Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Work trip to Kuala Lumpur!
It's been such a long time since I logged on here! Guilty as charged.
Was whisked off to Kuala Lumpur and Xiamen for work over the last 2 months (late March and late April) which leaves very little time for other things in-between.
Unfortunately, I don't have any photos to show of the amazing KL city but I do have MANY shots of the hotel and serviced suites I stayed in. Yup, that shows how boring my work trip was - most of my time was spent indoors. Hahaha!
Okay in all honesty, the nature of the work done in the Hotel was very fun but I do wished I had time to step out.
PARKROYAL Kuala Lumpur Hotel
My colleague and I spent the first 7 days of the trip here. Located in Bukit Bintang (shopping and entertainment district of Kuala Lumpur), the PARKROYAL Kuala Lumpur Hotel is the perfect place to stay in if you want to do loads of shopping and eating around the city.
First up my room! I was staying in the Orchid Club Premier King room. It's not the best habit but I guess it's part of being in my line of work. The first thing I do every time I step into a room is to drop everything and take loads of photos of the room in as many angles as I can. No matter if it's for work trip or for personal holidays, it's the first thing I will do. Extremely particular about toilet cleanliness and arrangement of cushions and furniture and I'm glad this room was perfect in every way :)
As we were staying at the Orchid Club rooms, we had access to the Club floor where you can come up here for drinks and breakfast (if you don't wish to eat with the crowd). It was very spacious and has amazing view!
Unfortunately, no shots of the vicinity. As the Hotel had many dining options, we didn't see the need to step out for food. If you asked me about the weather of KL in those 7 days, I wouldn't be able to tell you!
PARKROYAL Serviced Suites KL
We shifted over to the Serviced Suites for the next 5 days. I got the Studio Suite King room. Absolutely love how spacious it is!
The breakfast area
As the property houses more long-stay guests compared to hotels, they have a common area for in-house guests to hang around. There are computer terminals, loads of reading materials and games to play as well.
While the Serviced Suites served breakfast and in-room dining, it actually does not have an in-house restaurant. This gives us more reasons to venture out.
We were quite hard pressed for time on our first day there (loads of work to clear at the new property!) so we opted for somewhere nearby. One of the staff directed us to a roadside economy rice store just across the street.
The concept is rather interesting. They have a wide range of food selection available and you get to take food yourself in whichever portions you want. In Singapore, the store owner usually takes them for you so sometimes it's hard to nick an additional piece or two.
Once satisfied with what you have, you can proceed to the counter. The lady takes a look at the dishes you pick (with no regards for the portions) and charge accordingly. There seemed to be no standard way to price this!
There were many nice cafes around the Serviced Suites so we cafe-hopping over the next few days. This was our favourite although I don't remember the name. It's less than 5 minutes away from the property, serves to-die-for curry chicken and amazing teh (milk tea). It has very old school deco, reminds me of those hipster cafes in Singapore!
As the property staff didn't think it was safe for us to go out at night, we usually have our dinner early when the day is still bright and makes it back to the Serviced Suites before skies turn dark. The GM (General Manager) of the property was very kind to take us out for dinner one night. We went to Restoran Siu Siu (Cantonese for Small Small Restaurant) at Robson Heights, an elevated area in Kuala Lumpur.
The owner speaks Cantonese and this place serves out of this world food, especially so for that perfectly roasted char siew! You have to order this if you go there.
Steamed patin fish. Another must-order. The fish was very fresh and the sauce light, it really brings out the tenderness and flavour of the fish.
Home-made bean curd with long beans and minced meat. The bean curd is very soft and the salty long beans/meat paste complemented it so well. Also must-order!
This dish is called Green Dragon Vegetables. Yes you read that right. It's lightly stir-fried and absolutely yummy. Another must-order as well.
Besides eating, most of my time is really spent doing work in various corners of the room (at the desk, on the bed, in the living room or in kitchenette) and spinning the television around whenever I am.
On our last weekend in KL, we decided to venture out to the Chinatown area just behind the property. The Serviced Suites is located near vibrant night life (read: a string of pubs and nice restaurants). Once you walked past pubs, you will find Chinatown!
My only regret about staying here is... I didn't get to use the roof top pool at all! :( If I get to come here for work again the next time, I'm totally going to bring my swimsuit.
Can't wait to come back to KL for work trip again!
Friday
Decks of budget have been signed off (well except for 1 to 2 outstanding ones...) and the weekend is here!! Friday has not smell this good for a really long time.
Icing on the cake?
I've got a new blog header! :) It's like getting a new blog template and there is new found interest to update this virtual space more often.
Off to watch 'The Judge' with the boy and smell the first good (i.e free from reading all that budget memorandums and crunching financial statements) weekend since July!
Ermhmmm...Hello!
It's been so long since I last logged in that I almost can't remember my password. Almost. And obviously the first thing I did upon logging in was to attempt to change the blog template and now my header is gone. Booooo. Now I have to go locate back that header..
A lot has been going on at work with 2 new senior management folks joining us in early August - right smack in the season of the budget period. Madness will continue till mid October, which is about a week away!
I cannot wait for the budget figures to be signed off and loaded into the financial systems just so the entire office (or rather my team and the Finance folks) can go off for our well deserved break. Hopefully by then I can find time to update on all the things I've done and places I've been in the last 2 months.
Meanwhile, please bear with the bare space and lack of updates! :)
A lot has been going on at work with 2 new senior management folks joining us in early August - right smack in the season of the budget period. Madness will continue till mid October, which is about a week away!
I cannot wait for the budget figures to be signed off and loaded into the financial systems just so the entire office (or rather my team and the Finance folks) can go off for our well deserved break. Hopefully by then I can find time to update on all the things I've done and places I've been in the last 2 months.
Meanwhile, please bear with the bare space and lack of updates! :)
Yet another hiatus
First up - a huge thank you to all those who still bothered to pop by for an update! I've been so busy at work that switching on my computer while at home is really the last thing I want to do.
So that pretty much explains the hiatus.
September flew by so quickly, more so for the first half of October! What do you mean it's already 20th of October? Last few weekends were spent trying to stay away from work emails (failed miserably) and fitting meetings with friends in-between. The end result is an extremely tired person who really just want to hole up at home under the blanket.
Just got back from a whirlwind 4 day work trip in Hong Kong - first 3 days were extremely well-spent, attending discussion forums with many CEOs and leaders of my industry and learning loads along the way. The 3rd evening was a night yacht ride to Lama island for seafood - while I've been to Hong Kong a few times, this is the first time I've truly paused to admire the skyline that the city was so famous for. It was honestly breath-taking. Managed to catch up with some friends over breakfast at the Australian Dairy Company on the last day before catching the flight back to Singapore. The scrambled eggs was amazing - all fluffy and oily. That being said, it's a rather stressful place to be eating because the staff rush you (so they could have a quicker seat turnover to accommodate the snaking queue right outside its little outlet).
In-between the Hong Kong madness, I caught The Great Gatsby, Now You See Me and half of World War Z on the plane. Talk about making good use of time!
Will have to try to take a break before going to Malaysia for another work trip early next month! GAH. Can't wait for all these madness to end!
Just got back from a whirlwind 4 day work trip in Hong Kong - first 3 days were extremely well-spent, attending discussion forums with many CEOs and leaders of my industry and learning loads along the way. The 3rd evening was a night yacht ride to Lama island for seafood - while I've been to Hong Kong a few times, this is the first time I've truly paused to admire the skyline that the city was so famous for. It was honestly breath-taking. Managed to catch up with some friends over breakfast at the Australian Dairy Company on the last day before catching the flight back to Singapore. The scrambled eggs was amazing - all fluffy and oily. That being said, it's a rather stressful place to be eating because the staff rush you (so they could have a quicker seat turnover to accommodate the snaking queue right outside its little outlet).
In-between the Hong Kong madness, I caught The Great Gatsby, Now You See Me and half of World War Z on the plane. Talk about making good use of time!
Will have to try to take a break before going to Malaysia for another work trip early next month! GAH. Can't wait for all these madness to end!
3,4 and 5
So after 3 hours of flight delay (where we were sitting in the plane waiting for what felt like eternity), 4 inflight movies and 5 hours of flight time, I managed to get myself in one piece back to Singapore.
At 3.30am in the morning.
I'm sitting in the office now, exhausted beyond words. Clearly 4 cups of coffee can only do this much.
Not sure how I'm going to make it through the Bahasa Indonesian class tonight but I'll try!
At 3.30am in the morning.
I'm sitting in the office now, exhausted beyond words. Clearly 4 cups of coffee can only do this much.
Not sure how I'm going to make it through the Bahasa Indonesian class tonight but I'll try!
Hello there!
5 days in Xiamen, 1 day in Shanghai and 2nd day in Suzhou - finally at the last leg of my corporate travel! Other than the crazy heat (it's 38 degrees today but really feels more like 45), Suzhou is a delightful city to be in.
Turning in early now so I can gym and go for early meeting tomorrow.
Good night world :) Hope your week as been as amazing as mine :)
Work in on a Saturday
Stepped back into office post lunch today and found 2 of my team mates already at their work stations. Flash back of consulting days.
Hope everyone got an awesome list of activities lined up for the weekend! Now back to work.
Swarmed
Work has been extremely busy. My new intern just joined us this week and I have yet to dream up things for him to do. Oh to think managing interns was supposed to be fun - you know like lording over people and stuff! Hahaha. But I need to structure things for him to be involved in and observe if he's actually doing a good job, whether he's enjoying them et cetera. Steve started his stint with us last week and we have been working many hours together trying to get him up to speed as fast as we can.
I'm grabbing a bigger portfolio now in the name of exposure. Cross-working with various departments and also working on some business development leads for my CFO. Office life is FINALLY getting super busy and satisfying the way I want it to be. I've always been someone who's afraid of a mundane slow work life and I can't be more grateful how things are turning out. Hurhur.
There's going to be many projects coming up so I foresee myself being extremely swarmed. The strange thing is, I can't wait to be. Hahaha. I'm such a sadist.
In other news, my Bahasa Indonesia mock test is in 3 weeks time and final exam in 4 weeks time :O The horror I swear. I'm terribly behind in my revision! Definitely needs to pull Danson out for some full day hardcore studying of sorts.
Ok back to emails and Michael Bolton/Bryan Adams.
I'm grabbing a bigger portfolio now in the name of exposure. Cross-working with various departments and also working on some business development leads for my CFO. Office life is FINALLY getting super busy and satisfying the way I want it to be. I've always been someone who's afraid of a mundane slow work life and I can't be more grateful how things are turning out. Hurhur.
There's going to be many projects coming up so I foresee myself being extremely swarmed. The strange thing is, I can't wait to be. Hahaha. I'm such a sadist.
In other news, my Bahasa Indonesia mock test is in 3 weeks time and final exam in 4 weeks time :O The horror I swear. I'm terribly behind in my revision! Definitely needs to pull Danson out for some full day hardcore studying of sorts.
Ok back to emails and Michael Bolton/Bryan Adams.
Curious case of the tired Hui
Roar.
I've been crazily tired these days I'm hardly functional in the hours after work. So that means I'm SO behind on my Running Man episodes, SO behind on my revision of my Bahasa Indonesian lessons, and barely there in terms of my training for my Sundown Half Marathon. Not to mention I fall asleep at random corners of the house PRIOR to having a shower or brush my teeth. Gross. Thank god someone always bother to wake me up.
I have no idea why I'm so tired as well - though I have an extremely strong feeling it may have something to do with all the business reviews at work that's killing my brain cells. Hahahaha. Almost had a blackout at the investment conference last week as well. Time to really live up my new year resolutions to take care of the health and sleep more!
Can't wait to have some time to myself next week! It's been so long I hung out with my Kindle and a nice cuppa coffee.
I've been crazily tired these days I'm hardly functional in the hours after work. So that means I'm SO behind on my Running Man episodes, SO behind on my revision of my Bahasa Indonesian lessons, and barely there in terms of my training for my Sundown Half Marathon. Not to mention I fall asleep at random corners of the house PRIOR to having a shower or brush my teeth. Gross. Thank god someone always bother to wake me up.
I have no idea why I'm so tired as well - though I have an extremely strong feeling it may have something to do with all the business reviews at work that's killing my brain cells. Hahahaha. Almost had a blackout at the investment conference last week as well. Time to really live up my new year resolutions to take care of the health and sleep more!
Can't wait to have some time to myself next week! It's been so long I hung out with my Kindle and a nice cuppa coffee.
Jeering rights
There's some sort of a running competition going on in office between my SVP and his two regional directors. Every morning, they would log on to their Nike + app/account to compare how many kilometres they have clocked.
Running practices of course goes on privately so they could one-up someone within the team and brag about it the next morning.
"It's all about bragging rights isn't it?" I asked.
"Oh no. It's JEERING rights." said my director.
Men and their egoes. Hahahaha.
Running practices of course goes on privately so they could one-up someone within the team and brag about it the next morning.
"It's all about bragging rights isn't it?" I asked.
"Oh no. It's JEERING rights." said my director.
Men and their egoes. Hahahaha.
Ohhh yeahhhh
Best news at work today - my boss passed me his registration for an investment conference in March! Small thing but I've been looking to go to this annual conference for the longest time!
Small victories ftw :)
I promise some substantial blog updates soon. Work and life in general has been ridiculously busy :)
Blogged from my iPhone
Small victories ftw :)
I promise some substantial blog updates soon. Work and life in general has been ridiculously busy :)
Blogged from my iPhone
Good day
I've been waking up to ridiculously good mood these few days and I have no explanation for it. Maybe it's the lack of sleep or maybe it's having too many cookies at work. Or maybe there's no real reason at all. Hahahaha.
Just got my new laptop at work and everything is smooth like butter. The screen is amazing too. I can't wait to finish all my papers and models! Hahaha. I'm feeling extra productive today too. Maybe I will bring the new baby home and have some fun customizing it.
As you can tell, I'm an easily satisfied employee.
Just got my new laptop at work and everything is smooth like butter. The screen is amazing too. I can't wait to finish all my papers and models! Hahaha. I'm feeling extra productive today too. Maybe I will bring the new baby home and have some fun customizing it.
As you can tell, I'm an easily satisfied employee.
The Pierce Brosnan conversation
SVP: Did you guys watch the James Bond movie last night on Channel 5?
Director: Yup. It's the James Bond season these days.
SVP: You know I used to look like Pierce Brosnan when I was younger.
(Director and I went into fits of uncontrollable laughers)
SVP: It's real! Go ask around the office and at least 40% will tell you I resemble Brosnan in my younger days.
Director: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Please Dean. Don't disappoint yourself so early in the morning.
God did I mention how much I love this group of people.
Director: Yup. It's the James Bond season these days.
SVP: You know I used to look like Pierce Brosnan when I was younger.
(Director and I went into fits of uncontrollable laughers)
SVP: It's real! Go ask around the office and at least 40% will tell you I resemble Brosnan in my younger days.
Director: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Please Dean. Don't disappoint yourself so early in the morning.
God did I mention how much I love this group of people.
Making of a good boss
I caught my analyst dozing off at his desk so I woke him up and told him to go take a smoke. I blamed it on the heavy lunch I made him eat with me. Hahaha.
And apparently that makes me a good boss. Hurhur.
Blogged from my iPhone
And apparently that makes me a good boss. Hurhur.
Blogged from my iPhone
F1 Weekend!
This is such a belated post. I'm totally up to my eyeballs with work on weekdays and catching up with my friends on weekends (lest I become friendless by the end of the year haha). Healthy lifestyle is me these days - sleeping before 11pm on weekdays and sometimes even earlier on weekends! Hahaha. The downside is I end up waking up really early and annoying everyone at home that is. Hurhur.
Maybe I will pick up cycling soon (besides my crazy Yoga and Pilates classes) so I can take my overwhelming energy levels elsewhere. Hahaha.
Okay, back to the F1 weekend.
As discussed earlier, I was extremely lucky to secure some room nights at one of the hotels along the F1 track for free! Well actually it is for work but who cares haha. The only downside is we have to change rooms every night but seriously small price to pay! Hurhur. Decided to bring the family over since it's always better to share the fun right :)
Maybe I will pick up cycling soon (besides my crazy Yoga and Pilates classes) so I can take my overwhelming energy levels elsewhere. Hahaha.
Okay, back to the F1 weekend.
As discussed earlier, I was extremely lucky to secure some room nights at one of the hotels along the F1 track for free! Well actually it is for work but who cares haha. The only downside is we have to change rooms every night but seriously small price to pay! Hurhur. Decided to bring the family over since it's always better to share the fun right :)
View of the track from our room:
The nightview is amazinggggggggggggg. Such a blessing to be able to fall asleep to this view :)
Brought the parents out for dinner at Jack's Place (one of those restaurants far away enough to avoid all that F1 noise hahaha). It's always nice to pamper your parents:
We went out for a nice stroll around the Marina Bay area after dinner and spotted some nice locations which had great view of F1! Haha who need tickets! Haha.
Our room for Day 2! It didn't have a great view of the track like Day 1 but nonetheless! Still a nice room hurhur:
Decided to bring the parents out for Thai dinner (oooo how we love Thai food) at Siam Kitchen. Suntec City was so quiet for such a happening weekend! :(
As my mum put it: "One day you are just going to regret all that ugly shots of yourself". Oh well.
Went wandering around Marina Square and caught crowds of people trying to capture F1. I guess it's just me but it's always so much more fun being outside the circuit (well unless I get pitstop tickets!) just having fun with random strangers trying to catch the best view of those crazily loud cars :)
Even with earplugs, the noise proved too much for my parents to handle so we made our way back after loitering around the area for almost an hour.
Started Day 3 with a nice breakfast with my sister at Coffee & Toast (sadly this whole area has a rather depressingly small number of options for breakfast) while my parents ate breakfast in the hotel. I'm honestly quite sick of hotel breakfast because of the nature of my work so I'm happier eating something OUTSIDE. If only they serve fried carrot cake in the morning! GAH. I made do with chee cheong fan and my sister had mee siam. Haha.
We sent our parents home after breakfast as my mum missed her plants and goldfishes and my dad misses his own bed. Hahaha. So I followed them home to grab some working clothes and went back to the hotel again. Had the room all to myself! As the renovation team has yet to release the last batch of rooms, I requested to stay in the same room I had for Day 2. It's still much nicer to watch F1 on TV (with all the birdeye views and stuff) I guess.
Okay that wraps up my awesome F1 weekend! :) Can't be more grateful for those free room nights and precious weekend spent with the family. It was a short staycation but hey it was so so so fun :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
