Merry

Have i told you that i'm getting married soon? I havent told many people cos I'm afraid of the massive fall-out amongst all the single gals i know. Im keeping it small and not inviting anyone i havent met for the last six months.

Korean Gift

I hosted the Mayor of Busan the other day. At the end of the meeting, he gave me this. When i showed Someone the box, she said it was exactly the same box as one that she has gotten before. I opened my box and it turns out that there's another box inside. It's some mother-of-pearl box. And it's exactly the SAME one that Someone got some years back! Seems like the korean economy is in a worse shape that everyone thought.

Gifts

Some of you older readers might remember i have a pretty Shanghai gal friend. She has since gotten married and is expecting. In fact, she was due lat week but now still waiting for baby to come out. Time flies, doesn't it? I have now known her for more than eight years now. Right from young punks to young adults, we shared our ideals and aspirations even though we came from different worlds. I remember a particular conversation where we spoke about how it'd be weird to get married and tough to meet up as often as we did. That conversation didn't happen too long ago. But the fact is, the frequency of us meeting up got lower and lower because we just got so busy with our own lives. At the same time, i didn't wish to impose on her every time i come, she might take time out to meet me and entertain me. We had a three-hour lunch the last time i was in Shanghai. It was nice catching up and nicer because i didn't have anymore meetings left and she was on maternity leave waiting for baby to come out. At the end, she gave me these. Turned out to be his and her key chains. How sweet!

Peacocks!

Saw these peacocks by the road the other day. Had to stop my car to let them cross the road.

便当

I've no idea if that's how you write 便当 but lest you think i eat big fish big meat all the time. We were negotiating contracts until 12pm when the client said it was lunch time and they said they ordered 便当 for me. They brought it in and said see me at 230pm. ??? Some of you might not know but the chinese would have lunch then take naps. But usually for my other clients, they dont do that! So im all alone in their office and read my Kindle till they returned.

Scirocco Flash Mob

For those Star Wars geeks out there:

Beijing/Tianjin/Nanjing/Shanghai

It seems like one of those normal multi-city trips squeezed into a week. Three different hotels in one week. Literally living out of the bag. I was a little apprehensive going to Tianjin because i never had good experiences going to Tianjin. The first time i went, that was probably 6 years ago, I got a complaint from a client to my boss for another project. That was shitty. The second time i went, I left my charger there. It was a pretty good trip this time actually. In fact, the client asked me for an LOI. In my world, that's a good thing. Arrived in Singapore at 6am on Saturday and after unpacking, and washing my car, I went for a meeting at 10am. Am i working too hard? Achieving a work-life balance isnt easy. Some companies exhort it, some people try to practise it. There was an announcement of pay increment this week, with the official amounts, including bonus to be provided in an official letter next week. The pay increment has already been paid into our accounts, including an accrued amount for January. On pay day, I hurriedly went to check my account, with the following formula in mind. Increment = (Current balance - balance before pay was credited)/2 Of course, as always increment is lower than expectation. Now waiting for bonus announcement.