Seems like i'm doing a follow-up post to Sharon's recent posts. So here's a quick three year review in a single post.

As we were on our way back after doing our library (which is really great!) run last night, i suddenly realized, almost intuitively, that that time was probably when we were on the plane from Singapore To Seattle (see.. nice plug on our own blog title).

Just a week or two ago, a good mentor from APOC was here for some meetings, and i met up with him and his buddy (who's both a mentor and also a relocated Singaporean here now). Both Teck and I were trying to convince Chan to join us over here as well, and we talked about the pros and the cons of doing such a move.

For Teck and his family, it's been a challenging 6-9 months, but he has already seen some great advantages of being away from the island country. Sharon, in her post earlier, also mentioned about how we get to enjoy watching (and at times, listening to) old time classics. Sharon forgotten how we feel in love with the Abbott & Costello shows, the Marx Brothers, the Thin Man series and many many more. Thanks to Netflix and the library system here, and the ease at which i can get my hands on such classics. When Moodyone was staying with us, she would go into a fit when she saw that we're about to watch yet another B&W movie! That was probably one of the main reasons why she moved out when we were initially planning our own move.

Workwise, it's not been exactly a smooth ride. From afar in Singapore, there was some sense that it will be a challenge to work in the headquarters. The technical challenges i think i met them pretty ably, but the interaction with certain folks (with their own agendas) and the lack of progress in the joint efforts leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Out of my immediate work area, i've been doing some of my own work on antiphishing activities, as well as getting an opportunity to present in an industry conference. Wow.. that was an experience i'll never forget.

It might be a surprise to some, but now with the really pathetic exchange rate for USD-SGD, things are really a lot cheaper here than in Singapore, even with the 8.8% sales tax. There's tons of great deals, freebies, rebates and price cuts that really extend my dollars here.

What else... the pro club (gym) that i get to use over here is great too. I get to use weights that i can never use in Singapore, and probably also the reason why i get to hurt my lower back at least twice a year!

In the last 30 months, i got myself (and Sharon bought me the initial one) a gameboy advance, an used nintendo 64 (pokemon special edition somemore!), a nintendo ds lite, an used gameboy advance (which i'll be passing to a colleague's kid when i'm back in April), an used gameboy color (pokemon special edition somemore again!), an used gamecube with an used adaptor that can play gameboy games, a gameboy micro (special 20th anniversary edition) and most recently, the Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!. The used systems were purchased mainly from eBay and Craiglist. Some old games too (as you can see on my flickr badge) from the stable used game market here. Looks quite a big budget buy, but most are used and the new ones were gotten with freebies. 8)

From bottom left: Gamecube (with the gameboy player), NES casing (nothing inside), Wii, N64

Our TV shelf is now so packed with consoles that even my landlord, on a recent visit, was impressed! See a small area of empty space there? Another used console will be placed there soon. Guess which one it'll be.

Finishing on the same note as Sharon, there are three major "themes" that i miss... i miss my family, my good buddies (and i'm back in April just for one of them's wedding), and a feeling that i used to get when i was in the Singapore office. What feeling was it? A feeling of, using Nero Wolfe's phrases, "Satisfaction" when you know that you have contributed, along with folks in other groups, to ensure first and foremost, that our customers' needs are met.