Today I ran a training, spent time with some of the people in the SouthEast Asia region and did a lot of work on my laptop to get caught up. I had a great view while getting my work done!
Right now I am mentoring a new manager in Hong Kong named Jensen. It just happened to work out that he was flying into Singapore today so we got to go to dinner together. We have become friends and it was so nice to see him!
Back at home the family had lots of fun with friends.
I boarded my plan shortly after midnight. I cannot wait to see everyone!
Yesterday I was scolding Ammon for making a mess upstairs and he was trying to be contrite but kept smiling. Finally I asked him why he was smiling. He said it was because they were playing hide and seek and he had just found Clarissa. She was in the laundry basket right next to me and I had no idea!
Mary made this comic for her school project. So proud of her.
I am starting to engage in unhealthy behaviors and I think it is because Abe is gone. Today I spent a lot of time just scrolling online clothes imagining that if I owned said clothes maybe I would actually start getting dressed in the morning.
Here are Abe’s pictures from his time in Singapore.
Abe just loved the friends he made in the Qualtrics office. He loved having dinner with Sunil.They spent the evening in Little India.
On Wednesday Clarissa stayed home sick. We spent the entire morning at the doctor for Mary’s physical and then the hospital where she was going to get blood tests done. She has always been in the 4th percentile for weight but the doctor wants to make sure she doesn’t have celiac’s or something like that. Anyhow I forgot my health insurance card so we waited all that time at the hospital for nothing. We have to go back for that test later next week.
In the evening I went to the basement and logged into a Zoom meeting about the Great Salt Lake. I am so concerned about the lake and think about the effect of its disappearance every day. I wanted to hear from our policy makers and scientists what the health risks of living here are, but they deflected my question. Abe has a friend who founded HEAL Utah so hopefully he will be able to answer my question soon. But in the meantime
I did learn some interesting things in the meeting. It makes me think they will actually fix the problem (in a decade or two), but in the meantime I have to figure out if it is responsible to raise kids here or not.
Abe’s mom sent him this photo of himself today. So cute!!! I miss you, Abe!!!
I have been feeling a bit travel-worn and overwhelmed with everything I’m trying to juggle, but dinner tonight with Sunil and Karn was a huge pick-me-up. We really gelled over dinner as they told me about the history of Singapore, and geo-political information about the region and as we jammed on different management topics. The Indonesian food was incredible and the server told us how many spices they used in each dish (in some cases over 15). The food was superb.
On Tuesday I dropped off all the kids at school except Clarissa, and then we picked up my mom and she spent the morning with us. We played two full games of memory, which was so fun! After we were all very tired so we took my mom home.
I struggle to remember what else happened that day. I think I might have gone swimming in the evening when all the kids were home. I believe I wasted a lot of time online shopping. I have noticed I do that when feeling depressed, so maybe all the time without Abe affects my emotional charge.
Today Georgia came over and spent time with the family. She recently wrote a memoir of her life and she is very happy to have finished it. At our house she played games with the kids.
Ammon is loving his new Ninja costume!
The kids all made gingerbread houses. I’m sorry to have missed it!
Today was a good day for me, even though I’m feeling very ragged from all the pressures of travel, my training assignments and managing my team during Q4. I was able to catch up on work a lot in my hotel room, and I also got out for a good outing to see the Gardens by the Bay, one of Singapore’s more famous attractions.
I first went into an exhibit called flower fantasy. I think they named it appropriately!
Next, I went to the skywalk.
Then I went to the flower dome. Here is an exterior picture of it from the internet since all of my videos and pictures were from the inside of it.
Next I went to the Cloud Forest. In this picture from the internet, you can see the flower dome, the cloud forrest and the famous skywalk tree features.
Here are videos and pictures of my time in the Cloud Forest:
On my way home I walked through the mall.
And I continued to appreciate the remarkable architecture in Singapore, including this unusually skinny building on the right.
Back at home the family was having a lovely day of hearth and harmony. First they ate the grape pie they painstakingly made days before. Lily said the flavor was great, but the texture was not quite what she had hoped for.
Then Mary completely on her own initiative baked a cake, and Lydia helped her ice it. They even made fondant from scratch and decorated it immaculately!
Cutting the beautiful cake was a very dramatic moment since no one wanted to see such a masterpiece destroyed. They played a fitting soundtrack to commemorate the moment.
Clarissa had fun in her new Maleficent custom. She is so cute!!
I am so grateful for the unique and exceptional time I’m having in Singapore and I’m also missing my family so much. They are my beating heart, and I’m so grateful for facetime that allowed me to praise Mary with Lily for her cake and also see how cute Clarissa was in her costume. I’m also so grateful for the blog and all the phone calls I’ve had with Lily to help me feel closer to home. I love this family!
In the morning our newest seven year old woke up and opened his presents while FaceTiming with Abe in Singapore. He was very excited about his new Lego sets.
Then I went to the grocery store and picked up my mom for breakfast. Casey and Cora joined us for breakfast in the morning, which made Ammon soooo happy. Ammon opened his present from Nana, which he LOVED. She gave him a knight costume to go with some of his medieval stuff he got in France.
After breakfast I worked out, showered, dropped my mom back off, and then drove everyone to SLC to see The Lion King. Ammon didn’t want to get in the car and leave his Legos behind, but once the play started he realized it was amazing and he was thrilled. We were all wowed by the the show!
After the show we got in the car and drove to Olive Garden. They have little screens on the tables that Ammon had been wanting to play with ever since we went there last. He was so happy to be able to have the screen all to himself.
After we walked to Cold Stone for ice cream. It was a little chilly but everyone was so happy.
After dinner and ice cream, we came home and Ammon played with his legos until 10:30 pm. Mary and I walked Basil together and it was delightful to be able to spend one on one time with her. She wanted to talk about Prop 2, favorite animals, places we’ve been, and how babies are made.
And here is Ammon recounting the events of his birthday:
After I tucked the kids all in, Abe and I chatted on the phone for a while. I was excited for him to go out and explore Singapore, but it was also nice to talk. I miss you, Abe!!
Lastly, Ammon is now seven. I can’t believe how the time has flown! I can still so clearly remember him as a baby, drooling all over his bibs and waving hi to every single person in the grocery store. He has always adored people, and at seven he loves them as much as ever. He loves talking to strangers especially, and he is constantly charming them with his friendly overtures.
He is incredibly affectionate, fearless, and exuberant. He loves landmarks, math, meeting challenges, singing, dancing, talking to strangers, playing with Legos, coloring, traveling, playing imagination games with his sisters and friends, snuggling in his shark blanket, and getting back “scratchies” before bed and whenever else he can convince us to give them to him. Lately he loves it when I tell him stories from when he was a baby.
Abe and I both love dropping him off at school because he gets excited every single day by the sight of his friends and teachers and can barely contain himself when he sees either. He practically falls out of the car calling, “Hi Tessa!! Hi Mrs. Blake!!” and running to catch up with them.
We love you, Ammon!! Happy happy birthday, Mr. Man!!
Here is a quick addition from Abe:
Happy Birthday Ammon! I love your joy, love, warmth, gregariousness, and giving heart. I’m so glad you had a good birthday and I’m sorry I missed it! While you were celebrating your birthday, I was working hard in my hotel room getting caught up on work. But I also found some time to explore Singapore in the evening. Here are some pictures and videos from my day:
I’ve been eating a lot of my meals at a large food market right next to my hotel. In the evening they shut down a road next to it, and lot’s of pop-up food shops open up and there are tables and chairs in the street for people to gather and eat. It’s quite the scene!
Also, today I got to explore Merlion park. The Merlion is mascot of Singapore and this is a famous fountain.
Later in the evening, I made it back to the bay and watched an incredible light show.
The bay is absolutely gorgeous and its stunning at night when it is all lit up.
This is the apple store at the bayThis is a giant mall with lots of very fancy shops. When I arrived in Singapore and asked my taxi driver for recommendations on what to do he said, “eating, shopping, eating, shopping.”The mall with the famous Marina Bay Sands building. I think it i a hotel, and that long plank on top is an infinity pool.The mall
This morning Lily woke to find that our house had been egged during the night. That is very disappointing. The police think it may have something to do with our “vote no” sign on the lawn for proposition 2, but there is no way to be sure. Lily hired a power washer to clean the walls for us.
Later in the day, Lily took the kids to Wee-Witches. I love this tradition so much and I’m so sorry that I missed it!
Everyone got their face (or in Ammon’s case, his arm) painted.
I think she likes it!
Before going to bed, Lily put out Ammon’s birthday presents. I’m so excited for my little guy to turn 7!
Over in India, I had my most eventful and favorite day in India. I arrived at the office around noon after getting things done in my hotel room. Then I talked with the head of the India office for an hour or so just discussing my observations from the trip. I sincerely hope anything I said was useful, but he’s so capable, that it’s hard to know.
After meeting with him, I worked on some things and then I gave a training on MEDDICCC (a sales methodology) to the entire India team. Here is the view from the room wherein I trained. One of my favorite memories from the trip is how even in the conference rooms I could hear constant honking from the cars outside and none of the windows were open.
At the end of my training, Navneet presented a gift to me in behalf of the India team.
The gift was a hand-crafted wooden sculpture of the Hindu God Ganesh. Ganesh is a God of good fortune and prosperity and is worshiped at the beginning of a new adventure. I was genuinely touched by the gift. I felt my trainings were haphazard, under-prepared and sloppy and that gives me a lot of anxiety. With all I have going on right now, I feel like I’m falling short in every area of my life. But I was so touched how they received me so warmly and thanked me so sincerely for my stay. I have a lot of follow-up I plan to do as it is my sincerest hope that my trip can be beneficial to the India Qualtrics team. In just one week, they became very dear to me.
Another example of how special the people are is this: Anooj (one of the managers), had already taken the day off today. He personally decided that if I didn’t get a tour of Mumbai (meaning my Mumbai experience mostly would have been the hotel and the SAP office) that would be a shame. Used some of his day off to get a driver and take me all around old-city at the South of Mumbai. In the car he told me all about Mumbai, Hinduism and much more. I didn’t feel confident navigating Mumbai on my own, and I wanted to see the city so much. I’m so grateful Anjoon took such an interest in my experience in Mumbai. Here is a catalogue of our adventures:
This is the train station that was built by the British while the occupied India. It is also where India was attacked by terrorists in 2008. In that attack, the terrorist moved onto more locations after shooting people in the train station including a hotel (which I also saw) and a cafe (which I ate in). This report has details of the heinous attack.
Here is a video that shows how intense the foot and motorized traffic is. By way of interesting comparison, after it is a downtown intersection in Singapore that I was at the very next day. Very different vibes that is for sure!
I think this is a city government building, but I’m not sure. Isn’t the way they light up buildings amazing?
This is the Gateway of India. The monument was erected to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder on their visit to India in 1911.
Here is the hotel which I mentioned was also attacked by the terrorists in 2008. Also, Obama stayed here after the attack, and that was a meaningful gesture for Indians.
We then passed a very popular clothing market that spans a kilometer:
Then we went to a market. It was a very unique experience. The place is famous for haggling, and also I think people could tell I was a tourist and many people approached me trying to get my attention. One person complimented me on my shirt as he walked next to me, and before I knew it, he was telling me he could make a shirt like it in two hours. People were very persistent!
Then we went to the cafe where the terrorists shot more people. You can still see the bullet holes in the walls. I got chicken masala and it was superb. I also had a salted lemonade. It’s the second one I’ve had in India, and I loved it!
I like telling Lydia that Bob Marley (my favorite musician) is one of the greatest and most celebrated musicians in the world. I love seeing evidences of people’s love for him around the world.
After dinner I went to the airport. I am so grateful for the experience Anooj gave me!
At the airport, I was interested to learn that the plane taking me to Singapore was the A380, the largest airliner in the world, and a double-decker. It has four huge engines, very long wings, and you can see the multiple loading tunnels for people to board. It didn’t seem wider than other international jets, but as soon as I boarded, there was a staircase to take some passangers to the top-level, and that was interesting.
When I connected with Lily at the end of today, her big update was this: “I WILL NEVER MAKE GRAPE PIE AGAIN.”
I empathized that peeling the grapes must have been a nightmare, to which she said that was the easy part (the kids helped with that part). The hard part was deseeding each grape one by one. She said they are the most delicious pies in the world, and she did it for the kids, but she is never doing it again. Given that I will never again in my life have a chance to taste one of Lily’s grape pies, I asked her to save some in the freezer for me 🙂
In other news, the family has been putting up Halloween and fall decorations inside and outside of the house. Lily is so amazing at creating these festive memories and I’m sorry to miss them!
Ammon has been drawing spooky Halloween pictures and in the video below, you will hear him telling about them.
I’m starting to enjoy India a more as I’m getting a little more rested. I am completely captivated by how lovely the people are and I’m so grateful for all the new Qualtrics friends that I have made. Today I went to lunch with some of the top performers on the team. The food here is incredible. Not only was the restaurant amazing, but even my breakfast at the Trident Hotel each morning has been superb. There is such a complex and advanced usage of spices, flavors and ingredients that dishes burst with flavor and unique and complex tastes. I forgot the name of this desert, but they said it’s the most famous/popular desert in India. It was similar in taste and textures to tres leches from Mexico. EVERYTHING has been so delicious. I could eat every meal from India, if my stomach would allow it! My stomach continues to have serious issues. I wont elaborate except to say that I got back to my hotel room in the nick of time, and yesterday the situation was so dire, I almost did not make it back to my hotel room in time. It was a very close call.
