Birthday Celebration on The Road

For the past several years, I have always spent my birthday on a business trip in Asia.  This year was not an exception.  But this one was the last business trip!   I actually had a few pleasant surprises for my birthday this year.  Dan (my succesor) and I were suppose to fly from Shanghai to Bangkok first thing in the morning, but was delayed by heavy fog.  Fortunately Dan is such a nice fellow, and is very considerate and fun to travel with.  So at the lounge of Thai Airway, we had some noodle to celebrate my birthday.  Once we finally arrived Bangkok, and checked into the hotel, I was presented by the Hotel with a lovely piece of birthday cake.  Then Dan and I went to have a lovely Thai meal in this very interesting restaurant near the hotel.  Both the food and music were very authentic.

The New Singapore

I was in Asia from Feb 18 to March 18 for my last business trip before retirement.  Singapore turned out to be my last stop as I had to cancel my trip to Japan from Singapore, due to the horrible earth quake happened to Japen on March 11.  The tourist attractions built by Singapore over the past two years have been quite impressive.  It surely changed my previous view of Singapore being a concrete jungle.  My colleague Ron Shieh took some real good pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/rshieh2009/2011316Singapore?authkey=Gv1sRgCOuylYzE5bHrgQE#

The Last Work Week

Today marked the last "normal" work week for my career.  It's a strange feeling.  I wondered what I should do to make this last week "meaningful", but came up with nothing.  I am no longer being invited to any meetings and seldom receive any work-related phone calls.  Today I spent time talking to a few co-workers.  At lunch time, I stopped by McDonald for a McFish and one cup of senior coffee.  The whole meal cost me $1.68.  A couple of times last week I woke up in the middle of the night and found myself dreaming about work.   I guess it will take some time to really unwind from the "work life".  So it might have been a real good idea that I decided to take April as a "vacation" month prior to starting the real "full" retirement. 

Snow Storm

Last Wednesday we had a hectic snow storm.  We actually heard thunders before the big chunk of heavy snow, mixed with rain and sleet fell upon us.  It took a lot of people by surprise.  The freeway in Baltimore, Washington DC, and Northern Virginia turned into a total parking lot. People started at 4 PM trying to get home did not arrive home until 12:30 after midnight.  Abandoned cars were littered along Route 83 and the York Road near my office.  I WAS LUCKY!  I got home before the heavy snow came down, and I did not lose any power, probably because my house is by the Main Street.

Yesterday many people did not make it to the office.  Again I was lucky to get in and get back home without any problem.  The office was quiet, and the cafeteria only served soup, salad and sandwiches.  Poor Lawrence, the chef , was all by himself in the kitchen.  Bobby, James, and Brenda all did not  make it in at all. Come to think of it, I probably talked a lot more to these folks who work at the cafeteria than many other McCormick people  who work at the head office.  Sometimes people can be so isolated.

It was a beautiful scene looking outside from my office window:

Canadian Rocky Trip in July

The trip is finally all settled.  Tickets are bought and hotels, rental cars are all booked. Who will be joining at where and when are all established. Finally!  Ping, Bi-Fang, and I will arrive Vancouver on 6/29.  Hae-Pyne and Silvia will arrive on 6/30.  We will all board the Rocky Mountaineer first thing on 7/1. It's going to be a once in a lifetime ride:

We will arrive Banff on 7/2, with one night stay in Kamloops.  Then Lily will join us that evening at Banff, and Jean and Andy will join us the following day.  We will then drive through Lake Louise, Jasper, then loop back to Banff, and finally all fly out from Calgary.  Peggy, who is another Chin Classmate that happens to live in Calgary may meet up with us at Banff. I have not seen her ever since we graduated from High School.  WOW, that is 42 years!  What a trip to look forward to between now and then.

2011 is a very special year

Nine days into 2011 and much has happened.  This is the year I will be fully retired at the end of April.  The anticipation of entering into a new chapter of life is dazzling.  I want to savor this early part of 2011 as I still get a regular paycheck from my full time employment, yet I can dream all the fun to have in retirement.  I do not have to think too much about what will happen after 2011 yet.

From mid Feb to March, I will make the last trip to Asia for work, chairing the APZ QA conference for the last time and say good-byes to my regional colleagues.  May is the river cruise trip to Russia.  Early July is a trip to Canadian Rocky for a once in a life time Rocky Mountaineer train ride from Vancouver to Banff and visiting National Parks.  Mid July is the family reunion at Ed's place for celebration of Dean'd Birthday.  Then September is a trip to Turkey.   Poor Bowtie will not see much of me in 2011.

While busy doing all the planning, I am keenly aware in this day and age, that my world as I know it could change within seconds.  An example is the Arizona killing which caused 6 people dead and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords still in critical condition, and a few other wounded also fighting for their lives.  May God have mercy on us.  When a society turns to believe in "no law and order, and no God - Wu Fa Wu Tien", a society simply will spiral down very quickly to complete ruin. And under a turned over bird nest, there will be no egg to survive.  Chinese history has taught us the lessons well.  And I feel very, very sorry for the current state of the Nation.

There are reasons for people come to our lives.  We are to learn things from the encounter.  Sometimes the lessons for us to learn is especially after someone who has come into our life but then left.  Regardless of how painful the lesson is, we become a better being/soul once we learned the lesson.  Huilang has sent me the story, which led me to find the following blog

bhavas.blogspot.com/2008/02/people-come-into-your-life-for-reason.html

Can't be cuter

I always believe that when there is love in people's heart, they feel the happiest and look at their best.  Just look at the five of these young folks: