So quite a number of things happened in the last month. Went to Hanoi on a trip together with the office, purely for leisure. Also went to Hong Kong to meet up with the project manager and consultants for the proj that we were working on there.

Hanoi was certainly good fun. We were there for 4 days, went visiting some of their attractions and basically ate alot of local food!! Got to know a few colleagues much better, which was probably what the trip was about. A break from work is always welcome.

The Hong Kong trip, on the other hand, was purely business... 3 nights, 2 days, pure work. Tasted some HK dim sum as well, but I only saw the city from the inside of a cab. Didn't manage to get any shopping done either. Still, I found it a charming city, especially at night. I'd certainly wish to go there again just to visit the city. Maybe some time middle of next year...

Apart from being overseas we also had an office party for Christmas, because the boss is going to be on leave for a long period of time, so we had to have the party earlier. For the party we played some games, but the highlight was really the gift exchange ($20 budget, you buy something for someone and not disclose your identity until the party). I got a mini camera from my colleague! A pretty cool gadget, which I shall be trying out soon.

Apart from the gift exchange there was a gift from the directors. Basically the 4 directors did some shopping and bought gifts for each of the staff, things they think will come in handy or that the staff would like. For that I got a... DC Justice Box Set, based on the art by Alex Ross!!! Well, it is not much, but it certainly is something that I like. I appreciate my director for condoning my childish interests in toys and action figures. He is a huge Superman and DC comic fan, I think... I really like the Hal Jordon from the boxset btw.

I was also given a couple of talks by the boss about the current crisis that is going to hit us hard in 2009, and probably going to hang around till 2010. Retrenchments and pay cuts are some rumours that has been passing around. I agree that there's really nothing much i can do about it, but the office has been reassured that we will maintain our current status for as long as possible (ie. we get to keep our jobs and our pay), which I thought was a nice gesture. And before we ask for more, we probably gotta give more i guess. Gotta be buying less too! Or buy more with less, since the year end sales are coming ;)

Also went for dental surgery, something that has got to be done to repair my serious bone loss. The entire procedure took 3 hours long and it involved the opening of my gum at the area where the most serious bone loss has occured, cleaning up the deep portions of the teeth (which was otherwise impossible as these parts are blocked by the gum), injecting a bone growth hormone that induces regeneration, and then stitching it back up. I was given anesthesia and blind folded throughout the operation. It was more tiring than I expected, and right now the bleeding and pain has subsided, but still recovering from the wound.

Christmas's around the corner~!!! I'm gonna be going over to Chet's home in Penang on the 30th. Hope to meet up with some friends before that...