CH259: Seniority

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted an entry. It's unbelievable how time went by so quickly! I've been so busy with work and most of my weekend were being spent on trying to recuperate and recharge for the following week - if not doing my chores. I've been conscientiously planning out my weekend to get the most out of it.

I find that sometimes, because of how hectic my work schedule is with all the project I'm juggling and the few support / administration requests I get, that, I just want to surround myself in a bubble and just enjoy the quiet (or sometimes with music) by myself.

Getting back to work as a senior consultant has its challenges as well as rewards. I've been assigned very challenging projects one on top of the other where the stakes are quite high. I appreciate the trust my company is giving me and I am enjoying it a lot! Although, the pressure is quite high, I'm still managing things well. It's been especially tough because one of the consultants left a week after my last entry so I had a lot to take in and manage and basically pick up the things that were left hanging.

It's finally starting to sink in that I'm in a senior position. The degree of difficulty and the number of responsibilities I have to manage is something I'm trying to get a fit into. I'm also trying to adjust to the different work culture here in Australia. I've been used to working overtime and long hours to finish projects, but here, the attitude seems more like "I'll work within the time I'm paid for and only go over hours when necessary." There was one night when I was working late in the office (10pm), where my HR messaged me asking me if I was still in the office. I replied yes. She told me to go home otherwise she won't be able to sleep - so I did :). Working with older people who are in really senior roles, sometimes, I feel because I'm one of the youngest (our youngest is 24 - who works on the infrastructure and network side), I feel intimidated. Although I think I'm getting over that sense of intimidation at this point. But, because of my age and looking younger than my actual age, I sometimes feel I need to compensate by working harder to be taken seriously.

It feels weird sometimes when I sit down and think about it how this is career progression. I'm doing bigger and bigger things with the stakes getting higher. It's comforting to know that after everything I had to go through - Philippines - Singapore - Funemployment - Australia and now my current work, that the choices I've made are validated by the fact that I am where I am because I've made the right choices...because right now feels absolutely right.

PS: Because of the constant cash flow that is now in place (salary), I feel I need to learn to save up for something in order to get it. From getting employment, aside from putting money aside for savings, I feel compelled to get the things I need and want right here right now (as evidenced by the online shopping I did) - simply because I can afford them. But I think I need to learn to discipline myself more. I need to save for bigger things - like an investment property/my own house now that I can safely say that Australia is home.

What happened the past month?

In pictures

Brunch with friends before going for an indoor climb 

A very fun activity! Scaling walls to the point of exhaustion! At some point, I didn't get to do a climb on a stalactite because my grip was so weak!

Selfie with my Australian BFF

Sundate and seeing Autumn in action

A picture at a client site during my colleague's last day

Indoor graffiti in a cafe in Erskineville

Trying out the new Maccas - gourmet burger of my own making :) Yum!

Sundate with ice cream made from Liquid Nitrogen

Getting a heater for the coming winter! I decided to buy one when the temperature on one night dropped to 10 deg C in the evening 

Getting my fix with some online shopping. I finally got a better backpack because my shoulder was starting to hurt from carrying my laptop shoulder bag

Brunch special somewhere in the border of Alexandria and Erskineville

More pictures to bombard you with!

One of my closest friends Norman was by Sydney. He brought me to one of the Chinese restaurants by the place he used to live in. 

More shopping fix a week after the last one! Buying winter jackets and overcoat

Had Ube Macapuno cake in one of the Filipino restaurants in Central

And then Vivid happened. This was from the opening night May 22 by the Customs House at Circular Quay

More exhibits

Pictures from Canon's exhibition - Light Portraits!

Tetris happening on the facade of the Museum of Contemporary Arts. 

Decided to rest from walking around for Vivid and went for drinks at Glenmore Hotel's Rooftop bar

Saturday - went for a trial tennis class and eventually signed up for a 10 week 2 hour class

After which (the tennis class), I went to meet friends to do more indoor climbing.

I finally managed to conquer the Stalactite challenge. The fear of heights still occur, but the adrenaline it brings along with it can be addicting!

Saturdate schnitzel

More Vivid shows - this time in Central Park

At Central Park

Beautiful! So tantalizing just watching the show unfold

Made our way to Darling Harbour and accidentally catching the 830 weekly fireworks

Sundate drive along ANZAC bridge on the way to the outlet mall for some shopping (I only got underwear and bath towels lol)

Sunday, finally caught up with one of my closest friends from Singapore - Paul! Catch up over some white wine at Beresford Hotel

Starting off the week working at a client site!

Wednesday - after a week and a half of staying over at my place, this was Norman's last day in Sydney (again) before he moves back out west

Was supposed to have dinner with some other friends by the Rocks, but it didnt push through, so after Issa (my aussie BFF) and I had dinner and drinks, we walked around and stopped by Martin Place to see some of the Vivid exhibits there

Taken earlier when I was having my 3pm coffee break. The building on the right reminds me of Stamford Swiss Hotel in Singapore mostly because of it's shape (cylindrical). It was another busy week at work, but I'm thankful for all it brings - fulfillment and a wad of cash! haha

CH258: A Posse Ad Esse

...from possibility to actuality.

The more I stay here in Sydney, the more I realize that there is so much to be thankful for. Prior to moving, I've had all these fuzzy dreams and ideologies and wishful thinking on how my life will be like when I move. I was going around Europe comparing and noting down how I was shaping my hopes and expectation for Sydney in my head. (Call it wishful thinking)

While things did not exactly start the way I had hope for them to be, I still feel immensely blessed. I sometimes wonder to myself before going to sleep (I like to introspect and digest thoughts before transitioning to the next day) why so much good has come my way. If karma was real, I feel the scales have tipped over.

Career
I was preparing for the worst case of not finding a job for 6 months and struggling to settle here in Australia. There were a lot of people saying that it will be tough to find a job - on the lines of - give yourself at least 3 months or 6 or a year to find job. I got a job short of 3 months (10 weeks) and I am more than thank ful for that.

It's a job that is in the field I am in and it's a progression from where I left off in Singapore. It's a Senior consultant position with a small consulting firm, and from the get-go, I am liking the vibe of the office. I get to work with other senior consultants and for the ~2 weeks I've been here, I can tell I can get along with the people I will be working with.

What overwhelms me with this blessing is that from a lot of people I've gotten to know here in Sydney, a lot of them found jobs that were off tangent to the track they were on. Lower salary grade, zero experience, start from scratch.

Friends and Family
I am thankful for the friends I have. Old friends, new friends. I stayed with one of my closest friends from University for the first 10 weeks that I lived here in Sydney. She's one of the truest friends I have and she's also my confidant. I'm the type of person who gauges my affinity to people based on "wavelength" and she is one of the few people I am definitely 100% in-sync with. 

When the year started off and I was in New York, I told myself that for 2015, my resolution is to be a better son, better sibling, better uncle and better friend. I came up with that resolution after I met a great set of amazing people when I was in New York. (I had a friend I met when I was on vacation in Bangkok (almost a year ago from now) who introduced me to this friend in New York). I told myself that for 2015, I will work on being the person who my friends would want to go to - to talk, to have a drink with, to hang out, to be the person who would listen to their problems, to be the person they could trust.

I've come to a point in my life (nearing 3-0) that I enjoy a small group of people I trust and love being with, than a big group of unfocused relationships.

A huge chunk on how I managed to make it through to moving and finally starting to settle here in Sydney is due to my family. I love the kind of dynamic I have with them now. I'm happy to have received such strong support from my parents and siblings - on the financial and emotional aspect of the move. It's humbling to realize that despite the distances we have from another (Los Angeles, Auckland, Sydney, Quezon City, Middle East) we are able to be there for each other when needed - in part due to technological advances.

More than anything, I am thankful for the friends and family who believed ...




More than anything, I am thankful for the friends and family who believed I will be able to make it and push through the challenges of moving to a new city and country without a job and with only savings in tow. There were several occasions on the 10 weeks of being jobless (longer than 10 weeks if you count the trip to US, Europe and a couple of weeks in Manila) where I questioned the timing and decision to move. I was comfortable living in Singapore - with a stable job, a good source of cash flow, etc. But I knew I wanted something more ... more stability and security. And after everything, I finally reached a point in my life where those possibilities can become an actuality.

Sydney

I am thankful that I was able to apply and get approved for Permanent residency here in Australia. Now that I found a job and have started working here for almost two weeks, I am excited by the other possibilities I can think of making an actuality. Despite being relatively the same in terms of expensiveness as compared to Singapore, there is a difference in the quality of life. On one front, the amount I am paying for rent in the place I am staying in here is about the same as in Singapore - except it's more spacious. On another front that I was surprised about is that despite having higher tax than Singapore, based on my initial computation, my net here will still be higher than my gross in Singapore. That lead me to realize that Singapore has become a saturated market for my skills.

Pictures!

CH257: Start of things to come

This week was rather busy. From finding a place to move to, to looking for the best FOREX place to change the USD I brought with me, to applying for a credit card, I couldn't be any happier that things are about to change.

I've decided to just for the time being find a room instead of my own flat. Getting a flat here would usually entail it being unfurnished so there would be costs like getting my own refrigerator, furniture, setting up internet etc. I found a place which would just be a 5 min walk from a train station that is 4 stations away from my workplace. It's all settled and done. I'll move into it on the 25th as the place is new and they had renovation works.

Another pleasant news was getting approved for my ANZ credit card (ANZ frequent flyer black) two hours after they received the documents they requested from me! Now I can start building up my credit score :)

Patience does pay off.

CH256: BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER!

As I posted into my twitter account recently, I am officially FUNemployed! After 10 weeks of looking for a job here in Sydney, I finally found a job that is in my field of experience and a permanent position at that. It's a step in the right direction towards settling here in Australia. Previously, I have mentioned that I am open to finding jobs that may be off-tangent to what I do just so I can have a paycheck and get to start living again, as opposed to living off of my savings. But I promised myself I will be patient and avoid just jumping on any job because of the following reasons:

1. Pay range - I have 6 years of experience in the job I do and the salary range will be entirely different if I shift career just because I was finding it difficult to get a job in a competitive SAP market.
2. Career progression - My long term goal is to either to become a Project Manager or a Solutions Architect. (I am still interested in Big Data so a Masters in that direction is still something of an idea I play around with in the back of my head). So staying on the career path I am in - where my current role (Senior Consultant) is - is still in the right track to the two progressions I have plans on becoming
3. Easier said than done - What I noticed in the few jobs I sent my CV to - to test the grounds of shifting career - was that it was easier said than done. Given that I have 6+ years invested in the work I have been doing, it would seem that entry level positions are more open to finding fresh graduates or entry level people because they will be cheaper I guess.

So it was beyond elation and excitement when 6 hours after my second interview (technical), I got a call from the HR Manager telling me that they were offering me the job. 1 hour after my interview, she called me up to ask for my references which I readily gave (they were ready from previous requirements). I was looking at flying off to the Gold Coast to celebrate my birthday to get my mind off the anxiety of waiting for the news on two job prospects (I had an interview as well last Thursday with a different company).

Anyway, I wasn't too excited with celebrating my 29th birthday primarily because I don't like the number. 29 is a prime number! And my 28th year has been most amazing so maybe I was trying to hold on to being 28. 28 saw 2 trips to Europe! I turned 28 in Portugal, touring the fairy-tale like castle of Sintra and exploring the western most tip of the European continent among other things. It was a year of travel and freedom! 27th was more stifling and learning more about myself in the context of a relationship, so I'm totally over being 27. But 28 was the best year of my life so far! I met so many great friends - and I also had to leave many of them when I left Singapore. It was a year of personal development, transformation, and enlightenment!

Why am I even still talking about 28 and rambling like an idiot?! I just got a job for my 29th birthday! I think it's the best gift I can ever receive in the context of my life I am in. Not only for financial reasons, but it felt like when I got the job offer the day before my birthday, that it was some sort of sign akin to "Welcome to Adulthood!" Time to look for insurance, a post paid plan (again), set up my savings and investment, etc!

I may not like being 29, but whoever said they liked being adults and worrying about bills and life? 29 will be my transition period to being 30 which is a year I feel look forward to more!

CH255: Number 2.

....In the calming noise of the vacuum cleaner, I find myself immersed in thoughts of nothing, flushing out the negativity to start a day anew.

...In the cool breeze, warm sun and soothing sound of the sea, I realized how similar I am at from Grade 5 - high school senior.

Most of the time just in second place running for honors. It was a fun competition then. I'm not sure I can say the same with now.

For the interviews I've had, I seem to be edged out by 1 more person. One had more experience with SAP mobility. Another one had SAP Hana experience. And the last one, for a contract role, I didn't bother to ask. I was just told there has been a request for budgetary approval to have another person on board - me - the number 2.

There has been a sort of cycle with these. Thursday I hear the news, Thursday I get another interview scheduled.

I can't say I'm sad. I'm actually fine. A little feeling of frustration would come by and then go. (Maybe if I didn't have savings, then I'd be depressed). This is what life is, you don't always get what you want. That, in a race, you may not have finished first, but there's comfort in knowing you finished second, still ahead of the rest. And the other thought, at least I'm making it through shortlisting and getting to final round of interviews. It should come eventually.

For now, I'm still on vacation! :)

CH254: Acrobatics

After going through the Aerialize Open Day, I realized I wasn't afraid of falling and hurting myself playing around on Lyra, silks and trapeze.

I also discovered how easily I picked up on the instructions. Maybe this is my calling? Haha jk.

There are so many activities that can be explored here down under. I really enjoyed the trials and once I do get a job, this could be a class I could enjoy and really get into.

I had to ask myself whether that's my tan line or muffin top fat line haha

CH253: Somethings, Sometimes, Someone

Continuing on with the introspection from the previous post, as I told Angelo (sorry friend no cross linking on Blogger mobile lol), my impatience also extends to dating.

Maybe, maybe, maybe, part of the reason why on the apps, I rarely initiate any messaging is because - it's exhausting initiating small talk. I rarely go into long chats but mostly stop at saying thank you when given a compliment or say hi back and just not reply because there's been so much messages (I used to reply to all but stopped after a few days of having it in Singapore 4 years ago). It does seem callous and discourteous. But I don't say this with ego, since reinstalling the app when I became single a little over a year ago, I've had numerous messages come in. I was OC at first to make sure there wasn't a sign showing unread messages, but I got bored with the menial task, and now I've got ~2000 unread messages in one app.

But the point of that narrative just now, was because when I said impatience in dating, it probably related to being spoiled and getting what I want as I wrote in the previous entry. I reply to only those who seem interesting and interested because it's easier that way. No effort. No trying too hard. Everything has to be quick. Go into dating, you both like each other - go for it, commit, become exclusive yadah yadah. I lose interest (after much contemplation it isn't as much to do with pride) when I sense the other party's interest has waned. I say to myself, why go through the trouble.

I've given this much thought, because maybe I'm a romantic (hopeless), but after going out on a date which just coincided with valentines, I felt chemistry with someone and the Sparks just flew. But it wasn't like the previous ones with a magnetic reaction to just go and become steady. It's the first time for me to have to participate in "testing the water." And now I'm clueless. I like the other person enough to not be totally disinterested, but it opens up the idea, so does this mean there's a game at play? Someone seeing other people and moving the chess pieces one move at a time - eventually deciding the game then checkmate? Oh well, I asked the question and the answer just went along the lines of - let's not stick to labels or whatever for now and let's see how it goes. For a change, I'll be patient.

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Yesterday was a wonderful day at the beach. My close friend and I just chilled and hung out for 5 hours there. Thankfully, after a previous late night out consuming 3 glasses of gin and tonic as well as 5-6 glasses of pure blonde, and with very little sleep, I didn't get a hang over. I'm attributing this feat to age given in a little over a month, I'll be one year away from 30!

We had lots of fun jumping into the water! Starting off in the pontoon for smaller jumps and building up to the higher one. I say building up because I had to be patient with my friend as she tried and succeeded in overcoming her fears of jumping. :) It was easier being patient on this front.

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Talk of change, while walking back home earlier, I was excited to realize that the state of happiness and contentment that had dawned on me when I was in Europe is still alive here in Sydney! :) I tried to think why after my volunteer work at the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival do I still feel this way, and I realized that I'm free.

I'm free from feeling secure and protected. I'm simply free - To be myself, to do what I want (within the bounds of law), to just live my life. Now it would be a scary thought not being secure and protected but I have permanent residency here in Australia as a safety net. My decisions are my decisions because I want to try and am very open to trying new things.

A first would be working at a Chinese restaurant part time! It was surprisingly enjoyable. How did this happen? I simply went to the restaurant my close friend part times in and the auntie there asked me if I was interested. Thinking it will be unexpected, I said yes. It pays well for 3.5 hours of work - plus they feed you haha. It put a smile on my face when my mom (I heard it in her voice) found it amusing and surprising that I did well and enjoyed waiting tables, taking take away orders on the phone and helping out in the kitchen and floor area. In this sense, I was free from the protective prejudice my parents would have had if I told them I'd work in let's say jolibee or McDonald's to earn extra money when I was studying. If I was still in Uni and I suggested that so I can have extra cash, I believe they would have just increased my allowance. Hmm actually the thought never occurred to me to work part time to get extra money back in college. I simply had to ask and use the trump card statement "my siblings went to more expensive schools compared to UPD."

Another change I noticed earlier was that I'm less introverted than I was before. I wouldn't normally want to be around strangers, but when I was helping people queue in the film festival, I was comfortable chatting up random strangers in queue and making conversation. I didn't mind wearing a bright pink outfit for volunteers of the festival. I didn't mind standing outside the cinemas collecting voting slips and smiling at totally random strangers and genuinely telling them to have a good night on their way home. My old self would have been exhausted being all preppy, but I did that because I was there as a volunteer. It's not my cause I'm there for, it's the festival's. Traveling brought this out of me. When you travel, you immerse yourself in the ways of the country you're visiting. You become a chameleon and adapt to the environment. It's not being plastic or hypocritical. It's just adjusting the traits you already have. Everyone has a natural affinity to something and distinct personalities, but it doesn't mean we have to box ourselves in. The important thing is to try and experience. Because through experience, we get opinion.  And through experience, we discover things we might have said we couldn't but actually could.

I see my permanent residency as an investment (given how expensive it was ... Relatively) and I can see how I'm reaping its benefits so far. I feel so at home in Australia. Not to say anything negative against Singapore or the Philppines - but Australia is home now. 

.... Although Australian PR was easier to get than SG PR (in my case, i.e. Profession) so maybe I have foreclosed SG too early. No regrets!