Update from for 2004

The last week has arrived - fairly swiftly I must say. On Saturday this week I am off-ski to Holland, where I need to find my new house, settle into my new team, and make a trip to Italy for a meeting (plus the distinct possibility of Lisbon and Madrid). After this hectic week, I will be flying off to Brazil for a workshop, and from thence flying back to Sunny Singapore for a week of handover activities.

The new house plans have changed considerably from the original plan of getting an apartment on the Leidsegracht - in part due to work, part dogs and part money. Basically my office is 20 mins outside the city centre in an area called Amstelveen - so we are thinking of getting a house there. By a happy coincidence, Amstelveen is a good area with an expat community, and great countryside for walking the dogs. It is also around 500 euros per month cheaper than the centre. Which reminds me - need to re-register the dogs to get an export license to ship them to Amsterdam!

The trip to Brazil has yielded an interesting corporate strategy - armed bodyguards. Apparently Brazil is not the safest place on the planet, so we are picked up by armed guards from the airport. Personally I feel that having some 250lb gorilla with a gun escorting me singles me out far more than just letting me plod around in my sandals and shorts but there you go. Anyway - it will all be very strange so I will just try to sit back and enjoy this somewhat novel experience.

Back in Singapore I will miss Gerard and Heok Khee's wedding - sorry guys, not much I could do about this! Still I wish them the happiest of evenings and look forward to seeing them next year. I would be going to their house on Thursday except it is my 5th wedding anniversary! Eeek - five years with no children! Haven't we broken around 1000 laws of filial piety, parental respect etc by doing this? Going on the number of times that we are asked when we intend to add our efforts to the gene pool it would seem that we are not playing the game by my in-laws rules :-)

I will be in London the week of the 6th December for yet more meetings. This will be my opportunity to catch up with family and friends on the weekends. Sadly, one sort of family member - my Godmother, will not be someone I can see as she passed away on Saturday, having been ravaged by muscular dystrophy for the last two years. I understand that she died in the hospice, which, although not how she wanted to go, was most probably best for her family, who could not have looked after her at home, and would have been under immense pressure. I know that the thoughts and prayers of my family go out to her and hers.

Still trying to think what to do for our anniversary - most probably go out to a hotel for dinner. Presents look like they will be restricted this year as I need to save some $$ for rent and deposits in NL. Still, Kanga did get two nice Ralph Lauren shirts yesterday, a Zara shirt, and a heavy woolen winter coat, which is likely going to be her presents this year. We did go look at a beautiful eternity ring at Tiffanys, but the size was too large for my wife's dainty fingers, and the cost was too high for my dainty little bank balance. However, by the look on kanga's face, I now know that when I can buy an eternity ring for her, it will be much appreciated :-)

Ho - hum, back to the daily grind for me - further updates later

Cheerio!