Thinking Life Over

In the past year I made big decisions. Sometimes I ponder back to whether I made these choices well.

I flip flop on this topic. just this week I felt greatly relieved that I lived through 2 intense presentations to senior management. Here I have an opportunity to be close to central strategy and the heartbeat of the company. A year ago, I was miserably bored at my old job wanting a desperate change. And here the opportunity was given to me but with a huge trade off.

The trade off is after tax real wage is plain awful in Germany. While everyone would typically look forward to their paycheck every month, I dread it. Each time I log into my HR system, I cringe and I go into this depression mode, thinking about how little I am paid in relative to the long hours I work.

I trod off to the supermarket and 30 mins later I'm back home with a bottle of wine and chocolate. There's better ways to overcome this awful feeling, me thinks. Google random bright lipsticks from gorgeous bloggers; Google nature and hiking holidays in Europe; Play a bit of chill house music... an hour later I feel a lot better and a bit tipsy.

Alright, so here it is... it's sunk cost. What I have decided to do with my life for the next 2 years won't change. I might as well enjoy life now that I'm here. I'm unfit from gorging myself on crap food due to stress from work, relocation and MBA school. I'm going to have to make Munich work one way or another - even with the crap pay that I'm on and the insane pressures of work. 

Missing home already on my first day in Denmark

Random photo of the day. I'm linking all other pictures in my entry here to avoid duplication.

Don't think I will ever have Chinese food in Denmark. Maybe if I'm desperate.

Why you may ask? Because the most popular dish would probably be sweet and sour pork.

Incredibly busy next few days with meetings and more meetings. Taking over the apartment keys this Friday and I'm crossing my fingers that my apartment is decent and liveable. I didn't even have an opportunity to view the apartment or see any pictures!

Workindenmark.dk

This is the first time my company is recruiting me from outside of Europe, and it feels like the blind leading the blind at the moment. But they did offer some general websites for my reading.

https://www.workindenmark.dk/

Once I have figured out how to proceed with everything, I will do a detailed post about the 1-2-3's of how to relocate to Denmark. For now, the company is calculating my taxable income. Taxes in Singapore is approximately 20%, and in Denmark it's 56%. If you're on an expat package, you need to think about what your net income and taxable income should be based on various factors, including kids education etc.

VAT is 25% in Denmark. Living expenses is very high. Here's the typical breakdown for a typical Danish family:

• Housing and maintenance 22%
• Food and beverages, including tobacco 17%
• Transport and communication 17%
• Other products and services, e.g. child care 13%
• Leisure equipment, entertainment 11%
• Heating, electricity 7%
• Home supplies 6%
• Clothing, shoes 5%
• Medicine and medical expenses 2%

Although this is quite a generic expense breakdown, the most expensive things in Denmark are services, food and housing. If your sink breaks down, you will be expected to pay for the transportation, a flat fee + hourly rate for a basic plumbing service. It can easily come up to $150-$200 for a half-an-hour job.

Melbourne is just so perfect

God, I LOVE Melbourne. Everything about it makes me so satisfied. The food, the people, the fashion, the trams. Whenever I do visit Melbourne, I make it a point to have an Aussie breakfast and a really good cafe latte. 

My first stop - Brekky at Vic Markets

It has been a very long time since I had eggs florentine. It has been a VERY long time since I've had spinach this good. 

My friend drives a sweet-as car. I'm jealous. Obviously, I will be 50 by the time I own a sportscar. My next car is an Audi SUV. No, it won't be a mummy car... hehe!

He took me on a spin around Melbourne. Don't ask me what these buildings are... I just snapped happily.  He's a sexy thing too, so I was really enjoying the looks we were getting from pedestrians! ;) Blasted the music and it was a purrfect experience. 

Ok, I know this one. It's the Parliament House. *feeling proud of myself* 

The trams are a nice necessity to Melbourne's public transport system. But some of the older trams are gross. I heard they were loaned from the Swiss. Yuck. I don't think the Swiss expected the Aussies to be THAT dirty. 

St. Vincent's Hospital... one of the best hospitals in Australia.  

This place is legend. If you ever visit Melbourne, you must try hot chocolate from San Cirirro at Brunswick Street. 

The shop next to the chocolate shop... now, was this part of the chocolate shop? 

The Spanish donuts are amazing dipped in thick milk chocolate. 

The hot chocolate is sooooo thick that it forms a thick chocolate layer on top. One cup is enough to make ANY girl happy. Perfect for the breakup blues. Guaranteed. 

This is what I'm talking about!!! This is the shiiitttzzz!!! Haha!

Lets have a closer look, shall we?? 

*dying in chocolate heaven* Do you see how thick that layer is? Seriously... You guys are missing out. Get on that plane now!

and again!

UHHHH!!

After all that chocolate, we needed to walk it off. We strolled down Flinders Lane... Don't mind my random pictures. I liked this store. I love how grunge the backstreet alleys of Melbourne are. Gotta love the character here. 

These places serve the BEST coffee. I had coffee in Italy, and trust me... it can't compare to Melbourne's cafes. The Danish are the biggest drinkers of coffee but man... their coffee sucks. The poor souls. If they had this good a coffee in Denmark, the Danish will be having coffees every 5 minutes. 

I even get home made cafe lattes... with Koko black handmade chocolates. Haha! Just when you think I was chocolated-out... 

Figs on fried cheese is sinfully good.

Now on to cute pictures. A very close friend of mine gave birth 2 months ago. This little bubby was one of the reasons why I really wanted to visit Melbourne. How cute are her fat cheeks? 

And another kid who I really really wanted to see for the longest time. The parents never post pictures of her on facebook so I had no idea she will look so gorgeous in real life. She loves to kiss and hug people. I want one!

 That's all folks! I'm going back to Melbourne this Thursday night. Melbourne is an amazing place. I think I will make Australia my home again soon. 

An introduction to me

Introductions are never easy, especially when I want to start blogging about the relocation to Copenhagen, the crazy work schedule that I have for the next 3 months. However, in order for you to fully comprehend my endless ramble about Danish life, I should first introduce myself and what this blog is all about.

I'm Tracy. I have a beauty blog. I love to camwhore in my bedroom. Yes, I think I'm vain. Quite vain, in fact. I have 10+ lipsticks that are the same pink shade. I have 20+ different blushes that are the same shade. This blog will be different. It's going to just be everything and anything about places, food, and sites. 

I will start my adventures in Europe, Latin America and Asia, where my job requires me to travel to. Yes, I love my job. This blog will give you an idea what it takes to relocate, European quirks and what it's like to live in Denmark.

Mind you, this is not Lonely Planet. I don't eat slugs, live in the outback, or travel to every single site possible to give you accommodation recommendations. But, you will see photos of the places I visit. To respect my friends and colleagues privacy, I will not post pictures of people who have not given me permission. And I will post pictures of myself occasionally (quality controlled with the vainest smile eva) ;)

I hope you enjoy this blog!