Bonjour Madame, palez vous Anglais?

I got so much info on Paris from Maya and Montse that I am thinking that 3 days is just not gonna be enuff to see the city.

Both of them are sooooo nice. Maya passed me a mini French guidebook on Paris and printed out maps and addresses of restaurants and eateries that I absolutely have to try.

Montse also handed me her trusted English guidebook on France and even took the effort to go over the train/RER/metro map of Paris with me, introducing the various attractions. I've learned so much from her that I wish I am in Paris right here, right now.

It is true that I could have done my research online and probably get similar information. But nothing beats having a Parisian or a Paris lover tells you where to find tried and tested, good French cuisine and the proper way to pronounce all those damn French words.

The Cleanest Apt Award...

goes to Apt 4624! *Clap Clap*

I finally cleaned up my apartment. It took me slightly less than two hours to clean up the living room, kitchen and bathroom.

Now, even my taps are sparkling clean - there's not even a single mark of water stain.

I'm so proud of myself.....wait a minute, I haven't cleaned up the bedroom and wardrobe yet. They are a mess! Oops...

Hopefully I will get down to doing it tomorrow.

Be my guest

I've invited my colleague and his gf over for a Singaporean-style home-cooked dinner tonight.

I was supposed to clean up my apartment yesterday night but couldn't get to it as I had to work late. Just as I was about to leave the office at about 6 pm yesterday evening, I received a call from my Senior Manager informing me that the client has decided to file their tax return earlier than expected.

So on a Friday night, I stayed at home working (not that I have any other more exciting things to do)and finally got the report done at 1230 am. Then at 130am, I received an email from the client.

She sent us revised info! WTH!

So I stayed up for another hour working.

Today I got up at 930am to continue with it. And now, at 215pm, I finally finished that report.

But wait! I still have to review the changes my SM is making to another report. I am now waiting for him to send it over.

5 more hours to dinner time and I haven't cleaned up the mess nor bought the ingredients yet. Luckily I am going to make curry chicken using my favorite Prima Taste.

Easy, breezy!

Gonna serve the curry with prata, bread and rice (carbo overload!)

Although it doesn't really sound very home-made since I am not making the curry nor the prata from scratch, at least the food is very Singaporean indeed!

Anticipation & Anniversary

Tim originally did not plan on letting me know about him joining us on the Europe trip. He wanted to give me a surprise at the London airport. I think that even though he might have ruined the surprise by telling me in advance, the anticipation of the upcoming trip is equally priceless. It has given me endless joy for the past few days.

Around 10 more days to go. I simply can't wait to see my CGG again! Like I said in my comments, I really feel we are like "pak tor-ing" now. So blissful...I can't stop smiling...

I just realized as I am typing this that Tim and I are celebrating our 12th anniversary this month. Why do I say this month rather than a specific date? That's because he says we got together on 12/12 but I insist it was 10/12. But we sort of agreed that Xmas Day could be the official date too. So after a few years, we just never celebrate our anniversary anymore. But who cares about anniversaries when I feel so much in love everyday :P

On a side note, today is my 3rd anniversary here in Houston. Never thot that I would be the last man standing. How time flies....Nope, there is definitely not going to be a fourth anniversary. I should be going back for good between April to May after I complete my projects here. So approximately 5 months more to go!

Ecstasy

I am absolutely elated and nothing is gonna take this feeling away - not even the tonnes of work that I need to do this evening.

I am gonna see my CGG again in two weeks' time! Tim is gonna meet up with me in London and we will be traveling to Paris, Manchester and Barcelona (in that order) together! I'm so excited! It's weird. I wasn't even that excited about going to Europe in the first place. But now I can't wait!

Yes, Tim will be visiting Old Trafford and taking the tour again. And yes, he will go on the free London tour and take the same path again. But who cares?!! The feeling will be different. This time he is gonna have me, his lovely wifey, by his side!

Oh, I am over the moon!

Back in Houston

I'm back in boring Houston.

Surprisingly, I am not suffering from any jet lag. I slept almost throughout my plane ride and two hours after reaching home, I slept again. I dont even get the dizzy spell that i experienced when I was back in Singapore. Not reading on the flight back probably helped.

Now that I am back, I need to face the reality of deciding my fate for the near future. Before, I had wanted to stay behind as I felt that I will get more out of my stint here by staying a little longer to gain more exposure and experience. I thought that this is particularly important for me especially being a newly promoted manager.

But now, after talking to the partner in Singapore, I realized that the skillsets and technical knowledge required to excel in the position back in Spore might be different from what I will learn here. Despite being the same department, the projects managed by the Singapore team are different from those handled over here. In the US, we do a lot more documentation and planning projects that are very specific to TP as the regulations here are very established, while in Singapore, with no specific TP rules in placed, the work tends to focus more on assisting the clients with their overall international tax planning. Not being familiar with that type of work, I can only guess that even though the technical knowledge I gained here will be useful somewhat, I will require a lot more understanding about corporate tax/value added tax/custom in general in order to perform well on the job. I also gathered that the Singapore practice does a lot more direct selling of projects to the clients as compared to our team based in Houston. All these meant that I will need to have strong technical knowledge as well as possess the relevant softskills.

So the point is that, by staying behind, even though I might be able to learn more, the experinece that I get might not necessary help me move forward in my career in the near future. With a clearer idea of what is required of me to perform well in my next role, it means that my original objective of staying back in Houston is now no longer valid. If that is the case, isn't it pretty clear that I should just move back to Singapore?

Well, the truth is, I don't feel like I am ready to take on the new challenges. Perhaps it is also because I am afraid of change. Life's has been pretty good in the US thus far. I am not sure it will be the same in Spore and I am not willing to find out any time soon. I am not ready to give up the relax (nuah) lifestyle that I have grown accustomed to here for the long working hours in Spore. Yet at the same time, I feel that my quality of life has depreciated despite having all those personal time since I am not able to spend the free time with my loved ones.

I will really have to weigh the pros and cons and think really carefully about what I value most before deciding on the next step that i will take.