Blingaling aling!

Look at these puppies:

No, I haven't won the lottery nor has P gotten a 1,000% payrise! My new babies are Russian diamond simulants, which my niece introduced me too. I never thought I would wear them, but they are very realistic (or they would be if I haven't bought such HUGE stones ha ha) and oh so sparkly!

I adore bling, but don't want to pay ridiculous prices for the real deal. The two rings and a pair of earrings (with another pair thrown in free) were only about £50. I still love my diamonds, but these are fun pieces that I'll wear when I'm out in the evening or travelling.

My goal is to purchase a second property within the next two years and I want to save as much as I can. Yet, I need to feed my weakness for the shiny stuff. RDS are the perfect solution. You heard it here first: Fake is the New Real!

Letting the Side Down

I've been at my new job for almost a month now and it's definitely been interesting. Although my working hours are short, the day is jammed pack from start to finish. There was no handover as such and I was just thrown in the deep end. However, I am slowly picking things up although there is still so much to learn as I'm in a completely new area.

My boss is from the same part of the world as me. She is very knowledgeable and down to earth, although much more reserved than I am. She is direct and respected by people who work for and with her. I consider myself lucky and hope that I'll remain her PA for the foreseeable future.

For the most part, the other PAs are also very nice. They have all been very helpful and we have a good laugh at the office. They are mostly Brrringlish girls and a whole lot of fun!

However, the same can't be said for the other PA who is from a neighbouring Small Island country. On my first day, this cute petite girl came up to me and said, "I'm Annie, so glad you're here, another Asian!" That should have set the warning bells ringing. I did notice that a couple of the other girls were quite distant, but I understand why now.

Annie and I had a few lunches together and as she became more comfortable with me, she would confide in me about how she felt with regards to work. First of all, she came over to Brringland as an au pair, but due to the right connections, she got a job at the bank. She has absolutely no experience as a PA, speaks very poor English (I don't always understand her) and more importantly, cannot get along with the other girls on the team.

During our chats, I realized that she was very defensive. She would complain about how unhappy she was i.e. she didn't like being a PA and wanted to be a banker so that she could make a lot of money. When I suggested she take up further studies, she said, "Oh, I'm too tired in the evenings!" Yes, she is one of those people who just moans about their situation but does nothing about it. Yawn.

To make matter worse, she was also very offensive. She asked me why I was 'just a PA' when I had a degree. I explained that I love being able to come into work, do my job, then go home without the stress of hitting targets or worrying about huge responsibilities. She also questioned how I was able to buy an apartment on my salary and I explained to her that I've been working for years and that you have this little thing called 'savings'. She is in her early 20s, working in her first office job, and expects to buy her own apartment in the most expensive city in the world! Earth to dope!

What made me finally decide to stop having lunches with her was when she said, "You know, I do much more than the rest of you PAs and have more responsibilties, so I should be paid more!" What she doesn't seem to realize is that she lacks experience and the ability to get along with her colleagues. We all make mistakes but what she does usually ends up in a mess. She has huge dreams, but little ability.

To be honest, I didn't expect my biggest (figuratively, not literally) challenge at work to come from a fellow Asian. I find it embarrassing that one of us 'yellow people' would give our host country such a bad impression. Yesterday, Annie sent another PA and me some of her work to do. I felt my temper flare when I read her email, but decided to sleep on it. I realize that I have to manage Annie, or else it will be just a slippery slope moving forward.

I don't mind explaining or showing you how to do something, but I certainly don't want to do your job for you! As it stands, I am already swamped and often have to work at home in the evenings. I just don't have the time to be another PA's PA.

There is always one person in every office whose work ethic differs from the rest. At the end of the day, it is her issue. I just have to learn how to deal with it professionally, easier said, but it's got to be done!

Small Island Freaks

Since I moved to Brrringland two months ago (P and I celebrated our 6th month wedding anniversary yesterday, thanks Yeller Fever, Wholesome Canadian Mum, Huney and co I MISS YOU GUYS SOOOOO MUCH!!!), I have met some great people from back home. I prefer not to socialize with my colleagues so have had to make friends by other means.

During Christmas last year, I joined a social group that meets for dim sum once a month. It's always a lot of fun and we always eat way too much. It's great to hang out with people from the same part of the world as me as we understand each other pretty well.

Having said that, I have come across a couple of people from our Small Island, whom I don't understand at all!

A couple of weeks ago, this girl, let's call her Goondoo, sent me a message via facebook. We started chatting and she seemed very keen to meet up. I invited her to come for lunch one weekend and she was very excited. However, on the day itself, she sent me a message saying she wasn't coming over because she felt uncomfortable as we hadn't met before!

Needless to say, I was none too pleased as I had already prepared the curry. I asked Goondoo why she said yes in the first place when she had doubts and told her that she had wasted my time. As a perfect example of how stupid this girl is, she was even surprised that I no longer wanted anything to do with her! I blocked her from MSN and haven't answered any of the emails she has since sent. This girl obviously does not know me because if she did, she would not waste her time trying to convince me otherwise.

I told the Organizer of our dim sum lunch about Goondoo and he was not surprised. In fact, he says that this happens a lot. He showed me posts on our overseas portal of some other Small Island Freaks who had done exactly the same thing as Goondoo.

It didn't stop there though, the Organizer MSNed me yesterday and told me that he was supposed to meet up with this girl, the Baker, we had met on facebook. I said to him, "Don't tell me, she backed out!" True to form, she had because her flatmate was afraid to meet a 'stranger' and the Baker was afraid to go by herself in case she got lost on public transport! I kid you not people, there really ARE ridiculous people like that out there.

If they are going to behave this way, I wonder why they even bother leaving our Small Island! One word of advice to them: stay in your rabbit holes and DON'T contact me on facebook or otherwise. Different cultural experiences are obviously too much for your weak little hearts and I have better things to do with my time. Like look for beautiful sapphire rings!

Treasures: Animal and Mineral

Last night, my close family friend of 18 years, Lizard Lover (LL) flew into town with her partner on route to the south of Brringland for a holiday. LL is the sister of Lane, my amazing friend who passed away from cancer over two years ago. The last time I saw LL was at Lane's bedside in New Zealand a couple of months before the end.

Although I was closer to Lane, I love LL just as much and it was really great to spend a bit of time with her! She brought me 'bak kway' (bbq pork) from our small island and P and I finished a pack in under an hour oink oink, no pun intended.

It was really great to talk to someone who knew and loved Lane as much as I did. We reminisced about how crazy and beautiful Lane was and it did bring a tear to my eye. I must admit I still can't talk about Lane without choking up. I miss her every single day and although time does make it easier, it never makes it go away.

But as they say, life is for the living and that is what we all must do. LL is on her way down the south coast to relax and unwind in some quaint B&Bs and I am enjoying myself with my wonderful hubby.

As my reward for moving here and starting a new job, I have bought a Ceylon sapphire ring. I have always associated that gem with this county, the whole Breeetish India thing and all. It is a 6.5 carat stone showcased in a handmade setting. I love the beautiful rich blues running through it, depending on what light you see it in. There are a couple of small inclusions visible to the naked eye, but I don't mind as I think it is part of the sapphire's charm.

A close up of the ring

A distance shot for some perspective on size

No, it hasn't replaced my engagement bling but I must admit I do like it a lot. When we started looking for the ring, P said of a lighter cornflower blue stone which was also very beautiful, "It's tasteful." I said, "I don't want tasteful, I want BIG!" ha ha. His comment was the death knell of that piece! Mid-blue colour sapphires are the most valuable but I would rather go for a darker stone with a bigger carat weight that is within my budget. Hey, I never said I wasn't superficial!

Anyway, LL is coming back to spend another night with us next weekend so it should be another fun evening of drinking (we had Cava, wine and Pimms) and chatting.

Much love everyone and have a great weekend!

Working Eight to Four

Am sitting here, vodka cranberry in hand, recovering from a hard week (okay two days) at work! Yes folks, this week, I started my new job at one of Brrringland's biggest Banks, but what a palava it has been to get here and it's still not over yet.

When I was over at Christmas, I signed up with two recruitment agencies to talk to them about job opportunities. I wanted to make sure that I was marketable enough to easily get work. Both consultants assured me that I had the right experience as a PA and were sure that they could place me.

A few weeks before I came, one of them contacted me about a position at the Bank and once I arrived, she arranged for me to have a telephone interview. Everything went well and I was invited for a face-to-face. This session went on for almost three hours and the next day, I was offered a job as the PA to one of the Directors.

By now, I had registered with quite a few other agencies and had been for several interviews. On the same day that the Bank offered me a position, a property investment company also asked me to join them. I turned down that job and informed all the agencies that I had found work.

I was happy and looking forward to starting. What I was didn't realize is that in this country, the "Credit Check" is the Almighty. All companies do this to ensure that you have no bad credit, which I certainly do not have. I submitted all the necessary documentation over three weeks ago and was told, "The reference and credit checks should take five days but could be longer, so the target start date is 28 April to give them two weeks."

My new boss was very keen to get the ball rolling, as I was too. There are only so many talk shows a person can watch. The days are very loooooooooong when one doesn't have much to do. The irony is that while you're not in the office, you have so much time on your hands. But there is no money coming in, so you can't travel and go crazy with the spending! I had also been on holiday for two months and that was enough of a break.

The Friday before I was supposed to start, the company called me and said that my credit check was STILL not done! That meant that I couldn't go to work the following Monday as scheduled. I was disappointed but decided to give them a bit of leeway.

However, after three more days of this, I had had enough. I want to buy an apartment here next year and I'm not going to be able to achieve that goal by sitting on my scrawny a** at home! I knew it wasn't the fault of my new boss as she also didn't understand where the delay was. It was the process that was taking so long. My recruiter was also frustrated as if I didn't sign a contract, she wouldn't be earning her commission.

I emailed the recruiter and told her that if I didn't have a start date by the end of the day, that I would be contacting all the other agencies and re-starting my job search. I didn't want to do it, but felt that I had no choice as I wasn't willing to wait around endlessly. At least while I was interviewing, there was some structure and purpose to my life. That galvanized them into action and the bank arranged for me to start work the next morning, with the understanding that my credit check report still hadn't been obtained by the Bank.

So on 1 May (ironically Labour Day but not a public holiday in Brringland), I walked into my new office. The first two days were a bit chaotic, but my new boss bought me breakfast on Friday, which set us off on the right footing!

I ran into my landlady on Friday after work (ah, that just sounds so good!) and told her what was going on. She was flabbergasted. It was then that I remembered I already have had another credit check done. Before P and I could sign the lease for this house, we had to pay for checks for both him and myself. These were completed within a week. I guess the difference is that the real estate had money and a client to lose, while the Bank doesn't so they don't feel the need to hurry.

Anyway, the important thing is that things are moving along. So far, everyone at the office has been welcoming and helpful. Working just makes the weekend so much more enjoyable! P and I have Monday off so we'll be going roller blading/cycling tomorrow if the weather holds.