Exhausted.

So freaking tired. Am now in Adelaide for the day after 4 days in Brisbane this week. Then back home for the weekend where I am still working both days before I fly to Adelaide again on Monday.

No rest for the wicked they say!

Drowning Sydney

Like drowning rats, Sydneysiders were scurrying all over the place trying to keep dry - most not very successfully.

It doesn't help either that Sydney CBD is geographically very 'hilly' with ups and downs in numerous areas thus making the torrent of water rushing down in large pools esp near pedestrian crossings.

The aftermath? Blackouts to around 20000 households, downed traffic lights with a stop on rail and flight services 16mm falling in 10mins.

Brisbane from the air..

One of the perks of constant work travel is getting to see new things.
Always love my bird eye view of cities esp when you are flying in our flying out.

Here are a few of Brisbane - after the massive floods that hit this beautiful city this yr.

Sydney, NSW - Mamak!!

Have been in Sydney for the past few days *work trip naturally* and to satisfy the cravings of some local cravings at Mamak. Some of the items on our menu - Sambal kangkung, Mee goreng, satay ayam

And for dessert - roti bom!

We also ordered 2 X teh o'ais limau and ayam goreng.

The things we do when we miss good local food....

Auckland - Land of Sails *First Impressions..*

At the lounge waiting for my flight back home. My flight was delayed to Sunday 1am departure and I am not in the mood for duty-free shopping nor any shopping full stop so have parked myself in and figured blogging for a bit would be a no brainer .

Anyways - just a short jot for now anyways.

All pics taken on between 730 - 930pm.
Yes - it was THAT quiet...

What do you do when on a worktrip?

The problem about work trips is that you are so busy meeting deadlines and time lines that by time you get back to the hotel, all you want to do is is order room service and relax.

Have not done any walking around the CBD even though I am smack in the middle of it (the Auckland skytower is a mere few mins away). Will have to drag my sorry ass out today and do a bit of snapping of pics I reckon.

Work Trip - Auckland, NZ

I am now in Auckland, NZ - work trip, not pleasure. Will be here for a week and even managed to get a later flight back on Sat so at least it gives me a day of sight seeing before heading back home.

Still unsure whether I want to do a bridge bungy jump.....

Shall I???

Question now is....

With my trip across the ditch next month - shall I do my fifth bungee or play it safe with the bridge climb esp as I don't want to hurt my back for snowboarding in Feb???

Townsville, QLD (work trip)

Townsville (am)

Townsville (pm)

Well, off I go again on another work trip, to Townsville, North Queensland this time around. I must admit, this quaint lil town is actually bigger than I expected it to be ~ most likely due to the Australian army base located nearby.

As always, have not had much time to look around but my hotel room does have this gorgeous balcony from which the above snaps have been taken (off my camera phone no doubt).

The journey from Melbourne takes approx 3 hrs and flying Jetstar (co-share with Qantas) was an absolute nightmare. Flying cattle-class is fine, but even for me, I found the lack of leg and moving room a tad uncomfortable. Virgin flights are definitely more comfortable, that's for sure. Thank God I will be flying Qantas via Brissy on the way back to Mel.

Just a quick one, I think I should start documenting my trips (work or otherwise) just as a jot. Hey, I might even want to use this to remind me of what a workaholic I am at some point!

Sydney, NSW (work trips)

View from my hotel room (taken on the phone hence the poor quality)

In Sydney, NSW for the week - work travel so it is pretty much more "work makes Jill a dull girl mode".

Fortunately it is internal training, getting the new consultants up to speed on roll outs so that they are able to roll out implementations within project timelines and constraints.

Just a quick one, blog has been neglected. Can't believe it is already August. Time is definitely zooming by.

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p/s: Happy birthday to my "baby" brother.Have a good one!

All work makes Jill a dull girl..

I have all these things that is playing in my mind and I do want to put it down on paper ..or on the blog but I am in want of time. It is now 10:32pm and I am still working. Yes, I might not be at the client site but I am still replying to my many numerous email correspondences that all seem to need attention like ASAP. I have been away from home for the past few weeks barr the weekends and boy aren't I glad that this is the last working week before the office shut down for the yr.

We are at the last yr to this decade *gasp!*

I am also very much looking fwd to our trip to Japan next week.. its a pure snowboarding trip, we are not spending any time in Tokyo at all, just a quick arrival into Narita, catch the train to Tokyo station and then catch the bullet train to Nagano. Then catch the bus to Shiga Kogen for 10 glorious days *whoo hoo*. Which reminds me, I need to get travel insurance.

I have my yr end performance review this Thursday. Will be interesting to see how they rate me this time around. I did very well last quarter but whose to say how they rate each person? We'll soon find out wont we?

Lots of gettogethers and parties this weekend - this Thursday is the office Kris Kringle and Xmas party, Friday is the company Xmas party and then on Sunday a mate is having a spit-roast party which he has already said will turn into a sleep-over *yay*

Ok, break finished. Back to work emails - 3 days more to go... *ohm*

Adelaide - again!

Uhuh - I am in Adelaide - a.g.a.i.n.

Awake at 2:10 EST - not good.

ETA to wake up time - 4 1/2 hrs.

The implementation isn't going as smoothly as expected - which isn't really surprising really. Having a site that has directors arguing and treating their own staff members like sh*t ~ shouting at staff in front of visiting consultants (i.e. me) - what type of impression does that leave me? What more, very embarrassed staff members.

Have already been told off by a senior partner due to no fault of mine - extremely frustrating.
Just have to grit my teeth and go through 2 more days of it.

I can, I shall, I will

Yet another interstate trip.

In Adelaide - again.

T.I.R.E.D

Wont I be glad when I get to fly back home tmr and just take it easy before another start of the week.

Oh wait - maybe not - have to clean house - did I forget to mention that we are selling our current place and our home is open for all and sundry every Thursday evening (5:15pm to 5:45pm) and Saturday (12:15pm to 12:45pm)? So because of the mere 1/2 hr twice a week open house, we've got to clean the house so it looks like its a show-house ready for strangers to peek into how we make the space, our own? Just realised - house goes to auction next week!

T.I.R.E.D - need sleep - most prob will snooze before attempting to head to the gym (3 months to D-Day, room service and lack of activity isn't helping!)

Stuck...STUck...stUCk...StUCK.. sTUCk

• Having to catch the red-eye to Adelaide at 7am - bleh!
• Having to wake up at 530 am to jump onto a cab at 6 am to get to the airport at 630 am for the 7am flight - double bleh!
• Seeing your flight being marked at CANCELLED when you arrive at the airport at 620am for the 7am flight - triple bleh!!
• Being told that the best available flight they can put you on is the 100am - quadruple bleh!
• Being stuck at the airport for 4 hrs (when you are suppose to be at the clients at 9am) - infinity bleh!

Can the day get any worse???

*bleh*

In Adelaide, South Australia for the week.. and it has not been one of the good weeks. Unsolved server issues, deadlines and wrong expectations set by the CM's to the clients set the tone for the rest of the implementation.

Can't wait till I get back to Mel and for some decent time out.

Work whinge pt1

Let me tell you this, travelling on a Sun ESPECIALLY when it is not for a holiday is NOT fun. Business travel that eats into your personal weekend time is a pet peeve and I am definitely looking forward to the end of the project and when life gets to back to some resemblance of normalcy. BF has fortunately been supportive; but it is more sooner rather than later when he is going to be whinging of the fact that I am more away than around. After all 80% of my time this month has been spent AWAY from Mel and 1 day (2 nights) in Mel this week and off I go to Queensland this time around.

There is 1 silver lining to all this travel tho; it has taken me away from the extreme heats currently hitting Victoria. Sydney only experienced at most the highs to 30' last week and Brisbane is currently at a mild 27' - and when it has been all around min's of 30-32' all of last week (high's up to 40') in Mel - I am not complaining (as much).

Well, am taking advantage of the good services of the Qantas Club whilst I await my connecting to Rockhampton (aka Cattle capital of Australia). Plenty of others also waiting for their flights away. I am filled with some envy at those exotic names such as Nadi (Fiji), Noumea or Port Vila (Vanuatu) and if time permits, I am already thinking of taking a long weekend getaway for a bout of snowboarding later on this few months ( I am not really a beach bunny).

Time for happy thoughts .. a mere few weeks...that's all there is... a mere few weeks to bliss ..*or here's to hoping*

My life thus far..

Lol.. I am on a roll aren't I..*not!* 3 post in 3 months does not a blog make.

Well, lets start with the lil things..its now March...eeeks! How quickly do the days fly by. Oh dear... It has been a constant stream of flying, meetings, collateral updates and then some.

Basically, my trips for this past few weeks were or are looking like this:

• 27 - 29 Feb (Syd)
• 11 - 14 March (Syd)
• 16-19 March (Brisbane/Rockhampton)
• 20 March (Syd)
• 25 - 16 March (Syd)

Am starting to detest the airport now. Furthermore April is likely to have some trips to Perth. Oh well.

There has been several new developments on the social and work front for me. It is all looking rather positive and 2008 has been good to me so far. Mind you - my hol back home over new yrs all seem like a distant memory now. Not to mention this absolutely fab fab trip to Tokyo in Jan ...

Yeah, its been good.. thus far...