Freeze...

Twelve Apostles at Great Ocean Road Victoria

​It's not freezing cold nor am I feeling cold, I'm just a bit happy that it's freeze period at work today! :)
Just a short overview, I work in the IT department of one of the major financial institutions. Freeze or peak period means majority of system changes are halted, so that usually results to less issues...hurray!!! Starting now till first week of January will be, sort of, a "holiday" for us (hopefully). Things are usually quiet at work but downside is we need to be extra vigilant and be alert of any issuE.

Anywayz, I failed again to update this blog regularly. A lot of things happened.

​Last September, we finally fulfilled our "Initial Entry" for our Australian PR visa. Yep, I applied for AU PR last year. It was a year-long (anxiety-filled) process for me. I'll blog about it next time for those interested with the application process. After my PR Visa was granted, their processing time became faster. You may be able to complete everything in 2 months (provided you meet the points criteria and requirements). I'm also excited to blog about our trip. Australia is such a beautiful country and I feel so happy that we were granted with a Visa.
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Ok, this is just a random post. I  missed blogging so much and things are slow at work currently.

A lot happened to me few weeks back. After our AU trip, I had the annual discussion with my manager. I was ecstatic when she told me I'm promoted. Yay! I didn't expect that. I don't know if there will be significant changes especially salary-wise (praying though!), but I don't want to expect anything. I'm also trying not to let it get it to my head as I don't want to feel superior and entitled. I still would like to work like an underdog. Knowing that I still have lots to learn and improve, reminds me not to take things for granted. 

I really love my job! Although it's tiring and draining sometimes, I still wake up each shift morning wanting to go to work. For the past 4 yrs, I  had only used ​1 day sickleave (SL). Sadly, the stress I had since last year really took a toll on me that I got very sick this year. I was forced to use 2 days of my SLs. Anywayz, I feel extremely grateful that I have excellent managers. My immediate manager and our Sr. Director are really what you can consider good mentors. I learned a lot from them especially developing good work ethics. They manage people well and are really good leaders. They are not driven by egos as most managers are. They don't tell people how great they are, you just see it in their work. I also feel they really care for us employees. You can always rely on them to have your back.  I think these are some of the important qualities of a good leader.  

The promotion was good news for me but it was only short-lived. I needed to plan for my quick trip to Yogyakarta since I had little time to prepare for it. It was just a 3-day trip since I was only planning to see Borobudur. I realized later that there's a lot to see in Yogyakarta. It was such a beautiful place. It reminds me of Cambodia but Yogya has its own charm. I'll blog about it when I have the chance.

Borobudur Temple

Last week,  I finally completed my 5-day CCNA course. I was initially scared as I always consider Networking as one of my weak points. Surprisingly, I was able to grasp the topics well. Networking is a field dominated by men and I was the only gal in class. I was happy though that I was able to answer the instructor's questions and completed the labs fine. Girl power!!!  I really felt so drained last week. I am not sure if it was the course or because of the 5 days, 8 hours course schedule. I have been working on a 12-hr shift with max 3 days work for 5 years now, so the "normal work hours" was suddenly new to me. All I know is that I was very relieved when my class ended and I was so happy to go back to my 12-hour work shift!. 

However, completing the course means I need to start studying for the certification exam. I only have tonight to work on other plans so note to self: "I really need to finish..err start editing the Yogya pics!" Tomorrow, I plan to start studying already so I don't know if I'll have time anymore for pic editing. Wish me luck as I am reaaalllyyyy sooooo lazy studying eventhough the topics greatly interests me! I already rescheduled my MCSA exam for the 100th time 'cause I can't focus! I gave up and decided to finally reschedule it for next year. I hope this will be my last reschedule but I highly doubt it. :D

My CCNA  instructor might have sensed my plan to not take my CCNA exam anytime soon as well. He reminded the entire class to not put this exam aside. He advised to take the exam in a month. I get to see his point so I decided to prioritize my CCNA over the MCSA. He did well with our class and I felt, I maybe able to pass this exam. MCSA was purely self-study so I need a great deal of time. I am really hoping the cert gods will have mercy on me. :S

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