From Noboribetsu it was time to go on to the last leg of our journey which is Sapporo. After checking out from Takimoto Kan, we took a bus ride to the train station. As we were quite early the missus and I explored the surrounding for a quick look and see at this quaint little town.
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| Nice Little Post Office There - Galaxy S23+ |
From lovely Hakodate we made our way to Noboribetsu via a 2.5 hours train trip. We were welcomed by bear and oni signs at the station. After all Noboribetsu is well known as the gateway to hell (Jigokudani) as well as for their bear park.
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| Hello Bear - Galaxy S23+ |
A lot of things transpired in August..... My colleague who's transferring out of the department finally got the conclusion he's been searching for, his last day with my friggin' team will be on 30th September and he'll move to his next team from 1st October onwards. I'm happy for him, but that also means I'll be left alone to fend for my own. So I'm taking his departure really hard...
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| What Kind of Ass Is That - Galaxy S23+ |
After our extremely short stop at Otaru, we made our way to Furano next. The journey to Furano is more difficult as on the last leg we could only ride on the local train without any reservations and only 4 trips a day. Fortunately I decided to send 2 luggages to our last stop in Sapporo, but it didn't make our journey any simpler as on the train we bumped onto many similiar travellers like us, so the train was quite filled up with luggages. It was just a one car train, strangely.
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| The First Leg of Our Journey to Furano - Galaxy S23+ |
As we finished our exploration of Tokyo, it was time to make our move to Hokkaido, the most important part of our itinerary. From Disney Ambassador Hotel, we took the airport limousine to Haneda.
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| Waiting For Our Airport Limousine Bus - Galaxy S23+ |
I can't possibly skip Tokyo Disneyland if I visit Tokyo can't I? And while at it I must visit Disneysea too! And that's exactly how we ended up in both Disney parks 2 years in a row. I absolutely love it! From Disney Ambassador Hotel, we need to take a shuttle bus to reach Disneyland, which we did promptly to best utilize our Happy Entry. The moment we were allowed into the parks, I was ecstatic.
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| Run Run Run! - A7RMk3 + FE24mm F1.4GM |
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| Let's Go! - Galaxy S23+ |
October has been a plain sailing month, even to this date which is the last day of the month. Work was OK, I mean I'm still doing lousy stuff which won't give me any promotion and such, but I'm cleaning up 💩 from the SAP integration project, where scenarios and situations the analysts did not think of finally showed up as service tickets. These "cases" appear on the KPI dashboards, or in some cases are missing... So it's up to me to fix those. This month I also went to a Salesforce event in Raffles Hotel. It was the first time I attended such a glamorous vendor event. Prior to the start of the event I started feeling my panic attack returning. I guess it was because the place was rather dark, packed with so many people and loud sounds that almost triggerred another attack. Fortunately a staff ushered us to the front seat where I picked the corner most seat to get more space. I managed to get the panic attack under control.
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| Waiting For The Event to Start - Galaxy S23+ |
In less than half an hour, 2023 will come to an end. This December has been delightful for a number of reasons, the main one being that I spent the first 2 weeks of the month on my Japan vacation. It is a long overdue vacation since 2019, so I made sure to make this trip well it's worth. We travelled across Tokyo, Kawaguchiko, Kyoto, Osaka & Karuizawa before finally ending the trip with a bang in Tokyo Disneyland & Tokyo Disneysea.
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| Waiting to Board Our Flight - Galaxy S23+ |
I felt like October just whizzed past me. So many things happened over a span of less than 31 days. Work has been unforgiving as usual. I'm strongly considering to ask for an internal transfer as soon as I'm eligible because I really cannot stand the pace and an ambitious team mate who's willing to make me look bad so that he can get ahead. There's also this other colleague who's so stubborn, sitting with him for a meeting earlier this month almost triggered my panic attack again. It was a sensation that I haven't felt in a while but suddenly returned this month. I guess I have been quite stressed out at work. I have finished almost 24 muscle relaxant pills this month..... That's how difficult this month has been...
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| Waiting to See The Doctor - Galaxy S23+ |
Day 2 started with a trip to Kuta Beachwalk again as the missus wanted to exchange the kiddos' swimwears. After the quick trip to Kuta Beachwalk, our next stop was Seminyak where we tried to trace back the trails of our past trip back in 2019.
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| Let's Explore Seminyak - A7RMk3 + FE 20mm F1.8G |
So about more than 1 week ago, the missus and I made an impromptu trip to Bali. It was a last minute trip as one of our houses there was finally going to be sold. I'm so relieved that one of those "burdens" is finally gone.
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| Some Shophouse Installation in T4 - A7RMk3 + FE20mm F1.8G |
My mind is drawing a blank on this month's adjective, so it's just "July 2022". I've been really stressed out this month due to work and fruitless job search. The other company (a French shipping company) that I thought had lost interest in me finally called me for a 1st round interview, however I was very disappointed at the outcome of the interview. The interviewers had asked questions that were irrelevant to the role I was applying for, so of course, I did not "wow" them. Throughout the interview, not only did I feel that the questions were misdirected, they had set the wrong expectations for the role. It was a complete f💩💣king waste of my time, considering that I had prepared extensively for the interview.
The other company (a German shipping company) with whom I had completed the 1st round of interview also did not return to me, but I noticed that they had downgraded the title for the job from manager to senior executive. I've had several calls from companies I applied to as well, but nothing happened after the first call. I even did a screening test for a job I applied for at DBS and I'm still wondering whether I'll get it or not.
It has been an absolutely disappointing month on the job search front. I can't help but turn to prayers all the time, hoping for some kind of a divine intervention.
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| Decorations at Yueh Hai Ching Temple - Galaxy Note 9 |
In a blink of an eye, March has come to a near end. I really felt like my life just zipped past by me. Work has been tiring - there has been no time for rest in between tasks, and I happily welcome the early release Fridays at the end of each month which is the only reprieve I get from work. I'm really feeling the burnout from countless mindless executions. I seldom have time to sit back and reflect on how I can do things better or utilise the tools that are available. It has been a very tiring journey so far in Klook.
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| A Faint Rainbow For Good Luck - Galaxy Note 9 |
A doozy December it has been. 1 month into probation at work, a short and much welcomed break and the year is ending. My 2nd Dan certificate arrived early this month, I still can't decide whether to laminate or frame it, along with my 1st Dan certificate. I also decided to get just a K10 jacket, to replace the one I'm using now. As I mentioned before, I loved my new KC10 so much I couldn't bear to wear it just yet, I'm keeping it for grading and perhaps other things, but I won't be wearing that for regular training. By the way, Tan Sensei also taught me the Shitoryu kata Seienchin. I had always wanted to learn this kata ever since I saw Antonio Diaz & Rika Usami's performance. Now I just have to slowly learn and master it. I have also developed an interest in Suparimpei and slowly learning it. At the same time, I'm practicing my Nijushiho, Meikyo and Sochin again. I haven't done them in such a long time, my movements are not as fluid as they used to be, and I plan to use one of them for my 3rd Dan grading.
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| 2nd Dan Gear - Galaxy Note 9 |
In mid-December, we went on a 3 days 2 nights staycation at Shangri-La Orchard. It was an amazing staycation that brought about a much welcome break for everyone. The kids had been cooped up in the house for most of their holidays while the missus and I had been buried at work for quite sometime, especially for myself as I was heavily involved in my previous company's e-Claims systems launch.
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| Waiting For Our Room at The Lobby - RX100 Mk3 |
It has been a very different October for me. Possibly life changing too - I'll get to that later. It has been a very interesting month and a lot transpired, I'm not sure how I should start. How about with a nice cup of hazelnut latte from Baker & Cook Dempsey?
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| One of The Family's Favourite Bakeries - Galaxy Note 9 |
On a personal basis, September has been very kind to me. However, I'm extremely disappointed at the Multi Ministry Task Force's unforgivable blunder which has lead to a sudden increase of COVID-19 case numbers in Singapore. Hence... "scrappy". I'm extremely flustered that despite their simulation showing that cases could hit 2000 a day, the task force did not put any restrictions to slow the spread when the number of daily cases was still quite low. Instead, they tried to ramp up handling capabilities. Did they not learn from Israel's experience? We will go endemic, yes, that's an eventuality. But going endemic right now, is still too early. What about the over 60s with co-morbidities who have yet to get their booster shots? What about children under 12 who cannot be vaccinated yet? Not only the over 60s, even normal adults need booster shots too, to avoid vaccine breakthrough infections! The task force has made a wrong judgement on the timing to open up and we are now paying a heavy price with restricted movements, daily reported deaths, messed up school exam schedules and businesses that suffer from spontaneous restrictions or even closures when infections hit one of their own. At the same time, I can't help but worry for the kids who have yet to get their vaccines. While so far there has been no reported deaths of children under 12 from COVID-19 in Singapore, I prefer to minimise the kids' risks of contracting COVID-19 as much as possible. As I'm writing this entry now, the number of COVID-19 cases for children under 12 has hit 1266 just in September alone while in the past 7 days the number of cases in this age group is 677.
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| Oh Yes, I'm Keeping Track of This Age Group - Just Excel |
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| Enjoy Your Mooncake Too - A7RM3 + FE1635mm F2.8G |
The month of May started in a somewhat quiet suspense. It was business as usual with 2 public holidays to look forward to. However we were on our toes as the number of local Covid-19 transmissions were rising steadily and a series of tightening measures had been announced prior. And finally on 13th May the government finally pulled the plug and announced "Phase 2 Heightened Alert" which will last till June 13. Work from home is the default, no dining in and... no karate. Home based learning was immediately implemented from 19th May as the school clusters were growing. Well... All good hard work reversed in such a short time. Messed up isn't it?
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| Fiery Sunset in Hot Hot May - Galaxy Note 9 |
