Christmas has just whizzed past! But who says Christmas ends on 25th Dec? It's 12 days of Christmas. So I still have time to say Merry Christmas to All.
I know I havent been bloggin much eversince I come back. It's been a crazy week! Full of last minute shopping, last minute preparation of the party, meeting up and catching up with family and church mates. It's been a tiring week and thank God, i took leave for the long weekend last week. It was a good break. At least on Friday, I could rest well and feel refreshed. When i had time for myself, I spent it trying to get my house done up and tidy. And I must say, it's been working out real well. But of course there are still loose ends which I keep procrastinating.
The rest of this week is also gonna be full of gatherings, but I would want a weekend to myself. I've just gotten my new oven, a bigger one and cant wait to try making more things. I'm attempting to make cheesecake!! =)
Tuesday, December 30
Tuesday, December 23
I am back and have survived the first day at work. It feels good to be back and had a lot of people to catch up with.
The moment I was back, I just had enough time to have breakfast and then off to take a shower before going over to my cousin's to help with the party prep. He had invited our colleagues from the PM and OE dept to come over to his house for a christmas gathering. It was a blast, we had fun catching up and eating all the food. The food was good. Love the salad, the fruit cakes and the lasagna. There was also ice-cream included and it was fantastic, eating Haagendaz after so long. It was a fun night getting to know the rest of the people.
Today went to work and the pace was pretty relaxed. Most of the bosses are on vacation. Some of the people in my dept also took vacation. Tomorrow probably would have lesser and lesser people too. Met my manager and he spoke of the probability of me taking on the projects in Indo, as I am an Indonesian and he encouraged me to prolong my stay after the business trips for personal home visit back. I was pretty pleased as that had been what I wanted. But it is also going to be quite a challenge to try and start to do my work proper at my current state. Of course I will have a senior engineer to work with. It feels pretty exciting actually but also scary. Well the mood in the office has been pretty much a holiday kind of mood, since most are not around and it really does feel like a friday. But towards the end of the day, I got irritated by the sound of the drilling that comes from the renovation works. They were supposed to be doing it only after 530 or 6, and yet at 4 they have started their drilling works. It was really really irritating. They are planning to change our warehouse to become an office to accomodate the expansion of the departments. And it so happens that my seat is nearby to the end of the office. They are basically drilling 'behind' me and it was pretty annoying to have the drilling feeling at ur back. After a while u feel like ur body is being drilled or something. And from what I have heard this has been going on since last friday. And will most likely go on for the next few weeks!! God help me...
Anyway it's good to be back here and catch up with everyone. I have been busy shopping for last minute christmas presents too. And im still not done yet! I need more ideas for gifts! Tomorrow will be having a dept bbq over at a colleague's place opposite fong seng! Will probably go shopping after that. Christmas is a happy time as well as a tiring season too. With all the dinners and all the gatherings and all the shopping that must be done. But I love it nonetheless.
The moment I was back, I just had enough time to have breakfast and then off to take a shower before going over to my cousin's to help with the party prep. He had invited our colleagues from the PM and OE dept to come over to his house for a christmas gathering. It was a blast, we had fun catching up and eating all the food. The food was good. Love the salad, the fruit cakes and the lasagna. There was also ice-cream included and it was fantastic, eating Haagendaz after so long. It was a fun night getting to know the rest of the people.
Today went to work and the pace was pretty relaxed. Most of the bosses are on vacation. Some of the people in my dept also took vacation. Tomorrow probably would have lesser and lesser people too. Met my manager and he spoke of the probability of me taking on the projects in Indo, as I am an Indonesian and he encouraged me to prolong my stay after the business trips for personal home visit back. I was pretty pleased as that had been what I wanted. But it is also going to be quite a challenge to try and start to do my work proper at my current state. Of course I will have a senior engineer to work with. It feels pretty exciting actually but also scary. Well the mood in the office has been pretty much a holiday kind of mood, since most are not around and it really does feel like a friday. But towards the end of the day, I got irritated by the sound of the drilling that comes from the renovation works. They were supposed to be doing it only after 530 or 6, and yet at 4 they have started their drilling works. It was really really irritating. They are planning to change our warehouse to become an office to accomodate the expansion of the departments. And it so happens that my seat is nearby to the end of the office. They are basically drilling 'behind' me and it was pretty annoying to have the drilling feeling at ur back. After a while u feel like ur body is being drilled or something. And from what I have heard this has been going on since last friday. And will most likely go on for the next few weeks!! God help me...
Anyway it's good to be back here and catch up with everyone. I have been busy shopping for last minute christmas presents too. And im still not done yet! I need more ideas for gifts! Tomorrow will be having a dept bbq over at a colleague's place opposite fong seng! Will probably go shopping after that. Christmas is a happy time as well as a tiring season too. With all the dinners and all the gatherings and all the shopping that must be done. But I love it nonetheless.
Friday, December 19
Finally the day is here, when I am finally flying back to Singapore. To a place where order, hygiene and food is way way better than here.
Well to sum up my 3 months here, I have to say living it here has been a memorable experience. It is not something that I would not get in Indo, but I would say interacting with the people here has given me great experience. More or less, you know who you can trust or who will just do the talking without any actions produced. More or less we get the feel of the real Indians culture. More or less I have made friends with some of them here and they have been pretty nice, fun and most of all helpful to me. I wouldnt deny that most of them are not selfish to share their knowledge with us, but sometimes, there may be too much info too.
Living in a new place is not a matter of living conditions and other matters. It's the people and the company that makes the difference. With a bad company, I guess, living it here would be unbearable. Too much negative energy around which makes everything looks bad. But with the right company, everything else can more or less be born with.
Well to sum up my 3 months here, I have to say living it here has been a memorable experience. It is not something that I would not get in Indo, but I would say interacting with the people here has given me great experience. More or less, you know who you can trust or who will just do the talking without any actions produced. More or less we get the feel of the real Indians culture. More or less I have made friends with some of them here and they have been pretty nice, fun and most of all helpful to me. I wouldnt deny that most of them are not selfish to share their knowledge with us, but sometimes, there may be too much info too.
Living in a new place is not a matter of living conditions and other matters. It's the people and the company that makes the difference. With a bad company, I guess, living it here would be unbearable. Too much negative energy around which makes everything looks bad. But with the right company, everything else can more or less be born with.
Tuesday, December 16
Today is simply the most tiring day at work that I ever had in Chennai. Our big boss came today and we had a full-day meeting from 1030 till 615 today! Sitting in the whole day results in the lethargic headache and tiredness! It was a very good session in the afternoon though. Morning started off with team meeting and a presentation for our team action plan. And then in the afternoon it was just a meeting together with the Singapore folks, where he basically tested us a lot on the basic stuff, which we unfortunately lack of the kick in our answers. Our answers are either too general or too unsure of. But it was fun, the way he taught us. He made everything simpler and highlighted all the important things that we need to take note of.
After the meeting, we were off to go another hotel for a dinner together. Food was good, of course better than the usual that we are eating. As inviting as the dessert table was, it was far from it. Really bad. But okay lah. First time dining together with boss and the rest of the team.
I'm really tired. Feel like knocking out soon. But still waiting for Ong to finish her beauty long bath! Tomorrow morning is another round of meeting. And this time it's one on one. =(
Oh btw after this Chennai training, it seems that I'm going to be finally doing jobs soon. Everything else would be learnt on the job. So no more training for me and it seems so scary since we still dont know a lot of things. Just super basic stuff. And in terms of technical knowledge we are still quite far from it too. Wish me luck!
After the meeting, we were off to go another hotel for a dinner together. Food was good, of course better than the usual that we are eating. As inviting as the dessert table was, it was far from it. Really bad. But okay lah. First time dining together with boss and the rest of the team.
I'm really tired. Feel like knocking out soon. But still waiting for Ong to finish her beauty long bath! Tomorrow morning is another round of meeting. And this time it's one on one. =(
Oh btw after this Chennai training, it seems that I'm going to be finally doing jobs soon. Everything else would be learnt on the job. So no more training for me and it seems so scary since we still dont know a lot of things. Just super basic stuff. And in terms of technical knowledge we are still quite far from it too. Wish me luck!
Thursday, December 11
Night @ Prego, Taj Coromandel
Last night, I decided to give ourselves a treat at Prego, pretty much the most posh restaurant in Chennai, I think. It is located in one of the 5 star hotel, Taj Coromandel, yes they are of one group with the Taj hotel that got attacked by the terrorists in Mumbai. Anyway a little about Prego. It is set up by Chef lady, Giovanni, in 2007 who hailed all the way from Italy, bringing with her all kinds of Italian fresh goods and wines. I am not sure if it is the best Italian restaurant, though. As I have no idea how to trust the tastebud of those who reviewing all these restaurants in India.
Anyway, it only occurred to Ong that we are going to Taj, as we turned into the hotel and saw the stringent security checks and also the many soldiers who gathered outside the hotel. There were really quite a number of them. As we stepped into the hotel, 2 ladies stopped us and took us to the side for security checks. As we approached to the side, they opened this mini room, and I was like "whoa, do they have to do it in the room just for checking our bags?". So we were whisked into the room and there 2 ladies went in with us. One went on checking my camera bag and the other was laughing and laughing. And Ong looked at me and laughed too. And then it dawned on me that it's body check!!! And they had to do it twice each time. We were laughing and giggling cos man, it sure feels damn weird!!! In the hotel, there were also many policemen inside. Basically the security was pretty tight and it makes us wonder, whether we should feel safe or not.
That didnt deter me from having a good time and enjoying my night with good food on the table. So we went into the restaurant and were taken to our seat in a little corner deep in the rerstaurant where the lights are pretty dim and pretty private, with the exception of the Americans group sitting behind us. We were served by waiters who basically memorised everything that they have to say that even when I sort of interrupt them saying that point that they want to say, they said no and then said that point that I said. They provided with very good service nonetheless.
So we ordered 2 courses of dinner. Basically the waiter introduced to us that there were 3 courses, but I know it would be too much on to eat and also on the pocket. Furthermore, Italian anti-pasti are not really to our taste. So we had the 1st course and the main course. And of course I was not leaving without having my share of dessert. A real dessert after spending 3 months here trying to find one place with a good cake.
First Course, Squid Ink Fettucine on a bed of squids and prawns cooked in tomato sauce And Potato gnocchi with straw mushroom sauce
Main Course: Risotto, Milanese style with Lamb shank And Duck breast with ratatouille and zucchini.
The First course were good. The fettucine was a tad too al dente for me but the tomato sauce was good! It was fresh and refreshing. The tangy squid pieces in it was also just right. Ong's gnocchi was also nice and it was a new thing for us, though I've heard of it before. It was nice with the mushroom sauce.
Our main course, we both love the lamb shank. The lamb was tender and melts in your mouth. It was very much like the one that Sarah and I did in Sydney. The risotto was a tad too hard for me. I kind of prefer the one that I cooked myself. We both didnt like the duck breast. The ratatouille is good but that's probably because she added the tomato sauce into it, which basically made it into a napoleon, in my opinion.
Overall, the food was good, but it wasnt fantastic. But on the account that these kind of food are not really easily available here, this is way better than nothing. Last night Ong said that I can probably come up with all these food myself, and I also said that I probably can cos everything was pretty simple and it was a matter of presentation. But i really like the fresh taste of the tomato sauce. And this weekend I shall attempt to make my own sauce. Sunday afternoon would probably be the perfect day to be doing it, where I can probably have the whole kitchen to myself.
The experience of eating in this posh restaurant was also a new concept to us. With the waiter ever so readily clear our plates, changed our cutleries and them making the effort to communicate with us. It was a nice feeling, knowing that you have such good service. The interior of the place was normal, probably the same like any restaurants or cafe in Singapore. Just that in the place that we were seated, the light was dimmed really to the minimum.
Oh! In the middle of waiting for our food, there were many small bite size snacks that were served to us. While waiting for our first course, the Chef gave us her complimentary fig coated with cheese and next came a small naan bread topped with olive and parmigianno cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. It was both nice! I love the olive oil! Then while waiting for our main course, we were served with breads, which we ate with the olive oil and black peppers. I know this practise from Prego Singapore. It was useful at that moment! The other fun thing that was a thrilling thing for me was the black pepper dispenser. When I was given that, i turned and turned but nothing came out. Then I saw this button and I pressed on it! Voila, it was an automatic black pepper dispenser with a torchlight at the bottom!! See the picture below. It was so cool. I kept pressing it and playing with it. But it was noisy when the motor is running. It was really cool and it was made by Peugeot! CooL!
Our main course, we both love the lamb shank. The lamb was tender and melts in your mouth. It was very much like the one that Sarah and I did in Sydney. The risotto was a tad too hard for me. I kind of prefer the one that I cooked myself. We both didnt like the duck breast. The ratatouille is good but that's probably because she added the tomato sauce into it, which basically made it into a napoleon, in my opinion.
Overall, the food was good, but it wasnt fantastic. But on the account that these kind of food are not really easily available here, this is way better than nothing. Last night Ong said that I can probably come up with all these food myself, and I also said that I probably can cos everything was pretty simple and it was a matter of presentation. But i really like the fresh taste of the tomato sauce. And this weekend I shall attempt to make my own sauce. Sunday afternoon would probably be the perfect day to be doing it, where I can probably have the whole kitchen to myself.
The experience of eating in this posh restaurant was also a new concept to us. With the waiter ever so readily clear our plates, changed our cutleries and them making the effort to communicate with us. It was a nice feeling, knowing that you have such good service. The interior of the place was normal, probably the same like any restaurants or cafe in Singapore. Just that in the place that we were seated, the light was dimmed really to the minimum.
Oh! In the middle of waiting for our food, there were many small bite size snacks that were served to us. While waiting for our first course, the Chef gave us her complimentary fig coated with cheese and next came a small naan bread topped with olive and parmigianno cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. It was both nice! I love the olive oil! Then while waiting for our main course, we were served with breads, which we ate with the olive oil and black peppers. I know this practise from Prego Singapore. It was useful at that moment! The other fun thing that was a thrilling thing for me was the black pepper dispenser. When I was given that, i turned and turned but nothing came out. Then I saw this button and I pressed on it! Voila, it was an automatic black pepper dispenser with a torchlight at the bottom!! See the picture below. It was so cool. I kept pressing it and playing with it. But it was noisy when the motor is running. It was really cool and it was made by Peugeot! CooL!
Playing with the black pepper dispenser!
psst: I'll be back next week! home sweet home... bed sweet bed... pillow lush pillow... quilt comfy quilt... food nice food!!!
Tuesday, December 9
Thursday, December 4
Tuesday, December 2
You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
And I look to You
And I wait on You
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
And I look to You
And I wait on You
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
Everlasting Father, I love You
Ever living Savior, I love You
Everlasting Father, I love You
Ever living Savior, I love You
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
And I look to You
And I wait on You
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
And I look to You
And I wait on You
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
Everlasting Father, I love You
Ever living Savior, I love You
Everlasting Father, I love You
Ever living Savior, I love You
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
As I sit at the smoking area of the office, with the cold breeze and in the open. I listened to this with my ipod. As I listened, something in me just get stirred to just start singing this song aloud. But too bad there are people around and if I do, imagine their reactions.
As it plays on, a lot of thoughts and memories just came back and really through it all, God has really been with me. A lot of things that happened, He brought me out of it. How i've changed and matured over time from the person that i was 10 years ago. I think i understood what my cousins say when they said that I was like a spoilt brat. The arrogance, the self-centredness, the immaturity. How God slowly mould me to be different through His ways. How he brought me here to be independent, how He gave me my cousins to teach me and change me. How God opened my eyes to see that He's always there but I keep turning my back on Him. He's always present. How He reached out to me when I fell into a deep hole, where even as much as saying His name was hard to come out of my mouth, when He took my nephew and let my step-sis suffered in her grief. How He brought me out of those days where I really couldnt deal with seeing the pain and agony in her eyes and how I couldnt do anything to make her feel better or to take it all away from her. That was too much for me to bear. To make things worse, I was still schooling then and I had to be away from her. There's not many people who can console her back at home. My other sis was not in the same town as well. And we both are the closest people to her. I was upset at Him for taking him away, for causing their pain. There were moments when we introduced Him to her, but as her husband was pretty anti, we were rejected. Seeing how helpless she got, how she literally cried her hearts out and how she just lay on the floor crying in front of me, I got more and more angry and upset. That scene still affected me in ways I cannot describe. I just get so helpless when I see her like that. I have no idea how to console her, I have no idea how to help her get by other than just frequent calls and pleas to my mum to help her cope with it.
Even as I wrote this and relived those moments, my heart still ached remembering those painful moments. How I cried to sleep, every night, during those days. I was in choir, but I couldnt sing anything to praise or just to say His name. It hit me so hard, but He didnt give up on me. He sent me people who helped me get back on my feet. He gave me blessings after blessings in ways that I may not have realised it then.
In any kind of trouble, He brought me through it. In any kind of trouble, there's never a moment where I'm left alone to fend for myself. Be it financially, be it trivial matters. Be it matters of the heart, be it physical. No trouble is too trivial for Him to solve. It was a matter of committing the problem to Him and having the faith to leave it all to Him.
Some may not believe what I am saying or rambling here, but it's an experience that each and individual has to go through before you can relate to any of these things. There's a solution to every problem and that is true, but the difference is I dont go through it alone although it's my problem. It's a different kind of sharing when I share it with Him and share it with friends. Yes friends can help some problems. But it's different. When I'm with Him, my strength to face those problems come from Him and some problems, just cant be solved by friends alone. Even when I'm facing the consequences of my actions or stupidity, I am not alone. God is always with me when I have to face it. Even simple thing like from lying or anything at all. One thing about Him, He never let us evade the consequences of our actions. As much as He loves us, He wants us to be responsible and face it. But He doesnt leave us alone to face it.
As it plays on, a lot of thoughts and memories just came back and really through it all, God has really been with me. A lot of things that happened, He brought me out of it. How i've changed and matured over time from the person that i was 10 years ago. I think i understood what my cousins say when they said that I was like a spoilt brat. The arrogance, the self-centredness, the immaturity. How God slowly mould me to be different through His ways. How he brought me here to be independent, how He gave me my cousins to teach me and change me. How God opened my eyes to see that He's always there but I keep turning my back on Him. He's always present. How He reached out to me when I fell into a deep hole, where even as much as saying His name was hard to come out of my mouth, when He took my nephew and let my step-sis suffered in her grief. How He brought me out of those days where I really couldnt deal with seeing the pain and agony in her eyes and how I couldnt do anything to make her feel better or to take it all away from her. That was too much for me to bear. To make things worse, I was still schooling then and I had to be away from her. There's not many people who can console her back at home. My other sis was not in the same town as well. And we both are the closest people to her. I was upset at Him for taking him away, for causing their pain. There were moments when we introduced Him to her, but as her husband was pretty anti, we were rejected. Seeing how helpless she got, how she literally cried her hearts out and how she just lay on the floor crying in front of me, I got more and more angry and upset. That scene still affected me in ways I cannot describe. I just get so helpless when I see her like that. I have no idea how to console her, I have no idea how to help her get by other than just frequent calls and pleas to my mum to help her cope with it.
Even as I wrote this and relived those moments, my heart still ached remembering those painful moments. How I cried to sleep, every night, during those days. I was in choir, but I couldnt sing anything to praise or just to say His name. It hit me so hard, but He didnt give up on me. He sent me people who helped me get back on my feet. He gave me blessings after blessings in ways that I may not have realised it then.
In any kind of trouble, He brought me through it. In any kind of trouble, there's never a moment where I'm left alone to fend for myself. Be it financially, be it trivial matters. Be it matters of the heart, be it physical. No trouble is too trivial for Him to solve. It was a matter of committing the problem to Him and having the faith to leave it all to Him.
Some may not believe what I am saying or rambling here, but it's an experience that each and individual has to go through before you can relate to any of these things. There's a solution to every problem and that is true, but the difference is I dont go through it alone although it's my problem. It's a different kind of sharing when I share it with Him and share it with friends. Yes friends can help some problems. But it's different. When I'm with Him, my strength to face those problems come from Him and some problems, just cant be solved by friends alone. Even when I'm facing the consequences of my actions or stupidity, I am not alone. God is always with me when I have to face it. Even simple thing like from lying or anything at all. One thing about Him, He never let us evade the consequences of our actions. As much as He loves us, He wants us to be responsible and face it. But He doesnt leave us alone to face it.
I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all
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