fuchsia fragments

Back in Sydney again for a few weeks due to my grandma's health declining (mostly due to old age). It's caused a lot of stress in the family and it really has been a roller coaster these past few weeks. In many ways, it's brought the family together (yum cha, dinners, sharing photos) but it also reminds me that sometimes, it's not all happy days and fun memories.

But I can definitely say that old childhood years were some of the greatest. I look up to so many of my cozzies like big bros and since we use to live so close to each other. Plus had to stick together since we were one of the few asian families in the ghetto... hehehe.

The heat is so Sydney and so different to SG! Love it and hate it at the same time... think I am using air con here more than I do in my apartment. Overnight temperatures at a low of 28 degrees is not normal!

Been trying to catch up with friends and here I will openly admit that I am being selective. I've run into some randomly and caught out to peeps in the extended group (haha, oops). I've tried to meet up with others but had to postpone due to hospital visits but I do want to see peeps.

Working from Sydney on SG hours also doesn't help (basically means I stick around online for around 12 hours) but I don't take for granted the flexibility offered by my company. Love catching up on the stuff that goes around Sydney.

In the whirlwind that is December, it has been a crazy month of working, trying to bake and organizing a very short trip home for the holidays.

It started with what to get everyone in the office for Christmas (next year, I will be more prepared and get things when I am back in Australia!). I managed to make a few gingerbread houses and some gingerbread trees for everyone as well as safe bets of nuts and hand cream! Think it went down well...

Then there was the last minute decision to fly home for 6 days whilst supporting SEA at the same time! So short, so tiring but so worth it. There is truly no place like home with crazy family gatherings that seem to grow in size every time.

And every time that I come home, there is usually a flurry of the same announcements. When I was home from Japan, it was wedding invitations and this time, it was the "I'm having a baby" announcements. So far, know of 4 babies due in July and 1 coming in April... how exciting!

Then, as it is still a PH in Sydney today (not that I get Australian PH anymore), I came back to work to a whole bunch of gifts and warm wishes on my desk. Certainly makes coming back to work a lot easier! And got some pretty cool stuff (and lots of food).

I've been in Singapore for just shy of 4 weeks now and it's been a relatively easy transition so far. My colleagues (and friends) have been pretty supportive from offering to help me move in, go shopping with me, go out for lunch and set up bank accounts etc.

Setting up a bank account here without a new place is a bit of a nightmare and a catch-22. I need a bank account to be able to put down a security deposit and bond but I can't set up a bank account without an address! And to top it off, had issues with my name since all my Australian bank accounts had first name + last name but passport and EP had first name + middle name + last name.

Work hiccups included not being able to download my emails (which turned out to be stored locally on my old laptop). Luckily I was able to get my laptop written off in oz and have it sent here or I might have cried... that's over 3 years worth of emails! Plus my laptop was so much better than the one they gave me here... haha.

I found a place within the first 3 weeks of arriving which was awesome. In the area I was looking in, within my budget and reasonably sized. I was so excited to go to IKEA on Friday evening to get things for my new place!!! Another thing I'm grateful for: my jetsetting parents for spending a few days here and doing all the heavy lifting and transporting all my stuff (and I managed to bring a LOT) to the new apartment while I went to work. Seriously would have taken me all weekend without them.

Bought some appliances today and most things are cheaper here but the sales people really try to push you towards one direction to the point it gets annoying!

Sadly, did fall ill one of the days in Langkawi. After a 4 hour solid bike tour (and I mean a solid ride) that involved a few hiccups - bloodied hands, dodgy coconut water, flat tyre - I think I came down with a bit of food poisoning. In a stroke of good (or bad) luck, we misread the kayak tour time and missed our pick up. And it was all for the better for me because I was stuck in the hotel room most of the day. Managed to go for a very nice hot stone massage but the rest of the day was pretty blurry... stumbling to the toilet and passing out in bed. But the time that I spent to recover really helped to get me back on track as I was pretty normal the next day. Charcoal tablets and hydralyte helped. Another awesome thing about this bunch: Alex is a nurse and everyone was carrying all sorts of drugs to make sure we weren't down for too long.

Another weekend, another wedding. Good thing I've tried to lay low the weekend before otherwise it is just exhausting (and was still exhausted by the end). Think it was the right decision to drive up the day before and spend the night at a rental (it had a real fireplace, so exciting...) and a nice little dinner with Joyce and John at the Leura Garage.

The day itself was a bit chilly but it was a beautiful day regardless. We got to sit in the gallery at the church since Jen and Joyce were playing some music and it made us feel so special / important. Haha. The reception was so pretty too with native flowers, candles, photo booth handmade napkins. I kept mine. It was all very Anna.

It was a small contingent of ex St Georgians in comparison to Cat's Kitchen tea. I'm pretty sure the Kitchen tea was the first time I've been in a room with so many girls from HS again. A little bit... strange - it's like do I say hi? Because I didn't really talk to them in HS. Oh well, that didn't say hi to me so no point in wasting time with them... not like I'll see them again after the wedding...

Very glad that we got to squeeze in a short bushwalk despite the muddy weather and that I had flats (not even walking shoes) down to Fletcher's Lookout. Nice little views of the valley and Wentworth Falls. Makes me wish I could spend more time out there.