Consumption Time

One of the things my grandma thrusted onto me when we were in Hong Kong was some money to buy a new watch. I tried valiantly not to accept, but she is a spritely woman at the age of 88, there's hidden strength in her frame!

So I'm going to match her amount plus a bit and find myself a nice dress watch that I can show her when I visit Hong Kong next. The funny thing is that I've never really noticed watches before, and had no idea what was good or what was bad. Of course, being Asian, I know my Rolex (or "Roflex", as I saw them in the dodgy Hong Kong markets).
I do remember that I had known the Patek Philippe brand (I liked their ads in The Economist) but was told off by more serious watch people when I repeatedly referred to them as "Philippe Patek". I have also subsequently realised that the brand is way beyond my price range.

So now on my mission to find a watch, I have been looking at websites, buying watch catalogs and checking out watch stores. There are so many brands!! And there's such a massive price range! At least I now kind of understand the terminology of mainsprings, complications, balances, calibres, and other watch mumbo jumbo.

There's a few options that are looking good at the moment. If anyone is looking for a watch, I recommend getting the "Wristwatch Annual" catalog. It is very thorough.

My photos have been posted up on flickr: Miami, Brooklyn Bridge, and San Francisco.

New York Lovin'

Previously I had talked about my lack of involvement with New York and what it had to offer.

The new year brought about some changes in my attitude, and I'm pleased to write that I've started by joining a local volleyball team. Whilst the courts are dusty and the heating is a bit non-existent for the sub-zero temperatures outside, it's a team sport and I'm thrilled to play. I'm also doing the photography thing, with a new project to capture a photo of New York worthy of our big picture frame.

Reading www.nymag.com has shown a lot more things to do, plus my own attitude of finding out events has improved. Having just gone to Avenue Q, I would say it's the funniest musical I have ever seen and would recommend it thoroughly. NY Mag also led me to Beyond, which we saw during this weekend and visited a bar that had all these old school games ie Pac Man, Spy Hunter, Donkey Kong to play!

The city has always had these things going on. It's up to me to keep looking, and to keep experiencing.

Things To Say To The Boss

He's coming for a visit on Tuesday. Things to discuss:

What's been good?

• Get to learn about the way they do business here. Never knew much about construction until now.
• Working in another culture. Americans are quite clear in what they want, so gathering requirements is slightly easier (maybe cause I'm working with existing systems)
• Visiting different offices, meeting new people. ICT can get insulated from what happens out on the sites, it's good to get out and about.

What's been difficult?

• Working by myself. Having no team around is hard to bounce ideas and work off the energy of each other. Reporting to a manager in another office makes the relationship quite distant.
• Not working at full capacity. Could change when the project actually gets into gear, but I could do with some more work. Should I be thinking up and proposing new activities e.g. the money saved on a project using the tax exemption?

What questions to ask?

• How's the ICT strategy going in terms of being implemented, now in its last year?
• Are we addressing the business' need for ICT adding value? Have we been involved in any construction ICT work?
• Where will the New York office be in a year or two? What kind of ICT service will we be providing to them by the end of my stay here?
• How's the Sydney office going? And how are those new projects going along?
  

Family Affair

Seeing my parents in San Fran after 4 months was a great way to start the new year. They looked great, although Bec did notice that Mum was a bit skinnier. Funny stories of my dad bringing an empty suitcase to fill with the Hong Kong sales. He only had one pair of pants and a top from Sydney, and had to buy a button shirt to go out the first night. I swear he's unleashed some sartorialist within these last few years, and it's great to see.

We met up with my uncle's family as it was his 60th birthday. Great to catch up with my cousins (two brothers, and a son of another uncle), we are of the same age and roughly in the same place in life.
One of them is 6 months younger than me. The strangest thing is that given that we were raised on opposite ends of the earth, we are strikingly similar in our mannerisms, humour and outlook on life. And yes, he is especially keen on the craps table.

San Francisco has that relaxed feel - maybe everywhere is relaxed compared to New York - where the streets are wide, the people seem friendly and the Chinese food is yum. Would I live there? Maybe, it is THE place to work in my field of information technology. Pity I suck at technology and can only talk to people.

New Years Eve

It's 11 hours before the ball drops in Times Square, and we're getting ourselves ready for the big event. They are locking off our street from 2pm onwards, so we need a pass to get back into our own building.

Looking down on the street - not Times Square, but next to it - it still seems fairly sedate,
so we're hoping that it's still ok for us to get into the thick of things.

Key concerns:
a) No toilets around Times Square. Could be a lot of trouble for my weak bladder
b) The crushing crowds will be suffocating, even for a urbanite such as myself
c) Did I mention the toilet issue?

However, this is vintage New York, so when in Rome...

I'll get some pics up in the next few days of the event. Happy New Year for everyone who has already reached 2008!

Edit 1 Jan 2008:
I'm impressed by my own bladder discipline! It was a wonderful event, the atmosphere and the number of people was incredible.