Beard & Moustache

I shall write about my facial hair in this post. 

• I tend to suffer razor burns when I visit cold and dry countries and decided to give myself a shaving break during my recent UK trip (in end-Jul). As a result, my moustache and goatee grew. The unkempt look during the initial days didn't bother me. I was on holiday and was in the midst of strangers. After my holidays, I continued keeping it as it has grown quite nicely. 

• The last time I had a moustache was during my undergrad days. It lasted no more than a few weeks. I couldn't accept the untidy look. Most Chinese tend to be smooth naturally and need more time for our facial hair to grow. Most also have goatees and not a full beard like what you see in people of European, and Northern Indian origins.

• Why keep a moustache during my undergrad days? I wanted to do what I wouldn't/ couldn't do after I graduate. As a contract soldier on a training award, I had to return to the forces during my vacation and immediately after my final year examinations end. So I kept a little pony tail, grew a moustache, etc as a student.

• Why did I not keep a goatee back then? I supposed it was due to my military "up-bringing". In my basic military training days, we were not allowed to keep a beard unless it is for religious reasons (e.g. Sikhs). As a general rule-of-thumb to keeping neat and tidy - hair above the lips is "personal property", whereas those below is "government property".

• My hair has greyed much. I now have a head of black and grey hair (“salt & pepper”). Interestingly, there are more grey hair in my moustache and goatee. As a comparison, there are about 30-40% grey hair on my head whereas for my moustache and goatee, it 60-70%. And looking at my late-parents, I doubt I will end up with a full head of grey hair.

Ok, so much about my facial hair. People around me have seen my new look and and a couple of my gay friends have even suggested that my "market value" has increased. Well, "market value" was not on my mind when I started it. Nevertheless, I must say I do notice a couple more people (both women and men) giving me second looks. I hope it was not because I look out of place. Chinese men with goatee are a rare sight here. Then again, I was probably just a wee bit more self-conscious with this new look. 

:-P

My final trip

I will be making another trip to Malaysia before I resume my work in Oct. And similar to the trip I made in Apr (when I started my sabbatical), I will be visiting places such as KL, Penang, Ipoh, Johor Baru (JB) and possibly Melaka. This long 1200+ km drive is not something I would do normally and I half suspect is part of my feeble attempt to "stretch" my sabbatical. 

Will end my trip in JB where I will attend a wedding dinner of a friend on 1 Oct.

Back to Work

Since speaking with my HR sometime back, I have decided to head back to my company. The job that has been broadly scoped for me is rather exciting. It's a new port folio and I have the ability to shape the size of the role. I will also be required to set up my team from scratch and for a start, a new headcount has been given to me. So, yeah, will start work again in 2 weeks. Objectively, one part of me still wants to continue with this semi-retired lifestyle that I have gotten used to. But of cos, I am fully aware that I will need to re-engage socially and head back to work. And not to mention, the constant source of income and medical benefits that an employment will provide.

Queen Elizabeth II - RIP

I was saddened by the sudden passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Despite knowing it will come, it still didn't seem real when it happened. 

70 years of dedicated service - longest of any monarch in British history and a period that saw unprecedented changes in the world and to the monarchy. She was truly a remarkable person. Her passing marked the end of the Elizabethan era, an era never to be seen nor experienced again by the world. 

I have been following the royal funeral formalities in BBC daily and it felt surreal. It was not too long ago that we visited Holyroodhouse Palace (and where I marvelled at this picture depicting Her Majesty in her Scottish regalia against the Scottish countryside background), the Royal Mile, Edinburg Castle, and so on. These memories are still so vivid and fresh. 

She will be sorely missed by many. 

Please rest in peace.

Going back to work

I had a long talk with my HR over lunch 2 weeks back. She iterated how my big boss values me and that she (my big boss) looks forward to my returning. She updated me on all the changes that have happened during my absence, and the many growth areas that the department is currently focusing on. According to her, my big boss is open to letting me scope what I want to do, even if it means doing a contract role based on a 3- or 4-day work week. Thought it was interesting. 

To her request that I propose a JD for her, I have, on the other hand, told her what I don’t want to do and asked her to propose the areas they would like for me to do instead. I have also asked that she work on the basis of me returning full-time. If things do not work out, I will still be able to re-negotiate the job scope. Objectively, I need to get back to work life. I need the money and the mental engagements too, although a small part of me still wants to continue my carefree sabbatical days. 

:-)

England & Scotland

16 days... one of the longest trip I have made in recent memory! It was a refreshing trip and I must say, one of those where towards the end, you feel you have had enough and wants to return to the comforts of home, and I do add - to start work. LOL! Spent a good 16 days travelling around Scotland (Edinburgh, Inverness, Isle of Skye [lotsa places], Glasgow) and England (Manchester, Birmingham, Wareham, Bath, Brighton & London) and finally got to visit 2 places that I had read so much of but never got to visit - Inverness (home to the Loch Ness monster) and Stonehenge. 

Here're some quick call outs about the trip:

• Lovely to be able to move about without the face mask (even in public transport). We were a little apprehensive initially but decided to join the crowd eventually. We were, after all, vaccinated, boosted, and had gotten COVID before.

• Scotland was really beautiful, especially with the mountains and the lakes. It's no wonder they call it the Highlands. Lovely sceneries but the weather was a tat erratic. I really like Inverness. Its just about the right size to walk around, and people were really nice.

• Although it wasn’t planned, we got to experience the locations in Edinburg that inspired JK Rowling when she wrote the Harry Porter series. Also, by sheer coincidence, it was Peter Rabbit’s birthday when we visited his birthplace in Windermere!

• The small roads across Scotland and England were mostly single lane and narrow. It was rather stressful to drive on these roads, especially when there were many reckless drivers who chose to speed, even when the roads were wet and slippery (and I do suspect many were tourists from Europe, judging by the vehicle number plates).

• The smaller towns were really charming, with the rows of old buildings and manicured gardens - very Scottish & English indeed. We also had lots of fish & chips, haggis, pies, scones, etc... but, admittedly, at some point, we yearned Asian food!

• I had a deeper understanding of the history of Scotland and England and experienced the richness of the culture through the castles, foods, and people. And it was interesting to hear the different accents as we travelled from Scotland towards S England.

• I enjoyed the grandeur of the palaces and abbeys. The displays of chandeliers, paintings, jewelry, etc were just mind blowing. And it was just nice that our visit coincided with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II.

• Stonehenge was not as big nor grand as I had expected. It was, nonetheless, a defining visit for me given how much I’ve read and heard about it since I was a kid. Walking around it and savouring the history and stories made the whole visit rather magical.

• The larger cities were really crowded, especially London. And I did notice that city people tend to be a lot ruder. People raised their voices, pushed around, gave rude stares, etc. I suspect these were tourists and they did it because they know they could get away with it. Or perhaps because we are Asian? Ok, let’s not go there…

• London is way too crowded today compared to 20 years ago. And it felt different now too. Less English, and more cosmopolitan. I suspect its the change in the profile of tourists - e.g. I visited Harrods and noted that a huge percentage of the shoppers were from the Middle East. For that matter, even the drivers of logistics trucks and taxis queuing outside Harrods looked Middle Eastern to me! Another possible reason could the the lack of PRC (Chinese) tourists given China’s current COVID travel restrictions.

• The trip would have been perfect if the weather had held up better on some days. Nonetheless, it was really nice to experience the coolness of Scotland (as low as 6C and no more than 23C). We ended the trip with a heatwave in London. It hit 34C - hot by London standards at this time of the year but tolerable to us.

I have slightly less than a month before my sabbatical ends... will do another trip up Malaysia at the end of the month!