Rehi to the USA

41 hours of flight. How did I survive it?!

On board NH2 - one of the few Star Wars themed planes!

So ANA was punctual, gave really sincere customer service, served good food (choice of Western or Japanese), offered a wide range of in-flight entertainment (enough for 41 hours, waddya think) – but I found the seats to be uncomfortable! Firstly, the width was quite narrow. Even for a skinny person my elbows rested naturally on the arm rests that divide the seats. My legs are rather long and I found the legroom to be barely sufficient when performing occasional stretches. In addition, I didn’t like that the cushion material felt rubbery and my butt suffered. Otherwise, ANA was fine. SQ still the best, imo. 

Finally we arrived!

Had some time to ourselves on our first day so we went to explore downtown. Beautiful weather! It was spring and the trees and foliage were springing out literally. I swear their leaves were so green they looked luminescent under sunlight!

Feeding the wild squirrels who roamed freely and had a spring in their steps. I mean, hops.

There is a saying in Rome that if one tosses a coin into the Trevi Fountain, one would be back in Rome again. I wonder if there is a similar saying for the reflection pool in Washington DC, for I found myself back here after exactly a decade! 

Washington Monument in the background

Mr Lincoln looking ever so pristine and respectable

Human memories are amazing – every monument and attraction were the same as I remembered them to be. It felt strangely familiar to be standing back on the same polished floor of the Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial, as well as the base of the Washington Monument; the latter of which I still recall comprised bricks of two different colours because the initial builder ran into financial problems! However, one stark difference is that 10 years ago it was scorching hot, whereas this time around it was spring and weather was very very comfortable! It made walking relaxing and enjoyable. In addition, during this trip I got to view the monuments and memorials after dawn and they resemble gold figurines under the night sky.

The original plane that the Wright Brothers made history with!

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Of course, there is work to be done. Headed 3 hours south towards Staunton City, who was a neighbour with Shenandoah National Park (where blue ridge mountains reside). The hotel we stayed at was a historic building and located in an area lined by many beautiful small shops selling quaint souvenirs, sustainable food, handicraft and homemade gelato. A pity most shops close at 5pm and we didn't have a chance to patronize many of them.

Testing in progress

Why I like ang moh weather - very blue skies, sunny day and cool temperature. Shiok!

Spotted a few sakura trees here and there

Factory Acceptance Test was concluded in a couple of days, successfully. We signed our names on the equipment to endorse the testing; more so to ensure that the product would be the same one being shipped and subsequently installed in our premise!

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On the 13h flight from DC to Narita, I groggily slid the window shade open and was stunned to see this breathtaking view:



I checked the flight map and noticed the plane was flying in far northern Canada. I believe this will be the closest to the North Pole I'll ever be! Unbelievable views. Apart from snowy mountains there were ice glaciers that covered miles and miles up to the horizons.

Transiting at Narita airport, we made sure to treat our tastebuds to the freshest sushi and sashimi . Mmmmm!!!

Japanese sushi to die for! Fish slices so huge they suffocate the rice!

It was my first time being away from yx for such a long period of time. Missed her very much and thankfully for internet I was able to receive videos and images of her! Kudos to wifey who held the fort and probably levelled up after independently caring for yx.

22 hour flight coming!

Peculiar that I have a trip coming up before Hong Kong, but I'm more looking forward to the latter than the former!

The feeling when one is travelling for work is indeed vastly different. But nonetheless - I'm excited about the flight to USA!

I love taking flights. My favourite pastime would be to snuggle up in my little window seat while watching movies, and everyone else is asleep or doing their own things - this is when time seems to stop and everything else doesn't matter (except when your bladder is screaming to let go).

So I'd be taking a Japanese airline for the first time! ANA (Air Nippon Airways) is hugely raved by online and friends' reviews, I'm looking forward to the immaculate customer service that the Japanese are well-known for. Also, I will be transiting in the land of sushi! In fact I have already bookmarked which restaurant to dine at during the 2 hr transit. =D

Time to pack!

XD

Source: jinlovestoeat

Bye bye... Internet

The inevitable... is just around the corner.

Source: Google images

Sure, it will cause much inconvenience and hassle to some officers... maybe leading to decrease in productivity in some cases. But given how everything seems to be accessible online and in softcopy now, even leaving equipment and assets to be operated by automation and software; the recent hacking to Mindef database serves a timely reminder that cyber security is and will continue to be one of the most important defences we need to invest and faithfully partake in. The G has been educating the officers as well as devising work-arounds to the impending Internet Surfing Separation, with some officers even taking the lead to participate in the ISS trial - I have confidence we will get used to the separation sooner rather than later.

But whilst I still can access the internet using my office laptop, it really has been so much convenient, efficient and enjoyable. Printscreens, copy and paste, click on links, alt-tabs - come next week, these functions won't be as frequently used as before.

X-23 vs No. 18

People commented that the latest Wolverine movie, Logan, was good, so wifey and I (being fans of Marvel movies as well) found time to watch it last week.

Wifey was really cheering on and applauding at Laura's (X-23) ability to defend herself. I too agree that she was brilliant at bringing the armed soldiers down like they were pieces of paper!

Laura's calm demeanour, sharp killing instinct and awesome fighting ability reminded me of Android No.18 from Dragonball.

Below photos are from google images.

Punny dream

Can’t believe I came up with a pun even in my dreams!

So in the dream… I was at a table with some new friends. One of the guys introduced himself as “Oliver”. I casually asked him (in Mandarin), “Do you like to drink beer?”

He gestured shyly at his rather-large size, “Yes, I can drink a lot cos my body can take it.”

I then replied, “Woah, please take care of your body and not drink too much. It’s not good for your O-Liver…”

Gua gua gua gua…. XD

So funny it was the first thing that surfaced to my mind when I woke up from my sleep! You may say my sub-conscience crafted a pun!

When you were this young

It is amazing. Amazing how babywyx at 17 mths is fully capable of communication with us. Well, communicating via her own delivery of speech, gestures and body language to her bestest ability, of course. Her understanding of vocab, nouns and tone increases with every day and also amazes us everyday, too. The way babywyx fixates her attention on you when you speak to her, the intensity of focus her eyes place on you – right away you know she is deciphering your message. At the same time, she is picking up words and sounds to astonishing effect. Sometimes, she has to only see/listen one word once, and the next time you ask her, she will get it correct. 

It is fulfilling. Fulfilling how my baby girl interacts with me, comes to me for hugs, asks me to sit beside her when she wants to play. Fulfilling how she will grab my finger to walk with her when she wants to walk somewhere else, how she steps into my lap when she wants me to read to her. I know Yx feels safe with us when she tears out stickers and chooses to stick them on our clothes. Some afternoons when I want her to nap, I pretend to fall asleep, just so that she will, too. But she is not sleepy cos I open my eyes the slightest and see my baby girl tap me and call out ‘papa’ repeatedly, asking me to play with her. Needless to say, I lose at this game every single time. 

Proudly showing us her sticker exhibit

It is engaging. Engaging when my daughter yearns for our companionship. Are all babies like this, attention craving and seeking for approval? Babywyx likes interaction; when she spots sth she recognizes (e.g. animals, colours), she will call out to us and tell us about it; when she is entertained, she will call out to us and laugh out loud together with us; when she is reading or walking, she seeks our acknowledgement. Yx likes to hide objects under our laps (but still clearly conspicuous) and gestures at us, where is it? We will ask her, where is it, and she will point at the object, uttering “nehhhh” in such an adorable manner.

Her favourite person she wants to read with :)

Babywyx, though you may have your disobedient and unreasonable times (e.g. when you refuse to eat the porridge we painstakingly cook, or when you drink only 20ml of your milk!); though there are many times I look forward to when you are older and we can have proper meals together at proper meal times; though you are the reason your parents are not having late booze nights or travelling overseas as much as we'd like to – 

I know I'm going miss this you. :)

Love, papa.