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...

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!

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...

Weekend Update ~ Singapore

Other that I had a flight delay back to Singapore on the cheapo Jetstar plane last Wednesday night, I actually had a nice weekend long weekend back at home catching up with my friends and family. :)

On Thursday, we had lunch with hubby's mum and uncle at my favorite prawn noodle shop on Upper East Coast Road. Then we visited hubby's birth place and childhood home on Onan Road which was to be torn down to make way for some private apartments. It was really rundown and I could feel that hubby didn't like living in it at all. The stairs leading up to the apartment was to him the scariest part of the place when he was young.

We went to some dog farms at Pasir Ris with D in the afternoon. Saw some pretty cute puppies but somehow, none of them were comparable to my Coffee and Cookie. I loved the Golden Retriever puppies that I saw but we do not have the kind of house for them...too bad. I would really love to see how Coffee and Cookie will interact with a Golden Retriever. It will be such a funny sight to see a big Golden Retriever being chased by the tiny Toy Poodles. Imagining the scene is making me smile... :) We didn't buy any puppies but the best part of the trip to the dog farms was a chance-meeting with a Malaysian van with the best durians on sale. It was really tasty eating durian out in the open, the unique Singapore experience.

We had supper with some old colleagues on Thursday night at East Coast Lagoon. Had some very tasty local treats such as satay, tulang, fried oyster omelet, cockles, BBQ stingray, etc. It was such a feast!

On Friday, hubby had to fly back alone because of his classes on Saturday but we managed to squeeze in a lunch with his whole family. His elder brother whom we have not met for a long time came too and I could feel that hubby was more than happy. MIL was really happy too, almost forgetting that her younger son was leaving that afternoon...I thought she didn't even say goodbye to him...

After hubby left for Hong Kong, I met some of my good frineds from school on both Friday and Saturday over some very good food again. Laksa, durian desserts, frog porridge...Yummy! I also managed to window shop at Ion, the latest shopping mall in town. The building structure was kind of special, but I thought that it was not very shoppers friendly inside. It was easy to loose your way inside the mall.

Sunday morning was spent quietly at home with mum and son before the flight. D is so fascinated with the yo-yo at the moment, he can do so many tricks with his yo-yo that I felt a little impressed. Now, if only he can put as much dedication in his studies and piano practices... N was out on a study group with some of her classmates and probably showing off the handphone that I had bought for her the day before. She's in puppy love now and I hope she enjoys her youth as much as possible.

Going home like a tourist

It's a beginning of another work week and I am already looking forward to the end of it. Luckily, this week is going to be short, we are going to have 4 days of continuous holidays because of Good Friday and Easter. Yippee!

Hubby and I will be going home to Singapore and I am thinking of a short trip to somewhere...but where? It will be great if we can get a caravan like the one in the picture on the right and go on a road trip. But sadly, this kind of lifestyle is not to be found in Singapore...It takes less than an hour to drive around the whole country!

Anyway, I am thinking of a trip to the new Marina Barrage, the new reservoir downtown. The trip will probably be a whole day out for us? And I am also thinking of the Jurong Bird Park where we have not been to for ages. I always feel like a tourist whenever I go home. I have afterall lived away from home for the past 4 years. Other than visiting touristy places, we also have an appointment with the bank this time to arrange for a mortgage. Finally, the apartment we have bought exactly 2 and a half years ago is scheduled to be completed end of this year. I am looking forward to celebrating Chinese New Year in the new apartment next year.