Back At Work

They started SIT1 last week. The rest of the team are in India but obviously I couldn't travel there. So now I have to follow India time and work during lunch. I'm home bound anyways so everyday I get cooked lunch which I will bring into the study to eat. Everyone's asking me to take it easy, have more rest etc. But at the same time I get pings to asking where I am on testing. A contradiction ... the reality is that everyone wishes I'm back to normal and being able to deliver.

There's no rest for the wicked. 

Work Travels: Trying A New Hotel

When I was travelling to Cincinnati back in 2016-17 I used to stay at the Hilton Homewood Suite. I like the bigger room with a kitchen and living area. I stayed at the Marriott West Chester the last few times and its a really dated and doesn't have proper outdoor area nor proper breakfast. So this time I changed to the Marriott equivalent of Homewood Suites. Pretty happy with the decision.

Work Travels: McAllen Apr'26 Food

We rarely went to the restaurant this trip. We had a lot of ubereats orders for dinner at the pool. I kinda preferred it too as it's more relaxing. These pic are those where we did eat out at the restaurant.

Work Travels: First Time On United's Premium Plus

Going home after a tiring 2 weeks supporting the quarter close. Checked-in on Tuesday and interestingly I was given the option to choose a section of the plane where it was a 2-3-2 configuration on the Houston to San Francisco leg. It doesn't say its premium economy so I thought this must be a smaller plane. I picked one of the 2 seaters on the left since it was further forward.

When I board I was pleasantly surprised that these were premium economy seats. My first time on this class and best part is that these are the new plane configurations where they have a very large LCD entertainment screen on back of each seat. There is also the side panels that lets you lean against with a pillow and generally lots of space on the shoulder rest and legs. They even have a popup panel to raise your feet at a comfortable angle when you lower the backrest.

Pretty impressed with these. Hopefully I'll get more chances to get on the premium economy class, especially for longer flights.

 

Work Travels: In McAllen Again For Quarter Close

The plane was fully packed with only a single seat left on my flight from Singapore to San Francisco. It seems there were diversions of flights due to the Middle East war and many folks who were originally going through Dubai or Doha were instead sent eastwards to get back to the US instead through Singapore. An Indian boy about the age of 萱萱 was seated in the middle seat beside me. My Papa bear instinct kicked in on the trip and I helped him with the food, gave him wet tissues to clean his hands etc. His parents had a baby and were seated further back after the bathrooms.

I came early before the quarter close to make sure we had things nailed down so it'll be a smoother close. Several of the DT team members are also coming on-site. I have Martin for company this trip though so I expect it'll be easier for meals. I requested for a larger car so Martin can get in haha.

 

Work Travels: Bangalore Feb26 Pretty Good Lunches

Travelled to Bangalore this week on a short trip. It's a mini Finance workout to run through test cases so it's just me. We went out for lunch each day and the team brought me to try Bryani which is one of my favourite dishes. I discover a glorious treat in a papadum that is topped with freshly cut tomato, cucumbers and onions. I was cautious in eating raw stuff outside the hotel but they assured me that it'll be fine. I also had mutton soup which you cannot really find anymore in Singapore. We went to the same restaurant twice in a row because I loved the food there.

Work Travels: McAllen Food Jan-Feb Trip

Alone on this trip so I could go try out different restaurants. I still kept the usual comfort meals like Mambo Seafood, LA crawfish etc.

Work Travels: Boo-boo on Booze!

In McAllen for the first month end under the new ERP. I made a big boo-boo on the Cognac order. My user profile with Changi still has the old passport details. So the customer rep at the collection counter would not release the pre-ordered Cognac to me. Then I tried to go to the Duty-free store to get one but because its a flight bound for the US, customers cannot carry them through the security check and the liquor has to be delivered instead to the gates. And because of that they have a cutoff of 90 minutes before the flight. And I missed that by 10 minutes ... so I end up flying to McAllen without my booze. Bah ... I need to go find a liquor store to get some ....

On better news, I was assigned a nice Chevrolet with seats and steering wheel heating for the cold mornings. On the trip alone this time so no usual morning breakfast at iHop with Martin. I expect long hours anyways this trip since we are having to deal with the new ERP.

Work Travels: McAllen Food Nov25

Same'o same'o food.

 

Work Travels: Success Around The Corner

We were at PF Changs today for lunch. Normally I wouldn't come here but it's a work event so I sucked it up and joined the team. Got this from the fortune cookie. Crossing fingers that it turns out to be true!

Work Travels: McAllen Nov25

In McAllen for UAT. It's been only a couple of weeks since we were here so it's quite tiring to have to travel 30 odd hours to get here again. This time I'm the only BFL here. Hopefully this is the last trip for the year. It's punishing to travel 30 odd hours to be present for a week. But it is what it is and I have to be present for the UAT.

My ride for this trip. The weather is oddly warm for a Nov month. So I came without any jacket. Hopefully a cold front would not come through in the later part of the week so I don't have to go to the mall to grab one.

Work Travels: McAllen Food Oct25

I have my staple happy food at Mambo Seafood. Most of the time I prefer simple food rather than the expensive and yet bland restaurant flare. Obviously I cannot avoid the fancy places altogether when eating with the rest of the team. We typically have burgers and sandwiches for lunch and then classier food for dinner ... well occasionally. Anyways I still stick to Mambo for dinners and the foodcourt for salad lunches. Perfectly happy with this.

 

Work Travels: Attacked By A Bug?

Surely something had bitten and given me these sores. They are itchy and painful. They don't look like bedbug bites but it could be anything really. Thankfully I brought a Tigerbalm ointment that helped soothe the itches.

Work Travels: Making It To McAllen

A torturous journey to McAllen for a fortnight of meetings on test cases and following up on a project I'm leading. First off, we were on the plane for 2 hours at Changi because there was a mechanical issue and they had to replace parts. The doors were locked so we couldn't go anywhere. I had for the first time opt for a window seat and was regretting it while we waited.

The 2 hours delay on take-off turned into a further delay at San Francisco since I missed the last flight of the night. I had to wait another 6 hours for a 5am flight to Houston and then onward to McAllen. I was originally going to arrive at 10am but landed at 4pm instead.

Got a Buick Envista for this trip. It handles well on the very short drive to the hotel but really there isn't any problems driving here. The traffic is so much slower here compared with Cincinnati.

2 Weeks Of Room Service

I was working every night in the last fortnight while in Bangalore. So I didn't sit with the rest of the team at the lounge for dinner. I had all my meals in the room. Plus I really didn't feel like entertaining them. I prefer to stay in the room and be on my own. So much more freedom and relaxation.

Anyways below is a medley of room service meals I had. I think the best I had was the spicy fried noodles and spicy fried rice. Basically comfort food ... still nothing compared to eating at home but beggars can't be choosers ... especially in India.

Food At Cincinnati

Tried a couple of new places this trip. Found a nice Japanese restaurant with sashimi at a good price. Also a Mexican restaurant where I could get soup and rice.