Tag Archive for adventure

Christmas 2014 and New Years 2015

Well they say that if you blink you miss it, and this has certainly been the case of 2014, as it has certainly flown by. It has been a bit of a topsy turvy year – quite a bit of highs, but a couple of low moments.

The highlight has to be the bits outside of work, both my continued adventures in and around South East Asia (holiday), and the personal scene (romance). I’ve been fortunate to visit the UK in March this year – visiting my family, friends and ex-colleagues – and it was a great trip… I also decided to do a holiday in Phuket to relax and enjoy a bit of ‘me’ time, I went to Kota Kinabalu with a work colleague – which was quite enjoyable indeed, went to Hanoi on business, enjoyed an amazing adventure with some great friends to Myanmar (Burma) which was something I definitely wanted to do whilst I was in the region, a Bali holiday and then a final trip to Sri Lanka. Wow! What an adventure it has been. But the highlight has to be making the acquaintance with a special lady here in Singapore – she is one amazing lady, a great smile, a great character, great humour, great companion and a great body. This happened in late May 2014, and we have spent some enjoyable weeks and months since then with each other…I really wanted a great companion that I can chat too, have some similar interests and tastes, and more importantly share life’s adventure with…we went to the Bali together and then did a group=trip to Sri Lanka holiday together with 2 others.

The work side of things is pretty much same ol’, same ol’, it has been a bit challenging because of the projects and partnerships that I am leading – I’ve definitely got to really reflect on some of the issues that I directly or indirectly faced during a project – and observed how people dealt with these…I’ve definitely seen some interesting approaches, and personally some which I would say I am not that comfortable with – I have had to provide timely feedback a few times. I am still pushing for my new promotion, and feel that this is getting more tricky here in Singapore, especially when many opportunities dried up over the past few months…but lets see what 2015 has in store – there is always the opportunity to look outside, as I’ve now been in Amex over 11 years now (wow!).

It has been great to see my family twice, when I was in the UK, and around November/December, as both of my parents had the opportunity to visit me in Singapore. This was great fun, and I am so happy to have been able to spend some time with both of them. I am hopeful that I am able to visit the UK again in 2015, so fingers crossed it happens 🙂

I really want to focus on the fun bit next year, and maximise the adventure whilst I continue to broaden my horizons during my Singapore adventure. The future is new, the future is unknown, the future is what you make of it – so lets make it even better than before!

Extended Holiday in Langkawi, Malaysia

Well after the hard partying during the Indian Wedding, I decided to stay over in Langkawi for another week, so that I can relax, unwind and get some sunshine – rather than think of work again.  It was well needed, and I am so glad I decided to book the extra days off.

In fact with the Hari Raya (end of the Muslim fast) and the Singapore National Day scheduled together – means in total I only had to book 5 days to get 11 days off – nice!

I decided to book a hotel on the west side of Langkawi just south of the airport – this is the main hub of Langkawi Town, and my hotel was actually nicely located.  The hotel was simply but effective – it had a walk-in shower, it was a clean and spacious room, and actually for $50 per night (about £25 / night) – so it actually was exactly the sort of price I wanted to spend on a room – at the end of the day it is a clean air conditioned room with a shower!  Haha!

The Pantai Tengah beach was a short walk behind the resort, and it was separated by a hill at the north end of the beach from the more populous Pantai Cenang, but easy to get from the main road. There are plenty of eateries, drinking holes, mini-marts, and massage/spa places dotted around the area, so in theory, you have everything you need in one place.

I pretty much did the following: sleep, breakfast, beach, walk, lunch, beach, walk, dinner, drink, relax and sleep – and repeat 🙂 Haha…

Anyway, I do feel relaxed and caught up on my sleep – but I doubt that will last when I return back to Singapore.

Tropic Resort Langkawi
Pantai Tengah
07000 Langkawi
+(604) 955 4075
Email: rooms@tropicalresortlangkawi.com
URL: http://www.tropicalresortlangkawi.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tropical-Resort-Langkawi-Malaysia/158282904097

Neha’s and Neel’s Indian Wedding in Langkawi

It has been months in the planning, but we have all been anticipating the wedding of the year Рwith a good work colleague and her fianc̩, inviting a number of her Amex colleagues to the Indian wedding located at the WestIn in Langkawi, Malaysia.

I knew it was a going to be a good, and I also knew it would involve a LOT of drinking and enjoyment, and it didn’t disappoint.

A core group arrived on Thursday 1st August around midday, with another group arriving on the Friday.  The Mehendi was scheduled for the Friday, 2nd August for the ladies, the Sangeet during the evening and the Wedding Ceremony was on the Saturday, 3rd August.  Basically 3 days of “hard work” 🙂

It was such a gracious ceremony, and it was a great location to chill, relax and celebrate a great wedding ceremony.

Congratulations to Neha and Neel – I wish you many years of joy and happiness together…

My Singapore Life Starts today

Today, it is the start of a new chapter in my life, as I start my new adventure in Singapore. you may recall that I previously worked in Singapore on a secondment (placement) during the second half of 2011. The challenge was that this was such a short period, I really only felt settled after about 4-5 months, at which point I had to prepare to leave.

I turned to my home team in the UK, but with the intention to find a more permanent role in Singapore. Fortunately, I have now achieved this permanent relocation – and I am about to become a full expat with all the trimmings to finally get used to the Singapore life for good!

Not only is this a bold and huge move, it is also a scary episode in my life, with some elements of uncertainty and definitely a few unknowns, but actually I like the test of being slightly outside of my comfort zone. I am certainly up for the challenge and my head and heart both feel this is the right time to make this move.

So today, I am flying out and going to start sorting out the logistics to support my move. Do wish me luck :). My Singapore Adventure – the next chapter starts today!

Arrival at Singapore – as efficient as always!

Well what should I expect? I arrived promptly at 8am, it took a few moments to disembark from the lovely Singapore Airlines A380 Airbus – and after a walk down from the gate, I arrived in a few minutes at the Immigration desk. I provided my Employment Pass (EP) and the stamp duly appeared in my passport and I was once again in Singapore officially!

A few more minutes, my luggage appeared (it literally as minutes later), and my baggage was about the third or forth to appear on the belt. I picked up my two bags, my hand luggage and ruck-sack and joined the taxi ‘queue’ – when I say queue it was more like a mystery line – as I was magically at the front before I blinked. The taxi arrived, and in about 15 minutes I once again had left the airport in a taxi heading for the hotel!

Only in Singapore 🙂

© 2012-2024 Aaron Brigatti - Brigatti Online   ® All Rights Reserved.