Apr 30 2012

A long week

And so a new week begins, but for me, today, this Monday feels like a Friday and very soon it will be my Sunday since we’re off tomorrow, and I’ve been working non-stop for a week now. As I mentioned before. I don’t mind it. Not as burdening and heavy as one might think.

Anyway, the week has been quite hectic. All due to all the trainings to attend to, organize and conduct. On top of that, my airport pass cleared so I had to go to the airport. Super exciting, but with to many locations, all urgent, and last minute changes/emergencies, it throws all your previous planning out the window..well, not all, but much of it. Thank goodness that I stayed back in the office at the beginning of the week until past 23.00 to avoid any back ups of things to do. So some pro-activeness is always good I guess.

The only training this week that I needed to attend to. Courvoisier Cognac at the Beam Office. On top of these three we also tried the Courvoisier 21 year old.

Luckily, I have friends who are stubborn enough to drag me out for dinners..otherwise, I don’t know how much I would’ve eaten..Yummy prawns with heaps of garlic and coriander. Really nice.

Black pepper crab as well..=)

The training I was conducting yesterday (Sunday). For Balvenie, last minute set up, but worked out quite alright =)

My messy desk..it doesn’t matter how much I try to clear it..things just appear..

Yesterday after the training I had time to go to E for BBQ. They were so nice to save me some food since I was late.

After that we went over to another friend who stayed nearby to eat more and play some dices. FUN! Really missed spending time with friends. I’ve been way too busy and the time I have with my friends have been jeopordized..=(

Before heading home, Jess and I went to see an apartment. Goodness..it was a weird experience!

The area felt…dodgy..to say the least. For being a good locations, it was hidden in the midst and turned out to be quite inconvenient. However, the wors thing was when we took the elevator up to the 9th floor and the apartment right next to the elevator when we stepped out had their main door open.

I FREAKED OUT! Not because their door was open, but because it was all dark, except their altar that was lit and located right infront of the door. With a creapy green light!

Ah! It was so scary. The surroundings were all dark and grey. Felt so odd!

The apartment we saw was right opposite to that scary apartment and was actually quite alright. But both Jess and I left feeling very freaked out. I told Jess that I litterally felt like I stepped in to an asian scary movie. With ghosts and the ring and the grudge and I don’t know what. Felt like I wouldn’t be suprised if anyone told me that scary things happened there..aaggh! We both stayed calm until we left to not freak each other out on the spot hahaha.

So that didn’t go well, but we’re keeping the hopes up and the faith never dying haha. We’ll find a place we both enjoy.

It’s been raining all morning, since I woke up and it’s pouring down now..I enjoy it so much =) even if I got completely drenched for walking from the busstop to the office building..even if I carried an umbrella

Is this somewhat replacing my romantic life? I mean, it’s like I’m in love. I didn’t expect to like X* so much, but realizing that even when facing the less nicer perspectives, I still smile. Still see the good sides…

* X is whatever you want to put in there, but that in this case, that I could put in Singapore or a guys name in there and it still would make perfect sense

Maybe I at the moment don’t need the love that exists between lovers..?

Can love from friends, for your work, where you live, your life, family etc. be enough?

Apr 29 2012

Work work work and friends

Been working non-stop. Worked this weekend, conducting training, but funny enough, i don’t feel sick of it. It’s actually OK.

Today I conducted the training for Balvenie. Directly from there I came to see my friend E, whom i haven’t properly seen in ages since i started working.

BBQ, playing games, catching up and laughing. NICE!
Nice to mert up with the gang again. Even if it’s not the complete today.

Apr 26 2012

Piglets at IKEA

Went for lunch at IKEA on tuesday..we were four of us, but still had to get two separate trolleys. I realised then that I have nother foodie friend at work..

Have to have meat balls right? But why is the potato so pale??

This is what we got last minute before paying..we thought that we didn’t have enough food…

Shrimp salad was a must apparently

Chicken wings! We don’t get them in the Swedish IKEAs, therefor, had to get them!

You know me, have to have fries (potato), oh, and the jelly is included with the meals!

Imagine…all this food..between two of us..hahaha

It was good..nostalgic..glad that IKEA is so close to the office..=)

Apr 24 2012

Blessing in disguise

I’m back to my “normal” time schedule, meaning being at least half an hour early to work. I like it. I avoid the rush hour, don’t need to stress and have time to collect and focus before the day really starts.

This means that I’m up at 06:00 and out the door by 07:30 latest..early for being me. I’m so not an early bird! Maybe I’m getting old or something, but I enjoy the calmness before everyone wakes up and the city goes ballistic! (Although I’m quite surprised that the traffic jams aren’t THAT crazy…Only during a couple of hours certain areas in the evening I experience the real traffic jam..Stockholm can get so much worse..)

Yesterday I left the office sometime after 23.00. It was my own decision. Time management. Knowing all the things ahead I needed to get as much out of the way as possible. My desk needs to get cleared of all the sheets of lists and to do lists that I so happily create and start on haha (I love lists, especially to do lists haha)..Also knowing that I’ll be out of the office the entire day (Courvoisier Cognac training and then the rest of the day at Changi Airport)..It’s like loosing a whole day!

A friend sent this picture to me after finding out how much I love potatoes…sweet =)

If it was my life back in Stockholm, this wouldn’t have happened. Why? Because it’s not the norm. Because I have no life if I do so and no one is so stupid to volunteraly stay behind or arrive this early. But this is exactly why I wanted to leave Sweden, why I wanted to try working here in Asia.

There are good and bad sides to everything, that we all know.

I like Sweden for being so safe. That you most probably won’t get cheated and at work, you will have your responsibilities and missions stated clearly. It’s easy to put the lines down, to mark the territory of responsibility. But what I wanted to leave because I wanted to explore my capabilities. Stretch and see how far I could go. Not stretch and then someone telling me: “You can’t do that, it’s not your job description” or “Thank you, now we’ll hand over to the other department, that’s their job”.

Here things have so far been: throw as much of everything at once at Claudia! And it’s like that for everyone here. I like it cause it can get to a massive overload of information, tasks, missions, ideas, leads and what not, but it’s up to the person to sort out the information and according to your own capabilities find the best optimal way. I like that.

Instead of feeling stressed out and overloaded, I actually feel free. All because I feel like I’m in control and that I’m free to digest, handle and prioritize accordingly. Also, because I see this as a learning experience. Everything is.

I still remember how worried and stressed out I was during my jobhunt here. No matter what, I’ll remember that and enjoy my work. It’s not that hard I’m still in my honeymoon phase haha.

And off we go to the Courvoisier training!

Have a good day everyone,today think of at least one thing that you’re thankful about..=)

Apr 18 2012

Update and picture attack!

I haven’t been updating for a while, all due to the normal excuses. Going to bed but thought that I’d publish the pictures that I meant to post. So the intention’s always there..it’s just when to actually post them that I get stuck. I can’t wait until my iPhone unlocks, that way I can publish and post stuff as I go and not have to collect the stuff and post them another time.

Anyway..let’s get into it!

Went to Din Tai Fung again, but this time in Katong I12. See the previous post here.

The crunch spicy cucumber, was nice..quite refreshing..

The chillicrab buns..not really my thing, I felt a bit sick that day, will try it again to see if I really dislike them..=)

My very plain noodles with soup. Don’t underestimate it though, it was really nice. The noodles very elastic and the soup fresh and balanced.

Simplicity is often enough for me.

dumplings

Jess’ beef broth soup with noodles

During the week I finally got to try the Pastamania food that I see everywhere. Actually first time eating pasta here in Singapore..Had it at Plaza Singapura.

wholemeal pasta carbonara. Not to my liking..it would be OK if it was the result of what a friend randomly cooked. But for being a pasta place..not really. Way too saucy, runny and overly flavored. I like the pasta carbonara because of its simplicity and that it’s a good dish to use to see if the chef really knows his pasta..

During the week I also managed to go to Queensway mall to have lunch while running some errands. (Very close to one of the two IKEAs they have in Singapore) =)

Laksa! Apparently quite well done. I enjoyed it! Like that the noodles were chopped so that I only needed to use the spoon haha.

Then I also went back to Mos burger to try the rice burgers again, this time in Tiong Bahru Plaza:

A favorite come-back, spicy beef teriyaki. Not so fond of it..

While clearing the store room, a very excited Colleague rushed to me with this bottle. Mina kära vänner i Sverige; visste ni att vi stockholmare tillverkar denna alcohol? Inte jag i alla fall haha.

Went back to Mos burger AGAIN today, tried their chili dog..big right? It wasn’t that good. Not spicy and pretty mushy and bland..=(

(Oh and posting a picture of myself, due to a friend’s request haha)

While running errands, my boss and I still manage to find a way to indulge. Ladies, don’t we just love this box?

Filled with macaroons. I’ve only tried them once before and I couldn’t even finish one. It was so extremely sweet! Gave it another try, cause I can’t believe that it’s to so many’s liking for being that sweet. It must have been coincidental.

These were sweet, but not as sweet, so I managed to eat a few ones..over a period of time..haha..flavors from the left: green tea/passionfruit, hazelnut, blue (don’t remember), rum and raisin, coconut, banana and lemon.

That’s all for now, time to rest!

Hope you had a wonderful week! Let’s bring on an even better one to come!

My Xin Le

- the journey it takes me on

Monthly Archives: April 2012

A long week

Work work work and friends

Piglets at IKEA

Blessing in disguise

Update and picture attack!