internal interview

I haven't had an interview for 3 years already and today's interview was incredibly mind twisting. The questions they asked were questions from HR and every question had an objective and I needed to present a case study in every question. Wow. Luckily there were only 4 questions. 

I didn't realise interviews have now evolved till so complicated and difficult, but thankfully it was an internal interview so I felt more comfortable and relatable to them. 

Anyway, I have no expectations. If it goes well, then let it go. The cold never bothered me anyway.

Q1 good and bad

From the start of the year everything was pretty good and bad to me.

Changing team
Bad: This auntie team mate who does nothing except pushing her responsibilities to others
Good: Everyone, even my boss, knows she's leeching the bank's money
Bad: My previous supervisor just joined to become my manager AGAIN
Good: She knows what I can do and she can push for my promotion

CNY
Bad: My parents wanted to go back PD early and wanted me to take leave which I didn't want
Good: My cousin is going back later so I can hitch a ride from them
Bad: My sis wanted to come along so we had to squeeze 4 guys at the back
Good: We had tonnes to chat at the back and we managed to go back earlier than usual
Bad: My dad wanted to come back SG the next afternoon, less than 24hrs after I reached PD
Good: My flight got brought forward 2hrs earlier so I might not make it in time if we came back one day later.

2nd Japan trip
Bad: Mac joined last minute
Good: I can stay in Tokyo, save $100 in transport, save time and share hotel costs
Bad: I can't bring back 4 bottles of gin to SG. Tax reasons
Good: Mac came
Bad: There were no more room in my regular hotel
Good: I booked a double room in another hotel, and we stayed in a single room in the next. More money saved.
Bad: I had food poisoning and having watery outputs every 2 hours before my flight
Good: It stopped at the airport and on the plane, and I only had to go toilet once at Tokyo station
Bad: It was too cold at Iwate
Good: I bought the thick down jacket that I had been thinking of getting two days before I flew
Bad: I wasn't in good form for snowboarding because of food poisoning
Good: The powder was quite good so don't need much effort
Bad: I can't drink alcohol or eat raw food because of my toilet situation
Good: It stopped when I arrived in Tokyo so I spammed everything after that

Bangkok trip
Bad: I wanted to take leave on Monday but realised I had a team meeting
Good: Meeting only involved 3 of us it can be shifted
Bad: One of us was too busy and didn't have extra available time
Good: In the end I convinced him to make time on Tues
Bad: Price of flights rose by $20
Good: I booked the last ticket for that timing
Bad: I paid by nets, it showed success but I didn't receive the itinerary after 2 hours
Good: I verified with Jetstar, my payment didn't go through so I paid via credit card 10mins before they cancelled my booking
Bad: The hotel was lousier than average
Good: It was free
Bad: My budget for the trip burst
Good: I brought extra SGD to exchange and I had a good time. And Pit treated me and sent me to the airport.

thinness

1. My colleague who has not seen me for 2 months

2. Jeffrey who hasn't seen me for 1 month

3. My aunt who hasn't seen me for 3 weeks

On 3 different occasions when they met me, they scanned me from head to toe and asked "did you lose weight?"

Yes I did, I actually hoped to attribute that weight loss to regularly hitting the gym but no, it's because of my food poisoning over Chinese New Year and everything I ate came out immediately, and also water-loss. My pants and shirts are incredibly loose now, I have to make some new ones. 

After my infrequent gym sessions after my first Japan trip and my muscle mass loss, I have been trying to lift back the same weights as I had before but I have to start light. I have to increase my food intake as well to make up for the weight loss. 

Last min Bkk

After coming back on Sunday, Mac had a sudden last minute business trip to Bangkok 3 days after. On Thursday night I was thinking if I should go to Bangkok because Pit has been asking me to visit and I could actually hitch on Mac's hotel (yay to free accommodation), that means I have to take a day off on Monday.

On Friday morning I checked my Monday schedule and realised there's a team meeting. Oh wells, I called my other team mate to see if re-scheduling is possible but she was making it hard. After some negotiations, I had the meeting rescheduled to Tuesday, and I went ahead to Jetstar website. After lunch at 1.50pm, I bought my flights and was confirmed at 3.30pm because of some payment issues, changed currency and rushed straight home, packed at 4.30pm and I was on my grab hitch car at 5pm for the 7.30pm flight. The most last minute travel plan ever. The flight was around $300 which was rather expensive for Bkk but considering I had free accoms it was quite a deal.

I texted Pit and he wanted to pick me up at the airport but it was peak hour and the train is rather convenient. I have not been in Bkk for 1 year already and I realised SG passport could go through the scanning machine instead of manual stamping, so time saving! 

It was a drinking trip from the start. After I reached, Pit brought us to a rooftop bar with awesome cocktails. The second day we lunched at Roast, I wanted to tailor clothes but there wasn't enough time, we shopped around Siam, and dinner at Chinatown.

I think this is the highlight of the trip. After dinner at Chinatown, Pit brought us to a upcoming hippie area for bar hopping. We walked to this quiet and dark area without a soul and I was a bit afraid he was bringing us to some dodgy place to sell us off but when we opened a door it was filled with normal people! I was like wuddddddd.

The first bar he brought us had traditional thai music and the cocktails they served are local-based, consisting of Thai herbs and seasonal fruits. Really interesting place and concept.

 The second bar was called Asia Tonight, they serve drinks according to trends and main focus on Rum.

 This is the third bar, which is a small hippie gin bar and the door looks like that.

After that we still went clubbing and had more drinks LOL.
Second day Mac and I went out on our own, we wanted to go CTC market but it was too hot so we went Silom, Siam and fav Platinum Mall for shopping. At night Pit brought me to Maggie Choo's, which is another hippie bar.

This is what Maggie Choo's looks like. A dungeon theme, and they happen to have a drag show that night LOL. I have never been a fan of drag but it was really hilarious and I can't resist taking pic of Adriana Grande. The host also had some games with the audience. The drinks are awesome btw, and the music is awesome, it could have been a great club.

On the last day I had to explore myself, I went to Central embassy for brunch, Erawan Shrine, walked around Siam, went to thai massage, ate dinner with Pit at Greyhound Café and he drove me to the airport. Thanks Pit, and luckily we have a lot of common interests in food and drinks LOL. It's always nice to have a local to bring your around hippie areas.

I only brought $150 cash over coz I didn't want to spend so much this trip but in the end I had to change another $100 over there. All I spent on was food, especially drinks, I didn't really buy any clothes back.

It was a rather happening trip, I thought it would be a bit boring but the cocktail scene in Bkk is really amazing now, even better than SG I would say. I have to go back to tailor clothes next time and visit more cocktail bars.

Tokyo 2018 part 2

After Iwate, my initial plan was to go up to Hakodate and Sapporo because Iwate is very near to Hokkaido, but that would mean $120 extra for the train pass and 8 hours from Sapporo to Tokyo.
And Mac wanted to join me last minute in Tokyo so I spent the remaining 5 days in Tokyo instead.

Luckily I didn't have a lot of time in Tokyo last trip and I had planned some other places this time round. After Gyutan in Sendai the first thing I must have is Tsukemen at Tokyo, which I missed the last trip.

We checked into the hotel which is pretty much Japanese size standards. It was the first time I stayed there and I booked it last minute but it was still cheap. Near Tamachi station, it was pretty convenient with lotsa food and convenient stores around. We headed to Ikebukuro right after and had cheese tarts, walked around a little bit, pokemon center and had gyoza for dinner. We both woke up super early that day so we headed back straight.

Next day was the standard Meiji, Harajuku and Shibuya route, we had desserts, Afuri ramen, zaku zaku, and my long awaited fluffy pancake!!! OMG I MISSED IT SO MUCH, the best pancakes in the world.

Soft cheesecake first, then chocolate cake second, and Café Gram's fluffy pancakes and zaku zaku

After Shibuya, I wanted to go to Okura because they have clothes which were dyed by the traditional method of using Indigo plants, and the clothes actually look better with every wash. This area is my new found hippie area. So many hippie shops around but I didn't have time to explore every shop. Beams x Porter bag shop is also there but I couldn't afford the bag I wanted. We ate BBQ seafood for dinner.

The next day lunch was at Akihabara. I had went there for dinner last trip but it was sold out so I had to go this time round. There was a short queue outside so we waited for around 20mins before we were served. I found out that it was featured in Michellin guide. The tonkatsu was amazing. The pork was juicy and the coating was so crunchy. We could see the chef frying the tonkatsu in front of us and served fresh. Truly one of the most exceptional tonkatsu I had and I would really go back and queue the next time I go there.

I also made a booking at Pizza Bar after hearing rave reviews on it and the chef at Tapas also recommended it. It was really amazing but we over-ordered cheese so it became a bit unbearable towards the end. Pizzino was really good.

It was strawberry season and I bought 3 super large strawberries at the supermarket at $3 each and they were super sweet and juicy. 

Just some more sight see-ing

And green tea ice cream eating

and Ginza posing

and sky-tree posing

Cute starbucks sakura drink, which was pretty decent.

Oh Oyako-don I have missed you so much.

The last meal we had was this awesome sushi, and we were lucky we had the main chef preparing for us. I just love sushi now I can eat them everyday.

I explored Ginza, Dover Street Market and wanted to get this off-white tshirt but I just couldn't allow myself to spend so much. I got the off-white natural habitat belt though. And I got a Lanvin EB tee, almost got the really nice jeans but the price is too high. I finally bought my Okura tshirt natural indigo dye, and... all my bottles of Japanese gins. Kozue, Akayane and Nikka.

I was wondering how I spent as much as last trip but oh well, already spent. Probably because of the clothes, snacks, gins, and food. I bought enough facial supplies to last me for 2 years and my gin supply in my room can last me for 10 years.

Iwate 2018

The day I flew I was having food poisoning and all that came out of me was watery stuff so I was kinda worried that it was going to happen on the flight there but fortunately I got better when I got on the red-eye flight, transferred at Jakarta and then reached Tokyo without sitting on the plane toilet haha.

So so so glad I bought the white down jacket because the weather was much colder than I expected. -8 during the day is really crazy cold, especially in Appi Kogen.

I love the hotel that we stayed in. The food was so on point. Iwate is famous for their beef and milk products and they serve both in their meals. The onsen was also on point and they had a private onsen as well, which I did in the morning. They also fetched us from the ski slopes everyday.

Just look at the marbling.

Dinner was Beef Sukiyaki, Beef BBQ and Crab steamboat, with a few courses of sides like sashimi.

Now to the snowboarding part. Appi is a little bit more expensive than Myoko, but the powder is superb and unbeatable, even Niseko couldn't beat it. The slopes were super challenging coz it was immediately the black run when you come out of the gondola and the winds were super strong. All I could remember was that it was super super cold and my nose kept dripping but the snow is amazing. A small price to pay for the good snow. The weather on the last 2 days were blue bird days so we had a good view of the slopes. I like the sailor runs too.

This is the cute Appi Kogen train station which looks like a bus stop.

On the way back to Tokyo I stopped by Sendai for their famous BBQ gyu tan (beef tongue), which was quite good and rubbery like squid. Haha.

I'm not sure if it's because of my sick body that I couldn't really enjoy Appi fully but I kinda liked it and it might be my next snow destination again. All I could remember is that it was really cold (-10 everyday) and I kept going to the toilet after every meal hahaha. I would love to go back one day to fully enjoy the sailor run in good health condition.

Oh I had the private onsen in the morning and did a IG story on the outdoor onsen so check it out.
I just love the outdoor onsen with snow flying over my head.