Discovering Melbourne, 9 - 13 Oct 2010

The company had scheduled a Roundtable meeting in Melbourne on 11 – 12 October. Originally it was planned that my Manager would be travelling to Singapore for local meetings and then to Melbourne for the Roundtable meeting. However, due to some medical reason, she had to change her travel plan. As such, the company had requested for me to travel for the meeting.

I was delighted and definitely happy to accept the task as every travel is a great learning opportunity for me and also a good chance to meet the clients.

So I booked myself on Qantas flights from Singapore to Melbourne.

Day 1: 9 October, Sat – QF 9 Singapore – Melbourne.

Qantas fly the Airbus A380 on weekend and thus I was lucky to get my 2nd visit on the A380. Flight was smooth and service was great.

Day 2: 10 October, Sunday

Arrival in Melbourne at 6am in the morning. I took the Sky bus from the airport to the city station (Southern Cross Station) and then got a taxi from there to my hotel. I was booked into the Amora Melbourne located at 649 Bridge Road, Richmond, Vic 2131. It was located outside of CDB but very near to the factory outlets.

As it was still too early for me to check into the hotel room, so I decided to do my shopping first. Yes, I had a short list of shopping items to get from Melbourne. My family’s members are great supporter of Jurlique products. It is very costly to buy them in Singapore but in Australia, they cost ½ the price of Singapore. Each time when we visit Australia, we are surely to stock them up.

So my 1st stop was the Chinatown Duty Free shop which is located in Little Bourke Street.

I took the Tram services from the hotel to Swanton Street. It was very fast and easily accessible. I took the opportunity to explore all the shops along Swanston Street. They have everything and anything – from souvenirs, branded goods and essential needs.

At the Duty Free shop, I bought the Jurlique Essential oils and also some nougat for the families.

After a fulfilling trip, I went back to the hotel for the check in and prepared the meeting items.

In the evening, I had dinner with my Australia colleague and the 2 facilitators for the meeting. It was a good introductory dinner.

Day 3: 11 October, Monday

The meeting was scheduled to start at 9am and there was coffee and tea at 8.45am for the delegates. I had the chance to meet up with all my Australia’s clients and greeting them in person made the difference than on the phone. Some of them even mistaken that I was based in Sydney…: )

The meeting went very well throughout the day and lunch was a good time for networking too.

In the evening, we hosted a dinner at Boheme café which was about 10minutes walk from the hotel. Dinner was delicious and the atmosphere was relaxing. We talked and chatted about different topics and it ended on a happy note.

Day 4: 12 October, Tuesday

2nd day of the meeting also went smoothly, no major hiccups. The meeting was closed around 3pm and we bade goodbyes to each other and promised to keep in contact via emails/phones.

In the evening, it started raining, so I packed back dinner and ate in the hotel room.

Day 5: 13 October, Wednesday

Had a morning meeting with one of my new subscribers. It was my 1st solo meeting and I was glad that it went well and took note of area to improve for my next meeting.

After the meeting, I went back to the hotel to pack and got ready to leave for the airport. At the city station, I was hoping to visit the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne. Sadly, it was closed on a Wednesday, so I missed the opportunity to see it.

Thus, I went straight to the airport, did my check in for the flight. As I was still early, I had a quick lunch and did some duty free shopping before boarding the flight for home sweet home.

Melbourne – a place I last visited 10 years ago and re-visiting it give me a sense of belonging and I had really enjoyed this work trip.

I was telling Adrian that maybe Melbourne can be our next family vacation destination….till we meet again,

G’ Day Mate!!

上海之旅 – 18 May to 21 May 2010

The four days in Shanghai passed so quickly and this trip had been an amazing experienced for me.

Day 1 – Tuesday, 18 May

Departure – SQ 828 Singapore to Shanghai

Upon arrival, I took the Maglev Train from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to the Longyang Road Station. From here, I took a local taxi to the Renaissance Yu Yuan Shanghai Hotel. The Maglev train is similar to the “Bullet Train” in Europe/Japan and its speed can run up to 443KM/Hr. I was really impressed with its speed and it took me about 10minutes ride.

Upon checking in to the hotel, I met up with my UK Manager and we had a quick chat before proceeding to our 1st client visit.

After the meeting, we went back to the hotel and checked function room that we would be using for the following day Full Day meeting were set up in order.

In the evening, we had a quick meet up with the meeting facilitator and walked through a few pointers before heading off for dinner.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.

Day 2 – Wednesday, 19 May

8 am to 4 pm was our full day meeting at the hotel. It was a very good meeting I was tasked to assist the facilitator in the notes taking. It was my 1st experience taking notes for such meeting and it was a great learning experience for me.

After the full day meeting, we had another client appointment at 5pm till 6pm in Pudong. As we were near the Financial Centre, my Manager suggested we take the chance to view the World Tallest Building - Shanghai World Financial Centre. Yes, we took the tour and went all the way up to the 100th floor of the building. It was a magnificent feeling when we were at the top. The only drawback was the view was a little cloudy due to the mist in the air.

Shanghai has all these supertall skyscrapers and each building has its unique “crown” to top the building and it’s an eye-opening experienced. Now I know our buildings are “small & pale” in comparison. : P

We had dinner at Tin-Tai-Feng at the mall in the building. As my Manager is a British and it’s her 1st time in Shanghai, I know it would be good to let her try as many Chinese dishes as possible. She truly enjoyed the 拉面和小笼包。

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and called it day. I went to the hotel pool to take a quick dip and at the same time took some photos of the pool, as requested by Anthea. At night, I had the chance to skype with Adrian and we updated each other on our happening in our respective S countries…haha. I also had the chance to talk to both Anthea and Anders on skype. It was assuring to know they were getting on fine and logistic had worked out fine too.

Day 3 – Thursday, 20 May

We had 3 meetings from morning till afternoon. It was a good exposure for me, especially to meet all these Clients in person and a simple handshake with everyone makes a difference.

As our last client’s office was based in an industrial part about an hour from city, so it took up our whole afternoon. Thank goodness, we had a very patience taxi driver, whom was willing to wait for us while we had a meeting with our Client. (He didn’t charge us for the waiting time…hehe.)

After the meeting, we went back to the hotel to change and freshen up before our next assignment. Yes, we visited another hotel recommended and took a quick look at the meeting rooms. After the viewing, we went to The Bund and had wanted to have our dinner there. However, some of the restaurants needed prior reservation and the one that was available cost a bomb, so we decided to find an affordable dinner venue.

The Bund night scene was simply beautiful with all the buildings of colonial designs. It felt as if we were walking in a part of Europe and it was also kind of romantic with the special lighting. However, the human traffics is equally BIG…haha. Just like what I heard before – 上海看人头。


As we were walking back to our hotel, we discovered a Chinese restaurant named 老北京and it was famous for 北京烤鸭. I brought my manager in and we had a very good meal of Peking duck with other small dishes. She enjoyed the dishes as much as I did.

Day 4 – Friday, 21 May

We had our final client visit at 11am and after the meeting, we went back to the hotel to do our checked out.

Then we headed off to the airport in the same taxi. My Manager was going to Hong Kong for other client’s visits and also to meet with her daughter who is doing internship in Hong Kong.

At the airport, we bade each other good bye and look forward to our next meeting…Singapore, Shanghai or London….just maybe…: )


Dep : SQ 833 Shanghai - Home Sweet Home.

Overall, I had truly enjoyed this working trip. I had the chance to learn so much and my best take away from the trip would be the Personal touch and saying hello to all my subscribers. Nothing beat this compared to all the nice flowery words on the emails.

Also another good take away on home ground is that they had learnt to be independent during my absence and logistic was all under controlled.

The doors are open and the opportunities are plenty. I look forward to my next challenge in the job.


Also finally i bought my own set of the 嗒嗒球!

My 1st Round Table Meeting

In my new job capacity as a Client Service Executive, I have the opportunity organize Round Table meetings and also Mini Round Table meeting.

For the round table meetings, it would be held at a local hotel meeting room. As for mini round table meetings, it’s done via a digital meeting room, so all I need to do is to co-ordinate online.

So far I had done a few mini round table meetings and all had gone on smoothly. This week was my 1st time organizing a Round Table meeting and it was a very good experienced.

It was a 2 days meeting event and it took place on a Wednesday & Thursday. Originally my HQ in United Kingdom was supposed to courier the event documents to the hotel. Also my Service Delivery Director was supposed to travel to Singapore to host the event. However, due to the volcano eruption, all these did not happen.

So immediately I went into action to get the documents printed out via a local printer. Also as my Director could not travel to Singapore, I had to manage the meeting alone, with my facilitator and his assistant.

On Wednesday morning around 8am, I arrived at the hotel to do the setup and also meet up with the meeting facilitator and the assistant.

Around 8.30am, the delegates started to arrive and I manage to meet & greet all of them. It was a very good way to build the rapport with them as usually we would only communicate via emails or telephones.

The meeting started on schedule and all went very smoothly throughout the day. In the evening, I organized a dinner get-together with a few of them who indicated their availability to join for the dinner. It was a simple & enjoyable dinner with the group.

The 2nd day of the meeting also went on very smoothly and at the end of the day, everyone was feeling very happy and the mood was very cordial.

I had a good 2 days with the meeting events and i now look forward to my next event.. : )

Anthea was down with tonsillitis on Wednesday and was given 2 days of MC. Thanks to my mom, as usual, who came in to look after her while I went to work. If not, I would not have been able to manage it so well.

I’m Loving it…

Nope, I am not advertising for Macdees and hope they would not sue me for infringement…hehe.

Yes, this is my exact feeling for the month of February 2010 and I hope this feeling will continue as I progress.

February has been an amazingly great month for me. Besides welcoming the Tiger Year in happiness & joyous mood. It was also the 1st month of my new job/new role.

I had started my journey as a work-from-home mom and I am really enjoying this new privileges.

First and foremost – no more morning rush hours. Secondly, I had included a morning jogs into my new routine. Thirdly – I have ample time to prepare or buy lunches for Anthea & myself. Last but not least – household chores are all within my area & control.

I had been through a few training sessions with my oversea colleagues on new area such as co-ordination of Virtual Meetings and also virtual demonstrations for our members.

It has been a wonderful learning curve and as I progress into in the new role, I am hoping I can build a career out of it. I knew a few of my other colleagues started just like what I am doing now. As their children grew up, their profile changed and they are still enjoying the job.

As for the part on being lonely since I am all by myself at work. Honestly, I don’t feel lonely at all. I have friends who are communicating with me via msn/yahoo. Also face book friends who are giving me all the encouragement. I am grateful to all the companionship from all my wonderful friends/families.

Now I am looking forward to another wonderful month of celebrations in March and continue the Loving feelings...: )

"啊牛进城市"

After working for almost a month at my new temp job, I am getting quite used to the morning express train to Raffles Place.

The energy level is always so high in the morning and people are literally “marching” to work…hehe. This used to be my working place about 10 years ago. : P

Then my working place was changed to the woods and the pace became very laid back..hehe. I enjoyed the greenery and the pace at that time as I embarked on my Part Time working life.

Last year I had the chance to move back to a modern working environment and the workplace was at Novena Square. The pace was fairly ok and I don’t feel the “marching” sensation. I enjoyed Novena as it was about 10 minutes ride from AMK.

On Monday, Adrian was having his off in lieu and he took care of Anthea at home while I went to work. I took the opportunity to meet up with my long time sister – Andrea and had lunch with her. Her office is in Tanjong Pagar and we met there for lunch. Tanjong Pagar MRT station had changed so much and now it has an Exchange itself where they had so many eateries and shopping places. I was truly surprised to see the whole place to be so happening now and it’s really a far cry from the days we were there…hehe.

We had a good lunch and chatted about everything and anything. After lunch, I walked her back to her office and then took a slow walk on Robinson Road. As I walk passed my old office building – SIA Building – it brought back many fond memories. But I noticed the SIA Logo is gone from the building, so guess it’s no longer called SIA Building..hehe.

Along Robinson road, I saw some familiar shops and some newbie’s. The changes are so amazing and if I don’t take a walk this time, I think next time the whole place will be “ulu” to me.

Now that I am doing contract / temp jobs, I had the chance to work in different MNCs and learning the different culture values. I told Adrian that it’s quite good to have such experience to learn all the different cultures.

Hope that i will be able to get my Dream Job again...hee!

Event @ Sentosa

This has been a very busy week for me. At work, my department was handling a major session for about 150 people. I know 150 are not a BIG number but considering there is only my Manager and myself to handle the event, it is a MAJOR EVENT for us…haha.

There was a lot of logistic involved – booking the event venue, confirming the printout for the session, co-coordinating the air tickets / accommodation for all the invited guest speakers, coaches transfers etcs. Honestly all these brought me back to my working days in the Travel agent. In our agency, we also had a MICE department that handled all major events, so I am quite used to this kind of nature of work.

The only difference between then and now is I have a family, so logistic wise, it required more planning on my part me.

The event took place this week on Wednesday and Thursday. On the morning of Wednesday, I was required to be at the event venue at 7.30am, so I had to arrange for both Anthea and Anders to be in school before I left for the event.

Luckily Anders was very co-operative on the 2 days; he woke up around 6.45am, same time as Anthea. Then he had his milk, washed up and changed his uniform and we were out of the house by 7.10am.

We walked Anthea to her school 1st and then walked Anders to his childcare. Then I took a taxi to the event venue.

This is also a good training for Anders as in about another 1 years plus, he will be in morning school in Primary school. : )

This week, I also had the chance to play tourist again and this time is not on our main island. Our event was held at ONE°15 Marina Club@ Sentosa.

It has been almost 2 years since I last visited Sentosa. The place is a total changed from my last visit. I can see that the Resort World Park is already in shape and I believe it will be very soon, we can see the completion of it.

The club house was situated at the Sentosa Cove area and by the club house; there was a yacht area where all the yachters were parked.

Also opposite to the club house was a residential area, I heard it was fully booked. The place is so nice and so relaxing. This reflected the high end living of the rich and famous…hee. Now I have a DREAM….haha.

The 2 days of the event went by so quickly that I finally had the time to sit down and settled some of the paper works in the office.

During these 2 weeks, I must say a big THANK YOU to my mom and my MIL for helping me to look after Anthea while I was at work. There were a few days that I had to work full day to prepare all the printout and other logistics issues.

This has been a great learning experience and I truly enjoyed this work week, however, I don’t hope for it to happen again soon…hee : )

Working Full Time...

I have been doing Part Time job for the last 8 months and I am truly enjoying the flexible time that I had.

Although I am working ½ day morning, I feel the same as working FULL DAY as after work; I am doing 2nd part of work @ home.

But important thing is I am able to spend time with Anthea and ensure her transition to Primary one goes smoothly. So far, things are working well on our current schedule.
I have been telling Adrian that it’s not easy to work full time and still look after household chores and the children without any help. I truly admired those full time working parents without domestic helpers.

Next week, my department is handling a major event and it involves a lot of logistic work. So my manager has requested for me to work FULL Days on Thursday & Friday. After consulting my main pillar of support – my mom, I was able to work full days on these 2 days.

Today I had the chance to experience working full day again and I felt that it was never the same as before. My mind kept thinking of Anthea at home with my mom. I know she’s in good hand but somehow, I still felt something is missing…hee : )

I left work around 5pm, feeling mentally drained…haha. Never had such challenges for the last 8 months, I must say, a part of me is enjoying the Adrenalin pump. Felt like my working days in my ex-ex company.

I have been in emailed contact with Adrian and he mentioned that with such working logistic, my manager may offer me a FULL TIME job. Honesty, I don’t think I will want to take up any FULL TIME job for the next few years as I really appreciate the time I have with Anthea and in another year, Anders will also be transiting to Primary one, so the more I can’t work Full Time…haha.

Meantime, I will just carry on enjoying my Part Time work as long as the company can offer me the job.

开工“大吉“

This morning I woke up as usual and got myself ready for work. I had to report to work by 8.30am, so I woke the children up around 7.15am. Previously they can sleep till 8am as my previous work starts at 9am.

With the new schedule, our routine also changes. By 8am, Anthea and Anders were in school. Then I set off to work by the MRT. This is also in preparation for Anthea's new routine when she starts Primary School.

I reached my new office around 8.30 am and met up with the HR personal at 9 am for the orientation.

Then around 10am, I waited at the receptionist area for my new Boss to meet up with me to start work.

I waited for almost 1.5 hours and the receptionist mentioned that she still can't locate him. At this moment, the HR personal came in and was surprised to see me still at the lobby area.

So she suggested that I should go home since I am only on ½ day work basis. She said she will contact me again once she hears from my new boss... : )

I left the office at 11.20am. On my way home, I received a call from my Boss. He was apologizing to me profusely. He said that he actually just came back from Geneva and had bought me a box of chocolates, hope this will made up for his forgetfulness..haha. We confirmed on my working hour for tomorrow.

What a “Dramatic” start to my 1st day of work. Nonetheless, I am still looking forward to the new job and new environment.

这条路。。。

不自不觉已经走了四年。说长不长，说短不短。终于要与 它告别了。

In exactly 7 days, I will be leaving my current company. It's really with a mixed feeling to leave the job after 4 good years with my colleagues. But again, at different stages in our life, we need to make changes to the new routine that is waiting for us in our next move.

4 years ago I joined the company as a Part Time staff working 4 hours a day. 4 years later I am leaving the company because I needed a Part Time job. Some time in life, you just can’t help wondering how each puzzle is mix and match to get the full picture.

I am quite glad that my job puzzles has been quite smooth as each change takes place. I really can't ask for more.

Today in the office, I organized a simple THANK YOU Tea session for my fellow colleagues. I did it this week as a few of them will be travelling next week and some will be on leaves.

During lunch, I went to Pine Garden to pick up the 2 cakes that I ordered on last Saturday. The 2 cakes I ordered were – Lychee Martini and Triple chocolate cake. I also ordered a box Mini Tarts Canapes (30 pieces) from Delifrance.

My colleagues enjoyed both the cakes and some even commented that the Lychee Martini was really special. I am glad that they enjoyed the tea session.

Saying good bye is never easy but in life, there are always Hello and Good-byes.

So to all of my colleagues, i say "Till we meet again someday... 谢谢你们陪我走过这条路。。

飞吧，爸爸！！

2 weeks of “home vacation” had passed by so quickly, today is the day for Adrian to fly back to his 2nd home for his work detachment.

His 2nd trip is longer than the 1st; dates are scheduled from 19 Oct to 30 December 2008. If there is no extension to the dates, he will be home in time to countdown to 2009 and see Anthea starts her Primary 1.

This morning when we were changing to go to the airport, Anders decided that he did not want to go to the airport. Adrian mentioned that he does not want to force Anders to go to the airport, so I was tasked to be home with him. Anthea went along to the airport with her daddy.

My MIL and 2nd Bil family met with Adrian and Anthea at the airport.

Adrian smsed me that his luggage of 27.8kg was cleared, phew..not need to pay extra. A few of his colleagues were not so lucky... : P

The last 2 weeks at home had been fruitful for Adrian, especially learning ONE important survivor skill – COOKING. Now he is quite well equipped with the necessities to cook simple dish.

Today is the beginning of our Trio life (Part 2). I know it's not going to be easy but like Part 1, I will do my best and keep the momentum going on, especially for Anthea and Anders.

三人行下集 从今天又开始了。路好长不过还是要继续走下去。。。大家都要加油！！

“不务正业“

About a week ago, one of my very closed friends (J) from the travel industry called me. She asked me if I wanted to do some temp assignments for her. She knew that I was quitting my job.

She was my mentor when I joined the Travel Agency and she had been a very good leader. All these while we called her “大姐“。

She works in a travel agent that does MICE and so she had many events that required temp staff. The last temp job I assisted her was IMF and it was one of the major event.

As usual, I “itched” to do her assignment because I think there is a Travel BLOOD in me that just LOVE the Travel & Tourism industry. I believe if I am still single with no commitment, I would still be in the trade...hee : P

I took 2 days off from my “正业“to help her in her current project. The main task was to call the participants for the tradeshow to reconfirm their status. At the same time, I did data entry for her.

Her office is located in quite a “ULU Place” but her office setup is very nice. I especially like the pantry. It was so well equipped and they even have a dish washer. Can you imagine a dish washer in a COMPANY Pantry...haha.

Of course, besides getting what I enjoyed most, I am also paid for the assignment. These extra monies come in handy to reimburse my dental treatment which I went on Tuesday.

Recently, the TALK OF THE TOWN is the – MILK thing and Adrian was quite concerned if our family is affected. Thanks God, the children are drinking ABBOTT milk which are products of New Zealand. As for our diaries products, we are not so into all those yoghurt, flavored milk, biscuits, chocolates etcs. So I would think we are not so affected.

Sigh...it's such a terrible situation and we never know what will be recall next.