Waiting ...

The flight departure time is 2340, boarding time is 2240, I've already checked-in, found myself a quiet spot and it is only 2115. This reminded me of the time last year where I had to wait about 4-5 hours for Wifey at Arlanda Airport. That wait was worse cos there was absolutely NOTHING to do!

Anyway, the departure gate is E8, which is super far away in some little corner. I'll probably listen to some new tunes on my Zen or surf YouTube till my laptop battery runs flat.

Next update should be in Dubai.

Travelling Again ...

The last time I set foot on a plane was almost a year ago, when Cayden was smaller than a peanut and Gold was around US$600/oz. (Argh!)

Anyway, I am now working on a tender for Dubai (among several other things, as usual). About two months ago, I was asked to go but I managed to excuse myself from the trip as Cayden was only 1+ month old. This time round there is a second trip, and being the officially appointed technical lead, I think it's better that I go.

Which means ...

I will miss baby Cayden for 1 week
I will feel the heat in Dubai (close to 40 degrees Centigrade) for 1 week
I will experience Ramadan in Dubai for 1 week (no food/drink in public during the day)
I will be working full-time with overseas partners for 1 week

The only plus points that I see is that this will be a new experience as I have not been to Dubai before. Hopefully as well, I can learn much from working with these overseas partners.

Stay tuned for updates and maybe some photos if I have time.

KooshLog: Family / Work Life Balance

KooshLog: Family / Work Life Balance

Just an update to the last post, I have just received a "New Born Gift" from my company, 50 bucks. Wifey's "New Born Gift" from hers was 20 times more ... :-D

Family / Work Life Balance

The last hope of a great family / work life balance faded away during the weekend as the last TOTO ticket was carefully scrutinised, and then dumped into the trash bin. Is it really that hard to achieve?

Wifey has only started going back to work for less than a week after maternity leave and we were "forced" to leave the boy at the in-law's place overnight because of work related reasons:

1. Meeting at 8:30am in the morning, too early to fetch the boy from home to in-law's.
(A whole bunch of people turned up ... and mostly wasted their time)

2. Meeting until 9:00pm at night, too late to bring the boy home.
(Probably so people can claim for their taxi fare home)


Recently, there has been talk about raising the declining birth rate. I just heard on the news that Singapore's current figure stands at 1.29. A quick search on the Internet revealed articles in 2004 at which the birth rate was 1.25. I'm not sure how accurate these figures are but a 0.04 increase over 4 years is hardly encouraging.

Personally, I think $$$ may not be the factor for most couples when it comes to having children. Time is more important. Working environments and working habits and expectations of bosses need to be changed.

Anyway, both of us work in government-related industries. Wifey has a better deal from her HR which offers an encouraging pro-family/baby package, but unfortunately, mine doesn't even offer a single day of paternity leave ...

Lancer EX GT Fuel Consumption

Today I had a meeting very early in the morning (first thing at 8:30am) so I went to office straight from home. The journey from Yew Tee to Serangoon North was Expressway all the way.

Driving normally, the average FC meter for the GT reached a peak of 13.1 km/l, pretty impressive for a short highway drive. I wonder how high it can go if I ever get a chance at the North South Highway ...

Rolling Over

As with many new parents, every first giggle, wobble, sneeze and coo is a milestone of achievement for their child, and so true is it for us.

Little Cayden has learnt how to hold his head up while lying prone on the bed for some time already, but now, he can roll himself over ... and back!

Changi Airport Terminal 3

For the past few weeks, wifey has been staying with my in-laws during the daytime while I was at work. Because of the little prince, we have not had time to go out for a meal for a couple of months already. So as a sign of appreciation, wifey decided to bring them all out to T3 to take a look as they have not been there before. It is also a good excuse for me to take 1/2 day leave to escape from the "mess" in the office.

Anyway, weekdays are the best times to go relax. We went there in the afternoon to walk around. T3 is huge and there are not too many people around so seats were aplenty. Took quite a number of photos before ending up sipping Pure Caramel Ice-Blended while surfing the net with my new E51. So relaxing. I definitely need more of these outings ...



Click photo for the Flickr Set

Nokia E51

Being in the technology business, I must say that I was "ashamed" not to know of the existence of the Nokia E51 non-camera phone. It is known as the E51-2. (The E51-1 is the camera version)

It was only recently that I saw the E51-2 for sale at a popular local shop (MobileSquare). The E51-2 was only available in Steel Silver at the shop. This gave the phone a very business/professional finish but also made it a fingerprint magnet.

The specifications were exactly what I wanted. 3.5G, WiFi, Bluetooth, Outlook Sync ... the works, and all in a slim and sleek body. The phone runs the latest S60 operating system and it is quite rare to find a phone with such features but without a camera. The lack of a QWERTY keyboard was not really an issue as I found that I have not lost my number pad thumbing skills.

Needless to say, I told wifey about and and the next day, we bought 2 of these phones. We particularly like the WiFi features as we could surf the net and download applications, themes, ringtones etc. for free both at home and outside. TomTom GPS navigation and MSN Live is also available for the E51. Apps such as iScoot and Gizmo also allows free VOIP calls and chats, neat!