Glad to go home!

I received my paycheck for September today and realised that I have been hit by another invisible pay-cut. I have a large portion of my Hong Kong paycheck transferred back to Singapore each month and for the past 5 years, I have taken a 28% pay-cut due to the falling Hong Kong Dollar. And over the years, I have had only a 10% raise! This is ridiculous and I am glad that I will be leaving this lousy city and going back home in 2 weeks. My new salary will be paid to me in Singapore Dollar and at the present rate, I will only be taking a HKD4,000 pay-cut. This is really a good deal as I do not have to pay rent anymore and I will have better fringe benefits in terms of annual leaves! And I will be entitled to 3 months of maternity leaves and other baby bonuses as well! The only worry is that I will be taking a new position and I am not sure what is expected of me...

16 weeks

Today is Mid-Autumn Festival and I am in week 16 now of my pregnancy. Went to see the gynaecologist for the last time in Hong Kong last evening and she did a scan, so now the baby's head is 3.4cm in diameter and the thigh bone is about 2.2cm long. The head is still proportional bigger than the rest of his body at this stage. He was moving a lot during the scan, even the gynaecologist laughed at his movements. I think we saw him did a somersault in there! Anyway, the baby is doing well and I am also feeling much better.

15 weeks 5 days

The office staff are getting suspicious about now...I am definitely getting rounder at my middle and they have also noticed that I have not worn high heels for the last 3 months! It didn't know that I get so much attention! So, today I wore the highest heels that I own to work. ;p I bet they will be wondering if I have just grown fat instead.

I have started to feel the baby move inside me, usually small movements but twice I felt a really hard kick on my tummy from inside! Once was when I cuddled Cookie in my arms and I felt a really hard kick on my right side. Then the other time, I felt it on my left side when I was having steamboat dinner with W and his wife.

Oh yah, W & P gave me a Hello Kitty Mahjong Set to bring home to Singapore! Pretty! It's the Singapore version, with the 4 animals too! The latest addition to my Hello Kitty collections! :)

The date is set~

Yes, the date of my home-coming is set. I will be flying back on the 10-10-10 to start a new episode of my life back home. I chose this date hoping that everything will be a perfect 10 for me just like the date. :)

Being away from home for more than 5 years have not been easy but I think going back is not going to be easy too. I am apprehensive, especially when I am not in the best physical shape now to take on new challenges. Hubby is worried too as he will be quiting his job here in Hong Kong and going back home. He will have to start looking for a new job and start over entirely. In this sense, I am lucky as I am already secured with a job and I have established myself in this company too.

I am more worried about living with my mother-in-law and mum actually. I have not stayed with old folks for the past 10 years! I have always had my own place and space! Furthermore, my mother-in-law is afraid of dogs and my mum is fussy about cleanliness. I doubt both of them will welcome my darlings and I am sad. And the baby will be arriving in March! So many changes to my present lifestyle! We need another small studio for ourselves!

"What is my plan?"

I received a call from the HR Manager in my Singapore office telling me that she heard that I will be going back and she asked me what is my plan. I thought that it's such a funny question. My boss has told me that the HR will contact me regarding the details but she called to ask me instead. So I told her that I need an official letter from HR telling me my date of return, my new position, title and salary package. And also how much time will I be given to pack up and how much luggage allowance will I be entitled to. She could not answer me and told me that she will have to check with HQ. *sigh* Oh well, but at least I know for sure that I will be going back now that the Singapore office has confirmed it.

I have told two of my closest colleagues that I will be going back in October and they told me that rumours are spreading already. As my boss has requested for 5 seats for my division, many of them are guessing who will be the other 4 seats, what will my division be in charged of and and who will be working for me, etc. On the other hand, I am more concern if I will get used to the work environment in Singapore. To be honest, I have enjoyed my work here in Hong Kong for the past 5 and a half years. Other than the Japanese GM that I will need to give face to, no other locals can boss me around. It will be quite different back in Singapore...

There's quite a lot that I will need to do, especially for exporting my dogs back to Singapore. They will need to do a blood test for rabies and some other medical and physical checkups at the vet. And the total costs to export both of them back will come up to around HK$20,000+ for door to door service. And I also have loads of clothing and shoes and bags and kitchenware and miscellaneous stuff to bring back!

I am going HOME~

I just came back from a discussion with my boss at HQ last week and it's been decided that I will be going back to Singapore. It's a request finally fulfilled after negotiating with him for the past 2 years. The truth is, there is really no place for me back in Singapore and the company is only going to expand its business in China and reduce businesses everywhere else. So what's the point of me going back to Singapore? Honestly speaking, career-wise, there's really no reason for me to go back. I am really much better off here in Hong Kong and China. But I have the baby to consider and my whole family is still back in Singapore! So what is more important? Career or family? I would say family as I can jolly well find another job back in Singapore even if they don't let me go back.

I have to say that I am appreciative of my boss. He has gone quite out of his league to create a position for me back in the Singapore office and even negotiate for a rather good salary package for me. Although the amount is still not what I had hoped for, I cannot complain much. However, I am a little apprehensive about my new position as it is a "forced-out" position. I am suppose to take on a role as a regional logistics consultant and help 4 warehouses improve their workflow and efficiency. All these warehouses have been functioning for the past so many years without such a position advicing them, so why the need now? And they have to pay for it! Maybe I am one person who really doesn't believe in consultants, but I think I am going to be quite redundant. Anyway, there's no official jobscope and job description for me yet. And I will have to take it a step at a time. I hate it when I am not in the upperhand position to negotiate...

13 weeks 5 days

I am officially in my 2nd trimester and I am suppose to be feeling much better, right? Well, I am feeling better than a couple of weeks ago but I am still feeling sleepy and fatigue easily during the day...and I still have a metallic taste in my mouth most of the time.

And I am thinking of a holiday already...it's been like a long time since I last had a holiday and I would really like to go somewhere like this picture here.

Oh, how I wish I can just go somewhere and do nothing at all for a couple of weeks or so...

It's a BOY! (13 week)

Went for the OSCAR test today and had a very detailed ultrasound scan at the clinic. Could see the baby's nose, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes and the "thingy" between the legs. (^-^) Yes, it's a big "thingy" comparing to the rest of the baby's body and hubby was terribly excited by it. However, the doctor said that it will become proportionally right when the baby is fully grown. We could also see the baby's heart, the brains and even the stomach. And the baby was moving quite a lot, kicking his legs, moving his hands around and playing with his fingers. From the scan, everything looked good and I am quite sure that it's going to be a healthy baby. After the taking my blood for further tests, we went for lunch and hubby called his mother to tell her the good news. And she said it's God sent. Yeah, it's God sent and I am grateful. Just hope that I will carry the baby to full term and smoothly deliver a healthy baby at the end of it.