Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Body Massage In The Office
Every Friday, Cheiko, the Japanese therapist will come in to our office. And every week, 10 lucky people will be picked for a free body massage. Last Friday was my lucky day and I received 20 mins of heavenly back massage from Cheiko. My muscles were screaming for more ... more ... more ... more. Frankly, 20 mins was just too short! Cheiko also charges £10 for anyone who would like to have a massage in the office. But nah ... if I wanted to pay to get a body massage, it wouldn't be in the office!
After the 2nd week at work, I soon realised the many benefits of working in the UK compared to Malaysia. I mean ... Malaysia has its perks and fun and everything but I never once had a free body massage in the office before. Besides, the culture here is really different. I come in to work at 8:30am and leave the office at 4:45pm. And no one actually minds that I leave the office early everyday. In fact, my team lead had a discussion with me recently and told me that I need not come in so early - 9:30am or 10am is fine. And he also suggested that I leave the office at 4pm or 4:30pm occasionally! This is fantastic! He said that I produce work at such a fast pace that I need not stay so long in the office. And the fact that I have a baby justifies me wanting to stay home more. Well, he also offered to let me work from home once a week, if I want to. However, I do not think that I'll take up that offer since I'm pretty sure I'll never get anything done with Dominic around.
Every morning, a guy will come in with a fruit basket - which encourages me to eat at least one fruit a day. And most of the time I'll bring some home for Dominic too. And I also drink 1 pint of milk each day - since the office fridge is loaded with milk. I should be getting healthier and healthier. :-)
I also have the 'morning jog' ... or rather sprint every morning as everytime when I was about to reach the train station I would see the train approaching and so broke into a sprint - across the road and up 4 flights of stairs. I don't understand how, but this happened every morning! It was reaaally good caridac exercise!
I have got my first pay checque, but quite disappointed that 50% of my pay was deducted for tax and National Insurance. Apparently, I am still on a temporary tax code and the employer did not know how much tax to deduct - therefore they took the maximum. According to Saimun, it will be another 6 months before I get a permanent National Insurance Number, after which I'll be able to reclaim the extra tax that I've paid.
On another note, Saimun said that he's losing weight because I don't feed him properly. I don't understand how I managed to make Dominic so 'chubby' but not feeding my husband enough.
