transfer on hold

Just when I thought everything will go smoothly, I just got notice that my transfer was put on hold.

Everyone including me was preparing for my transfer happening in September and I was so looking forward to it. Argh.

I should be in the new team next Monday. And the management is so vague about it. Nobody knows what's going on except the head of my new team.

Angst.

longest fringe

This is to commemorate the longest fringe I ever had in my life. I wanted to keep my hair till I could tie up like a Japanese but I had to cut them off because I'm going reservist in October and November.

spending month

I have been spending so much this month. Meals with overseas friends, meeting old and new friends, farewell lunches, drinks etc etc. By mid-August I had already spent $500, that's almost my budget for the month, and I believe 70% of my spending is on alcohol hahaha.

I visited Cin Cin bar 4 times already, and 2-3 drinks each time. I guess I kinda let loose my wallet strings because of my future earnings but that's unhealthy because that's future earnings, not current earnings. I am still earning the same this month so I shouldn't have spent so much.

I still have 11 days of leave left so I could take 2-3 more trips this year.
Taiwan or Sapporo in October? Siao ah Sapporo again!?! Ok nvm... I need some inspiration on where to go. Probably London or Shanghai at the end of the year.

Up and on to a new level

In May one of my co-workers in another business tendered her letter so there was going to be a vacancy in her business.

I was approached by 2 co-workers to see if I want to take up the role. What made my decision difficult was that I was bound for London sooner or later and I was very used to being in this small business team. What made my decision easy was that I was increasingly frustrated with my manager and I had nothing more to learn from her, so it was hindering my career growth.

If I had stayed any longer I would stay the same, and as quoted from many HRs, you should always move after 3 years. So even if there's no salary increase, I would also move go over to the other business. The process was super easy and smooth, I almost didn't have to lift a finger or do anything to fill the vacancy, I was the perfect fit and it was confirmed after lunch with the co-worker who approached me.

When my manager found out she was a little sour and she said she didn't expect it (she did say some things that's worthy of eyeball gymnastics). Another of my colleague came down from London and when I told him he was really happy for me and actually could recommend me for a position in London if I ever wish to go. I was really relieved to know that I made right decision.

On Monday I had a chat with HR and I found out my salary is boosted to another level. She said it was not common for a lateral career move but my hiring manager is very supportive. When I returned to my desk and made a quick calculation, I was mind blown, like:

After being in the work force for 5 years, I have projected that is indeed the amount that I should be getting as compared to my peers, and I'm pleased that it was within the range of a higher position than the position I was supposed to fill. To add on, I still have my full year bonus and increment next year. Well, does that mean that my current team is underpaid? Anyway don't care, I was just in shock because I also didn't expect the increase to be so mind blowing, so I was just spinning around on my chair with a confused expression for 10 mins.

This is one of the best decision I have made. I am so thankful that all my hard work paid off and I am moving away from my current place. Time to give back to my co-workers who helped me move along and set my standards to a higher level. I will be starting the new role in September.

11 rules of life

1.  Life is not fair; get used to it. Don't expect life to hand you what you "deserve" or are "entitled to".
2. The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
3. You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
6. If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try "delousing" the closet in your own room.
8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summer off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
10. Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Gin and shoes

My 2 notable buys from Japan:

Kinobi Gin:

This gin is made from Japanese botanicals in Kyoto and is absolutely delicious. Every gin fanatic should try this at least once. There was another Japanese Gin called Roku Gin which taste really Japanese with green tea, sakura and shiso leaves. I'll get that after I finish this bottle of Kinobi.
Oh and yesterday I just discovered a new yuzu Japanese Gin that came out just a week ago, right after I came back. This will be my target next trip.

For shoes I wanted to buy a pair of Asics sneakers but this was on 50% sale so I can't resist:

It looks really nice and relatively comfortable. No regrets because it's really a good deal, but definitely not as comfortable as my Asics Gel Lyte. Asics Gel shoes are the most comfortable sneakers ever. Period. My Japanese friend just corrected me that this should be pronounced as Ahh-sicks, not Aye-sicks.

Shizuoka Tokyo summer 2017

Did I mention I took a 8-hours train from Sapporo to Tokyo? That's 4 hours from Sapporo to Hakodate, and 4 hours from Hakodate to Tokyo. The shinkansen from Sapporo to Tokyo ain't ready till 2031 so this is the fastest way by train. Train is good if you want to stop at different cities in Hokkaido. I wanted to stopover at Aomori but considering I have to take the first train at 6am I decided not to hahaha. It was fine, I just need a bento, a good book and filter my photos to fill my time and it was a good relaxing day.

Anyway shizuoka is really boring. There's nothing much there. I was expecting to go hiking up a mountain but the weather was too hot and there was no more bus service.

I finally had the famous dipping noodles when I stopped at Tokyo station for dinner.

Yup this is Shimitzu at Shizuoka. 

 The view from my hotel was nice though. 

I was bored to death at Shizuoka and was so glad to go back to Tokyo. I have been wanting to eat this near my usual hotel and voila! Japanese Kampung chicken so juicy.

I explored a new area Jiyugaoka and had Flipper's pancakes for breakfast, recommended by my cousin. It's quite nice with the fruits and all but Café Gram's pancakes are fluffier. But you gotta queue for an hour for Café Gram's pancakes and they don't come with fruits.

As usual, Akihabara for supply runs and cheese tarts. This is Pablo peachy tart. Then Shibuya for some shopping. 

Lunch set at a hidden sushi shop at Tsukiji market, much better and cheaper than the tourist traps there. $12 for a set of 9 sushi. Check out Sushi Katsura.

I finally got a sense of direction at Shinjuku, with Takashimaya and Isetan as a station guide. I met Emi-chan for lunch on my last day, she's super nice!! She suggests I go Iwate for snowboarding this coming season and we could stay at her house and she could recommend her friend to bring us around the area. Super excited.

By the way this cabbage/lettuce looking thing is actually matcha shaved ice. It was too hot walking around so I ate some ice at a new matcha dessert shop at Takashimaya.

It was my last day in Tokyo and it was sale season so I went crazy shopping at Harajuku, Shinjuku and Shibuya. I have no idea why my cash ran out so fast so I used my credit card for most stuff.
I wasn't sure if I should buy a NMD because there wasn't one that I fancied until I stumbled into Nano Universe and saw this pair. To top it off, it was on 50% discount and it's exactly my kind of colour and size. I saw the same pair somewhere else and I was like $200 for a pair of Adidas is not worth it but this was $100. No need to think.

After the crazy shopping I was 20mins late with multiple paper bags for dinner with Habu-chan. He brought me to this izakaya which was quite nice. Oh did I mention he could speak fluent Chinese because he studied at Beijing for 2 years before.

Sake sampler. We could actually tell the difference.

Habu-chan is super nice and funny and he works at Shinagawa, which is near my hotel.

I totally enjoyed my 12 days solo trip to Japan. Weather in Hokkaido is much cooler than Tokyo, remind to self not to go Tokyo after July. Summer is hot and humid there I kept sweating once I am outside. Honestly I felt a little lonely at first at Hakodate, maybe because it was a bit boring as well, but my friends are really fun in Sapporo. Furano and Biel were beautiful. Shizuoka was boring. And again, the sale in Japan in crazy. I'm glad to meet most of my friends this time round.

Things that I bought:
Hokkaido sweets
Kinobi gin
Suntory ice gin
Beanie, underwear, shorts from H&M
Shizuoka green tea
Mystic blue NMD shoes
Grey shoes and some clothes from GU
Olive Lacoste tshirt (made in Japan)
Lanvin En Bleu tshirt (made in Japan)
Commodities like eyedrops/facial stuff from BIC camera
More sweets from Tokyo
Shiseido stuff

I feel like I haven't bought enough haha.
This 12 days holiday I spent SGD $3500 in total:
$460 flight
$1200 hotels
$339 Rail pass
$1500 changed from SGD to JPY.