Hello 2014!

Well, hasn't this little blog been a bit neglected...

It's the first day of the New Year. A time to reflect on the year that was and set resolutions for the year ahead. I'm never good with New Year Resolutions. Last year, one of my goals was to be able to do a handstand and walk on my hands by the end of the year. It was all going so well for the first few weeks/months and after a dozen bruises (I was doing handstands in our little apartment), I could finally do a handstand against a wall... But then I just stopped. And now I can't do it anymore. 

But broken resolutions aside, whenever a year ends and a new one begins, I always look back at the year with a contented smile. The past year went by in quite a flurry. A lot has changed. A lot has remained the same. Here are the selfies, the food and the major events that made my year. 

Although my last post in this blog dated back to March, I actually didn't stop writing this year. Actually, I wrote more but in a private Evernote notebook. It was more due to the ease of penning my thoughts down in Evernote. I will go back and post some of my past journal entries onto this blog.

The biggest change for me this year was that after eight and a half years, I left my job and started somewhere new. I know that for many people, a job is a job and switching companies is no big deal. But for me, the place I worked for was my home away from home, the people were my family, and it was the place that raised and nurtured me through my twenties. It was my first real job out of uni. I met so many incredible people in that job and it really did teach me everything I know about business, the realities of life, and the dynamics of people. I am so grateful for the opportunities and experiences that the job gave me. The job and the company played a big part in shaping me into the person I am today. I will always be grateful.

It's been two months since I started my new role and frankly, I'm still settling in. I've gone from working for a traditional Aussie company, to a big Global corporation. The company is doing well and has a prosperous future. They invest a lot in their people and they demand a lot in return. The work front I can manage, but the people dynamics are a whole new ball game. I've already made a stack of mistakes. But it's a new year, a fresh start, and I'm determined to do better. 

Something else I did this year was go on a 10 day silent meditation retreat in the Blue Mountains. (I have a journal entry about my experience which I'll post up later.) The experience changed my life. Mentally and emotionally it taught me the tools to gain what we all search for in life; inner peace and contentment. Applying it is a different kettle of fish, but I would say that it has helped me to gain seconds of inner calm when I've most needed it. (Now I just need to expand those seconds into a life time.) On a physical level, I walked away from the 10 day experience with no desire to ever eat red meat again and over the past year I have lived predominantly on a Pescatarian diet. (i.e. I still eat fish and seafood.) This diet has posed challenges at times but overall, I feel great. 

Other things that happened this year include a family holiday to Malaysia to celebrate my 30th birthday, saying goodbye to our old car and hello to our new one, lots of laughs with old friends and serendipitous meetings with new ones. 

For me, a lot has changed. I feel older. I look older, and I can feel my emotions mellowing out a lot more (i.e. less turbulent peaks and troughs). But also, lots has stayed the same. I'm still optimist about this moment and the next. I'm still grateful for everything I have. I'm still ridiculously in love (maybe even more so than a year ago). I'm still learning. I'm still curious. I'm still believing. 

I know that change is the one constant in life. I mean, yesterday it was 2013, and now it's 2014. Whatever the new year brings, at this moment, I am happy and grateful. 

Happy New Year.

New York, New York

We definitely had our share of ups and downs on our New York trip. Me getting food poisoning, MP losing his wallet which meant not having money to spend for two days as we waited for the money transfer to come through.... 

But the good was sooo good! We ate at Michelin Star restaurants...Per Se, Eleven on Madison, Momofuku's Ko, Jean Georges... We ate at New York's best burger joints, had tasty fresh from the oven New York pizza slices, Ess-a-bagel, Katz, Chop'd salads... the weight definitely stacked on, but it was completely worth it. 

We had our Sleepless in Seattle moment at the Empire State building, watched the sunset from the Top of the Rock, went to museums, jumped on a Liberty Island cruise, watched a Knicks game, saw three broadway shows, ice skated in Central Park, visited all the Sex and the City landmarks, and even took a scary trip to Harlem. We ventured to bars (even wandered into a Comedy Club one night) and just we walked and walked and walked. 

We nabbed some great bargains at Woodbury, doign our fair share of shopping everyone. All in all, it was an amazing trip and even three months after, I still smile giddily at the memories.

There has been insightful revelations and dreams for the future. One relevation being that Money is everything in America, and a lot of New Yorkers don't have it. There are a lot of Americans who work in the service sector earning significantly LESS than minimum wage (Approx $9/hour). Some waiters are solely reliant on tips as their income. On the other side of the coin, there are also many ridiculously, filthy rich people living in New York. Celebrities, Sport Stars, Suits - people earning millions and millions a year who can afford $10-$30 million dollar apartments. (Casual browsing of the New York Times revealed many Brownstones averaging in that range.) Living in New York is expensive. For us, it was already a very decadent trip (worth every penny, I might add). But this trip definitely opened my eyes to the fact that there are many, many tiers of decadence above and beyond me.

Now the plans for the future. Well, I guess the biggest thing MP and I decided is that we may want to wait a little while longer before we have kids. Now this is pretty big considering that we were planning to start trying when I turned 30. I think this trip has made us realize that there's still a lot we want to see and do. Maybe even the possibility of moving to New York for a while? The thought both excites and scares me. Exciting, as we'd be living in New York! Scary, as we would know nobody. I also realise that holidaying and living in New York would be very, very different. I'm also nervous that I wouldn't be able to find a job here... But I guess I wouldn't know unless I tried.

All in all, this wonderful trip has left me feeling very grateful. Grateful for all the opportunities, people... everything in my life. For two weeks, I got the opportunity to step out of my little world and lose myself in a much bigger world. I gained some perspective, some pudge around the waist... and a new Burberry trench. Lucky. Happy. Grateful... That is me. 

A piccie of MP, up at the Top of the Rock on his last day of being 29.

NYC prelude

My husband is a huge ice hockey fan. Specifically, a Detroit Red Wings ice hockey fan. He's got the jersey, he watches old games, he himself plays for the Norwest Emporers and he's even imposed 'distance from ice rink' as a criterion for where we live.

Suffice to say, watching a real live National Hockey League (NHL) game would be the dream for him. So six months ago I started planning a surprise trip to America for his 30th birthday. The Red Wings were playing a home game in Detroit on the night of his birthday. I booked Delta flights to New York, flights to Detroit and one night's accommodation at the Detroit Greek Casino Hotel. The Red Wing's home rink was the Joe Louis Arena, and I discovered that the rink offered fan tours to the locker rooms and commentators boxes. (Booked.) I found out that for a $50 donation, I could have a special birthday message come up on the video board during the game. (Locked in.)

Everything was planned and booked, and MP had no idea! All he knew was that he had to take a week off work as we were going away. As I had got the whole family in on the surprise, his guess was that I had organised a big family trip to Ayers Rock (which he wasn't quite thrilled about).

Then... disaster hit. NHL announced a lock out.

From my simple understanding of the lockout, there was/is a dispute between the hockey league and the players, over money. So as no one was/is yielding, all games have been suspended until further notice.

One of MP's good mates Jae (another hockey fanatic who had been helping me organise the trip) was the one who alerted me of the lockout. His advice was that I had to tell Merv so that he could keep on top of the lockout news.

So much for the surprise. I had planned for him to find out where we were going once we arrived at the airport and I told him which flight number we were boarding. Then he would have checked the board to find out which check-in aisle we needed to go to, then "SURPRISE! We're going to New York!"

Instead, I pulled up the Flight Confirmation email on my iPad and a picture of the Joe Louis Arena seating chart. Whilst he was reading in bed, I handed my iPad to him. The shock look of surprise lasted for approximately 1.5 seconds before pure disappointment hit.
"NOOO! There's a stupid lock out!"


... Which is how we ended up spending two weeks in New York City.

Stay tuned for our NYC trip in the next post.

Catchup Post - Singapore

It's been a long time between posts, and what a good five months it's been! Lots has happened. Lots didn't happen. And there was a whole lot of living in between.

We went to Singapore over the Labour Day Long weekend back in September. It was my dear friend Mel's 30th birthday. She and her husband Mike, are expats living in Malaysia. So we organised to all get our butts over to Singapore for a big, decadent birthday celebration. Boy was it decadent...

I made reservations at the Tetsuya's Waku Ghin restaurant in Singapore, and when our other friends, Frank and Sarah heard about this, they decided to ditch their bub with the grandparents and come along on this whirlwind trip. When Sarah's sister Tracey heard about this, she decided to third wheel and also come along. So the five of us boarded a Saturday afternoon Scoot flight and landed in Singapore at 8pm. First stop, Jumbo's Seafood Restaurant! Of course our first meal at Singapore had to be Chilli Crab! Mike and Mel were already there and we ordered every flavour of crab you can think of. Chilli crab, pepper crab, steamed crab... by the end of it, I promised my stomach no more crab for the rest of the year. (That promise was broken within 48 hours.)

After our crab feast, we went hunting down a nice place to bring in Mel's 30th. One of Mike's friends recommended a place called the Helipad and when we got there, we saw that it was literally situated on a Helipad. It was also swarming with groups of people whom I thought looked like underage teens. They were of course, all of age and, as MP so kindly pointed out,  I was just old. Which is true. I was too old to queue in a line and pay a cover charge to a place which was lit up by glow stick accessories. So we left the helipad and rebriefed Mike's friend - Delicious Cocktails. Comfy lounges. City skyline views... and that's how we ended up at the Lantern Bar. The Lantern Bay is a stylish rooftop bar at the Fullerton Hotel which has spectacular panoramic views of the CBD and Marina Bay. The cocktails were scrumptious. The views were breathtaking and best of all, I was surrounded by my best friends.

We were one of the last groups to stumble out of the Lantern Bar, and just because we were in Singapore, we decided to hunt down some supper. We ended up at restaurant which served up yummy Hainan Chicken, and although none of us thought we were hungry, the whole chicken was gone in a blink! Belly full and bleary eyed, we headed back to the Holiday Inn Orchard Road to rest up for the full day we had ahead.

Sunday was officially Mel's birthday and her gorgeous husband pre-booked a pamper day at the luxurious Spa Botania in Sentosa. As Frank & Co were flying out that night, they skipped the pamper session, opting instead for a full day of power shopping. So Mel, Mike, MP and I piled in a cab and headed to Sentosa where we indulged in massages, body scrubs and foot scrubs. We got clayed up in the mud pools and lounged on floating beds in their pool which featured a waterfall.We had a healthy lunch at their restaurant, and before you know it, six hours had passed and we had to head back to the hotel to get ready for the highlight of the trip - Waku Ghin.

The meal at Waku Ghin deserves a post of it's own, but I'll let the pictures do the talking.

From the moment we stepped through the restaurant doors, we were floating in food heaven... Or more like, swimming in food heaven - It was an Aquarium banquet. Lobster! Abalone! Sea urchiin! Sea cucumber! Caviar! Everything was cooked right in front of us by our own private chef. It was an amazing meal from beginning to end. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Singapore.

On our last day in Singapore, MP and I spent it shopping and exploring the city. Just the two of us. Together, we hunted down a hawker centre round the corner of our hotel for an Asian breakfast of braised duck, hainan chicken, oyster omelette and rice. (When in Rome...) Then we headed to Ion, a shopping centre in Orchard city, and went nut balls at the little boutiques.

On our first night in Singapore, the taxi driver who had taken us to Jumbo Seafood restaurant for Chilli Crab, had told us that we should go to a place on Upper Thomson Road called "Urban Seafood House". Apparently, the Chilli crab there was not only better than Jumbo's, but much cheaper as well. So for our last meal in Singapore, MP and I decided to jump in a cab and try heading there. We didn't have an address and we had no internet connection on our iPhones, so we drove around Upper Thomson (which we found out is a very, very long, suburban road) looking for this mysterious restaurant. Merv pointed out a restaurant called "Urvin's" but it was empty. We thought, "that definitely couldn't be it." But in hindsight, it must have been as we drove everywhere and couldn't find it. The cab driver ended up dropping us off at a small village block, full of eateries. We stumbled across a seafood restaurant where quite a few locals were patroning. So we sat down and ordered one chilli crab, one pepper crab, prawns, man tao and vegies. When all the food came out, MP and I felt like fat Kings and Queens (and a little sheepish for being so decadent with our order.) The meal was amazing. Here's a before and after shot of our meal. 

The food was sooo good and relatively cheap! (I think the whole meal came in at around $60.) After dinner we had to race to the airport, but the meal was a fantastic finale to our whirlwind trip.

Yes, it was OTT, but this whole trip was exciting, thrilling, happy, decadent, luxurious and ridiculously delicious. I loved every minute of Singapore. We will definitely be back. 

Can't sleep...

It's been such a big week. After 9 months of hard work, I finally gave birth to my work baby on Wednesday 22nd August. He weighs 2.12 million UAs and he's number one in his market. He will officially be revealed to the world next Monday but trade press will start tomorrow. Can't wait for everyone to see it.
There's too much going on in my head tonight/this morning and I can't sleep. Boozy Editorial lunch today. Dinner at Longrain tonight.
Hope I don't fall asleep on my betel leaf entree.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Being forced to stop

It's day 5. Five hellish days of THE WORKS. We're talking, fever, aches and pains, runny nose, nasty cough, shortness of breath, ear ache, mouth ulcers and, a symptom I've never really experienced before, not being able to taste anything.

Through the delirium, sweat and tears (yes, there were tears... that's how bad it got), I realised that I could have prevented this from getting so bad. There were signs. My body did try warning me, but I ignored them. Now I have no choice. I've been forced to stop.

There have been other realisations. Some irrational ("I'm a bad wife/friend/daughter/person"). Others, more productive. The biggie? My acknowledgement that I haven't been taking very good care of myself. Over the last six months, MP and I have completely fallen out of routine. We eat out most nights and I think I've drunk more booze in the last six months, than I have in my first 28 years of life. I've stopped exercising, even piking on the weekly Yoga classes which I love. All in all, I've been putting 100% effort into work but 0% effort into me. My frown lines are etching deeper day by day, and when I look in the mirror, I see a weariness where the spark use to be.

I can't do anything about it tonight, but tomorrow's a new day. There will be no work tomorrow. Tomorrow I am going to reboot.

Holidays were a distant dream...

... which is why we take photos!

It's been four weeks since we got back from our Asia Trip, and this is probably the first weekend of normality we've had since our return. The holiday was amazing. We ate so much food! I'm going to take the lazy route and let the pictures do the talking.

Malaysia...

Hong Kong...

Japan...

(... wiping the drool off my chin)

It was a wonderful trip filled with many soul etched memories. It was good to see MP's grandparents in Mayalsia and my grandma and uncles in Hong Kong. We had a blast hanging out with Royce in Tokyo, and felt so regal, bumming with the Yees in Kuala Lumpur. We ate at an array of places, from dingy hawker stalls to three Michelin Star Restaurants. We ate the full spectrum of Asian delicacies from pork intestine soup to soft shell turtle. (I will do a separate post about our Ryokan experience in Hakone and our uber fine dining experience at Nihonryori Ryugin.)

But overall, our trip was fabulous.

Conversely, our return to Sydney has been hard. Really hard. Reality smacked us both in the face the day after we got off the plane and stepped foot into work. I've spent the first two weeks reeling from all the news and announcements that have been made, and have since been sucked back into the corporate vortex, forced to sprint at full speed.


Parallel universes do exist. I feel that the dichotomy between my holiday and my work is proof of it. One day, I'm in a sweltering third world country, sipping a cold Tei Tarek as I wait to be served three ringgit (AUD $1) Roti at a local suburban Mamak. The next day, I'm sitting in a meeting with the new Editor in Chief of the Sydney Morning Herald, and he's telling me gut wrenching news.


Well... At least I have these happy snaps to remind me that it wasn't all a dream...