us to guess the ingredients....of which I got the major one correct! Friend 2 had a drink called Jungle Fever (which is totally delicious), and I got all the flavours correct! Ok, with a little prompting from the Grandmaster himself...I myself, got a drink called Poison which is a blend of 7 spirits. Nic enjoys creating cocktails where no one actually can tell what goes into it...so I was feeling a little accomplished from his challenge haa

By then we were almost done with our drinks and our chat, and Nic with his work shift, we were invited to grab Tom Yum shots and Sour Plum Shots at Topiary (another bar) with him. And yes, I identified the ingredients behind the Tom Yum ones (not cos I know the ingredients of a Tom Yum Goong recipe but I could really taste themt)...and Nic said I can be a sommelier since I'm rather spot-on on the tastes/ingredients!!

-let's just pause to enjoy the moment of me leaping over the moon.=D.....-

Ok, that aside, it was really refreshing to hear someone sharing his experiences, story and philosophy (yes there is philosophy behind cocktail-making). A really humble person with interesting anecdotes....I'll be back to Isono for more of his drinks and chatting! And I'm totally bringing my future boyfriend for him to have a look so he can screen his personality with his X-ray eyes ....

Entrepreneurs - reading about one and talking with another

So I've just recently finished reading this book called "Starting from Scrap" which is about a 22-year old guy who arrived in HK from the States, built his own business and sold it after about 8 years. Pretty insightful stuff about starting your business and dealing with the cyclical nature of things ...written in an entertaining manner w lots of humour thrown in.

Then I was asked by my friend (whom I had brunch with earlier in the day) to join her and her friend for drinks later in the night. Found out that the friend is an entrepreneur too! A jet-setting successful one in the private equity industry. Was very interesting to hear him sharing his perspectives on business stuff, politics and systems, on what makes him tick, when to onboard partners and then basically on what makes a city attractive.
Was an unexpectedly nice time hanging out w an interesting individual, all while having some awesome food from Gordon Ramsay's, and then adjourning to a speakeasy with martini cocktails like "James Bond" and "Banoffee pie".

The best quote I heard during the night is ,"When you need money, you will make money".

Needless to say, I emerged the night with renewed perspectives. I guess I'm beginning to appreciate why people say you really do get to meet lots of different kinds of people here in HK...

It's back to BAU work and starting with the law books at last! I've got a mate from San Francisco spending a couple nights with me from tomorrow, but I think it should be all chillax ...

Anyways, I have seen a couple of friends doing the Gratitude challenge on Facebook. I've actually done this exercise way before this whole trend started, but just to show I'm not lagging behind those trends, here's my take on it:

Things I am grateful for:

• Coming home to a parcel hung outside my door. 

Honestly I got a little horrified when I saw it hung with a rubber band to my door handle....cos I certainly wasn't expecting anything! I spotted an address which I didn't identify as mine and honestly thought the postal guys made a huge mistake! (the address was actually of the sender) And was wondering if it was gonna b a pig's head cos the previous tenant owed some money....

Turns out it was Michael+Hanny who sent some Tim Tams my way all the way from Perth for my birthday! :D And the Adriano Zumbo limited editions to top the whole surprise off! Such a sweet friend! And all just b'cos of my comment that Tim Tams are expensive here in HK.

Really heartwarming gesture to feel I'm not forgotten...especially the couple of friendships that I had to *ahem*, according to Taylor Swift, "Shake it Off"!

• Tinder.

Yes, mindless swiping just based on first impressions. Epitome of swipe right, if you like what you see. Mrs Toes in the Sand will know what I'm talking about *wink wink*. Anyways, I got a proposition for a fling - while I admired the candidness (and of course the handsomeness), I had to pry myself away from things which just didn't go well with my values. 

The exact proposition was a great laugh for all those I shared it with me, as well as for myself haa. Guess you can't take some things (like Tinder) and some people too seriously....lol

• My ricecooker + Thermos soup pot

Electrical appliances are exorbitant in HK! Had to wait for my parents to come with the aforementioned appliances....and I'm glad to say I've been using the ricecooker almost every night, and have made Green Bean Sweet Soup and Carrot & Corn Soup with the pot!

And managed to impress my colleagues with my cooking skills along the way since that means packed lunches to work (without the nasty MSG)....

Meanwhile, my colleagues have been requesting me to set up a catering service for lunch (which by the way, also happened in SG...)

• TV

See first sentence of point above. But the parents were shopping at the computer centre at Sham Shui Po one day, and picked up a 24-inch Smart TV of a local brand for around 200 SG bucks. Nothing too fancy, but at least I can keep up with the news (more of the weather and the traffic diversions due to the protests). I recently realised there are options to change the audio language and subtitles! And the recording function! Back to some English TV for me hooray!

Alright, that sums up my exciting highlights recently! Laters peeps!

A whirlwind of meet ups!

While I am still recovering from the exhaustion from the trip to Korea (and braving the one hour security check at Inchein airport and another one hour plus trip from HK airport no thanks to Occupy Central... ), I'm preparing for the parents' visit on Thursday!  Yippeeee yay

Miffy meep from Toes in the Sand came for a weekend visit 2 weeks ago...and boy was I so thankful to be able to spend some girl bonding time together. ..even though it was for 2 days!! So nice to finally have a friend over! :) we ate and ate, and tried horse riding at the Hermes exhibition, shopped, and had a slight panic in trying to get to the airport (what's new after Taipei lol)

Anyways, in Seoul I was a few days later for another dear friend's wedding. I met Sunmi at Hallym University when I was there for summer exchange a grand 7 years ago...and I'm so happy for her. People often comment that I must be very nice to go to weddings overseas especially where it is self-funded...but I tend to look at it a little differently - I feel honoured to be invited to weddings who revel in me gracing  and sharing their happy occasion. Of course, I know (and have experienced) those who are just out doing it for some other motives. ..but I've since learn how to filter such peeps away. Also nice to meet up with Sangwoo who has grown into a fine guy! Can't say the sane about E - he might be one of those I won't be hanging out with next time I return.

Anyways, at the urge of J, my impromptu dinner partner in SG and life advisor (haahaa), I shall continue to try to make new friends here ...so I won't have to eat dinner alone lol!  And also with the renwed perspective from Korea, I believe there are always gems out there! So I have registered myself on meetup.com (no it's not an online dating site) and signed up on some of the activities (actually one so far haa).

So there you go! A little rough at the start, but I'm sure things will be going smooth from now on!

Friendships - forging new ones and learning to cut losses

So I was deliberating whether I should be less direct on the title of this post...like "Learning to let go" instead...but like Mr G2000 tycoon Tien said on Tycoon Talks - you need to learn when to cut your losses, and to even destroy something you make when it is no longer working.

So as you guys know ..I played bubble soccer on Saturday!  Really fun plus I got to meet Singaporeans...hooray!!! Mindset is obviously very different from when I was on exchange. ..I'm totally seeking fellow merlions now ;)
My uni-course mate was the one who linked me up with the fun. ..and yes I probably weirded her out by dropping her a message 7 years after we met...haaa and she eventually recounted the epsiode to her other friends during the evening. But she's nice and let me in a tip about friendships n relationships established in HK - she said it's much transactional.  I thought she actually meant transient (and she did) but I have learnt in recent days that transactional is not that inaccurate an adjective either. ..
A) a friend who's milking me for free accommodation in SG and calling me as if I'm his tour guide. Totally not cool. Now I understand what our mutual friend doesn't actually wanna hang out with him. His friends whom I've met once also wanted to milk me. I know I did offer to help (read: in dire situations) but at least have the decency to be my friend before you make such a request.
B) a guy who has been on-off flirting with me. Went with me to Ocean Park but ended up texting n was on the phone for a whole 4 hours. And I spotted him writing a love message for another lady. Well, no biggie if we're not gonna make it together but please have the decency to be mentally/spiritually present when you have agreed to hang out.

Needless to say, I have decided to cut my losses with these two after I'm done with whatever business I have with them.
Life's too short...shan't waste precious time and effort on peeps who aren't worth it!

Meanwhile the Typhoon 8 is dying down...so there should be work tomorrow! !

Milestone - a month!

It's been slightly more than a month after I've arrived, and I'm learning to adapt to the what-everyone-talks-about-but-not-quite "fast pace". Let me elaborate....

I'm sure many SG-ers must have been told and fed the information that "HK is a lot faster-paced", "They work harder there.." to even the part where "People walk faster there"!
I'm pretty sure there's truth to such statements, except for the last. I find that the average walking speed of HK-ers are slower than back home....such that I feel like like a power walker overtaking my competitors in the race *cue Olympic finishing line music*....VICTORY!

Ok, pardon my madness...this is probably one of the side effects of having to deal with the monstrous crowd when I was at Causeway Bay after work. Needless to say, I went there for shopping and promptly escaped back to the sanity of my cozy little apartment for the rest of the evening.

The other thing I notice about HK-ers which contribute to the slow walking pace is their tendencies to have their eyes/head/body glued to their cell phone screens while walking. Watching videos, playing games when they are crossing the road - yes, you can probably imagine how often I rolled my eyes until I gave up. For Christ's (or as my Scottish friend would quote as Pete's) sake, it's the road!!! Why would anyone wanna risk being a victim of roadkill? Totally baffles me, but hey maybe they are trading some bitcoins on their mobile apps and on their way to becoming billionaires....

Anyways, I'm enjoying the harbour view while sipping my liquoice-n-mint tea from the comfort of my bed. Ahhhh.~If only I can find more friends to hang out in satisfying my dim sum craving...

Laters!

In between moving houses...

So..I've just moved the largest suitcase over to my new abode in the extremely sweltering heat of today.
4 bags left ...guess I will split them between a couple trips today and tomorrow.

It's almost been a month since I landed...have to admit, I've grown rather attached to this serviced apartment which I had called home for the last 4 weeks. And just to milk the last of the stay, I've had visitors for the past few days (my colleagues included). And I've managed to bump into my neighbour for 4 days in a row when I was with my visitors lol.

Team dinner was great and totally hilarious...I haven't laughed this much in a while! Everyone in SG seems very subdued by comparison haaa

Let me post some photos so you guys don't feel so bored...

A weekend of drinks...and more drinks!

So this weekend was a rather eventful one!
I did the following on Sat:

• signed the provisional rental agreement and paid a month's deposit! Weee to seaview! But a smaller and less schmanzy room haa
• saw a lot of people walking their doggies! Apparently it's only the Tin Hau/Fortress Hill area where the buildings allow the keeping of pets. My colleague told me today that newer buildings usually prohibit the keeping of pets
• Bought mini-sized moscatos and ice-cream and enjoyed them from the comfort of my room :D
• went to Stanley with my friend + 2 other of his friends for dinner. Awesome ambience and had pre-drinks (Sangria) and white wine with dinner
• adjourned to a club above the Luk Yu Teahouse, called Yu Club. Apparently for members-only on the weekend and my friend appears to be some VVVIP there. Friend called another friend to join (apparently some scion) , and by the end of the night, I had 2 of the Strawberry kiss cocktails and 1 Long Island Tea.
• Witnessed the interaction between the genders in HK (ask me and I'll tell ya).

Somehow, when I was at Yu Club - which by the way, is a very quaint and chill bar, totally recommend it for a different bar experience and not to mention, they have yummy drinks - it started pouring, and as I stared at the raindrops trickling down the windows, this melancholic feeling just hit me from nowhere. Unbelievably random! But of course, I quickly snapped out of it and went back to the company and banter of friends.

Perhaps too much alcohol after a 6-month hiatus! LOL

Anyways, I'm already starting to delve into Canto world! Sat through a whole day of training conducted in Cantonese and another discussion spoken entirely in that. Soon, it'll be rolling off my tongue like it's all natural (although I did fail at ordering my beef ball wanton noodles for dinner tonight...:D)

2nd Day at work!

Ok, honestly, have you seen anyone who is that happy to go to work (just look at the title of this post)? :P

Anyways, surprisingly, my email and computer access was up and running on my first day at work! Hurray to efficiency! My PST folders however, are another story....

I had a chat with my boss for him to find out what I had been doing previously and I basically told him I'm ok to take any portfolio. The team here is further split into 2 sub-teams and the overall team strength is twice that of back home...so there seems to be light for my social life! woop woop

And on the social life front, it seems to be getting better! An ex-colleague who will be going back to Singapore will be bringing me to the Dai Pai Dong tomorrow for dinner, and has invited me to drinks on Friday with some other Singaporeans working in HK :D
Feeling extremely grateful for this friendly gesture; for those of you who don't know, it can get pretty boring if you don't have a group of core friends here. We were both whining to each other (yes being typical Singaporeans what else!) that despite what most people say, your social life is really dependent on whether you have that core group of friends to hang out with. While I have friends in HK, I probably don't count as their core group so it does feel a little on the superficial front sometimes. Yes, I was already feeling lonely on Day 3 in HK

2 of the guy colleagues brought me out for lunch today and they're really fun to hang out with! Plus they give me lots of tips about my apartment hunt, which apparently might be tough for me since it's the peak season for house renting now with the new semester starting and the students looking to enter the market....Cross your fingers that I'll be able to find something affordable and to my liking!

And I was feeling quite bored with nothing much to do while my boss ponders on my portfolio (which I guess I will probably get to know by end of the week)...so my boss decided to me to help him with writing minutes for a meeting. Lest you think I am being sarcastic, I was really grateful to be doing something productive finally except that....I. Did. Not. Bring. My. Headphones.

Asked the guys and the department admin if they had any spare but turns out nope. So there was no choice but for me to have the recording played out on the Desktop speaker and plaster my ear near the CPU. (Yes, please" laugh....)...until my other senior colleague saw me and asked me what I was doing! I replied honestly and she said she had a set of spare headphones (thank the heavens!) so I was saved! But not before she had a good laugh cos seriously guys, it was quite a helpless sight!

Day 2 in Hong Kong

Yesterday went by so quickly. ..before I knew it, I was off the plane onto terra firma ...on the land of HK!

Claimed my 60 kilos of luggage off the belt and made my way to the concierge. ..only to be told that I had to make a prior booking for them to be able to forward my luggage to the apartment!  Though now that I think back, it makes sense logistics-wise...

Anyhows I took a taxi to the apartment..and was extremely grateful to the taxi uncle who helped me with the luggage and even looked after them as I got someone from the apartment's management to help with my bags.

A summary of my happenings so far:

How I'm feeling: content lounging in my apartment.  Haven't got down to the agents for the hunt on my long-term abode but a short neighbourhood walk this noon revealed a few agents I should be approaching.

Food: dinner and dessert was free last night, thanks to my HK friends who threw me a welcome dinner. Turns out a friend also owns a shop at Causeway Bay selling Leica cameras and they were holding a photo exhibition so was quite a cool experience ;)

Weather: Humid to the max omg! Yes it is worse than Sg's! One of the reasons I don't mind chilling at the apt

Social life: non-existent at the moment haa...unless you count 我和僵尸有个约会3 reruns company.  Maybe I should hang around cafes of Central and Sheung wan and chat up random strangers...

Mastery of Cantonese: getting there! Just need to feel more confident about using it in daily conversations!

Food: have had Vietnamese food for two meals in a row! Prices have gone up. ..from 7 years ago haaa! It's about 10 bucks for a bowl of noodles ..about the same as Sydney!  Looks like I'll be doing more cooking...

Some shots of the apartment at 21 Whitfield. ..I do get a side view of Central and Wanchai , and Victoria Harbour at the front of my bed - pretty awesome! 

7 more sleeps!

Just a week to go!

Updates!

Oh finally downloaded the Blogger app, so I can post on-the-go! Pretty nifty!

Anyhows there is a reason for the lack of posts - there isn't Internet connection at the condo. That's right - the inaugural move has happened!  ;) Well, it's more of a "soft" move ( ala soft launch ) since there's no fan fare and all, and it isn't fully decorated as I would have it.

I might just do the details when I return for the holidays...and framing of the batik paintings from Yogyagarta ...

What else...? Oh yes flight out has been confirmed! Saying adios to SG for a while on 26th and to the HK office on the very next Monday. Yup, no breaks! 

And kudos to my relocation agent who managed to still get me Twenty One Whitfield (see earlier post) despite the change in dates and some apparent high occupany peak season. :D

Ending the post with a picture of my furry "flatmates"..

Still not in Changi Airport ...but soon!

Hello! Seems like my visa is taking a while to be approved, so the move-over date has been now rescheduled to the start of August.While I was a little disappointed by the delay, I guess it now gives me more time to settle loose ends of matters here and do more research for HK (including the possibility of enrolling into an educational institution to help in my final year of law studies).

Anyhows, something exciting for this post...my relocation agent has informed me that I'll be staying at...

Simmons mattress oh yeah

Twenty One Whitfield!

Quite swanky a place don't you think? Although it's no Pan Pacific like my Legal colleague predicted, but I think it suits my needs. Ok, I have to confess, I probably won't have a view like this since they're giving me a low floor, but I figured out it's no biggie since I have a morbid phobia of heights. And I don't think it's a good feeling to wake up right at the edge of floor-to-ceiling glass windows....

Weekends...whoosh! Where did they go to?

It's almost the end of the weekends! I started the weekend with a Midsummer buffet at IKEA (and $5 vodka snaps), and ended it with a Korean BBQ buffet. Time to go back to my normal eating habits tomorrow :D
I know I shouldn't be complaining, but all the lunch time farewell treats are starting to show on my arms...Oh well, at least like Ms. T from Sydney points out, I'm popular! Haaa

Anyways, there hasn't been much progress in packing the luggage since last week. But there's some progress in getting my new room to a livable state! I've just placed the order for the mattress today so yes, I'll soon be able to go to work for the remaining few weeks from the new place. Alright, enough of talking and I'll let the pictures do the work...

OK wait. I still haven't figured how to get the photos from my phone right into Blogger, even though I already have Google+ installed on my phone. Oh well, no photos for today I guess.

Anyhows, inspired from the repetitive questions that I keep getting and having to answer regarding my move (I swear I have answered most over 50 times by now), I thought I'll do an FAQ on this site:

Q: When are you moving to HK?
A: See, I wish I had a straightforward answer for you. But I don't, honestly. The process entails me getting a working visa which takes 4 weeks to be processed by the HK immigration guys, before I can produce that to my immigration agent/travel agent to book an air ticket. And thereafter, the agents will be able to help secure my first-month serviced apartment.

Q: But you are a Singaporean citizen, aren't you? Why does the visa take that long to be processed?
A: I don't exactly know either but my general knowledge tells me that a working visa is not like a travel visa (which Singaporeans do not require for travel into HK, by the way). So it doesn't matter which country, race, creed one is from - you just gotta wait.

Q: Where will you be staying at?
A: See answer to 1st question.

Q: Why HK?
A: Why not?

Q: What are you gonna be doing there? Isn't it / is it the same as what you are doing in SG?
A: I've gonna be hanging out at the pubs or golf areas trying to meet my future-husband. Haaaa
Ok, back to serious business. I am still gonna be working in Compliance in a consumer context, perhaps less of the offshore bit but I'll have to defer to my future boss on that one. As of now, my portfolio hasn't been confirmed.
Since the role still revolves round the consumer space, it won't be entirely different, though granted, the product suite could differ. The laws and regulations are obviously something I have to pick up, though a cursory glance of the materials show that the 2 regulators are pretty much similar. The noticeable difference is that SG is more principles-based while HK works on a more prescriptive manner.

Did I manage to bore you already? :P

Q: How are your parents taking it?
OK, I have to say this is seriously one question I don't understand at all. What sort of reaction are my parents supposed to have? I guess perhaps they have no insight as to the dynamics within my family...but the answer is
A: Very well! They can't wait for me to be over so they have an excuse to then visit!

Hopefully, my next post would be typed from my favourite place in SG - Changi Airport! Hohoho

Packing starts!

And I finally had the urge to start packing for HK today (ironically, after a tiring day of building my loft bed for 3 hours straight, but more of that in another post...if I ever get round to it lol).

Mum had bust out the suitcase of crazy dinosaur-us proportions which my brother lugged to Germany for his internship 7 years ago, a couple days ago. Since I foresee that my next couple of weekends will be busy while I try to put in my bit of work for the new apartment, I thought I had better start somehow this weekend!

It started with the shoes (all new) !

After 1.5 hours...it morphed to this. Not too shabby I think?

Please excuse the woolly sockies thrown in (literally) at the side. I think this is almost half of what I'm bringing over. Just a couple more work ensembles, some fall-winter coats, cosmetics + toiletries, and I'm good to go! Weee~~~Oh yea wait, I think I forgot the undergarments...

With this move, I had to also get a laptop. I've always worked on desktops most of my life, aside from the laptop for work and the ASUS mini notebook - which by the way, I was the first ten peeps in SG to lay my hands on it. 

Image taken from GoodGearGuide. Unfortunately, my purchase didn't come with a a view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Anyhows, I got myself this a couple of weeks back. Think it's actually pretty good for value, considering it actually is touchscreen and goes below a thousand dollars. Hurray for milking the best of my moolah!

Ok, gotta go catch some sleep...cos Universal Studios here I come! 

Handing over and gearing up for HK

Since there isn't much (progress I mean) on the packing of luggage, I thought perhaps I should blog a little on the work front.

1. Handovers
With about a month before my departure, I would have thought most most colleagues would be anxious about the handover. Well, apparently not.  Coworker X decided to skip a meeting with the business and I ended up fronting it for the department. He better pray that odds are with hin when it falls into his lap when I leave.

2. Gearing Up
Future boss and colleague sent me a couple of relevant documents as promised last week. Can't wait to start delving into them...I'm serious!

I'm already craving for some awesome dim sum. Get me over quickly HK immigration! :D

A step closer to 許留山 (and I don't mean the outlet in JB)

After a bad spate of events yesterday, things finally got much better today - Yippee!

The visa application form is finally ready! Just gotta paste on my no-nonsense professional mugshot and a couple of docs, and it's good to go!

Never realised how regal-looking my passport actually is!

Anyhows, I'm still nursing the remnants of the sticky cold which has taken an apparent liking to my body and refuses to budge! Been coughing so much that my mum had me take some bird's nest (I think she may be secretly trying to impart me ways of being a tai-tai.. LOL)

Oh no, the news flash just reported that a part of the population's Singpass has been compromised (cue McD's curry sauce joke, K&K haaaa)...Gotta check out what that is all about in the news later hmm

Testing Yat, Yee, Sum

Inspired by my awesome friends' blog over at Toes in the Sand, I've decided to resurrect my blogging habit!

Xanga still isn't up unfortunately so there you go Blogger, you've got yourself some business from yours truly. In any case, I wasn't too keen on digging out all those years of archived entries, and the purpose of this is to share my new and soon-to-come experience with the circle of "乖乖吃lontong" (and to provide intelligence to any spies who may be sent my way to be my boyfriend). Anyways, I digress.

Since I'm not actually in Hong Kong yet, I have zilch pictures of mine to show..but fear not! I'll let you guys salivate over a picture of some gorgeous dollops of 烧卖 grabbed from Thirsty for Tea.

Looks healthy doesn't it?

Oh yea, credits are important. Don't want no people feeling unappreciated, do we?