Last Day in the Bay, Lunch with Grace...

On my last day in the bay area, my pretty landlady brought me out for a nice lunch at Korea House by Santa Clara. Cosy, and neat, they served a spread of delactable small korean dishes. It was an enjoyable lunch, albeit bit sad, since i have stayed with her for almost 2 years...

Tea with Anh...

Enough of farewell lunches and dinners.... so i decided we should come out for juice instead. We spend more time catching up and chatting, rather than eating. So there!

Anh, was my right hand when she was still in Excelics. Although we came from different backgrounds, and a big age gap, we could chat about almost anything under the sun. She lightened me up when i was stressed, and shared my burdens when work was overwhelming. Such people are hard to come by nowadays! I will miss her...

Lunch with Excelics CTO

I have saved the best for last this time. Here is my boss, friend and mentor. I have learnt plenty from him, and his way of thinking. He has treated me extremely well throughout my stint, and i am grateful. Firm in his values, yet kind when mistakes happen. He has helped me be daring and creative in implementation. The kind of boss that everyone needs. I will always remember what he tells me," Sure, you can do ANYTHING!"

Dim Sum Lunch with Jie Mei's

It was a good Sunday lunch with my Jie Mei's from Excelics. Judy came down specially from Redwood city just to meet up with all of us. They played a very supportive role throughout my stint in Excelics. Not only as co-workers, but as friends as well. They provide a good listening ear, and are wonderful to talk to. They shared my joys, and listened when i was down. My life would have been so different without them....i will certainly miss them...

Picnic Lunch at Crissy Fields

A great picnic organized by Sam & Salizah! Filled with fun activities, and meaningful conversations. And playing tug-O-war by the golden gate bridge?...wow....



The adult version of tug-O-war....

and a smaller version!















Chris caught in the moment!

The Organizers of the Picnic....
....and the entire party of us.
It was certainly a memorable day for me. It is during such times, i wished i never made the decision to go home...

Dinner with the Lihan, Xuyang

I have not met these guys since our last steamboat at 小肥羊。 Although these guys are busy with their Phds, they still managed to meet up for a short dinner before i leave on Tuesday. I enjoyed the chat with them, and updates about their lives. Our roadtrip to LA was a classic. And it was unforgettable. I do wish i can have another road trip with them should i have the chance to come back. Maybe i should go back to Singapore next year...........not!

Last Lunch in Excelics

It has been a hectic final week. Finally, its a lunch-in in the cafeteria. Kathy's impressive vegetarian Pho have left a deep impression of the Vietnamese culture in my heart...or should i say, stomach?

After spending the entire day saying good-byes, i went to HR to surrender my badge, and settle the necessary paperwork. My final goodbye, was to my Boss, Eric, whom I surrendered all my keys, tools and documents to.

Dinner with Andrew & Esther...

After all that oily food, dinner at Andrew's was a good break! While they enjoyed cooking, i enjoyed watching them. Ownership of your very own kitchen, and cooking together..... romantic.

I will miss their parties!

Lunch with my big sisters

I thank these 3 wonderful ladies for the nice dim sum lunch @ HongKong Saigon seafood. Le, Tuyet and Kathy often helped to lubricate the flow of my work. Being the best in what they do, they helped me to attain greater efficiency in my work. We really made a great team...I will miss them!

Lunch with Masa @ Totoro

A patient and kind mentor, who made a difference in my life. Kind, when i was not competent enough, encouraging when times were rough.

.............

Crepe Party @ David's!!

Its so David to organize a crepe party. What the heck, he is french afterall. Watch the master chef in action - Free crepe-flipping tutorial!

My turn...




....and i OBVIOUSLY suck at it!! Just look at my astounded expression.... basket!


I love the house parties here. People gather, make friends, mingle, and share the joy of living despite being from all over the world. This is what i call celebrating diversity.

This is what i call Silicon Valley.

1st Meeting with SFBAMS

Had a picnic at the Elizabeth lakes in Fremont this weekend with SFBAMS- San Francisco Bay Area Malaysian and Singaporean Group (http://www.sfbams.biopharmweb.com/). It was certainly a nice weekend with good asian food and Singlish.

Being a non-profit group, i find this group highly commendable in providing the network for Singaporeans and Malaysians in this area. Its really funny though, how Singaporeans and Malaysians are so united overseas, but are faced with endless amount of bickering back home.

How i look forward to the next picnic!

Baby Shower

Though i have been invited to many Vietnamese-organized parties in my company, i realized i have not posted anything on them.

This time, its an early "Baby Shower" party for 2 of the lab girls.... going away for maternity leave for a couple of months. Vietnamese party = Vietnamese food.... loads of them, in fact. Funnily, i dun find them familiar at all, even though Singapore is well-known to have cuisines of all sorts.
One of my favorites is this spring roll which they call bo` bi'a.
Not our usual "Popiah" as you can see, and not pronounced in the same manner too. Its basically like our "Chee Cheong Fun", but with much thinner "skin", and filled with all sorts of vegetables and shrimp/pork/beef.
It is usually dipped in peanut sauce, which i find it a striking resemblance with our Satay sauce.







Another hot favorite of mine is the ba'nh nam. Its just like a piece of flour cake, with some kind of shrimp concotion on top. My inexperienced taste buds could only reconize the taste of the shrimp....the rest of the flavours are kinda....ermm.. foreign??... But its simply delactable!










Some Vietnamese aunties noticed how much i was enjoying the food and further probed about my opinion of getting a Vietnamese girlfriend who is able to satisfy my tastebuds....goodness. Almost feeling myself blushing, i politely excused myself to get more food... heh.

Here is a pic of some of my wonderful, hospitable and kind, Vietnamese colleagues.


On a final note, i wonder if i would still be able to enjoy such small & cosy company events in Singapore. I'm beginning to like the culture here. And i'm falling in love with the typical US no-OT work culture. Somehow, it answers many Singaporeans' dream of having quality family life....and it answers the government's concerns about keeping families together. What is the point of having one "Eat with your family day", but eat in your cubicle for the rest of the 364 days?