Most Exhausted Girl in the World

work work and dragon boat practices, work work and ballet, work work and going out, work work and dragon boat races...i have not had a break in ages.  tonight i am on a self-imposed grounding.  i am so tired i have nothing to say so check out some pictures:

A New Leaf

i do not know if you know this about me or not but when i do things, i like to do them full on.  so a new job, perhaps a new flat (my owners are selling and i may have to move out), a new exercise regime, and perhaps a new man!

the job is good.  i could not be happier especially since i was so miserable with my previous company.  it is like a proper company and i love it!!  this is where i belong.  i have heard it is not all roses - change is slow and difficult ("its like moving an elephant," everyone says) but there are no perfect jobs, companies, cities, people...just have to find one that fits you right.  i have been put on a very high profile client and i am so very excited for that as well as it will give me great exposure to important partners in the firm!

the flat may have to change soon as well and with summer coming, i will be moving into a building with a pool...YIPPIE!

i joined a dragon boat team.  it is UBER intense and competitive.  unbeknownst to me, it is one of the best teams in hong kong...go figure.  my second practice i had a pickled frenchwoman behind me shouting commands for the full 2 hour session.  MERDE, i say!  but it is fun and i want to get fit ;)  dragon boating is a sure fire way to do that!!

and i met a really great guy.  have not talked to the old one in over a week (sad, but a big accomplishment for me) and this new one seems pretty fab.  we get on like a house on fire and i am optimistic it could be good.  he is english but has been in hong kong for 14 years!?!?  taking things slow and acting like adults - it is a NEW leaf, my dears, and i am loving every minute of it!!!! 

what do you say in ny?  youre always looking for a job, a flat or a man...

xo

Employee Number 14554

finally, the new chapter in my life begins - i am employee number 14554!  the first day was, what i am guessing for a big firm, typical.  i went in at 830 after six months of not getting out of bed before 9 and had orientation at my new place of employment.  i got my laptop, about 800 usernames and passwords, we watched a video and i went up to my work station.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz, but ok, here are some other first day observations:

• the requirement to dress...properly:  not only do i have to put on clothes, they have to be proper clothes (something more than a bra and warm-ups) which is a bit of a bummer.
• everything is hierarchical:  depending on your level, your desk, bathroom and healthcare scheme all become progressively better.  for example, it is coming to the end of the busy season so all the associates are in the office.  they sit in a long row without any partitions and share phones as they dont have their own.  others are given a better work stations from a sectioned off desk, a sectioned off desk around the circumference, to proper office.  even the toilets!  some are marked "executive toilet" - which i have been advised to use anyway to the healthcare which allows managers and above to a full health review (and i am absolutely planning to take advantage of that) at the cost of the firm.
• you cannot pass gas in tight quarters:  after working alone in my own flat, i have been able to do as i please.  if i was hungry, i ate.  i was tired, i napped.  i had gas, i farted.  now, i have people all around me.  ALL around me.  no more farting as i please and napping when tired.  and my downloaded shows and movies?  of course not!  sheesh.
• tight security:   the computers have to be put away and locked up every night and during the day, they are chained to our desks.  the security video we watched during orientation made me so freaking paranoid and to boot, i was told that the IT department will sometimes take your laptop if you leave it unlocked in order to teach you a lesson.  and since i am new and my secretary was out, i did not have a desk lock.  that being said, i did not want to even pee since i had to put my laptop away in a locked desk every time.

so now it is ten past nine and it is time for me to go to bed because i am knackered!!

xo

Trip to Hanoi

it was certainly nice to get out of hong kong for a bit.  although the weather in hanoi wasnt the best, it is just a quick 1 and 1/2 hour flight so why not?  the first night was spent in hanoi and the next two in halong bay and then back to hanoi!

the boat in halong bay was fun but i was seafood'ed out (a total of 7 meals of fish, shrimp, rice, rice and rice...).  i never thought i could get to my limit but i will be happy if i dont see a prawn for a while.  other highlights included kayaking, a "magnificent cave" (as the tour guide kept calling it) and a fabulous meal at the green tangerine back in hanoi for the last night.

hanoi was not my favorite but it was relaxing - exactly what i need before the new J.O.B. starts and i am not able to leave the office before 8 let alone take a holiday.

here are some pics:

PICTURES!!!!!

Rugby Sevens 2010

another year, another rugby sevens.  i cannot believe i am about to celebrate my second anniversary here in hong kong (june) as it is cliche but "time has flown".  i feel like just yesterday, i landed and went into work in the middle of a typhoon.  yet at the same time, it feels like that was also decades ago.  how does that work?  if you know, please fill me in ;)

so my mate came in from london for the sevens and it was so good to see him.  the last time i saw his lovely mug was probably december 2008 and it is always a joy.  when i first met him back in the city in the summer of 2005, i thought he was a bit odd.  however, as time has gone on, i have grown to know him and love him for exactly those "odd" reasons and many other top quality reasons i have learned about since.  but i digress...after arriving early, we hit up some food and drinks - nothing major.  thursday, the next day, was spent doing errands and going around hong kong.  and we geared up with a viewing of "invictus" to get us in the mood for rugby.  friday through sunday was full of rugby and drinking and drinking and drinking.  saturday is always the heaviest.  the high moments included us in fancy dress in the suites drinking wine out of plastic cups and insulting the people who invited us (really him...i was the picture of propriety all day) and my good old buddy on the ground in his tiger cozzie on the sidewalk in the ever classy wanchi (yes, i took him to the girlie bars - they are a must!).  needless to say, sunday was a bit painful but at least the matches were good.  england v. samoa was really good and the final of new zealand v. samoa was great as well.

all in all, another top weekend with another top visitor!  pictures to be uploaded soon.  next stop - hanoi for easter!!!

and you, me dears?  please let me know what you have been up to!
xxo

Phnom Penh, I LOVE YOU!!!

wow, had a BLAST in phnom penh.  i think it is completely livable (although i wasnt there during the rainy season) and one of the nicest cities i have been to in south east asia.

i arrived in the morning and cabbed it to the raffles hotel.  the raffles is unique and historic as it was a regular stopping point for jackie o and was the last bastion of safety for foreign journalists during khmer rouge.  it didnt hurt that the hotel is completely gorgeous as well...

it is always so great, when you arrive at a nice hotel in asia, you are typically greeted with a tasty juice or cocktail and a cold towel!

the pool that i read, napped and ate by...

i spent the first day by the pool and then ventured out on foot a bit later.  i wasnt really bothered other than by the tuk-tuk drivers and the motorcyclists all looking for business.  however, i did not once feel unsafe or assaulted in any way (versus places like jakarta or manila where you feel uneasy the entire time day or night...).  after a short walk, i came to wat phnom which is the tallest religious structure in phnom penh.  

i enjoyed going up the hill and enjoying the view until i came to this:

i think me snapping pics gave me away :(

the next day, i got up early-ish and went for an uplifting day of sight seeing.  i paid leap, my friendly tuk-tuk driver USD30 for the whole day!  we started out by going to s-21.  s-21 was completely depressing, sad, mortifying and tragic.  s-21 was a school but then turned into a torture center during pol pot's rule.  you were allowed to take pictures but i didnt, couldnt, except for this one:

i took this one and only shot at s-21 because the tree was so beautiful.  it goes to show that nature will pull through, things will re-grow and bloom again despite what happened in the past.

so after going through the establishment that "processed" (yes, that is the word they use) about 200,000 people where only 7 survived, i hit up the killing fields.

this is the entrance to the killing fields.  the pagoda in the background houses skulls, various bones and clothes found when the mass graves were dug up.

again, photos were allowed at the killing fields but i just couldnt.  why would i want to take a picture of that?  its just too much.  the graves were dug up because cambodians are a combination of hindu and buddhist.  buddhists believe that the spirit continues on and it is just the end of the time in that particular body.  therefore, in order to move on properly, the body must be laid to rest...not in a mass grave.  there are many unearthed graves left and the cambodian government has begun to make efforts to dig them up.

this was a worker taking a nap inside the killing fields - i thought he looked like a big corn or empanada!

after leaving the killing fields, leap and i ventured off to the royal palace where the king still occasionally resides.  after seeing royal palaces in beijing, seoul, paris and london, i have to say that this one was the best.  certainly not the biggest but by far the most artistic and beautiful, in my opinion.  here are some pictures and you can see for yourself:

the leaf is on the way up to a pagoda and people write their dreams & wishes...beautiful writing.  and i am obsessed with monks...

so believe it or not, that was the short version of my trip but there is always room for monkeys!!!!

Why am I Wearing a Coat and Extra Trousers Indoors?

it is just sooo bloody freezing.  these cement buildings are not meant to keep heat in or out.  it is a sad day when it is warmer outside than in.

however, i am off to cambodia next week where it is 32 degrees and sunny!  just hope i dont contract malaria.  i have pills, wonder if i should start taking them...websites say i dont really need to in phnom penh but i suppose it is better safe than sorry, ehhhhh?

other than that, it was just chinese new year - KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!!!!  and the city was quiet.  it was nice though despite the bad weather - proper duvet days.

Drinkie Drunkie

as a new years resolution, i have started tracking my drinks.  i began on the 15 january and have chugged down 80 cocktails and glasses of wine...WHAT?  the month is not yet over for me but i have zero plans to drink tonight.  the lad and i are off to the movies even though it is 25 degrees beautiful and sunny.

80 drinks...my god.  i need a full time job again.  oh wait, i got one.  i was offered a contract position which would be perfect as i can keep working with morgan.  however, i have another interview, final round, with another firm on tuesday.  if i get that...what to do?????  and then there is tokyo.  hmmmmmmmmm.  will be nice to have some consistent money though.

and you?  your weekend?

xo

Too Much Sleep

its past midnight into technically monday morning and i am wide awake as i think i got too much sleep this weekend.  ergo, i blog.

friday was spent in macau.  the three of us trekked up to macau on ferry, went out to fernandos (which was fantastic even though there were no clams), and back to the hotel for some gambling and drinking.  i spent about 100hkd and lost it all.  and sandra and jason were active on the blackjack tables winning...um, nothing.  but we had a blast.  we spent saturday walking around and generally chilling out.

back to hong kong and a night in with an exhausted boyfriend.  he just got back from a week on campus doing his executive mba.  poor baby.  i rang twice and didnt even wake up - finally i had to ring him from standing outside his door.  we spent a relaxed sunday getting his hair cut, having lunch and cleaning...the construction men outside broke the window in his bathroom for a second time and his place was covered in dust.  fun times.

and this week is uber-busy both days and nights.  i have to get my photographer's work into the four seasons before my mate who works there is relocated for koh samui...yes, he is being relocated to heaven.  and i plan to visit.  i am pitching new business with one of the bank's design firm that has been hired to move them to the icc.  and i have drinks, a black tie art auction event,  dinners and more drinks all this week.

speaking of rough life...

ta ta for now,
xo