Saturday 26 March 2016

REVISITING MY azianma.blogspot

After almost 7 years of silence, I suddenly have this urge to revisit my blog. I plan to retire soon and I have this strong urge to get back to blogging. Not that I was a consistent blogger anyway :)
Having worked in the civil service for like 30 years, i decided to call it a day. That was last year. Filled up the application form for early retirement and got it approved by my Director and submitted the form peacefully. But you know in the government sector in Malaysia, that simple to fill-up form will go through umpteen 'approvals'....hmmm...yes that is very common!

I have chosen 31 August 2016 for my last day in service. For non-Malaysian readers who stumble upon this entry, 31 August 1957 marks the day that the Federation of Malaya obtained its independence from British colonization, forming what is known to this day as MALAYSIA. Hence, 31 August is a National Public Holiday (Hari Kebangsaan) to commemorate the freedom and independence gained. This day is also known as Hari Merdeka in the Malay language. Hence 31 August is not complete without shouts of "MERDEKA"!

OK, back to my application to retire... actually my compulsory retirement date will be in May 2018 but I decided to retire 1 year and 9 months earlier! I pray that I have made the right choice. Well one has to have a blue print in life. And this is my plan. Frankly, I enjoyed working very much. And I do feel some guilt if I am away from the office, even when I am out on official duties. After all being out of the office means more work the next minute that you are back, right?

Just to share in this first entry after 7 years, I was in Taiwan from 11 - 17 March 2016. My husband attended a conference there and since I have never been to Taiwan - I decided that I should accompany him.



We went to Taipei 101. TAIPEI 101 Observatory’s elevators are high-speed pressurized elevators with a speed of 1010 meters per minute. Can you imagine that in about 35 seconds we were on the 89th floor! That is the highest floor for which visitors are allowed. Unfortunately it was a foggy spring that day :( But if postponed our plan to be up on TAIPEI 10, we will not have another opportunity since we already booked our high speed rail ticket to Kaohsiung later in the evening. Although it was foggy, I could still see (barely) vehicles moving on the streets down below. It was a great experience. My next high rise building visit --- KL Twin Towers!

I have forgotten many tips and shortcuts to use blogspot. Huh! Spent a long time to write this short entry. See you again :)