Dear Pipsqueaks,
If you're confused why the previous post was dated Day 0.5 instead of -1, then you're wondering the same thing I am wondering now. Well, it does mention this morning a little, so I'll give it a 0.5 - sounds better than a negative. Anyway, back to what I wanted to write for Day 1 officially...
The morning was slightly rushed as we had to take shower, finish packing & prep the house for a few days of none-occupancy. Mostly, it's because we were just too tired to bother with packing the night before and honestly believed we would wake up early enough to. From my experience, that NEVER worked. See, I had already began to regret half way to the airport for not bringing a jacket, a scarf, my East Pack pouch, and an extra multi-plug. Lesson: No matter how hot the place you're visiting will be, you bring a jacket. You can always take it off if it's too hot, but if you don't even have one to put on when it's cold, you're just gonna freeze and sulk. Luckily, I had someone else's jacket to borrow for the ride.
14 March 2014
[Bali], Nice To See You Again! - Day 0.5
Dear pipsqueaks,
It’s been another long while since I last wrote, and there really isn't much reason for that. Sometimes, I just think life is rolling along so fast that I don’t get a chance to think too much about anything. Having just come back from Birmingham for our Council Meeting, I’m currently now en route to Bali for a birthday celebration. Then, the following week, I’ll be off to New Delhi for site visit. Oh my – and it just occurred to me that I won’t be able to visit my friend in Johor Bahru during the Malaysia GPG because I’ll be in New Delhi! Great…there goes another disappointment.
April will be another challenging month with deadlines for multi-sport even accreditation processes and finalization of the Gala Night preparations. It’s never easy working with our Indian friends, but at the same time, I completely understand their frustrating system of “approvals”. Apparently, it’s not enough to just have one approval or signature – it needs to be a whole group of them, which is probably why it always takes forever to get anything confirmed. In any case, we just have to work with the time frame we have and cross our fingers that everything will unfold properly. The only challenge is to make sure everyone pulls their weight – or else, with one site visit, I can already foresee some “oh, was that discussed?” conversation. Anyway, I've already been “kindly reminded” that it is not expected to be the same level as last year’s Gala Night in terms of program and décor. So, it will be very much simpler with a lot less ‘glam’ factor. That’s just unfortunate because I honestly think everyone found the ‘All Stars’ theme last year to be quite enjoyable. Despite having to sit through all the formal speeches, the presenters, awardees and best-dressed all had a good time. We really should keep it up every year so everyone can look forward to it…but oh wells, out of my control for that kind of decision.
It’s been another long while since I last wrote, and there really isn't much reason for that. Sometimes, I just think life is rolling along so fast that I don’t get a chance to think too much about anything. Having just come back from Birmingham for our Council Meeting, I’m currently now en route to Bali for a birthday celebration. Then, the following week, I’ll be off to New Delhi for site visit. Oh my – and it just occurred to me that I won’t be able to visit my friend in Johor Bahru during the Malaysia GPG because I’ll be in New Delhi! Great…there goes another disappointment.
April will be another challenging month with deadlines for multi-sport even accreditation processes and finalization of the Gala Night preparations. It’s never easy working with our Indian friends, but at the same time, I completely understand their frustrating system of “approvals”. Apparently, it’s not enough to just have one approval or signature – it needs to be a whole group of them, which is probably why it always takes forever to get anything confirmed. In any case, we just have to work with the time frame we have and cross our fingers that everything will unfold properly. The only challenge is to make sure everyone pulls their weight – or else, with one site visit, I can already foresee some “oh, was that discussed?” conversation. Anyway, I've already been “kindly reminded” that it is not expected to be the same level as last year’s Gala Night in terms of program and décor. So, it will be very much simpler with a lot less ‘glam’ factor. That’s just unfortunate because I honestly think everyone found the ‘All Stars’ theme last year to be quite enjoyable. Despite having to sit through all the formal speeches, the presenters, awardees and best-dressed all had a good time. We really should keep it up every year so everyone can look forward to it…but oh wells, out of my control for that kind of decision.
01 January 2014
Goodbye [2013] & Hello [2014]
Dear Pipsqueaks,
Initially, I had wanted to comb through my resolutions for 2013 and see how I've done in completing them, except I couldn't find the list. Yuppie. So, to save myself from facing the same problem on the 1st of January in 2015, I'm going to write my resolution for 2014 down here. At least it's recorded somewhere. But before I brainstorm what I hope to achieve in the year 2014, I feel it'd be useful to see how I did in 2013. You know, just to make sure I'm moving in the right direction in the whole scheme of this adventure I call life.
Alright, so here are the top/staccato moments of 2013:
Initially, I had wanted to comb through my resolutions for 2013 and see how I've done in completing them, except I couldn't find the list. Yuppie. So, to save myself from facing the same problem on the 1st of January in 2015, I'm going to write my resolution for 2014 down here. At least it's recorded somewhere. But before I brainstorm what I hope to achieve in the year 2014, I feel it'd be useful to see how I did in 2013. You know, just to make sure I'm moving in the right direction in the whole scheme of this adventure I call life.
Alright, so here are the top/staccato moments of 2013:
- The Break-Up - February - Officially ended with the then 'le bf' despite major signs of a crumbling relationship since late 2012. I guess, in a way, it was me coming to terms with what I truly felt and wanted. I thought I was ready for something more, but I wasn't. It was unfair for me to hold him back from what he wanted, and really, we didn't want the same things. So I had to let him go, and I still feel it was the best decision made for the both of us, even though I was alone in making it.
- All Stars Awards - May - Successfully delivering my biggest project of the year - All Stars awards night. From knowing absolutely nothing about the event, to joining the last finals meetings, to being designated as the coordinator (all in the span of less than a month), I must say I was lucky to have pulled it off at all. It was such an amazing experience to see it all come to life on the day from a bunch of papers and meetings. It meant a great deal more when my boss quietly spoke to me towards the end of the event, "Jess, great good. Lots of happy people here. Go enjoy yourself." I believed I smiled all the way into my dreams that night.