4 Years Ago

...I ended my job at Sandisk..my very first job.. which I loved being an employee there..
..I then decided to improve my Mandarin and went to Beijing for 3 months..
while waiting for my graduate MST application from SJSU.. and..
it was our first long distance relationship then.. after we got engaged..

So much things and happenings within those 4 years..
4 years seems to be just in a blink of an eye..
I remember 4 years ago in 2008, I watched 2008 Beijing Olympics, very first few games, over at my sister's house in the US [the Meadows] before I left for Jakarta & Beijing for a couple of months. And now it's already 2012, London Olympics has just begun a few days ago!

And those 4 years between 2008 - 2012, I've accomplished so many milestones in life: graduation [Master's degree], wedding, got a job at Deloitte, left Deloitte, and made a bold move to Singapore last year! even Richard also has many milestones in his life including changing majors and switching career move.

I must say... some of the decisions we've made weren't easy, and yet looking back, we knew how much blessings God has poured out to us throughout our journey. Looking forward to another 4 years ahead! 2016 Brazil Olympics & more life experiences & blessings :)

Alone again

Happy July! We've reached half of year 2012! How exciting..

Anyway....

About the same time last year, hubby went to HK and Singapore for his internship for 10 weeks. That meant I was in the US staying at home alone for most of the nights - except when his brother came for his summer internship in San Jose and when my brother stayed over to accompany me. Thank God I also had good friends to kill my time during weekends, and crazy super long hours at work on weekdays!

And this time, today, hubby was off on the plane to HK for his 5-week training. :( and this means.. I will be home alone again! Not fun!! Too bad I just started work last month so can't really take long leave yet, otherwise I would have gone to HK for a longgg time to accompany ric & eat & shop hahaha... Luckily this time I can just walk literally less than 5 mins next to my condo to visit my sister & niece. And due to closer proximity between spore and HK, I will be visiting him early August! yay!!

I will be counting days till I see him again!! 4.5 weeks to go! Muachhhh ^_^

Picture below taken @ Changi airport eating KFC before his flight

Europe!

Earlier this year, we managed to tour around western Europe with our newly wedded cousin and her husband. We tagged along their honeymoon :P Anyway, with a group tour of about 30 people, off we went for 14 days to begin our exciting journey in February. It started with a trip to London, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and ended in Italy. We were fortunate the weather was quite cooperative, it was cold, but bearable, and it got more sunny as we travelled south to Italy. A week before our trip, according to the news, it was so cold and freezing in Europe that the Venetian canal was (quite) frozen. We enjoyed our vacation and we took hundreds and hundreds of photos. If you ask me which city/country is my favorite... I would say... Paris and Switzerland. I love Venice too. Can't just pick one :P

New Job

After 6 months break from work since I left DT, I started my new job yesterday, 1 June 2012 as an Executive in corporate banking in Singapore. Totally new to the nature of the job so I am kind of scared of not being able to perform & potentially meet with clients alone one day...but at the same time excited for the opportunity to learn and be able to relate to Richard's job in a way (talk in the same language :P)

Two things that I miss the most about working in the US are first that I drove to work, so I could easily had lunch at home and took a bit rest and get refreshed. Here, I have to wake up earlier, and took a 30-45 minutes bus depending on the morning traffic..so eating lunch at home is nearly impossible. Second, somehow the office cube was much bigger in the US (my office), I feel that here, people work so close to each other, cube and tables are squeezed thus less privacy.. Ohhh and there was supply room in the US so I could easily get notepad and pencils and other stationery if needed.

And three things I miss the most of working is I miss my sleep time. I miss playing with baby niece Elin. I miss doing grocery and shopping and even any activities  during weekdays when there is less people = less queue.

Highlights of Year 2011

• Worked crazy hours at Deloitte especially during busy seasons
• Took a short spring break  and went to Santa Barbara and Disneyland Los Angeles
• Went to Chicago and visited Purdue university  
• Richard interned at Citi Singapore in Summer, thus our first long distance marriage for about 2 months
• Visited Richard and my family in Singapore for 2 weeks in the summer
• Baby niece Elin was born
• Richard graduated from Stanford University receiving M.S. in Management Science and Engineering
• I received my CA CPA license, finally!
• Quit my job at Deloitte
• Made a bold move to Asia for good, at that time, we have no jobs secured for both of us
• Celebrated paternal grandparents' 60th diamond wedding anniversary

Start of a Reality

April 2nd 2012 is the first working day for Richard at Morgan Stanley Singapore. And yes, we are living in Singapore for good right now. We decided to go back for good early in December, and so we packed our things, did some garage sales, did a lot of cleanings and donating our stuffs, threw away some stuffs. It was a bittersweet moment as we decided to leave the US after ~8 years living there, leaving behind our good memories and friends, but we are excited for the journey ahead.

It was a tough decision. At that time, we had no jobs secured in Asia and so we had no certainty of where we will be. But we knew it was our time to go back to be closer to our family & after we've done our logical assumptions of pros and cons of living in the US vs. Asia :P . Off we go to our home land, Indonesia, on December 16, 2011 trusting in God fully that He will lead us next...

And now looking back for the past 3-4 months, we are so grateful through our struggles and unseen plan, God graciously gave my hubby a job in Singapore. We knew it was God's perfect timing. This job requires my hubby to work long hours, I am sad in a way that we'll have a lesser time together but happy for him that he found a job that he wanted and thankful for God's providence for our family.

Welcoming my baby niece Elin Sidarto

Elin Sidarto

Born 12/12/2011 at 7:33PM

Weight 3.015 kg

Height 48 cm

I love you Elin!

Hugs & Kisses from Ai Kathy & Iliao Richard

Canada Trip - December 2010

We went to Canada last December with other loving couple Ci Irene and Ko Herman... and we had a lot of fun...ate a lot of good food... which I gained gazillions of lbs.... The photos below were taken by Ko Herman hehehehehe...

The gondola at Whistler... It was snowing hard that day.. And it was on Christmas day.. a white Christmas!

totem poles at Stanley Park

Parliament Buildings at Victoria

Saw this beautiful scenery and made a brief car stop..Taken otw from Whister to Vancouver

1 Year Wedding Anniversary

Hahahaha.... I know now is in April, my wedding anniversary was last December.. but anyway, I just want to treasure this moment that we had last December. We celebrated our anniversary at Plumed Horse at Los Gatos. We chose the tasting menu, it's super pricey, but we only did it once in a while. I love both souffles (black pepper & parmesan and the chocolate souffle). But thinking of it, I think next time I would very much prefer weekend getaways rather than fine dining for anniversaries. Cheers to the happy couple :)

After the 3 hours dinner: full & happy

I Survived My first week @ work

Hahahahaha... Thank God! I had 3 days orientation in San Francisco with the rest of the new hires, which started at 8AM!! That means I needed to wake up VERY early, drive to Fremont and catch Bart at 6:50. I didn't want to drive to SF, even though Deloitte will reimburse parking & mileage, because I know it will be stressful to drive up there, plus the traffic. So waking up at 5:45 is quite a burden.. Then, I arrived back home at 7PM.. So tired & exhausted! And there are gazillions of training! I'm kind of missing my good old times where I woke up really late, enjoying myself, having plenty time to bake & cook, watch movies, do groceries, well..you name it.. Now, after work, I desperately need to eat & sleep. It's definitely a different experience from corporate life (i.e. SanDisk).. But I guess I can't complain.. It's a Big Four life!