Waiting for 2014

Christmas in Singapore

We had a great Christmas Day in Singapore. Samantha was really excited to see all the presents under the tree when she woke up in the morning. She inspected the carrots and cookie that we had left for Santa and was satisfied that all the food had been consumed, leaving just the stems of the carrots.

We proceeded to open all the presents, and Sammy was obviously the most excited, and also the one with the most presents! She got plenty of new clothes, a couple different bracelet/jewelry making kits, and some other science-related kits.

We had Christmas dinner around 1:30pm, with a big roast turkey that came all the way from the U.S. Apparently turkeys in Singapore are not very good and very expensive. When Nick and Audrey were in the U.S., the bought a heirloom turkey and put it in a cold box inside their luggage! Regardless how the turkey got to be on our dinner table, it was very delicious and way too big for just the 5 of us!

We walked down to Orchard Rd after dinner. We were hoping to see some floats, but we were either too late or there were no floats to begin with. There were many people walking on the streets though, which surprised me.

On Boxing Day, we went for the River Cruise since it was close by and not too busy. We wanted to go for a high tea before we left so we had to schedule our activities around the high tea time.

The cruise was nothing special, though it was nice to see the Singapore skyline from the river. What was enjoyable was the kaya toast we had after the cruise. The kaya toast is a Singapore specialty, made with 2 very thin slices of toast with some kaya jam (made from coconut) in the middle. It was quite delicious and we were glad that we had a chance to try this before we left.

We wanted to go to the Raffles Hotel for the high tea but we couldn’t get it, so we ended up going to the Hyatt for the 3:30pm high tea and buffet. The food was delicious and we all had a very good time, though completely stuffed (the usual theme since we got to Singapore). Samantha was smiling the entire time!

Chiang Mai

We came back to Chiang Mai on Dec. 27. When we were landing, the captain announced that the temperature in Chiang Mai was 19°C (~66.2°F). There was an audible gasp from the passengers. This was the coldest ever since we have come to Chiang Mai. I was told by our friend Jim that Chiang Mai had been unusually cool over the entire Christmas break.

The weather has continued to be cool since we came back. It has been around the 70’s – 80’s (mostly around 70’s °F). It is actually quite pleasant and we don’t need any air conditioning. In fact, we wish that we have heat as well but we don’t, so we have added another layer of comforter at night. It’s amusing to see how the locals dress. While a shirt and a pair of jeans keep me comfortable and warm, we see many Thais with big jackets, thick scarves, and knitted hats.

My parents are arriving tonight to spend the New Year with us. We’ll be picking them up from the airport later tonight. They were quite excited when I talked to them last. It will be good to share Chiang Mai with them.

There have been ongoing demonstrations in Bangkok since November and the Thai government has been dissolved. We have received security alerts from the U.S. embassy regarding travels to Bangkok. However, in Chiang Mai, it has been quiet and peaceful as ever. I thought about taking my parents to Bangkok for a visit before, but now I think we will just stay in Chiang Mai.

Good-bye to 2013

On this last day of 2013, it is hard not to reflect on the year.

2013 started off very busy at work, with my department winning one big contract after another and my job was to make sure that we had a very good scale-up plan to meet the work demands. It was emotional for me to leave my team behind, to say good-bye to a place where I had spent the majority of my working life. I wish there was a way for me to take all my team with me to work on another business, but that’s not the case, at least for the near future. Saying good-bye was never easy, but at least I was comforted to know that there would be plenty of work for my team for the next few years so no need for me to worry about them in that regard.

2013 is definitely a year of change. As a family, we have made the biggest move since Sammy’s birth. Living in a foreign country, not understanding the language, and not having the security of a regular paycheck can be unnerving at times. Sometimes I wonder if I should have joined the start-up that contacted me after I had quitted my job back in June. I liked the company technology and I liked the people working there, so did I give up a good opportunity? When I refused the offer, the founder thought I was brave. I don’t know how brave I really am, but I think sometimes you just have to do things that break the mold, that set you free, without knowing what will come after. Sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith, because if you don’t, you will always wonder what would happen if you did. Living with regrets is worse than living with “failure”.

As we contemplate yet another move in the new year, I hope that we will stay happy and healthy as a family and take that optimism with us wherever we go.

Waiting for Christmas

It has been almost a month since my last post. It’s hard to believe how fast time has gone by, and so much has been happening.

China

Since my last trip to Shanghai, I went back to China again towards late November for almost two weeks. We went to visit some factories in southern China to see if there were any that we could potentially use for our venture. Since one of them was located in Zhongshan, I was actually able to see my parents for a few hours and had dinner together.

After southern China, we went back to Shanghai again, visiting product design firms, more factories, and talking to more people. It was a good trip, allowing me to get to know the people I would likely be working with, and vice versa. It is always interesting to think how people get to know each other and build trust. Sometimes you can know a person for many years and still don’t “know” a person and can’t build trust. Other times, things just click.

The main concern regarding Shanghai is really the air pollution. For the longest time, I (like many other expats) have thought that Beijing has much worse air than Shanghai. However, while I was in Shanghai, the air in Shanghai was much worse than that of Beijing, and quite a few times, the air quality reached the hazardous level. I was staying inside the buildings mostly, but I got sick while in Shanghai and that had lasted for quite a while (even after I left Shanghai). Should we move here, we must have good air pollution masks etc. In fact, I will get good masks for all employees.

Besides air pollution, I am also concerned about food. Chinas has had many food scandals and even the so called organic foods may not have the same definition as how we would definite in the U.S. It is sad to see how much creative energy has gone into producing these fake foods that make people sick, or even make people die.

Thailand

Once I got back to Thailand in early December, I was happy to be with my family again. The air is clear, the sun is shining, and the temperature is warm. What a contrast Chiang Mai is to Shanghai. While we find the business environment not suitable for us here, we know that we will be missing many of the things here, the people, the climate, the rice paddy fields, the green mountains, the slow pace of life…

Our friends Audrey and Nick came to visit just a couple days after my return. They were the first people staying with us in our house. While we were in communication, we hadn’t seen them in person for quite a while and it was really good to see them.

I have known Audrey well, but not Nick. This trip gave us an opportunity to get to know him much better, and it was weird to find out how much similarity existed between Nick and Gary. The interactions between Nick and Audrey are also similar to those between me and Gary. It was really uncanny to see.

We visited some restaurants, including Nest in Chiang Dao. We did a cooking school, Basil Cookery School one day with all 5 of us. It was a really fun experience and the food was really good. The only problem was that there were so much food that none of us could finish everything!

Singapore

A few days after Nick and Audrey left, we went to Singapore to visit them and spend Christmas together! They would be moving back to the U.S. in January and we wanted to see them before they leave Singapore.

I had been to Singapore a few times before for work, but I never really did any tourist thing because I wanted to wait for Gary and Samantha to do things together.

Singapore is as green as the first time I had seen it years ago. There are no mosquitoes in Singapore, which is probably the greatest thing for us, free from mosquito bites! So far, we have been very lucky with the weather, which has been unusually mild. It has been very warm but not hot and not humid. We are spoiled.

Old Houses near Orchard Rd

The entire Singapore has been decorated from top to bottom for Christmas. Our friends live just right off Orchard Road, the main shopping street in Singapore. There are many beautiful decorations on Orchard Road, from fancy light displays to Santa carriages to fake snow. It’s very festive. Samantha really loves it here! Unfortunately, she seems to have caught some kind of stomach bug and has been a little off since coming to Singapore, but she has gotten better the last two days.

So far, our friend had a small gathering and a cocktail party. We met some really nice and intelligent Singaporeans and the conversations were very stimulating. Just chatting between us have been very fun as well. I have some work to do for my business idea, but I have found it difficult to not to participate in the conversations because I have found them so interesting.

We went to Sentosa Island and took the cable car ride. It was a pretty ride and quite relaxing.

We went to the Singapore Flyer the other day and the view was absolutely beautiful! It is a very good way to get oneself oriented for this small city.

View from the Singapore Flyer

Then we went over the border into Malaysia to look at some of the condos/houses that we were told could be good investments. As such, I haven’t found one. Most of the communities are living by people from Singapore who visit just once in a while.

Today, we went to the Singapore Zoo. We were going for the River Safari, but by the time we got there around noon time, all the rides were already sold out. As such, we ended up going to the zoo, and took the tram too. We watched “The Rainforest Fights Back” show and we all enjoyed it.

Since getting back from the zoo, Audrey has been cooking dinner and for Christmas tomorrow. Samantha and Nick have started tracking Santa on the internet. Sam is excited to see how fast the present delivery ticker moves. She is glued to the screen and constantly updates us on how many presents that Santa has already delivered.

Audrey cooks this amazing English dessert called a trifle, made from jello, ladyfingers, fruits, custard and cream. Samantha has helped Audrey making it, and we all participate fully in eating it.

It is hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close. So much has happened this year. I am grateful for the family I have, my husband, my daughter, my parents, my brother and his family; I am grateful for all the old friends whom I have known, and for all the new friends that I have made since moving to Chiang Mai. Life has definitely taken a much more interesting though challenging turn since we’ve made the decision to move. I feel that I am finally going after my dreams, the dreams of building something of value from scratch, of improving the lives around me, of leaving a legacy. I cannot predict the future, but I know that whatever road in front of me will be full of obstacles, challenges and frustrations since anything worthwhile to do is never easy, but I am grateful for my family who are with me all the way, taking this crazy ride together.

My Christmas wish? May the next Christmas be even more interesting than this year’s, and that I am on my way of building something worthwhile.