my new Campus

Our company is currently relocating over 6, 500 employees around Sydney to a common work place called the "x Campus". It has 6 low-rise buildings built in an area thought to be the Silicon Valley of Sydney. This project is huge and relocation started in Aug and runs thru to end of Oct this year. In fact the Prime Minister is set to grace the opening ceremony this Tuesday as this marks a big milestone in the history of Australia. OK - enough of that blah about my employer - its not part of my JD.

As I was walking to the parking this afternoon when I finished work, my mobile in my hand, I quickly took a couple of snaps of the new place.


Above is a shot of building B (there's A-F) where the Bistro is. There was a band playing when I took this photo - and even with the long weekend, it is packed with Friday after-work drinkers.


And above is where I usually spend one-third of my weekdays. Lucky building isn't it?

Time's up!

If everything works out fine, and with God's grace, I will be back into the work-force again next week.

The four months of being a woman of leisure just flew by so quickly. I was so blessed to have spent wonderful quality times with family and friends visiting (1 from UK, 2 from Phil & 3 from US to attend cuz's wedding, 6 from Adelaide & Melbourne, 2 from Perth); to have travelled FREE with hubby during his business trip; to have visited family and friends back home; and of course, not to mention, having had too much "ME" time. God has been really good!




I will miss the "occasional" siestas, the TV-series & Koreanobela saga (me on a cold night reading subtitles of the Koreanobela!),





internet-surfing, chatting, weekday shopping, mid-day cooking, and just recently driving around when everyone's working!

{On an afternoon last week, I braved the weekday Sydney traffic and drove to the city to pickup hubby thru the scenic drive via the Eastern suburbs, DeeWhy & Manly Beach route. I did get lost on the way (ended up on the tunnel crossing the city) but found my way to hubby's office just in time as his meeting finished.}



So I guess playtime's up! Someone has indeed dragged me back to work :)

Farewell, Team

About 10 months ago, I posted about securing my first job ever in the land down under.

Today, I bade goodbye to that job and to the people that had the pleasure of working with me (hehe). I plan to stop for 2 months or so until I find something new to learn. I have been excited knowing that December is generally a happy month where everyone is in festive-mood and I've been looking forward to this time.

However, it was weird today as I actually felt a little sad. I realized I've earned some friends along the journey and saying goodbye was a bit heavy for me (as always is). I was so flattered by the well-wishes everyone gave me but was most touched by the people who told me I'd be truly missed, my Business contacts included.

My team and my extended team prepared a little afternoon tea carrot-cake to send me off and handed me their token. Too bad I didn't bring my camera but this is a recent picture of the team.



I will forever remember the fun I had with this team, treasure the friendships I have earned and bring the lessons I have learned wherever God leads me. Bye guys, our paths may cross again but until then good luck and take care!

On a not so busy weekday ...

... my buddy and I went to the top floor of our office building and took some photos with Sydney Harbour bridge as the background. The amusement park you see below it is the Sydney Luna Park; hubby works in one of the buildings beside the park which is one train stop from mine. It is unlikely to spot it from the pics but behind the bridge is the famous Sydney Opera House.

It's not one of the best spots to take photos, I know :) rest assured we'll try better next time. Keep you posted!

My Lenten Cross

I am sooo glad that Lent is almost over.

March has not really been a good month for me. During this month, I worked for 28 out of the 31 calendar days and I still have almost 3 days in total of overtime or work from home.

Hence, I consider my work as my Lenten Cross for this year. Everyday I've asked God to help me carry my cross, give me all the patience I need in dealing with the stakeholders and the demands of work and I'm just so glad Lent is almost over! I hope I'm not speaking too soon and will be on the train home on time again tomorrow. Hmm, we'll see?

At least I know tomorrow's my last working day for this week :) which is enough reason to blog, to be happy and to celebrate!

So to all my loved ones, Happy Easter! May we live with God alive in our hearts always.

We're starting a new tradition this year, we used to drive to La Union on Holy Wednesdays, this time we're flying to Adelaide for the Holy Week. Will be back with some pictures and stories.

A Typical Working Day

The husband's 6:25am alarm goes off and he clicks on snooze. As soon as he does that, my 6:30am alarm goes off and I snooze it too. After a couple of minutes it goes off again, I click on stop and finally get up from bed. I go straight to the T&B, do my thing with the T & the B and try to make the room available for the husband before 7am. We dress up as swiftly as we can then take a quick breakfast -- either cereals w/ lactose-free milk or just some toast.

After breakfast, we walk around 100meters from the apartment building to get to the platform to the city center. On the train, a good day will be when we can sit together. When the train leaves, I silently say the rosary while the husband desperately tries to keep himself awake by reading pocketbook during the 35mins ride. I alight one-station earlier than he does and I walk just another 100meters from the station to the office building. The husband does the same as his office building is just across the station too.

Work during my first week involved some admin, some training, some meetings and some action ... at the end of the week, it was mostly action. For lunch, I would either be meeting the husband in a nearby fastfood station, or sitting in my own cube munching left-over from the previous night's dinner. Fridays, I learned, are usually team lunches and my first Friday was special for we went to the Sydney Fish Market for lunch! Yum :)

The first couple of afternoons were difficult! I was yawning every 10 mins or so! Gosh, I hope they don't have hidden cameras somewhere. That's probably why they put some glass/clear plastic panels on the corner of the cube where you're facing. I frequented the toilet and the pantry to get over it!

After work, I would call the husband when I'm ready to go and we meet at my station's platform. Usually, he would be waiting for me there when I arrive. Some times I had to wait for him and when he gets there we would either ride the same train he just got off from or wait for the next train if it was the "limited stops" train. Not that it can overtake the "all stops" train but hearing the door open and close every now and then makes it feel farther and longer to get home. Oh well, a psychological thing.

We get home usually 6-ish, that is if we don't drop by the library which is right at the back of the apartment building. We try to enjoy a bit of the broadband, watch the news then get ready for dinner -- sooner if it's Smallville or Surface or Supernatural or Grey's Anatomy on TV. Ha, we're starting to enjoy the programs from the local networks, I don't see the need for cable tv anymore, which is good, one bill less my back!

After the favorite TV programs, lights go off and what follows after that is something I'm not ready to share to the public :) at least not yet? haha!

That's how our typical working day went last week. It probably would be the same for the coming week, except that Thursday will be a holiday to celebrate Australia Day. Hmm, could we probably commit to go to Hunter Valley on this day? Let's see if Mr. Weather cooperates.

Answered Prayer

After 1 year, 4 months and 15 days, and with God’s grace, on Monday I will be joining the workforce again. I received the good news about securing the role last Tuesday, thus the post, "Feeling Lucky".

Today, upon signing the contract and on my way to meet a friend for lunch, I called my Dad to inform him about the good news. He was delighted and said “Congratulations!”. I said "Thank You" … and then there was silence. I said, "Hello?" … then, w/ a different tone of voice, Dad said "I always find it hard to speak-up when I hear good news from you" then I heard him sob tears of joy.

I pacified him and told him, "Don’t cry Dad, this is an answered prayer. I know you’ve been praying for this too, as much as we did and we have to be happy. God is making our dreams come true." -- the same way I pacified him when he learned about our visa approval to OZ.

He said, "That’s very true" and later passed the phone to mom who was as ecstatic but not as emotional, thank goodness.

Thank you Lord for this answered prayer. I trust that you’ll bless us in our jobs and that you guide us in everything that we do. I love you!