Into the Wild

A friend at my new office came up to me and told me that he had just sent in his "letters". His statement kind of caught me off-guard, mainly because I had no idea what sending your "letters" means. I thought, maybe he had just received his official letters saying that he is a qualified fellow now (he had recently completed all of his exams). Seeing my puzzled face, he further clarified that he has decided to leave work.

"What? Leaving work for what?", I interjected.

Leaving work for the best freaking field trip in the world that's what. What up! <--- Barney style. My friend, let's call him incredibly-brave-with-balls is going on a one year trip all over the world. He and his wife, let's name her incredibly-awesome-partner are both going to take a hiatus off work and travel the world, together. They will be leaving at the end of April or early May.

"But how are you going to support yourself? It's one year!", I said with a pinch of amazement and also jealousy.

He's already saved up for the trip he mentioned. The trip will cost more than 15,000 pounds per person. Mr incredibly-brave-with-balls has already thought about all the calculations. Back at home he has a world map which is filled with blue tacks and yard lines that connect those tacks. The travel bug had bitten him hard, and now he was taking the leap.

Before, he hesitated quite a bit to do the journey because he had his actuarial exams in the way. Now that he has no more commitment to the exams process he's pretty much as free as a bird. That, and plus the fact that he and his wife don't have a baby yet. He seems like an amazing person, too bad I won't be able to get to know him better for the next year.

My apartment in London

Here are some pics of my new apartment in London. The apartment is unfurnished. The furniture and sofabed were purchased from Ikea.

 The front door to my apartment

The hallway. The first door to the right is the kitchen. Second right is the bathroom. And the front, is my living room.

The kitchen. You can see the washer and dryer here as well.

First picture of the bathroom. The shower is on the right.

The shower. I don't need a shower curtain with this glass curtain.

The living room from the front door entrance

My sofa bed. Got it from Ikea nearby :)

The closet. The sliding wall-mirrors for the closet will be installed tomorrow.

The computer and TV set up. My mac is connected to my TV and the monitor

Perfect wiring at the bottom pic

London

I'm in London now. Just came back from my first day at work. The new office is literally new (Milliman moved in last November) and the people there are friendly. I think I'll be able to fit in just fine.

Thanks for sending me off at the airport two days ago guys. I'd never thought that that many people would be sending me off. The Chicago families have been extremely nice to me, especially Kak Nana and Abang Fikri's family. I can't thank you all enough. It made my going away even more difficult.

To all my family and friends, if you guys happen to drop by London please do give me a call so we can meet up.

Thanks and take care.